Zhenya had written it in HUGE letters on her schedule - FRIDAY 24th January. Exactly one week ago, they had sat in the Great Hall for their combined class on werewolves. It had been a super incredible and fun, informative lesson. One of her favourites, by far. But now was the incredibly stressful time; brewing the rest of the Wolfsbane Potion.

It had been seven days since she had completed the first steps of the potion, and after class it had made its way to the Lab, where it had sat for those seven days on a flame. Every day she had come to check the flame, making sure it was still there, and making sure there were no fragments of sputum and cookie from certain people floating in her potion. Lucky she slept in the dungeons, so she was able to come a few times a day to check on the potion. Not touching it, not lingering too much, just checking the flame.

So, after seven days of anxiously waiting to come back to continue the potion, after dreaming she had forgotten to check the flame, or missing the seventh day, it was here, she was awake, and she was in the labs. She had her notes with her, and all of her potions supplies and safety equipment. She walked over to her bench space, where the borrowed brass cauldron was. "Scourgify," she said, pointing to the table, cleaning it. She placed her items on the far edge of the table, then went to wash her hands. She had fresh robes on, her hair secured off her face, and a safety gown. Just in case. Coming back to the table, she took out each item from her supply and cleaned them. It was just the initial clean. There would be a LOT of cleaning. But not today, because she wasn't really using any of it. She just didn't want to take chances, or put dirty equipment on the table.

Her parchment said step 8 was to add 7 Jobberknoll feathers. And that was all. Looking at the time; hour, minute, second, millisecond, that she had left her potion last time. She had added the dog fur, then recorded the time. At the exact second, she carefully added seven of the fourteen Jobberknoll feathers to her potion, recording the date and exact time.

And that was all.

She packed her supplies and equipment up, triple checked the flame of her potion was on the required heat, and left. And now to start another gruelling seven days of waiting, checking, waiting...

Adi noticed how Benny moved back as he levitated the milk. He knew this was totally natural but he could not help but tease his friend. "Don't have the confidence in my spell work?'' Hehe. So, the first few steps were done and the Hufflepuff bounded about as he waited for Benny to finish his cutting, taking a look at the other potions. Darn, he could NOT sit still, yo!

"Yep, SEVEN times CLOCKWISE,'' was the reply. "Then you sprinkle in the dog fur in EVENLY after about ten seconds.'' The sixth year made sure he stressed on the important parts of the instructions because he didn't want Benny to have to start all over again. Not that Benny had to worry.

Professor Adi was here.

Hehe.

After impatiently waiting for a week, Lux was FINALLY ready to move on with her potion. She had been checking on it daily to see if the flame was burning and so far it was still going strong.

Full from a yummy snack in the kitchens, Lux signed into the potions lab a little before the time recorded in her notes and immediately got to work. Once the potion had been checked, she set about taking out all of her equipment. Everything including the work area was given a thorough cleaning and she put on her clean gloves. Still a few minutes to go, so she checked the recipe to see what needed to be done.

Yay, there would be no more waiting for days on end; she didn't think she could do that again.

Keeping her eye on the clock, Lux added the other seven Jobberknoll feathers to the cauldron. Her burner was set to medium heat immediately afterwards.

So far so good!

SPOILER!!: Lux's Notes

WOLFSBANE POTION

Ingredients:

• 1 glass of regular cow milk
• 1 measure of fluxweed (picked on full a moon)
• 1 handful of a tame dog's neck fur
• 14 Jobberknoll feathers
• 7 tea spoons of Armadillo bile
• 7 grams of a well-whisked Runespoor egg
• 7 aconites' roots

Procedure:

1. Heat a glass of milk for 3 minutes on medium flame (seperately)
2. Fill the cauldron fully with water and add the milk
3. Set the cauldron on low flame
4. Chop the fluxweed well and add it
5. Stir 7 times clockwise with a metal stirrer
6. Sprinkle the dog fur evenly (in about 10 seconds)
7. Wait for exactly 7 days (note the hour and minute and do the next step at the exact time)
8. Add 7 of the Jobberknoll feathers
9. Wait for exactly 7 days again (note the hour and minute and do the next step at the exact time)
10. Add the other 7 of the feathers
11. Set the burner on medium heat
12. Add the Armadillo bile one tea spoon at a time
13. Stir 7 times counter clockwise with a metal stirrer
14. Add the Runespoor egg
15. Wait for 7 minutes and 7 seconds
16. Cast 'Recordo'
17. Add the aconite roots one by one
18. If done correctly, it will exude a faint blue smoke

SPOILER!!: Professor Adi

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Adi noticed how Benny moved back as he levitated the milk. He knew this was totally natural but he could not help but tease his friend. "Don't have the confidence in my spell work?'' Hehe. So, the first few steps were done and the Hufflepuff bounded about as he waited for Benny to finish his cutting, taking a look at the other potions. Darn, he could NOT sit still, yo!

