Originally Posted by demented_death_eater

[1]"The first step in caring for your broom is to clean it. You'll need a bucket," Vindictus began. "They're under the table. Grab one and pour a cap full of the concentrated cleaner into it. Then stick your wand inside the bucket and fill it half way. The incantation is Aguamenti. Finite will end the spell."

He crouched down and grabbed a bucket which he placed on the floor. Vindictus then poured a cap full of the cleanser into the bucket and stuck his wand into it.

"Aguamenti!"

Water shot out of his wand and the bucket began to fill up with water.

"Finite!"

He pulled his wand out of the bucket and pointed to the sudsy water.

"Once you've filled the bucket, put your wand away and grab a sponge out of the basket," he instructed and grabbed one himself. The basket of sponges was located between two other baskets - one contained blue towels, the other red rags. "First, you want to clean the handle. Stick the sponge into the sudsy water and give it a squeeze; if you don't then you'll have a huge mess to clean up later."

Wink.

[2]"Wipe the handle clean until all traces of built-up dirt and grime are gone. Grab a blue towel and gently pat the handle dry. Once you're finished cleaning the handle, carefully plunge the tail twigs into the bucket. Slowly stir counter-clockwise seven times, then stop and keep the tail twigs submerged in the sudsy water for approximately 2 minutes. Then stir clockwise seven times and submerge for another 2 minutes. Then we have the messy part."

Grin.

[3]"The towel you used to dry off the handle - place it on the floor next to the bucket. You'll need another towel, too, so grab one. Then take the broom out of the bucket and hold it over the towel that's on the floor. With the second towel, gently pat the tail twigs until they're no longer dripping. When finished, place the broom on the table so that you can clean up."

[4]"Use Scourgify to rid the bucket of its watery contents and use the two towels to mop up any water. Place the towels in the towel bin and the sponges in the basket located to the left of the fireplace."

"Now show me how you can remove the yucky dirt and grime from your brooms!"

OOC: This should take you at least 4 posts. Be descriptive and have some fun (just don't set anything on fire). I'll post the next step around 8pm EST tomorrow.

Originally Posted by demented_death_eater

Vindictus walked around the room and watched the students as they cleaned the brooms. Some were making a mess and a few appeared to be rather irritated with performing manual labor.

"After you're finished cleaning the broom, you need to trim the tail twigs using the tail twig clippers," he said. "Carefully snip away any jagged twigs and do not attempt to reshape the tail. The clippers are all sharp so there shouldn't be an issue with them not working. Dull clippers won't work at all."

"When you're finished trimming the tail twigs, place the clippers back into the supply kit and toss the teensy twig bits into the fire. Then grab a red rag and open the can of polish."

To demonstrate what he meant, he pulled two items out Kurumi's kit.

"Tail twig clippers," Vindictus said as he held the silver clippers up for everyone to see. He then put it back and took out the polish jar. "Fleetwood's High-Finish Handle Polish - the best polish on the market." He put the polish jar back into the kit and reached for a red rag.

"Grab a red rag, unscrew the lid and dip the rag into the jar. Scoop out about a Knut's size glob of polish and then make sure you put the lid back on the jar. Work the polish into the rag for about a minute or two - this action will warm up the polish and make it easier to apply."

Well, they did need to know the simple trick or else they'd waste the polish and apply too much!

"Gently rub the polish onto the broom handle in a small circular pattern. Make sure you overlap the areas. Do not rush this step - take your time! Once you've completely polish all over the handle, wait five minutes. The polish will dry and leave a hazy finish on the wood. Grab a clean towel and gently buff off the dried polish in a small circular pattern. When you finish, repeat the polishing step again. After buffing the broom handle after the second polish application, the wood should be shining like glass. If you can't see your reflection in the handle, then you must repeat the polishing step again."

Grin.

"For those who are ready to begin polishing their brooms, please begin."


OOC: If you haven't cleaned your broom (or need to finish the first step), please continue and then move on to this one.

Please continue to title your posts with your post number (post 1, post 2 . . . post 8, post 9, etc.) This step should take at least 4 posts - have some fun and be creative, but no polish fights!

Steps 1 and 2 should have a combined minimum number of 8 posts (again, continue numbering your posts - eg. post 5, post 6, post 7, etc.).

I'll post again with the 3rd step of the lesson when I get home from work tomorrow.