Jasmine and Step 4
 

"and we're stirring...we're stirring," Cris softly chanted as he stirred the mixture while Jasmine added first the 1/2 cupful of flour and then stirred some more while she added more.

As he continued to stir, he realized that unlike the beginning where it was easy to stir the dough around with his wooden spoon around and around inside the mixing bowl, it was now getting harder to do that, with every additional cupful of flour Jasmine added. The doughy texture was getting thicker and beginning to pull away from the sides.

"Um...Jasmine you mentioned about stirring until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl? Well I think it's doing that now," Cris raised up his wooden spoon to show her. "See it won't even stick to my fingers," Cris demonstrated as he wiped a clean finger along the inside of the bowl and tried scooping up a piece of the dough.

"I think it's time to spray that other bowl with cooking spray and pop the dough into that one," Cris suggested as he placed the bowl he was holding down on the worktable and reached out to pick up the can of cooking spray and began spraying the second bowl liberally with cooking spray.

"Would you like to do the honors?" Cris asked as he handed the bowl full of dough, over to Jasmine.

Step 1 ish
 

So water was first that should be the easy part. Everything else after that was up for debate.

And what in Merlin's saggy left.......oh it was Schuyler.

Merlin that was sneaky. Partner, what? No debate, no asking. Partners just like that. Amazing. Now he would actually have to do work besides laughing at his own screw ups. Which would take considerable less effort.

Sigh.

"Well i can't say no to that"

Since there was nothing to say no to."Okay" You know what they say when in the muggle world. Do as the muggles do or something like that. Probably wrong. But it sounded cool. So he took the two cups label 1 cup and 1/2 cup .Obvious enough even for him and went over to fill them with warm water. Once back to their station having no idea what to do next. "And for the record i have not cooked anything more advanced than pasta." If you can call that cooking

step 2
 

Could he ever say no?

Schuyler grinned.

And after she'd measured out the sugar and yeast and he'd done the same with the water, they were making progress and moving on to step numero DOS. Oh, wait. Not quite yet. They had to wait ten minutes for the yeast to bubble. "Ten minutes?" That was a long time. Well, for this. And for Schuyler. So she busied herself with talking to her prefect pal and measuring out a half a cup of flour for the next step.

"And for the record," she poked his arm. "I used to be a worse cook than you, then. Until I practiced." And now she still wasn't great, but she knew what she was doing.

Steps 4 & 5
 

All she had to do next was to spray a freaking pan? She could do that, she could totally do that. Eyeing her mess dough she thought that it looked okay. Maybe nobody would even know that she messed her up? WAIT! She was going to have to eat her pizza... no matter she would just make Angel or Adi share theirs. Between the two of them, she had faith that somebody would get it right.

Spray, spray, spray. All set. Looking once more at the board, she was ready for the final step.


AJ had to play the waiting game again. Right before covering her masterpiece she decided to take a small taste. Discreetly she picked a small piece off and popped it into her mouth. "Yuck!" Oops, she was trying to be quiet here. Maybe it wasn't supposed to taste good yet. It sure did taste sweet. The lion covered it all up and waited for it to rise.

Its easy to pick up? She raised her eyebrows at his comment but then Simon gave her a reassuring grin. "Okay." Whatever Simon said. GRIN.

The first year watched closely as the older Slytherin putting all the ingredients into the bowl. And there goes the sugar. If they're going to eat this after class she would just let Simon eat it. She noticed that Simon already finished mixing the ingredients and now they need to wait ten minutes like Hadley said.

Candice saw her partner was waving at someone. Huh? Who he's waving at? Wasn't that the dude that she saw during the Potion Project. The one who had an uncle working in the Ministry? What was his name again? Ethan? Hmm..Maybe her partner and that Ethan guy were roommate or something.

"I'm a first year." Here she thought he already knew she was a first year since she was pretty small compare to the other girls in there. Third year? And his first year here? "Are you a transfer student?" She wondered where did he go before. Was it the Durm school or the French school?

She looked at her watch and ten minutes was up. Moving on to step two. "Do you mind if I do step 2 and 3?" Because stirring wasn't sound so hard. And that wasn't really a question she just wanted to let Simon know that she's going to do the second and third step. Candice added 1/2 teaspoon salt into the bowl and started to stir it. Then she added 1/2 cup flour into the bowl before she continued stirring it. The instruction on the board said they need to add more flour. So that what she did, she added another 1/2 cup of flour into the bowl and stirred again. Then another 1/2 cup.

Stir....Stir...Stir...

Her arms were starting to get really tired from the stirring. This was way harder then stirring potion.

Cris Step 5
 

"Why thank you, don't mind if I do." Jasmine picked up the big blob of dough and placed into the freshly sprayed bowl. Then she looked around for something to cover the bowl. When her grandmother made bread, she always covered the dough with a tea towel, but Jasmine didn't see any of those lying around. After a brief search, she found that the bowl had its own cover. Placing the cover on top of the bowl, Jasmine checked her watch. "OK, now we have to let it rise for 45 minutes or until it has doubled in size. I think we're good for a little while." Stepping back, Jasmine allowed herself to relax for the moment.

Step 2
 

"Ten Minutes was quite a while to wait" He could easily get bored and daydream. They could not really do anything else. And look at that sass. She was even poking him in the arm.

This was hilarious and hurt a tiny bit

"See that is where the problem is. I don't want to practice this. It does not interest me....and i don't have the patience" Eating Pizza does interest him, not making it. Same with potions. Though he was better at that. Maybe it was ten minutes now. Who knows. He did not have a watch. The dough did look a little bubbly or whatever they were suppose to be looking for. Which meant that Nigel just threw some salt on it and stirred.

Why he was stirring he did not know.

Jasmine and Step 5
 

"Wait? We have to wait 45 minutes or until it has doubled in size?" Cris asked incredulously. He thought it would only take a few minutes before they could actually get down to making the pizza and then....finally eat it!.

"So what do you propose we do for 45 minutes?" Cris grinned cheekily as he swiped some flour with his finger, reached up and drew a smiley face on Jasmine's forehead.

Steps 4 & 5
 

Beverly wondered how this connected with Muggle Studies. Everyone ate pizza, including wizard folk. Or...did they not and she's been living like a muggle her entire life since she had enough teeth to eat with and...BAH. That would be BLASPHEMY. She'd never forgive herself because there was no way on this planet she would give up eating pizza. Ever.

Coming back to her senses, she realized she'd thought way too ahead. Was the cooking spray muggle? Not the wizard's kind? She snatched up the can and read every single word on the label. Didn't appear to be off. Hmm. She'll ask later. Her pizza needed to be done and baked first.

Taking another bowl, she sprayed some of the cooking spray on it, twirling it so she wouldn't double spray areas. It was the way her mom taught her so many years ago. Mellow. Focusing on the matter at hand, she finished with they spray and placed the dough in the bowl.

Pat, pat, pat.

What nice dough. All her work. ALL her. Perfect. It looked small in the bowl, but soon it'd rise and become a glorious piece of dough, which would then be transformed into a pizza, which THEN will end up a meal. YES.

Covering it up, she cleaned her area while she waited. It was a habit.

Oh, my MERLIN!

Sophie was going to fail this class! She thought it'd be an easy O until she found out they'd be baking! She thought they'd be discussing the function of a rubber duck or something!

Sophie quickly copied down the recipe and directions for quick reference.



Okay, so step one. Sophie could do this. She COULD.

Sophie collected a bowl at her table then just stared into it. She was used to being able to clean things with magic during potions, but in this class, she was only allowed to cast Aguamenti. Maybe Muggles didn't clean their bows. Shrug.

She kinda dusted it off by hand, though, before beginning. She used a measuring cup (and her wand to cast Aguamenti) to measure out a cup and a half of water. She added it into the bowl before using a measuring spoon to measure a tablespoon of sugar. She added it into the bowl then repeated the same step with the yeast. Pretty soon, she had those three ingredients in the bowl.

Now the ten minute waiting game began.

"First year here? That's awesome. How do you like it so far?" he offered as he they waited for the yeast to get all nice and bubbly. He nodded when he asked if she was a transfer. Simon grinned. "Yes, I'm a transfer student and I'm glad to be here at Hogwarts."

Simon was about to ask her another question when Candice asked if she could do the next few steps. He checked the yeast and it was very bubbly. It was time! He nodded. Sure thing. He didn't see why she couldn't. Simon watched as the little girl followed the instructions so carefully. He was amazed how someone at her age could be so conscious about getting all the details correctly. He too had been the same way at that age. While she stirred, he washed out the other bowl. Then he dried it and sprayed it with cooking spray.

Simon glanced sideways to check up on how Candice was going when he found her struggling with the stirring. "Here let me help. You take a break. It's tough stirring the dough around." He didn't have to do too much stirring. The dough was almost ready to go into the bowl by the time he got it. He quickly finished stirring the dough around and then lifted it up carefully (and it didn't stick to his hands- SCORE!). Then he placed it in the other bowl.

