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.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jan 28, 2024 0:12:13 GMT 10
The walk from the Student Greenhouse to the Student Laboratory had done little to settle MJ's nerves. She was tasked with brewing three important potions to deliver to Madam Pomfrey as part of the Potions Extra-C, and she was worried about messing up.
She didn't have duplicates of every ingredient needed so she knew she was taking a risk but... She was impatient to get started, too.
All she could do was hope she did things right.
MJ set her things down at one of the empty work stations, put a Pewter cauldron over the unlit burner, and added some water. After doing this, she made sure her Potions Kit was easily accessible and placed out whatever ingredients she would need for this first potion.
She was going to work on Antidote 1 to begin with.
Checking the potion recipe, MJ saw that she had to start with honey. She opened one of the jars she had carefully collected and poured that into the cauldron. She grabbed her pestle & mortar to roughly powder some nuts to add next.
Now she lit the burner and let the cauldron heat gently.
While it heated, she used a spoon to stir the beginnings of her potion clockwise eight times. She counted each stir carefully and then removed the spoon. The potion would have to simmer for five minutes now, so MJ used a timer to make sure she got the time exactly right.
Satisfied she had done everything right so far (even though it wasn't much) MJ smiled to herself. Maybe this wouldn't be too terrible after all!
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Jan 31, 2024 20:56:28 GMT 10
"Alright, so far so good." MJ mumbled to herself, glad to see that her potion wasn't about to explode on her. It calmed her nerves a little but she wasn't going to relax just yet.
She checked the recipe and started with the next step.
MJ added the feather into the cauldron and then opened the container for the blue spider and added it in after. What a tragic fate to have... She didn't think about that too long as she grabbed her spoon again and got to stirring.
First she stirred three times anti-clockwise as instructed, counting each one with care, and then clockwise nine times. She focused carefully and made sure each stir was a complete circle before she stopped counting.
Next she chopped up her nettles, cleaned her knife and then dropped in her slugs. They were a bit gross to handle like this, but she was just glad to have it over with. She added these to the cauldron as well.
MJ turned the temperature up high and set her timer for three minutes, waiting for the seconds to tick by. She didn't dare do anything else until the time was up. Once the timer went off, MJ silenced it and turned off the heat. Her potion was supposed to cool for a bit so MJ checked on it from time to time.
Once it felt cool enough, she stirred it clockwise and watched to see if it would turn a golden yellow colour.
Once it was complete, MJ waved her wand over the cauldron to complete the potion. She grabbed a ladle and put the potion into a vial and began to clean everything up. She needed a spotless workstation if she was going to work on another potion -- especially since she would need the same cauldron again. MJ scrubbed, wiped and tided until everything was back to the way it should be. She would need to decide which potion to brew next.
Unfortunately, MJ was missing an ingredient, and didn't realise until it was too late. Once she began heating his cauldron, the mixture became thick and putrid -- Which worsened by the second.
Hastily turning off the heat managed to save her cauldron, which would need a tedious amount of non-magical scrubbing... but the potion was a failure.
It was deceptive at first, as allowing it to cool seemed to help -- but by the time it neared the end of her task, and if making its way to the vial stage, its yucky brown mass proved the outcome beyond any doubt.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Feb 12, 2024 11:17:21 GMT 10
MJ frowned when she saw how her potion had turned out once cooled. Not a successful brew at all, and she sighed.
"Great..." It was her own fault for not being more careful, but she couldn't help but be annoyed. The only thing that helped to ease her annoyance was the fact she had planned for failure and made sure to get some extra ingredients (especially the tricker ones).
So yes, she had everything to start again for the Antidote One. The only issue would be having to then go get more honey to brew the pepper-up potion as well... That didn't seem like such a bad plan.
She made sure to scrub out her cauldron with extra care, since it seemed her failed potion had turned out extra putrid. MJ wanted everything to be perfect for her second attempt.
With a clean cauldron, and everything else set out where she would be able to reach it with ease, MJ rolled up her sleeves and set her face with a determined expression.
To start with, she re-set her cauldron. She filled it up with water and grabbed her last jar of honey. This was poured into the cauldron, and she roughly powdered some nuts to add after.
Next, she lit the burner and made sure it was on a low setting, to gently heat her potion.
MJ grabbed her clean spoon and stirred the potion as instructed, counting each full rotation with care. She reached for her timer and set it for five minutes. It sucked to start this potion over again, but she knew what she had done wrong, so she wouldn't do it again.
