Professor Mary Brooding
September 21, 2018 3:50 PM
Sleeping Abroad [Beginners, I-II] by Professor Mary Brooding
The classroom that once felt so strange and so vast seemed to feel like home now. The books, neatly sorted on the shelves, and the stained wooden desks reminded her of the hours she'd spent with students in this room since she'd first arrived at Sonora as a professor. If someone had told her then that she would be happily planning a trip to Greece for the Christmas holiday with a girlfriend she hadn't started the year off with, she'd have thought they were crazy. Now, she supposed she was the crazy one. Maybe she always had been.The holidays had been a hard time for her since her first Christmas without her family, and she'd been nervous about being alone this year without Michelle or anybody else. It was a relief to know she wouldn't have to worry about that, and her thoughts turned instead to her students. There were more of them than she'd like to think about who were nervous or afraid to go home for Christmas. There were others who were excited, but would undoubtedly spend the first several days in a fog as they readjusted to whatever timezone their family lived in. Mary had had that in mind as she designed this lesson, and wore a soft purple dress, the color of a cloudy dusk, to promote a relaxed atmosphere.
"Hello, class," Mary greeted them as they entered, smiling softly. The sun was a watery grey in the early winter sky and it seemed the sort of day to whisper, even when the Potions classrooms saw little of that kiss of sunlight. "I know most of you are very eager to be done with classes for the semester, and I'm sure that most of you have started thinking more about the holiday season than potions, so I wanted to give us something a bit more restful to do today."
At their desks, each student had a cauldron and a scroll, tied with ribbon. Simple tools like knives, a cutting board, a mortar and pestle, and other such things were ready for them. Mary had taken extra care to prepare the classroom today, hoping to make it a comfortable place for them.
"Many of you will be traveling home and the time differences can cause sleep problems, not to mention the occasional stress that can come up with family and the otherwise busy weeks ahead. Each of your scrolls has the directions for the potion we'll be working on today, a Sleeping Draft. You are free to take these home rather than carry all your textbooks home if you'd like to have your families help you prepare the potion to ease your sleep when you get there. Those of you who live with muggles can speak to me privately about other arrangements."
Mary waved her wand and the ingredients and directions appeared on the chalkboard.
"You'll be working individually and I'll be grading your potions over break, so please provide a vial of it on your way out. Second-years, I know you've done this before and I have your previous professor's notes from last year's lesson on Sleeping Drafts for you to peruse if you need to see what you struggled with before that you can improve this year. I'll be grading your new potions on this standard as well. Any questions?"
Smiling at her students and feeling very much as though they were her own children, Mary nodded. "I'll come around the room if anybody has anything they need help with or any questions."
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