Professor Sophie O'Malley
May 17, 2016 11:28 PM
This sure is swell! [Years I-II] by Professor Sophie O'Malley
With the school year finally in full swing, Sophie was back to having her days filled to overflowing. Between teaching and parenting, not to mention reverse-parenting her snappish godfather who still required some help (though he was loathe to admit anything of the sort), she didn’t have a lot of free time, but honestly, that was kind of how she liked it. Down time was boring, and while she might have liked more time with her husband where she wasn’t totally exhausted, the silly giggles she shared with him made up for it, in a way; any time with Ryan was special, even if she was beat to Hell.She was always eager to see the new faces in her classes, and she enjoyed the process of getting to know her students, matching those faces to the names. (She had also taken to showing Ryan the roster of students at the beginning of each year so she knew which of those names were relatives. Her husband sure had a huge extended family.) To make attendance easier, she instituted a seating chart, although she was generally pretty speedy about learning names, so it was fairly well known that the arrangement would be on paper only, and the kids would be free to sit wherever they liked.
When she finished marking today’s attendance--she was already getting better!--she sat the notebook on her desk and strolled forward. “Okay, now that we’re done with that,” she said, “we can get brewing. Prepare yourselves for your first practical lesson!” The sentiment was obviously aimed at the first years, although an understood of the year could be tacked on for the second years. They had spent the last few classes learning about ingredients and cauldrons, and today they would get to try what they had learned.
“We’re going to brew the Swelling Potion,” she announced. This particular potion was taught to second years in most academic settings, but it was generally not a very difficult one. She hoped to use it to gauge if any of her new students had any natural abilities. “The only ingredients you will need are puffer-fish eyes, dried nettles, and bat spleens. If your kit is missing any of those, you can find extra supplies on the counter. That will always be the case on days we’re brewing, for future reference.”
“Can anyone tell me what this potion does, by the way?” Sophie added almost as an afterthought. “It’s pretty obvious from the title, but who wants to say it for five House points?” She paused to allow the answer, accepting anything to the effect of it makes things grow. “Right, good job there. Five for you.” She craned her neck back over the desk to check the roster; she was starting to learn names, sure, but Houses? That would be a bit longer.
“Cool, so, let’s get this show on the road, yeah?” the short blonde beamed. “Instructions are on page 157 of your textbook. Feel free to work in pairs, and you’re welcome to talk amongst yourselves if you keep the volume at a decent level. Oh, and before I forget,” Sophie added quickly. “It says in your book to let brew for sixty minutes, but because our cauldrons are a higher quality than the ones it describes, you only have to wait twenty. That’s super important.”
“Go ahead and get started, and if you need anything, don’t be afraid to call me over.” With that, she released her little butterflies into the wild world of Potion-making, hoping only for the best.
OOC: Hello, younglings, and welcome to Potions! Please be sure to observe site rules (200 word minimum, no godmodding, etc.), and do your best to be creative. Here are your instructions, as provided by the Harry Potter wikia:
Part 1
Add 2 scoops of dried nettles to the mortar
Add 3 puffer-fish eyes to the mortar
Crush into a medium-fine powder
Add 2 measures of the crushed mix to your cauldron
Heat on a medium temperature for twenty seconds
Wave your wand
Leave to brew and return in 60 minutes (depends on the type of cauldron used)
Part 2
Add 1 bat spleen to the cauldron
Stir 4 times, anti-clockwise
Heat to low for 30 seconds
Wave your wand to complete the potion[2]
Subthreads: This won’t end badly by Killian Everett - Pecari with Farrah Welsh, Aladren
Definitely prepared for this by Gabe Valenti [Teppenpaw] with Raine Collindale, Teppenpaw
Comfort zones, and where not to find them by Arianna Valenti [Aladren] with Sébastien Évreux, Crotalus
Here's hoping this doesn't go too wrong! by Tess Whittaker, Pecari with Joe Umland, Teppenpaw
12
Professor Sophie O'Malley
This sure is swell! [Years I-II]
34
Professor Sophie O'Malley
1
5
Killian Everett - Pecari
May 18, 2016 11:26 PM
This won’t end badly by Killian Everett - Pecari
When it came to potions, Killian was of two minds about the subject. As they learned about how to prepare ingredients and read more about what went into brewing, he got the sense that it was a lot like chemistry, which was good. Last year, he’d been given a beginners chemistry kit that kept him enthralled for the rest of winter break. Something about measuring out each chemical and adding it in just the right order soothed him, like setting up an elaborate domino display and waiting to knock over that final piece to set the whole thing in motion.Then came the part he had trouble swallowing . . . literally. Potions were made for consumption, and were made out of things like bat spleens and puffer-fish eyes. In a word – ICK. Like sausage, he would have felt better not knowing what went into the making of potions. Killian wished they were made out of less stomach churning ingredients, and he knew it would take a quite a few mental gymnastics for him to ever willingly drink the sludge potions were made out of.
Killian sorted out his ingredients, wanting to make sure he had everything in order before he began brewing. All in all, it was a lot like cooking and as Chef Ramsay always stressed in his shows, it’s all about the mesin plats. Even though he was a little slower to start than everyone else, he wouldn’t have to worry or dig through his stuff while he worked.
While he began grinding the dried nettles and puffer-fish eyes, he turned to the person next to him. “Do you think it matters what kind of bats they use?”
0
Killian Everett - Pecari
This won’t end badly
354
Killian Everett - Pecari
0
5
Farrah Welsh, Aladren
May 22, 2016 6:29 PM
Are you sure about that? by Farrah Welsh, Aladren
Farrah felt overwhelmed with how different these lessons were from her last school. She thought magic would be fun and exciting and just come naturally to her. But it was none of those things. Using her wand was pretty cool but the spells rarely worked out very well for her and then she had to do even more homework so that she practiced the spell until it finally worked how it was supposed to. It was only a few days into the new year and Farrah already felt the weight of the work on her. Maybe it would have been different had she been aware of magic since she was born, but that was something she would never know.In the first couple of Potions Lessons, Farrah had to sit in an assigned seat, but that had left her in the back corner (thanks to her last name) and Farrah had a hard time concentrating being that far away from the front. Since she had noticed other people switching seats (presumably because they had befriended some people here and there), Farrah decided to find a seat closer to the front. Potions was a scary subject but also familiar. Science was a close resemblance to Potions so she felt safe with it. If she followed the directions than the outcome should be perfect. The ingredients were gross. Not at all like the ones she was used to. It was actually a little disgusting, but what could she do about it?
