Professor Fawcett
August 29, 2010 6:19 PM
Intermediate Potions I (3rd-5th Years) by Professor Fawcett
In light of what he had planned for the intermediate group, along with the vaguely terrified looks he imagined he had been getting since the morning mail had presented each of the Advanced students with a syllabus and an assignment to be done before their first class with him, John feared that he would have a reputation for fearsomeness as was seldom bestowed on a thin, graying man with an almost permanent expression of good-natured disinterest, unremarkable voice, and tendency to try to make jokes with the class after he was sure he had their respect before he ever saw the first years.He wasn't quite sure how he felt about that, but it wasn't relevant. The years being shuffled again meant that he had to assess where each group – except the seventh years, who, without the sixth years in their group to slow it up, he could work hard enough to have a reasonable chance of more Os, or at the very least more Es, than usual – was, ability-wise, again. He had never trusted the usual sorts of tests, as they could be easily manipulated, so his strategy was to push and see if the students folded or pushed back.
Once the large group – he had so enjoyed having roughly equal ones, last year – appeared to be largely present and the bell had rung, John rapped his pointer on the table in front of him to get their attention. “Good afternoon, everyone,” he said. “I realize this is a large class, so I must ask that you all be silent so that everyone can hear when I speak. Thank you…Now, if you could each answer when I call your name off the roll, you know the drill now.” At least, he thought there weren’t any new transfers this year.
Once the roll was complete, he put it away to begin the lesson. “You should have each had a syllabus in front of your seats; please raise your hand if you did not, and otherwise put them in safe places, where you can access them easily.” He kept additional copies, but saw no reason to encourage carelessness by mentioning it at this point. “While I do reserve the right to alter it at will, and issue you with revised copies when I do, this provides you with what you may more or less expect in terms of assignments, homework, suggested readings, and class sessions. I encourage you to take full advantage of it. Don’t be intimidated by the length; there will be many lessons in which you do not all work on the same material, and all of these lessons and assignments are factored into the syllabus.”
Something new he was trying was increasing the amount of differentiation in the classroom, with more chances for students to select which difficulty level or learning format to work with and much more frequent occasions on which the fifth years in particular were given a different assignment outright. Not only was it frustrating for many of them to have to work on the same level as the third years, but it was also potentially detrimental to their development and thus their CATS scores. The experiment might not pan out, but that was why he would be issuing a second syllabus before midterm. If this failed, then he would revert to something more traditional, and if it went well, then those students that cared to and did not require the actual potion as a guide would be able to work ahead on their written assignments during the holidays. “There will also be large and small group discussion periods, in which we will combine our knowledge and expertise in pursuit of greater understandings. These will not, third years, be entirely unlike discussions you had in the beginner’s class, though they will be more intensive and count as a larger portion of your grade. The ability to argue a point well, and with adequate support, both aloud and on paper is essential for all, and not only in Potions.”
“If there are no questions about the syllabus – and I encourage you to ask, now or later, any that you do have, as there may be a quiz over the non-schedule related content at some point – then we shall proceed to our lesson. Third years will be working on the Shrinking Solution, which is a bit trickier than the potions you have worked with thus far because of its lack of exact measurements. Wearing gloves while stirring would be wise. On invertebrates, the potion has the effect of returning the affected creature to an earlier stage of physical development, and it can have unusual and unpleasant effects when ingested by humans as well. Your ingredients are chopped daisy roots, skinned shrivelfig, sliced caterpillar, a single rat spleen, and a dash of leech juice, and you will find instructions on page 12 of your books. You should finish before the end of the period, at which point I ask that you come to the front, take a flask - ” he pointed to a tray of them – “and place a sample of your potion within it, labeling the flask with your name and your partner’s. You may, of course, feel free not to do so, but you will receive a failing grade for the sample if so and have to work extra hard on your homework assignment and your first essay to make up the credit. This applies to all year groups.”
Though he was not a Pecari, and would be mildly offended by the comparison, John was more adaptable than usual in the classroom. When a situation arose that he clearly could not mow over, he adapted and went around it, and when it came to a battle of wills at this school, students were more likely to win, especially once their beliefs came into the equation. For Quentin Melcher, he picked potions with an obvious purpose, and for Jose Hernandez and, when magic came into play as it sometimes did, Marissa Stephenson, he modified the grading structure slightly so that they could find a way to pass with reasonable scores, if they were willing to do especially good written work. Jose, in particular, would never have the grades that those who would do the bloody potions would even if he took every extra credit opportunity offered in the syllabus, but he could scrape a pass. If he chose not to take the opportunity, well, John would fail him without much remorse, but he had enough professional experience and quirks in his family tree to consider that political beliefs, apparently essential to the self-concept of the California Pierces in a way that fascinated his inner sociologist, could be a genuine reason for behavior that acted to one’s own detriment.
And he disliked reporting failures to Sadi. He disliked reporting them to himself when he wrote out the grades in his ledger and filed them. There was no reason for anyone to fail when all that was needed for passing to be an option was for him to bend half an inch and them to put in some extra effort, if the standard effort was somehow worse for them.