"Yep, SEVEN times CLOCKWISE,'' was the reply. "Then you sprinkle in the dog fur in EVENLY after about ten seconds.'' The sixth year made sure he stressed on the important parts of the instructions because he didn't want Benny to have to start all over again. Not that Benny had to worry.

Professor Adi was here.

Hehe.

SEVEN times CLOCKWISE

Benny nodded, catching the emphasis on the appropriate words. How many stirs? Seven. What direction do you stir it in? Clockwise. Simple enough once one made the clear distinction. Clean metal stirrer in hand, the Gryffindor cautiously dipped its end into the liquid before lowering more into it and then proceeding with the stirs. His concentration solely on his actions at the moment.

One...two...three...four...five...six...seven stirs clockwise.

There...all done...and correctly. As for the next step, this was where all the trouble began. In his defense it wasn't HIS fault. Picking up the measured dog fur with his fingers, he absently looked around for others besides him and Adi. You know, like sneezing Astronomy professors. When the cost was clear, and ten seconds had roughly passed, he gingerly moved his finger tips over the potion, sprinkling the fur a top of the entire mixture as evenly as he could manage.

With a clean teaspoon, Lux added the Armadillo bile. As each spoonful was added she counted it off in her head. 1...2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Picking up her clean metal stirrer, she then stirred seven times counter-clockwise. 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... She had noticed earlier that there were sevens all over the place in this potion. It reminded her of the potion she had created last term where everything was added in threes. Numbers could have a big effect on potions they were powerful.

The whisked Runespoor egg she had grabbed from the desk was added and it was time for Lux to do some more waiting. At least this time it wouldn't be for too long. Taking the opportunity, she cleaned the teaspoon and metal stirrer because it was always a good idea to stay on top of things.

When EXACTLY seven minutes and seven seconds had passed, Lux drew a circle over her cauldron while thinking of a really happy memory in vivid detail. It was a strong memory because it was the first time she had told Bay that she loved him and there was no way that she would ever forget it. "Recordo!"

That done, the aconites roots were added one by one. 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7...

SPOILER!!: Lux's Notes

WOLFSBANE POTION

Ingredients:

• 1 glass of regular cow milk
• 1 measure of fluxweed (picked on full a moon)
• 1 handful of a tame dog's neck fur
• 14 Jobberknoll feathers
• 7 tea spoons of Armadillo bile
• 7 grams of a well-whisked Runespoor egg
• 7 aconites' roots

Procedure:

1. Heat a glass of milk for 3 minutes on medium flame (seperately)
2. Fill the cauldron fully with water and add the milk
3. Set the cauldron on low flame
4. Chop the fluxweed well and add it
5. Stir 7 times clockwise with a metal stirrer
6. Sprinkle the dog fur evenly (in about 10 seconds)
7. Wait for exactly 7 days (note the hour and minute and do the next step at the exact time)
8. Add 7 of the Jobberknoll feathers
9. Wait for exactly 7 days again (note the hour and minute and do the next step at the exact time)
10. Add the other 7 of the feathers
11. Set the burner on medium heat
12. Add the Armadillo bile one tea spoon at a time
13. Stir 7 times counter clockwise with a metal stirrer
14. Add the Runespoor egg
15. Wait for 7 minutes and 7 seconds
16. Cast 'Recordo'
17. Add the aconite roots one by one
18. If done correctly, it will exude a faint blue smoke

The Professor watched his Student with eyes like a hawk, counting all the stirs. Yep, seven in total and all in a clockwise direction. Adi was PLEASED! Benny was going to have a... STELLAR (as The Suit would say) potion by the time everything was done.

Next up, the dog fur. He noticed the slight hesitation and looking around on his friend's part though he didn't know what that was all about but he let the matter drop when the fur was added and he immediately fixed his attention on his watch. Adi reached for Benny's parchment and quill to scribble down the exact time for which the next step should be done.

"Well done, Dragon! Fifty points to Gryffindor for excellent brewing skills!" Hehe. Too bad prefects couldn't assign points... but then again, this was the exact reason they couldn't. It would be an abuse of power. Anyway... "Here's the time for your next step. Remember you have to do this at the EXACT time in SEVEN days. Also, don't forget to check on your flame everyday.'' Actually, Benny didn't have to worry about that latter bit since Adi would be checking it too.

"I think we're done here for now. Let's clean up and go hangout somewhere.'' Seeeeee? He was trying to make it up to Benny for making him feel insecure earlier.

Friday 31st January, exactly seven days after she had added the Jobberknoll feathers, Zhenya went back to the Potions Lab to do the rest of the potion. The week had been the same as last, the constant knot of tension in her stomach, the dreams... she had come a few times a day to check the flame, and there hadn't been any problems. It had kept constant.

Zhenya walked over to her bench space, cleaned the table with the cleaning charm, before putting her potions kit and other bits and pieces over the other side of the bench. She went to the sink and gave her hands, wrists and arms a nice scrub, all the way up to her elbow, then rinsed and dried. Coming back to the desk, with her glasses and protective gown on, she took out the remaining seven Jobberknoll feathers and added them to her potion. Then she increased the flame slightly, so that it was now on a medium heat.