Farrah raised her hand without thinking. It had been such an easy question that she hadn’t thought about what being sought as a ‘know it all’ would do to her, but she also thought that maybe her house would like points?. “It means to grow in size.” She said, grinning quietly to herself when Professor O’Malley told her she was correct. She didn’t want to look smug since it really had been an obvious answer, but she enjoyed getting praise when she did something right.
She pulled her hair back into low pony tail to prevent it from getting in her way. Once that was secured, she began to pull out all of the ingredients she would need as well as her book to review the steps that she would need to follow. With a deep breath, Farrah double checked that she had everything and had the correct page for the potion. Feeling like she had a decent start to it, Farrah added the dried nettles and puffer fish eyes (blargh!) to the mortar and began her best effort to crush them.
Deep in thought, it took her a moment to realize that the person nearest her had asked her a question and then another moment to realize that it was Killian to whom she had sat beside. Her face lit up in a smile as she recognized him. “Bats…” She mumbled, reviewing what it was that he asked her. “Oh, you know, I don’t know.” She said after some thought. “I mean, probably not though since they didn’t specify the breed of bat in the directions.” She added, the Aladren in her showing clearly. “Kind of gross either way though, right? It’s like biology class where instead of dissecting a pig, you are using the ingredients to create a cake or something.” Farrah gave an awkward laugh when she realized what she said had not been all that funny to begin with. “Sorry.”
6
Farrah Welsh, Aladren
Are you sure about that?
344
Farrah Welsh, Aladren
0
5
Gabe Valenti [Teppenpaw]
May 23, 2016 5:03 PM
Definitely prepared for this by Gabe Valenti [Teppenpaw]
One of the perks of having a last name towards the end of the alphabet was that nobody batted an eye when you sat towards the back of the classroom. Thus Gabe Valenti, anticipating another lecture-filled Potions class, chose a seat in the very back of the room. It was the ideal location for doodling while the teacher droned on about cauldron safety or the many uses of eye of newt - baby stuff. Gabe was a second year, and felt no need for such juvenile lessons, no matter how many in class explosions he had been the cause of the year before.He was right in the middle of a particularly terrible doodle of a dragon when the Professor mentioned something about actually making a potion today. Awesome! The chubby boy perked up in his seat, dark eyes wide and attentive. Potions Master might not be in the cards for him, but he always enjoyed working with all the exotic and strange ingredients, cutting and mixing them up together. Wizard stuff was weird.
It was probably a good thing that cauldrons were provided this time. Aside from a shorter cook time, Gabe couldn't remember if he had cleaned his collapsible caudron since last year or not. Mom and Dad usually helped him with stuff like that, but Gabe's magical school supplies always seemed to go haywire whenever they were around. That was, except for his Magical Creatures book, which was weirdly docile around his Dad. Point being that Gabe had no idea what was growing in his cauldron right now, but it was hopefully something nasty and awesome.
Gabe grabbed his supply case from his backpack and set it on the table, excited for whatever strange and gooey things Potions had in store for him, before turning to the kid next to him, "Hey, wanna work together?" Practical classes were more fun than lectures, but working with a teammate was even more fun than working alone.
0
Gabe Valenti [Teppenpaw]
Definitely prepared for this
330
Gabe Valenti [Teppenpaw]
0
5
Arianna Valenti [Aladren]
May 23, 2016 5:09 PM
Comfort zones, and where not to find them by Arianna Valenti [Aladren]
Of all the classes at Sonora, the only one Arianna was truly concerned about was Potions. There were many bakers in the Valenti family, her nonni had a bakery that Zii Joey and Scott were trying to replicate in a storefront in Manhattan, and Zio Steve was an excellent cook. But Anthony and Patrizia Valenti's specialty was takeout. Arianna and her sister had long since memorized the menus of all their usual haunts, for when Mama was busy grading papers or Papa's meetings went late. So far, class had been harmless, but of course, they hadn't actually done anything.Sitting towards the front of the class, she zoned out for most of roll call before they got to the Vs, still getting used to hearing her cousin's name right after her own. They tried to get breakfast together a couple of times a week, although Arianna was trying to branch off on her own. She had yet to make a stable group of friends, most of the people she had met here were pretty weird, aside from Eliza. Regardless, if she didn't find a decent group soon she'd be a social pariah, which was just unacceptable. That was a sure way to end up dateless to the summer ball. On the other hand, a lack of worthy friends had given her a lot of time to learn new braid styles. For instance, today she had practiced a low, braided bun. She'd made a small french braid atop the left side of her head. She'd then woven a regular braid with the rest of her hair, wound it into a low bun, and incorporated the top, smaller braid into the bun. With little else to do besides study, which didn't even take her much time, Arianna had made it a personal goal to learn a new hairstyle a week.
Grabbing a black quill and her notebook, she began to take notes. For once, she was glad to be wearing the ugly green robes, better to get them dirty than her actual clothing. An eyebrow quirked at the introduction of today's lesson. She wondered if she could sell her Potions at home, certain that the Hobart School moms would be intrigued by a potion to enhance their lips, or other features. Arianna could never disclose the ingredients though, because those were totally weird. What kind of creeps had extracted bat spleens and studied their magical properties in the first place, anyway?
She chose not to answer the teacher's question, because it was too easy and lame and just make her look like a teacher's pet. So she did not state that the potion swelled body objects, and that the mist common antidote was a Deflating Draught. She did not call attention to the fact that she routinely read the textbook ahead of class. The only thing that could be more lame than that would be working with her cousin on a project. It was not like he was even good at school, so it would be obvious that she was just relying on him as a social crutch. Now was the time to make her move.
"Want to work together?" she asked a student to her left in an uncharacteristically friendly fashion, reasoning, "It would be more efficient to split up the prepwork between us." In a class likes this, socializing was a low-stakes game. Even if she made friends with a weird kid, that wouldn't be such a bad thing. Then maybe they would actually want to touch the bat spleen, and ither unsavory things. Dragon hide gloves or not, that was really creepy.
