Potions Lesson 3 [Years 5-7]

Guest

Today was another day and he hoped that this time around he would have an active group of students attend his class. He wanted to give them a worthwhile time, one where they would realize that potions was truly something worthwhile. He briefly wondered if he should teach them more about poisons, that is until he realized that they would not yet be trusted with such information. Theory was all well and good, but he could not fathom the idea of actually teaching them to make undetectable poisons.

Instead, he moved towards a more practical if not more complicated lesson plan: Draught of Living Death. It was an easy enough test if he said so himself. During the brief break, he had asked that they read the passage on more uncommon potions and had them take it in detail. He knew that not many would, and thus this exam would prove to be a tough one.

While final exams weren't always the most popular he was not here to be make friends with the students but rather instill a deep knowledge of potions, poisons and whatever would come there way. Mulling over his choices, he scratched a few changes with his quill awaiting the other students to arrive.

Guest

If she was completely honest, she was not surprised at the fact that Mycroft was coming back to teach them. He had patience and while he had high expectations, she knew that they would do well. She had actually even received a letter from her father informing her of the change into her life. He had not asked how she was doing or if she had assimilated well. Instead it was all about how Mycroft was and how well he was doing, becoming more and more of a star in his own life and her hiding behind his bigger shadow.

In turn, her brother had given her the cutest little present ever: a chubby furball she had named Hades. He had the biggest eyes and she had found herself falling in love with the kitten. She had hugged her brother tightly and immediately fell into the role of mother. And in this morning as she tried to get her scarf from the chubby kitten, and the meowing continued, she knew she would be late.

It was as she pushed the door open that no one had actually yet to show up. She felt a bit of sympathy for her brother, and she mumbled a good morning before sliding a photograph of her and Hades smiling brightly for his desk.

"Thank you" she murmured before moving to her usual seat waiting for class to start.

Subject: Re: Potions Lesson 3 [Years 5-7] Sun Nov 12, 2017 7:48 am

Potions had been taken over in the middle of the school year by one Mycroft Holmes. Elenore had been quite surprised that a man such as Mycroft would be interested in teaching people, but it had happened, and Elenore was so very surprised to see such an important name on her timetable. The witch had missed his first class, something that she regretted quite vehemently, but she'd found out from Tess what her brother had set for homework.

The winter break had seen Elenore studying up on the uncommon potions, as Professor Holmes -- she would have to get used to calling Myrcroft Holmes in that manner -- had asked them to. She was, therefore, quite prepared as she moved from the Hufflepuff Common Room to the Potions classroom.

The class had not filled yet, it seemed, for only Tess had already arrived. "Good morning, professor." Elenore greeted the man at the front of the room politely, knowing now, more than ever, her Potions result was going to hold quite some weight with her parents. Especially if they knew the Professor.

Moving to the seat beside Tess, Elenore gave the Slytherin witch a warm smile. "Morning." She greeted, looking back to Mycroft for a moment, before looking back to Tess. "This should be interesting." She added, only so loudly as Tess could hear, because she didn't want to get either of them in trouble with Tess' brother.

It must be weird, Elenore reflected, getting her potions book from her bag. To have your brother teaching your classes. Elenore would have hated to be in Tess' position, the idea of Jacques teaching her anything would be a difficult burden to bear.

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Guest

Mycroft tried not to get miffed at the lack of participants in potions; he remembered how it used to be a core subject, especially for the N.E.W.T.s and O.W.L. examinations. Still, he figured that worse case it would give him time to go over some motions that would filter through lobbying. It was sometimes awkward to filter one work from the other, but he knew that the closer the summit date came, the harder it would be for him to be at two places at once.

Still he paid no heed. He was in the midst of reviewing the pleadings when a the door opened. He did not bother greeting a student, that is until something was slid towards him. Lifted his head he noticed it was his sister who actually was the first to attend. He tried not to look too surprised, but he could not help but hide his happiness when he saw that she had given him a little something. He thumb the picture slightly and bit back a smile as he saw her looking gleefully with the fat kitten he had purchased her. He knew he had done a good job then. The door opened once more before he could truly mention something, and he found himself hiding it before anyone else would take in the scene.

Seeing it was a familiar face, he lifted his eyebrow in surprise at her formal greeting; it was must appreciated if not a bit odd hearing from a familiar person. Still, seeing that there was no time to waste, he got up and began his lecture.

