 Stuck inside with Sirius | *Splish-Splash* | bamBAM | ☁ Spooktacular ☁
After watching them get started for a moment, Noble had turned to write some notes on the blackboard. When he looked back, however, he scowled.
"Bernadette Grantham," he said, raising his voice as he slammed the chalk down and strode towards her desk. She might think she was being clever and looking thoughtful, but Noble had seen what she was really up to. Teacher's instinct. "You do not, under any circumstances, eat in the potions classroom unless I give you the okay to do so. Who knows what touched that bench last lesson and could be on your hands? Five points from Gryffindor." A deep frown creased along his forehead. "I suggest you start doing the actual experiment, before I take more."
Grumble grumble.
Thankfully, the other first years were doing better. Claudine’s experiments seemed to be progressing well looking at the red and blue liquids in the test tubes on her desk, and Noble gave her a nod. “Try adding a little more sugar now,” he said, after the Benedict’s solution turned orange. Cecelia also seemed to be getting on okay, though there appeared to be a bit of a delay in the colour change of the Litmus solution. “Try swirling it around, to help mix it together,” Noble encouraged. “And perhaps adding an extra couple of drops of the Litmus solution.” The indicator solution wasn’t something they had to measure…not yet, anyway.
Kaiser, on the other hand…well, what was he doing? Not what Noble had told him to, that was for sure. “If you actually opened your textbook to page 259,” Noble said as he came up behind the Slytherin. “You’d find that you’re meant to be adding the Litmus solution to the acids and alkalis…not the Benedict’s solution.” The Potions Professor flicked his wand, and the contents of Kaiser’s test tubes soon vanished. “Please try to concentrate on the task at hand.” Or he’d be staying late over break.
That said, Noble re-holstered his wand, and continued moving around the classroom. He paused for a moment to observe Jillian testing her sugar solution. “Give it a gentle swirl,” he guided, “and then hold the test tube a little lower in the flame, where it’s hotter. We don’t need the water to boil, but the heat helps speed along the reaction.”
Someone who was having no such problem with the colour change was Dalia. Her solution quickly turned a bright, Hufflepuff yellow. Rather fitting, honestly. “Nice work,” he replied with a nod. “Now add some more sugar, and see what happens.”
He started to head back towards the front of the class, when he saw that expression on Lucas’ face. It was a good feeling to see the Gryffindor quite so captivated in his class. Potions might not be his thing…but perhaps science in general was. The pursuit of that ‘aha!’ moment. He didn’t want to distract the boy though, so he continued on to the front desk.
“Both the Litmus solution and the Benedict’s solution you’ve been using are mundane indicators, and are commonly used by muggle scientists and wizarding potioneers alike. Whilst you’re finishing up trying them…what do you think might be some pros and cons of these tests? And what other things can you think of that might it be useful for an indicator potion to react to?”
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