Beginner Potions (1st and 2nd years) by Professor Fawcett
In some ways, the lack of a fifth year was actually a good thing. While John was concerned for how the transplanted sixth years, who had been fourth years a few months ago, would do in the Advanced classes, everyone else had become significantly easier to organize. He had always thought it was a shame that they had an uneven number of years anyway, though he would have preferred eight over six. Very few seventh years seemed to him to be remotely prepared for life on the outside, and extra time wouldn’t hurt those who were any.He was, however, no more than a fringe figure in education, and certainly no politician, so John generally kept his thoughts about the matter to himself and confined his public statements to matters of magisociology. In that world, despite the widespread confusion among his colleagues about why he was teaching children basic potions theory and practice and his last book having been a straight rebuttal of another sociologist instead of anything especially original, he was still a respected figure. To be such in multiple fields would have pleased his ingrained ambition, but he had learned to be content with being such in one.
If, of course, being able to manage a room full of eleven and twelve year olds effectively did not qualify him for expert status all by itself. If it did, John thought he was doing all right.
“Good morning,” he told the class. “Attention, please…Thank you. I am Professor Fawcett, your Potions instructor. Welcome, or as the case may be, welcome back to this class. If you will please respond as I call the roll…”
Once that was done, he put away the paper and switched from his reading glasses to his regulars. He really was going to have to consider bifocals soon, but he intended to put that off as long as possible. It made him feel…old, and not in the sense of a wise professor. “This is a potentially dangerous class, and I expect a high standard of behavior from each of you. I would like Beginner Potions to be a pleasant experience for us all, but rest assured – any disorderly behavior, any deliberate failure to follow directions, any deliberate attempts at pranks or destructive actions will be punished as severely as I can manage.” It took effort for John, who more frequently sounded slightly out of touch with the present, to sound stern and like what he could manage was something quite severe indeed, but he managed it. “An imperfect potion is, if your best effort went into it, allowable; deliberately creating chaos in my classroom is not.”
That important bit out of the way, he went back to sounding deliberately pleasant. “Now, to begin, we’ll work on a simple cheering potion – something our first years can manage, but which I believe I didn’t cover last year with our second years. It's not nearly as powerful as a good number of the mood-altering potions you'll study for RATS, but still not something to indulge in frequently. The side effects can be…unpleasant.
"The ingredients are asphodel root, daisy root, fluxweed, and ginger. All of these should be in a standard potions-making kit, but if you are for some reason running low on an item, there are reserve supplies in the cupboard." For clarity, he used his pointed to indicate where it was.. "Separate into partners, be sensible, and begin."
OOC: Standard posting rules - 200 words per post, somewhere between eight and ten lines on screen, with decent spelling and grammar for a minimum - apply. Nice, detailed posts are preferred. Spills, accidents, and unsuccessful products are allowed. Have fun!
Subthreads: Cheering potions yay! by Theo Manzana with Cosette Miller, Crotalus, Theo, Crotalus
Oh dear why?! by Starbuck Gregory with Nicodemus Sawyer, Starbuck
Really don't want to be here by Cooper Abramson (Aladren) with Tobar Brishen
Isn't this fun? by Jane Carey with Dulce Garcia (Teppenpaw), Jane
Model student by Tristan Volkmann with Mariana Ravenmore, Tristan
Here we go again. by Rachel Bauer with Marian Parker, Aladren
Guess I can only try my best. by Sam Bauer with Samantha Hamilton, Samantha
Re: Beginner Potions (1st and 2nd years) by Ellie McGill with Dmitri Petrovskii
Re: Beginner Potions (1st and 2nd years) by Leonardo Michaels with Dani Adair
This seems kinda sketchy by Brad Hayman (Aladren) with Kirstenna Melcher
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Professor Fawcett
Beginner Potions (1st and 2nd years)
0
Professor Fawcett
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5
Cheering potions yay! by Theo Manzana
Theo Manzana liked potions it made sense to him where Transfiguration and Charms rarely made sense. The Salvadorian-Irish Pureblood had been exposed to potions since a young child; his Father often spent time brewing them with his eldest son. He nodded his head in getting to Professor Fawcett as he took a seat near the front. He wanted to be close to the front because he had the better chance of getting a smarter partner, the slackers usually sat in the back thankfully.Once the Professor sent them to work he smoothed out his dark brown hair as he looked over his potions kit. He had abundance of all the ingredients. He looked over at his partner as he pulled out his sharp knife. “If you want you can get the ginger started and I’ll start cutting the asphodel root.” He said with a smile.
“I’m Theo Manzana by the way.” He did not stick out his hand to shake as he was already cutting the root into equal sections. He did not mean to seem bossy but he liked potions and his take-charge attitude came from wanting to get a good grade. Papa would never forgive him if he got a bad grade in potions.
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Theo Manzana
Cheering potions yay!
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Theo Manzana
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5
Oh dear why?! by Starbuck Gregory
Starbuck sighed as she made her way towards potions, she could already feel the headache starting to form that always formed during potions. She hated all the cutting, stirring, and the heat made it all the worse. Plus she was so horrid at it she had to replace her cauldron twice last term. The muggleborn was much better in Charms and Defense, for some reason she could not grasp potions at all. She quickly made her way to the very back desk before anyone could take it. She wanted to be as far away as she could be from Professor Fawcett’s watchful gaze.Once the lesson began the red head, bit her lip stealing glances at her partner. She hoped that were better at potions then she was. She wrote down which ingredients they needed then looked over at her potions kit and sighed. Was that asphodel root or was that hellebore? She looked over at her partner trying to look clam in case it was a first year. “So what do you want to tackle?” She asked with a smile praying that her partner said she would take the asphodel root, and that Starbuck herself could take the fluxweed or ginger.
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Starbuck Gregory
Oh dear why?!
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Starbuck Gregory
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5
Nicodemus Sawyer
April 28, 2010 4:38 PM
That's what I want to know. by Nicodemus Sawyer
Nic Sawyer was willing to give Potions the benefit of the doubt. His father was rubbish at it and his mother was a muggle and therefore completely unable to do more than help Dad remember what he was doing - which at least helped cut down on the number of explosions coming from the basement - but Nic was hopeful that his significantly more focused mind would counter any inherent potions inability he may have inherited from his father's genes.Still, it wouldn't do to appear too smart - that was not the image he wanted to project; he was way too tough and cool to be a nerd - so he took a seat in the very back row next to a red-haired girl he didn't recognize. He was fairly sure she wasn't a Crotalus, but if she was a second year, she maybe could be. He was only sure he could pick out the other first years by sight.
His goodwill toward the subjects of potions lasted exactly as long as it took for the professor to announce role-call. Many of his other classes had forgone it, why couldn't this guy? He sighed unhappily and slouched down in his seat, hid his face, and only moved to flinch against his full first name and lift his left hand up halfway into the air when the professor called out, "Nicodemus Sawyer," towards the end of the list. He could only hope people had stopped paying attention by then.
He was way too tough and cool to be named Nicodemus, too. It was worth a punch to the jaw for anyone on the playground of the Miami elementary school he'd previously attended to call him that to his face.
His mortification lifted a little as the professor moved into the lesson proper, and Nic committed it all to memory if not to paper. He took enough notes to keep from getting in trouble for not paying attention, but he figured class notes were kind of pointless really. Textbooks already had that kind of information in them, and those were indexed and written by people who presumably knew what they were talking about.
The warnings against goofing off he disregard as not applying to himself. He was not planning on intentionally causing chaos. He was planning on intentionally getting a grade of 80%, and not one percentage point higher or lower. That wasn't perfect, but it was good enough to pass. Surely the professor couldn't complain too much if Nic was passing, could he?
Of course, the declaration that they had to work with partners complicated his plans. He couldn't control the quality of the parts of the potion his partner completed with the exacting requirements needed to score exactly 80%. He had expected that to be hard enough when it was just him. He may have to aim high, count on his partner to provide the screw-ups (he had, after all, sat down beside someone sitting in the very last row - and the fact that she was staring into her potions kit in confusion only supported the conclusion), and hope he could make up the difference with his test and homework grades to meet his target average.
She looked up from her kit and asked what he wanted to tackle.
Nic looked over the instructions and decided if he left her one of harder parts, she was more likely to mess up. "I'm a first year," he told her, and tried to look young, innocent, and utterly new to potions. Acting was not a strong suit of his so he had no idea if it worked or not, but at least he wasn't lying so it couldn't sound too false. "What's the easiest? Oh, and I'm Nic, by the way." He'd been too buried in his own misery to have noticed when she answered to her name on the role call, so he had no idea what hers was.
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Nicodemus Sawyer
That's what I want to know.
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Nicodemus Sawyer
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5
I suppose there are worse things to root for... by Cosette Miller, Crotalus
Between her lousy sense of direction and her inability to really care about being punctual, Cosette knew it was a matter of time before she actually showed up late to one of her classes. She had gotten lucky with her first three lessons, but when she woke up today around the time everyone in the school was supposed to be done eating breakfast, she sighed to herself and knew that there was no way she could make it to her Potions Class on schedule. Not having much of a choice since she was sure skipping her first lesson would only land her in more trouble than she cared to put up with, she got ready for her day at a languid speed and stalked off in every which direction in hopes of magically appearing in front of the Potions Room.She was unlucky to be late, but she was lucky to have entered when the Professor started to tell everyone to calm down. Hoping to come off as if she was simply hanging out in the back of the room and not showing up late, she walked away from the door and into the first seat she could find open. To her dismay, it was in the front. Of course the only open seat was in the front. Not even bothering to pay mind to whoever it was next to her, she collapsed her head in her arms and mulled over how tired she was. She wondered how her dad was managing her mother by himself. He had said in his last letter she was fine, but Cosette had her doubts. After all, her mother’s condition wasn’t something that could be labeled as ‘fine.’