Now, 7 teaspoons of Armadillo bile. Zhenya got out her measuring spoons, found the teaspoon measure. "Scourgify," she said, pointing to her teaspoon and performing the 's' shaped wand movement. No way was she going to let it become contaminated. She read her instructions which said to add one teaspoon at a time. She scooped out one levelled teaspoon of the Armadillo Bile and added it to her potion. "One teaspoon." She measured another one.. "Two teaspoons," and another one, "Three teaspoons... Four teaspoons, Five teaspoons, Six teaspoons, SEVEN teaspoons," she said, carefully measuring a levelled teaspoon during every step, until seven teaspoons of Armadillo Bile had been added to the cauldron.

SPOILER!!: Adi

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

The Professor watched his Student with eyes like a hawk, counting all the stirs. Yep, seven in total and all in a clockwise direction. Adi was PLEASED! Benny was going to have a... STELLAR (as The Suit would say) potion by the time everything was done.

Next up, the dog fur. He noticed the slight hesitation and looking around on his friend's part though he didn't know what that was all about but he let the matter drop when the fur was added and he immediately fixed his attention on his watch. Adi reached for Benny's parchment and quill to scribble down the exact time for which the next step should be done.

"Well done, Dragon! Fifty points to Gryffindor for excellent brewing skills!" Hehe. Too bad prefects couldn't assign points... but then again, this was the exact reason they couldn't. It would be an abuse of power. Anyway... "Here's the time for your next step. Remember you have to do this at the EXACT time in SEVEN days. Also, don't forget to check on your flame everyday.'' Actually, Benny didn't have to worry about that latter bit since Adi would be checking it too.

"I think we're done here for now. Let's clean up and go hangout somewhere.'' Seeeeee? He was trying to make it up to Benny for making him feel insecure earlier.

He apparently was doing everything correctly since Adi wasn't doing anything or saying anything to correct him. Realizing his behavior around the dog fur might seem curious, Benny opted to explain. "Being watchful of sneezing professors." The Gryffindor in turn was curious as the Hufflepuff took his notes and added something to it, but then looked to see the time.

Right...they or rather he at least, needed to do the next steps exactly seven days from now as Adi was pointing out to him now. Benny nodded in understanding and took the notes back, securing the parchment in a safe place in his bag. "Thanks Prefect..." he said with an awkward smile at the mention of points. If only. But then they wouldn't want the lions to be TOO ahead of the badgers.

"Sounds like a plan," he agreed, moving to clean up before they both left the lab...for now.

Potions Laboratory again....

Like the instruction had said, he had to come back again and continue his work on this wolfsbane potion. And today, this time, was exactly 168 hours since he had added seven jobberknoll feathers. After he grabbed some meals for lunch, the Korean guy walked to the lab with his potions notebook on his hand. He walked to the station where he put his brass cauldron and the other equipment. Reading his note, then he walked to the storage and grabbed the other ingredients like jobberknoll feathers, armadillo biles, and of course the wolfsbane or aconite.

Moving on to the next step, he added the rest of jobberknoll feathers to the cauldron. And then he set the burner into medium heat. Okay, Jackson read back his note to see the next instruction... Armadillo bile. Grabbing a teaspoon, he cleaned it with scouring charm and then used it to add the bile. One teaspoon at the time. One... two... three... four... five... six... and seven... DONE! Then he grabbed a clean metal stirrer and stirred the potions seven times counter-clockwise.

It was about ten minutes before the designated time to add the next ingredient to his potion and exactly seven days after the first steps had been completed. Adi happily paused before the entrance of the Potions lab to polish off his scone. He wiped his fingers on a napkin, stashed it in his pocket then shuffled into the lab. He grabbed the safety gear as he made his way to his potion. He checked on Benny’s, ensuring that the flame had not gone out. All was good with the bestie’s potion!

On to his own! The flame here was on too and now he needed to add the Jobberknoll feathers. Adi counted out seven of those before going to stand guard by his cauldron. He kept a sharp eye on the seconds as they ticked on, until… the time was HEREEE!

In went the Jobberknoll feathers! All of them! Now he just waited another seven days.
…………………….
Safety stuff on? CHECK!

Adi bounded over to check on his own potion’s flame, leaving Benny to do whatever it was Dragons needed to do before entering Potion labs. Hehe. The boy kidded. Benny needed safety thing-a-ma-bobs like him. Anywhooo, his potion seemed to be in order. He still had another five days to go before the next steps were to be done.

“While you add your Jobberknoll feathers, I’ll let you hear my ode that I made for Pebbles. Feel free to laugh at me anytime because I wasn’t at my most creative when I came up with this.’’ Maybe he had been sleepy. Or had it been hungry? Oh, well. While Benny got his feathers, Adi pulled out the slip of parchment he had written the ode on. “Oh, remember you have to add those feathers at the exact time I had written down.’’ His bestie’s potion was not going to be a failure again though the fact that sneezing, cookie eating Professors were not around.

