Bucky stared at the ingredients with a disgruntled look on her face. If they were preparing a cleansing solution why did everything going in it had to be...well, not very clean. Slipping on some dragonhide gloves she glanced sideways at Tag wondering she should talk to him or would that only distract him and make him cause a mess or two. But still....she really did want to say hi.

Walking up to the desk and deciding to focus on her own schoolwork she eyed the large jar and wondered how she was gonna carry one drop all the way here to her cauldron. Seizing the eyedropper she walked ever so slowly to her cauldron and shut her eyes before letting the Bundimun Secretion drop. There was a large sizzling and gray smoke rose up slightly before dissipating.

Wrinkling her nose she gave into temptation.

"I hope you're fairing better, Tag," she muttered to herself.

Okay, maybe she hadn't quite plucked up the courage.

A few minutes of searching through the desk and Adam produced a bottle of Dresden Draught. He drank it slowly while watching the students come up one by one and get the Bundimun secretion. Thankfully none of them had dropped any undiluted secretion onto the concrete floor, Adam didn't think Headmistress Rae would be very appreciative of a self made well inside the castle.

Once all their potions were simmering away, Adam wiped the board and stood up again.

"Good work everyone, just a few more ingredients and our cleaning solution will be ready. Now for the person who asked why I use so many muggle ingredients in my potions, many so called 'muggle' items have extra properties that are undiscovered by our muggle counterparts. That and sometimes they just taste and or smell better. I may have been a Slytherin, but I never signed up to that whole anti-muggle crusade, well not their technology anyway. And now that little rant is over, lets get back to the task at hand: cleaning up this pigsty" he said, gesturing at the pile of garbage.

"Your potions should be a shade of green, if not, add another crocodile eye. We add the crocodile eye because the jelly inside the crocodile eye has antiseptic properties.

Next up we're going to add 50 grams of powdered cockroach. Can anyone tell us why we would want to add those?"

OOC:Sorry I didn't post yesterday - and I left it late today. I had work and then I was very tired today. I think it'll be cool if this class goes for a couple more days, while I try to think of ways to make this more exciting.

Alana was proud of herself. For someone who does not fare well in Potions, she really did quite okay today. No spills, no mistakes. Maybe her decision to read and reread the instructions gazillion times did her good. She smiled at herself.

Her congratulatory remarks to herself was disturbed when the Professor's voice boomed through the classroom. He was informing the student about the color of the solution.

"Green aye?" she peeked in her cauldron. "Hmm..." she nudged the person besides her and quietly whispered so the Professor wouldn't hear, "Does that look green to you?"

At the background, something about cockroach just came out of the Professor's mouth.

"Why indeed is powdered cockroach needed?" she thought to herself.

Bess raised her hand and answered professor's question, "Powdered cockroach is added to act as an insecticide.It kills the germs and also, powdered cockroach has healing qualities."

Alannah looked to the side when she heard a reply coming from a student. It was a Gryffindor.

She knitted her brows upon hearing the reply, she raised her hand.

"Powdered cockroach as an insecticide. That, I agree with. But it having healing properties? That has yet to be proven."

Bess thought it to be a smart question & raised her hand again to speak,"Well yeah,maybe,but...that's what I know.It is said that powdered cockroach was used in ancient Greek medicine(read it in a book) . So I just thought that it must have healing powers.I mean,if it was used in medicine,it surely had medicinal value and the power to heal,right.Otherwise,why add it in medicines?"

Molly let out a sigh of relief when she saw that her potion was the proper color. She pondered a moment on the professors question. “I think powdered cockroach serves as a preservative for the potion. Since cockroach can survive through almost any circumstance or disaster, they will help our potion have a longer shelf life” she said with a grin.

She picked up her 50 grams of powdered cockroach and set it on her desk. She wasn’t sure on the proper procedure for adding it so she waited for the Professor to continue.

Ali looked at her potion. It had not turned a shade of green as yet, so she sliced another crocodile eye and added it to her cauldron. Then she looked for the powdered cockroach and measured out 50grams. She heard the professor's question but was unsure of the answer, but she still answered it. "The powdered cockroach is used as a magical preservative in the potion."

