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hermygirl · 10-15-2018, 12:51 AM

There was a chill in the air in the potions classroom this morning, though that would be rectified soon enough as burners were lit for the brewing portion of the lesson. Yes, there would be a practical that morning, though Noble had the distinct sense the students weren't going to appreciate it very much. It certainly wasn't the most exciting practical on the curriculum, and in other years, he would have skipped it entirely and covered the material in five minutes of reading instead. This year though, it was a little harder to do that....so here he was.

As was generally the case for such lessons, there were a number of trays laid out on the side workbench. Of what was visible, one contained large jars of black powder, another contained the remnants of old burnt out candles, and a third contained what looked to be a pile of dirty old rags. The Potions Professor stood at the front desk, two pairs of shoes in front of him; the first, a pair of Italian leather men's wingtips, and the second, a pair of his daughter's rather scuffed up ankle boots. Hopefully the students had remembered to bring their spare pair of uniform shoes if they had them.

A glance at his watch said it was five to the hour, and with a flick of his wand, Noble unlocked the classroom door. With the current rules in place, he expected them to file in quietly and stand behind their workstation until they were told to be seated.

ArianaBlack · 10-17-2018, 07:43 PM

Zoryn was disappointed when Derf chose to sit far away. Not like Noble would’ve let them sit together anyways, but he could have at least tried. The disappointment didn’t last very long though ‘cause a boy with a pretty face (Zachary) decided to grace her presence instead.

Typically Zor wore a resting stank face, but she flashed him a grin. Mostly for his face.

…. Hopefully he didn’t ruin the appeal when he opened his mouth. Most boys did that. They were all stupid. Even ones like Maxton Carden.

Once given the ‘OK’ to sit, Zoryn took her seat, covering her mouth with a hand in attempt to conceal a yawn. Shoe polish? Really. She gave her Professor a look hoping he’d take it back and admit that he was kidding about the subject for today’s lesson. Even Noble had to have some sort of humorous bone in his body, right?

Wrong.

Ugh. How did he manage to make the most boring subject even MORE boring? It was doing just fine on it’s own, thanks. Shoe polish? Stuuuuuupid.

“Everyone deserves a shot at employment,” she lowered her hand and offered a shrug. “Even idiots.” Looking at you, Anna Meriwether. Maybe that wasn’t what Noble was getting at, but her answer still worked. Purpose of something as useless as polishing shoes? To make money. Duh.

When Anna failed at being a Quidditch Player, Zoryn would definitely consider paying the girl to shine shoes. It was the least she could do, truly a charitable soul. Zor always looked out for the needy.

Charely Potter · 10-17-2018, 11:40 PM

Tad didn't quite know the ingredients to make shoes shine properly. After he had been given permission to sit down and start to set up with everything, he had to really think about the question. What purpose? What ingredients? He sat there thinking relatively hard on this, he began to ponder how others would know. He couldn't recall anything regarding shoes in the books... well, from the skimming he did. Then.. it hit him. Some conversations he previously heard in the past got him to answer at last.

"Er.. a good dose of saliva. I heard about the whole 'spit and shine' to help buff the shoes. Animals can lick themselves clean so I imagine it works the same." Tad offered after he had his hand raised. As for why? "It's good to look good and proper. You get to be taken seriously.... oh! And I heard girls look at a guy's shoes first so it would help you get a date if you have nice polished shoes." That was right, right? Tad tried not to look too pleased with himself at thinking that through.

sweetpinkpixie · 10-18-2018, 01:37 AM

He caught the look Zoryn had given him and his lips twitched into an apologetic frown. He was just...tired and rather than being told he was wrong he he should have done this and that, he just wanted to avoid all that and do it the perceived right way - by someone - and not waste his energy having to move from one station to the other. He would catch up with her after class though. He did offer Dorian a small smile as his own attention turned his attention forward as Professor Noble began class.

Shoe polish. Right.

Derf had a look down at his own shoes as his classmates spoke and wincing a bit at what Maxton said specifically. The Hufflepuff was a bit notorious for having shoes covered in mud and generic gunk - so in a way he felt as though his Head of House was holding this lesson ALMOST for his own personal benefit. He was, well, one of those who really ought to just book himself on the daily for having scuffed up shoes and therefore inappropriate uniform attire.

So, like the awkward duck he was, he raised his hand to offer up his two knuts on the subject. "Mum and dad always make me polish mine before weddings or other sorts of formal occasions...to look prim and proper and clean..." Which was the opposite of everything this 16-year-old was. As for a possible ingredient, his initial thoughts had been those very same ones of that one Ravenclaw first year and thus his contribution there had been silenced for the time being.

DaniDiNardo · 10-18-2018, 02:02 AM

It was a hard task not sinking into a scowl when Archer took a spot next to her. This had nothing to do with Jessa disliking the girl and everything to do with the fact that in just about every class she managed to kick up some form of trouble and the Ravenclaw didn’t need that kind of anxiety in her life. Sure enough, barely at her station and the girl was already at it. Speaking though she knew they weren’t meant to. It was like she enjoyed watching her wring a hole through her skirt with all the fidgeting she typically ended up doing while rule breakers went about their business.

Of course, Noble wasn’t standing for it. Like in Fletcher’s classes, Jessa was a bit more at ease in potions for the simple fact that the man would handle things so there was no ill feeling in the bottom of her stomach that she would have to.

Frankly, she’d seen the girl back talk everyone. Jessa had no doubt she would go to town on her if she tried correcting her behaviour and she wanted no part of that, thank you.

With her equipment already out, Jessa raised her hand and waited to be acknowledged. The potion of the day was by no means exciting but any distraction from the Hufflepuff near her was welcomed.

“Here, lots of students get their shoes polished because they don’t want detention with the Headmaster or Professor Fletcher—or you either I suppose.” While she did believe some genuinely wanted to look their best at all times, the Head Girl was well aware it was the fear of conesequences that had some shoes shining these days. Hers included. One of her dolls now had that duty.

