Concentrate on Potions

Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

September 13, 2021 1:32 AM

Pass with Flying Colors [Intermediates] by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

There probably were, somewhere in the craggy recesses of Mary's brain, thoughts about her summer, her morning, her marriage, her child, or any number of other things. That part of her brain was not yet awake, however much Mary was trying to saturate it with caffeine in the form can an overly large mug of coffee. Since she often was found sporting a cup of hot chocolate, most students would only be able to tell the difference this morning by the smell if they drew close enough. Or perhaps by the desperate way Mary clung to it, her face close enough that she was either ready for another sip, breathing in the aroma herself, or hoping that the tiny sauna might steam away the bags from under her eyes. Insisting to herself that it wasn't important why, Mary greeted her first intermediate class of the year with a weaker smile than usual.

"Hello, all. I hope you had a brilliant summer. As I've heard bubbling through the halls recently, you all have a Ball coming up at the end of this year. Unfortunately, about one third of you also have CATS and all of you also have many other lessons to get through before you may attend said ball. That being said, I know that it is at the forefront of many of your minds. For those of you who are trying to avoid thinking about it for fear of being underprepared, I hope today's lesson will help. For those of you who are excited, I hope the same. For those of you who truly don't want to think about it at all, well rest assured that this material will also be foundational to future lessons." She smiled wanly at her gathered class then, feeling a bit more herself as she had the chance to play with the kids she worked with. They were, after all, the best and worst part of a teacher's job.

She waved her wand at the chalkboard where a vivid color diagram appeared, showing the ways that blue, yellow, and red mixed to create other colors. "This is what occurs if you mix solid colors. Who can tell me what colors this would have if we were talking about mixing light, such as you might with charms?" She awarded a few house points students who gave her the correct answer: red, blue, and green instead of yellow. "This is called subtractive mixing and that's not very important for you to know but if you're ever mixing colors with light, additive mixing, you need to use a different color wheel. For our purposes, this will be what we use."

With another wave of her wand, she passed around papers with instructions to students. Three sets of instructions, one for each year group, were listed on the paper step-by-step, but all started with the instructions to prepare a cauldron and the basic ingredients and steps for a color-changing potion.

"All of you should be vaguely familiar with this from our unit on dyes in beginners, as well as from the theory work you've done discussing the potion we use for sorting students into their Houses. However, today's potion will be a slightly different concoction. Each of you will have a bit of white fabric to begin with--" Folded bits made their way to each student with one final wand wave before Mary took up her coffee cup once more. "--and need to dye the material following the instructions for your age group. This potion can be used on clothes for the ball, or for any other purpose, although you'll note that changing your robe colors will be against school rules. It is a handy way to change colors without transfiguration or charms and your homework will be twofold: write a paper on why you might use a potion, a charm, or transfiguration to accomplish this change on an item of clothing; and research the effects of different types of materials for this potion. Today, we'll be using cotton.

"Third year students, you will be selecting a color from the color wheel that is accomplished by mixing two others - purple, green, or orange - and attempting to dye your fabric by creating the two requisite color dyes. For example, you will create a red dye and a blue dye to achieve purple fabric. Your paper should also include information about why certain hues or shades of each work better than others. Fourth years, you will be doing the same assignment, but you will only be making one potion. Brewing something that is functionally a mix of two other things is more of a challenge. Please do the same with your homework. Fifth years, your challenge is the greatest and your homework will be just an additional paragraph reflection on your work. You will be creating a potion following the instructions on your paper that changes the color of the item based on the mood of the person who dips the item. This is a simpler version of the potion we use for sorting and is simpler than a temperature one as that would require the garment to continuously change color as its worn. Fifth years will need two pieces of fabric each and you and your partner should both dip the item to see how your results differ. That being said, you should all work with partners anyway."

Aware she'd just given a heaping load of instructions, Mary took a sip of coffee and allowed the students a moment to think. "Any questions?" she prompted. "Go ahead and get started."

