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hermygirl · 10-12-2019, 09:28 PM

It's a clear, bright January day, and the low winter sun is warm through the numerous glass windows in the main potions classroom at Beauxbatons. You're greeted by the now-familiar clean white walls and rows of granite-topped work-benches, each sitting ten or so students on high stools, with laboratory sinks at either end.

Behind the large demonstration desk at the front is Professor Noble, wearing navy robes and his usual resting boss face. The trays on the work surface in front of him are unusually sparse for an experiment, appearing to hold only spare paper, ink and quills alongside three clear bottles of liquid.

Had the syllabus been changed, perhaps? Was there a post-holiday examination today after all?

Felixir · 10-15-2019, 04:23 AM

That was it. That was Kaiser's cue to zone right out. He wasn't here for fancy stuff like forensics, he was here to sit down, follow a recipe, brew a potion, and leave. Anything else went largely over his head, especially when it included English words he didn't really recognise.

Trying not to look too disappointed, Kaiser slumped slightly in his seat and tapped the feathered end of his quill on the workstation. Everyone was talking about forensics being science, which could only mean that this would be one of those lessons where Kaiser would have to just sit tight and ride out the storm.

Ultimately, he had nothing to add, so he did what he considered to be the sensible thing and kept his mouth shut.

love-for-HP · 10-15-2019, 05:18 PM

Potions!!! Blake loved potions!! He was good at them to! So far everything he has tried in class turned out to be excellent. He didn't want to brag ... but he was pretty good. Smiling he took his seat waiting to see what kind of excitement class could bring him today. Pulling out his quill, parchment, and cauldron he was readying ... with a capital R.

MadMadamMalfoy · 10-15-2019, 08:26 PM

Tina had her supplies arranged neatly on the table in front of her, prepared to listen and take notes as the lesson began. As soon as she heard the question, her mood instantly brightened. Ooh, this just got interesting! Forensic Potioneering was an important part of magical toxicology, her chosen career path, so she had a feeling this lesson was going to be right up her alley. Once again, she eyed the vials on the demonstration desk with curiosity. Had she guessed correctly? Were they going to use forensic potioneering to analyze the ingredients that made up the substances in the vials? She supposed only time would tell.

For now, Tina focused her attention on the question at hand. She knew forensics used science to not only solve crimes, as her classmates had already said several times, but also determine if a crime actually happened. For example, medical examiners used forensics to determine a person’s cause of death and whether or not foul play was involved, and there were several branches of forensics dedicated to identifying forgeries in art and handwriting. But the more she thought about it, the more off the mark her examples sounded. The lesson’s subject was forensic potioneering, so she doubted there would be much overlap between her examples and potioneering. She thought for a few minutes, trying to frame her answer in a more magical context.

When she came up with an answer that made her feel confident - and wasn’t too similar to her classmates because what was the point in repeating the same thing for the umpteenth time?- she raised her hand and said when called on, “Forensics applies science to laws, both criminal and civil, but more commonly in the criminal sense - solving crimes but also determining whether or not a crime happened. In the context of forensic potioneering, an example could be analyzing the ingredients of a potion - or at least a substance believed to be a potion - to determine its effects.”

Hmm… that answer sounded a lot better in her mind than it did out loud. Tina stopped talking and turned her attention to taking notes, hoping her answer would be at least passable.

hermionesclone · 10-15-2019, 09:01 PM

....... Oh.

Lucas flushed as he reached for his bag and started taking out his things, especially something to write with. But telling him not to worry was probably going to end up having the opposite effect. It was only going to make him even more worried than usual about things he had no control over.

But before he could think more on any of that, his eyes found the words on the board and he furrowed his eyebrows. Forensics? Did he know what it was and what it was used for? Yes. But not because of any extra research from him but because of the number of times it was brought up in shows and books about crime drama. It was hard to miss it, you know?

