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XanaSnape · 03-15-2010, 05:09 PM

The sharp smell of hot metal cauldrons filled with malodorous contents mingle with the cool, musty smell of dungeon air, marrying to create that peculiar scent that veteran Hogwarts students immediately recognize as Eau de Potions Classroom. Buried deep within the castle's underbelly, the potions classroom is dim and dank, lit only by the flicker of candle-laden chandeliers and the dim blue flames that sit beneath the cauldrons at the front of the class. If you were to touch the bare stone walls, and it is not recommended that you do, your hand would come back to you lightly coated with an unpleasant cold slime-- the accumulation of years of potion vapors, combined with dust and mildew and condensation and things you'd probably rather not think about (much less actually have on your skin).

The room houses several large obsidian workstations, each set with two wooden stools to encourage the students to work in pairs. Each workstation has ample room for the students to set up their cauldrons and other equipment, and the walls are lined with jars and bottles containing all sorts of potions supplies, from friendly-looking dried flowers to jars of bulging eyeballs and entrails. One contains something that vaguely looks like a pickled hand, and it pulses as it floats, as though waving at the students.

Each container is labeled in the Professor's shaky old man's script, and at the back of the room are shelves groaning under the weight of huge potions encyclopedias and texts.

At the front of the classroom there is a lectern and a desk with the professor's chair. There is also a workstation with a cauldron and several bottles and jars. Behind it, a large charmed chalkboard stands. On it are written these simple instructions:

Quote:

POTIONS PERIOD THREE: COMBINED CLASS
(Basic, O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. Students)

Please be seated. The professor will be with you momentarily. Be certain that you have all your potions equipment with you; failure to do so may cost your House points. Please set up your workstations, inspecting your cauldrons and preparing your equipment. N.E.W.T. level students, please set up your workstation and then assist any lower class students as necessary. I expect all students will be set up and ready to work upon my arrival without exception.

--Professor Kazimeriz

Class Synopsis
Post 54: The professor has set a puzzle for the class to solve. Use your analytical skills to determine what ingredient is missing from your potion and PM me the answer!

Post 59 Those who are solving the puzzle receive a cauldron embossed with their house crest and name as a reward. Then students are to brew a wit-sharpening potion. Jump on in at any time, solving the puzzle and brewing the potion!

ooc: Come on in and get set up! Feel free to talk amongst yourselves as you RP setting up to work (just don't turn this into a 'chat thread', or I will delete your posts without warning). Please feel free to RP helping each other set up as necessary. Remember: Have fun! Be creative! and Feel free to PM me with questions, as always. Xana

Mrs. Weasley · 03-22-2010, 03:29 AM

Sidney looks through all the Potion Books she has. She's about the give up when she finally finds on Sidney hope matches her grade level.

Quote:

Wit-Sharpening Potion

500ml Armadillo Bile
8 drams Fluxweed (crushed)
2.5ml Ginger (peeled and chopped)
5ml Scarab Beetles (crushed to a powder)

Crush Fluxweed. Pour Armadillo Bile into cauldron. Bring to a boil. When potion has reached a roaring boil, add Fluxweed. Stir potion 5 times clockwise. Let potion boil for 10 minutes stirring occasionally as needed. Do Not Allow The Potion to Boil Over.

Peel ginger root and chop fine. When time is up, add ginger to potion. Reduce heat. The potion needs to come to a simmer for 30 minutes. Stir potion counter-clockwise 3 times. The potion must be stirred counter-clockwise 3 times an additional 3 times while it simmers. Place the lid on the cauldron.

Grind Scarab Beetles to a find powder. Measure exactly 5ml. Sprinkle the powder over the potion. Do Not Stir Or DO Anything Else To The Potion! Replace lid. Let potion brew for 45 minutes.

When time has elapsed, the potion will have reduced by half and now be a deep purple. If it is not, then you have done something wrong. Remove cauldron from heat and let cool. The potion should now have a slightly thick consistency. Ladle potion into individual vials. Seal by using a sealing charm. Potion should remain potent for three month if sealed properly.

Sidney opens her potion journal and swishes her wand over the text book, and then does the same thing over her journal. The potion instructions appear on the page. First things first, I need to gather up the ingredients I don't have and get to work. Sidney goes through her potion kit and finds the Armadillo Bile. She then finds her knife, mortar and pestle, and her scales. Sidney then goes to the potion store. She grabs a tray on the way. Once inside, she finds the fluxweed, ginger root, and a bottle of scarab beetles. The label just says Scarab Beetles. I hope there the ones I need. With her ingredients in hand, Sidney walks back to her work station.

Sidney reads the directions. According to the directons, I should prepare the fluxweed before I add the Armadillo Bile to my cauldron. I'd better do things according to the directions. I don't need anymore exploding cauldrons on my record. Sidney cuts the fluxweed into smaller pieces and then puts a small amount in her mortar. She crushes it with the pestal. Sidney continues to do this until she has a bowl full. She measure 8 drams of fluxweed into her measuring beaker. Sidney places it to the right of her cauldron. She finds her mixing stick and puts it next to the beaker. Sidney goes to the supply table and picks up another beaker. She measures 500l of Armadillo Bile and pours it into her cauldron. Sidney arranges the wood under her cauldron and lites it. The flames shoot up the side of the stand and lick the bottom of her cauldron.

Sidney stands up and watches the Armadillo Bile in her cauldron. What is it they say? A watched pot never boils. It does seem to take forever for the bile to boil, but it finally does. Sidney pours the fluxweed into the cauldron and stirs the potion five times clockwise. She turns her hourglass over and fixes it so the glass will inform her when ten minutes has elapsed.

Sidney checks the instructions again. I'd better get to work on the ginger root. It has to go in at the end of the 10 minutes. Sidney grabs the the root and her knife. She cuts off a part of the root. No need to peel the whole thing. Ginger root stores better with its skin still on. You can place a sealing charm on the end you cut the piece from. All that time helping in the kitchen has really helped Sidney's knife skills. She has no trouble cutting the ginger root into fine pieces. Then Sidney hears bubbling sounds coming from her cauldron. She looks up to see the potion boiling up to the rim of the cauldron. Sidney jumps up and grabs her stirring stick. She stirs like crazy to slow down the boiling process. Sidney quickly switches the stirring stick into her left hand. With her right hand she grabs her wand out of its holster. She points it at the fire and reduces the heat. Slowly the flames work their way back down. They're no longer licking the sides of her cauldorn. Sidney lets out a sigh of relief. That was close. I don't think I want to find out what happens if the potion hits those flames.

Before Sidney can sit back down the hour glass starts buzzing. Sidney waves her wand over it and the buzzing stops. Time to add the ginger. Sidney checks the instructions again. I need 2.5ml of ginger.[/I] Sidney grabs the beaker she had just measured the fluxweed in. She picks up some ginger with her knife. Not so fast... Remember what happened the last time you mixed ingredients together before adding them to your potion. Sidney grabs the beaker and runs to the sink. She quickly watches and dries it. Sidney then goes back to her work station and measure 2.5ml of ginger. She then adds it to the potion. Sidney stirs the potion counter clockwise 3 times. The instructions say I need to reduce the heat. I've already done that while it was boiling, so I shouldn't need to do it again. Sidney places the lid on her cauldron, sets the hour glass for 10 minutes, and cleans her work station.

Maxilocks · 03-22-2010, 04:58 AM

Gold frowned. She knew what suited her level, but did she have to run a check with Professor Kazimeriz, first? She thought of it, then decided against it. He was in the classroom and, well-aware of his hawk's eye and cat!ears - metaphorically, of course; not literally - she was pretty sure he would learn of anything wrong, at once.

