An active, character-driven Hogwarts experience set in the early 2000s. Unique items, plots, and features. Non-canon; this isn't Harry Potter's story, it's ours.
This class is intended to be read by 4th years and above only.
The dungeon was cold and dimly-lit, which the Potions classroom provided no improvement. The door was open so students could enter and begin occupying the stools. Pickled ingredients and other nasty-looking things lined the walls -- the 4th years had been coming to that classroom enough times over the years to suspect that collection had grown quite considerably since their first lesson.
Professor Snape wasn't there, but the same sense of sternness his presence brought lingered in the classroom. Students got out their books or otherwise, and kept the chatter among themselves low.
Please refer to the Standard Classroom Layout for a visual guide of the classroom -- including full details regarding seating, class expectations, noise level rules, and any changes.
Post by Kody Ashworth on May 26, 2023 14:48:14 GMT 10
Potions, ugh.
No, he couldn't consider Potions 'ugh' any more, could he? Kody had to be better and do better! Reena's reputation was (not likely) at stake with how he performed from now on. Still, that didn't make the Dungeons any less dark or cold.
Did Professor Snape have magically heated undergarments that kept him warm? Kody was jealous if that was the case. He sulked towards the back of the room, setting his bag down at the right-hand side most table.
He hoped things would go well but if not, at least he'd be back here. As far away from the front as possible.
Kody watched the door and, when Verity appeared, he'd wave to get her attention. He had remembered their grandpa's request and wanted to tell her before it went poof out of his brain.
Last Edit: May 27, 2023 10:05:23 GMT 10 by Kody Ashworth
Post by Cynthia Rushton on May 26, 2023 20:22:12 GMT 10
Aching just a little bit from Quidditch practice, Cynthia filed into Potions right on time, relieved to see she was neither the first student nor the last.
She scanned the classroom (giving Kody a small, cheery wave - he looked miserable; had the algae turned his stomach? Maybe she shouldn't try it later!) before moving to the middle table on the lefthand side of the room, settling down at the leftmost seat as well. It made life easier for whoever sat next to her to not get her elbow in their ear while she was taking notes.
She neatly lined up parchment and quill, then gave the potions classroom a closer look as she gathered her robe a little more snuggly around her. It was cold. She'd never quite worked out whether it was better for the ingredients, because of the classroom's location, or simply because Professor Snape enjoyed it, but it made for fun theorizing.
There wasn't anything set up for today's lesson to poke at or speculate over, so she busied herself with dating her parchment instead.
Post by Verity Ashworth on May 27, 2023 10:12:04 GMT 10
Verity entered the Potions classroom. She had always disliked the professor more than the subject, but now that she was working towards getting her potions kit, she thought it would probably best to work a little bit harder in the class. That way Professor Snape would have no reason to say no!
While typically she would be in the middle of the classroom, when she walked in she saw Kody waving to her. The idea of sitting next to her cousin during a potions class made her a little bit nervous, but she walked over anyways, hoping she could get back to her usual seat before Professor Snape started class.
"What is it?" Verity whispered, knowing Professor Snape liked things quiet. She didn't want to get in trouble before class even started. That was for during or after class, at least! She tried to convey this urgency to Kody in her tone of voice.
Last Edit: May 27, 2023 10:12:31 GMT 10 by Verity Ashworth: OOC permission for mentions of Kody
Post by Kody Ashworth on May 27, 2023 10:21:41 GMT 10
He almost missed Cynthia waving at him with how intensely he had been watching the door for Verity. He managed a wave back before it was too late.
Phew.
And then, as if summoned by a spell, was his cousin! Verity didn't sound too happy so hopefully his news would cheer her up, "Grandpa sent a letter."
Kody glanced towards the door in case Professor Snape magically appeared and decided whispers were a good idea. See, this was why Vee was a Ravenclaw and not him.
"He sent me this really cool broom! You gotta see it Vee, it's amazing and--" Wait, wasn't he forgetting the most important thing...? "Oh! Yeah! He wants us to meet him in Hogsmeade during the next trip."
The possibility of Verity saying no didn't even cross his mind and as far as Kody was concerned, his job was done and Verity was free to sit at her spot.
