Professor Yu

September 21, 2014 9:16 PM
As the winter holidays grew nearer and nearer, Diana was becoming more and more anxious. She knew that the family reunion this year would be more tense than usual as Stephen had announced his plans to bring his special friend, Henry, home with him and Diana knew for a fact that her parents would not be pleased with it. The stress was beginning to show on her face-- she was beginning to get less and less sleep and as a result dark bags were forming under her brown eyes. She hadn’t noticed them forming at first but that morning when she looked in the mirror after washing her face she nearly started. Diana wondered how long she had looked like this and was embarrassed to think her students had seen her look so unraveled. She applied concealer as best she could but never having been one for much make-up other than a light lipstick and mascara the bags were still somewhat visible.

She put her head into her hands and massaged her temples while waiting for the beginning students to take their seats. She felt a headache coming on. Once everyone was seated, she stood up and smiled brightly. “Today we will be working on the potion commonly known as the Swelling Solution,” she announced, writing the name on the board. “You should be able to find all the ingredients you need in your potions kits but if you run out please come to me and I will get you some from the stock closet.” Diana trusted the Advanced students and most of the Intermediate students to get their own ingredients from the closet if they needed but the majority of the beginning students still would have difficulty in discerning between certain ingredients and she wanted to keep the Potions classroom a safe place for all. “The instructions can be found on page 214 of your textbooks if you have the third edition--” Diana had chosen this particular one because its organization of potions in alphabetical order had made it easier for her to plan lessons. “If you are using the second or first edition, however, the page number can be found in the index.” She was fairly certain it was the same page for all three editions but she didn’t want to give them the wrong page number just in case.

“There is a sixty minute time period in which the potion must simmer,” Diana said after going over the instructions for brewing the potion. “During this time you may begin your Potions homework or study for another class. If you have nothing else to do then please keep the chattering to a minimum and for the love of Merlin I don’t want to see any horseplay as this potion is a little bit more difficult than ones we have tried in the past,” Diana paused to pass out vials for the students to bottle their finished results with.

“That being said, I would prefer for the more experienced students to pair with the less experienced students.” Diana knew there were more first years than second years but was hoping that some of the first year purebloods would be like the two Parks who had come in with some background knowledge of Potions due to their parents’ business.

“If this potion spills do not attempt to clean it up on your own instead, call me over immediately.” As swelling solution caused enlargement upon contact with skin, Diana wanted to minimize trips to the Hospital Wing. “Should it get on your skin I will dismiss you and your partner to the Hospital Wing immediately after cleaning any residual potion off you so as not to contaminate the rest of the school.”

Though Diana didn’t believe there would be many accidents as there hadn’t been any so far, she didn’t want to take any chances of stray swelling potion getting on a door handle and causing all who touched it to wind up with swollen hands, certain the other professors wouldn't appreciate it. With that she dismissed them to work.

OOC: Please remember posts must be kept as realistic as possible and be a minimum of 200 words. Feel free to tag Professor Yu if assistance is needed. Otherwise have fun— points are awarded for creativity and grammar.
Subthreads:
10 Professor Yu Beginner Potions (Years I & II) 0 Professor Yu 1 5


Jamie Park, Pecari

September 27, 2014 5:57 AM
So far, this year was nowhere near as fun as last. With the staff gone, Jamie had been able to coast through his first year and had someone else to blame where his grades were patchy. He'd shambled into this year without much of an improvement in attitude but as the winter break drew nearer he was acutely aware of having to face his mother, and anything less than a stream of glowing comments and straight Os was going to be met with a Christmas full of criticism. He could usually wheedle his way out of it but was considering whether actually pulling his socks up a bit in class required less effort. It wasn't like he was thick... Most of the stuff they were taught seemed pretty easy, he just preferred doing things that weren't homework.

He measured and ground fairly precisely, regardless of his attitude in class. For all that he snuck out to the mall, under the guise of 'study dates,' as often as possible, you couldn't grow up in an apothecary without being made to grind the odd eyeball or slice the occasional root. And get a frequent clip around the ear if you didn't do it well enough. Therefore, even on autopilot, Jamie could manage most things to a relatively good standard. It was only when it involved really finickity cutting that he actually had to concentrate and usually couldn't be bothered and did a rough job.