That decided, she reached out for her journal, and jotted her thoughts down. Her thoughts on the potion she was going to brew, that is. She had not failed a test before, and her grades had been good, which meant she could experiment a little, did it not? Ah well, she would think of that, later. For now, she needed to get a start, or she would lag behind.

She set up her cauldron, and started a low flame underneath it. Then she measured exactly one ounce of distilled water, and introduced this into the cauldron. That done, she reached for the Ginger root, cutting up a tiny quantity, and crushing it with mortar-and-pestle. She poured this into the cauldron, a soft powder that turned her potion a very pale, greenish shade, the moment it made contact with the water.

"Ginger root..." she muttered to herself, as she noted something down in her journal. "Nigella sativa.. Nigella sativa..." She stepped up to the storage cabinet, to retrieve everything she needed while her potion took its time to blend and, returning to her workstation, measured out what would be exactly three tablespoons of Nigella sativa seeds.

She introduced them to the cauldron, the fine black seeds. They splooshed down into her cauldron, and she raised a hand. "Professor?" she asked, rather quietly. "I want to work with prepared Acromantula venom. Would that be too advanced for me?"

Please say no, I want to experiment.

She hated waiting, sometimes.

XanaSnape · 03-22-2010, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zellanna

"I'm still considering it," she said as she started crushing the almond slivers. Something about a de-aging potion bugged her, and not because she'd used it on Raiden and Neptune. But, that didn't seem right either. "I was considering a small amount of Valerian root, bringing out it's anti-convulsive properties. I'm not too worried about its sedative effect considering a small amount of extra sedative couldn't hurt in this case."

She smiled up at him once making sure that her attention could be spared as her potion settled a bit more. "That's why I want to take my OWLs early. I know I don't have a good chance... But I really want to be a NEWT-level student. There's so much more to learn, and I feel like I'm stuck doing child's work." She turned back to her potion making, getting out what she had left of her dragon blood and searching deeper into her bag. Finding she did have gotu kola, she breathed a sigh of relief and sorted it with everything else, preparing the two to be added.

He contemplated this. "That would be entirely at the discretion of the Headmaster, of course. I suggest you speak with him about your ambition, but to be honest, I would not give my recommendation for you to skip O.W.L. year. Even though your skills are above your year, there is much material that is covered during O.W.L. year and potions is an aggregate discipline, building on itself. It is easy to miss a minor but important bit of information along the way, and if you do that you may stunt your progress significantly."

He paused. "The Valerian's sedative affect is not the issue-- valerian itself is going to cloud your potion and render it inert. It is a peculiar interaction with scarab; scarab is fairly picky about what it is brewed with... and that is something you would learn in O.W.L. year. he said, raising an eyebrow as if to say, you have proven my point. He half-smiled. "Keep digging; you will find the solution in the fluid from a mundane animal, found in South America. Let me know when you have a theory." Smirking a little at the hint, he went to check on other students.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs. Weasley

Sidney looks through all the Potion Books she has. She's about the give up when she finally finds on Sidney hope matches her grade level.

Sidney opens her potion journal and swishes her wand over the text book, and then does the same thing over her journal. The potion instructions appear on the page. First things first, I need to gather up the ingredients I don't have and get to work. Sidney goes through her potion kit and finds the Armadillo Bile. She then finds her knife, mortar and pestle, and her scales. Sidney then goes to the potion store. She grabs a tray on the way. Once inside, she finds the fluxweed, ginger root, and a bottle of scarab beetles. The label just says Scarab Beetles. I hope there the ones I need. With her ingredients in hand, Sidney walks back to her work station.

Sidney reads the directions. According to the directons, I should prepare the fluxweed before I add the Armadillo Bile to my cauldron. I'd better do things according to the directions. I don't need anymore exploding cauldrons on my record. Sidney cuts the fluxweed into smaller pieces and then puts a small amount in her mortar. She crushes it with the pestal. Sidney continues to do this until she has a bowl full. She measure 8 drams of fluxweed into her measuring beaker. Sidney places it to the right of her cauldron. She finds her mixing stick and puts it next to the beaker. Sidney goes to the supply table and picks up another beaker. She measures 500l of Armadillo Bile and pours it into her cauldron. Sidney arranges the wood under her cauldron and lites it. The flames shoot up the side of the stand and lick the bottom of her cauldron.

Sidney stands up and watches the Armadillo Bile in her cauldron. What is it they say? A watched pot never boils. It does seem to take forever for the bile to boil, but it finally does. Sidney pours the fluxweed into the cauldron and stirs the potion five times clockwise. She turns her hourglass over and fixes it so the glass will inform her when ten minutes has elapsed.

Sidney checks the instructions again. I'd better get to work on the ginger root. It has to go in at the end of the 10 minutes. Sidney grabs the the root and her knife. She cuts off a part of the root. No need to peel the whole thing. Ginger root stores better with its skin still on. You can place a sealing charm on the end you cut the piece from. All that time helping in the kitchen has really helped Sidney's knife skills. She has no trouble cutting the ginger root into fine pieces. Then Sidney hears bubbling sounds coming from her cauldron. She looks up to see the potion boiling up to the rim of the cauldron. Sidney jumps up and grabs her stirring stick. She stirs like crazy to slow down the boiling process. Sidney quickly switches the stirring stick into her left hand. With her right hand she grabs her wand out of its holster. She points it at the fire and reduces the heat. Slowly the flames work their way back down. They're no longer licking the sides of her cauldorn. Sidney lets out a sigh of relief. That was close. I don't think I want to find out what happens if the potion hits those flames.

Before Sidney can sit back down the hour glass starts buzzing. Sidney waves her wand over it and the buzzing stops. Time to add the ginger. Sidney checks the instructions again. I need 2.5ml of ginger.[/I] Sidney grabs the beaker she had just measured the fluxweed in. She picks up some ginger with her knife. Not so fast... Remember what happened the last time you mixed ingredients together before adding them to your potion. Sidney grabs the beaker and runs to the sink. She quickly watches and dries it. Sidney then goes back to her work station and measure 2.5ml of ginger. She then adds it to the potion. Sidney stirs the potion counter clockwise 3 times. The instructions say I need to reduce the heat. I've already done that while it was boiling, so I shouldn't need to do it again. Sidney places the lid on her cauldron, sets the hour glass for 10 minutes, and cleans her work station.

"Excellent work; I am happy to see you being so much more methodical." He looked over her work. "But you best reduce your heat again, and quickly, or you shall have a mess on your hands. Follow the directions to the letter."

Quote:

Originally Posted by SenoritaMaxie

Gold frowned. She knew what suited her level, but did she have to run a check with Professor Kazimeriz, first? She thought of it, then decided against it. He was in the classroom and, well-aware of his hawk's eye and cat!ears - metaphorically, of course; not literally - she was pretty sure he would learn of anything wrong, at once.

That decided, she reached out for her journal, and jotted her thoughts down. Her thoughts on the potion she was going to brew, that is. She had not failed a test before, and her grades had been good, which meant she could experiment a little, did it not? Ah well, she would think of that, later. For now, she needed to get a start, or she would lag behind.

She set up her cauldron, and started a low flame underneath it. Then she measured exactly one ounce of distilled water, and introduced this into the cauldron. That done, she reached for the Ginger root, cutting up a tiny quantity, and crushing it with mortar-and-pestle. She poured this into the cauldron, a soft powder that turned her potion a very pale, greenish shade, the moment it made contact with the water.

"Ginger root..." she muttered to herself, as she noted something down in her journal. "Nigella sativa.. Nigella sativa..." She stepped up to the storage cabinet, to retrieve everything she needed while her potion took its time to blend and, returning to her workstation, measured out what would be exactly three tablespoons of Nigella sativa seeds.

She introduced them to the cauldron, the fine black seeds. They splooshed down into her cauldron, and she raised a hand. "Professor?" she asked, rather quietly. "I want to work with prepared Acromantula venom. Would that be too advanced for me?"

