Beginning Potions, Lesson One (1st, 2nd, and 3rd Years) on Potions

Professor Fawcett

December 04, 2009 9:44 PM

Beginning Potions, Lesson One (1st, 2nd, and 3rd Years) by Professor Fawcett

The Potions lab had begun the year looking very much like a Potions lab, if a sparsely-decorated one. John Fawcett was not an interior decorator, he’d never studied the subject a day in his life, and he wasn’t paid enough to bother with taking a correspondence course in a class he’d never use again – at least in his opinion. There were some bookshelves filled with texts and periodicals relating to the subject matter (mostly; he was beginning to think his copy of The Odyssey had somehow gotten mixed up with them) and several posters, posted at very even intervals around the walls, showing examples of famous potioneers with captions about their accomplishments, but that was all he’d done intentionally.

Over a few weeks, though, his nature began to kick in. Still not entirely at home in an office despite all the years he’d spent chasing one, he frequently graded papers in his classroom, with the result that said papers usually formed piles around the front lab table he used in lieu of a desk. Letters to his wife and various relations, class rosters, books he’d started reading and discarded half of the way through, his personal notes on things he was supposed to do and observations he made on those and other things, and an errant copy of Soap Opera Digest announcing that his brother had been nominated for a Daytime Emmy combined with the class paperwork to create a significant fire hazard.

As far as John was concerned, this hazard was a bit like the existence of Allison’s parents: troubling, but it only came to the front of his mind on certain occasions. His in-laws were only remembered at major holidays, and fire was mostly only remembered when first years were about. He had an automatic inclination, present since his youth, to distrust anyone under the age of forty-five, but magically-inclined eleven-year-olds were frankly dangerous. He had to be constantly on the alert around them, which was not a state of affairs that came naturally to him.

He looked over the beginners’ class with an absently strict sort of resignation – his normal expression. The class was a little larger than he might have liked, but they’d manage. He had spent most of his life as a member of the least-funded and smallest department in the Magical segment of a college, and after he’d left it, things had gotten worse; he was good at managing.

“Good morning, class,” he said. “As some of you, no doubt, remember, I am Professor Fawcett.”

A flick of his wand sent a syllabus to each student. “Kindly keep this syllabus somewhere safe; in addition to explaining all the rules and procedures of the class, it also contains a tentative course schedule and a list of due dates for your papers and projects. I expect high-quality work on all of these; nothing but your best effort will be deemed acceptable. Given the dangerous nature of this class, I also hold you all to a high standard of behavior; doing things which endanger yourselves or other members of the class will be punished severely. There is a list of proper lab protocols inside the front cover of your textbook; I suggest you read it.”

Once all the paperwork was distributed, he rapped the board with his wand, revealing a list of ingredients and instructions. “If you’ll put those away for now, we’ll get started. Today we’ll be working on a Deflating Draught; it may be somewhat challenging for those of you in first year, but I expect you should find it manageable.” He glanced at Mr. Melcher and added, “This is a useful potion to know if you ever happen to be splashed with Swelling Solution, which can happen under a variety of circumstances I’d advise you to avoid, as it reverses the effect.”

“The ingredients are, as you can see on the board and page 112 of your textbook, chopped daisy roots, armadillo bile, a runespoor egg, porcupine quills, and an eye of newt. You may work in pairs, and you have the remainder of the class period to complete this potion. Take care with the armadillo bile and the porcupine quills; if you’re too heavy-handed with them, or add them at the wrong points, you may well cause disaster. Begin, and good luck.”

OOC: Standard posting rules (approximately 200 words, or 8-10 sentences, per post, with good grammar and spelling) apply. Be creative and have fun!

