Vickers, who by now had clearly remembered the proceedings of their last Potions class, sat quietly on the opposite corner of the classroom from where he usually sat. He was still feeling bad from the humiliation tasks last time, and decided to just sit here, take down his notes, hopefully get to complete whatever it was they would be doing today and get out expeditiously.

But the Professor starts off with something pretty open ended....Potions questions? Like literally the concoction or is it the subject matter they covered during the term? He shifted those icy blue glare gaze away when a question popped in his head. Well there was something he's been wanting to know...

Up goes the hand and the piercing blue gaze "Are you planning to use those Plimpy parts for our class anytime soon Professor? Or have they been...dispatched?" for galleons he means of course.

Jonathan was staring at his Potions book. His mind still couldn't believe, this will be his last Potions class with Professor Lafay and even though she doesn't look all smiles, Jonathan will just have to put up with it and enjoy this. Besides, it's not like Professor Lafay smiles randomly. There will always be reasons to this.

As the class started, Jonathan lifted his head and glance to professor Lafay. He is once again, back to his normal seat for the last time. The question she asked was a bit different than her usual intros in class.

Potion questions?

There are not much in his mind. But he did stare at the blank table in front of him. He thought about any Potion questions that he'd like to ask Professor Lafay, if ever he had, this would be the perfect timing. Although, his mind just seems blank right now and not even the past lessons under potions is coming back to him, yet. So for now, he just shut his mouth and maybe some students have questions for the professor.

So the professor was asking if she had any questions. It ws good she had added regarding potions, because she was a t a lecture and the lecturer had said at the end "Any Questions?", and Sarah had raised her hand and said the first thing that came to her mind, "what colour are your socks". The audience had laughed yet Sarah was thrown out and was banned from coming to any lectures for a month. That did not save her froma lecture from her parents...

"Can one store a potion and for how long?" and she added, "can one brew a potion at home?". She had more... yet that would do for now.

"Mhmm... Well maybe I'll leave you partnered up then." She said and suddenly covered her mouth, and closed her eyes. She took a breath through her nose and then opened her eyes and removed her hand.

First question. Not a bad one... "For everyone who doesn't know, if a memory has been removed from someone's mind, and placed in a pensieve, does not mean that the memory is erased, it just isn't available to be viewed by another. The subject can still remember the memories." She said. "If, as Prefect Hollingberry's example suggests, someone casts a memory charm to obliviate certain memories from your mind, those remain dormant in your mind. They are not technically erased, but banished to the parts of your brain you do not use. I assume you all know that we don't use 100% of our brains. Depending on where the memory was banished to, there are memory potions that can move the memory to the parts of the brain that are used. Some unfortunately are so hidden, so imbedded, there are no charms or potions that will be able to help." She looked over to the prefect and smirked. "Good question."

"Polyjuice Potion is not illegal... it's controlled." She raised her eyebrows and muttered, "Or the ministry attempts to control it..." She then looked up and said. "What that means is Apothecaries and Potioneers are required to disclose how much Polyjuice they've made and keep records for whom they've sold it to."

Hecate blinked. "I have no spare anything in my stores." She said curtly. She didn't just GIVE students ingredients without a purpose! "Fluxweed, or Sisymbrium sophia as it's called by its Binomial name, is a weed that is indeed in the mustard family. This means that it's seeds can and are used as a spice; by grinding and mixing them with water, vinegar or other liquids, they can be turned into the condiment you all know as mustard. However depending on when it's picked, it has magical properties. When something is in flux it's changing... and that's what it gives to the Polyjuice."

"The Bezoar is an antidote to most potions... not all." She said and shrugged. "Some wizarding folk do brew their own potions without the supervision or a Potions Master, who know what combinations of ingredients can do. There are many a victim of these people on the third floor in St Mungo's."

She pulled her sleeve up and showed her arm to the class. "Even very experienced Potions Masters can make irreversible mistakes."

"Yes. There are potions that can do that... but it makes up what the motion will be." She said.

She smiled. "That's a saying, Miss Greingoth... but liquid luck always helps." She winked.