Annnnnnd here went his ode! Did we mention he was singing this in a new melody he had come up with as well as doing some actions with this? Adi was being pretty creative over here to make up for what he had written. Mhmmmmmm. And he did stay clear of all the cauldrons and stuff. Yep, he planted himself in a nice free space so he wouldn’t cause any accidents.

”You always lit him up like the Sun and
There can never be another pet rock like you for The Suit.”
Cue his hands making a HUGEEE circle to represent the sun’s brightness!

“He must feel like he fell through a black hole stretched like a strand of spaghetti,
Or suffocating from the lack of oxygen like an Astronaut in space without a spacesuit.’’
Adi grabbed a random bowl from one of the stashes that were meant for student use and upturned it over his head. This was his helmet of his ‘suit’. Now, he made some gasping sounds.

“You vanished like the New Moon, no one can see you,
Why couldn’t you have been gone for just twenty nine point five days?”
Flipping off the bowl, he tossed it back towards the stash but it fell to the ground. Oops! No time to pick that up. The show must go on! There was a Dragon counting on that! So, Adi pressed his hands lightly over his glasses, signifying no one could see Pebbles.

“Show us that half smile of yours,
Do you know it looks like the pretty Waxing or Waning Moon?”
Instead of his usual, big grin, he smiled half of that since the Waxing or Waning Moon was half.

“Or that your pupils radiate the darkness of a New Mon?
Your sclera shine bright as the full moon.’’
Adi widened his eyes as big as he could. Hehe. He must look hilarious.

“So come back home, Pebbles,
Don’t let The Suit become a Brown Dwarf.’’
He tugged on a REALLY sad face. Brown Dwarves were not nice.

“His students need him to be the Next Big Bang Theory,
Explosive and energetic!’’
For these last lines, the Hufflepuff leapt onto a free table, much like Flamsteed was known for. Buuuuut! He was all done and he grinned down at Benny and bowed. “How did I do?’’ he asked, now jumping down from the table and bending to grab the bowl to return it to the stash. That had been FUUUUUN! Now, WHERE WAS HIS APPLAUSE?

With her seven teaspoons of carefully levelled out Armadillo Bile in the cauldron, Zhenya looked at the next step, which was to stir the potion seven times counter clockwise with a metal stirrer. Zhenya had the metal stirrer with her, so she picked it up from her potions kit, and pulled out her wand. "Scourgify," she said, pointing and 's'-ing her wand. She didn't remember what potion she had used the stirrer on last time, so she did it again, just to be safe. "Scourgify," she said again. She shrugged, the nervous knots in her stomach not easing the slightest.

She carefully lowered the stirrer into the cauldron, and looked up at the clock. Yes, counter clockwise. Zhenya had started double checking her direction with the clock. Call it stupid, call it smart; it helped. She stirred one circular stir, counter clockwise. "One," she said, then repeated, "Two, three, four, five, six, sevvvvvvven," and she removed her stirrer.

The next step involved adding the Runespoor egg. She reached out for the runespoor egg. That runny thing had been whisked so good, it was nothing but well-whisked. She got her scales and a metal spoon. "Scourgify," she said, pointing to the scales. Well, one can never be too safe. "Scourgify," she said, pointing to the metal spoon. Clean, yes, both were very clean. She did the measuring in reverse. She put the small bowl containing the whisked Runespoor egg on the scales, then turned it on. 0g, it said. She carefully scooped out some of the runespoor egg. -1g, it said. She took a bigger scoop; -4g. And one more, until the scales read -7g. Perfect. She added the 7 grams of well-whisked runespoor egg to the cauldron, then set her timer. Seven minutes and Seven seconds.

In the seven days since he and Adi had finished rebrewing the beginning steps of the wolfsbane potion, Benny had made sure to check on his potion at least once a day, if not more, usually before a meal since the dungeons weren't too far down from the Great Hall. He was just being overly concerned that something more was going to go wrong for some reason or another.

Today was not too different, though he returned with Adi AND added safety wear as he followed his friend since it was about ready to move onto the next step of the brewing process. Jobberknoll feathers...an ingrediant used for brain and memory sharpening...likely the ingrediant that most helps werewolves keep their human mind intact while transformed. "I'm aware," he assured his friend as he got out the seven feathers in preparation, raising an eyebrow at the thought of Adi and his ode to Pebbles.

As the Hufflepuff started, his attention was one his watch, patiently keeping an eye on the minute arm on the face while he listened. However after a couple of lines, Adi's antics going along with his words had gotten his gaze, drawn first by the sound of a falling bowl onto the ground. What in Merlin's beard? He watched for a bit before remembering the potion.

Ooops....nearly missed the time.

Benny added them in and then let out a sigh of relief once they were in. The boy quickly writing down the new time and marking it for seven days. Finished with his potion for now, he turned his full attention to his friend, chuckling when the other sixth year was done. "Certainly get Flamsteed's attention."

