Potions, Lesson 1: (Years 6&7)

It was the beginning of another year, and Mycroft was already exhausted. His summer consisted of helping Teagan to rebuild Salem's walls and try to cope with the death of students. It was a daunting experience, one that tired him out in all aspects of his life. Now it was time to look forward, to try and forget the negative and try to continue the task.

At least the potions room looked back to normal. It had caved in after the attack, the bombing attack really did lift debris everywhere. His room was half destroyed. Not it was all remodeled, the Ministry unhappy with the costs that Salem took, but had to admit it was better to spend money on something permanent, than have the Black Widows roaming.

Putting the potions in order, he wondered exactly what to teach today. He figured based on the number, the decision would be made. For now, it was all a waiting game.

Aragorn walked in to his favourite class, Potions. It was something that genuinely interested him, and not in a good way. Walking in he nodded to the Professor, he wasn't one for talking too much. He sat down at the back and pulled out his books, waiting for the lesson to begin. Hopefully it would be an interesting class, but either way it was potions so it would be.

Thana walked in and sat down, nodding to her ex-headmaster. "Professor" she said acknowledging him. She sat down and looked quietly around her, so far only a Nightshade had arrived. One Thana didn't know, but had seen in almost all of her classes so far. She pulled out her books and got ready for the lesson, once again sitting by herself.

Michelle walked towards the potions classroom, it was gold lesson in what she was quite good student. For muggleborn she was really good. All her knowledge about magic is came from magic books what she have barrowed form library or then bought from magic book shop. She soon walked in anf saw there already boy who she didn't know so well, Thana - her new friend basicay and fellow prefect & housemate and there was profeasor of course too. "Hello professor," she said there. She did say hello even for Thana and took a seat somewhere middle of classroom.

Apollo had finally recovered from when he had been hit with a spell during the battle at the ball. Apollo was completely stunned when he saw Thana in the class after he walked in. Apollo got over his shock and sat down next to her. He gave her a polite smile and gave her hand a light kiss on it. "Hello Thana, fancy seeing you here" Apollo said to her. He was fine with her being here, it just gave him more time to spend with her instead of waiting for the weekend to roll around and him having to either go to Hogwarts or have her come to Salem, now they were both students at Salem.

Hello Thana, fancy seeing you here"



At the sound of her name and someone sitting next to her , Thana looked up. It was Apollo, she nodded and immediately felt a sense of guilt. She hadnt contacted Apollo at all over the holidays , so of course he wouldn't of known that she had transferred. " Fancy that" she replied, blushing at the light kiss on her hand. She wasn't wearing gloves today , rather the long sleeves of the uniform were enough for her.

Jareth walked in to potions with dread in his heart, he had failed miserably last year. Having a hangover on his first day probably didn't help either, as his head was still pounding . One glare from his 'sister' meant she was still upset with him. Somewhat quietly he stumbled to the back of the room where he sat down. Waiting for class to begin so it could be over.

While only a few students had arrived, and he would usually wait, he knew that if two started talking it would only increase in volume and would bring annoyance to his life. Clearing his throat, signaling for the talking to stop, he wanted the attention to be solely on him. Getting up, he studied the three students and wondered if they could handle the potion. Their maturity level was to be questioned, so he gave them the easier one instead.

"Welcome to the first lesson of potions for the year. You know me as Mycroft Holmes ,and I want to inform you that from now on there would be a separation between six and seven years together for this year we will be doing even more advanced potions before your NEWTs. Can anyone tell me what the Wound-Cleaning potion is used for and don't be obvious please. Next tell me its coloring or any defining features."

Argorn listened as Professor Holmes kept speaking, explaining the separation. Then heard the question, gladly knowing the answer . He raised his hand before speaking, "It is a potion used as a sterilizer, it also stings when used" he answered, it was an easy enough question. He had already skimmed through the textbook for the year, knowing what potions to look up on.

Only one student raised his hand and he immediately signaled him to answer. At his very general description, Mycroft nodded, knowing that he wasn't going to push for much in such a quiet group.

"Very good Mr. Stormbearer, give points for Nightshade. Now today your potion will be an exercise in which you work alone. No talking, and please keep in mind the warnings on the board. You may begin."

Wound-Cleaning Potion

1. Place one liter of purified water into your cauldron and put it to medium heat.
2. Grab one bezoar and put it in mortar, to make it as close to a powder as possible. * Keep an eye out for the water not to boil too much*
3. Carefully remove boomslag skin from jar and use a scalpel to take exactly one ounce of skin to place in the water. Make sure that it is pushed to the bottom.
4. Add one cup of Ptolemy, *careful it stains. Immediately mix together (pay attention to the chemical reaction between the boomslag and Ptolemy. If measured correctly, the skin will harden and break into pieces in water. The color should be a burgundy color).
5. Cover potion for 5 minutes, low flame.
6. Within those five minutes, grab a spine of lionfish and place in mortar *poisonous* next add half a cup of moonstone powder and seven droplets of syrup of hellebore and begin to make to a paste. (caution: Lionfish is highly poisonous, avoid breathing in any powder)
7. Once five minutes have passed, remove cover and place paste inside the liquid. (Suggestion: Place in the middle of the cauldron as best as possible, it creates an even distribution when stirring.).
8. Turn off flame.
9.Add one fresh fire slug, and immediately cover. You should feel a vibration in the cauldron, make sure nothing gets on your clothes.
10. Once the heat has died down, leave it covered, you may leave.