"Since your O.W.L.s are coming up, I want to give you a sample of what's to come in the future. Potions are always very particular when it comes to being brewed. Once must have the tenacity and yet be practical. And while it would be ideal to simply follow directions, I wish to challenge you today."

Moving forward, he began to bring up all the necessary ingredients:

The water, blood, wine, or essential oil for bases.
The moonstone, hellebore, porcupine quills, unicorn horn, dragon blood, and other odd ingredients.

"As you can see, you are to choose your base. Each one creates a different reaction. The Draught of the Living Dead, is surprisingly flexible, with it's power based on the potency of the potioneer. So I want you to eyeball and experiment and try to see if you can get the right measurements by simply following your instincts."

Snapping his finger the board began to show the basic instructions.

Add powdered moonstone until the potion turns green.
Stir until the potion turns blue.
Add powdered moonstone until the potion turns purple.
Allow to simmer until the potion turns pink.
Add syrup of hellebore until the potion turns turquoise.
Allow to simmer until the potion turns purple.
Shake powdered porcupine quills vigorously until they are ready and then add until the potion turns red.
Stir until the potion turns orange.
Add more porcupine quills until the potion turns turquoise.
Allow to simmer till the potion turns purple.
Add powdered unicorn horn until the potion turns pink.
Stir until the potion turns red.
Allow to simmer until the potion turns purple.
Add more powdered moonstone until the potion turns grey.
Allow the potion to simmer until it turns orange.
Add more powdered porcupine quills until the potion turns white.

"As you can see, I have been unclear about the options due to the test. Now, please begin brewing, you have an hour."

Guest

The Draught of the Living Death, Elleon knew, was a highly advanced potion traditionally taught to sixth year students. His O.W.L.s were around the corner though, so he didn't mind being challenged. Not to mention the fact that he'd been working extra hard this year, paying close attention to details and committing everything to memory. It helped that he had a natural flair for potions.

The moment Professor Holmes allowed them to start, Elleon reached to his ears and removed the hearing aids there. They didn't allow him to hear specific noises or the words that people spoke but with them, he could make out ambient sounds which helped a little. For this he would need the comfort of complete silence.

Before beginning on the potion proper, he weighed every ingredient and noted it down. The changes in the colour of the potion would tell him when to stop adding it in. His plan was to then re-weigh the ingredient and from simple math, deduce the amount that was added to the potion, making a complete recipe.

Deciding to start with the essential oil base, he added it to the cauldron and wrote down the amount he'd put in. After lighting the fire and noting the time, he began. He kept a keen eye as he added the powdered moonstone to the essential oil, stopping once it turned green. Working quickly, he set the leftover moonstone on the weighing scale and jotted down the amount before returning his attention to the potion, stirring it until it turn blue, counting the amount of times he stirred.

He picked up the powdered moonstone again, sprinkling it into the blue liquid until it turned purple and scribbling down the remaining amount after weighing it. Making sure the fire wasn't too hot, he let the potion simmer, writing down the time it took between him adding the powdered moonstone and the potion changing from purple to pink.

The moment it did, he began adding the syrup of hellebore. Since weighing a liquid would not be very accurate, he had put the syrup into a measuring cylinder so he could calculate it in mL. Once the potion turned from pink to turquoise, he stopped drizzling the syrup, and wrote down the amount he'd used.

While waiting for it to simmer, he shook the porcupine quills until they were ready. After noting down the time it took for the colour change from turquoise to purple, he added the porcupine quills until the potion turned red. He stirred it again, counting as he went, until the potion took on an orange hue before adding more porcupine quills until it turned turquoise.

While it simmered for a third time, he wrote measured and wrote down the amount of porcupine quills he'd used. Once the potion turned from turquoise to purple, he added in the powdered unicorn, stopping once it turned pink and jotting down the amount he'd used before stirring until the colour changed onced again to red.

He let it simmer, waiting until it turned purple and writing down the time. Picking up the powdered moonstone, he added it in until the potion turned grey, then letting it simmer until it changed to orange. He wrote down both the amount of moonstone he'd used as well as the time it took to simmer.