Once he'd got the Potion started, he ferreted in his bag. Normally he'd have used the sixty minutes to talk or make paper aeroplanes or something but he figured that the new, homework doing version of himself might as well use the time productively. After all, he was stuck here now, whereas he didn't have to be stuck in the library later if he'd done it all. He scribbled the answers to the first two questions with ease but got stuck on the third. He was about to write down a stupid guess when he remembered that he was being good in the interests of not being grounded later on.

“Ugh,” he sighed, as he was forced to resort to looking in actual book for an answer. “School would be so much more fun without the classes,” he commented to his neighbour.
13 Jamie Park, Pecari Being a good boy 284 Jamie Park, Pecari 0 5


Uzume Shinohara, Crotalus

September 28, 2014 4:59 AM
Uzu entered the room at her usual time, 1-2 minutes before the start of class. The beads of her red hair ornament tingled loudly as she seated herself next to a somewhat familiar, yet nameless, boy. Each day she tried to add something to her hair to help her to stand out from the sea of green robes, as suggested by her mother earlier that year. Despite Uzume’s own feelings about drawing attention to herself in such a way, she knew this was valuable training to help her become a Mahou-tsukai dancer. Most trainee dancers her age would have had several recitals to prepare them for a life in the spotlight. However, Uzume was late to the game, and as a result, had to resort to alternative measures to get herself up to speed. After all, there is nothing more pitiful than a dancer that trembles due to stage fright.

Potions class, unlike transfiguration, wasn’t a class she could skate through. With potions there was a clear end result, and a lot of dirty work required in between. She sighed deeply as Professor Yu released them to work, realizing that she may actually have to try in this class if she wanted to pass. As she opened her book to page 214, she glanced at the directions, squinting and wrinkling her nose as she attempted to read the words scattered before her. Although her English had improved since her arrival to Sonora, some words still escaped her from time to time, which she blamed on her brain being filled with useless transfiguration and potions facts. Looking over to her neighbor she noticed that he seemed to be moving along okay, so she decided that the best solution would be to follow his lead. After several minutes of struggling and spilling, she added her poorly crushed mixture into the cauldron. After she counted to 20 seconds, she waved her wand, eyeing her potion momentarily to see if it would reject her attempt or explode in her face.

The potion bubbled for several moments, active but not overflowing, so she decided it was probably okay. After dusting off her hands, she settled into her seat and began to watch the pot boil as she had nothing to do for the time being. Potions Class, was the lowest of the low on Uzume’s list of cares. Not because it wasn’t important, but because it would serve as no use to her in the future. As Uzume's fingers played with the beads of the ornament, she tried to imagine how this lesson would ever help her be a Mahou-tsukai dancer. She pictured herself grinding herbs on the stage, and then forcing her audience to wait with her for an hour while the potion brewed. She couldn’t help but let out a giggle at such imagery. Most people that went to a performance would expect eye-catching spells and beautiful movements, not something as ridiculous as potion making. Although she was fairly sure that Grandmother might like that performance, especially if the potion she brewed relieved some of the old woman’s back pain.

However Uzume’s surprisingly cheery thoughts were interrupted by a sigh from the neighbor boy. She eyed him momentarily, wondering if his groan was aimed at her. “School would be so much more fun without the classes,” he commented as he looked through his book.

Uzume stared at the boy for a moment, wondering if she ought reply to such an obvious statement. “It’s not the classes,” she remarked after a moment, “its just the useless assignments and subjects.” Although, to Uzume anything that wasn’t used for Mahou-tsukai dancing fell into the category of ‘useless’. “You seem like the type that would enjoy school though. After all you are using your free time to study,” she added, trying not to be too rude, lest her potions aide move to another table.
0 Uzume Shinohara, Crotalus Being a lazy girl. 0 Uzume Shinohara, Crotalus 0 5


Jamie Park

September 29, 2014 3:45 AM
Jamie shrugged in response to the girl's statement about it not being the classes but the assignments and subjects. Didn't those things make up the classes? As far as he was concerned what she'd just said amounted to what he had but she obviously saw some hair to split and he really couldn't be bothered with that. Odd though, as being such a bloody minded pedant usually went hand in hand with being a stuffy Aladren show off, and the last kind of person to complain about any aspect of school. Weird. He'd noticed the girl around in his classes, she stood out, being a fellow in the school's tiny minority of Asians – or even the school's tiny minority of minorities in general. He'd always assumed she was a dull over-achiever like his sister, and almost every other Asian girl he'd ever met. And most of the boys too. That was why he preferred to hang out with Americans (well, he was American too, and so were lots of the Asian kids at his old school but.... American Americans or whatever you called them) – they knew what fun was. Actual fun, not misapplication of the term to describe stuff like mathlectics.

