Greer was also a little excited for Potions - it was a subject she found facinating! And she was rather quick to figure it out but she was like that with almost everything. She smiled at the Professor as she walked in "Hello Professor" She added as she took her seat and took out some parchment and a quill - getting ready to take notes as any good Ravenclaw would.

She was rather curious about the unnamed ingriedents in front of her.

Why on earth anxiety would be ideal to accompany the students to this potions lesson was beyond Ary. Not that he was spending any time dwelling on it. Quite anxiety-free, the Slytherin arrived for the lesson. He thought it was great to be back since he had sort of missed attending certain classes. Potions had been one of them.

Spotting Adara, Aryan greeted her with a smile and the usual friendly finger greeting then made his way to a workstation. Er… why were there so little ingredients lurking around today? How very strange. Perhaps it had something to do with anxiety? Were they supposed to be anxious about the small number of the ingredients here today?

Beauden stifled a yawn as he settled into his seat, a direct result of staying up too late in the boys' dormitory (which he would not admit to if anyone asked). The festive energy of the holiday break felt like a distant memory, and the thought of diving back into Potions this early in the morning was a tough pill to swallow. But here he was; it was a new year and he—nope, he was still very much the same wild child, with the same restless spirit and insatiable curiosity.

"Good morning, Professor Adara," he replied, forcing a smile despite his lingering fatigue that tugged at his eyelids, before settling into a seat at one of the workstations.

His eyes flicked to the unlabeled containers, curiosity piqued. A mix of intrigue and apprehension swirled in his mind. What could be in those? He leaned slightly closer, peering at the labels as the ingredients were always intentionally labeled. His brow furrowed when all there was to make of the 'labels' was what seemed like random squiggly letters. Well, that was... incredibly unhelpful.

What if... he just 'accidentally' mixed the ingredients together... clearly for scientific purposes? The sixth year was tempted to let impulse get the better of him, but decided that it was probably for the best that he wait and not cause an explosion the first day back from holiday.

One might have thought Giselle would have been reluctant to return to school after the holidays, given the odd mood she had been in upon said return. The truth was, said mood was more caused by knowing Brandon had had difficulties over the holiday, and she couldn’t fight anything regarding that whole situation. Truth was, while she’d obviously been able to (probably) see Rome over the holiday, along with the aforementioned visit from her brother’s boyfriend, she was just as happy to be back and see the others she’d developed connections with. Bronwen, Ezra, Celinde…yes, it was just as fun being back as it was being at home.

Therefore, it was hard to be anxious about the morning Potions lesson, especially when she enjoyed the subject as well as the professor. “Good morning, Professor Adara”, she greeted the woman with a smile, making her way toward her usual workstation with the briefest glance toward the few ingredients that were on display. Again, it wasn’t anything to trigger anxiety in her mind. Curiosity, maybe, but not anxiety.

Turning her attention to look at all of them ready to learn / brew, Professor Adara decided it was probably best to get started. Several years into teaching, always the most challenging part was getting started. At least the lesson wasn't too early in the morning - sure some students would have preferred an after noon lesson - but 10:30 was quite the respectable time.

"Alright let's go ahead and get started as today's potion requires careful attention to detail so I'd much rather we all can take our time in following the directions precisely. One of the things that I asked you to possibly bring was anxiety. Quite the strange request, but the reason being is that today's potion with these four ingredients is a potion, if brewed correctly, relieves anxiety and agitation. However, if incorrect can put the drinker into a deep sleep."

"Given what you know about it's intended effects and that there are only four ingredients, anyone care to venture a guess as to what potion we're brewing today? If no ideas on the potion, if you noticed the ingredients are unlabeled. Any ideas what you could use to help identify the ingredients?"


ooc: lesson starting now, late arrivals will have consequences but you're welcome to join at any time just pretend as if you've been here the whole time!! First question is what potion might we be brewing today?? OR how can we identify unknown ingredients? Will move on in about 20-24 hours ...

