Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
June 12, 2023 12:46 AM
A Bright and Weary Welcome [Advanced] by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
The classroom was, in many ways, the same way it had been the last time Mary Brooding-Hawthorne had taught here. She'd taken the time to arrange the desks the way she liked them and brew a few of the potions she most highly favored. She'd drank too many cups of hot chocolate in the short time since she'd been back, hoping to make it feel like her old home. But it wasn't really. She'd arranged and rearranged the furniture but no matter how she set it up, Dorian wasn't there. She'd even tried brewing a pot of tea, but that only made it worse.For one, she was still not that good at it. For two, the pit in her stomach that was meant to be filled by the presence of her wife felt like an ever deepening gulf at the mere thought of tea. Tabitha was, once again, abroad. Zeus didn't seem to mind... he was doing well as far as she could tell so far and he was probably used to the way his mum was so often out, seeking adventure and sending letters. Tabitha's owl was more present than she was the past few years. Mary knew why. She couldn't blame her wife for trying so hard to seek the cures they needed so desperately for Zeus. But curse-breaking wasn't going to mean anything at all if he grew up without yet another parent for it all. Perhaps that was the toll of the curse on this generation.
As the clock on Mary's desk vibrated and chimed anxiously, hopping up and down to alert her that the previous period was ending and her next class was on its way, the woman who felt much older than the last time she'd done so stood up and smoothed the front of her dress. Her fashion was much the same, although it might have been a bit more somber, or a bit more practical. She couldn't remember now. Her hat, oversized as ever, sat upon a head of black curly hair, growing back out after a cut a few years prior, and she wondered idly if the shadow the brim cast on her face would mask any signs of stress that had etched themselves on her face. She waved her wand to dismiss the alarm, and Mary became Professor Brooding-Hawthorne.
"Greetings, class," the professor beamed, filling with joy as she examined the students she'd once known to be much shorter. "It's a pleasure to see you all again. I've been informed that you've done very well in my absence, and I'm glad that those of you who are here maintained enough interest in this class as to continue into advanced lessons. Professor Carter and your other interim professors are highly skilled."
She waved her wand, sending a syllabus floating to each student, as well as a questionnaire. "You'll need to complete these by the end of class," she explained, holding up her own copy of the syllabus to show a questionnaire for the students on the back page. "You'll note that our schedule includes the regular list of units for advanced students, including career usage, medical usage, and more. However, there are a number of spaces in the calendar for me to insert the units most appropriate to this class. There's only a few questions, just to let me know what usage of potions you've been exposed to outside of class, where your interests and goals lay, and what you find the most challenging. I'll have an updated syllabus for you next class after I review your answers."
She put that aside and tapped her wand on the front page of the syllabus before waving it at the chalkboard, where a copy of today's calendar entry copied itself in neat cursive handwriting, an exact replica of the professor's own.
"Today, we're going to jump back in with some skills review to dust off any mental cobwebs that accumulated over the summer. As you know, safety is paramount with potions and that's especially true when we'll be covering some more deadly brews later in the school year. For now, I want you to find a partner to work with and start working on two potions: a poison and an antidote." With another wave of her wand, the recipe sheets went to each student. "You'll be testing both on a fresh leaf, so come collect one from the plant on my desk when you're ready. Most of the ingredients are available to you in the cupboard but you'll need to prepare the leech juice, chizpurfle carapaces, and chomping cabbages yourself. Please do be careful, and as always, let me know if you need anything. I'll be walking around to check on your progress once you've had a chance to get started. I expect to see that both partners have been involved in brewing both potions, do not just split responsibility. Go ahead and begin."
OOC: Welcome, advanced students! It's a pleasure to have you in class. As always, house points will be awarded based on how realistic, repliable, and r... interesting your post is, not how well your student performs the given tasks.
Today's lesson is not based on any particular recipe so feel free to make up details as you go, or keep it vague as you please. Professor Brooding-Hawthorne will interrupt if there's any shenanigans going on but please tag her in the title of your post if you need a more immediate reply!
Subthreads: Sure, this sounds good. by Iris Cobb
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
A Bright and Weary Welcome [Advanced]
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Iris Cobb
June 15, 2023 7:56 PM
Sure, this sounds good. by Iris Cobb
Iris entered the Potions classroom in a bit of a funk. She was glad to be greeted by Professor Brooding-Hawthorne once again, the woman was wonderful. However, the traditional beaming, joyful greeting did not particularly mesh well with Iris' current mood. Still she attempted to smile back, out of politeness, but it didn't last once the professor's gaze moved on from her.The questions on the back of the paper that she received did little to improve her mood. Potions outside of class? Nothing much came to mind, her first thoughts were of Ma's concoctions, but they weren't quite actual potions. Still that question was better than wondering what her goals were. She didn't know at this point, most of her thoughts of the future were of things to avoid, not things to aim for. She didn't know what she was going to do.
Fortunately before Iris could dwell much longer on such thoughts, Professor Brooding-Hawthorne moved on with class. Good, hopefully she could just lose herself in classwork today.... once she apparently found a partner. Then they would get to make poisons, and antidotes. Thoughts of what she could do with such things rushed through her head and she did her best to banish them as fast as she could. No, that was terrible and wrong.
Once they were released, Iris looked around the room to see who was available. It quickly became apparent that her first choice for partners was not in the class. Hansel had dropped out? This was a year when she would get him in classes without Liesl around to get in the way. Not that she had much hopes for such things anymore, but still...
Last year at this time she still would have sought out her roommate as a partner, but not at the moment. She would find someone else, almost anyone else. Fortunately Billy was also not here. Well, there was little time to waste. She approached a potential partner and asked the traditional question, "Would you like to pair up for the class?"
OOC: Hansel's unavailability was confirmed by his author.
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Iris Cobb
Sure, this sounds good.
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