Potions: Lesson One - Amortentia (Years 5-7)

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Potions tended to be one of the harder classes, especially because it was Professor Balan who was the potions master. He was tough, and clearly he didn't care whether or not he hurt a student's feelings. But that was both good, and bad. Some sensitivity was needed for younger students, but she knew from her older sister that people in the adult world didn't care much for others either. So in a way, she liked to think of him preparing them for the big bad world.

Lucy was running late that morning, having over slept after a rather sleepless night. She'd woken up with a splitting headache and no time to get to the kitchen to have some coffee to wake her up. When she reached the classroom, she was noticeably dishevelled. Her hair was scraped into a messy bun and she hadn't any time to apply her usual makeup. She knew that she looked exhausted, but she dare not take time to fix herself up when it was Professor Balan teaching. Thankfully, she'd managed to brush her teeth before she had rushed to class.

She walked in, thanking her lucky stars that class hadn't yet begun, and hurriedly took the first seat she saw.

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OOC: TW - Mild Racism.

James waited patiently for the class to fill, his attention mostly on his book. Except for the incessant talking of two of the students. New students, if James was correct. He allowed it for a minute, or two, but as it continued (in a language the Irishman did not understand), James grew annoyed. Another minute, and the classroom full, James slammed his hands down on the table, and stood up.

The bang in the room was quite loud, and hopefully had the effect he wanted. Silence.

"There will be no further use of any other language, except English." He informed the class as a whole, though his eyes were on the two that had been speaking in another language. "And if you can't say it in English, then it should not be said in this room." He told them. The idea of a nice lesson had gone, in that moment - James had the irrational idea they had been speaking about him, and he refused to allow them that privilege again.

"Today." James continued, eyes roaming the faces before him. "You will have a test. Put your books away, notebooks away, everything away." James told them, flicking his wand towards the board to reveal a set of instructions.

Ingredients:

Recipe:

James turned back to the class on completion of the instructions. "You will work alone, or in pairs. You will not talk loudly. Each of you will submit an example of your work, together with what you think the potion is. You're not to consult your books, and you're not allowed to ask others for help in respect of what the potion is. You have two hours. Begin." James explained, sitting back down at his desk, and picking up his magazine.

Lets see how they fair with this, he thought to himself, hiding his satisfied smirk behind the magazine.

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A test the first lesson back was exactly the sort of thing that Balan would do. Classic Balan. And naturally, it was an immensely complicated potion, she noted as she shoved her textbook into her bag and shoved it under her desk. Despite it's complexity, Violet wasn't worried, all she had to do was follow the recipe precisely and it should turn out fine. As for knowing what the potion was… Violet didn't have the faintest. She'd worry about that once she'd finished. She'd recognise it, she had no doubt.

She began collecting the ingredients. She retook her seat at her desk and took some time to read and re-read the instructions before she began. She hadn't made it before, so she did this in order to prevent herself from mis-reading the instructions, skipping a step and stuffing it up.

She turned her flame on low and started to melt the ice. She was careful, particular, and kept the flame so low that it melted very slowly. She wouldn't risk cracking it. She started on slicing the vanilla beans.

She she went on, mixing in the direction it told her to, waiting with her eyes on her watch for the correct amount of time to pass before she continued on. Grinding and stirring ingredients, continuously to make sure that it didn't become lumpy…

One of the oddest things she found was that it had pomegranate and vanilla beans, not the typical potions ingredients. She knew from those additions that it would either be something beneficial, or potentially poisonous.

Finishing up, she dropped the pearl in the pot, and stirred clockwise, than anticlockwise. Now, she didn't expect the potion to be perfect. Practise are perfect, and she basically sight-read the potion. And although she had taken great care, it didn't mean that she didn't make some mistake somewhere. Though it couldn't've been too bad.

An aroma filled her nostrils. Clean, sharp, bitter, and yet, to Violet at least, attractive. Soon the sharp bitterness (which she came to realise smelt of gin) turned ashy, hot, like a fire. She leaned over the cauldron and inhaled deeply. It clicked for her what it was. The changing scents that catered to her preferences was the indicator.

She filled a vial of the potion and jotted down on the label Amortentia before placing the vial on Balan's desk, leaving without a word. She had no reason to stay any longer.