AstryaLoreyn · 10-18-2018, 07:17 PM

Arthuria sat when Professor Nobel said they could and waited for class to begin, wondering what they would be brewing today and why they needed a spare pair of shoes. Opening her bag she took out a hair elastic and pulled back her long hair into a ponytail so that it was out of her face for brewing. She had learnt back in September to always tie her hair back when in Potions, it just made things easier.

Cassirin · 10-19-2018, 01:33 AM

Oh, wax. Yes, she got it now, especially with the answers provided by her classmates. Chloe nodded and considered the rest of the supplies just as thoughtfully, since it was pretty obvious why people polished their shoes. To wear tiny mirrors on their shoes so they could look up their own noses and check for bogies.

Obviously.

"Maybe a soot or coal, instead of the ink? For darkening the scuffs?" She was responding to a specific suggestion, but in general, there had to be something in black shoe polish... and their shoes WERE black.

TeafortheSoul · 10-21-2018, 05:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermygirl

Right after Natalie got seated, Noble drew his wand from its holster, and with a light flick, the door swung shut. It was now nine o’clock, according to the clock on the back wall, and any newcomers now were officially late and could face the consequences. “You may be seated,” he said as he reholstered his wand. He continued now, raising his voice over the inevitable flurry of activity as chairs scraped across the floor and people finally got out their quills, parchment, textbooks and equipment. “…And in future, I encourage you to set up your resources whilst waiting for others to arrive.” Rather than having to wait for them all to do it now.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

He folded his arms impatiently across his chest, a deep grumble in his throat. Were they ready now? He sure hoped so. He was moving on regardless. “I’m sure it’s not too much of a stretch to realise that we’ll be making a shoe polish today, not only ticking a box on the curriculum, but also helping some of you avoid points loss in the smart uniform requirement.” So thoughtful, the Hufflepuff Head of House was. “What is the purpose of polishing shoes? And what ingredients do you think a good polish might include to achieve this?”

Never in her life had it occurred to Bel to polish her shoes. The brunette looked down at her feet to take stock of her current footwear... which... well it didn't really NEED polishing, and Bel wasn't entirely sure why that was. She lifted her foot up, resting it over her knee to take a closer look at the leather. Maybe they were self-polishing? She had gotten these ones at a wizarding shoe shop after all, the kind where the shoe fit itself to the wearer rather than the normal muggle way.

But there were questions to answer, so she switched her attention from her footwear to her head of house.

Bel put her hand up. "I dunno really about why except that maybe its practical and might help make your shoes last longer, but I guess it all depends on the type of shoe that you're wearing, if its real leather or fake and also the colour and whatever as well, but the wax I use on my surfboard has carnauba wax in it.... I reckon that'd shine things up well and also probably help with waterproofing." What about magical ingredients though? That she was less sure of but wanted to add something, "I bet if you added some other stuff in small amounts, magical ingredients, you could probably make the polish treat your shoes to be... I dunno, fireproof or disappear-proof or... something like that too."

Dokimoto · 10-21-2018, 01:51 PM

Jackson appreciated Professor Noble’s demeanor today especially, since it seemed to be the kind of mood he himself was in. He hoped it didn’t seem like he was being rude, it was just one of those days. Le sigh. As he waited to be able to take a seat, Jackson observed the items around him. Shoe shining? That’s what it looked like anyway. But… this was definitely Potions, not Muggle Studies. And he realized that they were going to be making the stuff. “Sir, polishing your shoes keeps you looking more put together and professional, and it’s good for certain kinds of shoes. I’d imagine using like… some version of rubbing alcohol is involved?” Honestly, he had no idea. He was in agreement that they should all take pride in their appearances even if it was just for class. At least for himself, it helped him feel more focused and less stressed.

hermygirl · 10-22-2018, 02:12 AM

SPOILER!!: Bettie

Noble was perhaps a little surprised that Bettie was the first to answer, although perhaps he shouldn’t have been, as he looked at her Dr Martens on the desk. “Those are all good ingredient suggestions indeed. For those of you who don’t know, lanolin is a natural oil that sheep secrete to waterproof and protect the wool. So…really no surprise it can be used for keeping shoes looking their best.”

SPOILER!!: Dorian

“Yes indeed, Dorian. Two great points there: to maintain and restore.” Noble turned to the blackboard and wrote them up in white chalk. “Beeswax is also spot on. Although, I’m not too sure about jelly…sounds a little sticky to me.” By either the British or American meaning of the word.

SPOILER!!: Hanna

“Correct. A good polish can definitely make shoes look new again.” And there were definitely shoes he could see in the room that needed some help in that department. “And colour isn’t necessary, but is commonly included. For your school shoes, we will be using black pigment…but we won’t be using squid or octopus ink.” Maybe someone else could now guess what they’d be using instead.

SPOILER!!: Max

There might have be a hint of amusement on Noble’s face as he considered Max’s changing posture and response. Who would have thought this would be the lesson he’d respond to with most enthusiasm? “I’m inclined to agree with you, Max. Although I’m sure there are those in this room who would disagree.” Derfael, for example.

SPOILER!!: Anna

Noble grumbled at Anna’s response, and especially at the air quotes. Of all the words to use air quotes around in her sentence, presentable didn’t seem like the right choice. “I think you mean that having polished shoes puts forward a good impression and shows attention to detail, Anna.”

SPOILER!!: Zoryn

Noble didn’t find that look very amusing at all, and definitely less so when it came to Zoryn’s turn to answer. “Five points from Gryffindor, Zoryn. Either answer my question properly, or don’t answer at all. I didn’t ask for mindless and insulting commentary from you.” It didn’t work as an answer in Noble’s mind, at least not without further explanation, and he definitely didn’t codone bullying in his classroom.

