They got a nod. Nods were definitely good, even if Stella had a moment of thinking that it wasn't the normal Professor Lafay. It didn't stop her from paying close attention as the professor demonstrated the next steps to the potion they wer brewing, though. She didn't think anything would do that, not when she was so determined not to mess up. The first thing she'd done as soon as they were instructed to actually follow the directions, however, was Scourgify her wooden stirrer. It might have gotten dusty in my kit over the summer, or something, she thought, as she moved on to locating the murtlap essence.

Once the vial was found, she used her dropper to add ten drops into the mixture inside her cauldron, before picking up her stirrer. Putting it inside the cauldron, she stirred the potion eight times, then withdrew it long enough to Scourgify it and collect two sprig of parsley. Setting the stirrer down on her workstation, she moved her hands over the potion and crushed the parsley, carefully letting the flakes fall into the potion. Once that was complete, she moved away from the cauldron again and picked up her quill to add to her notes. She wasn't about to forget those, either.

Text Cut: Stella's potions journal

Antillergen Potion
uses: to deaden allergic reactions for a year

Ingredients
Water
10 drops Valerian root
10 drops Salamander Blood
2 dock leaves
1 Ashwinder Egg
4 sprigs Fluxweed
10 drops Murtlap Essence
2 sprigs Parsley
3 spoons Raw honey
5 Basil leaves
1 whole Papaya
1 Ginger Root
17 Reishi (mushroom of immortality)

Procedure

• Follow the 5 Cs of potionmaking (color, concentration, care, cleanliness and content)> Scourgify cauldron
• Fill cauldron with water
• Add the valerian root and salamander blood, one drop at a time, alternating between the two
• Add the dock leaves to mortar and crush
• Break frozen ashwinder egg into mortar, then add 4 sprigs fluxweed
• Add mixture from mortar into cauldron
• Add ten drops of murtlap essence, stirring eight times counterclockwise once added
• Loosely crush 2 sprigs parsley in hands over cauldron, letting the resulting flakes drop into the potion

Next Steps.. Professor Lafay told them what to do next and of course, Beatrice jotted it down on her parchment.



' Add the 10 drops Murtlap Essence' Beezus read silently as her hands started to grab the ingredient that was mentioned. "Murtlap Essence.." she said aloud as she read the label on the small bottle that she was holding. After confirming that it was indeed the needed ingredient, she propped the dropper into the bottle. Afterwards, she squeezed the dropper and counted that 10 drops would be added to the mixture. Getting her wooden stirrer, she then stirred the mixture eight times in a counter-clockwise direction.

Stir. Stir. Stir. Stir. Stir. Stir. Stir. Stir.

When that was done, the eaglette referred to her parchment once again for the next step which was to add the two sprigs of Parsley. She took one sprig first and held it above her cauldron and loosely she crushed it. Beezus did the same with the second sprig.

after Zhenya had finished and waited for Professor Lafay to give the next instructions she took the murtlap essence and carefully measured ten drops Into her cauldron then put it back down.

The next step was to stir it. So she picked up her wooden stirrer and said "scourgify" to glean the egg off it. Then she Put it in the cauldron and stirred it, making sure she was moving counterclockwise. After she had counted eight times she put the stirrer back down and waited for the next step.

The next ingredient were the two sprigs of parsley. Picking them up she held them over the cauldron and crushed them in her hands letting it fall down into te cauldron. That was done and now she waited patiently for the next step.

Louisa listened to the professor, making quick notes in her head, and watching the woman demonstrate skillfully. The girl was slightly jealous at how smooth her hands were when using the ingredients.

Back to work, the Ravenclaw grabbed the Murtlap Essence and holding it over the cauldron, she started counting the drops making sure they were ten precisely. Not 9 nor 11. Now she took her wooden stirrer and started stirring counter-clockwise.

Stir stir stir stir stir stir stir stir...

Next she took hold of the Parsley, two sprigs as instructed, laid them in her hands and started crushing them loosely by rubbing her hands against each other and allowing the Parsley to fall into the mixture.

Murtlap Essence? Janice thought. The thing they used to use to heal cuts? She picked up the Essence and dropped 10 drops of the Murtlap Essence while counting silently. Then, she took her wooden stirrer and stirred it 8 times, counter-clockwise. She took 2 sprigs of Parsley and crushed it in her hands, allowing some flakes to fall while they were crushed.

