Feral cat got your tongue? on Potions

Professor Yu

October 26, 2014 6:48 PM

<i>Furnunculus</i> reverso (Years 1 & 2) by Professor Yu

They had already been back at school for two weeks but the occurrences over the break were still bothering Diana. Her family had been denying the sexuality of her brother Stephen for the past decade but this year Stephen had brought his friend Henry home for the holidays and all hell had figuratively almost broken loose. Diana supposed that the blow-out could have been much worse but for her family it was as bad as it could have gotten. She and her two brothers had been raised to respect their parents and growing up there had never been many fights. However, this year she couldn't help but feel they were all in a silent fight and that, Diana felt, was much worse than yelling and getting it all out in the open. She just couldn't handle the way their parents liked to cover things up and act like everything was fine. She knew that they knew that Stephen knew that everyone knew that Stephen was gay and Diana just didn't understand why they couldn't come out (she laughed derisively at herself for the pun) and say it.

These thoughts were weighing heavily on her mind as she opened the Beginner's Potions class that afternoon because of a heated Floo call she'd had with her other brother's girlfriend, Sara, who was of the same opinion as Diana and the stress came into her voice as she introduced the potion for the day. "Although we all know to respect each other," she said, frowning. "Sometimes we can't help but get angry with those we love. Sometimes we even hurt them. One thing that we should never do is curse or jinx those we are arguing with. That is stooping to a new level that is wrong." Diana wished her family would just jinx each other and get it over with so they could apologize for that and get down to the real discussion like Sara had explained her family did. "Anyway," Diana cleared her throat, realizing that her lecture had gotten somewhat off topic. "There are certain spells that are painful and have no counter-curse. One such spell is Furnunculus, which produces unsightly, painful boils to break out across the victim's body. In order to clear these boils, we use the Cure for Boils potion which has two equally successful recipes. You can find them side by side in your books on pages 246 and 247. The reasoning behind this is in case the potion needs to be brewed in an emergency and certain ingredients are unavailable."

Diana thought the whole thing was ridiculous and her family had always kept a well-stocked medical cabinet with such potions inside in the case of an emergency. Besides, if one didn't have an ingredient there were stores all across the wizarding world that could be easily reached with a simple apparition or floo. "The recipe on page 246 is somewhat easier and so I would like the first years to try that potion and for the second years to try the slightly more difficult potion on page 247." She reached over and flipped the chalkboard to reveal the side she had written out the potions on. "I realize that not all of you have the same editions of the book and so I have taken the liberty to write the two recipes up on the board for each potion in case your book does not have your potion in it." She gestured to the left side of the board. "The recipe with snake fangs, horned slugs, and porcupine quills is for the first years and the recipe with pungous onions, flobberworm mucus, ginger root, and shrake spines is for the second-years."

OOC: The reasoning behind the two different potions is the wiki page has two different recipes. If you wish to use the page as a reference you can find it here. First years should pay attention to the potion from Magical Drafts & Potions, and second years to the potion from Book of Potions. If a first year believes themselves to be excellent at potions or wishes to try a challenge assume that if they had asked Diana for permission she would have given it to them if they truly were capable of doing so. As usual have fun, follow general posting rules and creativity will be awarded with extra points and tag Diana if she is needed.

Subthreads:

Once more unto the breach. by Joella Curtis, Pecari with Aiden O'Neil, Teppenpaw

Bad is an Understatement by Theo Dashland, Crotalus with Professor Yu, Clark Dill, Aladren

Right, Wrong, and Hypothetical. by John Umland, Aladren

Off to work I go. by Lionel Layne, Pecari with Uzume Shinohara, Crotalus

*Cue Mission Impossible Music* [Tag: Lena Westley] by Liac Reinhardt, Teppenpaw with Lena Westley, Aladren

10 Professor Yu <i>Furnunculus</i> reverso (Years 1 & 2) 0 Professor Yu 1 5

Joella Curtis, Pecari

October 27, 2014 5:34 PM

Once more unto the breach. by Joella Curtis, Pecari

Joella tried her best to think positively as she entered Potions class. Her last lesson hadn't been too bad and she was trying to convince herself that her return from the midterm break had seen a fresh start for her in the subject. But she couldn't help that knowledge in the back of her mind telling her it hadn't. Her first week had been an undeniable disaster. But Joella assured herself she was improving anyhow. Such negativity would get her nowhere. Professor Yu was a good teacher, Joella believed, and consistent failure was not something expected nor accepted from a Curtis.

Since her conversation with Lionel Layne at the Returning Feast a good two weeks ago, it had been on Joella's mind that she should perhaps join the baking club. Even if she didn't think it was something she would particularly enjoy, she obviously needed to put some extra effort in if she wished to improve in Potions and baking required similar skills she was sure. And what did she know, maybe once she got the hang of things it might become fun. Although she highly doubted that.

A talk with her father on the subject during the midterm break had given the young Pecari some much needed motivation. Apparently not everything had been easy for the renowned Auror himself when he had been her age but it was sheer persistence and determination that had seen him through. Joella didn't know if Ivan was just making up his own failures to make her feel better about herself but she didn't care. Her father believed she could do it - wasn't that good enough? Ivan Curtis had always said anything was possible if you put your mind to it and even if that was arguable, it was the way Joella had been brought up. You never gave up. It was like an unwritten rule.

And so, having received a letter from her father that morning Joella had his words on her mind and her jaw set in serious determination. She turned to page 246 and forced herself not to groan when she saw that dreaded term fine. It was a word that appeared in what seemed like every potion yet somehow she still had a bad track record with it. Perhaps she viewed it with such melodramatic hatred that she unconciously forbade herself from getting it right or was it that she was so easily bored that she gave up grinding the ingredients before they were fine enough or maybe she was just so regularly distracted by her own thoughts and other goings on in the classroom that she never remembered to concentrate on the recurring issue by the time it came to do so? Whatever the reason for her annoyingly repetitive problem, Joella decided that today she was going to conquer it.

