Cosgrach entered the laboratory early in the day, probably before anyone was awake. He had charmed three baskets: one containing thestral hair, one containing black cat fur and the last one containing perfect mussel shells. The last basket filled the air with the smell of the sea, and it would be there until mid March. He gently put the baskets on the table he had brought earlier in the front of the classroom. He wanted to linger to see if anyone came in to start the task, but he had tasks too, so with a last look around to make sure everything was in order, he left.

Ian had seen the notice on the huffie board and he wanted to see if he could do this. He still wasn't great at potions, but he'd certainly like to try something. Especially if it helped him get in the good graces of the potion master. Ian had developed an appreciation of potions and how delicate and difficult they were. It reminded him a little of cooking with his mum, but the results there were generally much less dangerous than potions.

He walked into the lab and walked around a looked for the professor, but didn't see him. He had seen that it required the professor's permission and since the professor wasn't here, Ian decided to wait around a bit and hope the professor showed up. Ian reached into his satchel, took out the book on erumpents and began to read more about these fascinating creatures.

This was going to be AWESOME. AWESOME and extremely tedious at the same time. BUT, if there was anything that could get him into the good books with Gavin, it was this, and for that reason he was willing to while away HOURS in a potions lab ALL YEAR and yeah, this was... going to be trying on his patience.

Entering the potions laboratory with his bag packed with many essential items, including a copy of the ingredients list and instructions, Zeke claimed himself a work station before signing in on the register thing with his name, the time of entry and the date... most of which he had to think about, and he looked at his watch not once but TWICE just to make sure he was on the spot. Once that was done he took to his station and started cleaning its surface before he could even THINK about getting to work. He wasn't alone, but he didn't KNOW the other student, still, he figured he's do the polite thing... "Hiya," he greeted, grinning at the Hufflepuff over his shoulder before returning his attention to his work.

The rules in this place were stringent, and he didn't fancy being interrupted to get things in order... so he did as per the rules, slipping on his gloves and putting on his goggles. Once set - and feeling rather stupid - Zeke went to the cupboards and helped himself to protective robes too... yep, he felt like a right clown now, especially since they were ill fitting. Boo. With that taken care of, Zeke laid his instructions out on the table and he looked them over once more. It was a super complicated potion, and he wasn't sure he was up to the task. The only thing that gave him SOME hope, was that it was all written out on paper, and just as Emily had told him HUNDREDS of times, so long as he could read them, he'd be fine. Follow them to the letter, and he'd be fine.

Setting up one of the cauldrons from the cupboard, Zeke started by cleaning it, THOROUGHLY. "Scourgify," he cast on the vessel, going over it a couple more times, just in case. He then lit a fire beneath it, and set up the thermometer after cleaning that too, so he could gauge its temperature. Preheating took a while, but in that time he could get his other things together. Noticing the boxes of ingredients in the room, Zeke went and collected for himself a thestral mane hair... he'd be needing that soon. A bottle containing goats milk was extracted gently from his bag on the floor, and a bicorn horn was taken out of his potions ingredients kit box thing.

Once the cauldron reached a hundred and fifty degrees, he unscrewed the lid of his goats milk and poured that in. It made a faint sizzling sound as it hit the preheated cauldron. Hehe. Once it was all in, he took the thestral man and added that too. It hadn't told him to wait, or to stir, or anything else... so... he was doing this right. Right? But now that that was done... he had to wait. TWO hours. He checked his watch so he could track the time. Of course, there was a bicorn horn waiting to be pulverised!

Again, he hadn't bothered to bring his own pestle and mortar... those things were happy, and the potions cupboards had perfectly good ones. Collecting a set to borrow, Zeke returned it to his bench and cleaned it, pleased that he was able to practice with his wand some more. "Scourgify." With that part of the task complete, he added the horn to the basin bit... was that the pestle??? yes??... well that thing, whatever it was. And then he started breaking away at it, reducing it to manageable sediments and then to a finer powder. It took some time, especially because he kept peering into his cauldron and keeping a careful eye on the time. He had of course put out the fire when the two hours were up, and he let it cool while he continued working the bircorn horn.

Still... he had to wait.

....

Fifteen minutes passed slowly, perhaps more slowly than the last hour of brewing... and all the while he stared with his eyes level with his cauldron, watching and waiting to see the steam dissipate. Once there was no steam, and it had been about fifteen minutes, he was sure it was sufficiently cooled. Still, the instructions said to touch. Did that mean with gloves ON? or OFF? ...... ...........

...

Consider him confused.

He first CLEANED his glove, and dipped the tip of it into the solution. But it was hard to tell these things... so with the droplet on the glove finger, he wiped it on a spot of skin at his wrist which he exposed by tugging up his sleeve. It was cool! Woot! And so in went the powdered horn of bicorn.

He had his wooden stick handy, and after cleaning that too, "Scourgify," he placed it into his cauldron and followed the instructions carefully. Five times clockwise. Stir... stir.... stir... stir... stir... and then four times counter clockwise. Stir... stir... stir... stir. Three times clockwise, stir... stir... stir... and then twice more counter clockwise. Stir... stir. And finally... once more clockwise. Stir.

