Patiently and methodically, Benjamin Turner worked his way through his hiccoughing solution. Though potions ranked as highly as chess and history on the list of Things Ben Was Good At, he knew that to rush was to lead to mistakes.

Miss Whitledge’s quick finish, though, did light something of a fire under him, and so when the Ravenclaw raised his hand to signal completion, he was not quite satisfied he had done his best work.