So, Vivian really didn't remove her bubblehead charm because that was insane and she did not want to get another sniff of the corpse flower. However, she did keep her attention on Professor Myers as he explained the procedures on... err... shaving the spadix and spathe. It made her wonder why on Earth they needed the nail clippings, though. It was going to happen in the actual potion-making process, she figured.

Getting up close and personal with the corpse flower did not bother Vivian. It was not like it had tentacles that could choke her and she didn't have to deal with the stench. All good here. Vivian scraped the spadix until her plastic cup was half full, and then the cup with scraped spathe 1/3 full.

So far, so good.

But she did notice a younger snake (Maxton) of hers look a bit lost. The Head Girl recognised him as the boy who brought food to the welcoming feast... before the feast happened. That was terms ago, though. "Hey," she waved a finger to catch his attention. "Scrape from the middle of the plant until your cup's half full, and then the frill until the cup's a third full." Nod nod... and then she slid two plastic cups towards him. "Go on." Vivian winked at him. She won't tell Myers that he sort of zoned out there.

There was no way he could ask Professor Myers to repeat the instructions without Professor Noble overhearing, so that was out of the question. He considered just copying what the others were doing and hope for the best that he got it right and didn’t end in disaster…

That was until the Head Girl caught his attention and saved his butt.

“You’re a hero, thanks. Scrape the middle bit and then the frilly bit… got it,” he nodded, accepting the cups with a sheepish smile. But wait… what one was a third full and what one was half full?? The wink had thrown him off, okay??

Before he could make an even bigger fool of himself, Max cautiously approached the giant plant and found a gap between the other kids. He scraped at the middle part until the little cup was a third full and then the weird frilly bit until his second cup was half full.

SPOILER!!: catch up

It was actually one of those joint classes that made sense. Herbology and potions, was there ever a more dynamic duo when it came to Hogwarts… well besides her and Slate of course. Sure there were probably more than that. (She really highly doubted that though) point was that both subjects were her not so favorite or not so strong suits. She had actually been dreading this lesson since it was announced. She was even tempted to skip it today and just hang out in the library to avoid the whole thing. Then there was this whole thing with a bag of the toenail clippings, what was that all about?

But here she was, here she was heading down to greenhouse four, she had passed the library. The struggle was real to just go inside and hide. BUT here she was standing just outside of the greenhouse. Could she turn back now? What was that smell? It was enough to make her barf, forget the library she could skip the lesson and go to the hospital wing instead.

She seen the wizhaz suiting hanging on hooks, merlin what was this lesson going to be about, then she read the note and opted to don the bubblehead charm. It was a heck of a lot easier than trying to get into one of those suits.

Corpse flowers well…. that certainly explained the horrible smell. Good name for them, corpse. Was that really what a corpse smelt like that? At least she didn’t have to smell it. ”It smells like a corpse?’ That was obvious.

Ugh and now for the part that she had been dreading, maybe she would like potions and herbology a lot better if they could just skip the theoretical portion and just do the practical and be done with it. Some lessons the practical parts just was well… practical. As theoretical as she was with other subjects, Juni just decided to take notes until she could get her hands on the lesson.

Juni just continued to take notes, or a few points may or may not have dozed off. Yes she was up late studying for OWLs. So she might have dozed off for a second or two. She jumped in her seat when professor Noble clapped his hands. No thank you professor she would just be sitting her with her bubblehead charm and not removing it thanks. She believed that it smelt awful. She didn’t need the full effect to get it.

Hmmm? Pest deterrent? To be honest that was something that she did not consider but it would actually really come in handy sometimes wouldn’t it?

Now they were finally getting into something that they could actually do something and not just sit around and talk. They were going to harvest the spadix and spathe of the corpse flower. Good something that she can do. SHe turned her attention to Professor Myers now to see what they would be doing.
So this was very very exact type of thing. She wrote down everything that Myers was saying. Though she was pretty sure she understood what was going on here. First thing was first the fifth year got up and got a scraper and measuring cups.

First she took the scraper to the spadix and scraped until the cup was half full. Then she cleaned of the scraper. That was probably a little detail that mattered but wasn’t necessarily required. Into the second cup she scraped off a third of the spathe in to the cup.

Now what?

