7th Year Potions

[fleurdelacour5787]

{name:Karis Bobbin#|#picture:0}Karis swept into the dungeons, her simple blue robes billowing out behind her as she moved. She felt a slight nervousness plaguing her full stomach as she perched on the chair behind her desk. The first class of the year was always a cause for slight unease, but it was also a time of great excitement. The start of a new year always brought fresh possibilities for herself and for her students, and that excitement never grew old for her.

She glanced across at the table laden with the ingredients for today's potion. Valerian roots, wormwood, Sopophorous Bean, and asphodel all in place. Everything lay in wait for her students. It could be expected that they would suffer from a strong case of last year lurgy, but she hoped with a highly challenging and energetic lesson plan might remedy their loss of interest in school. Plus, she was planning to start off with a review lesson, a potion they'd already learned about in their sixth year, to start them off slow after a long, hot summer during which they had time to forget just about everything they'd learned.

She heard the characteristic rumble from upstairs as the Great Hall emptied after lunch. Soon the students would be joining her full of food and extremely tired after their first day back. Every teacher knew that you didn't want first lesson because the students were too tired, you definitely didn't want second lesson because they were too hungry and anticipating lunch, and you didn't want third lesson because they were full and sleepy. Come to think of it, there wasn't a desirable time to impart great knowledge on the youth of the wizarding world.

She propped her elbows on the desk in front of her and set her eyes on the door across the room where the students would soon enter.

[brae]

{name:Bart Cuffe#|#picture:3}The first day of classes always seemed to be the hardest. As the seventh and final year opened, any student could tell that it would be no different. Classes were harder than ever, preparing them to go out into the world as full fledged, wand wielding, spell throwing witches and wizards. Bart couldn't be happier.

The threat of the dark lord long past, he was finally able to return to the school he had always really loved. Bart had to catch himself all day, because his brother kept giving him these strange looks as he later found was the result of some big goofy grin on his own face. He really couldn't help it though. They had left so quickly, and he had no time to really say goodbye to the people and places that he found important.

The beginning of the year feast ran somewhat long yesterday, but he was all the happier for that too. He got to catch up with his old friends in Hufflepuff and welcome the new faces with glad tidings for a new generation in their house. Even the small dorms were a cherished part of his return, unpacking his trunk, getting his robes ready for the next day, having a little chat with his housemates, he was all smiles and the others in the room seem to light up at the fact.

All in all, he was pretty sure even a well produced imperius curse couldn't force his good mood away. Of course, that came as no prize to Theo. His brother was by no means the most cheerful person, and all the good vibes coming from his twin really did him no good. That didn't stop Bart before, and wasn't about to now of course. He always held hope that his brother would someday be the person he remembered him to be when they were children. Bart nudged him now on the shoulder and grinned big in his direction as they stuck close in the large crowded halls on the way to class.

Bart wrapped his left arm around his bro, trying hard not to bring attetnion to it so that his brother wouldn't push him away. He missed some parts of the camaraderie they shared in their youth, but never broched the subject out loud for fear of more rejection. Not bothering to look at his brother, he knew his smile would have certainly irritated Theo as they took the turn into the final year of potions.

The classroom was just as it had always been, the shelves of potions stock littered with small jars of various colors, the lights low as in any room seemed to create a dark mood in here, and the proffessor's desk where it had always been. There was one difference than he had remembered though, and that was the person perched behind said desk. His smile wavered a little bit at the thought of their missing proffessor. Not wanting to give a bad impression on his first day, waved enthusiastically at the new head of potions. Yes, it was a bit odd, but he couldn't really think of anything else at the moment.

Her name was Proffessor Karis Bobbin as he recalled, and as he and his twin tried to find a seat Bart tried to take in the details he had missed at the feast. She was glowing in the dim light of the room, her dark brown hair curling every-which-way lending a firey look to her pale beauty. This proffessor was certainly the prettiest he had seen in Hogwarts at any point, and she looked pretty young comparatively as well. Pulling out his supplies and placing them haphazardly, he decided he was going to like this class...