But he didn't have anything else to add. Not about truth potions or fingerprints or any of it. Instead of answering, the Gryffindor picked up a quill and started writing down his own interpretation of the meaning. And a little bit of what some other people were saying.

pundantic · 10-15-2019, 09:16 PM

Alessandro was remained as quiet as he entered the room. He was polite, attentive but otherwise quiet. His peers seemed to have a grasp on the question and his own definition of the word forensic would only add to the chorus of voices around the room.

Besides, the word evoked a very specific image in Al's mind, which would not be productive to the lesson. First years could be so easily distracted, after all.

So, he sat quietly, jotted down notes, and waited for the lesson to progress.

littledhampir · 10-16-2019, 03:32 PM

As soon as the professor said 'forensics' Alexandre's mind went blank. Well, to be fair, it was fairly blank before that. In regards to anything to do with forensics, anyway. He did not know what that meant at all. It seemed like some of his classmates did, though. So he listened to their answers with barely undisguised awe on his face. Wow they were so smart to know all that. He bet his sister knew all about it because she was so smart and always knew everything. Here's what he got about it from the other answers: it had something to do with solving crimes. That sounded very cool and exciting, actually. Were they going to solve crimes in potions class? Probably not real crimes, but Alexandre liked to play pretend.

hermygirl · 10-17-2019, 02:20 AM

SPOILER!!: Bernadette

If Noble was surprised by the first year's choice to reply first, he didn't show it. For once, she was totally on point. "It does, yes. And we can use potions to help." If they couldn't, it would hardly make sense that he was teaching a class on it, would it? “DNA is just one type of evidence where potioneering can be used to interpret the evidence.”

SPOILER!!: Cecelia

Noble looked at Cecelia next…though her answer was a little lacking in specifics. "It is a science, yes." His eyes soon narrowed though. "However, science is not just the study of things. It’s about observation and experimentation… about having new ideas, testing them rigorously, and expanding our knowledge of the universe."

SPOILER!!: Claudine

What was Claudine doing, hurriedly looking through her notes like that? Even if there was a test, which there wasn’t, cramming in that matter would hardly help her marks. Nor did it apparently help her in today’s lesson, given her silence. That was okay, she was a first year, and here to be taught.

SPOILER!!: Patrick

Noble considered the seventh year prefect for a moment. “So it seems. Perhaps a chat with Professor Fuller-Thompson wouldn’t go amiss.” His Head of House might be able to help with time management or some such.

As for his answer? Noble crossed his arms over his chest. “You would think truth serums would be an asset for forensic investigations, however there are a number of ethical and legal problems with administering it…not least being that even veritaserum can be fallible. As such, it is not permissible for use in court.”

SPOILER!!: Phoebe

…the first years really were keen this year. And more impressively, actually knew the answer. “Indeed. Forensics is often used to help investigations into who may have committed a crime…it case help narrow things down even when it doesn’t fully solve a case.”

SPOILER!!: Eiji

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Oh. He had been wrong.

He hated being wrong.

Which dictated his disappointment in the topic more so than the topic itself.

So the first step was to rid himself of his agitation for his lack of ability in reading the setup. Settling his quill in his hand, the fifth year took to labeling his parchment with 'Forensic Potioneering' and leaned back in his seat a bit. Grandpa had given him and Missa a tour of the Ministry over the summer and they had even been able to peek into the forensic labs of both Magical Law Enforcement and Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. Pity the Slytherin's attention had been completely divided and he had paid the areas little to no mind while they were whisked through them and grandpa rubbed elbows with employees while showing off his 'precious pea of a grandson' and his 'lovely as a lily girlfriend'. Those parts he had purposefully tuned out. But mostly his thoughts had been dazed and inebriated thanks to the Liquid Luck he had taken that morning after breakfast.

Someone had to make sure that he and Missa's commandeering of grandpa's Pensieve went off without a hitch.

But...anyway. Forensic Potioneering. What did he know? Remarkably a fair bit and not just from TV shows and books. So, why not. He supposed he could raise his hand and offer up something for once.

