Potions- Lesson One

James kept a silence for a while, noticing the reactions of student's faces.He spoke, "Today we will brew the Forgetfullness Potion. Here are the instructions, more information can be found in the textbook, get started." He then waved his wand lazily at the board and wrote:
'Lethe water
2 sprigs of Valerian
2 measures of the standard ingredient
4 mistletoe berries
Pestle
Mortar

1. Add two drops of Lethe water to your cauldron, and heat gently for twenty seconds.
2. Add two sprigs of Valerian to your cauldron, and stir three times clockwise.
3. Wave your wand over the mixture, and leave the Valerian to brew in the Lethe water for 95 minutes.
4. Add two measures of the standard ingredient and four mistletoe berries to a pestle and mortar. Grind into a medium-fine powder.
5. Add two pinches of this powder to the cauldron, and stir five times anti-clockwise to blend the ingredients. 6. Wave your wand over the cauldron to finish the potion, and decant carefully into a crystal phial.

"When you are done, put it on the phial and hand it in to me. All ingredients and tools should be found on the back. Get working, now." James said, watching his students huddle across the room to get the ingredients.

"Also, your homework assignment is to research one potion from the textbook under Grade 1 that you found interesting and why, and give me some information about it. When you finish the potion, you may leave." he added.

[OOC: This is how it's going to work. You will text role-play you doing the potion (It's to difficult to send riddles to all of you and keep track), and of course really leaving some time during the wait 95 minutes rule, and when you are done, you hand it over to me on the phial on the desk. Don't role-play doing all at once, do it step by step or 2 steps per post. Then you can leave my class.]

Chloe went to the back of the classroom and grabbed all the ingrediants the Professor had said quite quickly so she could start brewing the potion as quick as possible. Once she cleared her desk and sorted out the equipment and the textbook, she looked carefully at what the first step was:
1. Add two drops of Lethe water to your cauldron, and heat gently for twenty seconds.

She grabbed the Lethe water and made sure that the amount that went into the cauldron was 100% accurate. One little mistake and the whole potion could be wrong so you needed to focus. She counted in her head 20 seconds and went on to the next step:
2. Add two sprigs of Valerian to your cauldron, and stir three times clockwise.

She got the two sprigs of Valerian off the desk and added it to the Lethe Water in the cauldron. It made a little pop which scared her but she realised that was only the noise of it touching the water and cauldron. She stirred three times clockwise and went on.

Keith took a deep breath and walked to the back of the classroom to get all of the ingredients required for the potion. He got back to his desk and carefully put down his equipment and ingredients. He opened up his textbook and scanned the page for the first step.

1. Add two drops of Lethe water to your cauldron, and heat gently for twenty seconds.

Keith took the Lethe water and carefully let two drops of it fall into his cauldron. He turned the burner on low and counted on his fingers to twenty seconds. Once that was finished, he moved onto the next step.

2. Add two sprigs of Valerian to your cauldron, and stir three times clockwise.

Carefully reading the instructions from the textbook, he took two sprigs of Valerian and let it sift into his cauldron, before taking his ladle and stirring three times clockwise. He glanced back at his textbook to make sure he had started brewing his potion properly.

Still stunned by her fifteen points for being rude, Aurora barely caught Professor Wayne's statement. "Today we will brew the Forgetfullness Potion. Here are the instructions, more information can be found in the textbook, get started." Words in a thin, hasty-looking, but legible scrawl appeared on the board, as if invisible chalk was writing.

Aurora squinted at the first directions. She picked up the blue bottle hoding the Lethe River Water in it. The dangerous substance had the power to wipe every memory from one's mind, so it had to be diluted in order to work in the potion. She carefully turned it over and waited until two drops of the milky-white liquid had plinked into her cauldron. She then pointed her wand at the burner and turned her arm, with the burner following until it stopped on low. Aurora counted slowly, One mississippi, tow mississippi, until she had reached twenty. She then turned the burner off and looked into her cauldron, which was giving off steam in silvery spirals. Next, she grabbed two Valerian sprigs and dropped them into the boiling Lethe water below. Taking her ladle in hand, she placed it into the concoction and stirred three times clockwise. The potion looked perfect so far, so Aurora prepared to move on to the next step.

She looked at the textbook to see what the next step was:
3. Wave your wand over the mixture, and leave the Valerian to brew in the Lethe water for 95 minutes.
She didnt really understand what waving your hand over the mixture would do and she was kind of confused but if thats what she needed to do to make this potion good than thats what she would do. So, she waved her hand over the mixture than set a timer for 95 minutes. In the meantime, she would sit down and look through her potions textbook and ocassionally look inside the cauldron to see if its brewing correctly.