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When the loud bang filled the room fllowed by silence, Lux glanced up to see the professor. She grinned as he threw shade at the two annoying Asians. They deserved it and worse. In her opinion, the professor should have been harsher on them and not let them get away so easily. But as he mentioned the test, Lux grinned, having no worries about it.

She read through the list of ingredients and collected what she needed, making a few trips. She arranged them neatly on her desk and began the potion. Making sure the fire was low, she put the glacial ice in the cauldron then began slicing the vanilla beans. She kept her eyes on the clock, making sure her timing of adding the beans was precise. Once that was done, she waited for the half an hour to pass and stirred as instructed.

This potion was more difficult than any others she'd made, with complicated instructions and more details but Lux wasn't going to let it bring her grade down. She was extra careful as she made the potion, following the instructions to the letter, though it was tedious and she was tempted to dunk everything in all at once. She almost did not take out the wilted cherry blossoms out in time but breathed a sigh of relief when she wasn't too late.

She relaxed a little once the last few steps became easier, dropping the pearl in the pot and stirring as instructed. As she was searching her memory to discover the identity of the potion, a fragrance filled her nostrils. She'd know that smell anywhere. It was the smell of blood and somewhere in there was the smell of coffee. A smile curved her lips.

Taking some of the liquid out, she put it in a vial and labelled it with her name as well as the word Amortentia. She set it down carefully on the professor's desk. "Have a nice day," she said to him, shooting him a sweet smile just to spite him and made her way out of the room.

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Cole had enjoyed Potions, under the census that it involved making others do what you want them to do, whether it be a truth serum, or a love potion, since sometimes people needed a little drop of a truth serum to learn to tell the truth, even if it meant total embarrassment, it got one farther than lying.

As he had those thoughts, he continued walking to Potions, wondering what in the world they would be teaching and as he soon arrived to the classroom he knew he was late, as he soon entered the room which had sometimes seemed dark, and he soon saw Professor Balan was there and had already put ingredients and recipes on the board, as well as instructions.

Soon he looked and he said to the professor. " Professor Balan, I am sorry that I was late. " he said as he took a seat, and watched as people were talking in other languages and he soon the professor get up from his desk, and scold them.

The seventeen year old wondered if he was racist or something, since others had the right to speak in the language they chose, but he soon let it go off his mind as he placed his cauldron on his desk and looked through his books for the recipe.

Soon beginning to put the first of the instructions in, and resumed hoping he would not get interrupted since it seemed the professor was not in a good mood. Which meant he wanted to stay out of and not get himself into any trouble.

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Sophie had loved Potions, since it required reading directions, and from that making a creation which is not just a thought in one's mind, and that made the fifteen year old happy. The only problem was she did not like Professor Balan, since to her and how he did not seem to want to teach.

It put in her mind that he did not children, and in her mind, how does someone teach a class and not like the children. They might as well just be an independent Potion's master. Which soon had her run to class since she was studying for that class to not worry about the time.

The Gryffindor soon looked as she continued running to the class with her bag on her shoulder, and she had her hair in a messy bun since she was up late studying. Then soon she had arrived to the classroom as she entered it.

The girl had saw that her Professor had managed to actually be present in the class, as she soon took a seat and soon she looked, and she said.

" Professor Balan, I am sorry that I was late. " said Sophie as she soon took a seat by her brother and began getting her Potion ingredients out which were on the board and soon getting her cauldron prepared as she began brewing as she was instructed.

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Mei Xin laughed in reply to Chee Wye. She'd never badmouthed a teacher to their face before and though there was the slight twinge of guilt, she felt that this particular professor deserved it. It was almost like he was trying to get his students to hate him or something. She couldn't deny that he was good at what he did, which was potions, but his teaching skills sure could use some improvements.

"Mandarin lor," she replied to his question, grinning because he left out the obvious. Coming from Penang, she was fluent in Hokkien but Mandarin make up a large part of her conversation as well. Thinking about it now, she was amazed at how well she could express herself with so many languages at hand. Sometimes, she pitied the Westerners for being limited to one language. It was so restrictive and not at all sufficient to describe certain feelings.