SPOILER!!: Taddy

There was a sour taste left in his mouth from dealing with Zoryn, but Taddy had him covered. A smile quirked at the corner of Noble’s mouth. “It’s usually used after polish, but yes…a spit shine is a known technique. It helps buff the polish to a mirror shine.” As for his suggested use? Noble looked amused. “That’s quite the sweeping assumption about females, Thaddius…but it certainly can’t hurt to try.”

SPOILER!!: Derfael

His attention now turned to his House prefect, whose shoes certainly needed some help from the lesson. So did the boy’s answer surprise him? Not in the slightest. “Yes. Polished shoes are often required, or at least, expected, at events with a formal dress code.”

SPOILER!!: Jessa

Noble raised a questioning eyebrow at the addition to Jessa’s answer. Was that meant to be a slight at him? “Or any of the other professors upholding the rules of the school…” He was not the bad guy here. And he could mention that the prefects could take points for it too.

SPOILER!!: Arthuria

A quiet one. That was okay, as long as she didn’t just play with her hair, and actually followed along with the lesson.

SPOILER!!: Chloe

He’d seen Chloe looking at the supplies…and her answer suggested that she had perhaps been considering the jars of powder over on the side since Hanna’s answer mentioning ink. “Charcoal powder is one possibility, yes. Black oxide, a particular oxide of iron, is another option…as are ground up beetle eyes.”

SPOILER!!: Bel

It had taken a while, but finally Noble got to write a third point on the blackboard. “It makes them more durable, correct. In particular, it can help with weatherproofing.” Bel got nods about materials too, and about carnauba wax as an ingredient. “Good points, Bel.” As was the thought about magical ingredients. So far, none of their suggestions had been that. “You can indeed. Fire proof, definitely. You’ll see a lot of dragon handlers toughening up their protective gear with that sort of polish…shoes and gloves alike. Losing shoes, or, well, not losing them…tends to done with charms on the shoes themselves, rather than in the polish.”

SPOILER!!: Jackson

Noble turned to Jackson now, and although the Ravenclaw’s mood seemed to be low, he had an interesting answer indeed. “Rubbing alcohol can be used for removing polish, although I wouldn’t recommend it without testing it on a small area first. Most wax polishes include other solvents though, such as turpentine, which allows them to be soft in the pan but then harden into a protective coating on the shoe itself.”

Which, if there weren’t any more answers, actually moved rather nicely into the next part of the lesson.

“Today we’ll be making a magical wax-type polish for leather shoes. Whilst not as easy to apply as Madame Glossy's Self-Polishing Shoe Polish, it’s much cheaper, is long lasting…and also is on the curriculum.” So if they found the brewing boring and easy, it really wasn’t his fault. He was required to teach it.

“We’ll be using beeswax as our wax…and doing a little recycling whilst we’re at it, by using these burnt out candles. Measure out 100 grams of wax, cut it up into chunks and put it into the cauldron. No need to be neat about the cutting…it’s simply to help it melt more easily.” He picked up a bowl of pre-measured candle wax, and tipped it into his cauldron on the front desk. “We’re then going to add 2 tablespoons of flobberworm mucus,” he measured and added two spoonfuls in, “and two tablespoon of an oil of your choice…on the side I have almond, walnut, linseed, castor and olive oil.” He gestured to the bottles on the side. “Then, and only then, light the burner under your cauldron on a low heat. That means carefully adjusting the air hole on your burner so your flame barely turns blue.” Hopefully by this stage in the year, they all knew that…but it was worth reminding them.

He moved to the write the recipe so far on the blackboard now. “You may begin.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackboard

Purposes of shoe polish:
Maintain
Restore
Weatherproof

Ingredients
100g beeswax
2 tbsp flobberworm mucus
2 tbsp oil (of your choice)
1 tsp charcoal powder (or other colouring as preferred)
5 drops of ammoniacum

1. Chop the beeswax into chunks and add to the cauldron. Add the flobberworm mucus and oil, before putting the cauldron over a low heat.

I apologise wholeheartedly for my delay in responding...it's just been one of those weeks with work. Thanks for sticking with me though, I really appreciate you all for coming to play!

Ginevra · 10-22-2018, 05:32 AM

Daisy grabbed her quill, ink and parchment and began to write down the shoe polish recipe that Professor Noble had up on the blackboard, making some allowed changes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daisy Swann. Potions Class - Shoe Polish

Purposes of shoe polish:
Maintain
Restore
Weatherproof

Ingredients
100g beeswax
2 tbsp flobberworm mucus
2 tbsp walnut oil
1 tsp charcoal powder
5 drops of ammoniacum

1. Chop the beeswax into chunks and add to the cauldron. Add the flobberworm mucus and walnut oil, before putting the cauldron over a low heat.

Daisy then washed and dried her hands before she retrieved the required ingredients and equipment before beginning. With a quick and non-verbal, "Scourgify," her cauldron was clean and ready for use. She donned the dragon-hide gloves that she had made sure was clean and then she measured out 100g of the old candles before she cut them into chunks using her clean knife before adding them into the cauldron.

She then magically cleaned the knife, scales and chopping board she was using before using her measuring spoon to measure out 2 tablespoons each of flobberworm mucus and walnut oil, ensuring the spoon was clean each time she added an ingredient to avoid cross-contamination. Once the flobberworm mucus and walnut oil had been added to the beeswax, Daisy placed her cauldron on her burner and then she lit it on a low heat. She cleaned the measuring spoon and waited for the next set of instructions.

Cassirin · 10-23-2018, 02:27 AM

The potion did sound dull, honestly, but Potions in general wasn't a bright shining star of activity. It was methodical and practical and took a lot of her attention, and Chloe was almost always spent by the end of class.