"The word itself, forensic, derives from the Latin forēnsis which translates to 'of or before the forum'. This traces back to Roman times where those criminally charged were beseeched to present the case before group of public individuals in the forum. Both the accused and the accuser would give speeches based on their sides of the story, just as we see in the Wizengamot today," he explained casually, almost in the same tone he would were he describing the weather. "This origin illustrates the source of the two modern usages of the word forensic. Once being the form of evidence and the other as a category of public presentation. Though, as my peers have illustrated, it is now mostly associated with forensic science. DNA, toxicology, fingerprints...these sorts of subjects." There were numerous subdivisions within forensics, after all. Though his favorite had always been toxicology.

The barest hint of a smile appeared on Noble’s lips; he appreciated the Latin as much as he did the potions. “Very good explanation, Eiji.” Hopefully the others in class had taken note. “And I’m glad you mentioned toxicology, or the study of toxins and poisonous substances. It’s one of the most common specialisations as a forensic potioneer.”

SPOILER!!: Jillian

Noble definitely appreciated Jillian’s preparedness, whether the lesson was just theory or otherwise. “Correct. Forensics on the whole deals with building evidence that can be used in the Wizengamot. In this country, suspects are innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. It is the job of the prosecution to present this proof.”

SPOILER!!: Kaiser

It wasn’t unusual for Kaiser to be quiet at this point in class, so Noble left him be for the time being. As long as he joined in when it was required of him. He was a decent enough potioneer, as his OWL grade showed.

SPOILER!!: Blake

…and another quiet one. Noble eyed the grin on Blake’s face, wondering quite what he found so amusing about the topic. He better be taking class seriously over there.

SPOILER!!: Tina

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy

Tina had her supplies arranged neatly on the table in front of her, prepared to listen and take notes as the lesson began. As soon as she heard the question, her mood instantly brightened. Ooh, this just got interesting! Forensic Potioneering was an important part of magical toxicology, her chosen career path, so she had a feeling this lesson was going to be right up her alley. Once again, she eyed the vials on the demonstration desk with curiosity. Had she guessed correctly? Were they going to use forensic potioneering to analyze the ingredients that made up the substances in the vials? She supposed only time would tell.

For now, Tina focused her attention on the question at hand. She knew forensics used science to not only solve crimes, as her classmates had already said several times, but also determine if a crime actually happened. For example, medical examiners used forensics to determine a person’s cause of death and whether or not foul play was involved, and there were several branches of forensics dedicated to identifying forgeries in art and handwriting. But the more she thought about it, the more off the mark her examples sounded. The lesson’s subject was forensic potioneering, so she doubted there would be much overlap between her examples and potioneering. She thought for a few minutes, trying to frame her answer in a more magical context.

When she came up with an answer that made her feel confident - and wasn’t too similar to her classmates because what was the point in repeating the same thing for the umpteenth time?- she raised her hand and said when called on, “Forensics applies science to laws, both criminal and civil, but more commonly in the criminal sense - solving crimes but also determining whether or not a crime happened. In the context of forensic potioneering, an example could be analyzing the ingredients of a potion - or at least a substance believed to be a potion - to determine its effects.”

Hmm… that answer sounded a lot better in her mind than it did out loud. Tina stopped talking and turned her attention to taking notes, hoping her answer would be at least passable.

Her answer was indeed passable. Noble was impressed. “Nice example, Tina.” That was exactly the type of forensic potionering research Noble had done before coming to teach at Hogwarts. “And you made a very important distinction. Sometimes forensics is about determining if a crime actually happened, rather than just trying to solve it.”

SPOILER!!: Lucas

Noble saw the Gryffindor taking notes, and very much approved. Others should definitely be doing the same.

SPOILER!!: Alessandro

Quiet and attentive were both good things in Noble’s book. The Hufflepuff could keep on keeping on, as far as his Head of House was concerned.

SPOILER!!: Alexandro

…Noble saw that look on the Ravenclaw’s face. That sense of wonder. Hopefully he’d still have it at the end of class.