Just as she was about to tease Chee Wye for leaving out Mandarin in his list of languages, a loud noise made her jump in her seat. Her eyes darted to the professor, and all thought left her mind as he began talking. She blushed in humiliation and anger at his words, pursing her lips in an attempt to keep back an impolite retort. He had absolutely no right to stop them from speaking in another language. It was like asking an Italian to not speak Italian or a Spanish to not speak Spanish. It was an insult to her culture and nationality. She had pretty choice words to dish back at him but now was not the time to pick a fight.

So she settled for cursing him in her mind with every curse she knew in Mandarin, Hokkien and Cantonese. The Chinese sure had no lack of curses and most of them were more colourful than the English ones. She'd tried to be nice and respectful to the professor but if he couldn't grant her the courtesy of speaking in her mother tongue, he did not deserve any respect at all.

She tried to push aside the thoughts and concentrate when the lesson began. Though she wanted to create an entirely different potion to spite the professor, this would be a test and Mei Xin had yet to fail any academic test given to her. She collected the necessary ingredients, taking a little extra of each in case she damaged or spoiled some. Reading through the instructions twice, she made mental notes of the parts she had to be extra careful with.

She followed the instructions, double checking each step before carrying it out. The hours spent in the kitchen back home cooking meals for her family paid off. She was well organised and had developed the stamina needed. It called for a lot of concentration but Mei Xin powered through, determined to ace the test and only relaxing when she'd completed the potion. A smile lit up her face as an aroma filled the room. It was the fragrance of durian. Choke on the smell of that, professor! She loved durian but it was common knowledge that not everybody could tolerate the smell and taste. Most ended up vomiting.

But layered underneath the smell of the durian was a hint of asam laksa, curry mee, and har mee. Her throat constricted as feelings of homesickness welled up in her at the fragrance. How she missed those dishes! Pushing the emotions back, she put some of the potion in the vial and labelled it with her name and the identity of the potion. There was only one thing it could be. Amortentia.

She put it down on the profeossor's table then looked straight into his eyes. "I hope you drown in the misery of your racism," she said quietly so only he could hear. "Making people ashamed of their culture is one of the cruelest things a human can do to another. Prohibiting people the freedom of speaking in their mother tongue is to strip them of part of their identity."

Her heart racing from the boldness of her speech, something that was uncharacteristic of her, Mei Xin made her way out of the room. She was usually soft spoken, shy and not courageous enough to stand up for herself when pushed in the mud and trodden down. But she would not stand and do nothing when her culture and heritage was put to shame.

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The outburst that came on the exit of the Ravenclaw student was one James had not expected, but she was a child, and James simply did not care for her words, he looked up, briefly, as she tried to tell him off. But, his eyes were back on his book before she had even finished. What did he care for her opinion?

James did not.

So, once she had left, James wrote out a detention slip for the young Ravenclaw - to be served with her Head of House - for a few evenings the next week for being rude to a professor. After sending the note on it's way to the Headmaster, James checked his watch, just in time for the class to end. "Right, everyone, pack up your things, label what you have, and leave. Class is finished." James told them, waiting for the remaining vials to be handed in.

Class now closed.

House Points:
Kaleb Ambrose = 10 points for attendance
Sophie Roiben = 10 points for attendance
Audrina Snow = 10 points for attendance
Cole Roiben = 10 points for attendance
Joshua Abbott = 10 points for attendance
Leong Chee Wye = 10 points for attendance
Violet Lynch = 10 points for attendance + 15 points for participation = 25 points.
Aaron Tate = 10 points for attendance
Arden Snow = 10 points for attendance
Chrisy Lynn = 10 points for attendance
Finley Allen = 10 points for attendance
Gabrielle Fontaine = 10 points for attendance
Isaline Charlot = 10 points for attendance
Phua Mei Xin = 10 points for attendance + 15 points for participation = 25 points.
Felipe Cassan = 10 points for attendance
Lucy Waters = 10 points for attendance
Lux Bailey = 10 points for attendance + 15 points for participation = 25 points.
Madison Bishop = 10 points for attendance
Melody Bishop = 10 points for attendance
Verena Richardson = 10 points for attendance

TOTAL:
Gryffindor: 20
Hufflepuff: 65
Ravenclaw: 85
Slytherin: 75

» Potions: Lesson Three - The Practicality of Potions (All Years)
» Potions Lesson 3 [Years 5-7]
» Potions: Lesson 1 (Years 1-4)
» Potions: Lesson Three (All Years)
» Potions: Lesson Two (All Years)