Cosette only tuned back into the Real World when the Professor called out her name. “Here,” she responded when he called out her name, hoping her voice wasn’t too muffled by her robes. She ignored the rest of the names but listened to Professor Fawcett’s introductory speech just for kicks. He seemed to take this subject seriously, and Cosette had heard of and personally seen one too many Potions accidents within her family to let any instructions slide by her. She didn’t feel like playing a victim because she was stupid and zoned out.
After the final orders to ‘be sensible’ and to start, Cosette finally let the ‘partner’ message click. She was going to have to work with someone? Really? She just hoped they wouldn’t be overbearing…
“If you want you can get the ginger started and I’ll start cutting the asphodel root.” Cosette lifted her head from the crook of the elbow she was laying on to see her ‘partner’ smiling at her as he set to work. She sighed and got her own potions kit out. No point in being bothersome, she decided as she set to work on faultlessly dicing up the ginger. Cosette would actually put some effort into today’s lesson and then just come (gulp) early next class to snag a safe seat in the back so she wouldn’t have to care anymore.
“I’m Theo Manzana by the way,” her partner introduced, already cutting away with precision as well. She wondered if his dad had an occupation in the potions field like her dad had been way back when or if he just had a knack for the subject.
She looked back down at her work and nodded. It was good he said his name since she hadn’t listened to roll call. “Hi, I’m Cosette Miller.” After a minute or two of cutting she swiped the sides of her blade against her cutting board after neatly placing the ginger to the side. She reached for the daisy root but paused. Surely her partner wouldn’t mind if she got to work on the next item? Then again, since he gave orders right off the bat, he might care about jobs a lot more than she did. Cosette didn’t care really so long as the potion got done, but just to be on the safe side it was good to double check. “Hey, I’m done with ginger, so do you mind if I get started on the daisy root then?”
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Cosette Miller, Crotalus
I suppose there are worse things to root for...
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Cosette Miller, Crotalus
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5
Really don't want to be here by Cooper Abramson (Aladren)
It wasn’t just that Cooper didn’t want to go to class. It was also that he had five days of normal life and homework to catch up on. Oh, and he hated his classmates. He was fully prepared to inform anyone who cared to ask that he’d spent the last five days in the Hospital Wing or whatever recovering from a severe bought of Dragonpox or whatever wizards caught these days, but the brown-haired, brown-eyed boy did not expect anyone to ask. As it was, his eyes were underscored with purple and his skin, usually olive-coloured, was looking a bit paler than usual. Cooper Abramson hated full moons with a passion.And he still had to go to stupid Potions. Yeah, that thing he should probably figure out how to do before he actually had to function by himself in the real world. The way he figured it, he would still be in school when the system kicked him out at 17, so all he would have to do was figure out tuition at that point. It was feasible. The Aladren hoped.
Fawcett was annoying and boring and used big words that Cooper was way too tired to bother to understand. He put his head down on his desk, closing his dark brown eyes as he listened to the professor drone on about some Potion or other that would affect your mood. What was it with all of the teachers at this stupid school and trying to drug you into happiness? First Dakin with the Billywigs and now this crazy? Cooper didn’t groan, but he came close too. He wasn’t sure he could get away with doing nothing in this class, especially because he actually had to learn how to make Potions eventually.
Even though Fawcett had told them to separate off into partners, Cooper kept his head down. Maybe if he didn’t move, nobody would notice him and he wouldn’t have to work with some stupid, annoying, talkative kid. Maybe they would just all let him alone and he could sleep, and make up the lesson at some more convenient time.
Or not. As someone poked him in the side, Cooper growled and raised his head bare inches off the table. “What?” he snapped.
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Cooper Abramson (Aladren)
Really don't want to be here
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Cooper Abramson (Aladren)
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5
Isn't this fun? by Jane Carey
Potions didn't capture Jane's interest the way classes that had her using her wand did, but she had heard that it was a very valuable subject. Of course, in her family, everything except liberal politics was a valuable subject, and even an especially strong-minded man could learn those so he'd know his enemy better. Her parents took their responsibility for Edmond's education very seriously, and Jane had just gotten pulled along for the ride by accident.As such, she, like her foster-brother before her, knew most of the theory of Beginner Potions long before she ever came into the classroom, but Jane paid close attention to all of the professor's lecture anyway. She'd seen enough tutors to know that what one considered important, the next might not even think worth mentioning, so there was always at least a chance for learning.
The lecture, however, proved to be a review of basic safety rules (shouldn't people already know those? It wasn't as if it was advanced spellcrafting...)and then the directions to a potion. Jane supposed theory came later.
To her surprise, she found she was a little nervous about actually applying the principles to produce a product. In all her life, the only products Jane had ever produced in such a manner were some poorly-sewn sparrows and a still-life or two. This was much more important. What if it was too hard for her? Jane didn't mind failure so much on her own account, but she knew Edmond would be disappointed if she didn't do well, and her mother and father would be so much worse.
Well, she wouldn't know until she tried. Besides, her only other option was to sit down and refuse to work, and there was no way to make her situation better doing that. The family would be even madder at her for doing that than they would be for trying and failing in public. It was, in its own way, comforting to think of it in those terms. She turned, with a friendly smile, to look at the student next to her.
"Hello," she said, glad her dark hair was behaving for once and not in a mess of knots. Maybe Mother had put a spell on it that hadn't completely worn off yet. "I'm Jane Carey, of the Virginia Careys. Would you like to work with me on this potion?"
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Jane Carey
Isn't this fun?
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Jane Carey
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5
Um...not really by Dulce Garcia (Teppenpaw)
Dulce didn’t consider herself a geek, nerd, bookworm, or whatever else name you might have for it. She didn’t set off to actually learn anything. She was just one of those people who picked up a book when she was bored and was able to retain everything that it had provided to her.Since Lita had started at Sonora, Dulce would read all of her school books during the summer vacations when she wasn’t busy with her music lessons. After Dulce had her first year here at Sonora, she realized knowing the words to spells and the ingredients of potions wasn’t really all that helpful if she didn’t know the practical portions of it all. So, this past summer, while her sister and brother were off playing in the sand or hanging with their friends, Dulce was in the kitchen with her mother, having her mother show her certain potions and spells that she was uncertain of. It was good practice. Especially for potions because that was something she could do right with her mother.
Maybe wanting to perfect these spells and potions made her one of those wanna be Aladren. She wasn’t sure but she wasn’t really sure if she cared enough about it to worry. If she was considered geeky or a witch in a negative term, than so be it. It was what it was.
Dulce sat at a table, unconcerned about who was sitting beside her. Dulce had no friends and didn’t intend on making any. She had her life planned out and she didn’t want anyone to get in the way of that. Today they would be doing the cheering charm. Dulce rolled her eyes. Why was it always something nice and sweet that they worked on? When were they going to work on the not so nice? And then, of course, there was the dreaded partner word.
Why was it always partner work? Why could it never be solo?
Oh well, at least this was one of the potions that Dulce had done with her mother. Piece of cake. Before Dulce could ever look around for someone to work with, someone had asked her to be partners. Dulce’s light eyes flickered to the girl. She didn’t recognize her, so she was assuming the girl was a first year. They had to start somewhere. “I guess.” Dulce answered, not at all sure how to take the introduction and wanting to really answer if she had a choice, but refrained. “I’m Dulce Garcia. If you want, you can start chopping the ginger root and I’ll work on the fluxweed.”
Dulce lit the fire beneath the cauldron so that the water had time to boil. “I’ve done this potion with my Mama before, so we shouldn’t have too hard of a time with it.” Dulce commented. “You’re a first year, right?”
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Dulce Garcia (Teppenpaw)
Um...not really
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Dulce Garcia (Teppenpaw)
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5
Model student by Tristan Volkmann
“Blah blah Potions blah roll call bleh blah.” Tristan had no problem reporting that, yes, he was present, and then the Professor’s voice tuned back into static. “This is a potentially dangerous… blah blah… would like beginner… blah bleh… pleasant experience… bleh blah bleh… deliberate attempts at pranks or destructive actions… bleh blah… punshed as severely… blah imperfect bleh bleh… simply cheering potion… bleh… be sensible… blah… begin.”Tristan could’ve given himself a pat on the back – his ability to pay attention had improved vastly from his first experience with a professor. He was beginning to think he was really getting the hang of this classroom stuff. Having been tutored his entire life, he wasn’t used to paying attention when a teacher spoke to everyone instead of directly to him in the comfort of his own home. Well, he’d always had issues paying attention even then, but it was useless to dwell on that now.
Besides, while he wasn’t a Potions prodigy, he’d done this potion before and knew how to pull it off even after missing the ingredients being called out. To say it was easy was an understatement – anything with single-digit ingredients and no weird-mixing/turning tricks was easy in his book. Oh, and things that weren’t under a time limit were good too. Yup, today would probably be his only decent day in potions.
