Did this lesson REALLY have to happen? Lux didn't want her favourite class to come to an end for the term, she wanted to keep brewing potions. Maybe she could just go to the lab later and brew something of her own.

The discussion turned to poisons - which she definitely knew about - but other people were answering so she decided to remain quiet. Professor Culloden was aware that she knew what poisons were anyhow, since she had explained them in a Potions homework. So instead of answering, she drew a mermaid in the margin of her notebook as she listened to the conversation around her.

Angel was not ready for this at all but she would give it a go. She raised her hand and looked at the Professor, she had read something in the book and was going to say it here. "Is Weedosoros a poison?" Angel wasn't sure. "I think that the person who drinks it gets simple effects to what you get if you drink that despair drink... though I'm not totally sure."

Oh look! More people were coming into the classroom. People he didn't care for -- you, Maddison Cooper -- and people who got an eyeroll because of the uptight way they were stomping around the classroom -- you, Agatha Hapgood. But there were also some nice and familiar faces who got smiles and waves from Grayson. Eden, Cinna and Toby were the lucky three.

This really was going to be a good lesson, wasn't it? That wink from Phoenix was enough to prove it. Uh huh. And to make things better, 'hot stuff' was the nickname in choice. Grayson smirked and winked back at the Gryffindor.

Was he ready for this? "Freaking yes! Dead nervous too but--"

Before he could say anything else, THERE was the man of the hour! Grayson grinned at Phoenix before looking forwards towards Culloden. Were they talking about poisons? Oh GOOD. This was going to be an interesting line of discussion. Uh huh. He had a funny feeling that they wouldn't be able to make any poisons but no matter.

And to answer the question? "Poisons are highly dangerous and, kinda sneaky too. Maybe, in some cases, a mixture is only considered a poison depending on how strong it is. For example, Garrotting Gas. Small doses might just cause you to choke and if you get out of there quickly enough, you'll be fine. Not exactly considered that poisonous, is it?" Wasn't even labelled as a poison in the first place but whatever. "But inhale more and you're likely to suffocate and then you're done for. Then it could be considered poisonous." This was his line of thinking, at least.

Pause. "That doesn't mean you should go around sniffing the thing, though." Dead stupid, that was.

Ah, yes. The final. Welp, one thing for sure Declan Hazelwood had not studied for this at all. Nope and that was verified by the blank silence in his head after the professor's first question. He knew what a poison was, obviously, but any names of specific poisons were not making themselves present in his noggin, nope, nope, nope. Honestly, he just thought poisons as poison. Just like oh yeah, that's a poison. Stay away from that poison right there. And that's probably how he's going to die. He kept his mouth pressed shut, listening to the others naming some, and took mental notes.

Zhenya was watching the tray curiously. She wandered what it was, what could it possibly be? She was a bit nervous, having missed a few… years of potions, now she was having her final? Whoa!

The Professor walked in, and she felt herself tensing up a bit, but the chair was so comfortable. Hmm.. poisons? Antidotes? Maybe that thing in the tray was some sort of poison, or something that had been poisoned, and they had to treat it?

She had a think about his question and raised her hand, "Professor, a poison is a harmful substance that has the ability to harm or kill an organism." She had a quick think of a poison, remembering reading about one in her Grandparents muggle history books. "One example of a poison is cyanide. I think what happens when someone is exposed to cyanide is they loose the oxygen in their blood, and people can have minor disruptions such as headaches, fainting, and trouble breathing, but if it's exposure at higher amounts they can die," she said, rather morbidly.

Nervous. He was INCREDIBLY nervous. So nervous in fact that he had to hold the edge of the table to stop his hand from shaking. And he had to have his tongue between his teeth to stop them from chattering. THIS WAS MAKE OR BREAK!!! DO OR DIE!!! HE HAD TO GET AN 'O' ON HIS REPORT CARD!!!

Breeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaathe.

Raising his hand, Zeke forced himself to participate, he couldn't afford to sit this one out. "A poison makes living things sick, or kills them... basically it causes them harm," he answered, his voice shaking once or twice. Gosh he hated FINALS. "And an example might be... Hemlock? I know that creatures shouldn't eat it cause it'll make them really sick."