Chloe cleaned her cauldron with a non-verbal Scourgify before turning her attention to the wax. Just... cut up the candle? Chloe pressed her knife through the wax, making short work of chopping 100g of the beeswax. Into the cauldron it went, followed by the flobberworm mucus. And oil of her choice? Did it matter?

Waterloo · 10-23-2018, 06:48 PM

Professor Noble agreed with him. ACTUALLY agreed with him. Well, there was a first for everything, right?

With a little smug grin, Max set about getting everything ready to start the shoe polishing potion. He hoped they were allowed to keep a vial of the stuff like they were allowed to keep some of that bruise paste they'd made a while ago.

Good job the cut up wax didn't need to be perfect because it was far from... still, he measured out 100 grams and into the cauldron it went. Next into the cauldron was the flobberworm mucus. Two tablespoons exactly. That was followed by two tablespoons of almond oil. So far so good.

After a quick peer around at his classmates to make sure he wasn't doing anything differently to them, Max lit his burner. It took a little bit of fiddling but he was sure he got the whole 'low heat' thing right in the end. Hopefully.

SarcasticStrawberry · 10-24-2018, 02:08 AM

Shoe polish? Not really you’re average potions lesson was it? Boring? Yes. Handy? Sometimes. Anyway she was busy taking notes now to think about how handy shoe polish would be. Her cauldron and things had been set up just a bit before she turned to it. She nonverbally cleaned her cauldron again. One could never be too safe right?

Quote:

Purposes of shoe polish:
Maintain
Restore
Weatherproof

Ingredients
100g beeswax
2 tbsp flobberworm mucus
2 tbsp oil (of your choice)
1 tsp charcoal powder (or other colouring as preferred)
5 drops of ammoniacum

1. Chop the beeswax into chunks and add to the cauldron. Add the flobberworm mucus and oil, before putting the cauldron over a low heat.

Then she cleaned her knife, and started cutting the wax into chucks and measuring it out. Adding the wax to her cauldron. Next she measured out the flobberworm mucus, one tablespoon, and two tablespoons. Then the two tablespoons of oil went in, she choose the walnut oil, only because she her wand was made of walnut so she felt that walnut oil would work best for her. If that mattered. With a nonverbal incendio she lit the fire under her cauldron. Turning it down onto a low heat, adjusting it as instructed with the flame barely blue. Now she was caught up. Right? Right.

hermygirl · 10-26-2018, 02:25 AM

Noble added two tablespoon of linseed oil, a purely personal preference, before turning his attention turned to the classroom as he waited for the wax to slowly melt down in his cauldron. He was reassured when Daisy, Chloe and Juniperall started out by cleaning their equipment. It was a small victory for his teaching, perhaps, but a victory all the same. A simple potion wasn’t a reason to be negligent with the brewing process. Interesting that two of them had chosen walnut oil too. “A good choice,” he said with a nod to Daisy and Juniper. “Walnut oil gives the polish a good final scent.” He glanced over to Chloe now, raising an eyebrow when she paused after adding the flobberworm mucus. “Unsure which to use?” he asked. “Each have slightly different qualities…but all will do a fine job in the end.”

And was that a grin he spied on Max’s face? What an unusual occurrence in his classes. He did seem to be struggling a little with the burner though. “It can be a little hotter than that, Maxton. Nudge the airhole open a tad more, so the flame is straight and more of a translucent orange. It’ll leave less soot on your cauldron then too.” The wrong type of flame could really make or break a finicky potion…and well, no one wanted to accidentally smear soot over their crisp white uniform shirt when taking their cauldron back to their dorm.

With everyone looking like they were done with that step, Noble raised his voice. “When the wax is melted and everything is transparent in colour, sprinkle in one teaspoon of charcoal powder, and stir the mixture twice in an anticlockwise direction with a wooden spoon.” He did that now, sprinkling the charcoal across the surface of the melted ingredients, before giving it two stirs.

“The final ingredient to add is five drops of ammoniacum. Stir twice clockwise after each drop, for a total of ten stirs. Take the wooden spoon out, and leave it on that low heat for a further 10 minutes…after which you should see a slight change of texture on the surface. It’ll have a slight sheen, almost like a thin film or skin has settled on top of it." Hopefully when it occurred, they would be able to tell what he meant. "At that point, turn off the heat, and with a rippling motion of you wand, say luceo.” And those that were in his Latin class would know that meant I shine. He unholstered his wand now, demonstrating the movement. “Use a loose wrist, and keep the movement fluid. Any questions?”

With a flick of his wrist, the rest of the instructions now appeared on the blackboard, and Noble now set about finishing his potion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackboard

Purposes of shoe polish:
Maintain
Restore
Weatherproof

Ingredients
100g beeswax
2 tbsp flobberworm mucus
2 tbsp oil (of your choice)
1 tsp charcoal powder (or other colouring as preferred)
5 drops of ammoniacum

1. Chop the beeswax into chunks and add to the cauldron. Add the flobberworm mucus and oil, before putting the cauldron over a low heat.
2. Sprinkle in the charcoal powder, and stir the mixture twice in an anticlockwise direction with a wooden spoon.
3. Add five drops of ammoniacum, stirring twice clockwise after each drop. Take the wooden spoon out, and leave on low heat for a further 10 minutes.
4. When you see a light change of texture on the surface, turn the the heat off, and then with a rippling motion of you wand, cast 'luceo'.
5. Ladle polish into containers with a wide opening at the top (i.e. not vials) and leave to cool.