“Wrong on both counts,” he scoffed, feeling compelled to correct her when she accused him of enjoying school and studying during his free time, “I'm studying on class time. I have to be here for the next hour, whether I like it or not. I don't, however, have to be in the library later during my actual free time if I get this rubbish done now.

“What about you?” he queried, “Not worried about what mommy and daddy will think if you don't bring home straight Os?” He was fairly sure he'd seen her voluntarily wearing some kind of traditional looking robe thingy. Even Ji-Eun, desperately pandering to their parents, craving their approval, didn't don a hanbok unless forced. It was hard to believe this girl was made to live up to those kinds of standards but didn't really care about her school work. Or perhaps she some precocious, overly-tutored little moppet who already knew everything as basic as first year work. It still seemed weird to him that she wasn't highly strung over it though.
13 Jamie Park Lazy girls go on the naughty list and get coal 284 Jamie Park 0 5


Uzume Shinohara

October 01, 2014 1:52 AM
Uzume had held her tongue previously with the boy because she saw a use for him, that being a reference guide in case she forgot an English name for an ingredient. However, the boy’s accusation along with his scoff annoyed her more so than she would have liked to admit. It’s not like she had accused him of being a suck up or a brownnoser. Since she didn’t make an effort on most of her assignments, she spent a lot of time reading English novels. Not only did she enjoy the interesting stories, but she also saw it was a way improve her vocabulary. As a result, she had read enough to learn the saying “Mommy and Daddy” to someone her age was usually supposed to be an insult. She wasn’t sure if he was insulting her or her parents, but she didn’t take kindly to either conclusion.

“Oh I don’t plan on doing any work at all if possible,” she stated bluntly. “Mommy and Daddy,” she continued, mimicking the boys words from earlier, “don’t care about my grades, at least not for classes that won’t contribute to my future.” In the past her parents had urged her to strive to be the top of the class, however after her brother was born things changed. Now, all her mother wanted her to emphasize on was Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, as many spells in these classes would be used for dancing.

“I’m supposed to be a dancer when I grow up. So they have made it clear that is my number one priority,” she said simplifying her situation. For many girls their first official recital was used as a courtship dance; the best dancers would get their choice of husband. Her parents were looking out for her, in that they wanted Uzume to have the most choices by time of her recital.

“So I figure why not use the time that I would have used getting O’s to have fun instead,” she said with an indifferent shrug and a half smile. There was only a small span of time were she could lead such a carefree life; she would be a fool not to take advantage of it while she could.

“Too bad there isn’t anything fun to do right now,” she added, not hiding the annoyance she felt being stuck in class with someone, whom so far, was proving to be less than exciting.
0 Uzume Shinohara So do cheeky boys 292 Uzume Shinohara 0 5

John Umland, Aladren

October 01, 2014 8:26 PM
Potions had, from John’s point of view, some advantages over his other classes. Because potions had multiple, time-consuming steps, he didn’t have as much time on his hands, which reduced the number of strange mishaps from the resulting experiments that he then had to try to explain to his teachers. Because he had spent a lot of time before school doing more conventional science experiments with his friends, he was used to following written directions closely while doing things that could at least make a mess he wouldn’t want to clean up if he didn’t pay attention. Remembering lists, regulations, and what things looked like had never been hard for him, either. He had, because of all that, found most of the work he’d been assigned so far pretty easy.

