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Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Ferrix: GMT-6
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Hogwarts RPG Name:
Moritz Schultz (#0f667e)
Ravenclaw Seventh Year
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Nancy Schultz (#ac6f77)
Hufflepuff Fourth Year
Ministry RPG Name:
Jabari Rahal (#c54031)
Mysteries
Ministry RPG Name:
Calloway Bennigan (#b8b323)
Accidents & Catastrophes  x11  x1
|  curly haired prefect - "sometimes I get angry!" - 30/90 - *chicken emoji* - probably @ Disney - I speak dog
SPOILER!!: answers! Quote:
Originally Posted by MadAlice  Violet nodded as she listened to Evan, delighted that he also seemed to really understand.
"Nooooo..." Violet answered. She'd never really thought about being a healer, but she doubted she'd be very good at it. She wasn't exactly a people person. "But I am really interested in potions, so I could see myself brewing them, someday."
Then, turning her attention to the teacher's next question, she frowned slightly. Why were the ingredients of Wolfsbane expensive? Well...they just were, that's all. Sometimes things were just like that. "Well, I don't know exactly all the ingredients of the wolfsbane potion--I don't think the complete formula's ever been released to the public--but probably there are a number of ingredients that aren't just growing out in people's gardens. Maybe they're scarce or have to be imported from other places. Some things are expensive and some aren't, that's just the way life is." "Lucky for you, you'll learn the full ingredient list in a moment," Javier said with a small chuckle. "But yes, many people are not skilled enough to grow these ingredients on their own, and runespoor eggs, for example are not cheap by any means, unfortunately." He could barely keep tomato plants alive, let alone something complex like wolfsbane. Quote:
Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19
Oh.
So that’s how Atlas wanted to play it? “Yes, that’s exactly what I meant.” Claudine did intend for her voice to come out cold and flat. Forget trying to be nice and patient but if this Gryffindor was going to get sassy with her, she would be having none of it. “Given that death was the most obvious thought and answer, I figured that going in a different direction would not be so bad.”
Without a further word for the moment, the seventh year made a few jottings though her ears continued to zone in on her difficult partner’s voice. “So many possibilities,’’ she muttered, absently tapping her quill against her chin. Cue more scribbling on her parchment after a minute. “Messing up the potion… that can mean adding the wrong ingredients, having the wrong measurements…”
Atlas had some excellent points but this Snakette wasn’t going to tell him that. “Aconite is even dangerous to the bare skin since it can be absorbed that way. Imagine forgetting your gloves while handling it.” Goodness. This really was a potion to be reckoned with. There was something she was about to add but Hernandez called for their attention at that moment.
Looking down at her notes, Claudine confirmed to herself that some of the points Hernandez had added to the board were what she had scribbled. Her eyes fixed on the professor again, she kept her expression blank but inside? Inside, she really pitied the werewolves. Not all of them were Fenrir Greyback. Her hand was quickly raised. “Um, the fluxweed needs to be picked on the full moon so if someone forgot to do just that then they’d have to wait an entire month again.” That in itself was a complexity. "Good point Miss Blaze. If they're not picked on the night of the full moon - which is necessary as the full moon is a link between the potion and lycanthropy - they're no good," he explained with a nod. Quote:
Originally Posted by ArianaBlack They hadn't made a lot of headway on their discussion, but Kins wasn't upset about it. She preferred to be at her own workstation, no offense, Max. So she offered him a tiny wave, before moving back to her own table. All her stuff was over there. It was necessary to move.
As for this wolfsbane stuff, yeah, okay. Super expensive. Hard to come by the ingredients. Fluxweed could only be picked during the full moon. Duh. Kinsay was only half listening, mostly because this stuff was pretty easy to understand and she already knew it. But because she didn't want to get called out for lack of participation, she opted to raise her hand this time. "Discrimination." Though it didn't necessarily say so in her textbook, Kinsay was pretty confident. "People have wrongful prejudices against werewolves, so ingredients are made super expensive to disenfranchise them even more..." Which was all sorts of horrible. And inexcusable. And really disgusting. It was proper exploitation of the system.
And if anyone wanted to argue that these sorts of backwards ideologies couldn't possibly exist in this day and age, Kinsay would politely refer them to Term 57. Anyway, she'd be going to go back to doodling in her notebook now. James had a point, however pessimistic it may be, and he gave her a nod of approval at her answer. "You're correct, Miss James. There is, unfortunately, a great deal of prejudice towards werewolves in our society even to this day. While that may not necessarily drive the prices of all the ingredients up - perhaps some, to a degree - it moreso has to do with the fact that employment is hard to come by for werewolves sometimes," he added.
Couldn't keep a stable job? Couldn't afford the potion. Simple as that. Quote:
Originally Posted by Stefan Leaning back just a tad to look at the professor and the notes, he was pleased to see his and Florrie's answer on the board. If only Catherine was in Hogwarts, he would've gloated and rub in her face that she wasn't the only smart Mordaunt twin. Just saying.