OOC: Yep, I made this up and don't have ingredients or process for you. Have fun with it! They should all know how to do a basic dye.

For ease of writing:
Year 3 - Two potions each, primary colors, dye the item once in each to achieve a secondary color.
Year 4 - One potion of a secondary color only. Assume this is harder than achieving a primary color.
Year 5 - One potion that dyes the item based on the mood of the person doing the dying/dipping. Each person should dip. Compare results.

Subthreads:

Goshdarnit by Billy Cobb

Concentrate by Oz Spellman with Janis Rosemary Silver

Let's get this started [An eligible bachelor] by Valentine Duell with Henry Spellman

Gross by Theo Spurn

22 Mary Brooding-Hawthorne Pass with Flying Colors [Intermediates] 1424 1 5

Billy Cobb

September 13, 2021 8:43 PM

Goshdarnit by Billy Cobb

Things were not going as planned today! He had been planning to talk Ray into signing up for Quidditch during class, but she wasn't in any of them so far. Initially he thought that maybe she wasn't feeling well or something. So he hadn't even really looked for her at lunch. Now, standing outside the potions room it finally hit him. Ray was in Iris' class. She wasn't in any of his classes 'cause he had somehow become an intermediate student and she hadn't yet. He simply stood dumbstruck outside of the door as the realization and ramifications washed over him. This year was gunna be terrible.

He snapped himself out of it and slid into the room at the last moment, like he pretty much always did anyway. Billy located an empty seat and flopped down with all his stuff, obviously still in a funk. Ray had a special talent for making these classes not nearly as boring as they could be, this was going to be like first year all over again. Ugh.

The professor didn't help things. She started off by talking about the dance thing that Anya had explained to him during the feast. Yay, fun. Stuff appeared on the chalkboard up front and there was something about mixing colors. A paper and a white piece of cloth landed in front of him. Billy vaguely remembered some potion dying stuff from last year. This looked a bit more like more of the same. Something struck him as the Professor released them to work and he turned to the person next to him. "Hang on now, us third years have to brew two potions while everyone else only has to make one? That don't sound fair."

OOC: Anya's explanation of the ball was approved by her author.

2 Billy Cobb Goshdarnit 1519 0 5

Oz Spellman

September 15, 2021 6:53 PM

Concentrate by Oz Spellman

Oz took a seat in potions. It felt weird. For one thing, he felt hella short, which was not a feeling he enjoyed. The fourth years had been in his classes before, so they were sort of familiar, but fifth years... They were the people who got badges and responsibilities. The weird kept going as the lesson started with talk of the ball and someone getting a cat. Then he remembered Professor Brooding-Hawthorne meant the big exam things that totally didn't apply to him yet or any time soon. He wondered if that and the ball were gonna keep being theme of the year, and whether he was supposed to care. He really hoped not.

He tried to tune back in for the lesson, though with three grade levels of work, there was a lot more explaining. It was also less interesting than the peopley things that occupied his brain. He had eaten breakfast with Henry, and walked to class with him. They had had meal times together before, but it still felt different. Oz wasn't done with feeling like his life was lived on a knife edge, and that it was therefore very, very dangerous for anyone who wanted to come with him. It twisted his stomach in all kinds of knots to think about being the reason Henry got into trouble. But when he thought about the times they'd spent inside over the summer, where it felt safe and happy instead of tense and angry... That was like being able to breathe again.

He didn't sit with Henry for potions because he wasn't like, hopelessly co-dependent. He wasn't very worried about Xavier spreading rumours to that effect... He was more worried about Xavier himself, and what he'd told him; if you were bad enough at magic, they took you away from home.

All the more reason to pay attention in class.

Of course, Oz's problem was sort of the opposite. He had done too much magic. Though that had made the government unhappy with him too, and the overall pattern between his and Xavier's experiences were that the government liked to swoop in and do it hard.

All the more reason to pay attention in class.

