Getting ground down... on Potions

Professor Fawcett

October 27, 2013 8:37 PM

Beginner Potions (1st-2nd Years) by Professor Fawcett

“Good afternoon, everyone,” John said as the bell rang for the Beginner class just after lunch, closing the door. He tended to be particularly strict with this group’s punctuality, as the lunch period was long and the beginners were the group which both required the most working-with and the group which needed to get used to the school’s scheduling, though he had never much held with some of his colleagues’ policy of locking the tardy out. A bit of a delay happened to everyone sooner or later, exclusion would just leave some of them, knowing they were already in trouble, to get into even worse scrapes during the period of unexpected freedom and it also meant either sort of tardy student would miss the lesson and his options would be limited to reteaching the material or else letting the tardiness potentially affect his pass percentages. And John was very attached to both his already limited leisure time and his pass percentages.

“For those who are joining us for the first time, I am Professor Fawcett, Potions instructor, sometime dabbler in many another subject, and Head of Aladren House,” he introduced himself. “All, however, are welcome here, regardless of your Houses. Potions is a subtle, fascinating branch of magic which requires much time and attention to master, but for those who will put forth the effort, it will be richly rewarding. I hope to find that all of you are willing to put forth that effort.”

He waved his wand, and a copy of a document sailed to the desk of each student, a few times diverting its track to avoid colliding with a student or piece of furniture. It was a pity so much of the first year group came from magical families, in a way; that sort of thing was much more impressive to the newly initiated. The students – either because of economic and social factors in their own world, he had always meant, as a magisociologist, to research patterns of Squib and Muggleborn birth as related to social and economic status, or because they had quickly caught on that they were socially disadvantaged here because of their parentage, which children were very good at doing – could also be somewhat easier to work with, as they did not typically have a long background of private tutoring and blood privilege he, son of a Muggleborn mother and Muggle father, lacked to contend with. He thought, however, that he would manage the class he had well enough.

“This document, as the second years will no doubt recognize with great joy, is your course syllabus,” he continued. “You will find, within a class period or two, the subjects we will cover and the readings and major assignments associated with them. I suggest you keep this document with you and review it prior to each class session. Also of interest will be the section on class rules, which include an absolute prohibition on playing around in my classroom. Potions is only a dangerous subject if careless people make it one, and I will not tolerate students who endanger themselves and their classmates.

“Another rule, which I must stress as we prepare to begin our first lesson of this year, is that you are not to remove any of your potions from this room or test them on yourselves or anyone else without my authorization, which I will only rarely give,” he informed them. “If you believe any of those meant for ingestion could benefit you, visit Medic Bailey.” He knew this prohibition was likely to be violated even by some of these students before the end of the year, but it was necessary to state, anyway. If any could be dissuaded from mildly poisoning themselves or overusing even properly-brewed draughts, that would be a good thing. “On that cheerful note, turn to page 27 of your textbooks, where you will find the instructions for a simple sleeping draught, which would have a very quick effect lasting perhaps an hour and a half.

“For this potion, you will need powdered root of asphodel, dried nettles, starthistle flowers, powdered valerian root – the main active ingredient, which will lead to an unfortunate smell in mid-brew but may be offset by the addition of lavender flowers – and a single augurey feather per cauldron. If you lack any of these supplies, they can be found in the student supply cabinet. You may work in pairs, though I will monitor you to ensure that everyone remains on task and attentive to their work. If there are no questions, you may begin.”

OOC: Welcome to Potions! Be sure all posts meet the site posting rules – at least 200 words, with good spelling and grammar – and that they are realistic for your character; points will be awarded for creativity and good writing, not your characters’ IC performance, especially if that performance is unlikely for first and second year students. Your characters may have accidents (spills, bungled potions, etc.), but Fawcett would notice and clean things up before a student was seriously injured or his classroom exploded, so tag him if your characters do. Again, welcome, and have fun!