As it seemed most things had been covered, it was time to move on. “So far, we’ve spoken broadly about the aim of forensics. Now I want you to think like someone who has a crime to solve. How might we go about detecting a document that has been forged? What signs could we look for? What types of methods might we use?”

Felixir · 10-17-2019, 03:07 AM

The more he listened to some of his classmates' answers, the more uncomfortable Kaiser got. It started with a vague nagging worry in the back of his mind, before turning into a persistent sense of dread, and now he was experiencing what he could only equate to a kind of blaring alarm in his brain.

Unbidden and unwelcome thoughts were flooding in, and Kaiser simply could not ignore them. He froze, mid-quill-tap, and stared with ever-so-slightly widened eyes at a point on the surface of the workstation. The fact that Noble was only talking about forged documents did little to quell the panic that suddenly had Kaiser's heart in a vice, and try as he might he could not divert his thoughts for long enough to try and act normal and provide even a simple answer to the question.

Forged documents... How would he...? What kind of signs...?

It was no use. The words were all but meaningless, and Kaiser's brain remained hyperfixated on all the wrong things. Why now? Why here? Merlin, how long until he could get out of this room?

LilFox06 · 10-17-2019, 05:03 AM

Valencia raised her hand. "You'd want to compare it to one that you knew was real." she offered. "For example, if you were looking at signatures, you'd use a magnifying glass to see if the curves were the same and see if there were things like hesitation blots."

She might have watched a muggle crime show or ... three hundred of them. She particularly liked art forgery documentaries.

littledhampir · 10-17-2019, 02:11 PM

This was great! Alexandre felt like a real detective having to solve crimes and stuff. Detected fake documents? That sounded so fancy and so grown up. He tried to think really hard about what he would do if he was faced with a situation like that. There were probably all sorts of fancy things he could do but he didn't really know what any of them were. He did have one idea but it wasn't very fancy... But since it was the only thing he could think of he decided to raise his hand to say it anyway. "I'd look and see if it matched their real handwriting." That would, of course, work better if he actually knew the person and would be able to recognize the difference between their real writing and fake writing. Which, yes, he recognized probably wouldn't happen. But even if he wasn't completely familiar with their writing he could probably look at an example and see how it compared. That made sense, right?

love-for-HP · 10-17-2019, 03:02 PM

OOO... so clearly Blake had missed something, he was so excited to be in potions he had totally missed the first question ... well at least he hadn't made a total fool out of himself and he wouldn't be missing another one.... but this talk about forensics seemed a bit much for him... he was 11 after all ... jeepers........

"You could compare it to one that was proven to be real." He added, okay, that seems like a real answer right?? When were they going to get to brewing?????

TakemetotheBurrow · 10-17-2019, 09:53 PM

Professor Noble was a SUPER serious guy and Cecelia did HER best to look serious, too, brow all furrowed as she nodded along to EACH point he made. She'd ALREADY learned a lot about forensics and they hadn't even really started much of anything yet, which was a sign her brain was PROBABLY going to be hurting by the end of this lesson, but it was nothing a potion couldn't fix. Hey! Potions making her need a potion. That was kinda funny!

Oh!

Oh! oh! Oh!

She had an answer for THIS question.

"Bet you could look for signs that the signature you think was forged was erased a buncha times before being handed in, like someone had to practice to get it right. ALSO, you could probably think about if the person that was SUPPOSED to sign the document WOULD'VE signed it normally. Like, well, if it would be out of character for the person to WANT to sign it."

FearlessLeader19 · 10-17-2019, 10:40 PM

Claudine listened with much interest to her fellows’ replies. There was a potioneering branch that helped solve crimes? She did reason that potions in general helped but to find out there was something more specific in this aspect intrigued her. Though her eyes were not fixed on her classmates, she thought that Noble would approve of her diligence in note taking. Yes, her eyes were fixed instead on her book and quill.

