Professor Adara was waiting for the students in the laboratory when she would provide details as to their term project. She hoped it would be an enlightening assignment for them and while it was mostly independent, they should know that she was readily available as a valuable resource should they need it. While the books they could find in here and in the library would be informative, no doubt, there was nothing compared to the decades of experience she had in various brews during her full-time healing working. Although her specialty was always more sports medicine, that didn't mean she wasn't qualified for other healing potions.

Ary had been pleasantly surprised when Professor Adara had announced that her long term project would entail the students creating a potion of their own. Years ago while Dad Adi had been at Hogwarts, he and Aunty Lux had created their own potion to remedy burns. In fact, it was the same one that was used at the Atreyu-Rehman Dragon/Hippogriff Reserve by the family and the staff. This project opened an exciting prospect for Ary since it meant he too could make a useful contribution that wasn’t him just helping out with the creatures.

With his books and quills at the ready, the third year made his way to the Potions Lab where Adara was awaiting her students. He offered her a smile and the usual wiggly greeting then went to take a seat at one of the tables.

Considering how poorly she'd always done at potions, an entire semester of trying to craft her own was... beyond intimidating to Vera. Especially because her potions tutor had graduated the year prior and if there was anyone that would have gotten her through this project with ease, it would have been him. She supposed she'd have to beg and plead Vasco to help her with this when he wasn't working on his own. Or maybe... she could just take a fail on it. Did it really matter how well she did in her classes as long as she passed her NEWTs at the end of the year?

A question she would contemplate for later. For now, she supposed she shouldn't give up before she'd even begun.

Entering the Potions laboratory for the introduction to the assignment, Ve grinned at Professor Adara and then Aryan as well, before finding herself a seat and pulling out a notebook and a quill so she could take notes.

Sydney had to admit, she was awfully curious about this potions assignment. She already had an idea for a healing potion she wanted to make, but the idea she had seemed pretty advanced. She wasn’t sure she had enough knowledge yet to make her idea happen... not that she'd ever let on. One must act confident at all times! Anyway, she was going to try to make it happen.

The blonde entered the potions lab, her schoolbag tucked under her arm. “Hello, Professor,” she greeted with a polite nod. Setting her bag down, she took a seat at the nearest table and waited for further instructions.

Maria headed down to the Potions Lab in the dungeons to get more information on the long term Potions assignment. If she wanted to study to be a healer at university then she had to be able to brew her own healing potions to aid her possible future patients. She was curious to see if Professor Adara's assignment could help her get even better at potion brewing.

With her backpack bouncing between shoulders the dark haired badgerette proceeded into the lab, and shot Prof Adara a big smile in greeting "Hi Professor Adara!" before heading over to take a seat beside her bestie. "Hi Vera, won't brewing our own chosen potions be fun?" Maria then opened her backpack to take out writing utensils and parchment to be ready for taking assignment notes.

Now this was going to be interesting. Bryony wasn't fond of most lesson assignments that happened outside of classes to begin with, so add into the mix that it was one she wasn't always the very best at.. and this could spell disaster for her. Or anyone else that may be around if things went bad. Fingers crossed right now from the start that she could pull off whatever it was she decided to even do.

"Hello Professor," the small blonde greeted quietly with a half finger wiggle wave as she found herself a table near Aryan's and set her bag down. A small smile was given to those around her, Ary included.. even if they were uhhhh.. kinda having some time apart right now.

Potions was unfortunately not near the top of the list when it came to subjects that Aurora was good at. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy it, nor did she find it difficult to comprehend but it was more a case of finding the whole brewing process tedious. There was a lot of waiting around, of having to constantly keep an eye on the cauldron, of counting the number of stirs and the direction and Merlin knew there were many things that the Ravenclaw found to be more interesting than watching a potion bubble. Sadly she had come to the realisation that if she were to achieve her dream of becoming a Creature Healer, it was likely that her grades in Potions would need a little boost.