She got out another feather and blue spider, adding each to her cauldron and picking up her spoon once again. This time she stirred anti-clockwise, first a few times and then clockwise.
There was only a bit left to do. However, MJ wanted to ensure she took her time and didn't skip something important again. Having to re-do the potion a third time would just ruin her day completely.
Last Edit: Feb 12, 2024 11:20:59 GMT 10 by MJ Birdwhistle
Post by Thorne Perry on Feb 14, 2024 1:21:31 GMT 10
The door to the student lab was already open when Thorne bustled in, so he wasn't surprised to see MJ there already, working industriously over a cauldron. He grinned and gave her a little wave - he'd slept through the big breakfast earlier! - but didn't interrupt. He could wish her a Merry Christmas later.
He knew how fiddly potions could be, after all.
His smile faded, and he shuddered a little at the thought of yesterday's disastrous potion. At least now he thought he knew where he'd gone wrong, and MJ and Orla had helped him find the ingredients again. He was determined to do it right this time, so their help and pain wouldn't be for naught.
He pulled off his coat and scarf, set down his kit and hurried to retrieve a pewter cauldron, which he carefully set on his workstation. He filled it with water, and turned the burner on low to gently heat it.
Once the cauldron was heated, he dumped in the frogspawn he'd collected earlier, stirring the water clockwise carefully until the clumps vanished from sight in the moving water.
He carefully took out one of the delicate pieces of silkmoss and his piece of lariwort on his workspace and retrieved one of the lab knives. He carefully sliced the two ingredients into small, similarly sized pieces so they would cook at the same rate. He added both to the cauldron, and after they sunk beneath the water he dropped in the strands of fluxygrass.
He turned up the temperature to high, and set the timer for five minutes, and settled in to wait, watching so carefully since last time this was where everything had gone horribly wrong.
With no mishaps, Thorne's progress was perfect thus far. He can proceed.
[Going forward, please mention early in your post (in-rp or ooc note) what potion you're brewing. I had to check his previous brewing thread to confirm that he was trying to make a Beanstalk potion.]
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Mar 16, 2024 4:37:49 GMT 10
She looked up for a brief second when the door to the Lab opened and someone else came in. Thorne! MJ nodded at her friend and gave him a tight smile.
There wasn't really a chance for her to talk right now and she wanted to focus and make sure she didn't mess up her potion again. MJ studied the recipe and continued.
Grabbing her knife, she chopped up her nettles and added them along with the slugs. She made sure she added the right amount, since she had a sneaking suspicion this is where she had gone wrong before.
Once they were added, MJ turned the heat up to high and set the timer for three minutes. At least now she had a breather.
"How is your potions going...?" She ventured to ask Thorne, but she didn't risk a lot of conversation beyond that as she watched her potion. She'd happily listen to whatever Thorne said but as soon as the three minutes were up, she turned off the timer and moved on.
She turned off the heat and allowed her mixture to cool. MJ would check to see how cool it was and when it felt the appropriate temperature (or lack of!) she'd stir it clockwise as instructed.
This time she hoped she would see the golden yellow colour she needed to ensure the potion had been made perfectly. MJ sighed as she waited for the colour shift before she felt she couldn't delay any longer.
Using her wand, MJ waved it over the potion to finish it and then grabbed a ladle to scoop some of the potion into a waiting vial. Then she cleaned up everything once again -- ensuring her workspace and cauldron were spotless.
If she planned to brew another potion today, she would need to make sure her cauldron was free of any possible contamination. Satisfied she'd done a good enough job, MJ checked on her vial to see if her potion was okay.
Post by Thorne Perry on Mar 16, 2024 21:45:09 GMT 10
Thorne held his breath, but the concoction in the cauldron seemed right this time. It didn't curdle and burn like it had last time, and he let out a sigh of relief, right about the time MJ spoke to him for the first time.
"I think it's going okay." He left this time unspoken. It better keep going okay. He didn't want to waste the ingredient MJ herself had been hurt helping him collect.
He turned his attention back to the recipe and his cauldron. The mixture within was a pale green, like a young leaf in springtime. He turned off the heat, and carefully dropped two mud toadstools into the cauldron.
Once the toadstools were added, he picked up his spoon and stirred counterclockwise, keeping a careful eye on the potion's color.
When the potion darkened to about the color of a green bean, rich and dark instead of the springy, leafy shade, he stopped stirring, traded the spoon for his wand, and waved it over his potion to complete it. He fetched a ladle to scoop his concoction into a vial, and then started to clean up.