The petite eleven year old pulled her hair back into a ponytail, organised her work area neatly for once, and began.

8 Joella Curtis, Pecari Once more unto the breach. 295 Joella Curtis, Pecari 0 5

Theo Dashland, Crotalus

October 29, 2014 7:21 PM

Bad is an Understatement by Theo Dashland, Crotalus

To say Theo was bad at potions wouldn't exactly be true. Theo was horrible, atrocious, dismal and horrific. Somehow the wrong tail ended up in the wrong state of matter and other bits and pieces were strewn more across his being than they were in his potion. It was... a mess, to put it quaintly. So, headed into potions class, Theo wasn't in the best of moods.

As he sat quietly at his table, his hands wrung out the folds in his robe and there were small beads of sweat loitering around his collar. He listened intently as Yu described the lesson and it didn't sound too horribly bad but Theo was still nervous as could be. He had already made a fool of himself in the beginning of the year at flying and he hadn't done much to protect his reputation since then, all he needed was some horrible potion malfunction to solidify himself as a fool in the eyes of all onlookers. He took a few deep breaths before he got to work on the potion at hand, his hands beginning to move out of necessity.

It was going fairly well as far as Theo could tell, the ingredients had been going in properly and the measurements all seemed accurate, his nerves decreased slowly as the potion went on. He thought to himself, "Maybe I'm not as ad at potions as I thought! Maybe I'll finish first and even win some points for my house!" His excitement only made his hands move faster, pouring and stirring and waving to his hearts desire. He breezed through part one and his confidence was soaring as he added the slugs, added the quills, stirred 5 times and waved his wand-
only to have the entire potion begin to bubble acidly and the cauldron ooze away from itself.

Theo was frozen for a moment, watching his entire creation flow right onto the floor, bubbling and spitting malevolently. One bubble popped a little too close to Theo, sending some of his failed potion onto his hand... almost instantly beginning to cause ugly, angry boils all over his skin. Theo still just stood there, now clutching his hand, the smell of the disaster wafting obtrusively through the air around him. He knew the other students were probably watching him in amusement, giggling or pinching their noses, but he was too embarrassed to look. He just stood there, waiting for either the hand of a helpful stranger or the scolding of Yu... or both.

0 Theo Dashland, Crotalus Bad is an Understatement 0 Theo Dashland, Crotalus 0 5

Professor Yu

October 31, 2014 9:13 PM

Let's get you to the Hospital Wing (Tag: Another student) by Professor Yu

After she set the students to work, Diana walked around the room a few times to keep an eye on everyone but in particular a first-year Crotalus who was boarding on the edge of failing her class. On good days, Theodore Dashland produced assignments that passed for Acceptable. However, his Acceptables were separated by quite a few Poors. He had passed her class the previous term with a firm A, but over the past two weeks his grades had been declining and Diana had assured herself that if he failed one more class assignment she was going to go to him and ask him if he needed help. Normally she liked for her students to come to her as she didn’t want to waste her time or the time of a student who did not want help, but then again most of her students were passing her classes.

The first hour or so of the assignment went by without a hiccup from Theodore’s cauldron and Diana was pleased that he seemed to be making improvements. She returned to her desk and began to mark the homework the Advanced students had turned in that morning. However, as Theodore began to complete the second part of his potion, something happened and Diana noticed not the color of his potion was not quite right nor the peculiar smell slowly filling the room that was not a characteristic of the potion. She did, however, notice the sound of potion hitting the floor and when she looked up to see what was happening she saw the poor Crotalus first-year watching as his malfunctioning potion melted his cauldron. Diana pushed her chair back and hurried over to clean the mess before the potion could get on anyone, hoping that her students would have the sense to move away from the spilled mess but unfortunately in addition to a lack of talent for Potions Theodore also lacked common sense.

By the time she reached him, he was already clutching a hand that was starting to ooze with boils. Diana closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Scolding him in front of his classmates would only make him feel ashamed and discouraged and Diana greatly wanted all her students to excel. However, they had been in school for half a year and she would have expected him to come in for help by now. Perhaps some of that was on her for not asking him to meet with her outside during her office hours, but she still thought students needed to take some of the responsibility for failing a class. With a quick wave of her wand, Diana vanquished the melted cauldron and disastrous potion. She turned to Theodore who looked beyond embarrassed.

“Mr. Dashland,” she began. “You seem to be in need of a new cauldron.” She raised her eyebrows at him. It was the first time since she began working at Sonora a year ago that a student in her class actually needed to replace their cauldron. “I have some spares in the back that you can use while you wait for a new one to arrive but before that I suggest you go to the Hospital Wing to get that looked at.” Diana turned to look around the classroom and selected a student who generally did well in her class and who seemed to have already completed a nearly perfect potion. “Excuse me ________*, would you be so kind as to escort Mr. Dashland to the Hospital Wing? Thank you.” Diana turned back to Theodore. "Also, if you wouldn't mind coming to meet me after Medic Eir has taken care of you-- I promise not to hold you past five so you can get to dinner on time."

OOC: Permission granted from Theo’s author regarding his grades.
*If you would like your student to help escort Theo to the Hospital Wing assume their name is in that blank. Diana calls all her students Mr. and Ms. followed by their last name, regardless of blood status. Please remember, Diana would not choose a student who has not completed their potion nor a student who is not doing well in her class. Thank you!

