It was a great relief when the professor decided that it was time to begin the potion. Serena preferred the hands-on portion of the class, though the speaking portion of the class was actually quite amusing and definitely much more different than what she was used to. The students attending Salem must have such lively potion classes and Serena had a feeling that the other sisters were just as entertaining as the potions professor.

Placing the correct number of ginger roots on the table in front of her, as she usually compiled the ingredients first, Serena filled her cauldron with water, making certain that the water only rose to the halfway point. She lit the flame, watching as it proceeded to a rolling boil. She then proceeded to cut up the ginger roots, carefully slicing them into thin, tiny pieces, and sprinkled them into the water. She watched it carefully, smiling briefly as the solution took on a gray tint.

She waited patiently for a few minutes as the other students finished up the first two steps of the potion. When the professor placed the rest of the instructions on the board, Serena read them carefully and once more gathered all of the necessary ingredients. She poured in the Glumbumble fluid, spreading it around evenly throughout the solution, insuring that one particular area didn’t receive too much.

Stirring the required number of times, Serena placed the two leaves of hellebore inside the cauldron and then glanced down at the next ingredient, grimacing slightly. Grounded caterpillar? Ew. She carefully ground up the caterpillar and dumped it into the cauldron. She stirred the solution 2 times clockwise and then 2 times counterclockwise.

Lowering the heat, she glanced briefly at her watch, noting the time and pulled her book towards her, beginning to idly read the properties of the ingredients.