Thana listened as the Professor spoke, and began gathering what she would need. The whole not talking thing usually didn't bother her, but today she actually had someone she wanted to talk to. Quietly she began making the potion, she got the litre of purified water and put it on the medium heat as she was instructed. Potions wasn't a favourite of Thana's not really. She kept going and working away quietly, wanting to get it done. She passed this class relatively well, it wasn't her absolute best but it was in her top five.


9.Add one fresh fire slug, and immediately cover. You should feel a vibration in the cauldron, make sure nothing gets on your clothes.

Thana followed the instructions, and indeed felt a slight vibration in the cauldron. She let the heat slowly die down, then left the lid on it. The potion seemed alright, she had done everything correctly from what she had seen, she had almost ruined it by adding too much Ptolemy but was quick enough to fix her mistake before it did any lasting damage.
Quietly she wrote her name on a piece of paper and sat it next to the cauldron, before packing and cleaning up quietly and leaving . " Bye Professor" Thana said walking out, giving a brief glance over at Apollo before leaving the classroom.

Jareth hardly paid attention as the Professor spoke, he had been to busy looking out of the window. As they were instructed to begin making their potions Jareth still wasn't paying proper attention, and added whatever amounts he felt like. So far during schooling it had done alright, of course the potions weren't ever perfect but they were just passable.

Not watching what he was doing, Jareth added the spine of the lion fish without powdering it, he just put it all in. For a few moments nothing seemed wrong , and Jareth watched as Thana started leaving. Not noticing the cauldron getting bigger and bigger, until it exploded. Pushing Jareth back with the boiling potion over him, " Ow OW OW!!!" He said, in pain and trying to get the boiling and burning liquid off him .

Mycroft studied as the students went by to get their ingredients. There was nothing out of the ordinary, and he himself opened a book and began to read. He enjoyed the quiet of the class, especially since it would take a lot of concentration from them to get it right. It was a bit challenging, but it was nothing compared to what would come their way later.

A smell is what caught his attention at first, the smell of burned rubber, that only came from something raw. Lifting his gaze, he realized that the cauldron was growing in size in front of Mr. Faowind's pot.

"Mr. Fao-"

It was too late, the cauldron had exploded on the young boy. The slug was enough of a scalding but the temperature of the liquid was even harder. Covering his mouth with a charm, he walked over to the boy to inspect the burns. Ironically enough the younger years had made a healing paste and be began to pour it on the boy. Picking him up, he immediately walked out of the room and towards the Hospital wing. He was so angry for the boy's stupidity.

Aragorn had been busy making his potion, something he excelled at when he heard the explosion. Jareth , a failure of a Belladonna had severely ruined his potion resulting in the Professor having to carry him out. Aragorn just smiled and resumed his work , if others got injured from being stupid that was their problem. He noticed that the Wormwood girl had also gone, perhaps she was smart after all.

Quietly he finished his potion, making sure everything was perfect. If there was one class he made sure he excelled at it was Potions. He signed his name on a piece of paper before packing up his gear and leaving.

Apollo began his assignment at hand by putting in a liter of purified water into his cauldron and putting it on heat. Apollo grabbed one bezoar and put it into the mortar to make it close to powder. He grabbed the scalpel to take out one boomslag skin and placed it into his cauldron and made sure that it was pushed to the bottom like instructed. He made sure to be careful when he added one cup of Ptolemy and he waited and watched as the boomslag skin hardened and broke up into pieces and turned burgundy. When that finally happened, he moved to the next step. The Head Boy covered his potion for five minutes on low heat. While he waited for that, Apollo grabbed a spine of lionfish and placed it into his mortar and added a half a cup of moonstone powder and seven droplets of syrup of hellebore. He made sure to keep his mouth closed during all of this and began to make his paste.

When he looked at the clock he saw that the five minutes was up and removed the cover off of his cauldron and placed the now paste in the mortar into the water and when the paste was in there fully, he turned off the flame and added one fresh fire slug and covered his cauldron back up. When he felt a vibration from his cauldron, he made sure to back up a little so nothing got on him. When the heat died down, he left it covered and grabbed his stuff and packed it into his bag before he left the classroom.

This class is officially closed. Thank you all, for attending. Points are as follows:

Faowind, J = 20 pts (attendance) + 5 pts (participation) - 5 pts (ruined potion) = 20 pts
Hastings, M = 20 pts (attendance) = 20 pts
Oxton, A = 20 pts (attendance) + 5 pts (participation) = 25 pts
Semele, T = 20 pts (attendance) + 5 pts (participation) = 25 pts
Stormbearer, A = 20 pts (attendance) + 5 pts (answer) + 5 pts (participation) = 30 pts

Total:
Belladonna: 20 pts
Nightshade: 55 pts
Wormwood: 45 pts