Potions Lesson One (OWLS)

[makenzie]

A cauldron filled with water sat upon the desk at the front of the room. Without a sound Professor Liason pointed her eleven inch wand at the base of the cauldron igniting the fire to heat the water to a boil. This was how most potions started; with a cauldron filled with boiling water. Makenzie figured why not get the water nice and hot before class actually started to get it out of the way. Professor Liason waved her wand once again causing a piece of chalk to write on the board.

Welcome to Potions Class
Today's Lesson: Draught of Peace
Ingredients Needed:
Powdered moonstone
Powdered Porcupine Quills
Valerian Root
Powdered Unicorn Horn
Syrup of Hellebore.

Professor Liason had each ingredient for her potion set up along the front desk in various sized viles, each with the exact measurement for the Draught of Peace. Makenzie waited by the door greeting each of her students as they filed into the classroom. Today's lesson would be difficult, ironically the Draught of Peace was not a peaceful potion to make. With a simple glance at the clock Makenzie knew it was time to start the class and anyone who was late would end up losing house points.


"Good morning class. I'm sure you have gathered from the board that we will be learning how to make the Draught of Peace potion. This potion is rather difficult but might come in great use to you during this year for it is used to calm anxiety and soothe agitation." Makenzie paused looking at all of her students. "Your Ordinary Wizarding Level exams will be taken at the end of this year and while many of you think you have plenty of time to study that time goes by extremely quick. I've seen many breakdown and students crack under pressure. So please take this lesson seriously so you might get through this year with ease." Professor Liason said as she paced back and forth in the front of the class. She hoped that her students were listening to her because this year alone was their most important year.

Makenzie walked behind her desk checking on her cauldron of water that was no boiling. "In this cauldron is boiling water which is how we start off with this potion as we do with many others. So you first must light the cauldron using the charm, Incendio, but hopefully at this stage you know this spell already. I will demonstrate how to create this difficult potion and then you will be released to try it yourself. Please pay close attention and take notes, you will need them."

Her blue-gray eyes swept the classroom, waiting for her students to take out a the tools necessary to take proper notes.

"Once your cauldron has come to a boil you may then add powdered moonstone, only a tablespoon worth." Makenzie informed them as she then added the correct vile to the boiling water. "You must be very careful with this potion, never add the wrong amount of ingredients for if you do the potion will be useless or have consequences that can't be reversed." Professor Liason said as the liquid in the cauldron turned a deep red.

"Your potion should take on a deep, almost maroon, red once the powdered moonstone is added. Let the potion come back to a boil before adding the teaspoon of powdered porcupine quills."

It only took a few minutes for the potion to come to a rolling boil in which Makenzie added the next vile that contained powdered porcupine quills.

"After the quills are added stir it seven times counter-clockwise which should cause the potion to turn a pale yellow. While you allow this to come to a boil once more you can chop up your 1.5 inched valerian root." She instructed the class as she began to chop it up herself. "Remember to leave it in semi-big chucks. Don't chop it too finely." Makenzie warned the class.

Professor Liason scooped the bits of valerian root into her hand and held them there for a moment. "As stated before your potion she be at a boil again and of a pale yellow color. If both of these things have happened then toss in your valerian root." Makenzie stated as she tossed the roots in her hand into the cauldron. The potion instantly turned purple. "Your potion should now be purple and you make now add in the 2 teaspoons of powdered unicorn horn." Professor Liason said while she did so herself. "You do not need to wait for it to come to a boil before adding the powdered unicorn horn." she added.

"Stir the liquid seven times clockwise and then please turn the heat down on your cauldron and let it simmer for about seven minutes. Once the potion has simmered it should be a light blue if this is the case then you may add the pint hellebore syrup." Makenzie did as she just stated, adding the last vile of ingredients to the potions. "Such an ironic name for a potion that is meant to cause peace to a person." Makenzie mused aloud to herself. As soon as the sticky substance hit the potion a silver vapor was emitted into the air. "Please take notice of the color vapor your potion lets out. If done incorrectly you may get green sparks, dark gray steam, a sulfurous odor, a cement-like consistency, or it might just combust and set your robes on fire." Makenzie stated, looking at each of her students to know she had their attention.

Pouring some of her potion into a vile, she held it up for the class to see. "This is what the final product should look like. It should be smooth and turquoise. No lumps of any kind should be visible in your potion." She said as Makenzie set the vile on her desk and waved her wand at her cauldron to put out the fire.