Withdrawing his wooden stirring stick, Zeke took his wand to the bottom of the cauldron and lit another fire underneath it. "Incendio." Making sure it was set high enough, he let it burn for a while while he packed up his things. It felt weird leaving cauldrons burning... leaving his potion in a public place... where it was so easy for it to be contaminated. It made him uncomfortable. Would he be allowed to sleep here and supervise? Could he? In the end he just took his time with cleaning up and returning the borrowed items - wanting to stay as long as possible. He also left a label next to his work, stating his name, year and house.

And then, reluctantly, he left.

Of course Maddie wanted to work with Professor Culloden privately. The man had all kinds of knowledge about potions and as the thirteen year old was fond of the subject, she couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some one-on-one time with the guy. That is, of course, if her Un-Felix Un-Felicis potion turned out okay. She was pretty positive it would because of how meticulous she was during the brewing process but who KNEW what sort of distractions might meet her when she got to the lab, yeah? She had to be prepared for anything.

Slipping into the lab, the second year noticed she wasn't the only one here to work. She smiled faintly at the other students there, ones she didn't know and didn't feel the need to talk to, and then she went and found herself a proper place to work. The space was cleaned before Maddie did anything else, of course. She knew ALL about how the potions man felt about cleanliness. Only after it was nice and clean did she spend a few minutes organizing ALL the things she'd brought for this particular task. She then returned to the notebook at the entrance of the room to record her information. Surely Culloden would smile when he saw that SHE was on the list of students trying to brew this potion.

After re-entering the room, the brunette decided to gear up. Protective robes and gloves Maddie had and before putting them on, she cleaned them thoroughly. "Scourgify. Scourgify. Scourgify." Clean robe was slipped on, gloves were tugged securely on each hand, and that's when Maddie realized she'd forgotten her goggles. Annoyed but not discouraged, the twelve year old wandered quietly to the cupboard and searched around before finding a pair that looked like they'd fit. She returned to her seat with these and cleaned THOSE too before placing them on. Some people probably looked SILLY in goggles but Maddie felt rather scientific in them and she wore them with an air of superiority. SHE was about to brew a SERIOUS potion and SHE was going to do it correctly. MHM.

Once she was settled, which had taken a while, the thirteen year old flipped open her notes to the page where she’d recorded ALL of the information about Un-Felix Un-Felicis. After glancing at the first couple of steps and taking her wand in her hand, she decided to get started. First thing was that she cleaned her caldron. “Scourgify.” Next came the pre-heating. Madding carefully lit the burner with Incendio and then she wandered over to the cupboard again to grab a thermometer to borrow. She cleaned it on the return trip, setting it up so that she’d be able to read the temperature clearly when it reached 150 degrees Celsius. The waiting had been boring and all and doodles happened in the meantime but eventually the cauldron was heated to the right temperature and Maddie was able to move on, thank Merlin.

Goatmilk was next. Maddie cleaned a glass beaker and then carefully poured the goat milk in, knowing that one litre was equivalent to 1000 milliliters. She made sure that she was at eye-level with the lines of measurement, wanting it to be as close to perfect as she could manage. Once she was finished measuring, she added the milk to the cauldron and cleaned the beaker again in case she’d need it later. The goat milk was secured and set to the side and she checked her notes again, ready to move on.

The Thestral mane was next. Thestral hair was used in wands, right? Like as a wand core. Maddie wondered about this and also about the fact that she’d read it was unstable. She cleaned her gloves as she thought this over, eyeing the mane hair curiously. Too bad Culloden wasn’t here to ask questions. After the gloves had been cleaned, Maddie reached for the mane and added it to the cauldron, watching it to make sure it all got in. Now she’d need to wait for two WHOLE hours before moving on. THAT should be fun. GOOD think she’d brought the books Dora had sent her. She could do some independent study while she waited. At least that way she’d be entertained. The second year cleaned her gloves and then reached for the book in her bag, pulling it out and placing it in front of her on the table. And after glancing at her watch, she began to read.

… … … …

Putting out the fire was easy enough. Maddie had packed away her book and cleaned her gloves again before doing it. She then waited a few minutes to ensure that the cauldron had cooled. She was being very careful, you see. She didn’t want to mess up. She didn’t like to fail. She wanted Culloden to recognize that she was good at this. It was a thing.

During the waiting, Maddie had checked her notes to see what was next. Mortar and pestle were needed and Maddie got hers out, cleaning each. “Scourgify.” PAUSE. “Scourgify.” She then cleaned her gloves again and reached for the bicorn horn. Crushing it wasn’t easy and Maddie worked hard, using force and her wrist to add pressure and grind away at the horn until a it turned into a fine powder. Fine indeed. And her potion should be cool enough now, yeah? She’d need to check and she’d need to do it with her hand. Cool to touch had been written in her notes so that’s what she’d go by. And no, she wasn’t going to remove her glove. She didn’t fancy scalded fingers and she didn’t see steam so her eyes and her gloved senses would do. …Why did fifteen minutes seem like an eternity. The potion had better be cool by now.