The Snakette set down her quill and thought over the questions. For these, she knew she could at least make an attempt at one of them. After a moment, she lifted a hand, her serious gaze fixed on the Professor. “In addition to signatures, some original documents have hidden symbols or words,’’ she explained as best as she could when her turn came. “I think… I think they can be found when held up to light? This works for Muggle paper money at least.’’

Cassirin · 10-18-2019, 01:19 AM

Professor Noble almost seemed pleased by her answer, and Phoebe wasn't sure how that worked in the game. Like, did she WANT him to approve of her eventually, or did she want to keep getting grumbled at good-naturedly. Either was fine, and she continued to grin at the man.

Her hand shot up again, although this one took more thought. Like, did she know anything about forging a document? WWMD? What would Mum do? "Professor, if it's a historical document or something, then knowing about the kind of paper is important. Like, is it old enough, and is it made of materials that are reasonable for that time period, and... and... is it properly old looking?!"

hermionesclone · 10-18-2019, 01:31 AM

Were they......... were they solving a crime today?! It sounded like it! And as much as he knew he was going to struggle with this, there was a part of him that was very excited for something like this. It sounded a lot cooler than a typical Potions lesson - no offence, Noble.

But they were talking about forged documents which made him wonder if that was the point of today’s lesson. If they were going to be making some kind of paste and unravelling a mystery. The mystery part sounded like a stretch but Lucas was still slightly hopeful that it was going to be true.

But first, a question.

He frowned in thought before raising his hand up in the air. "I mean, it’s the little things, like hesitations while signing or any tremors. Anyone who’s signing normally would, well, sign normally." Merlin, maybe he should stop talking. "It would be one fluid signature, you know? But someone who’s forging it might hesitate a lot, maybe even take their quill off the parchment, and sometimes you can see that in the ink and the way the letters have been drawn."

MadMadamMalfoy · 10-18-2019, 01:38 AM

Tina positively beamed as Noble praised her answer, nodding her thanks in reply, but she didn't dwell on it for long. She listened intently as the professor spoke again and the subject turned to detecting forgery. Well, this went in a completely different direction than expected! Not that Tina was complaining. On the contrary, she was more intrigued than anything else. All aspects of forensics interested her. Not only would it be useful in her area of study, but with a hothead like Desmarais in charge, it was probably only a matter of time before she was falsely accused of something so a knowledge of forensics could help her prove her innocence.

Tina considered the question. Her initial thoughts turned to handwriting analysis, but that had already been said and she didn't want to repeat answers. What other methods did she know of to detect forgeries? That covered a lot of ground! It seemed that the methods used for detection would depend on the type of document being examined. Suddenly a lightbulb went on in Tina's mind, and she remembered something she heard in muggle school science class. Her hand shot up, and she said, "In some cases, such as historical documents, one might need to prove the age of the document in question. One method for this is carbon dating, which uses the proportions of carbon isotopes to determine the age of organic matter, like the paper of a document, for example."

Tina's voice trailed off. That answer turned out a lot longer than when she rehearsed it in her mind. Sorry, everyone! She didn't mean to sound like a boring brainiac. She was going to keep quiet now.

BanaBatGirl · 10-18-2019, 02:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermygirl

If Noble was surprised by the first year's choice to reply first, he didn't show it. For once, she was totally on point. "It does, yes. And we can use potions to help." If they couldn't, it would hardly make sense that he was teaching a class on it, would it? “DNA is just one type of evidence where potioneering can be used to interpret the evidence.”

As it seemed most things had been covered, it was time to move on. “So far, we’ve spoken broadly about the aim of forensics. Now I want you to think like someone who has a crime to solve. How might we go about detecting a document that has been forged? What signs could we look for? What types of methods might we use?”

Well well, perhaps NOT shouting, MURDER MURDER MURDER had finally paid off for her, huh. Bernie beamed a little at the Potions professor's response, particularly since it turned out that DNA was REAL here. Then she remembered that she should be taking notes like a good little Gryffindor, and so she hurried to jot down as much as she could before he asked another question.

