Professor Connell
July 18, 2006 1:11 PM
Lesson I - First and Second Years by Professor Connell
To Marian Connell, the first lesson of a new school year was, without a doubt, the most nerve-wracking out of any of them. When she had been a student, no matter what class was first that year, there was always the fear that she had somehow forgotten everything she had ever known about the subject, and would look like a complete fool. Now, as a teacher, the nervousness still stemmed from that fear, coupled with the fact that, by some twist of fate, all her previous beginning of the year classes had been for students who had attended Sonora at the same time as she. It had been hard enough to try and maintain some semblance of authority over the younger students. Teaching the ones who knew her previously, even if they were several years younger, had proven to be next to impossible at times.But those last few students had finally graduated, and she finally found herself with students who had only known her as a professor. She could finally leave her student days behind her once and for all. And that thought, along with the fact that the first lesson should be a relatively simple one, with just the first and second years, seemed to alleviate most of her worries.
Everything had been put to order long before the class was actually scheduled to start, so by the time the first students began to trickle in, Marian was sitting at her desk putting the last touches on the lesson plan for the seventh years, who had class later that day. She ignored the bustle and chatter until the last of the students seemed to have arrived. She stood up, but remained behind her desk as she began the customary beginning-of-school lecture.
“Welcome to first- and second-year potions. For the new students, my name is Professor Connell, and I am both the head of Pecari house and, obviously, the potions professor here at Sonora. There are only a few rules to go over before you may actually begin making today’s potion. First, every class will start off with a small lecture, and I would greatly appreciate it if you could pause your conversations for its duration. You may talk as much as you want while actually doing the work, so it shouldn’t be that difficult. Second, this is a potions classroom, and accidents such as spills and the like will happen. If something major does happen, you should alert me as soon as possible. If there’s nothing particularly dangerous about whatever occurred, then you will clean it up yourselves. If there could be a problem, then I or one of the prairie elves can get it. Along with that, horseplay is to be kept to a minimum in this classroom. May of the potions and ingredients can be dangerous, and the goal is to keep as few of you from being harmed as possible. That final rule is one of the most important, and the one I will least tolerate disobeying.
“This year you will be focusing on learning to make an assortment of relatively simple potions. The first one, which you will be making today, is called the Acclamazioni draft, one of the simplest of the cheering potions, and instructions can be found on page 37 of your text. You should have all the ingredients, daisy roots, fluxweed, ginger, and asphodel root, in your potion’s kits, but if for any reason you don’t have enough of something, there is a supply of most common ingredients in the black cabinet in the back of the classroom. You may choose your own partners, and you may work in groups of two or three. Begin.”
She had been debating whether or not to mention that excessive amounts of fluxweed would cause the potion to explode. It was a good warning, but her more recent experiences with the making of this potion had taught her that there were always a few who would take those warnings and intentionally do what they shouldn’t. Hopefully, this batch of students was the type that followed instructions almost precisely and didn’t feel the need to experiment.
OOC: Standard posting rules apply. At least two decent-sized paragraphs, so at a minimum roughly 8 lines of text. House points will be awarded based on post length, detail, etc. Be creative, and have fun.
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Subthreads: Accosting firsties and a potential partner by Saul Pierce with Echo Elms
Cheering potions? How incredibly appropriate... by Gil and Leo Idoya with Nikki Ramirez, Gil, Michael Tallow, Leo Idoya, Gil Idoya, Gil and Leo, Gil & Leo
Who wants to be my partner? by Elly Eriksson with Meredith Lail, Elly
One of my worst fears.... by Adam Brockert with Ginger Silverstein, Guenther Heindrich
Is ANYONE still after a partner? by Pepper with Helena, Geoffrey Spindler
Late to class and still has yet to find a partner... by Melanie Rose
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Professor Connell
Lesson I - First and Second Years
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Professor Connell
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Saul Pierce
July 18, 2006 7:58 PM
Accosting firsties and a potential partner by Saul Pierce
Saul had lost his tour group during Care of Magical Creatures, seeing as the second years hadn't been required to share transfiguration with the younger kids so he hadn't tried to continue his orientation after their first class. But now the two years were together again for Potions.He started heading for it early, taking a long circuitous route that covered most of the hallways that the bitty first years might be coming from. When he spotted one he recognized from that morning, or didn't recognize at all, he helpfully pointed them in the right direction, telling them that their potions class with the Great Head of Pecari was right ahead, then scurried along to next hallway or the next firstie to enter his field of vision.
