You know what he had spent the past two hours doing?

Studying, that's what.

He'd also done more important things like grab himself a snack and signed back in in the log book and possibly tried to find someone to annoy. Boredom had snuck in and he didn't want to be away from the cauldron from too long. Not when there was a potion brewing. What if someone came and messed it all up? People were freaking insane and he wasn't gonna take that risk. So, for the majority of the two hours, Grayson had stayed right where he was and made some notes that he was sure he was gonna forget before long.

Once the time struck two hours -- FINALLY -- the Slytherin was more than happy to snap his book shut and turn his attention back to his cauldron. The heat was turned off and, while he waited for it to cool down, he moved onto the next step. He pulled the mortar and pestle closer towards him and gave them a magical clean -- important, that was -- before placing the Bicorn horn into it. And so the crushing process began, a tedious process if the horn was going to be stubborn and not crush itself properly. He needed to wait for the potion to cool down but did he want to be waiting here all day? Nah!

At long last, the horn had been crushed down into a fine powder, which gave Whitty the chance to smirk to himself. How long had that been? Not fifteen minutes, right? Surely not! Crushing a horn didn't take THAT long, SURELY. He checked the temperature of the potion with his hands every now and then, since it had to be cool enough to touch and all. Once it was -- a little under fifteen minutes, too! -- Grayson added it into the cauldron. THERE! His wooden stick got a magical clean before he dipped it into the potion and went forth with the complicated stirring. It WAS complicated, especially when he first read it. One... two... three... four... five stirs clockwise. Then that was followed by one... two... three... four stirs counter clockwise.

See? Complicated.

One... two.. three stirs clockwise, and then one... two stirs counter clockwise and FINALLY one stir clockwise. MAN. Talk about confusing. The next step was MUCH simpler -- thank Merlin! -- so he was more than happy to light a fire beneath his cauldron and turn it up to maximum.

And it had to stay like that for a week? Brilliant. He was gonna leave that there and come back in a week's time, then.

Text Cut: Notebook

Un-Felix Un-Felicis Potion
(Opposite of Felix Felicis)
Grayson Whitlock

Ingredients:
- a litre of goat milk
- 1 strand of thestral mane
- bicorn horn
- full, undamaged mussel shell
- one black cat's fur
- caterpillar
- 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses (plucked ripe from the branches)


Instructions:
1) Pre-heat the cauldron to 150 celcius degrees
2) Put one litre of goat milk
3) Add the thestral mane
4) Wait for two hours
[S5) Put out the fire and wait for it to cool down[/S]
6) Crush the bicorn horn into a fine powder in the meantime and add it once the potion is cool enough for you to touch
7) Check point: it should be cool in maximum 15 minutes
8) With a wooden stick, stir it five times clockwise, four times counter clockwise, three times clockwise, two times counter clockwise and once clockwise.
9) Light a fire and bring it to maximum. Let it burn for a full week. Make sure the fire is always at maximum.
10) Clean the mussel shell gently, make sure there is no moss on it. open it, remove the mussel itself and clean its inside too, then add into the cauldron after a week is up.
11) Put out the fire and wait for one Moon cycle
12) Check point: the colour should be silver
13) Sprinkle half of the fur
14) With a metal stick, stir vigorously 13 times counter clockwise
15) Sprinkle the other half of the fur
16) Stir slowly 13 times counter clockwise
17) Check point: it should smell like your least favourite flower
18) Wait for a week
19) Slice the caterpillar into five equal pieces and add the one by one
20) Swirl your wand slowly over the cauldron while telling an event you think is unfortunate (the number of swirls doesn't matter, just don't stop until the end of the story)
21) Light a low fire and wait for 13 days
22) Get 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses in the gardens and add them all at once
23) With a metal stick, stir once clockwise
24) Wait until it changes colour from green to brown
25) Label it and leave a vial it on the desk
Do NOT! try it without my consent.
If you have done everything correctly, it shouldn't smell or smoke. Its taste should not spoil the substances it is added.

Waiting wasn't exactly Maddie's strong suit and she'd checked on her potion several times during the course of the moon cycle, documenting the gradual change in color. When the cycle had ended, she returned with her things and an urge to keep going. She quite liked potions, especially because they tested her patience and skill level. They were a challenge and the second year never backed down from one of those.

After cleaning the work space and noting that her potion was indeed a silver colour, the brunette slipped on her clean gloves and took a long look at her notes. She was up to the black cat's fur, it seemed.

Zeus came to mind as Maddie carefully measured out what she hoped was half the fur into a small clean bowl. How exactly had this fur been obtained. Was an unfortunate deceased feline robbed of its hair or was there actually a live cat running around somewhere without its fur. Poor thing was probably terribly cold if that were true. In any case, she couldn't help but think Z would look ridiculous without his fur.

With a gloved hand, Maddie began to sprinkle half the fur she'd collected right into the potion. The bits of hair that stuck to her glove was hastily shaken off, over the cauldron. Then she glanced back at her notes, crossing off that step and eyeing the next one.

"Scourgify. Scourgify." Gloves and bowl were cleaned and then she reached for the metal stick. "Scourgify." That was cleaned too, of course. Then it was time to stir. 13 times counter clockwise. Vigorously, as instructed. 1..2..3..While she stirred, the second year thought on the black cat and the number thirteen. Superstition said both could be considered bad luck, right? Made sense given the potion she was brewing. ...11...12...13.

After cleaning the stick and her gloves for good measure, Maddie added the other half of the fur. She used a clean un-gloved hand this time, knowing the fur stuck to her glove before. It proved to be a good choice and she had little trouble.

More cleaning and then she stirred again. Counter clockwise and thirteen times like before, though this time slowly. Then she waited, nose on alert as she was waiting for a scent, yes?

...Rafflesia. Maddie's nose wrinkled. Ew.

Wow, they had done it. They were in the home stretch.

As much as Lux loved brewing potions, was kind of happy that this would be done soon because there had been so much waiting involved. She wanted to see the end results and know if she had done a good job with her work or not.

Staring at her potion, she waited and waited and waited for it to change colour, thrilled when it looked less and less green and more and more brown. Soon enough it had fully turned colour. She had a brown potion which meant that she had done it correctly. Leaning towards it, she couldn't smell anything either. There was also an absence of smoke.

Taking a vial, she filled it with some of her potion and put a stopper on it. Then she made and stuck on a name tag:

Quote:

Lux Carrington
Fourth Year
Hufflepuff

After leaving her vial on the desk, Lux cleaned up her workstation. "It was great working with you, Adi!"

