This lesson contains a PRACTICAL assignment. Please remain in character. Any out of character comments should be put behind spoiler tags!

Merlin was excited to be in the Potions classroom since this was a subject he liked and was very good at, unlike the flying lessons he wished he didn't had to take. So when Professor Mathers entered he was all ears and eyes while she explained the assignment. He had most of the ingredients but the snake fangs so he went to the table to get those. Once in table he double checked he had his ingredients, including water, and place them in the order they must be used while reciting the instructions over and over in a low whisper. "Add six Snake Fangs to your mortar, and then add four measures of Standard Ingredient to your mortar. Now very carefully add six measures of the tricky Dried Billywig Stings to your cauldron but very carefully you don't want to add too many." He smiled to himself since he managed perfectly so far, and then proceeded to heat in medium temperature for thirty seconds only.

The Professor starts walking around from table to table and nods when she sees on Merlin's table. "Very good Pendragon, make sure not to mess the rest."

"I'll do my best." He replied while crushing his ingredients in the mortar but feeling a bit pressured. Once the professor was gone to another table he continued his whispering. "Add crushed ingredients to the cauldron slowly, we don't want accidents." It was almost done and was about to stir it when another student bump into him and almost spill his potion to the ground, but he was quick with his wand and saved it in time. "Careful! What are you doing all the way here?" For Merlin this was outrageous, his potion making time was scared and shouldn't be disturbed, so he frowned at the student who left as quick as he arrived. "Fool." And then he stir three times clockwise as the instructions said. "Well done, now we wait ten minutes with a low heat on that cauldron." Merlin felt proud, this was one of his specialties and one he enjoyed to practice, so when the silvery blue showed on his cauldron he beams with pride. "It's done Professor Mathers!! It's silvery blue come see!" His little face was a bit red but was hoping to hear the professor say 15 Points for Slytherin anytime now.

Merlin Pendragon Slytherin

Eros moved his hand over his mouth as he covered a yawn. He wasn't bored, just tired. Being a prefect was a lot more work than he bargained for. First year students were the worst. That, in addition to his studies and Quidditch. The teen focused his attention as best as he could on the the Professor and the chalkboard. Remaining attentive was hard when he was running on only a few hours of sleep. Awakening Potion. I could use some of that, Eros thought to himself.

The Aussie got up from his seat to retrieve the ingredients from the back of the room before returning. He gazed back at the board in front to re-scan the instructions briefly before proceeding with the potion. He added the six fangs and SIX measures of standard ingredient to the mortar, while adding the six measures of Dried Billywig Stings to the cauldron. Eros heated the temperature to a medium heat for half a minute as he crush the ingredients in the mortar. He yawned again as he dumped the ingredients into the cauldron, stirring three times clockwise. The temperature was lowered to a low heat, and Eros relaxed a bit as he waited for the potion to brew.

At the ten minute mark, he noticed his turned a silvery blue...but then continued changing into a more dull grayish coloration. His eyebrows furrowed as he scratched he ran his hand through his hair. What happened?, he thought to himself as he tried to figure out his mistake. He looked at the board to review the steps. He felt almost certain he did everything right. Or did he? He wasn't sure anymore. He sighed at the idea of having to redo it.

• Eros Sigurd, Slytherin

Luck was attentive at her table and listened to the professor's instruction. As some students got up and headed to the back of the class she stayed at her table, staring at the chalkboard and reviewing the ingredients several times in her mind. She already had Standard Ingredient, but she would have to retrieve the others. She was very focused, repeating the ingredients' names internally as she took them from the back of the class.

It will be just like baking, she thought to herself. The instructions are right there, just like a recipe. She wondered how many other students came from muggle parents and if wizard families cooked at all like them. Luck already started putting the 6 Snake Fangs in her mortar before she suddenly remembered the Professor had said to put the water in the cauldron, so she halted the process until the water was in. She meticulously re-counted the Snake Fangs to verify she was doing it correctly since she interrupted herself.

She was taking ages on this potion because of the obsessive counting, recounting, double-checking the chalkboard and double checking her ingredients. The professor had rotated around the room a few times already. Luck verified that it was 4 measures of Standard Ingredient a few times and slowly, counting in her head, put the measures into the mortar. As expected, she read 6 measures of Dried Billywig Stings, counted it out internally, read again, and re-counted, before finally putting them into her cauldron.