Subthreads:

Terrified by Demelza Eagle with Jethro Smythe

Sitting this one out. by Jose Hernandez with Veronica Kerrigan, Aladren, Jose

Clearly, this will be easy by James Anthony

Beginning a Potion in Beginning Potions by Daniel Nash II

0 Professor Fawcett Beginning Potions, Lesson One (1st, 2nd, and 3rd Years) 0 Professor Fawcett 1 5

Demelza Eagle

December 05, 2009 10:57 PM

Terrified by Demelza Eagle

To be honest, potion skills were one of the only things in Demelza's family that seems to run in a line. Not that there were many wizards in her family, anyway. But she did have quite a descendant line from her grandfather's side of her family, which was filled with a lot of great potioneers. Which passed down to her mom, then to most of her siblings. Joel and Tommy were decent at potions, Beth actually wants to have a job that mainly involves potion making, Jamie's best subject was potions (and he wasn't the best one at school), and Will, Mickey, and Luna were also not bad at potions. So no pressure, right? Sure she told herself. She did fit in well with the rest of her family, but she didn't like the idea of potions.

See liked the idea of fire being involved, and she liked the risk that was involved, but she didn't like the blame. She didn't want to be the one was awful at potions and couldn't create a potion to save her life (which may come handy one day). But, once again, these were one of these things that she wouldn't know until she tried. Just like transfiguration, which she found she was actually not as bad at as she thought she would be. Perhaps it would be like that for potions? Hopefully.

But walking into the potions classroom was terrifying. Professor Fawcett had to be one of the creepiest people Demelza had ever seen. He looked like one teacher you wouldn't want to cross. She figured she better behave like a good little girl, so unlike how she behaved in COMC.

Demelza was really surprised when a syllabus was flicked toward her from what seemed like from nowhere. She glanced at the paper and saw too many words for her liking. She gave it an annoyed look as though it was the paper and ink's fault she had to do all that work.

She listened longer to Professor Fawcett's words, and didn't like them at all. Not only did she have to behave, she had to have high quality work. Demelza doesn't have the best quality work, and it is not because she doesn't try. It is because she simply wasn't born with the best writing skills. Or the best focusing skills, as those horrid muggle doctors whom she hates have told her many times. Teachers shouldn't assume that everyone has the best skills. Because some people, like Demelza, don't, and it just isn't fair for them.

And to add more to her list of already disliking this class, she then had to read a text book. She liked reading, but only for her own enjoyment. Not whatever the professor was telling them to read. Maybe she'll read it, but only if she is really bad at potions. She most certainly doesn't want to have remedial potions.

A deflating charm. What use will that have to anyone? Oh, wait he just explained it. A variety of circumstances?" she thought. How many circumstance can you be splashed with swelling juice? Deciding it wasn't worth it to ponder over that subject, she listened to the ingredients.

Her mood boosted a little bit when she didn't have to remember the ingredients, could work with a partner, and the fact that she already knew those facts about porcupine quills and armadillo bile. Her sister nearly swallowed her with information about them when she asked about it. She decided to ask the person next to her to partner with her for this. "Wanna partner with me? The cauldron is right here for us!"

0 Demelza Eagle Terrified 157 Demelza Eagle 0 5

Jose Hernandez

December 07, 2009 10:11 AM

Sitting this one out. by Jose Hernandez

Jose Hernandez was a California Pierce. Despite their relative last names, he was more of one than Saul Pierce had ever been, at least in the area of potions. Until he stopped taking the subject after his CATS, Saul had passed potions (barely) through the efforts of his lab partners and let his classwork pull him through his abysmal testing and homework scores. Jose was the opposite.

Potions was the only class Jose had failed last year. Only his homework and testing skills (for which he put in a great deal of effort so the potion professor wouldn't hate him completely) brought his grade up to a U instead of the Troll his classwork alone would have earned him. It wasn't his ability to mince or chop or stir or correctly time the next ingredient's addition that was the problem. There were a few potions - not many, but a few - that he was able to complete without any trouble at all. But most potions had animal ingredients, and that wasn't something he could work with. So he sat out on most of the potions, accepting zeroes and sometimes even detentions instead of compromising his ethics.

And that was why the family was much happier with his U than Saul's A. Saul had gotten lectured. Jose had gotten hugged and told that his parents were proud of him. It was completely worth the failing mark.

As Professor Fawcett began the day's lesson, Jose looked over the syllabus briefly, noting the important due-dates and planning his homework schedule accordingly so that Fawcett really would get his 'best effort' on what parts of the class Jose was confident he could complete.