10 Professor Yu Let's get you to the Hospital Wing (Tag: Another student) 0 Professor Yu 0 5

Clark Dill, Aladren

October 31, 2014 11:43 PM

I'll help out! by Clark Dill, Aladren

Even after a year of having actual professors teach all of his classes, Clark still felt his strongest academic accomplishments were all happening in Potions. His Charms and Transfiguration work were perfectly adequate, of course - he was an Aladren, after all, with a fine work ethic and intelligence to back it up - and his CoMC and DADA scores were all high Es and low Os, so nothing to complain about there either. Potions, though, was the only class he felt he was really actually ahead of everybody else.

Growing up in a magic home, he'd been able to see spells being cast first hand for all of the years he could remember. As an underage wizard, though, he'd obviously never been able to actually do any of them until he'd started attending Sonora, and even then the beginning of his first year had been marred by the alien invasion, so he hadn't learned as much those first months as he might have liked.

Potions, though, he'd been helping his dad brew for as long as he could remember. Some of his earliest (and fondest) memories were of chopping up rats tails or watching the stopwatch so he could tell Dad it was time to put in the next ingredient. He was pretty sure he'd come into Sonora as an Intermediate level potion brewer already.

So he breezed through the more difficult version of the Cure Boils potion without any trouble. He was pretty sure he'd even done this one before. He recalled stocking his dad's medicine cabinet with a boil remedy once (there'd been a toad infestation in the neighborhood and Dad had thought it might be some kind of Apocalypse which might involve boils; Dad could be a little paranoid sometimes), and of the two recipes, this one had the cheaper ingredients which meant it would have been the one Dad picked because Dad was both a good potion brewer and quite frugal.

So Clark had finished his up and bottled up a sample for testing and was just about done cleaning up his station when he heard an unusual noise. He discovered to his horror that one of the first years had managed to melt his cauldron - or perhaps dissolve it might be more accurate, he realized as the kid clutched his hand to his chest when some of the liquid popped on it. As one of the older second year students in the class, he started ushering the closest people away so they wouldn't get hurt, too.

Professor Yu must have also deemed him a responsible person because once she vanished the caustic mess away, she addressed him directly. “Excuse me Mr. Dill, would you be so kind as to escort Mr. Dashland to the Hospital Wing? Thank you.”

Clark nodded earnestly. "Of course, Professor." He turned to the younger boy and offered him an encouraging smile, "Hi, I'm Clark. Let's go get your hand fixed up, okay? Medic Eir is really very good. Some of my teammates got bludgered in the last Quidditch game, and blunt force trauma with potentially cracked ribs? Worse than boils, I think, and they were as good as new in time for the after party. Do you know the way? I'll show you."

OOC: Theo, you can reply either here or in the Hospital wing; I'll check both places for it. If you want to bring us over to the Hospital Wing, you can safely assume Clark talked the whole way there; it's your call whether they were actually chatting or if he was just rambling on by himself in an effort to keep your spirits up.

1 Clark Dill, Aladren I'll help out! 277 Clark Dill, Aladren 0 5

Aiden O'Neil, Teppenpaw

November 02, 2014 6:26 PM

Dear friends, once more; by Aiden O'Neil, Teppenpaw

Like all of his lessons, Potions as something that Aiden only managed average markings in. He did the best that he thought he could do with his school work. He always did his homework and studied when he was supposed to, but Aiden just didn’t have the right sort of mentality to focus and understand the theory of what was being taught to him. He had the same trouble growing up when he was being taught by his tutors. His parents were understanding with him though. His mother admitted to never being very bright in school herself and so her philosophy was to just try as best as he could. His father was a little harder on him though, wanting him to do better. He wasn’t mean about it, just emphasized on the importance of a good education. His father wanted him to be able to get into a good University once he graduated from Sonora.

His father thought long term, but Aiden was twelve now and he wasn’t thinking about things like that. He was thinking about lunchtime or what to do after classes were over. He wondered if Liac and Tobi might want to go exploring around the school or maybe Savannah would want to go with him. He already had his Charms essay half written, it shouldn’t take him long to finish. He had plenty of time this evening to hang out and do something, he had to just find someone or a group to do that something with.

Aiden was listening to the thoughts in his own head about that evening instead of to the professor as she began the day’s topic. He only realized the lesson had started when Professor Yu had moved to her chalkboard and turned it over to show the potions that they were going to be working on. At least she was pointing out which of the two he was supposed to be doing. Glancing at his neighbor’s book, he realized that they were working with something that had to do with boils. He didn’t want to know why boils. Did people get those often? What was a boil anyway? How did someone get them? Were they old people issues? Whatever they were, Aiden hoped he never got them. He felt like that might be embarrassing if he did.

He had flipped his book open to the page that his neighbor had and started reviewing what it was that he needed to have done. Aiden followed along with the book instructions as best as he could. He hated the manual work. His mother said this class was pointless since everything could be bought. So, unless Aiden decided to go into Potions as a field, he would never retain anything. It began to smell something awful in the classroom and Aiden looked up from his work station to see one of his classmates’ potion completely take out his cauldron. Aiden watched for a moment in awe as the Professor came around to fix the mess. “Whoa…I hope I didn’t do what he did!” Aiden commented to the girl beside him. He was pretty sure her name was Joella if he remembered roll call, but he couldn’t be certain. “So far, my cauldron seems sturdy. How’s yours? “

6 Aiden O'Neil, Teppenpaw Dear friends, once more; 0 Aiden O'Neil, Teppenpaw 0 5

John Umland, Aladren

November 03, 2014 10:49 AM

Right, Wrong, and Hypothetical. by John Umland, Aladren

There was, John thought as he put down the books which hadn't fit into his bag, a chance that he had finally figured out how many topics were truly too many to read about at one time. Between the book on Quidditch strategy, the two plays Mom wanted him to compare and contrast, the books on Greek and Roman mythology and magical history he had ended up taking out of the library because of the plays and hadn’t gotten around to returning yet even though he was sure he wasn’t going to finish them and they were really just extra weight in his bag, the books on magiornithology he had stumbled across at a sale over the holidays and was working his way through with support from Sonora's library, the dully-but-accurately named copy of Physical Science he had talked Joanie into loaning him until Easter, and the stuff he had to read for classes and the day-long sojourns into still more books that those books caused, he sometimes felt like his head was going to explode even when he wasn’t facing the hardest of his daily decisions: what to read in the few minutes before class.

