Nice. Time to test this bad boy out. Thankfully, Dad approved me testing this Flora-Grow on one of his beloved plant babies yesterday.

Dad is a total herbology nerd. He works for Green Witch, that big eco-management company that hires herbologists to maintain Florida’s natural landscape. Caring for plants isn’t just a job for him, though. Our apartment is stuffed full of useful herbs, miniaturized trees, and flowers he’s magically adjusted to smell stronger. He’s even got a collection of magic-hybrid plants. There are ghost palms that are invisible except for a faint blue-green glow, midair plants that float through our apartment in search of patches of sun, frost ferns that emit tiny puffs of cold air to chill their surroundings, and several others that have come in handy for my more ambitious brewing projects.

I grab one of Dad’s ghost palm seedlings from the corner in our kitchen and bring it back to my room. Okay. Moment of truth. I measure out ten milliliters of the Flora-Grow, pour it into the palm’s pot, and stand back. It shouldn’t take too long for the potion to take effect.

The seedling vibrates slightly, then shoots upward at warp speed. It looks like one of those plant-growth time-lapse videos, except sped up a thousand times over. New fronds burst out at the top, and the trunk thickens to the size of my leg. Or at least I think that’s how large it is. It’s kind of hard to tell with a mostly invisible tree. By the time it stops growing, the tallest fronds hang more than a foot over my head. So this potion was definitely a success.

I can still turn out a quality potion while half-asleep. Awesome. My grin stretches so wide that my cheeks hurt, and I do a little happy dance. There’s nothing better than brewing a potion that works just right.

I love potionworking. Potions let people do complicated things they might not be able to achieve with just their innate magic abilities. Which is amazing. Especially when you’re a kid and your powers aren’t that strong. I mean, would I be able to do complex transfiguration on this tree to change it into its adult form? Definitely not. But I don’t need to, because I can brew a Flora-Grow potion.

A jaw-splitting yawn interrupts my train of thought. Right. Definitely time for bed. I cast one last satisfied look at the ghost palm before turning away to start cleaning up my supplies.