He tried to drag his focus back, but dyes were kind of boring because they had done them already and they weren't even that magical. He also hadn't decided how much of his conversation with Xavier he should share with Henry. Henry, however bad he claimed he was at magic, or however much he was currently trying to rebel, still seemed like the only way he would leave the comfortable middle zone was if it was to excel. He would freak out if he knew this. Oz's desire to inform him warred with his desire to protect him. Still, he had only just got Henry back in his life, and the thought of immediately keeping a secret from him bothered Oz. The fact that it wasn't his secret to tell hadn't really occurred to him. Telling Henry wasn't like telling someone else.

Still, now was not the time or the place, so he tried to push those thoughts -and the weird, awkward memory of Xavier sobbing onto his shoulder, and trying to work out how much to hug him - to one side. And concentrate on... still dyes?

"How is this different to the unit we did in beginners?" he asked his neighbour.

13 Oz Spellman Concentrate 1514 0 5

Valentine Duell

September 15, 2021 7:05 PM

Let's get this started [An eligible bachelor] by Valentine Duell

Valentine was horribly torn. It was time for potions class which was normally reserved to hang out with Bonabelle and play 'Mad Scientist'. But she had been with her girlfriend a bunch today, and she really needed to start looking for an amenable boyfriend. Classes were usually the best time to get some easy one-on-one time with different people. Her normal approach to classes would relieve her of making any such decision. Get there early and work on gaming plans until class started then find out who you got to sit with for the class. Unfortunately that meant that she might wind up next to anyone. While that was normally a plus, this time she wasn't sure. She did want to catch up and hang out with Lavender and Sadie and such…. But she was pretty sure they wouldn't want to go to the ball with her and Bonabelle.

If she wanted to pick someone, she'd need to wait and see who sat where. However, if she waited too long, someone else would sit with them instead! The only rational solution was to get to class early like usual then wait outside in the hall until a viable potential candidate came along. Then it was just a matter of striking up a conversation while they walk in together and sit. Simple.

So she arrived as soon as she could and executed her plan. While she waited for people to arrive, her mind ran through the boys that were in her class. Phillipe was with Freddie, so he was probably out. Alexander apparently was with Anya. Jasper was a Brockert so probably needed someone with higher social standing than her. That still left a fair number remaining… assuming there weren't other things she was missing. Almost all of them she could see falling for in one way or another. Probably not Stanley, and she had her doubts with Billy or Oz. Gabriel and Bertie she probably knew the best from the gaming club, and despite the fact that she didn't have any for comparison, she thought they seemed more like brothers. But, one never knew.

Her musings were interrupted by people beginning to arrive for class, and it wasn't long before she spotted a good candidate. Packing away the small notebook and quill she'd been using as a cover, she gave him a bright smile and a matching salutation. "Ready for some potionerring?" She asked lightly as they found seats. "What do you think we'll be doing today?"

Professor Brooding-Hawthorne didn't look very well, Val thought. Hopefully she wasn't sick. Minor worry of the professor's condition only distracted her a little bit from the instructions given. The lesson today didn't seem too difficult, and it could be useful! Unfortunately there was already homework looming on her horizon. She made a note of the assignment then looked over the instructions that had been passed out. Most of it looked familiar enough, but more complicated at the same time. Fun. However, Professor Brooding-Hawthorne was the best, as she said they should be working with partners!

By this point in her schooling career Val had figured out that it was best to get some things started for classwork before chatting to much with neighbors. So she dutifully got her cauldron filled and heating up, then began to prepare the first set of ingredients. "I'm going to try for purple," she commented to her neighbor with another friendly smile. She really wasn't sure how to go about bringing up the ball without making it obvious that she was bringing up the ball. Mama's advice was good, but she wanted to be careful. "How do you think yours will turn out?"