"Veritaserum is a psychoactive potion used to obtain... information... from subjects who are unable or unwilling to provide it otherwise. This too is a highly controlled potion. It's illegal to give it to minors..." Though that had never stopped her. "It contains sedatives that will calm the subject, and something to allow inhibitions to no longer be a factor, plus something to make the subject feel safe and invincible. This allows the truth to come out."

"Yes... it's a good rule not to take a potion that is over a year from completion date." She said. "This doesn't mean that the potion has gone bad. It's a precaution in case it has. Many years would be pushing your luck."

"They have not been dispatched... as you say. We will use them as we need them. Right now they are safe." she told the boy.

"One year is the safe time to store a potion, and yes, a wizard of age can brew a potion from home. Though they cannot, or should not sell it." She responded.

... Odd he would ask that.

"Essence of Insanity is a potion which causes irrational behavior... and the potion I was planning to teach today." She said. "So let me ask YOU this. What do you think would be the ingredients in the Essence of Insanity."

Essence of Insanity. Sarah had never heared of that before. She took out her notes and ruled off after the section on Plimpies. and titles the page: Essence of Insanity. Now what woulkd it contain. Sarah raised her hand "Screaming kids? - just kidding. Maybe that thing that contained acids that mess up your mind? An essence was usually for medicinial purposes was it not?" said she.

West had been absorbing. Absorbing things and paying a surprising amount of attention considering his usual penchant to march to the beat of his own drum. He put his hand up now.

"Maybe Essence of Insanity would have Ailhotsy in it? Maybe Fwooper bits? Like tongue or feathers or something?" Did Fwoopers even HAVE tongues?

Taylor smiled at what the potions professor said. [I]Ingrediants of Essences of Insanity...[/s] She had just been studying potion ingrediants a week ago... Tay thought back and tried to remember. After a few moments, Taylor raised her hand, "Professor, is Aconite used in the potion? It is poisonius so wouldn't the poison drive you insane?" She was bushing in embarassment and wished she hadn't spoken up.

COOL! So there were potions that could make her pictures move! This made the second year very happy and she made a mental note to see Professor Lafay privately at some point to see if she could brew them.

Hmm...Essence of Insanity. Ella raised her hand , agreeing with that West character. "Professor, I also thought it might have parts of Fwooper in it because the Fwooper's song can drive someone insane." And so it would make sense that it might be included in such a potion.

Sierra had been completely unamused with the conversation going on between Hollingberry and...that other girl. Whoever she was. That is, until she noticed Lafay's reaction to what they were saying. Was she...falling asleep? About to pass out?

Sierra glared at the two Gryffindors, blaming them, in her mind, for that response.

Sierra had gone back to casually listening to the discussion by this point, but when Lafay's sleeve came up and her arm was shown, Sierra felt her entire body become a little numb.

Why had she never seen that before?!

...and what happened?

She looked up at Lafay, a sort of lump forming in her throat.

Swallowing the lump, Sierra nodded, yet her eyes were blinking a bit like she was trying to focus but just couldn't.

Essence...of...Insanity...

...right. Err...

"Lovage," she said, raising her hand, "...because of its effects on the brain. Fluxweed, because of its ability to make things constantly change, the sting of a billywig, since it gives the impression of floating off the ground, flitterboom, because of its ability to make things quiver and shake, and...wormwood, because it causes hallucinations."

Looking over at West, she added, "...and I agree about the Fwooper parts, although...I'd go with the syrinx of the Fwooper, since that's where its song comes from." ...and the song was what drove people insane in the first place.

Now then. That, at least temporarily, got Sierra's mind off unexpected arm scars and possible illnesses.

Alyssa listened as everyone gave their suggestions. She tried to think of an ingredient. Billywig Stings tended to make a person giddy and delirious and so Alyssa raised her hand,"Professor would Billywig Stings be one of the ingredients? It's effects makes a person behave differently."

There was an imperceptible narrowing of his eyes at the Professor's response on his Plimpy question. Riiight... well he wasnt going to bother with it any more since that gave him enough grief already.

Speaking of grief, that arm looked nasty.

