SnitchSeeker.com - View Single Post - Potions Class 2: Think Fast! (Ingredients and Process)

XanaSnape · 07-25-2009, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miss Lissy Lou

Three gold stars? WOW! That had just made Jack's day, that was for sure. He grinned and raised his hand again...this question was actually easier for him than the last. "If clockwise is positive, then I'm guessing that stirring it counter clockwise would create a negative change." he said, answering the first part of the professor's question before continuing.

"Another important part of the process is your flame underneath your cauldron. You use it to increase or decrease the temperature at certain times, which, if not done correctly or during the right stage, could have horrible consequences," he replied. "Maybe if you didn't make the flame strong enough, the ingredients wouldn't melt together enough?" he wondered aloud, trying to speculate what would happen. He didn't know the specifics about the consequences of potion making--he just knew that you had to follow the steps, or something bad would happen. "So um, that's another technique that might cause certain things to happen."

"Fritzera, you are on fire today!" Kazimeriz smiled, shooting two more gold stars above the boy's head.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomasina Riddle

She smiled as she got a gold star. The color of it reflected off her face really well. She stopped herself from preening and besides she had lost her lucky compact and she couldn't preen properly without it. her hand shot into the air. "Well sir most complex potions require adding one or more ingredients at the full moon. Like the ploy juice potion. And the full moon is the rebirth of the month and its a powerful time of the month so picking something or adding it at the full moon is releasing its full potential and power. Artemis the Greek Moon goddess was also a protector of nature and many of our modern potions are some of her own concoctions. So she could have been pulling on her own power and we just kept up with the tradition as a sort of homage to her. " She added. She loved the Amazons and they praised Artemis for her strength and swiftness.

"Excellent-- it is true that sometimes the lunar cycle can affect an ingredient's efficacy or even the entire potion itself." He shot two more gold stars above Ms. Greenwood's head.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celandine

Celandine blinked slowly, trying to process all this. She'd remember it and sort through it in her head later... but for now...

Cela raised her hand again, "I don't know if I'd say counter-clockwise stirring enacts a negative change exactly, since usually when you do that you are intending for the change to have negative effects which for the potioneer is a positive change really." Celandine hesitated, hand still raised, "But counter-clockwise stirring helps with brewing any 'undoing' potions, like antidotes. Potions that are used mostly to fix or negate symptoms or effects that the intended taker is presenting."

What else was in the textbook?

"Tea! Tea is a good example of how different brewing techniques can apply; whether you are brewing an infusion or a decoction it can change how strong the resulting liquid is and whether or not the original material can still be used for other purposes or if it will disolve and break down. An infusion is when the material you are brewing is stro... more potent and releases its active ingredients more readily and you tend to add the boiled or hot water or oils to the materials and let it steep, whereas a decoction is where you add the materials to the boiling liquid and keep it on the boil to release the active ingredients, you boil the liquid down and often end up with a more syrup-like result than you do with an infusion."

There was a bunch of stuff about doing that with different poisons and antidotes written in her margins but Cela didn't dare repeat any of that stuff and she didn't have the book in front of her anyways.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs. Weasley

Abby opens her potions notebook and writes down what has been said. She then raises her hand. "The way we prepare the ingredients should effect how the potion is brewed. Items that are kept whole generally do not disolve completely into the potion, nor are they immediately incoporated in it. Instead the essense of the ingredient is incorporated into the potion over a prolonged period of time. When we chop an ingredient up, we are releasing some of the magical properties of the ingredient before the ingredient is added to the potion. It then can more easily incorporate itself into the potion. The magic is also infused in the potion instantly when the ingredient is chopped or smashed." Professor Kazimeriz may not want to acept it, but cooking and brewing have a lot in common.

"Absolutely! Understanding your treatment of ingredients- be they raw, chopped, crushed, infusions, decoctions, etc -- is critical because the way you process the ingredients affects their strength and their effect. For example, boomslang skin when in temporary transfigurational potions like polyjuice must be shredded - by doing so, you release the magical properties that allow for the drinker's physical appearance to metamorphosize and return to its initial shape when done. For example: Boomslang skin must be crushed into a fine powder for use in potions that cause permanent metamorphosis, such as a weight reducing potion or a nose-reshaping potion, as the change should only occur once." Kazimeriz nodded and walked around the room, pausing to send two stars up above Miss Wright's head and three over Miss Toussaint's for including the mention of decoctions and infusions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

Anna beamed upon hearing that she'd just received a second gold star. She still wondered what they were for, but she knew that they'd find out all in good time. Raising her hand, she suggested, "The most likely scenario is that stirring counter-clockwise will enact a negative change. However, it could also be used as a means of balancing a potion to where it's neither too positive nor too negative. For example, if we aimed to create a potion which would succeed in putting a person into a rather normal mood, we wouldn't want too make them too happy or too sad. In that case, it might do us well to stir in both directions to balance out those two moods."