Unfortunately, the day's lesson wasn't one of those. The list of ingredients, to Jose, was the most critical part of the lesson, and he got a bad feeling at 'armadillo bile', groaned at 'runespoor egg', sighed at 'porcupine quills', and sat back in utter defeat at 'eye of newt'. The quills he could have dealt with, as they were a part of his own set of potion ingredients, collected by socially responsible means, and the bile, arguably, wasn't so much a part of an animal as it was an animal waste product (which could have helped him justify using it if he was a vegetarian instead of a vegan), but the egg and newt eye were impossible to work around.

He was getting another zero.

Ignoring his classmates and his cauldron, he took out his potions book and began working on the first homework assignment listed on the syllabus. He'd found he was less likely to get a detention if he was quiet about his civil disobedience and was doing some form of potions work.

1 Jose Hernandez Sitting this one out. 149 Jose Hernandez 0 5

Veronica Kerrigan, Aladren

December 07, 2009 6:08 PM

You're not alone. by Veronica Kerrigan, Aladren

Having been warned about the class previously, Veronica had been sure to wear something a bit more durable than a dressy skirt. In place of a skirt, she had on a pair of black slacks (still dressy, but she didn’t mind so much if they got dirty or destroyed) over simple black flats with a white button down dress shirt. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a bun. If it weren’t for the light amount of makeup she was wearing to accent her features, she would have felt rather boring, but with that and her uniform, she figured she looked like a model student instead. It was a bit of a disappointment to her life plan, but she figured that anyone worth knowing would understand and might even be dressed similarly. It was with these thoughts in mind that she took a seat towards the back of the classroom.

Though, Professor Fawcett made Veronica want to sing to the Heavens. Finally, here was a real instructor complete with not only a proper classroom with desks, but with a syllabus that had a schedule and due dates and everything. She wasn’t a stickler for academics like Cassie, but she liked when classes were run the way she expected them to be in an appropriate educational manner. Leaning over, she rummaged around in her bag for her textbook and shoved the syllabus in it. Okay, even if she liked the way the class was being run so far, she didn’t necessarily care about when she was supposed to turn in assignments. As long as she got an A in the class, she figured that would be adequate.

And just when she had finished praising the class came the inevitable. They were expected to work on the practical instead of just theory and in this class; there was more problem with that than just merely having to do the work. She, Veronica Kerrigan, was expected to touch and work with animal parts and other disgusting things. It was entirely unacceptable. All of this stuff should have been precut and measured in her opinion and they should have had at the very least had gloves to deal with all of the grossness. And…oh, some of it smelled bad as she took a whiff of one of the ingredients of her potions kit. She couldn’t do this. She refused to do this.

So, she guessed she had two options. She could either go up to the professor telling him that she absolutely would not be doing the assignment, which would probably get her in trouble and more importantly, make her look bad to other purebloods, or she could find someone to do the work for her. Looking around the room, she saw a boy that didn’t seem to be doing the assignment or even trying to find a partner. Why not? Did he find it just as gross? He didn’t really look like what she thought of for proper, but maybe she was judging him wrong and he had a refined personality.

Curiosity getting the better of her, she packed up her thins and wandered over to where he was. She peered over his shoulder, but couldn’t really see what he was doing, but his Potions book was out so maybe he was doing the homework. Either way, he wasn’t doing the practical. Interesting, very interesting. “Mind if I join you?” Veronica asked. Without waiting for an answer, she slipped into the seat next to him. “I’m Veronica Kerrigan of the North Carolina Kerrigans,” she introduced herself. “So, what are you doing?”

0 Veronica Kerrigan, Aladren You're not alone. 0 Veronica Kerrigan, Aladren 0 5

Jose Hernandez

December 08, 2009 10:01 AM

That's the way I prefer things. by Jose Hernandez

Jose was a little surprised when someone sat down in the chair beside his own. If it had been a purely plant based potion, he could understand if someone wanted to partner with him, but . . . oh. A first year. That cleared things up. For a Pecari, he was downright studious, but most of the second and third years should know not to partner him in potions unless the ingredients met vegan standards. Nathaniel had proven the danger of that clearly enough. (Jose felt fortunate that particular disaster had happened before Fawcett took over the class, but feared it might have been a contributing factor to why Professor Morastus left.)