Several students were already finished with their potions by the time she started crushing the fangs and stings in the mortar. She decided to prepare the ingredients first so she could time the heating. She read all of the final steps several times as she didn't know how much leeway of time was allowed between steps in order to do it correctly. As she heated her cauldron to medium temperature she counted to 30 in her head, then took the crushed ingredients and dumped them in.

Luck glanced up at the chalkboard briefly once more then began to stir her cauldron 3 times in a clockwise motion. Afterwards, she looked at the chalkboard again and a bit frantically switched her heating to low, as though she almost missed that step. Then she sat very focused, staring at her cauldron as it bubbled and brewed the ingredients. Motionless, she stared into the cauldron for around 10 minutes then immediately a grin spread across her face as the contents turned silvery blue.

She tried to contain her excitement as she looked around the room, still smiling wide. It was the first potion she ever brewed and she had done it correctly. Even back home after diligently following the instructions of a recipe in the same manner, the final product never seemed to look like the picture on the box. The Professor just then made it to her table once again and looked at Luck's successful Awakening Potion. They wordlessly beamed at each other in pride before the Professor moved on to observe the next student's work.

-(Luck, Hufflepuff)

Chook sat at her desk, head in her hands, trying to ward off a headache about to turn into a migraine. She knew that she should not have eaten that desert last night and was paying for it now.

She attempted to read the instructions for the potion but all was blurry. Add 6 Snake Fangs to your mortar, was that a 5. 6 or 8. Deciding to go with the middle number she added the fangs to the mortar. Next, add 4 measures of Standard Ingredient to your mortar, that she could read and followed the instruction. Now add 6 measures of Dried Billywig Stings to your cauldron. The six to her eyes read 8 so in went 8. Next step read Heat to medium temperature for 30 seconds. Once again she misread the 3 and saw an 8.

She looked at the next step, Crush ingredients in mortar. That should have been an easy step except that misreading two major measurements now caused the caldron to spew forth a vile mixture that not only covered her in it's slime but the people surrounding her as well.

Although the students in the immediate vicinity were not too happy, Chook was as the concoction had cured her migraine.

Gryffindor

Elizabeth smiled. This assignment really attracted her attention, as she was not a fan of coffee and unfortunately a bit of a night-owl. She read the instructions carefully, then stood up to get the missing ingredient - Dried Billywig Stings - from the table in the back of the class. The instructions still in her mind, she was sure she should be able to brew this potion with ease. Additionally, she knew the Awakening Potion would be valuable for later use.

Elizabeth put six Snake Fangs into the mortar, along with four measures of Standard Ingredient. She crushed both ingredients thoughtful and observed the blending colours of the fine powder. Earlier in her life, Elizabeth didn't know that Snake Fangs grew back and given the fact they were used frequently in potions, she pitied those poor, toothless creatures, until one day when she brought up this question to a small grass snake next to a small pond.

With that story in her head, she almost forgot to pour water in her cauldron and sighed deeply. She had to focus completely on the assignment. Reading the instructions again, Elizabeth took the six Dried Billywig Stings and added them to the water in her cauldron, before heating the brew to medium temperature for 30 seconds. Right after time was up, she placed the fine powder of Snake Fangs and Standard Ingredient to the cauldron. For a moment, she looked at the ingredients flowing around, then she carefully stirred the brew for three times, clockwise.

Confident that she was almost done - and in her opinion, without mistakes as well - she gave the potion the necessary ten minutes on low heat to brew constantly. While the mixture bubbled calmly, Elizabeth cleaned her mortar and pestle and her workspace as well. After ten minutes had passed, she took a look into the cauldron and was pleased with the silvery blue colour. She hoped that it would be possible to keep the potion if done correctly.

Elizabeth Amalia Covington, Slytherin

Ernessa began to relax as she took in the sights and smells of potion class, this was her one true passion and she was relatively good at it. She already had all the items required for the potion and began retrieving them from her bag. With the Standard Ingredient, Snake Fangs and Dried Billywig Stings sitting in front of her she began by adding water to her cauldron. Ernessa worked slowly, following the instructions step by step but when it came to heating her cauldron Ernessa raised her hand.

'Professor, what exactly would you define as a medium heat?'

Ernessa, slytherin

Jem smirked as she walked to the back table. Normally, when she was brewing her own Awakening Potion, she'd had to filch things occasionally from Professor Mathers' potions cabinet, mostly because she'd been too lazy to pay for the ingredients. It was school's fault that her insomnia was so bad anyways, so she figured, what goes around comes around.