Please say no, I want to experiment.

She hated waiting, sometimes.

"You may; I think your skills are up to the challenge. But take care to wear gloves when handling it and take extra care not to spill, and to keep your workstation immaculately clean so that you are certain not to miss a drop of spilled venom; it is extremely toxic even when prepared." Kazimeriz said. "And take note, if anyone goes to Hospital for exposure to acromantula venom due to your carelessness, you will bear the responsibility and the consequences will be harsh." Kazimeriz smiled as though he had just told her she'd won the lottery.

"Please finish up your potions and get them into phials; class period is nearly over."

Zellanna · 03-22-2010, 07:00 PM

Lina frowned. She'd considered sloth brain before, but she didn't have any, and thought that Valerian would have been a good substitute. "Please tell me not sloth brain... I don't have any. It's rather hard to keep that in the dorms." She glared at the scarabs that weren't in her potion as if it were all their fault. "And if I don't skip my OWL year..." She growled a little. She wanted something more than what she knew those classes would offer. "Is there like, an advanced set of OWL classes I can take or something?"

Ivy Nienna · 03-22-2010, 07:12 PM

Having read the instructions more then 5 times now, Ivory took a few deep breaths and began.
Step one was to prepare the ingredients. She could do that, no problem. After having read that right before the addition of the Sphinx Whisker one had to leave to potion to simmer for 5 minutes, she had decided she wouldn’t handle the dangerous whisker till then.

Hopping off her stool, she copied down the list of ingredients in her journal, grabbed a tray, and made her way to the Potion stores. Bile, Armadillo, check. Placing it on her tray she tried to not think about where that liquid had been prior to that jar.

Shuddering slightly, she moved on down her list. Jar of Scarab Beetles, Ginger root, the small jar labeled Hair, Elephant’s ear, the small phial with stopper of Tears, Owl.

The bottle of Rosemary oil was next deposited on her tray followed closely by the small container of Runespoor eggs and a handful of Waterhyssops. Eyeing the tiny glass jar of almost spun glass looking Sphinx Whiskers, she looked down at her tray and then up again.

Nah…she could come back for it. Heaven forbid, she drop the jar and then be the cause of everyone’s horrible injuries…even deaths.

Shuddering again at the thought of handling only one of them later, she carried her tray back to her workstation before heading back for the small jar. Somehow the journey over to it was waaaaay shorter than the way back with the jar. Sure it might’ve been because she was taking oh so tiny baby steps, and holding the small jar in gloved hands as far away from her body as her little arms could allow, but odds were it was a mental trick. Like how when a person stared at the minute hand on a clock it seemed to drag on.

When she finally made it back to her stool she placed the small jar safely in a covered bowl a bit of a distance away from the other ingredients. Never can be too careful.

For now, she would work on the simple ingredients…like water. Nice safe no threatening water.

Grabbing a 500ml beaker, she decided to travel the safer road and actually go to the sink at the back of the room rather than bring out her wand. What if a stream of water just shot out and hit the jar and then-
Nope sink water was safe.

So 500mL of water…check. In another beaker she measure out the one ounce of Rosemary oil and set it aside knowing it was to be used for the infusion later.

Next on the list 2 coarsely ground scarab beetles.

Her pestle in hand, she scooped out two beetles and began the simple job of pulverizing them one at a time. Not too much of course. They were meant to be coarse not fine powdered. Placing the crunchy results in separate small bowls, she picked out the most healthy looking ginger root and brought out her knife. Cutting a few pieces off, she placed a 5gram weight on her brass scales, and zeroed it with a piece of weight paper on the corresponding other side. After the tedious process of adding and taking off pieces of root, she finally had two separate tiny piles with 5 grams of ginger root on each. Making sure to wash out her mortar completely first, she made fine powder of the first five grams and only cut up the second, setting both aside in individual mini-bowls.

In yet another small bowl, she used small tongs to single out one Runespoor egg and made sure to close the jar tightly once again since she knew from her Grandmother that they were an expensive ingredient.

For the Armadillo Bile and the Owl Tears she simply set the small bottles aside along with a small sterile pipette right next to each. Smiling at the ease at which everything was progressing at least for now, she moved on to the Waterhyssop.

The process of pressing the liquid essence out of the plant was one that surprised her in its simplicity. After the having to do that with Devil’s Snare, well this was a piece of cake…considering the plant wasn’t a killer plant that went for the jugular.

Finally all she had to do was use a pair of fine tweezers to set one elephant hair in a tiny phial because sadly she ran out of her mini-bowls and besides…from a phial it’d be a lesser chance of it flying away if someone walked by and unsettled it.

Rubbing her hands together, a bit excited now, Ivory brought out her journal and wrote down everything she’d done to that point and reread the instructions a few more times before beginning.

SPOILER!!: Ivory's Journal

Ladybug · 03-22-2010, 08:00 PM

Bella looked down at her almost finished potion.

Add a bit of that, a bit of this...and volia potion

Well it looked that simple in the book, in actual fact it was hard! her hair was all over the place, so not a good look! but at least her potion was looking towards something. Messy hair was something she could live with. Right?

Sighing she looked down at the textbook again, and picking up the next ingrediant. dropping it into the potion she watched it change, smiling slightly to herself.

She carried on like this was a while more, until she had reached the last ingreadiant of the potion. He hair seriously messed up, she dropped the ingrediant into the potion. It changed once more.

"Finally" She breathed as she took out her wand and pointed it at her hair. It magically went to messy to looking good. She smiled.

Filling up to philes of her potion, she labeled them

"Finished Professor" She said cheerfully. Her two philes sitting on the table.

XanaSnape · 03-22-2010, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zellanna

Lina frowned. She'd considered sloth brain before, but she didn't have any, and thought that Valerian would have been a good substitute. "Please tell me not sloth brain... I don't have any. It's rather hard to keep that in the dorms." She glared at the scarabs that weren't in her potion as if it were all their fault. "And if I don't skip my OWL year..." She growled a little. She wanted something more than what she knew those classes would offer. "Is there like, an advanced set of OWL classes I can take or something?"

"We can certainly make arrangements for supplementary curriculum as well as differentiated curriculum in the potions lab. Let us see how you score on your finals, and then we will discuss the matter in my office over tea." He smiled at the little girl, happy to encourage her oh-so-Slytherin ambition. "Not sloth brain. But close. Very, very close. It is something in the stores, and as I said, something that is a fluid-- a liquid. Think about what you are trying to accomplish with the ingredient, and see if you can research it... There is a book in the shelves entitled Side Effects and Salamanders: Mundane Animals Used in Potions that you may find quite helpful. It is the dusty one with the grey-green binding, third shelf from the bottom. Do be careful with the binding, it is out of print and quite fragile." He gestured toward a worn, dusty book that looked as though it had seen many decades of use.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ivy Nienna

Having read the instructions more then 5 times now, Ivory took a few deep breaths and began.
Step one was to prepare the ingredients. She could do that, no problem. After having read that right before the addition of the Sphinx Whisker one had to leave to potion to simmer for 5 minutes, she had decided she wouldn’t handle the dangerous whisker till then.

Hopping off her stool, she copied down the list of ingredients in her journal, grabbed a tray, and made her way to the Potion stores. Bile, Armadillo, check. Placing it on her tray she tried to not think about where that liquid had been prior to that jar.

Shuddering slightly, she moved on down her list. Jar of Scarab Beetles, Ginger root, the small jar labeled Hair, Elephant’s ear, the small phial with stopper of Tears, Owl.

The bottle of Rosemary oil was next deposited on her tray followed closely by the small container of Runespoor eggs and a handful of Waterhyssops. Eyeing the tiny glass jar of almost spun glass looking Sphinx Whiskers, she looked down at her tray and then up again.