"As for additional brewing techniques that might cause specific effects, I'd say that beginning the brewing process by adding water into the cauldron would be classified under that category. Water has the ability to neutralize substances, and without it being added, we could have very dangerous side effects brought forth by acidic ingredients," she said. "Maybe the acidic ingredients, without the water, would destroy other ingredients you add, rendering the potion useless. The destroying of other ingredients could also change the effects the potion brings to a person. It could result in something like an Elixir to Induce Euphoria making a person extremely hyper or entirely too happy. It could also result in a Calming Draught making a person too sad or too depressed. Therefore, I'd say water is a brewing techinique that in so many ways saves the potion...and the one who consumes it."

"Very good, Miss Greingoth. Water is used to dilute potions, to activate certain dry ingredients. Some other subcategories of potions include tinctures-- which can be brewed to help a potion remain effective longer -- and ptisans, which are essentially herbal infusions. The thing to note about tinctures is that they are not water based, but rather have an alcohol base." Kazimeriz shot two stars above Greingoth's head.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monkey Princess

William beamed; he just couldn't help it. Looking up he saw the gold star and gave himself a pat on the back. Oh yeah he was getting it! Calming himself down, lest the gold star turn into something that would terrify him he put his hand up again. "If stirring counter close-wise enacts a positive change, then stirring counter-clockwise would enact a negative change. Which is why we do it both times in cases of tranfigurational potions, so it has a positive and negative effect." He replied, before thinking of the second part.

"What about potion making and than injecting the potion into the item you wish to use for whatever reason, like let‘s say putting someone to sleep or changing their physical body into something else. Not only would the potion work, but it would also change in a way. Especially if the ingredients in the item you were using, like let‘s say a muffin or piece of cake had magical properties the baker didn‘t know about. Not that I intent to do anything so disrespectful as that to someone, unless they asked me too." he took a breath, frowning at his words. Sure he knew what he was talking about in a way but the question was, did it make sense? Picking up his quill he write down notes in his journal, making sure to underline certain points.

"Absolutely! There have been many known instances of people infusing treats, baked goods, and beverages alike with potions... It is critical, as I believe many of you will remember from my teachings in DADA, that you are careful as to where your food and drink have been so that you do not become a victim of someone's potions tampering mischief. CONSTANT VIGILANCE must be your mantra if you are to survive in our society, students. Remaining aware will save your life." Kazimeriz gave the boy four gold stars, hovering high over his head, for tying in the safety lesson.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LizzieEvans

Lizzie smiled brightly as a golden star appeared above her head. Oh how she loved potions..! It truly was her favourite subject this term too, even though the professor was creepy.

Thoughtfully eyeing the pages in her textbook, Lizzie raised her hand and hesitated only for a second before saying Sir, I think that stirring counter-clockwise in this case would cause negative effects and changes. That is, if the stirring clockwise is used to give positive changes to the brewing. She'd said this without finding anything about it in the book, so therefore she only hoped she'd thought right.

Also, I think that other brewing techniques that influence the outcome of the potion, could be for example the heat of which you're making the potion boil. Too much heat might cause the ingredients in the potion to simply "boil away", maybe like water.. she speculated. And you spoke of how the ingredients interract with each other and how some ingredient's right effects only have potential when used in combination with others. So what if the first ingredients you added were too heated? That would certainly cause a problem. Realising she might be taking up the professor's time by babbling on about this, she quickly added her last thinking. And then, additional to the stirring and the heat, I think that also the way you prepare ingredients effect the potion. Cut, crush, break, squish, blast or stamp? She smiled at the professor. That might be the difference in how well the ingredient is used in the potion, and its possibility to absorbe the other ingredients... I mean, maybe it has to be crushed to be able to interract with the other ingredients? She took a deep breath after talking for so long, and waited to see if they professor thought this to be knowledge or just plain stupidness. One could never know before he'd replied.

"Absolutely, your process will affect things, and that does include heat, and interactions and the way you process or treat your ingredients. Very good." Kazimeriz nodded, sending two more stars up above the student's head.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paintbrush

Natka thoughtfully bit her lip. Well, the first part of that question was easy enough, if one applied some common sense.

"Professor, stirring in an anti-clockwise direction would therefore cause a negative effect of the potion. However, wouldn't stirring in a clockwise direction a certain number of times, and then stirring in an anti-clockwise direction the same number of times, result in neither positive nor negative, just neutral, effects of the potion? Wouldn't they cancel each othr out?" she asked as an afterthought. It made sense, logically, but then again logic and magic did not always walk hand in hand.

As for other potion-making techniques... that was a harder one.

"Perhaps the various temperatures used while heating the potion? And the amount of ingredients used... well, these are not alays proportional, are they? I mean, say we have a list of ingredients to make a certain amount of the poition, but we want to make twice as much. Would simply doubling all the ingredients do the trick? Or would we have to just make the poition twice?"

