Professor Mary Brooding
October 18, 2018 11:55 PM
How Confusing [Intermediates] by Professor Mary Brooding
Mary was halfway engaged. That was a whole lot more than she'd expected to be as the new term began, and she certainly hadn't anticipated such life changes as far back as six months or a year. There was something to be said for the incredible combination of acting without thinking, letting things play out naturally, and planning everything very carefully that had brought her and Tabitha to this point, and this was particularly evident to her as she entered the Potions classroom for her intermediate lesson.It had been a few days back already but the feeling of newness was still heavy in the air and Mary was excited to do something a bit more hands on with her students. Besides, she was hardly calm enough these days to simply sit by while they worked. She wanted something interesting to happen.
Perhaps it was a side effect of dating the Defense professor, but Mary felt responsible to her students in terms of preparing them for possible dangers in life after graduation. While she hardly expected anyone to find themselves poisoned or otherwise tampered with, it was possible. In any case, preparing for such possibilities also helped prepare students for charms and spells that worked in similar ways, and for the daily challenges of life. Critical thinking was never in excess.
Hence today's lesson.
Each desk, prepared for two students to work together, was complete with a vial each of Confusing Concoction and Confounding Concoction, as well as vials of the antidote for immediate relief. As students gathered into the room and took their places, Mary greeted them with her usual smile, although it must've been particularly bright against her freshly tanned skin. Winter or not, Christmas abroad certainly made for a blossoming oak color in her cheeks. Ailuros was the other giveaway that her Christmas had been an exciting one, as she sat perched on Mary's desk at the front of the classroom, pretending not to notice the students. Except Dorian. Ailuros had fallen in love with Dorian the first moment she'd laid eyes upon him and that hadn't changed in the few days since then.
"Hello my lovely intermediate students," Mary said, making a point of acknowledging each face with her gaze. "It's such a pleasure to see each of you again and I'm particularly excited about today's lesson. I wanted to make sure everyone has a chance to use their strengths today, so you'll all have opportunities to be observant, daring, helpful, scholarly, and more." While these traits were simply the first to come to mind, she couldn't help being a little pleased that they aligned with each House as well.
Mary gestured to their work stations and spoke as a piece of chalk wrote her directions on the board. "You will work in pairs and take turns with each potion. One is a Confounding Concoction and one is the milder Confusing Concoction. They are both labeled and the recipes can be found in your books. You'll go one at a time and whoever is not under the influence of a potion will make notes and take observations based on the symptoms they see. You'll do this four times because you'll each try both potions. The antidote should be enough to remove the effects when you're finished with each turn.
"When you're done, I want you to discuss your notes and compile them into a list of points and considerations answering the following questions: how does each potion behave differently? how do different people react to each potion differently? You should also consider how each of your confusion appears in response to the observer asking things like 'what is your name, what house are you in' compared to 'what is your favorite food, what do you think about Quidditch' etc."
She was terribly afraid this would confuse the students, ironically enough, but thought it was probably clear enough and they could always refer to her notes if anything arose. She shot a look at Ailuros who seemed ready to pounce on the chalk as it alighted back in its tray, apparently unconvinced that it wasn't something more delicious than calcium carbonate.
"If you have any questions, you can let me know now or as you work, I'm happy to help."
OOC - Yay! Have fun. :) The only things of real importance logistically speaking are that the confOUNDing potion is stronger than the confUSing potion, and that psychology (in real life) suggests that we are more likely to forget factual information than autobiographical information like likes/dislikes, etc. People with dementia often show preferences for certain kinds of foods but don't remember eating them before, etc. That may or may not play into this, so I leave it to you!
Subthreads: Tell me about it by Isaac Song - Pecari with Amelia Layne, Aladren
What am I getting myself into here? (Tag Parker) by Dorian Montoir, Teppenpaw with Parker Fitzgerald, Pecari
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth by Jasmine Delachene, Crotalus with Kir McLeod, Teppenpaw
Also alarming. by Simon Mordue, Crotalus
Confusion is nothing new to me. by Tatiana Vorontsova, Pecari with Peyton O'Malley, Crotalus
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Professor Mary Brooding
How Confusing [Intermediates]
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Professor Mary Brooding
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Isaac Song - Pecari
October 21, 2018 2:27 AM
Tell me about it by Isaac Song - Pecari
Potions was definitely Isaac's favorite class because he loved mixing together the ingredients and seeing what he got to create in the end. It was a lot like, well, magic, except this skill could be translated into cooking as well, one of his favorite hobbies. Isaac didn't get too much time to practice cooking while he was at school, so he fueled that passion into potion-making. That meant he received pretty awesome grades, which made his parents happy.He sat down in his seat, saying hi to everyone he knew, and took out his notebook and pen. Maia had brought him back a cutesy yellow Korean pen, and while it was embarrassing to use, it reminded him of her. Plus, it wrote really well, and he liked the thin lines. He didn't get to see Maia very often, pretty much only twice a year. Using the gifts she gave him always reminded him to write to her, and that he needed to work on being a better older brother.