When she introduced herself, his eyebrows raised a little bit. Proper pureblood girl, no doubt. It was strange for that sort to approach him. Maybe the shiny new shoes on his feet confused her enough to make her think the somewhat battered robe he wore was a fluke and not the norm (while it was newer than most of his clothes, neither he nor Saul had been kind to it). Though his textbook was just as much a hand-me-down, it did look new - Saul had never been much for reading books.

"I'm doing the homework," he answered her last question first, as the 'may I join you?' seemed to have been rhetorical. "Jose Hernandez," he introduced himself, "of the California Pierces." He didn't often need to offer a family branch, but when he did, it always felt a little awkward. Well under half of the California Pierces actually had Pierce as a last name anymore (which was a large part of the problem with the succession last winter), but he still thought it sounded strange when his surname didn't match his family name.

None of which changed the fact that he was very much far more of a Pierce than a Hernandez. His very American accent made that obvious enough. He even pronounced the H at the beginning his last name. While the Hernandezes did have a wizarding branch over in Mexico, he was a descendant of the squib group that had been sent away and across the border to live like muggles where the magical Hernandezes didn't have to deal with them. No, his first and only claim to a magical family was the California Pierces. At least, as much as they could be considered magical.

Aware of the status - if you could call it that - that the California branch of his family held in magical circles, he would not be surprised if Veronica Kerrigan of the North Carolina Kerrigans went on her way after his introduction, but he felt compelled to add in explanation, "I'm taking a zero on the assignment to protest the inhumane treatment and slaughter of newts, porcupines, armadillos, and runespoors by the potion making industry." If there was just a little bit of pride in his voice for doing his own part in the campaign to preserve animal rights, he felt it was forgivable. This was what his family did.

1 Jose Hernandez That's the way I prefer things. 149 Jose Hernandez 0 5

James Anthony

December 08, 2009 2:54 PM

Clearly, this will be easy by James Anthony

In James’s humble opinion, he was rather talented at Potions although he had very little practical experience. He understood the theory very well (of course) and considered himself quite adept. It was therefore with a certain sense of self-assurance that he walked into the Potions classroom, nodded in a friendly matter at Professor Fawcett (who he knew from the substitute teaching the man had done previously) and went to his accustomed seat. Only to find someone else sitting there. About to make a fuss about it, James instead moved one over and put his bag down just in time for Fawcett to begin the lesson. The brown-haired boy fumed, green-blue eyes focused on the interloper until the arrival of the syllabus distracted him.

The third year Aladren gave it a cursory once-over before tucking it into his bag. It was the usual set of rules, regulations, and due-dates; James, of course, would have the work done long before the due-dates listed on the sheet. He usually did; after all, it was usually very basic work. The thirteen-year-old couldn’t help but wait anxiously for a time when assignments would be difficult and challenging instead of the normal drivel afforded to his year and those below it. James was ready for some change.

But now, apparently, was not the time that it would happen. Because today, as Fawcett advised them, they would just be making Deflating Draughts. Yawn. In James’s opinion, Deflating Draughts were the easiest and most basic of the Draughts to make. Not only that, but they were strictly unnecessary. Unless one was a dolt and managed to get themselves splashed with Swelling Solution, there was no reason for even having the Deflating Draught around. Since James was, under no circumstances, to be considered a dolt, the Draught was therefore superfluous.

But as it would be a class grade, the Aladren decided he ought to put effort forth, just like in his other classes, to aid those less fortunate members of his class who did not necessarily understand the intricacies of Potionswork. Ie: all of them.

“It’s quite simple,” he said out loud to the person who had pilfered his preferred seat. “To make a Deflating Draught. As you seem to have taken,” James emphasised the word, pushing his glasses up his nose as he did, “my seat, I suppose I ought to assist you should you need it. Of course, it is all redundancy for me, but should you need concepts elucidated or bile added properly, I suppose I should offer my services.” The third year smiled genteelly at his newfound partner.