SPOILER!!: Recipe

• a litre of goat milk
• 1 strand of thestral mane
• bicorn horn
• full, undamaged mussel shell
• one black cat's fur
• caterpillar
• 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses (plucked ripe from the branches)

1. Pre-heat the cauldron to 150 celcius degrees
2. Put one litre of goat milk
3. Add the thestral mane
4. Wait for two hours
5. Put out the fire and wait for it to cool down
6. Crush the bicorn horn into a fine powder in the meantime and add it once the potion is cool enough for you to touch
7. Check point: it should be cool in maximum 15 minutes
8. With a wooden stick, stir it five times clockwise, four times counter clockwise, three times clockwise, two times counter clockwise and once clockwise.
9. Light a fire and bring it to maximum. Let it burn for a full week. Make sure the fire is always at maximum.
10. Clean the mussel shell gently, make sure there is no moss on it. open it, remove the mussel itself and clean its inside too, then add into the cauldron after a week is up.
11. Put out the fire and wait for one Moon cycle
12. Check point: the colour should be silver
13. Sprinkle half of the fur
14. With a metal stick, stir vigorously 13 times counter clockwise
15. Sprinkle the other half of the fur
16. Stir slowly 13 times counter clockwise
17. Check point: it should smell like your least favourite flower
18. Wait for a week
19. Slice the caterpillar into five equal pieces and add the one by one
20. Swirl your wand slowly over the cauldron while telling an event you think is unfortunate (the number of swirls doesn't matter, just don't stop until the end of the story)
21. Light a low fire and wait for 13 days
22. Get 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses in the gardens and add them all at once
23. With a metal stick, stir once clockwise
24. Wait until it changes colour from green to brown
25. Label it and leave a vial it on the desk

• Do NOT! try it without my consent.
• If you have done everything correctly, it shouldn't smell or smoke. Its taste should not spoil the substances it is added.

Maddie had waited the week, rather impatiently, and returned to the lab ready to work. Perhaps she was so eager because she was nearing the end of her time on the potion now, having only about seven or so steps left. It wouldn't be a walk in the park or anything but she was up to the challenge. Besides, she liked the lab. It was quiet and she felt comfortable in here. At home, even.

After cleaning the space around her cauldron, the second year got a hold of her caterpillar with clean gloved hands and placed it in front of her. She then focused on the knife. "Scourgify." Handling it carefully, she then cut into the small creature with wrinkled nose. Five equal pieces, yes? Poor thing.

When she'd finished cutting, the brunette added each piece one at a time as directed. No more Mr. caterpillar.

The next step was a bit strange. Maddie didn't exactly know an unfortunate story off the top of her head so she eyed her potion and thought on it for a minute or two. It was then that she found inspiration.

Swirling her wand above the potion, she started. "It's unfortunate that my brothers don't listen to me. Like when Vin decided that I was bluffing when I told him if he didn't take me to return my books to the library, I'd make him miss his date. Well he must have thought I bluffing because I got a late fee in the mail but he did miss his date when I hid his bike so he couldn't get to his girlfriend's house." There. That situation had been unfortunate...for him. She stopped swirling her wand when she'd finished, a small smile playing on her lips. Another step done.

"Incendio." After lighting a low flame, the brunette cleaned and packed up her things again before heading out. Nearly done now.

A week had passed and Grayson came back to the laboratory to complete the potion. There was a lot of waiting involved in this potion, wasn't there? Jeez, he'd never ha to brew a potion that required so much waiting time. Grayson liked to get his potion done once and for all since that was what he was generally used to but this? This was another story.

Yeah. Whatever. Having signed in again, Grayson headed into the laboratory and straight over towards his potion. How was it looking? Good? He hoped so. There was no way to check since, according to his notes, there wasn't another check point. Shrug. He'd just continue and hope for the best. The next check point wasn't far away but there WAS another wait between now and then. Jeez!

Grabbing his mussel, the fifth year took out his wand and started cleaning it using magic. Thank Merlin for magic because otherwise, this would take twice as long and he wasn't okay with that. No way. Once all the moss was off the shell, Grayson pried it open and started cleaning out the mussel inside. Again, thank Merlin for magic. Really. When that was done, he added the shell into the cauldron.

There. Brilliant.

And what was next? Put out the fire and wait a full moon cycle? That was a whole freaking month! Jeez, how long did this potion take to make?!

Following the instructions, Grayson turned off the heat and headed out.

Text Cut: Notebook

Un-Felix Un-Felicis Potion
(Opposite of Felix Felicis)
Grayson Whitlock

Ingredients:
- a litre of goat milk
- 1 strand of thestral mane
- bicorn horn
- full, undamaged mussel shell
- one black cat's fur
- caterpillar
- 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses (plucked ripe from the branches)


Instructions:
1) Pre-heat the cauldron to 150 celcius degrees
2) Put one litre of goat milk
3) Add the thestral mane
4) Wait for two hours
[S5) Put out the fire and wait for it to cool down[/S]
6) Crush the bicorn horn into a fine powder in the meantime and add it once the potion is cool enough for you to touch
7) Check point: it should be cool in maximum 15 minutes
8) With a wooden stick, stir it five times clockwise, four times counter clockwise, three times clockwise, two times counter clockwise and once clockwise.
9) Light a fire and bring it to maximum. Let it burn for a full week. Make sure the fire is always at maximum.
10) Clean the mussel shell gently, make sure there is no moss on it. open it, remove the mussel itself and clean its inside too, then add into the cauldron after a week is up.
11) Put out the fire and wait for one Moon cycle
12) Check point: the colour should be silver
13) Sprinkle half of the fur
14) With a metal stick, stir vigorously 13 times counter clockwise
15) Sprinkle the other half of the fur
16) Stir slowly 13 times counter clockwise
17) Check point: it should smell like your least favourite flower
18) Wait for a week
19) Slice the caterpillar into five equal pieces and add the one by one
20) Swirl your wand slowly over the cauldron while telling an event you think is unfortunate (the number of swirls doesn't matter, just don't stop until the end of the story)
21) Light a low fire and wait for 13 days
22) Get 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses in the gardens and add them all at once
23) With a metal stick, stir once clockwise
24) Wait until it changes colour from green to brown
25) Label it and leave a vial it on the desk
Do NOT! try it without my consent.
If you have done everything correctly, it shouldn't smell or smoke. Its taste should not spoil the substances it is added.

Thirteen days later, Maddie returned to the lab ready to finish her potion. She'd come equipped with the thorns she'd gathered, along with her notes and tools for potion making. Most importantly she'd come determined to wrap things out without any major catastrophes.

After cleaning her station like always and checking on her potion, the brunette brought out the thorns she'd gathered. 13 thorns from 13 different roses, just as instructed. It'd been a lot of work but it was worth the time and effort if it meant impressing Culloden, a man you clearly wanted on your side. After cleaning her hands, she added all 13 of them to the potion at once.

Only after she'd cleaned her hands again and cleaned the metal stick did she pick it up, dipping it into her potion. She stirred once clockwise and took it out again, cleaning it once more.

After consulting her notes, the second year furrowed her brow. Now she'd just need to wait.

..

...

....

Brown! IT WAS BROWN. Was she positive it was the RIGHT shade of brown? No. Still, she felt triumphant.