Blink. Blink. Rylee looked up at Myers as he answered her question. Though she wanted to state that what he had just told her was clearly obvious to anyone that knew anything at all about this plant and it's berries she held her tongue. She might know a ton about plants and flowers but that didn't mean those around her did and therefore Myers repeating what had been said earlier in the lesson could be useful. What she had been hoping to hear was indeed confirmed and that got a bright smile out of her. If this potion was safe should anyone human or creature actually consume it than she would be able to use it without worry. "Thank you, professor," she replied with a nod of her head and another smile.

Rylee listened very closely to the following instructions on how to gather the shavings from the plant. A half cup from the spadix and a third cup from the spathe. This sounded easy enough since the plant wouldn't be moving about or trying to harm her in anyway except for it's stench. Replacing the mask over her face she accepted one of the little scrapers and the plastic cups.

Moving closer to the corpse flower she had no trouble in getting right up close. Sometimes being really small was helpful. Using the scraper she carefully scraped the spadix until it was half full and then scraped the spathe filling the cup a third of the way. Now that she was finished with that she stepped out of the way waiting for the next set of instructions.

They were going to work with the plant now, this is going to be amazing! Listening to every word Professor Myer was saying Chloe was at the edge of her seat and hoped up once it was time to get to work.

Almost bouncing up to the front she took the scraper and headed towards the plant. Remembering what he said she very carefully started to scrap the spadix. Moving the scrapper over it very gently she watched as the pieces went into the cup. Doing this over and over she filled the cup half way before moving on to do the other part of the plant.

These pieces fell into the cup as well. Now Chloe eyed the measuring cup. Did she have it at the right measurement? Half full and then 1/3, was that right? She tried to remember but went to look in her notes.

Okay, she had it, now she was ready for the next part.

First of all, Maddie was getting confused. What were these parts called again? Spadix? Spathe? And what the heck was a frill? Whatever this stuff was called, she at least knew what part of the plant to scrap away at. She already had enough spadix, or whatever it was called, so all she needed was 1/3 cup of...that other stuff.

Spathe?

Yeah, that.

Maddie reached her hand back into the plant and began scraping away at the spathe. As she did this, she thought about what the professor had just said to Emmlyn. The plant could feel her scraping away at it? OUCH. Sorry, little guy. She couldn't decide if she should hurry and get this over with or take her time and be gentle. Either way, after all that thinking, she'd actually ended up with the 1/3 cup she needed.

She stopped scraping and stepped away from the plant.

So plants could feel sensations. That was new. Lydia wasn't sure quite how to feel about that. She didn't want to hurt the plant, stinky as it may be. She wondered at the depth of feeling plants could have. She'd read in muggle magazines that they definitely responded to music, especially classical music, and even people talking to them in a positive way. It helped them grow. Herbology was proving to be a fascinating subject.

When the bin of scrapers made its way to her, Lydia selected one and then waited for more of an opening around the plant. Her classmates had got to work right away, despite the overpowering smell, which she could still detect even through the mask. No way was she taking it off, despite what Noble had said. With measuring cup in hand, she set to work on the middle part of the huge flower called the spadix. When her cup was half full of scrapings she stopped and moved to the frilly section of the bloom, which was called the spathe. Now her cup was 1/3 full as Professor Myers had instructed.

Lydia stepped away from the plant, grimacing a bit at the smell even through the mask. She couldn't imagine what it would be like up close with no mask. She'd probably pass out. Or maybe throw up. Cup of shavings in hand, she waited for more instructions. She still had her bag of toenail clippings, and she was curious how those were going to play into the lesson. Was anyone else wondering the same thing?

It should have been well known by now that Noble had a very low tolerance for students not following instructions, and yet it seemed a number of the class had chosen to do just that. With barely a glance at his co-instructor, he pulled his wand from his holster, a scowl already spreading across his face. “I believe I asked you to temporarily remove your masks…” Here’s looking at you Ronan, Chloe, Skylar, Vivian and Juniper, amongst others... “So those of you who didn’t, well done for losing your houses three points apiece.” Sarcasm was definitely audible in his voice. And the offenders weren’t just getting away with points, oh no. He raised his wand now, casting a non-verbal finite to all those with a bubblehead in place. Another few flicks of his wand saw the masks of those who refused to remove them sent back to the table by the door. They could go and retrieve them – but they’d have to breathe in that oh so lovely scent of the corpse flower whilst the they did so. “The rest of you may put them back on again now.”