Picking up the lid for the bowl, he securely covered the bowl and then glanced at Candice and gave her a smile. "Now we wait 45 minutes or until its doubled in size. Awesome stirring by the way. You'll become an expert stirrer in no time," he said giving her a quick thumbs up.

Cris
 

Jasmine stared at Cris and blinked. Did he just draw a flour smiley face on her forehead? "Oh I am so going to get you back", Jasmine said with a grin. "Sometime, somewhere when you least expect it........expect it. Besides, I don't think that the Professor would appreciate us setting off a food fight in the kitchens. So you are safe.........for now."

Jasmine tried to discretely wipe her forehead. She did not want to get kicked out of her first Muggle Studies class. "You know I can be fun, but the new kid doesn't want to make a bad impression right off the bat. Anyway, the Professor said that we would be having a discussion while we waited for the bread to rise and that should be any minute now." Yes Jasmine was sure that the Professor would not have them sitting idly for 45 minutes. In the meantime, she plotted her revenge.

Ascanius would have been wounded by that look if he cared, yeah? He knew that she was lumping him in with the general crowd of quiet, but it didn't mean that they didn't work. Just meant that they understood talking in any class at this school was futile. Everyone else jumped in and down every Professor's throat to try and get out their textbook perfect answer.

So he refrained from talking in mostly every class.

Gathering an apron, but not before cleaning his hands really quickly, Ascanius tied a blue apron around his waist and paused. Second time in his life he had donned an apron and for the second time he was reminded just how AMAZING he looked in one. Downright criminal. If only Alice could see him now.

He then collected what he needed and got to work on the dough. Needed this nice and perfect to be effective at all. Nothing was worse then bad pizza.

Firstly, he took one of the bowls at his station and added in water, sugar and yeast being careful with each of the measurements as they were instructed. It was followed by the ten longest minutes of his life, especially since he was up on energy right now, when finally the yeast was nice and bubbly.

Jeez, he never wanted to make dough again.


Then he added half a teaspoon of salt and stirred. With his baking hand and whisk. The tool of champion artists in the kitchen.

Then he added a half cup of flour and mixed that. With each passing minute he added a dash her or there, just to make the consistency juussst right. When the dough started to stick to the whisk Ascanius cursed himself. He should have used a wooden spoon. Would have made getting all the dough out easier.

Too late now. He added in a half cup of water.

Grabbing another bowl, he sprayed it and threw in the dough into it. Done. Almost. Ish.

all steps done, yay! (so far)
 

Angel looked at Benny as he said they should try it again, she was about to argue when she realised that she had forgot to add the water, that just wasn't cool was it. "Oops!!" Angel giggled as she thought about the mess that she had made.

"I think that would be best, I always seem to get carried away when I mix and most of it gets everywhere." Angel sighed, she really wished that she was better at baking but without an adult helping she was no good and she had no idea why, her sisters seemed to be good at it.

Step 2
 

Benny glanced at his watch to check in on the time. "Its okay..." he tried and assured her as they waited, "this is supposed to be a learning experience after all." Professor Hadley wasn't expected them all to be whizzes at this. He couldn't bring himself to be mad at her for her mistake, especially seeing as he was one to talk with his own experiences. The third year took the time to dust himself off and their work area clean better from the dry ingredients that had been tossed about earlier. That and reading over the various steps better so he could make sure everything was prepared.

When the contents of the bowl had finally started to bubble, the boy glanced at his watch to check again. Just about 9......9 1/2 minutes. That fell within the suggested range so they could move on. Ben added the salt and started to stir, looking at Angel for assistance with the next step. "We'll need the flour next," he suggested.

Jasmine
 

Jasmine was right. It wouldn't look well if she got into trouble because he got ansty. Being properly chastised he mouthed sorry at her, before looking down at his hands. Yes idle hands...not good...not good at all.

So Cris sat quietly...or as quiet as he could get. He began to hum softly while waiting for the other students to finish up preparing their dough and keeping a close eye on theirs.

Rise, please rise faster.

Steps 1 and 2
 

Pizza... this would be a fun lesson. Her hair was already tied back, so she didn't have to worry about that. Penelope put on a blue apron and washed her hands. It was really important to make sure her hands were clean before preparing food.

She would probably not be able to get the exact amount of water needed with aguamenti because she was still inexperienced with the spell, so Penelope measured out some warm water. Carefully measuring out one tablespoon each of sugar and yeast, Penelope added them to the water.

When the mixture started to bubble, Penelope added 1/2 a teaspoon of salt and stirred the mixture.

Post 2
 

He realized very shortly that although the consistency and colour seemed the same, there was a flaw in his pizza. And one that he thought might be fatal. Almost always one to help himself, Cutty took his wand to the mixing bowl and vanished the ingredients. The Professor had mentioned having enough for groups or singles and since some had elected to group up, he guessed that there'd be enough to account for his error. His wand, ever at the ready was used to cleanse the inside of his bowl and prep it for what would be the right combination of ingredients this time. Who knew what he would've made had he allowed that abomination of yeast and whathaves to continue on.

Right. So yeast did go in again, as did sugar. He wasn't sure what temperature his water had been last time, but now would be a good time to make sure it was warm as needed. Just in case. Thinking back to their last Potions class and how Professor Culloden showed them the variants on water spells, Cutty measured out some of the water from his casted, "Aquamenti!". He stuck his finger in the water to test it's temperature before adding it into the mix, then stirring it. Cutty noted the size difference from before even if the overall look was about the same.

Step 4
 

“She’s looking. She’s looking!” Ethan kept a straight face and scanned the room for his other mates. MERLIN. The Slytherin has never felt so awkward before. In fact, this was all new to him. The boy’s a friendly chap, and would (most of the time) talk to anyone who he thinks is worth his time. To distract himself, he craned his neck and pointed to where Grayson and Cutty were working. “Oh look!” Please look away from him? “There’s Grayson working with Lex.” He said as he gestured Josette to look at another Slytherin boy working with the Gryffindor prefect. “Aaaand that’ll be Cutty.” He said as he pointed at his pseudo brother working all by himself. Ethan looked at his partner and grinned. “I have yet to make friends with the other houses.” He said and nodded.

Stir. Stir. Stir.

In reality, he already made friends with the other houses in school. He just haven’t realized this because the concept of grouping the students into four clumps is an odd thing for the boy. “I’m a transfer student, in case you were wondering.” He said as he tried to start another conversation, to make them feel both at ease. And yes, the glancing should stop for now, okay? Okay. “Would you know why the school groups its students into different houses?” She’s a Ravenclaw after all. She’d definitely know the answer, what with having a reputation that the Eagles were the smart ones in the lot. “Uhm…I forgot to ask...are you a transfer too, or did you start your formal education here?”

Stir. Stir. Stir.

That’s it. No more glancing.

But he did look up at her when she said she accidentally put their house on fire. “Merlin, you’re like my older cousin.” Nod nod. “Said he set their house’s library on fire when he was nine.” That’s when Mordred found out that he’s magical and all that. Sort of…confirming that he is a wizard. “Well…at least you and your dad are okay.” Ethan wanted to ask about her mother. Because he just might be sharing the same dilemma as her? You see his mother died three years ago, and he misses her more every day. “The school’s kitchen is open for you to bake, yeah? You can practice here anytime you want.” Pause. “And you can use magic to put out the fire…just in case.” Ethan looked at her from his bowl and gave her an assuring grin. Practice will make her baking skills, better. He was sure of it.

The Slytherin looked at his bowl again when Josette said that the mixture was pulling away from the sides when he stirred the sticky stuff. “Wowzers. Mixing that stuff was harder than I thought.” Manual labor right there. Ethan wiped his forehead and left traces of flour on it and on his hair. He didn’t mind though. They were bound to get messy in here. “…aaand yep! We’re doing a fine job!” As long as their mixture was doing what it is supposed to do, then they’re good. See? Just like Potions.

Onto the fourth step!

The Slytherin grabbed the can of cooking spray and examined it. Spray? How does it actually work? Ethan found the nozzle and pressed it while it was facing him.

PFFFFFFFFFFFT.

Ethan looked at his green apron, now sprayed with the substance with awe, then back to the can. “Good Merlin. That’s Strike Two for today!” The Slytherin bit his lip and chuckled to himself. “Oh the things I will learn in Muggle Studies.” The boy got hold of a new bowl and spraaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyeeeeed it with the substance. PFFT. PFFT. PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT. “And in here you go!” Ethan got the clumped mixture and placed it inside the bowl, and patted it for good measure. “What do you use to cover it?” he asked his partner. She’d know for sure, yeah?

Post 2
 

Lucy mixed the ingredients with firm hand and waited ten minutes..
The pizza..how many memories of her childhood!!
Then she added salt and she mixed again!