The thirteen year old cleaned her glove again and reached into the potion, touching it hesitantly with the tip of her pointer finger. She felt no warmth there and though it wasn’t exactly COLD, it was cool enough that she could handle it without being burnt. And hey, she could simply remove the glove from the hand she hadn’t dipped in the potion and feel the glove to see if it had cooled properly. Safer than dipping a bare finger in and the glove WASN’T hot where she’d touched the potion so all was wall. More cleaning happened, both to the bare hand and then the glove, and Maddie got ready to move on.

Okay. So far so good?

Wooden stirrer up next. That’s what the notes said, anyway. Maddie had done her fair share of cleaning herself before handling the tool and she cleaned THAT too before dipping it into the potion. Then began the tedious stirring process. 5 times clockwise…4 times counterclockwise… three times clockwise… two times counterclockwise…and once clockwise. And then she removed the stick and cleaned it again before setting it down.

OH.

She was leaving this potion for a WEEK? Maddie wasn’t sure she was comfortable with THAT. The brunette eyed her wand and then the burner, concentrating as she cast the spell. ”Incendio.” When she saw that the flame was on high, she cleaned up the work area around her cauldron, the ingredients, and packed away her things. After returning the goggles, she gave one last look to her cauldron. She’d be by to check on it, of course. To make sure the flame was still burning on high and that no one had tampered with it. Still, she felt good about the progress she’d made SO far. Hopefully a week would go by quickly.

Ophelia signed the notebook as neatly as she could, putting her bag on the floor and taking out the notebook she wrote the activity in. Was she reaallllly doing this? The kid had never had this kind of ambition at home, in fact, the elven year old would avoid work if she could help it. So what was happening to her? Was Ophelia stolen Invasion of the Body Snatchers style? Or was the kid finally 'growing up' as Newton called it? There had to be SOME kind of explanation here, and the blonde really wanted to know it. Was there some psychology for this? What was that psychology?

Anyway, notebook. Opening it up, the poor kid was struck with an onslaught of words she was going to have to figure out how to read. Grreeeeaaattt. This activity sounded awesome already. Well, she figured she'd better start reading and collecting, since the actual reading was going to take longer than it took the smarter kids. Or, according to her mom, linguistically advanced kids. Whatever. That was just a fancy word for not stupid.




Pushing her blonde waves behind her ear and scratching the freckles on her pale cheeks --stupid tan having gone away-- Ophelia began the process of reading. Concentrating hard as she ever did, the first year began to make out hide and tail of these crazy ingredients, thought some were easier than others. As she figured out what actually went into the potion, she mouthed each word, and when she didn't know, she whispered it until it made sense. Of course this took a while, but it was that Clarke determination again.

See, there WAS another reason the shorter girl was attempting this unlucky potion thing. Because her sisters and brother were able to do really well in Hogwarts really early on. They stood out in classes and made tons of friends and were intense Ravenclaw students. They KNEW they belonged in this house. They were basically everything this house looked for. And Ophelia..... was not even close. She could hardly read at the correct level for her age, her comprehension was off and it usually took her three tries at home to even learn the name of the spell, let alone remember the motion.

And basically, what all of this came to was emulating her siblings. Not imitating, emulating. Ophelia wanted to do all of this AND more. Play quidditch, discover cool things in the castle, be a prankster, have fun and most importantly, be awesome. Because her siblings only did half of those things. Especially Newton. She had her eye on that girl and was looking to pass her on something for a while. And since she was maniaclly pretty, annoyingly smart and always seemed to be right about everything, this was her chance.

And yes, all of that crap about being your own person was really important, but that wasn't going to help her with the homeschooling or the grades or the whole the kids know everything kind of thing. So this was all very important and she would carve a path later. When she was actually GOOD at something. And that didn't include testing her mom's last nerve.

Zeke was ITCHING to see how his Un-Felix Un-Felicis potion was going. Throughout the week, he had made a number of stops to the potions laboratory just to check on his work. Each time he made sure to sign in with his name, the date and the hour of entrance. Needless to say, he was accumulating quite the time sheet. The fire beneath his cauldron stayed on high the whole time, and from what he could see nobody had tampered with his brew. GOOOD. Or else he'd make them pay... ahem.

...


On this particular day, a week after he started his potion, Zeke re-entered the lab and signed himself in, AGAIN. With his gloves and goggles on, he helped himself to one of the spare working robes and set about completing the next phase of his potion.

Taking one of the perfect mussel shells from the ingredients basket at the front, Zeke returned it to his work station and set about cleaning it. It took some work. He started by scrubbing away at the moss on the surface of the shell, and he did this until he was able to clean off the majority of it. It was NICE to be able to do things by hand, but he knew it wouldn't be as well done if he didn't use magic, and so once he was certain he could clean off no more with the small brush from his kit, he took to his wand. "Scourgify." He turned the mussel shell in his hand, repeating the spell to clean each and every side of it. "Scourgify... scourgify." The shell was shiny and black, beautiful and truly perfect. He even washed it off with water, just to be sure it was clean clean.