Nah…she could come back for it. Heaven forbid, she drop the jar and then be the cause of everyone’s horrible injuries…even deaths.

Shuddering again at the thought of handling only one of them later, she carried her tray back to her workstation before heading back for the small jar. Somehow the journey over to it was waaaaay shorter than the way back with the jar. Sure it might’ve been because she was taking oh so tiny baby steps, and holding the small jar in gloved hands as far away from her body as her little arms could allow, but odds were it was a mental trick. Like how when a person stared at the minute hand on a clock it seemed to drag on.

When she finally made it back to her stool she placed the small jar safely in a covered bowl a bit of a distance away from the other ingredients. Never can be too careful.

For now, she would work on the simple ingredients…like water. Nice safe no threatening water.

Grabbing a 500ml beaker, she decided to travel the safer road and actually go to the sink at the back of the room rather than bring out her wand. What if a stream of water just shot out and hit the jar and then-
Nope sink water was safe.

So 500mL of water…check. In another beaker she measure out the one ounce of Rosemary oil and set it aside knowing it was to be used for the infusion later.

Next on the list 2 coarsely ground scarab beetles.

Her pestle in hand, she scooped out two beetles and began the simple job of pulverizing them one at a time. Not too much of course. They were meant to be coarse not fine powdered. Placing the crunchy results in separate small bowls, she picked out the most healthy looking ginger root and brought out her knife. Cutting a few pieces off, she placed a 5gram weight on her brass scales, and zeroed it with a piece of weight paper on the corresponding other side. After the tedious process of adding and taking off pieces of root, she finally had two separate tiny piles with 5 grams of ginger root on each. Making sure to wash out her mortar completely first, she made fine powder of the first five grams and only cut up the second, setting both aside in individual mini-bowls.

In yet another small bowl, she used small tongs to single out one Runespoor egg and made sure to close the jar tightly once again since she knew from her Grandmother that they were an expensive ingredient.

For the Armadillo Bile and the Owl Tears she simply set the small bottles aside along with a small sterile pipette right next to each. Smiling at the ease at which everything was progressing at least for now, she moved on to the Waterhyssop.

The process of pressing the liquid essence out of the plant was one that surprised her in its simplicity. After the having to do that with Devil’s Snare, well this was a piece of cake…considering the plant wasn’t a killer plant that went for the jugular.

Finally all she had to do was use a pair of fine tweezers to set one elephant hair in a tiny phial because sadly she ran out of her mini-bowls and besides…from a phial it’d be a lesser chance of it flying away if someone walked by and unsettled it.

Rubbing her hands together, a bit excited now, Ivory brought out her journal and wrote down everything she’d done to that point and reread the instructions a few more times before beginning.

SPOILER!!: Ivory's Journal

Kazimeriz cruised back over to where Miss Erised was working. "I see you are taking precautions with those whiskers. Very wise. Tell me, how do you plan to get one out of the jar? They shatter easily, after all." He quirked his head, interested in hearing the girl's plan to get the delicate whisker out of the tiny jar's mouth.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miss Evans!

Bella looked down at her almost finished potion.

Add a bit of that, a bit of this...and volia potion

Well it looked that simple in the book, in actual fact it was hard! her hair was all over the place, so not a good look! but at least her potion was looking towards something. Messy hair was something she could live with. Right?

Sighing she looked down at the textbook again, and picking up the next ingrediant. dropping it into the potion she watched it change, smiling slightly to herself.

She carried on like this was a while more, until she had reached the last ingreadiant of the potion. He hair seriously messed up, she dropped the ingrediant into the potion. It changed once more.

"Finally" She breathed as she took out her wand and pointed it at her hair. It magically went to messy to looking good. She smiled.

Filling up to philes of her potion, she labeled them

"Finished Professor" She said cheerfully. Her two philes sitting on the table.

"Very good, Miss Evans!" He nodded with approval. "Please turn one in at my desk, and bring the other with you to finals. You may clean up your desk area and clean out your cauldron, and then you are dismissed. Do not forget to take your prize cauldron with you, of course." He smiled at her.

AlwaysDance · 03-22-2010, 08:37 PM

Jacklyn Caroline brings her finished vile of potion up and sets it on the Proffessor's desk. "Done proffessor!"

Ladybug · 03-22-2010, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XanaSnape

"Very good, Miss Evans!" He nodded with approval. "Please turn one in at my desk, and bring the other with you to finals. You may clean up your desk area and clean out your cauldron, and then you are dismissed. Do not forget to take your prize cauldron with you, of course." He smiled at her.

Bella smiled a bright smile as she picked up one of her phile's. She was glad she had finished her potion, although she had had fun making it. But there had been no accident's, a accident free zone for today.

She slipped her other potion very carefully into her bag and looked down a her couldron. Prize couldron? Shrugging she picked up the couldron, her other one was at the moment packed up.

She didn't know, was she aloud to go now that she had finished, or did she have to stay. There could be homework. Putting her hand slowly in the air she said, "Sir, can i go. Or do i need to stay till the end?" She asked.

DH Vixen · 03-23-2010, 01:48 AM

Mina hurried to add the finishing touches to her potion and divided it into two phials. Jotting down all her notes in her journal, she tidied up and labeled her phials.

She hadn't been there mentally all of the lesson, but she still managed to get her potion done.

Ivy Nienna · 03-23-2010, 04:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XanaSnape

Kazimeriz cruised back over to where Miss Erised was working. "I see you are taking precautions with those whiskers. Very wise. Tell me, how do you plan to get one out of the jar? They shatter easily, after all." He quirked his head, interested in hearing the girl's plan to get the delicate whisker out of the tiny jar's mouth.

Ivory smiled up at the Professor. Yes siree Bob, she was being careful.
Most especially after the certain accident with the ~~faulty~~ stirrer. Ahm. Yes.

But wait...? What...? ...Huh?

Her face quickly turned to one of confusion and she was pretty sure that the question marks she saw flying around in the air were entirely visible.

"Well I suppose just sticking my finger in there and moving it around until one sticks is out of the question sooooo....that...er...makes that a very good question, Professor...one which I have considered with great thought...and concentration...and...I...have come to the conclusion...that...the solution...which I,...that is me...am looking for, for this problem...is the use of..." She totally had thought of this already. Totally. And she was soo not stalling...well...maybe just a little.

Using the valuable blabbering time as a stalling technique while her gaze roved her workstation trying to come up with an idea, her eyes finally fell on one of the pipettes and she lifted it up triumphantly."The use of THIS!"

As she held it up in the air, she tried to keep her smile as confident as possible. On hind sight she'd blabbed for a good time but the result wasn't soo bad. A pipette? She could've thought of worse. She could've been serious about sticking her finger in, or about using the tweezers which would just break the little thing, or just tipping the jar until only one came out.

No, a pipette was not that bad an idea. The whiskers were light, right? A good strong confident release of the pipettes bulb would whoosh one right in there...just like a lung would right? Except you know...without the attack on a person's trachea or bronchus.

Staring up at the Professor, the pipette held high in the air, she waited for his response.

XanaSnape · 03-23-2010, 04:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahb

Jacklyn Caroline brings her finished vile of potion up and sets it on the Proffessor's desk. "Done proffessor!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evangeline Hermione

Bella smiled a bright smile as she picked up one of her phile's. She was glad she had finished her potion, although she had had fun making it. But there had been no accident's, a accident free zone for today.

She slipped her other potion very carefully into her bag and looked down a her couldron. Prize couldron? Shrugging she picked up the couldron, her other one was at the moment packed up.

She didn't know, was she aloud to go now that she had finished, or did she have to stay. There could be homework. Putting her hand slowly in the air she said, "Sir, can i go. Or do i need to stay till the end?" She asked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DH Vixen

Mina hurried to add the finishing touches to her potion and divided it into two phials. Jotting down all her notes in her journal, she tidied up and labeled her phials.