Step 3
 

Her dough was good so far. It was time to add the flour.Starting with 1/2 a cup, Penelope mixed in the flour. She added a few more 1/2 cups of flour, until the dough did not stick to her fingers and the side of the bowl.

Step 5
 

Just as she was about to ask him something, he'd suddenly starting pointing out his friends to her in the kitchens, which did make her look up from her notes to see who they were. She was certainly interested to see the other friends he had been talking about, but she didn't want to come across as too curious. Josie did know quite a few people from her house too, mainly from playing Quidditch, so she'd seen them a lot, not only that they were definitely almost like a second family to her. She really missed playing with all of them. But, hopefully they'd be able to play next term? But alas, she learned the names of Ethan's friends, not being familiar with any of them at all, but she'd simply nod at each face he pointed out to her & would give him a small smile as a response. When he'd said that he had yet to make friends with the other houses she spoke up a bit, "I-I've only met a few people..outside of my house...B-But not a lot..."

Without thinking, she leaned in a little close to watch him stir the dough, just to make sure that everything was turning out alright. It was when she realized they were inches from touching, did she clear her throat nervously & inch away to open up that space between once more. Just then he spoke & she found that he was a transfer student, just like that one boy she'd met in Diagon Alley. "W-Where'd you..transfer from-I-I mean, um, where did you used to attend s-school?" Then he'd asked another question, looking like he was trying to keep her talking. But it was a good question though, why were the students sorted into different housing. Josie gave a shrug before saying, "I-I'm not too sure really...But..maybe, it could have something t-to do with everyone's p-personalities...Maybe?" That kind of sounded like a dull answer really, not a very good one either. Before even trying to recover from that terrible answer she was asked another question. "Um..No, I didn't t-transfer...I-I started attending school here..last year.."

Watching him stir, not watching him, nope.

Maybe she shouldn't have told him that. It was a moment that was very scary & her father nearly had a heart attack from that incident. Thankfully he was in the next room, so she was quick to call him for help. Although, she did feel a little bit better when he told her that his cousin had set his family's library on fire, but he hadn't been baking though, so of course it was a different situation, but still, it was a nice effort to make her feel a little better. "Mhm..H-He was in the next room..I didn't know w-what to do...It was..pretty scary.." She would have went on to say something, but stopped herself as he was speaking again before her. Best not to be rude & try to talk over him. The brunette smiled a little bit, "R-Really? I-I guess..that could be a good time..to work on it...A-And..hopefully..not set anything on fire...again.." And he did make a good point, she could always use magic to put the fire out..or she could just..panic & look for a Professor..or maybe even the House Elves might be nice enough to help her, even if they would probably be VERY upset with her.

Thank goodness, this dough was doing everything it was supposed to be doing. It was such a relief! Ella would be SO proud of her! She looked at him after he apparently sounded like he was tired from stirring. Josie asked, "A-Are you going to be a-alright?" Oh, he'd wiped flour on his forehead & in his hair. She couldn't help but eye the flour on his forehead & hair for a few moments before she softly told him, "U-Um..you've got a little..Bit of-um.." Instead of touching his face or hair, she traced the areas on her own forehead & hair where the flour was located on him, so he might figure it out easier. But she was really relieved that their dough was looking alright.

Now it was time for them to move onto the next step, which was to spray another bowl with cooking spray & place their dough in the new bowl. She didn't get in Ethan's way as he reached for the spray, quickly figuring out that he was going to do the fourth step himself. But she noticed something was odd, wasn't it supposed to be facing the other way? She opened her mouth to stop him but all she could get out was, "-Uh-Uh wai-" but it was too late, he'd sprayed himself in the face. She quickly reached for a cloth, & without thinking was wiping his face for him. Josie stopped herself midway & then moved back nervously. Still holding the cloth she asked him, "A-Are you alright?"

She watched as he tried again, cautiously standing by with the cloth in case he sprayed himself in the face again, but this time he'd done it right & sprayed the bowl. Josie smiled as he successfully moved their dough from the first bowl into the second bowl & couldn't help but clap a little bit after he'd done it. Now it they were on to the last step of the progress which was to cover it. She bit her lip as she tried to think of what they could wrap their dough with, but she wasn't entirely too sure. Josie looked around the kitchen silently as she tried to think of it, until her eyes were set on plastic wrap. "P-Plastic..wrap, maybe?" Taking a moment to walk away from their workstation, she'd grabbed onto the plastic wrap & went back to Ethan & their dough. Then took another few moments (with a slight struggle) to cut off a piece of plastic wrap to cover their dough as directed. Looking over at Ethan she smiled a little bit saying, "Now..We have to w-wait for it to rise....in-," she looked at her notes quickly, "45 minutes.."

Now THAT was going to be a long wait.

Post 3 (mentions of Ethan & Josette)
 

Cutty waited. And waited...and waited. Until he finally saw little pocks from the bubbling in the yeast. Merlin that stuff stunk. Like Vegemite. He wondered if Bart would eat the raw mix. Probably would. He stuck his finger into the gooey and plopped a piece into a sheet of clean parchment before tucking it away in order that he may test this theory 'round about lunchtime.

He took the salt and measured out half a teaspoon then tossed it into the mixing bowl with the salty scented blob. He took his stirrer and more out of habit than anything, cleansed it with a charm before taking it to the mix and combining it proper like.

When the salt was well and thoroughly mixed, Cutty added half a cup of flour to the sticky mess. It seemed that this had made it angry for it showed exactly zero ammount of co-operation from that point out. Sticking to the walls of the bowl and onto his hands as he tried to free the stirring tool from it. He added more flour quickly, hoping that this battle would be over soon. Alas it had only begun as the dough became so clumpy that Cutty was forced to abandon the stirring instrument. He opted to use his hand. Good thing they were clean. This seemed to be the only thing that satisfied the blob, however and it eventually started acting like it wanted to stay together and not stick to fingers. Cutty added one last half cup of flour to the blob and continued massaging into a ball watching it grown with the regaining of it's bits that had stuck to the bowl walls and his own hand.

Once the doughy blob looked well mixed, Cutty left it to go wash his hands...The muggle way. He wasn't touching the end of his wand whilst his hands were full of the dough. He paused mid-scrubbing when he heard his name and shot a how'd you do to Ethan's girlfriend, or whatever she was.

Midway his stirring though, he felt his arm muscle get tired and all. “I’ll be fine.” He assured her with a grin. The sticky stuff was hard to mix and it would have been better if he used his hands. He didn’t of course because he was sharing the dough with someone else. Josette might get upset if he did, you know? He cares, so there’s that. The Slytherin however held his breath when she inched closer and looked at their creation.

ASJDF;DJFK;DFJ;DKFJDSF. “She’s so close!” Ethan had to bite his lips, tongue, and cheek to prevent himself from making a sound. No, he will not make that mistake. He did breathe out slowly when she backed away. WHEW. Merlin. Who knows what will happen if SHE made contact? “Eyes on the dough, Mordaunt! Merlin.” Ethan scolded himself and continued with his work. “Keep the conversation going and stop with being so awkward. MAN UP!” The Slytherin cleared his throat and grinned at his partner. “I guess you’re just like Simon over there. He’s a shy guy when I met him…but I’d like to think that he’s come out of his shell.” If it wasn’t for dragons and stuff, the boy might find Ethan overwhelming with his talking. “It’s great to have many friends you know.” Does she need help in that area? Because making contacts meant network…and networking is a good thing. Adult stuff if you ask him, but Mordred was consistent in drilling that thought in Ethan’s mind. His older cousin missed that opportunity and now regrets it. He didn’t want his younger cousin to have a tough time in the end.

“I went to Durmstrang for two years.” Surprise, surprise. “Not my kind of school, if you ask me. Though the place offered a year’s supply of snow which meant snowboarding for me.” Then he goes skateboarding in the summer when he’s with Mordred. Cool, yeah? “I’ve never read the history of this school…which is a shame…” he said as he stared at her parchment. Not looking at her. Good. “But when I donned the Sorting Hat…it did mention personalities.” Ethan made a face when he recalled his experience. “I still question its decision though. I mean…Slytherin? I am my cousin and father’s opposite. I’m sure of that.” So…he was probably better in Hufflepuff? “Mordred said the hat can never be wrong and stuff…which made me more confused. That’s why I left the ‘stereotyping’ thing behind, thus my question as to why Hogwarts need to sort its students.” He can be deep and confusing at the same time. “Sorry, I talk a lot.” And yes, he felt the need to apologize again.