Using the tip of his silver blade knife, Zeke wedged it between the shells lips, and carefully pried it open to reveal the mussel within. He first removed the mussel flesh, and then cleaned the inside as well. Clean clean cleaaannn. Everything had to be SUPER clean. And because he had been following the instructions to the letter, he added it to his cauldron and peered inside. One week of waiting seemed awful, but now he'd have to wait a whole moon cycle. A WHOLE CYCLE!!!.......... Ugh.

Putting out the fire, Zeke hung around long enough to watch his cauldron some more, and update his notes, making small annotations in the margins with times and dates and ticking off the steps completed.

Adi was hereee! Was Lux there yet? Adi scanned the Potions Lab for the Hufflepuff girl but didn't see her. Hmm. Maybe she would be along soon. He did notice that Gryffindor kid (Zeke) that had made a planet collide into him, though. "Hey, you! Not making more stuff crash into people, are you?'' the Puffer joked, as he passed by. He patted the boy on the shoulder. No harm done in Astronomy. It was all cool.

Adi selected a workstation and set about assembling the necessary ingredients and equipment. All the while he was glancing towards the door, keeping an eye out for a certain Badger.

Ian had gotten the required permission to begin the process and came into the lab hoping to enjoy a chance to improve his potion making skills. He glanced down at the notes he'd copied for this project.

Looking around the lab, he went and gathered his cauldron and the first to ingredients. Taking them to the station he'd chosen for his work, he set his cauldron up where he could start a fire below it. Taking out his wand, he cleaned the cauldron with scourgify. He started a fire beneath the cauldron and waited as it heated.

He carefully read, the re-read the instructions. He did not want to mess this up. When his cauldron had reached the requisite 150 degrees celcius, he added the goat milk. That was quite a lot of goat milk. How do you milk enough goats to get as much milk as was available for this project. He shrugged and then added thestral mane. It was now time to wait. He glanced at the time piece in the lab and pulled up a stool. He reached down into his satchel and pulled out a book he had been reading about erumpents. Rather interesting stuff.

When two hours had passed, Ian put the fire out and waited for the potion to cool, continuing his reading. He was going to have to get a new book. He'd nearly finished this one.

When he felt like he was close enough to touch the potion, he took out his mortar and pistle to crush the bicorn horn. He cleaned the bowl with scourgify and then crushed the horn. After he'd made a nice fine powder of the horn, he reached in to touch the potion and it was good. He tipped over the bowl and scraped the powder into the cauldron.

He cleaned his wooden stick and placed it in the cauldron. HE began to stir clockwise. One...two...three...four...five. He changed directions and stirred more. one....two....three....four. Back to clockwise one...two...three. And counterclockwise one...two and finally one turn clockwise.

Ian removed the stick and lit a fire again. Ensuring that the fire was as hot as he could get it, he placed the cauldron back on the fire. He watched long enough for the potion to boil. Ian labeled the workstation and ensuring he had cleaned up the workstation he returned his book back to his satchel. When he felt he had done things to the professor's standards, Ian headed out. He'd come back and check on it occasionally through the week it had to stay heated.

He had just finished up with his notes and placed it deep into his bag when there was another arrival. Another potential for someone to mess with his hard work...

Zeke hadn't turned to see who it was, but jumped a little when the voice addressed him. Stuff crash into people? Heh. Smirking a little, he looked up as the boy patted him on the shoulder in passing. It was the Puffer Prefect dude! "Nah, not today... figured I'd give you all a break." You know, a little R&R, some down time.

"You here for the project?" he asked conversationally, figuring chatting meant he had reason to stay and watch his cauldron a little longer.

Hoping that she wasn't keeping Adi waiting, Lux made her way to the potions lab. She had been happy when her friend had suggested they do this project together. It would be loads of fun and she had needed to spend more time with her fellow Badger.

Making her way over to the work table, she was happy to see Zeke. "Hey, guys! Are you here for the project too, Zeke? Or are you making something else?" If he was working on the project, maybe he could join them; he seemed to be working hard on whatever potion he was brewing. Slowly she took out everything that she needed to make her potion as well as all her equipment. Every tool got a cleaning as well as her cauldron.

Ian walked into the laboratory at the end of the seven days to check on his potion. He had been checking on it periodically to ensure the flames had not gone out. Hard work doing that and all. He looked into the cauldron to make sure all was in order. It seemed to be. He didn't really notice much difference and he was surprised there was still liquid in there. I mean, would evaporation cause ALL the liquid to go away? He shrugged as he set his satchel down on the floor beside his stool.

He glanced around...then smacked his own forehead with the heel of his hand. Gotta have the instructions, Tinker! he muttered to himself. He leaned over to his right and grabbed the satchel up and opened it and began digging things out. He dug around for a bit, trying to find the parchment he'd written the instructions on. One would think he would have considered that before coming down, but he didn't. After nearly pulling EVERYTHING from his satchel, he located the hidden parchment at his feet. Must have come out when I was pulling things out. Gonna have to organize this blasted bag.