Grabbing a vial from her kit, Maddie cleaned it and then put a stopper in. She then carefully labeled her work so there would be no mistaking who'd passed the vial in.

Quote:

Un-Felix Un-Felicis potion
Maddie Cooper
Second Year, Ravenclaw

After cleaning the area, removing the excess potion, cleaning her cauldron, and packing her things, the thirteen year old was done.

She grabbed the vial and placed it right on Culloden's desk before leaving, feeling quite accomplished.

One moon cycle had passed and he was BACK.

Of course, as always, he logged in to the potions book or whatever it was and headed STRAIGHT for his cauldron without glancing around at anyone or anything else in the room. His potion was the most important thing here, thank you very much, and he'd rather get this over and done with as quickly as possible. Besides, he kinda wanted to see whether he could pull off brewing this complicated potion.

And speaking of potion, guess whose potion was now SILVER!

FREAKING YES!

Smirks were happening but victory snacks could wait until he was done with the potion completely. In the meantime, he was gonna continue with the steps, mkay? Which, speaking of, lulz! Hair of a black cat? Talk about superstitious, man. Grayson took half of the black cat's fur and sprinkled it into the potion. There. Simple step, that was.

Next came the stirring and MORE superstition. Was this where the unlucky part of the potion was coming from? Superstition? Shrug. Giving the metal stirrer a magical clean, the fifth year placed it into his cauldron and started stirring vigorously. Thirteen times counter clockwise! It was a lot but thank merlin there wasn't any rotation with the stirs like last time. He could stir that many times in one direction as long as he paid enough attention.

When that was done, the Slytherin stopped to take a look at his notes. The other half of the cat's fur was needed next so, taking that up, Grayson sprinkled it into his potion. Sprinkle sprinkle. He then took up his metal stirrer again and started stirring thirteen times counter clockwise but, this time, only slowly. Sloooooooow stirring. Sloooooooooo--

..................... What was that SMELL?!

Grayson scrunched up his nose as he came to a stop with his thirteen slow counter clockwise stirs. It smelt FLOWERY. MAN! What? Was it meant to smell like that? According to his notes.... yes. Er, alright. What was worse was that it was meant to smell like his least favourite flower but there was a slight problem: he wasn't particularly fond of any flower. And this? This smelt particularly........ weird. VERY flowery. A strong flowery scent that reminded him of people skipping through a field of--

Oh jeez, were these DAISIES?

He scrunched up his nose even MORE, if possible, before deciding to turn his attention back to his notes. Wait a week? Which meant that he could go and not have to deal with this flowery scent?

THANK FREAKING MERLIN!

Text Cut: Notebook

Un-Felix Un-Felicis Potion
(Opposite of Felix Felicis)
Grayson Whitlock

Ingredients:
- a litre of goat milk
- 1 strand of thestral mane
- bicorn horn
- full, undamaged mussel shell
- one black cat's fur
- caterpillar
- 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses (plucked ripe from the branches)


Instructions:
1) Pre-heat the cauldron to 150 celcius degrees
2) Put one litre of goat milk
3) Add the thestral mane
4) Wait for two hours
5) Put out the fire and wait for it to cool down
6) Crush the bicorn horn into a fine powder in the meantime and add it once the potion is cool enough for you to touch
7) Check point: it should be cool in maximum 15 minutes
8) With a wooden stick, stir it five times clockwise, four times counter clockwise, three times clockwise, two times counter clockwise and once clockwise.
9) Light a fire and bring it to maximum. Let it burn for a full week. Make sure the fire is always at maximum.
10) Clean the mussel shell gently, make sure there is no moss on it. open it, remove the mussel itself and clean its inside too, then add into the cauldron after a week is up.
11) Put out the fire and wait for one Moon cycle
12) Check point: the colour should be silver
13) Sprinkle half of the fur
14) With a metal stick, stir vigorously 13 times counter clockwise
15) Sprinkle the other half of the fur
16) Stir slowly 13 times counter clockwise
17) Check point: it should smell like your least favourite flower
18) Wait for a week
19) Slice the caterpillar into five equal pieces and add the one by one
20) Swirl your wand slowly over the cauldron while telling an event you think is unfortunate (the number of swirls doesn't matter, just don't stop until the end of the story)
21) Light a low fire and wait for 13 days
22) Get 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses in the gardens and add them all at once
23) With a metal stick, stir once clockwise
24) Wait until it changes colour from green to brown
25) Label it and leave a vial it on the desk
Do NOT! try it without my consent.
If you have done everything correctly, it shouldn't smell or smoke. Its taste should not spoil the substances it is added.

There were times where it felt like a complete joke. Like reaching for the Thestrals mane hairs. Like thinking he had a fair shake with Professor Culloden. Cause he didn't. It was apparent after the office visit. Not that it mattered terribly to Cutty. He had an in into the Potions world with Mrs. Newell and as in all fields of study, Culloden probably had adversaries and people who disagreed with his research. Exploitable competition. This was a valuable learning experience, however and what Cutty could do with a well-slipped unlucky potion felt virtually limitless.

And so he gathered the empty looking phial marked thestral mane hair, the goat milk, mussel shell, bicorn horn, and black cat fur bringing them over to his work space where they were joined with the bag of roses. Cutty looked inside his pewter number two cauldron spotting his dull and scarcely visible reflection. It had served him well that all-purpose cauldron had, but it would be the last time he'd use it.

Cutty performed the scouring charm on the cauldron, the thermometer and the measuring cup. "Incendio." With his fingers still gripped around his wand, Cutty grew the flame a bit more, and then a bit more than that. A high heat potion apparently, but not one that could be brewed in a copper pot, perhaps for the interference of the material on the sort of fortune they were brewing. Perhaps, he reasoned. But he wouldn't be certain without a little more research. He looked over the ingredients one more time and realized that time was an essential ingredient. There had to be a way around that?

He used the thermometer to test the temperature and when he'd finally reached 150 Celcius, he added the litre of goat's milk which steamed and curdled the moment it hit the inner walls of the cauldron. The smell of a cappuccino. Sour and sweet. He followed this, blindly with a strand of thestral mane. Bev would be along soon. He could test his potion against hers for she was the only one amongst his peers that he knew could see the beasts. For now, though he set a small puddle of water into a small dish and lowered the presumed thestral hair onto it, testing the imprint to assure that it was only one. Drying it with his wand, then he added it into the cauldron.

Well, here he was, doing this Potions thing.

Toby set himself up at a workstation, propping his cauldron up onto a stand and getting out all the ingredients and equipment he'd need for today's session; the first installment of making this potion. Okay, cleaning, then heating.

"Scourgify," Toby said, pointing his wand at the inside of his cauldron and repeated the spell a few times to really make sure he got the inside of it nice and clean. Then he redirected his wand to the firepit beneath the cauldron. "Incendio."