Hmmmmmmm. This had the potential to be a really fun class, huh. Bernie thought a few minutes and then raised her hand. "What about making some kind of potion, or solution," she was pretty sure Muggles didn't still use the term potion, 'cept on Halloween, "and then dipping the document in it, like bathing it in the potion, and then the potion will reveal if the document is real or fake? Like a truth serum, but for papers? And the potion, once applied to the parchment, could reveal any spellwork on the document, or show like invisible ink or other forgeries on it?" She was picturing how Muggles used to develop photos back in the day... or how you could use lemon juice to make invisible ink, and then if you held it up to a light, the ink would appear! LIKE WHAT CLAUDINE SAID!!

hermygirl · 10-18-2019, 02:37 AM

SPOILER!!: Kaiser

Noble looked at Kaiser with a raised eyebrow. He was hardly the most verbal in class, but this seemed new. “Kaiser?” he said, a hint of concern in his voice. “You doing okay?”

SPOILER!!: Looking at the context

Well, it was hardly the most technical of answers, but given Cecelia was only a first year, it did have some merit. “I doubt an expert forgery would carry the evidence of such mistakes, but yes…you can check for evidence of magical tampering, and unexpected physical marks or damage. It’s also definitely worth putting the document into context, and considering whether or not it’s actually suspicious.”

…which Phoebe now mentioned a good example of. Forensics didn’t necessarily have to be crimes that had just happened. They could be historical too. “Exactly, yes. That context could be where and when the forgery was found…and the material that it was made of.”

SPOILER!!: Claudine

Hidden symbols or words? For a moment, Noble was worried the first year had gone on some sort of tangent of secret societies, but her example soon helped clarify. “Watermarks,” Noble said with a nod. “There’s a number of different types, including those activated by specific potions. The example you give is a good one though. Holding muggle money up to check the watermark is a quick way to check it’s legal tender.”

SPOILER!!: Compare to real thing

SPOILER!!: handwriting

Did no-one have a potions related answer?! The disappointment was evident as he pursed his lips together. “Comparing the suspected document to a real one is a good start. And looking at the features of handwriting as Valencia and Lucas suggested is one way to do that. However, handwriting can be copied…especially magically.”

SPOILER!!: carbon dating

Okay, Tina’s answer was a little more like he’d been hoping for. “Correct, yes. There are a few techniques related to this approach, but they all essentially measure the composition of elements to estimate the amount of time that has passed. And, of course, this isn’t just related to documents, nor crimes…it’s been use to date Ancient Egyptian mummies, among other things.”

SPOILER!!: Bernadette

And fiiiinally, an attempt at an answer founded in potions. Unfortunately, however, Bernadette had rather let her imagination run away with her, and she only earned herself a frown from Noble. “There are potions that reveal the presence of magic, but on the whole, magic-revealing charms tend to be a whole lot more effective. And don’t risk ruining your precious piece of evidence quite so badly.”

…on that note, it was probably worth moving on. Noble picked up his chalk once more, and moved to the blackboard. “Today we’re going to look at a way of comparing solutions by looking at their chemical composition.” On the board he now wrote a word:

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackboard

Chromatography

“The situation is this,” he started to speak once more. “The Hogwarts house elves baked a whole delicious trayful of cookies this morning. However, whilst the cookies were cooling and the elves tended to other things, the tray was stolen. Not a crumb remained…only a ransom note.” He held up a piece of parchment to show the class, that simply read

Quote:

Originally Posted by ransom note

If you want cookies, come find me.

in handwritten black ink. “Our task to identify the perpetrator. And how do we do this? Well, we’re going to compare the ink in the note to inks that several of the professors use.” He gestured to the bottles of ink in the tray on the front desk. Each one he’d temporarily acquired from a colleague – with permission, of course.