Last Edit: May 27, 2023 14:59:45 GMT 10 by Kody Ashworth
Post by Verity Ashworth on May 27, 2023 10:32:03 GMT 10
Verity was confused at first, and then cheered up a little bit. A Hogsmeade trip to go see their grandfather wouldn't be so bad, and it could mean a little more explanation, which Verity was always up for. She was almost upset that Grandpa hadn't sent her a letter, but it was probably best that it went to Kody. She might've forgotten.
"Cool," Verity said, still keeping her voice down, "Sounds like fun. Good luck with your...new broom Quidditch stuff."
She wasn't a big Quidditch person, but getting a broom was a pretty big part, she knew that much, so it sounded like Kody was having a good time.
"I'm gonna go sit down now." Verity said, glancing towards the middle of the classroom. And then she did exactly that.
Pierce entered class with an air of confidence and calm excitement. He loved potions. In fact it was one of his absolute favorite classes, if not his favorite. The possibilities and unlimited combinations of ingredients fascinated him. Snape might also intimidate some students but Pierce liked his teaching-style. Sometimes discipline was needed.
The class wasn't too full yet, and keeping his Dad's letter in the back of his mind he decided to sit with someone instead of his usual habit of sitting alone at the front. Yet he still compromised. As there were three seats per table, Pierce sat with Cynthia but left a spot in between them so they had their own personal space. Of course if someone sat between them that would defeat the purpose, but maybe no one would.
Unlike the others who were already chatting, Pierce only gave Cynthia a smile and a brisk nod before he started setting out his things. His potions book, quill, and specifically labeled potions class note-taking book. Did he have a note-taking book for each class? Perhaps...
Snape wasn't in yet but Pierce knew he had to be nearby. He stayed silent and focused, glancing around the class at the various ingredients lining the walls as he waited.
Last Edit: May 27, 2023 12:00:51 GMT 10 by Deleted
The classroom door banged open, then swiftly closed itself, while Professor Snape strode purposefully to the front. He faced them with a calculative look, and student chatter immediately silenced. He took the role, then wrote instructions on the board -- and explained what they'd be brewing today.
A type of Calming Draught, apparently.
'As the name suggests, its purpose is to calm emotional turmoil,' Snape said. 'This particular potion is a milder variety adapted from those used in treatment plans for stress disorders. It is most popular among scholars studying for their academy finals.'
Studious students exchanged wary or concerned looks. Academy ambitions may cause a need for such draughts? While the potion itself sounded appealing to those with more day-to-day stresses, the 4th years had endured enough Potions classes to know that just because the potion had a good outcome... that didn't mean the process of brewing it would be as calming.
'Frequent consumption may cause headaches and unpredictable drowsiness.' Snape stepped aside to reveal instructions on the board. 'Begin.'
How it works
Requires use of the Potion-Making Guide, which contains everything you need to know to brew potions -- as well as all the Icons for completing this task.
This is free-RP; you determine your character's success and progress. Feel free to be creative and have fun with it, but keep in mind your character's experience and ability -- mistakes and struggles are realistic, though they're allowed to restart an ingredient preparation task if they feel it's necessary.
You're only judged by the order of your Potion-Making Icons, not by however you choose to RP things. With the exception of exploding your cauldron, of course. Icons should only be used for the final / official version of their potion, from start to finish.
You must do every step and have your results judged by Professor Snape to complete the class task -- and therefore earn its reward at the end of the lesson. If even 1 Icon is incorrect, your potion fails but the task may still be complete. A perfect potion earn a bonus reward.
Instructions - on the board
Step 1 – Bring the cauldron to a boil. Add a chopped reptile heart. Stir clockwise eight times. Turn off heat, and let it cool.
Step 2 – Peel a rock fig's cracked outer shell. Squeeze the rock fig to release juice into a vial. Wait for the juice to stop fizzing, then add five drops to the cauldron. Stir anti-clockwise twice. Mixture should be pale orange, and smell sour.
Step 3 – Combine dried lemongrass and four mint flowers into a rough powder.