After the spray incident though, Ethan, while Josette was clearing up his face held his breath again and felt his brain do a restart. Did she just?...She made contact, yeah? And the boy couldn’t believe his luck. He did make a fool of himself for being ignorant, all right? But look! The unexpected happened! The moment she removed the cloth from his face, the boy could swear he heard music somewhere. “She wiped my face, dear MERLIN. I can die now…” Ethan blinked and blinked at his partner for a few seconds, his heart hammering against his chest, recovering from his shock. “!!!!!! She did! She did! Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!” The Slytherin gave her a shy smile and scratched the back of his head. “I-I’ve never used anything like this before.” He said as he got the can of cooking spray and showed it to her. Merlin, is he blushing again? “But…uh…yeah, I’m fine thanks.” For wiping his face and making him REALLY happy. Ethan bowed at her when she clapped for him then placed his hands on his hips as he watched Josette get the plastic wrap thing and put it on the bowl’s lip securing their dough inside. “Breathe, Mordaunt. BREATHE FOR MERLIN’S SAKE.”

Aaand all steps for the dough are done! See? Teamwork’s good. And he’s even more delighted that he partnered up with the most beautiful girl he has ever seen in school—minus of course the bloopers that happened in between. And even though he carelessly embarrassed himself in front of her, it was all good. Her smiles make up for it, so in the end—he’s having a grand time. Come on, it’s pizza plus pretty Josette. What’s not to love, hmm?

And. 45 minutes. 45.

O_______O

Ethan grinned and sat across her as he started to wait for the next set of instructions. Maybe this is a good time to talk while waiting, yeah? Yeah. Based on what Josette told him, Ethan could tell that she’s not a pureblood. Maybe she’s half or even muggleborn if she’s into these things. “Fire is scary.” True. He can’t even imagine Mordred contain his own fear when he set the library on fire. Ethan would probably cry in one corner after, if it was him. “I can help you practice your cooking skills, if you want?” The Slytherin grinned and showed her his wand. “I can look out for you if ever a fire breaks out.” See? Not necessarily help with the cooking, but make sure that she’s safe and whatnot. Helping, okay? “…oh! And I can taste test your creations too, how about that?” Please say yes?

Please?

And...Hi Cutty!

rebel without a cause (or a partner. Going it alone FTW)
 

Post 4: Last two steps & Yo, Whitty!
 

He was wiping his hands on his apron once he'd finished washing them. He headed back to his work station and took the new bowl, spraying it with the cooking spray throughout it's interior side. Cutty turned his head and coughed once, having accidentally inhaled the particles from the spray can. Thus far, he had found Muggle cooking to be a rather flavourless, if not pungent task.

He bent over and lifted the dough from it's old bowl gently then tossed it unceremoniously into the now coated bowl and covered it with a towel as if he were putting it down for a nap.

That was when he spotted it.

Something was on Whitty's back. "Whitty? Coom oveh here for a second?"

Post 3, 4 and 5
 

Lucy added 1/2 cup of flour and she mixed very well the ingredients..
Then she added small quantities of flour gradually..
Lucy mixed well until her dough was sticky just right!
She sprayed the other bowl with cooking spray..
Lucy splashed a bit flour on her nose..she smiled!
Then she placed her dough in the bowl..
Finally she covered and she allowed the dough to rise!

"Uh huh." Nods. How she liked it so far? "Hogwarts is AWESOME. So many places to explore." She liked it VERY MUCH. Oh. He's indeed a transfer student. "Where did you go before Hogwarts?" He was glad that he's here? She wondered why. Was his last school not as awesome as Hogwarts?

Why no one ever told her that stirring pizza dough was this hard? Geez. Her arms was about to fall off soon. To her relief, Simon offered to help her with the stirring. My hero. "Thanks." She did need a break. It's tough stirring the dough around. Yeah. No kidding. The first year watched her partner finished stirring the dough and the last two steps.

They need to wait again? And this time they need to wait for 45 minutes? "Umm. Thanks." She did had a lot of practice in Potion. Expert stirrer? "You think so? COOL!" But maybe if she want to make pizza dough by herself after this she just gonna use some magic instead, she was pretty sure there's a charm for stirring. She checked her watch hoping that their 45 minutes was up but it said they still have another 40 minutes. That 40 minutes to stare at her partner pretty face before Professor Hadley give them the next instruction.

Staaaaaaaareeeeee. :loved:

Sophie glanced at the instructions as she waited for the ten minute time period to pass. She should be ready for step two once it was time. She tapped her foot silently as she waited for a few more minutes. Why did it seem like ten minutes was ten hours when all you had to do to pass time was watch a clock?

Finally, the ten minute time period passed. Sophie measured out half a teaspoon of salt and added it into the mixture, as well. Who knew that Muggle Studies and Potions could seem so alike? She stirred things up and when it was good and blended, she was ready for step three.

Cooking wasn't so bad after all, was it? Well, not when all you were doing was measuring out the ingredients and dumping them all into a bowl. Sophie still kind of thought somebody might burn down the kitchens before this was all said and done. Where were the house elves anyway?

Simon nodded in agreement with Candice. There were indeed so many places to explore in here. "It's a pretty exciting place," he said as he thought of all the places that he had to explore this year. This was going to be a fun year. He knew it. "I went to a school in Australia. It was very competitive. So competitive that it was an unhealthy environment to learn in," he explained with a nonchalant shrug. He did miss a couple of friends from them, but Simon had always been shy and had kept his mouth closed most of the time and his head in his books.

"Definitely!" said Simon who was oblivious to how his partner was staring at him. He took a peek at the dough. Ooh! It had started to rise very slowly. He turned around to face Candice again and found her looking at him. He gave her a shy smile and then folded his arms. "So play any sports?" Smooth moves, Simon. He could have done a faceplam. She may not play sports at all. "Uh, so what do you do for fun?" Better much better.

Dough all ready, Adi moved on to the final two steps. He grabbed the cooking spray and a second bowl and sprayed the bowl with the spray. Next, he carefully placed the dough into it.

Now, the bowl was covered. All he had to do now was wait for forty five minutes. No problem! Adi checked his watch and counted out the time. In the meanwhile, he could watch the others do their thing.

Sophie dipped her quill in ink and marked out the steps she'd already completed. That put her on step three, which meant she was nearly done. Step five was just a matter of covering things and waiting forty-five minutes. ... Forty-five minutes?! UGH. Class wasn't getting out anytime soon, was it?

On that note, Sophie measured out half a cup of flour and began mixing things around. She mixed until everything looked good and blended then turned back to the directions. She began adding a bit more flour here and there. Was this what her mother had been talking about when she said you just have to eye things when measuring out cooking ingredients?

The dough started to pull away from the sides of the bowl and no longer seemed to be sticking to her fingers, so she stopped adding flour. Hmm. Okay, so she hadn't messed things up yet. ... YET.

Yup. Hogwarts was indeed a pretty exciting place. She was pretty sure the other schools were not as exciting as Hogwarts. "Australia?" o____O That's pretty far from where they're now. "Are you Australian?" Eek. Competitive school? Eek. "It must be pretty uptight in there." But she was glad that Simon decided to enroll Hogwarts. Their lost was her gain.

Staring. She was staring at Simon. Hehehe. She took a glance at her watch. Nope. Still not 45 minutes. Back to staring then. "Umm. Not really. I do play Gobstones though." Was that even a sport? "You? Do you play any sports?" Quiditch maybe? What do you do for fun? "Sleeping?" Sleeping was fun.

Hayden- Step 2
 

Peering into the bowl with her NEW PARTNER YAY, Norah inspected the yeast mixture before looking up to give Hayden a nod. "Yep, that's bubbly," she grinned. Bubbly was a fun word to say, mmhm.

She consulted the directions before turning to Hayden once more and asking, "Now, should I add the salt?" Since she had already picked up the measuring spoons, she figured she'd just add it anyway, but y'know she could at least act a little polite. It wasn't her fault, the thought of pizza made her want to hurry this up because foooood! She dipped the 1/2 teaspoon into the salt and extracted it quickly, spilling a little in her haste. "Ooops." Norah took another pinch of salt and added it to the mixture, just to even things out, and everything was still under control, right? One mustn't cry over spilled salt, you know. She placed a wooden spoon into the future dough and stirred the salt until it was (hopefully) evenly distributed throughout the goo. She smiled apologetically at Hayden and asked, "Do you want to do the flour?"

Sophie marked up step three, since she'd just finished that step, too. Looking at the directions, she noted where she only had two steps left She could finish those in no time, save for the forty-five minutes of waiting she needed to do for the last step. Either way, she'd finish her part soon. The rest would be up to time alone.

Sophie collected her second bowl and the cooking spray. She opened the can of cooking spray then held the bowl away from her. She didn't want to spray herself in the eye or anything. She sprayed the inside of the bowl then put the bowl and spray down.

She then set about the process of moving all the dough from bowl one to bowl two. It was a messy process, but she did it. She covered the mixture then glanced at the clock. Forty-five minutes...

