Potions - Lesson 1

Sami mentally head-desked. It was on the tip of her tongue, but the word completely missed her. She had forgottten to read through the Potions book last night, too busy reading up on Transfiguration and DADA. She had a feeling she wouldn't do to well when it came to Theory..

She took out a sheet of parchment along with her quills, and began scribbling down what the professor was saying. Heal, Poison, and Bewitch. The Ravenclaw waited patiently for him to tell the class exactly what defined the categories.

Lyss slapped her face. Of course! It's not like she hadn't opened her potion book. Moaning, Lyss took a quill and wrote down:

Heal, Poison, Bewitch

on the palm of her hand. She'd copy it down onto a sheet of parchment later. Lyss tapped her foor and waited for the professor to continue.

Matt nodded. "Correct. Bewitch is the third category. 5 Galleons to you, Celare. As I said before, most potions fall under these three categories, but why am I saying most? Can any one reason why I would say most and not all potions can be categorised under Heal, Bewitch and Poison?"

He turned to write the three categories upon a green chalkboard; each category the heading of three columns. Turning back, he waited for the brave soul to answer the question he posed.

Anne decided to speak up. "Some potions dont't fit in one of the three categories. Like color changing potions which don't harm, heal or bewitch. Also the draught of living death can prevent someone from dying by putting them in a coma like state, but doesn't actually heal them. Really there are exceptions to any rule or category"

James raised his hand. "I agree with that," he said, "Some potions such as a Potion to create fire wouldn't heal, bewitch or poison a drinker, as no one is actually drinking the potion. But doesn't the Draught of Living Death place that drinker in a bewitched coma state, so that would fit into the category of Bewitch, wouldn't it?" James didn't want to shut down the girl who answered before him, he just wanted to clarify that with the professor.

Leighton ran toward the Potions classroom, cursing herself for being late. Her common room was right next to the Potions classroom for goodness sakes! She just hoped that the teacher wouldn't hate her too much for being late.
Leigh slyly slid into the Potions classroom, trying to go unnoticed by the other students. She found one table that was empty and went to go sit down there. Leighton was livid with herself. Potions was going to be her favorite class, she could tell, but she was already late for the first lesson.
As Leighton pulled out her things, she tried to see what the other students were talking about.

"That's correct. Some Potions don't fit certain categories, if they are not ingested, for example, or as James pointed out, if their purpose is to create certain elements, such as fire." He nodded to the Slytherin girl who answered, and to the Gryffindor boy. "Both take three points (Galleons) for using reason."

Matt half turned to the board he wrote the three words upon. "The three categories are here. If you have done the reading you should be able to list a few common name potions, here and now. Hands up and tell me a Potion and the category you think it falls under. Please, just one per student until we have reached a decent sized list."

He looked at the girl who arrived late, and looking down at his roster, he said. "Miss Vladimir, you can start us off, seeing as you were late today. Name a Potion and the category it falls under, if you will."

Leighton looked up at the teacher with a stoic expression on her face. She knew she was in trouble for being late to class, but she wasn't going to let herself be humiliated. Potions was her favorite topic and she wished to do well in this class.
Leigh kept her face confident as she gave her answer. "A Blood Replenishing potion would be an example of a Healing potion. As the title says, the potion will replenish your blood. It is like the equivalent to a blood transfusion in the Muggle world, only easy to conduct like most things in the Wizardry world." Leighton replied, forcing to fight off a smirk.
Leighton could tell she would like this teacher. He didn't seem like the type to take crap from anyone; he was a no-nonsense type of person. She expected to be punished for being late; she deserved that. She just hoped that she wouldn't be caught in this position again.

Andy raised his hand, "The PepperUp Potion would fall under two categories. Both Heal and Bewitch. Heal because the drinker takes the Pepperup Potion if they have a common cold, and it'll heal it, and also bewitch as the drinker's ears will steam when the Potion is consumed."

Andy stopped talking, and let someone else in the class have a go at naming a Potion for the board.

Elise stayed quiet throughout the entire class discussion. She knew she should've read the Potions textbook instead of rereading the Defense one like a million times over. On the other hand, Elise glanced to both her sides at Anthony and James, they seemed to be quite apt in knowing about potions.

Hopefully they could help her out, or something.

Terry raised her hand tentatively, "Ve Hiccuping Solution vould fall under Bevitch, sir, because it makes ve drinker hiccup." she answered, unsure. Wouldn't Charm and Bewitch be the same thing logically? Shrugging mentally, she decided that it was worth a try. After all, theory was always the hardest to figure out with Potions. Making them was the easy part.

Sami, ever the Ravenclaw, raised her hand after hearing her other classmates answer. "The Hate Potion, I believe, would fall under 'Bewitch' as it bewitches the consumer into hating a specific target."

She had heard of the potion, after eavesdropping in a conversation taking place between her father and aunt. Her aunt had suggested her father took the potion, in order to forget about her mother. Needless to say, he didn't take the offer.

The witch wrote down most of the aforementioned potions, putting them each into their categories.

"Hey I'm real sorry I'm late!" silver said as she rushed into the potions classroom and sat down. People turned and stared at her, which made her feel more ashamed.

She saw three catergories and being rather well educated in Potions already she said, "Can I make up for it by saying Skele-Grow goes under the Heal catergory?" She really hoped the Professor would accept her answer and not give her a detention for being so incredibly late.

Kyra, though being shy toward adults, raised her hand up high. "Felix Felicis would go under Bewitch, I think, because it causes a person to feel and be extremely lucky." She heard from her family what it did, because her uncle had once drunk it and proposed to his girlfriend. They got married a month later.