0 James Anthony Clearly, this will be easy 126 James Anthony 0 5

Daniel Nash II

December 08, 2009 11:34 PM

Beginning a Potion in Beginning Potions by Daniel Nash II

Daniel was as close to baffled as he had yet experienced. The teachers seemed confused on what to do with the third year class. Sometimes they were intermediates, and sometimes they were beginners. That was fine; he could get that the thirteen year olds with two years under their belts were at a sort of middle ground where they weren't quite good enough to be intermediate but neither were they exactly new at everything anymore.

But why, in good Merlin's name, where they put in the beginner class on the easy stuff and the intermediate class on the hard stuff?

In potions, for example, Daniel had earned an O for the last two years with hardly any effort at all. But was he being promoted up to potions that might actually present a challenge? No. He was still put in the same class as kids who'd never seen a cauldron until they bought their school supplies this summer.

But in transfigurations, where he had needed to actually work at mastering the spells even at the end of last year, there he was suddenly an intermediate.

It just didn't make any sense to him.

He still took his normal seat, up towards the front, but not in the front because he was an Aladren but not a complete geek, and took his careful notes because that was the role he was expected to play as a member of the smart House and one of the top scoring potions students in the school. But his heart wasn't really in it. The Deflating Draught was something even a first year could brew. Hence it being taught in the beginner's class.

(Though, to the potion's credit, the first year would likely need to be either quite talented or have the help of an older student. There was that small saving grace.)

Determined not to let his grade slip just because the class was too easy, Daniel turned to the appropriate page number in his text, then addressed the person seated beside him - his default partner - by asking, "Did you want to get the armadillo bile, runespoor eggs, and porcupine quills while I get the rest?"

1 Daniel Nash II Beginning a Potion in Beginning Potions 130 Daniel Nash II 0 5

Veronica

December 10, 2009 12:03 PM

That may change. by Veronica

Jose Hernandez of the California Pierces. She had to think about that for a moment. Thus far, anytime she had heard of a last name, they had always matched and this one didn’t. At this time in their tentative acquaintanceship, it would be considered rude in proper circles to ask specifics or she believed so. Therefore, it was up to her to draw her own conclusions on how this was possible. Now, the way it all worked was a bit fuzzy, but if she remembered correctly, a female normally married into a male’s family, which is why the children’s last names matched the family branch.

Given this knowledge, the only ways she fathomed his last name to vary were the following: one, his father did not have a family branch and thus, married into the female’s family, which opened a world of possibilities to how this occurred – some of which would immediately disqualify him from her company; two, his mother’s branch was more significant than his father’s and he wanted people to know that he had ties to that family, which she couldn’t blame him for; or three, something had happened to his parents and he had been taken in by a relative, which made the third possibility one that wasn’t up for discussion at this time.

Tricky, very tricky, to tell with this one. Ignoring the difference in last name, his greeting still spoke of proper pureblood while his robes told another story. She supposed there could be a reasonable explanation. After all, it wasn’t as though she had worn her finest to the class. He could be wearing the robes to avoid ruining his good clothes. She had been warned of such things. His parents could also be like her father where while they could afford the material things, they limited the children, something about not becoming spoiled. Then, there was the potential that she was completely mistaken and he was just poor and she really should just stop talking to him. But if she did and it was the former, she could offend him.

This was obviously a tragic situation that would have been avoided from the start if she had known her family branches better and had then known California Pierces were not to be associated with. But as she didn’t know this, she decided to stay until she was able to make a more accurate judgment. Besides, he was certainly interesting in giving her something to think about. She had been planning on taking a zero on the assignment, not because of how the parts were obtained, but merely because she didn’t want to touch them. “That’s very…noble,” she stated and wondered if she shouldn’t feel guilty for not feeling the same way.

Veronica didn’t dislike animals and she didn’t necessarily approve of ending one’s life, but there were reasons for using them, even if she never planned too. “If they were treated humanely before being killed and say that they were killed in the most ethical way possible, would that make a difference? And beyond that, what about the lives that some potions save? Is it fair to tell a parent that their child will die, because the potion that is needed to cure cannot be used due to being unable to use animal parts?” She hoped the words didn’t sound critical, because she didn’t mean them to be, but she was actually curious to his viewpoint. It must have been the Aladren in her. Curse that House!