"You'd only be disappointed for a minute at most. After that you'd be dead.' She corrected with a solemn nod. "Don't reckon you'll be anything after that unless you're scared enough of death to come back a ghost and tell me, you're disappointed." But then that wouldn't be very useful, now would it? He'd already be dead. She wouldn't be able to kill him twice. Lottie may have been right though. He'd probably just not die, not by her anyway. It was too final a thing and she wouldn't be done with him yet. She saw the flour leave his fingers before hearing his words but she was in full agreement with them. "Yup, spooky. So spooky you'll be begging me to end it." She said, picking up a little flour and flicking it at him because they were doing this, yes?

Lex gave a small shrug. "He's probably the only one proud I'm a Gryffindor. Long line of Slytherin, see." She did smile a little at being referred to as a dangerous combination though. She liked the sound of it very much. And wasn't he the inquisitive one, but it'd only serve him well to know because YES Lottie was one for cunningness and he'd do well to remember that. T'was yet another thing that bound them as best friends.

Aaaaaand Grayson was getting worked up at the mention of chocolate. Uh-huh.......she looked to Lottie who'd given a more acceptable response. "I know. I just meant for me. Like to snack on while we're here." She would let Lottie explain the dynamics of chocolate on pizza's while she went to check the cupboards and such for any traces of chocolate. With luck she found a bar and brought it back to the table. Had Grayson been educated on the matter yet? She ripped the wrapper off and offered Lottie a piece, in case she was in the mood for chocolate.

She did note Lottie obviously removing some of the oil/grease/merlin knows what that she'd sprayed into the bowl. Evidently she'd put too much and was reminded why she stayed away from kitchens. SIGH. Didn't they have anything easier since even this proved ridiculously 'difficult'? Lex was over this place, she was.

Alexa raised an eyebrow at the clearly shocked Slytherin, wondering what might have set him off. "We are. What of it?" Was there some super important reason for the shock? Did he know something she didn't? Weird, Whitlock.

"I can take a minute out of that to be disappointed in you." Maybe. She'd have to do something incredibly boring and un-Lex like to make something like that happen. "Being a ghost would be incredibly boring. I mean, sure, you can spook people but then all the fun dies out after a while." Dead boring. And not for him, nuh uh. Unlike THE BEGINNING OF A FLOUR FIGHT! FREAKING YES. "Excuse you!" But he was chuckling, even despite the white cooking ingredient that was on his apron and hair. "You're gonna miss me when I'm gone."

Dead serious, he was.

Long line of Slytherins. "Interesting," he said, nodding slowly, "Means you stand out." Also, cheer up, mkay? She was one of the very very few people Grayson would actually be sorry to see upset. He le out a small snort at the pretty girl's answer before saying, "Looks like I'll have to watch what I say around you two." Half joking, he was.

The Slytherin would have mentioned his approval at the idea of having a snack while cooking but he was otherwise occupied in listening out to what the new girl was saying about pizza. And chocolate. And DESSERT PIZZA?! "Are you serious?" he asked, his eyes wide, "Jeez, I have not lived." He needed some of that. And, more importantly, he needed to find someone who'd be willing to make it for him.

The fourteen year old was oh-so-amused at the amount of cooking spray in the other bowl. He wasn't going to say anything, though. Merlin knows how feisty girls could be sometimes.

Like now.

He TALKED too much? "Young and handsome." Wink. Not old and wrinkly. Either way, he didn't care and was choosing to talk about the friendship between these two girls. "I thought you two must know each other but I didn't know, that's all." Shrug. It wasn't a BAD thing. Especially not for the new girl who was going to be bumped up. Sooooo, turning to her, he opened his mouth to tell her his name when.................

..................... Whitty.

Someone was missing him.

Knowing EXACTLY who that voice belonged to, he turned his head and was not surprised to see a Cutty calling him over. "Ladies," he said, bowing his head at the other two before head his way over towards his fellow Slyth--

........... Oh wait. "It's Grayson, by the way," he said, turning back to look over at the new girl (Lottie), "Grayson Whitlock." Which explained the Whitty nickname.

And now back to the Slytherin third year. "Sup, Mordaunt?" Basically, why was he missing him? It didn't sound like Cutty to be needy and asking for something as ridiculous as hugs.

Angel smiled at Benny. "Thanks Benny." Angel had been really scared that he would yell at her or something and tell her she was useless but at least that didn't happen. "Oh I can do that." Angel was really sure about that, she just wasn't good at mixing, always seemed to get it everywhere even when she never tried too.

Angel grabbed hold of a cup and then some floor and filled the cup half full with half a bag of flour and then she poured it into the mixing bowl. "Benny want to mix it please." It said mix well before adding some more and Angel wasn't doing the mixing it would go all over her and Benny if she did and she didn't think her Cutie-Pie would like that.

Hayden was about to say that yes, Norah should add the salt, when she started doing just that so she didn't bother to answer. She just watched as Norah added 1/2 a teaspoon to the mixture. It looked pretty good. "Sure," she said brightly in response to Norah's question.

She dipper the 1/2 cup into the flour and evened out the top so it didn't go past the top of the measuring cup. Then she poured the flour into the bowl. She took the wooden spoon that had been used in the previous step and mixed until all the flour had been mixed in. The dough was still sticking to the side of the bowl so she repeated the process and added another 1/2 cup of flour. The dough was starting to come away from the side of the bowl so Hayden touched it with her fingers to see if it would stick. "I washed my hands," she told Norah, just in case she was worried.

The dough did stick to her fingers, so Hayden added another half cup of flour. That time, the dough pulled away from the side of the bowl and also did not stick to her fingers. "Do you want to spray the other bowl?" Their system was working well, alternating steps. Norah could even do the last two steps if she wanted, they were both pretty short and simple.

Whilst he waited for Whitty to come hither, Cutty took a moment to study the room. Just to see if, like Potions, any sort of personal information could be gleaned from his classmates.

Come to think of it, Ethan had looked nervous. Uncharacteristically nervous for the confident boy that those Mordaunts knew they were. Why? Cutty observed that Team Mordaunt's dough looked fine, so it couldn't have been that he was afraid that he'd be failing Muggle Studies. No. He caught the expressions on the other Mordaunt's face as he conversed with the other half of his team. That's what it was.



Also, those two females are going to eat Whitty if he didn't hurry over. But no sooner had he had that thought than his housemate showed up. Now, any other house would've been forthright. But in Slytherin, forthright was a punishable offense. Distasteful at the least. Quick as, Cutty put a hand on the back of Grayson's shoulder and asked him. "I think I need a second opinion on my dough. Does it look normal to yer?"...meanwhile ripping off the sticker from the boy's back and pretending to wipe it off on his own robes, but pocketing the sticker label. "Sticky! Ugh! Sorry 'bout that!"

Step 3
 

"You're welcome...I guess..." Benny remarked, not sure what she was actually thanking him for. Though he wasn't about to wave it off lest it upset her by his actions. And ignoring her words seemed hurtful as well.

He watched her carefully take a cup and measure some flour into it before she added it into the bowl they were working with. Thankfully this time there hadn't been a mishap and everything was safely still inside where it needed to be. "Sure thing..." he said with a nod, mixing the flour into the regular mixture as directed. "Definitely think we need some more please," the third year mused, the dough not the right consistancy to pull away from the bowl just yet.

too tired to continue last night; sorry *ahem*
 

Whilst mixing her own dough, Hadley was observing the students and waiting for shouts of pain or something ... Nothing yet, so far so good. Of course it wasn't like they were dealing with knives. Nothing really dangerous about bowls or spoons ... ?

"Your bowls and measuring spoons should already be cleaned, but if they're not, then you should clean them. Just think of this as potions; you wouldn't brew with a dirty cauldron, would you?" Fina replied to the question, with a rhetorical question....

Well this was ... unexpected. "Some pizza dough contains sugar, others do not, so no I don't think you NEED to add sugar as some cooks will leave it out. Is there any particular reason you wouldn't want to add it?" You know, if she had a valid reason and whatnot for not being able to consume it. Medical reason or something.

Yes. We see you Alexa Cambridge. And hear you. Who's making my pizza for me? HMPH. Did she completely miss the announcement just moments ago about if you don't prepare it, you don't eat it? Observing her over with Lottie and the sly Slytherin boy, Grayson, she blinked as it seemed as if the two WERE ACTUALLY going to make it for her. OH NO! OH NO!

"Miss Cambridge. Do you need your ears cleaned? If you don't make it, you don't eat any. Those are the rules." She reminded the sixth year casually. It wasn't as if she was new student, oblivious to her methods. "Now, you're set back. Go be a good prefect and YOU get to work by yourself." Mmhm. Lotus and Grayson could work together. She did notice they were each preparing their own dough though... "Yet I'll be nice, you can use one the dough prepared by your friends, but the rest of the preparation you need to do by yourself. Or no food."

Hadley was about to respond to the first year Gryffindor twin about making ready-made meals when her older housemate offered to partner with her. Pizza WAS easy though; compared to some of the other options she could have had them make. "Thank you, Ben," she noted of the third year with a brief nod.