Subthreads:

First here for the last time, I'd guess by Brandon Carey, Pecari with Ariel Thornton

Beginning my career by Leonidas Bennett, Aladren with Atlas Primred, Pecari

Getting ground down... by Ji-Eun Park, Pecari with Liliana Bannister, Pecari

0 Professor Fawcett Beginner Potions (1st-2nd Years) 0 Professor Fawcett 1 5

Brandon Carey, Pecari

October 28, 2013 1:05 AM

First here for the last time, I'd guess by Brandon Carey, Pecari

Enthusiasm was part of Brandon’s default way of approaching the universe, but as he approached the Potions classroom for the first time and then went in and got into a seat, he felt uncharacteristically lacking in it. He was not looking forward to this class at all. The subject matter was fine – they were going to let him play with fire, and stuff that could blow up when thrown into fire, and which turned cool colors when you didn’t clean it properly, and a lot of other things he normally just wasn’t allowed to do or even think about at home – and even the teacher being Head of Aladren could have been, since he had four relatives in that House and they included only one really boring person, in the form of his recently-graduated cousin Arthur; Anthony and Jay were okay, and Arnold was actually pretty fun when he wanted to be, so the whole House wasn’t a total lost cause. Unfortunately, however, the highest reports of the subject and its professor came from said Arthur and the even less fun ball of misery which was Henry, and that was enough to make Brandon write the whole subject off before he even achieved a perch on a stool well back from the front, far from the prying eyes of someone those two thought highly of. Nothing both Arthur and Henry liked, he was quite sure, had any way of being good.

Sheer habit made him look more or less in the right direction when the professor started talking, but it took him less than two sentences to confirm himself as the Enemy. Subtle was the key word. Brandon didn’t do subtle. A lifetime of hearing that word in connection with lessons about how to insult people without shaming his family or giving them a justification for calling him out in a duel had taught him that he absolutely, under no circumstances, could handle subtle. He was not only going to be bored, he was going to be – already was – doomed, at least in this class.

The appearance of the syllabus made it even worse. That word was Latin, he thought, or else Greek, but either way, he had come to school so he wouldn’t have to learn languages anymore. Spells were in Latin, but he didn’t have to think about that, and they were actually useful. The only other uses he had for languages were realizing that words like ‘syllabus’ came from them and insulting Henry, who could memorize the words with much more ease than Brandon did but who also had to translate and conjugate and decline or whatever else needed to be done to what was said to him word by word before he strung it together into a sentence most of the time, meaning Brandon had time to run for it and achieve the Mother- or Jay- or Aunt Lorraine-Uncle Anthony save zone by the time his older brother figured out what he said and came to hit him. And in the past few years, that hadn’t worked too well, either, since it had finally occurred to Henry to just assume anything Brandon said to him that was neither in English nor said in a lesson was an insult and just to skip to the hitting him part.

Theresa said that if he didn’t stop soon, his front right tooth, which he had lost three times under three totally different sets of circumstances, wasn’t going to stand the strain of his life and occasional more-than-usually aggressive responses from Henry and wouldn’t reattach anymore and then he’d look like a Muggle for the rest of his life, but he didn’t pay much attention to her. Theresa had already threatened to kill him three times this week, and while admittedly, he hadn’t actually done any of the specific things she had warned him would warrant a violent response, he really did think she was fond of him.

There were dire warnings about rules, which he wasn’t sure if he should take as or more seriously than he did Theresa but thought the family, at least, would want him to take more seriously, and then, to his surprise, something which actually did sound interesting. A sleeping draught! Only an hour and a half, but still – what couldn’t he do with that? Warnings about not taking things out of class flittered through his mind, but the professor hadn’t said anything about making stuff outside of class, he’d heard Jay and Terry talking before about Henry and Mother cooking up enough draughts in their rooms to send an entire colony of Integrationists on a cross-country rampage….

Grinning, he opened the book and squinted at the words on the page, trying to read as close to silently as possible until he was sure he was in the right place. “Ever done anything like this before?” he asked his neighbor, then looked back and had to find his place again, putting his finger under the place.

0 Brandon Carey, Pecari First here for the last time, I'd guess 0 Brandon Carey, Pecari 0 5

Leonidas Bennett, Aladren

October 28, 2013 1:24 AM

Beginning my career by Leonidas Bennett, Aladren

A class taught by his Head of House wasn’t quite as important as one taught by the future Headmaster of the whole school, but Leo thought the distinction was a fine one and that, as far as his behavior and preparations went, it might as well have not even existed. Professor Fawcett, from what Leo had read or deduced about his official position, was directly responsible for a good number of disciplinary functions involving Aladrens, and, more importantly for him, might well also have a say in what kinds of official positions Leo might be eligible for later in his years at Sonora. Combine that with his role as a classroom teacher bringing him into direct contact with Leo a lot more than anything was likely to bring him into direct contact with the headmaster even if his brother was marrying a Brockert, and impressing Professor Fawcett started to seem very important indeed.