2 Valentine Duell Let's get this started [An eligible bachelor] 1490 0 5

Henry Spellman

September 16, 2021 2:47 AM

I'm the best. by Henry Spellman

For all that Henry had put on a show of being cool with everything, he was very not cool. For one, he wasn't even sure how to turn people inside out (although today's lesson might prove useful for turning then pink at least) and that meant he was like a dozen times more likely to get hurt than he wanted Oz to think. The worse part was that Oz himself was definitely getting hurt. The older twin had emphasized again and again that Henry was the one with a chance to do better, be better, and go better places, and Henry realized he had been failing; due to some pretty crappy systems, Oz was probably right that Henry had a better shot at success, which meant it was his responsibility to get all of them someplace better. And he'd almost thrown that away. Being in Oz' life again and having Oz in his was fuel to the fire for Henry, who hadn't stolen anything else since that day they'd talked and who was determined more than ever to be the best wizard he could be. Then, when he was successful, he'd turn this place upside down. He was sick enough of one world telling Oz he wasn't good enough and two were doing it; he'd raze them both.

His thoughts were interrupted by Valentine as she caught up beside him as he and Oz split up on their way into class. Henry nodded mutely, not sure he was ever ready for anything that sounded like Disneyland Imagineers were involved (although engineers weren't bad and those were basically the same thing). Potions was, unfortunately, one of his stronger classes, so maybe he'd be a potioneer after all.

Class started and Henry took copious notes. Since the teacher was a straight up mess, reminding him more of home than anything else here had so far other than Oz, he had practically transcribed the lecture by the time they got started. Valentine was quiet which was weird and awkward because Henry didn't know if he was supposed to say something first. That thought quickly dissolved behind his concentration as he reviewed every step, determined to make his two potions meticulously well. And then Val spoke up.

"Hopefully not purple," he replied to her question, gesturing at the blue and yellow dyes he'd begun working on. Then, not sure if he was being a butt, he added: "Purple is nice though." He glanced towards Oz, as he always did when he was hopelessly out of his depth. "'Cos it's all red and blue and that's uh... That's good for a color to be. I mean, if that color is purple. Yep. That's.... That's how that works and stuff."

He wondered vaguely whether he could get sent.out of class and kept in the Hospital Wing forever if he chugged his potion right then and there. Someone pass a straw; Henry was ready to go.

22 Henry Spellman I'm the best. 1513 0 5

Valentine Duell

September 16, 2021 8:47 PM

You are? That was quick, is my search over? by Valentine Duell

Valentine let out a light giggle at Henry's response. "If you did get purple," she replied while taking in his blue and yellow ingredients, "You might just be one of the most amazing wizards ever." She did not miss his glance in his brother's general direction, and then the rather terrible stumbling of words that came after. Was something wrong? She hoped not, but... maybe this hadn't been a great idea. Maybe Henry didn't want to talk to her, was he wishing he was with Oz instead? Maybe.

She scooped up the ingredients she had been working with and dropped them into her cauldron. It was bubbling away merrily, and would need to do that for a few minutes according to the instructions. Valentine knew that Henry wasn't the most social person in the world, but she was pretty sure he had been making process, at least a little, last year. He'd even come to the party that she tricked the gaming club into going to, and they'd danced. That had been fun. For her anyway, maybe it had been torture for him, but he was to nice to say anything. Well, she could try some more and see if he wanted to talk at all or if he just wanted to keep things to simply classwork.

"So," she attempted again a bit slowly as if testing the thickness of unknown ice, "Are you thinking about playing in the gaming club again this year?" She thought of something that might make him feel better on that front, "We'll probably be running shorter, episodic adventures this year so if you can't make them all, it isn't a big deal."There was definitely a note of hope in her voice. Whether or not he wanted to hang out, go to the ball, get married and make babies with her was one thing. She did however hope that he wanted to keep playing. The more people that played, the better. "I've been making arrangements with some people from last year to make up characters before the first meeting on Friday. Then you don't need to play character-sheet roulette, you'll know what you're playing."

Hopefully this would be a good tact to use. Semi-professional stuff, see if he wanted to talk or if she should let him work in peace. This dating thing was hard, and she wasn't even at that point yet. On the plus side, she thought that Henry and Bonabelle might get along well together.