A little secret? Hadley fought the urge to retort back that SHE was Italian, as were her parents and half her grandparents too. But instead, she simply listened to the girl's suggestion and frowned in confusion. UH, they were combining only a few ingredients at a time? "Yes dear, that's why we mix the water, sugar and yeast before adding the salt and the flour... only a few at a time. And only a bit of flour at a time so you don't add too much. And the dough does rise a long time... needs to rise for about forty-five minutes." So her point was.... ?



Noting several pairs and individuals had finished up - and oblivious to those who added too much (or too little) of certain ingredients, she figured it was time to move onto some discussion whilst waiting for the dough to rise. First discussion topic. "One of the always surprising ingredients, albeit its only a small amount used, is sugar. So why sugar in pizza dough?"

ooc: there's a few plausible reasons, so don't give more than one reason/suggestion, please, to give others a chance!

Yes, Tag was watching the three people working over there. Watching them all very closely. Sigh. They seemed slightly friendly, didn't? Two in fact. Watching.

Anyway, discussion time once again. Good, Tag would get bored just standing around for 45 minutes doing nothing. Now, why did they need sugar in the dough. The blonde believed he had an idea so he just put his hand in the air, waited to be called upon, before giving his thoughts. "Doesn't the sugar help the dough rise, somehow? Or make it easier, slightly softer, for the dough to roll out when its time to do that?" Something like that. Tag didn't know, and if it was true or not, how exactly sugar did that to the dough, but if that was the case, he wouldn't question it.

Sugar? Why it's used in pizza dough? Cris decided to hazard a guess. Raising his hand, he gave his answer.

"Professor, could it be that sugar helps give the pizza its nice brown color. I think it's called carmelization or something like that."

Well that's what he thought was the most possible reason, since sugar had been known to do that with other stuff.

Cutty's newly washed hand was raised as he tried to offer an explanation, "Maybe it's an agent to the yeast? Like a catalyst or something?" Like in ales 'n such. That's probably why is smelled nearly as bad. He'd never forget that time he almost got to drink firewhiskey. Such a smell it had!

He couldn't wait to make Bart try the yeast substance.

When the discussion resumed, a new question was posed to the class. Why add sugar to pizza dough, the Professor asked. Jasmine raised her hand to respond. "The sugar can help the dough to be more tender.". Jasmine wasn't sure where she had heard that, but she thought that it was from a reliable source.

Professor Hadley was speaking again. Turning away form his partner slightly, he refocused on the Professor. So why did pizza dough have sugar in it. Simon paused. Hmmm... Maybe.. He raised his hand. "Perhaps the sugar is a nutrient for the yeast? By having the yeast there, it makes the yeast more effective at making the dough rise."

Did that make any sense?

Well, he didn't know.

He thought it did, but oh well. He shrugged nonchalantly. They'd find out the answer soon.

Angel smiled at her Cutie-Pie. "Yeah I agree." Angel beamed as she grabbed the cup and measured out some more flour and poured it into the bowl. "See I think we make an amazing team." Angel beamed as she looked at Benny. "Do you want to do the honours?" Angel hoped he would because she knew how messy she got.

Angel then heard what the Professor said. "Maybe so that you can have a sweet tooth?" Angel raised her hand before speaking, she wasn't sure but that might have been a good reason.

Do, do, da, do, do. This whole watching dough rise was boring stuff. She eyed her dough and noticed that it wasn't looking too good. AJ hoped that in these 45 minutes that something magical would happen. If it was going to happen to her anywhere in life, it would be here in the castle surely.

Her flour covered hand shot into the air. "Because sugar makes everything better." Duuuuh! Oh, they should make a dessert pizza. Yum!

If it had been anyone else -- or certain other people -- Grayson would have been thoroughly confused by the shoulder touch. Since it was someone he more or less trusted, the boy took no note of it.

A second opinion on his dough? There was a certain ego-boosting effect from that because out of all the people the third year could be asking this question, he was asking Grayson. So, smirking slightly, the boy reached over and poked the dough gently. "Uh huh," he said, looking over and around the sides of the dough, "Yeah, I'd say it looks good. Perfect, even." High compliments coming from the Slytherin.

............. Sticky?

SNORT. "It's cool. It's only dough." Wink. Don't fret, young one. "I'm gonna head back before Hadley notices buuuuuut," He lowered his voice. "I'll share my pizza with you if you share yours with me too." Pizza party in the boy's dorms. Just saying.

Aaaaaaaaaand Hadley was talking so, smirking and nodding at Cutty, the fourth year headed back to his workstation. Hello ladies.

Sugar in dough seemed like a weird combination. Grayson really wouldn't have questioned it. It was just pizza, after all. He really didn't care as long as it was cooked well and not poisoned. But that didn't stop him from raising his hand after a minute or so to say, "I heard that if you're in a rush and want the dough to be baked quickly, sugar helps it turn brown quicker." Thank you, Ma. Which then raised the question as to whether they knew this in pizza places and used this to their benefit. He would.

MAN, working in a pizza place would be brilliant.

Catching up XD!
 

After Kace let the yeast stand for 10 minutes he added the 1/2 teaspoon of salt and he stirred it into the bowl. Now onto the flour. He added the 1/2 cup of flour and poured it in. It was always good to do little amounts. Then he started to mix it and then he added more flour in. It was getting harder to mix but it wasn't sticking to his fingers. Success!

Then he sprayed the other bowl with cooking spray and covered it. He wiped the flour from his hands, shirt and forehead. Then he heard the professor move on and she asked why they added the sugar. Kace raised his hand and said, "Professor I think you add in sugar to add color to the crust!"

Adi was quite bored by now having watched everyone in the Kitchen as they made their dough or shove it in the bowl. Why did waiting have to be so bad? He was just studying his Head of House (she looked a tad bit different to him) when she spoke up.

Sugar. Why was it added to the dough? Adi really had no idea but he raised his hand. "Because sugar is good,'' he said nodding. "It gives the dough an extra or different flavour.'' Okay, he wasn't sure about that last bit.

Norah watched as Hayden added portions of flour to the dough, impressed with her ability to move such quantities without spilling. She smiled and nodded in answer to her question and picked up the cooking spray. Making an effort to cover the whole thing, she sprayed it into the bowl before picking up the dough and placing it in. Step four was done! The next step wasn't very exciting, so she figured she' just do that one too so they'd be done. Covering the bowl, Norah smiled at Hayden and said, "Now we wait, right?"

She looked up when the professor began to speak, asking the class about sugar. Oooh, she knew that! Well, she knew something about it anyway. Waving her hand in the air she answered, "The sugar makes the yeast bubble!" She didn't know how or why, but she was pretty sure her grandmother had told her that.

Hadley noooooo
 

"Such a terrible waste of the last minute you have, don't you think?" She mused, feigning a tone of contemplation, as if she could think of severel things more interesting to do in one's final minute in this world. "I'll agree with you there though. Nothing tremendously interesting when it comes to being a ghost. It's so...limiting." The tone of contemplation continued as she idly went about sprinkling the flour in his hair--until he retaliated with flour of his own, flicked right at her face. Makings a war right here, if she ever saw one. "I would miss you, but only because you've got a brain and fewer and fewer people are being born with them." Shame really.

What he said next was actually worth a laugh. "I do stand out, though not for the right reasons." But she couldn't complain. After Jessa was born and her Aunt screwed up her kids Lex became the favourite so...no skin off her back. "Lottie moreso than me." Lex admitted. "I don't care as much about what you say so long as you're not stupid." Because Lex was tolerant, see? Though Merlin knew her definition of stupid differed from the standard meaning but shhh.

Lex leaned against the counter nibbling at the chocolate after Lottie had taken the piece offered to her. The Gryffindor had long stopped taking her candy to Muggle Studies and most classes for that matter. Whether sitting in her bag or her pocket, the temptation would be too great. If you didn't want to play with fire you left the matches back in your Common Room, no? And Grayson was understanding. He had not lived til he had a pizza dessert, especially Lottie's.

She gave a small nod. He just figured they knew each other. Was that all? Far less interesting than anything she'd imagined but nothing more could really be said he was being called over by Cutty and the Professor was saying something....to her?

Did she need her ears cleaned? Lex's lips parted for her to respond but the Professor simply went on until she dropped the bomb that in fact Lex HADN'T heard. When did THAT become a rule? She'd seen the notice board for Muggle Studies. Making your own pizza had never been a requirement and she didn't think the Professor could go adding rules at the last minute. Rules that would ensure she didn't eat.

She tried explaining that she was in no way set back but the Professor was STILL going on, this time about her working alone??? "But Professor." The beginning of some serious whining there. She couldn't work by herself. That was the whole point of her grabbing a group as fast as she did--hjsdxgfigutrsi!! Was the Professor hearing herself? Both Grayson and Lottie had been making plans for their pizza, she highly doubted that either of them who had spent so much time on their dough would just willingly give it up so she could eat.

That was it, wasn't it? She wasn't going to eat? This class just got even more painful.