Unfortunately, that meant he also found a lot of the work he was assigned a little boring. Procedures, lists. He knew, since Mom had explained it to him, that this kind of memorization work was still important – that he couldn’t understand how things worked until he knew all the facts about them, and that all the work he was doing in classes now was a lot like playing chess against himself had been a few years ago, just carving the basics into his brain so his older sister couldn't beat him without losing any of her pieces a second time after he decided he was good enough to play a partner again and so he could do more complex work without thinking about it in his classes in the future; writing it after he read it would make him remember it longer and better, just like actually moving pieces helped him remember what did and didn't constitute legal moves for each piece on a board – but it just wasn’t very stimulating.

Since the past and the future usually looked a lot alike, he began class this day mostly looking forward to the free hour after it. He had the no more exciting task of filling in some start charts and writing paragraphs explaining the effects their positions had on charm-work waiting for him in the library after class, but after that, he would get to read a little about how those positions came to be, which was a lot more interesting, at least to him, than just knowing where they were, especially since he was pretty sure it meant gravity affected magic and he was completely sure there would be more interesting facts - maybe even discoveries - lurking beyond that fact if he was right. He'd also just get to take notes only he was going to read over it as he read the information instead of writing something out neatly afterward, and taking notes, unlike writing paragraphs, was easy and fun. When he heard that today's potion would be a little bit more difficult than ones we have tried in the past, though, he sat up a little straighter, then opened his textbook with some interest.

Flipping to the right place, John skimmed the list, comparing it to his potions kit, and frowning a little as he then re-skimmed the descriptions. It was, he had to admit, interesting, but not exactly in the way he'd had in mind. He tried to imagine a use for the Swelling Solution, and the only things he could come up with were assassination (slipping a few drops into someone’s drink would, he thought, make the drinker’s tongue and throat swell) or a nasty form of chemical warfare (if he were in a building under attack – or just in any kind of battle, really, if he could convince some people who were better fliers than he was to be the air force – and only had the magic he could do right now to work with, he’d catapult or otherwise drop or pour a lot this stuff onto the enemy; he didn’t know if people would actually swell until they burst if they were hit with enough of it, but even if they didn’t, the pictures in the book made him think they would be incapacitated enough for the defenders to then just go out and…do whatever they wanted to them, really). Neither was a good, or even likely, way to deal with problems, though, sieges were pretty rare these days, so he was not sure why they were learning this, unless the point was that every nice little girl and boy should know how to kill their less magically gifted kin and pass it off as a bad reaction to shrimp….

No, there had to be some other reason. Going over it in his head, John couldn’t figure out how, if he was right about this and extended it just a little further to other magic, wizards hadn’t yet completely seized control of all the governments. Numbers were numbers, but still – if a twelve-year-old could figure out how to take over the world with a few potions, a charm or two, and the knowledge that nukes existed and that the world would end if they were ever fired, then surely someone a lot older than him would have already done it. He was missing a crucial detail somewhere.

Missing details was not a good thing to do in Potions, which was where the one small problem he sometimes had in this class came in. When he worked with people, there was the chance they would talk to him until he got so busy thinking and talking about whatever they had brought up and whatever that led to that he lost track of what he was doing. That could lead to bad measurements and losing count of how many times he’d stirred something. Unfortunately, though, while he thought he could weasel out of working with anyone on exact words (it never felt natural to him to do it seriously, rather than as a joke, but growing up in a magical family in a non-magical area had forced John to learn to split hairs after he'd made friends, and all Professor Yu had said she'd prefer that more experienced students work with less; there hadn't been an actual order to do anything at all in her statement anywhere at all), he was pretty sure his cleverness would not recommend him to Professor Yu, not given her tired appearance and safety concerns today. There were five people in the world who he knew could have helped him completely solve the problem, people who he could have worked with without any problems as long as they weren't in the mood to mess with him on purpose, but the only one even in this country was in the Intermediate classes – or, actually, probably finishing her lunch right now, but she’d be in Care of Magical Creatures in thirty minutes, and either way wasn’t here, and was the most likely of the five to distract him anyway. He was just going to have to hope for the best with his classmates, who were often interesting when that was the problem.