She’d made the trek down from the tower and arrived at the potion storeroom with time to spare - quite a feat considering she often only just made it in time to the lessons located furthest away from her common room. It wasn’t her fault that Hogwarts was so full of paintings that loved a conversation and who was she to deny them that opportunity? She slipped through the door, offering a smile as a greeting to Professor Adara before joining the student gathering in the centre of the room.

Speaking of, she should probably get going on providing some more insights as to the assignment. Lest she keep them too long "Hello ... So as indicated, this year we'll be brewing our own healing potions. First things, you'll want to decide on what you want your potion to do. And research to find if a potion exists already. If it does, you'll want to create a variant to make it unique. If it doesn't, then you'll need to research on starting from scratch with a potion. There's no real wrong way to complete the assignment and there's plenty of books out there to help guide you in researching ingredients. Of course, if you're really stuck for ideas, you're more than able to reach out to me for further guidance." Hopefully this all was making sense and would come together as they started to research.

Couple things to note:
* This should encompass at least two posts of researching various ingredients and their possible effects. Should include research of at least 5 potion ingredients (don't need to use them all!)
* Should also research what you might want your intended effect to be. This could alleviate muscle soreness, cure allergies, whatever you'd like, just should have something to do with healing.....
* This part is where you should be selecting what potion you want to brew. Ideally it should be an original brew, BUT obviously not expected if your character is on the younger side / less experienced with potions. For instance, you could take something like the 'wiggenweld potion' and maybe add a flavor to it, to tweak it slightly. Or similar to charms and how there's a "lumos maxima", perhaps making a stronger variant of an already existing potion.

ooc: sorry for the delay... just to reiterate, this was just an informal gathering space to provide some more information as to the assignment, since it's easier to do that IC initially We'll do the same thing to introduce part two in a couple weeks ... in the meanwhile, happy researching And don't forget to update your posts in the LTA thread, with your posts for credit...

It wasn’t long before other students were filing into the lab. Noticing Vera, he returned her grin with a little wave. And at least Bry wasn’t completely ignoring him? She received a small smile but he decided not to make conversation lest that blow up in his face as well.

But soon they were starting and Adara was explaining what she expected of them. Ary paid rapt attention, placing unnecessary pressure on himself already, to follow in his dad’s and Aunt Lux’s footsteps. He knew that he would contact either of them for ideas and any other form of help he may need. Was he excited about this project? Of course. This is where he really got to test his skills of what he had learnt about ingredients so far.

Did Aryan know what sort of Potion he wanted to create? Yes. A Cure for Itchy Skin. But first… using his textbook, he checked out the list of Healing Potions and known antidotes. About ten minutes later, he determined there was no such potion/antidote. There was an Antidote for itchy mouth but that was about it. This seemed as though he could indeed go forth with his idea!

That aside, it meant that the next step would be researching ingredients. This aspect was going to be time consuming, he knew. This was why Ary was already turning the pages of the textbook for ideas. Armadillo bile first stuck out to him since it was used in the Wit Sharpening Potion. Could the ingredient also somehow aid in in heightening the body’s guard against annoying itches? Hmmm…

It would be for the very best that Professor Adara not leave her side while any brewing was happening if at all possible. Joking. Maybe. No, really Bryony had gotten a little better since her first year. However now she being expect to figure out what type of potion she wanted to create AND do all the research for it AND then actually brew it herself. That was a lot. So much so that it was enough to be overwhelming already if she hadn't known that she had time to do all of this. Or perhaps.. that was the issue here? She had quite a bit of time. Time which could easily slip through her fingers if she wasn't careful about it.

And time was bound to her away from her really fast if she didn't know what she wanted to create! Which meant she better get started and fast. This meant that she had to crack open her textbook and start her search.. for what she didn't know yet. Something was better than nothing though. Chewing lightly at her bottom lip, twirling a lock of blonde hair around her finger, the thirteen year old skimmed page after page after page.

This felt like it was taking FOREVER! How was she meant to decide so quickly what she wanted to create? Sigh.

