Professor Aylin Morastus
August 17, 2009 5:43 PM
Lesson for First and Second Years- by Professor Aylin Morastus
A parchment lay out on her desk, it’s corners bent from being handled time and time again, the writing on it in a large, slanted script, belying the hurried hand with which the first draft had been scribbled. A finger trailed down this parchment, barely making contact with the surface as Aylin scanned over it, silently mouthing the words she read when she noticed the slight tremble in her hand. Sighing, she drew her hand into a tight fist and then stretched it out, to find the tremble still present. Four years and she still had not found a way to avoid the inevitable. No one had ever noticed, save the few that found themselves close enough to her as to rub arms, but the trembling of her hands that matched the nervous energy in her veins annoyed her to no end. Leaning forward in her chair, she lifted the lid on a small ceramic jar sitting on the corner of her desk as the faint sound of footsteps and muffled voices began to fill the corridor outside. Pulling out a cinnamon candy, she popped it in her mouth, replacing the lid just as the door opened.When the last student had taken a seat, she stood, coming out from behind the desk to walk amongst the tables as she spoke. Her light auburn hair was yet again straining to escape the knot pinning it up, several strands already successful as her hazel eyes scanned the room. “Good morning, I’m Professor Morastus, your new Potions teacher.” Most eyes followed her, others didn’t; she knew better than to worry about where their eyes were focused so much as how attentive their ears were. Her hands were often clasped in front of her, tucked tightly against her bronze colored robes, but occasionally they released one another to trace the edge of a shelf or table as she passed by, her eyes shifting from her students momentarily to the jars of ingredients and equipment she had yet to organize.
“I believe you have all found seats you are comfortable with by now, and we shall keep this arrangement unless you give me cause to change it.” A small grin. “So if you would, please use your wand to write your full name on the table in front of you.” As they did, they would find it fade as quickly as it had appeared, their signature transferred to the parchment sitting on the podium next to her own table by the board.
“Good,” Aylin exclaimed with a faint clap, her feet quickly carrying her to the podium where she looked over the seating parchment, pleased to see it filled in completely, for she would record attendance later, and pointed her wand at the board where the name of a potion, a page number, and time frame were now displayed. “Today we will cover the Forgetfulness Potion. Turn to page 32 in your texts for the ingredients and instructions. However, I do recommend you take out a quill to note the following…”
On a table before the board sat several examples, each being picked up in turn as Aylin went over some of the finer points before they began. “When mincing the fluxweed, it’s best to do so very finely, like so.” Taking her own silver knife, she demonstrated the technique. “Be sure to measure the sumac extract in a glass vial, and do not under any circumstances let anything metal touch it. The doxy blood must be added by single droplets every odd stir after it is reduced to a low simmer.” Pausing, she waited until the quills slowed or stopped altogether before finishing. “Alright then, begin. You have 90 minutes to submit your samples in the case next to my desk.”
OOC: There’s many a loophole for creativity here, so surprise me! Though a canon potion for first years, no details are given for it, so I gave you a few to begin with, after that, use your imagination. As for any potential problems.. I’ll leave that to you to. Have fun!
Subthreads: Potioning (and making up new words) by Daniel Nash II with Adelita Garcia (Crotalus), Lita
Why yes, I do pull my ideas from thin air! by Nathaniel Leon with Jose Hernandez, Nathaniel, David Lancaster, Professor Morastus
This can't be that hard, can it? by Andrew Duell with Jethro Smythe, Jethro
250 different species of sumac to choose from; hmm. . . by Euna Song with Quentin Melcher
Excellent: a <i>useful</i> lesson indeed. by Mike Song with Charlotte Abbott
Looking for a partner by Pippa Brockert with Edmond Carey
Late, but I have a goal to meet. by Marissa Stephenson
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Professor Aylin Morastus
Lesson for First and Second Years-
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Professor Aylin Morastus
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Andrew Duell
August 19, 2009 10:05 PM
This can't be that hard, can it? by Andrew Duell
Andrew lugged his things into the classroom and found his seat somewhere in the middle of the class. Once he finally got settled in, he noticed that there was a new professor standing up front. After her introduction, he scrawled his name on the table as instructed and watched it fade out with mild interest. He had grown used to watching the displays of magic, now it was the purpose and the procedure that intrigued him. It had to be to make a seating chart for the new prof... how? That was the question now. She was speaking again, so he began scribbling down notes.He flipped open his book then to the appropriate page and glanced down over the instructions, along with the additional notes that Professor Morastus gave them. It seemed straightforward enough, a little complicated, but straightforward. He pulled out his cauldron, and only then noticed that he must not have cleaned it properly after he used it the last time. Something coated the inside walls... something that wasn't budging. Apparently he didn't need a forgetfulness potion.