0
Arianna Valenti [Aladren]
Comfort zones, and where not to find them
343
Arianna Valenti [Aladren]
0
5
Raine Collindale, Teppenpaw
May 27, 2016 9:58 AM
Prepared is good by Raine Collindale, Teppenpaw
Raine was trying out cautious optimism when it came to potions. It had been a pretty good subject for her last year. Learning anything in the circus required patience and precision, and even though they were applied very differently here, there was apparently some carry over. Maybe it also helped that she liked cooking, and had done a lot of that at home. Charms felt more like circus practice, in that you did the same thing again and again, seeing yourself get a little better each time, whereas potions required extended periods of concentration, keeping your eye on a lot of little details. They were, together, her two best subjects, and it just seemed to depend on the day and the material which one edged ahead. Sometimes, with potions, the long and complex instructions were a bit overwhelming. Anything that involved a lot of reading always had the potential to trip her up. She’d tried just breaking it down, and going for one thing at a time, but had been caught out a couple of times last year too by annoying steps that began ‘Whilst your potion is brewing…’ or something similar, having waited until she’d got through all of the previous step, including brewing time, before moving on. She was sure if someone was calling out all the directions, she’d have done great.In addition to being an ok subject for her, she felt alright about Professor O’Malley too. Whilst new starts could sometimes be a bit scary, she felt it was often a good thing in the case of Sonora professors. She didn’t think she’d made a good first impression on any of them. Things like punctuality, like having to ask permission to go to the bathroom (which still seemed really weird to her… Why should someone else be allowed to have that kind of control over you?) had really tripped her up in her first few weeks as she adjusted to a much more strict regime than she was used to. She’d also gone off track early in her potions career when they’d meant to be making a forgetfulness potion but Kyte had seemed to be coming down with a cold, so she’d started mixing up their usual remedy for that. As far as she had been concerned, it had been the practical thing to do; the forgetfulness potion was an entirely abstract project with actual use at that point (and which sounded like it only had nasty or at least ill-advised ones anyway), whereas Kyte had actually needed what she was making. But that wasn’t how school went, apparently… She’d felt humiliated when she’d been called out on it - a product of her own tendency to be embarrassed, and something that was probably an inevitable outcome regardless of how it had been done. It was good to get a fresh start after that. Plus Professor O’Malley talked to them like they were people. She had a sort of friendly way about her, and when she said things like ’Let’s get this show on the road, yeah?’ Raine found herself nodding in agreement, like they’d actually been talking - and, whilst she was sometimes embarrassed to catch herself doing this, it generally made her feel comfortable, unlike some of the professors who just seemed like walking, talking textbooks. So, all in all, potions was okay.
She arrived, and slipped into a seat in the back row. Even though it was sort of understood that the seating chart wasn’t forever or super formal, she had waited a while before breaking with it, watching a couple of others abandon their assigned places and noting the lack of consequences. She had still been a little afraid the first time she’d done it, but Kyte had abandoned his place, which meant she wasn’t sitting with him any more if she took her own, and was just alone up at the front of the class, which she found intimidating. Today, she found herself next to Gabe, who she knew-ish, or knew of, from being in the same house, but whom she’d never spent a lot of time with. She listened quietly to the lecture, not taking notes because she didn’t find it helpful. Sometimes, if a professor gave a really good way of remembering something, she’d jot it down for later, but in general she found it hard to write at the speed people talked, so she just felt like she missed things, and it wasn’t like she went back over what she’d written very much later. She’d had to spend the last few potions classes writing, which had been fairly unwelcome, and she was excited to hear they’d be moving back into practical work today. When Professor O’Malley asked about the swelling solution, she nearly raised her hand because she knew the answer and that was a rare opportunity for her, but a first year beat her to it. At least they’d be doing a practical today, which gave her a chance to remind her professor that she could be halfway decent at this subject - something which had definitely not shone through during the first few theory lessons of the term.
“Yes, of course,” she smiled, when Gabe asked if she wanted to work together because it would have been very unfriendly to say ‘no.’ She was a little worried about taking him on as a partner though. Gabe made things explode a lot. Raine liked being almost good at a subject, and liked not being embarrassed or in trouble… She just hoped Gabe wasn’t the kind of person who was doing it on purpose. She wasn’t confident enough in her skills to think she could balance him out if he was just truly terrible but at least they stood a chance. If he just liked to mess about though, things would definitely go wrong. However, she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, because she didn’t really know and she thought that even after working with him, it might be hard to tell. When Kyte didn’t work with her, he caused quite a few explosions too. She knew him well enough to know it wasn’t deliberate, but she could also see how someone else might form the incorrect impression, as her brother usually seemed more interested in or amused by his explosions than very sorry about them.
“How about we prepare all our ingredients, and then double check the instructions, so that we know exactly what to do?” she asked, her big green eyes peering a little cautiously at Gabe, partly because she was a bit worried about how this would go in general but also because, even though her request was entirely reasonable, Raine wasn’t really used to calling the shots and always felt a bit self-conscious when doing so.
13
Raine Collindale, Teppenpaw
Prepared is good
327
Raine Collindale, Teppenpaw
0
5
Gabe
May 28, 2016 7:53 PM
Don't worry, we'll crush it by Gabe
Gabe grinned when Raine agreed to partner with him. She was his housemate, and his best friend's roommate, and therefore definitely somebody he felt like he ought to get to know better. He was pretty sure she hung out a lot with her brother, Kyte, who both had a cool name and was roommates with Ben. After joining the Teppenpaw Quidditch team, starting the sports club with Ben was the most exciting thing going on for Gabe this year. Maybe Raine and Kyte would want to join. But first, Gabe needed to make sure he kept his grades up high enough to do all the fun stuff.Raine seemed focused on that, too. He nodded when she suggested prepping the ingredients first, that seemed like a pretty smart move. The boy began removing small jars of the ingredients from his case, setting them on his desk.
"We can share my stuff if you want," he offered, glancing back at the book, "I can crush up the dry nettles and puffer fish eyes, if you wanna pre-heat the cauldron." Was it better to pre-heat, like at home in the kitchen with dad, or did cauldrons heat up instantaneously? He could not remember. Hopefully Raine did.