With a spark from his wand, the fire was lit and soon a flame burned beneath. While that heated up, Toby prepared the goats milk. He used 'scourgify' again on the inside of a measuring beaker, and poured the milk from its bottle and into the flask until it reached the little '1L' line. He looked back to the cauldron.

Uh... 150 degrees celcius. It was totally at that heat, right? Toby wasn't entirely sure how to tel- WAIT. He had a cauldron thermometer in his potions kit, bought during his last trip into Hogsmeade. Toby dug it out and held it up to the side of the pewter cauldron. When it read 150 degrees celcius, he carefully poured the goats milk in, making sure none of it splashed out and was lost. Every little drop could be totally crucial in potions, after all.

Milk, DONE. Next? Strand of thestral hair. Toby found it strange that he could see the hair, but not the creature itself, but was thankful for it nonetheless. Made his job brewing this potion wayyyyyyy easier.

"Wingardium Leviosa," the Hufflepuff cast, swish-and-flicking his wand and levitating the strand of hair right into his cauldron.

And now... to wait. For two hours.

Toby briefly considered wandering off for that brief period, but decided it might be best to wait here, write out notes for this potion, and do some studying for his Potions OWL. In any case, he was notorious for wandering off and forgetting he was in the middle of something, one of the reasons he was absolutely NOT allowed to cook things alone when he was at home. Yeah, best to stay here.

After checking his watch, Toby readied the next set of ingredients and equipment, lining it all up in the order he'd need it, before writing out his notes. After that, he'd grab his textbook and study some of his favourite potions, and analyse the ingredients and methods of brewing; it was one of the best ways he'd found to study this subject, Toby had found.

If he'd trusted more people, Cutty would've left his potion on it's own. He did not. Instead, a gathering of information was had, a diagram drawn, a poem for Agatha that her eyes would never see was written, a birthday wishlist built and stuffed into an envelope, push-ups were done, a mortar and pestle were cleansed and in the end waiting was inevitable but improved precision. Gradually, Cutty took down the heat until he shut it down completely.

Letting it cool down, he took up the mortar and pestle and began to crush the bicorn. It rattled at first, like a block of wood being banged about a small space but eventually the sound became gritty, like sand and from sand to soft dirt. The bicorn horn was now resembling a fine powder. Cutty swiveled the pestle in circular motions around the inside of the mortar bowl until the horn was all smooth and holding shape on command.

He took his palm to the side of the cauldron and felt that the potion had cooled down enough to be introduced to the bicorn horn. Cutty took his wand to his wooden stirrer and cleansed it thoroughly then placed it inside of his cauldron before pouring the well ground contents of his mortar into the mix. It looked like powdered sugar topping the rest of his potion. Dessert-like, really. After he got the last bits of it in he gave the entire thing a stir. Five times in a clockwise motion. Then, four times the opposite direction. Three times forward once more and anti-clockwise twice. Finally, he finished up with one turn clockwise.

Lifting the wooden stirring stick from the potion, Cutty restarted the fire and grew it to a large flame. A week. It had to remain there a week. He put up a protective spell or three to deter fingers that were not his own from getting too close to the potion.

Once he was engaged enough in his studying, the two hours flew by pretty quickly. Sure, every ten or fifteen minutes Toby needed to get up and move about a bit, but the flow of his studying was going absolutely swimmingly. Just before the two hour mark, he started putting his textbook and notes back into his bag, and stowed his bag out of the way again.

Toby checked his watch again, noted that it had been exactly two hours, and used his wand to extinguish the flame below the cauldron with a softly muttered, "Finite."

While he waited for that to cool, Toby pulled his mortar and pestle towards him.

"Scourgify," the Hufflepuff cast, first at the inside of the bowl and then at the grinding baton type thing. "Scourgify." The bicorn horn was already out and ready, and so Toby levitated it into the mortar, just as he'd done earlier when moving the thestral hair to the cauldron. Then, he crushed it.

Or tried to. It was always kind of difficult at first, and slow going. Toby had to sort of gently thwack the horn with his pestle until it broke into smaller pieces, and then worked at grinding it down into the fine powder that the potion recipe called for.

Turning back to the cauldron again, Toby hesitated. Wait for the potion to be cool to the touch? Surely that didn't mean he should stick his hand in there. Maybe just the side of the cauldron then? The Hufflepuff held his hand out a few centimetres away from the surface of his potion, to see if it still felt too hot from there. Finding that it felt fine, he then moved to touch the outside of his cauldron with the more sensitive back side of his hand. Yep, all fine, so in went the powdered horn of bicorn, gathering at first on the top of the top of the potion before the lot sank down to the bottom of the cauldron.

Toby checked his watch; that hadn't taken any longer than fifteen minutes to cool, so all seemed to be on track so far.

Next, Toby retrieved his wooden stirrer from his potions kit. He cast 'scourgify' at it a few times, wanting to make extra sure it was clean; he always felt like, as the wooden stirrer was more porous than the glass or metal varieties, it could never get quite as clean as the others and would soak up and hold onto the previous potions. This was ridiculous, of course, as they were cleaned by MAGIC and all. Still, cleaned that one a few times.

Carefully, so as not to disturb the potion enough to splash it or anything, Toby stirred the liquid in the cauldron. First clockwise, one... two... three... four... five times. Then anti-clockwise, one... two... three... four times. Three more times clockwise, two anti-clockwise, and once more in a clockwise direction.

Taking the stirrer out of the potion again, Toby cast another cleaning spell at it, and put it back with his potions kit. Then he aimed his wand at the firepit below the cauldron again.

"Incendio!" With a fiddly twirl of his wand, the fifth year brought the flame up to as high as it could go. He paused, looked between the flame and his potion, and nodded to himself. Done for today, then. Done for a week, in fact, though Toby fully intended to return and visit the potions lab a couple of times a day, to make sure the fire was still on maximum, and ensure that his potion hadn't exploded or anything.

Now that he'd done all he could do for the day, Toby re-cleaned all the items from his potions kit that he'd used and packed them all away, before packing everything back in his bag. He glanced at the potion one last time to check that all was in order, before folding his notes, shoving those in his bag too, and heading out of the lab.

How long had it been since he'd last been here? A week?

Jeez, it was as if he was hardly seeing his potion at all.

After signing in yet again in the log book, Grayson made his way inside the laboratory and over towards his potion. How was it looking? Good? Nobody had tampered with it, had they? They'd better not have! Because he had a lot riding on this, like his pride and determination and the fact that he had taken Ruby's advice by lying to his mum.

He flipped through his notebook until he came to the spot about the Unlucky Potion and scanned the instructions. Slice the caterpillars? Easy. Five equal pieces? Maybe not so easy. Because it was five and not four where he could just slice it in half and then two halves again. No. Five. Five was different. Cleaning his surfaces, Grayson placed the caterpillar over towards a clean, empty area and tried to lay it out as flat as possible. Of course, it had to curl a little because it was stubborn like that.