Because of where he was, he removed Physical Science from the pile at once and put it into his bag. Since Joanie was an only child and he thought Mr. Murphy kind of made a lot of money anyway, his colleague got almost everything new, including her books, and she would nag him for ages if he even forgot himself and wrote on the pages of Physical Science; if he spilled a potion on the glossy hardcover volume, she’d probably kill him, and while he was busy being dead, she’d be locked up wherever they sent twelve-year-old girls whose reaction to desecrated books was to hit the offender sixty-seven times with an axe, and both their situations would result in great losses to science. Putting one more book away didn’t really make him feel any better, though, because it just reminded him of the unread ones already in his bag and that Physical Science was really the book he needed to concentrate on the most. He needed to read it at least three times and perform some experiments before he gave it back to Joanie, and it was a thick book he wasn't even halfway through taking notes over yet.

He couldn’t work on that project right now, though. Joanie would kill him if he spilled something with dung in it on her book, and he didn’t really feel like being axe-murdered this Easter. Instead, he grabbed the play of magical origin from his bag and read that until Professor Yu began the class.

Paying attention became easier once, still trying to now stack his extra books on top of the bag propped against the leg of the lab table, he realized she was giving them a lecture on Right and Wrong – not something he expected in Potions, somehow, though it began to make more sense when he realized this was a Defense lesson that just happened to involve brewing something. He could see how the subjects went together pretty well - poisoning people was, after all, usually Wrong, and using a deadly potion would probably make it Dark magic as well. Professor Yu didn’t answer the question of why they learned to jinx people and a lot of them were legal, if unkind, if it that bad to do so, but he didn’t dwell on it. He had other things to think about, like the existence of two versions of the potion.

He flipped the book open to pages 246-7. The version his year was supposed to do was the one which looked longer and a little more complicated to keep up with to him, so he guessed it was theirs because its measurements were more precise than the second year one. He frowned, though, when he detected the presence of the potions procedure which, of all the potions steps he’d seen in half a year, annoyed him most: wave your wand.

It meant nothing. There was no spell. No aim, other than, the second time, ‘finishing.’ Obviously it was directing magic…somehow, but…normally, to channel the form of energy known as ‘magic’, he not only needed a conductor (specifically, a strip of wand-quality sycamore wood magically combined with at least part of a dragon’s heartstring), but he had to move that conductor a very specific way, and he had to say something – he wasn’t sure if the answer to why magic was usually a lot easier that way had something to do with the stuff Mom and the introductions to some of his books said about magic as a spiritual discipline or if it was just that sound waves either bounced off something or had something bounce off them, somehow, but either way, he couldn’t usually use non-verbal spells yet. Except this. Which wasn’t even really a spell at all.

“Hey, what do you - I don't know - think of, what do you do, during the ‘wave your wand’ part?” asked John of one of his neighbors, still frowning at his book, which continued to fail to offer him the information he wanted. He mentally added at least three more things to his list of things to try to look up, wondering for a moment if he was really going to fall over and die of being crushed by his own books someday before his thoughts went back to task. His best educated guess, from what he had put together about how different spells worked, was that experimenting would probably lead to a massive explosion, with Transfiguring or charming his cauldron's contents as less likely alternatives, but since this didn't work the way their other spells did, he didn't feel comfortable fitting any of his ideas into his probably-painfully-inadequate understandings. He looked around for a moment, trying to remember where he had put his writing case.

16 John Umland, Aladren Right, Wrong, and Hypothetical. 285 John Umland, Aladren 0 5

Joella Curtis, Pecari

November 05, 2014 1:42 PM

Dash the distraction. by Joella Curtis, Pecari

So far Joella's potion seemed to be going fine and everything was running smoothly for once. Well, to say smoothly would be a slight exaggeration. Joella was both looking and feeling rather dishevelled with the intense concentration enforced by her determination to get this potion right. If the lesson proved a failure she may have to accept defeat and go and talk with Professor Yu. There were other students Joella considered worse than herself but these she only noted on days of minute "success". She frequently did badly in Potions class in that she did attain the desired result but it could be argued that she was not catastrophic. As yet no explosions or injuries had come out of her work. Surely that had to mean she wasn't completely, utterly terrible? The young Pecari felt like she was horrible at the subject but her "potions" didn't even come close to the disasters she had heard tell of on infrequent occasions from her siblings. It was evident now that accidents in Potions class were not a regular thing. As a younger child, Joella had always associated Potions with danger. But this may likely have been due to the fact that her siblings thought that only those rare Potions classes containing casualties were worth recalling to their little sister.

Joella waited impatiently as she left her potion to brew. It was difficult to concentrate on any other work in the meantime and the eleven year old found herself continuously looking up from her books and peering into her cauldron, sneaking a glance at the contents of the cauldrons belonging to a few classmates close by her, and repeatedly checking the time.

On one rare occasion that the Pecari first year did have her head down, an unwelcome smell entered her nostrils. She looked up and found a commotion unravelling in front of her. Joella's initial reaction was a feeling of horror but this soon turned to amusement and she stifled a laugh. She felt sorry for the poor boy's misfortune but she had rather been wanting an event like this to occur for some reason she wasn't quite sure she herself knew. Her classmate had managed to melt his actual cauldron. This seemed rather more impressive than just a general accident. Joella resolved to congratulate the boy should she see him again any time soon for performing the best Potions disaster she had seen as yet. Dashland, Professor Yu had called him. It was still a struggle to match faces and names.