As he began returning things to the satchel, he looked around for his mussel. He knew he had gathered one. Where had it gone off to? Once again, he began to empty out the bag. This was a little bit frustrating. Finally he began shuffling through papers and flipping books upside down. After he had gone through everything THREE times, he remembered he'd put the mussel in his robe pocket. He sighed and put his things back in his bag. This project was getting a bit silly. Maybe the rest of today's work wouldn't take so long.

When everything he didn't need was back in the bag he looked down at the mussel. Fortunately, because of the friction of his pocket, everything had been rubbed from the outside shell of the mussel. Taking it to a rubbish pail, he opened the mussel and using a small spatula, he scraped the inside of the mussel into the pail. He placed the mussel itself on a table beside him. He used a soft rag he had brought to clean the remainer of the shell. After that, he rinsed out the mussel, cleaning it until the water ran clear. He walked back to the cauldron and carefully dropped the mussel and shell into the potion. When that step was completed, he pointed at the fire and said Finite! He waited about 10 minutes to ensure the flames were completely out and the cauldron was good to go.

After he was satisfied everything was in order, Ian grabbed a washcloth, cleaned up the areas he'd used and then gathered up this things. With one more glance at the cauldron, he slung the satchel back over his shoulder and headed out of the laboratory.

Adi grinned. "Good idea. We're all very grateful for your thoughtfulness.'' Hehe. The Puffer hoped Zeke knew he was kidding around with him and not making fun of him. "Yup, I am.'' He peered over at Zeke's cauldron. "By the looks of this I'd say you've gotten a head start on most of us here. That enthusiastic about Potions, huh?'' Just at that moment the Lux arrived. "Hey, Lux! How are you? All set to get this started?'' Because he was all set!

The fourth year slipped on the necessary protective gear- gloves, robes and such. Now it was really time to get started! "Scourgify!'' There was his now cleaned cauldron. As he set up the thermometer, he addressed Lux. "What did you think about us brewing a Hate Potion?'' He knew she hadn't been pleased but he just wanted to know what she thought of the potion. Adi lit the burner and kept a very watchful look on the thermometer. 148...149...150 degrees celcius!

In went one liter of goat milk and the single strand of thestral mane. Now what? Adi checked the steps he had written down. Wait for TWO hours? O_O That was a loooong time. It was a good thing he had company.

Hehehehe. This dude was funny, hilarious even! "I'm always thoughtful, I just seldom show it." Yeah, YEAH, he used a big word there. Or well, okay, it wasn't a BIG word, but it was a fancy word. Seldom. It was something he learned in muggle school, because it was plastered all over his report cards and Emily had to explain that it was a BAD thing and not a good thing. Or at least, for what HE seldom did, it was a bad thing. Whoops? Meh.

Zeke nodded. He DID get a head start, cause, there was no time like the present and that present for him was a week ago! "My dad's a potioneer, kinda, or well... he was..." 'cept he didn't really know the man when he was that. He'd only known him as the Minister's Secretary person. VERY important person too. "I want to impress him, you know?"

And oohhhhh... Lux! Zeke grinned.

"Hiya." He wasn't interrupting was he? With like, two Puffers and all... did they want... alone time? He knew what alone time was, he could respect that. "I started mine last week," he replied, so yeah, he was doing the project. "A have to wait a WHOLE moon cycle now," and waiting was not his specialty.

It was nice to see that Adi wasn't annoyed that she had made him wait. But then when was he EVER annoyed? It was a Hufflepuff thing, the kindness. But then Bay was the nicest person ever, and he was a Lion. "I'm great and so ready to start! How are you two?" Turning on the burner, Lux preheated her cauldron to 150 degrees Celsius.

Hate potion? Honestly she wasn't impressed with the whole idea, which her friend had clearly noticed. "Potions is my favourite class, but I did not enjoy making that potion at all. I don't think hate should be manufactured." Though she supposed Professor Culloden had kind of justified the whole idea behind using them. A little. "What do you guys think of hate potions?" Maybe she was the only one who felt this way.

Measuring out a litre of goat milk, she added and then the thestral mane. Looking at her recipe, she crossed off the first three steps before noticing that they had to wait a whole TWO hours.

Zeke sure had a head start. Maybe it would have been wiser for her and Adi to have began earlier too. Oh well, too late now. "You going to stay and keep us company, Zeke?" How long was a moon cycle anyhow?

SPOILER!!: Recipe

• a litre of goat milk
• 1 strand of thestral mane
• bicorn horn
• full, undamaged mussel shell
• one black cat's fur
• caterpillar
• 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses (plucked ripe from the branches)