Kenndy raised her hand and replied, "When powdered, cockroaches act as a magical preservative to prolong the shelf life of a potion. In ancient Greek culture, powdered cockroach was called 'Pulvis Tarakanae' and was used to treat pleurisy and pericarditis. In Czarist Russia, a similar compound was used internally to treat dropsy and whooping cough, and externally for warts, ulcers, and boils. However, it must be recognize that these treatments were given during a time lacking medical research or proven effectiveness, so it is difficult to say if such treatments were actually successful."

Shauna raised her hand.

"Actually, I agree with Bess. I wouldn't be surprised if they did have healing powers because the ancient Greeks used many animals and their properties (such as an ant brew for spider bites) to heal their sick. From what history tells us, dried and powedered cockroaches were used to aide the digestive system to keep it functioning normally; they were also an important ingredient in a rememdy to help diseases such as pleurisy and pericarditis. Anyways, i'm not sure if that shed so much light on why they're in a cleaning solution, but.. " Shauna gave a small shrug. She then continued, "I, acutally, find it ironic we're using roaches simply because one would think that would be the last thing you would want to add to a cleaning potion. Why? Because roaches are usually associated with filth and grime. They can even cause allergic reactions when somewhat sensitive people come in contact with dust.. old food.. and other gross items. Therefore, my guess for their use is that we're going to somehow use their properties against them? Sort of like adding a negative to a positive?" Shauna shrugged again and thought to herself, 'well I put in my two cents anyways..'

Aurora was just about to raise her hand, when Kennedy raised her hand and spoke up. She was just was just about to say pretty much the same thing. So, she let her hand back down.
"Great minds think alike!" She whispered to her friend.

Ariana looked down at her potion and was relieved to see it the proper color. Nodding she added the ingredient not knowing what it was about. Shrugging she went to her notebook and wrote down what everyone was saying. She grinned as Kennedy answered however, yse that seemed to be the right answer.

Celestina cleared her throat when Professor Dresden spoke. Well, her potion wasn't quite the color it was supposed to be yet. Adding the rest of the ingredients she hummed happily thankful that the garbage in the middle of the classroom didn't stink. She was also thankful that De Luca didn't suddenly pop out of nowhere and began passing around lemon-scented wipes to the students.

Torie nodded at Professor Dresden's explanation. She knew her mother used a lot of "folk" remedies which were actually quite effective, but got her some strange looks from the neighbours. Turning back to her potion, she examined it to see whether it was the proper green colour. Since it was not, she quickly sliced another crocodile eye before adding it to the potion. Putting her spoon down, she hopped down off her stool and walked once again to the front of the classroom.

Taking her allotted 50 grams of powdered cockroach, she listened intently as her classmates volunteered answers as to what the purpose of the insect was. She herself didn't know, so she strolled back to her desk and carefully poured the new ingredient into her cauldron.

Hearing this, Charely checked his potion, the color was a yellow with a hint of green. Fearing that this wouldn't be enough, Charley sliced another crocodile eye into it, stirring once more before the yellow-green color darkened into a fine green. Hearing Kennedy answer the Professor's question reminded him of someone he once knew.

Megan looked at her potion and saw that it was indeed, (thankfully), green. Megan then took a cockroach and smashed it until it was powder. Then she measured out 50 grams and added it to the potion. As for why they had to do that...she had no clue.

Jasmine grimaced and added 50 grams of cockroach powder to her ,thankfully, green potion. Wrinkling her nose at the cockroach powder she thought,OK this class officially no longer resembles a cooking class. Although, she was very happy to hear that they would be getting rid of all that garbage soon. It was driving her crazy!

Cecilia added her 50 grams of powdered cockroach to her blessedly green potion. She couldn't help but shiver. "I hate cockroaches!" she whispered.

Charely found himself daydreaming again, mentally slapping his head he turned his attention to the powdered cockroaches. "50 grams, eh?" He carefully measured the amount exactly 50 grams then. Charely's first instinct was to stir again, but awaited the Professor's further instructions.

Amelia smiled up at Professor Dresden, and went back to making her cleaning solution. She had smiled at the Ravenclaw boy (Hayden) who wiped his hands on his robes, Ah... there's someone after my own heart. Garlic is amazing, and it tastes good too! She thought dreamily.

She had satisfactorily lit the fire and added water and garlic to the cauldron. Now it was time for the remaining ingredients.

Slipping her dragon hide gloves back on, she walked up to the front of the classroom and collected one drop of Bundimun Secretion to add to her cauldron. It started to bubble a bit more, and a horrid smell came from it. She added a couple drops of extra garlic oil to cover the odor up, and then looked to the board for the next instruction.