“You’re in luck today,” he told the person next to him. “I happen to know this potion pretty well, so we should get it done while being sensible and everything.” He started to cut the asphodel root and he nodded at his partner. “Could you get started on the daisy root then?” Then he quickly added, “Oh, and my name’s Tristan Volkmann, in case you missed it.” Despite the fact he had yet to even remember his roommates names, he figured it was still a good idea to introduce himself to his partner. That should makes things go easier, right?
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Tristan Volkmann
Model student
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Tristan Volkmann
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5
It’s a mystery to me. by Starbuck
"I'm a first year" The boy said as Starbuck looked over at him. She groaned inwardly well, there even went the passing grade she had hoped for. A first year that looked just as lost as the second year was. She took a deep breath as he asked what was easiest and that his name was Nic. “I’m Starbuck.” She said absently mindedly as she looked over the potion kit. She licked her lips and sighed she could trick him into taking the harder parts but that was not fair to the first year.Finally, she turned to him and forced a smile. “How about you take the ginger and the asphodel root.” She said with a nod. She had given him one easy and one hard just as she had done for herself. “And I’ll take the daisy root and the fluxweed.” Sure she could easily identify the daisy root and fluxweed but his potions kit was a bit more organized then hers was. Without waiting for an answer, she pulled out the fluxweed and began to shred it like the instructions said to.
Still concentrating on her fluxweed she said. “You’re not in Pecari are you?” She asked. The red haired girl was sure that she had not seen Nic around the commons but she was often too busy with Quidditch. Plus since she was currently avoiding most of the second year Pecaris besides Nina she had taken to spending her evenings in the library. She paused in her shredding for a moment, read the instructions again, and pulled out a bit more fluxweed to shred up
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Starbuck
It’s a mystery to me.
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Starbuck
0
5
And those would be? by Theo, Crotalus
Theo was focusing on his cutting the asphodel root when she introduced herself; he looked up and stared at her face for a moment committing it to memory. With a small smile, he said. “It’s nice to meet you Cosette.” Mama and Papa would not be pleased if he were rude to someone even if he was working on a potion. They knew how intense their eldest child felt about potions and when he was at home, they often reminded him to mind his manners and just because he was at school didn’t meant he would forget he would hate to disappoint his parents.He was out of the corner of his eye when Cosette cleaned her blade off and set the ginger to the side just as he pushed his asphodel root to the side and wiped his own knife on his robes. He never bothered to care much about his robes during potions and kept an extra set to change into once it was over. “Hey, I’m done with ginger, so do you mind if I get started on the daisy root then?” Cosette asked after a moment. At least she was a considerate partner, he thought as he looked over her job on the ginger. It was reasonably good and cutting the Daisy root was easier the shredding the fluxweed so he nodded his head. “Yeah that sounds great.” He smiled as he grabbed out the fluxweed took the sharp edge and dragged it down it.
“Do you like potions?” He asked as he dragged his knife down the fluxweed again. “I love it if you can’t tell, sorry I was bit pushy at the start most of my potions partners have been useless.” He admitted with a frown. “Thank goodness you are handy with a knife.” Now he just prayed she would under stand the instructions and not mess up the potion.
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Theo, Crotalus
And those would be?
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Theo, Crotalus
0
5
Tobar Brishen
April 29, 2010 1:47 PM
Oh well. by Tobar Brishen
Tobar Brishen did not love nor did he hate potions he put up with it because he had to. The gypsy boy didn’t dance into Potions like he had Care of Magical Creatures but that didn’t mean he wasn’t as happy as he was then he just knew Professor Fawcett would get on his case again if he did it. The dark haired boy by sat down next to the kid who looked as if he hadn’t slept in a week. Instead of talking to him, he listened to Professor Fawcett.He played with the gold earring in his ear as the Professor spoke. He knew the students of Sonora thought he was odd for having an earring but to him it was matter of pride. The caravan with the earring had honored him three years before for catching a werewolf before he could bite someone. It was rare that someone so young was able to save the caravan from the lost of a child but he was proud of it and knew he was special.
Finally, they were set to work and Tobar looked over at his partner who now had his head down. ‘I should’ve sat next to someone else.’ He thought as he cleared his throat hoping the boy would pick up his head. Yet the boy didn’t so Tobar poked him in his side. The other boy growled at the black haired boy and snapped “What?” He sighed and rolled his eyes. ‘I really should’ve picked someone else.’ He thought as he brushed his hair out of his face.
“Man don’t get all up in arms because I woke you up, if you didn’t feel well why didn’t you go to the Hospital Wing.” He snapped right back. Usually Tobar was a sweet boy but he had never even met the kid before and he was being downright rude to him. “If you’d rather get a bad grade tell me now so I can make sure Professor Fawcett knows you did not help out at all.” He crossed his arms and glared at the boy, something about him made the normally gentle boy’s anger rise.
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Tobar Brishen
Oh well.
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Tobar Brishen
0
5
Should we call in the Hardy Boys? by Nic
Unless he very much misunderstood his readings on potions and what his Dad had managed to teach him before Nic realized that getting out of neighborhood entirely was the safest thing to do when Phillip Sawyer fired up a cauldron, the asphodel root was not one of the easier ingredients to work with, but he couldn't argue the assignment without giving away that he wasn't as ignorant as he was pretending to be. So he nodded and said, "Okay."His kit was still brand-new, so everything was still full, the labels were still in mint condition and easy to read, and the ingredients were still sorted in alphabetical order, so it didn't take long to find the asphodel root and the ginger. As he looked at them side-by-side he wondered if maybe Starbuck (who, incidentally, might have an even worse name than he did, and once she introduced herself, he stopped wondering why she didn't ask about him being called Nicodemus) just didn't like roots.
He pulled out his potion's knife and and began chopping the ginger into the recommended sized pieces. It was a little tougher than it looked, so he supposed he got why a girl wouldn't want to do this part. He was tall for a first year, maybe even for a second year, so once he put some effort into it, the root cut easily enough for him. He wasn't what he'd call bulky or heavily muscled, but he had more than enough arm strength to cut ginger without too much difficulty.
As he sliced up the root, he answered her question about his House, "No, I'm a Crotalus. But you're a Pecari, aren't you?" he guessed, more because that's what House she asked him if he belonged to, for no apparent reason that Nic could see, than because he had any evidence to support his assumption.
Once the proper amount of ginger had been cut up into proper dicing-sized bits, he looked over to Starbuck and wondered, "Should we have set up a cauldron already? Do we want to use yours or mine?" He looked down at the battered cast iron cauldron he'd taken from the basement - as much for Mom's and his childhood home's protection as because he needed one for school - and added doubtfully, "I can't swear to the structural integrity of my father's cauldron."
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Nic
Should we call in the Hardy Boys?
165
Nic
0
5
Any of the other subjects by Cosette
Taking the daisy root out, Cosette started to cut it with a slightly different technique than she had used on the ginger. Working on a potion brought back a feeling of nostalgia from when her father had made them. He’d let her help out sometimes on simple tasks like this, though she’d observed him enough to get a gist of what his passion was. It was a shame he had to leave it for a job that wasn’t so demanding since he really did like it. With all the order and structure involved in potions, she could see why it was his favorite field of magic.Theo was working with the flaxweed when he spoke to her again. “Do you like potions?” She stopped cutting to look at him working, debating on her answer. “It’s alright,” she replied. “It’s easy enough and a useful subject to have a decent background in, it’s just not my favorite.” Of course, no subject was her favorite. They were either tolerable or barely so, considering she’d rather just skip out on class completely at any given moment. Not that her partner needed to know that. Something told her it was never a good idea to let someone you’re working with know that you’d take a failing grade over an appearance in class if you didn’t have to worry about consequences like detention.
“I love it if you can’t tell –” he said. She smiled to herself, knowing that he’d done a good job at making that much obvious. “ – sorry I was bit pushy at the start most of my potions partners have been useless.”
“That’s rotten luck,” she stated. Cosette sighed when she noticed him frown out of the corner of her eye. Deciding to offer the potions-enthusiast some reassurance, she went to speak when he beat her to it. “Thank goodness you are handy with a knife.”
Cosette took a peak at his work and nodded. “Thanks, you seem to be doing fine too.” She looked down at her work and noticed she was almost done. When she finished, she told him what she had wanted to earlier. “If it makes you feel better, I have some experience with potions. My dad worked with them, he let me help sometimes. I’m not an expert or anything, but I don’t think I’ll be a hindrance either.” She looked between her caldron and his and looked back at him. “Who’s caldron should we use? I’d rather use yours since I haven’t gotten a chance to heat mine yet –“ it’s something her father had always done when he bought new caldrons, saying it was for sanitation or something to that effect – “but I don’t mind using mine if it matters to you.”
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Cosette
Any of the other subjects
0
Cosette
0
5
Impeccable Slacker by Mariana Ravenmore
Mariana sat beside some random student in the only available seat. She wasn't late, per se, she just arrived a second later then the other students. Maraiana glanced around the potions room, taking note of all the students before turning her attention to the Professor, who was calling role. Mariana rose her hand at the appropriate time before listening intently to the instructions. Well, this should be relatively easy. Her parents had previously hired tutor for her before school had even begun, and this was one of the potions he had covered.She took out her kit and organized everything so she knew where they were, her ingredients lined up nicely. That was when the student sitting next to her, Tristan, was it? Asked her to get started on the daisy roots. Mariana nodded her head to him before taking her knife and beginning to slice the roots. She knew she was supposed to dice them, however this worked much better. She loved potions beyond any other class, and working over a bubbling brew brought her so much happiness.