Sydney listened to the directions with mild interest. Creating her own potion sounded fun… but did it have to be a healing potion? Left to her own devices, she would’ve chosen a slightly less… altruistic goal, but she was nothing if not ambitious. She sat, absentmindedly flicking her quill back and forth as she tried to come up with an idea for a potion. Her thoughts turned to her favorite fictional character. If she had to do this, she wanted her potion to do what Victor Frankenstein set out to do… well, before he quit too soon, abandoned his creation, and orchestrated his own downfall.

One potion to heal any wound or disease, capable of bringing the drinker back from the brink of death… Did that exist? Likely not, as people died from wounds and disease all the time. Off the top of her head, she could only think of two things remotely similar to her idea: Elixir of Life, which was unfortunately not taught at Hogwarts and not exactly what she had in mind anyway, and unicorn blood, which seemed counterintuitive. What was the point of saving someone’s life if it meant cursing them in the process?

There was only one way to find out for sure if her idea existed. Sydney opened her textbook, eagerly perusing the pages. As she read, she felt an unfamiliar pang of doubt. Some of these potions looked so long and complicated, and she was still learning even the simplest ones. If only her brewing experience matched her ambitions… Unlike her idol, she wasn’t willing to give up easily. Maybe there was a way to start with something simple, then tweak her potion as she gained more knowledge to work up to her original goal? Like combining the effects of two simple healing potions to create a multi-purpose one… it really was inefficient having to use multiple potions for different ailments!

As she skimmed her textbook, one potion stood out to her: the Wiggenweld potion. That looked fairly simple to brew. Now the question was what to combine with it. Sydney thumbed through the pages. What about Pepperup Potion? That could theoretically cure colds, hypothermia, and minor injuries… it was a start.

Amelia had reviewed some of the ideas that people were coming up with and had to admit she was impressed with the level of creativity some of them were showing. The fun thing about this was that it was OKAY if it didn't work, it was all just a fun exercise to get them thinking of creative ways ingredients could be potentially used. And if it doesn't work, what could potentially have gone wrong?

She was fully expecting some of the younger students and even some of the less competent potioneers to reach out to her at any time during the assignment with questions or concerns, since they should know that as Potions Mistress, she was likely one of the biggest resources they could use. Obviously independent research was good and all, but sometimes just talking things out helped to foresee potential problems. Which could also work from talking things out with a friend.

"Hope you've all decided on a potion by now to design. If you haven't, do so soon, as you'll need time to research the ingredients. Which brings us to the next part of the assignment, which is narrowing down your list of ingredients. If you're like myself, you likely wrote down every possible ingredient that could be used, so now comes to the part of maybe eliminating some ingredients. Perhaps the ingredients are rare and difficult to work with. The ingredients in your potions, I'd like you to include which ones would be most useful to keep and why. This is also the part of drafting what the steps might look like... this doesn't have to be the final draft, but just a rough outline. If you need assistance, don't hesitate to ask."

Part Two: Plan your potions
* Narrow down the list of ingredients to ones that are likely to be useful. Include which ones would be useful and why ?
* Plan what the steps might look like?
* This should be more detailed and elaborated than your initial brainstorming, but doesn't need to be the final draft
* At least one post

ooc: again this part could potentially be done anywhere in the castle. If you have a question for Professor Adara, don't hesitate to ask... We'll post the final part in about two weeks, which yes will include the actual brewing and having us sign off before you actually brew. Note, you don't need to reply in here, this is just easier to dictate the next steps in here. I'll be updating the LTA post as well, as you should be updating your posts too for credit.

While Aryan hadn’t reached out to Professor Adara for assistance, he had done so to Dad Adi and Aunty Lux. They both were eager to offer their assistance and he had taken as much notes as possible on their insight. Which was why he felt quite ready for the next portion of the project. With the list of ingredients created, Ary still felt that he would have a difficult time narrowing down the list. This was his thought as he glanced down at his notebook as Adara spoke.

