Huzzah for Potions on Potions

Professor Connell

January 06, 2007 4:54 PM

First Years- Lesson 1 by Professor Connell

Marian Connell had not been sure what to expect from her new first year class. Yes, she’d ‘met’ some of them, her Pecaris, on the first night, and, of course, there was always Hikaru, who really didn’t help her nerves much. Yes, they were only eleven, but when even one was doing things like setting off hexes in classrooms and signing essays in blood, well, she was naturally a little worried.

Even so, they seemed quiet and un-troublesome enough as they entered her classroom for the first time. Of course, that could possible have been from nervousness or curiosity. Her classroom was very different from the other professors, for obvious reasons. Dark, windowless, and with shelves situated around the room displaying myriad jars of pickled animals, it was not a welcoming room. Yet Marian liked her classroom the way it was, no matter how others might view it.

As soon as it appeared the last of the first years had found their way to the classroom and taken a seat, she stood from her seat behind her desk, moved to close the door, then returned to the front of her classroom, standing this time. “Welcome to your forst potions lesson,” she began, resisting the urge to comb her figresr thorugh her curly blond mop of hair nervously. While one would think such basics would only get easier after five years of teaching, it hadn’t for the twenty-five-year-old. She still thought she sounded weak or like a pushover, things that had, fortunately, been corrected with the years.

“For those of you who have not yet met me, namely those not in my house of Pecari, my name is Professor Connell, and, as you probably guessed, I am your potions professor. For those of you who know little of this class, it will be almost exactly what it sounds like- you will be learning the art of making various potions, as well as the uses and properties of various ingredients. Eventually, you will learn more advanced skills, of course, but for this first year at least the focus is on the basics.”

Marian had been smiling throuout the introduction, but now turned sterner, gazing at the assembled students with none of the humor she’d shown earlier. “Potions making is an exact art, and precision and attention to detail are perhaps the most important thinks you will gain from this class. Safety is without a doubt my foremost concern while you are in here, so there are several rules you must follow at all times.

“First, take the utmost care when preparing your ingredients and adding them to your potion. Even an ounce too much of a substance can cause catastrophic results, as has been shown before in this classroom. Also, there is to be no horseplay of any sort. When you are working, and you will more often than not be working with partners or in groups of three, the ways you chose to spend your time is your own decision, as long as htre work is done, and no one is faced with potential harm. However, if that line is crossed, I will not hesitate to make the consequences as severe as it is in my power to do so. Remember, there are potentially dangerous solutions in those cauldrens, in addition to the simple threats posed by the fire or the scalpels. While there is a direct path from this room to the infirmary, since the medic and I share so many of the same ingredients, I would prefer not to have to trouble him because someone behaved stupidly.”

Seriousness gone now that her warning and/or threats had been dispersed, Marian leaned back to look at her planner to make sure she had the right pages, then spoke for the final time. “Today, to start off things easily, you will be making a boil-cure potion. It will be found on page fifteen of your textbooks, and you should have the ingredients, dried nettles, crushed snake fangs, stewed horned slugs, porcupine quills, in your potions supplies, although there is a supply of most common ingredients in the black cabinet in the back of the classroom. You will work with a partner, and once you’ve finished, put a vial of your finished product on my desk, with the names of both partners written on it. Also, while there should be a warning in the instructions, be sure not to add the porcupine until after the potion is taken off the fire, or it will melt your cauldron and likely your and your neighbor’s shoes, which is not a pleasant experience.

“Now, if there are any questions, feel free to ask at any time, otherwise, you may begin.” This was the part that might get a bit complicated, Marian thought, taking a seat behind her desk as the students began to find partners. Normally, she wouldn’t feel any qualms about working on something for another class while her current one was working, since generally if anything happened someone would alert her, but with the rumors she’d heard…paying close attention was probably a must.

OOC: Standard posting procedure applies. There should be at least two decent-sized paragraphs, so about 5 sentence minimum per paragraph. However, longer, more detailed posts are greatly appreciated, and will receive more house-points than posts that barely make the limit. Also, as this is a potions classroom, minor spills and the occasional explosion are welcome (such as adding the porcupine quills too early, intentionally or unintentionally), but please read others’ posts before having something like that occur, since it’s not likely that two different groups would forget something, particularly if an explosion already happened. Be creative, and have fun.
\n\n

Subthreads:

Yay! Potions! [Tag:Riley] by Hikaru with Professor Connell, Riley Garraway

Huzzah for Potions by Mika with Josiah Ashwood

Okay then by Kavin Analai with Irene Liddowe, Kavin

Hoping not to blow up the lab by Gwyneth Aquillon with Hyana Kamiya, Gwyneth

Boils Galore! And wanting a partner... by Lucas Smythe with Meri Havernash, Lucas

Eew. Just...eew. by Lutece Anthony with Oliver Abbott, Lutece

Not the cheeriest of classrooms by Lawrence Cooper with Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri, Law Cooper

Needed: One Partner. Preferably unpickled. by Brett Hodges

Partner? by Ebony with Talen Dupree

lesson closed (nm) by Professor Connell

0 Professor Connell First Years- Lesson 1 0 Professor Connell 1 5

Hikaru

January 06, 2007 10:01 PM

Yay! Potions! [Tag:Riley] by Hikaru

OOC: Okay Professor, the Headmaster commanded me (not really but still) that I needed to turn it down! So, I will try harder to be more realistic!

BIC: Hikaru walked through the open door of the Potions class nervously and sat down at a table near the back. He had heard Professor Connell was teaching this class and he was practically quaking in his shoes wait, he was quaking...his entire body was shaking. I can't mess up anymore for a while! Oh, why me! Hikaru opened his bag up and cringed as everything fell out, he bent over on the ground to pick stuff up and shed one quick tear before he stood back up. The Headmaster had confiscated Aisu and sent him back to his godfathers who had decided that he could keep the puffskien. Hikaru had never been so sad in his entire life, but after the Headmaster had explained things to him he had begrudgingly excepted them.

He listened for Professor Connells instructions and kept his head down the entire time, avoiding her gaze but listening to everything she said. He looked around for Riley but couldn't see her anywhere, he took out his box of Potions ingredients and turned the fire on under his cauldren. He shouted as the flames singed his finger and left a burn, he ignored it and picked up the scalpal with shaky hands. He set it down and muttered to himself "It's going to be okay, just wait until Riley gets here and I can talk to her."\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Hikaru Yay! Potions! [Tag:Riley] 0 Hikaru 0 5

Professor Connell

January 06, 2007 11:42 PM

OOC by Professor Connell

Hikaru, while you do seem to be making progress with this post at least in keeping things more realistic, you exhibited another problem, just as serious: writing for another character, in this case the headmaster. While the conversation on the OOC board might have made you assume it would actually be he who would take away your fox, there has been no indication of that IC.

Since you don't know how the situation is going to play out, writing what 'happened' is just as much power-playing as writing what another person did. So, for future reference, please try to wait until a thread is finished before referencing the conclusion in another. \r\n\r\nThere is no need to respond to this message.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Professor Connell OOC 0 Professor Connell 0 5

Mika

January 07, 2007 1:40 AM

Huzzah for Potions by Mika

Mika was excited about potions class. He liked potions. He liked any kind of lesson, really, but his mother was a healer, and someday Mika wanted to be a healer, so, potions held great interest to him. When he rolled into the classroom in his wheelchair, he took his time, gazing at all the jars of ickiness. He found them morbid, but fascinating. He parked his wheelchair somewhere in the middle of where everyone was seated, but out of the way, listening patiently to the lecture. He knew all about potions safety. His mother had had her own still room, and he had watched her at work, even helped her, handing her ingredients.

His shoulders drooped though, as the teacher told them it would be more group work. Mika disliked group work. He disliked working in groups. He found dealing with others very draining. Especially with school work. Mika was aware that he was rather exceptional in his studies, and all too often for him, group work meant that he did the work, while the other member or members did something unrelated, and usually far more fun. Further more, he was also realizing that dealing with English in an educational setting was more draining than he could have ever imagined. His head felt full of oatmeal.

It was with a sigh that he looked around for a partner. Yae, or Hyana or Ebony... even that Gwyneth girl would be okay. He suspected with Yae he would end up doing most of the work, but that was okay, Yae could just ramble to himself, while Mika worked. He was interesting to listen to, if nothing else. Hyana at least wouldn't be bossy, and Ebony seemed both friendly and intelligent. That latino boy he shared a room with would be good too. He glanced around looking for one of those he knew.\n\n

0 Mika Huzzah for Potions 0 Mika 0 5

Kavin Analai

January 07, 2007 11:14 AM

Okay then by Kavin Analai

Kavin found himself walking into this class without his sister. Darci was Merlin-knew-where, and hadn't been able to come to class with him. Which was okay for him, even if they did need partners in classes the first years normally worked with the second. And Kavin found Gray now, so she could help him.

But much to Kavin's surprise and dismay, it was an only-first-year class. Kavin shook his dark brown hair bitterly. Ugh, without his sister and Gray, how would he work this one out. Well, maybe they didn't need partners in this class anyway? Kavin was more suited to working alone than with others anyway. He just had to wait and see, or hope Darci walked in late.

Kavin sat at a seat and ignored everyone else. He didn't want to talk, Kavin came here to learn. He set his entire attention on the teacher, a leather-bound notebook in front of him while he held his quill above his ink, ready to write down any needed information. Kavin's book was opened to the first page, and his supplies out. He had no idea to set out a "cold" feeling to keep people away, like the characters in books explained. But he just hoped that he was doing so, not wanting to talk to anyone.

So the teacher here was Darci's head. Kavin mentally hoped Darci hadn't done anything yet, but it was an empty fear. Kavin knew his sister never talked back to adults unless he truely believed they deserved it. And Darci wasn't one for causing too much trouble this early in the year. Besides, Kavin had already heard many rumors of other first years that seemed to be even worse than his sister was at her worse. So Darci may have been the last thing on a teacher's mind, the seemingly harmless, good-little girl (which she could be at times).

When Professor Connell started talking about Potions, however, Kavin dropped his sister from his mind and began writing down what she was saying. Being careful with ingredients, the concequences if not. Kavin groaned inwardly at the thought of partners, but who said he really had to talk to people (or maybe he could actually find two other people that he liked to talk to).

Then Kavin started writing on the lesson for today. He couldn't help but feel angry for the fact that they had to work with partners now, he could always find at least one friend but never this fast. Kavin bitterly scribbled down the ingredients for the boil-removal thingie. With his free hand, Kavin flipped to page fifteen. Quickly he wrote the warning down (despite the fact it was on the page), pushed his notebook away, and pulled his cauldron closer.

Kavin pulled out all the ingredients he'd brought from his list and sorted out the necessary ingredients from the unnecessary. Kavin read theough the instructions carefully twice, and nodded in understanding. Well, he had all the ingredients out, he knew what he needed to do, he'd written everything down. Kavin was ready to make the perfect boil-treatment. Only one problem.

Now Kavin needed a partner.\n\n

0 Kavin Analai Okay then 0 Kavin Analai 0 5

Josiah Ashwood

January 07, 2007 12:59 PM

huzzah..that is fun to say! ^_^ by Josiah Ashwood

OOC: If you don't want me as your partner, feel free to have Mika say so. your post made it seem like you didn't want someone else, just Hyana told me you were nice so I wanted to have a thread with you. ^_^

IC: Josaih found his attention wandering as the teacher spoke. Seriously, why did all the teachers need to go over the same rules every class? Don't roughhouse, don't talk when others do, this is a very dangerous class, blah blah. He did pay at least a bit of attention, however. His mother would be very very mad if he didn't pay proper attention to Professor Connell. She had told him how great a teacher she was. To be honest, he was liking Care of Magical Creatures the best so far, but he was yet to have his head's class. He was sure to like it since Professor Deck seemed nice.

Grabbing a quill and his bottle of navy blue ink, he copied the ingredients. The teacher's words barely made the journey to his mind. It was a few minutes before he registered her warning about the quills and another before he thought to write it down. Stifiling a yawn, he finished his notes. Maybe he shouldn't stay up so late. Oh well, he was paying for it now with his short attention span. He looked around and saw people getting together. Were they supposed to be in groups? Yes, he could remember the professor telling them that. He looked around and could find a few people left alone. One of which was in a wheelchair. Hey, that would be neat, to talk to someone in a wheelchair! He himself never had one; the closest was crutches for a sprained foot from falling down the stairs. His mother would have a heart attack if he ever joined sports!

He walked calmly over to the boy, not sure if he had a friend in mind to pair up with. He had wanted to pair with Elly or Hyana, but neither of them were to be seen. Oh, wiat, Elly was a second year. So she wasn't in this class. Drat. "Hello, my name is Josaih. Do you have a partner to work with?" he asked tentitively. \n\n

0 Josiah Ashwood huzzah..that is fun to say! ^_^ 97 Josiah Ashwood 0 5

Irene Liddowe

January 07, 2007 3:55 PM

Oops. This is the real post. by Irene Liddowe

Irene entered the Potions classroom ever-so-slightly late, though from the amount of people there it looked like she wasn't the only one...

She sat down at an empty desk and reached into her bag. Irene pulled out her quill and parchment, taking note on what Professor Connell was saying. She had been looking foreward to Potions. It was something she could do and do well. She pulled her long brown hair into a ponytail so it didn't get in her face. The last thing she wanted was to have her hair burned off.

When Prof. Connell mentioned partners Irene couldn't help but feel slightly more interested. Working with other peopel usually helped her feel more into a project and it gave her motivation not to mess things up. Prof. Connell gave the word to begin and Irene stood.

She wasn't really sure who to go to. Irene scanned the class, looking for someone who didn't seem to have a partner. A boy was sitting at his desk already surrounded by ingredients. Irene gathered her things and headed towards him.

"Um...Hi. She said we should work with partners. So...Do you want to work together?" \n\n

0 Irene Liddowe Oops. This is the real post. 106 Irene Liddowe 0 5

Mika

January 07, 2007 4:22 PM

Another New Person by Mika

OOC: No its totally fine, I don't mind at all! Mika is just one of those introverted people, doesn't play well with others :) Glad to have a thread with you.