"My name is Mariana," she told him softly. She sent him a smile, warm and matching the happiness in her eyes, before returning to the roots. She hasn't been this happy since... well, for a long time. A very long time.
When she was finished with those, she began skinning the fluxweed and began to chop it into a fine powder. She looked over to her partner. She knew what she was doing, the question was, did he? Mariana shrugged to herself. Even if he did not, she could easily fix any mistake he made. She knew this potion by heart, having had to make it until it was absolutely perfect.
0
Mariana Ravenmore
Impeccable Slacker
0
Mariana Ravenmore
0
5
Rachel Bauer
April 29, 2010 6:35 PM
Here we go again. by Rachel Bauer
For Rachel, Potions was a lot like Defense Against the Dark Arts. Both were classes which she very much liked, and both were classes she had to pretend to dislike because it would be less than proper for a lady to express interest in them. Potions, after all, involved dead bugs and the insides of a variety of things, and Defense was about doing a thing that she was supposed to let men do for her. Ladies weren't able to have strong stomachs or take care of themselves, or they lost their right to call themselves ladies.So she pasted on a look of boredom as she sat on her stool in Professor Fawcett's lab, paying close attention to each word he said in secret. Her theory was that if she acted a part, no one - well, no one important; Raines was a bit of a problem, but she could only hope he was too busy mooning over Veronica to pay attention to her - would realize that she actually did well in her classes. It was, as the issue with Raines illustrated, not a perfect solution to the big problem of balancing all the things she needed, but it was the best Rachel could do.
She normally liked Fawcett, but couldn't help an irritated grimace when, once again, they were basically put to doing a review. Sure, they hadn't covered this one potion during her first year, but they had included the third years in a class with the beginners back then. Rachel had, before the end, been working on a level with those students. Doing an assignment designed for first years was like slow torture. She didn't feel like she was really learning anything, and what was the point of playing this part of the game if she never got anything out of it?
Of course, there was a bright side. If she got so bored and frustrated that her grades started to slip, she'd have that much that she didn't have to lie about anymore. She'd get a potential lecture from Dad, but given how little she got to see him, it wouldn't really matter. As long as Momma, whose company she spent much more time in, didn't see it having a negative impact on Rachel's social life, she wouldn't care, and might not even notice.
When they were put to work, she turned to the person in the next seat. She hadn't even bothered to put up her hair, and it was hanging straight down just past her shoulders. She'd over-dressed for the class, too; beneath her tailored robes was a very nice blue dress. Momma didn't believe in wearing casual clothes in public while there was money for anything nice, and Rachel couldn't say she cared much anymore. Every item of clothing that Emily Douglas had to replace would be a little revenge for all of this. "Shall we work together?" she asked, already setting her cauldron up. The answer was, usually, inevitable, and she didn't like it when she had to use other people's equipment.
16
Rachel Bauer
Here we go again.
154
Rachel Bauer
0
5
Sam Bauer
April 29, 2010 7:03 PM
Guess I can only try my best. by Sam Bauer
Mom did her best, but with it just being him and her, and her being a glorified waitress, money had always been on the tight side. For that reason, the smell of potions all over the apartment was something Sam took for granted. It was cheaper by a bit for Mom to make them herself than to buy them, and it was cheaper by a lot than going to either a doctor or a Healer when one of them was only moderately sick. Plus, Mom was just good at potions, and Sam thought she enjoyed getting to play with them. There was no other explanation for how she'd somehow managed to make a cough potion taste good without making it stop working a few years ago.Because of her, Sam thought he had a slight advantage going into the class, because he could already tell most standard ingredients apart and knew how to prepare most of the them. He'd accidentally earned his least-favorite elementary school nickname early enough in life that the whole family had realized he'd go to Sonora someday, and while everyone had seemed to have a good time being secretive about it to annoy him, Mom had let him get familiar with that much ahead of time. It did, however, mean that he felt a little extra pressure to do well in Potions. If he didn't, he'd be letting Mom down even more than he would be if he didn't do well in his other classes.
Because of that, he put extra effort into paying attention to what Professor Fawcett was saying. His right leg still maintained its persistent jiggle, but he managed to push enough stray thoughts about vocabularies and his homework for Transfiguration and the girl in front of him and so forth aside that he was pretty sure he got the full message as the professor had intended it. Since he'd been around the subject enough to not be really afraid of explosions or knives, which would have compelled his attention, doing that much gave him a sense of accomplishment and a feeling that the rest of this was likely to go well.
Not, of course, that Sam was going to put his full trust in a feeling. He wasn't stupid. He was also going put a good section of it into his aversions to being cut and to trusting people without proof. He didn't trust himself too much, but saw that as no reason to place a lot of confidence in other people. It worked better when he assumed they were both going to screw up and thought fast enough to keep an eye on both of them, preferrably with the understanding that the other person would be doing the same for him.
He looked up and found himself making eye contact with another student. "Hey," he said cordially. "Want to work on this one with me?"
16
Sam Bauer
Guess I can only try my best.
163
Sam Bauer
0
5
Samantha Hamilton
May 02, 2010 5:04 AM
Think I'll join you in that by Samantha Hamilton
All this classes were still new and strange to her. samantha didn't really understand the difference between all the spell-casting classes yet... they all used spells. Flying lessons were different, she could understand that, and potions would be different, too. She had wondered how you could have seven years of classes that all studied potions (and presumably making potions, but that was just an assumption), but that was way too much for her to worry about just for now. She was going to start with showing up to class with her brand new potions supplies, and finding out what this class was like.As with her other classes so far, samantha began by taking her pens, textbook an dparchment out of her bag, writing the date on the top of a fresh piece of parchment, along with her name. then, when it was mention, the professor's name, too. She always liked to give her work a title: this week it was 'Cheering Potion.' She didn't understand what Rats had to do with anything, so instead Samantha checked the index page in her textbook and breifly read over the bits that talked about a Cheering potion. Most of it didn't make much sense to her, but there was a page with instructions on the top. The ingredients were the same as those the professor had said (whatever an asphodel root was), so Samantha assumed it was the right potion.
The final part of Professor Fawcett's instructions was to work in partners. Samantha looked up to the student by her and happened to catch his eye. He asked if they should work together. "Yes, okay," Samantha replied with a friendly smile. So part one of the instructions was done. Excellent start. Now for the rest of the instructions. "Whose cauldron shall we use?" Samantha asked, hoping she didn't sound too bossy. She never meant to be, but sometimes one person had to take charge. "All my potions stuff is new so I should have all the ingredients," she commented. "Oh," she suddenly remembered, "My name's Samantha, but you can call me Sam. What's yours?"
0
Samantha Hamilton
Think I'll join you in that
159
Samantha Hamilton
0
5
Awesome at everything by Tristan
By the time his partner had started on the fluxweed, Tristan had already completely forgotten her name. Just like he had forgotten everyone else’s name so far here. He wondered if anyone was annoyed with the fact he either called everyone ‘Hey, you’ or just dodged using their name at all. Hn, they probably didn’t even notice. He had no reason to worry.He started to cut up the ginger when he noticed people talking about caldrons. Oh, they had to bring those today? That was a throwback. He looked at the girl beside him and cleared his throat. She probably had hers on her, right? “Hey, do you mind if we use you caldron?” To keep himself from sounding too suspicious, he added, “It’s just that you look like you’re almost done cutting, so you’ll have more time to set yours up.”
For as familiar as he was with this basic potion, she seemed to know what she was doing to. This was a good thing, because it meant that she knew how to set up a caldron the right way and wouldn’t just stick it in front of them and leave it go. But that also meant she was more focused and probably took this seriously, so any small talk would most likely be a waste of time for her. Well, whatever, Tristan was bored so hopefully she could multitask. “So…” he started, still cutting while she was working. “You don’t look all that old. Are you a firstie too?”
0
Tristan
Awesome at everything
0
Tristan
0
5
Sam Bauer
May 03, 2010 12:37 AM
This ought to be highly amusing. by Sam Bauer
The girl agreed to work together. Phase one was, therefore, complete, and nothing had gone too badly wrong. That was an awesome thing. Plus, by the robes, she was an Aladren, and Aladrens were supposed to be smart. They could also be, if Pop was anything to go by, a little...whimsical, but since he doubted anyone in the beginner's class had yet found the love of their life to obsess over, he was going to focus on the smart part for a few seconds and then move on to the question of cauldrons.Sam looked his over with a critical eye. It, like all his other official supplies except his wand, had come used. He didn't mind this much - old things had character, and often informative or amusing notes from previous owners - but he wasn't too sure about whether a cauldron worked better old or new.
The question was engrossing enough that it took his brain a minute to catch up with his ears in regards to Aladren Girl's introductory postscript, and then he had to do his best not to laugh.
"Sorry," he said, realizing his expression could be taken the wrong way. "Hi, Sam. Nice to meet you. I'm Sam Bauer." Technically, he was Samuel Bauer, but both claimers-keepers and ladies first could be hanged before he'd go for being called Samuel just because Samantha had appropriated the nickname, too. Being called Samuel wasn't quite as bad as being called Percy Jackson, but it still wasn't something that he encouraged. He decided to change the topic. "Uh - we can use your cauldron, if you like and stuff. Mine's secondhand. You in first year, too?"