That done, he turned to Isa. “It takes on the scent of the corpse flower,” he confirmed with a nod. Which lead rather nicely onto Emmalyn’s question about having that stench close to people. She really didn’t need to be so nervous – it was a good question, with a teaching point Noble had been coming to soon. “That’s a good point indeed, and is exactly what the toenails are for.” The was a hint of a smirk on his lips now. It was one of those discoveries he’d always been curious about – who had thought to add toenails to find out this rather cool property of the potion? “Anyone whose nails are incorporated in the potion will be immune to its smell…which is why this particular pest-deterrent can be used against humans as much as animals.” Cool, huh?

And Rylee’s question was a fair one too…especially after various students’ fixation of corpses and poisons. He caught Myers’ eye now and nodded. “Exactly…it’s a deterrent, not a toxin. So very garden safe, say for pets or children. And Professor Myers is correct, it’s very shelf safe and shelf stable…so worth whipping up a big batch when we have a flower in bloom like we do today.”

And now they were getting stuck into the activity, so Noble moved to one side where he could survey their efforts without getting in the way. He’d already collected his flower parts for the potions practical earlier. ”After you’ve collected your half-cup of spadix and third-cup of spathe, you’ll also need to come collect 1 cup of fresh crup urine from the jug at the front, a medium clove of garlic, and put a good glug of castor oil in the bottom of your cauldron.” Here's hoping they paid better attention this time.

It was actually quite fun to collect the plant parts, Chloe decided, as she positioned her cup beneath the spadix and scraped gently into her cup. She hated the idea of hurting a plant, even knowing plants didn't specifically feel pain, but this was so gentle and the plant was so big... she didn't worry at all about hurting it.

Once her cup was half full, Chloe set it to the side and grabbed up her second cup. It was even shorter work to scrape the spathe until the cup was a third full. She checked it twice before carrying both cups back to her work station.

Now, what was it that Professor Noble wanted them to do? More supplies, which meant they were going to properly brew something today! Chloe had to keep herself from skipping as she returned to the front of the classroom/greenhouse to gather her cup of crup urine (ewwww) and garlic. And a GLUG? What was a glug? It was so imprecise a measurement that it had her fidgeting as she picked up the castor oil and then set it down again.

"Professor, how much is a gluuuuuuuug?"

Losing three points, she didn't care, but when Professor Noble removed her bubblehead charm without notice, the Head Girl almost wanted the ground to eat her alive so she didn't have to smell the corpse flower's scent. Her face hardened at the first wave of air she smelled, and Vivian had to lean on the table for support with her eyes shut because this was absolutely disgusting. Half of her wanted Reed back, but... eh. She knew there wasn't much she can do. All she needed was survive the rest of this term, and she'll be off this castle.

There, so she had smelled it already. Cool. Surely Noble was happy with the fact that she had basically sniffed death now. Not saying a word, the Head Girl went to retrieve a cup full of crup urine--disgusting as well, but definitely much more tolerable in smell, though her thoughts floated towards the fact that she had to drink a potion with such ingredient--and a garlic clove. The glug part, though... Vivian was confused. What was a glug? And how much is a glug?

She waited for Noble to answer the younger Ravenclaw's question, and placed her bubblehead charm back again. If he had only wanted them all to smell the corpse flower, the blond had already had her fair share of death stench after taking what felt like a looong minute to measure crup urine and retrieve a clove.

Emmalyn was thankful she had taken off her mask when asked, even if she hadn’t kept it off until Professor Noble instructed them to put them back on. Yes, she should have listened more carefully but hadn’t meant to disobey. Either way, she had collected her half-cup of spadix and third-cup of spathe and was ready to continue with the assignment.

Just as she was about to head up to gather her next ingredients, she heard Chloe’s question. “Um, I believe a glug is just over a tablespoon. You know, when you pour the oil and it gives that first glug sound of air going back in the container.” This was not something the average second year would know. However, it was something the daughter of a professional pastry chef would know. After years of spending every day after school and every weekend watching him work, a lot of the unique terminology sunk in. But, as soon as she responded, her eyes darted to Professor Noble, hoping she was remembering correctly.