“Need a partner?” he asked another student, moving his mortar and pestle to the front of his work station and beginning to sort through his measuring spoons. The sooner they started, the sooner they would finish. If the other person didn't want to work with him, well, he could say in good faith that he'd tried to follow the directions if pretending to be too literal-minded to have understood them didn't work and then get on with it.
16 John Umland, Aladren Contemplating applications. 285 John Umland, Aladren 0 5


Jamie Park

October 03, 2014 7:59 AM
Jamie raised an eyebrow at the assertion that her parents didn't care about her grades. Or rather, he would have if he could have – raising one eyebrow was a way cool trick and he'd been practising in the mirror, but to no avail. So, really he raised both, but in his head he very suavely just quirked a single, disbelieving eyebrow at the girl. Her next comment made him understand though... She was clearly intended for some highly decorative future popping out babies or being the arm candy of a rich guy. Or, apparently, a dancer. Whilst it was mildly less pathetic it still wasn't exactly fascinating. The only thing really keeping him in the conversation was that anything was better than going back to his books.

Then she got more interesting. Sure, he was skeptical still, wondering what 'fun' consisted of to a girl like this. Probably braiding hair or practising her precious dancing, neither of which he really wanted to get involved with. But she had at least heard of the concept, and taken an interest in it.

“Oh?” he asked, lowering his voice. “I think there could be plenty of fun to be had, depending on your definition.” Whilst some Aladrens and obedient little Crotali might have found pleasure in completing the task perfectly for its own sake, his tone of voice definitely implied that reaping the rewards of honest hard work was not on his list. They were in a room full of squealy pre-teens, gross animal parts and volatile liquids. He could think of a few ways of combining those that definitely amused him.

“What do you think would liven things up a bit?” he asked.
13 Jamie Park Good thing I'm sweet and angelic 284 Jamie Park 0 5


Uzume Shinohara

October 05, 2014 2:55 AM
Uzume wasn’t sure what to make of her partners face, however any shred of her thoughts were hidden by a face of indifference. It was impossible for her not to wonder what he was thinking behind those lively eyebrows, but she didn’t want to dwell on it long. She had more important things to attend to, like finding something to do in the dreary potions classroom. However, just when she was getting truly bored of his company, he surprised her with a comment that peaked her interest.

“Oh?” he asked, with a low tone. “I think there could be plenty of fun to be had, depending on your definition. What do you think would liven thigns up a bit?”

Uzume gave her company an agreeing smile. Finally he was showing something worthwhile. His tone oozed fun, danger, excitement, all things she hadn't experienced in a while. The feeling pounding in her chest of adrenaline was one that had been absent for far too long. Fear had become the norm, so it was a nice change to have it replaced with anticipation. Even though her previous school friends had been a bunch of unruly, rowdy boys, they too had Pureblood pressures that restricted their actions, so they couldn't be as adventurous as they might have otherwise been compelled to be. They did, however, still manage to make mischief when possible, but it wasn't nearly enough to appease their appetites for adventure.

Uzu got out her wand from her sleeve, ready for the fun to start. She had a few ideas if what the boy offered turned out to be dull, but was looking forward all the while to his suggestions. After all this would prove just what kind of boy he was, something Uzu was dying to know. It was one thing to say he thought homework was rubbish, but depending on what he suggested would prove whether or not he was really a bookworm in disguise. She dearly hoped it wasn't the latter, nothing could be more boring than someone who put on airs to impress others.

“Something with sparks, light and screams, but then again that might be too much for you,” she said in a purposefully disappointed tone. She hoped by pushing him to prove himself it would ensure her entertainment for the next hour, and see just how fun he really was. "This far all I’ve seen you exhibit are the traits of a studious student. Studying on free time, being great in potions class, you’re going to have to come up with something really exciting if you want to try and prove me wrong,” she added with playful look.
0 Uzume Shinohara Riiiggghhhtt. 292 Uzume Shinohara 0 5


Jamie Park

October 05, 2014 8:47 AM
He watched the girl carefully but she didn't give much away in her face. Useful, if her idea of fun coincided with his. It was a world of difference not giving much reaction to him, and being able to look a Professor in the eye with a perfect poker face and say that you had no idea how the girl at the bench in front of you had lost her eyebrows, but it was a start. The fact she had her wand at the ready at the mention of fun was a good sign too.