1. Pre-heat the cauldron to 150 celcius degrees
2. Put one litre of goat milk
3. Add the thestral mane
4. Wait for two hours
5. Put out the fire and wait for it to cool down
6. Crush the bicorn horn into a fine powder in the meantime and add it once the potion is cool enough for you to touch
7. Check point: it should be cool in maximum 15 minutes
8. With a wooden stick, stir it five times clockwise, four times counter clockwise, three times clockwise, two times counter clockwise and once clockwise.
9. Light a fire and bring it to maximum. Let it burn for a full week. Make sure the fire is always at maximum.
10. Clean the mussel shell gently, make sure there is no moss on it. open it, remove the mussel itself and clean its inside too, then add into the cauldron after a week is up.
11. Put out the fire and wait for one Moon cycle
12. Check point: the colour should be silver
13. Sprinkle half of the fur
14. With a metal stick, stir vigorously 13 times counter clockwise
15. Sprinkle the other half of the fur
16. Stir slowly 13 times counter clockwise
17. Check point: it should smell like your least favourite flower
18. Wait for a week
19. Slice the caterpillar into five equal pieces and add the one by one
20. Swirl your wand slowly over the cauldron while telling an event you think is unfortunate (the number of swirls doesn't matter, just don't stop until the end of the story)
21. Light a low fire and wait for 13 days
22. Get 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses in the gardens and add them all at once
23. With a metal stick, stir once clockwise
24. Wait until it changes colour from green to brown
25. Label it and leave a vial it on the desk

• Do NOT! try it without my consent.
• If you have done everything correctly, it shouldn't smell or smoke. Its taste should not spoil the substances it is added.

Cool! Zeke had caught on Adi was indeed joking with him. He liked people who could joke right back with him. And Zeke was funny too. He had Adi laughing with his reply. “Was that a secret you shared there?’’ Because though Adi acted immature sometimes okay, a lot of the time), he could totally be mature when the need arose. Not everyone knew that because he was always cracking jokes or saying stupid stuff.

Adi was impressed with Zeke’s dad already. “A potioneer, huh? That sounds super cool.’’ But it also meant that little Zeke had a certain amount of pressure on himself to live up to the man’s reputation. “You’ll do a great job, buddy. Your dad is definitely going to be proud of you.’’ Yes, he was sure of that. Adi had already noticed how hardworking the Lion was.

The Puffer watched Lux as she got started on her own potion. He nodded in agreement to her statements. “I think it’s pretty useless. The person or persons who created it had nothing better to do.’’ Couldn’t they have come up with something better? Something that would be of use? “I was reluctant to brew it, honestly.’’ He was certain he wasn’t the only one.
……………………………………….

By this time two hours had elapsed. Thank Merlin for Zeke and Lux. Adi had the illusion of time going faster with them talking so much. “Two hours are up, Lux.’’ Since the two Hufflepuffs had started the potion at almost the same time, their respective two hours wouldn’t be that far apart. Adi turned off the burner and while he waited for the potion to cool, he crushed the bicorn horn into a fine powder using the magically cleaned mortar and pestle.

He kept checking the potion but it wasn’t about thirteen minuted after the heat had been turned off that the potion was very cool. The crushed bicorn horn was added. Adi grabbed the wooden stick. “Scourgify!’’ Time to get stirring.

One…two…three…four…five times clockwise.

One…two…three…four times counter clockwise.

One…two…three times clockwise.

One…two times counter clockwise.

One time clockwise.

Phew! Thank goodness he made no mistakes there. Or so he hoped. Anyway. Fire was needed again. Adi relit the burn and set it to maximum. Now to wait for a FULL WEEK. Merlin. Some potion this was. The contents of his cauldron wouldn’t evaporate within that week, right?

"Something like that," he replied offhandedly to Adi. Hehehe. Sharing was caring, but it was the value of what was shared that mattered... and he was starting to think about this too much. Snapping from his thoughts on secrets and sharing and intel, Zeke beamed at Lux. "I'm good, bit hungry though, so I might stop by the kitchens on the way back." Not to mention he still had herbology homework that needed doing. Boooooo. Homework took time and effort. "How're you?"

The whole hate potion thing though... he disagreed. REALLY disagreed. Having already finished that homework, he'd had time to really think about things and sift through his beliefs. "You're both wrong...." he started bluntly. "Hate potions are useful. They're not... you know, nice, but they're useful." Did he have to point out HOW they were useful? Or could they figure it out? Shuffling his feet, he waited and watched for a reaction.

As for the waiting and sticking around thing, yeah, he could do that. "I can for a bit," before he was doomed to fill out the rest of the day with that homework task. Ugh. Hanging around here was the perfect way of putting it off.

Awww, Zeke was hungry. That was a shame. "I'd give you some Chocolate Frogs if Professor Culloden allowed it." Which clearly he didn't in the potions lab. Lux felt a little bad though since she DID have them on her. "I'm good! I was just hanging out with my boyfriend." It made her happy but she was sure that two boys wouldn't want to hear about it; that conversation was more for girl talk.

Adi was on the same page as her when it came to the hate potions, but Zeke clearly wasn't. It was nice to hear different opinions on things. "I suppose I can see how they could be useful. I just don't like them." Nod. Glad that he would be staying with them for some time, she still hated the waiting part.

Talking was nice, but Lux was definitely glad when she was told that it was time for them to move on with their project. After looking at her notes, she extinguished the fire under her cauldron so that the potion could cool. Grabbing the bicorn horn, she crushed it into a fine powder using her clean mortar and pestle. Once she was finished, she checked the potion but felt that it wasn't as cool as it could be. Continuing to wait, she checked every few minutes before finally dumping the powder in when things were just right.