Step 4 – Gently heat cauldron. Gradually add the powder while stirring clockwise. Let it sit for two minutes, then add three spoonfuls of lavender syrup. The mixture should turn a medium shade of violet, and smell floral with a soothing effect.
Step 5 - Wait until the mixture bubbles, then turn off heat. Allow it to cool. Ladle your potion into a vial, then clean your workspace. When ready, raise your hand to await judgement.
Post by Kody Ashworth on May 27, 2023 15:31:41 GMT 10
When Professor Snape made his big entrance, Kody let out a strangled noise of surprise and grabbed the workbench so he didn't fall off his stool. Why did he have to do that?
Kody dug into his bag for some parchment and a quill, almost dropping the bottle of ink but somehow he managed not to and started to take down some haphazard notes. Calming draught, stress disorders, academy finals...
Wow, those sounded very far away.
Humming quietly under his breath, he finished writing down the information provided in his not-so-neat handwriting and watched as the instructions appeared on the board. It wasn't a simple potion but surely Kody could manage this?
He slipped off his stool and started to fetch any necessary ingredients. Reptile heart? Aw, he felt bad for the poor creature. It took him a moment to find everything he needed and Kody marched back to his table.
A fig dropped out of his arms and rolled off but he found it a second later and placed it on the table with the rest of his things.
Well first things first! He put his cauldron burner and stared at it for a moment. There was a thing he had to do before anything else and what was it?
Hm... He stared at his cauldron, arms folded and brows furrowed. It was something important. It was like he could hear Reena's voice saying something... And then he gasped, rather loudly, "Water!"
Of course, he needed water! Kody hurried to add some and then he could get started on the next thing he needed to do.
Phew, that was a close one. The water needed to boil so Kody set the flame to high and then grabbed a knife for chopping up his reptile heart.
His hand hesitated when he thought about what kind of creature the reptile might have been and a frown started to form on his lips. It seemed a bit unfair but he steadied himself with a breath and tried to think about something else. His chopping was a bit uneven but it hadn't specified anything in the recipe, right?
Kody had never been great at chopping things which was probably why he hadn't been allowed to help much in the kitchen at home. Oh, well! Kody added the pieces into his cauldron and squinted at the board to double-check what he had to do next.
Stirring! That was easy enough. Kody grabbed the spoon and started to count as he stirred. One, two, three... He wondered how Quidditch practice would go after class. He was so excited! Kody wriggled happily on his stool and then winced. He had lost count...
Um, it looked well stirred so hopefully it was okay...
Kody looked into his cauldron and then turned off the heat, so the beginnings of his Calming Draught could be allowed to cool. Was it supposed to look or smell a certain way? Kody looked around the classroom to see if he could tell how his classmates were getting on.
Last Edit: May 27, 2023 15:36:24 GMT 10 by Kody Ashworth
Post by Cynthia Rushton on May 27, 2023 21:14:31 GMT 10
Cynthia nodded back at Pierce with a small smile. He was a decent classmate and housemate- she always appreciated his calm demeanor.
The professor entered with his usual dramatic flourish and Cynthia forgot all about Kody's potentially upset stomach, about Pierce and about the cold. She managed not to jump, though it was a close thing.
Time to pay attention!
She wrote Calming Draught beneath the date neatly, noting its uses beneath the name: calm emotions (she could use that sometimes!) and good for stress. Finally, she added the side effects: causes headaches, drowsiness if used too often.
By the time she had all that down, the instructions had appeared on the board. She quickly copied them down too - ingredients on one side, process on the other - so she could refer to her notes during the task.
Only then did she begin.
She started by setting up her cauldron, carefully filling it with water before setting it on the burner. The instructions said to boil, so she made sure the flame was turned on high.
Next, she hurried to collect her ingredients, almost stepping on an errant fig that escaped Kody- and then almost treading on Kody when he dove to retrieve it. She bit down on a snide comment.
Maybe his stomach was still bothering him. She should be gracious; he was always nice!
Disaster averted, Cynthia set about chopping her reptile heart, making sure the chopped pieces were approximately the same size. She'd helped her grandmother cook a lot this summer, the non-magical way, so that the old woman could keep a hawk's eye on her chopping skills.