She hadn't been there mentally all of the lesson, but she still managed to get her potion done.

"Very good, all of you. As you finish you may turn in your phial, clean up and you are excused. There is no homework as I expect you to use your time to study for finals." Kazimeriz said. "Do not forget to bring your second phial with you to finals."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ivy Nienna

Ivory smiled up at the Professor. Yes siree Bob, she was being careful.
Most especially after the certain accident with the ~~faulty~~ stirrer. Ahm. Yes.

But wait...? What...? ...Huh?

Her face quickly turned to one of confusion and she was pretty sure that the question marks she saw flying around in the air were entirely visible.

"Well I suppose just sticking my finger in there and moving it around until one sticks is out of the question sooooo....that...er...makes that a very good question, Professor...one which I have considered with great thought...and concentration...and...I...have come to the conclusion...that...the solution...which I,...that is me...am looking for, for this problem...is the use of..." She totally had thought of this already. Totally. And she was soo not stalling...well...maybe just a little.

Using the valuable blabbering time as a stalling technique while her gaze roved her workstation trying to come up with an idea, her eyes finally fell on one of the pipettes and she lifted it up triumphantly."The use of THIS!"

As she held it up in the air, she tried to keep her smile as confident as possible. On hind sight she'd blabbed for a good time but the result wasn't soo bad. A pipette? She could've thought of worse. She could've been serious about sticking her finger in, or about using the tweezers which would just break the little thing, or just tipping the jar until only one came out.

No, a pipette was not that bad an idea. The whiskers were light, right? A good strong confident release of the pipettes bulb would whoosh one right in there...just like a lung would right? Except you know...without the attack on a person's trachea or bronchus.

Staring up at the Professor, the pipette held high in the air, she waited for his response.

He grinned. "Excellent. Two points." he nodded. "Hold your breath while you extract it and be gentle so you do not shatter the whisker. Funny thing, sphinx whiskers- they are soft and delicate on the animal, but become like threads of brittle glass once removed from the beast."

Ivy Nienna · 03-23-2010, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XanaSnape

He grinned. "Excellent. Two points." he nodded. "Hold your breath while you extract it and be gentle so you do not shatter the whisker. Funny thing, sphinx whiskers- they are soft and delicate on the animal, but become like threads of brittle glass once removed from the beast."

Hearing the Professor's words, Ivory let the breath she didn't realize she was holding expel from her as of yet completely healthy lungs in relief.

She hadn't known how much she wanted this man's approval until he had given it and at that point it had felt like all the attention in the world. Excellent! he'd said. That just made up for all the chaos she'd caused last lesson...well that and the two points. Those weren't ignored of course. Points were always loved. Especially towards the end of the year when the houses were neck and neck for them.

Smiling up at him still holding up the pipette, she nodded enthusiastically.
"Will do sir. I'll hold my breath so good the whisker won't even think of going up my nose! Why...I'll even do this at the same time..."

Finally putting down the pipette, she brought the collar of her robes over her nose and mouth to illustrate. Sure she looked ridiculous probably and maybe a bit of a terrorist, albeit a very short one, but safety was safety...and those little whiskers of lung disease weren't getting anywhere near hers.

Maxilocks · 03-23-2010, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XanaSnape

"You may; I think your skills are up to the challenge. But take care to wear gloves when handling it and take extra care not to spill, and to keep your workstation immaculately clean so that you are certain not to miss a drop of spilled venom; it is extremely toxic even when prepared." Kazimeriz said. "And take note, if anyone goes to Hospital for exposure to acromantula venom due to your carelessness, you will bear the responsibility and the consequences will be harsh." Kazimeriz smiled as though he had just told her she'd won the lottery.

"Please finish up your potions and get them into phials; class period is nearly over."

SCORE!

"Thank you, sir," Gold began -- and then she stopped. Why did he sound so HAPPY about that? Honestly! But there was a reason Professor Kazimeriz was her all-time favourite professor, and his... happiness at other's misfortunes? Okay, his style. Yeah, that was part of it.

The reason, that is.

She reached for Acromantula venom, and measured out exactly three drops. That thing was not only expensive, but also... very powerful. Three drops were more than fine, for what she had in mind.

Gold had decided on powder of walnuts as an ingredient, and she had originally thought of blending the Acromantula Venom into those, but she decided now that, both being quite powerful in their own way, they should probably not be introduced to each other, before being added into the cauldron.

She didn't want to convert people into that muggle guy - what was his name, again? Ah yes, Einstein - or something of that sort, really.

The point was to sharpen wits.

NOT... razor-sharpen them, you know.

So she introduced both ingredients separately, beginning with one drop of the Venom, stirring clockwise, adding the walnut powder, stirring anti-clockwise, adding the second drop of Venom, stirring clockwise again, and so on, until all three drops of venom had disappeared into her potion. The change in direction would help things, along.

The contents of her potion turned a dark, rather deathly black, when that last step of hers was over, and Gold frowned, deciding it was too... heavy. She needed something to lighten her potion.

She also needed to get the remaining Acromantula Venom out of the way.

Before it got her into some sort of trouble.

She made sure that it was properly bottled and everything; and, having organized everything on her workstation, carefully returned the bottle to the storage cabinet. That done, she lowered the flame beneath her cauldron, and added exactly half an ounch of finely-powdered moonstone.

Emotional balance... yes, that was to counteract any over-powerful effects the Acromantula Venom might have. When handled wrongly, it was known to cause aggression. Rebellion, other negative stuff that had to do with anger and frustration.

Now, to write this down into her journal, while her potion blended. Gold took up her wand, and caused her cauldron to stir itself, while she dipped her quill into ink, and started to write.

Zellanna · 03-23-2010, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XanaSnape

"We can certainly make arrangements for supplementary curriculum as well as differentiated curriculum in the potions lab. Let us see how you score on your finals, and then we will discuss the matter in my office over tea." He smiled at the little girl, happy to encourage her oh-so-Slytherin ambition. "Not sloth brain. But close. Very, very close. It is something in the stores, and as I said, something that is a fluid-- a liquid. Think about what you are trying to accomplish with the ingredient, and see if you can research it... There is a book in the shelves entitled Side Effects and Salamanders: Mundane Animals Used in Potions that you may find quite helpful. It is the dusty one with the grey-green binding, third shelf from the bottom. Do be careful with the binding, it is out of print and quite fragile." He gestured toward a worn, dusty book that looked as though it had seen many decades of use.

"Alright. And thanks, professor!" She added more to the potion, returning her full focus on it again until she had the chance to go and grab the book. She carefully set down her stirring rod in a little space she'd made just for it and darted to grab the book. She carefully opened it and started reading as she walked back, flipping through as she thought about what she had set to accomplish.

ooc: getting a little vague since the class is closing... will have to assume she finished the potion if it closes before then

Maxilocks · 03-23-2010, 05:59 AM

Right.

Ten minutes later, she was done with the writing, and was glad to see that her potion was now a pale blue, the kind of colour that was a good indication. Gold jotted down this piece of information - the change of colour, that is - in her notebook, and softly closed it.

Now, for the Scarab Beetles. Gold had already crushed a good quantity, quite finely, and now she measured out a certain amount, and introduced it to the point. There was no change in the contents; except, perhaps, that they turned very slightly darker.

She continued to work, reaching for dewdrops harvested from fresh, grass - the ingredient was such a lovely one; and it made her think of wet mornings, and moist red roses, and other beautiful things that had little to do with the Potions classroom, or the subject of Potions - and, uncorking the bottle, she dropped in exactly five drops.

That ought to be enough.

Corking back the bottle, she removed the stirrer from her cauldron, and let the flame beneath it die out. Then she chilled it, bringing its temperature down by several degrees - not too much.