Five equal parts. Five EQUAL parts.

The fifth year cleaned his knife and held it up over the caterpillar. Five equal parts wasn't meant to be HARD but this was POTIONS, for Merlin's sake. Furrowing his eyebrows, the knife went down and sliced the caterpillar once...... twice..... three times..... and four times. Right until he had five equal slices. Brilliant. Into the potion they went, one by one.

Next came the part about an unfortunate tale. Holding up his wand, Grayson started swirling it over his cauldron as he launched into his tale. "One day, dear potion of mine, there was a handsome boy of good hair and an even better complexion. He was the heartthrob of many and, of course, this got him into trouble one day. It wasn't his fault, mind you." Still wasn't. Just saying. "Anyways, one day, he decided to go and try some brownies that his friend had made for him. They were delicious, let me tell you, but they were also spiked with love potion!"

If there was ever a moment to gasp, this was it.

"That's right, love potion," he continued, as if the potion was listening to him, "It made him fall in love with his friend and made him say all kinds of rubbish to her. He even kissed her! BUT, here's the plot twist," Because come on, him kissing someone wasn't a plot twist. "She had a boyfriend who wasn't at all that chuffed that he did that. So, they had a fight and the boyfriend punched the handsome guy in the face! Very unfortunate, wouldn't you agree?"

And he was done with that story so he could stop swirling his wand around now, yes? Good. When he was done with that -- and had rubbed his wrist because MAN was it sore -- Grayson lit a low fire beneath his cauldron before packing his things away again. Thirteen days. He had to come back in thirteen days' time.

That was TOO long.

Text Cut: Notebook

Un-Felix Un-Felicis Potion
(Opposite of Felix Felicis)
Grayson Whitlock

Ingredients:
- a litre of goat milk
- 1 strand of thestral mane
- bicorn horn
- full, undamaged mussel shell
- one black cat's fur
- caterpillar
- 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses (plucked ripe from the branches)


Instructions:
1) Pre-heat the cauldron to 150 celcius degrees
2) Put one litre of goat milk
3) Add the thestral mane
4) Wait for two hours
5) Put out the fire and wait for it to cool down
6) Crush the bicorn horn into a fine powder in the meantime and add it once the potion is cool enough for you to touch
7) Check point: it should be cool in maximum 15 minutes
8) With a wooden stick, stir it five times clockwise, four times counter clockwise, three times clockwise, two times counter clockwise and once clockwise.
9) Light a fire and bring it to maximum. Let it burn for a full week. Make sure the fire is always at maximum.
10) Clean the mussel shell gently, make sure there is no moss on it. open it, remove the mussel itself and clean its inside too, then add into the cauldron after a week is up.
11) Put out the fire and wait for one Moon cycle
12) Check point: the colour should be silver
13) Sprinkle half of the fur
14) With a metal stick, stir vigorously 13 times counter clockwise
15) Sprinkle the other half of the fur
16) Stir slowly 13 times counter clockwise
17) Check point: it should smell like your least favourite flower
18) Wait for a week
19) Slice the caterpillar into five equal pieces and add the one by one
20) Swirl your wand slowly over the cauldron while telling an event you think is unfortunate (the number of swirls doesn't matter, just don't stop until the end of the story)
21) Light a low fire and wait for 13 days
22) Get 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses in the gardens and add them all at once
23) With a metal stick, stir once clockwise
24) Wait until it changes colour from green to brown
25) Label it and leave a vial it on the desk
Do NOT! try it without my consent.
If you have done everything correctly, it shouldn't smell or smoke. Its taste should not spoil the substances it is added.

Aaaaaand he was back. Again. But instead of just hanging around briefly to check on the flame, this time Toby was here to add the next ingredient to his potion, because an entire week had now passed.

With the potion bubbling beside him on his workstation, Toby rifled through his potions kit to grab the muscle shell that he'd picked up from the potions storeroom that very day. He took it out of the jar and pondered briefly on the best way of cleaning it. Magic, of course, would be a good way. And maybe the muggle way too, just to be sure? Couldn't hurt.

He got his wand from its holster.

"Scourgify," Toby cast, aiming his spell first at one side, then the other, to clean it of any dirt or moss. Then... "Aguamenti." The water ran over the shall and then off into the jar that was still on the desk below; Toby made sure to run his thumb over the shell repeatedly, including into any little grooves where stray moss might be hiding. That done, he held the shell in a loose fist and gently shook his hand to fling away any excess water (making sure he didn't get any in the potion, of course, just in case).

Now that it was clean, Toby set his wand down and dug his fingernails into the where the two halves of the shell met, and pried it open.

And gagged. Because... gross. The Hufflepuff turned his head away, grimacing at the smell and sight of the mussel inside the shell. He wasted no time in removing the mussel and placing that into the jar with the run-off water (and might have whispered a soft "Sorry" as he did so). Picking up his wand again, Toby repeated the cleaning spell, and then the water conjuring spell, making sure the inside was totally clean. And... he might have repeated the scourgify spell too. Maybe. Just to be sure.

Toby added the shell to the potion, before picking up his wand again and extinguishing the fire with 'finite'. Now he had to wait for... one Moon cycle. Welp. Okay. Getting some Astronomy in there too, apparently.

After clearing up and cleaning his workstation again, Toby crossed the most recent steps out on his notes and worked out when he needed to come back and continue the potion. Again, he'd be returning intermittently to check on it, but if he didn't work out the precise date he needed to continue the potion then he'd end up totally forgetting all sorts of details.

Right. Okay. Paperwork done, Toby shoved his things in his bag and headed back out.

The bristles which Cutty was using to clean the mussel shell off made the soft scraping sounds on the rough texture of the back of the shell. It had been a week since he'd seen his potion and he waited to return to it until the exact hour he'd left it-his mind literally interpreting the 'one full week' part of the recipe instructions. Once the mussel's outer shell was free of debris and barnacles, not to mention the soft green moss that liked to grown upon it, Cutty grabbed a metal stirring object and pried the mussel open. The tender and slimy meat inside was cleared away with extra work required for the small, white, scallop-like medallion which stuck remarkably well to the surface of the pearlized inside. So well that Cutty thought it might have somehow been stuck by magic. He took up the brush in his hand and scrubbed at the insides just to assure it's cleanliness.

With a soft plop 'n klunk, the mussel was added to the potion and the fire below it put out. He left it to it's own devices for a moon cycle not neglecting to protect it with magic.

One moon cycle later and Toby was back with his potions kit, ready to make some real headway on this potion. He set up all his things, and flattened his now quite rumpled notes out on his desk, and quickly got to work.

First things first, was the potion silver? Toby peeked into the cauldron and scrutinised it carefully; he seemed to be much more invested in the success of this potion than the last few brewing installments. He squinted at the liquid, giving it a looooooong look, before nodding his head ever so slightly. Yes. That sort of shimmery purpley-grey-blue definitely counted as silver in his book.

