| Chizpurfle
Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: underwater
Posts: 10,322
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|  Stuck inside with Sirius | *Splish-Splash* | bamBAM | ☁ Spooktacular ☁
There was a disgruntled look on the Potions Professor’s face as his friend finally released him from the sling. “About time,” he murmured quietly, flexing his arm a little before flicking his wand from the holster. “You better watch your back, old man.” There was a smirk on his lips, as he turned back to his cauldron and measured the cup of water and half cup of arnica root into it.
Having set his timer for three minutes, he glanced across the semicircle of make-shift workstations. The first to catch his eye was Jessa, who was getting on quietly and competently as usual. Nearby, however, there were still the tail end of some dramatics going on with Zoryn and Lucas. Noble grumbled, but left them be for the moment as Lucas settled into his potions work. Really, though, the older Gryffindor was lucky Noble hadn’t heard that comment under her breath.
His gaze now moved to Juniper and Kaitlyn, who both seemed to have things well under control. Not that adding some water and two ingredients was all that difficult, but this was Hogwarts, and he never knew what to expect. He was quietly impressed by the pair carefully testing whether their cauldrons were warm.
Nearby, it seemed like Zachary was just about keeping up by copying Natalie. Probably not person he would have chose to copy, but it could have been worse, he supposed. The Slytherin needed to keep up though, or he might find himself starting over on his own. His partner for the previous activity, Max, seemed to be lacking a key piece of key though. “Use your timer next time, Maxton,” Noble warned. It was part of his kit for a reason. And actually…had Natalie set hers? “You too, Natalie. I said three minutes. Not roughly three minutes.” Did it matter? Well…only time would tell.
His own timer now going off, Noble plucked the petals from the three dandelions as sprinkled them in his cauldron. A slight smile appeared in the corner of his lip as his saw Hanna scourgify her cauldron before getting started. Precise work indeed. Madison was already looking ready and raring to go with the next part. All in good time, of course. This potion was one where a pause didn’t hurt too much.
Good job too, since Derf hadn’t added his dandelion yet. Noble peered inside his cauldron, not giving very much away at all. Perhaps it was his close friend that saved him from a scathing comment, as it was right then he asked the question. “You may supplement my demonstration with the text, yes, Abraham,” Noble said with a frown. It was curious that the boy felt the need to ask to use his textbook of all things. “Although perhaps you might like to come use the jar here, if you can’t keep up from over there.” He pointed to a free jar right at the front of the class, on the opposite side of the semicircle to Derfael.
A final glance round told him Trinetta and Natasha were ready to move on, and he took that as his cue. Patrick and Jackson would just have to catch up if they were still waiting on seeping to happen.
“Right then!” He raised his voice to regain their attention. “Next we’re going to add three level tablespoons of dried comfrey leaves and stir three times clockwise. At this point, the potion should turn a faint lilac.” Now able to demonstrate, he took full advantage, showing the students how to properly level the level of the dried leaves using their knife. “We’ll follow that up with five white willow leaves. Crush them lightly between your fingers and drop in the potion one at a time, stirring anticlockwise between each.”
Were they still following? He hoped so.
“Finally add a one inch piece of willow bark, and simmer until it turns into a thick yellow paste. That should take eight minutes.” A glance at his watch showed that had about 15 minutes remaining – in theory, plenty of time to get finished up and packed away. "When you think you're done, put a sample in a vial and bring it to the front. The rest you can do with as you wish."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup water
½ cup Arnica root
Petals of 3 dandelion heads
3 tbsp dried comfrey leaves
5 white willow (Salix alba) leaves
1 inch piece of willow bark
Recipe
1. Add the water and arnica root to the cauldron, and let seep for 3 minutes.
2. Sprinkle in the petals of 3 dandelion heads
3. Add three level tablespoons of dried comfrey leaves and stir three times clockwise. At this point, the potion should turn a faint lilac.
4. Crush the willow leaves between your fingers and drop in the potion one at a time, stirring anticlockwise between each.
5. Add the willow bark.
6. Simmer for 10 minutes until the potion resembles a thick, yellow paste.
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