Now it was time to do some stirring. Hopefully this part wouldn't be messed up. With her clean wooden stick, she stirred five times clockwise, four times counter-clockwise, three times clockwise, two times counter-clockwise, and then once more clockwise.

"Well, I guess we are done for a week, Adi," she said as she put the burner back on maximum. With her wand, she magically cleaned up her equipment and workstation before putting everything away again. She would wait for her friends so that they could leave together.

SPOILER!!: Recipe

• a litre of goat milk
• 1 strand of thestral mane
• bicorn horn
• full, undamaged mussel shell
• one black cat's fur
• caterpillar
• 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses (plucked ripe from the branches)

1. Pre-heat the cauldron to 150 celcius degrees
2. Put one litre of goat milk
3. Add the thestral mane
4. Wait for two hours
5. Put out the fire and wait for it to cool down
6. Crush the bicorn horn into a fine powder in the meantime and add it once the potion is cool enough for you to touch
7. Check point: it should be cool in maximum 15 minutes
8. With a wooden stick, stir it five times clockwise, four times counter clockwise, three times clockwise, two times counter clockwise and once clockwise.
9. Light a fire and bring it to maximum. Let it burn for a full week. Make sure the fire is always at maximum.
10. Clean the mussel shell gently, make sure there is no moss on it. open it, remove the mussel itself and clean its inside too, then add into the cauldron after a week is up.
11. Put out the fire and wait for one Moon cycle
12. Check point: the colour should be silver
13. Sprinkle half of the fur
14. With a metal stick, stir vigorously 13 times counter clockwise
15. Sprinkle the other half of the fur
16. Stir slowly 13 times counter clockwise
17. Check point: it should smell like your least favourite flower
18. Wait for a week
19. Slice the caterpillar into five equal pieces and add the one by one
20. Swirl your wand slowly over the cauldron while telling an event you think is unfortunate (the number of swirls doesn't matter, just don't stop until the end of the story)
21. Light a low fire and wait for 13 days
22. Get 13 rose thorns from 13 different roses in the gardens and add them all at once
23. With a metal stick, stir once clockwise
24. Wait until it changes colour from green to brown
25. Label it and leave a vial it on the desk

• Do NOT! try it without my consent.
• If you have done everything correctly, it shouldn't smell or smoke. Its taste should not spoil the substances it is added.

Jeremiah wasn't sure where Gabe was. He was sure they agreed to meet here at 10 am sharp. Maybe he just overslept or was having a good breakfast.. sure either one of those worked. Signing his name date and time on the sheet outside the door he entered the potions lab and couldn't help but grin to himself. He couldn't believe they were actually able to do this and he was so sure in himself that they'd be able to do it successfully.

Picking a work station in the center of the room he set his notebook down with his copy of the notes down and cleaned out a single cauldron. They were only going to need the one. Only one batch oft his stuff was being made. Then he set out his dragon hide gloves and goggles to the left of him in an orderly fashion right next to his notebook. A quill was set on top of that to mark down any findings or ideas about well, anything that he had during the day. Now he just needed to wait for Gabe before doing anything else. this was for the both of them after all.

Kace finally made it to the potions laboratory. Ethan and him were busy collecting rose thorns but he needed to go use the bathroom so he told his mate he would start the potion. He got his notebook out and look at the recipe at hand.



Alright he was gonna do steps 1-9 today. First of all he needed to clean his cauldron and supplies. That was rule numero uno. He got his wand out and said, "Scourgify!" and then his cauldron was all cleaned. It looked really shiny. Then he needed to clean all of his supplies. He said "Scourgify!" and then with a big swipe of his wand all of his supplies were clean. Now onto the first step. He needed to preheat his cauldron to 150 degrees celsius. He used his wand and said, "Incendio!" and fire was lit at the bottom of his cauldron. He waited for a bit because it couldn't heat that fast. But he knew the cauldron was gonna be hot. He even got a thermometer he cleaned to make sure the temperature was right. He put the thermometer in and it said the temperature after waiting a couple minutes. He added the litre of goat milk to his potion. It looked sort of nasty to him.

Then he needed the thestral mane and he added that in afterwards. Now he needed to wait two more hours? Hmmm what could he do? He brought his sketchbook and decided to doodle. He kept his eyes on the time. He began to add more to his graffiti doodle. He wondered what was taking Ethan so long? But anyways this was the boring part. After he did his doodles and went to the bathroom, it was past two hours. He said "Finite!" and the fire went out. Now he needed to wait for the cauldron to cool down.

More waiting time then huh? He doodled some more and he put his hand over the cauldron and it didn't seem that hot anymore. While waiting, he cleaned his mortar and pestle. "Scourgify" he said. Then he got his bicorn horns and crushed them into fine powder. This wasn't soo bad. The directions said he should add it when it is cool enough to touch. He touched it and it was still hot. He waited a bit more and more and then came back and he put his finger in and it seemed cool enough to him. He added the crushed up bicorn and he saw the check point. He would let Ethan deal with the next steps.