[brae]

{name:Theo Cuffe#|#picture:2}He'd never admit it. He was happy to be back. Perhaps not as noticeably cheerful as his brother, but Theo was Theo. Even after a stressful feast the day before, he felt better rested than he had in some time. Theo didn't consider Hogwarts his "home", but he supposed that it was probably the closest thing he had to one. Recalling the old "home is where the family is" surely gave the school a boost on the scale.

It was their last year and though that held a measure of excitement for Theo, a lingering fear of a future less than certain was enough to gnaw at his edges. His brother hadn't seemed too worried about the little conversation they alloted for the subject, but Bart had a bad habit of hiding his feelings on a ridiculous idea that Theo wouldn't be able to read him like a book. The attempts were fruitless, they were afterall unbalanced intelligence wise in Theo's favor and twins. His brother was scared, even if he hadn't yet admitted it to himself.

Theo wasn't unreasonable though, and acknowledged the fact it was only the first day of school and perhaps a bit too early to be worrying about their future just yet. He had other things to worry about as he walked through the crowded hallway with Bart at his side. He brushed a stray back into place as they neared the class entrance. He flinched a bit as his brother threw and arm around him, but relaxed when he looked up to see his brother look the other direction. Theo knew he was smiling. I miss this too, Theo sent out to his brother knowing that it wouldn't reach him.

Taking a seat next to his brother, he arranged his supplies in perfect rows with parchment and quil out just in case. This new teacher would at least give him something interesting to consider during the lesson which was sure to be unchallenging to him. Glancing at his brother one more time, Theo looked up with an indifferent gaze to the head of his class.

[fleurdelacour5787]

{name:Mairead Lynch#|#picture:2}Mairead bounced down the stairs, her brilliant blonde hair fanning out behind her as she hurried toward the dungeons. She'd hurried through lunch and dashed back to her dormitory to quadruple-check her appearance, prompted to do so by a simple rumor that had been floating around the common room.

It was no secret that she was quite smitten over a certain Hufflepuff boy, and, despite his disappearance right before the battle, she'd never let go of those feelings. Almost all of Ravenclaw house had noticed her extreme transition from perky little Mairead to quite the Debby Downer. She'd spent most of the past year hoping that he would return to the castle only to be let down at every turn.

But yesterday at the feast, she'd been nudged by a friend who pointed out his twin sitting further down their house table. If Theo was back, it certainly meant that Bart was as well, and she felt her heart lift at the sight of the more reserved and overall less pleasing of the twins, a feat she wouldn't have previously thought possible.

She hadn't yet been able to track down either twin, but she'd kept up hope that it hadn't just been a hallucination brought on by months of yearning. Thus the primping, something Mairead wasn't known for doing, and the hurried route to the dungeons.

As she entered the dungeons, she felt her heart lift once more as she caught sight of the pair seated a few rows away from where she stood. She fought a brief internal battle over wanting to run forward and trap Bart in a hug and wishing to seem more reserved and a bit less desperate. She chose to trot up the center aisle and take a seat right behind the twins, clearing her throat in what would have been a subtle fashion as she placed her bag on the floor next to her seat and began pulling out her books, parchment, and quills.

[kievster]

James Logan Riech swept down the hallway towards the Potions classroom. His wooden leg clacked against the floor with every other step as he walked on. He didn't know whether or not the Potions Mistress would need him or not, but it never could hurt to be present, in case his assistance was needed for some reason.

As he walked down the hallway, Peeves soared above him, making rude noises and flipping him the birdy. James, who preferred to be called Necro, drew a knife out of his robes and threw it at Peeves. The knife cut the top off of Peeves head, causing him to soar away, shrieking in panic that he had been stabbed and murdered. Necro glared back down after Peeves and muttered: Blasted poltergeist should be shot and mounted on the wall.

He then continued down the hallway, coming to the door of the classroom. He stepped inside, stepping to the side, at the side of the blackboard, waiting to be acknowledged by the Potions Mistress before doing anything else.