Mika sighed and tried not to rub his temples as a boy who was no one he knew. Josiah was a good name though, well except that it had a 'j' in it. Mika couldn't say 'j's very well at all. Neither Russian nor Hebrew had an equivalent sound. Ah well.

"I do not have a partner. My name is Mika'el. But please to call me Mika." He had an accent, that probably sounded soviet bloc to a discerning ear. It was a rather heavy accent, but he enunciated very carefully and was clear and easy to understand.

He paused, unsure where to go from there, so he opened his book to the appropriate page, looking at what was required of them. "This is a mostly easy potion. Lets measure out the ingredients. Do you have your scales with you?" He asked. Mika rarely forgot school supplies, but his scales he had intentionally left in his room. They hadn't fit well in his backpack, and he had thought he'd have time to retrieve them before potions, unfortunately that hadn't been the case. He really hoped Yosiah had his scales with him. Otherwise he'd have to talk to the prof about how he was unprepared for class, and that would be terribly terribly embarrassing.\n\n

0 Mika Another New Person 0 Mika 0 5

Gwyneth Aquillon

January 07, 2007 5:21 PM

Hoping not to blow up the lab by Gwyneth Aquillon

As Gwyneth arrived at the classroom she looked around to see if she recognized any faces. She saw the boy, Mika'el, she had met in CoMC class. He was already talking to another boy so she just waved and moved on. She didn't recognize any of the other faces and didn't see any of her friends yet. Well, she was a bit early, old habits die hard.

She found a seat near the back of the class. This was a class she wasn't very comfortable with. Potions sounded interesting and very 'witchy' but they reminded her too much of her alarming accidents with the Chemistry set her well-meaning father had given her last Christmas. After the last experiment, which necessitated calling the fire department, she had decided that Chemistry and she did not mix. Yet, here she was again. She hoped she wouldn't be repeating history.

She settled into her seat and got out the basics from her bag - textbook, parchment for notes and her quill. 'What else will I need?' she wondered silently. 'Might as well get out the scales for measuring, and this ridiculous cauldron.' The sight of the scales and cauldron reminded her of her previous experiments and she began to mutter under her breath, 'just don't blow up the garage, just don't blow up the garage.' She stopped suddenly when she realized a student was sitting down beside her. \n\n

0 Gwyneth Aquillon Hoping not to blow up the lab 0 Gwyneth Aquillon 0 5

Hyana Kamiya

January 07, 2007 8:24 PM

Ditto by Hyana Kamiya

Hyana walked into the Potions classroom, and looked around. She saw Josiah and Mika'el talking...she knew it would be rude to interrupt them. She started to walk over to Hikaru, but he seemed to be waiting for someone. Probably Riley...I really don't want to bother him. She thought sadly. She looked around the classroom again, desperate to find someone sit next to. She sighed. She was so shy...why couldn't she just talk to people?!

She decided to stand until her new sensei had finished her speech. Well...this made her feel better. Potions sounded really hard. If she made one slight mistake, she could mess up everything! What pressure! One chopped ingredent cut just a little too thin, or a drop more of water than she needed, could blow up the entire room. Hyana was shaking. She did not work well under pressure. The atmosphere of the room didn't help much either.

Hyana looked around the room for a final time and saw a girl sitting alone. She seemed just as nervous as Hyana was. Just don't blow up the garage, just don't blow up the garage The girl muttered. Hyana laughed kindly as she sat down. The girl stopped right away once Hyana had sat, but Hyana gave her a kind smile.

"I g-guess you're just as nervous as m-me." She stuttered. Her quiet voice was probably hard to hear, and she hoped her slight Japanese accent wouldn't get in the way. She bowed slightly and said, "My n-name is Hyana Kamiya. D-do you mind if I work with you miss..." She trailed off, realizing she didn't know the girl's name. Blushing slightly, she looked away and pulled out the ingredents she would need, her black hair falling over her face.\n\n

0 Hyana Kamiya Ditto 0 Hyana Kamiya 0 5

Lucas Smythe

January 08, 2007 1:15 PM

Boils Galore! And wanting a partner... by Lucas Smythe

Lucas had been looking forward to his potions lesson as it was something he saw himself as having the potential to do extremely well in, but as he walked into the classroom and noticed various dead things in jars strung around the walls, he began to wonder whether this really was something he wanted to be taking part in. He was almost sure he felt a nosebleed coming on.

Despite the pickled animals, Lucas strode into the room as confidently as he could (though making sure not to look at the walls) and took a seat near the front of the room to show willing. He flicked a stray bit of blonde fringe from his eye, scowling as it promptly fell straight back again.

Releasing a sigh and choosing to ignore his hair, he made a glance around the room at the rest of his year: some he recognised - either from the feast or, in Mika's case, because they shared a dorm - and some he didn't, but he was hoping that one of them would have the decency to be his partner for the class; and maybe even become friends?

Turning back to face the front at the sound of his new potions teacher's voice, he listened carefully to what she had to say - a brief introduction, some rules and hazards, and (Lucas raised an eyebrow at this) the fact that they would be making a potion to cure boils.

'Delightful.' He thought to himself sarcastically as he began thumbing through his textbook for page fifteen. At finding it, he read through the recipe carefully, not wishing to be the one to melt his shoes or set fire to his sleeves in the very first lesson. 'Seems pretty simple I guess.' He decided mentally before glancing around in hope of finding somebody he knew to be his partner. \n\n

0 Lucas Smythe Boils Galore! And wanting a partner... 96 Lucas Smythe 0 5

Josiah

January 08, 2007 4:36 PM

Whoo!! by Josiah

Josiah smiled at Mika. He seemed nice enough. But what was his story? Why the wheelchair? He shook his head a bit, hardly noticable. Following Mika's lead, he opened his textbook. "Yes, I have my scales. By the way, Mika, you can give me any name you'd like. I am perfectly fine with nick-names." He said flashing another smile. He put his scales on the desk.

"What is your family like? Your accent, Russian I assume? My family has always lived in the U.S.A" he said, "And all the people in my family are witches and wizzards." he added, though was unsure if that sounded rude. He lit a fire under his cauldron. To be honest, he didn't like to light it with any spells or anything flashy; he lit it the muggle way. Besides, he was sure that he couldn't use a spell that huge to save his life! He laughed nervously and took out his own potions ingredients, arranging them in the order they were needed.\n\n

0 Josiah Whoo!! 0 Josiah 0 5

Meri Havernash

January 09, 2007 9:29 AM

hope you're better at this than I am! by Meri Havernash

Despite good intentions and leaving a generous 15 minutes earlier than she needed, Meri's sense of direction (rather, the lack thereof) caused her to arrive barely on time for class. She brushed in, only seconds before the professor, and glanced around the room, franticly looking for an empty seat. Her heart plummeted in her chest as she realized that the closest available seat was in the front of the room and bit back a groan. Turning a mortifying shade of red, she moved as quickly as she could to the seat and dropped into it before catching her breath.

"Sheesh," she muttered under her breath, embarassed, "Why couldn't they make this room easier to find?" She glanced up, finally noticing the person she had sat down beside. "Oh, erm, I hope you weren't saving this seat, I can probably move, I mean..." she fumbled with the words and cursed herself silently. She made herself stop talking, take a deep breath, and start over. Hopefully before the boy beside her decided she was utterly stupid. Time enough for him to figure THAT out after a bad potion or two. She sighed, and began again.

"Ah, sorry... My name's Meri, from Teppenpaw. Do you mind if I sit here?" she asked, softly, meeting his eyes with a timid smile, her face still red with her embarrassment. She reached into her bag to pull out her book, noting his was already out. She strained to see what page it was open to, then opened her book and scanned it quickly. "So... is it okay? I can get the materials if you start setting up the potion," she offered, nervously.\n\n

0 Meri Havernash hope you're better at this than I am! 0 Meri Havernash 0 5

Lutece Anthony

January 09, 2007 10:34 AM

Eew. Just...eew. by Lutece Anthony

The room was dark and windowless and there were pickled things on the walls.

And Lutece had thought that Charms and Care of Magical Creatures was bad.

At least in Charms, there weren't pickled animals all over the place. Yes, there had been that obnoxious crippled kid, Mike or whatever, and they'd had to deal with mutant frogs, but at least it didn't have pickled things on the walls. Care of Magical Creatures had been marginally better, except for that kid who threw that puffskein at her. At least there hadn't been pickled things there, though.

Had she mentioned her distaste for pickled things yet?

This class was probably run by an ancient old guy too, probably with yellow teeth and warts. Who else would put up with teaching accomodations like this? At the very least, it would be a young guy teacher who was really nerdy. Like McKindy, except that McKindy was probably more along the lines of 'clinically insane' then nerdy. Lutece put her bag down and waited for the class to start. She had arrived at this awful classroom ahead of time on purpose. That Mike kid would probably be in her class again, and she wanted to show him up by arriving there on time to listen to the complete set of instructions.

When the teacher finally stood up, Lutece stared in flat out astonishment. The professor was female. And young. No way. Not only that, but she expected them to make some sort of boil removing potion out of dead animal parts! Lutece wasn't quite sure which was more gross, the dead animal parts or the mention of boils.

For once, the girl was thrilled to be working in partners. With any luck, she wouldn't have to do anything. Lutece approached the first unpartnered person she could see, twisting a blond-streaked brown strand of hair around one finger absently. She still hadn't made her curling iron work. Tapping the person on the back, she smiled sweetly as they turned around, blue-green stare daring the person to argue.

"Hi, I'm Lutece Anthony. First year Crotalus; would you like to be my partner?"\n\n

0 Lutece Anthony Eew. Just...eew. 100 Lutece Anthony 0 5

Lucas

January 09, 2007 12:46 PM

'Hope' being the operative word! by Lucas

As Lucas was thumbing through his textbook, a girl flopped down in the seat beside him. Lucas noticed that she was rather red in the face and found himself wondering why, though he knew it would be rude to ask - that may just be her natural complexion?

"Oh, erm, I hope you weren't saving this seat, I can probably move, I mean..." She somewhat stuttered to him, making him smirk a little - he knew exactly how she must feel since he himself had experienced a few problems with his speech in the first time of meeting new people.

Lucas was about to reply when the girl spoke again, repairing her first efforts and properly introducing herself as Meri, as Teppenpaw. Lucas smiled at her, though she had reached down to get her book so he assumed that she didn't catch this friendly notion, as when she sat back up, she asked again if it was alright her her to join him.

"Of course." Lucas replied, offering another smile, this girl seemed sincere enough, though perhaps a little bit clumsy. 'Still,' He thought, 'I guess it just adds character. She's alright, I'm sure.' He spoke again: "I'm Lucas," he told her, beginning to set up the cauldron and taking another quick glance at his book in the process. "I'm in Aladren."

Feeling that he ought to make a little more effort in the conversation department, more to 'break the ice' and make him and his new partner feel more at ease than anything else, he turned more toward Meri and once again found himself pushing his stubborn fringe back from his eyes (though it didn't stay back, as usual).

"So," he grinned casually, "you ready for this?" \n\n

0 Lucas 'Hope' being the operative word! 0 Lucas 0 5

Meri

January 09, 2007 1:07 PM

I hope tis more than operative! by Meri

As Meri settled down a bit and caught up on the few minutes she'd missed, she managed to relax and caught the boy's name, as well as his smile and encouraging words. She smiled, relieved, and her flush faded to her normal complexion.

"Am I EVER ready for potions?" she said, with an exaggerated motion of distress, the way she had seen a 'damsel' do right before swooning in a movie. "I think the more important question is," and she gave him a lopsided grin, "is whether you're ready to handle the impending consequences of my unavoidable mix-ups!" She said this with a teasing tone, though, to show she was teasing... at least partly.

She turned her head away for a moment, to hide her unease as she scanned the page in the book again. It didn't look TOO hard... And she NEEDED to learn to master potions, so she could learn to make her own anti-allergy potion. It was essential. She looked back up at Lucas, with a determined expression settled on her face.

"Ready... Let's get busy with this, shall we, partner?" \n\n

0 Meri I hope tis more than operative! 0 Meri 0 5

Lawrence Cooper

January 09, 2007 4:57 PM

Not the cheeriest of classrooms by Lawrence Cooper

Sitting towards the center of the classroom, Lawrence Cooper wasn't very sure if he was going to like this class. It wasn't the cheeriest looking room, and worst of all, there were no windows, which made the eleven year-old shift in his seat uncomfortably. He wasn't claustrophobic, but the closed-in feeling the room had bothered him, and the boy hoped he could get passed that so he could do his best in his class.

The teacher seemed to be as concerned about safety in the potions classroom as his mother was about the organization of her bookstore. If she were anything like his mother, then Professor Connell would never let them forget even the minutest rule about potions safety. Law knew it was important, but the rules kind of bored him, and just as his attention was about to completely drift away from the class, she started talking about potion making. They were going to get to make potions already? That was absolutely brilliant. He was sure this would be much more interesting than talking about the rules, to say the least. Even if it was a potion for boils, which were pretty gross. Law thought of himself more as a sports kid then a gross-out type of kid.

He opened his textbook to the assigned page and skimmed over the instructions. It looked like the actual preparation of the ingredients would be harder than the brewing and all, as long as you weren’t careless. All he needed now were the ingredients and a partner. Neither would be hard to find, especially since the teacher had directed them where to get their ingredients, and because people at Sonora seemed to be really cool.

It was much too noisy to just ask someone, so he ripped a piece of parchment off from his roll, and packed it into a light ball, aiming for the shoulder of a person just off to the right of his seat. Tossing the paper ball, he hit the tip of their right shoulder; sure he’d get their attention.

“Hey,” he called out loudly to the chosen person, “Would you mind being my partner?”\n\n

0 Lawrence Cooper Not the cheeriest of classrooms 0 Lawrence Cooper 0 5

Gwyneth Aquillon

January 10, 2007 7:29 AM

So my fear shows, doesn't it by Gwyneth Aquillon

Gwyneth glanced at the Asian girl as she sat down in the next seat. The girl, who had introduced herself as Hyana, had heard Gwyneth's quietly muttered mantra. RATS! She felt like such a baby! But Hyana had said something about being nervous herself, so maybe she wasn't being overly paranoid.