Grabbing his black dragon hide gloves from his backpack, he scooped up the nettles into the mortar. The physical work was one of the more enjoyable parts of Potion classes for him, he enjoyed chopping and crushing stuff up. It was a welcome break from lectures, or working with his over-zealous wand. That thing did not know the meaning of subtlety, that's for sure.
"So, how was your summer?" he asked as he grabbed a couple of puffer fish eyes from the jar. One, two three, ah four, he had taken too many! It would be a shame to mess the whole brew up over such a silly thing like that. Picking up an eye slightly smaller than the rest, he shook off the nettles back into thr mortar before replacing the eye in his jar. Well, he was definitely happy that he caught that. Now he could grab the pestle, and focus on the crushing.
0
Gabe
Don't worry, we'll crush it
330
Gabe
0
5
Raine
May 29, 2016 3:56 AM
In a good way? by Raine
Raine smiled back at Gabe, glad he’d agreed to work through it slow and steady. She nodded at his suggestion, although made a point of rechecking the directions before she set to work, because temperature tended to be pretty sensitive and specific in potion making.“I don’t think it needs preheating,” she said, after a minute of reading. “It just mentions heating here for the first time…. Usually, I think that means you don’t get the cauldron hot beforehand. And it’s just twenty seconds, so it seems like it might not want a lot,” she was still frowning at the page as she said this. “It’s kind of confusing sometimes, right?” she asked, with a nervous little smile. She didn’t like admitting that she had difficulties following the texts sometimes because she felt embarrassed, but Gabe seemed to find the directions in Potions a bit muddling if his track record was anything to go by, so it felt more like commiserating than confessing. She’d been too focussed on the directions to notice his near miss with the pufferfish eyes, but as he’d sorted it himself, it didn’t really matter.
“Oh, my summer was lovely,” she smiled. “I like being with my family. Your… sister is here now?” she guessed, having noticed the other Valenti on the register. “How was your summer?”
13
Raine
In a good way?
327
Raine
0
5
Sébastien Évreux, Crotalus
May 29, 2016 4:36 PM
Not in need of any comfort by Sébastien Évreux, Crotalus
Potions was definitely the subject Sébastien had been most looking forward to. Sure, some the ingredients were disgusting, and making complex potions required time and concentration, neither being things Sébastien was particularly fond of, but the potential of all the potions you could make was what interested him. Enhancement potions, cures for diseases, even poisons, all had their uses in the real world, and opened the door to endless possibilities. Despite his general disinterest in reading, Sébastien had flicked through a few books on potions, and what he’d read had convinced him that this subject was worth putting in some effort.The first few lessons had been sadly disappointing, boring lectures discussing boring practicalities, but today they were finally going to brew something! Looking through his potions kit, Sébastien found that he had all the necessary ingredients, his mother having personally checked all of the things he needed for school before he left France. He couldn't be bothered to answer the question on the effect of the swelling potion, and started neatly placing his ingredients on the desk, making sure to put on his gloves before touching any of them. He didn’t want dirty hands, and also the ingredients could potentially become contaminated by touch and not work as well. If he was going to make this potion, he was going to do it well.
Sébastien hadn't planned on working with anyone else, not feeling the need to constantly socialise, but when the girl next to him suggested partnering up he decided to change his mind. She was dressed smartly, and made a good point about efficiency, even if the preparation didn’t seem particularly complex. He didn’t recognise her, so couldn't tell if she was anyone important or from a well-known family. However, Sébastien was not about to snub somebody based on what they were now. After all, who knew what they would become?
“Certainly,” he replied, finding a pestle and mortar and starting to add the dried nettles. “I’m Sébastien Évreux, in Crotalus house.” He’d dropped the ‘from France’ from his introduction, having realised that his accent gave away the fact that he was from abroad. The few weeks he’d been at Sonora had already improved his pronunciation, and speaking English was now coming more naturally to him. However, he was interested to know which house this girl was in, and hopefully volunteering the information would prompt her to do the same.
He smiled at her. “Have you much experience with making potions? This is only my first practical attempt, although I have done some previous reading.”
9
Sébastien Évreux, Crotalus
Not in need of any comfort
350
Sébastien Évreux, Crotalus
0
5
Tess Whittaker, Pecari
May 29, 2016 5:10 PM
Here's hoping this doesn't go too wrong! by Tess Whittaker, Pecari
Tess was enjoying being one of the older students in the beginners’ class. She hadn't found the work too taxing last year, but it was nice to have more experience and be able to grasp the subtleties of the material covered in lessons. This potions lesson sounded like it would be a nice simple lesson, which was a bit of a relief to Tess. Potions wasn't her strong suit, so hopefully starting the first practical lesson of the year with a not too difficult potion meant that things wouldn’t go too awfully if she’d forgotten everything over the summer.Luckily Tess and her mother had stopped by the apothecary’s at the end of the summer, after their long holiday in Britain, and stocked up on potions ingredients as well as other school things that Tess needed. Her father rarely accompanied her into the wizarding world; whilst he had known about its existence since he married Tess’s mother he still felt more comfortable in the muggle world, where everything behaved as he was used to. Tess had become used to living between the wizarding and muggle worlds, having been brought up aware of both. Whilst her mother, a muggleborn witch, had decided to live mostly in the muggle world, she still kept up to date on things like the news, and was always happy to save time with spells and wizarding gadgets. Tess had learnt at a young age that not everything in house was to be mentioned to her muggle friends.
Tess rolled up her sleeves before taking out her ingredients, experience having made her realise that this was a good idea. She didn’t particularly want to be walking around with bat spleens on her robe for the rest of the day! She opened her text book to the right page, scanning through the instructions before deciding that this would be more fun if she was working with someone else.
“Fancy pairing up?” she asked, turning to her neighbour with a cheerful smile. Tess liked having lots of friends, and had decided that this year she was going to get to know everyone a lot better. This was not to say she hadn't made friends last year, and there were people she definitely wanted to become closer to.
9
Tess Whittaker, Pecari
Here's hoping this doesn't go too wrong!