One sliced crocodile eye. Uck. She muttered to herself, adding the one crocodile eye, which she carefully sliced before adding. She then stirred clockwise once, and counter-clockwise 3 times. She kept her eye on the cauldron letting it simmer, but glanced around the room at the other potions while she was doing so.

She noted that her cleaning solution was almost clear, but had a slight yellow tint and she wondered if it was the way she sliced her crocodile eye. She then heard that it should be greener, so she decided to add another crocodile eye. She went over to the supply cupboard, because she had only purchased one eye over the summer, and took a crocodile eye from the cupboard. She carefully sliced this one, but upon seeing the Gryffindor use scissors, she decided to do the same. She withdrew her scissors from her supply kit and carefully cut the eye up and dumped the pieces into her cauldron.

She stirred it clockwise again and three times counter-clockwise, and noted that it turned much darker green. She smiled up at the professor as he told the class to add powdered cockroach.

She withdrew a bag from her supply kit and her scale, where she weighed out 50 grams of powdered cockroach. She added it to her cauldron and then rummaged through her textbook for the answer to his question. Upon hearing Kennedy's answer, she decided that it was satisfactory, and just wrote down all she said in her notebook. Well, isn't she a bit of a know-it-all, it's no wonder she's in Ravenclaw, she thought quietly to herself.

"Ding ding we have a winner. Take 5 points for Hufflepuff Molly"

Quote:

Originally Posted by bad_faith

Shauna raised her hand.

"Actually, I agree with Bess. I wouldn't be surprised if they did have healing powers because the ancient Greeks used many animals and their properties (such as an ant brew for spider bites) to heal their sick. From what history tells us, dried and powedered cockroaches were used to aide the digestive system to keep it functioning normally; they were also an important ingredient in a rememdy to help diseases such as pleurisy and pericarditis. Anyways, i'm not sure if that shed so much light on why they're in a cleaning solution, but.. " Shauna gave a small shrug. She then continued, "I, acutally, find it ironic we're using roaches simply because one would think that would be the last thing you would want to add to a cleaning potion. Why? Because roaches are usually associated with filth and grime. They can even cause allergic reactions when somewhat sensitive people come in contact with dust.. old food.. and other gross items. Therefore, my guess for their use is that we're going to somehow use their properties against them? Sort of like adding a negative to a positive?" Shauna shrugged again and thought to herself, 'well I put in my two cents anyways..'

"Also a good point. Some of you indicated the use of cockroach in medicinal potions, which I will agree are completely valid uses for this particular ingredient, but what I was asking was why we would want to use it in a cleaning solution. As Shauna has stated, cockroaches are usually found in the most dirty, messy places. But, the cockroaches don't create the mess do they? They act more like minature garbage disposals" Adam said, pausing after speaking to take another drink, this time of water.

"Now comes the fun part - at the moment most of your potions smell like garlic, if you have an idea for a scent that you want to include in your potion please so so now, then mix the scent well into your potion. The colour it ends up as might be differ from the pale green you have at the moment - I look forward to seeing what colours you can create. If you can't think of a scent at the moment, feel free to ask one of your classmates for ideas".

OOC: I'll wrap up this class later on tonight. Feel free to discuss scents between yourselves, but don't move on to testing your potion on the garbage (I think i'll make it the homework).

Celestina nudged Tag. Surely he had some clever idea for a scent.

"What have you got?" She asked him. "And don't say cat pee."

Cecilia smiled as she heard the professor say that it was time to add their scent. She added the scents of Lavender and Jasmine, her potion now smelled like a fresh garden. The color of her potion had turned a bright Emerald green.

Amelia had an idea for a scent, and she reached into her bag, pulling out an apple, an orange, a pear, and a banana. She took her knife out and began cutting the apple into slices and then dumped it into the potion. She did the same thing with the other pieces of fruit, careful not to chop it up too much. She stirred it a few times to the right and then smelled it.

"Professor Dresden, come smell mine! It smells like a bowl of fruit!" She exclaimed excitedly. "Can I go test it out on that pile of garbage now?"

Ali was a bit disappointed that the professor did not say anything about her answer on the powdered cockroaches, but then realized that her answer was close to Molly's. She covered her nose as the scent of garlic entered it, then she thought about a scent that she could add to her potion