16
Sam Bauer
This ought to be highly amusing.
163
Sam Bauer
0
5
Or Nancy Drew. by Starbuck
Starbuck focused on shredding the fluxweed for a few moments as Nic began to chop the ginger. She had quickly learned last term that chopping ginger was not her forte and she and the rest of the class were safer with her far away from the task. Last term while chopping the ginger she had lost grip of the thick piece of ginger and shot it across the room and into a cauldron, leaving her hand sliced pretty badly."No, I'm a Crotalus. But you're a Pecari, aren't you?" Nic said causing Starbuck to smile. “Guilty as charged.” She said with a laugh. She knew that most of the other houses saw the Pecari house as troublemakers, a few of them lived up to that name but Starbuck was not one of them. She did not enjoy getting in trouble or pulling pranks on people.
When Nic mentioned the cauldron, Starbuck was just about to move on to the daisy root. She sighed and nodded. “Yeah probably should have, but it’s no big deal.” She said with a smile. As she debated in her mind which cauldron to use she knew that her cauldron would be the best choice. “Well with my perchance of melting cauldrons, we should use mine.” She said and set it before he could say a word. Hopefully he would ignore what she just said and they could just do the potion.
0
Starbuck
Or Nancy Drew.
0
Starbuck
0
5
Marian Parker, Aladren
May 03, 2010 8:32 PMMarian Parker, Aladren
AlumnusHouse: Pecari
Written by: Parker Fitzgerald
Age in Post: -7
Author Needs CW For: Assault
Actually, this is a first for me by Marian Parker, Aladren
Potions class was bound to be exciting, Marian thought to herself. She’d been looking forward to it since she first got her kit for the course. After reading up on it, she was one hundred percent positive she’d enjoy the course. It seemed just like cooking, and she’d always been good at that. It had to be the closest thing to a muggle class that she’d ever find at Sonora, considering how different than expected all her other courses had been so far.She came in on time and sat beside an bored looking girl. Shy as ever, Marian kept to herself and didn’t say a word, too afraid of making a fool of herself somehow. Instead she focused on taking accurate, detailed notes of everything that Professor Fawcett was saying. She shook her head at the fact the professor had to emphasis that people should treat this class seriously. Why people wouldn’t was beyond her. Didn’t they care about their grades?
Marian wasn’t happy to hear that they had to work in partners. This meant she had to talk. She reluctantly looked to the girl beside her and swallowed. The girl looked older, so she was probably a second year. She was already busy setting her caldron up as she half-heartedly asked Marian to be her partner. Obviously the girl was not very excited about the partnership at all.
Marian blushed. “Um… y-yes, that’d be n-nice,” she said quietly, taking out her ingredients. She started to cut the daisy root the way the text books in the library had said one should when working on potions that effected emotions. She wanted to do well so this girl wouldn’t look so upset with her. Marian never liked disappointing people.
41
Marian Parker, Aladren
Actually, this is a first for me
1402
Marian Parker, Aladren
0
5
Terrible at best by Mariana
Mariana, finished, nodded. She set up her cauldron the proper way, the fire going at the right temperature and the water boiling already. From what she remembered, the fluxweed had to go in first, and then the roots, and so one. She glanced at him and nodded."Yes. I'm in Aladren," she told him. "What about you?" She mixed in their finished ingredients, and then went to work with the others. Tristan was still working on his, and that was completely fine, considering they wouldn't need his ingredient until the end. Mariana stirred the potion for a few minutes as required, but then when back to work. She listened as he talked to her, nodding to show that she was.
Multitasking, it seemed, was one of her greater talents. When she was younger she would have to work with the house elves whenever she was punished. It was a sort of double punishment, for both herself and the house elves, because they were not allowed to let anyone assist them with chores, and she hated seeing them punish themselves. She would tell them, order them even, to stop, but they never listened. If they did, they would have to punish themselves some more.
So she would work on multiple chores at the same time secretly, unknown to the house elves, but known to her parents. Her parents didn't care if the house elves were with her, and they would never be spotted otherwise, considering her parents were never in the same room as them. They believed the house elves to beneath them, and as far as they were concerned, she was too.
0
Mariana
Terrible at best
0
Mariana
0
5
Better than the best at best by Tristan
Tristan stopped cutting and watched her set up. She mentioned she was in Aladren and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He wasn’t sure how the Quidditch roster looked in Aladren, so she could very well end up on the team. That’d make her an enemy, of course. Though she didn’t come off like any Quidditch player he’d ever met so maybe she wasn’t on a team. He shrugged it off and went back to cutting.“I’m a first year Pecari,” he said. “Which, in case you didn’t know, is the house with the best Quidditch team.” He puffed out his chest with pride as he finished cutting and carelessly tossed his knife aside. He was still overjoyed that he had made the team and got the spot he had wanted. But being a pureblood who lived and breathed for the sport only got him so far. Now that he was on the team, he was going to have to really prove himself to the older years, a chance he couldn’t wait for.
He frowned at the potion, wondering why he couldn’t be outside training instead of working on this. But maybe it was about time he actually did an assignment. Between setting his project on fire in Transfiguration and just skipping out on Care of the Magical Creatures, his grades were probably… not all that good.
He added the last ingredient and let it simmer together before reaching for a spoon to gently stir it. “So, Aladren… any idea what there Quidditch team looks like? Like who’s on it? Or are they any good?” While she might not look like a player, it didn’t mean she didn’t know players. It was worth asking in his book.
0
Tristan
Better than the best at best
0
Tristan
0
5
Trolls for today by Mariana
Mariana blinked as they finished their potion. Everything was just as it should be, the potion simmering in her cauldron, shimmering in it's pale silver color. She turned her head to the side. Quidditch? She had never watched Quidditch before. Her parents believed it to be barbaric. When she was little she would ask if they could watch it, because she heard the guests talking about it, but they downright refused to take her. She's heard of it, but it didn't mean she's ever watched it. At the time, she had thought it was because they were ashamed of her, and not the sport."I'm not sure, I've never watched Quidditch. I don't know much about it." She told him honestly. Mariana cleaned away her supplies and her knives before taking out her journal. She loved writing. Tapping her chin in thought, she wondered what she could write about. Birds? Or maybe a poem about the potion... Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him for his expression. She could already tell he was a major Quidditch fan.
She turned back to her journal and wrote,
The soft gurgle,
the bubbling brew,
so often reminds me of you.
Add a little sugar,
pour down the spice,
I remind myself that you are not nice.
I wish for you,
to hold me close,
but you look down at me under your nose.
Scorning,
hating,
wishing,
hoping.
Brewing with contempt,
shimmering with hate.
I wish for your love,
I hope for your embrace.
Mariana tilted her head to the side. Naturally it was about her parents, but she didn't like it too much. She could do better. Perhaps today was just not her day? Turning back to Tristan, she asked,
"Do you think you could explain it to me?" It was a genuine question, she really did want to know. It would be horrible to watch her team play and not even know what was going on. Besides, he seemed to look like he knew what he was talking about. Why not ask him?
0
Mariana
Trolls for today
0
Mariana
0
5
Outstanding for everyday by Tristan
This lesson was too easy, Tristan mused as the potion simmered to the right color of silver it should be. He sat back in his chair, pleased that this lesson went by without any major incident. As he already told himself, he needed to get his act together in at least one class. He wasn’t sure he’d like it if all his teachers hated him from the get-go, and a good first potion for this class was a must-have since the rest of his potions would probably end up looking nothing how they should. At least, that’s generally how things went with his Potions tutors back home.Tristan was starting to let his mind wander off to Quidditch when he remembered how his partner admitted to never watching it and knowing not much about it. What kind of witch or wizard didn’t know about the sport? Even muggleborns had to have some clue what it was after flying lessons. The girl had no excuse. He looked at her as if she was the weirdest thing ever for good measure, but his hostile thoughts at her ignorance to the best thing in his life halted when he noticed her writing.
He narrowed his light hazel eyes at her journal. Was that a diary or something? This girl didn’t know a thing about Quidditch by writing in a diary in the middle of a class was okay? What a weirdo!
The girl looked at him and he looked away, not feeling like being caught staring at her. "Do you think you could explain it to me?"
Wait, huh? He looked back at her with confusion all over his face. “Explain what? Quidditch?” he clarified. “Are you serious? It’s not something I can just explain, it should be done properly on a pitch or something, not all rushed or you can’t fully grasp how awesome it really is!” He leaned back and squared his shoulders. “… But I’ll do the best I can.” He smiled. Hey, a conversation about Quidditch wasn’t something he’d ever pass up.
“So assuming you’ve lived under a rock your whole life, I’ll try to keep it detailed for ya. In Quidditch, the general point of the game is for one team to get more points than the other team. There are two ways to score and get points. The first way involves getting a ball called a Quaffle into a hoop – each team has some – to get ten points. Each team has three people who are responsible for trying to score, those people are called Chasers.” He smirked and added in an egotistic voice. “I happen to be a Chaser, it’s my favorite spot by far. But to keep things interesting, each team has one player guarding a hoop – they’re called, naturally, a Keeper since they keep the goal safe.”