Done with the stirring, Jackson then re-read his note to see what should he do at the next step. Okay, the runespoor eggs. He had to add them into his potion. He took the whisked eggs and then added them to his cauldron. Once the eggs had been added, now he had to wait again for seven minutes and seven seconds. He eyed his watch while waiting. He read his note again to know the next step once the seven minutes and seven seconds had passed. The spell, oooh... He should practicing the wand movement and incantation while the time had passed.

"ré-core-DOH" The Korean boy muttered the incantation repeatedly until it sounded perfect. He also practiced the wand movement by drawing a circle over the potion. And now, the happy memory. He decided to think about the first time he played piano when he was five. Dunno why, but he felt so happy at the time.

Seven minutes and seven seconds later...

Time for the spell!

Thinking about his happiest memory, Jackson drew a circle over the potion with his wand and said the incantation clearly. "ré-core-DOH". And now he's already at the last step. The aconite. Jackson added the aconite roots one by one, just like the instruction had said. One.. Two.. Three.. Four.. Five.. Six.. and Seven... Okay, now he's done with the potion. Would he succeed? Jackson hoped so.

Adi could see the combination of amusement/ surprise on Benny's face as he did his stuff from the floor and the a top the table. Hehe. Didn't Benny know by now how crazy his best friend could be? But Adi was disappointed. No applause. "Yeah, it would,'' he said, shrugging his disappointment off. Benny was a reserved Dragon. What more had he expected? Chuckling was good though. Yup.
....................

Flame checked everyday for the next week? YEP!

But, here was the Hufflepuff on the seventh day (protective gear already on) after the Jobberknoll feathers with fifteen minutes to spare before the remaining steps had to be done. Why was he so early? Because he had to set his ingredients and equipment up of course!

He got allllll of those ready then eyed his watch. There were less than two minutes to spare. Adi grabbed the last of the fourteen jobberknoll feathers, seven to be exact. Gosh, the theme of this potion was SEVEN. Seven of this and that ingredients, seven days. Woah, yo! Fascinating stuff right there. Anywho... the time had come!

Into the cauldron went the feathers. Next up, the burner was set on medium. Now, he had already Scourgified the tea spoon earlier, so the sixth year wasted no time in measuring out the amount of Armadilo bile and adding them one spoonful at a time. One... two... three... four... five... six... seven!

The metal stirrer was also cleaned earlier so the stirring was begun. One... two... three... four... five... six... seven! All counter clockwise. Now for the whisked Runespoor eggs... where were those? oh! On the desk! Adi went off to get some.
....................

"If you get all your steps right today, Benny, you get fifty points and some Kiddies.'' There was as usual a stash in his bag. But regardless of the outcome, Benny would be getting the soury treats because today would be the day his potion would be completed. YEP!

Being the good bestie that he could be, Adi set about helping the Dragon set up his stuff. "Don't forget your coat and goggles.'' Armadillo bile, runespoor eggs. "You got an eye on that time, right?" They had come practically halfway. No screwing up now.

Caleb had been a bit concerned about this whole 'exact time' thing, but he set an alarm (actually more like five) to make sure he got here exactly at the same time, seven days after potions class, to add the feathers.

That was it. Then another seven days! UGH. No wonder this was the hardest potion they'd ever brewed. Just having the patience alone to finish it was a chore!

Caleb had been checking the flame every day for the past week, making sure it hadn't gone out at all while he had been waiting for the next stage. It hadn't, so everything seemed a-ok at this point.

He just had to add the jobberknoll feathers now. Half of them, to be exact. He counted them out...seven, just as the instructions said...and then plopped them in the cauldron.

And now, we wait. Again. UGH. This was brutal.

Checking on the potion everyday was fine, but on the days he could actually do something it was even better. A mix of excitement and nerves would fill Benny as he moved with Adi down to the potions lab after the latest seven day interval. He had to hand it to his best friend, the Hufflepuff bound and determinded to see his potion through while the Gryffindor was well aware of his equal care to his own potion on different days in the rotation.

He raised an eyebrow at the offering he was being presented with. "Ooo its getting real..." he mused as he grabbed a coat and goggles to slip on. "Got it." The Gryffindor seemed to have read his friend's mind and beat out his instructions. With both on, he moved towards where his potion rested, stopping behind it and taking out his notes to go along with.

"Four minutes..." he informed Adi as he double checked what his watch said and what his notes had. Plenty of time to gather what he needed, making sure it was at hand for right when it had to be added to the potion. Seven jobberknoll feathers...armadillo bile and the most temperamental ingredient...the runespoor eggs. Though thankfully in whisked form so not as bad.

He checked again and counted down the remaining seconds before beginning. "First the other seven feathers..." Benny mused as he moved to added them. The Gryffindor saying it aloud so Adi could double-check his actions and even correct them before it was done. One...two...three...four...five...six...seven. A check of his notes got him to move the heat under the burner to medium.

"Scourgify!" he then cast on his teaspoon and then went for the armadillo bile, scooping up a teaspoon of it. In it went before he gathered another. The sixth year repeated the process until all seven teaspoons of the bile was added into the brew potion, one teaspoon at a time as directed by the potion instructions. Another scourgify was used on his metal stirrer before he proceeded to stir it COUNTER- clockwise this time.