That done, she introduced two more dewdrops and, setting up a very low flame - a very intense one, all of a sudden, would just mean disaster - under the cauldron, once more.

Now, for the Fluxweed. As one of the most effective agents of change, it was necessary, and Gold would introduce it into the potion, right after she had added in the Armadillo Bile. Half an ounce of the latter, first though. She added that, then glanced at her watch. Now, for the wait. The wait to let it blend.

That wouldn't take more than five minutes, Gold was sure, but those five minutes? Well, she would have to wait them out! Gold placed her elbows on her workstation, as she did that, eyeing her dragon hide gloves with random interest. They quite clean, shiny if she may say so, and Gold was proud of how neat they looked. Quite new.

But they weren't making the time pass.

Sooo... she took up a bit of parchment, dipped her fancy-topped quill in ink, and began to write up random stuff on it. The sixth sheikh's sixth sheep is... DOWN WITH A COLD! HELP! HELP! HELP! She eyed what she had written, crossed it out, and wrote.

The FIFTH sheikh's ELEVENTH sheep is... Over there. THERE. *points* Yep, there.

Then she crossed that out, and wrote.

I like bubblegum. Why, yes I do. It tastes sort of sticky, like plastic or rubber or... bubblegum. Bubble. Gum.

Time up!

Gold reached for the Fluxweed, crushed it, and added it to her potion. She alternated between her stirring, then - clockwise, then anti-clockwise - until her arms were a little tired, and the potion had blended so well, the contents were a thoroughly homogeneous yellow. Not an ordinary yellow -- a pretty colour, one that was quite pleasant to see.

"You need one more thing," she said quietly.

... and, measuring out exactly half an ounce of crushed, silvered almonds, Gold poured them into her potion.

The yellow colour acquired a sheen, and the potion was now a bright, sunny shade that shimmered. Not too much, just a little. Gold let the silvered almonds blend completely and, in the meanwhile, finished writing up her journal entry.

Then she let the low flame beneath her cauldron die out - flick of her wand, and it had vanished - and raised a hand.

"Does this look alright, professor?"

Did it?

Ivy Nienna · 03-23-2010, 06:43 AM

Still smiling, Ivory turned back to her workstation. Now that her ingredients were ready and she’d figured out what to do with the Sphinx’s Whisker later, she began to prepare the infusion as the instructions called for.

Placing the beaker with Rosemary oil on the small stand on her workstation, she brought out her wand and concentrated her intent on a small, hot flame. ”Incendio!”

Eyeing the flame she couldn’t help smiling. That spell had probably become her favorite simply because she loved watching the fiery blue tip of her wand blossom outward into a bigger flame. Seeing that the oil was now boiling, she quickly extinguished the flame and grabbed a drop spoon from her Potions Kit. Her memory flashed back to all those times when she had been young and trying to make hard boiled eggs, and yes all the times that she’d broken them but the good thing was she also remembered the tricks she’d learned to not break the shell. And so with all this in mind, she carefully lowered the Runespoor egg into the oil watching tiny bubbles slowly began to form on it.

Part of her wanted to just stay staring at this one egg just to stall off making the potion but she knew time was going by and she had to get moving. Sighing in resignation, she tipped the water filled beaker into cauldron and cast Incendio once again.

And now she waited.

As she brought the two mini-bowls of coarsely ground scarab beetles closer to her, she hummed along to the Jeopardy theme playing in the back of her mind , just waiting for the water to heat.

In the time it took for her to jot down her process and read the instructions again, the water was simmering and it was time to add the scarab beetles. Tipping one little bowl, she immediately grabbed her stirring rod and counted her clockwise turns aloud so she wouldn’t lose count.
1...2...3...4...5...and another beetle. Adding the second coarsely grounded crunchy powder she repeated her stirring again and then checked her book to make sure all was going according to plan

Her mind on bugs now, she began to hum a little tune, occasionally saying a few lyrics aloud as she began setting up her filtering apparatus while the cauldron simmered for another 5 minutes.
The ants go marching one by one, Hoorah…Hoorah…

Not stalling anymore, she carefully poured the Rosemary oil/Runespoor egg infusion through the filter paper and funnel, watching as it efficiently caught all the precipitate and let the rest pass through. Carefully removing the filter paper with the sediment from the funnel, she placed it aside for its later use. Staring that the paper, she could’ve sworn the sediment was in the shape of a sad face but she couldn’t be sure. It was probably sad it wouldn’t be used till later.

But anywho… onward!

The ants go marching two by two, the second one stopped to tie his shoe…

The ounce of Waterhyssop came next, added to the filtered liquid and also moved off a little to the side. Checking the little hourglass timer that she’d placed next to her cauldron Ivory saw she still had a minute and a half before adding the ginger so she took the time to scribble a few scrawled notes on her process.

And they all go marching…down. To the ground. To get out. Of the rain.

Hearing the little magical ping noise, she du-dumed the next part of the tune while she grabbed the mini-bowl and double checked to make sure she had the right bowl before pouring it in. The cut ginger came first and she didn’t want to mess it up.

The ants go marching three by three,
The little one stops to climb a tree

Still du-duming as she overturned the hourglass again to wait for the next five minutes. She tried to not panic as she realized that this was the moment of truth.

Deep breaths, Ivory. Deep Breaths. she coached herself. Because later there wasn’t going to be time for any.

Bringing her robe over her nose and mouth for the extra precaution, she brought the covered bowl closer to her and placed the pipette right next to it..

Opening the cover to the bowl she took out the small jar. Preparing herself with a few ceiling directed prayers and some mumbo jumbo, she squeezing the air out of the pipette between the thunb and index finger of her right hand and holding the bottom of the jar firmly in her right, she steadied her hold.

With one more inhale before holding her breath, she twisted open the lid with a curled pinky and right palm and shifted the hand to insert the pipette into the jar while securely grasping the lid.

She didn’t plunge it all the way in for fear of having them break against it, but rather held it at an angle where there were some against the wall. It took a few tries but finally she had angled it enough that only one individual whisker was right at the tip of the pipette.
Okay it was now or never

Swiftly she let go of the small bulb and watched fascinated as to her great surprise her plan worked. It worked? IT WORKED!

Safely inside the pipette now resided ,count it, One Sphinx Whisker,

Running out of air already, she placed the pipette safely aside and screwed the bottom back into the lid that was still held between her palm and pinky of her right hand. And set it back in the covered jar just as the last few grains fell to the bottom of the hourglass.

With a loud gasp, Ivory began to breath again wiping the imaginary sweat of her brow.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

Just as she began to get her wind back, the timer gave a bleep and Ivory held her breath once again as she picked up the pipette. One could never be to careful. Especially when you thought you were home free already…

Her index finger shifted slightly, applying just the right amount of pressure on the bulb, letting the One Sphinx’s Whisker glide its way down her cauldron to fall right in the middle.

Smiling ecstatically, Ivory resisted the urge to dance her usual little victory dance and instead followed the directions and grabbed her stirrer giving the potion two strong clockwise stirs before pouring the contents of the second bowl of Ginger root straight into the cauldron to simmer for another 5 minutes.

Looking around casually, she saw that everyone was either done or occupied with their potions so she used the small moment to dance in a little circle.

Okay so now that that was out of her system and she had a goofy sheepish look on her face, she wrote of her success in her journal. Making sure to underline the success part a few times.

It was now time for the next step. Glad she’d cleaned her mortar after the grounding of the earlier ingredients, she grabbed the stirring rod and scraped the Runespoor egg and oil residue from the filter paper carefully into her mortar. The small jar of Elephant’s Ear Hair now set in front of her, she used a pair of delicate tweezers to add one to the mix and then using a clean pipette she added 4 drops of her prepared oil and essence mixture and used it to ground the sediment and hair into a good mush which she added to her cauldron when her timer beeped once again cauldron. A little more at ease now she inserted her stirrer back in, more than prepared for the mundane not dangerous task of stirring for the next two minutes.