Autumn watched the professor.
She picked up the murtla Essence and tiped it slightly,
1 drop, 2 drops, 3 drops, 4 drops, 5 drops, 6 drops, 7 drops, 8 drops, 9 drops, 10 drops.

she used the wooden stirrer to stir the mixture exactly 8 times counter clockwise.
She looked around at the ingrediants and found 2 sprigs of parsley and loosely crushed them in her hands as the professor did, and slowly they added to the cauldron. she did this until al the flakes were gone.

Aurora listened, nodded, and turned to her ingredients. She dropped the ten drops of Murtlap essence into her cauldron one at a time and then picked up the parsley. Two sprigs. She crushed them in her hands above the cauldron and watched the flakes drop into it as she did so.

When she had done that he noted down the steps on her parchment.

Amelia watched Professor Lafay as she added the Murltap Essence and then the Parsley. It seemed pretty easy.

She picked up her Murltap Essence, and poured it inside before she began to stir counter-clockwise: one... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight. When she was done that, she picked up her two sprigs of Parsley and loosely crushed them, letting the flakes fall into the cauldron.

When she was done, she decided it was a good time to record all the steps in the process so that she wouldn't have to record them later on when she was in her Dorm.

Quote:

Water
10 drops Valerian root
10 drops Salamander Blood
2 dock leaves
1 Ashwinder Egg
4 sprigs Fluxweed
10 drops Murtlap Essence
2 sprigs Parsley
3 spoons Raw honey
5 Basil leaves
1 whole Papaya
1 Ginger Root
17 Reishi (mushroom of immortality)

1. Add water to cauldron after cleaning it.
2. Add ten drops each of Valerian root and Salamander blood, alternating between the two.
3. Crush the dock leaves with a (clean) mortar and pestle.
4. Break an Ashwinder egg and add it to the mortar before quickly adding the four sprigs of Fluxweed. Add mixture to cauldron.
4. Add ten drops of Murltap Essence and stir eight times (counter-clockwise)
5. Loosely crush two sprigs of Parsley (in your hand) and add the flakes.

Vlimia carefully added the ten drops of Murtlap Essence. She remembered one time when her brother had cut himself when he was chopping vegetables, and her mother got him Murtlap Essence. Her brother said it soothed the pain. She thought of this incident while she stirred counter-clockwise, and stopped herself when she reached eight stirs. Vlim then took the two sprigs of parsley, and crumpled them over the cauldron. Not so close that she could feel the heat from her potion, but not so far that she would have runaway flakes. Once all the dry, green flakes had fallen, Vlimia looked at the bits of parsley that had wedged themselves in the crevaces of her hands. Oh well, she could wash her hands after this lesson.

Nessie took her droppe and carefully added ten drops of the Murtlap Essence into her cauldron. She looked at the potion for a second before picking up her wooden stirrer and she placed it inside the cauldron. Making sure she was going counter-clockwise she stirred the potion eight times as directed. She took the stirrer out and set it aside for the moment. She picked up the Parsley and crushed them in her hand at the top of her cauldron. She turned her palm and let the crushed peices fall as they may. She sat back and waited for her next direction.

Stacy took her droppe and added ten drops of Murtlao Essence into her cauldron. Then she pick up her stirrer and stir it eight times counter-clockwise. She took out the stirrer and set it back on the table. Then she slowly, carefully crush the two sprigs Parsley over her cauldron, adding the Parsley as they fall through her hand. Then Stacy waited for her next direction.

Ok, Lily was ready for this next step. After watching the professor demonstrate what to do, she turned back to her cauldron. She took her murtlap essence and dropped in 10 drops. Then she took her stirrer and cleaned it off. Placing it into the cauldron, Lily stirred it counter-clockwise around and around, eight times to be precise. Putting the stirrer off to the side, Lily picked up her two sprigs of Parsley, and crushed them over her cauldron. Once there was no more parsley in her hands, she brushed them off, before briefly looking in the cauldron, and then going back to her notes.

Tayla added ten drops of Murtlap Essence and then stretched her arm out for the stirrer - but she couldn't find it. Her eyes grew wide. "Wooden stirrer...wooden stirrer!!" Tayla said, as if calling it would make it appear. "Where on earth is that thing?!"

She looked all around her work table and couldn't find it anywhere. She checked under the table, and didn't see it either. Panicking a little, Tayla took out her wand and pointed toward the floor. "Accio wooden stirrer..." she whispered urgently.

A couple seconds later, she caught the stirrer in her hand. Tayla gave a big sigh of relief and went back to working on her potion. She stirred eight times counter-clockwise as instructed and hoped Professor Lafay didn't notice her frantic look.

Tayla shook her head and tried to remember what came next. "Oh yes...two sprigs of Parsley." She held her hands over the cauldron, crushed the sprigs a little in her hands, and watched as the flakes fell into the cauldron with the rest of the mixture.