Once the water reached a merrily rolling boil, she added the chopped reptile heart, instantly stirring counter-clockwise as she counted, making sure to completely stir each time.
Stirring completed! She reached out and turned off the burner. Now all she had to do was let it cool...
This was a lot more complicated than last year's potions already.
While Snape's entrance probably had startled some; Pierce was unfazed as he watched Snape come around and listened to his instructions. Calming Draught. His quill was already writing down Snape's description word-for-word. He didn't really need anything to calm him personally, it was pretty much his default mood. Maybe his older siblings could make use of it? Or even Toby for that matter -- that boy had way too much energy in such a small body.
Once the instructions appeared he made quick work of jotting them down in his notebook so he wouldn't have to keep looking up. Having them close by was much more convenient and would make things much easier. He let Kody and Cynthia grab their ingredients first, and then made his way over to grab everything he needed.
Cauldron ready and filled with the correct amount of water, he turned the heat on high so that it would come to a nice and steady boil.
Next he grabbed the reptile heart, examining it for a moment. He wondered what reptile it came from. Magical, or non-magical? With his lackluster knowledge on creatures it would be impossible to tell, yet he was still curious. Getting back to the task, Pierce set it down and chopped it into neat fine pieces. He used the knife to scoop it up and added it to his boiling cauldron.
Once it was all added, he took his mixing spoon and began to stir it eight times clockwise. He stirred it carefully, making sure to stir it thoroughly and the correct amount of times.
Once it was mixed correctly, Pierce turned off the heat to let it cool. In the meantime he looked over his notes to see what step would be next. There was no need to rush things.
Post by Kody Ashworth on May 29, 2023 1:46:20 GMT 10
Kody decided it was best to get on with the rest of the recipe while the cauldron cooled. Glancing at the instructions, he grabbed his floor fig and tried to prise the outer layer open. It was a lot tougher than it looked!
Grabbing the bit at the top, he tugged it down and was able to peel some of it off. Kody frowned at how hard this was, not liking the task at all. It probably took him longer than necessary to peel the whole fig and he sat back down on his stool, letting out a sigh.
What was next?
Oh, right! Kody grabbed a vial and set it in front of himself before he grabbed his naked fig. This he probably squeezed a lot harder than necessary between both hands but he managed to get some of the juice into the vial! That was a success in his books.
Despite the instructions, he was surprised to see the juice fizzing and peered into the vial to watch and listen. That little bit of fun made up for the whole peeling debacle. He wondered if he could just tip the vial and drop the juice in or if he should use something else to be more accurate.
What would Reena do? She'd be thorough and accurate, of course. Kody grumbled as he got to his feet and went over to the equipment cupboard. He knew what he was looking for, making little T-Rex pincher arms (not that he would know what a T-Rex was) as he searched, but he didn't know the name of it. It had a squidgy bit at the end and a long pipe bit.
Kody unearthed a box of pipettes (marvelling at the name) and took one back to his desk. Using it, he sucked up some juice and squish squish, added five drops to his potion.
After doing this he had to stir again? Ugh okay. Kody grabbed his spoon and stirred his potion counter-clockwise. At least it only had to be two times this go around so he found it easier to concentrate and do. Kody stopped after the second stir and smiled. This was going a bit better than expected and he hoped he could keep it up.
Peering into his cauldron he saw it was a shade of orange (pale? light? pastel? it was something) and the smell was... Kody didn't know if it smelt sour or not. He glanced around the room and wondered if Professor Snape was going to come by and comment on his progress. He sank onto his stool further and checked what he had to do next.
Post by Verity Ashworth on May 29, 2023 9:02:39 GMT 10
Verity doodled a person sleeping in her notes as Professor Snape talked about drowsiness. Alrighty, don't take this one when you really, really need to stay awake. Or just be good at things and don't get emotionally stressed.
Verity snorted at that. She couldn't imagine not being stressed out about something now that she knew all that she did. She grabbed her cauldron and ingredients, making sure she was prepared to do everything properly, or at least as properly as she could. She added water to her cauldron to get things started. Then, thinking it best if her cauldron came to a boil quickly, so she heated it until it was boiling.