Accordingly, Leo bolted down his lunch so he could have time to make sure his appearance was absolutely immaculate and still arrive in class early, taking a seat in the front of the room and sitting up very straight, smiling the bland pleasant smile which was a mild gift from whatever gods had cursed him with the ability to feel unnecessary awkwardness and trying to look very prepared and eager as he waited for class to start. And waited. And waited so long, or so it seemed, that he wished he had taken a little more time with his ham and cheese sandwich, or at least on his hair and re-shining his shoes.

At last, though, Professor Fawcett began to speak, and Leo leaned forward in his seat, hanging on every word and doing his best with what attention he had left over to show that he was doing so. It wasn’t all feigned, either; the subject really did sound like it was going to be a good one, one he would enjoy at least some of the effort it took him to shine. It was hard to look as grave as he needed to during the part about the rules before they got to the potion.

A potion which was…a bit of a letdown, really, after the lead-up to it. He realized he was frowning a little at such a senseless assignment, but quickly pulled his expression back up. He had to be eager to learn everything, even if it served no apparent purpose and only existed to lead up to actual things, things Leo wished he could just skip right over to. He opened his Potions kit and surveyed his ingredients for a moment before turning to his neighbor.

“I believe I have everything which is called for,” he said. “I can share if you do not. I am Leonidas Bennett, of the California Bennetts,” he tacked onto the end, still getting used to being Leonidas but still also thinking it sounded much more impressive than the plain old ‘Leo’ he had always gone by.

0 Leonidas Bennett, Aladren Beginning my career 269 Leonidas Bennett, Aladren 0 5

Ariel Thornton

October 28, 2013 4:13 AM

How do you figure that? by Ariel Thornton

Ariel walked slowly towards the Potions room mentally cursing her rotten luck. She wasn't using real curse words of-course (she was only eleven for Merlin's sake). She used other curses she knew that didn't involve words she knew would get her mouth washed out with soap if she ever did use them. She found herself cursing her luck this trip thanks to her further suction into freaksville. She kept hoping she would wake up from her current nightmare. The flying lessons had been mercifully mostly isolated. She had managed to spend part of it alone as she had wanted. The boys' interference had been mildly annoying, but he had meant well so Ariel pushed aside her annoyance. She felt a tiny tinge of what appeared to be regret in the fact that she couldn't remember his name. She had been so wrapped up in her own misery that she missed any names called during attendance (assuming it was taken). The only face she readily recognized was that of her roommate Morgana, whom she actually kind of liked despite her ordeal.

Ariel felt she was falling further still into nightmareland when she had been "forced" to attend her first spell casting class. She had wanted to refuse to do it outright, but she had never skipped a class in her life and was not about to start then. She had trudged on into class like the "good" non rule breaker that she was and forced herself not to run away from the room screaming in terror. Ariel had refused to be around anyone doing magic at home so having to do it herself here in freaksville was more than the eleven year old could wrap her little brain around. Now she was once again trudging her way towards another class filled with the very thing Ariel wanted nothing more than to run away from. Why are these people so insistent on forcing us to join the freak squad? she wondered bitterly to herself. She shook her head sadly as she walked into the Potions class. She found herself a seat and practically dropped helplessly into the seat. Ariel opened her bookbag and pulled out her potions book. She laid it casually on her desk as she pulled out a notebook and pen. She dropped her bag on the floor and rested her head on her arm as she doodled absently on a page from her notebook. She refused to really acknowledge Professor Fawcett since she felt he was just as guilty for her forced incarceration as her parents were. She sighed irritably into her arm as she scribbled down a few notes without looking up towards the Professor.