The lesson today sounded interesting, and he leaned forward a little as Professor Brooding gave her intro. The thought of tasting potions was a little scary, especially those two. He didn't want to forget things, or be confused. But, at the same time it was really intriguing. She was right; this was going to be an exciting lesson. At least they wouldn't be trying each other's brewed potions and antidotes--that would've been really nerve-racking.
Isaac was curious to know how he was going to react to the potions, and since he and a partner would both be drinking them eventually, he wanted to go first. That would give him some time to experience it and then think of questions to ask his partner afterwards. He turned to someone near him and asked, "Wanna be partners? I can drink the potions first, if that's OK with you. I'm really curious to know what'll happen when we drink it. I've only read about it, never seen it in action."
He flipped through his book to find the chapter on Confusing Draughts. "Well, the Confusing Concoction is supposed to be milder, so I guess we could start with this one first?" he said, holding up the vial. "The book says it's supposed to cause confusion in the drinker. Or we can go with the stronger one and see if it does make either of us act recklessly."
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Isaac Song - Pecari
Tell me about it
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Isaac Song - Pecari
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Amelia Layne, Aladren
October 24, 2018 9:49 PM
I usually feel reasonably confident. by Amelia Layne, Aladren
In theory, there were four Houses at Sonora. For the Layne family, however, there were two. Lionel, like their mother, had been an aberration – Mama by being a Squib, Lionel by being a Pecari – but as a rule, if one was a Layne, one was either an Aladren or a Crotalus.Amelia had been Sorted into the first camp, but suspected it had been a fairly close thing. As she heard Professor Brooding’s description of the lesson, she thought she was feeling more in common with the Crotalus side of the family than usual in response. She definitely felt more wary than intellectually curious at the moment. Confusing potions. It was hard to think much beyond this is gonna suck.
Maybe it would be more funny than awful. Or at least whoever she worked with might say something dumber than whatever she said before consuming an antidote.
A Pecari boy proposed becoming said partner almost as soon as Professor Brooding stopped talking and, even more in his favor, offered to go first. Amelia smiled and nodded, relieved she wouldn’t have to make that call one way or the other.
“Sure,” she said. He did have a question, but she found it easy to answer. “I’d go with starting with the milder one,” she recommended, getting out parchment and pan to take notes on his condition after he drank one or the other. “But you’re the one drinking it, so, your call really. How are you with ‘what is your name’ for a first question?”
OOC: Feel free to have Isaac drink the potion and then godmod Amelia asking the question again to keep things moving.
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Amelia Layne, Aladren
I usually feel reasonably confident.
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Amelia Layne, Aladren
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Isaac
October 30, 2018 12:59 AM
Uh... wait what are we doing? by Isaac
"Sounds good to me," Isaac replied with a smile. He uncorked the Confusing Concoction, making sure he had the right one, before he raised it towards her. "Bottoms up." He took a brave swig, drinking the whole thing in one gulp. It wasn't much, but the speed in which he downed it seemed to correlate with how quickly it hit him.Isaac felt lightheaded first, and shuddered involuntarily. Then he couldn't seem to comprehend where he was and what he was supposed to be doing. There was a book on the desk, and his whole body felt weird, like it was too heavy for him. He looked at the girl, and he registered that her mouth was moving.
"What is your name?" she asked.
It was a simple enough question, and one he knew the answer to. "Isaac Song. My Korean name's Yi Jung, but nobody calls me that except my grandparents and my dad. Sometimes." Isaac blinked and looked at the book on the desk. They were supposed to be doing something, he was sure of it; he just couldn't figure out what. After thinking hard, he could tell he was in Potions class, but that was about it. He didn't want to ask and feel dumb though, so maybe the other girl would just keep asking him questions.
He looked at the empty vial in his hand, uncorked and clearly just drunk. His eyes widened. "Oh shoot, did I drink that? We're not supposed to do that!" He put the vial down on the desk.
"Pleaaase don't tell the professor, I can't get into trouble," he said, putting his hand on his chest. He felt something on his robes and looked down. There was a badge attached to him, a Prefect badge. He looked at the other girl's robes, which lacked them, and he looked back down at his. "What's this for? It's shiny." He took it off to examine it clearer. "Wow, I like it. Where did I get it?"
OOC: Feel free to ask Isaac any questions before giving him the antidote!
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Isaac
Uh... wait what are we doing?
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Isaac
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Amelia
November 01, 2018 8:40 PM
Hopping around like a frog on a hot rock. by Amelia
Isaac Song. That sounded certain enough. Amelia noted it down, then paused when Isaac continued, telling her his Korean name and the occasions under which it was used. He sounded sure about that, too, but she didn’t speak Korean and so had a suspicion that any attempt she made to write the name phonetically would come together offensively. Omitting it altogether, however, might have the same effect. Hopefully she’d have time to tidy up these rough draft notes.For the moment, however, she had other problems to address. Isaac was asking questions about random things that caught his attention - the bottle of potion, his own badge. She put her hand on his wrist as he examined the badge to catch his attention again.