"Hi, I'm Gwyneth Aquillon. I think I should warn you that the last time I did anything like this," and she waved her hand indicating the cauldron and scales, "my experiment blew up, the garage caught on fire and the fire department had to be called. But if you still want to be my partner after hearing this, then, yeah. That would be great."

Gwyneth reached for a ponytail holder and pulled her hair back. Then she took her glasses from the chain around her neck and put them on. She felt like she was trying to don some sort of protective armor against impending disaster. She checked her textbook for the list of ingredients and turned to Hyana and asked, "Ready?"\n\n

0 Gwyneth Aquillon So my fear shows, doesn't it 0 Gwyneth Aquillon 0 5

Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri

January 10, 2007 9:29 AM

Good you have a cheery partner then, yes? by Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri

Jae knew it was important to listen to teachers. He learned that last year in science class when they were learning about some Chemistry, and they had been using acid, and somehow some acid had ended up on his partner's shoe because the thing they had been using to put the acid into the cup wasn't closed all the way. So Jae really, really tried to listen to Professor Connell, but halfway through he got distracted, looking around the room. He saw Mika, and that Gwyneth girl, and the kid who had gotten the Charms teacher with the froghat upset. Jae didn't see the older guy he worked with in Charms, though. Maybe he was just in a different class.

After class inventory had been taken, Jae looked around the room. There were weird pickled things all over, which was kind of cool. It probably made some of the girls jump and yell, like they did in the old sitcoms that Aunt Marla and Aunt Cheri and Jae sometimes watched on Friday nights, but Jae thought they were cool.

Now that he had taken not of his surroundings, Jae started to fidget. He twirled the earring in his left ear, fiddled with the wandstick wedged behind one ear, and pulled on one of his blond dreadlocks. When Professor Connell said they could turn to page fifty in their book, Jae did so happily. Finally, something to do! So he looked at the potion for a bit. Why would someone want to make a Forgetfullness Potion?

The question shot out of his head and Jae shot out of his chair as Professor Connell said they could work with partners. Partners were FUN! Even though Mika already had a partner, which made Jae sad, and so did Gwyneth, it was still exciting. Looking about and grinning broadly, Jae searched for someone, anyone to be his partner.

Then, a paper ball fell from the sky and hit him on the shoulder.

"Sure!" Jae responded to the question, grabbing his bag and skipping over to the other boy. "I'm Jae! I'm in Pecari with Saul, and I worked with Mika and Gwyneth in Comec and a big kid called Earl in Charms, but Mika and Gwyneth already have partners and Earl isn't here. Why do we have to make a Forgetfulness Potion?"\n\n

0 Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri Good you have a cheery partner then, yes? 0 Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri 0 5

Oliver Abbott

January 10, 2007 3:24 PM

You'll get over it. by Oliver Abbott

Oliver was unsure about potions lessons. His Uncle Raymond, the only relative his parents had ever admitted to, worked with potions for a living, doing Oliver didn’t know what. Uncle Raymond was sort of chubby and smelled like sewers quite often, but Oliver liked him a lot. He had told his nephew to try hard at school, but especially in potions. Oliver didn’t want to let his uncle down if he could possibly help it, so he felt under quite a lot of pressure to do well in this subject. It therefore didn’t help that when Oliver entered the potions classroom, the sight of so many dead things in jars made him want to vomit. Sure, he and Julian had collected insects and even the occasional rodent in the past, but dicing things up was another matter entirely. He hoped they wouldn’t have to cut things up this lesson, he wasn’t sure his stomach could handle it. Carefully avoiding looking at the walls, Oliver hurried to a desk and slumped into the seat.

The small saving grace was that the teacher seemed nice. Not that Oliver had expected otherwise; all the teachers he had met at Sonora so far seemed nice, if a little odd sometimes. Oliver took out his notebook and scribbled down the odd word and phrase as the teacher talked:

Professor Connell

uses & properties of ingredients

precision and attention to detail

Rules: 1 – care with ingredients, 2 – no horseplay 3 – fire & scalpels

Then the professor said they should turn to page fifteen in their books, so Oliver did so. The potion was for curing boils. Oliver sincerely hoped he would never encounter this potion after the lesson.

Oliver stood up and was rummaging through his potions kit to locate the necessary ingredients, when he felt a light tapping on his back. He turned around to see a girl smiling at him.

“Hi, I’m Lutece Anthony. First year Crotalus; would you like to be my partner?”

Oliver blinked at her through his glasses. “I know you’re in Crotalus,” he said, momentarily forgetting his manners. She had obviously forgotten him entirely, even though they’d often been in the common room together, so hopefully she would forgive him. “Oliver Abbott,” he said, and extended his hand to her in an effort to make up for his previous bluntness. “And, okay, I’ll be your partner.”

Glad that finding a partner had been so easy, Oliver turned back to retrieving his ingredients, pushing his blond hair from his eyes so he could see. When all the required items lay on the desk, he looked back up at Lutece. “You ever done potions before?” he asked her.
\n\n

0 Oliver Abbott You'll get over it. 99 Oliver Abbott 0 5

Lucas

January 10, 2007 3:26 PM

Let's hope it's <i>co</i>-operative! by Lucas

Lucas wasn't sure whether to laugh or to be afraid at Meri's statement "I think the more important question is whether you're ready to handle the impending consequences of my unavoidable mix-ups!" But still, she certainly looked determined to give it her best shot, and Lucas couldn't deny - even if he wanted to - that that was better than not caring.

Upon her light-heartidly asking if he was ready to 'get busy with it', Lucas nodded enthusiastically. "Sure thing!" He smirked, turning his full attention to her. "Alright, the cauldron is set up now so... do you have the ingredients we need?" Lucas added, motioning toward his own pack with his head. "If you don't have them then I can provide this time." He offered in what he hoped was a thoughtful and helpful manner - he certainly didn't want to insinuate that she was unprepared for the class.

Once again, Lucas began feeling like he should add more to the conversation, perhaps he could ask where she was from or what her hobbies were? But then again, perhaps they should just focus on the potion making for now. He pondered these thoughts while waiting for her answer, flicking his fringe back for what must have been at least the fifth time that lesson - maybe he ought get it cut?\n\n

0 Lucas Let's hope it's <i>co</i>-operative! 0 Lucas 0 5

Brett Hodges

January 10, 2007 7:47 PM

Needed: One Partner. Preferably unpickled. by Brett Hodges

Arriving late for class without permission was bad, but with permission it was all good and even though it was the first day of class, today definitely felt like a late with permission sort of day. Brett arrived early, hoping to ask Professor Connell if he could go to the bathroom, go find a notebook, or something, anything, that would make sure he missed a good five minutes of class.

But when he crossed the threshold into the dungeon of a classroom, Brett's eyes widened. There were jars of stuff and things. He hoisted his bookbag a little and spent the extra time walking the perimeter of the room, taking in all the ghoulish, creepy, disgusting things. Eye of newt, toe of frog, eels, leeches... it was like a movie set for some movie that had a wicked witch or warlock in it. Merlin something, maybe. Or, like, Dexter's Lab but, like, for real and with wizards instead of scientists.

Unicorn blood... is this for real? Oh, check it out: Rat tails! Those sure look real.

There were other, far less interesting things too: wormwort, disappointingly, didn't seem to be made of worms, and lovage was just some root like thing -- not very lovable in Brett's opinion. Girls would never go for it.

Soon it was time to find a seat. After all, he didn't want to get stuck sitting in the front or off in a corner somewhere. Where a kid sat said an awful lot about him and he wanted to be right where all the action was. Note passing, jokes behind the teacher's back... he didn't want to be out of the loop like some loser -- like that kid who sat too far back whose stuff all fell out of his bag. See, that? That was not a good way to start a class. Brett chose a seat as near the middle of the room as he could get. It was a little further front than he'd have liked, and a little too far to one side. Even the kid in the wheelchair was behind him. If your seat on the first day said anything about the year you were about to have, Brett's looked far too studious for his taste. He was going to have to sit sideways to be in on anything.

He gave Professor Connell the benefit of the doubt today and sat up like a good student. She smiled a lot. If Brett had friends he might have tried exchanging looks with them about the nice teacher. They could probably get away with stuff. Then she did her mean thing with the warnings and the fire and brimstone, but it was all an exagerration. Brett wouldn't be the one to test her but someone would. Someone always did. His eyes wandered over the kids and tried to figure out who it would be. Maybe that kid in the back row who broke his bookbag or something. Hadn't he already gotten in trouble? Yeah, Brett's bets were on him. And if not him, it would be Jae. Jae was Brett's roommate and there was like no way he could stay still for a full class. No way. He'd probably do something dumb just by accident. It would be funny.

Not that Brett didn't like Jae. He did. Granted, they hadn't really done anything together yet, but, man, everything that kid did was funny.

The sound of flipping pages alerted Brett to the need to open his book. He twisted around backward and checked the page number on Wheels' book and, turning back, flipped open his text to page 15. He tuned in again just in time to hear the word, "partners" either that or he tuned in again because he heard it. Either way, he managed to catch the jist of what they were supposed to be doing. Pair off, make the potion. Got it. It sounded like it was just a matter of following the directions exactly. Not hard: it was all written down.

Wheels the Chairman with the mad page number knowledge had already found someone and so had that girl Brett noticed in CoMC, so Brett turned his blonde head to the kid next to him.

"Hey. You want...?" And he spread his hands toward the potions book to sorta finish his offer to work together. Man, he hoped this kid was cool.\n\n

0 Brett Hodges Needed: One Partner. Preferably unpickled. 0 Brett Hodges 0 5

Riley Garraway

January 10, 2007 10:17 PM

Agh, late again! by Riley Garraway

Riley had arrived in the Potion's room during the professor's opening speech, apparently in the beginning. "...my name is Professor Connell, and, as you probably guessed, I am your potions professor. For those of you who know little of this class..." She was a young curly-haired woman, and from the first impression Riley was acquiring, she seemed like a nice person. A ripple of relief washed over Riley, and her lips turned upwards in a small smile.

"Potions making is an exact art, and precision and attention to detail are perhaps the most important things you will gain from this class. Safety is without a doubt..."

Riley's smile fell. Perhaps she'd spoken...erm, thought too soon. Professor Connell's inviting demeanor had suddenly been replaced by something more steely. Riley inwardly shrank a little. But while she listened, she decided that there was nothing to worry about; if anything she should be grateful. Professor Connell was talking about safety, explaining the uniform rules and regulations that Riley had always assumed entailed a Potions class. And as soon as that was over, the professor returned to her initial attitude, and Riley again felt that cool wave of relief.

She'd remained by the doorway, thinking it rude to bustle through the classroom in the middle of the professor's speech. Now that said speech was over, she searched the room, spotting Lutece and Oliver somewhere, and then... ah, there was Hikaru! Riley smiled, and made her way over to him. She smoothed her hand over her hair (she'd somewhat tried to do something new with it, thanks to Lutece's influence- it was now in a nice braid, rather than the customary pony tail) and then tapped her friend on the back. "Fancy meeting you here. Need a partner?" \n\n

0 Riley Garraway Agh, late again! 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Kavin

January 10, 2007 10:33 PM

That's okay by Kavin

Kavin had already begun to open up his ingredients and pull the needed amount out of each, all while having a lookout for Darci to come in at any given time. Of course, Kavin had the idea that Darci wasn't going to be here. She was never late, and never skipped classes, so something must have been holding her. She could have been sleeping? Maybe sick, though she never did very often. It was fine. Even if he was going to yell at her later for leaving him look for a partner.

Then again, just as Kavin pulled his dark brown eyes up from his table to look for a suitable partner, a girl had already come over. As if she hand-picked him out of this bunch as a partner. Oh, Kavin hoped she didn't just feel sorry that he didn't jump up right away to find a "best friend." Or that she was stupid. But Kavin was one to give people a first chance, and only that. So Kavin could spare one for this girl...

"Sure," he muttered non-chalantly, and motioned for the girl to take a seat as he pushed the cauldron between them. "I already read the directions, I'm just sorting out the ingregients. Here, take some and do the same." Kavin's voice was calm and pretty much emotionless. Like it normally was unless he knew the person fairly well. He barely looked at the girl for more than two seconds during the whole sentence, but still Kavin didn't believe he came off as rude.

He wasn't hogging directions and being bossy, and that was all that mattered. He was just stating what he knew in a calm matter. Sure he didn't ask her name, like Darci advised, but did he really have to? "Afterward we can add them in carefully. May have to read it over a few times," he added.\n\n

0 Kavin That's okay 0 Kavin 0 5

Ebony

January 11, 2007 2:31 PM

Partner? by Ebony

Ebony had been really exited since she had woken up. Today was her first Potions lesson, her favourite type of magic. Ebony's father had been a very talented Potions Maker and he had passed on a few of his skills to Ebony and even let her help him at home.

Tying her long black hair up, for the only class she would ever do it for, Ebony checked that she had put the right textbook in her bag, had quills and parchment and set off eagerly for class.

Upon entering the Potions classroom, Ebony was not surprised to see it windowless and with shelves and shelves full of jars, although she did not look closely at those resembling pickled animals. Looking around Ebony could see that most of her fellow year mates had already arrived and she rushed to a seat that was empty two rows from the Professors desk.

Eagerly Ebony pulled out parchment and a quill and waited for the blonde haired Professor to start.

As Professor Connell mentioned the rules for her classroom Ebony wrote them down carefully and then made a note of the ingredients she had mentioned and what page the potion was on, so she could read it again later.

Ebony was already to get started when the dreaded word of... partners was mentioned. Looking around Ebony could see Mika and Hyana her only other friends at the moment had arrived earleir and were sitting behind her and had already paried up so she looked around the classroom somebody else.

Seeing somebody to her left who had not found a partner yet Ebony smiled at them and asked...

'Would you be my partner please?'\n\n

0 Ebony Partner? 0 Ebony 0 5

Hyana

January 11, 2007 4:57 PM

That it does, that it does by Hyana

Hyana's eyes widened slightly when the girl named Gwyneth told her about her garage blowing up. She took a deep breath, calmed down and said, "Of coure I still want to work with you!" She realized that her hair had fallen into her face.