After finding the metal stick from his potions kit, and cleaning it using 'scourgify', Tobias grabbed the vial of black cat's fur and unstoppered it. This had been an easy ingredient to find, as he had a black cat of his OWN. Bludger had been quite happy/completely oblivious when it came to providing fur for the potion.

The fifth year sprinkled half of the fur in and got straight to stirring in an anti-clockwise direction, super vigorously (but still controlled), like the recipe said.

ONETWOTHREEFOURFIVESIXSEVENEIGHTNINETENEVELENTWELV ETHIRTEEN.

Aaaaand then the rest of the fur was sprinkled in, followed by much slower, smoother stirring, still anti-clockwise.

One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight... nine... ten... eleven... twelve... thirteen.

Tobias sniffed. Then sniffed again. It smelled... weird, now. Unfamiliar. Odd. Toby didn't think he HAD a least favourite flower, so he had no way of knowing if his potion was on track by this check point. But the potion DID smell sort of... flowery, so that was an indicator that he was doing okay, right? Presumably, the smell the potion was giving off was that of the flower he subconsciously held in the least favour.

Now there was more waiting. Another week. Toby cleaned up, updated his notes, and took his leave from the room again, intending to head straight back to the library to get some more hours of OWL study in.

The moon had waxed and waned in due course and soon Cutty was back in the potions lab. He'd periodically come in to brew other potions and test gathered local ingredients and when he had, he'd take down the protection spells and peer in on his little baby. How was she doing? Aged to a fine silver shade. Which meant she was maturing.

Which in turn meant he could add the bit of cat fur in. Cutty reached into his potions bag and pulled out the metal stirring stick. The potion didn't specify what sort of metal might be ideal for the potion, but figuring the connection to the moon and the moon's connection to negative night forces, Cutty splurged on a silver stirrer. He cleansed it with his wand then took out a glass slab, which he also sterilized. Taking out the phial into which he'd gathered his ingredients at the start of the brew, Cutty drew out the bit of fluff he stored inside of a flask. He poured it out onto the slab. With his sterilized stirring stick, he divided the fur into equal parts then rolled the stirring instrument into the one half sprinkling it atop the silvery potion. It was a very sightly potion to brew he noted. Within the pewter cauldrons the silvery sheen, the cream from the goat milk, the iridescence from the mussel and the black from the cat fur.

He gave it a stir, thirteen robust stirs in the anti-clockwise direction and soon finding out just why the recipe called for a metal spoon. Any material weaker than that wouldn't have been able to do the job. Lifting the glass slab, he sprinkled in the rest of the cat fur and with deliberation and caution stirred the potion in the opposite direction: clockwise.

13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.

Yes. An attractive potion...that smelled dizgoostin'! Cutty picked up on the heady scent of violets. Thick, musty, powdery and banana-sweet, yet very unlike a banana. He sneered down at the substance within his cauldron and turned away. Thank Merlin he could leave it be for the week.

Though what if the scent worsened by becoming more intense?

When Toby entered the potions lab again to continued working on his potion, he was much more subdued than before. It had been a gradual thing; what with the impending OWL exams and the remarkable amount of stress that Tobias was putting himself under, he really wasn't himself. But still he was quite determined to complete this potion to the highest possible level of quality.

The Hufflepuff had everything set out, caterpillar right there ready to be slices, and held out his potions knife and wand.

"Scourgify," he cast at the blade, though the incantation came out sounding less of a confident demand, and more of a weary statement. But it got the job done.

He worked painstakingly to make sure all five of the segments of the caterpillar were cut into equal sizes, leaning in close and squinting and focusing so hard he completely forgot he was dealing with a dead animal (usually he might have apologised to it). Finally, Tobias stood up straight again and blinked, bringing the rest of the room back into focus. He reached for his wand again and carefully levitated each piece one by one into his cauldron.

Once all five segments of caterpillar had been added, Toby took a second to stop and think. Something unfortunate. He needed to think of something... unfortunate. A few months ago this might have been nigh on impossible for such a positive thinker as Tobias Tempus but... things changed, apparently. He could think of a whole bunch of things to tell the potion, without his brain automatically kicking in to try and find a positive. Not even once.

Pretty soon, he picked something, and began to twirl his wand over the potion as he began his tale.

"Okay, so here's something unfortunate," Toby started, beginning with a sigh at the start of the very first word, because boy oh boy was he tired. "Didn't happen to me, but to the Star Man. A while ago now, too. He got hit by The Bug, this thing that's been turning people here crazy and acting like fairy talk characters. It wasn't his fault, but he started acting like Captain Hook in class, all dressed up like him, threatening to make students walk the plank or lock them in the closet. He even threw Pebbles across the room - that's his pet rock - and eventually a bunch of us, uhh... mutinied and we locked him in the closet. When I went back to see him once he was back to normal it turned out that the poor bloke had lost all his suits on top of losing Pebbles, and he was... well, in a bit of a state. He loved those suits, and Pebbles, and they were gone, and he'd not done anything to deserve it. And that's it."

That WASN'T it. There WERE good parts to the story, like how Toby had delivered Pebbles home and Airey had recovered his suits in the end, but he knew not to play up the positives in this story at all in order for this step of the potion to be successful. And he was okay with that. Which was... potentially concerning.

While he still had his wand in hand, Toby pointed it at the firepit below the potion again.

"Incendio." More fiddly twiddling, and the flame was set to low. Thirteen days he needed to wait, and then it was just those final steps. The Hufflepuff stowed his wand away, swept all his things from the desk and into his bag, and made his exit for the day.

Waiting the whole moon cycle felt like it was FOREVER ago that he started this project. What was he brewing again??? ... Either way, all he wanted to do, was get it right so that he could impress the Professor and Gavin. And Emily. But mostly Gavin.

So after crossing off the last waiting day on his calendar, Zeke signed himself into the potions lab and put his protective gear on. He was ready to get on with the next block of steps.

Approaching his cauldron - still marked with his name - Zeke peered into it and checked the contents. Just as the check-point note said, his brew was silver in colour. Neat! He took a few moments to re-familiarise himself with the methods he had to carry out in the session, and he bobbed his head from one side to the next. It sounded easy enough. It was just adding a bunch of fur and stirring. Who could get that wrong?

Sprinkle one black cat's fur? .......... like, ONE fur? Or the fur of ONE cat? .... .... considering the instructions said to add half first, and the other half after the stirring thing, he figured it was safe to assume it was the fur of ONE cat. Yep. With this in mind, Zeke approached the box of ingredients the Professor had left out for them earlier, and in one of them was the cats fur. How much did one cat have? Was it a big cat? Small cat? Medium cat? Was it young and furry? Or was it old and... balding? ... SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!

Zeke stood, STARING at the box of fur for a long time. A LONG time, but eventually decided he'd just grab fistfuls and decide how much to put in as he went. Three fistfuls maybe? YEAAAHHHH.