[fleurdelacour5787]

{name:Karis Bobbin#|#picture:0}Karis smiled as her students began trickling in, knowing more were to come shortly. There was only one familiar face so far. Only having taken on this post last year after Professor Slughorn retired, she didn't know many of the students still. A few parents had elected to keep their children out of school until it was firmly back on its feet, and, though that could still hardly be said after the traumatic events of two years ago, some former students had surged into the castle this year, making it seem quite a bit smaller than it had last year.

She had to admit that she enjoyed the new feel the growth of the student body had created. Last year, with so many students in and out of the counselors' offices that the Ministry had provided to be permanently on call for all the inhabitants of the castle, the empty desks that they all knew had once been occupied by deceased pupils, and the overwhelming silence and oppressive gloom that hovered over the school, she felt that they were on the right track to returning these students to a normal routine, a normal life (or as normal as it was possible to be at Hogwarts).

She looked up as she heard more footsteps after Mairead's. Her eyes met the slight form that was her assistant. She wondered briefly how he wished to assist her this hour, but it must be his planning period and he wished to see if she required any help before preparing for his own classes. "Professor Riech, how can I help you?" she asked, her voice light and casual as it expressed her pleasure, and slight confusion, at seeing him.

[mirasmith]

Potions is James least favorate subject. most likely because it is farthest from outside, where James prefers to spend his time. Today though he doesn't mind so much, it is a new year and he has a plan to start all over. To make this year count, to stop moping that he couldn't be graduating with his friends a PNWA. James had spent the whole summer outside had was a very nice brown. He had also brown out his hair and it had somehow managed to grow down past his shoulders in a little more than three months.

Today his hair had a few beads and a bird feather braided into it before he had pulled it back into a lose ponytail held by a leather thong at the nape of his neck. His dark skin, dark hair and general facial features screamed of his Native American heritage, and drew even more attention to his already shockingly blue eyes. At least most of the time his eyes could be understood because he had the skin tone of his father, but at the moment he looked like a full blooded Native American and the eyes were very out of place on his face.

James flashed a smile at the teacher Good morning Miss Bobbin. James said his obvious American accent had a little bit of a lilt to it that most Native American tribes had. He walked to an empty seat next to Mairead, and set his book bag down on the floor. He pulled out some parchment and a self inking quill and then leaned back in his chair as if to enjoy his stay in the dungeons. This James was a very different James than he had been the year before. He knew he was bound to draw attention to himself this way. HE looked around the class and then he said Good morning Mairead. Did you have a good summer? It was probably the most he had ever spoken to the girl since he had come to the school. He had only ever talked to her once the year before and that was to ask her what the assignment had been.

[brae]

{name:Bart Cuffe#|#picture:3}No one else in the castle had voice that sang like a bell even with a small cough. Bart knew at once who the faint sound must have come from. He shook with nervousness at the realization in fact. So unlike him it had been in the past few days, not brave enough to ask his brother if he'd seen the girl, afraid now to turn and look at her. His face grew red as he looked down at his blank parchment in a little shame over the feelings that had come bubbling to the surface in only a few seconds. All over the fact that he could battle a werewolf in a dark wood and win, or out cast a dark wizard even on a mediocre day, but he trembled after a girl named Mairead Lynch.

He was kind of scared at how much it actually affected him. He hadn't really encountered these feelings before, and he was having trouble sorting them out in the wake of all that had happened. He hadn't been gone long, but it was long enough for Mairead to change her mind about him or worse saved them and become angered over the forced lonliness. It hadn't been his intention to do any of it, he had left so suddenly it couldn't be helped that they weren't able to settle anything.

"Theo and father were in trouble...I had to go." he tried to reassure himself of the fact to grow a little courage in light of it. It worked enough to turn towards Mairead with a faint smile and a hand raised to give passing hello. That lasted for about a second. She was even more beautiful than he remembered, her golden rush of locks, jeweled eyes, and silken skin. The weak smile drained away as the courage fell at the cost of possibly angering such a demi-goddess. Bart was frozen just for a second with that awkward look on his face, as if he were in strained thought. Confused, he turned away after that time passed.