Silvia retrieved some Murtlap Essence and added ten drops to her cauldron. Now to stirring. Did it really matter all the much how many times and in what direction they stirred? she thought as she began stirring counter-clockwise. It seemed strange to her that it would make a difference. She may not have been a muggle-born, but neither of her parents were particularly into potions, so this was new to her.

...seven...eight.

Silvia set the wooden stirrer down and reached for the parsley. Maybe it's just like how one needs to perform proper wand movements in order to perform a spell. She crushed the parsley in her hand. Number and direction of stirs must be the potions version of wand movements, she thought, as she let the flakes fall from her hand and into the cauldron.

Ok so he hadn't fallen behind yet--but that never was something that could be promised.

Next step. Auggie grabbed the Murtlap Essence and began to add the 10 drops. He wondered slightly what would happen if he had added 11 drops or only 9, it probably would be horricfic so the Gryffindor made sure he counted correctly. After the Murtlap was added he grabbed his wooden stirrer and did the eight counter-clockwise stirs.

Then lastly, he took the two sprigs of parsley as directed and crunched them in his hand, watching as the little flakes landed in the cauldren.

"Scourgify" Kimalia cleaned the wooden stirrer. What? She had no idea where it had been earlier today! As the stirrer was bubbling in suds, Kimalia added the ten drops of Murtlap Essence. *Drip, drip* There, the last two drops of the ten were added so now she was free to stir it. Now what direction? clockwise?

Checking her notes, oh it's counter-clockwise. Okay, good thing she checked. Kimalia began to stir with the now clean wooden stirrer counter-clockwise eight times with her left hand, using her right hand to *CRUSH* the two sprigs of Parsley over the cauldron finally adding the flakes as they fell. Now to do the check off on her notes.

Ira listened to the professor's instructions and added 10 drops of Murtlap essence into her cauldron and proceeded to stir it 8 times. So she stirred it counter clockwise 8 times. Now what? Ira looked around to see what others were doing. Oh yeah! Parsley sprigs!

So she took two sprigs of Parsley and then as instructed, crushed them in her hands and let the flakes fall into her cauldron.

Then she updated her notes:

Watching Professor Lafay do exactly what she was saying, Sophie nodded a couple of times before writing down the next step.



Sophie then added the drops of Murtlap Essence one by one until it reached 10. She frowned once more when she saw older students cleaning their wooden stirrers. "Isn't it a bit too much??" she thought to herself, looking around. Oh well, it was best if she did it anyway. The older students probably knew better. "Scourgify!" She said pointing her wand at her own wooden stirrer. She was getting used to the fact that nothing seemed to happen as she cast that spell on things. Maybe she wasn't supposed to see what happened anyway. Whatever.

She stopped to think what was counter-clock before stirring. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven aaand... eight! Sophie smiled as she got the two springs Parsley and held it above her cauldron. She started crushing them loosely, as Professor Lafay had demonstrated and watched as the flakes fell into the cauldron.

Wait... should she have used the Cleaning Spell on her hands too? She looked around quickly and didn't see any of her classmates doing it, so she was fine. Hopefully...

Minerva listened and then took her wooden stirrer "Scourgify" Then she picked up the Murtlap Essence and started putting the drops in 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Once finished Minerva picked up the wooden stirrer and began to stir counter-clockwise. 1 time, 2, times, 3 times....6 times, 7 times, 8 times. Once finished Minerva put down the stirrer and picked up the parsley. She put it over the cauldron and crushed it loosely so that the flakes fell into the potion.

Jordan listened to the Professor, adding the next instructions to his list. He then picked up the murtlap essence, adding the 10 drops one by one to the potion. He picked up the wooden stirrer before stirring the potion, making sure he was stirring in an anti-clockwise direction. One, Two, Three...Nine and Ten! Hopefully the potion would turn out fine, he hoped as he loosley crushed his parsley over the caludron and watched the flaky remains fall into the potion.

Before Oakey retrieved the dock leaves and Ashwinder egg he took wand once more and scourgified the mortar. He got up from his seat and picked out two dock leaves then headed over other side of the classroom and picked out an Ashwinder egg. Taking these things back to his work station he set them down carefully next to his cleaned mortar. taking this dock leaves he placed them into the mortar as Lafay had instructed and crushed them with the pestal. Oakey then picked up the Ashwinder egg cracked it then added the contents into the mortar was well. grabbing the four sprigs fluxweed he placed them into the mortar was well. Picking up the mixture he poured it into his cauldron.