However, she did make good points: there were one or two ingredients on his list that were difficult to acquire and some that must be harvested at a particular time on a certain day {Ary thought that the project would be over before those could be harvested}. These listed ingredients were struck off, leaving the following:

• Armadillo bile: can aid in heightening the body’s defences against annoying itches.
• Boom Berry: has restorative properties and may restore the natural balance to one’s skin to help get rid of itch.
• Dandelion roots: fights against inflammation. This can be helpful to soothe uncomfortableness caused by redness of skin.
• Goosegrass: used for skin ailments and scurvy.
• Flobberworm Mucus: a common ingredient used to thicken potions.
• Lionfish Spine: used in common Healing Potion.
• Neem Oil: an essential oil with antibacterial properties. Can also give the potion a pleasant aroma.
• Snake Fang: commonly used in potions that give the drinker strength.
• Water: because this potion needs a base.

Ary frowned down at his choice of ingredients. Truthfully, he was not feeling that confident now. It really would be okay if his potion failed, right?

It was absolutely okay if these potions weren't perfect. Seeing as this was an advanced level activity, Professor Adara would actually be surprised if the potions proved successful. Though she supposed it depended on what they chose to create. Not that she doubted her students abilities but because of the complexities of creating new potions. The activity wasn't necessarily about creating the next great potion, but just about critical thinking for how ingredients can work together (or not). Why not experiment in a structured and controlled environment?

"By now you should have a list of ingredients and maybe even a breakdown for how much of each ingredient. The time has come to brew your potions. I will need to sign off on your potions and the ingredients selected, but after that, if you need any further assistance, please ask. If you're stuck on how much of each ingredients, I suggest consulting your textbooks for ideas on what other recipes have used and how they've used them."


ooc: you'll have until July 27th to complete all tasks. This is is the one task that MUST be completed in the Potions Laboratory. Make sure that Professor Adara signs off on your potion / ingredients before you begin the brewing process!! we'll try to keep an eye on this thread to sign off but if it's been longer than 3 or 4 days, please nudge me I suspect this task should be around 3-5 posts.

Also, important, I will be out-of-state for the next 10 days, without my laptop. I will have my phone to do some sign-off posts <3

By the time they had gotten to the step of having Adara sign off on their potion, Ary had talked himself into it being okay if it failed. It helped that he had gotten the same reassurance from the duo that had helped him put together the theory part of this project; a theory aspect that had been gruelling with the vast amount of research that had to be done. The important thing was that he had made it through the process and was quite ready to have the Potions Mistress conduct her review and then hopefully sign off so he could get down to brewing.

“Here you are, professor,’’ the Slytherin said as he handed over his notebook with all the details she would need.

Now he would just wait somewhat nervously for the verdict.

Finally the day had come. Sage had done plenty of experimental brewing on her own once she had finalized her ingredients list (she had to to understand which animal spleen would be the most effective) but it was a relief to be able to tick this off her term's to-do list rather than have it looming over her like a wanna be Potions OWL. Sizing up her cauldron, which she had set up first before pivoting to move towards Professor Adara, the Slytherin's strut was entirely too confident. She already knew her potion (a syrup, if you will) worked and had tested it on worthy candidates a few times, so she expected that today's brewing to be uneventful - unless one of her peers got in her way in which case the whole laboratory better watch out.

"Good day, professor," Sage greeted, her robes crisp like fall foliage and without any traces of scaling the castle's exterior for once, as she passed over the piece of parchment listing out her ingredients. "I'm eager to get started."

Text Cut: Sage's parchment

INGREDIENTS

• 250 ml water
  neutral base to best allow for other ingredients to dissolve and reach best potency
• 2 honeysuckle ovaries (crush with side of silver knife to enhance potency?)
  reduce inflammation (nasal, smaller air passages) and relax in particular the Levator labii superioris alaeque nasalis (LLSAN) muscle
• 3 dried honeysuckle petals (sliced lengthwise into strips)
  to add sweetness to neutralize bitter and sour notes of other ingredients; making the potion more palatable
• 2 nasturtium buds
  strengthen respiratory system; neutralize unattractive potion coloring
• 2 spleen of a toad (harvested while Silencing Charm is placed upon the creature) coarsely diced
  small animals spleens are a common thread in potions associated with growth. Theoretically any small animal spleen will suffice but those from a toad are the most effective due to the creature being used for musical purposes and are the most audible (to the human ear), therefore toad spleens have the more direct and tangible association.
• 10 shelled pistachios (grind both shell and pistachio separately into a powder using mortar and pestle)
  packed with proteins that stimulate saliva production
• 4 dried puffer fish mouths (ground into a fine powder using mortar and pestle)
  will focus the potions effects on the mouth area