The now very dejected Lioness, slumped against the side of the counter she was at, elbow resting against the table and her palm propping her head up. Could the Professor see how miserable she looked now? COULD SHE? Naturally she didn't know the answer--why anyone did anything in the kitchen was beyond her. "Because sugar tastes good so why not." That was all she had to offer as she watched Grayson join them once more.

Ohh, Sophie knew this one!

"I'm with that girl..."

"...right there," Sophie said raising her hand. Whoever that girl was. Sophie pointed her finger at the Gryffindor girl. "Sugar makes everything taste better, and since pizza tastes really good, it makes sense that sugar has been added to it."

...and so was the logic of Sophie Newell. There were people talking about brown colors and dough rising, but Sophie had no idea about stuff like that. Her mom did the cooking around their house.

step 3
 

Right? It was a while. Watching yeast bubble was about as interesting as watching paint dry.

Problem? Oh. That problem. Nigel here didn't have any interest in cooking. Schuyler nodded to this, not all that surprised. "You'd rather be doing things like playing quidditch, and starfishing, and snogging your girlfriend, and maintaining those lovely locks of yours." And that was all totally understandable. Good hobbies, those were. Especially the snogging girlfriends one.

But finally, their wait was over and they were ready for the next step. Now the first bit of flour was already measured out from a few minutes ago when she was waiting for that yeast to bubble, so in went the flour - nice and gradually, just like the instructions.

Hadley was now asking questions about sugar, BUT seeing as she and Nigel were still finishing up, she let some of her peers give responses to that one.

So they don't need to add sugar to their dough? Cool. But unfortunately for her, her partner already put sugar in their pizza dough so no pizza for her today. "I'm allergic to sugar, Professor." And anything that sweets.

She was getting bored waiting for her pizza dough to rise. Ohh. Another question from Hadley. She knew the answer for that question. She raised her hand up in the air. "To give the dough a sweet taste?" And to stop people who allergic to sugar like herself from eating Pizza.

Beverly kept a keen eye on her dough. She wanted to watch as it rose and not lose sight of it, but apparently there was a discussion going on and she didn't want to be left behind. Looking up from her bowl, she thought the question over.

Why is sugar in pizza?

Honestly, she's only heard once of why sugar was added to the dough, but she threw it off as nothing. It had been during a time when all of her aunts gathered together and forced her to help them in the kitchen. Didn't they understand the function of house elves? Obviously not. Anyway, all that had mattered to her was eating the pizza, but luckily Bev was one of those people who remembers what they're told.

This was interesting, though. Cue chin rubbing. If her answer was wrong she was never speaking to her aunts again.

She raised her hand. "Sugar is added in order to give the yeast a sort of boost to rise and make it easier to shape." Yeah? "I've also heard small amounts of honey may work?" Did her aunts lie to her? Were they feeding her LIES?

Hayden watched as Norah quickly completed the last steps. She smiled back. "And now we wait," she agreed. Waiting was her least favorite part. She wanted to skip to when it was done and could be eaten. The dough already looked pretty good, so hopefully the finished product would be even better. Hayden had thought about sampling a tiny bit of the dough but she decided against it since it wasn't just hers.

Luckily their wait time wouldn't be completely boring. Professor Hadley was asking a question, so they could continue with class while they waited. Hayden raised her hand to answer. "Because it makes it taste good." Norah's answer sounded better, and more technical. But Hayden thought her answer was fairly good. Taste was important.

*Blinkblink*

Honestly, Layla had no idea why one would add sugar to pizza dough. She had been shocked when it was revealed as one of the ingredients. So, she stayed silent and listened while her classmates offered up various answers and suggestions. Though, that caramelization one made the most sense..........

AND GRAYSON! [/caps] [in the end]
 

Step 3 continued...4 +5
 

Benny simply nodded as he accepted Professor Hadley's thanks. Apparently this time the phrase was directed at him because of his offering to help Angel. No big deal now that they were back talking like they had been before all the drama. When Angel added more flour, he stirred the mixture very well as before, tentatively trying the dough once more and happy when it came away from the bowl. And his hands.

He let the others answer about sugar, Ben was a tad preoccupied with making sure they caught up. Spraying a new bowl with cooking spray like the directions said to, the third year gingerly lifted their dough into it before covering so they could wait like the rest of the class. Now what were they saying about sugar?

Professor I think the sugar in the dough can hurry the fermentation !

Steps 3, 4 and 5
 

Step 4
 

"Exactly. All the Above. Especially the snogging one. Though it does take a considerable amount of time to maintain these locks"

You know all the things she just listed sounded a lot more fun than cooking. Though if you subtracted quidditch, He really was pretty lazy.

Not cares given.

Way to distract everyone with questions. Nigel had no idea why you put sugar in pizza. Maybe to make it taste better. Who knows. Seems like Tag is an expert at this, so whatever he says. Looks like he could actually teach this lesson. Interesting.

Thank Merlin, Schuyler was doing the steps he would fail at. Like he could spray the other bowl with his spray. No problem. Might have went a bit overboard. But whatever. And placing the dough in a bowl. Piece of Cake.

Hadley just listened first to see what they had to say about why sugar. Obviously some of them didn't know, but some had good ideas (and possibly the right ones!)

She wrote some notes on the board as she heard them :

* Help dough rise / catalyst for the yeast
* Make dough easier, slightly softer to roll out
* Gives it a nice brown colour. Carmelization.
* For the flavour / sugar tastes good

She shook her head in amusement at the Gryffindor Prefect when she tried to plead against working alone. Really it wasn't THAT bad and it wasn't as if she couldn't ask for help if she required it. She had a room of full peers there as well as a professor (who actually cared if she passed!) so working alone wasn't as bad as she was making it look. Surely she'd realize that?

"Yes, sugar has the dual purpose of acting as a catalyst for the yeast to allow the dough to rise, but also it helps to bake the dough and give it that nice brown colour. It should NOT affect the flavour of the pizza dough extensively ... and if it does, then you probably added too much sugar." Hence why the recipe only called for a small amount of sugar.

Hmm? Candice was allergic to sugar? Was that a real thing? Like was that even a possibility? She bit her lower lip, shaking her head. "It's only a very small amount of sugar added, Candice, but are you truly unable to have any sugar at all?" she asked quietly to the small first year. "Because we can make some dough without any sugar?" It wouldn't take too long.

15 minutes down. She eyed her wristwatch.

"As you know from the sugar ingredient, yeast is used to make the dough rise. So then, what is the purpose of the small amount of salt we add? Is that for flavour? Also, why only add a little flour at a time - if we add too much flour what do you think will happen?"

This was awesome.. and so far all Bay wanted to do was to eat the pizza.. why couldn't he just do that now.. *le sad face* Raising his hand "I think we add the salt for it attracts the water and keeps the dough moist?" he lowered his hand to think about it for a second and then kept his hand down for he didn't know the reason for the other question..

CAN HE JUST HAS THE PIZZA!!!!! he was so hungry now his stomach was growling very loud he was pretty sure anyone could hear it.

So, had Tag gotten that right? He hoped so. Yes? He'll just go with yes. Now the next question. He could either go for the salt or the flour, or both. Yes, both. "I think the salt is pretty much there for a seasoning ingredient type of way. The dough would taste pretty stale, like old bread, if it didn't have any?" He said.

Onto the flour question now. "I also think we add in a little flour at a time because if we add it all in at once into the dough mixture it would all clump together. You know, like when you put flour on a cutting board, it makes the ingredients spread out more evenly and from getting stuck together. Then it'd be extremely hard to take it apart. May need water or something and then you've pretty much ruined it all."

So, Tag was going with the 'flour spreads out the texture of the dough and keeps it from clumping together' answer. Mhm. Were the forty five minutes already up? Yes? No. We hope so.

Oh, yes, we saw that girlfriend, so Tag just gave her a small smile.

It was time for another question from the Professor. Jasmine was eager to contribute to the conversation because her last answer apparently had not gone over to well. Taking a stab at the why do we add flour a little at a time question, she raised her hand.

"If we added the flour all at once, it would be more difficult to mix adequately. We'd be likely to end up with a big gloppy mess with little flour clumps throughout the dough."

Kace was listening to the professor move on. She asked an interesting question about the flour. She wondered what would happen if you put too much in? He smiled and raised his hand and said, "Professor I think if you put too much flour at once, it would be really hard to knead the dough or even mix the dough..."

Simon frowned when he heard that Candice was allergic to sugar. Aw, no! But quickly enough Professor Hadley had reassured her that they could make dough without sugar if it was a problem. Good, good, he thought as he copied down the next set of notes that Professor Hadley had written about sugar in his notebook.

After writing down those notes, he listened to her next set of questions.

Oh Merlin. Uh..