As Oakey was pouring his mixture into the cauldron Lafay had quickly moved onto the next step. He fumbled a bit placing the mortar back onto his work place. and listened intently to her next instructions. He looked around for the Murtlap Essence finally found it at his. Picking it up he dropped the 10 drops into the cauldron with all the rest of the concoction. Lifting his stirrer and started stirring in the counter-clockwise as Lafay had demonstrated. Right now to get the two pieces of sprigs Parsley. crushing them carefully between the palms of his hands and letting pieces of them fall into the cauldron.

Amethyst got up and went to get the two dock leaves. On her return, she placed them into the mortar. She crushed the leaves with the pestal, smiling as she did so rhythmically. Setting her mortar down, she retrieved an Ashwinder Egg from the refrigerated section. Breaking and Adding it to the mortar, she quickly add 4 sprigs Fluxweed before adding it to the mixture.

After she did this, she scanned the room, seeing how everyone else was doing. She looked at her notebook, scratching out the ingredients she had used.

After everyone was done with the previous steps, Lafay went on with the instructions. She smiled as she watched and listened to one of her favorite teachers.

Add 10 drops? Easy enough.

1 Drop of Murtlap Essence; 2 Drops of Murtlap Essence.
3 Drops of Murtlap Essence; 4 Drops of Murtlap Essence.
5 Drops of Murtlap Essence; 6 Drops of Murtlap Essence.
7 Drops of Murtlap Essence; 8 Drops of Murtlap Essence.
9 Drops of Murtlap Essence; 10 Drops of Murtlap Essence.

She took her wooden stirrer and placed it into the potion. She moved it eight times counter-clockwise. Just like she was instructed. Taking the two sprigs Parsley, she crushed them in her hands over the cauldron, letting the flakes fall in as she crushed.

Alex had to work a bit quicker than he'd have liked to keep up with Lafay, but he was at least keeping UP, which was a good thing. He took the Murtlap essence and added 10 drops as she had instructed. Then he had to turn counter clockwise...uggh, which way was that again?

He paused, picturing his cauldron as a clock, and figured it out a second later. He always had to do that to stop himself from going the wrong way. He grabbed his wooden stirrer and started to go counter clockwise until he'd stirred 8 times. Now crush two springs of parsley, that was easy enough...


He grabbed the parsley and held it above his hand, crushing it with his hands and watching the tiny flakes fall into the cauldron as he moved his palms together.

He added to his notes as she talked. Okay, so far so good. Making it this far in Potions without Lafay critisizing anything you did was an accomplishment in his book.

He reached for his murtlap essence and knocked the bottle off the counter. "Woah!" His Quidditch reflexes were handy as he made a grab and secured the falling object. He breathed a sigh of relief. Easy does it now, Keef.

Essence secured, he unstoppered the bottle and began to count the drips. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. He checked his scribbles. Five more. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Good.

Next, he picked up his wooden stirrer, but more cautiously this time. Dipping it into the potion, he began to stir up and to the right in a counter-clockwise motion. "One stir, two stirs, three stirs, four stirs, five stirs, six stirs, seven stirs, eight stirs," he whispered under his breath. Success secured, he crossed off that step in his notes. Next up, parsley.

He looked through his supplies and found a box. He opened it up and was confused until he looked at the label. "Parsnip." Definitely not. He pointed his wand into his things and thought, Accio Parsley. He heard shuffling as the parsley unlodged itself from under several jars and made its way to his waiting hands. After checking the label, he found two midsized leaves and brought them over his cauldron. Keefer began to crush them and watched as the small wafts of air in the dungeon carried the flakes down onto the surface of the mixture.

Angelina took the two dock leaves and placed them into the mortar like Professor Lafay said. Once she got the two completely into the mortar she began to crush them with the pestal. After a while she thought she crushed them good enough, she place the pestal down and headed towards the refrigerated section and got a Ashwinder egg. When she arrived back at the mortar she broke it and added it into the mortar. Angelina grabbed the 4 springs Fluxweed quickly and placed it into the mortar.



Angelina did what Professor Lafay said and started adding 10 drops of Murtlap Essence. "1 drop, 2 drops, 3 drops, 4 drops, 5 drops, 6 drops, 7 drops, 8 drops, 9 drop and 10 drops," Angelina said quietly to keep track of all the drops.

Picking up her wooden stirrer and placed it in her cauldron and stirred it counter-clockwise eight times. Also as Lafay said, Angelina took two springs Parsley and crushed them in her hand above her cauldron. Once she was done she waited for the next step to be givin.