Almost everyone had already grabbed their materials--she was the last to get ingredients off the table. Checking to make sure no one saw her, she scooped some extra ingredients and let them fall into her wide robe sleeves. As she returned to her table, she stealthily adjusted her bag and slipped them inside.

If she couldn't get into the storeroom for a while, at least until the "pest" problem was dealt with, whatever that meant--she'd have to find someone to explore that with later--she might as well grab some ingredients to hold her over til the next time.

Brewing the potion was more so a matter of muscle memory than anything else. She crushed up the heated ingredients (using a mortar and pestle could be so cathartic) and tossed them in the cauldron. Now what to do for ten minutes?

[Jem , Gryffindor]

Fable smiled at the thought of making an Awakening Potion. She was quite partial to caffeine, mostly in coffee or soda form, but the occasional energy drink cropped in there as well.

She quickly but carefully went to work. Pulling out the ingredients that she had and going over to the table in the back for what she didn't. She risked a glance at the storeroom purely out of curiosity. She knew not to open the door and wouldn't but she couldn't help wondering what had gotten in there.

She walked back to her table, smiling at her friend Garrett. "I can't help wondering what got in." She said while setting down her supplies.

Garrett smiled. "I could go look if you like." Fables eyes widened. "Don't you dare! We will loose points for our house...and who knows what will be released." Garrett gave a shrug and they both went to work on there potions.

Fable carefully measured, crushed and heated her potion. She had had good luck with potions in the past. She loved cooking and brewing wasn't much different to her.

Once her potion was done she stared. It was a rich silvery blue. She looked over at Garrett who was still dealing with his brewing then back at her potion. Fable wanted to try it. Without saying anything she scooped up a little with her spoon and sipped it. It tasted odd. Everything started to seem very...clear around her. She didn't understand why but everyone seemed to be moving a bit...slow. Ok, not just a bit...they looked like they were in slow motion. She giggled which seemed oddly high pitched and reached for Garrett. She looked at him and said. "Garrett, I think I need the professor." Garrett looked both concerned and confused. Like she was speaking some alternate language. Garrett said "Faaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbblllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeee, Arrrrrreee Yoooooouuuu OooooooKKkkkk?" This caused Fable to giggle even more. At which Garrett "quickly" went to go get the professor.

~Fable for House Slytherin

An awakening potion, thought Garrett. I suppose they could come in handy, but why not just consume an energy drink, or barring that, caffeine pills..? Much quicker to start working..but this was their assignment, and he was determined to give it a shot.

Garrett pulled out the ingredients from his supplies, counting out the quantity needed. He was still doing this when Fable came back and sat down.

"I can't help wondering what got in," she said, looking toward the storeroom door.

He grinned " I could go look if you'd like," he said, crimson eyes gleaming.

Her mouth may have said no, but her eyes said yes...he would have a look another time.

Garrett had everything in order, and was carefully following the instructions for the potion. He had heard of dangerous mishaps before, and did not want to start off by causing one.

He was about halfway through brewing when he heard a strange, high pitched giggle. He turned and saw it was Fable. She looked very..intense..and was trying to say something to him. Unfortunately, she sounded like a Minion, and he didn't speak Minionese too well.

"Fable, are you ok..? " Garrett looked very concerned, and when she giggled that strange giggle again, he got up to get the Professor. Something was obviously very wrong.

About the time he reached the Professor, he heard a small boom, and turned to see Fable enraptured, staring up at the silvery droplets that were falling all around her. His potion had exploded.

~Garrett, House Slytherin

Stretching as she brushed past some other students, Giselle maneuvered her way to the front, careful not to knock over the small piles of ingredients some had already collected on their desks. She grabbed a few billywig stings to replenish her low stock. They rattled as they hit the few she had left in her otherwise bulging supply bag.

Giselle glanced around at the other students as she tied her slippery black hair up with a ribbon. Some had already started, some were struggling, a few others were getting their ingredients. Trying to ignore the nervous Hufflepuff counting fangs in front of her, she dropped her own into her mortar and added the Standard Ingredient. "The light really doesn't help at all. Why is it dim in here of all places?" she muttered to herself, scooping billywig stings into the cauldron. The fangs and ingredient released an oddly dry, musky smell as they transformed into powder, and she frowned. Who would drink this instead of coffee?