By the time professor Adara was ready to get started, Ary had neatly laid out his books and writing materials and he was ready to brew. The holiday break certainly had done him good in the manner of reamplifying his focus. That’s what happens when one has a break from the hectic school life.

And that explained the anxiety request! However, the effect of not brewing the anxiety-relief potion correctly didn’t have what Ary would call a negative effect. Merlin knew there were times when they could all do with a deep sleep. The teen raised his hand to answer one of the questions. “I’d say The Draught of Peace… but I’m not sure if that particular potion needs so little ingredients.” So in other words, his answer could be wrong.

His mind was very much focused on the contained ingredients, and the mystery surrounding them took up his thoughts. So much so that he nearly missed the professor's description about the potion they would be brewing. When he finally tuned in, he caught snippets that piqued his interest. From what he could gather, the potion sounded relatively simple, given the limited number of ingredients. Plus, the effects—relief from anxiety and the potential to induce deep sleep if brewed incorrectly—sounded great to him.

Beauden's brow furrowed as he tried to recall the name of the potion. It felt familiar, but his mind, still adjusting after the holiday break, couldn't quite make the connection. The only thing that came to mind (Anxiety-Relieving Potion) sounded too obvious and not right at all.

Instead, he decided to focus on the latter question, which offered an opportunity for open-ended and creative responses. He raised his hand, his voice playful and confident. "When it comes to identifying the ingredients," he proposed, "you can give each a good whiff. Or, if you really wanted to take things up a notch, give each a little taste." A slight grin started tugging on the corners of his lips at the thought of such daring behaviour.

"Of course, there may be potential consequences to relying first on those particular senses," he continued, shrugging his shoulders with a nonchalant air. "But sometimes potion-making calls for a little experimentation."

Nadia would have to admit, when she had seen the notice of today’s lesson with the mention of anxiety, she briefly wondered if something was up with her coach. She never really thought of it as something that one could CHOSE to have at any given moment, that it instead tended to be around when one surely didn’t want it. It was only as the professor asked what kind of potion might help with anxiety that it clicked and what she wouldn’t acknowledge was that it had taken her so long to think of that. As for her thoughts on the matter, the sixth year figured her brother might be right with the Draught of Peace but then was beginning to think that one had too many ingredients to match.

“It could be the Calming Draught,” Nadia offered instead after raising her hand. It seemed to be a simpler potion with its more straightforward name.

Rose sat near Beauden at one of the empty workstations and curiously eyed the four ingredients in front of her, taking careful note to keep her hands in her lap. Why where there just four? She had of course greeted Professor Adara with a respectful wave and 'Good morning' earlier when she had come in. She had also greeted Beauden, Ary and Nadia too in turn before the lesson had begun.

As the lesson got started Rose considered her answer, letting the other's answer first before she raised her hand to say very politely. "I'm with Aryan. I think it's the draught of peace that we are going to brew today professor, because it's the only potion that comes to mind that both relieves anxiety and agitation." Rose could have used some of this over the holidays when her mother had shouted at her for her black and white clothes. She had tried to explain, but her mother hadn't cared to listen. She had no idea why, but lately but everything she touched eventually turned either very white or black. Plus there was that little thing with how she spoke that her brother teased her for immensly.

Walking over to the storage bookshelf of extra ingredients, Professor Adara perused the shelf a moment before selecting the stewed mandrakes. "So as I mentioned, the draught of peace requires only 4 or 5 ingredients depending on which recipe followed. Today's will included 5 ingredients. Stewed mandrakes, powdered moonstone, powdered unicorn horn, powdered porcupine quills, and syrup of Hellebore." She held up each ingredient as she said them aloud. Because she wasn't that cruel to have them decipher which was which. Not to mention she didn't want to waste the time with guessing games when today's potion required careful concentration.

