Professor Fawcett
January 23, 2014 3:09 PM
Intermediate Potions (3rd-5th Years) by Professor Fawcett
The third quarter was drawing to a close, and the last fourth of the year was nearly at hand. Soon, there would be a palpable increase in tension around the mansion as nearly everyone, first year through seventh, began alternating summer plans with bouts of increased interest in their impending exams. It would be a busy, productive time, not quite as much to John's liking as the related purposeful air of the first few weeks of school, but a good time nonetheless.Until then, the very air they all breathed would be, for some, if that portion of the population did not take measures against it, a clever enemy which did not so much flatten as wear down, slowly. Overall, the more livable conditions of Sonora versus the desert outside were a good thing, but the plant life did have the slight drawback of facilitating spring allergies.
As far as John could tell, there was no potion or equivalent known to wizard or Muggle which would provide complete relief - a confidence he regretted to have obtained through lengthy experimentation, though at least there had been great advances since he was a boy, on both sides. His mother had gained enough academic knowledge of herbs in her five years at Sonora, before lack of aptitude and the pressures of being a Muggleborn Crotalus in the thirties had driven her out, that she'd provided some helpful remedies, but John retained a certain antipathy toward spring just for the memories.
Teaching students about some of the safer advances, then, was a pleasant task, though he did not demonstrate his enthusiasm as he welcomed the Intermediates to class for the day and told them to open their books to page 447.
"This potion is one many of you may find interesting," he said. "As it helps prevent the symptoms of seasonal allergies.
"For it, you will require, as you see, lemon seeds, which you will need to split, steep, and then remove, knotgrass, fresh peppermint leaves, which I will provide - " most, he thought, of his budget went into procuring things like fresh or odd potion components, but it was worth it to cover as many CATS and RATS contingencies as possible and effectively demonstrate principles of component preparation and use - "two inches of snakeskin, which you will need to stew five minutes with a stick of cinnamon and three drops of pomegranate juice before adding to the cauldron, and a handful of willow slips. Don't be too heavy-handed with the knotgrass, or you will end up with a substance with the consistency of mud and less use. What you hope for instead is a thick but smooth-flowing bright yellow fluid.
"You may partner up for this one and begin once you've reviewed all the instructions and gathered your ingredients," he finished.
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