Finally Professor Culloden made his entrance and said the word that Jasmine was dreading......final. The thought of a culminating examination was not something she wanted to deal with, but unfortunately she had no choice. Final also made her think that her two years at Hogwarts would soon be coming to an end. Soon, but not yet so she could be in denial for now.

Then it was question time. Poison was the topic and Jasmine raised her hand and began to speak. "A poison is something that can cause illness or death if it is taken into a person's system through a number of ways". Going on to give her example, Jasmine continued. "Venomous Tentacula juice is a poison, but it won't kill you. It will make your insides feel like they are burning and turn your skin purple." It sounded like a charming little potion.

Phe was a little confused as to why Grayson was excited for a final. "You'll have to help me though, dude. I suck at this." Potions, that was. He was terrible. He just couldn't get his head around it.

.... But then the lesson had started and people were already answering the question.

WHAT? How did people know so much about this stuff? His knowledge still had so many gaps in it... "They're... poisonous. So they'll kill you. Or make you sick." Like food poisoning. Eurgh. Yeah, that was as much as he had. He stared blankly at everyone else, chewing the edge of his quill.

Nope. Not getting this. And not remembering to take notes either...

Marigold raised a hand while chewing the end of her hair absently. "Some poisons are only fatal for humans, right? Like snake venom in a potion… snakes wouldn't die if they had that potion." Snakes would look very funny drinking a potion, heh.

When the professor mentioned the final, Kace was starting to feel the nerves and wondered if he was gonna do well because if he did well in this class then he could do well in his OWL. Alright enough worrying, he heard the professor move on with the lesson and asked about one poison and it's effect. Kace thought about one and heard his classmates answers. He agreed with all of them and heard of some but he remembered one that wasn't mentioned.

"Professor isn't a Basilisk fang poisonous and it effect can be instant since it is the venom from the snake?" He thought it sounded logical and his answer was similar to Marigold's but he gave an example.

Sophie was pleased that Culloden looked so happy when he came in, but she was also VERY suspicious. Very... very... suspicious. Couldn't possibly be a good thing for them that he found something to be so incredibly delightful, could it? Merlin.

His first question made her squint, and instead of answering right away, she went ahead and starting organizing her notebook and writing various notes where it was needed. She knew HE knew she knew what a poison was, as she had went over it elaborately in her homework assignment, and it seemed like people knew well enough what one was by all their answers, so she felt no need to contribute to that part of the discussion. Everyone else knew, and the professor knew she knew, so... there was no point.

However, she COULD offer up an example of a poison, of course. There were plenty of those. "The Noxious Potion is a poison, professor. It emits a green smoke that's SUPER strong and makes the person who inhales the fumes pass out or throw up. Y'can't even drink it 'cause your mind won't let you - it knows it's too terrible for you, y'know? But if you were forced to drink it, it'd make you throw up, for sure. S'no good."

Hugh had slipped in just in time. Emphasis on the slipping part. But when he finally scrambled to his seat he found that the lesson hadn't started. The bro-fessor wasn't even there yet-

AHA.

Sup, yo?

His hand shot up and waved around. Look here. "Swelling solution. You can patch that up with deflating draught." Boom.

Zander was just ever so curiously awaiting Culloden's arrival really unsure of how the Professor would enter class today. Last time Zander had said something to the man he was yelled at for lying about some Beauty. Then the time before that he had received a detention. And then even further back his bed was going to be taken and just merlin, something about Culloden just every time. It kept Zander on edge.

So when the Professor finally showed up--super enthusiastically at that-- the Gryffindor was quite confused. Uh, ok. He looked over to give Kevin an apprehensive look before turning back to the man and listening to some answers other people replied with. Kevin's sounded the best, in Zander's opinion.

As for his own.... Uh, poison Ivy is a poison right?

Samantha's mind just wasn't with it today so she nervously put her hand in the air before speaking.

"There is a potion called the Drink of Despair that causes fear, pain strong thirst and confusion. Considering the effects, is that a type of poison?"

