Finally Violet's potion had cooled enough to start turning black, right on schedule. Now she just had to let it sit for 30 minutes. She stood looking curiously in the cauldron as the stuff grew blacker and blacker and continued to move on its own, even after she'd stopped her wand movements. It was wild!

This was why Violet loved potions--if you used the right ingredients, prepared correctly, and brewed them correctly in the right order, it always turned out the same, as expected. Unlike people, which were much more complicated. Or life.