His potion probably wasn't anything to write home about, but Thorne was confident he'd at least done it right this time.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Mar 19, 2024 0:54:43 GMT 10
"Glad to hear it." She smiled when it seemed like Thorne had finished up as well. MJ planned to brew some more potions that afternoon but she had to double-check things first.
She took a second to check the recipes she planned to use and that she had everything she needed, "Are you going to brew something else or was it just this one?"
MJ didn't think he was working on the Potions Extra-Credit stuff as well. No, he had traded with her for her Lariwort so he had to be brewing something else.
"Ah! You made the beanstalk potion, yeah?" She grinned. MJ hoped his potion had turned out well for him. It would be a pain for him to find more Lariwort unless he was able to find Lucas. Maybe the older Slytherin would help with something like that.
Pepperup Potion was the next one she planned to make but, "Shoot. I need to go collect more honey for that."
Because she had messed up her potion earlier, she had used up more Honey than she had allowed for. MJ frowned as she checked the third recipe as well.
"Okay, I could do that one instead and then go look for honey after..." Or should she collect the honey first and then do both potions at the same time.
Checking on the potion she had just made, MJ was glad to see her Antidote One had turned out perfectly. With a relieved sigh, she put the potion into her Potions Kit, along with her other things. She'd need to take it with her if she was going to collect honey.
MJ nodded to herself, "I need to pop out for a second to get some honey. I'll be back after though, if you're still here?"
She didn't know if Thorne planned to hang around but she had to hurry!
Post by Thorne Perry on Mar 23, 2024 23:50:31 GMT 10
"Just this one today; I haven't the ingredients to make anything else, yet!" Something he hoped to fix, soon, though he also wanted to get to the Greenhouse today. He had more plants to play with! He double-checked his work area, making sure it was spotless, and tucked away his carefully made vial of Beanstalk Potion into his bag.
Content that everything was tidy enough, he offered his friend a broad grin.
"I'll see you at dinner, yeah? Be careful getting your honey!"
Once they parted ways, Thorne hurried off to the Greenhouse. Being productive felt nice.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Apr 9, 2024 8:20:43 GMT 10
She arrived back at the Student Laboratory to find it empty once again.
MJ went to the brewing station she had used before and hoped she had enough time to make a Bone Mend Potion before dinner time. It was a short recipe, so she was hopeful.
Setting down her satchel, she removed her Potions Kit and set that on the bench, and then fetched her Pewter Cauldron. MJ added some water to the bottom as the base of the potion and then checked the recipe she had.
"Fluxyweed... Horn..." She mumbled as she added the Fluxyweed first and then roughly powdered the horn. She added that and set the heat to a low setting to gently heat the potion and used the timer to count five minutes. Once the timer rang, she shut it off and turned off the heat.
She had to allow the potion to cool before she continued.
Next, she added a single feather and used the flat side of her knife to crush some beetles, adding those to the potion as well. The next part of the recipe seemed to be rather tricky but MJ was determined to do her best. She relied on the timer to help her keep track as she stirred anti-clockwise once a minute, for the next fourteen minutes.
If anyone walked in now they would see a very determined (or perhaps angry?) Ravenclaw, staring intently between her cauldron and her timer as she did the proper amount of stirs with the right timing.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on Apr 10, 2024 1:26:20 GMT 10
MJ was relieved to see everything had gone perfectly fine with her potion -- a good sign to continue, then!
There was just one step left, and MJ was glad to be done counting her stirs for now. She added the sap to the cauldron and then chopped the mud toadstool as instructed.
This was added next and she double-checked what she had to do -- heat on high for one minute. Alright! MJ smiled as she turned the heat setting up to high and set the timer for a minute.
One the minute was up, she turned off the heat immediately. She had to stir again but clockwise this time. Nine times was more manageable than fourteen times, once a minute, at least. She counted carefully as she stirred and then checked the potion.
It was supposed to be off-white and odorless, and MJ hoped she had hit the mark.
She waved her wand over the cauldron and placed the potion into a vial. She got busy with cleaning everything up and leaving the work bench spotless, putting away any ingredients she didn't need to use or placing off-cuts and unusable pieces into the bin.
MJ took her time scrubbing her cauldron clean and placing it back when she was done. Everything seemed perfect and she checked on her potion vial -- hopefully it hadn't quietly imploded while she was cleaning...
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