He took a deep breath and continued in the same excited, fast pace. “The other way to score is through another ball, which is called a Snitch. Unlike the Quaffle, it’s about the size of one-fourth of my palm and is mad fast, like nearly invisible speed, with wings that help it zip around ever faster. Catching that ball is the only way to end a Quidditch game, so if the Seekers suck or conditions are bad or the balls just hard to find a game could last for days, maybe even forever.” He doubted it’d happen at Sonora, since the professors would probably call it off after a while, but it was good to stick to the exciting facts, right? “If it does manage to get caught, your team gets one hundred and fifty points. Oh, but I mentioned Seekers before – there is one Seeker per team, and only they are allowed to catch the Snitch, so they spend most of the game looking for it or racing to it against the other teams’ Seeker. For the most part, a caught Snitch means a won game for the team that got it.”
“Oh, and as if that wasn’t action-packed enough, there’s another dynamic to the game to keep everyone on their brooms so to speak. Each team gets two Beaters. Beaters are in charges of the Bludgers. Bludgers are iron balls that the Beaters on the other team aim at players on your team. Makes it more exciting, and also keeps it from being too long. If a Bludeger hits a fatigued player and knocks ‘em out cold, and then the team is down a player, the games’ over.” He sighed, smiling at his love for the sport. “You really ought to give it a try and play sometime, or at least go to a game. You don’t know what you’re missing –“ he wanted to say her name then, but not knowing it made him falter. He just shrugged. “ – Yeah, you really ought to.”
0
Tristan
Outstanding for everyday
0
Tristan
0
5
Skipping class by Mariana
Mariana listened to him intently as he explained Quidditch. It did sound fun... but she wasn't too sure about the Bludger thing, it sounds like someone could be seriously hurt. Still, she wouldn't mind watching it. It was a new opportunity to observe other people, and it would be an experience she would love to have.She turned to their potion and bottled it up. It was supposed to simmer in the cauldron for a total of fifteen minutes so it wold become potent, and that fifteen minutes was up three minutes ago. No matter, it wouldn't damage the potion, but it wouldn't be as potent as one bottled right at the fifteen minute mark.
Well, Mariana thought idly, Quidditch does sound fascinating. She was eager to watch the game with her own team playing, but it didn't matter to her if they won or lost. What mattered was that she could finally be somewhat of a normal pureblood- there were few, if any, purebloods who did not know what Quidditch was or who has watched it played.
"Thanks," she told him genuinely. "But it isn't necessarily my fault, you know," she told him, because of the 'living under a rock' thing. "My parents never allowed me to watch Quidditch." She shrugged. "I wanted to, but sneaking out was never an option." She had tried that a few times, and each time she was punished severely- worse than a house elf. At least they got food, no matter what. She had to undergo a week without it, and very little water. Mariana shook her head. Best not think about it now, Mari, she told herself. She didn't want to be depressed for the rest of the afternoon.
0
Mariana
Skipping class
0
Mariana
0
5
Re: Beginner Potions (1st and 2nd years) by Ellie McGill
Ellie walked into the room quickly, as she was worried she was going to be late. As it turned out, she was neither late nor in need to hurry, which she quickly realized after she found an empty table near the back of the classroom. She put down her new potions kit that she and her dad so carefully picked out in the store and aligned it with the desk. She quickly pushed her orange hair up out of her face and tied it into a ponytail with a couple twists of her wrist.The professor began his introduction, and she soon learned what was expected (and what to expect) in class. While Potions wasn't something she was extremely interested in, it did sound sort of exciting.
“Now, to begin, we’ll work on a simple cheering potion." Ellie paid close attention, for this sounded like something that could come in handy someday. She didn't even look away when she heard someone sit down next to her. After Professor Fawcett finished instructions, Ellie opened her potions kit and pulled out daisy root, ginger and fluxweed. She couldn't remember the final ingredient, only that there was one, and turned to the person next to her.
"Hi... I'm Ellie, and I guess we're partners!" she began brightly. "Um, do you remember what the last ingredient was?" She motioned toward the ingredients she had already taken out.
0
Ellie McGill
Re: Beginner Potions (1st and 2nd years)
0
Ellie McGill
0
5
Hold up - you're in class, so how can you be skipping it? by Tristan
That was really bizarre. What kind of pureblood family – or any family for that matter – didn’t let their kid watch Quidditch? “Sneaking out is always an option,” Tristan assured her in annoyance. “That’s why it’s called ‘sneaking out.’ You don’t need permission to leave without permission!”He snuck out all the time to go play on the Quidditch Pitch his parents had on their property. He couldn’t imagine not doing it because he was afraid to get in trouble or something, that’d be awful. Even Colleen, a pureblood he’d met at mandatory flying lessons (psh, what a joke that had been) admitted to sneaking out to play the game since most pureblood family’s frowned upon girls doing more than watching the sport.
He wasn’t sure what to be more upset with: that she didn’t know much about Quidditch or that her parents didn’t let her know much about Quidditch. It was all upsetting business, possibly the worst sob story he’d heard since he got to Sonora.
“Well now you’re here and you don’t need to even sneak out or whatever to see a match, so go check one out. Or I’ll even practice with you on the pitch, and you can even invite any friends you have to tag along if you want to so you’re not too uncomfortable.” Hopefully she had made a friend on the Aladren Quidditch team, which would help them both – her to feel better about trying it out, and him to know some more about an unfamiliar opponent. “So, what do you say, potions partner? Want to do take advantage of a perfect opportunity sometime?” If she didn’t have Quidditch in her life by now, maybe Tristan could help her out. Maybe she also would get less weird if she got into the sport, but that was just him hoping.
0
Tristan
Hold up - you're in class, so how can you be skipping it?
0
Tristan
0
5
Well, let's make the best of it anyhow by Jane
The other girl was...authoritative. Moreso than any other girl Jane had ever met. It wasn't proper for a girl to be in command; women, Mother said, were to steer. The exact method for doing that remained elusive, but to Jane it seemed to consist of over-use of 'if you please' and a set of similar statements.Well, there had been an 'if you want' in there. That wasn't quite an 'if you please,' but it was close enough to an 'if you like.' That was something. It did not hurt that 'if you like' was the expression her mother used when she was being especially unimpressive, which was when it was usually best to obey her with haste. Even Edmond could cut off his habit of literal thinking enough to recognize the real meaning of an 'if you like.'
Jane began to chop the ginger roots. "Oh, yes," she said, pausing to answer. Not only was it impolite to multitask, but it was also hazardous to her health while she had the new knife in her hand and was concentrating on making the pieces all even. "I'm Jane Carey, of the Virginia Careys. First year of Teppenpaw."
She carefully cut another piece of ginger root. "It's very interesting that you help your mother," Jane said. "Mine's only ever allowed me to study theory."
0
Jane
Well, let's make the best of it anyhow
0
Jane
0
5
It is an option I should have taken. by Mariana
"No it wasn't," she assured him. "Not when your parents charmed every door and window in the house to alert them if someone was leaving. And if I tried, I'd get beaten worse than a house elf." She sighed. That was the truth of it. With Neal, she had been afraid to tell him the truth. But this person, who never called her by name, was getting on her nerves. He didn't understand, and quite frankly, she didn't feel like explaining it to him."Thanks for the offer, but I don't even know how to ride a broom. I know there were lessons, but I didn't want to attend, because I am afraid of heights. Besides," she told him, "the only friend I have is on the Pecari Quidditch team." He was an acquaintance in truth, but she wanted to be his friend. "But I will watch one," Mariana assured him. It was the first thing on her list. Well, not really, but it was up there.
She was annoyed at this boy. He acted like Quidditch was the most important thing in the world, when it wasn't. It wasn't that she would begrudge him for enjoying the sport, but he idolized it and it was getting on her nerves. Besides, he didn't understand her own situation at home. Her parents hated her, loathed her, even wished she was dead. She was there for appearances, and appearances only. They never cared for her, and it was obvious from the way that treated her.
Besides, he was looking at him like she was some sort of alien. It wasn't her fault her parents would lock her inside the house with no way out. It wasn't her fault that they treated her with such cruelty. Merely existing was a crime to them. She may be a little different, but none of it was her fault. Mariana looked away from him. Maybe she should just ask to go to the library. Reading would soothe her nerves.
0
Mariana
It is an option I should have taken.
0
Mariana
0
5
About time you said something that makes sense by Tristan
Alright, Tristan had to admit it – the whole ‘my parents charmed every possible exit to make escape impossible’ thing wasn’t something he could argue about her over. If his parents had ever done that at his house, he wouldn’t be able to work around it either. He crossed his arms and sulked, disappointed she had a one-up on her reasoning over him. Oh, but as if that wasn’t enough, she got beat if she tried.…. Wait, what?
Beat worse than a house elf? But… he didn’t beat his house elves! Maybe that was beside the point, since other people did, or so he heard. But seriously, he got hit sometimes for doing stupid stuff, so was she trying to tell him that she was bad and took risks or something? What exactly was her point with that? And what did she get punished for anyways? In fact, how much?
He was actually concerned for her now, but that was before he heard what she said next. As if her getting hurt wasn’t upsetting enough, he heard something even more heartbreaking – She didn’t attend flying lessons on purpose. He reeled back in complete disbelief. And now she knew someone on his house Quidditch team? Who, him? Did she mean him? But they certainly were not friends, so maybe it was someone else? He shook his head, hoping they would drop her so he wouldn’t have to worry about seeing her at practice or something.