INSTRUCTIONS

• Prepare all ingredients ahead of time. The potion requires one's full attention during the brewing process and one must not be distracted by prepping other ingredients during
• Light burner and set to a low heat
• Pour water into cauldron (copper is best but others will brew effectively as well) and bring to a slow boil
• add honeysuckle ovaries, honeysuckle petals, and nasturtium buds; let simmer for 10 minutes ➡ use silver ladle to check coloring, which should be a translucent red-orange color
• add toad spleen; stir 15 times counter-clockwise then 15 times clockwise then 1 final stir counter-clockwise
• add pistachios; let simmer for 5 minutes or until the color of the potion has darkened to near translucent black
• add puffer fish mouths; stir 32 times clockwise
• let simmer for 32 minutes on medium heat; potion will slightly thicken into a clear syrup over this period
• remove cauldron from heat and place on a cooling rack until cooled entirely; potion should have reduced down to the consistency of honey or molasse at this time and be completely translucent (some lingering orange hue is acceptable)
• pour contents into a phial and cork; can be used immediately but leaving the phial corked for 3 days before use (stored somewhere NOT hot) will create a more potent syrup
• to use: pour 1 to 2 drops into any non-alcoholic drink. May also add 3 or 4 drops to food for same results. In extreme cases 6 or 7 drops may be required in either case but do not succeed 10 drops per serving.

The confidence that other students may have been exhibiting as they presented their work, was not present in Aurora as she shuffled her way into the Potions Laboratory to have her ideas signed off on. She was smiling of course, although it was a little forced and not quite touching her eyes like it usually did. The reason behind her uncharacteristic nervousness? Potions was not a subject that came naturally to her and yet was important for her career progression in which she did not presently have a back up for. For such a chaotic, free spirited personality, she had set her mind fairly early that she wanted to be a creature healer and she couldn’t think of an alternative that would fit her lack of academic success in other areas.

Already in the laboratory was Sage, whose air of confidence was marginally intimidating. The sixth year seemed to have absolutely everything together in a way that Aurora could only dream of. She had considered asking her to tutor her but it had been her dormmate Rowan who was basically family (except not really but she was her Uncle’s Great Niece so she was in the tree somewhere) who had gained the unlucky job of trying to wrangle Rora’s confusion into a passable grade. Sage was the recipient of a smile and a nod through concern that the fifth year might disturb her and therefore words were not necessary. The third year seemed to be exuding the same nervous energy as she was at least, a welcome relief that she wasn’t the only one.

She’d practiced the ‘potion’ a couple of times before the sign off session to finalise quantities and ensure the texture wasn’t too runny or too thick. It had been quite the risk to choose a topical potion rather than one to be ingested but she hoped that doing something a little different might be to her advantage. The parchment that she had brought to present was no longer on pink paper, nor was it written in her usual scented gel pens but was on normal parchment in black ink from her quill which had taken unnecessarily wrong to perfect. “Hi Professor, I hope that this is satisfactory” she half smiled as she slipped the parchment over.

The Potions Mistress looked over the parchment of the young third year curiously, reviewing it. She chewed her lower lip thoughtfully before lifting her red self-inking quill started to feign putting an 'x' through a couple things, just thinking too how it probably would freak Ary out. But all she did was write a '?' by the water measurement before putting a checkmark at the top with her initials.

"Little concerned there's a lot of water in comparison to some of the other ingredients, but otherwise looks good. You may wish to start with only half the water?" That was her only feedback for the Slytherin. Or not. He could go as planned too, it was just a mere suggestion after-all, with water being a resource she wasn't as concerned with waste.