Letting her hand fall out of the air, Natka realised she was asking more questions than giving answers. Why was it that half the time she gave answers in class, it was in question form?

Oh, well, let's hope that won't really matter... I am answering the question... sort of, she thought.

"Excellent question- it actually varies, for you are right- sometimes doubling a potion does affect it poorly and it must be produced in smaller quantities, and therefore if you need twice as much you must brew twice. This is especially true in potions that make strong use of infusions or decoctions, because in some materials the magic does not disperse properly in a larger quantity of water, even if you have twice as much of the ingredient in the cauldron to balance out twice as much water-- unlike in cooking, where the elements of an herb might infuse water at an equal ratio, the magic of some materials will only infuse liquid that are within a certain distance of the item's core. This is particularly true of ingredients like dragon heartstring and unicorn tail hair, and it can cause a weaker potion if you try to double the potion instead of making two smaller cauldrons of the potion." Kazimeriz nodded at the student, sending three gold stars over the young one's head.

"I know this concept sounds devastatingly complicated to some of you, but take heart: you will not need to learn how this works in detail this until your NEWT level seventh year classes, and then only if you are focusing on a career with a strong focus on potions. Which reminds me: if any of you are on a career track in potions or related disciplines-- including being an Auror, which requires strong potions background -- please visit the lab where I can assist you in understanding these concepts. It will help you a great deal in your post-Hogwarts studies."

Quote:

Originally Posted by dan arjay

Whoa! A gold star! He was very proud of himself.

He would answer about the stirring part, but all the good ones have been already said, so Daniel raised his hand.

"Professor, I believe that part of the potion making is the preparation of the ingredients. And of course, from what we have learned, the way we prepare and handle the ingredients greatly affects the outcome of the potion." he then paused and scratched his chin, "Like for example, if we are making a Shrinking solution, we need to cut the daisy roots evenly or we must not add too much rat spleen for it can make the potion poisonous. These and a lot more are the result if we don't follow the procedure diligently. And then we have the right order of putting such ingredients." he paused, "It is not only important that we prepare the ingredients in a manner the is instructed we must follow the correct order in which they are instructed."

"Very good. Your process -- and being careful to detail -- can make or break a potion. You give good examples of this, thank you." Kazimeriz gave the boy two gold stars.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs. Weasley

Abby is getting confused by this clockwise/counter clockwise discussion. From her brewing experience, certain potion recipes called for clockwise stirring and counterclockwise stirring while other call for only one type of stirring to be used. In the process no one had explained why we need to stir a certain number of times. "Professor Kazimeriz, does the ingredient that is put in the potion before stirring have something to do with whether we stir clockwise or counterclockwise? I'm also curious about the number of times we stir clockwise or counterclockwise. If I remember correctly from Arithmancy class, numbers have their own magical properties. I would imagine that the number of times we stir and the way we stir plays a role in adding magic to the potion we are brewing, or does it increase the magical powers of the ingredients used to brew the potion?

"Excellent point, Miss Wright- numbers have power, as those of you who selected an arithmancy option know. Seven, nine, three, six and twelve are all particularly powerful numbers in potions, and oftentimes you will find that potions will specifically call for a specific number of ingredients parts or times you stir your cauldron. Be very careful to do this properly and cautiously. As students, I suggest that before you begin you use your wand to mark a spot above the edge of your cauldron -- use a simple marking charm -- and use that as a visual reference point so you know how many times you have stirred your cauldron precisely. There is a huge difference between three stirs and three and a quarter, in potions." Kazimeriz gave Miss Wright another two stars.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanialRadFAN01

Chris Potter raised his hand. "Well Professor, would the flame intensity have an effect on the potion traits besides the temperature? Perhaps the more intense the flame burns the stronger something will become." he thought it out carefully before voicing his thought, he didnt want to sound stupid in front of Kazi.

"Very good-- the temperature of the potion is important. Typically, higher heat awakens or stimulates ingredients efficacy while cooling calms them, though there are exceptions to every rule." Kazimeriz nodded, giving him two gold stars.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubindo

Aaron raised his hand again, while looking at Fallon with a face that said Sorry. "Sir, the speed of the turning would also change the potion, too. I don't know why, but could it be that the longer it takes to blend, the more time the ingredients have to mix with each other?" Aaron hoped this was right. it sounded right... Right?

"It can, indeed. Especially in a calming potion, you would want to stir slowly, and in any potion that uses exploding fluid or erumpent horn you want to stir verrrrrry slowly or you risk blowing up your cauldron." Kazimeriz nodded and gave the boy two stars.

Quote:

Originally Posted by She-Who-Is-Not-To-Be-Psycho!

Diane had been shocked enough that something got shot into her forehead, she had been touching it trying to disern what it was and had not spoken in a while. Being rather distracted when instructions were delivered, she listened to other people's answers rather than heard the question from the professor.