She took out her ice blue flower hair clips and let her hair fall slightly to the middle of her back. She pulled a red hair tie from her pocket and tied up her hair into a bun, using the two hair clips to secure it. She saw Gwyneth putting her hair up too. "I guess we both have long hair." She laughed as she pulled out her list of ingredients. "So...what should we do first?"\n\n

0 Hyana That it does, that it does 0 Hyana 0 5

Hikaru

January 11, 2007 9:05 PM

Thats okay! by Hikaru

Hikaru saw Riley and beamed at her "Hey! I missed you while you were gone!" He looked down at his work and sighed, he had barely made any progress in preparing the ingredients and he noticed one of his cuts was bleeding.

He dug around in his bag and grabbed a cloth rag, which he proceeded to tie around his cut. Hikaru pulled the knot tightly so it wouldn't fall and pushed his hair out of his face.

"Alright, maybe you better deal with the cauldron, I've gotten burned already so maybe you'll have better luck than I did." Hikaru smiled at Riley "How has your moring been?" he asked he began to cut up some of the roots for the potion.\n\n

0 Hikaru Thats okay! 0 Hikaru 0 5

Lutece

January 12, 2007 9:38 PM

Care to wager on that? by Lutece

He knew she was a Crotalus? Lutece had thought she recognised him from somewhere, but she hadn't thought it was Crotalus. Well, her time in the common room was mostly restricted to brief socialisation and the completion of homework. Occasionally she would be reading some sort of book on Quidditch, but Lutece preferred to read in her dorm room, with a minimal amount of people to notice that she was participating in such an activity. The very last thing Lutece wanted to be labelled as was a nerd.

Of course, as soon as he introduced himself, the topic of the insane teacher, garish decorations, and...euergh...the boil potion returned. Had she done potions before? Oliver had to be kidding. Sure, as a three year old playing Snow White she had. Not since then. Lutece couldn't believe that these kids actually believed that this 'potions' stuff actually worked. At least Oliver was fetching the ingredients, though. More bits of dead animal littered her desk. PETA would probably pitch a fit if they knew.

"Not really," she replied. "My parents aren't really into the whole 'magic' thing." Well, her father was. But he was an embarrassment. He organised science fiction conventions as a job, after all. What normal person did that?! At least her mother was relatively normal. Real estate was an okay, if boring, job.

\n\n

0 Lutece Care to wager on that? 0 Lutece 0 5

Gwyneth

January 13, 2007 9:44 AM

RATS! I just don't have a poker face by Gwyneth

Gwyneth was very surprised that Hyana was still willing to be her partner after learning about the explosion with the chemistry set. She had truly thought she would have to do this all by herself! She certainly admired the girl's spunk but began to question her wisdom. If the roles had been reversed, Gwyneth the Chicken-Hearted probably would have flown the coop and found a new lab partner!! Okay, if Hyana is brave enough to try this with me, I can't let her down.

Well, she had learned a few things from the experiments with her chemistry set. One, measurement was crucial - - a little of an ingredient was good, too much could be disasterous! Second, the order you add items to the test tube, or in this case cauldron, was important - - something about starting the right chemical reactions her dad had explained rather belatedly. Lastly, and perhaps most important, READ THE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY.

So Gwyneth quickly checked the textbook again to make certain that, so far, things were going as expected: Cauldron, check
Scales, check
Ingredients, check
Directions, check.

"Okay, I guess I am as ready as I will ever be," She turned to Hyana, "I never thought I would be making a boil-removing potion! I'm not sure I even know what a boil looks like. But it sure sounds very witchy, doesn't it!" Gwyneth was trying to find the bright spot in an otherwise terrifying universe of magic and chemistry!

"I guess we need to get a fire started under the cauldron, then measure out the ingredients and add them carefully. Which do you want to do?" she asked Hyana.\n\n

0 Gwyneth RATS! I just don't have a poker face 0 Gwyneth 0 5

Riley Garraway

January 13, 2007 12:51 PM

Yes, for now, but I won't let it happen again. by Riley Garraway

Riley smiled back at Hikaru, dropping her bag beside their table and taking the empty seat. "Yeah, I missed you, too!" She looked at the cauldron, watched the flame beneath it for a moment, and then bent down and pulled out her textbook. "Page fifteen... was it...?" She rifled through the pages and stopped on fifteen, and sure enough the bold-faced print on the top of the page read BOIL-CURE POTION. She skimmed down the instructions and started going over the ingredients.

"My morning's been good," she said to Hikaru, leaning over and moving the porcupine quills to the side, just to make certain they didn't add it prematurely. Melting their cauldron and their shoes didn't sound very appealing to her. "Pretty uneventful. Yours?"

Reading the instructions once more, she picked up the dried nettles and opened the vial. She remembered making potions at home, with her mother and more commonly with her grandmother. They had been potions for little things, glamour potions for hiding blemishes, gardening potions to help her grandmother's flowers revive when they started to wither. So her hand was steady, unlike what it would have been if this was her first practice with the art. She was a little nervous, seeing that this potion was for a grade and all, but she tried not to let herselt get hung up on that. \n\n

0 Riley Garraway Yes, for now, but I won't let it happen again. 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Hikaru

January 13, 2007 10:12 PM

Well, thats always a good thing... by Hikaru

Hikaru smiled and turned back to the potion "I had a pretty eventful morning, my new fox Aisu got taken away to Professor Kiva..." he sighed and put the remaining ingredients in the fire except for the quills. Hikaru asked her "What do you think I would look like if I died my hair blonde or I was thinking red..."

Hiakru pulled his hair back and sighed as he forgot that he had ditched his hair tie at Quidditch practice. He asked Riley "Who do you think is going to play in the first Quidditch game?"

He moved his hands through his hair and looked at the instructions, in a few minutes the Potion would be done stewing and he could add the quills. He looked through the other book of Potions he had stored away and looked at the chapter for dieing your hair in different colors.\n\n

0 Hikaru Well, thats always a good thing... 0 Hikaru 0 5

Irene

January 14, 2007 4:18 AM

Sorry about the wait. Mid-terms...=/ by Irene

Irene took the seat as the boy moitioned to do so. He seemed very intent on his work and she could respect that. It wasn't her cup of tea, but she thought she could give it try. Passing these classes was at the top of her list. Going home to her Uncle with full marks would be terrific.

"I already read the directions, I'm just sorting out the ingregients. Here, take some and do the same."

Irene nodded and began to sort the ingredients that were left. He had kept his gaze on his work for the most part. She looked up when he added,

"Afterward we can add them in carefully. May have to read it over a few times,"

"Okay," she replied. She blew a stray hair away from her blue-green eyes. Awkward silences were not on her list of favorite things...

"So what house are you in?" she paused and realized she had no idea what this boys name was. She wasn't sure if he really wanted to talk. Irene continued holding her hand out for him to shake,

"I'm Irene, by the way. Irene Liddowe."\n\n

0 Irene Sorry about the wait. Mid-terms...=/ 0 Irene 0 5

Kavin

January 14, 2007 10:31 AM

That's okay, I had exams too by Kavin

Kavin began working on his own ingregients. Picking out the right amounts needed for the potion, and pushing the others away. Seeing if some of the ingredients were old, or slightly rotten (Kavin threw those away). He was immensely enjoying the silence and thinking, maybe this girl isn't a talker.

"So what house are you in?"

Kavin looked up at the girl, whose hand was extended like she wanted him to take it. Kavin cocked and eyebrow at her, but took the girl's hand and gave it a slight squeeze before setting his hand down and answering simply, "Aladren."

Then Kavin figured he should be a little more open, like Darci told him to be. Kavin guessed if he told Darci that he was actually conversing with an actual human being, she'd be proud and lay off him for a while. Oh, how nice would that be... "What about you?"

"I'm Irene, by the way. Irene Liddowe."

Kavin nodded briefly. Right, names, you were supposed to care about peoples' names or something. "Kavin Analai. Nice to work with you Irene," Kavin replyed politely. After a second or so, Kavin looked at Irene's ingregients. "Almost done Irene?"\n\n

0 Kavin That's okay, I had exams too 0 Kavin 0 5

Oliver

January 14, 2007 11:04 AM

No, I'm not one for gambling. by Oliver

“Not really,” Lutece replied when Oliver questioned her about ever having done potions before. “My parents aren’t into the whole magic thing,” she said. Oliver nodded in understanding.

“Mine aren’t either,” he said. “Well, not any more. Now they run a hotel.” He grinned at her. It occurred to Oliver that Lutece was probably talking about her parents being Muggles, rather than just ‘not being into magic,’ like his own parents. Still, it all came down to the same thing, didn’t it? Both of them were clueless when it came to potions. “Erm, but my uncle works with potions, so I really want to be good at this,” Oliver told Lutece. He wasn’t sure really what to say – he’d never been very good at talking to people, even once he got to know them.

Rather than trying out conversation starters, Oliver turned his attention back to his book and the instructions for the potion. “It says the dried nettles should be shredded and the stewed horned slugs need to be diced,” he said. Oliver took one look at Lutece’s expression and couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Here, you do the nettles,” he said, passing them to her, “and I’ll do the slugs, okay?” The slugs were a bit disgusting, but they were dead, so Oliver didn’t think they would mind being cut up and used for potions at this point. Not that they had a lot of choice, but Oliver felt more comfortable about the task knowing that the slugs were dead anyway. He certainly wouldn’t have managed to dissect anything bigger than a slug, and judging by how squeamish Lutece seemed to be, she wouldn’t have coped, either.
\n\n

0 Oliver No, I'm not one for gambling. 0 Oliver 0 5

Riley Garraway

January 14, 2007 2:30 PM

I like to think so. by Riley Garraway

"Awww, that's too bad about your fox. And I didn't even get to see him!" Riley spared Hikaru a sympathetic smile before turning back to the potion and tipping the vial of nettles over the cauldron. The brew hissed slightly but otherwise did nothing. So far so good. "You want to dye your hair?" She giggled at this, next picking up the vial of crushed snake fangs. "Blonde might be interesting... Red, too. Maybe you should do both... blonde with red tips!" She grinned while uncorking the vial and adding the snake fangs.

"I... don't know who's going to play in the first Quidditch game. I don't really follow the sport, remember? You still have to show me how to play." The potion simmered in unthreatening way. Riley returned the vial of snake fangs to their stock and read over the textbook page again. "Stewed horned slugs..." she read, making a face. "Ew. Well, here goes nothing." She added their penultimate ingredient, and smoke puffed out of the cauldron before settling again. She peeked into it, seeing that it was now a sickly green color. "Is this right so far, do you think?" She looked at Hikaru, who seemed to be skimming over a page with HAIR-DYEING POTIONS in bold letters at the top. \n\n

0 Riley Garraway I like to think so. 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Hikaru Kasuragi

January 14, 2007 2:43 PM

Well, of course you do! by Hikaru Kasuragi

"Thanks Riley, I really wish that you had gotten to see him too..." he beamed at her "Maybe I can bring a picture back or you can visit me during the Holidays!" He thought about the idea of having his hair red and blonde "That would be hilarious!"

He watched as Riley gave a small commentary about the disgusting ingredients in the potion "Yeah, but this one for blonde hair is sick! You have to add soil and sulfer to the potion and it says that use of a Bubble Charm is advised whatever that is..." Hikaru looked up at the Potion and checked his other book, "Yeah, now it just has to stew for a while and then we take it off the fire and add the porcupine quills."

He laughed slightly "Maybe I could die my hair pink! That would be a laugh!" he imagined himself with pink hair and started laughing "That would really look bad on me!"\n\n

0 Hikaru Kasuragi Well, of course you do! 0 Hikaru Kasuragi 0 5

Riley Garraway

January 14, 2007 5:16 PM

Who doesn't? by Riley Garraway

"That sounds good. I only have my family's estate to return to over the holidays, and Merlin knows how much I don't want to go back there. A picture would work too, though." She sat back down and let the potion stew. With her elbow on the table, she put her face in her hand and looked at Hikaru. She could hear her mother chiding her in the back of her head for her bad posture, but ignored it. "A Bubble Charm? I've never heard of that." She giggled, drumming her fingers on the side of her face.

Riley hummed thoughtfully. "Pink hair? Hey, that might look good on you!" she teased. "Maybe pink and blue, like cotton candy! Or green... purple might work. You know, maybe you should just do it like a rainbow!" She laughed, too, imagining Hikaru with a rainbow on his head. "Why do you want to dye your hair in the first place, anyway?" she wondered, calming her laughter. \n\n

0 Riley Garraway Who doesn't? 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Irene

January 14, 2007 7:29 PM

Thank God for the weekend! by Irene

The boy shook her hand and replied with, "Aladren."

Irene nodded and gave him a small smile. "What about you?" he went on.

"Pecari," she said sorting some of the ingredients. She was finding Potions to be easy so far. But what had she really done yet?

"Kavin Analai. Nice to work with you Irene,"

"Same here," she said brightly setting her final pile away from the other as to not get anything mixed. Almost immediately after she had finshed Kavin asked,

"Almost done Irene?"

"Yeah. Here, I'll check the first step," she said pulling her book towards her and reading the directions on page 15. She repeated it out loud.

"Well that looks easy enough," Irene said hoping she hadn't jinxed herself. She wanted to go to her dorm and finish that letter to her Uncle. She had a strange suspision he was hiding something from her that could only mean her father was up to something.

Irene blinked bringing herself back to earth,

"Okay, let's get started."\n\n

0 Irene Thank God for the weekend! 0 Irene 0 5

Hikaru

January 14, 2007 9:43 PM

Your absolutely right! by Hikaru

Hikaru smiled "We would be perfectly glad to have you over! It would be fun, except we would have to not be at my house all the timw because we live in Las Vegas and there aren't that many kid appropraite activities there.." Hikaru laughed "We would have to go out to eat somewhere though, there are some awesome places to eat!"

Hikaru nodded "I haven't wither, it sonds like its supposed to like let you breathe fresh air, maybe it lets you breathe underwater!" Hikaru laughed as he imagined Riley with a giant bubble around her head.