Ginevra · 10-26-2018, 06:46 AM

When Professor Noble magically wrote the rest of the instructions on the blackboard, Daisy grabbed her quill and wrote on her parchment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daisy Swann. Potions Classes - Shoe Polish

Purposes of shoe polish:
Maintain
Restore
Weatherproof

Ingredients
100g beeswax
2 tbsp flobberworm mucus
2 tbsp walnut oil
1 tsp charcoal powder
5 drops of ammoniacum

1. Chop the beeswax into chunks and add to the cauldron. Add the flobberworm mucus and walnut oil, before putting the cauldron over a low heat.
2. Sprinkle in the charcoal powder, and stir the mixture twice in an anticlockwise direction with a wooden spoon.
3. Add five drops of ammoniacum, stirring twice clockwise after each drop. Take the wooden spoon out, and leave on low heat for a further 10 minutes.
4. When you see a light change of texture on the surface, turn the heat off, and then with a rippling motion of you wand, cast 'luceo'.
5. Ladle polish into containers with a wide opening at the top (i.e. not vials) and leave to cool.

After consulting her instructions, Daisy grabbed what was required in terms of ingredients and equipment, including a few round tin containers for storing the shoe polish. With a quick and non-verbal, "Scourgify," the equipment was clean and ready for use.

The wax mixture had reached its' transparency so Daisy carefully sprinkled a teaspoon of the charcoal powder across the surface of the liquid that was in her cauldron before stirring her potion/polish anti-clockwise two times with her wooden spoon.

She quickly cleaned her teaspoon before grabbing her dropper and the ammoniacum. As she placed one drop of the ammoniacum into her cauldron, Daisy stirred the liquid twice in a clockwise direction. She repeated this process until all five drops of ammoniacum had been added and there had been ten stirs in total, just as instructed.

Daisy took her wooden spoon out and cleaned it. After ten minutes of leaving the potion/polish on the low heat, Daisy noticed that the potion/polish now had a slight glisten to it so she turned off her burner and grabbed her wand.

"Luceo," Daisy cast firmly and clearly as she moved her wand in a rippling motion, ensuring her wrist was loose.

Once that was done, Daisy grabbed her shoe polish containers and ladle and carefully ladled the liquid into her containers before setting them aside for the polish to cool. Daisy cleaned any equipment that needed cleaning at the moment and awaited any further instructions.

Waterloo · 10-26-2018, 03:13 PM

"Right, of course. Yes, Sir." Max nodded at Professor Noble's advice and quickly moved to readjust his burner slightly. He certainly didn't want to get soot everywhere, so he nudged the airhole open just a little bit more and was happy to note that his flame was now a more translucent orange.

Fingers crossed the rest of the potion went just as smoothly.

The wax mixture was looking nice and melted and transparent so Max went ahead and added one teaspoon of the charcoal powder. He squinted at the blackboard for the next set of instructions and then searched his supply kit and equipment.

Uhhhhh.

Wooden spoon, wooden spoon.

"Professor?" He raised his hand in the air for a question. "What'll happen if we use a metal spoon or stirrer? Does it matter?"

And does anyone have a spare wooden spoon......?

Hey Ju · 10-26-2018, 07:41 PM

'I think you mean that having polished shoes puts forward a good impression and shows attention to detail, Anna.'

The girl smirked and suppressed a scoff. "Yep, that's what I mean." She said before chuckling, amused. All the Gryffindor did when Zoryn gave her answer and sent Anna a very specific look was to roll her eyes and shake her head. Acting childish even in class? Honestly, Zoryn needed to grow up.

Anna couldn't help but feel smug when the former Captain lost points for being an idiotic child, and carried on organising her equipment with a smirk on her face and without looking at the older Gryffindor. It was great when the people who loved nagging got themselves into trouble without Anna having to do anything. Hah.

The fourth year then zoned out and didn't listen to a word that was being said either by the professor or by her classmates, because not only Potions was boring on its own accord, the Potion they were brewing that day didn't interest her one bit. But then again, none ever did anyway.

What?

She eventually looked up and her green eyes scanned the board with the instructions. Looking around, she noticed her classmates had already started working, so she did too. Chopping the beeswax candle, she weighed the bits and was happy enough when it all weighed 112 grams. Close enough. Into her cauldron it went!

She then added the two tablespoons of flobberworm mucus and olive oil before looking at the board again as new instructions appeared. Then she sprinkled the charcoal powder and stirred the mixture anticlockwise once. Oh wait, it had to be twice. One more time the stirrer went around in her mixture.

Right, what was next? Five drops of ammoniacum. In they went. One, two, three, four, five. Cool, next? 'Stir it twice clockwise after each drop.'

Oh. Woops.

'Leave it on low heat for another 10 minutes.' Wait, what!? Her burner wasn't even on. When had she-- oh. Step one. Oooooooops.

Anna casually switched on her burner and carried on as if she hadn't just done it all wrong. Nothing to see here.

No need to say her Potion was a right disaster now as this very thick looking mixture started bubbling.

Welp. Whatever. "Luceo." She cast on it anyway, not even hoping for the best because pshhh, she wasn't THAT optimistic. The girl wasn't surprised when the mixture pretty much dried completely and had now become this dark, gross-looking, ridiculously thick paste.

Shrug.

Anna had a hard time ladling the thing into a wide opening container because of the Potion's texture, but she still kept a casual expression on her face as if she had done nothing wrong.

Because really, she hadn't. Not her fault her Potions never worked as they should ~~only it kinda was, but shhh~~.

Dokimoto · 10-27-2018, 02:07 PM

Ah, well if it removed polish then yes… it definitely made sense to test it on the material first. Not that he had any plans to conduct any experiments, but whatever. He wrote down the instructions, deciding he might as well get to work. He was pretty quickly able to measure out the 100g of beeswax, cutting it up a little sloppily because… well, Professor Noble HAD said that it didn’t matter. Into the cauldron it went. Next up was flobberworm mucus… Because why wouldn’t they be using a disgusting ingredient? This was why Potions was one of his least favorite subjects. Moody moody moody moody moody.

