Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
December 20, 2019 11:18 AM
First Things First [Beginners, I-II] by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Beginners potions. Mary loved teaching beginners potions. To be fair, she loved teaching every level, and for very different reasons, but there was something about Fall term beginners classes that were particularly special. She loved being there to witness schema shifts in her students, particularly in those who had not experienced much magic prior to Sonora. Also, first and second year students were super easy to impress.With her new, cropped hair left down - it was too short to put up now! - Mary was feeling confident about the new day. She had also selected today's lesson very carefully. She'd selected everything about today very carefully.
Today was the first day of classes.
She chose something lighter than her usual velvet outfits, as it was still quite warm outside, and she was afraid her more buttoned look might frighten new students. Today, she wore a simple blue linen dress, with her buttoned sleeves loosely rolled up to her elbows, and a green hat to match the green embroidered flowers and things around the hem of her dress, where it brushed the floor and tops of her feet. It was comfortable, but it was also light. Today, she was determined to be light.
As the first and second year students made their way into class, Mary thought of everything else she'd been so careful about. Bookshelves lined one wall, with labels indicating what the subject was, but also what language the book was in. Most books were in English, but there were others - particularly copies of the textbooks - which were in Spanish, Russian, Chinese, French, German, and various other languages. She always said a silent word of gratitude for Dorian having sorted them all a few years previously.
The rest of her classroom was intended to be welcoming as well, with ingredients in neat cupboards and shelves, mostly locked away in the ingredient closet where they could not be accessed without her being there to allow it, and sturdy desks set around the room with tall stools so students could sit or stand as they preferred. A large window let in natural light, but overhead lanterns could be lit if students needed more light to see by as well. Also, magic.
"Welcome to Sonora," Mary smiled, once her students had selected places around the room. "And welcome to potions class. I am Professor Brooding-Hawthorne, although Professor Brooding is perfectly fine, and we will be working together over the next several years to explore the theory and practice of potion-making, ingredient collection and maintenance, and various other topics. I am very excited to work with all of you."
As she did with every beginning class, Mary began with a brief overview of what potions were, what was defined as a potion, how it was different from a solution or mixture, etc. These were all things to be found in their textbooks as well, but sometimes it helped to go over them together. Then, finally, the part she knew many students were waiting for.
"Today we are going to be working on the Antidote to Common Poisons," she said, waving her wand to encourage a bit of chalk to take notes for her on the board. She also sent around a stack of scrolls, each marked with the language that they were in so students could choose, and each with the recipe they would be using on it. "However, this potion takes much longer than we have in class today, so we will be working in pieces. First year students, I would like you to complete the first half of this recipe. Second year students, since you have made this before, I would like you to complete the second half. I have potions for you to work with that have finished their time in different types of cauldrons. I want you to take particular care on your wand work. For homework, first year students will write about bezoars, the first ingredient you'll be using, and their various applications. Second year students will write about the use for different types of cauldrons and why it's important, what they do, etc. We'll talk more about these topics this week as well, and that'll be due the beginning of next week."
Mary had selected this potion because it was helpful - many beginning students worried about how dangerous potions were and she liked to remind them that it could also be lifesaving - and because it didn't have anything sticky or slimy in the ingredients, particularly the first half. Bezoars were a little gross feeling, but she hoped powdering it wouldn't cause problems for anyone. Plus, the point was for first year students to get used to the classroom, where to find ingredients they didn't already have, how to measure and prepare ingredients, etc., not to really dig into potion-making just yet. That would come.
"As always, students with concerns about using animal byproducts, students with allergies, or students with other concerns about the ingredients or work can let me know and we will work together to figure out appropriate accommodations for you. Feel free to work in pairs, but not more than two please. You don't have to be in the same year group, though. If you have any questions, let me know! Second years, let me know where you're sitting and I'll get your cauldrons to you. Go ahead and begin."
OOC (Out of Character) - Welcome to Sonora and welcome to potions! Today's potion is from this site: https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Antidote_to_Common_Poisons. Feel free to assume that the halfblood prince version and the original textbook version are both offered as alternatives to this potion, and talk about whichever ingredients you prefer.
Classes at Sonora are graded based on the writing, not the student's performance. Posts with more realism, creativity, and engagement will earn more points than posts that are less realistic, less creative, or do not provide opportunities for classmates to engage. If a student has a question from Professor Brooding or does something that she may interrupt because it would be dangerous, feel free to tag her, just like I tagged beginner students in the title of the post. If you have any questions as an author, feel free to ask in an OOC message like this, or in the student chatzy, or on the OOC board.
Have lots of fun!
Subthreads: ...This is a change from the chemistry I'm used to. by Mara Morales with Alexander Pierce-Beales
It's all so poetical. by Morgan Garrett with Ellie Alperton
Always a step ahead... kind of by Joanna Rose-Turner with Leonor De Matteo
For all kinds of poisons? by Jezebel Reed-Fischer with Josephine Clyde
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
First Things First [Beginners, I-II]
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Joanna Rose-Turner
December 27, 2019 8:26 AM
Always a step ahead... kind of by Joanna Rose-Turner
Jo liked learning, but she had never been that good at school. It was just so easy to get distracted, start daydreaming, and poof, the whole class would be over. Not to mention she had also learned how to keep her eyes open while she slept, making her a master at sleeping through class. This was not a skill she shared with others often, but she felt a certain amount of pride for it.Despite this, Jo quite looked forward to Potions class. Potions seemed pretty nifty. There definitely was plenty of performances that could be played using what potions Jo could imagine. If they were anything like the ones found in the fantastical fairytales she loved reading about, there was plenty of fun to be had.