Diane raised her hand. "The negative-positive are used to refer to contraries, as ying-yang, passive-active... well, actually, ying-yang would be a good metaphor for stirring generally... but clock and counter-clockwise motions can also refer to the passing of time, as the name tells. To make a youthening potion, for example, we use counter-clockwise motions. Also, time dictates the heating intensity by prolongued influence of the flame, the numerical quantity of passing minutes between each stage, the ingredient influence - like in the example before mentioned of a tea bag."

"Very good -- you do seem to understand the reasons for the processes involved. Excellent!" Kazimeriz noticed he had accidentally affixed the star onto the girl's head and moved it to hover ABOVE her head, adding two more to it for her answer.

He surveyed the room. "Well done-- Professor Forrester could almost hold an astronomy course in this room, from the galaxy of glowing stars I see above you all! But who will be top student? Who will take the prize?" Kazimeriz smirked as he returned to the front of the class, shuffling slowwwwly over to the table with the two sets of ingredients.

"I am certain that the sharp-minded among you have been wondering why I have set these ingredients out. What you see here are some base ingredients that we will be using in the practical part of this class. I trust everyone has their cauldrons and equipment ready to work? Very good." Kazimeriz looked around at the students, noting that some of them were unprepared but knowing they would hustle to prepare now. "We are going to play a little game."

His dark eyes sparkled, the lights reflecting off them in a whirling way that might have suggested genius, or perhaps lunacy. "Each of you are to take out your potions journals, for you must take EXTREMELY CAREFUL notes as you work. Every part of your process- ingredients, quantities, what you did to them, order you added them, heat levels -- everything must be documented."

"What you are to do is this: First, you are to write a potions plan in your journal." He pointed his wand to the board, which changed:

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHALKBOARD

POTIONS PLAN

Your name:
Your House:
Your Year:
Type of Potion you are Making (choose ONE):

Physically Altering (Simple Transfigurations ONLY: Do not attempt polyjuice, this class will not be open for 21 days!)
Emotionally Altering
Behaviorally Altering

Intent (what you think the potion you make should do):
Ingredients:
Process:
(include what you do to the potion ingredients, your brewing process, and what you observe. Did it change color at one phase? Did it boil, or steam, or have other observable effects?)

"Second, you are to collect the proper ingredients of your choosing that you believe you will need to brew your potion based on what you have studied in your texts. If you need assistance in knowing how much of an ingredient to use or which ingredient might best suit your particular plan, I will assist you, though I expect my NEWT students to have a rudimentary grasp of these concepts already. For example, moonstone, fluxweed, knotgrass, and graphorn horn are all agents of change; you will use ingredients like these with other ingredients to form a two-step potion as we did in the previous class, but this time what the potion does will depend on what you choose to invent."

"You will combine ingredients designed to incite 'change' from this table with ingredients that you choose that will hopefully create the change you intend. You can find these ingredients along the side walls of the classroom and may freely use any except the poison ingredients which are all in my locked cabinet. Please do not try to make anything fatal! You may use your primary text freely as a reference. There are other books available at the back of the class if you like, as well. "

He pointed to the back of the class, on which there was a bookshelf with texts such as Magical Drafts and Potions,
The Potions Scholar's Encyclopedia of Ingredients, Potions Simplified, Bontanicals and Ancient Potions , and Everything You Wanted to Know about Anything But Weren't Wise Enough to Ask.

"Younger students who lack confidence may use a potion out of the books as a guide, but please document in your journal if the potion was based upon a published potion. Older or confident students will invent their own potion entirely, even if it has the same effect as a common or published work."

"If there are no questions, you are free to begin. Oh-- and take care to record EVERYTHING YOU DO. Let me know if you have questions, and you have two hours to brew. When your potion is complete, bottle a phial of it and raise your hand." Kazimeriz smirked. This was going to be a very good lesson for the students... nothing taught you how to brew and how to respect your ingredients like having to be inventive. Even if that meant things went horribly, terribly wrong... which would not surprise the old man.

He was coming to really enjoy teaching potions.

ooc: Go ahead and RP your charrie inventing a potions plan to create a potion that changes someone physically, emotionally, or behaviorally. Then gather ingredients and brew to your heart's content! You may get as creative as you like-- yes, including blowing up your cauldron if you wish (that is, if you use exploding fluid or erumpent horn )-- but please, let's keep it SS friendly always... and stick to HP canon where you can.

The potion you invent and its intended effect/your adventures or misadventures are all up to you... Leave me written clues as to how competent your student is in your RP, and we'll see how you did when we reach the final phase of the class! If you have questions please feel free to PM me or ask Kazimeriz IC. This portion of class will last the remainder of the weekend. HAVE FUN! ~Xana~

PS: Kudos to the brilliant biochemkris for the SS-based potions 'text' links. THANK YOU KRIS for letting me borrow your brilliant writings!