One...two...three...four...five...six...seven.

Whisked Runespoor eggs coming right up, Potion!

Adi carefully measured out seven grams of the thing then added it to the cauldron. Now came the next round of waiting. Thank goodness this wasn't for days but for just seven minutes and seven seconds. Again with the seven theme...

One minute... two minutes... three minutes... four minutes... five minutes... six minutes... seven minutes!

One second... two seconds... three seconds... four seconds... five seconds... six seconds... seven seconds!

While he had been awaiting the time, Adi had been practicing the spell that he needed to use. "Recordo!'' Cue the circular wand movement over the potion and the memory! Of course he chose a happy memory; the one where he had felt the load of happiness after his and Benny's misunderstanding had been resolved.

Lastly, the seven aconite roots. Adi traded his wand for all seven of them in his hands. Fours clutched in his right hand against his chest and three in his left. One at a time they had to be added... but UH OH! His hand holding the three slipped up and instead of releasing one, he released them all. There were three roots all at once. Adi stared at the cauldron, half expecting it to explode or something. When nothing happened, he proceeded to drop the remaining four one after the other. No one saw his epic screw up, RIIIIIGHT?
...................

"You bet it is,'' Adi said with a laugh. He knew Benny would rather the Kiddies over the points even if the Hufflepuff could actually hand out any of those. Anywayyy, today, he was just going to sit back and watch Benny do allllll the work. The Dragon must up his potion game because Adi insisted on this. Hehe.

Seven Jobberknoll feathers... CHECK!

Burner to medium.... CHECK!

Seven Scourgified teaspoons of Armadilo bile... CHECK!

Seven counter clockwise stirs with Scourgified metal stirrer... CHECK!

One impressed Hufflepuff... CHECK!

GO, BENNY!

"Well done, Dragon! I'll throw in some bonus Kiddies if you continue with this streak.'' Mhmmm. The bestie was deserving of these.

There was a sigh of relief as everything seemed to fall into place and go right, the comment from Adi confirming it only making it better. "I have a good teacher, Hippogriff," he remarked back. That and he was so cautious of making a mistake that he was attentive and had read over everything 2 and 3 times while he waited between days. Not that the inward nerves didn't challenge him remembering them all, or seeing them all correctly in his notes.

With the latest part done, he looked to see what was next. NOW was the runespore eggs, Benny reaching for the bowl of them he had found for each student, carefully measuring out 7 grams once he had cleaned out his measurer. Adding it into his potion, he then glanced at his watch. Seven minutes and seven seconds to watch, unfortunately his watch didn't exactly go that precise. So the sixth year opted to mentally count along with it, hoping his seconds were the same as most time.

In the meantime, his wand was beside his work, ready to be taken and used for the next step. The spell he had practiced a head of time so that he was prepared was brought back with a stray thought. When seven minutes was up, Benny grabbed for his wand, using the remaining seven seconds to gather himself for the casting. "Recordo!" he spoke firmly as he finally cast it on his work. He certainly hoped it was right and seeing as nothing appeared to be awkwardly happening, the Gryffindor moved onto the final step, slipping his wand back away.

For all the kiddies.

Ben took hold of the container of that held the aconites' roots, absently counting to make sure all seven were there. Then one by one he picked one out and added it to his potion. One...two...three...four...five...six...seven. There....was he done?

Professor Adi was liking this. He grinned at Benny. "Thank ya, thank ya very much,'' he said in his best Elvis impression. See? This was how he had ensured that Benny had passed his Potions OWL. By constantly being around and ensuring he had the steps, ingredients and amounts right. On the day of the exam, Adi had been very nervous. Not for himself, obviously but in the end, everything had turned out just fine.

Soooo, the Hufflepuff went about double checking things again. The seven grams of whisked Runespoor eggs, seven minutes, seven seconds waiting time, the spell casting and finally the seven aconite roots. WOOT!

ALL DONE!

"Not bad at all, Benny. I might be able to make a Potioneer out of you after all and not have to bother brewing a ton of Potions to keep in stock if you need them when you work with your creatures.'' They had talked about all of that, you know. Their careers, he meant. Adi had said to Benny that he would need to brew potions like Essence of Dittany and so forth in case rowdy creatures hurt him and keep them in storage.

"Alrightey! Let's get here all cleaned up and then I can give you the Kiddies.'' No food in the lab, yes? So the lion would just have to wait until they were outside.

After checking the pocket watch Sophie had given him for his birthday, Zander began counting down only minutes until it was time to tend to his potion again. Honestly, this whole thing seemed like a grand waste to him. It was one of the hardest potions ever so it probably wouldn't even turn out proper... And they were wasting a good two days technically eight even of brewing on it. Zander didn't get it. But then again, he didn't really get most things Culloden wanted... So... Yeah.

Potions Professor was weird. Not really a surprise. Just a statement, y'know?