”Even if they look the same colour, black, by eye, ink is actually made up of a mixture of several dyes…and different brands and colours each use a unique mix. We just need to separate out and identify the components of that mix to compare. Which is where chromatography comes in.” He pointed to the word he’d written on the board. He’d explain the science in a bit, but for now, he wanted to get them started on the experiment.

“To start the chemical analysis, you’ll need to come and get two sheets of rectangular filter paper from the front desk. With a pencil, and that’s really important, it needs to be pencil…draw a line about 2cm from one end of the paper. Then, evenly spaced across that line, draw a small dot sample of each of the inks in the tray.” He demonstrated what he meant, drawing a line parallel to the short side of the rectangle about 2cm up in pencil, before adding five dots along the line – one from each of the inks. He then held it up so the students could see. “Do that on both pieces of filter paper, and then I’ll explain the next step.”

ooc note: if you're unclear where we're going with this, you might find this video helpful

BanaBatGirl · 10-18-2019, 02:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermygirl

And fiiiinally, an attempt at an answer founded in potions. Unfortunately, however, Bernadette had rather let her imagination run away with her, and she only earned herself a frown from Noble. “There are potions that reveal the presence of magic, but on the whole, magic-revealing charms tend to be a whole lot more effective. And don’t risk ruining your precious piece of evidence quite so badly.”

…on that note, it was probably worth moving on. Noble picked up his chalk once more, and moved to the blackboard. “Today we’re going to look at a way of comparing solutions by looking at their chemical composition.” On the board he now wrote a word:

“The situation is this,” he started to speak once more. “The Hogwarts house elves baked a whole delicious trayful of cookies this morning. However, whilst the cookies were cooling and the elves tended to other things, the tray was stolen. Not a crumb remained…only a ransom note.” He held up a piece of parchment to show the class, that simply read

in handwritten black ink. “Our task to identify the perpetrator. And how do we do this? Well, we’re going to compare the ink in the note to inks that several of the professors use.” He gestured to the bottles of ink in the tray on the front desk. Each one he’d temporarily acquired from a colleague – with permission, of course.

”Even if they look the same colour, black, by eye, ink is actually made up of a mixture of several dyes…and different brands and colours each use a unique mix. We just need to separate out and identify the components of that mix to compare. Which is where chromatography comes in.” He pointed to the word he’d written on the board. He’d explain the science in a bit, but for now, he wanted to get them started on the experiment.

“To start the chemical analysis, you’ll need to come and get two sheets of rectangular filter paper from the front desk. With a pencil, and that’s really important, it needs to be pencil…draw a line about 2cm from one end of the paper. Then, evenly spaced across that line, draw a small dot sample of each of the inks in the tray.” He demonstrated what he meant, drawing a line parallel to the short side of the rectangle about 2cm up in pencil, before adding five dots along the line – one from each of the inks. He then held it up so the students could see. “Do that on both pieces of filter paper, and then I’ll explain the next step.”

ooc note: if you're unclear where we're going with this, you might find this video helpful

Annnnnnnnd there she went again, going too far with her answers. Alas. One day she would learn the art of silence.... maybe.

Bernie rushed to write down everything again, including the word chromatography and everything the professor had said about it SO FAR. As soon as he mentioned two of her favorite things (COOKIES and ELVES), Bernie's eyes lit up as though she hadn't earlier been upset about her suspension. Who cared about that now? They had CRIMES to SOLVE! This actually didn't sound THAT different from her suggestion, OKAY. She hurried up to the front of the room to snag a piece of parchment and a pencil, and returned to her desk to draw the line and the dots as described. So far, so good!

LilFox06 · 10-18-2019, 03:03 AM

Valencia was absolutely enthralled with this lesson. A chemical analysis sounded like fun. Although this didn't seem like a forgery case, but more of a whodunit situation, it was still interesting.

Valencia eyed the Professors example for a few seconds before starting to replicate the line on both of her papers.

love-for-HP · 10-18-2019, 01:46 PM

.... Blake frowned a bit, he wanted to brew a strengthening potion or something ... not this ... but none the less this was the lesson of the day and he was here so he mind as well participate.

