Professor John Fawcett

September 02, 2012 7:27 PM

Professor John Fawcett

Former Staff
Subject: Potions
Written by:

Lesson I for Beginners (1st and 2nd years) by Professor John Fawcett

Between the higher classes there was, of course, some movement – second years becoming third years and joining the Intermediates, fifth years becoming sixth years and either dropping his class or joining the Advanced class, seventh years graduating from the school and not returning to this lab at all – but it was in the beginners’ class where John saw the most dramatic changes almost every year, due entirely to the influx of new first years that every September brought. The mix always included almost as many skill levels and degrees of affinity for his subject as it did personalities, and it was often anyone’s guess, in the first weeks, which would ultimately affect the quality of their first two years of Potions more.
 
More than he would have liked, though, came down to how well the first year group got along with itself, and to a lesser extent how well it meshed with the second years, which was something the staff had relatively little control over. Often it did not go badly, no more than one or two murderous rivalries or overly-intense friendships in any given age group, but John was feeling a little nervous about how this year was going to go. There were too many names with the same background for him to think that politics, at some point, weren’t going to interfere with the normal functioning of the classroom.
 
None of this, however, was on his face as he stood before the newly-formed Beginner’s class of the year. “Everyone,” he said once the bell had rung, “get in your seats now so we can begin, thank you…” Once the last few had done so, he smiled at the group. “Good afternoon, and welcome – or welcome back – to Potions. I am, for those who have not met me before, Professor Fawcett, your instructor.”
 
He lifted a packet off a stack of identical ones, and the others flew out, one landing in front of each student. “This is your syllabus until midterm. I may give smaller homework or in-class assignments which are not on your syllabus, but in general, what you see is what you can expect, so I hope you will all come to each class prepared.” In truth, he usually ended up off by a day or two every semester, rather than being able to rigidly follow the syllabus, but that was why he’d incorporated review days before midterm. That gave him some flexibility. “You will also find outlined your major essays – “ much milder for the first and second years than for the older groups, though the second year version of the document was a bit heavier than the first year one, too – “and projects, the grading scale, and the code of conduct for my class.”
 
Here he paused to give the class a stern look. “Pay particularly close attention to that,” he told them. “I will not have fighting in my classroom any more than I will have dangerous or reckless behavior in my classroom. You are all here to learn safely, and anyone who prevents someone else from doing so will be punished appropriately. I hope, though, not to have to.” He meant that; John disliked that aspect of his job more than any other. There were, though, times when it was simply the only way to maintain order. “So long as you try to the best of your ability to do what is asked of you, we can get along very well, accommodations may be made for students who need them, but I will not tolerate any of you being deliberately disruptive.”
 
His annual warning delivered, John relaxed. “Now, to more pleasant business. I assume most of you are eager to begin brewing, so you may now open your textbooks to page 13.” He picked up a piece of paper off his desk with one hand while pointing his wand at the board with the other so ‘Page 13’ appeared there, looking over the page to ensure that it was, in fact, the alternative he had come up with for Miss Yale, if she objected to the salamander scales, and any other students who wished to focus on vegan potioneering, as he had finally decided to include a note in the syllabus about how this would be permitted. He had come to almost enjoy these assignments; sometimes, particularly at the more advanced levels, they required a bit more charmswork or worked a bit more slowly, but it was still an interesting challenge. “Here you have a basic confidence draught.
 
“To make this, you will need freshly-chopped daisy roots, three drops of an infusion of lemon balm and lovage, two thoroughly dried leaves of yaupon, the shell of a single sopophorous bean, and a sprinkling of salamander scales. You will find how well you handle those affects the color of the final potion, which should ideally be about the same shade of red your new classmates in Crotalus turned during the Opening Feast, but which should never be any color close to pink or black.”
 
He looked at them over his glasses. “Do your best, and follow the directions carefully. I will call time ten minutes before the end of the period, and then you will bottle samples – make sure to carefully label yours, so I will know who it belongs to – and write me a few sentences – something you learned today, other than how to make this potion, or something you have questions about.” He had decided on this, after seeing it in a magazine for primary educators, as an alternative to calling out a lengthy roll, as the class could become restless during that time and he needed to be sure they had internalized the rules and routines of the class before putting that kind of downtime in their hands. Later, he would know them all by sight and check them off as they entered, but the first years prevented that for now. “You may talk as you work, if you are not disruptive and stay on-task. I will be walking around the room as you work to ensure you do not get too distracted, and to help with any problems you may run into in your brewing. You may begin.”
 