Joella's momentary distraction was interrupted by the voice of a boy beside her. "Oh, mine's actually doing quite well for once," she answered his enquiry with great pleasure, glad to be able to say something positive for a change. She noticed the time and quickly glanced at her potion which was still brewing away. She had run overtime. Joella silently cursed Dashland and his distractions before removing her cauldron off the heat while. "Dang." It still looked OK. The time given for brewing had been vague anyway so surely there was room for a couple of minutes out? "Phew, I thought I'd lost it then." She grinned easily at the Teppenpaw beside her, pushing her hair back off her slightly sweaty face. "But it looks OK." With a shrug, she glanced down at her instructions and careful selected four horned slugs. Not quite sure how to add them she hesitated momentarily before lobbing them into her slowly cooling potion.

8 Joella Curtis, Pecari Dash the distraction. 295 Joella Curtis, Pecari 0 5

Lionel Layne, Pecari

November 06, 2014 11:08 AM

Off to work I go. by Lionel Layne, Pecari

Potions was something Lionel knew he did not have a true gift for. In his mind, that meant being someone who not only knew his components well enough to almost never blow up anything he didn’t intend to blow up, but also being someone took quite genuine interest and pleasure in spending hours and hours in a laboratory, going through many different variations of a single set of ingredients, varying proportions, order of introduction, and stuff like which hybrid strain of hydrangea used, just to figure out which one worked best. That last one specifically was Uncle Geoff’s latest project, which he had started to describe at Aunt Emily’s over the holidays before he realized that no-one else knew what he was talking about and that Lionel and his cousin Isaac were trying hard not to snigger over the part they had understood, which was that the main current use for hydrangea was in love potions. Uncle Geoff had scowled, predicted that they would think differently in a year or two (a prediction which had made the color drain for a moment from Isaac’s face), and informed his cousin Rachel that it was her turn to bore them all.

Cutting roots and labeling bottles for Uncle Geoff was something Lionel expected, as Uncle Geoff and Granddad had both mentioned it before, might wind up being a summer or right-out-of-school-until-he-got-on-his-feet job for him when he was older, but he already knew that he did not want to spend the rest of his life like that. He didn’t know what his gift was, but it wasn’t for Potions.

That didn’t, though, mean he had anything against the school version of the subject. It was practical stuff to know, and so far, at least, could be almost relaxing. He understood what his uncle meant when he sometimes said that when he was working, nothing else really mattered; the very physical nature of Potions work made it easier to block out the rest of the world and all its troubles. He did well in the class and expected to keep doing so, at least through CATS. After that, he thought it got more and more complicated, that RATS students were expected to do a lot more math and know a lot more off the tops of their heads and stuff, but for now, he was okay with Potions, or at least the brewing of them.

Finding out what some of them were for was less fun; he could all too easily picture some of his family gatherings erupting into hexes, and was sure they already would have if his mother had not been a Squib. Instead, she and his grandparents just let the tension build, all double-edged comments and stuff, until they all ended up screaming at each other. He wasn’t sure that hexes would really be worse than that, and thought that screaming or hexes were preferable to the build-up which preceded them.

That, though, definitely fell under the heading of Things Granddad Would Not Want Him To Talk About. They pretended that nothing had ever happened after it did; even apologies were off-limits in his family, because they were bringing back up the statements that shouldn’t have been stated in the first place. If something wasn’t supposed to be, then to Granddad, it just wasn’t, at least most of the time. Lionel began looking over his potions stores, worried he might be running low on snake fangs, and smiled at one of his neighbors.

“Here’s one I hope I never need to drink,” he said conversationally, counting out six fangs (he had no idea what kind of snake they had come from or if they were a mix or if the answers to those questions would affect the potion) into his palm and tipping them into his mortar to grind them.

16 Lionel Layne, Pecari Off to work I go. 283 Lionel Layne, Pecari 0 5

Uzume Shinohara, Crotalus

November 16, 2014 3:57 AM

Counting while I work. by Uzume Shinohara, Crotalus

Uzume once again found herself sitting in potions feeling as bored as ever as she flipped lazily through her potions book to the respective page. It was unfortunate that time always seemed to move so slow when one was uninterested, and Uzu was just about as uninterested in potions as one could be. After all, any potion that had the word "cure" in it meant she was in for an uneventful lesson. "If professors wanted to get their students interested in a subject they really ought to have them make potions they could actually use- on each other for entertainment purposes that is," Uzume thought to herself. But alas, here she was stuck making a stupid cure recipe, and without even having a jinx battle first. How were they supposed to know if it worked if they couldn’t test it?

Uzu pursed her lips tightly as she reluctantly took out her note sheet. She couldn't count on copying Park-kun* all the time due to Professors Yu's insistence on the first and second years doing different potions at times, so she would just have to manage on her own. The piece of parchment contained a list of common potion terms translated from English to Japanese that she had painstakingly created over the past several months, adding more words to the list as they appeared. After days of referring to the sheet she was beginning to remember the English terms more easily, but she thought it was probably best that she continued to use sheet- just in case. She didn't really care about getting the potion perfect, she just didn't want it exploding on her if she were to make an unfortunate error.

After a quick glance from her book to her reference sheet, she painstakingly opened her potions kit as if the action itself was the most laborious task in the world. Picking up the vial labeled ‘snake fangs’, she counted them out onto her palm. “Ichi, ni, san, yon, go, roku,**” she whispered to herself, sighing heavily as each number passed her lips. After placing them into the mortar, she began to crush them, wishing she knew a spell to animate the mortar, or that she at least had a minion to do it for her.

“Here’s one I hope I never need to drink,” the boy next to her stated as he too worked on grinding the snake fangs.