Vickers winced for a moment but kept his stoic demeanor. So they were going to mix something called Essence of Insanity? Like Hogwarts isnt crazy enough as it is? Or does the Potions Mistress have some kind of insidious plan to make everybody crazy since freezing people didnt take down as much as that phantom menace would've wanted?

He raised his hand and was just about to say something when the Slytherin Prefect rattled off what he was going to say... and the next one that popped into his head... and the next one he was holding on for backup. He put his hand back down and stared annoyed at the back of Sierra's head. Fiiiine, he'll consult a book.

After leafing through some pages he raised his hand again "Professor, there are several plants belonging to the family Solanaceae such the Belladonna and Angel's Trumpets-- they've been historically known to be part of a selection of Witches weeds, and are known to have hallucinogenic properties. "

Dylan eyed the Professor, surprised at the approach to this lesson. It seemed like it was going to be a pretty straight-forward lesson...with NO freezing...and other ridiculous stuff. It was his one condition of coming to class.

The moment any funny business started, though...he WOULD walk out. That's just all there was to it.

Hearing 'Essence of Insanity', the Slytherin rolled his eyes. Perhaps he'd spoken too soon. Surely things were about to get crazy...Not to say he wasn't going to contribute to the discussion.

Dylan always liked to offer some input. Mostly because he liked hearing himself talk...

*EPIC hand raising*

"Ma'am, how about sneezewort? I remember reading somewhere that it's most efficacious in the inflaming of the brain...So, perhaps it would allow someone to let go of their inhabitions and act in a way they normally wouldn't?"

Kurumi glanced at Selina out of the corner of her eye and gave her a look. Yeah, if they were brewing something today then Kurumi was going to be watching her best friend like a hawk. Not like being Selina's partner was a punishment, per say, just Kurumi had finally gotten her skin back to normal color and she was rather hoping to keep it that way.

Kurumi did lean back in her seat instinctively when Professor Lafay looked as though she were about to, well, throw up on her and Selina. Was the woman alright? Were the rumors spread by the Aparecium true?
Erm...Kurumi wasn't entirely speaking about Memory Charms, but in principle she supposed the theory was the same. Not like she really knew what had caused her, and the others, memory loss so charms could be involved. Anything was possible.

Kurumi's heart sank a little as the woman went on, explaining that memories were so hidden that it could be impossible to retrieve them. Not to mention the smirk on the woman's face just drove the knife in further. She could smirk if she wanted to. Her step daughter had been effected by the same thing as well.

Still, Kurumi somehow knew that perhaps it would be impossible, what she had been asking. She was just going to have to hope for some sort of miracle then.

And her arm looked...well...ouch...
Essence of Insanity...were they going to be brewing THAT today? Kurumi shot Selina another glance. The red head didn't need to brew that sort of potion to cause insanity. Merlin help her...

Although, wasn't insanity really just unusual and socially 'unacceptable' behavior and ideas? Not the point though.

As for ingredients...the first things to come to mind were mentioned by her classmates, so Kurumi was left thinking a bit on her own. After a few moments she eventually raised her hand. "Perhaps adding some substances that are bad for the brain? It is more talked about in nonmagical medicine, but things like deep fried junk foods and junk food in general contain a toxic mixture of unhealthy fats, artificial coloring, refined carbohydrates and preservatives that lead to mental imbalance." In theory at least.

Other students raised a lot of questions for Professor Lafay's to answer but one question strike him the most, which is the memory potions that Kurumi asked her. It wasn't awhile ago that Jonathan had been quite interested in dealing with memory potions. He has been reading them since the start of the winter break and since then he has been so fascinated in regards to that area. Hearing Lafay's answer to it, Jonathan nodded. Memory potions are quite dangerous and memories should never be tampered with.

Jonathan stood up straight when someone finally cracked the answer linking in today's lecture. Essence of Insanity. Jonathan has read about this but not as much details and it is now making him excited that they will be now looking more into this and well, they will be making this earlier.

So what are the ingredients to such potion?

He heard different answers then he casually jotted them down as the answers were given. He does, however, agree to the fwooper thingy.