"What in Merlin's name is wrong with me?" he pondered a question many a man in his position had over the centuries.

[fleurdelacour5787]

{name:Mairead Lynch#|#picture:2}Mairead was slightly distracted from her answer to James' question by Bart. She'd allowed herself exceedingly long daydreams of their reunion in which he'd run into her arms and express his sincerest regrets that they'd been apart so long. She had to admit she was slightly horrified at this rather different tactic.

Her own smile faltered, her pink lips parted in slight shock at his casual greeting. It was as if he was seeing a mere acquaintance after such a time apart rather than a...well, it was never official that they were dating or anything. In truth, she might be blowing this all out of proportion in her schoolgirl fantasies of love at first sight. There was an attraction, sure, but how much of that remained or boiled down to her special gifts?

Determined not to show her disappointment at the lackluster greeting, she turned to James once more. "It was lovely," she responded, her lilting dialect even more pronounced after a summer away from her British friends. "I miss Ireland already. How was yours?" She put on no more or less charm than she did when talking to any of her classmates, but part of her wouldn't be against Bart seeing their exchange and coming to the wrong conclusion. It was somewhat petty, yes, but she was a teenage girl, after all.

[fleurdelacour5787]

{name:Sophie Flume#|#picture:2}The door opened once more as yet another student entered the dungeons just as the bell rang to signal the start of the lesson. It wasn't like Sophie to hurry in at the last second, but she'd been feeling somewhat under the weather and had nodded off in the Great Hall of all places. If it hadn't been for her fellow Ravenclaw prodding her as he hurried off to herbology, she might have slept through her very first lesson, a wonderful first impression.

She slid into a seat just behind Mairead and James, nodding to the delicate beauty in front of her as she dropped her bag on the floor and rummaged for supplies. When she straightened up, looking a bit flustered, her slightly swollen eyes caught the twins in the front row. She sniffed and nodded at them as well. So, they were back. Perhaps this would improve Mairead's mood, though she didn't seem overly excited about it at the time. She felt sure Mairead would be cornering her in the common room that evening for a long bit of girl talk, if she wasn't already occupied with Bart, that is.

[fleurdelacour5787]

{name:Karis Bobbin#|#picture:0}As the bell sounded, echoing through the dungeons, Karis crossed in front of her desk and leaned against the corner, beaming around at the students in front of her. It was a relatively small class, as NEWT-levels tended to be, but she'd still anticipated a few more than those that sat before her. Perhaps, it being the first day of class, they'd gotten caught up on the way or not been able to find the dungeon the seventh years used. Or perhaps a few more would add this class as plans and ambitions changed, as they so often did in these years.

"Welcome back," she said. It was a statement that nearly always elicited grumbles and moans from students particularly seventh years, so she moved ahead quickly to cut off any that might be attempted a hasty escape. "I thought we'd start off relatively easy today. You'll be brewing a potion that you've studied before, but you've never attempted making. For this, you'll all need partners. As I see we have an uneven number of pupils, I'll ask you," she said, pointing to the only student left alone, "to move next to these two," she gestured toward the twins in the front row.

She continued despite the chaos she knew would ensue after asking a pupil to move to another seat. The scraping of chairs, the groans, the rustling of papers, and the dropping of books might be counteracted by her continuing with the lesson over it.

"Now, as you can all see, I have the ingredients laid out up here. We have wormwood, valerian roots, sopophorous beans, and asphodel. Would anyone like to hazard a guess as to which potion we'll be brewing today?"

[brae]

{name:Theo Cuffe#|#picture:2}The exchange between his brother and the Lynch girl was certainly different than he was used to. None of the drooling, cutesy banter that made him nauseous at times, the big goofy grin gone from his identical lips. There was a blush, but this one spread over him like anger or sheer embarrassment, not the nervous youthful sort that played on his cheeks. There was something wrong with Bart.

He turned to look at the expression on Mairead's face and he could barely keep from smiling wide. Theo knew it was wrong to automatically go there when his brother's feelings were involved, but he was so used to being the one who was tormented and confused about life. Seeing his brother in such emotional peril was too comforting. There may have been more of little pleasure in the fact that the girl who was trying to break them apart was being so affected by it too.

