Beginner Potions Lesson 1

"That's everything," said Hester, still carefully timing. "In, what, fifteen minutes-" five had already gone by "-We extinguish the flames all together and then it's done."

She smiled at lavender. She was beginning to really like potions, despite her mistake. Everyone made mistakes, anyway. Perhaps she would end up good at the subject. She hoped so.

And she hoped that Lavender would be her partner every lesson. She enjoyed working with her.

James watched Alli place the Shrivelfig down in front of him and he raised an eyebrow. He so wasn't preparing that thing; he shot-gunned not to after all.

James rolled his eyes. "I'd just love to cut up the caterpillar," James stated, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He did pick up the knife though and got to work. It wouldn't be fair if Alli did all the work, even though James would have much preferred that to happen. He was, essentially, a very lazy person.

"Oh and look, you're just about done with those daisies, so you can start on the Shrivelfig!" James pushed the ingredient closer to Alli again, smirking. They would drive each other crazy by the end of the lesson.

Leighton ignored Lachlan and placed her cauldron on high heat, just like the board said. Grabbing the stirrer, Leighton turned it clockwise. Reciting the words of a Muggle song in her head, Leighton saw that the water had begun to boil. Reaching over, Leighton grabbed the daisy roots and caterpillars. Leighton registered in her head slightly that Lachlan had cut them very evenly. That made her happy.

Then, putting the cauldron heat on low, Leighton began to stir it counterclockwise. An automatic smile appeared on her face. Potions was her biggest passion. Just being able to do this made her happy.

The five minutes went by closer then she thought, putting the rat spleen in the cauldron, Leighton passed Lachlan the stirrer. "You stir now. For fifteen minutes."

Following the second part of the instructions Gwen added the ingredients and let the potion simmer waiting about twenty minutes instead of fifteen because she lost track of time and then adding the speel which she thout was gross and she still didnt know where her partner(s) were.
Grr.
Ahwell.
She stirred and hoped everything was okay.
Her hair was getting more and more poofed by the minute from the fumes and she was pretty sure that the catapillar should be smaller but oh well.
It was the best she could do.

Jenn placed the cauldron on high heat, stirring clockwise, waiting for the first sign of boiling. When she saw the first bubble, she added the daisy roots and the caterpillar. Turning down the heat, she allowed the items to simmer, while stirring anticlockwise for five minutes. She did her best to keep the time, and went over by about fifteen seconds. So, she quickly added the rat spleen, turning the potion a light green color, the board said 'pale green', but at least it was green. Stirring for another fifteen minutes clockwise, she kept the time carefully this time, making sure it was exactly fifteen minutes.

After a long fifteen minutes, she turned the heat up to medium, and added in the Shrivelfig slowly. She then turned ten times clockwise, then ten the other way, anticlockwise, for ten minutes. After a few seconds over ten minutes, she turned the heat to low and immediately added the leech juice. The color of the potion now was a . . . a light acidic green. She sighed happily at not having to stir for an entire twenty minutes. She sat back and watched the clock warily, making sure not to go over the twenty minutes.

After a relaxing twenty minutes, she turned the flames off and called the professor, "Professor Hamilton!"

"Krya!" Liz complained. She scowled at the girl. "Honestly, wake up!" She was a bit scared that Kyra had actually fallen asleep in potions class, which definitely wasn't how she'd planned on getting an 'A'. She groaned, glancing at the cauldron again before adding the daisy roots and caterpillar. The water had begun to boil, and she turned her cauldron low, allowing them to simmer and beginning to stir anticlockwise. She sighed, glaring at the Puff out of the corner of her eyes.

After 5 minutes, the Puff had shown no sign of waking up and Liz's arms were exhausted. She stuck the rat spleen in and, sighing and glaring at Kyra once again, began to stir. For 15 minutes.

She might honestly hate potions class.

After twenty minutes, Hester turned the heat off, since Lavender hadn't.

"That's us done," she said to her, wondering whether the potion would turn out all right, and wondering what they were meant to be doing with it. She didn't particularly want to drink it..

She surveyed the others in the class. Some people weren't finished yet, but others had finished ages ago.

Kyra finally woke up. "Wait, wha-?" She blinked repeatedly, trying to take in her surroundings.

Crap. She'd been asleep this whole time? Why hadn't she woken up? Oh well, she'd have to make it up to everyone later.

"Liz...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stay asleep that long. What're we doing? I'll do the next thing to make it up to you."

Alli raised an eyebrow at James. She would marry a Thestral at a wedding attended by nothing but Hufflepuffs before she was skinning that Shrivelfig. "Look, here's how this is going to work. I'm going to finish cutting these up, you're going to cut those up, and then you're going to skin that Shrivelfig, and my gift to you is going to be me considering helping some more," she said, gesturing with her knife as if to remind him that she was currently holding a weapon. If he'd been shocked by her burning her name into the ground outside, then she had no clue what his reaction would be if her hand "slipped".

Liz immediately grinned as her partner woke up. "Finally!" she teased. "I thought you'd left me on my own!" She nodded as the girl spoke before pointing at the board, wincing as her arm went up. That would hurt the next morning.

"We're on step three," she explained, holding out the stick. "If you'll turn down the heat and stir, I'll add in the shrivelfig. My arms are exhausted." She shook her head, partly amusement and partly exasperation. Kyra was a weird one.