"Now let me have your attention for a few more minutes and then it will be your turn to test your skills against this potion. I do hope you were taking notes. As you are making this potion keep in mind the three C's of potion making; color, concentration, and content. Make sure the colors match mine at each stage, please concentrate on every step you make, and finally make sure not to add more than is needed of each ingredient for if done incorrectly the potion could put the drinker into a deep sleep and quite possible an irreversible one at that. Now have fun and don't make too much of a mess." Makenzie finished giving her students an encouraging smile. She knew most would not succeed at this potion, others would get close, but most would miserable fail. But the final product would not determine their grade, it is the effort, notes, and homework that would.

((OCC: Your student is late if you post after the second time I post in this thread which will result in your character losing points. If your character does not show up then they will be losing house points as well. Have some fun with this thread, Potions is a good way to be creative. Remember your character is not a potions genius so please keep in mind most of you should not be able to create this potion correctly.))

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[max]

Max tried not to yawn as he walked the corridors down to the dungeons, hoping the lesson today wouldn’t be too strenuous or require too much thinking. Once again he had not been tired when he went to bed last night and so his mind started wandering, and so he had ended up getting out his music and continuing a piece he had started a few days ago, working on the bass part. It was not until about 4am when his head started drooping of its own accord that he realised how late it was and finally got a few hours sleep before his alarm for classes went off. He had felt exhausted all day and was looking forward to later today when his classes finished and he could perhaps sneak into his dorm for an afternoon nap. He was sure he’d never live it down if he was caught, sleeping in the middle of the day like a small child, but he knew of a spell that would wake him up if anyone came upstairs.

As he stepped into the classroom he saw immediately that today was going to be a practical lesson and groaned inwardly as he greeted the professor with a forced smile. The Draught of Peace, of all potions. On a good day he could maybe make a decent attempt at it, but today he was fairly certain it was not going to go well. He took a seat near the back of the class in an attempt to avoid Professor Liason keeping too close an eye on him, getting out his notebook. He didn’t start taking notes right away when she started talking – she was right, the OWLs did seem far away, and he didn’t need to be worrying about them yet. His pencil tapped lightly on the table as she warned them all about taking the class seriously, his eyes flicking around the classroom at the rest of the students as he kept an ear open for when she would discuss how to make the potion.

His notes were probably not as detailed as she would like but he thought he had the gist of it down enough that he would be able to follow his own brief instructions.

Boil water
1 tbsp moonstone -> red
Boil again then tsp porcupine
Stir 7 times anti-clockwise -> yellow
Boil again?? Lots of boiling
Cut root, not too small, add to potion -> purple
2 tsp unicorn
Stir 7 times anti-clockwise, turn heat down
Wait 7 minutes -> blue
Syrup
Check vapour colour – FIRE!
End – smooth & turquoise

The moment she started talking about the ‘three Cs’ he stopped taking notes again, leaning back in his seat. So much for a lesson without thought, there was far too much to do in this potion. He lit the cauldron the moment she allowed them to start working, fetching the ingredients while the water boiled. Sure enough, when he added the moonstone the water turned red – so far, so good. Making sure it was still boiling, he added the porcupine quills next.

Checking his notes and realising he needed to stir next he hurriedly fetched a spoon and began stirring – once clockwise before he remembered, then eight anti-clockwise. He figured the extra anti-clockwise stir would cancel out the one clockwise. His potion was almost yellow – Max found that if he bent back a little so the light was reflecting on the surface, it looked more yellow instead of orange. Figuring it was close enough, he continued to work, cutting his valerian root into large chunks while leaving the potion boiling. It was back to red now… not quite what his notes said. At least red was closer to purple than orange. He added an extra chunk of valerian root to try and even it out, only to find it go closer to orange again, and hurriedly continued to the next step of the instructions.

The unicorn powder was added next and this time he remembered to stir anti-clockwise and even to turn the heat down once he was done. As he settled back to wait, feeling hopeful as his potion finally started to turn purple – although he wasn’t sure the consistency should be so thick. As he waited for the specified seven minutes his eyelids began to droop again and he tried to shake himself awake. A few seconds later it was happening again and he stood up to try and keep himself awake. He was well aware that of all classes to fall asleep in, a practical potions class was probably the worst. Checking on his potion again he was dismayed to find it had remained a reddy-purple with light grey steam rising off it. It had thinned out a little but was still nothing like the professor’s example potion. Tentatively he added the syrup anyway, only to find the light grey steam turn darker and more into smoke then steam. He stepped back hurriedly, remembering that she had warned about potions setting clothes on fire and looked around for her, unsure what to do as the grey steam rose from his cauldron at a rapidly increasing rate. “Professor?” he called, taking another step back.