Ariel felt a brow raise slightly at the mention of a sleeping draught. She began to mentally list the people she could use something like that on. She grinned slightly at the thought. Her thought process was intruded upon by her neighbor whom she hadn't gotten a good look at until that moment. Ariel recognized him as the boy from her flying class who had asked about her crying. He hadn't been unkind to her so Ariel wasn't about to be purposely unkind in return. He had asked her a question and she was inclined to answer him. Ariel absently shook her head at his question and then stopped when she realized he might not have seen it since he had already returned his attention to his textbook. "No...I can honestly say I have not," she replied simply. She debated on whether or not to elaborate further, but decided against it. She returned his question back to him. "Have you?" Ariel inquired curiously. She discovered she was actually interested in his response. She shifted nervously in her seat before she made her next statement. "I...um...wanted to thank you for your concern? I guess during flying class," she told him uncomfortably. "I really appreciated it," she coughed uncomfortably into her closed fist. "I'm Ariel by the way," she introduced herself simply. She was unsure whether or not to offer him her hand to shake. She finally stuck it out there and waited to see if he would shake it. She put it down after he made his decision and glanced at the potion instructions. "Do you have any idea how we're supposed to do this exactly" she asked him curiously. It was obvious that she had no idea.

0 Ariel Thornton How do you figure that? 0 Ariel Thornton 0 5

Atlas Primred, Pecari

November 03, 2013 7:17 AM

I already hit a bump by Atlas Primred, Pecari

Atlas walked into the room, his auburn hair tussled from the stress of finding the potions class. He was grateful to have gotten to the room at least a little early, and took a seat near the front of the class. He had gotten through most of his classes so far without too much problem, however he wasn’t sure how potions would fair for him, so he thought ahead and decided to sit near the front to help him pay attention. Atlas looked over at the boy next to him who had quite the smile spread across his face. Thinking back to his promise to make friends, Atlas pondered what he should say to his blissful classmate in order to strike up conversation.

Before Atlas was able to even think about what he should say, the Professor began the class. Professor Fawcett seemed to be, from what Atlas could tell, a nice professor. With the exception of a select few teachers that gave off a gloomy aura, most of the professors he had encountered were pleasant and helpful. In addition the teachers at the school never seized to amaze Atlas. Even though Atlas had seen his teachers perform many amazing spells, it was the simple ones that always caught his breath, and the distribution of the syllabuses was no exception. Unfortunately, Atlas had only a short few moments to enjoy the spectacle before Professor Fawcett continued his introduction.

“A sleeping draught?” Atlas wondered, “why would they make a potion like this, there isn’t anything too magical about sleeping pills.” Atlas had been expecting something a little more, even though he had no idea what something “more” would be, but he was happy to be there nonetheless. However, after he heard the ingredients in the potion, Atlas was a bit worried. Although he was familiar with most plants, Atlas didn’t recognize some of the foreign ones right away, in addition he had no idea what an augurey was. Atlas began flipping though his textbook to figure out what an augurey was when the boy next to him spoke up.

Atlas looked up from his book, a little startled after being in such deep thought. He was grateful the boy was willing to share, Atlas was pretty prepared in regards to the plant components, but any magical ingredient was completely out of his expertise. Straitening himself and mustering up the friendliest attitude he could, he turned to the boy and in a less monotone voice than usual replied, “Thank you…” leaving a slight awkward silence to fill the air.

“Nailed it” he thought to himself. Atlas was thankful Leonidas introduced himself first, or he would have spent half the class thinking about how to start up a conversation. Quickly realizing that he hadn’t introduced himself yet, he stated bluntly, “I’m Atlas”, before adding in an effort to be a little more friendly, “I’m from California too.” Atlas didn’t want his efforts to be social to go to waste, so he tried to keep the conversation with Leonidas going, “um… do you know what an augurey is?” he asked.

0 Atlas Primred, Pecari I already hit a bump 276 Atlas Primred, Pecari 0 5

Leonidas Bennett

November 14, 2013 12:02 AM

That is very unfortunate by Leonidas Bennett

Atlas. Leo blinked, but then considered that really, it wasn’t that much more unusual a name than Leonidas. He wondered if his classmate was distantly Greek, his parents world-travelers or geography fans, his ancestors had thought he or another ancestor he was named for would bear the weight of the world on his shoulders, or if his parents were just odd. Any of the options was entirely, he thought, possible; in a family of five children, his father had given three children nice, plain English names while his mother’s choices had been, well, Gemma and Leonidas. A jewel and a dead guy, if not one that long dead and a relative; he wasn’t sure who, if anyone, his mother’s great-grandfather had been named for, so he didn’t suppose it mattered.