Once he was back at his station, Zeke had his fur sitting in the carry box on the counter, and he prepared his utensils instead. "Scourgify," he stated as he performed the cleaning spell thing on his METAL stirring rod. Heh. Metal stick. Was that a technical term he didn't know about??? Hehe... He'd have to ask Gavin. With the primary utensil cleaned, Zeke added half of the fur to his cauldron and started the stirring process.

Vigorously - as instructed - Zeke stirred his potion counter clockwise.

One stir, two stirs, three stirs, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen!!!!

Following that, in went the REST of the cat fur he had collected. And then there was the same counter clockwise stirring again, except this time it was SLOWWWWERRRRRR.

One stir.... two stirs... three stirs... four stirs... five stirs... six stirs... seven stirs... eight stirs... nine stirs... ten stirs... eleven stirs... twelve stirs... thirteen stirs.... fourteen stirs... fifteen stirs... .... .... wait. What? ... Zeke stopped stirring and looked in his cauldron. DAGNABIT! ....... HE'D OVERSTIRRRREEEDDD!!!

"No... no... NO!"

He did nothing.

But, should he do SOMETHING?

Could one reverse stirs? Was that possible? Did he just have to do it... clockwise?

Zeke gave it a go, stiring it clockwise twice. He crossed his fingers, and examined the brew once more. It was.... RED.

His notes didn't say anything about it looking red, they said it'd smell like his least favourite flower. Lavender. But, it didn't smell like lavender, and it was RED.

...

....

HE'D FAILEDDDD!!!!

Mopey and dejected, Zeke vanished the contents of his cauldron.. and on top of that, there was no time to start all over again, what with all the waiting and moon cycles.

Boo.

Quitely, and hunched over, Zeke cleaned up after himself, packed his things, and left.

He left, a failure.

Final steps were being completed today, and then Toby would be done. He zombied his way into the potions lab, lacking his usual bounce, and went through the motions of getting set up to finish brewing.

From his Potions kit, Tobias brought out the little bottle of the thorns from those roses; thirteen of them, each taken from a different rose, all ripe when he'd picked them. Toby unstoppered the bottle and dumped the lot straight into his potion before exchanging the now empty bottle for his metal stick stirrer thing.

"Scourgify," the Hufflepuff said as he pointed his wand at the stick, speaking with as little animation in his voice as it was probably possible to get. Toby then used the now clean stick to stir his potion clockwise, just once, and removed the stirrer again.

And then he waited, eyeing the green potion and watching for some sort of change. He must have zoned out at one point, because his eyes soon completely glazed over and stared unseeingly at the contents of the cauldron. Toby remained like this, apparently lost in thought for a few minutes, before suddenly coming back to his senses again with a lot of rapid blinking.

His potion was brown. Done. Completed. The end. Fin.

Toby rubbed tiredly at his face before pulling a clean vial from his potions kit. He cast scourgify on the inside of it too, just to make extra sure it was clean, and then bottled up the muddy brown potion ready to present to Culloden. The Hufflepuff took his self-inking quill and labelled his vial of potion:

When that was done, the fifth year tidied his workstation up completely for the first time since starting the potion. This meant that this time, after extinguishing the flame, he vanished the rest of the potion and cleaned up his cauldron as well as the entirety of his potions kit and notes. With everything in his bag and his bag slung over his shoulder, Toby went ahead and deposited his vial of potion on Culloden's desk and made his way out the laboratory again.

It was strange; not even knowing he'd completed the activity with what seemed like a successful potion was enough to prompt a smile today.

A week later, and Cutty was scourgifying the same glass slab and a cutting knife. The tiny bodies of the caterpillars oozed a bit as they were sliced open. Cutting at an angle, Cutty made five wide chips of the caterpillars.

The first went in with a soft wet noise short of a plop. Cutty, meanwhile took his wand over the cauldron in a swirling motion. "Beautiful boys are always dumb as. Or if they're not dumb, then they're weak. Invariably." He spoke this tragedy outloud as he moved his wand.

"Incendio!" He said, lighting up the cauldron's fire again. A small flame this time, though. For a simmer of 13 days.



When he returned, Cutty found that his potion had again changed in appearance. It was one of the things he enjoyed most about potion brewing, the dramatic change in appearance that often came with it. The slightest variation and effort could give one a totally different potion or possibly no potion at all.

When Jasmine arrived at the Potions Laboratory, her mood was rather unpleasant. Not usually one to procrastinate, she had gotten a very late start on her Potions project. This did not sit well with her at all. The saying "Better late than never" was not really something Jasmine related to. Jasmine stopped at the Potions sign in book and did just that....signed in.

Claiming a work station, Jasmine deposited her things there and went to wash her hands. Then she put on her protective gear. Apron on-check, goggles on-check, gloves on-check. Next, she proceeded to clean her work station. "Scourgify", she said as she cleaned her work surfaces and her cauldron thoroughly. Taking out her notes, Jasmine looked at the instructions and noted all of the ingredients that she would need. Brewing the Un-Felix Un-Felices potion was going to be a long and tedious process.

No time like the present so Jasmine got straight to work. Taking out her wand, she pointed it beneath her cauldron and said, "Incendio". Then she set the temperature for 150 degrees Celcius. While waiting for the cauldron to heat, Jasmine cleaned her measuring cup. Once that was done, she poured one liter of goat's milk into it. She also retrieved one strand of thestral mane and waited. Brewing this potion was definitely going to be a test of her patience.

Finally the cauldron reached the proper temperature and Jasmine poured her goat's milk into it. That done, she gently laid her thestral mane atop the liquid. And now the waiting began. Jasmine checked her watch and wrote the time down in her notebook. She had to wait for two hours to progress to the next step. Jasmine was prepared though because she had brought her books. She figured that she could get a little studying in in the meantime. Sitting down, she retrieved a book from her bag and started to read. Hopefully the time would pass quickly.

When the two hours had finally passed, Jasmine put her book away and got back to work. She checked her notes for the next step and went back to her cauldron. Putting out the fire, Jasmine prepared herself for more waiting. At least she had something she could be doing while things cooled down. She would clean the materials that she needed for the next few steps. That would keep her busy for a few minutes.

Jasmine took out her mortar and pestle as well as her wooden stick. "Scourgify", she said, directing her wand to clean each item carefully. When they were properly cleaned, she set them aside and got her bicorn horn. Then Jasmine placed the horn in her mortar and used the pestle to crush it. When she felt that she had crushed it into a fine enough consistency, she stopped.

Thinking that enough time should have passed for the potion to cool, Jasmine went over and tested it. Perfect. Since the potion was now properly cooled, Jasmine picked up the mortar and poured the crushed bicorn horn into the cauldron. She grabbed her wooden stick, placed it in the potion and began to stir in a clockwise direction. She counted to herself, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Then Jasmine reversed her stirring, going counterclockwise. 1, 2, 3, 4. Going back to clockwise stirring, she moved the stick 1, 2, 3 times. With the end in sight, Jasmine stirred two times counterclockwise and once clockwise. Whew. Glad that was done, Jasmine checked her notes for the next step.