Well Nigel never suspected that that today's lesson would be on Essence of Insanity. He only asked because it sounded cool. But he should at least know at least one ingredient. Since he asked the question.

He did not know one but he could guess since it appears that Lafay was not in a mood to criticize every question. Nigel raised his hand and said

"Professor Lafay, could one ingredient be blood of someone who is or was insane?"

Nerida would have never guessed that today's lesson would have been on Essence of Insanity. So they wouldn't be doing that now since the little Ravenclaw asked about it? She had never been good with knowing the ingredients for potions, she usually just read it. Nothing popped up in her mind about the ingredients of the Essence of Insanity. So she decided to just jot down the answers that her fellow students were saying and would just circle the ones that were.

"Thanks for clearing that up, Professor,'' the boy said. Now he had a better understanding of the potion. His hand in the air again, Jory asked another question. "Can you tell us what dangerous potions ingredients there are? If there is any so life threatening it cannot be used without consultation.'' Like at a department at the Ministry.

Elise nodded in time to unheard music as she scribbled down notes on whatever it was that the others were asking Professor Lafay, being especially careful with the information she was copying. But the essence of Insanity? Wasn't that... hard?

Raising her hand to suggest an ingredient, Elise waited a moment before asking. "Would the leaves of the Death Root be a possible ingredient?" Elise had read somewhere that it cased almost instant madness.

It wasn't illegal?! That was GOOD news. He nodded along with what he understood. In all seriousness, the more the professor spoke, the more lost he was becoming. Probably cos she was saying A LOT to take it. So, Theo wrote it down.

So, Fluxweed is a muggle ingredient, but with magical properties depending on when it's picked?! That was COOL.

Moving on...

"Would adding, like.... gross ingredients make you go insane? Like... rat spleens?" Cos yeah, if Theo had consumed some of that stuff, he would feel pretty irrational, too.

Questions huh? That was odd of Lafay to ask. Usually the Professor wouldn't bother much with these things. The Hufflpepuff remained silent though, as what she wanted to ask was a little irrelevant to the topic. It was more about the whole story that had happened with the frozen students. She knew that was a subject to avoid with Lafay at all costs.

Essence of Insanity? Nessie went all blank. She had never heard of the thing in her life, she had heard od Essence of Dittany, but that was something else now wans't it? Hmmm..possibly, yet it could possibly be the same thing. Who knew? Professor Lafay should.

Pouting, Renesmee wondered of questions were still allowed. She couldn't exactly answer the one the Professor had given them, but now she had a question related to it.or so she thought. "Pro..Professor, Is..is it similiar to Essence of Dittany?" she asked thinking this was maybe a bit of a silly sentence. Essence of Dittany probably had nothing to do with this Essence of Insanity at all...it was really just a silly, false guess.

It was strange. Penelope usually felt like she had a lot of questions about all kinds of stuff, but the moment a professor actually asked for questions, she couldn't think of a single one. Weird. So she'd just sat there and listened - yes, actually listened for once instead of only half-listening - to the questions other students asked and Professor Lafay's answers.

And then there was a question about Essence of Insanity and apparently they were learning about that one today because Lafay was asking about what ingredients would be in it. Penelope had no idea whatsoever, of course, but she did actually write down the name of the potion in her notes, having finally gotten into the habit of taking notes. A little late in the year, maybe, but hopefully it would carry over into her second year. Hopefully.

Wait. What? This was a revision lesson? Oh wonderful. Elijah listened on as his classmates asked, the rather worse for wear looking, Lafay questions in regards to potions. Elijah was half tempted to ask her what questions were going to be coming up on the OWL so he could stand the slightest chance of earning a grade that wasn't a T.

After the small round of 'whose question can confuse Elijah the most' was over, Lafay began asking questions of her own to assess their knowledge. Elijah couldn't tell if his LACK of knowledge was a reflection of Lafay's teaching... but that would then have to be the case for all the Hogwarts Professors, so it was more likely that Elijah was just a lazy pain in the backside.

"What about water? Perhaps some simple water is needed to start the potion off with," he offered with his very boring answer in comparison to the likes of rat spleens. Gross.