Pausing for a moment, Giselle stared at her cauldron to remember which way was clockwise. "Ah." Three careful stirs later, the tall Ravenclaw leaned back to observe the other students, noting one seemed to have tried their potion and others were in various stages of brewing. The blue concoction started shimmering bronze, and Giselle's hand had shot halfway up before the shimmer began to silver on the broiling surface. "Maybe I should be a little more careful," she laughed to her benchmate in relief. "I've been starved, let's get coffee!"

giselle. ravenclaw. coffee.

Lapis took up a quill and began making a list of the steps to follow for the awakening potion. She added water to her cauldron and headed to the back of the class for billywig stings. After measuring 6 measures, she returned to the cauldron and added the stings. She then took her mortar to the ingredient table, tossed 6 fangs and 4 measures of standard ingredient inside and returned to her cauldron. She murmured a quick "incendio" at the kindling under her cauldron and crushed the snake fangs and standard ingredient together as the billywig stings heated. After 30 seconds, Lapis tipped the crushed powder from her mortar into the heated liquid and stirred clockwise 3 times. She flipped her ten minute hour glass and sat back, flipping through her new mineraliumancy text book as the potion turned first bright azure, then a more mellow ceruean with a silvery undertone.

"Professor," she called, hand raised, "I believe I've finished."

Magnus was a happy-go-lucky sort and loved potions class. Since his ambition was to become a healer it was a good thing too as potions was required. He took his quill and his ever present sketchbook out and wrote the steps in his book. Then he pulled out his ingredients and began. He counted the six snake fangs three times before putting them in the mortar along with the four measures of Standard Ingredient.

Setting those to the side he took the dried billywig stings and added six measures to his cauldron and heated for 30 seconds.

Returning to his mortar, he crushed the ingredients finely and added them to the cauldron. And stirred 3 times counter-clockwise. After ten minutes on low heat, he noticed his potion did not look right. He read the directions again and swore he had stirred it counter clockwise. How could he be so stupid. Repeating all the steps again, he stirred clockwise and this time the new potion was indeed silvery blue. Sighing with relief that he got it correct he began to put his things away.

Magnus Lee, Ravenclaw.

Paddy had been reading up on potions during the break, and was hopeful that this time she would be able to get it right. Gathering up the supplies she needed, she carefully counted out the 6 Snake Fangs and added them to the mortar along with the 4 measures of Standard Ingredient. Counting 6 measures of Dried Billywig Stings, being careful to not overfill the measuring carton, she added them to her cauldron and looked at the instructions again. "Should you heat it for 30 seconds before crushing the ingredients, or crush them while it's heating," she muttered under her breath, reading the instructions through again. Lighting a fire under her cauldron, she decided to heat it for 30 seconds while crushing the other ingredients in the mortar. Tipping them into the cauldron, she crossed her claws for luck as she stirred it three times clockwise.

Resisting the temptation to continue stirring it, she sat watching the potion for a further 10 minutes, before realising she hadn't turned the heat down to low. Cursing herself for not paying attention properly, she looked around the classroom, wondering if she had time to start over again, as her burnt black puddle in the bottom of the cauldron wouldn't be much of an awakening potion.

Paddy - Gryffindor

Potions certainly wasn't Misha's strong suit. In fact the sound of fires crackling beneath cauldrons, and the ingredients bubbling from within them, tended to make him significantly sleepier. The fifth-year sighed, elbow propped on the table and head in his hand, and listened as the professor spoke. Perhaps 'listen' was an exaggeration, for he was growing drowsier by the second.

The shuffling of the students around him when it was time to collect ingredients from the front desk stirred him into action. He rose to his feet, rubbing his cheek and studying what Professor Mathers had written on the board. An Awakening Potion, was it? Misha braced himself against the irony, as well as the inevitable glances of peers who knew of his tendency to fall asleep in classes. This potion would, no doubt, come in handy. The fifth year, typically unambitious, frowned in the face of his newfound determination to get this bloody potion right. It couldn't be that hard, could it? Of course not, he would be fine.

A few minutes later he was back at his table with what he hoped were the sufficient ingredients. He added water to his cauldron and began to measure out his ingredients. That was six Snake Fangs and four measures of Standard Ingredient to his mortar- Wait, did I put too much of the standard ingredient? Well it's not like I can turn back now. Now to add the six measures of dried Billywig Stings to his cauldron and let that heat for thirty seconds.

He watched the 30-second hourglass closely as he ground the ingredients in his mortar, and managed to add them to his cauldron on time. Now he was to stir 3 times, clockwise. He realized halfway through his round-about that he was stirring in the wrong direction, and though he quickly amended the mistake, his frustration grew hotter.