Uzume looked over. She recognized the boy, but like most of her classmates hadn’t bothered to learn his name. She tried for a moment to remember his name, the word ‘road’ popping into her mind a few times, but it wasn’t enough to go on. “Better not mess up then,” she stated back bluntly. “Although I would love to see someone dumb enough to make a major mistake. That way we could at least see the potion’s adverse effects in action,” she added as she looked around the room, mentally noting which classmates had the best chance of being the day's entertainment. Even if she couldn't see the real jinx, boils from a improperly made potion would be equally interesting.

“By the way, what is your name?” she asked, looking back to her company.

OOC:

*-kun is used to address men who are younger or the same age as the speaker. It’s usually added to show familiarity or friendship. Although in Uzu’s case it’s more of an indication that she enjoys their presence in one way or another.
**one, two, three, four, five, six in Japanese

0 Uzume Shinohara, Crotalus Counting while I work. 0 Uzume Shinohara, Crotalus 0 5

Lionel Layne

November 18, 2014 10:37 AM

Precision is important in Potions. by Lionel Layne

Lionel was a little taken aback by the girl beside him admitting that she hoped someone’s potion would malfunction and blister them and wondered for a moment if she was joking. He shrugged. “Can’t say I really want to see that,” he said. “Boils aren’t all that attractive, and knowing my luck, if I thought they were, I’d be the one who got them.”

Grandmother said to be careful what one wished for because if one wished for something bad – like seeing people covered in boils – it was as likely as not that the explosion would splash malfunctioning potion on the wisher. He decided not to point that out, though. Granddad said that convincing people that his way was the way which furthered their own best interests was the best way to get people to do what he wanted, but Lionel didn’t really want his neighbor to do anything and was pretty sure that citing grandmothers was the kind of behavior which led to mockery, especially since most people thought of grandmothers as extended family instead of as their primary caregivers. He frowned at a snake fang as it stubbornly refused to become a fine powder and ground down on it harder with his pestle, wondering if they would see damage to anybody just because of improperly ground fangs.

“Huh? Oh, it’s Lionel,” said Lionel when asked about his name. “Second year,” he added. “What’s your name?”

Grinding snake fangs up was, after all, a dull task. Important, but not something that took a lot of thought, just arm muscles and determination. No reason not to talk while doing it and get to know a bit about another of his classmates. Last year had been incredibly strange all around, he thought of it as the year of his life that he had spent seriously concerned that his cousin might actually lock him in a closet, which was not something he had ever considered someone doing before in his life, but it was a new day, and he was determined to make up for lost time in the social department now that he had the chance.

16 Lionel Layne Precision is important in Potions. 283 Lionel Layne 0 5

Liac Reinhardt, Teppenpaw

November 25, 2014 11:00 PM

Cue Mission Impossible Music [Tag: Lena Westley] by Liac Reinhardt, Teppenpaw

Today Liac had a mission. He had been scoping the beginner class girls for a while now, searching for the right person to go with his dear cousin Tobi. Despite his cousin’s insistence that he didn’t want a date (let alone to go to the ball at all), there was no way Liac was going to dance the night away knowing full and well that Tobi was back in the common room wasting away the best years of his life. No! For the sake of the Reinhardts he couldn’t let that happen.

As he seated himself next to Tobi, Liac kept his eyes scanning the room. He had narrowed down a few candidates, but he always seemed to go back to a certain witch. She was a year older, but she seemed like she was definitely Tobi’s type, plus she was pretty and had a nice voice. Liac smiled to himself, confident that she was the right choice for his dear, dear, Tobias. Now all that he needed to do was devise a way to ask her.

As Liac ‘worked’ with Tobi on the assignment at hand, he brainstormed different ways he could talk to her. Potions wasn’t exactly the type of class where he could casually walk around willy-nilly without getting a scolding by Professor Yu. However, after looking over their ingredients, Liac noticed that they were out of horned slugs. Even though they were still on part 1 of the potion and wouldn’t need it until much later, Liac slyly excused himself to fetch the missing ingredient. He figured the spice cupboard in the back of the room would be the perfect excuse for moving around the classroom.

Once he had acquired the missing ingredients, Liac suavely smoothed down his sandy blonde hair and headed over to the table of Lena Westley. He approached her with an innocent smile, as he truly did have only good intentions this time. “Excuse me, Miss Westley,” he said breaking out his formal speech, hoping it would increase her chances of saying yes. “Sorry, I don’t mean to disturb you during class,” Liac continued after he had gotten her attention, “but I was wondering if you had already been asked to the ball. You see, my cousin Tobias has been wanting to ask you for some time,-“ he lied, surprisingly well, “-however he is a little shy. Although he knows a lady such as yourself probably has already been asked, he still wished to inquire if you were in need of a date?”

OOC: Permission from Tobi’s author to address him in this post.