The only good thing that came out of her rant is that she said she’d go to a game. Probably a lie, but hey – it was progress!
She looked away and he felt mixed. Part of him wanted to see if she was okay since she looked pretty upset, but the other half wanted to beat her with a Beaters' bat for not liking Quidditch. She made it sound like she was too good for the sport. Well if that's how she felt - forget it, he was better than her then. Besides she was most likely lying about getting beat so he'd feel bad for her or something.
Tristan shrugged her off as he took the potion into a vial and sealed it up before it lost anymore potency and put his name on it before sliding it in front of her. He took his copy of Quidditch Weekly out and decided to kill time by reading it until class was over. “Put your name on it and turn it in,” he instructed, trying not to sound as annoyed as he was, “Unless, of course, you don’t know how to do that either.” Hopefully she’d just do what he asked and leave him alone. So much for getting to actually enjoy a class so far this year.
0
Tristan
About time you said something that makes sense
0
Tristan
0
5
You just dont understand my logic. by Mariana
Mariana sat, fuming, turned away from him. She shouldn't have said that, any of that. She shouldn't have told him about her parents, shouldn't have told him what they did, she should have just kept quiet and let him be. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She didn't want anyone to pity her. With Neal, she had been nervous- that was it! She had told him a little, but it wasn't like she told him what her parents did. She closed her eyes, near to tears with her frustration. Her temper would always be her downfall, it seemed. Sure, she was calm most of the time, usually quiet, but Tristan... she didn't know why, but something about what he said just angered her.And then, to make matters worse he said, “Put your name on it and turn it in, unless, of course, you don’t know how to do that either.”
Mariana reeled back. in surprise and anger. He sounded annoyed- but how dare he! She was in Aladren, she was intelligent as any normal human being. Was this just because she didn't want to fly? She was afraid of heights! Was this because she didn't want to be in Quidditch? She'd said she would go to a game, and it was the honest truth. She would- she didn't want to deny herself an experience because of her parents. Mariana balled her hands into fists and turned away, saying coldly,
"Excuse me for being such an incompetent worm. I didn't mean to offend the deity that is Quidditch." Mariana wrote her name on it and placed it on the teacher's desk swiftly. When she sat down, she cleaned out her cauldron, doing her best to ignore her partner. She hoped she wouldn't have him as a partner for the rest of the year. She cleaned the table around them, all of her tools, organized and reorganized, but she couldn't help but think that she should feel sorry, or should apologize. She hadn't done anything wrong- she was telling him the truth! If he couldn't accept that, then fine. It was painfully obvious he didn't believe her when she said she was beaten. Her parents, though regal and beautiful purebloods, were cruel and demented. They cared for nothing but themselves. If he knew them, he would know that. But he didn't. No one did.
"Look," she said finally, eyes closed. "I don't want us to be enemies. I'm.. sorry, for not liking Quidditch as much as you do, I've just never watched the sport. I couldn't. And," she paused, biting on her lip. She sighed. She shouldn't have to justify this, shouldn't have to say anything. "I wouldn't make something like that up. It's not something I tell everyone," she conceded, but smirked when she added, "but you managed to irk me enough where it slipped.I don't want to be enemies with you though." She held out her hand, and said,
"Acquaintances? " This was the make or break moment. He would either accept, or he would reject her offer. She wasn't here to make enemies. But she would at least like them to be on equal ground.
0
Mariana
You just dont understand my logic.
0
Mariana
0
5
Re: Beginner Potions (1st and 2nd years) by Leonardo Michaels
Leo had been looking forward to Potions since he had read about it in one of his textbooks. So when he walked into the classroom (a couple minutes late, but hey, who's watching), he quickly sat in an open seat towards the middle of the clump of desks. The teacher was going on about how potions class was going to be. Finally, he got to the interesting part: the potion they would make today. A cheering potion, too. Leo wasn't exactly sure what that would do; would it just make you happy? Would you begin to chant cheers? Would you become as giddy as being bitten by one of the Billywigs they had seen in Care of Magical Creatures?In any event, Leo wasn't going to be bothered by this, and pulled out the ingredients the potions master listed. He was glad the bottles of supplies were labelled, as he hadn't a clue about what most of them were.
He began to feel uncomfortable. He didn't know the first thing about potion making, and here he was, about to begin making one. It gave him an uncomfortable feeling to not know how to do something, as he was normally good at most things. He looked around for somebody who looked partnerless.
"Um, 'scuse me, but I'm partnerless, you're partnerless... how about we're partners?" He cracked a grin.
0
Leonardo Michaels
Re: Beginner Potions (1st and 2nd years)
1468
Leonardo Michaels
0
5
It's not like you get me either by Tristan
Ignoring what’s-her-face’s reaction was impossible to do when she gawked like that. She was looking at Tristan in disgust for whatever reason. Maybe he insulted her Aladren intelligence or something, not that she didn’t deserve it for acting all better-than-thou because she didn’t ‘do’ Quidditch. Oh, and she made up stories about herself, can’t forget that one. She was fuming at him for a bit until she finally decided to follow through with his order to take their first – and hopefully last – potion to the desk to get graded.Just before she left, she had to get the last word in. "Excuse me for being such an incompetent worm. I didn't mean to offend the deity that is Quidditch."
“You’re excused,” he said, choosing to overlook how she didn’t seem to sound sincere. So she gave him attitude, whatever. She didn’t play Quidditch, she knew nothing about it, and she wasn’t up for getting into it. Obviously she wasn’t worth his sweat, so bothering with her would be a waste of time. Still, as he thought all this, he pouted into his magazine, miserable his day took such a turn for the worst. He just had to end up sitting by her, didn’t he?
She spoke up again and he didn’t want to give her any of his attention until she said something that sounded eerily like a truce. Tristan reluctantly looked up as she started to apologizing for, of all things, not liking Quidditch as much as he did. Well duh she didn’t, not many people did. He could care less about that little fact. He stared at her and started to get bored as she went back to playing the victim card. What made it all better was how she told him the only reason she told him was because he can tick her off fast. Well isn’t that nice.
He really still thought it was all an act. He’s seen plenty of people around his family, and even in his family, pull the same tricks – they don’t get what they want or treated how they want or the attention they want so they make up a story. It was stupid to believe this random girl was abused. If she was so hurt, what was she doing at a prestigious boarding school? Wouldn’t she be locked in a basement somewhere? It didn’t make sense, and he didn’t put up with liars. This girl should spend a day talking to someone who really gets hurt, maybe it’d make her less apt to mess around with stuff like that. The bottom line was you don’t just believe and trust people because they tell you to or they seem genuine, they need to prove themselves. He’d been taught to not be so trusting.
His stare went from her face to her outstretched hand. She was seriously delusional if she thought she was going to get on good grounds after that kind of start to their relationship, whatever it was. He looked back at his magazine and stubbornly refused it.
Then he felt kind of guilty and caved, shaking her hand at what he felt was the last second. He took it back and went to his magazine. Tyrone had told him to get to know all sorts of people while away, so he would give this girl a freebie for being a total spazz for today. But if she thought she could get away with being so high on her anti-Quidditch self again, that’d be a different story. But he was willing to at least keep his bad comments to himself if she was.
0
Tristan
It's not like you get me either
0
Tristan
0
5
True, but you're making it a bit difficult. by Mariana
Mariana shook his hand for that brief second and sighed. Alright, fine. They weren't enemies. But he made it painfully obvious he no longer wanted to speak with her- which was fine. Well, no, it wasn't, really. It bothered her how he was acting this way. She didn't understand what she had said wrong, or if she had done something to offend him. Looking back on it, she really couldn't come up with anything. She took out her journal again, toying with her quill as she thought of something to write. She couldn't focus on it, honestly. She wanted to know what she had done, and she would ask. She had to, if she was ever to know.She wasn't angry at him anymore. Frustrated, yes, but not angry. "Look, I figure you're annoyed with me, but I have to ask. Just what exactly did I say to make you so angry?" She was the curious sort. She liked to know things. If she didn't understand them, she would ask. At first arriving to Sonora she had been painfully shy, but now it was no longer the case. There was no harm in asking questions, not here. Here? She was safe. Here, she could ask whatever she wanted. Well, knowledge wise, and if it concerned her.
She watched him as he read his magazine, seemingly ignoring her. Or not, she wasn't sure. Mariana sighed and turned away again. He might answer her. He might not. It depends on him. And if he did ignore her? Fine. She wouldn't hold her breath.
0
Mariana
True, but you're making it a bit difficult.
0
Mariana
0
5
Original titles are overrated. by Dani Adair
If there was one class that Dani had been looking forward to, it was Potions. She adored the idea of playing the mad potions master. Or was it mistress? Semantics aside, she really couldn’t wait to get started. She even had her parchment and quill ready to take diligent notes on what the professor was saying. Unfortunately, it had to wait as roll call was taken. Being at the top of the list, it was quickly acknowledged that she was indeed here and that she now had to sit through everyone else saying the same thing. It was excruciating and she felt the need to busy herself.While that was going on, Dani pulled out her potions kit. It was new, but then all of her classroom materials were new. Her parents had ordered them that way, but her kit was special. It was the one thing that she had picked out herself. She had insisted on going to an actual store to get it so that she could find exactly the right one. Then, it had been a matter of finding a cauldron and unlike all of her other things, this one was old. It was dented and scratched. Most might not think it good anymore for brewing, but Dani had no doubt it would serve her better than one that was new. This one had history. It was tested and tried.