338
Tess Whittaker, Pecari
0
5
Gabe
May 31, 2016 12:26 AM
The best! by Gabe
Gabe was very content to be fully focused on crushing up all the ingredients. This sort of work was relaxing for him, although he didn't mind the adventure of mastering new wandwork, either. But using his wand always seemed to spell chaos for him, and sometimes those in his immediate surroundings. It was good to be doing physical work, the kind of work in which he felt most in control."For sure," he nodded, "Sometimes I help my Dad or my grandparents in the kitchen," he always made sure to switch to the English terms for his family members ijnfront of people he didn't really know, "But that is just cooking with normal stuff. It gets weird when you need to think about stuff like wand-waving or weird measurements or flobberworms on top of it. A cup of pasta isn't gonna burn a hole through your cauldron." The fantasical ingredients they worked with in Potions always distracted him, he never failed to become consumed with thoughts of being an adventurer, in search of all the ingredients. He imagined that job to be like a wizard Indiana Jones.
Gabe wrinkled his nose when Raine mentioned his sister. How did she know Emma? Ems was back home in Westchester, New York, probably in class studying whatever eighth graders studied. If Zio Anthony had his way, he and Ari would be studying that the summer after Gabe's third year.
"Oh! You mean Ari!" Gabe exclaimed in realization, tilting his head towards the younger girl with the braided bun, "Yeah, she's my little cousin," most of their cousins were older than Gabe, and so this hierarchy mattered, "My older siblings aren't magical, Ari and me are the only ones in the family."
He checked on the mortar again. While the dried nettles had veen crushed to powder with relative ease, the eyes were tougher than expected. Frowning slightly, he began to apply extra force.
"Summer was awesome!" he exclaimed, "Lots of hiking and sports of course, with the family. And Sunday dinners with all the grandparents and cousins. My brother Matt is on varsity football now, and Emma's summer baseball team came in second for the region," he was quite proud of both of them, of course. He actively chose not to mention Zio Anthony's imposed summer school for Gabe and Ari, because non-magical sixth grade classes were super boring.
"Where's your family from, again? I forget."
0
Gabe
The best!
330
Gabe
0
5
Killian
May 31, 2016 1:23 PM
I’m sure, pretty sure, uh . . . maybe we should run? by Killian
Laughter exploded out of Killian at the thought of making a cake out of the left overs of a dissection science class. Gross, totally, but maybe a great sort of cake to make for an enemy. “That would be so gross, I wonder if they’re going to make us drink any of this stuff to make sure it works.” He gave a dramatic shudder at the thought as he bent over his mortar and worked to grind the ingredients down into powder.“You know, I never did do the pig one. Our classes were all about sea animals. In first grade, we dissected a clam. Then in third it was a squid, and last year we did small sharks. Did you know their skin feels like sand paper? I thought they’d be slick like sting rays. Anyway, the smell was so awful, I can’t imagine eating any of those things ever.” His nose wrinkled in disgust. School put him off sea food for the rest of his life.
“I wonder if we’ll be dissecting any magic creatures?” he asked, and chuckled again. “I bet it’ll be magic squid who shoot out rainbow ink or something.”
Looking down at the powder, he tilted his head and studied it. “Well, I guess that’s on the finer side of medium.” He dumped two measures of the mix into his cauldron and blinked down at the mixture. “Wait a sec, shouldn’t there be some sort of liquid or something in here? I mean, it’s just dust, so we’re going to make hot dust?”
He read over the instructions again and shook his head, muttering under his breath when he didn’t find a step he’d missed. Shouldn’t there be water or rhino bile or squid ink? “Or maybe it’s like cooking pumpkin seeds. Perhaps it’s a powder we end up throwing on whatever we want to be made bigger?” he asked, unable to contain his confusion.
0
Killian
I’m sure, pretty sure, uh . . . maybe we should run?
354
Killian
0
5
Arianna
June 01, 2016 9:40 PM
What about fish eyes? by Arianna
Luck was on her side, Arianna was sitting next to a veritable Potions nerd. A small part of her wondered if she could get away with delegating the manual labor and only focusing on the interesting part, the wandwork. But no, she could not allow it, she was far too competitive for that. If he was trying to prove that he was clever, that was fine. That said, she wasn't about to let him think he was more clever than her. Reaching into her bag, she retrieved her neatly folded black dragon-hide gloves, and slid them over neatly polished fingers. Game on."Arianna Valenti, in Aladren," she mirrored his introduction with a confident smile, though her house name still sounded so strange next to her own. It was not that she didn’t think herself up to the part. She did love to learn, and Mama would tell anyone who asked that Arianna was much too independent. But she would never consider herself a nerd, learning for the sake of learning was not enough. The fact that she had to go through the Library everyday just to get to her bed was a source of annoyance to her. She was a city girl, she couldn't stand the silence. And once inside Aladren, her common room was not a very welcoming place. Arianna hadn't made many friends in her own house yet. True, the Quidditch boys were all very friendly and helpful to her. But they were all much older, she didn't hang out with them outside of practice. Besides, she didn't want to be known as a tomboy, either. Schoolwork and extracurriculars were just vehicles to help her get her where she wanted to go, which was neither a library nor a Quidditch stadium.
"I’ve done some reading as well,” she nodded. Sébastien Évreux was a curious boy. It was not his accent that threw her off; Madeleine Dautin was her roommate, and Louis Valois and Jack Spencer were Chasers with her. She was learning that Sonora was a very international place. Sébastien seemed very composed, like a person of importance, and yet, pleasant. How unusual.
“A bit literal, isn’t it?” she observed, bravely taking the jar of eyes and passing it towards the Crotalus boy, “Pufferfish eyes for a swelling potion.” It wasn't even as if the eyes were the part of the fish that got swollen anyway.
0
Arianna
What about fish eyes?