“Those are a few of my favourite things. I might go for bangs instead of lights though – bit more dramatic.” Her words didn't bother him overly much – he knew he was a down and dirty rebel, whatever she said. But it would be a shame if he'd found the only other person with a bit of a spark to them and they took him for a geek. He'd also never been able to resist showing off, so whilst her words didn't rile him, they definitely spurred him on to action. Or would have, had he needed any encouragement to cause trouble.

“Hey, I thought we already covered this – studying in class time to be free later. And I could slice in my sleep – my parents run an apothecary,” he explained. He guessed to the outside observer, his mastery with a scalpel could be misconstrued. Perhaps he ought to cut and grind more cack-handedly in future in order to fit in...

“You're not Korean,” he stated, flipping open a second container of Potion ingredients. He rarely got the chance to use them at school, except to cause trouble, but his mother insisted on him being well stocked. She seemed to be under the impression he'd find some supervised time to practise their way of doing things too. However, she didn't trust anyone but herself to properly inspect his skills at it, so treated him as if he was starting from scratch when he got home anyway. It was mental. Therefore, studying different ways during term time was a waste of his time.

“So, I'm guessing you have no idea what most of these things are,” some, like the ginger, were duplicated across both kits, and if she'd studied any traditional Potion making in her native country, she might be familiar with some of the plants, but he was willing to bet that she couldn't identify everything, and couldn't read the hangul they were labelled in. “But I'll tell you this for free, none of them is meant to be in this potion. So, take a lucky dip and tell me which cauldron to aim it for.”
13 Jamie Park Butter wouldn't melt 0:-) 284 Jamie Park 0 5

Joella Curtis, Pecari

October 05, 2014 3:52 PM
It was now too many weeks into the school term for Joella to bother counting (as if she would anyway) and the novelty of the Sonora classes was already beginning to wear off. Joella was picking favourites and she didn't have many. Potions had started out interesting enough. With that slight element of danger how could it not be fun? As it turned out, trips to the Hospital Wing were not particularly common and neither were hilarious accidents. But it wasn't really this that had led the young Pecari to imagine that Potions would be a good class. She could quite happily deal without drama and disasters. However, what she couldn't deal with was that she never managed to get her so desired result. Ever. As yet she had not managed to make her bunch of ingredients turn into amazing potions for all kinds of purposes. She felt that she was failing, and it wasn't fun. Joella knew it was foolish to think that she would uncover some great potion-brewing skills in her first year, let alone ever, but she couldn't help feeling disappointed every time the lesson ended with her getting something completely wrong.

On entering the classroom Joella resolved to actually get the set task right this time. Her jaw set in determination, the first year flicked through her textbook to the given page number and looked at the instructions. The Swelling Solution. It looked simple. It was simple. First year potions weren't exactly difficult - they were beginners after all. But for some reason they always ended up being difficult for Joella.

The first year tied her light brown hair back in a ponytail, keeping it off her face in the hope that this action could somehow help her to concentrate.

Today, Joella made sure to stick to the instructions closely. She focussed herself and forced her eyes not to wander around the classroom to see how everyone else was getting on. With her pestle and mortar she carefully crushed the puffer-fish eyes and dried nettles. Medium-fine powder? Had she already crushed the ingredients a bit too much?

The heating was always the hardest part. Twenty seconds. Nothing more, nothing less. Joella ran through this process rather swiftly and was proud to find nothing burnt after the twenty seconds were up. A bit of wand waving ensued. Too much? Too little? Was Joella's determination to succeed making her over think things? She decided that doubting herself wouldn't help her in anyway so continued swiftly.

Professor Yu had said that it must "simmer" for sixty minutes. Joella had always struggled with the word simmer. Even before Potions class. Those rare moments of her childhood when she would help in the kitchen and overestimate the term simmer to mean bubble furiously. The first year ploughed on anyhow in the hope that Professor Yu would notice if her potion was doing rather more than simmering.

The first year sat back. Her hair had long ago rebelled against the binding that had fastened it back in a scruffy ponytail and her face was a little flushed from the heat. Joella genuinely felt exhausted. It was only now that she allowed herself to compare her (what she hoped was) simmering potion with that of the other pupils nearest her. This was always destined to be disheartening...
8 Joella Curtis, Pecari Determination. 295 Joella Curtis, Pecari 0 5