Everyone else had been off and talking to each other. Brooklyn had seen Grayson come in and go over by a Gryffindor with poofy hair, and several others she didn’t particularly know or care about. She didn’t’ care that nobody had come over near her either, when the important person wasn’t there. That being the professor, who also could have answered the question of what was under the blanket that the head girl had started poking. Part of her hoped that would get the girl detention, or even just points loss for Gryffindor, but those thoughts trailed off as she saw someone heading her way. She nodded at the older girl as she’d sat down next to her, but otherwise kept silent.

Especially as Professor Culloden had come in not long after, disappointing her by only shooing the head girl away from his desk before greeting everyone and getting the lesson started. Of course she was ready for her final. She refused to be otherwise, yet she also stayed quiet as the question about poisons had been asked and people had started offering their answers. Quiet and making note of everything they said. It could come in awfully useful later on if she felt like it was needed. Besides, she was a first year. She was supposed to be learning about them, not already knowing the answer. Although in her opinion, everyone knew what the results of taking or giving somebody a poison was. They didn’t need to discuss it unless there was a reason to.

Aha, leave it to the Slytherins to touch upon an important aspect!

"You two mentioned something very important," he said excitedly, "something may not poison with a little amount, but it can be harmful if exposed to a lot." He smiled at them.


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He was excited for this answer as well. "I don't know specifically about snakes, but you're right: Something poisonous for a creature may not cause any harm for another." Good one, Marigold!



Cosgrach was excited for their answer too, and they touched upon something he wanted to point out today.

Well, he hoped that was what that Slytherin boy meant, at least.

"You all brought up something I wanted to emphasise," he said with a big grin, "something not brewed as a poison may be so if it's harmful to that creature. Say someone's over-excited for something and his body is reacting too with high blood pressure and all. Just a drop Drink of Despair might fix it. Or a love potion... it's useful for the brewer, but highly unwanted for the target." Nodnod.

"So you can say while there are things that are outright poisonous, we should also keep 'amount' and 'situation' in mind. Sometimes, innocent things have terrible consequences. Sometimes, the difference between 'okay' and 'horrible' is just a pinch of a sunbstance." Did they get what he was trying to say?

He glanced at the blackboard briefly before asking them the next question.

"How can we combat poisons? How can we obtain these substances?"

Adi began making his notes. So much information! He had not realised there are so many poisons around. Maybe even more that have not been discovered as yet. Meh.

Anyway... onto the next questions. Adi knew bezoars were one of the most common things used to fight poisons but then he remembered reading about something else. He thrust his hand up. "There's the Antidote for Common Poisons, Professor that can brewed.''

So his lucky guess was right? Grayson smirked, dead chuffed with his answer. It had been a lucky guess: an answer where he had simply taken a stab in the dark and hoped for the best. Taking up his quill, the Slytherin noted down a thing or two in his notebook, especially something that the others had said about brewing things incorrectly and targets. Poisons being considered a poison in the viewpoint of the target. Unwanted and all.

What can they use to combat poisons? Grayson was about to raise his hand in the air and mention something about the Antidote to Common Poisons but before he could do so much as place his quill down, Adi had mentioned it already. He smiled over in the direction of the Hufflepuff before deciding to mention something else. Something.........

............. oh!

"I've read about bezoars before. They're taken from the stomach of a goat and can save you against most poisons but not everything." Because that was impossible. "They're not exactly a potion but they're still dead useful."

Jasmine was glad she had answered the question correctly. She took notes as the other students gave their answers. Based on the question, Jasmine wondered what they would be brewing today. Poisons? Antidotes? She would have to wait and see.

Then the second question was posed and Jasmine raised her hand to answer it. "The Antidote for Uncommon Poisons can be used to counteract uncommon and minor poisons." That was pretty self explanatory given the title, right? How could the substances be obtained? This one Jasmine was not sure about so she waited to hear what her classmates had to say.

Countering poisons...

Yeaahhhhh, this line of conversation was obvious - all things considered. Still, he wasn't sure how to elaborate on some of the points that have already been made. Antidotes were the obvious, really. He'd even mentioned it in his homework assignment.