When he was satisfied that he had collected all the young stragglers and sent them on their way, he hurried to the classroom himself, a few minutes late. He grabbed the first seat to hand that wasn't already occupied, and tried to figure out what he'd missed. As she was telling them that horseplay wasn't to be tolerated, he figured the new kids were getting the rules lecture.
He found a pencil and piece of parchment and tried to unroll it for when notes would start getting taken, but it kept rolling back up everytime he went to reach for his book. He would have just left it, but then it would probably have rolled off the desk and then he'd have to crawl on the floor to get it back. So he creased it flat, made sure it wasn't going anywhere, then took out his textbook.
Professor Connell was just telling them to turn to page 37, so he did that. It was the same book they'd had last year (it was still a potions 1-2 class even if he was now in the 2 part instead of the 1 part) and the pages had apparently gotten a little wet over the summer so they were a little stuck together now. It had probably been that really bad thunderstorm at the Redvaille Folk Festival when even Regina's RV had leaked in some water.
So it took a few tries to get the book open to the right page, and by then the teacher was going on about groups of two or three and he didn't have a clue what all she'd talked about besides saying page 47. At least that told him they were working on the Acclimatization Potion which apparently lets you get used to rapid changes in temperature faster.
That would have been really useful during that thunderstorm, but probably not so much here at Sonora unless he opted to sneak out beyond the influence of the weather charms.
Anyway, he was going to need a partner or two. So he carried out the process most likely to gain him one. He got up, grabbed a nearby classmate by wrapping his arm around there shoulders, and told them in an excellent imitation of the guy on Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy who tells the contestants what they could win if they solve the final puzzle, "Today is your lucky day, my friend. You have been chosen, yes, you, to be my partner. You will receive all the benefits of my experience during my one year at Sonora as well as my fascinating company. All this can be yours, yes, indeed, yours, merely by saying you'll be my partner today. So what'll it be? Yes, or oh, yes."\r\n\r\nOkay, maybe it was more a cross between the guy selling the genie lamp in Aladdin and the arrogant guy with the chins in Beauty and the Beast rather than a gameshow host, but you get the idea.\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Saul Pierce
Accosting firsties and a potential partner
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Saul Pierce
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Echo Elms
July 27, 2006 10:55 AM
Don't touch me, please? by Echo Elms
Echo Elms was early. He didn't know how he managed it, but there he was standing in the empty classroom. It looked like a cross between a science class from tv and Merlin's workshop. He choose a seat on the side in the front row and opened his text book.A few minutes later he looked up. Still no one. He thought he heard someone in the hallway giggling.
He waited.
There it was again. The whispering.
Echo stood up and tucked his text back in his bag. He hesitated. Maybe he was imagining things. Maybe he got the time wrong.
The low chattering cut off abruptly when he entered the hallway. The hall was empty. He caught a movement, and turned in time to see one of the potrait people dart behind a oil-based tree. It was the painted pixy who'd given him directions.
"Great," he sighed, and adjusted his bag.
"I believe," a painted man with wild white hair spoke up. The side of his mouth was valiently trying not to curl up and failing, "if you take a left at the end of the hall, you'll find your classroom. Hurry!"
Echo hesitated, glaring between the old man and the tree hiding the laughing pixy. Then he ran.
The Professor Connell hadn't quite begun when he reached the classroom, but she was standing expectantly at the front of the room, so he just took the closest desk rather than pushing to the front row. This classroom looked a lot like the other one he'd been in.
He furiously took notes during her lecture, hoping to somehow make it make more sense than the transfiguration one had and also as a sort of apology for being almost late. He was relieved to see he wasn't the most late, though. Elly straggled in a few minutes later, and Saul didn't make it until about later still. Each time someone came in, Echo lost track of what Professor Connell was talking about. Saul's troubles with his rolled parchment easily stole Echo's attention for a good four sentences or more. He was wondering about why paper gets that springy quality to it and how long it needed to be rolled up to get it.
When he got his listening back on, everyone was splitting into groups of twos and threes. He spotted Elly and Meredith a few rows up and pulled his stuff together to go up and join them.
Suddenly, an arm slung around his shoulder. Echo pulled his shoulders as close together as he could and his arms to his chest, trying instinctively to avoid the touching, but to no avail. The person just leaned in and Echo leaned out, and he saw the boy was none other than their Pecari guide.