Hikaru laughed when she suggested he should die it all the colors of the rainbow "I found a wig in a Muggle thrift store that had a wig that was rainbow colored! It looked soooooo wierd!" He sighed when she asked him why he wanted to dye his hair "I don't know, I think it might be a nice change of pace! Blonde with red tips is something that I might invest in though!" He looked at the amount of time the Potion was supposed to brew "I think this should be enough time for the Potion should be on the fire..."\n\n

0 Hikaru Your absolutely right! 0 Hikaru 0 5

Meri

January 15, 2007 7:38 AM

my INTERNET is not cooperative! by Meri

Meri was rooting around in the depths of her very large, packed-to-overflowing school bag. Knowing her tendency to get lost, she had tried to pack everything for the entire day's classes so she wouldn't waste more time going back to her room between classes. She barely heard Lucas' polite inquiry about her ingredients, but finally pulled a box out of the bag, allowing a torrent of books and other magical supplies to spill along with it in the process. She turned to him, grinning.

"Got it, right here!" she said, triumphantly. She set it to the side and proceeded to scoop her bag's contents messily back into the bag. "Right," she said, a couple moments later, as she deposited her bag under her seat. "Let's get this potion boiling!" She pried open the box of potion supplies and bit her lip. "So, how many nettles are we supposed to add?" Using the tip of her wand, she carefully lifted a few of the stinging plant and tipped it into the pot. The others would be easy to measure, but nettles were awful to work with. She had tried to pick some and succeeded and hurting her hands dreadfully. Better to put a very small amount in for now. The rest could be measured very carefully. "What's next," she asked, as she turned to her partner.

She almost giggled at the look at the look on his face, and the way his hair hung in his face. On one hand, it was kind of attractive in a moody sort of way. But the way he kept brushing it aside showed that it was irritating him, and the gesture was amusing. Meri smiled and pointed at the next line in potion on page 15. "Wonder which snake the fangs come from?" she mused to herself out loud.\n\n

0 Meri my INTERNET is not cooperative! 0 Meri 0 5

Riley Garraway

January 15, 2007 3:19 PM

Like I said, I'm good at being right. Eh, sometimes. by Riley Garraway

Riley's eyebrows rose. "Las Vegas, eh? That's awesome! I don't think I've ever really been there..." She shrugged, giggling. "A wig in a Muggle thrift store? Oh, there are some really strange things in the Muggle markets. But there are some really neat things too, don't you think? ...Mm, blonde with red tips it is!" She nodded and smiled.

Then she looked to their cauldron and nodded again. "Hm, yeah, I think it's brewed long enough. Now we can add the porcupine quills." Riley killed the fire and carefully pulled the container of porcupine quills towards them, thus far ignored. She let the brew sit for a moment before opening the container and tipping it over the cauldron. The quills fell into the potion, which hissed and bubbled before settling, now a deep green color. "All right, I think we did it, right?"\n\n

0 Riley Garraway Like I said, I'm good at being right. Eh, sometimes. 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Kavin

January 15, 2007 5:12 PM

Weekends are for the Warriors by Kavin

So Irene was in Pecari like Darci? Hm... they had something in common. Especially if Darci had been highly annoying to her dormmates. "Pecari?" Kavin muttered, glancing over at Irene. "I take it you've met my sister, Darci?" he said simply. "She's in Pecari too."

Kavin pulled Irene's ingredients to him when she mentioned that she was done. Listening carefully when she re-read the first thing to do. Or rather she read it for the first time, since Kavin had already read the directions himself. "So do you want to crush the dried nettles, I could start the fire first," he stated.

Before Irene could say anything he slipped the nettles over to her and began to teach himself to light the fire. Talking to Irene as he was doing so. "Also, break the porcupine quills if you could," Kavin stated. "Just remember, Professor told us not to put them in until after the potion is taken off the flame."

Kavin hoped he wasn't giving the girl too much to work with. Or being too bossy, for that matter. He didn't want Irene to get all huffed up at him and leave, possibly losing points for Aladren for pushing away a partner. Could a teacher do that? Kavin didn't know, but he did know he was more used to working by himself. Therefore was unsure of how to treat a partner.\n\n

0 Kavin Weekends are for the Warriors 0 Kavin 0 5

Hikaru

January 15, 2007 5:48 PM

But of course! by Hikaru

Hikaru smiled "Its really cool to look out at the city through a high placed window, its like a sea of gaud, flashy, inappropriate neon lights!" he laughed "Yeah, they have sooo many weird things its not even funny!" he nodded at her desicion "Yep, that'll be fun to see!"

Hikaru watched as Riley added the quills and the Potion turned a sickly, deep, green color that was what it was supposed to be as it said in the book "We did it! Go us!"
Hikaru wrote down the incantation to the spell Professor McKindy had taught him and handed it to Riley \n\n

0 Hikaru But of course! 0 Hikaru 0 5

Lutece

January 15, 2007 8:12 PM

Pity. I could use the cash. by Lutece

Oh, this was just great. Riley was working with the weird Asian kid, and she was stuck with Oliver the delusional. Not only was he delusional enough to believe that these potion things really worked, but he had an uncle that he didn't want to disappoint who believed the same thing. Inherited insanity, probably. Lutece knew that her paternal grandparents were almost as just-plain-weird as her dad was. Thank the lord he was an only child, or else she might be swamped in cousins with the same bizarre interests.

Delusional Oliver decided to delegate. Lutece was to shred the nettles and he would dice the slugs. What was this, Biology? The one thing that she was looking forward to about having to attend Sonora was that she wouldn't have to take Biology in high school. Apparently you cut up dead cats in Biology, and then you had to go watch heart surgery.

What she hadn't expected was to be forced to take this class. Not only was the teacher obviously some sort of maniac, but they were cutting up dead animals. More dead animals decorated the walls. Lunatics who really, truly believed in this magic stuff slaved diligently over a bubbling, squelching mass that would probably end up making whoever drank it glow in the dark.

At a loss for other things to do, Lutece began to shred the nettles, icily ignoring Delusional Oliver.\n\n

0 Lutece Pity. I could use the cash. 0 Lutece 0 5

Irene

January 15, 2007 9:43 PM

Definitely true... by Irene

"I take it you've met my sister, Darci? She's in Pecari too."

Irene nodded saying, "I've met Darci. We haven't talked too much, so I don't know too much about her."

"So do you want to crush the dried nettles, I could start the fire first,"

"Sure. I can do that." Irene noted how it didn't seem to much like a question. More like a direction. She assumed it was because Kavin liked to get things done.

"Also, break the porcupine quills if you could," Kavin stated. "Just remember, Professor told us not to put them in until after the potion is taken off the flame."

"Yeah, I'd rather my shoes not get melted," Irene said with a smile. She pulled the nettles towards her along with the porcupine quills. Irene was almost possitive that Kavin was an 'all work no play' kind of guy. He kind of reminded her of her cousin Josh. He was very unlike his sisters and he liked to concentrate on whatever he was working on, whatever it may be.

She wondered how those guys were getting along with her Uncle. She was especially worried about Renaye. She liked to adventure. Irene was worried about her sneaking off at night to explore the nearby wood. Uncle Mike would most definitely give her a piece of his mind if she was caught. But Irene was worried about that. Renaye never gets caught.

Irene began to break the porcupine quills as the book instructed. She determined not to mess things up for her house. She didn't want to imagine what people would say if she was responsible for a loss of points. Especially due to a first year mistake on potions. \n\n

0 Irene Definitely true... 0 Irene 0 5

Oliver

January 16, 2007 3:19 PM

What would you buy? by Oliver

Well, whatever it was that Oliver had said or done to offend Lutece, he wished he hadn’t. She had obviously taken something the wrong way, because Oliver was trying to be nice and she was studiously ignoring him. She hadn’t said a word. He knew he wasn’t good at talking to people, but he really didn’t think he’d said anything that could have been offensive. Girls were weird, Oliver had always maintained that, and it proved as true now as ever. Sighing, he resignedly began cutting the stupid, slimy slugs.

After a minute trickled by in silence, though, Oliver had to speak for two reasons. Firstly, he was done with his slugs, and he thought that if they were working as a pair they ought to discuss what to do next, rather than Oliver just doing it. Secondly, the tension between Lutece and himself seemed pretty strong, and he wanted to try and ease that if he could. He knew that opening his mouth might just incense Lutece further, but Oliver didn’t have any friends at Sonora yet, so he was doing his best to make some.

“So, er…” he started, struggling to find a topic they could both relate to. They were both in Crotalus, but he guessed that Lutece probably wasn’t a pureblood, and all Oliver had heard about Crotalus was that it was where most of the pureblood witches and wizards ended up, but he didn’t even know if that was true. Following this thread, though, Oliver’s mind, in a moment of unexpected brilliance, remembered that Lutece had wanted to join the Quidditch team. “So you want to play Quidditch for Crotalus?” he asked, his voice sounding a little too cheerful to be normal. “Me too, I signed up for chaser,” he said, without really waiting for a response. He really was awful at talking to strangers.
\n\n

0 Oliver What would you buy? 0 Oliver 0 5

Riley Garraway

January 16, 2007 9:34 PM

Indeed, indeed. by Riley Garraway

Riley smiled. "Yeah, go us! Hm?" She looked at the incantation Hikaru handed her. "Thanks... what's this for?" She pocketed the paper and took two empty vials from the desk, handing one to Hikaru. Near the cauldron sat a cast-iron ladel, which Riley used to pour some of the potion into her vial. It fizzed as she corked it, reminding her vaguely of a Muggle drink she'd seen once... Coke...le... Coca-Cola, or something. She shrugged, taking her quill and scrawling her name on the label taped around the cylindrical glass container.

She turned to Hikaru and waited for him to fill his vial, smiling all the while. "Shall we take these to the professor?"\n\n

0 Riley Garraway Indeed, indeed. 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Lutece

January 17, 2007 5:33 AM

How much would you bet? by Lutece

Lutece sighed faintly as Delusional Oliver started to talk to her. The nettles were almost completely shredded, but that didn't mean that they had to talk. Didn't you just chuck them in a pot? It's not like anything would happen anyway. Sure, the 'potion' might turn a weird colour, but that happened when little kids played 'potions' all the time. Things didn't just randomly explode. They just...glopped. Nothing impressive.

She began listening when he started talking about Quidditch, though. Quidditch was the one truly, amazingly, wonderfully amazing thing that Sonora offered. Played on broomstick up in the air, but that really didn't matter. Lutece still couldn't figure out how they managed it. Probably some sort of microchip or something in the brooms. Maybe a really powerful hovering technology. You saw the hovering remote control cars in the Discovery Store at the mall, didn't you? It was a little bit weird that her cell phone and iPod didn't work around here, though. Maybe they were just out of batteries.

"Yes, I'm the backup Keeper," Lutece responded to Oliver. "I work with Earl at practise. If one of the Beaters takes him out, I get to go in. Have you heard about Lexi Stafford?" she asked, wanting to share some of the information she had obtained from listening to a few older students. "She's a fourth year, and a Teppenpaw, but I heard that she took out all three of Pecari's Chasers in the Quidditch finals last year."\n\n

0 Lutece How much would you bet? 0 Lutece 0 5

Oliver

January 17, 2007 11:54 AM

I wouldn't. by Oliver

Ha! It had worked! Perhaps he wasn’t so bad at this talking lark as he’d imagined. Oliver did have a habit of underestimating himself; his mother had told him it was due to lack of confidence, and with any luck he’d grow out of it. Anyway, Lutece was talking again, and about Quidditch. Oliver loved Quidditch; he was over the moon to learn he had managed to secure a place on his house team, even if it was only as a reserve.

What Lutece said about one of the other teams’ beaters, though, made Oliver’s incredibly pale face lose yet more colour. “I’m a chaser,” he said, feeling a bit wobbly at the idea of being knocked out of a game by a bludger. “I mean, I’m backup chaser, so, likewise.” Ah well, at least if this Lexi person knocked out one of the Crotalus chasers then Oliver would get to play. He knew that wasn’t really supportive of his team, but he wasn’t hurting anyone by thinking it.

Now Lutece was talking again, Oliver wanted to keep it that way. He had discovered that Quidditch was a safe topic, so he intended to use this knowledge to his advantage. Checking his potions book for instructions, he said, “We have to add the nettles slowly whilst stirring clockwise.” He only left a small pause before following with, “So are you good at keeping then? I imagine it must be tricky trying to make saves on a broom.” Hopefully they would be able to get through the lesson like this, interspersing actual work with chat about Quidditch. Oliver wondered if he could find enough to say on the subject to last the whole lesson.
\n\n

0 Oliver I wouldn't. 0 Oliver 0 5

Hikaru Kasuragi

January 17, 2007 10:41 PM

XD by Hikaru Kasuragi

Hikaru smiled back "We soooo rule!" He smiled at her when she asked and whispered "I'll show it to you now..."

He pulled out his wand and twirled it over his hand "Coresco!" a small orb of multi-colored light glowed in his hand and began to repeatedly shrink and grow "This is a spell McKindy taught me at my detention last night! He decided that I could learn some safe Charms that I wouldn't otherwise so, use it as you like! This is one of my knew trade secrets! Now we can both master new Charms together!"

He nodded and graciously excepted the vial "Yes, lets do that..." He graciously bowed like a knight and held out his hand "Shall we?"

\n\n

0 Hikaru Kasuragi XD 0 Hikaru Kasuragi 0 5

Riley Garraway

January 17, 2007 11:28 PM

Why thank you, kind sir. by Riley Garraway

Riley watched Hikaru perform the charm, the orbs glowing prettily and casting a motley of colors across their faces. "Wow!" she whispered. "That's awesome. Thanks." She giggled. "Yes, we will become Charms experts and take the world by storm!"

Rising from her seat, Riley curtsied lady-like and took Hikaru's proferred hand. "We shall."

Together, they left their table and approached Professor Connell. Riley felt a returning wave of nervousness... she hoped that they'd done everything right, and that the professor would approve of their potion. She thought over their steps, nodding and trying to reassure herself that everything about the procedure had been executed correctly, Hikaru's few blunders before she'd sat down with him not withstanding.

OOC: Should we start a new thread with Professor Connell?\n\n

0 Riley Garraway Why thank you, kind sir. 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Professor Connell

January 18, 2007 5:15 PM

OOC by Professor Connell

There's no need. Just say you put it on my desk, or something to that effect. \n\n

0 Professor Connell OOC 0 Professor Connell 0 5

Hikaru

January 19, 2007 7:22 PM

Your welcome gracious lady... [Tag:Professor Connell] by Hikaru

Hikaru smiled at her "Thanks! Its a really fun spell to do!" He laughed "We most certinly will! And then everyone can acknowledge the most wonderful Hiakru KAsuragi and Riley Garraway!" he laughed again.