“Nice to meet you,” he said, and then it occurred to him to wonder if Atlas was a first or last name. If the other guy’s name was this confusing, Leo shuddered to think of how working with him on a potion might be, but he had already spoken now, so he would just have to make the best of it, or try to, anyway.

“An augurey’s a bird,” he said, glad a moment later to have something factual to talk about, something he knew about. Leo had taken one look at the Care of Magical Creatures textbook and deemed it so thin that it would be a discredit to his family for him not to read it before school – in retrospect, he wondered why his Sorting had been a bit of a surprise to him, two siblings in Crotalus or not – and he remembered much of it. “Irish Phoenix – though they’re not really like a phoenix at all, of course,” he added officiously. “They just predict rain really well. This is one of their feathers.” He looked over his neatly-organized potions kit for a moment, then picked up a dark feather. "Which we'll need for our potions," he finished.

0 Leonidas Bennett That is very unfortunate 269 Leonidas Bennett 0 5

Ji-Eun Park, Pecari

November 14, 2013 5:35 PM

Getting ground down... by Ji-Eun Park, Pecari

Ji-Eun had spent a large part of her summer over a cauldron. Her parents ran an Asian apothecary in the Melting Cauldron – the colloquial nickname for the large magical multi-cultural shopping district in New York – and were keen brewers. They were also keen that Ji-Eun should learn all about their way of doing things, which wasn't something an American school was going to teach her, however fancy and well regarded it was. But after a summer of ginseng heavy fumes (ginseng being inarguably the most magical curative substance which deserved a role in all things healing and generally pleasant) she now had to readjust to Western ingredients and brewing methods.

She took a seat at the front, accepting a syllabus which she knew would be invaluable, before pulling out her pastel purple quill to take notes. Before beginning, she read the recipe through carefully, trying to note any points that might trip her up, and get a good sense of what she would be doing. The first thing she needed to do was powder the asphodel roots, which were whole in her kit. She placed it into the mortar, taking her pessle and trying to crush it. Crushing was her least favourite method of preparation. She had plenty of patience and precision for anything that wanted to be sliced, however finely and neatly. Things that wanted to be crushed or ground, however, seemed to be destined for that method because nothing else would work on them. That didn't seem to give any guarantees that they yielded to crushing however. Bits of the root squidged and flattened as she applied pressure but it definitely didn't look well broken down. The book didn't specify a degree, but anything going into a potion needed to be uniform. That was just a given.

“How far did you get with your root?” she asked her neighbour.

13 Ji-Eun Park, Pecari Getting ground down... 268 Ji-Eun Park, Pecari 0 5

Liliana Bannister, Pecari

November 15, 2013 12:06 AM

I'd rather be flying high... by Liliana Bannister, Pecari

After the botched up Transfiguration class that morning, Liliana had not wanted to go to Potions. She had enjoyed lunch immensely but that was mainly because, as though her family had read her mind, when she had arrived in her room to dispose of her school things before heading down to lunch she had discovered a package waiting for her on her bed, delivered presumably by the family owl. When she had opened it, she had found fresh made latkes magically heated to keep them good on the flight over, her favorite of the dishes her mother could make. It was only September, but she was already homesick for the winter holidays. She felt lucky that she had Jewish grandparents in a magical world where a lot of people celebrated Christmas. It meant that she got the best of both world- at home she was allowed to celebrate all their family traditions while due to their status, they still held a Christmas Ball to keep their connection with the other magical families of England and the surrounding British Isles. Liliana opted to not leave for lunch with her roommate instead hanging back so that her roommate was force to leave with out her (she hadn't really talked to her even yet) and ate all the latkes in the box by herself along with the sour cream to top it (her favorite latke topping).

After eating more than her fill, Liliana stopped herself before the few latkes and wrapped them up carefully to take to Shye, her mum's owl, in the owlery who was waiting patiently to re-cooperate for the return flight to Connecticut. She found Shye and fed her bits of latke and applesauce until it was time to go back to class. She gave the owl one last stroke and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Sleep, Shye," she commanded. "Even though it's not as far as England it's still far."