"The draught of peace is a notoriously difficult potion to brew, as it requires careful precision in terms of the steps and ingredients. So I advise you to please pay attention to what you're doing... "

Ingredients:
3 stewed mandrakes
7g Powdered moonstone
7 g powdered unicorn horn
7 drops powdered porcupine quills
7mL syrup of Hellebore

Follow these steps:
1. Fill your cauldrons with water and place under a medium heat
2. Add 3.5g powdered*moonstone*until the potion turns green.
3. Stir 2x until the potion turns blue.
4. Add 3.5g powdered moonstone until the potion turns purple.
5. Allow to simmer until the potion turns pink.

ooc: Steps 1-5 are up. I'll be posting just a few steps at a time each day ... so will post additional tomorrow feel free to keep up or if you need to play catch-up that's okay too. It's also okay to be realistic with your character's potion skills and if they struggle with following instructions, that's okay! All in good fun

Beauden's eyes lit up as Professor Adara listed the ingredients. Draught of Peace—of course! How could he have forgotten that one? He nodded along, mentally noting that his tasting idea had been dismisssed. The ingredients, he had to admit, were easier to identify now that they had been named. Despite the simplicity of the ingredients, he now remembered that this particular brew was tricky—too tricky for a Monday morning, he thought. But he wasn't one to back down from a challenge, so he would be giving his all... even if it resulted in deep sleep.

After a casual wink to Rose and a few others in the lab, he filled his cauldron with water, setting it to medium heat, and glanced at the powdered moonstone. The process was straightforward enough so far. He was by no means a perfectionist, but he was very intentional about adding exactly 3.5g of moonstone. He half-expected something to go wrong as he watched the potion intently, but it turned the intended shade of green to his relief.

"So far, so good," he mumbled with a satisfied grin. He stirred twice, causing the liquid to shift to blue. Beauden exhaled, almost surprised that he hadn't messed it up already.

He added the next batch of moonstone, watching as it gradually transitioned to purple. His mind briefly wandered—what would happen if he added more moonstone? His fingers itched to add a pinch more of moonstone than the instructions called for, but he resisted such impulsive thoughts and waited for the potion to go... pink? Or was it meant to be red?

Ary shot a grin at Rose because even if their answer was wrong, then at least they had been having the same logical train of thought. But as it turned out, they were right. Excellent. The Slytherin was pleased as he scribbled the five ingredients down in his book {after taking a look at each ingredient Adara held up, that is}.

Despite the level of difficulty mentioned, the teen was quite determined to put his best foot forward with this brewing. To work he went! First, the cauldron and all other equipment were magically cleaned. Next, the cauldron was set up over the burner. “Aguamenti,’’ Ary said quietly, and watched carefully until the cauldron was filled. Once he stopped the flow, the burner was lit with the simple incantation of ‘Incendio’, after which the flame was adjusted to a medium heat. Half of the powdered moonstone was added bit by bit until to Ary’s delight, the contents of the cauldron turned green. Using the stirrer, he stirred clockwise {since the direction hadn’t been specified} twice. Only then did the remaining powdered moonstone was added, slowly like the first half. And look at that! The Potion turned purple! Feeling quite happy with his progress so far, Ary allowed the contents of the cauldron to simmer, all the while watching it closely for the pink shade.

Alissa certainly wouldn't say no to a draught of peace. Coming back from the holiday break had made it even more real that this was her seventh year and that she was going to graduate in just a few months. And soon she would be hearing back from the universities that she had applied to and find out if she got in and if she got into both she would have to choose one and hope that she actually like what she had chosen to study and get a job in for the rest of her life. So, yeah, some peace would be nice.

She began by filling her potion with water and turning the heat to medium. While it started to heat, she went up to the front to collect the ingredients that she would need for the potion. She carefully measured them out and took them back to her station where they would be ready to add into her potion when needed. First was the powdered moonstone. She had gotten seven grams, so she measured out three and a half grams of it and added it into the cauldron, causing the potion to turn green just as it was supposed to. Then she picked up the stir spoon and swiped it through the liquid to stir once, then twice. The color of the liquid changed from the green color to more of a blue. Liss glanced up at the instructions to make sure that was what was supposed to happen and was pleased to find that it was. She took the rest of the powdered moonstone and added it to the cauldron, then left it to simmer.