"Today is your lucky day, my friend," Saul said in his smooth fair booth guy voice, "You have been chosen, yes, you, to be my partner. You will receive all the benefits of my experience during my one year at Sonora as well as my fascinating company. All this can be yours, yes, indeed, yours, merely by saying you'll be my partner today. So what'll it be? Yes, or oh, yes."
"Uh," Echo said with his usual eloquence. He felt oddly close to Bell from Beauty and Beast just now. He carefully picked Saul's arm off his shoulder and leapt out to have a nice safe two feet of personal space.
He glanced a little regretfully toward Meredith and Elly, and turned back to Saul. "Okay, Gaston. Just don't touch me, right?" He grinned a little, but eyed his new partner nervously. Any second Saul could have his arm around him again. Crazy creepy.\n\n
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Echo Elms
Don't touch me, please?
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Echo Elms
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Saul Pierce
July 29, 2006 12:13 PM
Why? You ticklish? by Saul Pierce
Now, Saul was pretty sure most of the first years had picked up his name by now, and Saul Pierce didn't sound anything like Gaston. Saul, Gaston. Nope, not even a little alike. Pierce, Gaston. Not remotely similar. Which meant the kid was either really remarkably bad with names, or he was making some kind of reference that Saul was missing. His tone suggested the latter, and Saul didn't think it was a particularly complimentary reference.Still, the kid hadn't said no, and that was what mattered. Saul was confident he could overcome whatever it was he had done that had put off the kid. He had a pretty good idea that the off-putting thing was the arm around the guy's shoulder. This increadible feat of deductive reasoning came from the kid's statement, "Just don't touch me, right?"
Saul could deal with that. "Sure, no touching," he agreed easily, "Got it." He immediately wondered how much poking and bumping he could get away with, but decided the potions classroom probably wasn't the place to experiment. Best behaviour. He didn't want to risk a detention because the Professor mistook 'accidental' bumping for horseplay.
"So," he added, turning back to his seat and looking the instructions on page 47. "The Acclimatization Potion," he introduced, as if he'd been paying attention to the lesson. "It's not too difficult," he assured, as if he had a clue about how hard it was to brew. "Basically, we just follow the instructions on the page. It's pretty self-explanatory. Any questions so far, or do we want to get right to it?"\n\n
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Saul Pierce
Why? You ticklish?
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Saul Pierce
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Echo Elms
July 31, 2006 10:53 AM
Uh...right. So what do we do? by Echo Elms
Echo flipped a few pages ahead to page 47, the Acclimization potion. For some reason, listening to the lecture had given him the impression that the potion was supposed to improve your mood. He seemed to remember the word "cheering" being involved. But this potion had more to do with temperature. Maybe "cheering" had another definition he wasn't aware of. Or, alternatively, maybe Echo hadn't understood the lecture. He admitted to himself that this was not only possible, but also very likely. Good thing he had Saul there to tell him it was page 47 not 37."Basically, we just follow the instructions on the page. It's pretty self-explanatory," Saul said.
He glanced down the list of ingredients. There wasn't anything there he really recognized and the instructions didn't look self-explanatory to him either. Honestly, people at this school had a weird idea of "self-explanatory." "Self-explanatory" should be reserved for things like opening a jar, using shampoo, and putting on a bandaid. Stirring windershins, or whatever it was those instructions said, required a little bit more explanation.
Saul, of course, was a second year so maybe this was all self explanatory to him. "Any questions so far, or do we want to get right to it?" Saul asked.
"Uh, both?" Echo pulled out the package of potions supplies the travelling magic supplies salesman had sold him. "So Professor Connell said we find our ingredients out first, right? I don't know what I've got and what I don't. What am I looking for? Like," he looked back at first item on the list of ingredients, "what's belladonna look like?"\n\n
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Echo Elms
Uh...right. So what do we do?
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Echo Elms
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Saul Pierce
September 03, 2006 10:35 AM
We brew by Saul Pierce
"Belladona," Saul repeated, trying to remember if that was a plant product or an animal product. It probably didn't matter. "It's the one in the package that says 'Belladona'."To demonstrate, he went through his own kit until he found the one with the belladona label written in his mother's scrawl. "Looks like a bunch of leaves." He held it up for Echo to see. "Like this." Mom had even helpfully written 'Poisonous - DO NOT EAT THIS!' on it, not that Saul was likely to try. His relatives had this overly optimistic opinion about Saul's willingness to eat things that looked like leaves. They kept feeding him salads.
