#duncan tried to 'plus up' that erumpent potion because he thought it would draw R's focus away from jacob | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

carewyncromwell · 1 year

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10 for Jacob/Ashe affection?

10) the kindest "i hate you" followed by a contagious laugh (Jacashe)

Of all of Duncan's classes, the one he'd always excelled at most was Potions. Honestly, he was even better at brewing potions than his boy best friend Jacob Cromwell was, since as much as the magical prodigy reveled in the theory of potionmaking and loved experimentation, he could get very easily distracted trying to improve on what was already there. Duncan, however, as much as he could very easily have "plused" up a potion if he wanted to, rarely saw much reason to -- experimenting with potions could be dangerous, so he didn't see any point in risking his limbs or eyebrows in an attempt to reinvent the wheel.

Duncan Ashe would need a damn good reason to mess around with a potion's potency. Even his OWL exam didn't give him enough motivation to do it -- his Draught of the Living Dead was already perfect, so the examiner would be more than impressed enough without him twisting himself into a pretzel.

At that same exam, though, the examiner also had Jacob's work to consider -- and the scholarly airhead managed to catch the older wizard's attention not by brewing his own excellent potion, but by drawing the entire periodic table up on the blackboard and then going on a lecture about how one could possibly apply different chemical compounds to potion recipes and their ingredients.

"...As you can see, Muggles have divided up their periodic table of elements not just into how many atoms make up their outer most shell, but also how reactive they are with other elements. Take radium, for instance -- a highly reactive metal that, when ingested, can be deathly poisonous to humans...but if one combines it with clorine, you get Radium Cloride -- a bioluminescent, colorless salt that, when turned into a gas, has even been experimented with as a possible cure for different kinds of cancers. Not unlike the deathly poisonous potion ingredients we use every day, to brew complex antidotes and Healing treatments! Hellebore, used in the Draught of Peace -- Asphodel, used in Wiggenweld Potions -- Venomous Tentacula leaves, Arnica, Sneezewort...all used in countless antidotes, from everything to dragon pox to ague! Imagine how much faster it would be to brew new potions, if we could apply this kind of model to the ingredients we use every day...if we could see, even before experimentation, which ingredients would react violently with each other and which ones wouldn't...hypothesize which ingredients could blend well, and which ones wouldn't! We could develop a cure for memory loss...for blood maledictions...hell, maybe even lycanthropy! The possibilities are endless!"

Duncan was left standing off to the side with his Draught of the Living Dead, watching his best friend once again snatch up all the spotlight away from him. Part of him wanted to be resentful about it, but as he crossed his arms, listening to Jacob eagerly prattle on and seeing the examiner get swept up in his enthusiasm despite himself, Duncan instead found himself smiling.

Because, well...it was a good idea. Jacob always had good ideas. That was part of what had always been so fun about being around him -- why Duncan had become his friend in the first place, even with how stupid and reckless and insensitive and arrogant he could be at times. For all of his flaws, Jacob had good ideas, and those good ideas almost always came from a place of sincerely wanting to help others...from wanting to do good for the world and for the people he cared about.

So as annoying as it was that Jacob had effectively snatched up all of the examiner's attention even after how much he'd praised Duncan's potionmaking skills -- that this rambling diatribe would likely result in Jacob getting an O on his OWL, same as Duncan, without doing even half the physical work -- Duncan couldn't help but watch Jacob ramble on like an idiot with a faintly cynical, but still incredibly fond smirk.

When Jacob finally stopped talking long enough to catch his breath, the examiner actually clapped his hands together, beaming.

"That was splendid! Absolutely splendid!" he praised Jacob, his squinty little eyes twinkling. "Well, Mr. Cromwell...as much as I'd love to hear more, I do have the rest of the class's work to examine...thank you very much!"

Jacob faltered, looking a bit confused, as the examiner walked away, so he could migrate around the rest of the room. He looked over at Duncan across the room, bewildered -- the Slytherin left his cauldron and strode over to him, his arms still crossed and his eyebrows raised coolly over his narrowed eyes.

"Seems the examiner takes after Slughorn, in fawning over you," said Duncan dryly.

Jacob frowned deeply. "He didn't even stay to watch me brew anything. Do you think he'll come back around and watch me brew something then?"

Duncan gave Jacob a bewildered look.

"Do you mean to say..." he said very slowly and lowly, "...that you didn't do that for points? You seriously just scribbled all that stuff up there on a whim, for your own entertainment?"

Jacob glanced back at the periodic table he'd doodled on the board and then up at Duncan sheepishly.

"Well, not for my own entertainment, exactly...but I'd been thinking about it the other day, and I thought about maybe applying it to the potion I did, so I just doodled it up there to test out the idea -- you know?"

Duncan's head fell dramatically, as if he'd just been clubbed with a two-by-four. Then he started to laugh.

"What?" said Jacob. His own face was breaking out into a smile too, just hearing his friend laughing. "I thought it'd be interesting! You can't tell me it wouldn't be fun to try to make a new potion -- think about how much easier and safer it'd be, with a proper periodic table! It's really just common sense, isn't it...?"

"I hate you," muttered Duncan.

Those words, though, were accompanied by the fullest, brightest smirk and eyes that sparkled with fondness as he laughed harder than ever.

"Come on," he muttered through his cackling, taking hold of Jacob's shoulder. "Now that we've both got our O's in the bag, we'd best clean up and head out. Liv can meet us when she's done..."

Affectionate Prompts!

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #duncan ashe #jacob cromwell #olivia green #why yes duncan was usually very cautious with potions #that's part of why a lot of students blamed jacob for duncan's death #they knew duncan only ever got into dangerous situations for jacob #and sadly they weren't completely wrong #duncan tried to 'plus up' that erumpent potion because he thought it would draw R's focus away from jacob #like 'here I'll give you this powerful thing that can help you with the vaults just leave my boyf-- I mean buddy alone'#if only it was that simple :'(

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