Andrew sighed, clock was ticking, maybe it was dried and would affect today's mixture. Well, one way to find out. He started dicing the fluxweed. On the plus side he thought, the sumac couldn't come into contact with the sides of his cauldron now. Maybe this would work out.
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Andrew Duell
This can't be that hard, can it?
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Andrew Duell
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Jethro Smythe
August 22, 2009 6:56 AM
Want a wager on that? by Jethro Smythe
Jethro never worried about potions classes. He could always work with a partner, and even if for some reason he found himself alone, he could follow written out instructions that told him what to do. Yes, he might have let his attention slip from time to time and got things a bit muddled up, but he hadn't caused any real catastrophes. Yet.There was a different professor to teach potions today. It didn't matter - the room was the same and all the students were the same so Jethro assumed he was still in the right class. He wrote down the name of the potion (he was getting good at remembering to do that) and he paused a moment to consider its use: why would anyone need a potion to forget things? Jethro had great trouble remembering anything ever. He forgot things all the time, and it was dreadful. Why would anyone need a potion to make themselves suffer like that? It was crazy talk.
By the time Jethro had decided he needed to do the potion, whatever it was, and maybe that there was some use for it he hadn't thought of, like for government spies, it seemed that everyone else was starting to get to work already. Jethro didn't want to get behind already - he usually managed it by the end of the class but to be behind right at the beginning was bad even for him. So Jethro wandered across the classroom to work with Andrew, who didn't seem to have a partner yet, and with whom Jethro had worked before.
"You're cauldron's all dirty," Jethro pointed out by way of greeting. Then he put his book and potions kit on the desk next to Andrew's, and said, "What would you like me to do first?"
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Jethro Smythe
Want a wager on that?
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Jethro Smythe
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Andrew
August 23, 2009 7:53 PM
Can't say I'm much of a gambler by Andrew
Andrew paused while dicing the fluxweed and glanced up at Jethro with a bit of a smile. When he and Jethro teamed up, they usually got something relatively close to what they needed to produce. Hopefully today would be the same.A chuckle escaped Andrew's smile as Jethro commented on his cauldron. He continued dicing the fluxweed, "Yeah, seems I don't need the potion we're making today. Whatever it is, is stuck in there pretty good. I'm hoping it'll make a good barrier between the metal of the cauldron and the sumac. What do you think?"
"Do you want to make sure we've got everything else we're going to need? I've got the sumac, but I'm not sure about the doxy blood, beetle eyes and dried nettles."
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Andrew
Can't say I'm much of a gambler
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Andrew
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Jethro
August 30, 2009 11:23 AM
I could say it but it's not true by Jethro
Jethro peered inside Andrew's cauldron again at the substance stuck there. "I'm hoping it'll make a good barrier between the metal of the cauldron and the sumac. What do you think?" Andrew asked. Of course, it didn't occur to Jethro that the question may have been rhetorical, so he answered it."It really depends what's stuck. It doesn't look like metal so it probably won't react with the sumac but it might react with the fluxweed or the blood and things. If it's really stuck on it probably boiled too high so I'd imagine that if we keep the temperature down low nothing will react at all," he said in a detached manner.
"Do you want to make sure we've got everything else we're going to need? I've got the sumac, but I'm not sure about the doxy blood, beetle eyes and dried nettles." Andrew said.
"Okay," Jethro replied, "I'll make sure we've got everything else we need. He then spent the next several minutes going down the list of ingredients in the textbook, and checking the desk, then his own potions kit, and then the store cupboard until he had all the necessary ingredients laid out before them. He noticed that his partner had already accomplished the task of dicing the fluxweed, so Jethro set about finding a task for himself. He decided he would weigh out the beetle eyes. Taking a bag of the tiny, shiny eyes and some old sclaes, Jethro checked the required weight about fifteen times until he was satisfied he had the right amount.
Handing the bowl full of the correct weight of beetle eyes to his partner, Jethro asked cheerfully, "What shall I do next?"
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Jethro
I could say it but it's not true
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Jethro
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Andrew
August 31, 2009 8:30 PM
Oh really? by Andrew
While Jethro was gathering the rest of the ingredients, Andrew paused the dicing long enough to fill up the cauldron with water and get the heat going. He then finished chopping up the fluxweed, and dumped it into the water. A bit of a strange smell wafted out of the water, but it quickly dispersed. Andrew figured it was supposed to happen and turned back to Jethro when he asked his question."Do you want to figure out how that Doxy blood part is supposed to work, the professor's instructions confused me a bit." He accepted the bowl of beetle eyes and started adding them to the mix. That strange odor rose out of the water again.
He glance over at Jethro, "Does this smell alright to you?"
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Andrew
Oh really?
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Andrew
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