0 Veronica That may change. 0 Veronica 0 5

Jethro Smythe

December 10, 2009 1:47 PM

The last thing you want by Jethro Smythe

Jethro had learned the hard way that if there was one subject where he really needed to pay attention, it was potions. His usual partner Andrew had so far tolerated Jethro's dreadful performance in the subject, but Cynthia had recommended that Jethro try working with someone else this year, even if just to give his yearmate a break from his anxiety-inducing company. With this in mind, Jethro purposefully seated himself next to someone he didn't know. The first task was near enough accomplished. That was the easy part; now he just had to get through the class without exploding anything or setting anything or anyone on fire. Taking a hint from Jose in their transfiguration class earlier in the week, Jethro took out a notebook and a quill and he copied down almost everything the professor said, but it noteform. When finsihed, it read:

syallabus - keep safe. rules and dates.
Read textbook for lab ~~protacall~~ rules.
deflating draught. reverses effects of swelling solution.
Page 112. Be careful with bile.

Now, Jethro had used written down instructions from his textbook before and it had helped a little, but sometimes he got muddled up with what stage he was on, and sometimes he mistook a daisy root for a gurdy root, and sometimes it took him so long to read the next instructions that his potion had bubbled over and started to disolve his desk while he wasn't looking. So when the girl Jethro's sat next to asked him to be partners, Jethro tried to be honest with her. "Yes, I would like to work with you very much," he told her, "but I'm not very good at potions so you might have to keep an eye on me."

0 Jethro Smythe The last thing you want 146 Jethro Smythe 0 5

Jose

December 10, 2009 1:51 PM

It seems unlikely. by Jose

Jose looked at her in surprise. Firstly, because she wasn't running away at his family branch, and secondly, because she was expressing an actual interest in his protest. Mostly, people just wrote him off as a either a bleeding heart liberal or someone who was just making excuses to avoid the assignment.

He smiled, sitting up straighter and warming up immediately to the subject of discussion. "If they were treated humanely, I could use parts that were removed in an ethically responsible manner." He drew his own potions kit from his bag, and set on the desk in front of him. He opened it and pulled out the porcupine quills by way of demonstration. "These, I'd have no problem at all using in a potion. They were harvested painlessly and in a way that allowed the porcupines to retain their dignity."

He grinned a little and shrugged, "They were also absurdly expensive. But that's the sort of thing my family actually spends their money on. Richest Pierce branch in the world," that was official as of last April, "and I can't get them to buy me a robe that fits. But for this," he hefted the porcupine quills again, "they'll pony up twenty galleons an ounce." He rolled his eyes at the foibles of his family's expenses, more amused than annoyed. He was used to the inconsistency of their frugality and had come to terms with it years before.

"I don't have newt eyes though. Won't ever. That kills the newt, or if it doesn't, it does worse. There are usually plant or non-fatal animal ingredient substitutes." He shrugged and waved around them. "But it's a beginner level class. I don't know them yet, and the book doesn't provide alternative vegan recipes. So I sit it out. I'm not killing a newt or depriving a runespoor of its chance to live just so I can practice making a potion I'll probably never need to brew."

"But yeah, if there was no alternative, and a cure to a life threatening disease required a potion that had an ingredient that killed an animal, they can take it. I just won't be the one brewing it. And I won't be the one taking it if I'm the one with the disease."

0 Jose It seems unlikely. 0 Jose 0 5

Demelza Eagle

December 11, 2009 9:32 AM

I may have to trust you there by Demelza Eagle

As the boy (who definetly didn't look like a first year) told Demelza he would really like to work with her, she felt stunned. Obviously, he hadn't heard of the catastrophies she was prone to, especially with things like this. She even made messes with COMC. And that class is really hard to mess up in! She was easily distracted and like to "adventure". Then he said that he would need to be watched. Oh no. If she needed watching, how was she going to watch him? She wasn't going to turn him down, though, because it would be rude and she really did need a partner. So she replied back.