Making sure to grab an actual pencil, not something commonly used around wizardry schools, copied the Professors papers on both filter papers and waited.

lazykitty · 10-18-2019, 02:49 PM

Um......

All Dalia could really think of was that the professor's questions would be ones better asked of Papa Carter. This was the type of thing aurors delt in right? So, she kept silent as the questions were asked, diligently taking notes.

Comparing by chemical composition. Now this should be something that would be easy, or at least she thought. After all, chemicals usually meant chemistry. Something they did get taught back home. So she was feeling a little more confident about today's subject as she rose, walked to the front desk, picked up her two sheets of filter paper. She drew an almost perfect line in pencil 2cm from the edge of the paper as shown, then added the five drops of the inks along the line. Once she was done, she returned to her seat so as to not be in anyone else's way and waited for the next set of instructions.

FearlessLeader19 · 10-18-2019, 03:02 PM

Yes, watermarks. Claudine had been unable to recall the word at that moment but she nodded when Noble used it. She liked the other points that were raised and so she continued to make detailed notes. Even of the word on the blackboard and what it meant.

The situation brought before them by Noble hooked Claudine in immediately and she listened with rapt attention. Who would want to return cookies after they were stolen, anyway? And… that’s why there were so many ink bottles! Not because of some quiz that they were going to have. What a relief.

The Snakette stood and went to collect two pieces of the required paper. Once back at her seat, she took a pencil and ruler from the stationery section of her bag. Two cm from one end of the paper? That was carefully done before placing the five dots as evenly spaced as she could across the line.

The results looked very much like Noble’s.

The steps were repeated for paper number two.

siriusblackliveson · 10-18-2019, 10:26 PM

He wasn’t certain that he needed to chat with Pierson-Fuller because he just had one too many papers last week and this week. He figured he would take a nap this afternoon and all will be alright. He listened to everyone talking about signatures and was kind of surprised no one gave any different answers but he also couldn’t think of any other answers for the current time being.

Quickly writing down what they needed to do for the first portion of the class he got up to grab two sheets of filter paper. With the two papers on the desk, and his pencil in his hand he set to drawing the line on the paper. Two centimeters in and the line was drawn. How was he supposed to get the spacing perfect without measuring? He didn’t wan to be that guy so he just set to drawing the circles of ink. Starting with the first and moving on to the second. That was all he needed to do for this step, right? He felt like he was forgetting something.

Felixir · 10-19-2019, 02:29 AM

This was the worst. This was awful. Kaiser very much wanted to be anywhere but here right now. Although had he been thinking a little more clearly, he might have realised that that wouldn't have made much difference in regards to the places his mind was going.

At the sound of his name, Kaiser gave a start and looked up. Right. Right. Middle of class. Right. "Yes, professor," he said, though it came out slightly more strangled than he would have liked. He cleared his throat, nodded, and added, "I'm okay."

Blinking hard, Kaiser tried to focus on what everyone else was saying, compartmentalise his thoughts for a little longer and just think about the task at hand. Detecting forgeries... yes.

And something about... chemical compositions. House elves. Stolen cookies. Ransom note. Normally, Kaiser might have had some questions about this situation - why only test the professors' inks for example, and what happened if a student used the same ink as a professor - but today it was a struggle just to keep his mind on the topic at hand. He had gone from focusing intently on unwelcome thoughts to feeling floaty and distant and not altogether present, and his eyes were starting to glaze over.

After retrieving the filter paper, Kaiser sat back down and began searching through his things for a pencil. He wasn't entirely sure he even had one, but then this bag had been all kinds of places with him, and held all manner of things, and he couldn't remember the last time he'd even cleaned it out. Finally finding the tiniest stub of a pencil, he drew the line on each piece of filter paper.

Now he needed... the inks? Right... right. Kaiser went back to the tray for the inks, put dots of each along the line, and then... Oh, that was it.

... Right.

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