The
next morning, Jade slept peacefully- right through her alarm. When she
was jolted awake by the same vision, of the Windigo chasing her down,
she saw the time on her clock.
"Eight thirty...eight
thirty...EIGHT THIRTY?! I have to get up! I have to get dressed! Did I
miss breakfast?" She shot to her feet, hoping that Alana would still be
in her bed too, that this was just a fluke, that today was a sleep-in
day. But no, Alana's bed was made and empty, her wand gone off the
dresser.

Jade feverishly ran to her closet, going through the
racks of sweaters and demure collared shirts and jeans, trying to find
something that was spiced up, something a little different.
Jade wasn't very good at looking different. Since choir, she had come
out of her shell a bit more, but she wasn't really confident enough to
wear half of the things in her closet. She had an abundance of tight
sweaters and short skirts and dresses that made her eyes sparkle. But
she never wore them. She saw her clock chiming over to eight forty-five,
and she hurriedly threw on the first thing she could reach.

Jade
walked downstairs and into Potions a moment later, clad in a very
uncharacteristic outfit. She was wearing an emerald green sweater dress
with no sleeves and fat, decorative buttons, white school tights, black
oxford shoes with sparkly green laces, a Grizzleheart scarf wrapped
around her waist like a belt, and her requisite school robes.

"Late as usual, Miss Pevensie," said Professor Quavor, the Potions teacher.

Jade
sat up in her seat, folding her hands in her lap. "I'm sorry,
Professor, I was up late researching something important last night. I
overslept. What did I miss?"

"Be lucky that you missed nothing,
Miss Pevensie. We are making an Illumination potion this morning. Please
go and gather firefly cores, porcupine quills, whip-o-will feathers,
and the blood of the Golden Firebird."

"Yes, Professor." Jade
walked over and opened the supply cabinet, gathering the requisite
ingredients. When she followed the instructions and wasn't distracted,
she was a good Potions student. But sometimes she was scrying, or
sleeping, or talking to her partner. Or she was screaming because her
cloak had been lit on fire, or her hair, or another student. Most of the
time, she wasn't a good student, if that was the case.

She
began to stir the water in her cauldron, sprinkling in crushed firefly
cores. Every time she added one, the potion flared gold and then fell
back to brackish yellow. She stirred six times clockwise with the
whip-o-will feather, which was brushed with a tint of gold as it
dissolved. She threw in the porcupine quills and sat back on her heels
to watch the transition.

The Illumination Potion went, when
prepared correctly, from liquid to gas to liquid to solid to liquid
again once the porcupine quills were added. Before her eyes, the potion
floated up into the air above her head, forming a canary mist. It formed
a light bulb in the air, then crumbled into the cauldron. It returned
to its liquid state for a split second, then morphed into a heavy
xanthous cube, solid and unyielding to the touch. It shimmered softly,
then melted like butter into liquid once more.

Now, Jade had to be
on her toes. The final ingredient, the blood of the Golden Firebird,
could only be added within one minute of the liquid transformation. She
inhaled deeply, then uncapped the pink glass bottle. Immediately, white
smoke poured from the mouth of the bottle, smelling of roses and warm
air and, just faintly, the coppery zing of hot gold.

She
splashed it into the cauldron, and the potion remained its saffron
color. But when she dipped her index finger into it, the disturbed area
sparked and illuminated the dungeon, shooting a beam of light straight
up. It blew Jade's curls back from her face. She was suddenly
overwrought with images of suns, candles, flashlights, light bulbs, and
things that lit her up inside- butterflies, extra dessert, and...Jack's
smile? She blushed at the thought.

Bringing a flask of potion up to her professor, Jade looked down at her shoes. "Very
good, actually, Miss Pevensie," said her professor. "Keep this flask
with you. You may need it in the future." She placed the tiny flask in
Jade's hand and curled her fingers around it. "Keep it secret," she
whispered. "Keep it safe."