0 Liac Reinhardt, Teppenpaw *Cue Mission Impossible Music* [Tag: Lena Westley] 288 Liac Reinhardt, Teppenpaw 0 5

Lena Westley, Aladren

December 02, 2014 5:13 AM

Tongue Tied by Lena Westley, Aladren

Lena was shocked when Liac approached her. She did not know his name, but seeing as Professor Yu was not kicking him out he must be a classmate. When he stated that his business with her was of a semi romantic nature, though not on his behalf, her mood dropped instantaneously.
“Argylwydd Mawr,” Thought Lena ungraciously, “He can’t be serious.” Lena’s ever wide eyes narrowed, relieving her of her classic deer in the headlights look, and left a look that on any other would seem totally normal but was strangely disconcerting on her. She’d tuned out for a moment, after her classmate had given the name of the suitor he was acting on behalf of. She did not know a Tobias, and was certain she’d never spoken to him. How could she have, Olivier always kindly interjected when it came to having conversations with strangers. The twins were odd, though at least Olivier seemed normal to others. Though Lena wished he were as happy as his outer countenance she was glad to have him, no matter his real feelings, playing defense.
“-if you were in need of a date?” Lena, not used to replying on her own, started to answer the question at face value. “Well, yes, no one has asked-” but instead of continuing that although there had been no proposals she did not wish to go, she bumbled and the boy eventually left, laboring under the misapprehension that she had said yes.
Uffern dânshe thought when the boy left. She wanted to call him back but her voice had caught in her throat and the aisle was filled suddenly with Professor Yu, on their way to help a student near the rear of the classroom. She had been planning to spend the evening with Olivier but now that she had consented to being Tobias’ date her hopes were dashed. She didn’t see enough of Olivier as it was, what with them being in separate houses and having different schedules for many classes. She would talk to him soon, though. How she would bring this new development up she did not yet know.

7 Lena Westley, Aladren Tongue Tied 279 Lena Westley, Aladren 0 5

Liac Reinhardt, Teppenpaw

December 03, 2014 9:22 PM

Mission Impossible Part Deux [Tag: Chaslyn Brockert] by Liac Reinhardt, Teppenpaw

Liac kept his smile wide and sincere as he awaited Lena’s reply. The Teppenpaw thought she looked a little more than surprised at his question, which would be understandable seeing as she was just asked to be the date of a boy as dashing as Tobi! Liac couldn’t believe how perfect the two of them would be together at the Ball, a match made in silence! Now all Liac needed was a date, and then the Reinhardt cousins would be ready to party.

Since the infancy of his scheme, he had been trying to decide who he might to ask. Although he had thought about asking a 7th year, he wasn’t sure if the height difference would work in his favor while dancing. Most of the dances he learned as a child involved him picking up the girl at some point or another, that, along with a dip or two, would be extremely difficult for the 11 year old if he was the shorter of the pair. He decided it may be more beneficial to choose a date closer to his age or height. He thought highly of all the girls at Sonora, and although he had his preferences, he figured he would have fun with any girl. In addition, he already had one in mind, all he needed now was Lena’s confirmation then he could worry about himself.

”Well, yes, no one has asked-” Lena started before Liac cut her off.

“Perfect!” Liac said, too excited at her utter of the word ‘yes’ to hold back. “Tobias looks forward to accompanying you to the ball. I’ll just be out of your way now Miss Westley. Please excuse me,” he said giving her a bow like the one he had been practicing in Care of Magical Creatures. However instead of heading back to Tobi right away, Liac headed for the place of another girl, whom would hopefully end up as his date. The young boy couldn’t help but smile brightly with the set of his plan in motion. Tobi would be thrilled… when Liac finally told him that is. He figured he would tell his dear cousin eventually, but right now he had bigger fish to fry.

He casually walked over to the Crotali’s desk, ingredient still in hand in the event Professor Yu noticed his nomadic nature. He lightly tapped on her shoulder with his free hand, a smile still plastered on his face from earlier as he greeted her, “Hello Chaslyn. Sorry to bug you about this during class, but I wanted to ask you as soon as possible,” he began. Liac wasn’t really the type that kept up with school gossip, so he had no idea who had been asked and who hadn’t. He just knew that having a date was a thing, and that he probably ought to act quick before he was left going stag. “Would you be my date to the midsummer’s ball?” he asked sincerely, giving her a slight bow, all the while keeping his blue eyes on her, awaiting a hopeful ‘yes’.

0 Liac Reinhardt, Teppenpaw Mission Impossible Part Deux [Tag: Chaslyn Brockert] 288 Liac Reinhardt, Teppenpaw 0 5

Olivier Westley, Crotalus

December 04, 2014 4:43 AM

Feral cat got your tongue? by Olivier Westley, Crotalus

OOC: Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed herein by Olivier Westley are not those of his authors who would like to take this opportunity to apologize ahead of time for his behavior.

He had only turned his back for a few minutes (to go grab some extra shrake spines as he had felt that the amount the twins had between the two of their potions kits was not enough) and this happened. Random wizards in the year below them were waltzing up to his sister like they owned the school and asking her out on dates. Out of respect he waited for the little twerp to leave before approaching the situation but honestly, the audacity of that cretin to suggest Lena spend the night of the ball with anyone other than himself. Logically speaking, of course, there was no way for Reinhardt to know that the twins had decided to spend the evening star gazing in Labyrinth Gardens. However at the moment he was not thinking logically, as he was filled with blinding anger.

“What was that all about?” he asked quietly to his twin, hoping that the imbecile first year hadn’t bothered Lena too much. After all, Reinhardt was the worst kind of person, an overconfident buffon-- the kind that could be found in both the pure and non-pureblood circles. Half-blood scrum, Pure-blood jerks, Mudblood posers, they were all the same, all far too below Lena to be worthy of her company. Even Olivier who never felt he was undeserving of anything sometimes felt an inkling of unworthiness. The Reinhardts were idiots and that’s all that mattered. If the obnoxious Reinhardt had been an upstanding member of pureblood society, Olivier would have found a way to spin that negatively. As it was, the quieter Reinhardt was pureblood and of at least a semi-good stock, but still fell into the category of peers who were probably too stupid to be of any use to Olivier at all later down the road. What kind of eleven year old wizard couldn’t talk?

If his ears hadn’t deceived him then Lena had actually said yes to Reinhardt. Although, if he knew Lena, he was sure that Reinhardt would have bowled over her wishes until he inevitably got what he wanted out of her, the scumbag. Taking advantage of his sister when he wasn’t around. However Liac was only half of the party at fault. Lena being such a smart girl, should have known that a blunt rejection is best when it comes to these types. Yet she had hesitated, or worse, she had actually wanted to go. Oliver felt a mixture of annoyance and...disappointment? Although he would do anything for his sister, being her date was something Olivier just couldn't do. He figured she could have at least told him she wanted to go so he could help her find a somewhat worthy date, but she had chosen to stay silent.

