Potions - Lesson 1

The desks of the lower dungeon classroom were set up, but lacked the cauldrons that would normally adorn the desks. The Potions classroom was set up for it's first lesson, which, boring as most would find it, would be covering the basics.

(Post your arrival now. Class will start soon after)

Essi slipped into the potions classroom shyly.

"Wow... I'm first," she whispered as she took a seat close to the front of the class. She hoped some other people would arrive soon as she was desperate to begin learning. She really wanted to improve her dire potions skills.

She looked over to the teacher, Professor Hamilton, and waited quietly.

Gwen entered and sat next to Essi grinning. Finally potions, her Dad had told her to be on her best behavior around Professor Hamilton so she was going to try her best.
Couldn´t garuntee anything not exploding though. She could be a klutz.

Alyssa walked into the classroom, which smelled strongly of dead frogs. Scrunching her nose, Alyssa sat down across from the other two girls. She wasn't thrilled to be here, honestly. If it was her choice, Potions wouldn't have been at the top of her list. But her mum was brilliant when it came to Potions, along with Lily and Christina. Hoping Alyssa wouldn't turn out like Marie, who was a klutz at Potions, her mum had made sure Potions was the first class she signed up for.

Oh well, thought Alyssa, I guess it never hurts to give anything a shot.

Dree walked into the dark dungon classroom. She nodded to Essi who was sitting by an unfamilair looking girl, before sitting down and pulling out her potions textbook. She flipped through the pages, looking for what they would be studying today.

Anne walked into the classroom, and saw that there were a few other girls already there. She didn't know any of them, and definetly didn't want to ssit in the first row. The back wouldnt be great if her glasses started to go mid year, maybe the second row would be a good choice. Close enough to the other girls to talk if they weren interested, but not imposing upon them.

She took her seat in the second row and began to upack her potions supplies, this class was sure to be brilliant.

After her other classes, Charlotte was excited for this. She didn't know what to expect of the Potions classes. What were they supposed to make? Different brews? What kinds though?
That was when she started walking inside the dungeons. It seemed so...cold. Not much of a comforting place.
She took a seat next to a random student, hoping that they didn't bite, and put her books at her feet.

Terry shivered as she entered the Potions classroom. Quickly sitting by Dree, she took out her book and pulled her robes around her in an effort to keep warm.

Andy made his way to the Potions Dungeon, excited for the class to start. He had heard about the new professor and wanted to see for himself if the rumours were true. He took a seat at the back of the classroom, and, after taking out his Potions textbook, he twirled his quill, waiting for the Professor to arrive.

Elise walked down the same hallway towards the laundry room, but took a sharp turn instead and into another hallway where the Potions class was being held. She peeked in and took a look around; other people were there already. Spotting Anthony, she quickly made her way towards him and sat next to him.

Everyone else she knew was sitting with someone else.

Elise took out her textbook and other writing materials before arranging them in a somewhat symmetrical manner.

James had slept in, and ran down to the dungeon, for the first Potions lesson of the year. He slid in front of the door, and peaked in, relieved that he wasn't late. That would have been bad.

He walked in and took a seat next to Elise, the girl he met at the Park at Diagon Alley, and Andy, the boy he met in the Quality Quidditch Supplies store.

"Hey, guys," he whispered to them, pulling out his textbooks and supplies. He was a tad sad that there didn't seem to be any cauldrons set up, but he supposed that creating a Potion first lesson would be a recipe made for disaster. He prepared himself for a boring lesson and was happy that he had friends to make the day far more interesting.

Andy turned when he heard a familiar voice nearby. He grinned, seeing James there. Finally, Andy thought, not having seen the boy since Diagon Alley. He saluted at him, as James took a seat down next to Elise and him, still waiting for Professor Hamilton to get there.

Thomas went quickly but quietly to the classroom, his dorms may of been close, but admittedly he wasn't there just before clas, meaning he had a fair bit of a further distance to go, he just hoped he wasn't late, which, upon slinking into the classroom silently, he realised he wasn't. Looking at who was already in the class, he remembered a few of them from the Empty classroom, he remembered Gwen, she seemed pretty cool, then there was... Terry? He thought that was the name, and then another Ravenclaw girl, he remembered her from the mention of the library, then there was Elise, the first one to appear before they all seemed to multiply. He decided to try and meet new people as well though, so took a seat behind the two other guys in the class, after greeting the Professor. "Hi." was all he said. No point on starting a conversation if the lesson was about to start or if they were already in a conversation of their own.

Dree looked over at the new boy and smiled "Hi. I'm Adreis" she said, mindlessly flipping through her potions book.