Ahem.

Anyways, he made it over to the Potions laboratory and quickly found his cauldron with all the stuff in it. Still looked the same, if you asked him. But then again... And the flame was also still lit, so that was good he supposed. Though it did look a bit smaller than before... So uh, that happened. Right okay, the eighth step, was it? Or uh, the ninth?

No, no definitely the eighth one. Merlin, he should've taken more detailed notes. And there was still one minute left. Uh okay might as well pull out his supplies now. Five... Four... Three... Two.. And right on the dot, the Gryffindor began adding in the seven remaining Jobberknoll feathers. Good, good. Okay. So far everything was alright. OH, man. How quickly did he have to do all of these steps? 'Cause he was sort of taking his time.

Reaching over, the Prefect began adjusting the burner until it was on a medium heat. Alright. Not bad. Not bad. Hopefully.

Alright, he was back, one week later exactly. He came a few minutes early so he could be here when the minute ticked exactly to :15 past the noon hour, which is when he had done all this stuff in the first place. He'd been a bit nervous at first because he hadn't been able to find his left sock and had taken a few extra minutes to find it - but to no avail. So he ditched it and wore his shoe without it. It was NOT comfortable at all and made him cranky. Blegh.

But whatever, time to focus on this potion so he didn't mess up and make it blow up in his face or whatever. He'd been coming to check on that flame too, which was ANNOYING but necessary. He could see the light at the end of the tunnel! Just a bit longer and this potion would be DONE and behind him, regardless of whether or not he did well. He didn't care at this point, to be honest. If he ever got bitten by a werewolf - well, he'd worry about getting the potion right at THAT time.

He added the last seven jobberknoll feathers to the cauldron and then pulled out his wand. He pointed at the flame and adjusted it so it was at medium heat. Now what was next? He consulted his notes...right, armadillo bile. Seven teaspoons to be exact - but not all at once!

Taking his teaspoon and measuring out the armadillo bile, he measured out a teaspoon and then added it to his cauldron. And then another. And another...he repeated this until he had added 7 teaspoons to his cauldron. He then took his metal stirrer and added it to the cauldron. He had to stir it seven times, counter clockwise...

What was it with SEVEN and this potion? He couldn't remember from class. He'd been too worried about Beans disappearing...didn't seven have something to do with the moon or...was he making that up? Eh, whatever.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Seven stirs, all counter clockwise.

The timer was still ticking away, which was the perfect time to refresh the spell. Of course she had been practicing it a little each night, just to get the hang of the new spell. She was sure she only had one chance to do the spell. It wasn't one she could fix within an hour if she messed it up, or anything. One chance. It would work or it would fail. She didn't want the potion so far to be a flop.

"ré-core-DOH, ré-core-DOH, ré-core-DOH," she said a few times, practicing slowly at first, then quickening it up to a normal pace after a while. She had the memory in her mind. She had decided it a few days after the lesson. It was a sad memory. It was, perhaps, one of the strongest emotions she had ever felt. Sadness. Her grandparents were there one day, and the next they had passed away. Together. It was nice they were together, but Zhenya still felt the crippling sadness that came with the death of someone loved so deeply. Her grandparents were her guardians, her teachers, they were their own version of the three musketeers, and they were gone. Just remembering that sadness she had felt, it came back to her, and she had to sit down. A black pit had just opened up inside her stomach and it threatened to swallow her. It did every time she allowed this memory, these feelings, to sneak back up.

She almost missed the ding that alerted her to 7 minutes and 7 seconds having passed. She picked up her wand. "Recordo," she said, feeling the prickle of warmth behind her eyes, and she drew a circle over the potion; her full moon. Her memory planted in her mind.

Once the spell had been cast, she put the wand back on the table and found her aconite roots. She double checked her notes, and added seven into her potion. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. There. All done.

The sadness was still there. This is what happened when she opened herself up to this memory. She would do what she usually did when this happened; she would ask the house elves for a mug of chocolate, and read her old tattered copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and sleep with her memories of her grandparents.

Marsha was filled with dread. Every day over the last week that she had gone to check on her potion she was sure that her flame would have gone out. She opened the lab door slowly, as if it alone could extinguish all of the flames in the room. She would hate to have ruined everyone’s hard work… especially as she knew how hard a potion it was in the first place to complete. Griffin, she didn’t think she was going to get this right but at least she had tried… that was the main thing… right?

But, here she was. On the seventh day and she had ten minutes before she was correct to the minute. She needed to add feathers and she wanted to make sure that she was here at the exact time that she needed to be. The potion was hard enough without tardiness making her own life and education harder… just as well she was normally good with being on time or early really, or this would be even more difficult. If that was even possible.

Standing in front of her cauldron, she kept both eyes on her watch. Five minutes to go. She had her seven Jobberknoll feathers in her right hand, ready to be added to the cauldron. She wasn’t sure if they were meant to be added singly or together… but she figured since the instructions just said to “add” them, that that meant in one bunch. So she was going to go with that. Just like she would if it was a muggle recipe she was cooking with her Mam.