Keith checked his textbook for the next step after carefully making sure he had done the first two steps properly.

3. Wave your wand over the mixture, and leave the Valerian to brew in the Lethe water for 95 minutes.


Keith picked up his wand and held it over his cauldron, before giving it a slight wave. He looked back at the book to see what was next. "Wait.. 95 minutes?" Keith asked himself quietly. Wow, this would surely be a long wait. He sat back down into his chair and decided that for the remainder of his waiting time, he would practice simple spells on his wand, such as Lumos and Nox. He hoped the Professor wouldn't mind, seeing as this was Potions and not Defence Against the Dark Arts.

James carefully glanced around at the students working on their potions, some doing the waiting time and one in particular, the gryffindor boy who spoke earlier, Keith was his name, was doing spells with his wand, turning a light on and off from the tip of his wand repeatedly. He stared at him, and James knew that he looked back. He thought of it, and allowed him to continue by giving him a slight nod. He wouldn't regularly allow this to a student, but seeing as the waiting time is long, It wouldn't hurt to do a time- killer.

It was time for them to start brewing their first potion. James took out his mortar and pestle from his bag, as well as his set of basic ingredients. Placing them beside his cauldron, he also grabbed his Potions textbooks, Advanced Potion Making and One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi and deposited them on each side of it. That way, he could follow the instructions from the first while reading some additional information about the ingredients from the second. Then, he went to the cupboard at the back of the room to collect the necessary components that weren't in his set. Once he regained his seat, he sorted the ingredients on his desk and stood right in front of his cauldron. Finally, he pulled the sleeves of his school robe to his elbows so that they wouldn't bother him. He was now ready to begin.

The first step consisted of adding two drops of Lethe water to the cauldron, and then heating it. James carefully took the elegant blue bottle and slowly leaned it over his cauldron. Precision was obviously crucial in this discipline, as every slight mistake could ruin the entire potion. Gently tapping the top of the phial, he added exactly two drops into the brew. The white liquid progressively dissolved in the water, leaving the mixture completely identical. Since there were no indications in the book as to a change in colour of the potion, James pursued, hoping that he didn't do anything wrong.

Setting the burner to low, James fixed his watch while the brew was heating. Unlike some of the other items he had brought from his home, his watch worked perfectly at Hogwarts, so he continued wearing it, although none of his classmates seemed to have one. As soon as it indicated that twenty seconds had passed, he instantly turned off the flames. Small silvery fumes were now rising from the mixture.

He next had to add two sprigs of Valerian to the brew. After taking a few seconds to read about this magical plant in his other textbook, James cautiously selected two of its twigs and dropped them into his cauldron. He watched them slowly sink and disappear at the bottom of the concoction, then turned his attention back to the instructions. Utterly concentrated on the task, as it required the utmost precision and perfect timing, he took his ladle and stirred exactly three times clockwise. The swirling liquid slowly started to adopt a somewhat darker tone. Satisfied, he glanced at the textbook again to see what was next.

Chloe's little alarm on her watch rang and she jumped. She had finished reading the book about 20 minutes ago and had spent the rest of the time just sitting, becoming drowsier and drowsier by the second. She looked at the texbook and went to see what the next step was:
4. Add two measures of the standard ingredient and four mistletoe berries to a pestle and mortar. Grind into a medium-fine powder.

She added two measures of the standard ingredient and the four mistletoe berries to a pestle and mortar. She grinded and grinded it as hard as she could so she got the accurate type of powder that was needed. Once she felt it a medium-fine powder, she went on to the next step.

5. Add two pinches of this powder to the cauldron, and stir five times anti-clockwise to blend the ingredients.

She grabbed two pinches of the powder and added it to the cauldron. When she did, a noise happened inside the cauldron but she figured that was whats meant to happen when adding ingredients. She got the ladle and stirred five times but anti clockwise. When she smelt it, she seemed to become a little forgetful but it weared off after 10 seconds as she had only smelt it so it wouldnt be very strong. She was quite happy by this as it showed her that she had done it correctly so far.

As indicated in the next step, James took out his wand from his pocket and waved it over his cauldron. Putting it back to its place, he read the following instruction, which said that he had to wait ninety-five minutes for the Valerian to brew in the Lethe water. Sweeping the sweat from his forehead, James sagged onto his chair, glad he could rest for a while. There was now a warm and steamy atmosphere in the room, created by a dozen boiling cauldrons in a small space. For the first time since he started making the potion, he glanced around to see how the others were doing. He had been so concentrated on the task that he even forgot they were there. Apparently, most of them had reached the same step he did, and had now found some other occupation while waiting for the mixture to brew.

