Potions: Lesson One - Draught of Peace (Years 5-7)

Guest

Aiden sighed softly when he listened to Violet before wincing; it's not just adding too much of an ingredient can screw it up. It's also the fact of not paying attention to the instructions that can screw it up. The Draught of Peace was a hard potion to do and even missing one ingredient can be fatal to both the maker and the drinker.

Aiden startled when he saw the fifth year Ravenclaw sit by him before giving Finley a small smile of reassurance. He knew of the boy's anxiousness so he was willing to play buffer for the lesson.

"The Draught of Peace is a potion that is used to calm anxiety and sooth agitation." Aiden said with a soft tone of voice. "It helps calm down students between their tests, for example." He could clearly remember the medi-witch giving him a vial of that potion when his exam preparations came up. He was a mess that day.

Guest

"That, Miss Lynch, is four ingredients. It seems you need to go back to basics, starting with maths." James replied when the Hufflepuff listened the ingredients. Though it was picky, James was a man of precision, and it seemed the girl before him was not quite up to his standards. "But, you're right in your answer of the four.

"Though, I might hasten to add, all potions require that you pay attention, so the second point is rather redundant, don't you think?" He posed the question but left no time for the Hufflepuff to respond, he simply wasn't interested in what she thought, she wasn't a potioneer, and therefore didn't know more than he did on the subject.

As the Head Boy continued with the explanation, James merely gave a short nod. "Good enough." He commented, before motioning to the back of the room. "A tray has been set out for each of you to make the potion. Please begin. And don't blow anything up."

With that, James returned to his desk, taking up his magazine and concentrating on it's contents more than his students actions.

Guest

Letting out a sigh, Aiden got out of his seat and eyed the Ravenclaw next to him before smiling softly. "Come along Finley, let's get the tray's." He murmured before moving to the back of the room to grab a tray for himself and waited for Finley to grab one himself before walking back to their desk.

Placing the tray with the ingredients down, he grabbed his cauldron and set it up before he looked at his book and read through the instructions to make sure he had remembered them correctly. It wouldn't do to mess this potion up, especially when he was in his last year.

Spoiler:

Breathing a deep sigh of relief, Aiden got to work, his mind not thinking of anything else but the potion he was currently making.

Green. Blue. Purple. Pink. Turquoise. Purple. Red. Orange. Turquoise. Purple. Pink. Red. Purple. Grey. Orange. White.

And finally, as he went through the last step, he waited with a held breath which he let out as soon as he saw the silvery vapor emit from the potion.

He brewed it correctly.

And he was glad about that.

Leaning back in his seat, he looked at the clock and smiled softly. He had been done within the time-limit. Thankfully.

Guest

It seemed Finley had been dealt a small miracle when Professor Balan had not killed him for being late. Finley let out a soft sigh of thanks as the professor moved back to his desk without so much as acknowledging his lateness.

"Come along Finley, let's get the tray's."

The murmur from the Head Boy made Finley jump a little, before looking sideways at the boy and nodding his agreement. Following the Slytherin, Finley was grateful that the older boy had acknowledged his presence, many would have overlooked him. But, Finley didn't say this, instead taking a tray from the side and following the Head Boy back to their desk.

Aiden made no attempt to speak to Finley again, and the Ravenclaw was relieved, with Potions he needed to concentrate, especially now. Naomi had been the one who mixed the potions before, due to Finley's shaky hands, he'd simply cut and measured the ingredients, not mixed them in with care. His nerves were growing too as he opened his book, looking at the instructions and trying not to panic.

There were no instructions to cut anything, which made the Ravenclaw anxious. Lining the ingredients out, Finley followed the instruction slowly, making sure to take extra care as he poured the ingredients in to the cauldron not to over do it.

"And don't blow anything up."

Those words kept echoing in Finley's head as he continued, a fine sheen of sweat appeared on his brow as he worked, whether from the heat of the cauldron or the pressure of the situation could have been discussed at length, but Finley knew the answer. He moved through the colours carefully, checking each to the book every step of the way. His hands were shaking more than ever as he got to the final step.

Shaking the powdered quills in to the potion, Finley watched with bated breath as the colour started to change from orange through to white, carefully adding more to the concoction until it was the white specified. The vapour that came up from the potion was silver, and Finley checked his book to make sure this was right before standing back from the potion and letting out a relieved sigh.

It was the first time in his life Finley had brewed a potion on his own, successfully. And this, this was a very difficult one, he knew that. Checking his watch, Finley noted he'd only just finished the potion in time and let out an amused chuckle to himself. "You d-did it." He told himself happily, leaning over the cauldron once more to check the results.

Guest

Violet didn't much appreciate Professor Balan's corrections. She'd known her mistake as soon as she'd said it, and she'd wanted to emphasise the extra care that this particular potion needed. So much could go wrong… And she intended to prove that.

She remained quiet, holding the retort on her tongue. She had a feeling that this sort of man wouldn't be one to listen at all, regardless of how crude, rude or impressive it'd be. He seemed a 'no-nonsense' kind of man. So, she set to work in following the method she was told to.

She added the moonstone, stirred until it was blue, and continued to do so with a careful and steady hand. The colours changed when they were supposed to, there was no murkiness, bubbling or dullness to the liquid that suggested that anything had gone wrong yet. In fact, she had it simmering, and it had just turned a bright orange.