“It’s your prefect’s badge,” she said. “Remember?” she didn’t know if she was asking if he remembered his own badge or if she was asking if he even remembered what a prefect was. “It means you’re a leader in your House. Do you remember which House you’re in?” This was biographical information, as Amelia understood it, like a name, but if he didn’t recognize his badge, he might not recognize the whole concept of the House either. It was not, after all, something that really existed outside of the school walls, and while to Amelia the parts of her life which passed outside the compound seemed brief and insignificant, she had gathered they made more of an impression on most people’s sense of identity.
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Amelia
Hopping around like a frog on a hot rock.
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Amelia
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Isaac
November 02, 2018 8:49 PM
Ribbit ribbit by Isaac
The badge was shiny and super nice. It didn't look brand new, maybe a little worn, but still well-kept. Isaac looked down at his robes, having already forgotten where he'd unpinned it from. He put the badge down on the table and brushed out his uniform, wondering why it looked wrinkled.The other girl seemed pretty interested in what he had to say. She kept taking notes, and then grabbed his wrist to get his attention. Isaac looked at her when she did so, and then nodded slowly when she told him what this badge was.
So Isaac was a leader in his house. His... house in Los Angeles? No, he wasn't in Los Angeles. This was a little confusing, since this clearly wasn't his own house. No; houses had something to do with school. And school was... somewhere else. "My house?" he asked, blinking. "Yeah, I'm in Pecari," he replied after a moment. "I don't remember what that means though. What do the houses represent? All I know is that I'm a proud and true Pecari. So does this badge mean I'm a leader of the Pecari house?"
Isaac looked at the other students in the class. "Are my sisters here too? Lauren isn't super into potions, but she always helps me out when I need it. And Maia makes me laugh sometimes." He sat down in his chair, suddenly feeling despondent. "I miss my sisters."
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Isaac
Ribbit ribbit
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Isaac
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Amelia
November 05, 2018 8:22 PM
Indeed. by Amelia
Despite her reservations about undergoing the experience herself, Amelia had to admit that this experiment was fascinating to watch. It took Isaac a moment to remember what his House was…to an extent. How did he remember he was proud of something without remembering what that something was? Wasn’t that...kind of…backward to how pride even worked?“Yeah,” said Amelia. “It means you’re one of the student leaders in Pecari. I – “
She paused to try to think of how to describe Pecari – she didn’t really know what Pecari represented; all she had the impression Lionel represented was a lack of ambition, which was not the nicest thing to say – but before she could come up with anything, he was off on another tangent, remembering that he had sisters. The name Lauren rang a vague bell; the name Maia did not.
“I think Lauren used to be, but she’s too old to be here now, I think,” said Amelia. “I don’t know Maia, I’m sorry. Do you know how old Maia is?” she asked, wondering if that kind of detail might stick, or even if he knew if this sister was older or younger than he was. She didn’t know if Isaac was Muggleborn or half-blood, plus even the purest of the purebloods sometimes produced Squibs. Amelia’s family was not That Kind of Family, but Squibs could happen anywhere – her mother was one.
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Amelia
Indeed.
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Amelia
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Isaac
November 07, 2018 1:50 AM
Ugh, my head by Isaac
Being a student leader was pretty cool. He was sure it came with more responsibilities, and that meant people looked up to you.After Isaac mentioned his sisters, the other girl seemed to know Lauren. Right, she was too old to be here now. She was working a job back home, helping their mom out somehow. Isaac didn't remember the specifics of it, like what she even did, but it seemed a little more flexible. Isaac slouched into his chair quite uncharacteristically.
"Maia's my younger sister. She's, uh..." Since Isaac had trouble remembering Maia's age even without the Confusing Concoction, he really had a hard time under the potion's influence. "I, uh, don't know... but she's old enough to go to school. Like, just a few years younger than me. But she goes to school in Korea, where my dad lives. She moved there a few years ago. I wish we weren't so far apart, but there's no way I'd live in Korea. My dad had to move there to run his huge family business, but my parents are still together. They just have to work in different countries, which sucks."
Isaac's grandfather was a Muggle, and he was part of a huge electronics corporation in Seoul. The business had been in the family for generations, and when Isaac's dad had popped up as a wizard, it had thrown that side of the family into chaos for a little while. But magical or not, the family business had to continue. His mom, on the other hand, had grown up magical and worked as a apothecary for the magical world and as a pharmacist for the Muggles. She was really into medicines.
Isaac did not, of course, think of all this. Instead, he remembered the stories of how his parents' forced separation had caused a lot of turmoil for them, but had also made their marriage stronger. Right in this moment, he only remembered the peaceful conversations and ecstatic reunions between his family members. "It's hard living an ocean away, but it makes seeing each other again sweeter," he said.
He yawned suddenly, feeling a little light-headed. "Man, I'm getting kind of tired." It was a good thing he was already sitting, or he might've fallen over. He flicked the vial off the table just because he felt like it, and it rolled off the desk and broke on the floor. He laid his head on the table and groaned audibly. "I feel like I don't know where I am," Isaac said, feeling disoriented again. "Why do I feel like this?"
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Isaac
Ugh, my head
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Isaac
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