Repeating the incantation, "Incendio", Jasmine lit the fire under her cauldron again. She then turned the temperature gauge up to the maximum setting as instructed and took a peek into her cauldron. Her work was done for today because now the potion had to brew for a week. She would have to check it periodically to make sure the temperature was correct and all was well. For now though, she was finished. She took all of her equipment that she'd used and cleaned it. After she had put everything away, Jasmine cleaned her work station. When everything was spic and span, Jasmine packed her things and left the Potions Lab.

The 13 thorns he'd collected from the 13 different rose bushes went into the pot. "Scourgify!" He cleansed his silver stirring stick and sunk it into the potion stirring it once in a clockwise motion. Lifting the stirrer from the potion he let the access drip off in multi-droplets over the cauldron. As each of the droplets landed the colour began to shift from the point of impact the green to an earthy brown colour.

Cutty sat the stirrer down and took out his wand, a funnel and a large flask. The wand was used, as it had been before to clean up and assure a contaminant free storing environment for the potion in the flask. After the last ounce of potion had shifted to brown, Cutty lifted the cauldron and funneled the Un-felix Un-felicis potion into the flask and corked it, securing the cap with a spell. There remained, however some left over potion in the bottom of his cauldron and though this contradicted his plan to not turn in his potion he didn't think he had anything to lose here. He cleaned out a spare phial and funneled the remainder of the potion into it. After corking it he placed his name on it with a sticking charm and left it on the desk knowing it's purpose.

Having collected up all thirteen rose thorns, Grayson signed in once again and headed back into the laboratory. This was probably gonna be the last time he was gonna work on this because the fifth year kinda wanted to finish off this bad boy and show it to Culloden. Find out exactly how he'd done. And it'd better be freaking brilliant otherwise he wasn't going to be happy.

Heading over towards his potion, the Slytherin took out his notes and glanced over them quickly. Simple step? GOOD. The contents of the jar was tipped into the potion. There. All thirteen rose thorns from different roses added in. After he placed the jar down again, the boy grabbed a metal stirrer and gave it a magical clean before dipping it into the potion. One stir clockwise was made before he took the stirrer out and placed it off to one side.

Next? Wait. Wait for it to change colour.

A weird sensation filled the pit of his stomach as he stared down at his green potion. Wait. This was the moment of truth. If everything had been done correctly -- which it should have -- the colour would change to a brown-y one. If not, he was doomed and was gonna be majorly stressed out. This was one very stressful year, mkay? And he was keeping his cool. He was gonna make sure that his face always kept its--

IT CHANGED COLOUR!

THANK. FREAKING. MERLIN!

Letting out a sigh of relief, Grayson grabbed a piece of parchment and quickly scribbled down his details:

Quote:

Un-Felix Un-Felicis Potion
Grayson Whitlock
Fifth Year, Slytherin

Text Cut: Notebook

Un-Felix Un-Felicis Potion
(Opposite of Felix Felicis)
Grayson Whitlock

Ingredients:
- a litre of goat milk
- 1 strand of thestral mane
- bicorn horn
- full, undamaged mussel shell
- one black cat's fur
- caterpillar
- 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses (plucked ripe from the branches)


Instructions:
1) Pre-heat the cauldron to 150 celcius degrees
2) Put one litre of goat milk
3) Add the thestral mane
4) Wait for two hours
5) Put out the fire and wait for it to cool down
6) Crush the bicorn horn into a fine powder in the meantime and add it once the potion is cool enough for you to touch
7) Check point: it should be cool in maximum 15 minutes
8) With a wooden stick, stir it five times clockwise, four times counter clockwise, three times clockwise, two times counter clockwise and once clockwise.
9) Light a fire and bring it to maximum. Let it burn for a full week. Make sure the fire is always at maximum.
10) Clean the mussel shell gently, make sure there is no moss on it. open it, remove the mussel itself and clean its inside too, then add into the cauldron after a week is up.
11) Put out the fire and wait for one Moon cycle
12) Check point: the colour should be silver
13) Sprinkle half of the fur
14) With a metal stick, stir vigorously 13 times counter clockwise
15) Sprinkle the other half of the fur
16) Stir slowly 13 times counter clockwise
17) Check point: it should smell like your least favourite flower
18) Wait for a week
19) Slice the caterpillar into five equal pieces and add the one by one
20) Swirl your wand slowly over the cauldron while telling an event you think is unfortunate (the number of swirls doesn't matter, just don't stop until the end of the story)
21) Light a low fire and wait for 13 days
22) Get 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses in the gardens and add them all at once
23) With a metal stick, stir once clockwise
24) Wait until it changes colour from green to brown
25) Label it and leave a vial it on the desk
Do NOT! try it without my consent.
If you have done everything correctly, it shouldn't smell or smoke. Its taste should not spoil the substances it is added.

After periodically checking on her potion, her week was finally up. Jasmine was anxious to get back to work. She washed her hands upon entering the laboratory and donned her protective gear. Then she cleaned her work area until it was Professor Culloden clean. She decided to clean a bowl, a metal stick And a spoon, in case she needed to use them during the next step.

Checking her instructions, Jasmine went to retrieve a mussel shell. Returning to her work station, she paused to think of the best way to clean it. Deciding to go with good old fashioned magic, Jasmine took out her wand. Pointing her wand at the shell, Jasmine said, Scourgify". She directed the wand over the shell, making sure not to miss any spots. Then she turned the shell over and repeated the process. Jasmine held the shell up to her eyes and checked to make sure that no moss was present on the shell. Just to make sure, she cleaned both sides of the shell again.

When the cleaning was completed, Jasmine took her metal stick and placed it in the split between the two sides of the shell. Giving it a jerk, she pried the mussel shell open and removed its contents. Placing the mussel in the bowl, Jasmine once more aimed her wand at the shell only this time she cleaned the inside. "Scourgify", Jasmine said. When she thought it was clean enough, Jasmine placed the shell into her potion. She was somewhat disappointed that this was all she had to do today. Now she had to wait for one whole moon cycle before continuing with her potion.

Jasmine extinguished the fire under her cauldron and began to clean her equipment. Then it was on to cleaning her work area. Once that was done, she checked her potion one more time, made a few notes and prepared to leave.

Entering the potions lab, Lux was surprised to see that she had arrived before Professor Culloden. Oh well, there was nothing wrong with being early she thought as she signed in. Just because she had an appointment didn't mean she shouldn't sign in first.

Making her way over to a work station she put on all the necessary gear before cleaning her work area, cauldron and equipment. Now she just needed the Professor. As she waited she looked through her textbook for the recipe she needed.

THIS WAS GOING TO BE FUUUUUN!!