He smiled "Come oh, gracious ladu=y..." He escorted her to the front of the room and felt a chill go up his spine as they approached the front of the room, it was as though he could feel the Potion Masters wrath coming down upon them.

He walked up with Riley slowly towards his desk and stepped infront of it.\n\n

0 Hikaru Your welcome gracious lady... [Tag:Professor Connell] 0 Hikaru 0 5

Riley Garraway

January 19, 2007 11:02 PM

Noble is as noble does. by Riley Garraway

Riley looked from Professor Connell to Hikaru and back again, smiling shyly. She relieved Hikaru of his vial and placed both of theirs on the professor's desk. The greenish potions rippled inside the vials as they hit the wood, and Riley said, "We're finished, Professor." She inwardly recoiled at the redundancy of her statement; obviously they were done, did it really need to be stated? Stupid, Riley chided herself. Well, hopefully Professor Connell's first impression of her wasn't totally shot. Or shot at all.

With a hesitant smile and slight bow of her head, Riley took Hikaru's hand and pulled him back to their table. She plopped down in her chair, leaning her elbows on the table and again ignoring her mother's voice inside her head, telling her to sit up straight and to stop being such a slob. "Well," she said, turning to Hikaru, "I think we did good. Yeah?" She grinned, feeling a little more at ease out of the professor's presence. Not that she didn't like Professor Connell or anything, but the more unobtrusive she was, the better chance she had of not making a fool of herself. \n\n

0 Riley Garraway Noble is as noble does. 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Lutece

January 20, 2007 8:27 AM

Then it's fairly inconsequential, isn't it? by Lutece

Lutece threw the nettles carelessly into the cauldron, then stirred it halfheartedly. The only reason why she was even bothering was that Oliver was a reserve on the House team as well. From what Lutece had read, Keepers and Chasers had to work together, or else there was trouble. A bit like what would happen on the soccer field if the defense decided not to defend. Well, no. More like if the mids decided not to defend. Chasers were more like mids than defense, really. They flew all over the Pitch. The Beaters were more like a defense/offense combo in the way that they could protect or disable a Keeper fairly easily.

"Yes, I was a goalkeeper on my soccer team back in Maryland. Second best in my league, actually, and the first best was this huge high school girl. So Keeping is basically just goalkeeping on a broom." Lutece shrugged, reaching into her purse to retrieve a back of gum. She offered a piece to Oliver, ceasing to stir the 'potion'. What would it do without being stirred, anyway? Magically turn everyone into a frog? Explode?

Yeah right.\n\n

0 Lutece Then it's fairly inconsequential, isn't it? 0 Lutece 0 5

Oliver

January 20, 2007 1:46 PM

Yes, and we're going round in circles. by Oliver

Lutece told Oliver that she had been a goalkeeper on a soccer team back home. Oliver nodded as he listened, and carefully added the slugs. “I was on a soccer team, too,” he told her. “Our coach liked us to rotate positions, though. He said it wasn’t necessary to settle on a position until we got to high school, and how could we know what position we were best at if we hadn’t played them all. I don’t know if he’s right, but I quite liked trying everything,” Oliver said, and then decided to stop because he didn’t know if he’d said too much already, and Lutece seemed to be losing interest; she was rummaging around in her back for something.

Oliver took up the stirring, and watched Lutece quizzically until she pulled out some gum and offered Oliver a piece. He wasn’t sure they were supposed to be eating gum in lessons, so he shook his head. “No thanks,” he said. He hesitated a little before adding, “I don’t think we’re supposed to have gum in class.” He didn’t want to come off sounding like a teacher’s pet, but neither did he want to get into trouble. He glanced back down at the ingredients list. “Erm, we have to add the snake fangs now,” he said, uncertainly. What if Lutece refused to help? “Do you want to tip them in while I keep stirring?” he suggested.
\n\n

0 Oliver Yes, and we're going round in circles. 0 Oliver 0 5

Law Cooper

January 20, 2007 4:58 PM

I blame midterms for my lack of posting... by Law Cooper

The targeted boy seemed to be very talkative, but that was okay, at least he was friendly. Friendly people were cool because they kept you entertained. This class definitely wasn't going to be a snore fest, so long as Jae was around.

"I'm Law," the heavy eleven year-old said, not bothering to explain that it was a nickname because that was too dull and he didn't want to confuse anybody. He took out a polished wooden box from his bookbag, opened the latch and took out the appropriate ingrediant and laid them on his desk before putting his box of ingredient back in his red bookbag. He was glad his parents had gone through the ingredients with him, labeling every small bottle from rat tail to crups' hair. Otherwise, he would have been extremely confused right about now.

"We're making a boils potion, not a forgetfullness one," Law said, uncertainly, "At least I think so." It would be pretty annoying if they were making a different potion, because that would make Law feel especially stupid. He knew he wasn't the strongest student, but at least he was usually good with following directions.

His book already opened, he caught a glance of the page the professor told them to turn to. His fears were denied when he saw that it was indeed a Boils Potion that he and Jae would be making, and not anything else.

"Yeah, it's the boils one," he said, turning back to Jae, "Pull up a chair and we can get started."\n\n

0 Law Cooper I blame midterms for my lack of posting... 0 Law Cooper 0 5

Hikaru

January 20, 2007 7:27 PM

But only for one so fair by Hikaru

Hikaru nodded to Professor Connell and followed (sorta) as Riley practically dragged him back to their seats. Hikaru sat down on his stool and sighed "Yeah, we did great! That was way better than what I thought it would be."

Riley seemed to be bodding their first Potions lesson as pretty good and Hikaru smiled "I can't wait for our next lesson! I hope it's DADA this time...I really wanted that for the next lesson, I want to know defensive spells so I can protect my friends from anything that they may come up against!"

He looked at his open book of Charms and found a fairly harmless one that was for making light at the tip of your wand "Hey! This is a cool spell, Lumos its supposed to create a light at the tip of your wand! That is soooo cool! I better ask permission from McKindy before I try it."\n\n

0 Hikaru But only for one so fair 0 Hikaru 0 5

Hyana Kamiya

January 20, 2007 10:38 PM

I thought your poker face was good! by Hyana Kamiya

Hyana blinked a couple of times. "Um...uh..." She just nodded. This potion was pretty witchy, she guessed. She read the preperation directions quickly, and bit her lip.

"I g-guess I can start the fire." She said quietly. Gosh, she hated being shy! Why couldn't she say a simple thing without the stupid stutter?! And this pressure of getting it exactly right, she couldn't stand it! Just calm down Hyana, calm down...this is the kind of behavior that would get you hurt. She thought. Her mother would definatly have slapped her across the face by now.

She bent down under the cauldron and quickly started the fire. She blew on it a few times, making it grow. She sat back up, pleased with herself. I didn't burn the school down! I must be doing something right! She exclaimed in her head. On the outside she turned to Gwyneth. "I'm done Gwyn-chan. Do you want me to help you with the ingredients?" Then she realized what she had called Gwyneth. "Oh, if you don't like me calling you Gwyn-chan, just tell me. I didn't realize that I called you that!" She blushed. Well, at least it was a nice name, and not something insulting.\n\n

0 Hyana Kamiya I thought your poker face was good! 0 Hyana Kamiya 0 5

Lutece

January 21, 2007 9:27 AM

There's absolutely nothing wrong with a good circle or thre by Lutece

A rotational soccer team? Please. Lutece's coach had stopped rotating them in third grade. The better they knew their positions, he explained, the more likely they were to get on the high school team when they were old enough.

Delusional Oliver refused her gum, too, citing some petty excuse about not being allowed. Lutece shrugged, popped a piece in her mouth, then went back to alternately looking at Connell and Delusional Oliver, wondering which needed a greater amount of psychiatric help. Potions indeed. All they were doing was mixing bits of dead animals in a pot, then decanting it and handing it to the teacher. There was no proof that it actually did anything.

"Whatever," Lutece replied, grabbing the snake fangs while making as little actual contact with the container as was possible. Dumping them in without ceremony, she hastily put the container down and wiped the soiled hand on her robes. Snapping her gum, she wondered when it would be time to finally leave this place.\n\n

0 Lutece There's absolutely nothing wrong with a good circle or thre 0 Lutece 0 5

Gwyneth

January 21, 2007 9:42 AM

Not when I'm holding a good hand by Gwyneth

Only half watching as Hyana got the fire started, Gwyneth began pulling the necessary ingredients from her bag. She found the dried nettles, snake fangs, stewed hornslugs, and the porcupine quills. "Eeewwwwyoouu. Yuck! This stuff is as bad as the junk found in my dad's biology lab," she announced.

"I only have one mortar and pestle. I don't know if the dried nettles need to be crushed and I think the snake fangs need to be crushed. The ones in my kit seem to be whole. Guess we could add the nettles whole." Gwyneth felt very unsure of the procedures. "The slugs," and here she made a face at the slimey corpses, "probably need to be sliced up or something. They seem kinda big to just drop in whole. So how do you feel about snake fangs or slugs? Which do you want to pulverize?" Gwyneth knew she had a tendency to take over and wanted this to be an equal partnership. Hyana seemed nice, a little shy, but then, so was Gwyneth at times.

She looked back at the cauldron when Hyana announced she was done. "Good job on the fire-starting, Hyana. What was that name you called me? What does it mean?"
\n\n

0 Gwyneth Not when I'm holding a good hand 0 Gwyneth 0 5

Oliver

January 21, 2007 5:03 PM

Whoever said there was? by Oliver

Lutece took a piece of gum and started chewing, despite Oliver’s mention of it being against the rules. He sighed inwardly – this girl was hard work. She did add the snake fangs, however, but Oliver wished he had said ‘sprinkle’ instead of ‘tip’. The coarse powder fell into one heap where Lutece had simply emptied it into the cauldron. Oliver stirred madly to try and spread the ingredient evenly, but he thought the damage was probably already done. Was his partner purposefully trying to ruin the potion? Couldn’t she read the instructions that said to sprinkle the stuff evenly? Oliver was beginning to feel his grip on his temper waning. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm down and quickly thought up another topic for conversation.

“Do you have any pets?” he asked suddenly. He’d tried hobbies but Lutece had lost interest pretty quickly in that, so Oliver thought he’d try animals, instead. “I don’t, but my brother has a hamster and sometimes my parents let me feed the fish in the lobby.” Julian’s hamster, Oats, was fat and sandy brown and almost certainly would be dead before Christmas, since he’d been part of the family for five years. Oliver wasn’t allowed to play with him anymore, because Julian said Oats was getting too old, and the tropical fish in the lobby just sort of swam around. Chloe, the Sunday receptionist, said she’d named them all, but Oliver didn’t really see the point, seeing as they were only ever getting out of that tank if they died.

Oliver peered unhappily at the potion. According to his book it was supposed to be a pale green and creamy. Theirs was dark, slime green and a bit sludgy.
\n\n

0 Oliver Whoever said there was? 0 Oliver 0 5

Riley Garraway

January 22, 2007 3:11 PM

Flattery will get you far. by Riley Garraway

Riley drummed her fingers on their tabletop, thinking. "Yeah, I suppose it was easier than expected. I don't know if I really had any expectations for it, though. I used to brew potions with my mother and grandmother a lot, when I was younger. Little potions, glamour potions and gardening potions and whatever. I think I'm more dreading Transfiguration than anything! I just know I'm going to slip up and make a fool of myself." She laughed nervously, smiling.

"DADA should be awesome, though. It's like Charms, except with a more focused target... sorta. I guess we'll do stuff outside of charms, too, though..." Riley thought for a moment, looking at her fingers, which were now splayed over the cold surface of their table. She needed a manicure, or something; maybe Lutece could help her with that. "But yeah, DADA... I'm really looking forward to that." She giggled. "You're so noble! Protecting your friends and all... I think I'd be more worried about myself," she teased. Then she smiled more genuinely, tilting her head at Hikaru. "Seriously though, you're so sweet. Almost too sweet..." Her almond eyes narrowed in feigned suspicion. "It's all a clever guise, isn't it? I've got you figured out!" She giggled again and nodded decisively.

When Hikaru showed her the new charm, she sat forward, leaning over the book. "Hmmm... that sounds practical. And neat! But yeah... make sure you check with McKindy first! Wouldn't want another mishap, right?" She poked his shoulder, her teasing smile back in place.\n\n

0 Riley Garraway Flattery will get you far. 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Hikaru

January 22, 2007 8:35 PM

Of course it will, especially with you winks by Hikaru

Hikaru laughed as Riley talked about brewing Potions with her family "Yeah, I was kinda more concerned about runing for my life, so they only things I learned were Hexes and Martial Arts..." Hikaru laughed "Well, if you do...I'll go down with you!" He winked at her.

Hikaru laughed "Yeah, it should be totally awesome! I can't wait to go to that lesson." He smiled at Riley "I always protect my friends, people who don't are trash! They act like they should be bowed down to and it makes me sick!" He faked gagging "But, I know I can always count on you!" He gave her a thumbs up. He laughed when she said she had him all figured out "Oh, you'll have to know me way longer than you have to really know me! But, we'll always be friends!" He acted like he was a mesmerized zombie "You have me figured out so now you are my master!" He held his arms out infront of him and had an extremely blank look on his face.

Hikaru beamed at her "Of course I wouldn't! McKindy and Deck are scary enough when they're made!" He shuddered violently.\n\n

0 Hikaru Of course it will, especially with you *winks* 0 Hikaru 0 5

Lutece

January 23, 2007 11:34 AM

I was merely asserting the rights of the circle by Lutece

Oh please.

Next time, Lutece would definitely try to find Dolan, or Earl, or even break into the group with that Asian kid and Riley. So long as she stayed as far away as possible from Mike and Delusional Oliver. Pets?! Who wanted to talk about those? Animals were dirty. James had a few rodents and fish, but those were for purely experimental purposes. Fish were the only moderately acceptable form of pet, and even then they were pretty gross.