2 Valentine Duell You are? That was quick, is my search over? 1490 0 5

Henry Spellman

September 21, 2021 12:22 AM

NO. Keep searching. by Henry Spellman

Henry hoped it was clear that his awkward stammering was not a bit bashful. This was just how he got through life and the world. He was usually thinking of too many things at once and running through too many different scenarios, trying his best to be prepared for all of them, to really do a good job at saying stuff. Also, girls giggling really threw him off.

"Yeah," he agreed lamely, wondering if mixing colors in new ways was really what made for the most amazing wizard. He thought wizards were probably pretty lame then, although he wasn't sure if scientists could manage something like that. There was probably some sort of way you could mix a blue thing and a yellow thing and end up with a purple thing.

His mind went back to Oz for a moment at Val's question about gaming club. On one hand, he was more coordinate than he'd been last year that it was okay if he did stuff like that and the Oz wasn't going to be totally ashamed of him. But also, he may actually get to hang out with Oz more this year.

"Yeah, I'd be down," he decided. "Probably not all the time. Is it okay if I only play sometimes? I don't mind the roulette though," he added. "Whatever's easiest for you."

22 Henry Spellman NO. Keep searching. 1513 0 5

Theo Spurn

September 23, 2021 6:17 AM

Gross by Theo Spurn

Theo drifted into class with all the apparent intentionality of a passing bit of dandelion fluff. He knew full well it was time for potions, and potions was where he was, he just didn’t necessarily feel the need to keep his eyes focussed on his surroundings, or move at what others would deem a deliberate-looking pace. He ended up in a seat by the time the lesson began, so it didn’t really make a difference, unless someone behind him was especially impatient to get somewhere.

He was preoccupied with dating, and the fact that everyone else seemed to be doing it. Tommy had been a lost cause since he arrived, which was terribly sad. Stanley had briefly flirted with The Madness but then seen sense, but he might unsee it at any time. The worst of all was Anya. Anya was dating Alexander, who hadn’t even really gone here until recently. Now all of a sudden, after all these years, he just wanted to exist all up in their faces? Anya had said some very interesting things though, which was that she and Alexander didn’t do any gross saliva exchanges. They just hung out like friends, except they said it was dating. Theo was very adamant that he did not want to participate in saliva exchanges, but the idea that he could have a boy-or-girl-or-person-friend and just hang out and do friend things was interesting.

He let the information about dyes go in one ear and out the other, although he paid attention to list of ingredients, knowing full well he would have to work out what to handle and what to designate. He wondered whether he was allowed to “date” Anya too, or whether he already was. If it meant just hanging out and not exchanging saliva, they definitely did that. But it seemed to be more of a thing people agreed to with each other. He wondered who else was against saliva? Logically, it should have been everyone, but people were weird.

“Hello,” he stated, turning to his neighbour when they were released to work in pairs. “I am not touching that, that or that,” he gestured at the objectionable items on the list. “What are your thoughts on saliva exchange?”

OOC: Anya's comments approved be her author

13 Theo Spurn Gross 1476 0 5

Valentine Duell

September 23, 2021 8:44 PM

Are you sure? by Valentine Duell

Valentine was getting the sense that Henry wasn't much for talking right now. Well, honestly she really had never gotten the sense ever that Henry was much one for talking. He seemed to usually keep to himself, and.. Oh Shoot!! She just remembered, she was supposed to have pestered Papa to get her some Magic cards so he could teach her how to play. Shucks, she'd clean forgotten about that. Well, maybe she could fix that over break... which was a fair way away. She should probably write herself a note so she didn't forget again.

In the meantime though, he was going to keep coming to gaming club. So that was good! Even if it was still on an occasional schedule, that was still better than not at all. "Yeah, that's fine." She replied while giving him a friendly smile, "It's supposed to be fun, if attending all the time isn't good for you, than that's not fun." Val considered for a moment what was actually easiest for her, throwing a bunch of pre-gens down on the table was pretty easy, but sometimes the story suffered for it and the game could get harder. If people had characters they made themselves, things often flowed better. In the end, she wasn't sure there was a lot of difference. Making characters took some time, but it was fun time to hang out with people and learn about them, so it wasn't really a hard thing to do.