"Okay, the other first thing we have to do, besides find the ingredients, is fill a cauldron with water and get it boiling. Do you want to do that, or keep looking for, um," he looked at the next item, "water beetles and stuff?"\n\n
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Saul Pierce
We brew
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Saul Pierce
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Echo Elms
September 03, 2006 3:04 PM
You brew. I'll find stuff. by Echo Elms
Echo looked doubtfully at the cauldron. He didn't see a fire to put it on or a faucet anywhere. "I'll, uh, find the stuff."He pawed through his kit and found that, like Saul's, his ingredients were all conveniently labeled. There was no magic involved in figuring out what was what. Cool.
He skipped belladonna since Saul had already found that, and found the water beetles (dried) and continued on down the list. He got the feeling they were already organized according to some incomprehensible system, but he promised himself that by tomorrow it would be alphabetical.
"Okay, Saul," he said when he found all the stuff. Step one said to add the three leaves of belladonna to the boiling pot and let it absorb into the water like tea. Well, that wasn't quite what it said, but it something like that. "Are we boiling yet?"\n\n
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Echo Elms
You brew. I'll find stuff.
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Echo Elms
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Saul Pierce
September 04, 2006 12:37 PM
Sounds good by Saul Pierce
When the kid said he'd do the finding, Saul hefted his own cauldron up onto their table, and grunted, "All right," as he did so. It wasn't so much that the thing was heavy as there was just so much more effect in acting like it was. Besides, grunting was good for the soul, or so one of his more lazy uncles had told him during his impressionable youth.He then took out his wand to perform the lazy wizard's charm of Aquor so he didn't need to go find whereever the teacher was keeping the sink. To impress his young partner, he affected a casual air and cast, "Aquor," in a terribly bored tone of voice. The performance probably would have had more impact if the spell had filled up more than a quarter of the cauldron.
He gave the inadequate water level a dark frown for betraying him, then cast the spell again, putting enough oomph behind it to fill the thing the rest of the way. Well, to three quarters full because there still needed to be room for adding ingredients and stirring and stuff.
Now with enough water to brew their potion, he worked toward bringing it up to boiling with a heating spell. Unlike Transfigurations, he was actually pretty good with these charms, and he felt better about his abysmal performance in the previous class when the first bubbles started to simmer up to the surface.
"Are we boiling yet?" Saul looked toward the kid who appeared to have found all the ingredients already. He gave another look down into the barely simmering water. You could start when it was just simmering, right? He was pretty sure you could. Besides, by the time they figured out what they were doing it would probably be at a full boil.
"Close enough," he confirmed with assurance. "Now we look at the steps shown in the book and get stuff ready." He consulted the book and pointed to the first step, we're gonna need to count out three belladonna leaves," his finger dropped down two the third step, "crush the beetles," he moved onto the fourth step, "chop the sneezewort, and so on." He re-read the second step, "But we're just going to let the belladona sit for five minutes so we can probably put that in now and do the rest of the stuff while we're waiting. Got it?"\n\n
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Saul Pierce
Sounds good
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Saul Pierce
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Echo Elms
September 04, 2006 12:58 PM
Adding the belladona by Echo Elms
"Okay," Echo agreed. He counted out three leaves and wondered, momentarily if it was okay if one was a little smaller than the others. Do you compensate for that by putting in two little ones, or is three leaves three leaves any way you look at it? Well, he decided, this was magic not baking, so a leaf was a leaf was a leaf. Besides, maybe the other two were bigger than normal and that would compensate.He hesitated, holding them over the not quite boiling water. Before he dropped them in he wanted some confirmation that he was indeed doing this right. But Saul had already said it was right, right? He tossed them in.
Crushing beetles and chopping sneezewort required certain tools. He glanced around. Other kids didn't seem to have the same stuff out as they did. But, then, they didn't have Saul to figure stuff out -- like water and heat. Saul used spells for those -- "a-cor" and whatever the other one was -- but now that he was looking he saw a few splashing cauldrons being hauled from a previously obscurred sink on the other end of the room.
Crushing sounded interesting. Echo decided he wanted to try that one. He looked in his kit again, hoping to find a mallet or something equally crazy, but all he found was a plain silver handled knife. It didn't even look sharp enough for chopping.
On the plus side, the water was definitely boiling now.
"Right, so, how do we crush and chop?"\n\n
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Echo Elms
Adding the belladona
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Echo Elms
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