Next up was the addition of oil. Jackson added two tablespoons of the walnut oil because… well, no particular reason. It seemed fairly popular though. Once that was added, Jackson bent to look at the flame. He was doing his best to adjust it, but for whatever reason he was having a hard time getting the flame to be right where he wanted it. He would get there, and the flame would burn out. He could feel his right eye twitch with frustration, and his jaw starting to clench. This wasn’t going well for him. Nothing to have ruined his potion as of yet, but any second now… At this point, he was lucky to overhear the professor speak to Max about the flame and Jackson listened right on in. Jackson did his best to follow this direction, and moved on. The flame seemed fine… although it was actually probably a little too high. He was still messing with his flame when Professor Noble spoke to them all again.

Jessiqua · 10-27-2018, 10:44 PM

Cheaper, longer-lasting, and recycling were good points to the thirteen-year-old. Not that she worried about money, but she didn't really have any. Her parents had the money, and would definitely buy her essentials like shoe polish if she needed it, but with yet another baby on the way it seemed important to start saving money. The verity of the situation was that five children, life might start getting expensive.

She dipped her quill into the ink and started writing down what was written on the board and then got started. First by cleaning all of her equipment. That step was always at the top.

First step was measuring 100 grams of the burnt out beeswax. She placed it in her scales until it was the exact quantity, and then chopped it up to add to her cauldron. With that step done, she looked through her potions supply kit for her flobberworm mucous, carefully measured out 2 tablespoons, and added that to the cauldron. She decided to use almond oil, so she went to get enough of that to add. Casting a quick scourgify at her tablespoon measure to rid it of the flobberworm mucous residue. Two tablespoons of almond oil were added to the cauldron.

With those ingredients added, it was time to turn the heat on. With her wand, she shaped the fire-like wand motion and cast "Incendio," and turned the flame down low, to a translucent orange, before placing her cauldron on top.

Well, it seemed they weren't using octopus ink but they were giving it a black colour with charcoal powder. That was probably better, charcoal would be much easier and surely cheaper to get, and Hanna even had some in her kit. She looked into her cauldron to see the ingredients transparent and melted, then measured out one teaspoon with a clean spoon, and added it in. Then, with her wooden stirring spoon, she lowered it down and gave it two anti-clockwise stirs.

The next step included ammoniacum. Measuring out more than enough into her dropper, she carefully added one drop with her left hand, and gave her mixture two stirs with her right hand, clockwise this time. She added another drop, stirred twice, and another until there were five drops of ammoniacum, and ten clockwise stirs. She removed the spoon, placed it down onto her board, and set her timer for ten minutes.

Whilst waiting, she finished off her notes, packed away the ingredients that she had removed from her kit, and cleaned all of her equipment. After a while she looked into her cauldron and watched as a slight sheen formed on the top. Her timer went off just at that moment, and she turned off the heat.

She watched Professor Noble carefully, taking in the spell. "Luceo," she repeated a few times, and practiced the ripple-like motion, before adding them together. Pointing her wand towards the cauldron, she said "luceo," again, and moved her wrist in a ripple-like motion, keeping it fluid as suggested.

With that finished, it was time to bottle up her shoe polish. Fishing out the right type of container, she added some to one of them, which she labelled 'Hanna Newton, 3rd Year Ravenclaw' to hand up, and then added the remaining polish into another container for her to keep and use.

Ginevra · 10-28-2018, 01:13 AM

Daisy had suddenly realised that she hadn't labelled her containers which caused her some embarrassment. She decided to label them all and within moments the containers now had "Daisy Swann. Fifth Year Hufflepuff" written on them. Hopefully, things were now sorted.

hermygirl · 10-29-2018, 01:41 AM

SPOILER!!: Jackson

Noble squinted a little at Jackson’s flame from where he stood at the front of the class. “I said straight orange flame, Jackson.” And at the top, his was showing hints of blue. That was, too hot. “We want our wax to slowly melt, not start smouldering.”

And burnt flobberworm mucus smelt gross.

SPOILER!!: Daisy

Jackson hopefully now back on track, Noble found himself looking at where his Hufflepuff Prefect was working diligently away. Daisy, that was. Not the ever distracted Derfael. “Looking good there Daisy,” he said with a slight smile. He especially appreciated her choice of container and the fact that she had cleaned them before use. “Make sure your notes are all up to date whilst you’re waiting…we’ll be moving on shortly.”

SPOILER!!: Max

Noble looked over at Max as he called for his attention, wondering whether he should be worried what the Slytherin had managed to do in the time since he’d adjusted the flame. He was perhaps relieved to know there were no exploding cauldrons eminent, but the question still caused his eye to twitch. Apparently the sixth-year had hit a slight nerve. “It’s a good question, Maxton…and for this particular potion, not much. I personally would favour a metal spoon, but the Ministry appointed textbook writer, in his infinite wisdom, doubts the ability of second-year students – at whom this potion is aimed – to appropriately handle a conductor such as metal, and apparently believes in the virtue of students struggling to clean their utensils afterwards.” And since he had suspicion that simple potions such as this one might appear in OWLs or NEWTs this term, he was teaching to the book. As evidenced by the fact he was running it as a practical at all.

SPOILER!!: Anna

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hey Ju

'I think you mean that having polished shoes puts forward a good impression and shows attention to detail, Anna.'

The girl smirked and suppressed a scoff. "Yep, that's what I mean." She said before chuckling, amused. All the Gryffindor did when Zoryn gave her answer and sent Anna a very specific look was to roll her eyes and shake her head. Acting childish even in class? Honestly, Zoryn needed to grow up.

Anna couldn't help but feel smug when the former Captain lost points for being an idiotic child, and carried on organising her equipment with a smirk on her face and without looking at the older Gryffindor. It was great when the people who loved nagging got themselves into trouble without Anna having to do anything. Hah.

The fourth year then zoned out and didn't listen to a word that was being said either by the professor or by her classmates, because not only Potions was boring on its own accord, the Potion they were brewing that day didn't interest her one bit. But then again, none ever did anyway.

What?