07-25-2009, 08:44 PM	#69 (permalink)
XanaSnape Ramora Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 5,510 Hogwarts RPG Name: Former Professor Valon Kazimeriz Graduated	Kool-Aid, Oh Yeah! \| \| SS Mischief Maker Quote: Originally Posted by Miss Lissy Lou Three gold stars? WOW! That had just made Jack's day, that was for sure. He grinned and raised his hand again...this question was actually easier for him than the last. "If clockwise is positive, then I'm guessing that stirring it counter clockwise would create a negative change." he said, answering the first part of the professor's question before continuing. "Another important part of the process is your flame underneath your cauldron. You use it to increase or decrease the temperature at certain times, which, if not done correctly or during the right stage, could have horrible consequences," he replied. "Maybe if you didn't make the flame strong enough, the ingredients wouldn't melt together enough?" he wondered aloud, trying to speculate what would happen. He didn't know the specifics about the consequences of potion making--he just knew that you had to follow the steps, or something bad would happen. "So um, that's another technique that might cause certain things to happen." "Fritzera, you are on fire today!" Kazimeriz smiled, shooting two more gold stars above the boy's head. Quote: Originally Posted by Tomasina Riddle She smiled as she got a gold star. The color of it reflected off her face really well. She stopped herself from preening and besides she had lost her lucky compact and she couldn't preen properly without it. her hand shot into the air. "Well sir most complex potions require adding one or more ingredients at the full moon. Like the ploy juice potion. And the full moon is the rebirth of the month and its a powerful time of the month so picking something or adding it at the full moon is releasing its full potential and power. Artemis the Greek Moon goddess was also a protector of nature and many of our modern potions are some of her own concoctions. So she could have been pulling on her own power and we just kept up with the tradition as a sort of homage to her. " She added. She loved the Amazons and they praised Artemis for her strength and swiftness. "Excellent-- it is true that sometimes the lunar cycle can affect an ingredient's efficacy or even the entire potion itself." He shot two more gold stars above Ms. Greenwood's head. Quote: Originally Posted by Celandine Celandine blinked slowly, trying to process all this. She'd remember it and sort through it in her head later... but for now... Cela raised her hand again, "I don't know if I'd say counter-clockwise stirring enacts a negative change exactly, since usually when you do that you are intending for the change to have negative effects which for the potioneer is a positive change really." Celandine hesitated, hand still raised, "But counter-clockwise stirring helps with brewing any 'undoing' potions, like antidotes. Potions that are used mostly to fix or negate symptoms or effects that the intended taker is presenting." What else was in the textbook? "Tea! Tea is a good example of how different brewing techniques can apply; whether you are brewing an infusion or a decoction it can change how strong the resulting liquid is and whether or not the original material can still be used for other purposes or if it will disolve and break down. An infusion is when the material you are brewing is stro... more potent and releases its active ingredients more readily and you tend to add the boiled or hot water or oils to the materials and let it steep, whereas a decoction is where you add the materials to the boiling liquid and keep it on the boil to release the active ingredients, you boil the liquid down and often end up with a more syrup-like result than you do with an infusion." There was a bunch of stuff about doing that with different poisons and antidotes written in her margins but Cela didn't dare repeat any of that stuff and she didn't have the book in front of her anyways. Quote: Originally Posted by Mrs. Weasley Abby opens her potions notebook and writes down what has been said. She then raises her hand. "The way we prepare the ingredients should effect how the potion is brewed. Items that are kept whole generally do not disolve completely into the potion, nor are they immediately incoporated in it. Instead the essense of the ingredient is incorporated into the potion over a prolonged period of time. When we chop an ingredient up, we are releasing some of the magical properties of the ingredient before the ingredient is added to the potion. It then can more easily incorporate itself into the potion. The magic is also infused in the potion instantly when the ingredient is chopped or smashed." Professor Kazimeriz may not want to acept it, but cooking and brewing have a lot in common. "Absolutely! Understanding your treatment of ingredients- be they raw, chopped, crushed, infusions, decoctions, etc -- is critical because the way you process the ingredients affects their strength and their effect. For example, boomslang skin when in temporary transfigurational potions like polyjuice must be shredded - by doing so, you release the magical properties that allow for the drinker's physical appearance to metamorphosize and return to its initial shape when done. For example: Boomslang skin must be crushed into a fine powder for use in potions that cause permanent metamorphosis, such as a weight reducing potion or a nose-reshaping potion, as the change should only occur once." Kazimeriz nodded and walked around the room, pausing to send two stars up above Miss Wright's head and three over Miss Toussaint's for including the mention of decoctions and infusions. Quote: Originally Posted by Anna Banana Anna beamed upon hearing that she'd just received a second gold star. She still wondered what they were for, but she knew that they'd find out all in good time. Raising her hand, she suggested, "The most likely scenario is that stirring counter-clockwise will enact a negative change. However, it could also be used as a means of balancing a potion to where it's neither too positive nor too negative. For example, if we aimed to create a potion which would succeed in