Sighing, she brushed her painted black nails through her short, blonde hair as the professor continued onto the rules. In her opinion, if anyone were stupid enough to try anything, then they deserved whatever happened to them. Though, she knew she wasn’t really being fair. Muggleborns and some halfbloods probably didn’t know anything about how dangerous the magical world was though when they looked at their schedules and saw Defense against the Dark Arts, wasn’t that clue enough? But she still tried not to judge too harshly. It wasn’t like she would know much about muggle school courses.
Finally, they were able to begin. She was going to ignore the entire part about partners when she heard a voice next to her. “Sure,” she answered, raising an eyebrow at the grinning boy. “I have everything we need here. Do you want to start on the asphodel root and I’ll work on the daisy root?” She would have much preferred to do it all herself. She wasn’t really a social creature, but all of the professors seemed to deem partners a necessity. To survive the next seven years at Sonora, she figured she had to learn to cooperate.
0
Dani Adair
Original titles are overrated.
166
Dani Adair
0
5
Dmitri Petrovskii
May 09, 2010 2:43 PM
Potions Beginner by Dmitri Petrovskii
Dmitri was never late. Absolutely never. But today, he was running around like a madman trying not to be late to Potions. Somehow, he had managed to ignore his alarm, which if he ever did at home, one of the servants would wake him, but there was no such thing here. So, he was late. Very late. Thankfully, he managed to get a seat before the role call and lecture began. Not so thankfully, he found himself sitting alone. Yes, it was most unfortunate since that meant he would have to move when they were dismissed to work in pairs.The brown haired boy didn’t mind pairs in the least. He was fairly social. Though, being a Petrovskii, it was rather expected. It would have been very odd if he hadn’t been. Now, he could have chosen to work with one of his new friends, people that were becoming familiar to him, but he also thought that getting around and meeting others would be a good idea. He wanted to be able to write home and tell his parents about how well things were going for him here after they had been so worried. Of course, they had been more worried about his safety than his popularity, but wouldn’t being known help ensure his safety in this situation?
He spotted a girl that was noticeable for three reasons. One was her hair. No one could miss bright orange in a crowd. The second was he believed she might have been in his house. He wanted to develop a close relationship to those he lived in close quarters with. And third there was no one next to her. As soon as role call was done, Dmitri figured it best to move sooner rather than later like he had planned. Moving quietly and glad he hadn’t unpacked his book bag yet, he slipped into the seat beside her. She didn’t seem to notice him so he took out his notebook and began taking notes on the lesson. After all, good grades were important.
When they were dismissed, the girl that he thought had no idea was there turned and introduced herself. She was rather perky, wasn’t she? He grinned. So, her name was Ellie. He committed it to memory. “I guess so. I’m Dmitri.” It felt odd leaving off his last name, but she hadn’t given hers and he had learned that it was wise to follow customs. He nodded in response to her question, “Ginger. Do you have enough? If not, I have my kit as well so we should be fine.”
0
Dmitri Petrovskii
Potions Beginner
162
Dmitri Petrovskii
0
5
Rachel
May 09, 2010 10:13 PM
You should catch up fast enough. by Rachel
The face of the girl beside her was new, which meant she'd either landed a transfer or a first year. Rachel found she had no preference for which, since both involved having to be extra-careful about her manners and credentials. It was not a thought she relished."Fabulous," she said when the new girl agreed to work with her, and frowned slightly in annoyance as her partner just went to town on the daisy roots without so much as telling her name. She wasn't sure if the fact that the daisy roots were looking lovely post-cutting helped or not. She wanted someone who could keep up, but not someone who didn't hold up her end of the social conventions bargain. "I am Rachel Bauer, of the Arizona Bauers. Crotalus, second year. It is a great pleasure to meet you."
There. She hadn't even used contractions. That part wasn't strictly necessary, but it did serve to make her sound the tiniest bit more like the sort of person who'd grown up in a super-strict society family. Little bits and pieces were what made up the puzzle picture. She started work on their ginger. "I see that you're new here. How do you like it so far?"
16
Rachel
You should catch up fast enough.
154
Rachel
0
5
This seems kinda sketchy by Brad Hayman (Aladren)
Out of all his new classes at Sonora, Brad was least excited for Potions. It struck him as the most normal of the classes, and it seemed kind of evil. There were a lot of villains in his comics who’d made strange concoctions out of random, nasty ingredients to try and make themselves stronger or make the superheroes weaker. So as he entered the classroom, he was considerably less excited than he had been in his other classes thus far.Not to mention that the professor was boring as anything. And his name was really boring too—Fawcett. It just didn’t compare to Professor Wolfe and Dakin’s names, which were about a hundred times cooler and more heroic-sounding.
“Here,” he said unenthusiastically when the teacher called his name. His attention drifted off as the man went on and on about behavior expectations. It was like he wanted the redhead to fall asleep on his desk. He didn’t, though; that would be really disrespectful. Regardless of whether or not he liked this guy, he couldn’t be rude. His parents had taught him that back on the farm in Kansas.
He tuned back in when the professor started talking about a cheering potion. He blinked a couple times. Okay, that sounded pretty decent. It wasn’t nearly as awesome as casting a spell or even flying like he had in Care of Magical Creatures, but it could be worse.
He took out his potion kit and looked around for someone to work with. He’d met a lot of people at Sonora, but he hadn’t yet made a close friend. Maybe today was the day to change that.
“Hi,” he said after turning to the person next to him, giving them a small smile. “I’m Brad Hayman, first-year Aladren. What’s your name?
“And by the way,” he said in a low whisper, “Is it just me, or is this class a lot less exciting than the other classes?” He didn’t like to gossip, but he just couldn’t hold this thought in. The class just didn’t hit him the way the other ones had.
0
Brad Hayman (Aladren)
This seems kinda sketchy
0
Brad Hayman (Aladren)
0
5
Kirstenna Melcher
May 22, 2010 8:04 PMKirstenna Melcher
AlumnusHouse: Teppenpaw
Written by: Allegra Brockert
Age in Post: 11
Birthday: February 2
Not really, sketchy things are more interesting by Kirstenna Melcher
Although Kirstenna was generally excited about nearly anything, she was less so about Potions. Her father had said it involved a lot of precise measuring and attention to detail. Things that had not been strengths of his and weren't really strengths of Kirstenna's either.Plus, she was used to spectactular visuals, a real show. Things possible in Charms and Transfiguration but unless someone blew something up or set something on fire, like that one boy in Transfiguration, Kirstenna didn't think it was likely to happen.
She forced herself to listen to Professor Fawcett. Kirstenna knew him to be one of Quentin's favorite professors and she was generally willing to give most people the benefit of the doubt,but it was just that he'd gotten a rather dull subject.
Like usual, Kirstenna tried to see the bright side of the lesson. For starters they were doing a cheering potion, that would be great. A potion designed to help people cheer up and be happy sounded like a wonderful thing. She imagined taking it would be like being stung by the billywigs in COMC. They were working in partners, which was also good because Kirstenna would have someone to talk to (and help her with all the measuring and cutting.) She wasn't competing against others for the best potion.
Actually, if it wasn't for the fact that doing the work for this class sounded extremely tedious, Kirstenna might have really enjoyed this. Working cooperatively with someone,(who could possibly become a new friend) to do something that would make others happy? Great!
The person next to her turned and spoke.
“I’m Brad Hayman, first-year Aladren. What’s your name?
"Kirstenna Melcher, first year Teppenpaw." Kirstenna replied,with a friendly grin.
What Brad whispered to her next surprised her. "I was thinking the same thing." She whispered back. "It seems quite dull. I mean, granted I'm glad we're working on something that will cheer people up but it just sounds sorta boring." Kirstenna felt okay admitting that, as Brad had.
11
Kirstenna Melcher
Not really, sketchy things are more interesting
161
Kirstenna Melcher
0
5
If I ever reply, that is by Samantha
The boy introduced himself as Sam. Well this could get real confusing real quick. Sam suggested they use Samantha's cauldron as it was new and his was second hand, and Samantha has no problem with that. "You in first year, too?" Sam asked."Yep," Sam replied. That confirmed that both of them were in first year, otherwise he wouldn't have said, 'too'. "I'm the first magical person in my family," Samantha said proud;y, "so all this magic is really new to me." She took the daisy root and ginger out of her potions supplies that she'd got when receiving her letter, and frowned at the unfamiliar items it contained. "I don't know what asphodel root or fluxweed are," she told Sam. "But I have the others." She put the ginger and daisy root on the desk in front of them.
To distract herself, Samantha read through the instructions again and began setting up the cauldron. "So presumably a cheering potion makes the person who drinks it more cheerful," she suggested to Sam. "Do you think it has side effects? Or maybe it's addictive?" she said. Essentially she was asking 'what's the catch?' - it sounded like too good a thing to not have a catch. If the drawbacks were small, Samantha was already wondering if she could take some of this potion home to give to her mom. She could usually use some cheering up.
0
Samantha
If I ever reply, that is
0
Samantha
0
5