She had to admit that Sage's confidence in her potion was such that Professor Adara barely spared too much a glance before putting a red checkmark with her initials. The pistachios was a unique ingredient that actually had the potions mistress quite intrigued by the older girl's brew. "Go ahead." Future potions mistress in the making perhaps? Or at the very least a career that definitely involved creative thinking.


Now this was actually a potion that could be quite practical if it actually worked, given the amounts of pet owners in the world. She wondered if it would work on other animal scratches, not just kneazles. The witch hazel, while not one she typically recalled in potions made decent sense. "You may begin," she said adding her red checkmark and initialing.



ooc: okay, sooo my out-of-state "adventure" took more out of me than anticipated But I'm back now, including the fun of airport adventures on my flight home, with those global outages ... anyway, there's still time to complete this, and considering my unexpected absence, if you need to do this in fewer posts with the time crunch (closer to the three minimum for this section, I'll accept that And yes the one post already made just now prior to the sign off counts as one of the three! But if you need to do it all in one, i'm flexible cause of the unexpected... I guess the important thing is doing one sign off post and one brewing post, if you have time to split the brewing into multiple you can, just whatever works ).

About a week left, fyi

And…

The bit of confidence that he had worked up deflated somewhat. But Ary quickly pushed that away and focused on the more important aspect: Professor Adara knew best. “Half the amount of water,’’ he repeated. “Got you, professor. Thank you.” He offered her a grateful smile then headed off to begin the task of brewing his potion.

Why did he have to be so nervous?

The Slytherin began by gathering and prepping the ingredients. He always found this was the best course to go, rather than prepping them while brewing the potion. Sometimes it was easy to get sidetracked in keeping a close eye on the cauldron and its contents. Soon enough, he had the ingredients ready. Next, the equipment was set up - like the cauldron, stirrer and so forth. Having such a clear and precise order to get this project down actually helped Aryan in ceasing to be so anxious.

Now it was time to move onto the most major step: the actual brewing.

The reduced amount of water was poured into the cauldron {after magically cleaning it} then a flame was magically lit on the burner. Ary adjusted the burner to low heat so that the water would come to a slow boil. It took a minute but eventually bubbles began forming on the surface which signified boiling. Next, one tablespoon armadillo bile went into the water and this was quickly followed up with one, two, three counterclockwise stirs {of course, with an also magically cleaned stirrer}. The next step - the one involving boom berries - was a rather laborious one in Ary’s opinion. Five of the berries cut into four pieces each meant that there were twenty pieces. And each piece had to be dropped into the cauldron individually. Ary guessed he’d better get started! One, two, three…

… nineteen, twenty!

Phew! All done!

But that relief did not last long at all. Instead of burgundy, the cauldron’s contents had turned a bright shade of red.

Uh oh.

This was fine. It was all fine.

Maybe as the other ingredients were added, the potion would come back on track. It was with this heartening thought, he pressed on. The root pieces were added then waited on needles and pins for ten minutes. Five clockwise stirs were completed with the stirrer. The last of the armadillo bile was placed into the mix, and a second later so was the goosegrass. Ary then started stirring counterclockwise, scarcely breathing and hoping feverishly that at the end of the three minutes, steam would rise in the spiral shape. Unfortunately, this was not to be. The steam rose and scattered everywhere like some chaotic steam monster. It got in his face, in his hair... Ary was sure he felt all the moisture evaporate from his hair. Huffing in annoyance, the teen added the Flobberworm mucus then crushed lionfish spine. Instead of bright orange {Dad Adi's favourite colour, a little fun fact}, it turned cement gray.

And that was it. That was the moment that all Ary's hope left his body and his annoyance hiked up a couple of notches. Now, his movements became robotic, only focused on brewing the potion to complete the assignment. This entire potion was a bust and he didn't care about it anymore. He stirred once clockwise then once counterclockwise, added a drop of neem oil. This step was repeated six other times {for a total of seven}. The crushed fangs joined the cauldron contents and only then were they stirred for minute.

At precisely one minute, there was an almighty POOOOOOF and a cloud of deep green coloured smoke enveloped Ary and his workstation. Vigorous coughing and fanning of his hands ensued.

His potion had definitely not gone according to plans.