Two minutes.

She was sure this potion was going to fail dramatically… they were waiting for a blue smoke at the end… knowing her luck it would be purple, or red or green… something but blue. Which she didn’t want to happen. She wanted a faint blue smoke. She did!

Ten… Nine… Eight… Marsha watched the seconds tick down and as soon as it turned to the correct minute, she raised her hand over the potion and let the seven carefully counted feathers drop. She watched them melt and dissolve into the potion until it was as if they hadn’t existed in the first place.

Now, she had to wait another seven days. Poor werewolves. As soon as they had had their full moon, they really needed to start preparing for the next one. Frowning slightly at that thought and the constant need for this advanced potion, Marsha signed out in the log book and then left the Potions Lab to go and find Rusty or Lance or Zak to see if they wanted to play some Exploding Snap before bed.

Crap. Crap. Carppppppp CARP!

She almost almost for got that she had to be in the potions lab today to finish this wolfsbane potion she checked on it everyday for the last 7 days. Now today of all days she decided that she forgot. Well it just wasn't that she had for forgot she had gotten busy.

Thank goodness that she wasn't running late. That was probably because she was running to the lab. Looking down at her watch 5 minutes. She had 5 minutes to get there. She'd make it she was almost there. She slowed down to a brisk walk.

Two minutes left looking down at her watch. She slide through the door and headed to her cauldron. Placing her bag in the chair she pulled out her notes, quill, and instructions. Great. She only had a minute to catch her breath.

Keeping a eye on the remaining minute she went ahead and got seven of the Jobberknoll feathers. Now.... Was the time to start. Placing each feather into the cauldron one at a time. 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7. Okay, next thing to do..... What? Really!

SERIOUSLY

She had to wait another week to finish this? Ugh. She quickly noted her time and wrote in really really big and in red ink on her paper. Packing up her things she checked the flame to see if I was doing good before leaving. She'd come check on it in the morning.

Seven days later, Cutty Mordaunt reared his ugly head into the potions laboratory once more to check on Eric the half-a-potion. Or the 6/9ths of a potion, really since he wasn't more than a few steps away from completing the thing. All he had left to do was add time, feathers, flame, bile, eggs and a spell. He'd done this before but never with a potion this advanced. But first things being first, Cutty signed into his station and took out his wand. Running a cleaning spell over the surface area of his work station, he repeated this until nary a corner was left to wallow in its own filth.

"Scourgify." Just for funsies, he hit the seat before plopping his bag and his potions kit directly onto it. A clickety sort of snapping sound as he opened his potions bag and flopped a pair of dragonhide gloves onto the desk. Out of the same bag he produced a well be-noted sheet of parchment. His notes for that day they began brewing the potion the back of which gave the exact recorded time that he'd put the dog fur in. Moving his bag and Potions kit aside, he took a seat and stared at the clock. He had enough time. Mooore than enough. But more than likely this would be an exercise in restraint.

He zapped his gloves with a cleaning spell and put his head down on the desk surface. He could see the fire on the underside of his cauldron as he began to count away the minutes. His Whimaway was wearing off, though and it wouldn't be long before he lifted his head and stood up again. This time he opened up his potions kit and took out the velum envelope that held his jobberknoll feathers. He put his gloves on, one after the other and opened up the vellum sleeve. One by one he noticed his classmates, others who had brewed the potion on the same day as he also readying themselves. And then they were adding their feathers. Cutty looked down at his parchment notes, then up at the clock. On the minute he dropped one, two, three, four, five, six and seven feathers into the cauldron. He tried to get them all in at the same minute not knowing, but assuming that had to be so.


************************7 Days Later*******************************

He resolved to get a minion. In fact, why didn't he have one already? Cutty Mordaunt tired of this menial task of checking in on the flame every, but there wasn't anyone he trusted to do it but him.
On day 2 it occurred to him that nothing at all was riding on this. On day 3 he thought Cosgrach Culloden wasn't actually giving them the real recipe to Wolfsbane Potion but something else instead meant to test their stamina. Day 4 brought casual freedom and slight tending of the flame. Day 5 was the day after he'd seen the candy maker's slightly older son and his nerves were steady, though the flame needed encouragement. Day 6 was nothing unusual. Day 7 marked his return to work on the potion, but there were salamander's everywhere!

"Glacius. Glacius." He had his wand out and was now making little rectangular ice cubes out of the salamanders that were eating at his flame. The other quickly returned to it. He threw his bag and kit down which made a loud clinking sound upon hitting the chair and bent forward peering into his fire. He could see their little bodies squirming around. He would tolerate it for now and then when the flame was extinguished he could gather their blood for potions uses.

He swiped his hand across the working surface and knocked the salamander cubes onto the floor then resumed with a normal cleaning spell. "Scourgify." He whipped out his gloves and proceeded to clean them as well then drew out the messy looking note wherein he kept the recipe and instructions. He'd be adding more feathers. Also, he'd need a clean teaspoon & metal stirrer.