She eventually looked up and her green eyes scanned the board with the instructions. Looking around, she noticed her classmates had already started working, so she did too. Chopping the beeswax candle, she weighed the bits and was happy enough when it all weighed 112 grams. Close enough. Into her cauldron it went!

She then added the two tablespoons of flobberworm mucus and olive oil before looking at the board again as new instructions appeared. Then she sprinkled the charcoal powder and stirred the mixture anticlockwise once. Oh wait, it had to be twice. One more time the stirrer went around in her mixture.

Right, what was next? Five drops of ammoniacum. In they went. One, two, three, four, five. Cool, next? 'Stir it twice clockwise after each drop.'

Oh. Woops.

'Leave it on low heat for another 10 minutes.' Wait, what!? Her burner wasn't even on. When had she-- oh. Step one. Oooooooops.

Anna casually switched on her burner and carried on as if she hadn't just done it all wrong. Nothing to see here.

No need to say her Potion was a right disaster now as this very thick looking mixture started bubbling.

Welp. Whatever. "Luceo." She cast on it anyway, not even hoping for the best because pshhh, she wasn't THAT optimistic. The girl wasn't surprised when the mixture pretty much dried completely and had now become this dark, gross-looking, ridiculously thick paste.

Shrug.

Anna had a hard time ladling the thing into a wide opening container because of the Potion's texture, but she still kept a casual expression on her face as if she had done nothing wrong.

Because really, she hadn't. Not her fault her Potions never worked as they should ~~only it kinda was, but shhh~~.

Having probably over-answered Max’s question, Noble’s gaze moved across the room to…well, the black sludge that Anna was now trying to put into a container. Her face might have been neutral, but Noble’s beady gaze had still noticed. He looked at his watch to check the time, before raising his wand. The black tar she was decanting disappeared. “Start again, Anna. With the temperature on low this time.” How she had messed up a basic potion with only 5 ingredients and the same number of instructions, he would never know.

SPOILER!!: Hanna

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessiqua

Cheaper, longer-lasting, and recycling were good points to the thirteen-year-old. Not that she worried about money, but she didn't really have any. Her parents had the money, and would definitely buy her essentials like shoe polish if she needed it, but with yet another baby on the way it seemed important to start saving money. The verity of the situation was that five children, life might start getting expensive.

She dipped her quill into the ink and started writing down what was written on the board and then got started. First by cleaning all of her equipment. That step was always at the top.

First step was measuring 100 grams of the burnt out beeswax. She placed it in her scales until it was the exact quantity, and then chopped it up to add to her cauldron. With that step done, she looked through her potions supply kit for her flobberworm mucous, carefully measured out 2 tablespoons, and added that to the cauldron. She decided to use almond oil, so she went to get enough of that to add. Casting a quick scourgify at her tablespoon measure to rid it of the flobberworm mucous residue. Two tablespoons of almond oil were added to the cauldron.

With those ingredients added, it was time to turn the heat on. With her wand, she shaped the fire-like wand motion and cast "Incendio," and turned the flame down low, to a translucent orange, before placing her cauldron on top.

Well, it seemed they weren't using octopus ink but they were giving it a black colour with charcoal powder. That was probably better, charcoal would be much easier and surely cheaper to get, and Hanna even had some in her kit. She looked into her cauldron to see the ingredients transparent and melted, then measured out one teaspoon with a clean spoon, and added it in. Then, with her wooden stirring spoon, she lowered it down and gave it two anti-clockwise stirs.

The next step included ammoniacum. Measuring out more than enough into her dropper, she carefully added one drop with her left hand, and gave her mixture two stirs with her right hand, clockwise this time. She added another drop, stirred twice, and another until there were five drops of ammoniacum, and ten clockwise stirs. She removed the spoon, placed it down onto her board, and set her timer for ten minutes.

Whilst waiting, she finished off her notes, packed away the ingredients that she had removed from her kit, and cleaned all of her equipment. After a while she looked into her cauldron and watched as a slight sheen formed on the top. Her timer went off just at that moment, and she turned off the heat.

She watched Professor Noble carefully, taking in the spell. "Luceo," she repeated a few times, and practiced the ripple-like motion, before adding them together. Pointing her wand towards the cauldron, she said "luceo," again, and moved her wrist in a ripple-like motion, keeping it fluid as suggested.

With that finished, it was time to bottle up her shoe polish. Fishing out the right type of container, she added some to one of them, which she labelled 'Hanna Newton, 3rd Year Ravenclaw' to hand up, and then added the remaining polish into another container for her to keep and use.

Whilst waiting for Anna to get re-started, Noble caught sight of Hanna. Another diligent and promising student, he watched her practice the incantation a few times before feeling confident enough to do it on her own potion. He really appreciated those who took control of their own learning, and when he caught her eye afterwards, he gave her a nod. “Good casting there, Hanna.” He expected her polish to be pretty potent. Which when it came to this version, tended to mean less elbow grease required.

He clapped his hands now, to bring everyone’s attention back to him. “Hopefully you all have some molten polish decanted into a container or two by now.” Anna excepted, that was. “Usually we’d just wait for it to cool, but in the interests of time, we can use glacius today. Aim it around the bottom of your pot on your desk, and only use it long enough for the polish to solidify. It should only take a couple of minutes.” He did that on his own container of polish to demonstrate, although not for the full amount of time since his had been decanted longer than theirs.

“Our final task is to apply it to our shoes.” No point making a shoe polish and not knowing how to apply it properly. He picked up a rag from his desk, and one of his daughters very well scuffed up boots. “Take a small amount on your rag…” He wrapped the rag over three fingers, and rubbed it around in the pot, “And then apply to the shoe in round, circular motions. Go over the whole shoe once, let it absorb for a couple of minutes, and then use a clean bit of rag to buff the surface to a shine. The more potent your polish, the less buffing you’ll need to do.” He demonstrated the application as he spoke, before moving to a clean part of the rag and going back to buff and bring the boot back to a shine. “I expect everyone to be leaving class today with perfectly shined shoes…both those on your feet, and the spare pair I asked you to bring. Raise your hand if you have any questions, but otherwise, I suggest you get polishing!”