That being said, he did have ideas...

"Herbs and things with properties that are opposite to the poison that's been taken?" he voiced uncertainly, hand raised in the air. "Kinda like that whole bezoar thing, some other things might also be useful for other poisons and just need to be picked or harvested." Harvested sounded like a weird word, yo, but it was appropriate, so he went with it.

Ummm.... so there were a few answers that had already been said, not that it really mattered because AJ hadn't heard of them before. The first thing that popped into her little mind was what muggles were supposed to do in case of a poisoning.

AJ raised her hand. "I know that muggles are supposed to call this 800 number and the guys on the phone tell you what to do. You can make yourself throw up or have to drink lots of water. I think maybe those techniques could be helpful." Sticking a finger down your throat could take way less time than brewing a potion.

SPOILER!!: Maddie's reply to question one because we missed it, oooops

Maddie KNEW what a poison was. Like all the technical stuff and why there were bad. Unfortunately for HER, most of her classmates had covered all the bases. STILL, she couldn't NOT add something the discussion so her hand went up.

"Poisons are what you're given when you make the wrong person angry. Like that Snow White person with the poisoned apple."

She might have smirked at Grayson too. NOT that she was stupid enough to poison someone. You'd go to jail for like EVER if they got super sick from it and she had TOO much to accomplish. STILL, she liked making the older boy uneasy. Heh.

And moving on. Making antidotes was super complicated as far as Maddie could tell. There was a law about it and EVERYTHING. "Golpalott, he made a law about this. It was something about how you can't simply add an ingredient to counteract each ingredient in the potion when it's all mixed together. You need to find something else that's more powerful than the poison as a whole."

.....

What? Phoenix stared at the Professor, a confused expression on his face. What about feathers..? "I don't think feathers are poisonous sir... unless they're like... dipped... in... oh..." He got it... eventually, and lowered the quill from his lips, placing it down on the table. There. He wasn't... chewing it anymore...

But now what was he supposed to do with his hands? He looked round the room as people started answering the next question - to be honest, he'd have just gone to a healer... "Can you... for like... less strong poisons... dilute them? I mean, I know if you accidentally drink bleach or stuff you're supposed to drink milk..." Sure, that was a muggle thing... but he didn't get potions. At least he was trying...

Phe had picked up his quill again to try and take notes, but he wasn't really sure where to start. He looked over at Grayson for some kind of camaraderie in his lack of knowledge, but he seemed to actually understand this stuff. Oh yeah... Grayson was actually good at this.

..So WHAT was he supposed to write..? He started trying to copy down from the board, but his handwriting was so scribbly he definitely wouldn't be able to read it later. Plus... concentrating... was not so easy... Not when he was getting distracted by what other people were saying, and by the thought of what he was going to have to eat after this lesson, what he was going to do with his evening, a little tune he'd had in his head for about an hour that was dying to have some lyrics written to it...

....

AAAAAnd now he was lost.

Yeah yeah yeah, he knew he should raise his hand before answering a question but... the boy sighed heavily, placed his chin on the table and sighed again. Too much effort. "Yeah okay....whatever" But no yelling if he forgot, it just didn't feel like it was a good day. Maybe he was getting sick?

He listened to the other student's as they gave their answers and then focused back to the Professor as he asked a second one. Some were already saying antidotes which had been on his mind as well but repeating it again, nah. His second thought was the bezoar but Grayson and Zeke had mentioned them as well so that left.......what? Without being able to come up with an answer, the Gryffindor just sat down like that with his chin on the table and was now staring at whatever it was that was on the Professor's desk. He wanted to know what it was...

GRAYSON SPOTTED HER. Eden just smiled a bit and waved back at the Slytherin before eyeing how NERVOUS Phe seemed. Poor kid. She wanted to hug him. But she wasn't doing much better in this class, no.

SIGH.

Toby and Grayson BOTH knew their stuff, and Eden just sunk in her chair a little. "Um...aren't there...stones that take care of poisons?" She couldn't remember the name right now. "I know that they don't help every poison but--they work on some of them, right?"

What an enlightening answer....not.