Speaking of gross, the potion looked like something out of the swamp in Shrek. As she gazed at it distastefully, a sullen bubble swelled and popped on the surface, spraying drops of the nasty stuff around. Lutece barely managed to step back in time. If her clothes were ruined in this nonsense class, she was going to be very unhappy.

"No pets," she said coolly. "Are we done with this...'potion' yet?"\n\n

0 Lutece I was merely asserting the rights of the circle 0 Lutece 0 5

Jae

January 23, 2007 10:00 PM

I blame...life? by Jae

Jae's partner's name was Law. Not only that, but he looked smart...and he was wrong! Jae was right!

"No," Jae said, grinning widely and bouncing up and down. "See? The professor said page fifty, not page fifteen! But that's okay. I mishear things sometimes too."

Jae pulled up a chair and set his bag on the floor, then looked over at Law. So far as reading went, he preferred relying on other people. Nina occasionally made him read by himself, when she caught him, but he didn't think Law would notice too much. The ingredients looked weird, from what he had seen of the things other kids were pulling out. A lot of them looked different. Maybe there were different kinds of ingredients? Like, Aunt Marla liked organic peanut butter, but Aunt Cheri bought Safeway peanut butter. So maybe there was organic and Safeway potions ingredients? Jae decided to ask Law.

"Are we using organic ingredients? Or stuff from Safeway or King Soopers?" Well, maybe not those stores. Jae couldn't remember seeing slugs in King Soopers. "Another store, I guess. Maybe WalMart?"\n\n

0 Jae I blame...life? 0 Jae 0 5

Riley Garraway

January 24, 2007 3:09 PM

Gasp! You've figured me out! by Riley Garraway

Riley laughed at Hikaru's zombie impression, covering her mouth with her hand to keep the volume from rising too greatly. She suspected the professor wouldn't appreciate them being disruptive, despite the fact that they'd finished. Calming down, she said, "Yes, I have time to really figure you out, indeed. Forever friends!" She smiled, putting her face in her palm.

"I think all professors might be scary when they're mad... Mad people in general are scary! You know, there are those who explode, and then those who are really quiet about it... but you can see it in their eyes. My grandmother use to be like that, the quiet angry type. My mother..." Riley rolled her eyes at the ceiling, as if seeing the memory up there, "she was more of the explosive type. Very scary, indeed."

OOC: McKindy said to keep our thread from going off the page; he said to continue it at the top or something. Should we end it or continue it elsewhere?\n\n

0 Riley Garraway Gasp! You've figured me out! 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Hyana

January 24, 2007 3:29 PM

I've got the same problem by Hyana

Hyana smiled when Gwyneth praised her. Then she asked about the name. "Well, Gwyn is short for Gwyneth, and -chan is a honorific for a kind person...so if I put them together, you're Gwyn-chan!"

She stood up and took the slugs. She hated snakes, she just couldn't touch any part of one. "I'll slice the slugs. And if we get that wrong, we can always use the ingredients from my kit as back up. I suggest we crush the fangs into a fine powder, I think that's what the instructions say." She said, becoming more sure of herself. She could do this. She might blow the whole school up, but she could do this.\n\n

0 Hyana I've got the same problem 0 Hyana 0 5

Oliver

January 24, 2007 5:22 PM

Well I suppose someone should. by Oliver

“No pets,” Lutece said, and it was clear from her tone that the conversation was over as far as she was concerned. Oliver felt his left eye start to twitch in annoyance. He rubbed it with his sleeve and readjusted his glasses, trying not to scowl at Lutece, who obviously was making no effort at friendship whatsoever.

“Are we done with this potion yet?” she asked, and it was all Oliver could do to keep his voice at a reasonable volume.

“Why don’t you look for yourself?” he asked, tetchily. “Or can’t you read?” He pushed the book towards her and jabbed his finger at the instructions clearly printed on the open page, then returned to stirring the potion, though he was convinced it was beyond repair.

He was feeling a bit upset. If Lutece didn’t care about failing then that was really up to her, but she was making Oliver perform badly, too, and he didn’t find that very fair. He had even told her that he wanted to be good at potions to impress his uncle, and she was being totally pathetic about all of it.

“You’re selfish,” he told her, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice. “You might not care if you fail, but I do.” Afraid he might say something he would later regret if he continued, Oliver closed his mouth and began silently preparing the porcupine quills.
\n\n

0 Oliver Well I suppose someone should. 0 Oliver 0 5

Lutece

January 25, 2007 5:57 AM

And who better than I? by Lutece

Delusional Oliver was being grumpy. Lutece rolled her blue-green eyes, tucked a bit of hair behind her ear, and snapped her gum again. Why was he being so picky about some sludge involving dead animal parts? She had done what he had asked, tipping those disgusting snake fangs in, or whatever they had been. She had gone along with his delusions and answered all his questions. But she was not going to read some stupid book on stupid, imaginary stews of dead animal parts. If Delusional Oliver and Connell wanted to play pretend, fine. But they could leave her out of it. Lutece had more important things to focus on. Like, say, Quidditch. Even though she was just on the reserves, in a few years, she could make the regular team if she practised enough and learned enough about the sport. Keeping was definitely a natural talent, just like being goalie had been. Granted, Keeping involved catching the ball, something Lutece wasn't spectacular with, but give her enough time and she could manage it.

"You're selfish," Delusional Oliver said, using a voice that her mother referred to as the 'lost puppy' tone. "You might not care if you fail, but I do."

"Oh, so your game of make-believe might be ruined," Lutece responded scathingly. Normally she would make allowances for his obvious mental issues, but she was not in a good mood. Having to touch parts of dead animals occasionally did that to her. Especially if those parts weren't cooked, and weren't parts of animals she normally ate. "Why should I care that your pretend potion gets 'ruined'? It's just a mess of god-knows-what anyway. After all, what's it going to do, explode? Magically eat away at your brain? Talk to aliens? Puh-lease. You and Connell just need to grow up and leave the faerie tales behind at some point, Oliver, and now seems like a pretty good time to do it."\n\n

0 Lutece And who better than I? 0 Lutece 0 5

Oliver

January 25, 2007 5:05 PM

Well, anyone, really. It's not hard, is it? by Oliver

“Oh, so your game of make-believe might be ruined,” Lutece said, and she certainly wasn’t being friendly now. Oliver didn’t understand what she meant, though. What game of make-believe? Perhaps she was trying to insinuate that Oliver was just kidding himself if he thought he could ever be good at potions. If that was the case, he was about to get very angry with her. Before he could say anything, though, Lutece continued talking. Ironically, just minutes ago Oliver would have done anything to get Lutece talking; now he just wanted her to shut up.

However, as Oliver heard her (he wasn’t intending on listening, but her voice was the loud, cutting sort you couldn’t help but hear), he thought he might be going a bit crazy. Had she really just said all of that? Oliver blinked at her a couple of times, running through what she’d said. Then he laughed.

Lutece really thought this was all a farce, didn’t she? This was classic! Okay, so Oliver’s parents might like to pretend that magic didn’t exist, but at least they knew it did, really. Either Lutece was a very good actress playing a very mean prank, or she was extraordinarily stupid. Oliver just couldn’t stop laughing at her – it started as a chuckle but then he was laughing outright. The potion sat forgotten, ruined and abandoned and lightly bubbling in the cauldron. Suddenly it didn’t seem important any more.

When Oliver regained his breath enough to speak, he said to Lutece, “You’re hilarious!” and he laughed at her a bit more.
\n\n

0 Oliver Well, anyone, really. It's not hard, is it? 0 Oliver 0 5

Hikaru

January 25, 2007 6:27 PM

Oh Yeah! Go me! (again!) by Hikaru

Hikaru smiled at Riley laughing "I'm glad I could make you laugh mistress..." he continued slightly. Hikaru took Rileys lead and clamed down, determined to speak in his serious voice "Well, we'll always be friends, so we can get to know each other for as long as it takes!"

Hikaru nodded "Yeah, I know how scary mad people can be...my dad waqs one of those, and still is to my knowledge...as I haven't seen him in 3 years," He sighed and continued on "It used to be that my dad would get really mad and then he would," he struggled to continue "beat me over any little thing that he could think of..."

Hiakru sighed "Yeah, you shouldn't need to worry about that for a while, its not important." He saw that the clock read that class was over and the bell had rung "Well, I'll talk to you later..." He hugged her and grabbed his bag, ready to go to the next class.

OOC: I finished the thread...is that okay?
TTYL Riley!\n\n

0 Hikaru Oh Yeah! Go me! (again!) 0 Hikaru 0 5

Gwyneth

January 26, 2007 6:53 PM

guess we will never play poker together! by Gwyneth

Gwyneth smiled when Hyana explained what "Gwyn-chan" meant. "Wow, I'm not sure I am all that kind," she said. "But thank you for thinking that. I'll try to live up to your expectations."

"And thank you for taking care of slicing up the slugs," she shivered as she said that. "I would DIE if I had to touch them! They are just . . . GROSS!!!"

Gwyneth re-checked the spell in the textbook and measured the approximate amount of snake fangs into her pestle. She began grinding away with a vengence. Once they seemed to be a fine powder as Hyana had suggested, she measured out the correct amount using the scales. She was very careful because she did not want to blow up the classroom laboratory.

She looked up to see if Hyana had finished slicing up the slugs. "I think we are ready to add the ingredients into the cauldron," she said to her partner. "I have the dried nettles and the ground snake fangs here."\n\n

0 Gwyneth guess we will never play poker together! 0 Gwyneth 0 5

Lutece

January 27, 2007 8:29 AM

I will have you know that it's a highly specialised vocatio by Lutece

Delusional Oliver was laughing. At her. Obviously he was crazier than Lutece had thought. Oliver was insane. Connell was insane. The Charms teacher was nuts. The Care of Magical Creatures teacher expected her to touch nasty little germ-balls.

How could her father force her to come to this place?! She could be going to middle school with her friends, playing soccer, going to dances. Instead she was here, being forced to touch bits of dead animals. Surrounded by a bunch of losers who thought that magic was real and swore by the gunk in the cauldron. Her group of friends was gone. The only people she got on with here was the Quidditch team, and not even that necessarily. After all, Delusional Oliver played Quidditch too, didn't he? So after years of working in elementary school, it was all ruined. And it was all her father's fault.

"Nice to know," Lutece said coldly, swiftly packing up her 'textbooks' and purse, then swinging the bag over her shoulder and standing to leave. She felt as if she were going to cry.

She hated her father.

She hated this school.

All she wanted to do was get a broom and go flying. But no. She didn't have one. Then she realised that leaving the classroom before being dismissed could probably get her kicked off the Quidditch team reserves. At least, that's how it worked in the middle school and high school, or so Melissa said. You had to be no more than ten minutes late to each class and not leave without permission before the bell rang. Lovely. So instead, Lutece stalked across the room, as far away from Delusional Oliver as possible, carefully avoiding the ugly black cauldrons as she went. Finally reaching the other side, she pulled out a book on Quidditch and buried her nose in it, trying not to cry.

She hated Sonora.\n\n

0 Lutece I will have you know that it's a highly specialised vocatio 0 Lutece 0 5

Law Cooper

January 27, 2007 10:30 AM

That works too by Law Cooper

Law blinked with confusion as Jae ranted on about strange stores like Safeway, and what was it... Walnut? What was he talking about? He'd certainly never heard of such places before. Oh, wait, now he got it, the kid must've been Muggleborn.

And he continued saying that they were doing page 50 and not working on page 15, today. Sure Law got confused from time to time, but he was pretty sure with this one. Why would they start the year in the middle of the book? And then he read over the list of ingredients for the Forgetfullness Potion, and noticed a lack of porcupine quills. The teacher had been pretty straightfoward in saying that there were porcupine quills in the potion, but there weren't anywhere on page fifty.

"It has to be page fifteen," Law said, totally ignoring Jae's question about stores and organic ingredients, becaue he really wasn't sure what to say, "There aren't any porcupine quills in Forgetfullness Potions, and the Professor kept talking about those. But there are some in the boils potion-thing on page fifteen."

He hoped the other boy would believe him. Law didn't want to spend all of class time fighting, or get into any sort of trouble. Maybe he should just go and ask the teacher what they were doing himself.\n\n

0 Law Cooper That works too 0 Law Cooper 0 5

Jae

January 27, 2007 9:29 PM

Walnut? I usually call it Duckmart. But that works too. by Jae

"Um...." Jae thought quickly. He didn't want to be wrong. He was right, wasn't he? That didn't happen very often, but Professor Connell had said page fifty, right? "Maybe they're a garnish thing? Aunt Marla puts those on some food sometimes. And we're s'posed to wait to put it in, right? So maybe it's just a garnish."

Maybe he was wrong. That was possible. Jae was wrong a lot, especially when it came to reading. Numbers he was usually good with, though. Still, the instructions had been verbal, and he hadn't really been paying attention. Maybe Law was right.

Potions should have something to do with living animals. Jae was good with animals. They liked him, usually, and when they didn't they listened to him sometimes anyway. Animals were nice and simple and they didn't read or write or spell. They made weird noises and played all day. Jenny and Todd were nice like that. Jenny was probably up in his dorm room with Todd right now. They were probably playing.

"I'm probably wrong though," Jae said, looking down and scuffing one shoe. "Um. Do you want to get the ingredients? I can try to start the fire...."\n\n

0 Jae Walnut? I usually call it Duckmart. But that works too. 0 Jae 0 5

Oliver

January 28, 2007 4:39 PM

Really? What does the training entail? by Oliver

“Nice to Know,” Lutece said. Oliver was still grinning as she started packing her things away, but his smile abruptly faded when he realised she was about to leave the class. He dithered for a moment or two, unsure of what to do. He was obviously getting absolutely nowhere in his friendship with Lutece, but on the other hand, he couldn’t just let her go off, having offended her. That wasn’t right.

Sighing, Oliver removed the failed potion from its heat and headed over to where Lutece had slumped down by the door. He wondered vaguely whether this lesson could have gone any worse. “Hey,” he said quietly, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I guess starting magic school must be tough on Muggleborns.” He paused before adding, “Besides, you don’t have to believe it magic for potions to work. I presume you believe in chemistry? Or cooking? If you mix different things together, you get a different result.” He sat down next to her. “Anyway, it’ll probably be easier to handle if you relax a bit. We’re on the same team, okay?”