putting a person into a rather normal mood, we wouldn't want too make them too happy or too sad. In that case, it might do us well to stir in both directions to balance out those two moods." "As for additional brewing techniques that might cause specific effects, I'd say that beginning the brewing process by adding water into the cauldron would be classified under that category. Water has the ability to neutralize substances, and without it being added, we could have very dangerous side effects brought forth by acidic ingredients," she said. "Maybe the acidic ingredients, without the water, would destroy other ingredients you add, rendering the potion useless. The destroying of other ingredients could also change the effects the potion brings to a person. It could result in something like an Elixir to Induce Euphoria making a person extremely hyper or entirely too happy. It could also result in a Calming Draught making a person too sad or too depressed. Therefore, I'd say water is a brewing techinique that in so many ways saves the potion...and the one who consumes it." "Very good, Miss Greingoth. Water is used to dilute potions, to activate certain dry ingredients. Some other subcategories of potions include tinctures-- which can be brewed to help a potion remain effective longer -- and ptisans, which are essentially herbal infusions. The thing to note about tinctures is that they are not water based, but rather have an alcohol base." Kazimeriz shot two stars above Greingoth's head. Quote: Originally Posted by Monkey Princess William beamed; he just couldn't help it. Looking up he saw the gold star and gave himself a pat on the back. Oh yeah he was getting it! Calming himself down, lest the gold star turn into something that would terrify him he put his hand up again. "If stirring counter close-wise enacts a positive change, then stirring counter-clockwise would enact a negative change. Which is why we do it both times in cases of tranfigurational potions, so it has a positive and negative effect." He replied, before thinking of the second part. "What about potion making and than injecting the potion into the item you wish to use for whatever reason, like let‘s say putting someone to sleep or changing their physical body into something else. Not only would the potion work, but it would also change in a way. Especially if the ingredients in the item you were using, like let‘s say a muffin or piece of cake had magical properties the baker didn‘t know about. Not that I intent to do anything so disrespectful as that to someone, unless they asked me too." he took a breath, frowning at his words. Sure he knew what he was talking about in a way but the question was, did it make sense? Picking up his quill he write down notes in his journal, making sure to underline certain points. "Absolutely! There have been many known instances of people infusing treats, baked goods, and beverages alike with potions... It is critical, as I believe many of you will remember from my teachings in DADA, that you are careful as to where your food and drink have been so that you do not become a victim of someone's potions tampering mischief. CONSTANT VIGILANCE must be your mantra if you are to survive in our society, students. Remaining aware will save your life." Kazimeriz gave the boy four gold stars, hovering high over his head, for tying in the safety lesson. Quote: Originally Posted by LizzieEvans Lizzie smiled brightly as a golden star appeared above her head. Oh how she loved potions..! It truly was her favourite subject this term too, even though the professor was creepy. Thoughtfully eyeing the pages in her textbook, Lizzie raised her hand and hesitated only for a second before saying Sir, I think that stirring counter-clockwise in this case would cause negative effects and changes. That is, if the stirring clockwise is used to give positive changes to the brewing. She'd said this without finding anything about it in the book, so therefore she only hoped she'd thought right. Also, I think that other brewing techniques that influence the outcome of the potion, could be for example the heat of which you're making the potion boil. Too much heat might cause the ingredients in the potion to simply "boil away", maybe like water.. she speculated. And you spoke of how the ingredients interract with each other and how some ingredient's right effects only have potential when used in combination with others. So what if the first ingredients you added were too heated? That would certainly cause a problem. Realising she might be taking up the professor's time by babbling on about this, she quickly added her last thinking. And then, additional to the stirring and the heat, I think that also the way you prepare ingredients effect the potion. Cut, crush, break, squish, blast or stamp? She smiled at the professor. That might be the difference in how well the ingredient is used in the potion, and its possibility to absorbe the other ingredients... I mean, maybe it has to be crushed to be able to interract with the other ingredients? She took a deep breath after talking for so long, and waited to see if they professor thought this to be knowledge or just plain stupidness. One could never know before he'd replied. "Absolutely, your process will affect things, and that does include heat, and interactions and the way you process or treat your ingredients. Very good." Kazimeriz nodded, sending two more stars up above the student's head. Quote: Originally Posted by Paintbrush Natka thoughtfully bit her lip. Well, the first part of that question was easy enough, if one applied some common sense. "Professor, stirring in an anti-clockwise direction would therefore cause a negative effect of the potion. However, wouldn't stirring in a clockwise direction a certain number of times, and then stirring in an anti-clockwise direction the same number of times, result in neither positive nor negative, just neutral, effects of the potion? Wouldn't they cancel each othr out?" she asked as an afterthought. It made sense, logically, but then again logic and magic did not always walk hand in hand. As for other potion-making techniques... that was a harder one. "Perhaps the various temperatures used while heating the potion? And the amount