"Oh, that's ok," she lied to him, "But it will probably be me you have to watch. This is my first time. And I will most likely ruin it...By the way, I'm Demelza, and you are...?" she said, looking down. But, once again, she wouldn't know until she tried.

"So, lets get started," she said. "First on our list is chopped daisy roots. Ok, I'll chop the roots and you can stir the armadillo bile, but carefully," she said, surprised by her leadership. She might not even be doing things right, but that is what the directions say. She shrugged and carried on.

"Next is the runespoor egg, and do whatever the book says with that," she said, because she really didn't want to look at the book, "And I will handle the porcupine quills, too," she was really surprised by everything she just said. And all she had to do was read the book. Maybe it won't be that hard, after all. But then came actually doing the procedure. Oh, no, this isn't going to be pretty.

She drew her knife and cut the daisy roots as best she can. They weren't totally even, no, but good enough. She put them to the side and took the procupine quills and glanced at her book. It said to shave the sides until it was totally even. She toook the quill, careful not to poke herself, and shaved it. It was harded then she thought, for the quill was solid. But as she got it to a decent size, she turned to The boy and asked, "Now what to do with the newt's eye?" she asked, because she honestly didn't know exactly what to do. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all!

0 Demelza Eagle I may have to trust you there 157 Demelza Eagle 0 5

Veronica

December 24, 2009 10:12 AM

Well, there are always exceptions. by Veronica

OOC: Sorry this took so long. Holidays mingled with work = no free time.

BIC:

Richest Pierce branch in the world stuck out in her mind. Granted, they obviously were eccentric if they spent more money on ethical animal parts than on things that were normally considered of importance in the upper echelon such as robes. Of course, even being a bit odd could be considered charmingly quirky if one’s family was high enough on the proverbial food chain. Though, she didn’t really know since she had yet to get to know all of the families, but hopefully that would change soon. Her grandmother had promised that once she was old enough and considerably acceptable, she would be allowed to attend the parties. Maybe she would even see Jose at one or more so maybe it was worth continuing to talk to him.

“How do you know that it was painless and that the porcupine retained their dignity? People aren’t exactly porcupines so it’s a bit hard to judge, unless, of course, someone was willing transfigured into a porcupine and had their quills removed in order to test such methods. Plus, how can you be really sure that the company selling the product is actually doing as such and not simply saying they are in order to make a larger profit?” Veronica questioned. She didn’t doubt that Jose was actually getting what he was paying for. After all, if she did, she would have to question whether or not the make-up she purchased was actually not tested on animals. She just was having fun playing Morgana’s advocate.

Perturbed was written on her delicate features as she gave more thought on the other things he said. “Can you say for certain that you would never be the one brewing or taking such a potion? Have you ever been in that kind of situation? People do things that they say that they would never do when they’re put into desperate circumstances. Heroes can become villains and villains can become heroes,” Veronica pointed out. That was one of her favorite twists in stories. Not that she did much reading. No, none at all. Just her magazines and, oh, yeah, the stack of books in her trunk with trashy novel covers to hide what they really were.

“Anyhow, if you feel that strongly about it, why don’t you bring up the point that there are any alternatives in the book? You can’t be the only student in the world facing this problem. You might not even be the only student in the school. There might be others who would prefer to go another route, but don’t because of fear what it would do to their grade. If there were another method, I would use it. You know what? I think if you feel that strongly, you should start a protest. Get others involved,” Veronica finished, slightly out of breath from the fairly passionate argument.

She was also surprised that it had come from her. Oh, it wasn’t that she lacked passion or was some sort of meek mouse. The idea of protesting was something a good pureblood wouldn’t do, one wouldn’t even suggest it, but there it was. She had. She wondered if Jose would actually give some consideration to it. Even if some of the students weren’t concerned with the ethical treatment, they might get on board for the mere gross factor involved in using the animal byproducts. She certainly would for that reason alone. It was utterly disgusting and always left an odd smell that required washing your hands after about a million times. Yes, it was definitely necessary. She leaned on the table a bit, an eyebrow raised in question awaiting what he would say.

0 Veronica Well, there are always exceptions. 0 Veronica 0 5