Oliver was much practised at consoling people after an argument, though usually the arguments had been between his siblings, and hadn’t tended to involve Oliver himself. He didn’t think his argument with Lutece was his fault, though – she hadn’t made any effort at friendship or conversation, let alone the lesson, but Oliver would rather get along with people than not, if he could possibly help it. Sometimes that meant being the one to offer peace, even if you weren’t the one in the wrong.
\n\n

0 Oliver Really? What does the training entail? 0 Oliver 0 5

Lutece

January 31, 2007 5:07 AM

Well, one must be able to properly handle a circle, you see. by Lutece

When the opposing Chasers approach the Keeper from the left side, he must always be aware of the location of his own Chasers. An attempt at goal-scoring is the opportune time for--

Suddenly, Delusional Oliver was standing over her, making apologies and excuses. Potions was the same as chemistry and cooking (neither one of which Lutece was any good at). Magic must be hard for Muggleborns to adjust to. She should relax. Lutece took her time looking up from her book, and when she did, it was apparent that she was not happy. Anyone at her old school would have left her alone. Actually, at her old school, she wouldn't be having a problem because they didn't teach potions there. That would be because--get this--potions doesn't exist! she thought sarcastically, looking up at Oliver.

"Yes, I'm sure that starting 'magic' school is hard for normal people," she said acidly. "Mostly because you're all too delusional to realise that your 'magic wands' and 'potions' don't work any more than those at science fiction and fantasy conventions. Now, if you could go away and play with your magic soup pot, it would be great." With that, Lutece turned back to her book, angrily re-reading the same sentence twice before realising it. She no longer wanted to cry. Well, it was no longer the top thing she wanted to do, anyway. That much was an improvement.\n\n

0 Lutece Well, one must be able to properly handle a circle, you see. 0 Lutece 0 5

Talen Dupree

January 31, 2007 5:41 PM

Partner by Talen Dupree

Potions was one class that Talen could enjoy. It was all about precision. For someone that was a prefectionist, it was heaven. If every class was like this one, then he would be a model student. As it was, he knew he would never be when the other classes taught were things such as the Muggle Studies that his strange cousin was taking or the Flying lessons he was being forced to take.

Unfortunately, today wouldn't be a potion that he would have chosen to learn, but he knew that it was a useful one nonetheless. In his opinion, every potion learned would be of use. Hopefully, he would prove to be of use with Potions. If he was, then maybe one day he would be fortunate enough to be a Potions Master, and if he was really lucky, he would be able to improve upon the potions, maybe even invent a new one. How he dared to hope!

Pulling him from his thoughts, he heard a voice near to him.

Would you be my partner please?

Looking at the girl who had uttered the words, he nodded, not actually recovered from the interruption. The only thing that he could manage was the new thought in his head that wished she would be a good partner. It would be a complete waste if she wasn't. Of course, it would be more of a waste, if he wasn't. With this, the anxiety came. He had to be able to be more than sufficient at Potions. If he wasn't, he didn't know what he would do.

He took a deep breath, before actually managing a sentence, "So, the best thing to do, I imagine, is dividing up the work. What do you think?"

Then, remembering, he had completely failed to introduce himself, he added, "Oh, yeah, my name's Talen. What's yours?"\n\n

0 Talen Dupree Partner 105 Talen Dupree 0 5

Hyana

January 31, 2007 8:57 PM

I guess not by Hyana

Hyana lauged at Gwyn's reaction to the slugs. "When you do gardening, the slugs aren't that bad." She laughed. "And what do you mean, you're not sure you're all that kind? You talked to me. I think that's very nice. You didn't push me away." She gave a small smile and looked at all of the ingredients.

"Well...I guess I'm ready as I'll ever be." She breathed. "I just hope we don't blow up the school. Let's put all of the ingredients in when I count to three okay?" She picked up the slugs and held them over the cauldron. "One...two...THREE!" She dumped the slugs in, hoping beyond hope that Gwyn followed suit.\n\n

0 Hyana I guess not 0 Hyana 0 5

Gwyneth

February 01, 2007 7:47 PM

too bad, it might have been a good game! by Gwyneth

As Hyana said, "Let's put all of the ingredients in when I count to three okay?" Gwyneth got the rest of the ingredients ready to toss into the mix in the cauldron. Her face reflected her uncertainty tinged with a smidgeon of outright fear that history (and chemistry sets) would repeat itself.

At Hyana's count of three, Gwyneth crumbled the dried nettles into the cauldron with her left hand while she quickly dumped the crushed snake fangs in with her right. Not knowing what to expect, she took an involuntary step backwards and held her breath.

After a slow count of 10 with no explosion, she breathed a small sigh of relief. "YES! Wait til I write home to Dad and tell him that this time I DIDN'T blow up the lab!" she whooped with delight. As she stood by Hyana, she watched the pot waiting for some fantastical, magical thing to happen. And waited. And waited. "Okay, points for not blowing up the classroom, but, shouldn't something be happening in that thing?" she asked her partner.\n\n

0 Gwyneth too bad, it might have been a good game! 0 Gwyneth 0 5

Hyana
February 02, 2007 10:09 PM

Hyana
Peripheral
Written by:

I would win though ;P by Hyana
Hyana watched the cauldron warily. Don't blow up. Don't blow up. Don't blow up. She repeated over and over again in her head. And the most amazing thing happened. It. Didn't. Blow. Up.

"W-we did it!" Hyana exclaimed, surprise definatly showing in her voice. Gwyn shouted excitedly and then asked a question. "Shouldn't something be happening in that thing?" Hyana frowned slightly. "I think you're right...maybe if we stirred it." She went up the the cauldron. "What do you think?" \n\n

0 Hyana I would win though ;P 0 Hyana 0 5

Gwyneth
February 03, 2007 7:48 AM

Gwyneth
Peripheral
Written by:

do I detect a challenge??? by Gwyneth
As the mixture in the cauldron just sat there, Gwyneth began to feel they had done something wrong. Okay, it didn't blow up but it should do something! When Hyana suggested that they stir the pot, Gwneth felt like doing the classic "hand to forehead - - I shoulda had a V-8" routine for forgetting such a simple step. "Yeah, I think you are right."

She looked around for something to stir with and didn't see anything that looked like it would be a good stirrer. There were no big wooden spoons, like in her grandmother's kitchen. She looked at her wand, or rather her grandmother's former wand. It was beautiful teak wood that gleamed almost purple, with a twining vine carved the length of it. She couldn't use that! Then she remembered the porcupine quills!

"Porcupine quills, Hyana! That's what we forgot to add. Maybe we can use them to stir the mixture as we add them." The potion book didn't really say how many to use, just "add a few". "Great, a recipe like my grandmother's - - a pinch of this, a half-handful of that. Why can't old things use numbers!"

"Well, if we want to use them to stir, we will probably need 3 or 4, or 5. If I hold them together, they just might be strong enough to go around the pot a couple of times before they break." Gwyneth bunched 5 together in her hand as she spoke; they felt pretty flimsy but she was afraid to add any more.

Slowly she dipped them into the pot and began a counterclockwise stir. At first, nothing seemed to happen. "What else could go wrong?" she asked rhetorically. She just knew they were going to fail this class and it was all because she had lousy science genes! Oh, Dad might be a scientist, but had not passed the skill on to her genetically. Just as she giggle at the thought "but this is magic, not science," something started happening in the beaker/cauldron. A fine steam started to rise out of the pot. She looked expectantly at Hyana, hoping that this was the anticipated reaction. "Hey, Hyana, I think stirring did the trick. Great idea! You get a vial or test-tube or bottle ready to get some of this stuff, okay?"

As she waited for Hyana to get a container for their sample, she watched the steam rise. The column of steam became thicker and thicker and began to look less like steam and more like . . . SMOKE! Panic set in when the steam/smoke began to shimmer an iridescent gray/blue. "Oh, this doesn't look good. Stupid, stupid Gwyneth. NEVER say 'what else could go wrong.' This is starting to look like my chemistry experiments all over again!" she exclaimed. "Hyana, I think we are in trouble here!"\n\n

0 Gwyneth do I detect a challenge??? 0 Gwyneth 0 5

Oliver
February 05, 2007 5:48 PM

Oliver
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Pull the other one. by Oliver
Lutece didn’t seem to be cheering up any. “The potion’s already, wrecked,” Oliver told her. He dearly wanted to add, “Thanks to you,” but thought better of it. Instead, he took a breath and tried not to sound too patronising. “You don’t have to like me, you know. I don’t much like you right now,” he said before he could stop himself. “Anyway, if we’re both on the Quidditch team then it would help if we don’t hate each other.”

Quidditch had been the only thing Lutece had talked sensibly about, so Oliver thought maybe if he steered the conversation back in that direction they might be on speaking terms again. Not that he ever intended to speak to Lutece again, mind you. She was really weird. Oliver momentarily felt sorry for Riley having to share a room with Lutece, but then he realised that Riley hadn’t spoken to him since their first day, and his sympathy suddenly evaporated.

Oliver noticed the book Lutece was reading, and wondered how she could conceive playing Quidditch if she didn’t believe in magic, even in potions. He refrained from asking, her though. Just. Why had she come to Sonora, anyway, if she didn’t believe in magic? Oliver had practically had to beg his parents to let him come, and Julian had been against it, too. Maybe that’s why Oliver couldn’t understand Lutece: he wanted to be here, whereas she clearly did not.
\n\n

0 Oliver Pull the other one. 0 Oliver 0 5

Lucas
February 11, 2007 4:22 PM

Lucas
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I'm a bad person! Must post more! by Lucas
Lucas watched with a raised brow as Meri didn't measure how much nettle she was putting in the potion, yet she seemed so relaxed about it as if nothing could possibly go wrong. It was madness, Lucas thought.

"Wonder which snake the fangs come from?" She spoke, making Lucas turn to look at the fangs. He wondered too, really. He knew that Meri hadn't really been talking to him, but he decided to answer anyway.

"Umm, we could always ask the teacher, it would be interesting to find out..." He trailed off, hoping that she wouldn't think that he was a bit strange for replying, and moreover for suggesting asking for extra information from a tutor. Maybe she'd think he was some kind of teachers' pet? 'Still, I guess she wouldn't be too far off.' Lucas reminded himself that he was very eager to learn - not to mention staying on the good side of all his tutors.

Despite his best efforts, his cheeks darkened in colour as he felt them heat up, even though he didn't really have anything to be embarrassed about. "Stupid face." He mumbled incoherently to himself, turning away, knowing that Meri must be giving him some kind of strange look by now.

He cleared his throat. "What else do we need to add to this stuff, then?" He asked relatively clearly, though keeping his face subliminally turned away, pretending he was searching for something in his bag.\n\n

0 Lucas I'm a bad person! Must post more! 0 Lucas 0 5

Lutece
February 13, 2007 7:56 PM

Lutece
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Why? Does it have bells on it? by Lutece
He was being patronising. That was the only word for it. And it made Lutece mad. What right did he have to tell her what to do? Delusional child that he was. Oliver would really have to be a child to believe in all this magic stuff. To say that the potion was already ruined was a bit absurd, anyway. How ‘ruined’ could something get that had slugs and dead animal parts in it? It was already nasty as it was, and unless Delusional Oliver had been adding ingredients, it couldn’t get any worse by just sitting over a fire. But patronising was going a bit far. Saying that he didn’t like her?! What had she done? She had been polite. She had gone along with his stupid game. And now he didn’t like her.

Fat lot of good that did.

Not that she wanted to be liked by people such as the crippled kid and Delusional Oliver. There were real people out there. Like Dolan, and Jen, and the blond Beater on the team. They didn’t hate her because she was polite and courteous to them.

“Well then, I hope you won’t be on the Quidditch team for long, then,” Lutece said coldly. “Because I most certainly do not want to be on a team with you.”

She turned her nose back into the book, realising with disgust what a nerd she must look like. But it didn’t matter. Nobody in this classroom mattered in the real world. She didn’t care what they thought. Dolan, and Jen, and her real teammates were okay. Riley was okay, but she was working with the weird Asian kid. Besides, Riley must already know that she wasn’t a nerd. She had helped Riley with her hair, after all. What sort of nerd did that? A nerd with style. And that didn’t exist.

Lutece was good. She didn’t need any delusional or crippled kids to help her here. She could make it on her own until she got her parents to let her leave.
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0 Lutece Why? Does it have bells on it? 0 Lutece 0 5

Oliver
February 15, 2007 1:51 PM

Oliver
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It sure does *grin* by Oliver
Oliver was patient by nature. He was polite and friendly, too. He rarely lost his temper and more often than not was happy to forgive and forget any disagreement. There were the occasional exceptions, and apparently it was Lutece’s dearest desire to be one of these exceptions. She was rude, dismissive, condescending and totally, completely wrong about everything!

Oliver felt like he had tried every available method for trying to put Lutece in a better mood. Where did it get him?

“I hope you won’t be on the Quidditch team for long, then, because I most certainly do not want to be on a team with you.”

Oliver held his breath to stop him from retorting. He stood up and took a couple of steps back from Lutece – he didn’t want to be around here anymore. “You’re selfish and rude, and I’d hazard a guess that your parents have spoiled you rotten,” he told her in a level tone. “Seven years we’ve got to spend together in classrooms, in the common room, on the Quidditch team. Seven years together and you ruin it on our first meeting.” He shook his head and sighed. “Good luck at Sonora, Lutece, you’re going to need it.”

With that Oliver headed back to their cauldron where a congealed mess was emitting skinny spirals of foul-smelling blue vapor. He sighed again. This lesson had the potential to be wonderful, and Lutece had just wrecked every second of it. Any sympathy that Oliver had felt for her maladjusted state was irrevocably quashed by her determinism to be obnoxious. It was unfortunate that unless Lutece got her wish and left Sonora that what Oliver had said was true – he would have to suffer her for a whole seven years.
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0 Oliver It sure does *grin* 0 Oliver 0 5

Professor Connell
March 05, 2007 3:19 PM

Professor Connell
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lesson closed (nm) by Professor Connell

0 Professor Connell lesson closed (nm) 0 Professor Connell 0 5