of ingredients used... well, these are not alays proportional, are they? I mean, say we have a list of ingredients to make a certain amount of the poition, but we want to make twice as much. Would simply doubling all the ingredients do the trick? Or would we have to just make the poition twice?" Letting her hand fall out of the air, Natka realised she was asking more questions than giving answers. Why was it that half the time she gave answers in class, it was in question form? Oh, well, let's hope that won't really matter... I am answering the question... sort of, she thought. "Excellent question- it actually varies, for you are right- sometimes doubling a potion does affect it poorly and it must be produced in smaller quantities, and therefore if you need twice as much you must brew twice. This is especially true in potions that make strong use of infusions or decoctions, because in some materials the magic does not disperse properly in a larger quantity of water, even if you have twice as much of the ingredient in the cauldron to balance out twice as much water-- unlike in cooking, where the elements of an herb might infuse water at an equal ratio, the magic of some materials will only infuse liquid that are within a certain distance of the item's core. This is particularly true of ingredients like dragon heartstring and unicorn tail hair, and it can cause a weaker potion if you try to double the potion instead of making two smaller cauldrons of the potion." Kazimeriz nodded at the student, sending three gold stars over the young one's head. "I know this concept sounds devastatingly complicated to some of you, but take heart: you will not need to learn how this works in detail this until your NEWT level seventh year classes, and then only if you are focusing on a career with a strong focus on potions. Which reminds me: if any of you are on a career track in potions or related disciplines-- including being an Auror, which requires strong potions background -- please visit the lab where I can assist you in understanding these concepts. It will help you a great deal in your post-Hogwarts studies." Quote: Originally Posted by dan arjay Whoa! A gold star! He was very proud of himself. He would answer about the stirring part, but all the good ones have been already said, so Daniel raised his hand. "Professor, I believe that part of the potion making is the preparation of the ingredients. And of course, from what we have learned, the way we prepare and handle the ingredients greatly affects the outcome of the potion." he then paused and scratched his chin, "Like for example, if we are making a Shrinking solution, we need to cut the daisy roots evenly or we must not add too much rat spleen for it can make the potion poisonous. These and a lot more are the result if we don't follow the procedure diligently. And then we have the right order of putting such ingredients." he paused, "It is not only important that we prepare the ingredients in a manner the is instructed we must follow the correct order in which they are instructed." "Very good. Your process -- and being careful to detail -- can make or break a potion. You give good examples of this, thank you." Kazimeriz gave the boy two gold stars. Quote: Originally Posted by Mrs. Weasley Abby is getting confused by this clockwise/counter clockwise discussion. From her brewing experience, certain potion recipes called for clockwise stirring and counterclockwise stirring while other call for only one type of stirring to be used. In the process no one had explained why we need to stir a certain number of times. "Professor Kazimeriz, does the ingredient that is put in the potion before stirring have something to do with whether we stir clockwise or counterclockwise? I'm also curious about the number of times we stir clockwise or counterclockwise. If I remember correctly from Arithmancy class, numbers have their own magical properties. I would imagine that the number of times we stir and the way we stir plays a role in adding magic to the potion we are brewing, or does it increase the magical powers of the ingredients used to brew the potion? "Excellent point, Miss Wright- numbers have power, as those of you who selected an arithmancy option know. Seven, nine, three, six and twelve are all particularly powerful numbers in potions, and oftentimes you will find that potions will specifically call for a specific number of ingredients parts or times you stir your cauldron. Be very careful to do this properly and cautiously. As students, I suggest that before you begin you use your wand to mark a spot above the edge of your cauldron -- use a simple marking charm -- and use that as a visual reference point so you know how many times you have stirred your cauldron precisely. There is a huge difference between three stirs and three and a quarter, in potions." Kazimeriz gave Miss Wright another two stars. Quote: Originally Posted by DanialRadFAN01 Chris Potter raised his hand. "Well Professor, would the flame intensity have an effect on the potion traits besides the temperature? Perhaps the more intense the flame burns the stronger something will become." he thought it out carefully before voicing his thought, he didnt want to sound stupid in front of Kazi. "Very good-- the temperature of the potion is important. Typically, higher heat awakens or stimulates ingredients efficacy while cooling calms them, though there are exceptions to every rule." Kazimeriz nodded, giving him two gold stars. Quote: Originally Posted by rubindo Aaron raised his hand again, while looking at Fallon with a face that said Sorry. "Sir, the speed of the turning would also change the potion, too. I don't know why, but could it be that the longer it takes to blend, the more time the ingredients have to mix with each other?" Aaron hoped this was right. it sounded right... Right? "It can, indeed. Especially in a calming potion, you would want to stir slowly, and in any potion that uses exploding fluid or erumpent horn you want to stir verrrrrry slowly or you risk blowing up your cauldron." Kazimeriz nodded and gave the boy two stars. Quote: Originally Posted by She-Who-Is-Not-To-Be-Psycho! Diane had been shocked enough that something got shot into her forehead, she had been