Potions - Lesson Two (First to Fifth Years)

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As class started, Maddie couldn't help but turn to watch the man speaking. Not bothering to offer up any answers when the question was presented, she instead took that opportunity to study the other students around, wondering if they had seen the same thing she had. Probably not, she decided, as they began to speak without a trace of respect.

When the instructions came, Maddie wrote them down quickly, nodding at his words before moving to the cabinet to gather the ingredients she needed. Talking was obviously not something their Professor wanted, and by all means necessary she was going to obey that. Placing the basic things on the counter in front of her, she let out a soft sigh. Following instructions was not something she wanted - and besides, a posion was so much more fun to make than something that shrunk a person. What kind of idocy was that? But she knew she had to, and so, with another sigh, she began.

Removing the blood from the Shrivelfigs wasn't at all as messy as she imagined, and she poured it slowly into the cauldron in front of her, using her right hand to stir, before raising the heat just a little. Keeping one eye on the contents, she neatly and precisely diced the roots and tossed that in. "Urg," she moaned slightly as she forced herself to physically touch the caterpillars, but in they went nevertheless.

Not bothering to look around as she shook the jar of wormwood, she emptied the pieces and then stirred for a few more minutes. "What, do Potioneers think up ways which would be the best to gross out the makers?" she murmured to herself, not loud enough for anyone to hear as she proceeded to 'juice' the leeches. "Disgusting."

More stirring was done, and then she made a face and muttered, "Point proven," as she added the spleen of a rat to her potion, followed quickly by the next ingredient, a flower of some kind. She hated flowers.

"Almost there, thank Merlin," she commented to herself, stirring for the last time. Turning up the temperature once more, she fetched her wand from the side of her table and mimicked the pattern traced on the board. Finally done, it was only then that she glanced around, surprised to see she was the first to finish. Potions was always so easy, it came as a shock to find that nobody else had completed theirs faster. After all, she was a first year, and there were some older boys who had no doubt done potions for much longer than her. Shrugging lightly, she raised a hand and waited to be called on before simply saying, "I've finished, Professor."

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Finley had sat scribbling in the usual manner of his as the class started. Making a note of everything that was said and making notes from his book too. Finley was always quite thorough on the theory, because he knew he could excel on that part, of course, he did need much more practice in everything else, and that was probably his own fault for not being more rounded in his studies.

Once the instructions had been given, Finley had followed Madison up to the store cupboard, giving her a small smile as he collected his ingredients before hurrying back to his desk. With Finley, Potions had always been a little harder because his hands shook just a little too much to be vastly accurate, and at times he wasn't quite careful enough in his movements for the potion to be made correctly.

Not to mention the fact they used such disgusting ingredients always made the Muggleborn boy feel completely sickened by this world's ideas of normality. Taking out two Shrivelfigs from the pot, Finley gently squeezed them, trying to get the blood to come out of them in to the cauldron as it began to heat the base potion. The juice ran between his fingers, and Finley had to look away to stop the nausea from growing stronger in that moment.

Once he was quite sure that this was done, Finley put them on the side, wiping his hands on a piece of cloth before he stirred the mixture slowly, peeping over the top of the cauldron to try and see what was happening. He couldn't see though, so instead Finley checked his book and turned up the heat a little bit to make sure it warmed through as stated.

The next step made Finley a little nervous, knives and him were never a good mix. Raising the knife, he chopped the daisy roots as carefully as he could, trying not to catch his fingers as he worked. There were a couple of close calls, but for once, Finley had managed to wield a knife without injury.

5. Add five hairy caterpillars.

Hairy? Why in Merlin's name... Shuddering a little, Finley shoved his hand in to the pot and quickly threw five hairy caterpillars in to the cauldron. Not bothering to look at what happened anymore, Finley returned to his book and checked what was next.

Shaken wormwood. Finley honestly didn't know why it had to be specifically shaken, but set about doing that anyway, shaking the jar most profusely before pushing some in to the cauldron. Potioneers were bonkers, Finley was almost certain of that fact! Picking up his ladle once more he stirred 'vigorously'. Okay, Potioneers were bonkers and not very precise, these instructions were certainly not easy to follow!

The next question made the boy feel queasy once more. Juicing leeches. Mad, mad, MAD! Finley thought to himself as he squeezed the things, trying not to worry about the sliminess, or the weird coloured goo coming out of the things. Adding the juice was easier, and Finley took his time stirring as he read the next instruction.

Closing his eyes, Finley took a deep breath and followed the next couple of instructions with little and less connection to what he was doing. He felt so ill, he didn't wish to deal with this anymore, but he didn't seem to have much choice in that matter.

Only when he got to the stage of waving his wand did Finley open his eyes properly again, following the shape from the board and then taking a vial of the concoction and putting it on the side. He wouldn't banish the rest, because that would only cause a great deal of mess. But the Ravenclaw didn't speak up, merely sitting taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down.

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The order for silence didn't bother Naomi and she moved to wait her turn in the Potions cupboard patiently, carefully rereading the instructions to make sure she didn't miss grabbing anything. Once she had all the necessary ingredients, she returned to her desk, laying the things out carefully.

Potions weren't Naomi's best subject, but that was only because she had little passion for them. She could measure out the ingredients as precisely as she could and follow the stirring instructions to the letter, but her potions would usually come out very slightly off perfect because she didn't have an instinctive feel for their making.

Shrugging away those thoughts, Naomi got to work. She noticed other students making faces at the ingredients. While she'd much rather have dirt than Shrivelfig juice staining her fingers, it didn't bother her too much either. She prepared her ingredients without complaint, though her nose did wrinkle very slightly at the unpleasant squelching sound the leeches made when she juiced the, careful not to spill too much as she directed the juice into a spare vial. She'd hate to have to do an extra to make up for lost juice.

Soon, Naomi was done, waving her wand in the movement pictured in her book. Her potion was rather more chartreuse than the acid green it was supposed to be, but it was close enough that she felt comfortable turning it in. She very carefully poured it into a vial for turn in, not spilling a drop. She raised her hand, waiting for the professor to come over so she could turn in her finished product.

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Josh watched the students who could be bothered to attempt the potion with little and less interest. With the younger years you had to watch to make sure they didn't blow themselves up. Though, that would have been a highlight of the day Dear Mr & Mrs X, I am sorry to tell you that your child is an idiot and blew themselves up. Sincerely, Mr J E Murray.

The Murray heir was almost ready to tamper with a cauldron just to be able to write that letter, but the paperwork wasn't something Joshua wished to be pulled in to.

So, instead, he merely nodded as three vials were handed to him. "Right, time is now up. For those who didn't bother to try, your grades will be Trolls, no exceptions. To those who have tried, your grades will come via owl." Josh explained, motioning them all to the door.

Class Now Closed.

Points
Felix Soulsby = 10 points for attendance
Finley Allen = 10 points for attendance + 15 points for participation = 25 points.
Kellin Renwick = 10 points for attendance
Naomi O'Hare = 10 points for attendance + 5 points for answer + 15 points for participation = 30 points.
Rhys Buckshaw = 10 points for attendance + 5 points for answer = 15 points.
Madison Bishop = 10 points for attendance + 15 points for participation = 25 points

TOTAL:
Gryffindor: 10
Hufflepuff: 0
Ravenclaw: 105
Slytherin: 25

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» Potions Lesson 2: Years 1-4
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