343
Arianna
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5
Joe Umland, Teppenpaw
June 08, 2016 4:02 PM
I can drink to that. Just not Swelling Solution. by Joe Umland, Teppenpaw
Joe was never just thrilled to arrive in Potions, but he became a little happier about it when Professor O’Malley announced that they were about to start the year’s first practical lesson. Learning just about components had been okay, not to mention the sort of thing that was sure to come in useful someday, but the cauldron unit had been boring him. Potioneers needed to know that stuff, and maybe…whatever kind of person it was who professionally did whatever it was John and Clark did with rocks and metals for fun, but Joe suspected students were given the most practical cauldrons possible, made of a material that wasn’t too reactive and didn’t require any special runes or anything and that most practical potions (also known as the only kinds they’d probably make in school) would work in. He also wasn’t terribly interested in the construction even of his own cauldron, beyond what he needed to know to clean it properly so it didn’t explode on him. Practical work was much better, from his perspective, than that.As Professor O’Malley introduced them to their assignment – which was, when he opened his book, surprisingly simple; when he’d heard there were only three ingredients, he’d expected them to be added to the potion over and over again in specific orders with lots of fiddly little measurements, but the most complicated parts of the potion looked like the good old ‘how to heat something exactly so many seconds’ problem – Joe wondered why it was called that. ‘Swelling’ had bad connotations to him; he’d read enough historical fiction to know that when swelling happened, it was a bad sign and that infection had usually set in and Jethro or whoever was about to lose his leg, die, or do both. Grow, on the other hand, was a nice, neutral word, so either Joe’s vocabulary was lacking, the potioneer who’d come up with the potion had been a sucker for alliteration, or it was a problem caused by the Atlantic and ‘swelling’ meant something different in either British or American English and Canada had, in the process of sorting out the hodgepodge of idioms used by her mother and younger brother, settled on a general definition of ‘swelling’ which either the potioneer or, possibly, whoever had translated the potioneer into some form of English hadn’t intended.
…Or John was right and the professors were deliberately teaching the Beginners spells and potions that could be easily modified to kill people in case bad guys ever invaded the school. Somehow, though, Joe thought ‘sucker for alliteration’ was probably the answer to his question, and that if it wasn’t, it was because the rest of the ‘family’ couldn’t agree on what words meant and refused to just let Canada arbitrate and abide by its very sensible decisions on these matters.
They were released to work with just a last word about cauldrons and Joe smiled when one of the other second years – Tess; he didn’t know her too well, but he had learned his classmates’ names just from roll calls and hearing them around last year – asked if he wanted to pair up. “Sure,” he said. “Whose cauldron do you want to use?”
16
Joe Umland, Teppenpaw
I can drink to that. Just not Swelling Solution.
329
Joe Umland, Teppenpaw
0
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Farrah
June 09, 2016 6:43 PM
Let's test the waters first. by Farrah
Killian’s laugh somewhat startled Farrah because she hadn’t been expecting such a reaction. She had been trying to be funny with her comment, but she had thought it had come off as more gross and creepy than it did anything else. She smiled and relaxed, grateful that Killian hadn’t taken her so seriously and glad that his own humor was light enough to laugh when what she said wasn’t totally funny.Farrah made a disgusted face when Killian asked if they would have to take the potion to prove that they had done it correctly. Farrah didn’t want to have to do that, not only because the idea of sipping fish eyes was repulsive, but also because of the effects. ”I really hope not.” Farrah replied as she dropped her puffer-fish eyes to the mortar to attempt the crushing and trying not to be grossed out by the squishing of it. “I mean, what if we put in something we weren’t supposed to by accident and it causes permanent damage? Or, what if we made it too potent and we just keep swelling and swelling? You know, like Violet in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? I do not want to have all the juice squeezed out of me. No thank you.” She knew that she was probably over-exaggerating the outcome of taking the potion, but her point was made. She really didn’t want to go to her next class looking like she had some horrible allergic reaction to something.
She listened with interest as Killian discussed the creatures that he had the opportunity to dissect, shaking her head vigorously when he asked if she knew how a shark felt. She might have gone to the DR before, but she had not been adventurous enough to meet a shark. “I never dissected a pig either.” Farrah admitted. “That would have happened in High School Biology class. But I did dissect a crawfish and when we were learning about crustaceans in Science, our teacher brought in a whole bunch of shellfish for us to inspect before he cooked them up for us to eat.” Farrah gave a grin. She wasn’t the biggest fan of clams or anything, but scallops had been pretty good to eat and it had been a fun lesson. He had been a really fun teacher too, she would miss having him for science.
Farrah giggled at the idea of a squid that shot out rainbow colored ink. “If that were true, the sea would be a happy place to be.” She did snorkeling when she had been in the Dominican and had seen all sorts of bright colored fish and coral, so, really, a rainbow inking squid would just add to all that beauty. “I really hope we don’t have to dissect any magical creatures though. It’s bad enough that I’m grinding up eyeballs for a potion that people willingly drink.”
She almost laughed when Killian asked about the lack of liquid and whether or not they were just making hot dust, but she refrained when she realized he was semi-serious about his question. “No, silly, you use the potioning water that Professor O’Malley supplied us with the other stuff.” Farrah commented, pointing to the container on the table with the extra ingredients. “You warm that up first and then add everything.” Apparently it was the standard thing for any sort of potion a person was going to make, but Farrah wanted to know who made the potioning water in the first place. “You can use the rest of mine, if you want?” She offered. She hadn’t been too sure how much she was supposed to use, but hopefully what she had was enough.
OOC: I spoke with Professor O’Malley’s author and a couple of others regarding the liquid in the cauldron and it was discovered on the HP wiki that potions base is potion water. The author of Professor O’Malley stated that she would have mentioned this fact in the first few lessons about potions but it’s understandable to forget about it since it’s not listed in the ingredients.
6
Farrah
Let's test the waters first.
344
Farrah
0
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Sébastien
June 14, 2016 12:26 PM
Again, preferably not by Sébastien
The corner of Bastien’s mouth lifted in a slight smile as the girl introduced herself as an Aladren. He congratulated himself on finding a partner who must be vaguely intelligent, ignoring that fact that Arianna had been the one to suggest working together. An unrecognisable surname meant that she must be from a lesser family, but that was not a huge problem. Sébastien was no snob. Or rather, he was, but was more than happy to make use of people no matter their background.He let out a slight chuckle at her comment about the ingredients used. “But could that not be the reason why the pufferfish eyes are used?” he pointed out. He took the jar from her and distastefully removed three eyes, adding them to the mortar. Part of him wanted to leave the more disgusting tasks to his partner, but Sébastien prided himself on behaving like a gentleman. He’d just make sure his gloves were thoroughly washed.