touching it trying to disern what it was and had not spoken in a while. Being rather distracted when instructions were delivered, she listened to other people's answers rather than heard the question from the professor. Diane raised her hand. "The negative-positive are used to refer to contraries, as ying-yang, passive-active... well, actually, ying-yang would be a good metaphor for stirring generally... but clock and counter-clockwise motions can also refer to the passing of time, as the name tells. To make a youthening potion, for example, we use counter-clockwise motions. Also, time dictates the heating intensity by prolongued influence of the flame, the numerical quantity of passing minutes between each stage, the ingredient influence - like in the example before mentioned of a tea bag." "Very good -- you do seem to understand the reasons for the processes involved. Excellent!" Kazimeriz noticed he had accidentally affixed the star onto the girl's head and moved it to hover ABOVE her head, adding two more to it for her answer. He surveyed the room. "Well done-- Professor Forrester could almost hold an astronomy course in this room, from the galaxy of glowing stars I see above you all! But who will be top student? Who will take the prize?" Kazimeriz smirked as he returned to the front of the class, shuffling slowwwwly over to the table with the two sets of ingredients. "I am certain that the sharp-minded among you have been wondering why I have set these ingredients out. What you see here are some base ingredients that we will be using in the practical part of this class. I trust everyone has their cauldrons and equipment ready to work? Very good." Kazimeriz looked around at the students, noting that some of them were unprepared but knowing they would hustle to prepare now. "We are going to play a little game." His dark eyes sparkled, the lights reflecting off them in a whirling way that might have suggested genius, or perhaps lunacy. "Each of you are to take out your potions journals, for you must take EXTREMELY CAREFUL notes as you work. Every part of your process- ingredients, quantities, what you did to them, order you added them, heat levels -- everything must be documented." "What you are to do is this: First, you are to write a potions plan in your journal." He pointed his wand to the board, which changed: Quote: Originally Posted by CHALKBOARD POTIONS PLAN Your name: Your House: Your Year: Type of Potion you are Making (choose ONE): Physically Altering (Simple Transfigurations ONLY: Do not attempt polyjuice, this class will not be open for 21 days!) Emotionally Altering Behaviorally Altering Intent (what you think the potion you make should do): Ingredients: Process: (include what you do to the potion ingredients, your brewing process, and what you observe. Did it change color at one phase? Did it boil, or steam, or have other observable effects?) "Second, you are to collect the proper ingredients of your choosing that you believe you will need to brew your potion based on what you have studied in your texts. If you need assistance in knowing how much of an ingredient to use or which ingredient might best suit your particular plan, I will assist you, though I expect my NEWT students to have a rudimentary grasp of these concepts already. For example, moonstone, fluxweed, knotgrass, and graphorn horn are all agents of change; you will use ingredients like these with other ingredients to form a two-step potion as we did in the previous class, but this time what the potion does will depend on what you choose to invent." "You will combine ingredients designed to incite 'change' from this table with ingredients that you choose that will hopefully create the change you intend. You can find these ingredients along the side walls of the classroom and may freely use any except the poison ingredients which are all in my locked cabinet. Please do not try to make anything fatal! You may use your primary text freely as a reference. There are other books available at the back of the class if you like, as well. " He pointed to the back of the class, on which there was a bookshelf with texts such as Magical Drafts and Potions, The Potions Scholar's Encyclopedia of Ingredients, Potions Simplified, Bontanicals and Ancient Potions , and Everything You Wanted to Know about Anything But Weren't Wise Enough to Ask. "Younger students who lack confidence may use a potion out of the books as a guide, but please document in your journal if the potion was based upon a published potion. Older or confident students will invent their own potion entirely, even if it has the same effect as a common or published work." "If there are no questions, you are free to begin. Oh-- and take care to record EVERYTHING YOU DO. Let me know if you have questions, and you have two hours to brew. When your potion is complete, bottle a phial of it and raise your hand." Kazimeriz smirked. This was going to be a very good lesson for the students... nothing taught you how to brew and how to respect your ingredients like having to be inventive. Even if that meant things went horribly, terribly wrong... which would not surprise the old man. He was coming to really enjoy teaching potions. ooc: Go ahead and RP your charrie inventing a potions plan to create a potion that changes someone physically, emotionally, or behaviorally. Then gather ingredients and brew to your heart's content! You may get as creative as you like-- yes, including blowing up your cauldron if you wish (that is, if you use exploding fluid or erumpent horn )-- but please, let's keep it SS friendly always... and stick to HP canon where you can. The potion you invent and its intended effect/your adventures or misadventures are all up to you... Leave me written clues as to how competent your student is in your RP, and we'll see how you did when we reach the final phase of the class! If you have questions please feel free to PM me or ask Kazimeriz IC. This portion of class will last the remainder of the weekend. HAVE FUN! ~Xana~ PS: Kudos to the brilliant biochemkris for the SS-based potions 'text' links. THANK YOU KRIS for letting me borrow your brilliant writings! __________________ Last edited by XanaSnape; 07-25-2009 at 09:44 PM. Reason: for clarity, i hope!