Thank you all for sticking with me, I really appreciate it! This is the last part of the lesson now - polishing the shoes! Have fun with it, I do so love reading all your replies

Ginevra · 10-29-2018, 02:53 AM

Daisy beamed when Professor Noble complimented her work. She made sure that her notes were up to date before she grabbed her wand. Aiming her wand at the bottom of each shoe polish container, Daisy cast "Glacius," in order to solidify to the right consistency.

Now it was time for polishing the shoes that she had brought along with her, along with the ones she had been wearing. The ones that she had brought with her were in quite a state which normally Daisy would not allow for them to be but hopefully, her shoe polish would do the trick. She grabbed a rag and cleaned it using a non-verbal cleaning charm.

Daisy wrapped her rag around three of her fingers before swirling the rag around one of the containers. With a circular motion, Daisy applied the shoe polish to the left shoe that she had brought along and then she used a clean part of the rag to buff the shoe. It didn't take Daisy very long for the shoe now have a lovely shininess to it which was a sign that her shoe polish was successful. Daisy repeated the process with the right 'spare' shoe.

Now was the time for polishing the shoes she had been wearing. She raised her hand, needing to ask Professor Noble a question.

Waterloo · 10-29-2018, 07:40 PM

He regretted asking the spoon question for two reasons. Firstly, because it seemed Professor Noble was less than impressed with whoever this Ministry appointed textbook writer was and secondly, because apparently this potion was second year level. That put the pressure on. He didn't want to go and screw up a potion that a second year was easily capable of brewing.

With a nervous nod, Max continued the search for his wooden spoon and huzzah! How it had ended up on the floor he had no clue, but he quickly dusted it off and gave his potion two anti-clockwise stirs.

Next, he added the ammoniacum, making sure he gave his concoction a clockwise stir between each and every drop.

He remembered to set his timer this time and when the potion was done simmering for ten minutes, Max went ahead and turned the heat off.

Spells he had no problem with, so it was with confidence that he waved his wand over the cauldron. "Luceo." Was Professor Noble seeing this? Because for once he was ACING this potion. Sure, it was a second year level potion but STILL. Feeling quite proud, Max then ladled the potion into a couple of containers and cast a quick freezing charm.

"Are we allowed to take away any spare potion, Sir?" Max asked, completely forgetting to raise his hand as he was now busy working on polishing up the scuffed up pair of school shoes he'd brought along to class. He was gonna make them SHINE.

SarcasticStrawberry · 10-29-2018, 09:09 PM

With step one out of the way, Juni measured out the one teaspoon of charcoal powder and as instructions said she sprinkled it into her cauldron then she nonverbally scougfied her wooden spoon and stirred twice. She cleaned it again before sitting the wooden spoon back down on the workstation.

Next she picked up the ammoniacum and added five drops into the cauldron. Getting the wooden spoon to stir the cauldron, stirring it twice before taking out the spoon and leaving it on a low heat. Looking down in her cauldron she watched and waited for the texture to change. Once the texture changed she turned off the heat.

Making the rippling wand movement as she said ”Luceo.” Getting the containers she laddled out all of the polish from her cauldron in the the containers. She put the lids on the containers and labeled them with her name, year and house.

Quote:

Purposes of shoe polish:
Maintain
Restore
Weatherproof

Ingredients
100g beeswax
2 tbsp flobberworm mucus
2 tbsp oil (of your choice)
1 tsp charcoal powder (or other colouring as preferred)
5 drops of ammoniacum

1. Chop the beeswax into chunks and add to the cauldron. Add the flobberworm mucus and oil, before putting the cauldron over a low heat.
2. Sprinkle in the charcoal powder, and stir the mixture twice in an anticlockwise direction with a wooden spoon.
3. Add five drops of ammoniacum, stirring twice clockwise after each drop. Take the wooden spoon out, and leave on low heat for a further 10 minutes.
4. When you see a light change of texture on the surface, turn the the heat off, and then with a rippling motion of you wand, cast 'luceo'.
5. Ladle polish into containers with a wide opening at the top (i.e. not vials) and leave to cool.

Jessiqua · 10-29-2018, 09:45 PM

Hanna looked up and caught the eye of Professor Noble, who then gave her a 'Good Casting'. Her spirit lifted and she smiled. She had become so used to trying so hard to get everything perfect. Her uniform, her manners, her behaviour, he work, because the school was slowly being taken over by the worst men possible. And they didn't give out praise. Quick to hand out detention, scold, and take points, but never letting them know when they'd done something GOOD. So to hear that her casting had been good meant a great deal to Hanna, who got on with her work, the smile still etched onto her face.

The Freezing spell was one Hanna did know. Clamping her container with a pair of long forceps, and holding it in her left hand, she cast the spell with her right. Pointing her wand to the bottom of the container and casting "Glacius," her skin being nowhere near the cold air coming from the wand. It only took a few moments for the polish to become solid enough to be used as polish. She repeated with the other container, and set them both down.

Hanna watched Professor Noble demonstrate before she retrieved a rag and her old shoes. She got some onto the rag and rubbed it in the same circular motion that Professor Noble had demonstrated, until it all looked uniform, and then she repeated on her other old shoe, as well as the shoes she was currently wearing. Once she'd finished applying the polish, she moved to the first shoe to start buffing it. As Professor Noble had said, with a more potent potion, she didn't feel that she had been buffing for long before her shoe looked nice and shiny. Almost like new, besides the sole being worn of its tread. She buffed her other older pair of shoes, before moving onto her current pair. It was amazing how like-new they looked after a good polish and buff.

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