One potion she knew of for sure was from one of her dad’s stories. Her dad had been a pretty good kid, but he had one or two friends that loved to pull trick just like she did. His friend Paul was especially troublesome. One time her dad had studied all night for an Herbology exam, only getting to bed at 6am. He was woken up by his own Herbology professor, telling him he’d slept through the exam. After some begging and pleading, Paul revealed it was actually him, and he’d been able to do the trick after taking some sort of identity stealing potion that just made him look like the professor.
Today, Jo decided she’d follow the lesson best she could. After all, she’d only be able to get to the fun stuff once she knew some of the basics. Poison curing potion sounded pretty lame though. Useful to some people, she was sure, but still lame. When would she be able to make an exploding potion?
Already a little impatient, Jo took a look at the list and just started gathering everything, looking over the part 1 and part 2 aspect of the assignment. Some things were actually more familiar than she expected. Unicorn horn at least she’d definitely heard of from plenty of mythical beast books, but she couldn’t quite place where she’d heard of the rest. Maybe some names she’d just heard in passing from her family members without knowing what they meant.
After finding everything, she looked around to see who of the class was still left unpaired.
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Joanna Rose-Turner
Always a step ahead... kind of
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Leonor De Matteo
December 28, 2019 10:46 PM
Well of course. by Leonor De Matteo
Leonor felt certain that everything was going to be just fine. Sure, her brother was a stuck-up weirdo who was nicer than she gave him credit for and not as nice as everyone else seemed to give him credit for, and her possible new best friend was the illegitimate younger sister of her stuck-up brother's ex-best friend, who he and his now best friend hated because of said sister, but that was fine. That was the stuff that made life interesting, and if Leonor wanted anything out of life, it was for it to be interesting, exciting, and full of intrigue.Which made today's Potions lesson sort of exciting in a way. The need for a cure for poisons suggested that there would be the possibility of poisons. Leonor wasn't particularly keen on being poisoned herself, or indeed even poisoning anyone else, but it did mean there was some possible drama bound to happen at some point. Felipe had said that there was one girl in another House who would happily talk about how exciting it was to poison people.
At the same time, today's lesson for her, as a first year, was to look into the possibility of starting a possible cure to some poisons. That made it significantly less exciting than alternatives, although she didn't exactly mind, either. She was still getting to know her classmates, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. One of her fellow first years, a girl that Leonor had not caught the name of but she recognized, was looking around, apparently interested in working with someone. Or else trying to make sure no one was coming near her. Leonor noticed the Teppenpaw badge on the girl's robes and decided the former was more likely.
Gathering her equipment, including both the Spanish, English, French, and Italian versions of the potion recipe - one could never be too sure when it would be helpful to have materials in another language, or when it would become helpful to cross-reference a translation for accuracy - Leonor joined the girl at her table. She looked the girl up and down and decided she was already either impatient or eager. Either of those could be interesting, and it meant that she had begun collecting ingredients already which was great for Leonor.
"Hola," Leonor said, greeting her classmate in Spanish. Language be darned; she'd use her preferred language until she died. "Do you want to work with me?" Leonor's English was flawless and she knew it. She had developed a basic, standard American accent, and she was indistinguishable from her peers on that front. It made her proud, even if she hated the language.
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Leonor De Matteo
Well of course.
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Joanna Rose-Turner
January 03, 2020 9:47 PM
Language is pretty interesting by Joanna Rose-Turner
Jo looked around and saw a girl with a bunch of extra potion recipes, giving her a pang of anxiety. Did she miss those when gathering the other supplies?Thankfully it seemed like she was walking over towards her. Thank goodness, she thought.
For a minute, Jo was really worried she might have to wait and ask the teacher to help her find a partner. There’d been many school projects and group assignments in her past where she was the last to be paired up. It was a symptom both of her own shyness and her lack of good friends in her classes. These were the types of things about herself she never thought would change, but once in a while she could get lucky.
“Yeah sure!” Jo replied enthusiastically.
“I’m Jo, what’s your name?”
Jo looked over the recipes the girl had brought over and noticed each was in a different language. Jo had always thought being able to speak another language would be so cool, but in school she’d only learned a few words in French.
She looked at the girl in a bit of awe.
“Can you speak all these different languages?”
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Joanna Rose-Turner
Language is pretty interesting
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Leonor De Matteo
January 04, 2020 12:23 AM
*I* am pretty interesting. by Leonor De Matteo
"Leonor De Matteo," Leonor replied, nodding politely. She knew that Jo wouldn't know who she was because why would anyone know who she was unless they were one of her family's subjects? But it still felt appropriate to introduce herself with all the formality and pride of her status. "Pleasure to meet you, Jo."Then the topic turned to the scrolls in Leonor's hands. Perfect. Leonor wasn't necessarily one to expect people to fawn over her, but she certainly wouldn't turn it down, and it was always nice to have people who would do just that. Besides, Jo was a really great, modern name. This was exactly the sort of person that Leonor had been trying to find and now she'd done it. Brava, Leonor.
"Yes, fluently," she said, her tone more matter-of-fact than arrogant. "But I prefer to speak Spanish. English is my least favorite, but what can you do?" Leonor shrugged. She was nothing if not honest, whether or not anyone else agreed with her version of the truth. "It's nice to have the different versions of the recipe because you can see the differences in translation," she added, pointing at an example in the French and Italian recipes. Jo was a Teppenpaw, not an Aladren, so Leonor was fully prepared to accept that it had been a polite question and not one born of real interest, but Leonor thought it was interesting so she decided to share anyway. "Do you know any languages other than English?"
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Leonor De Matteo
*I* am pretty interesting.
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