Eager to get back to her seat, she collected the one cup of fresh crup urine, wondering who had the pleasure of obtaining a big jug of it, the medium clove of garlic, and put a good glug of castor oil in the bottom of her cauldron. She hurried back to her station and waited with building curiosity over when toenails would be added to the mix.

Welp, that was enough to bring him back to himself and out of the pit sadness he had sunk into. Not at the points loss no, but the professor forcibly removing his helmet. Really, Noble? He had already smelled the damn plant when the professor had made him put on the ridiculous suit. But, oh no, he wasn't going to blow up like some might expect him to. Nope, he was going to abide by that old saying. You know, the one that said that revenge was a dish best served cold. And the situation was way too hot right now, both figuratively and literally.

He didn't bother to hide the anger in his face, though. The Head Boy must've looked quite the sight, though, what with his black eye even more visible and the aforementioned anger. Like a boxer in those few minutes before he started wailing on his opponent. He did retrieve the stupid helmet and slipped it back on his head before going to retrieve the one cup of crup urine (ugh, whoever came up with this potion was a sadist), the clove of garlic and the castor oil (the last of which was put in his caldron, thank you very much). After that, he returned to his station.

Noble cut a stern figure as he waited for the students to return to their desks. His gazes glanced up at the clock, aware that time was ticking away and he wanted to get this potion finished preferably sometime today.

As one of the first to come retrieve the other ingredients, Chloe got a look of approval despite the skipping. Vivian got more of neutral expression, after those dramatics at the smell - seriously, it wasn't that bad...did they not see the Herbology professor unprotected over there? - and Ronan, well, Noble chose to look pointedly at the corpse flower so he didn't have to see the anger that he guessed was smouldering on the Head Boy's face right now.

And a smirk crossed Noble's face as Chloe asked that question. Despite his usual calls for absolute precision, and vanished work for those who attempted to get by without, it wasn't a trap. "Quite correct, Emmalyn," he replied, somewhat surprised that the usually nervous Hufflepuff had chosen to chip in. He caught that look, and gave her the faintest of smiles. "Take three points for Hufflepuff." He glanced at Myers a moment, before turning back to the class. See, his could be nice and give points as well as take them. "This is a rare exception to needing absolute precision in your brewing: the oil is mainly to ensure our potion doesn't stick, so it needs to be just enough to coat the cauldron. A glug, or as Emmalyn said, about a tablespoon, should do it."

He added the oil to his own cauldron now, taking the opportunity to give them the next couple of steps. Chop chop! "Whilst the cauldron is cool, pick it up and swirl the oil up the sides few times, then return it to the tripod and give it some low heat from your burner." He demonstrated this step now, using both hands to swirl the cauldron, not tilt or turn it, before returning it to the stand and lighting the burner underneath. "Once you've done that, add 5 teaspoons of beetle eyes from your potions kit, and grind a further five whole beetles to a fine powder in your pestle and mortar."

Whoa.

Remind her to never get on Professor Noble's bad side. She watched as points were docked and masks were banished to the table by the door. Maddie glanced down and tried not to meet anybody's gaze. It was one of those awkward moments in class when the professor is suddenly in a terrible, points-taking mood, and she didn't want to get involved in any way whatsoever.

Ahem.

...and now they had to collect urine?! What was with Herbology and Potions class today? Between the stench and the collection of urine, she'd secretly be glad when they wrapped all this up. Without a word, she collected the urine, a medium clove of garlic, and a glug of castor oil. Thanks, Emmalyn, for clueing her in as to what a glug even was. After making sure her cauldron was good and clean and nothing had trickled its way inside, the third year added the castor oil to her cauldron.

As the lesson continued, Maddie picked up her cauldron and swirled the oil up the sides a few times. When it was back on the tripod, she turned the burner to low then measured out five tablespoons of beetle eyes. When that was done, she collected five whole beetles, put them in her mortar, and then began to grind them with her pestle.

O__O

Max had been among the majority who had opted to not remove his mask and therefore breathed in a lungful of that stench when Professor Noble made the masks poof. DISGUSTING. It was awful. Was he trying to make the whole class vomit!?

He tried his best to hold his breath as the Professor took what felt like FOREVER to explain the next part of the process. Gross, gross, gross.

When the coast was clear and they were instructed to get started, the fifth year darted clumsily (thanks MagHaz suit!) back to the table by the door and tugged one of the masks back over his head.