Liliana slunk down to the Potions classroom ready for another humiliating experience. She sat down to another girl who looked put together and opened her notes which she knew would probably not help her at all. She accepted the syllabus hoping that perhaps that might be able to aid her in at least keeping on top of things and prepared to, yet again, fail. However, when Professor Fawcett talked about a sleeping draught, she got excited. After the mess her last class had been with that extremely rude boy she knew she'd want to take something to help her sleep. Of course she wouldn't drink her own potion- that would be suicide considering how most of her studies usually turned out, but she would most likely pay a visit to Medic Bailey to attain some draught of her own. Liliana opened her potions book to the correct page and read the instructions carefully knowing she would need all the help she could get.

Liliana was somewhat happy to see that powdered asphodel root was the first step as her potions kit included both powdered and whole roots because that meant that she would have more time to figure out the rest of the potion. On the other hand, that meant more time to mess up and she had always liked mashing things up in her backyard but she so moved on anyway knowing she would probably need the extra time. She carefully measured out the correct amount for each ingredient that she would need, the perfectionist in her finally coming to use. As of yet it this trait had been mostly useless as she hadn't really been good at many things. However, this potions making thing didn't seem too bad and she found that it wasn't causing her too much trouble though her hand had wobbled a little when measuring out the amount of lavender she would use to offset the smell of valerian root. But that didn't seem like it would be a huge problem, she rather liked the smell of lavender after all.

Her concentration was interrupted by her neighbor asking her about the asphodel root. "Oh, um," she frowned, wondering if she wasn't supposed to have it already powdered in her kit. "Mine came powdered," her voice came out much quieter than it had before. "Is that, I mean, is that okay?" She was worried now that perhaps she might have to start over. It wouldn't be unlike her other classes to do so. It had taken her the entire transfiguration class to not transfigure the pebble into a red rubber ball after all.

10 Liliana Bannister, Pecari I'd rather be flying high... 274 Liliana Bannister, Pecari 0 5

Atlas Primred, Pecari

November 15, 2013 1:56 AM

Yea, but challenges can be fun too. by Atlas Primred, Pecari

“What the?” Atlas thought to himself raising his eyebrow as Leonidas continued his explanation. “Whoa! Phoenix’s are real?!” Atlas exclaimed in an excited tone, completely different from the monotone voice he had used to introduce himself earlier. Atlas picked out the feather from his own kit. When Atlas was given his letter, he was told by a member of the staff about some of the wizarding world, however he didn’t know all the details. The history of the wizards didn’t interest him much, but the creatures did. Although Atlas was usually a shy boy, the excitement of learning such magical creatures did exist was impossible to contain. “That’s so cool,” he continued more quietly than before, a big smile still on his face while he twirled the dark feather in his hand. “I cant believe there are really things like a Phoen…err… augurey,” he corrected himself thinking back to Leonidas’ description.

Atlas looked up from his feather and this time he genuinely smiled at Leonidas. “Thanks… Leonidas,” Atlas said politely with trace amounts of enthusiasm still in his voice. Atlas liked Leonidas, he reminded him of his friend Steven from back home, who was quite the young genius. Although Atlas had heard people refer to himself as a prodigy at things like sports or art, he was no where near Stevens level when it came to academics. Some people might think that a person going on a rant about something like a bird would be annoying, but for Atlas it was oddly comforting. It had almost a nostalgic feel, and gave him a little more confidence.

Atlas turned back to his kit, and began to pick out the other ingredients. “Hey, Leonidas… that’s kinda an odd name, its like the Greek hero right?” Atlas said in a relaxed and friendly tone, remembering the story one of his dad’s colleagues at the University had told him in the past.