Hungry Adi hadn't realised it but he was hungry too. Maybe the House elves could spare him some cookies or something. "Great. I'll tag along and we can grab something together. Lux too if she doesn't have to meet Bay anytime soon again.'' He winked at the girl.

Well, well, well. Adi was certainly surprised by Zeke's response to Hate Potions and he didn't hide that. But hey, that was the guy's opinion. "Maaaybe,'' the Puffer said slowly as he thought over Zeke's statement. "But I suppose I'd always think it was a waste of time to invent it.''

"Yup. I'll be sure to remind you both in case you forget.'' It wasn't until Lux started with her cleaning that the fourth year realised he should be doing the same. He quickly got started, using magic to restore everything to their original state.

"So how about a trip to the Kitchens, Lux? There's two starving guys here.'' LOL. Growing guys needed their food.

Soooooooo... they both got it, or said that they got it, but he didn't think they really understood. Or at least, they didn't understand it the way HE did. The hole HATE thing was definitely useful and it made sense for someone to develop it. Everything could be made with a potion - almost. Or so he'd been told. Either way, he shrugged. They were all entitled to think differently.

The food thing though. That was a very real and serious situation, and Lux was nice to offer a chocolate frog - if the circumstances allowed for it. "That's cool.. I just really want cake anyway." Cravings were cravings. He wondered how long it would take the house elves to whip up a chocolate and beetroot cake, those were pretty good considering they were sneaking in the veg.

Zeke nodded to Adi, a trip to the kitchens sounded AWESOME. "I'm in."

Gabriel had gotten caught up...with something important; the nature of which couldn't be revealed at this time. BUT HE WAS HERE, NOW.

After signing in, Gabe lugged the metal box he was carrying into the room, bag slung over and across his shoulder and chest. Jeremiah.....had already set up their cauldron. "These are all the supplies I was able to personally collect." After setting it down, he removed a separate large jar from his bag; its contents wrapped in a flimsy parchment-equs material. "Occamy shell."...which had been graciously provided by the potion's master.

Leaving the ingredients where they were for the time being, he focused on setting up his potion's journal and quill. They had the answers; steps and procedure...but Gabe wanted to personally document their progress. Specific reactions in the concoction when things were added, color shifts, and odors. After a few moments, he blinked over at his companion.

"Don't forget we have that other potion to brew."...They'd have to work both simultaneously, considering the due date for the assigned one...as opposed to this side!project.

Kevin had been excited about this potion assignment ever since he sa wit posted on the Gryffindor notice board. But because of detentions and his lack of homework he had finished he hadn’t had much time until now. The third year had a grin on his face as he entered the potions lab (he had completely ignored the book outside on the rostrum that instructed he had to sign up) and immediately walked to the cupboard to grab the protective gear he needed before walking to an empty station.

With his lab coat on, the dragonhide handgloves and the goggles set on top of his head, Kevin grabbed the piece of paper with the instructions he had copied and placed it on the table. He checked the ingredients he needed and then walked to the shelves. Checking the labels of the jars and the list in his hand from time to time, the Gryffindor had to walk back and forth a couple of times before he got all the stuff he needed …for now… Placing an cauldron on the table, Kevin cleaned it using the “Scourgify” charm.

So the first step was to pre-heat the cauldron. Not adding water? Okay…. He pointed his wand under the cauldron and used the fire spell. Then he grabbed the thermometer , cleaned that as well and put held it in the cauldron. He waited….and waited… since it took some time for the cauldron to heat up and when the thermometer hit the 150 celcius degrees he placed the thermometer on the table and grabbed the…..wait what was next?

He quickly checked his notes before grabbing the jar of goat milk and the measurement cup that he cleaned as well. He added the milk in the cup and then stooped down to table level to check how much he had poured in. A little bit more milk was added to the cup and then he added the liquid inside of the cauldron.

Next, he grabbed one strand of thestral mane….how had they even catched that? They were invisible right? He didn’t think about certain…people… and just shrugged his shoulders before dropping the mane in the cauldron. Now for the next step……..wait for two hours. “UGH! Seriously?!” he complained out loud. Well he sure wasn’t going to sit here and being bored. He grabbed a piece of parchment from out of his bag and began to write a note in big letters.

Yup, that should do the trick. He doodled a skull on it that he had seen in Astronomy class and after grabbing his stuff he left the lab, setting his watch for an hour and a half so that he had some time to prepare the next ingredients. He was sure he didn't need two whole hours for that.

Oh! There he was. Hopping off the counter, not the one they were using but the one behind that one he nodded at the boy. "oh good." smart friend was smart. "I'm sure if there's anything else we need it'll be here in the supply closet." that was all he got out before he oggled at the shell Gabe put down. He hadn't seen one up close and he was fascinated by them. All the magical properties they may or may not have held was so cool! "I've already cleaned the cauldron and all the utensils we'll be using." yeah yeah. He knew about the other potion they needed to be brewing but come on THIS one was more cool and beneficial. "yeah, we can do them both just fine. I know we can." to say he was conceited in his knowledge was an understatement. The boy knew he was smart.