On the way back to his work station, he collected the necessary supplies. He was NOT happy about having to pour a cup full of crup urine. Honestly, why were potions ingredients the absolute worst???

With a frown, he poured a glug of the oil into the bottom of his cauldron, gave it a little swirl and then stuck it on a low heat. Next up, he added five teaspoons of beetle eyes and then set about crushing up the other five whole beetles. So far so good, easy peasy.

Emmalyn got a HUGE grin and grateful look, which was also bestowed on the professor. He was a fussy dear thing, wasn't he? And no one had made her feel the idiot for asking a question, which was always appreciated. Chloe took the castor oil back to her cauldron and glugged it once before returning the bottle for someone else to use.

The swirling was fun, though, and Chloe gave her oil a few extra swirls, mostly for fun but also to ensure the cauldron was completely coated before they began. She gave it a long look before setting it back on the tripod, but it wasn't like she could tell anything at this point. Best just keep going, and dear fussbudget would let her know soon how she was doing. Chloe set a low fire and immediately added five teaspoons of beetle eyes. Weird to start with a dry ingredient, but that's what the oil was for.

And beetles! More beetles! All the bugs in this potion! Chloe added five to her mortar.

Did he smile at her? She almost fell over in disbelief, not only that she had answered when it wasn’t necessary, but she hadn’t been wrong. Once Professor Noble’s eyes left her, she let out the nervous breath she had been holding and continued on with the activities instructions. Just before continuing, her eye caught Chloe’s grin and she smiled back brightly. The day was one for the record books.

She picked up her still cool cauldron and gave it a swirl to move the oil up the sides. Her swirls were nice and gentle, just as he had demonstrated. No tilting or turning, just swirling with both hands, before returning it to the stand. However, the next step was one she always feared. Lighting the burner. She knew it had to be done, but she hated setting any sort of fire. Especially after the Derf incident. Emmalyn counted down in her head, three, two, one, and lit the fire. Thankfully, it went well.

Her kit was already out and ready, so she measured out the five teaspoons of beetle eyes and started grinding the five whole beetles in her mortar and pestle to a fine powder. Check, check, and check. She glanced over her notes to make sure she hadn’t left out a step before pausing to wait for the next set of instructions.

PfpfpfffftftftftfoofofffffffffTTTTTTTT

Paul gave Noble the most confused look of ALL time when he decided to dock points like a madman. He even scoffed. "Don't worry, don't worry. I'll give you a chance to earn points back, ladies and gentlemen," he said while shooting a smiled at Noble. Not a real smile. It was actually a very cold, questioning smile.

Their teaching styles. Vastly differently.

Noble was a good friend of his, but sometimes he questioned the man's sanity, as he was sure Noble did the same to him. He didn't blame them for not wanting to smell the deathly odorous flower. "Aaaanywaaaay, yes, once you have finished your collecting, you'll need to get those ingredients Professor Noble pointed out from the front." And if they thought the smell of the flower was bad...sheesh...crup urine was pretty EW as well.

This was why Vivian loved Professor Paul. The Head Girl smiled a teeeeny tiny bit at the Herbology professor as she added a glug—honestly sounded like somebody choked on their pumpkin juice, to be honest—of the castor oil to her cauldron. She would miss him when she graduated.

She then picked it up and swayed the cauldron around to spread the oil onto the bottom and sides before she placed it back on her tripod. And with that, she set the burner on low heat. After adding five teaspoons of beetle eyes, Vivian took out five more whole beetles and dropped them into her mortar. With her pestle, she began grind and crush the beetles.

What was it with beetles, though?

UM....... o.O

Actually, she was pretty sure that Professor Noble made the SUGGESTION for them to remove their masks, saying 'perhaps you should', which is something that the Slytherin Captain might have pointed out in his language choice had he not a moment later, forcefully removed her bubblehead charm. So it wasn't as if she wasn't listening, but just not taking his suggestion to heart. Annoyed, the seventeen year old, frowned and focused her attention instead on Myers and the tasks on hand. Surely Noble wouldn't want her mother to hear about this inattention to linguistic detail, which was later used against them.

Small blade, check. Donning some gloves, after re-casting her bubblehead charm because she didn't care to keep smelling the corpse flower, she scraped the spadix to fill up the plastic measuring cup. Well, fill it up a half of the way at least. And a third cup of spathe.