Glancing at his watch, he made sure to remember the time in order to know when ninety-five minutes had passed. Taking his Potions textbook in his hand, he started reading about the first brews it described, while still regularly checking his cauldron to see if everything was all right. He apparently had a lot to catch up in comparison to the others, so he figured it would be best to start right away.

Aurora took another look at the blackboard. The next step was to wave her wand and then wait... for 95 minutes? This seemed like an excessive amount of waiting time, but as no one else seemed to have a problem, and she knew that Professor Wayne was a great teacher, she followed the instructions. She picked up her beautiful wand, praying that this time it wouldn't blow anything up, like her cauldron and waved it over her potion in a flowing circular motion. A bolt of light shot out from the end of her wand and hit the potion, disappearing as soon as it had materialized. Aurora almost shrieked, but thought better of it and peered into her cauldron. The potion was now bubbling gently, as if laughing at her fear.

Aurora leaned back in her seat and let out a sigh of relief. Nothing was wrong, phew. Aurora succintly looked around and noticed her classmates reading their textbooks or practicing magic. Figuring that this would be a good time to practice her Transfiguration, since she hadn't quite gotten it in class, she pulled out one of the matches that she had taken to carrying around with her. She pointed her wand at it and stared, trying to force it to assume the shape of a needle. After a few tries, she got it halfway, as she had done before, but knew she had to make it better.

Almost half an hour later, something happened. In a heartbeat, Aurora's needle elongated, shimmering gently, and became a perfect needle. She could have shouted in joy, but maintained silence as she looked at her timer. Ninety minutes had passed. The potion would be ready in five. Aurora relaxed, happy in the fact that she could do something in Transfiguration, even if it would never be her best subject.

After a while of waving his wand and casting spells, Keith looked at his timer, there were only a few seconds left before it went off. Keith switched it off and glanced at his textbook to find the next step.

4. Add two measures of the standard ingredient and four mistletoe berries to a pestle and mortar. Grind into a medium-fine powder.

Keith searched through his ingredients, eventually finding a pouch full of the standard ingredient. He took two measures of the standard ingredient, and put it into his mortar. He looked back at his textbook. Four mistletoe berries, it read. He searched for the jar of mistletoe berries, and slowly dropped one of them into the mortar one by one. He then picked up the pestle and crushed the mixture with it until it was a medium-fine powder. After he was finished, he turned to the textbook for the fifth step.

5. Add two pinches of this powder to the cauldron, and stir five times anti-clockwise to blend the ingredients.

He took a pinch of the powder from his mortar and sifted it into the cauldron, before repeating the step once. He grabbed his ladle and carefully stirred the mixture around five times anti-clockwise. Once he finished, he noticed there weren't any lumps and the mixture seemed to be blended very well, which is was meant to be, according to the textbook. Happy he was doing well, he turned to the textbook for the last step.

Chloe had looked at the next step and realised that it was the last. She looked at the other students around her to see where they were at, most were around the 5th or last step. Then, she turned her attention back to the cauldron and looked at what the next step was:
6. Wave your wand over the cauldron to finish the potion, and decant carefully into a crystal phial.

She waved her hand over the cauldron like she did before and now started to get the phial ready. She poured the potion gently into the phial until it was full.
She went to the Professor who was sitting at his desk, gently placed the phial on his desk and said
" Professor Wayne, this is my phial of forgetfullness potion "

James was writting on parchment paper deeply on important and secretive stuff as he noticed a student coming his way. He hid the paper and she put a phial on thedesk and said, " Professor Wayne, this is my phial of forgetfullness potion ". James let it on the desk and said,"thank you. You may leave. "

Keith carefully scanned his textbook for the last step.

6. Wave your wand over the cauldron to finish the potion, and decant carefully into a crystal phial.

Keith smiled. This would be simple enough. He picked up his wand and help it over the mixture in his cauldron and gave it a slight wave. He then grasped hold of one of his crystal phials and gently poured the mixture into the phial. He closed it up and began to walk up to Professor Wayne's desk. He noticed a Ravenclaw girl already up there, Chloe, he believed her name was. He came up to the desk and handed his crystal phial to the Professor. "I've finished my potion, sir." He exclaimed.

