Michael's heart pounds in his chest as he holds his breath. David is walking through the bathroom casually whilst Michael hugs his knees to his chest, and runs through the worst case scenario if David finds him. The sound of David's feet on the tile stops, and the door to the stall Michael is hiding inside of rattles slightly.

"Oh mageless... I know you're in there!" David cackles.

There's a sudden clanging noise, and to Michael's shock he sees the door's locking mechanism has melted just enough to fall to the ground. The stall door swings open and Michael starts spouting apologies while standing up.

David's expression twists from one of juvenile glee to confused embarrassment. Michael's unrecognizable face is stained with tears, and he's visibly trembling. David has no time to think of a response before Michael leaps over his head, and scampers out of the bathroom.

"W-Wait! I didn't mean to-! Damn it..." David groans in frustration.

The sight of a girl crying in the bathroom stall he's forcing open is a shock to David's system. Moments earlier he had been standing in the hallway with Professor King, and brushing off the long winded lecture on the responsibility of mages, yet here he is reconsidering his actions just because the victim's distress startled him a little.

"Who was that, anyway? She looked familiar."

David stands there for a moment before shoving his hands into his pockets and walking out; He wears a scowl on his sharp features to mask a faint pinkness in his cheeks. Something about the situation ruined David's mood.

~

Michael's heartbeat gradually steadies as he slows to a walking pace. His spontaneous leap caught both of them off guard, but it saved Michael the trouble of interacting with David. He hadn't noticed the first time he channeled magic that his body became lighter and quicker.

"That guy is terrifying... I'll have to mention it to Professor King."

With a goal in mind, Michael starts walking toward the Spells classroom. His next class is starting soon, but Prof. King should help bail Michael out for a little tardiness.

Some odd looks and confused glances directed Michael's way reminds him of his current state, and altered face. As much as Michael trusts Professor King, he doesn't want to reveal such an embarrassing power just yet.

"W-Why..." Scy stutters.

Michael turns around to see Scy staring at him with a slightly flustered expression. He sighs and then fishes around in his bag for a potion; The clear fluid sloshes as Scy tosses the Demanifestation Potion to Michael.

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"I was just testing in the bathroom... and didn't bring a potion." Michael says meekly.

"What? Are you dumb?" Scy replies incredulously.

They both hurry toward their next class, and Michael is sure to chug the whole thing once out of sight. The transformation is quick, and he feels a little less self conscious.

~

"Today we'll be learning how to brew one of the most widely used potions in mage society: The Demanifestation Potion." Professor Nan starts.

The class quiets down as they watch the elderly woman begin her lesson. Bubbles of varying size and color float from her body as she glows a strange purple hue; These bubbles pop upon the chalkboard's surface, and with each pop a letter appears on the chalkboard.

Michael's eyes are wide as he observes Professor Nan's unique magic. The bubbling purple aura she gives off is pungent with the scent of cough syrup, and makes it look as if she's melting like wax under a flame.

"Brewing a Demanifestation Potion is as simple as potion making can get." Professor Nan says.

Michael watches as several large silver bubbles pop above a table beside her; Each bubble reveals an alchemical implement. Professor Nan takes an odd looking fat blue toadstool and a salt shaker, before dropping them both into a mortar.

"You'll need a manashroom and some salt. Pure salt is best, but any salt will provide results." Professor Nan continues.

Fizzling noises fill the classroom as salt dissolves into the mashed manashroom. Professor Nan's seemingly frail hands move with impressive dexterity as she quickly whips up a glowing light blue paste. She dumps the odd mash into a bottle before stirring the mixture with a glass rod.

"Start by mashing the manashroom and salt together, and finish the potion by mixing the paste into an appropriately sized water filled vessel." Professor Nan finishes.

The majority of the students are gob smacked by the potion making proficiency, albeit a few of the keener students are busily writing notes. David is quiet this class, and a quick glance reveals the troublemaker to be napping quietly.

Scy is a bit hesitant to start the mashing process, and repeatedly eyes his measured ingredients as if afraid they'd combust if mixed incorrectly. Michael simply goes by feel, and does what he saw Professor Nan do. The process is messy and far more difficult than it looked.

"How'd you get that all over yourself..?" Someone asks Michael.

Michael glances up to see a partially exposed skull staring back at him; He recoils in shock before realizing he's just looking at Jamie's rather unsettling manifestation. Scy seems to perk up at seeing his long time friend, and Michael notes how mild Jamie's attitude toward him is.

The ingredients have gotten smudges all over Michaels hands, yet he persists and dumps his paste into a bottle before stirring. The resulting fizzles are nerve wracking, yet the mixture takes the clear color he'd seen in the Demanifestation Potions Scy gave him.

"Jamie, this is Michael. Michael, this is Jamie. Make friends?" Scy says nervously.

Jamie extends a skeletal hand before smirking at Michael. Michael steels his resolve and returns the gesture with a firm handshake befitting someone who's not creeped out.

"Nice to meet you." Michael says evenly.

"Likewise. A friend of Scy's is a friend of mine, mageless or not." Jamie replies politely.

Their conversation is quiet enough they hardly draw any looks from the other students. Michael is thankful for the newfound ally, yet he feels Jamie looks down on him in some way.

"Maybe he just gets a kick out of surprising me with the skeleton stuff?"

Professor Nan claps her hands, and explains she'll be testing everyone's best brew. They have the whole class period to produce a safe to drink Demanifestation Potion; Failure will be punished with time cleaning the potions classroom's drainage system.