She hoped that she got this one right and wrote the three categories and every answer so far on her parchment. For once, she wasn't feeling so confident at Potions.

"Dreamless Sleep potion, it could be classed as bewtiched as it causes the user to not dream. It can however also be used in healing situations as it allows the user to sleep deeply allowing for faster healing, as well as in traumatic situation for the person to be able to sleep without nightmares and recover their physical strength. " Anne replied. Hopefully it was a good enough answer

Thomas put his hand up again, after debating whether to or not, he wasn't that sure of his answer, after all, he'd done okay so far and it wouldn't be good to make a fool of himself now, but eventually he decided he'd at least find out the actual answer if he was wrong. "Sir, would Essence of Dittany go under heal, as it heals any wounds it's placed upon." he suddenly felt even more foolish though, and quickly shut up. That's not even a potion you idiot! His mind thought, and he started to wish like he could just disappear.

She knew this, she did, but what was it called, ah, the name is what escapes her mind. Ammertia, no that's not it, she thought to herself, Amortia, nope that's not it either. Amortentia, that's it!. She spoke after a boy who mentioned the Essence of Dittany.

"Professor, Amortentia, would fall under bewitch I believe because they are drawn in by the aroma of the potion, making them smell whatever it is that they think smells the most attractive to them, and them places the taker in a deep obsession. Therefore, bewitching them, or so I believe."

Hester hadn't answered so far, but she could remember a potion from the book that she had found interesting. Now, what was it?

"A- a- " she couldn't for the life of her remember what it was. "Oh! A beffudlement po-draught. A beffudlement draught would be a bewitch potion," she finally managed to say. "It changes the drinker's behaviour, makes them reckless."

She felt embarrassed that it has taken her so long to remember it, but at least she's answered.

James turned his head slightly and saw Elise give him a sideways glance. He wondered if she needed help of some kind. Perhaps him and Anthony should help her out if she needed it; she was Muggleborn after all.

James thought of a potion that wasn't said by the rest of the class already. "Veritaserum would fall under bewitch, as the consumer is forced to tell the truth, often, I would assume, against their own will."

Matthew raised an eyebrow at the students and the potions they had to offer for the board. He had really only expected one or two of them to have examples, but he had to say that he was impressed with the knowledge of his first year class. He just hoped that the standard would remain so.

He turned to the board as each student offered a suggestion and now turned back to the class.

"Good. I suggest copying that list down. You never know what is needed in the future."


"As you can see, no one has offered any potions under the Poison category. Does anyone know one for Poison?"

Matt looked back at the board, and then addressed the class for another question. "Have you noticed that not all the items on the board are called Potions, as the word Draught can be seen there and the Essence of Dittany, and yet they are still classed, essentially as Potions. Can someone explain the difference between a, Draught and a Potion, for example? And why it would still be covered in the Potions classroom?"

"An example of a poison would be Weedosoros, Professor," Rowan said confidently as she walked into the room, stopping for a moment in the doorway. She had missed part of her favorite subject because of the school messing up her schedule. She'd had to go and get it fixed with Professor Celare, and unfortunately she was late to Potions. But, then again it was good that she had gotten a note from her. Rowan looked around the room before walking to the professor with note in hand. She showed him the note. (Click Here)

"My apologies for being late, sir. I had to get my schedule changed," she explained to him, proceeding to take a seat near the front of the room. She had adored potions from the moment her father had first let her watch him at work. She had studied many potions at home and, even though she hadn't understood everything at the time, she definitely had a good knowledge of many potion related subjects. She knew the answer to the professor's other question as well, but she supposed she mine as well give someone else a chance to answer. Sure, she excelled at Potions, but she wasn't a show-off like some Ravenclaws tried to be. Of course, no offense to Ravenclaws.

Rowan pulled out her Potions textbook and placed it on her desk, also taking out parchment and quill as she looked at the board. She quickly gathered what they had been talking about from what she saw on the board, but she only copied down a few of the examples on the lists. She could think of more on her own time, anyways.

For Alli, copying down the list would be useless. She already knew all of the things that the others in her class had listed. Seeing that only one other person was keen on answering the question about poisons, she raised her hand. "Many potions can act as poisons when taken improperly or made by an overzealous potioneer," she said. "For example, any overdose of anything containing aconite will more often than not make the drinker sick, eventually resulting in death."

She decided to leave the professor's second question for one of the other people in the class. She didn't want to come off looking like a bloody Ravenclaw.

Terry raised her hand, thinking she knew the answer to the second question. "Potions are more general mixtures, vhile Draughts are specialized and vinner?" she questioned, unsure. "And since Draughts are more or less potions, I guess vey vould be required to be taught." she added thoughtfully. She wasn't too sure of her answer- theory was boring and she always fell asleep reading the textbook. "Also, Veritaserum can be lethal if vou are administered too much- vree or four drops can kill you in hours if vou're our age, and five or six if vou're a grown up."
That was something she had enjoyed reading about.

Hester took notes, scribbling down the entire list of potions Professor Hamilton had written on the board. She added a category for poison, but couldn't think of anything to say for it. She then wrote the difference between a draught and a potion and then waited, hoping for someone to answer so that she could find out. She could think of ingredients that might go in a poison potion, perhaps deadly nightshade would, but not a name of a potion. She heard the other students say answers, and she wrote them all down, hoping that she would remember them for future lessons.

Gwen didn't know the difference between the two so she bit her tongue in thought trying to think of a poison.
"Well, anything with too much belladonna might be poisonous." She offered not at all sure of her statement but not letting it show. She wrote down everything on the board and took notes on everything said.