Now, why was the Wolfsbane Potion so expensive? Noah took a glance at Kinsay as she gave her answer, because it was an excellent one...and also noted her...lack of enthusiasm. Anyway, back to the question, Noah raised his hand and waited for his turn to answer.
"The Wolfsbane Potion, as we all know, is a complex potion to brew, and so that pretty much clues us in on the ingredients that's used to make it. Lycanthropy is a form of Transformation which is complex magic on its own, so to counter it, one needs high-quality, Class A or higher substances that cannot be simply grown in one's backyard. I mean, in business, if I were the supplier, I would have to sell it for a higher price at the get-go considering that the ingredients are highly toxic, limited due to its nature of harvesting, add to that the manner of harvesting these ingredients, as it would required highly-skilled herbologists, magizoologists, and even potioneers. I mean, it's a cure for a dangerous condition, albeit temporarily, but these potions need to be made safe for consumption. The process for these ingredients and potion, to be available to us, would've undergone quality control and close supervision by experts, and that usually demands a lot of galleons to begin with."
Ooookay, he was done nerding out while he was sat beside a really pretty sixth year. Can they go brew now? Javier smiled a little at Noah's answer and nodded. "Those are all very good points that have an impact on inflation of prices. Someone has to harvest the ingredients, and their time is valuable as well," he explained. Did discrimination drive the prices up like Kinsay said? It probably had some part to play in it. But at the same time, people often forgot that the supply chain had many different people involved in the production of goods - and all those people had to be compensated for their work. Quote:
Originally Posted by Lady of Light
Well, yes. But also, "Maybe one wouldn't be able to have access to all the ingredients?" It was a possibility. Val noted it down, wondering what the other problems could be - hoping the younger girl was trying to come up with some too. But.. soom enough the professor resumed with the lesson. Oops.
UHHHH. She had no idea... because she didn't know what the ingredients were or how it was made. After a few moments of thinking, she came up with pretty much nothing so she remained quiet.. and listened to what her classmates had to say.
"Yes Miss Nichols, that is correct. Some of these ingredients are flat out just difficult to find," Javier explained. Even if they weren't expensive, simply FINDING some of these items could be a task, especially depending on the time of year and where you lived. Quote:
Originally Posted by Chelliephone In truth, the answer Evan most agreed with that he'd heard given was from Kinsay. Noah's answer was also very well thought out and covered the question quite well too - complicated did take more time and the ingredients were rare. But it still felt like it was intentional for people to not be able to afford the potion.
Still, he had a hard time not contributing something in class nerd, so he raised his hand to offer more specific regarding an ingredient. "Runespoor eggs can be difficult to come by. The runespoor is native to Africa and they don't live very long due to infighting between their heads. The planner and the dreamer head tend to get tired of the critic and bond together to kill it. But this affects their health too as they share the body." Poor Runespoors. He wondered if the Cerberus had similar issues. "Very good Mister Nam. Runespoors are tricky little things to find - and even harder to try and raise them to harvest their eggs," he said in reply to Evan's answer. He mostly got his from potion supply shops and had no idea how they stocked them, but he would not be surprised if someone out there had attempted to start a runespoor farm. Quote:
Originally Posted by PhoenixRising Apollo definitely hadn't expected to see the vines in the potions classroom compared to all the other places in the castle. But moreover, there was something about this potion that was confusing to the third year. Weren't they supposed to be learning potions that would be relevant and useful?? In Apollo's blissful ignorance, he didn't see how brewing a potion geared towards only one group of people would be useful? Also, did they have any werewolves in this classroom? Was Professor Hernandez a werewolf???? He found himself looking at the professor for some distinguishing signs and then placed his defense book inside his potions book to read about distinguishing features of werewolves....
Glancing up when the professor started talking about the potion being expensive and Maya's brother was saying something the rarity of runespoors eggs and the dueling runespoor heads.
"I think you basically said it yourself, professor, with the cheaper ingredients being used from the black market, the quality is compromised. These particular ingredients aren't as common as others that we use in other potions." So why were they wasting the precious resources to attempt this potion? Wasn't that taking away resources from those more competent potion masters?? Unless ... there WAS a werewolf at Hogwarts who needed the potion?? So which professor was it? ..why was Apollo staring at him? "Yes, good answer," Javier nodded at Apollo, who touched on the rarity of the potion ingredients as they'd stated before. He also ran a hand over his chin very subtly - just in case he had something on his face. Quote:
Originally Posted by pundantic Kale shot his hand up in the air and started to speak. Much to the chagrin to everyone in the room. Or so he assumed. He knew what people thought when he opened his mouth. What people thought anytime ANY lion opened their mouth in classes. Alas. Gryffindor Life.
"It's probs difficult and expensive to make so that its harder for people suffering from lycanthropy to have easy access to it. There is a lot of prejudice surrounding the folks that transform with the moon." He tacked on as mostly an afterthought. "Also, like, I don't think that there has probably been a lot of funding and time dedicated to lycanthropy. Because of the hate these people get. So we only have the one option. And it happens to be a tough brew."