Setting to work crushing the mixture, Sébastien decided to find out more about Arianna. She intrigued him, with the way she was so confident yet also not someone he’d previously been aware of. Besides, as an Aladren she was presumably roommates with Madeleine, and that in itself made him want to know more about her. He’d been meaning to ask Madeleine for more information on the people she had been interacting with, but here was an opportunity to find out first-hand what one of them was like.
“So tell me, Arianna, what you think of Sonora so far,” he said, with a conscious smile directed straight at her. “Is it what you expected it would be like?”
Everybody had pre-formed ideas about what things would be like, Sébastien knew. He’d had them himself and, a few weeks into term, found them to be largely accurate. He had arrived at the school expecting it to be very different from the world he knew, with a loss of his usual privilege and the introduction of other types of people. No doubt Arianna would have had different expectations, and he was interested in finding out precisely what she thought of the situation they now found themselves in.
9
Sébastien
Again, preferably not
350
Sébastien
0
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Tess
June 20, 2016 12:34 PM
Oh go on, it'd be a bit of a laugh! by Tess
Joe Umland was not somebody that Tess knew particularly well, which made him ideal for her plan of making lots of new friends. Despite their general lack of previous interaction she’d gathered that he seemed to be quite friendly, an assumption that was supported by his house (she’d yet to meet an unfriendly Teppenpaw, if such a person even existed) and the way he replied to her question.“I’ve already got my cauldron out, so we could use that?” she replied to his suggestion. As it was the first practical lesson of the year, Tess’s cauldron was still clean, an achievement that Tess didn’t always manage. She tried to be responsible and remember to properly clean her cauldron after using it, but it was so easy to miss the odd bit of bat spleen or section of horned slug. Besides, there were better and more fun things to do than waste time scrubbing a cauldron.
Talking of more fun things to do, they had a potion to make! Tess enjoyed the practical potions lessons, finding it quite satisfying to throw lots of sometimes disgusting ingredients into a cauldron and make some weird and wonderful potion. She didn't dislike academics, but continually writing essays wasn't really her cup of tea. In that respect, Sonora was definitely far more interesting than her muggle primary school.
“When d’you think anyone would actually want to use this?” asked Tess as she measured out the dried nettles. “I can’t see it being particularly useful unless you wanted to annoy someone.” She couldn’t think of any medical problems that would call for a swelling solution, so it must be intended for more malicious use. She could picture it being sold in bottles marked with the words ‘for enemies only’ by dodgy old apothecaries in backstreet shops that weren't exactly legal. She was quite enjoying this idea when she realised that if her scenario was correct it wouldn’t really make sense for them to study the potion in class. It probably had some more boring application, which was rather a disappointing thought.
9
Tess
Oh go on, it'd be a bit of a laugh!
338
Tess
0
5
Joe
June 20, 2016 3:07 PM
I'd really rather not. by Joe
“Sure,” agreed Joe when Tess suggested they use her cauldron. “Do you want to split the ingredients or use mine?”His kit was in good shape as far as supply went, though most of the components were on the low end of the middle of the price range. Mom wouldn’t buy the very cheapest stuff, but nor did she or Joe care about highly specific varietals imported from wherever, as that wasn’t really necessary for school-type potions. His brother did go in for that kind of thing, but only since he’d started working summers and could therefore decide for himself what to buy for school, at least within certain limits. Mom hadn’t been best pleased when she’d realized that she’d set the limits a bit too loosely this summer and that John had as a result felt perfectly comfortable buying schoolbooks that were so battered they were barely usable so he could devote more resources to his experiments….
Joe thought hard when Tess asked what practical use the potion could possibly have that wouldn’t require someone to just carry it around just in case he or she got into a fight and needed to throw it in someone’s eyes, which was a rather strange thing to do. “I’m not sure,” he admitted, but then immediately had a thought. “Maybe…like, researchers might use it to make some bug or frog or something bigger so they can see the details?” he suggested. “I know that people who are, you know, obsessed with birds go on and on about whether or not something has all these tiny little marks I can’t even see, so I guess bug and frog people would, too, and maybe it’s, I don’t know, easier not to explode things with this than with the engorgement charm?”
That made some sense, he guessed, since the book didn’t mention exploding anywhere and they were making it in class. If it could make them explode, he wasn’t sure the Beginners would be the ones making it. “I’m just guessing,” he admitted. “What about you? Any ideas?”
16
Joe
I'd really rather not.
329
Joe
0
5
Killian
June 22, 2016 5:15 PM
*Dunks big toe into the water* by Killian
“Huh, yeah I can see how that might be a problem,” Killian agreed when Farrah pointed out the dangers of testing student potions on themselves. One messed up ingredient and they might end up turning into a bunch of pumpkins, or mice, or exploding. Magic could fix a lot of stuff, Killian thought, but it probably couldn’t fix death. Or maybe it could? It was magic after all. Couldn’t there be a potion or spell to undue death? He shook his head in a vain attempt to dislodge the disturbing thoughts. Even if magic could correct, say a broken neck, it probably couldn’t put all the pieces back together again if the person exploded. People weren’t cups after all, and a repair charm probably wouldn’t do the trick. Then again, who knew? In the world he’d stumbled into, anything was possible.He stifled another laugh. “Yeah, having the juice squeezed out would be horrible. I bet they have whole hospitals dedicated to undoing magical mistakes.” That would be a pretty cool job. He imagined a kid accidentally getting turned into a bat, and them being brought in only to escape. Would the kid have to live their whole lives as a bat if they couldn’t be found again? Or the wrong bat could be brought in and turned into a kid! How cool would that be? A real live bat man.
The thought of eating any of the stuff they’d dissected made Killian’s stomach ache. Then again, theirs had all been packed in some awful stuff meant to preserve the offerings. The crawfish Farrah dealt with were probably fresh. Hopefully.
“Yeah, I’m glad we don’t have to do any of the harvesting for the ingredients. I don’t think I could handle it. Seriously, who spends their time plucking eyeballs out of animals?” he shuddered. The more he learned about potions, the more the whole subject creeped him out. “I hope that’s not some sort of punishment for getting into trouble.” That would be a great way to keep magical kids in line, threaten to make them prepare all the ingredients for the next week of potions.