For the final step, he added powdered porcupine quills until the potion turned white. He poured the potion in a phial, labelling it with the base he'd used. Tearing a clean piece of paper from his notebook, he re-wrote the recipe starting off with the total amount of each ingredient then continuing into the steps of brewing, writing down the amount of each ingredient required for every step as well as the amount of time for simmering and number of stirs. He knew that to be fully accurate, he had to repeat the same potion a few times but since he had only one hour, he satisfied himself with what he'd done, convinced that he'd been thorough.

He had time for one more potion and he chose the blood base. He went through the previous steps, methodically measuring, re-measuring, timing, and counting, noting with interest that the amount, minutes, and number of stirs varied from when he used the essential oil base. He finished with five minutes before the hour was over and used that to quickly bottle the second potion, label it, and write up the recipe.

He handed both potions and recipes up, returned to his station to clean it, put his hearing aids back on and left the classroom after waving goodbye to the professor.

Guest

When the potion was announced, Tess had to admit that she was impressed by the whole idea that Mycroft had conjured. This was a blind format with portions being questionable and she enjoyed the experimentation that came in true potioneering.

Looking around, her eyes landed on the bases and she mulled over the possibilities. The idea of using blood seemed pointless because it would make the potion too thick for the end result. She instead decided on a classic base of water, with a few drops of essential oils: jasmine, lavender, and rose oil. The reasoning behind it were normal, lavender and jasmine were a calming factor for the olfactory senses, and the rose oil was firming for the body. As she mulled over the items she looked at the instructions and continued to move forward.

Add powdered moonstone until the potion turns green.

She began to eyeball it, she knew that if it was too much it would be used at a later portion. Small spoons were used to take care of the base. As the color began to rise, she then moved on to the next portion.

Stir until the potion turns blue.
Add powdered moonstone until the potion turns purple.
Allow to simmer until the potion turns pink.

The stirring began and she moved counterclockwise slowly allowing a slow simmer to began. She found herself at peace, enough to hum as she did so. This was her peace, this was simple. Still, removing the moonstone from the scale, she got happy.

Add syrup of hellebore until the potion turns turquoise.
Allow to simmer until the potion turns purple.
Shake powdered porcupine quills vigorously until they are ready and then add until the potion turns red.
Stir until the potion turns orange.

As the syrup was being opened, she picked up the cylinder and began to measure the thick substance. She knew that this would thicken the potion. Rather than throw it in, she slowly added a few drops as the potion began to simmer and then began to slowly turn it clockwise. She smirked seeing the turquoise; the color is so beautiful and the wished the potion stayed the same. As the porcupine pills she left the jar closer to the fire on purpose to allow them to stretch out, then grabbed a glove and began to shake the quills. Once it was time, she broke the quills allowing them to come into the cauldron.

Add more porcupine quills until the potion turns turquoise.
Allow to simmer till the potion turns purple.
Add powdered unicorn horn until the potion turns pink.
Stir until the potion turns red.
Allow to simmer until the potion turns purple.
Add more powdered moonstone until the potion turns grey.
Allow the potion to simmer until it turns orange.
Add more powdered porcupine quills until the potion turns white.

The last portion of the potion was the portion that she wanted out as quickly as possible. Lowering the fire, she added the last ingredients and slowly stirred the cauldron. As the potion began to shift she held her breath as the transformation began. Turning to white, she realized it was a pearly color and she smiled.

Posts : 1363 Join date : 2015-12-20

Admin Closure of Class.

Thank you to those who have posted in this class - unfortunately the professor cannot finish up the class, so an admin will close it. Points will be given as follows:

10 points for attendance
5 points for any question being answered
Up to 15 points for participation in class

Thank you for your participation - this will still count as one of your three classes.

If you have any questions in regards to the points being handed out (either as a student or professor) please contact myself or another admin via PM to discuss them.

House Points
Elenore Clement = 10 points for attendance
Elleon Caverley = 10 points for attendance + 15 points for particpation = 25 points.
Tess Holmes = 10 points for attendance + 15 points for participation = 25 points.

TOTAL:
Gryffindor: 0
Hufflepuff: 35
Ravenclaw: 0
Slytherin: 25

» Potions: Lesson Three - The Practicality of Potions (All Years)
» Potions Lesson 2: Years 1-4
» Potions - Lesson 3 [Years 1-4]
» Potions: Lesson 1 (Years 1-4)
» Potions Lesson 2: Years 5-7