The thing about Violet was that she had a terrible habit of holding grudges. It was terrible because she did things that even at the time she knew that she'd probably regret. She didn't regret them for emotional reasons, like guilt, but rather because in some cases, it cost her house points.

With a sigh, she added the final porcupine quills to complete the potion. The orange turned white, and a silvery vapour was produced once she had finished. She took a vial and scooped some of the finished potion into it. She sealed it and walked to Professor Balan's desk, placing the sample of her potion there without a word. She'd noticed that no one else had done it, but she'd wanted to prove that yes, she was smart and talented and knew about potions, but she was feeling particularly spiteful that time.

She walked back to her desk, not taking a seat, but rather turning up the heat under her potion, and grabbing a handful of powdered moonstone, and hellebore syrup in her other hand, adding the two ingredients excessively. The heat caused the potion to bubble, and continue bubbling. The colour changed from the beautiful and pure white to a murky brown, the colour of polluted water. It started to rise and lurch in it's cauldron. As calm as ever, she picked up her bag and simply left. She was a few paces down the hall when she heard the explosion in the classroom, and she continued on her way to the next class, rather pleased with herself.

Guest

"Miss Vine, thank you for your displays of affection, they're not necessary in my room. For that, you and Mr Hostetler will be testing your potions on one another at the end of the lesson. And, a deep sleep will not rid you of your homework."

TJ's eyes had gone wide at that, the idea of testing his potion on Amy was not one he was in any way okay with doing. Why did Professor Balan have to be an asshole all the time? Maybe he wasn't getting any? Though, TJ added, he wasn't getting any either, and he wasn't a moody son of a gun.

But, TJ only thought that, and gave a small nod to show he understood what the professor had said. He would have to work damn hard now to make sure he didn't poison Amy. The idea in itself made TJ feel sick, but there was no way he was going to give the Professor the satisfaction. When they were told to get on, TJ went and collected two trays, one for himself, and one for Amy.

Bringing them back, TJ made sure to set them down gently and gave Amy a small smile. "Don't stress yourself out, if it goes wrong, it goes wrong. But, I will apologise now, I'm not the best potioneer." He told her, with a small smile.

Turning his attention to the potion, TJ opened his book and read through the instructions carefully. He had to make sure nothing went wrong.

And then, TJ began the potion, first with the base potion, and then quickly adding the powdered moonstone until the potion turned green. He stirred the concoction, waiting for it to turn the blue that the textbook insisted upon. Again, TJ added the powdered moonstone, checking the colour to the book once again. TJ continued through with this method, making sure it was right because his nerves were growing as he came closer to the end. To possibly poisoning Amy...

But, TJ's worry was interrupted by the bubbling of a cauldron nearby. He turned to see it unoccupied, and the sludge inside growing closer to the top. "Amy!" TJ called out, but before she could reply, he'd caught her in a hug and turned them away from the explosion that covered the room completely. Shielding her from any harm that might come from the potion bubbling over, TJ felt liquid drop on his back, but nothing happened.

His panic had been for nothing...

Until he looked in to his cauldron. His potion was ruined, and his face fell when he saw, looking towards Balan for some idea of what was about to come...

Guest

Lucy felt conflicted about the difficulty of the potion that they had to make today. On one hand, she was happy for the challenge, to put her skills to the test, and another, she wasn't confident that she could actually do it without screwing up. She knew she'd need to concentrate, and make absolutely sure that she didn't fumble.

She started with reading the method closely, making sure that she read every bit of information and didn't skim over anything. She added the powdered moonstone slowly, taking great care to stop as soon as it turned green. She stirred and then added more. She worked at a slow and steady pace, but not so slow that her potion would turn bad. The colours changes and looked to be bright and 'correct' looking.

She looked at the time and noticed that the lesson was nearly over, and a slight panic washed over her. She continued though, remaining calm. She was adding the final powdered porcupine quills when there was the sound of bubbling, and before she knew it it, an explosion. She jumped with fright, dropping the whole jar of it into her potion. She hastily turned off the heat and tried to scoop it out before too much damage happened, but it was too late. The white turned grey and she was certain it was ruined.

Posts : 1364 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

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
Amethyst Vine = 10 points for attendance
Violet Lynch = 10 points for attendance + 5 points for answer + 10 points for participation = 25 points. (James also says detention will be served.)
Finley Allen = 10 points for attendance + 10 points for participation = 20 points.
Tobias Hostetler = 10 points for attendance + 10 point for participation = 20 points.
Aiden Harvey = 10 points for attendance + 5 points for answer + 10 points for participation = 25 points.
Lucy Water = 10 points for attendance + 10 points for participation = 20 points.
Lux Bailey = 10 points for attendance

TOTAL:
Gryffindor: 0
Hufflepuff: 35
Ravenclaw: 40
Slytherin: 55

» Potions: Lesson One - Alihotsy Draught (All Years)
» Potions: Lesson Three - The Practicality of Potions (All Years)
» Potions: Lesson 1 (Years 1-4)
» Potions: Lesson Three (All Years)
» Potions: Lesson Two (All Years)