0 Atlas Primred, Pecari Yea, but challenges can be fun too. 276 Atlas Primred, Pecari 0 5

Ji-Eun Park

November 15, 2013 9:25 AM

I'd rather have big muscles by Ji-Eun Park

“It's fine,” Ji-Eun reassured the first year, when she asked about using the pre-powdered root. “Sometimes things are a little less potent when they come already ground up because more of their surface area has been exposed,” she explained. Then, realising that she had the dual advantage of being a second year and having potioneers for parents, and that she might be talking somewhat over this girl's head, she added “If you think about it, all of the inside of the root is already out and so gets some exposure to the air, which begins to break it down. But it's only by the tiniest amount - they wouldn't sell it like that if it didn't work. If you grind it yourself, it's fresher but on the other hand, it's harder to get it uniform, and uniformity is usually really important, so it all balances out. My parents are just traditionalists, I guess,” she added, in reference to her own root, “Hence...” she sighed, turning the mortar towards the other girl, revealing the minimally broken up root.

“I'm Ji-Eun, by the way, though I don't mind if you want to call me Jane.” Both names were on her birth certificate although she was very unused to using her American name. Even at Sonora, most people had taken the trouble to learn how her Korean name was pronounced, so they all called her that. “You're one of the new Pecaris, aren't you?” she asked, having seen the girl at their table at the opening feast. There was also the give away of people's house logos being on their school uniform.

She continued to work on her root whilst they spoke, trying to lean her shoulder into it the way her mother had taught her. She couldn't help but feel that some of the problem was that she was small, skinny and generally weak, though her mother insisted that it was all technique and she just needed to put her mind to it. Ji-Eun couldn't help but feel that if the universe had been feeling kind, it would have sent her a nice Beater boy as a desk mate, who would have valiantly offered to do it for her. She felt it was a little unjust, after all the help she'd given Leo in Transfiguration, that the cosmos had not complied. It was starting to break up though and with these kinds of things, she found that it resisted for ages and then there was suddenly a point where it just went. Hopefully that would come soon.

13 Ji-Eun Park I'd rather have big muscles 268 Ji-Eun Park 0 5

Leonidas Bennett

November 15, 2013 11:21 PM

Depends on what they are, and if they're in our level by Leonidas Bennett

Atlas went suddenly from monotone to excitement, making Leo turn a little, almost alarmed, to look at him more closely. “Of course they are,” he said. “Very rare, of course, but the books says there still are some on tops of mountains,” he elaborated. His already straight posture became a little better yet as he added, “and a phoenix tail feather is the core of my wand.”

He wanted to take his wand out and show it off, but had decided before he even got it that he would not be one of those wizards. Imagining the sideways looks his brother and sisters would exchange, how funny and kiddish they would think him for doing that, was a powerful motivator. Not powerful enough to remove the desire to show off a little, but powerful. Helpful right now, when none of his siblings were around, was the desire to not draw negative attention from Professor Fawcett for playing with his wand when there was no reason for him to have it out, especially since that could all too easily endanger others in the class. Wands and potions, from what he had gathered from the safety instructions in the front of the book, could be all too poor a mixture when not recommended by the text and supervised by a competent potioneer.

Instead, then, he began getting his other ingredients together. “You’re welcome,” he said, noticing the hesitation over his name and trying not to immediately reintroduce himself by the more familiar short form, especially when it was commented on by itself. “Yes, I think there were some ancient Greeks called Leonidas,” he said. “Mother borrowed it from one of her ancestors, I’m not sure exactly where he got it from.” Leo checked the ingredients one more time and decided he was all right to move ahead. "Were you named for the Atlas in mythology?" he asked, deciding tha was all right considering that he had just been asked more or less the same thing.

0 Leonidas Bennett Depends on what they are, and if they're in our level 269 Leonidas Bennett 0 5

Atlas Primred, Pecari

November 17, 2013 11:21 AM

I guess we would just have to work through it then. by Atlas Primred, Pecari

Atlas listened tentatively to Leonidas as he got out his mortar and pestle for grinding down the asphodel root. “That’s really cool to be named after a relative,” Atlas said. “I’m pretty jealous, I mean you have a Greek name that sounds like a warrior or a king. Whenever people hear mine they think of maps,” he said shrugging.