Cassia sat in her seat with a land stare on her face. It's not like she had no idea what the students were talking about but she didn't think she was able to come up with a question that fast when not prepared.

She was just nodding at every question and answer, which started to get awkward so she stopped nodding and was just blinking at every new piece of information.

And finally something she really heard of. She knows this potion, "I guess it contains Fluxweed and Fwoopers or parts of them.. "She trailed off. She didn't know precisely the ingredients ,but she was pretty sure it sounded like what she mentioned.

... "That thing that contained acids that messed up your mind..." She repeated. "I am not sure what you mean."

"Yes, Alihotsy leaves are indeed an ingredient in this potion. Alihotsy leaves induce hysteria... Fwooper parts are also used, but not the tongue or feathers." She looked around.

"If it doesn't kill you first." She said and shrugged. "Aconite, or Belladonna or Wolfsbane is not used in this potion."

"Yes, but which part of the Fwooper." She asked.

"Miss Greingoth." She said a little concerned. The kid was spouting off ingredients like a crazy person. "You haven't taken any of the potion yet, have you?" What had gotten into her!?

"Lovage is used. It inflames the brain... No Fluxweed is not used. Change is not an issue in this potion. Billywigs and Flitterbooms are also not used... but Wormwood essence is. You are right it causes hallucinations and yes, the voice box of a Fwooper is used."

"No Billywigs are not used." She said curtly.

"Not Belladonna, but Brugmansia, or as you called it Angel's Trumpets, is. Many South American indigenous cultures use them as a hallucinogen for divination." She said.

"Yes. Very good, Captain Montmorency. Sneezewort is also used." She said

"Uhmmm... no. No Fried Food." She said raising her eyebrow.

"Now, Now, Master Barrington..." she said with a smile and in her I'm-a-teacher-I-need-to-tell-you-the-law kind of voice. "We don't use human parts for ingredients... unless it's hair." at the same time, her voice suggested she HAD used human parts, and will continue doing so no matter WHO her husband was.

"I can," she said and turned her head slowly with a fierce look in her eyes. "However, we are on a different subject, so I suggest you. Follow. Along!" She said raising her voice.

Suddenly she felt her head spinning, and she held onto the desk to keep herself from falling. She closed her eyes and breathed in, then opened them again. She seemed all right now.

... "If you are referring to Asphodel root, yes. Asphodel was believed to be a favorite food of the dead in Greek mythology, and so was commonly planted near graves." She said.

She closed her eyes again and sighed. She couldn't get angry. No anger. Calm... "No... not rat spleens, but Reem's blood is used."

"No. It isn't." She said trying to keep calm. "They are nothing alike."

Finally. Someone with some sense. "Yes. The potion is waterbased."

"No on Fluxweed, yes on Fwoopers." She said.

"Alright, she said pointing to the board with her wand."

"Alright. Go get your ingredients and fill your cauldrons with water, light your burners." She said going to sit down behind her desk.

Professor Lafay certainly didn't seem herself but Gideon was doing his best to focus on the actual potion making. That was his strong suit, not picking up on things from women or anyone for that matter. He listened as various ingrediants were listed and confirmed or not, the prefect keeping quiet seeing as the couple of items that came to mind had already been suggested once he was ready to speak.

SPOILER!!: notes

Ingredients

Water
-5 Ailhotsy leaves
-5 Lovage leaves
-5 Drops of reem's blood
-5 Bursting mushrooms
-5 Inches of asphodel root
-5 Tbsp of chopped fwooper voice box
-5 Flowers of brugmansia
-5 Snake fangs
-5 Oz of wormwood
-5 Sneezewort petals

Finally the actual ingrediants were listed up on the board and he copied them into his notes before getting up from his seat to retrieve them. Once he had, Gideon returned to his work area to begin what he needed to prepare for the actual brewing. First things first...the cleaning. "Scourgify." Then the water. He set his cauldron on the burner and then slipped his wand from his pocket. "Aquamenti..." he cast letting the jet of water fill the container to a certain point before adding, "Finite."

Now for the fire. "Incendio," he finished up, lighting the burner beneath the cauldron and setting it to a decent level as he awaited the next step.