OOC: Welcome to Potions! In order to get House points, all posting rules (good spelling and grammar, a minimum of two hundred words, realism for your character's level, and no controlling of other people's characters especially) must be followed, and the more creative and detailed your posts are, the better. Also, Fawcett will notice and intervene before any potions go badly enough wrong to do anyone serious harm, though minor accidents are allowed. Tag Fawcett if you need him, and have fun!
Subthreads:
Easy as pie! Right? by Wendy Canterbury - Pecari with Carrie O'Malley, Crotalus, Wendy
Worries by Melanie Lennox, Teppenpaw with Lucille Carey, Lucille
Off to a good start by Alan Raines, Teppenpaw with Amity Brockert, Aladren, Alan, Alan Raines
It's been two minutes, and already I have a problem by Isabel Raines with Rupert Princet, Pecari, Isabel
I suppose it's an improvement on flying... by Effie Arbon with Alexandra D'Alesandro, Crotalus, Alex, Crotalus
Do potions ever use two peas in a pod? by Annabelle and Annette Pierce with Anthony Carey VIII, Anthony Carey
Making a mess of things (Tag: Heaven) by Lucian D'Alesandro, Aladren with Heaven Baird, Crotalus, Lucian
Chitchatting away. by Aria Yale, Teppenpaw with Jay Carey, Aladren, Liam Ammon, Pecari, Aria
...I like this by Henry Carey, Crotalus with Honey Baird, Pecari, Henry
Feeling pretty confident already by Clara Abernathy, Pecari
My first school potion...cool by Carter Browning, Teppenpaw
0 Professor John Fawcett Lesson I for Beginners (1st and 2nd years) 19 Professor John Fawcett 1 5


Carter Browning, Teppenpaw

September 23, 2012 8:44 PM

Carter Browning, Teppenpaw

Peripheral
Written by:

My first school potion...cool by Carter Browning, Teppenpaw

Carter made his way to his next class wondering what they might be making in the Potions class. He had never been really good at mixing potions together, but he figured if he was going to bomb it at least there would be a professor there to keep him from bombing it too badly. He sighed slightly as he walked through the door and headed for a seat at one of the tables. He glanced over at the Professor’s table and waved a couple of fingers in his direction as a hello. He politely took his seat and looked around the room. He couldn’t help noticing that the red-haired girl from flying class was also in this class along with his Transfiguration class and possibly COMC. He didn’t really see her there, but he wasn’t really paying much attention. He pulled out a piece of parchment and quill, putting his bag on the floor by where he was seated. He listened as the Professor introduced himself to the new students and welcomed back the previous ones. Carter glanced around the room taking in where the ingredients were kept and where the textbooks sat. He took a few notes on the assignment for the day.

“To make this, you will need freshly-chopped daisy roots, three drops of an infusion of lemon balm and lovage, two thoroughly dried leaves of yaupon, the shell of a single sopophorous bean, and a sprinkling of salamander scales. You will find how well you handle those affects the color of the final potion, which should ideally be about the same shade of red your new classmates in Crotalus turned during the Opening Feast, but which should never be any color close to pink or black.”

He stared at the list of potion ingredients and the empty cauldren in front of him. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was supposed to do with these ingredients, but he was definitely going to try. He took the list with him over to the cabinet and pulled out the stuff on the list. He still wasn’t really sure what to do with it when he put the items down on his table. He pulled out the textbook and went over the potion instructions. He read over everything and debated whether or not he should try to partner up with someone to do the potion. He decided he’d give it a try on his own. He set up the cauldren and began setting up his potion ingredients. He wasn’t sure if he should add water to it or not. He dropped the ingredients into the pot and let them simmer. He grimaced at the contents of his cauldren as it slowly cooked in the pot. He picked up his quill and stared at the blank piece of parchment in front of him. He wasn’t really sure what he should write as his few sentences. He had a lot of questions, but none of them having anything to do with Potions class.

Without really knowing what he was doing he began writing on the parchment. What exactly do these ingredients do on their own if not added to this particular potion? Are we actually planning on using any of the potions we’re going to make in this class or are they just being made for practice? How exactly are we being graded on these potions? Is it based on the effort being put in or whether or not it might actually work if used? He glanced over what he had written and seemed pretty content with it. He had no idea that he felt like that towards the subject. He had always wondered how teachers had graded stuff like that anyway. Maybe Professor Fawcett would be the first teacher ever to actually answer that question for him.

When Professor Fawcett called the ten minute mark he pulled out his little bottles and dipped them into the reddish- pink liquid. It wasn’t exactly the color the professor was looking for, but it wasn’t one of the colors he said to watch out for either. He wasn’t sure what to call it as he popped the stopper into place. He stared at it through the glass and shrugged frowning slightly. Oh well….either Professor Fawcett will grade me on the effort or he’ll take one look at the color and fail me on the spot he told himself as he walked from the potions table, having put out the fire under his cauldren and packing up his stuff. He was still looking at the potion in the vial when he reached Professor Fawcett’s desk. He gingerly placed the potion samples and the parchment on the teacher’s desk before walking out of the room. “If he’s gonna fail me I guess he’ll tell me tomorrow won’t he?” He half asked, half told himself as he walked off down the hall.
0 Carter Browning, Teppenpaw My first school potion...cool 0 Carter Browning, Teppenpaw 0 5