Atlas placed the asphodel root in the mortar and began working. At home, he was in charge of making both his little sister, Katie, and his own lunches, and liked it so much that he started cooking more. She had once commented that cinnamon and cloves tasted better in cookies when they where fresh. Atlas himself couldn’t taste much of a difference, but their dad explained that younger children had more sensitive taste buds. Either way Atlas didn’t care, if Katie thought it tasted better fresh he would do it that way. He didn’t often spoil her, but when it came to cooking he wanted to pamper her a little. As a result he was at least a little used to a mortar and pestle, although he missed his one at home, it fit his hands better. The roots took a more work than what Atlas thought, but he was finally beginning to get it fairly broken up, thankful that this plant didn’t have much oil in the roots like he knew the valerian root would. It was for that reason, and because he honestly didn’t want to have to clean his mortar twice, that he chose that order. He could be organized and prepared when he wanted to, however nothing could have prepared him for Leonidas’ question.

Atlas’ hand slipped at the question, tipping over the contains of his mortar, both powdered and whole asphodel root spilling out onto his desk. Atlas stared blankly at the mess, surprised more by the question than by the accident.

“Uh…,” he grimaced slightly. People had often commented, but no one had ever asked him why he was named “Atlas”. He forgot that no one at the school had any previous knowledge, or saw how different he looked from the rest of his family. His school in Santa Cruz was small enough that everyone knew about his past right when he transferred, so he never had to deal with that sort of question. “I don’t really know,” he said softly, his eyes still on the asphodel root. “You see,” he continued in his monotone voice from earlier, “I was adopted when I was 5, so I really don’t know why I was given the name.” After a moment, Atlas snapped out of his trance. He realized that he now had even more work to do, and began to clean up his mess.

Not wanting Leonidas to feel awkward, if he didn't already, Atlas quickly tried to sound more cheery. “Yea but its no big deal,” he lied giving the best smile he could muster up. Trying to shift the conversation back to Leonidas he added, “my dad back home thinks I was named it so I would grow to be a strong person, with a name like that you kinda have to. I used to get picked on for it a lot. Did that ever happen to you?”

0 Atlas Primred, Pecari I guess we would just have to work through it then. 276 Atlas Primred, Pecari 0 5

Liliana Bannister, Pecari

November 22, 2013 10:10 PM

Those are nice but without a brain you've nothing. by Liliana Bannister, Pecari

Liliana nodded as she tried to understand what the girl was trying to tell her. She didn't want to appear stupid to the older girl and she definitely didn't want any pity. She'd mastered controlling her emotions and facial expressions enough that she was pretty sure the rude boy from Transfiguration hadn't figured out that he'd hurt her feelings, but the event had exhausted her. Still though, she tried her hardest not to look stupid and was able to pull it off alright. "That's true, it's kind of like how fresh spices are better to cook with than dried ones." This she knew because she always hid in the kitchens at her grandmother's place while her cousins were searching for a willing (or unwilling) participant for some of their more dangerous games. The house elves liked her because she gave them entertainment while they cooked and baked and so they'd always shoo the mischievous boys away from the kitchens so long as she asked them to.

She nodded her head in agreement while looking at the girl's messy mortar and pestle. "Nice to meet you, Jane," she replied. "Yeah, I am. It's a good house, or so I was told." She felt awkward calling her Jane is that wasn't the girls real name, but Ji-Eun sounded difficult and she wasn't sure that she wanted to mess with the pronunciation and offend the other Pecari. She watched as Ji-Eun started to lean even harder into the pounding. "If you'd like, I could help a little?" She'd always enjoyed hanging out in the kitchens and just after she got the news that she was moving to America she had stormed straight to her favorite hiding place and demanded a mortar and pestle (though in reality, she hadn't known what they were called then and had asked for the "bowl and stick bangy thing") in order to take her feeling out. The house elves had complied as they were meant to do when given an order and Liliana had taken her anger at being displaced from her beloved England out on some very unfortunate cloves of garlic a few nights in a row. In fact, the homesickness that she'd been experiencing and the mean boy had made her want to relieve some anger- she just hadn't had time to mash anything yet. She also didn't have a mortar and pestle to mash with, that was the main issue.

"I like mashing things," she offered further in case Ji-Eun was skeptical of her princess-y upbringing. A lot of people, it seemed, were wary of it especially here where her accent stood out so prominently. She had yet to meet another student from the England area though she knew of a few families that were from there including one year mate from Scotland. As she spoke, she glanced at the instructions to figure out what the next step in her potion making would be.

10 Liliana Bannister, Pecari Those are nice but without a brain you've nothing. 274 Liliana Bannister, Pecari 0 5