"Either way is fine, with me. There is a middle option as well, you could tell me what sort of character you'd like and I could make them up." This wasn't ideal, but it could work as well. Crafting one together was by far much better, but still she had seen Henry play enough to know what sort of play style he liked, if he gave her enough information she could make something that would hopefully make him happy.

2 Valentine Duell Are you sure? 1490 0 5

Janis Rosemary Silver

October 18, 2021 10:46 AM

Definitely don't dilute by Janis Rosemary Silver

Janis felt calm for the first time since the beginning of summer. Potions was something she understood. It was her mom’s speciality and she’d grown up following her around and staring into caldrons most of her tiny years. Added to that, the teacher, the nice B-H, felt very motherly. Today it was the way she held her mug close to her face. Like how mama did in the mornings before the big house, holding it close to her for warmth against the cool fog that clung to everything. As if the mug would protect her from anything in the woods.

“Yes,” thought Janis,” this makes me feel like home.” Though with mama there had been less instructions, more pointing and expecting things to be done. Still, this didn’t seem too hard. Color changing potions were a lot like dyes, which wasn’t exactly magic, but could appear that way for sure. Hearing the instructions Janis decided to make purple. It was easy enough to make and “Red and Blue Make a King or Queen of You” after all. Plus, she’d done the Red and the Blue potions last year, so it should be easy enough to combine them. Should.

Janis was reading the instructions again to make sure she was doing the right years lesson when the younger Pecari she recognized from the common room asked her a question.

“Umm…” Janis thought for a second. Beginner unit like this would have been. It hadn’t been so long ago that she was a beginner, still it felt like ages. “You mean dyes?”

“They are fairly similar, but with dyes you have to dip the whole shirt or something in and wait for it to dry right?” Janis continued without pausing “But with a potion, all you have to do is dip a bit in and it changes the whole garment. Think of the badges to determine the house. You don't need to dip the whole badge, just part of it. So you need less of the materials, and more importantly, it won’t run in the laundry and make all your whites pink or something like that.”

Janis had kind of just gone off her head and decided that was the right answer. Whether it was or not it sounded right. Now she looked at the boy to see if he understood her. He didn’t seem as smart as Quincy, but then again few of the class was. Then again, Quincy would probably know the actual answer and have told her.

OOC: “Red and Blue Make a King or Queen of You” was something one of my high school teachers used to say. It had two meanings: 1) red and blue make purple and that was a sign of royalty back in the day, and 2) because my school colors were Red and Blue, I guess trying to say we were all royalty.

41 Janis Rosemary Silver Definitely don't dilute 1493 0 5

Oz Spellman

October 25, 2021 5:16 AM

Okay. I'll try. by Oz Spellman

The teacher had definitely used a bunch of words that included talking about the sorting potion, but had also involved the word 'dye' a lot. Oz had no idea if what the girl was saying was actually what the professor had said. Especially as she just seemed to be talking about the sorting potion, but they had three different assignments. They couldn't all be making a sortinf potion, right? Also, however special and not-a-dye the potion they were making was, it wasn't anywhere near as mess free as a charm. He wasn't sure he could find an actual point here, other than the fact he had been told to do it, and might get detention if he didn't. Oz was not a fan of detention. In fact, surprising as it would be to some, he wasn't even a fan of being in trouble. However much he appeared to mess about or wind teachers up, it wasn't actually on purpose.

"Sounds good," he shrugged, turning to step one of his potion. If he just kept his head down and followed the steps, he should get on well enough. If he didn't actually have a clue what he was doing or why that didn't matter. He would have something, and it would look like he was trying. That was the main thing.

13 Oz Spellman Okay. I'll try. 1514 0 5