Turning away from them both, he felt his face drain with such venomous thoughts crowding his internal dialogue. What the hell am I on about?, he roused himself from the dark reverie as Professor Bobbin addressed her sparse audience. She was cheery, seemed ready to start class, and with enough drama already crammed into the first few minutes so was he. Theo gestured lightly with his right hand, drawing a little attention but unsure whether this was an official question or not.

"Wormwood and asphodel, the Draught of Living Death I believe." the answer was simple enough and he could have obliged with an explination, but he didn't often oblige.

[fleurdelacour5787]

{name:Karis Bobbin#|#picture:0}"Very good," Karis said, beaming at the student as her eye spotted the blue patch on the chest of his robes. Unsurprised to learn his house, she crossed to the chalkboard and erased the remnants of the last lesson on The Hair-Raising Potion. "Ten points to Ravenclaw."

She turned back to the class and motioned for them to take out parchment and quills. Not many teachers placed emphasis on the history of potion-making, assuming it to be covered in History of Magic, but knowing Professor Binns' teaching from her own time at school, she knew that even if had been covered, it had long since left their stores of knowledge.

"In 1573 the potion was developed by the Hag Leticia Somnolens to subdue her arch rival, a member of the royal family. Unfortunately, Leticia thought the draught would kill her opponent and was dismayed to find that the princess had awoken from her enchanted sleep with the aid of the princess' betrothed. He used the only known antidote to the Draught of Living Death, placing it on his lips and awakening her with a kiss--the origins of the story of Sleeping Beauty. Can anyone tell me which potion he used for another ten points?" She looked around expectantly at her students.

[mirasmith]

{name:James McAvoy#|#picture:4}James had pulled out a quill and parchment to take notes. He was just awful at potions and always needed all of the noted he could manage. But this one question he knew. It had been on a quiz his potions professor had given him when he had been back in the states. He grinned and put his hand into the air. It was actually quite brilliant that he actually knew the answer to this question.

With a slightly shy smile at the teacher he said softly That would be Wiggenweld Potion. And he fell silent again. He loved the story of Sleeping beauty, though he thought that the actual history one was far more interesting than the muggle version. He looked back at his parchment and scribbled down the answer again just to make sure he had it in case there was another question like that in the future. He always liked to be prepared.

After he was done jotting down the note he looked back up hoping that he had actually said the correct thing, because now he thought about it he might have just totally made an ars out of himself for giving the incorrect answer. He Blushed slightly and tried to hide his uncomfortableness of having answered a question out loud in class something that he did not do very often.

[fleurdelacour5787]

{name:Karis Bobbin#|#picture:0}"Correct," Karis replied, smiling in slight surprise at this particular student. Though she'd long since graduated from Hogwarts, just being back in the castle roused the long-since dormant house prejudices that were engrained in every student past, present, and future. "Ten points to Gryffindor."

"Now that we've covered the history of the potion, let's move onto the actual brewing. Instructions," she waved her wand at the newly clear board and thin, slanted, and rather curly writing appeared, "are on the blackboard."

Ingredients:
A single sopophorous bean, juiced
1 gram cut valerian root
1 gram Powdered root of asphodel
4 drops Infusion of wormwood
One sloth brain

Instructions: Add to the water base, the cut valerian roots as well as the sloth brain and the infusion of wormwood. Note that the potion will steam heavily if brewed correctly.
The potion should resemble a smooth, blackcurrant-coloured liquid at the halfway stage.
Cut the sopophorous bean to release the juice and add to the brew along with the asphodel.
It should then turn a light shade of lilac.
Stir the potion counter-clockwise until the potion turns clear as water.

"All the ingredients you need are on my desk," she said, gesturing toward the tiny, shriveled beans, phials of infusion of wormwood, bowls of valerian roots, and jars of powdered root of asphodel. "If you have questions, feel free to ask," Karis added brightly as she watched her students begin to move about.