Heat flared in his cheeks when she reminded him about the potion water. He’d completely forgotten that! In cooking, they always told you everything you needed in the recipe. “Er,” he looked at the powder scattered on the bottom of his dry caldron. “Do you think it matters if I put the dry stuff in first?”
OOC: Thank you for finding out for me!
0
Killian
*Dunks big toe into the water*
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Killian
0
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Arianna
June 25, 2016 10:16 AM
I can't argue with that by Arianna
He smiled when she said her name. What? From Arianna's experience, the only time fancy witches and wizards who used formal introductions were happy to hear her name was because she had pretty much saved the Aladren Quiddutch team. And even then, she was had a strong suspicion that any name would have sufficed, and a Very Important name would have been even better. She'd previously attended a school with a similar dynamic, so she considered herself an expert on such things. Why did he smile?"It's not the eyes, that puff, though," she held her own, "Their skin is just stretchy. It's not even a magical thing - non-magical people know about them, too." Had she given herself away? She tucked a stray curl behind her ear, and examined the set up of the cauldron, a distraction. Well, if he hadn't figured out where she came from before, he surely must know now.
But he kept talking, and smiling. What game was he playing at? Arianna needed to know. And what did he care about her thoughts on school so far? Maybe it was entertaining to him, to think about someone getting shocked about something he had most likely prepared for all his life. Nobody in the extended family had known that Gabriel Valenti was attending a magic school last year. When the Sonora representative came to her family apartment this past February, she had assumed he was just some local performance artist or weirdo. When she received the letter (by owl, no less) from her cousin, telling her how excited he was about the whole experience, it had felt like a joke that Gabe was not clever enough or cruel enough to make.
But that summer, when she and Mama went to the wand shop and Arianna had finally been chosen by her walnut wand, nothing had ever seemed so logical or right. Holding that wand in her hand and the sense of control that it gave her, made everything from the ugly robes to the weird school supplies just make sense. And she would not allow Sébastien to take that moment from her. She would not allow the memory to become just some passing entertainment for a boy who had anticipated it his whole life. It was too precious for that.
"Well, it's nice to get away from the New York winters," she said, focusing on a more light-hearted truth, "And I've really appreciated having family here," she nodded over to her cousin, "In a lot of ways, it's not really so different from my old school, though. Of course, I didn't play on a Quidditch team, there." And so many other differences. But in many ways, eleven year-old kids in a magical private school were not so different from those at a non-magical school. And sports, at the latter, were considered to be an important bullet point in a future college resume for both boys and girls. When finally deciding to join the Aladren team as a walk-on, she assumed the same could be said for magical schools, as well.
Sébastien was an interesting boy, but Arianna didn't know enough to let her guard down. And if Sonora was anything like her old school, she didn't expect to ever fully be at ease with any student, save maybe her cousin. She did however, expect to continue an impressive academic record.
"D'you think the mix is ready to cook?"
0
Arianna
I can't argue with that
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Arianna
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Tess
June 28, 2016 10:56 AM
Spoilsport! by Tess
“Well I’ve already measured out some of my dried nettles,” pointed out Tess, gesturing at the pestle. “So shall we split? You can have the fun of touching the puffer-fish eyes. Unless you’d rather not?” Tess wasn’t really concerned about touching the puffer-fish eyes, never having been the type of girl to be squeamish about touching worms and slugs, but aware that some people were. She wondered how squeamish Joe was.Joe’s idea about the potion’s use was interesting. “Yeah, I can actually see that being useful,” admitted Tess. She didn’t think it sounded particularly interesting, never wanting to sit still long enough to have such a hobby, but for those that were into such things the potion would probably help them out a great deal, stopping them straining their eyes. “My ideas didn’t really go further than using it against enemies to make them swell up, which probably isn’t correct as I doubt we’d be taught how to make potions with those kind of uses.” Unfortunately, she thought to herself, not having anyone she’d really want to use them on but thinking it would be fun to make some slightly more dangerous potions.
“So I take it you’re not really interested in studying all those tiny animals?” she continued, assuming from his seemingly dismissive words that he wasn’t an ornithologist or whatever a frog-studier was called (frogologist? She reckoned that ought to be a word). Tess had little interest in detailed study of animals either. She considered herself to be a person who liked animals, but more in terms of playing with them and riding them (where applicable, of course). For example, she enjoyed going for rides on horseback but didn’t like to spend ages grooming them. And studying animals just seemed even more time consuming and boring, unless they did interesting things like breathing fire. Sadly none of the animals they had studied in Care of Magical Creatures so far had done anything like that.
9
Tess
Spoilsport!
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Tess
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Joe
June 28, 2016 6:58 PM
Just how I'm wired, I suppose. by Joe
“I think I can handle it,” said Joe when Tess asked about the puffer-fish eyes. "Maybe...you know, shouldn't faint, anyway," he joked as he measured them.This partnership was going rather well so far, he thought. Hopefully it would keep going that way. Joe couldn’t help but laugh when Tess said that her first thought about what to do with the Swelling Solution had also been to use it as a weapon. “I don’t know,” he said. “My first thought was throwing it in someone’s eyes, and my brother swears they teach us – the Beginners, I mean – they teach us what they do so we can be useful if anything bad ever happens to the school.” Which sounded kinda paranoid, but after all the teachers had disappeared for half of the year before John started Sonora and a telepathic monkey-thing had stirred up havoc all over campus the year before Joe was old enough to come, he had to admit that the fact John was crazy didn’t necessarily mean he was wrong. Even a stopped clock was right twice a day, provided it was a twelve-hour clock and not a twenty-four-hour one. “Maybe that is what it’s really for.”
Joe shrugged when Tess asked him about his interest in tiny animals. “Not very,” he said. “I can kind of see why people like it, but it’s not really my thing. How about you?” Unlike his brother, who hated mandatory group work because it meant he might have to work with someone he didn’t want to work with, Joe liked the socialness of Potions and moved seats occasionally just to meet new people. He couldn’t say he wouldn’t like to make such tight friends with someone that it could be construed as an insult to sit somewhere different, that would be nice, but for now, this was all right.
16
Joe
Just how I'm wired, I suppose.
329
Joe
0
5