Hopefully his errors were small enough that they would have little to no effect on his potion. He let this hope tremble in his chest as he began copying down the recipe into his notes. While his looping penmanship often suffered from his fatigue (or laziness), he decided that the ten minutes he had to wait could be used to copy this invariably important recipe in a neater manner.

When he glanced back up at his ten-minute hourglass, alarm struck him. He must have forgotten to turn it over. Derr`mo! he thought, urgently turning it over.

The rest of his 'ten minutes' was spent in anxious tension. He was almost scared to glance at his potion.

When he finally did, his heart sank. It was definitely blue, but there was absolutely no silverness to it.

He sat back, swallowing his anger and embarrassment as Professor Mathers came to congratulate Luck's success at the table beside him. He shut his book and began cleaning up. It wasn't as if he cared that much anyway...

- Misha Solovyov, Hufflepuff

Charlotte listened excitedly as the professor taught the lesson. Potions was her favorite subject, and she was eager to get started. As soon as the instructions were finished, she took a deep breath and took out her potions book. She liked to reread the directions herself before getting started. After a careful reread she pulled out her fully stocked potions kit and started mixing. She paid careful attention to the crushing of her mortar ingredients, to ensure that they were sufficiently uniform.

Soon, all the ingredients were added and she had performed the final stir. As she waited, her eyes strayed towards the storage closet and she wondered what kind of "pest" problem they were dealing with. Could it be pixies, a boggart, or something worse? She wondered why they hadn't sorted it out already, surely the professors or headmistress could take care of that pretty quickly. She also took the time to glance around at her classmates to see how they were doing. Most of them were waiting patiently like her, glancing around nervously, but others were still frantically adding ingredients or stirring.

Finally, the ten minutes were up and Charlotte looked down at her potion hopefully. It seemed almost a little too silver, but there was definitely a bluish tint to it. Overall, she hoped she had done well. Carefully she ladled some into a small bottle, she might need some on an upcoming Monday!

Charlotte - Ravenclaw

Gwen listened very closely to what Professor Mathers said; she wasn’t the best at potions so she tries to pay attention to what is said. She went up and got her ingredients then went back to her table and sat down. She decided to write down the instructions on a piece of parchment so she wouldn’t have to keep looking up at the board.

Taking her mortar and snake fangs she makes sure she has 6 and adds them in. Taking the Standard Ingredient she measures one and adds it to the Fangs ---- “Now just 3 more” ---- as she is counting out the measures she hears her classmates around her, it is hard not to get distracted. One person even seemed to slime the people around her --- gulp.

Gwen adds the Dried Billywig Stings to the cauldron and looks at the next step. Everything seems to be going okay so far, Gwen sighs, hopefully this keeps up. She heats the Stings to what she considers medium heat and crushes her other ingredients in the mortar. Slipping the items in the cauldron she stirs the potion 3 times counterclockwise.

After letting the potion brew for 10 minutes she looks in the cauldron, what she sees surprises her. The potion is a silver color, not very blue but she thinks it is probably okay; she slips a spoon in and brings some to her lips. It should be okay to try --- as the potion is tried Gwen’s eyes close and she falls to the floor in a deep sleep.

Maybe she should have read the instructions better – clockwise not counterclockwise.

Gwenyfar - Hufflepuff

[img align=left]https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b174/theatticbox/Prichard.png[/img]"My, my" Professor Mathers was concerned there was a black potion boiling in a cauldron. "Not to worry dear, I will clean it up. It seems you had the right steps for the most part. Some of you managed to brew an excellent potion." The professor looked around approvingly "those of you that did not get the potion correctly do not fret. We will try again next term. You have all managed to figure out the steps for the potion and have realized the mistakes you have made and corrected them. You have all earned 15 points for your respective houses! Well done everyone, enjoy your holiday." with that the professor turned her attention to the cauldrons and continued to study the different potions.

earned 15 points for Slytherin! earned 15 points for Slytherin! earned 15 points for Hufflepuff! earned 15 points for Gryffindor! earned 15 points for Slytherin! earned 15 points for Slytherin! earned 15 points for Gryffindor! earned 15 points for Slytherin! earned 15 points for Slytherin! earned 15 points for Ravenclaw!

earned 15 points for Ravenclaw! earned 15 points for Ravenclaw! earned 15 points for Gryffindor! earned 15 points for Hufflepuff! earned 15 points for Ravenclaw! earned 15 points for Hufflepuff!