Systemic issues existed, buDS. "Excellent points Mister Trent," Javier was always a little...surprised when Kale decided to speak up in class. "Prejudice aside, we still don't know a lot about lycanthropy. It's just so difficult to try and figure out HOW and WHY it all happens."
"You all brought up great answers. It really boils down to the fact that lycanthropy is a complex issue - and unfortunately it is still an issue that werewolves face a great deal of prejudice in their daily lives. So on the one hand you have a condition that is difficult to understand in the first place, and requires a precise potion to be brewed and administered a certain way to offset the affects. On the other hand, you have expensive ingredients and an economy that is in no rush to make it for affordable for them for a variety of reasons. There is no good solution - but we can work together as a society to address these issues and make it more accessible for all," he said with a soft smile. Perhaps - someday - legislation would be introduced to control the prices of the ingredients. Or more funding would be given to understand lycanthropy, as Kale suggested. There were so many things they could do to make it something ANYONE suffering from the condition could access.
"Now on to the fun part," Javier said with a grin, waving his wand so that the recipe for the potion appeared on the board behind him. "Please take a moment to review the steps of the Wolfsbane potion before grabbing your ingredients. Now, as I said earlier, I have modified this a bit. If you look at page 394 of your potions textbook, you'll find the complete recipe which has a larger quantity of ingredients and also takes seven days between the steps as opposed to this recipe, which can be done in one class," he explained. The ratios had to be adjusted, and obviously what they would be brewing wouldn't be nearly enough to counteract a real lycanthropy curse. He had also added some notes regarding the color of the potion so they would know if they were on the right track or not - but they didn't have to worry. Javier would be watching and would CERTAINLY be letting them know if they were off track.
"Also, I want to remind you all AGAIN that while this version of the potion won't be deadly if brewed incorrectly, it will definitely guarantee you a trip to the hospital wing, so absolutely NO taste testing - even if you are confident you brewed it perfectly," he warned. He had no patience for that kind of nonsense, and would not hesitate to throw around some detentions if he caught anyone even THINKING of doing that.
Quote: Ingredients
* 1 10mL syringe full of regular cow milk
* 1 gram of fluxweed (picked on full a moon)
* 1 handful of a tame dog's neck fur
* 6 Jobberknoll feathers
* 3 tea spoons of Armadillo bile
* 3 grams of a well-whisked Runespoor egg
* 3 aconites' roots (aka wolfsbane)
Instructions
1. Empty the syringe of milk into a glass beaker and heat for 3 minutes on medium flame (separately from your cauldron)
2. Fill the cauldron HALF full with water and add the milk
3. Set the cauldron on low flame
4. Chop the fluxweed well and add it
5. Stir 7 times clockwise with a metal stirrer
6. Sprinkle the dog fur evenly (in about 10 seconds) The potion should turn a mossy green color.
7. Wait for exactly 7 minutes (keep track of the seconds using the clock in the classroom)
8. Add 3 of the Jobberknoll feathers
9. Wait for exactly 7 minutes again. The potion should turn a dark purple color if brewed correctly at this stage.
10. Add the other 3 of the feathers
11. Set the burner on medium heat
12. Add the Armadillo bile one tea spoon at a time. Potion should turn navy blue at this point.
13. Stir 7 times counter clockwise with a metal stirrer
14. Add the Runespoor egg
15. Wait for 7 minutes and 7 seconds
16. Cast 'Recordo' (wand movement - clockwise circle over the potion)
17. Add the aconite roots one by one
18. If done correctly, it will exude a faint blue smoke
"Once you have read over the directions, you may come up to the table here and gather your supplies," Javier said, gesturing to the table off to the side of the entrance where he had laid out all the supplies for them in neat little sections. The runespoor eggs and fluxweed had already been wisked and ground down for them, they just needed to grab a small container of it to measure out the correct amount. A small jar of pre-measured syringes full of milk were also sitting there, so each student could grab one and just go.
"You have the rest of class to finish your potion, and I will be walking around and making sure you're all on the right track as we go along," he explained. He always believed in letting the students work at their own pace, rather than trying to walk them through it and getting them flustered if they fell behind. "Please do not hesitate to ask questions if you have any. You may begin."
OOC: And now we have come to the main activity - let's brew some potions! You can post one long post with your character brewing, or you can break it up over multiple posts. It's up to you! You'll have until OCTOBER 31st (halloweeeeen) to wrap up this part, and Javier me will be monitoring closely the whole time if you have any questions - just ask! Please remember that this potion is TOUGH STUFF, so be realistic with your character's skill levels and have fun with it! Also please refer to the description of the ingredient table - some of these items are already ground down for your character, measured out, etc. Without further ado... let's goooooo!
__________________ I'm still standin'________________________________________ better than I ever did
Lookin' like a true survivor_________________________________feelin' like a little kid |