Aurora smiled. Her potion had been simmering for ninety-five minutes. She looked at the next direction and was irked to see that she could have been grinding the ingredients in the mortar during the wait. Sighing, she dipped her measuring cup into the standard ingredient and poured two cupfuls into the mortar. Then she picked up the jar of mistletoe berries and shook four out onto the palm of her hand. She turned her hand over, letting the berries land in the standard ingredient with a soft plop. She took the pestle in hand and crushed the ingredients together until the powder was somewhere between fine and rough, bordering more on fine. Aurora assumed that this was medium-fine, so she continued to the next step.

She picked up two 'pinches' between her fingertips and dropped them into the cauldron, which hissed as the new ingredient was added. She then stirred five times around anti-clockwise,which caused the potion to roil gently. Aurora prepared for the final step, so she could leave the room and work on her homework.

James went back to his writing after the ravenclaw girl left,and wadagain confronted by the gryffindor boy who had answered a question earlier." I've finished my potion, sir." He said. James said, "Thank you. Now get out."

"Thank you. Now get out." Professor Wayne told him. Keith was about to say something, but decided against it and walked back to his desk. He grabbed his textbooks and walked out of the classroom without another word.

Chloe packed up her books and left, along with a Gryffindor boy who had come up to the Professors desk a few seconds after she did. She took down the homework and headed back along the dungeon corridor leaving the cold and grimness behind.

Aurora took a deep breath. She was about to finish her first potion in class. Closing her eyes, she waved her wand and the lightning bolt again shot out of the end. The potion turned a clear, smoky color. It even looks forgetful, Aurora thought as she scooped some out in a cup and poured it into her phial. She swiftly added the top, as she didn't want to spill any. She stepped up to the professor's desk, where tow phials were already waiting. "Professor Wayne, I've finished. And thank you for pushing me. I really needed that. And I want you to know that I deeply appreciate you and your teaching," Aurora finished as she hoisted her bag over her shoulder and left the classroom. She lit the end of her wand for warmth, but she didn't really need it. She was already warm inside for happiness.

James stopped writting and noticed many students finishing their potions. Some turned the wrong colors, and the others looked great. Aurora walked up to his desk and said, "Professor Wayne, I've finished. And thank you for pushing me. I really needed that. And I want you to know that I deeply appreciate you and your teaching."

James looked at her, and said, "No problem. I hope your potion is well and so is the homework."

1. Add two drops of Lethe water to your cauldron, and heat gently for twenty seconds.

Isabella grabbed the Lethe water and carefully poured in two drops. Then she turned the knob at the bottom of her cauldron to let it heat for twenty seconds.

2. Add two sprigs of Valerian to your cauldron, and stir three times clockwise.

She picked up the Valerian springs and dropped them into her cauldron. Then she stirred it three times, making sure that she was stirring it clockwise.

They were finally instructed to do a potion. Their cauldrons were already set on their tables and ready to be used. As instructed on the board, Kim started to brew without any further questions. She started on getting the required ingredients at the back of the room. As soon as she was done, she went back to her working area and started her work.

'1. Add two drops of Lethe water to your cauldron, and heat gently for twenty seconds,' she told herself in a whisper. She took the bottle that contains Lethe water and poured two drops of it. She looked at the clock in front of the room and counted for twenty seconds. As soon as she decided that the required time is enough to continue to the next step, she glanced again at the board. '2. Add two sprigs of Valerian to your cauldron, and stir three times clockwise.'

As instructed, she took the two Valerian from the table and put it into the cauldron. She stirred three times in a clockwise manner. While doing it, curiosity filled her mind. 'Cooking and potion making is totally different.' She had never seen a cook book back home that instructed to stir in a specific manner. The wizarding community really seem to be detail-oriented.

Ten minutes before the indicated ninety-five had passed, James switched his attention back to his Potions textbook, carefully reading the next step a few times in order to make sure that he had understood it correctly. After taking two measures of standard ingredient from his set and grabbing the four mistletoe berries he had brought from the classroom cupboard, he deposited them into his mortar, making sure that he had completely removed all of the plant's leaves, as they were toxic according to the manual. Firmly grasping his pestle, he crushed the ingredients until they they formed a medium-fine powder, as indicated in the book.

Holding a pinch of the powder between his index and his thumb, he fixed his watch, and exactly when the resting time for the potion was over, he scattered it around the surface of the liquid. He then repeated the maneuver one more time, and noticed that the mixture was now a bit denser. He now had to stir the potion precisely five times in a counter-clockwise direction. As the ingredients were mixing with one another, the brew progressively became smoother and its colour also somewhat darkened. Hoping that this was a sign that everything was as it should be, James glanced at the final instruction, satisfied that he had come this far without anything apparently going wrong.