Glad that this was something there was no way she could get wrong, she glanced over to the book to reread the final steps.

Once the two minutes were up and the potion was the correct color according to the side notes in the book, Ivory brought out her little compass and picked up the Owl Tears phial and unstoppered it, inserting the pipette in one quick movement and siphoning in a small amount of liquid before checking for the cardinal directions.

North. Okay that was….that way! Timer set to three minutes.

Placing the tip of the pipette in the right direction, she squeezed the bulb and watch as one drop made it descent from the lip down to the potion, leaving a slight trail almost as if the cauldron itself was crying.

Deciding not to dwell on that right now, she grabbed her stirrer and brought it clockwise around her cauldron 7 times and then quickly overturned her hourglass watching the grains fall intently.

As soon as the timer announced the time was ready, she once again let one drop slide down the inside of her cauldron, this time on the East side before commencing on the counterclockwise stirring.
“1...counter-clock-wise.2...counter-clock-wise.3...counter-clock-wise,“ as she counted aloud she pretended she was saying Mississippi instead.“4...counter-clock-wise.5...counter-clock-wise.6...counter-clock-wise.7...counter-clock-wise.”

And another three minutes of watching time pass. Which of course passed very slowly but nevertheless eventually it was time for the South drop followed by 7 clockwise turns and another three minutes and then finally the last West-ward tear. After the last 7 counterclockwise stirs, Ivory made sure to extinguish the flame under her cauldron right away.

One move right after another, she reached for the beaker full of the Runespoor infusion and Waterhyssop essence and gently poured it over her potion, watching the cascade of oily liquid mix with the contents of her cauldron until the a faint weird smell was arising from the cauldron.

Duduming again, as she wiggled spirit fingers over her cauldron as it cooled, she finally deemed it a good temperature to add the armadillo bile.
With the help of another handy dandy pipette, she added it drop by drop to her potion wrinkling her nose as the oily potion began to smell quite awful. She was supposed to wait for 8 minutes now, but golly did it smell.
The smell of rank water...almost like back in the Everglades swamp on one of those 109 degree...stale smelly swamp water.

Raising her hand, she hoped the Professor would have a looksie and hopefully find it to be good.

"Professor...is this alright?"

XanaSnape · 03-23-2010, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ivy Nienna

Smiling up at him still holding up the pipette, she nodded enthusiastically.
"Will do sir. I'll hold my breath so good the whisker won't even think of going up my nose! Why...I'll even do this at the same time..."

Finally putting down the pipette, she brought the collar of her robes over her nose and mouth to illustrate. Sure she looked ridiculous probably and maybe a bit of a terrorist, albeit a very short one, but safety was safety...and those little whiskers of lung disease weren't getting anywhere near hers.

Kazimeriz smiled, bemused by the little Ravenclaw's safety measure. "Very good; that should do the trick."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zellanna

"Alright. And thanks, professor!" She added more to the potion, returning her full focus on it again until she had the chance to go and grab the book. She carefully set down her stirring rod in a little space she'd made just for it and darted to grab the book. She carefully opened it and started reading as she walked back, flipping through as she thought about what she had set to accomplish.

ooc: getting a little vague since the class is closing... will have to assume she finished the potion if it closes before then

Kazimeriz eyed Miss Materia from his position by Miss Erised, confident she'd find the ingredient.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SenoritaMaxie

Right.

Then she let the low flame beneath her cauldron die out - flick of her wand, and it had vanished - and raised a hand.

"Does this look alright, professor?"

Did it?

Kazimeriz came over to Laksh's workstation, reviewing her notes and looking at her potion. He nodded and smiled. "That looks fine, Miss Laksh. Go ahead and get your phials set up, then you can clean up the workstation. I will see you at finals."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ivy Nienna

Still smiling, Ivory turned back to her workstation. Now that her ingredients were ready and she’d figured out what to do with the Sphinx’s Whisker later, she began to prepare the infusion as the instructions called for.

Raising her hand, she hoped the Professor would have a looksie and hopefully find it to be good.

"Professor...is this alright?"

Kazimeriz walked back over to Miss Erised, examining her work. "Very good, Miss Erised. It is unfortunate about the swampy odor with this particular variation of this potion; that and the sphinx whiskers makes this a potion few wish to attempt; I do not believe I have seen it brewed for decades as it is quite unpleasant for the consumer. You may be able to reduce that smell and taste, but you will also reduce its efficacy signficantly; the choice is up to you but if you do, salt from a sphinx's dehydrated tears should do the trick." Personally, he would not make the addition, but personally, he also would not have chosen this rather unpleasant version of wit-sharpening potion to brew. But then, he knew what the finals included. Poor Miss Erised.

"Also, please make certain those whiskers are corked nice and tight if you please." he smiled at the girl. "As soon as you are done, please bottle two phials, turn one in and clean up your workstation."

He turned to the class. "Five minutes until class ends; if you have not done so please get your potions bottled and clean up your workstations. Also, if my Prefects would please make certain that any of the containers and bottles that were left on the counter are sealed and placed back on the shelves in proper alphabetical order I would appreciate it. Thank you!"

Maxilocks · 03-23-2010, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XanaSnape

Kazimeriz came over to Laksh's workstation, reviewing her notes and looking at her potion. He nodded and smiled. "That looks fine, Miss Laksh. Go ahead and get your phials set up, then you can clean up the workstation. I will see you at finals."

He turned to the class. "Five minutes until class ends; if you have not done so please get your potions bottled and clean up your workstations. Also, if my Prefects would please make certain that any of the containers and bottles that were left on the counter are sealed and placed back on the shelves in proper alphabetical order I would appreciate it. Thank you!"

"Yes, sir."

Gold's workstation did not need much cleaning up - she kept it clean, as she worked, she was like that. Really organized, that is - but there were still a few things to sort out. She measured out a specific quantity of her potion into a phial, and labelled it.

Quote:

Gold Laksh
Fifth year, Gryffindor

{ Wit-Sharpening Potion }
Potions class

Then she filled another phial, labelled that, too; and placed it, quite gently, on her workstation -- after which she picked up the first phial, and headed to the front of the class, to turn it in.

Now, for the other task, she - and the other Prefects - had been assigned, to carry out.

But firrrsttt -- her own workstation, of course. Gold returned to it, cleaned it up, and replaced her own ingredients, back on to their appropriate shelves. Then she scanned the classroom with a pair of bright, green eyes, to see which workstations were now vacant.

She saw Bella's, and headed over to it. Two bottles stood there and, for a start, Gold screwed lids on to both, and returned them to their proper place, as per instructions.

She did so love helping out!

Rawrr.

Ivy Nienna · 03-23-2010, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XanaSnape

Kazimeriz walked back over to Miss Erised, examining her work. "Very good, Miss Erised. It is unfortunate about the swampy odor with this particular variation of this potion; that and the sphinx whiskers makes this a potion few wish to attempt; I do not believe I have seen it brewed for decades as it is quite unpleasant for the consumer. You may be able to reduce that smell and taste, but you will also reduce its efficacy signficantly; the choice is up to you but if you do, salt from a sphinx's dehydrated tears should do the trick." Personally, he would not make the addition, but personally, he also would not have chosen this rather unpleasant version of wit-sharpening potion to brew. But then, he knew what the finals included. Poor Miss Erised.

"Also, please make certain those whiskers are corked nice and tight if you please." he smiled at the girl. "As soon as you are done, please bottle two phials, turn one in and clean up your workstation."

He turned to the class. "Five minutes until class ends; if you have not done so please get your potions bottled and clean up your workstations. Also, if my Prefects would please make certain that any of the containers and bottles that were left on the counter are sealed and placed back on the shelves in proper alphabetical order I would appreciate it. Thank you!"