Not too difficult.

Wait. Wait. Crup urine. Like... how fresh was it? Grateful for her bubblehead charm AND her gloves, she walked slowly up to the front, watching others first. With her cupful of urine, her garlic clove and some castor oil, the she-snake made her way carefully back to workstation. Adding the glug of oil, she swirled her cauldron around, deciding it felt a small amount like frying an egg. And low heat, she dropped five teaspoons of beetle eyes from her potions kit, before dropping five whole beetles into her mortar and grinding them into a fine powder.

So uh ... when was she to add this urine? Cause she really didn't fancy any accidental spillage of it?

Kye had what seemed to be a permanent look of disgust on her face ever since the smell had been reintroduced to her nostrils. She was grateful for the instruction to put a mask back on but the damage was done, aaand for the distinction between a toxin and a deterrent. As Professor Noble continued, Kye was surprised to find herself quite invested in the properties of this plant. Toenails making you immune?? She was ready to sprinkle hers ALL. OVER. She almost missed the next directions from being lost in thought, but she scribbled them down just before they left her brain again. She listened to the description of a ‘glug,’ agreeing that it was odd to have such a lenient unit of measurement, especially from Noble. As he demonstrated, she had to stretch her neck out a bit for a better view. She scribbled his words down again. She got her half cup of spadix and a third of spathe before looking at the instructions again.

Welp she thought, at least it was already in a jug… as the thought of having to actually… collect the urine would have been worse. After adding the crup urine and garlic clove to her station, it was time for that glug. She wasn’t sure how fast to tilt it so she erred on the side of caution and poured it slowly. She was just imagining the whole thing falling from her hands or something. It began to pour out into her cauldron and she had to remember to put a little extra tilt to it so that it would hit that air bubble. When it finally did, Kye looked at her cauldron. Was that going to be way too much? She put her tablespoon in to see how much had been poured, and it definitely seemed to be almost double the recommended. With a roll of her eyes, she put almost a spoonful back into the oil’s container. She began swishing it around, feeling a bit better about the amount in there. She didn’t even want to think about messing up her potion.

Kye put the cauldron back on the tripod, setting the heat level. She searched through her kit for the beetle eyes and whole beetles, wondering if she’d have any left after this class. She added the eyes, trying to stall honestly because she wasn’t in the mood to grind up five beetles. Why did that have to be a manual activity?? With a sigh, she began the grinding process. It was great if you had some frustration to get out! Silver linings.

Lydia's mask was rudely whipped from her face, and she got a DEEP whiff of the flower's disgusting, pungent odor. She gagged, nearly choking. Merlin's beard it was foul! She couldn't help but shoot a quick glare at Noble. This was one of the reasons why he was never going to be her favourite professor. And the loss of points was almost too much. At least she hadn't been the only one to suddenly get a nice wallop of corpse stink. At least half the class had ignored Noble's suggestion.

Lips pursed into a thin line, Lydia listened to Noble's instructions. Some of her fellow students had gone back for their masks, but suddenly she was determined to stick out the flower's stench. Professor Myers wasn't wearing a mask after all, and neither was Noble. After all, it was just a smell. It wasn't going to kill her or anything.

As Lydia gathered the crup urine, she was reminded again of why she hated Potions. Most of the ingredients were gross. And they had to drink the swill they'd be making? Blech! And the toenails. They'd finally learned the toenails made the owner of the nails immune to the stench. Well, that was all well and good unless you had to drink a potion that had toenails and urine in it.

Lydia coated her cauldron with the "glug" of castor oil. Then she swirled the oil around the bottom of the cauldron so it was nicely distributed. It was time to light the burner. Low, Noble had said. Right. Time for some beetle eyes. At this point, her nose had almost gotten used to the horrible smell as she tossed beetle eyes and crup pee into the cauldron. Wait, had Noble said to do that yet? Oops. Too late now. Lydia studiously ignored Professor Noble as she ground up the whole beetles with her mortar and pestle. At least Professor Myers had said they'd have a chance to earn more points.

Skyler bit her lip and looked to an older student Kye
"What are we supposed to be doing?" Skyler whispered. She hadn't been paying much attention. The stentch was strong.