As school dances really weren’t something Olivier planned on liking and he really didn’t want to have to spend the night listening to some annoying witch prattle on about meaningless things like love and who wore the prettiest dress, he contemplated not going at all. Until he realized that he would have to go just to make sure that quiet Reinhardt didn’t pull anything funny. He considered his options carefully and turned to Lena. “Guess I’m going to have to scrounge up a date too then, huh?” he said with a playful wink.

10 Olivier Westley, Crotalus Feral cat got your tongue? 282 Olivier Westley, Crotalus 0 5

Lena Westley, Aladren

December 04, 2014 5:27 PM

Worse, it captured a reply by Lena Westley, Aladren

"You don't have to pretend." Olivier didn't want a date, this was serious business and she couldn't let him turn it into a joke. "I didn't want to go," she started "I just got confused by the questions. Really, I definitely prefer your company. Star gazing with you is much more enjoyable than sitting at a table and being talked to. I really regret it, Olivier, I really do. I’m sorry I was so careless." The uncharacteristically long "speech" just now was sure to reach him, it must. Her brother was her rock, she wanted to be reassured that he understood and told he would sort things out, that their plans were still possible. She knew, though, that even Olivier couldn't take back her answer and going back on it would be beyond inconsiderate and slightly cruel. No, she was going. His joke now seemed the only real solution.

After a moment more of silence she faced him squarely. "Please come." There was nothing more she could think of to do than beg his forgiveness and to ask that he seriously consider getting a date and join her.

Lena thought about what it would be like, seeing her brother with a date. Soon enough her brother would be interested in girls but he hadn’t shown interest yet. Lena loosely suspected he was preoccupied with managing her. She didn't want him to be lonely, but she couldn't imagine him losing himself in another girl's company when Lena would be, hopefully, right next to him. With her date. His bristling reaction now wasn't likely to be completely settled by the time the actual ball took place. Especially not when that night was supposed to be spent together sharing twin-time in Labyrinth Gardens. It would be a constant dig to see them together, she imagined. At least it would to her, seeing Olivier in the environment she suspected he most detested and knowing she put him there. Hopefully she was wrong, maybe he could enjoy himself. If she weren't there with Tobi. . . No, this evening would simply be awful. She couldn't see any way it wouldn't.

Maybe he hadn't been joking in the first place. Not really."Olivier is always too good to me," Lena thought. "how can I ever be as good a sister? She usually didn't think about things like this. It was true that Lena was largely the one doted on and Olivier the more considerate. She had many faults but unlike Olivier she didn't hide them well. She never had to. He was there to protect, distract, and, when necessary, eradicate all harms, perceived or real, that threatened her almost solitary lifestyle. She wanted for nothing socially because she was socially invisible. Or had been.

Who was this Tobi? Her guilt was not overcome by curiosity but sudden resentment at him having noticed her. And then cared enough to ask her to the ball. That went beyond noticing, that was. . . that was. . . problematic. She lost the ire that had recently kindled and the fight went out of her. She didn’t feel guilty, either, she was simply tired.

7 Lena Westley, Aladren Worse, it captured a reply 279 Lena Westley, Aladren 0 5

Chaslyn Brockert,Crotalus

December 06, 2014 2:11 PM

Mission completed by Chaslyn Brockert,Crotalus

As usual, Chaslyn was incredibly focused on class. Or rather, trying desperately to be, as she was still so exhausted from lack of sleep. She wanted nothing more than a nap, but falling asleep in class would be humiliating and she'd get in so much trouble, not just from Professor Yu and Headmaster Brockert but Mother too. And that would be the worst of all.

Besides it would spell disaster for her grades and she simply could not get less than an O, let alone fail. Perfection was expected in every way and lately she'd been falling short a little. Not getting perfect scores on tests and quizzes and assignments and papers was unacceptable. Mother always asked what her specific percentages were, not just the letter grade and if that percentage was not a 100, it tended not to end up so well for the Crotalus. Just that she disappointed her mother was enough, she couldn't stand disappointing anyone but especially Mother.

Not only that, Potions was a class where precision was exceptionally important. If she fell asleep, or even did something wrong, it could end in a whole different sort of disaster. An inaffective potion would be bad enough-and Chaslyn wouldn't take that too well at all-but one wrong move and disaster could strike. Not just the kind that would harm her, but the kind that could hurt others. The consequences of that happening were too much for her to bear thinking about. Not only did she really not like the idea of harming others, but she would be in so much trouble and the thought of getting in trouble made her stomach feel tight.

So she had to make an extra effort to concentrate. That's why she'd barely even noticed when Liac approached. Chaslyn was summoning every last ounce of energy she had to make sure she did her potion exactly right. Everything had to be exactly right, not just in Potions but everything she ever did. Even though she was at school and Mother was not, the second year was never able to shake the feeling that Mother would know everything she did, if she made a mistake. Mother always had.

“Hello Chaslyn. Sorry to bug you about this during class, but I wanted to ask you as soon as possible,”

It was only then that she looked up from her work to view her....friend? Was he her friend? Well, he was asking her to the ball so that had to mean that he probably considered her as such. Her normally too pale face flushed a brilliant red. "S-sure. I-I'd like that." She managed to smile.

Mother wasn't going to be happy, she knew. Liac wasn't a proper member of society but he was someone who actually seemed to like her and that she liked. Besides, she had difficulty saying no in general and would never want to hurt his feelings and cost a potential friendship. She didn't really have any others.

11 Chaslyn Brockert,Crotalus Mission completed 281 Chaslyn Brockert,Crotalus 0 5