While she waited for the cauldron to boil, she chopped her reptile heart, trying to get things even enough, but it was a little bit tricky. She wasn't quite used to it, and thinking about what reptile the heart may have come from was unsettling. When she was done chopping and the cauldron was boiling, she added the reptile heart, and then stirred eight times clockwise.
Verity brought the heat of the cauldron down and let it cool, though she was nervous it wouldn't be cooling fast enough. This potions stuff was hard! And knowing that Professor Snape would tear apart any mistakes she made only made the subject harder. Verity tried not to let it get to her too much. After all, she wasn't the only student in the class, and so long as her cauldron didn't explode she was sure she would manage to avoid detention.
While the cauldron was cooling, Verity picked up her rock fig and cracked and peeled its outer shell. For a split second, she was tempted to eat it, but she knew that would go poorly for her even if the rock fig was the most delicious plant known to mankind. She squeezed its juice into a vial, where it started fizzing. Verity's head jerked up towards the instructions, where she found that this was to be expected and she should wait for it to stop fizzing. Okay, so she wasn't about to die. Yet.
After some time had passed, she looked at it and figured that it looked done fizzing, which was good, because if it kept going she would know for certain that she was doing something wrong. She used a pipette to take the juice from the vial and add five drops to her cauldron, and then stirred twice counter-clockwise. She made a face at the smell. Gross!
Post by Cynthia Rushton on May 29, 2023 11:29:38 GMT 10
While her cauldron was cooling, Cynthia moved onto the next step. She selected a rock fig - hoping she picked a good one, they all looked the same after all - and took it back to her work station. She carefully cracked the outer shell with the handle of her knife, peeling it off in a few satisfyingly large chunks. Once it was peeled she squeezed it--
And the first few runny drops hit the outside of the vial instead.
Cynthia scowled fiercely. Potions were meant to be precise, and if half the juice wasn't in the potion, it was likely to not work! Grumbling under her breath, she fetched a second fig and repeated the process, this time lining the fig up perfectly with the vial's opening.
She waited patiently, watching the bubbles slow and then stop entirely. She held her hand over her cauldron - the potion seemed to have cooled while she was peeling her figs. Carefully, she added five evenly measured droplets to the mixture already there. Once the droplets were in, she stirred it counter-clockwise, twice.
It was a faint, sherbet color; like a creamsicle or a sunset. She tucked her hair behind her ears and leaned in for a small sniff- her nose wrinkled at the tart scent that hit her nostrils. At least that was an indication that it was coming along the right way.
Next, she took her mortar and the pestle, adding a handful of dried lemongrass and four dainty white flowers - she was careful to pick blossoms that were all about the same size - to the bowl before she ground them all together. The instructions said rough powder, so she stopped once they were all smashed together completely but the pieces weren't microscopic yet.
Once it was cooled an adequate amount of time it was onto the next step. Pierce read over his written instructions a few times to make sure he got it right before he started. Once he was confident he grabbed his rock fig. It was hard and took a moment to crack, but once he succeeded he squeezed it's liquid carefully into a vial.
The fig juice was fizzing so much that Pierce had to hold it away from him a bit. He was concerned it might overflow but luckily after a few moments it settled so that he could move on. Grabbing his pipette he drew the liquid into it. Then carefully and slowly added five drops to his cauldron.
Pierce was so focused he could feel sweat forming on his brow. Potions took so much focus -- one moment of distraction could be disaster. He muted everyone else out, the sounds, the looming watchful eyes of Snape. He had to be one hundred percent focused. Grabbing his spoon he mixed twice counter-clockwise.
Slowly but surely the potion turned into a pale orange color. The scent wafting from it made Pierce's nose scrunch up with the sour smell. It didn't smell pleasant but it seemed to be right, so he'd deal with it.
Moving onto the next task; after yet again reading over the instructions more times than probably needed, Pierce grabbed his pestle and mortar. Next he grabbed his dried lemongrass and four mint flowers and tossed them in. Crushing them but not too much so that the powder would be rough, not fine. He wasn't sure how that would affect the potion but best to stick to the instructions given.
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