As the sounds of idle chatter reverberated around me, I carefully examined the tiny cauldron before me, the purple liquid inside happily bubbling over the heat of a small Bunsen burner. Good. It was nearly ready, and, by the look of things, I wasn’t the only one to have noticed.

Glancing around, I could see that most of the folks in the (usually) unused classroom were eyeing the potion with a familiar sense of anticipation, quietly alerting those who hadn’t yet noticed that it was almost time. As I slowly brought the burner’s flame down until it died out, an excited hush spread across the room. None of them, however, were as excited as one certain girl.

I didn’t need to look her way to know how nervous she was. If I did, I would probably end up seeing a look of nervous apprehension mixed with excitement, her knuckles white from gripping the small cot she was sitting on, and, of course, Emily sitting next to her with that wry yet encouraging smile of hers. It was, after all, a familiar scene by now.

I didn’t remember her name, but then I’d only ever met her twice. The first time, when she’d come forward, not without a lot of support and encouragement, of course, to ask me to brew the potion for her. And the second time, well, had been about fifteen minutes ago, when she’d made her way into the room, as nervous as one can be, Emily and Jay offering their support as they’d guided her towards the cot.

Even though I’d only been doing this a year or so, it had become somewhat of a ritual for a lot of the students scattered around the small room, to come and witness one of their new members taking the potion, and everything that entailed.

Potions of True Form, as many people called them, were expensive. Ridiculously so, one might say, as they cost upwards of a hundred grand a dose. If one asked a mage capable of brewing said potion, they would happily explain, in excruciating detail, mind you, how difficult the thing was to brew, the many steps it took, as well as the high price and rarity of the ingredients required in its preparation. They would also explain how long it took for a mage to be able to brew such a difficult potion, the years of study and dedication, yadda yadda yadda.

It all sounded perfectly logical, of course, a potion capable of such a powerful effect, of course it had to be extremely complicated to make and oh so very expensive. Except that it wasn’t.

Certainly, the potion wasn’t one a beginner, or even an intermediate brewer would be able to make, but to say that it took years to even begin to understand the brewing process was just being dishonest. Unfortunately, few people knew that, and it didn’t take much thought to understand why.

When Emily had first asked me to make a potion of True Form for one of her friends, my reaction had been to send an incredulous look her way. I wasn’t surprised that she’d come to ask for a favor, as mages (or witches and wizards, if you liked making things overly complicated) weren’t exactly common in the world, and that I was pretty good at magic, but I was still only a university student.

I’d told her that, if her friend wanted a beauty potion, there were some much cheaper alternatives, but Emily had just shaken her head at me with that wry smile of hers, as if she had been talking to some poor innocent child.

What followed had been a very enlightening conversation about the struggles some people had to face to be happy in their own skin, and, after what felt like hours of begging and pleading gazes, I’d finally caved in and accepted to try and brew the damn thing for her friend. I’d stressed how bad of an idea I thought this was, but Emily could be very stubborn when she wanted to be. She’d also assured me that she would cover all the costs, even if I ended up botching the potion.

Evidently, Emily had known something that I hadn’t, and I’d been able to make the potion without any issues, in that very same classroom I was currently in. Emily had been a bit (very) smug about it, but Jay had been ecstatic about the sudden absence of “those fucking tits” he’d hated so much, as well as all the other changes that had followed.

And so it had begun, with Jay becoming a close friend and Emily constantly finding new university students in need of the potion, until a small, tightly-knit unofficial club had formed, many of them becoming good friends. As months passed and more and more potions were brewed, we eventually found an unused classroom for our little reunions, and it ended up becoming ours, sort of. We just called ourselves “the group,” as someone had yet to suggest a non-ridiculous name for it, and I had my limits.

Shaking the memories off, I refocused on my task, a swish of my fingers levitating the small cauldron upwards. Carefully, another movement of my hand slowly tipped the cauldron forward, its contents pouring into an ornamental bronze cup. After the fourth potion, someone had expressed disapproval over my choice of a normal glass, and someone else, Aubrey, I think, had only been too happy to supply me with a replacement. The thing looked like the Grail, a fact everyone seemed to find very amusing.

A whispered word on my lips brough the liquid to an acceptable temperature, and I gingerly grasped the cup in both hands to bring it to whatever-her-name-was. While the potion didn’t cost as much as some people wanted you to believe, it still contained about five hundred dollars worth of ingredients, and I really didn’t want to spill it all over the carpet. I’m pretty sure what’s-her-name would have started crying if I did, and I really didn’t want to deal with that.

“Right, uh,” I started, standing before the girl with the cup in my hands. Everyone was watching in anticipation by now, sending knowing glances towards the girl sitting on the cot.

“Evelyn,” she supplied helpfully, her eyes nearly intense enough to bore a hole through the cup.

“Evelyn,” I repeated. “You’ll have to drink the content of the cup all at once for it to work correctly. You’re going to feel dizzy for a little bit, and then the transformation will start. Try to relax while it happens, just lie down on the cot, and you’ll be fine. Questions?”

“Uh-uh,” she said, clearly captivated by my words. I raised an eyebrow, a smile almost tugging at my lips, a few quiet snickers resonating from somewhere behind me. I didn’t know why I bothered with instructions still, but I’m sure I would catch some slack if I didn’t. It was, after all, part of the “ritual.”

“Alright,” I said, and handed her the cup without further ceremony. Seeing the object of her fascination suddenly rush forward must have surprised her, as she flinched a little bit before grasping the cup with both hands, as if her life depended on it.

She sent me a hesitant look, before deciding that Emily would be a better choice for emotional support and glancing at her. Emily, still sitting by her side, smiled at her and made a little encouraging gesture towards the cup.

I stepped aside so that everyone could see, and, with trembling hands, Evelyn brought the cup to her lips. It didn’t take her long to drink it all, and for the panic to settle in once she was done. Like so many before her, she only had seconds for her anxiety level to visibly spike, before her eyes rolled into their orbits and she fell, right into Emily’s waiting arms.

With a little bit of help from two other people, Emily was able to comfortably lay Evelyn down onto the cot. The changes didn’t take long to begin, and it was clear for all to see that Evelyn’s true form wouldn’t be breaking a height record anytime soon.

As everyone was distracted with the changes, whispering excitedly among themselves, I quietly made my escape from the room, grabbing my equipment as I went. I’d already been through this almost twenty times by now, and I really didn’t want to deal with any more tearful hugs and how-can-I-ever-repay-you (you don’t, you already paid for the cost of the ingredients) and other such things.

Like always, someone would have made a cake, and they would have a little party to congratulate the newly transformed. People were used to me vanishing by now anyway, I knew they understood and wouldn’t take it personally.

It was nearing noon, and I was getting a bit hungry, so I set off towards the university cafeteria to grab a bite to eat, happy to have been able to help someone.