"I'll think about it. Thanks, Professor."

Smiling at the Professor, Ivory made sure to concentrate on his advise.
Add salt from a sphinx's dehydrated tears for better taste and risk efficiency or make it very unpleasant for the consumer.

Turning merrily navie back to her work, Ivory contemplated the conversation but she kept coming back to the word of encouragement.

Very good?...Very good! She did very good!

Smiling, her face then scrunched up in thought, as she tapped her fingers against the workstation, one eye on the hourglass. She had to consider it seriously now.

On one hand a little something to help the smell wouldn't be all that bad, right?

But then again she wasn't going to be tasting it any time soon, and although it seemed as if she'd done a good job who knew what the outcome would be. A little extra efficiency might be the difference between an A and an E or an E and an O.

So intent was she in weighing the pros and cons, that when the tiny bleep resounded from the hourglass, she gave a small jump.

It was time already? It was finished?

Shuddering a bit, glad she wouldn’t have to drink it since it seemed she wasn't going to be adding the Salt, Ivory decanted the entire solution and bottled it in neat labeled phials.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phial Label

Dagworth's Grey Matter Accelerator
[Wit Sharpening Potion]
Ivory Vitya Erised
Firstyear, Ravenclaw

Staring at the results in her hands, she shook her head in disbelief. Not one accident. Not one mishap. No blown up cauldrons, no torn lungs, and most definitely NO trips to the healer. She’d been there one to many times this year already.

For the class, it seemed her work had been 'very good' but the real test would be her final. Starting to feel a few of the nerves already, Ivory began cleaning up her workstation. Cleaning the equipment. Vanishing the remains in her cauldron exactly as Kazimeriz had taught her, and then proceeding to scrub the cauldron clean before curing it.

Picking up her tray with most of the ingredients, she carried them back to the shelves and decided to lessen the work for the Prefects by making sure the ingredients she returned were in their proper place in the alphabetical storage.

The Sphinx Whiskers, after using as much force as she could to make sure the cork was nice and tight, was returned separately and carefully after she'd returned the other ingredients. Cautiously, she once again used baby steps and even held her breath on the way back to the the Potions' Stores.

Once everything was washed and put away in their proper protective casing she examined her finished phials. Well this was it.

Looking up wide-eyed, she handed one to the Professor and stored the second one safely inside her Potion's Kit.
______________________________
..(\_/)..
.(='.'=).
(")__(")

Ladybug · 03-23-2010, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XanaSnape

"Very good, all of you. As you finish you may turn in your phial, clean up and you are excused. There is no homework as I expect you to use your time to study for finals." Kazimeriz said. "Do not forget to bring your second phial with you to finals."

She grinned, she had finished clearing up and had handed her phile in. She was doing nothing but sitting there. Smiling again she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder and picked up the couldron with both of her hands.

"Thanks Professor" She said as she walked towards the door. She slipped out. First things first, revise.

Zellanna · 03-23-2010, 08:04 PM

The only thing that came to mind, probably because of the title of the book, was salamander's blood. But he did say South American, didn't he? Weren't they all in North America, Europe, and Asia? "South America, right?" She huffed and looked through the book, every so often stirring or adding an ingredient. Despite focusing on the book, her work on the potion was still very precise. Oh, there were South American salamanders. Fancy that! One in particular seemed interesting. "Would it be salamander blood, professor? Does it have to be of one of the South American varieties? If so, I would assume the cryptotriton..." And why hadn't she considered that? It was in so many potions kits... She looked up at her own potions ingredients, a good deal of them exotic in nature. Salamander blood just seemed so... simple.

Mrs. Weasley · 03-24-2010, 03:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xanasnape

"Excellent work; I am happy to see you being so much more methodical." He looked over her work. "But you best reduce your heat again, and quickly, or you shall have a mess on your hands. Follow the directions to the letter."

"Thank you professor." Sidney looks at the clock. Time is running out quickly. Sidney measure 5ml of ground Scarab Beetles and sprinkles it over her potion. While the mixture continues brewing, Sidney cleans up the rest of her work area and puts away the ingredients she hasn't used. When the 45 minutes are up, she checks her potion. The color is purple and the potion has reduced by half. Sidney takes it off the flame and allows it to cool. She then laddles the potion into vials and marks them

Quote:

Sidney Marlowe
Hufflepuff First Year
Potion Lesson 3
Basic Wit-Sharping Potion

Sidney takes her potions and places them on Professor Kazimeriz's desk. She places the vial she has to keep for her final in a protective case and places the impenetrable charm on it. Sidney takes her cauldron to the sink and pours the unused potion down the drain. She watches her cauldron, sticks, beakers, etc. Sidney puts the school equipment back where it belongs and backs her bag. She doesn't know what she's going to do with the Hufflepuff cauldron. It's smaller than my cauldron, so I could put it in my cauldron. That should work. Sidney writes her notes in her journal and waits for Professor Kazimeriz to dismiss class.

XanaSnape · 03-24-2010, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SenoritaMaxie

"Yes, sir."

Now, for the other task, she - and the other Prefects - had been assigned, to carry out.

But firrrsttt -- her own workstation, of course. Gold returned to it, cleaned it up, and replaced her own ingredients, back on to their appropriate shelves. Then she scanned the classroom with a pair of bright, green eyes, to see which workstations were now vacant.

She saw Bella's, and headed over to it. Two bottles stood there and, for a start, Gold screwed lids on to both, and returned them to their proper place, as per instructions.

She did so love helping out!

Rawrr.

"Thank you, Miss Laksh, for stepping up. Two points." Kazimeriz smiled and nodded to the girl.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zellanna

The only thing that came to mind, probably because of the title of the book, was salamander's blood. But he did say South American, didn't he? Weren't they all in North America, Europe, and Asia? "South America, right?" She huffed and looked through the book, every so often stirring or adding an ingredient. Despite focusing on the book, her work on the potion was still very precise. Oh, there were South American salamanders. Fancy that! One in particular seemed interesting. "Would it be salamander blood, professor? Does it have to be of one of the South American varieties? If so, I would assume the cryptotriton..." And why hadn't she considered that? It was in so many potions kits... She looked up at her own potions ingredients, a good deal of them exotic in nature. Salamander blood just seemed so... simple.

"You were closer with the first guess... Sloth saliva is what is needed." He smiled at the girl. "Cryptotriton would be a less effective solution, but would work- the side effect being excessive sweating in the consumer. They will be smart, but damp and rather smelly. Which is why sloth saliva works better." He looked at her kindly. "Please come see me after class in my office, we can discuss your academic plans."

ooc- gotta close the thread; I will assume she finished it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs. Weasley

"Thank you professor." Sidney looks at the clock. Time is running out quickly. Sidney measure 5ml of ground Scarab Beetles and sprinkles it over her potion. While the mixture continues brewing, Sidney cleans up the rest of her work area and puts away the ingredients she hasn't used. When the 45 minutes are up, she checks her potion. The color is purple and the potion has reduced by half. Sidney takes it off the flame and allows it to cool. She then laddles the potion into vials and marks them

Sidney takes her potions and places them on Professor Kazimeriz's desk. She places the vial she has to keep for her final in a protective case and places the impenetrable charm on it. Sidney takes her cauldron to the sink and pours the unused potion down the drain. She watches her cauldron, sticks, beakers, etc. Sidney puts the school equipment back where it belongs and backs her bag. She doesn't know what she's going to do with the Hufflepuff cauldron. It's smaller than my cauldron, so I could put it in my cauldron. That should work. Sidney writes her notes in her journal and waits for Professor Kazimeriz to dismiss class.

"Thank you all; class is dismissed. Do not be late for finals."

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