River opened and closed his mouth, and gestured Char to take her seat the moment she arrived. No harm done, and she wasn't exactly disrupting class. "Thank you, Ms Kettleburn." How thoughtful of her. And then there was that question. "Whole fireseeds, Charlotte. 5 of them." Sometimes...being too clear wouldn't do him any good, apparently.

Moving on, the Healer nodded at Charlotte's answer, "It is a Healing potion, yes. But specifically...what type?" he asked again, moving to the next student.

"Yes, good good." At least they are familiar with these ingredients.

Oh some of them really could use a waking up potion. But with the harvesting done, perhaps they wouldn't need it after all. "It does fix stuff, Mr Ashburry-Hawthorne. You're close."

"Not to worry, Ms Cambridge. Just like what I told Mr Edwards earlier, I do have a contingency plan. For now, let's move on with the lesson." And move on they did...only to have the girl bouncing on her seat next and shouting her answer. Rabid Ravenclaw. It had been years since the last time he saw one of them. "Indoor voice please, Ms Cambridge, thank you." he said reaching out for his right ear. What was up with this...student? River took a moment to digest and analyse the question being thrown at him. "I'm afraid it's not possible to bring back a DEAD organism to its normal or new state with a potion." River paused wondering why she seemed to be so interested with that topic. "Potions can only revive an organism if it still has life." Not even magic can bring the dead back to life like it didn't die at all. Reanimation is another thing...but it's not technically not the same thing.

Did he just wash his hands without being told to do so? This young man earned himself brownie points!

"Good, very good, Mr Erikson."

"If you look at it closely, it is a healing potion and has restorative effects. If you combine those two aspects, what would it be?" Ms Durant was a Ravenclaw, surely she'll get the answer specifically.

River let out a chuckle and nodded. Some of his patients did feel refreshed after taking it. "You can say that it does, Ms Kemp." Not that he belittled the first year, but it was expected that she will not get the answer correct entirely.

And of course, River wouldn't be surprised of this child's answer. "It is, yes. But what in particular, Prefect Fairfield?" he was sure she'd have an idea. Her mum and dad must have a bottle of it somewhere in their house, yes?

"Yes Ms Kramer, it is." River nodded, grinning while doing so.

The Healer nodded towards Skylar, agreeing with her answer. "It has that effect, yes. Good answer, Ms Diggory."

"And I agree with you too, Ms Zhang." River offered her a grin and moved on to the next student.

"Hmm." River started as he walked closer to where Ava sat, "It is a healing potion, but it does more than abolish pain. But yes, what kind of healing potion?"

Some may not know the answer, perhaps some are just too angsty to offer an answer, or some were just bored by all of this. Hopefully, they were still paying attention because this potion is quite interesting. Perhaps, it's a topic that most of them will not be able to tackle unless they decide to pursue the art of Healing in University.

He also took note of the BoGer at the back, taking notes as the lesson went on. River decided to pointedly ignore her presence, having been told not to make a huge deal out of it. Although his appointment as Potions Master was because of the BoG, surprisingly, he wasn't too worried about impressing one of them. He may not do well in teaching, but that wasn't really his problem. He was a Healer after all, not a professor.

Things were getting along well, but then again, he expected something like this. Who even said teaching was easy? River spun around to give Beau a smirk, then walked over to where he sat. "I do have volunteers to do the minuscule legwork at this moment, and I have the portrait of Healers watching these volunteers should they need medical advice. I will be alerted too by the same when there is an emergency." He did not teach the staff basic First Aid for nothing Mr Montague, nor did he ask the Caretaker to move the portraits to the Hospital Wing where they will be beneficial.

Quite a clever move, actually.

These behaviors, seriously. If he didn't have the heart of a Healer, River would've simply moved along. Pursing his lips, he walked over to where the young lady sat and leaned on to their workstation. "Are you well enough to continue Potions, Ms Bellaire?" he wouldn't take offense if she said no.

Out of the corner of his eye, River saw a young Gryffindor trying to hold himself together. Now...now what did he do this time? Why was he even crying? Did he not enjoy the hunt? Was he hurt? River gave him a quick look over, quite positive that he wasn't hurt. He took a few steps towards the boy and gave his arm a comforting squeeze. "Is everything alright, Mr Carter? Do you need a minute?" he asked almost in a whisper to save Hunter the embarrassment. Again, he wouldn't take offense if the kid needed to get out of the classroom to breathe. Potions wasn't exactly a fun subject...he was trying to make it 'fun' however.

This. This was the reason why it was wise to keep a contingency plan. River had heard of such stories and antics from former professors...even from his former professors regarding such scenarios. The Healer had to keep from face-palming, instead, he took a mental note to talk to Paul about this...and perhaps to keep an eye out for these two. For the sake of moving on with the class, River chose to ignore the issue for now.

Ah, now they were on to something! Good. Very good, indeed! "Penetrating trauma are the keywords, Prefect Salander." he said pointing to the Gryffindor boy, rather impressed. "The samples you have stated can be healed by both healing magic and potion...and this brew that we are about to make can be simplified by what we call an Antidote." he said turning back to the notes on the blackboard.

A very good question! River did a single nod, and tucked his hands behind him. "Antimony itself is toxic even in small amounts, thus, it shouldn't be used alone. You can say that it is a wildcard ingredient, meaning it could make the potion potent as an antidote or otherwise." River took another pause before continuing, "But as you have already eliminated, the rest of the ingredients are restorative in nature, thus it should make the whole brew a very potent antidote-- collectively fighting off toxins within the host." Take notes, kid. He wouldn't be repeating this again.

"If that was the case then it would be better to eliminate Antimony, yes?" River's eyes twinkled as he saw the gears of Junia's brain get to work. She was one of his apprentices in the Hospital Wing, and the Healer was delighted to see her justify things. "But in the recipe, it is included. Remember, it is a wildcard ingredient Ms Botros. Never eliminate it as just toxic. It has its benefits too." River was quite sure that she will have more of these lectures once she makes it into medical school in University.

The Healer nodded, and did consider Olivia's answer...impressed by how she put effort on her thinking. "Ah but then again, Antimony being toxic, we shouldn't see it as a stand alone ingredient. Fireseeds too, shouldn't be viewed as an independent ingredient. Each ingredient has its positive and negative effects, thus it is important to note their positives and how it will combine with the others. One of the examples would be the heat from the Fireseeds; if combined solely with antimony then it will produce a toxic vapor-- a logical effect that any muggle chemist would agree on. However-- the heat doesn't only react to antimony," At this point, River was sure he was blabbing. He was on full Healer mode talking about ingredients and chemicals. "All of the ingredients will react to the heat, because in this particular potion, Fireseeds are added for their alchemical properties. Fireseeds, based on your Herbology class is a product of fire, it thrives on that element alone, and fire is the element of life." It's way more than just heat, really.

"Indeed, it can Mr Edwards." He said beaming this time towards his other apprentice. "Most toxins can be cured by a simple common antidote, however, there are some toxins that are hard to get rid off simply because it has fooled the immune system of the host." Or victim, in this case. "Thus, introducing a carefully balanced antidote with a toxic element, to the system is required to counter such effects. Fooling the fool, if I may add."