Kyra nervously walked into the Potions classroom. The teacher, Professor Hamilton, looked quite intimidating... She couldn't understand why she felt like she did. Potions was her best subject! She shook off the feeling and sat down at a random desk. She looked to her left and her right; on one side there was a boy. She groaned.

Sami rushed through the halls, adamant to get to Potions. She had got a little held up after History of Magic and it was not until she heard someone talking about it on their way there.

Upon her arrival, she noted that she actually wasn't late at all. Though, granted, her dorm mates had all already arrived (without telling her!) as well as multiple other students. Deciding that she couldn't just stick with only girls, the witch scurried over to where a Slytherin boy sat.

After choosing her desk, Sami began setting up all her materials. They had arrived by owl order (she had convieniently forgotten to get her potions supplies) the day before and she was immensly grateful that she had remembered to put them in her bag.

Matthew Hamilton pulled the heavy door open, leaving it to slam shut behind him. He watched as the majority of his first year class jumped in their seats. He smirked slightly, as he strode through the divide of tables placed in the centre of the room.

"Quiet," was all he said, and the effect took place immediately, though that may have been due to his sudden appearance in the classroom.

He reached the destination of his desk and turned to face his class; all of which were looking rather nervous through his eyes. Good.

"My name is Matthew Hamilton, and I am the Potions Master this year at Hogwarts. This class will not be easy, nor will you enjoy yourself 100% of the time. As you progress through this class, you will soon discover if you have what it takes to be apt in this class and, just as quickly, you will learn if you are not. The Art of Potion making is precise, exact and requires the utmost concentration and I will not tolerate any sort of misbehaviour in my classroom." He paused to let this last sentence take effect.

"Let's test your basic potions knowledge first. Who can tell me one of the three categories that most potions, and I say most, as some do not, fall under?"

Alli instantly liked the professor from the moment he walked in the room. Finally someone who wasn't going to take any nonsense from all of the stupid people who seemed to be multiplying every time she turned around.

She waited a minute to see if any of the know-it-all Ravenclaws were going to jump up to answer his question before she raised her hand and began to speak. "Poisons," she said with a smirk. She found poisons fascinating, not because she necessarily wanted to hurt people, but because she there were so many different things a poison could do before eventually killing its victim.

Andy turned as a girl answered the Professor's question. He thought about the Potions that he knew and what category that'd fall under. Allison already said Poison, as one of them, so the opposite would have to be one of them, wouldn't it?

He raised his hand, "Heal, would be a category, wouldn't it?" He was confident about his answer, even though he answered it with a question.

Matt nodded when two of the students came up with the right answers. Perhaps they weren't all dimwitted afterall.

"Correct. Poison and Heal are two of the categories. Take 5 Galleons each for your answer. One other category remains." He looked out at the sea of faces, the majority of them looking lost and confused. He sighed. "Does anyone know? Did anyone actually do any reading before they came to class?"

Anne had an idea, but she wasn't sure if she was right. She read the section on potions, but hadn't expected to be asked something on the first page. This was of course an oversight on her part, but what's done is done, that could no longer be changed.

The question was whether or not to answer. Well the worst thing the professor could do is say she's wrong, and not speaking up if she was right would be quite stupid.

Anne bit her lip nervously and answered when she was called upon. "Defensive"

Essi wished that she could have answered the question, but she honestly knew nothing about potions. She was definitely going to go back to the study room after this lesson and read through the text book in great detail so she would be better prepared next time. She felt horribly embarrassed that as a Ravenclaw she hadn't attempted an answer.

Matt looked at the girl when she tried to answer the question. She was wrong but at least she tried to answer it, not like the other students in the class. Perhaps they needed a bit of a hint.

"No, not defensive," he said, "Think about potions such as Amortentia, the love potion, or a Befuddlement Draught for example. These Potions do not heal or poison a drinker but still have a powerful effect."

Matthew reiterated the question."What do these potions do to a consumer?" Hopefully with this hint, the third category would click in their heads so that they could move on with the lesson. It was going to be a long day...

Thomas listened intently to the answers the others gave as they answered the categories question, he attempted to think of the first two, but they eluded him, and now the third one was on the tip of his tongue, Amortentia... He thought. Love Potion, what did love potions do? His mind suddenly clicked, and he quickly raised his hand. "Bewitch would be the third category Sir." He said confidently.

Terry slapped her forehead. Of course! She was an idiot! She had read that dang book four times, why couldn't she remember the very basics? Her horrible memory, that's why, most likely... Sighing, she leaned back in her chair and waited for the Professor to explain the three categories in more detail.