Oh Paul. A brief glance at the older man told Noble that the Herbology Professor was not impressed by the point taking, and Noble had to refrain from rolling his eyes at points being put on offer later in class. It was a very different pedagogical style to his own, and one he didn't always understand. Still, he heeded the older's man's look...Paul was a good friend, and he appreciated the man's counsel.

Returning to his demonstrating now, Noble dropped the five beetles into his mortar, picking it up so he could grind on the move and keep a closer eye on things. A good job too, since he'd only wandered past a couple of desks when he caught sight of Maddie's measuring. "I said teaspoon, not tablespoon." In one deft movement he had his wand unholstered and in his hand. The beetle eye and oil concoction was quickly vanished. "I suggest you start again and measure a bit more carefully next time." One could always add...it was much harder to take away.

At least things were going better for Max, who seemed to have taken to his MagHaz suit well enough. Everything looked surprisingly decent on the Slytherin's desk, and Noble gave him a slight nod as he went past. It looked like Chloe and Emmalyn were all set now too, and well stuck into the beetle grinding. They certainly had some fun ingredients this lesson. He continued his own pounding as he moved on...

...which brought him to the Slytherins. A peer into Vivian's cauldron suggested nothing was amiss, and it seemed Valkyrie had fixed her oil problem. Skylar on the other hand got a raised eyebrow, she seemed a little out of sorts and he briefly wondered if he should check in with her parents in case to was close to burn out. Not that he minded if the Slytherin Quidditch team suffered a run of poor results, ahem.

It was perhaps lucky for Lydia and Skyler that Noble didn't get too close to either of their potions just yet, instead heading back to the front of the class to move on.

"Your beetle eyes should be looking duller in colour - almost foggy. Once they've reached that point, stir in your ground whole beetles and the crup urine until the potion turns a bright red." He added his beetle powder and urine now, stirring it briskly with a glass rod. "Five stirs should do it." He held the stirring rod up now, so they could see what colour they were aiming for. "Then you should add your corpse flower: spadix first, stirring twice anti-clockwise. And then the spathe, stirring three times clockwise." Again, he demonstrated. "If you're using your nail-clippings, sprinkle them in at this point...and let everything simmer for 5 minutes. Whilst you wait, I suggest you start finely mincing your garlic." No point in just sitting there twiddling their thumbs.

And in case they hadn't got all that, he now wrote the directions up on the board.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Recipe

Ingredients
Castor oil
5 tsp beetle eyes
5 whole beetles, ground to a fine powder
1 cup Crup urine
~ ½ cup - corpse flower spadix scrapings
~ ⅓ cup - corpse flower spathe scrapings
Toe nail clippings
1 tsp minced garlic, using a silver knife

Method
1. Add a glug of castor oil to the cauldron, swirling it up the sides a few times before putting it back over a low heat.
2. Add the beetle eyes. Once the eyes have dulled in colour, stir in the ground whole beetles and the crup urine. The potion should turn a bright red.
3. Add spadix scrapings. Stir twice anti-clockwise.
4. Add spathe scrapings. Stir three times clockwise.
5. Sprinkle over the nail clippings (if using) and simmer for five minutes. Now would be a good time to mince the garlic.
6. Add in the garlic, and beat the potion well. It should seize - don’t be alarmed when this happens, and continue stirring until the potion resembles small brown granules, not dissimilar to instant coffee.

Her notes were getting long and the ingredient list longer. She jotted down the directions carefully before continuing.




Peering at her beetle eyes, she thougth they were looking duller and a bit foggy. She grabbed her ground whole beetles and crup urine to mix in. Finding the proper stirrer, she stirred exactly five times. She knew that when Professor Noble said five times, he meant five times. Just as she finished, it was a bright red color.

Satisfied with her results thus far, she picked up the measured spadix and poured it in, stirring exactly twice counter clockwise. Then the spathe followed, with three stairs clockwise. After taking a moment to check her notes, not wanting to make a mistake this late in the process, she noticed it was time for the nail clippings. Her little package of nail clippings were sprinkled over and she noted the time to watch for five minutes.

Garlic time. Garlic was the one ingredient in the entire potion that didn’t make her want to gag. She pulled out her little knife, no spells for mincing for her, and made careful work of the garlic. By the time she was finished mincing, the five minutes were nearly up.