“Fifth years – no, fourth years, I haven’t forgotten you – you will be working on the Draught of Peace, a calming agent.“ He was considering modifying the ethics in composition of mood-altering potions discussion he had with the Advanced group to cover with this class, but thought he might see how they reacted to a less…wobbly topic before he made up his mind. “The theory behind it is simple enough, no concepts you are unfamiliar with, but the composition is very difficult and relies heavily on precision and order, which should make it something of a challenge for you after a summer in which I very much doubt measurements were on your minds. I recommend that you work together, in the interests of time, but be very careful not to lose track and allow one to repeat the other’s work. If the vapor rising from your cauldron is anything other than light and silvery, and if the consistency of the potion is not very liquid, then you have made a critical error. If your potion produces green sparks, then please dispose of it at once with the Evanesco charm, or ask me to do so, as it will otherwise explode soon. Your ingredients – “ he tapped the board with his wand, and a list of ingredients and instructions appeared next to the simpler third year one – “are ginger roots, syrup of hellebore, essence of Belladona, powdered moonstone, unicorn hair, and scurvygrass.”
He looked over those students still not flipping through books or taking out supplies. “Fourth years, I am giving you an option. You may work on either the Shrinking Solution or the Draught of Peace, whichever you feel more comfortable with, and you may work together or separately, as you like, if you choose the former. In addition to the homework assignments listed for the third and fifth years, I will also ask you to write an explanation of why you chose the potion you did, how well you feel you did, and whether you would choose the same a second time around. Please be frank, and remember that I will have your finished products in front of me while I read these.” He looked around, then, at the room. “And everyone may, if you have not already, begin.”
OOC: Standard posting rules apply, as do “Potion rules:” you may make mistakes, but deliberate mayhem will lead to IC consequences, and your character need not be a perfect potioneer to get credit for the post. Tag John if you need him, and enjoy yourselves!
Subthreads: Tremendously relieved by Pippa Brockert
Geez, no hesitation with the hard stuff. by Adelita Garcia (Crotalus)
Pondering by Quentin Melcher with Daniel Nash II
Unable to come up with a decent title by Alessa Hinckley with Rachel Bauer
It's a challenge just finding a partner. by Cassie Kerrigan, Aladren with Marissa Stephenson
Will I make a friend today? by Dulce Garcia (Teppenpaw)
A Great Start for Fourth Year! (Professor) by Jose Hernandez with Professor Fawcett
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Professor Fawcett
Intermediate Potions I (3rd-5th Years)
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Professor Fawcett
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Adelita Garcia (Crotalus)
August 30, 2010 8:40 PM
Geez, no hesitation with the hard stuff. by Adelita Garcia (Crotalus)
Adelita Garcia waltzed into the Potions classroom with as much confidence as she would have if she walked out into the Quidditch Pitch. Absolutely none. Potions was definitely not one of her best subjects. She was pretty good with charms and even semi-good at Transfiguration. She was good at creating the spells for Defense, she just wasn’t good at thinking quickly on her feet as it required. Care of Magical Creatures was pretty much cake considering they were animals and Divinations was pretty much opinions. But Potions… Potions was on a whole different level. Potions was very precise and Lita was not that good at measuring. Potions was probably her worst class. She managed to pass it on an average grade, but she was pretty sure that was from all the partners she had over the course of her Potions career.She took the first seat she saw with a familiar and friendly face. There were a lot more students in her classes this year because they were now on the other end of the ‘intermediate’ group. They weren’t quite old enough to be with the now, only 7th years, but she didn’t really get why they were with the 3rd years. Lita glanced over at her sister, before returning to the professor. Lita didn’t know how Dulce did things. Everything seemed so easy for her. Maybe it’s because she didn’t get herself tangled up in messy relationships. Friendship or otherwise…
Her mind went to boys as it seemed to be doing a lot lately. Her dark eyes scanned the room, landing occasionally on a male student. She could still hear the professor talking, he was advising the third years on what their assignment. She let her mind wander a little more. At least, she did until she locked eyes on a student. She quickly looked away, blushing out of embarrassment. She hoped she hadn’t seemed like she was staring!
She focused back on the Professor just as he began to talk about what the fifth years would be doing. And she really regretted focusing back onto him. She had almost forgotten how stressful her fifth year was going to be. CATS. The most feared acronym in her life to date. She new RATS would be much much worse. Although, a part of her wasn’t sure if she should worry since she had no plans on going off to college for anything academic. She planned on getting into performing arts school for dance and become a contemporary ballerina. That’s where her dreams were.
Lita let out a loud sigh when they were allowed to begin on their potions. Draught of Peace. Wonderful. She turned to her partner with a smile, although it probably wasn’t one that reached her eyes. “He’s totally taking it easy on us after a summer break.” She joked. “Aren’t you glad you’re sitting with me?”
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Adelita Garcia (Crotalus)
Geez, no hesitation with the hard stuff.
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Adelita Garcia (Crotalus)
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