Why was there salt in pizza dough? Hmmm.. Perhaps it had something to do with the yeast and sugar stuff!? That could work. He raised his hand. "Would the salt affect the rate at which the yeast consumes the sugar? And if so, this could mean that the dough would have a more consistent fermentation," he said.

As for flour...

He didn't really know. So he took a guess. No harm every came with guessing, right? "With too much flour added, wouldn't the dough not rise enough?" If they had an increased concentration of flour would that affect the rate of fermentation? Simon blinked. He had no clue.

Okay his sugar guess was right but now wait...why salt and why did they have to add flour a little at a time? Cris scratched his forehead as he listened to some of the others share their answers. He smiled proudly as Jasmine shared hers. That girl really did know a lot about cooking and baking stuff.

Cris decided to hazard another guess. What the heck right? They were here to learn. Raising his hand, Cris gave his answer.

"Professor, I think we add salt just for the flavoring, to give the crust some taste instead of just that chalky taste," Cris answered before pausing to think why flour was slowly added at a time.

"Um...and we add the flour slowly, so that it is mixed in well and the dough doesn't get all clumpy, you know with air bubbles and lumps of flour. I guess you want to give the yeast enough time to rise naturally?" Cris shrugged making an educated guess.

....and that was why he always stood aside to let his mother and sisters do the cooking.

Cooking isn’t and probably will never be his expertise, even if he excelled in Potions. Ethan got his notebook and pen and started to write down more notes. Muggle notes, he reckon, is the most useful thing in the world. Makes him less stupid and stuff, you know? And it seems that cooking and baking is not a bad thing to learn. This topic meant food. And food makes Ethan happy, so there’s that.

So why salt? Ethan tilted his head and turned to their dough. Sure, it has something to do with taste, yeah? But if they were going for flavour, they should have added more. An idea struck the boy’s brain. Hand up. “Professor? Does it help keep the dough intact? Like…water?” Just a guess. It doesn’t make much sense to the boy, but based on his deductions, that just might be the answer. “As for adding the flour little by little…um…because it’s easier to spread the ingredient evenly while mixing the dough?” He wasn’t sure, but according to his observation while mixing the stuff, that seemed to make sense.

Oh, so an older Slytherin girl agreed with her? Cool. Hiiiii snakey. She figured it was a safe bet to take that everybody loved sugar. If they didn't then they were just weird. More questions? Errr... she wasn't really sure why certain things were added. Taking a moment to think before answering she raised her hand. "I think the salt is added for flavor and to balance out the sugar maybe. If you added too much flour too soon then you will have a powdery mess and nobody likes cleaning." Seemed legit to her.

How much time had passed again? Her dough wasn't looking promising. The first year looked around to see how the other's looked, and well it didn't look good for her.

Poor Candice. Adi could not imagine being unable to eat anything with sugar. Speaking of which...he was craving a Sugar Quill.

Sugar is added to bake the dough and give it a brown colour. Got it!So the purpose of salt? Hmmm... "Is it just for flavour, Professor?'' he asked his hand in the air. "And as for the flour, I think we add it slowly because it's easier to mix that way and also when mixing it would not become lumpy.'' Meaning there won't be little lumps among the dough.''

Angel raised her hand. "Well there's the fact that if you add too much flour at once then everything is going to go all floury and probably wouldn't mix well and so it would be all lumpy." Angel had a feeling it wouldn't taste right.

Alexa continued nibbling away at the chocolate bar she'd nicked a little earlier. Her interest in most other things waning. How much longer would this class be before she could ask a house elf to bake her a pizza? Or have Lottie make her one, because she would right? Lex wasn't naive enough to think Lottie would up and volunteer her own pizza and Grayson who was admittedly very good people might have had grand plans for his own dough.

Her brow rose as Lottie made an attempt at securing the boy's dough but that was about all the reaction she gave before taking another bite out of her chocolate. Next time, could they learn about something like telephones? Or ...or...anything. Anything was better than being in a kitchen where you were meant to get things done efficiently for yourself.

Grayson's lack of immediate response turned her attention back to the Professor who was asking about salt and flour.

....

......

This was possibly worse than History of Magic and she never thought it'd come to that. Was it possible to be so clueless in a subject that had nothing to do with History? She didn't know OKAY????

THINGS WERE GOING DOWN.

Despite how much he liked drama and looking into it, something told him that this wasn't going to go well. At least not for him. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked between Hadley, Lex and Lottie. What even? Couldn't they go ahead with the system they had? It seemed to work pretty well for them. She was going to get the smallest pieces. It was PERFECT.

But nooooOOOOOOOOOooooooooo!

And then Lottie was speaking and.............

SAY WHAT?!

No. No no. HE had to give up HIS pizza?! WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN. Dejected, he opened his mouth to argue this point and say that there was NO WAY he was going to give up the dough he had been working SO hard on but Lottie was continuing. And there was a wink too. That seemed to add points in the column that talked about the pros of giving his dough up to Lex, right alongside the points that this was LEX and that he was sure she would hex him into another century if she walked out of here on an empty stomach.

"Fine. FINE, you can have my dough." And cue a smile for the Gryffindor Prefect. "You owe me big time, Cambridge." Wink. He pushed the bowl towards her.

Oh there was a question too. About salt and flour. Salt question came first soooo, Grayson raised his hand to answer that one. "Dough without salt tastes bland. If you have a pizza crust that doesn't have salt in it, you can instantly tell that something's not right." Uh huh. "And besides, doesn't it help keep the dough not so sticky?" Because the last thing HE wanted was for a sticky dough.

"I heard something about a water to flour ratio." That was all. He didn't understand it too much sooooooo he wasn't going to say anything else on that.

OOOH more questions she knew could guess the answer to! Waving her hand in the air, Norah said "The salt makes all the flavors more...intense." She was going to say flavorful but that wouldn't make sense, so intense worked, right? Hmm and flour? She knew from experience that it made the dough hard to mix or too dry and stuff, but she wasn't sure if that was what the professor was looking for. Continuing on anyway, she said "If you add the flour all at once you won't know if you added too much and it could get dry. Plus it's really hard to mix and gets everywhere." That part she held in vivid memory, because flour can be impossible to get out of curly hair, yep.

Okay, so sugar wasn't used to make the pizza TASTE better, which made little to no sense to Sophie. Oh, well. Sugar was still good, no matter what. Also, whoever this Candice girl was was allergic to sugar? How BAD can your luck be?! Sophie was glad that wasn't her.

Salt? Hmm... Sophie raised her hand. "Because salt makes bland food taste better, and there's ingredients in pizza that might be bland if we don't add salt," she said. And, oh--there was another question, too. "Do we only add a little at a time, so we can test it and make sure we don't add too much?" She had no idea what would happen if they added too much. "Does too much flour cause you to have too much crust on your pizza? Because the crust part is gross unless it's stuffed with cheese."

Thankfully there was at least a little something to do during the time it took to wait for the dough to rise up. Penelope didn't feel like answering though, so she kept her hand down for the sugar and the salt question, just sorta listening to some of the other students give their thoughts on them.

Lucy thought:"Salt? .." Then she raised her wand and she said:" The Salt mixes better the water with the oil!
And if we add a little flour at a time the dough is softer! "

Well, why does anyone add salt to anything? "The salt adds a little bit of flavor, makes the dough taste less like cardboard." And there was nothing worse than having a pizza crust that tasted like cardboard. Unless the whole pizza tasted like that, of course.

As for why they added the flour slowly....... "If you add too much flour to the dough, it'll become all dry and crumbley. Adding it slowly is a way of preventing that." And the Gryffindor with the oil and water answer was getting a 'what the....?' look from her. "Don't you spread the oil on top of the crust once you roll it out? So, salt wouldn't really make the impossible happen, right?" The impossible being oil and water mixing, of course. And you could blame the small Gryffindor and Layla's own dislike of stupidity for that question.

Cutty didn't think they were talking about Pizza. These words of Whitty's had the distinct feeling of reciprocity to the younger Slytherin.



Cutty's brows furrowed in thought as he turned to the older Hufflepuff boy and did his utmost to hide the excitement for what this could mean. "Will it really taste like chalk?!" And would Bart eat it? This was USEFUL information, Cris. Cutty neeeeded to know.

H'mm, actually maybe eyecandy over there (Simon) would eat it. He was from the continent as well. Just like Bart.



Holding to the hope of the idea that dough tended, in general, to taste terrible until cooked, Cutty put his hand in the air and made the following, "I'm going to agree that it's to do with the flavour. Salt gives it flavour and allows the dough to be able to taste..." Cuthbert's inappropriate word was not so much ignored as stowed away for a later more opportune time in which to use it and he found a more suitable, if not plain one to use in it's stead whilst addressing his teacher. "...Good with whatever you might put on the pizza."

Beverly glanced down at her dough. It seemed to be doing okay. Oh, who was she kidding, it was doing wonderfully. She's done this enough times to feel confident in her baking abilities.

Glancing back up, she pursed her lips in thought. Salt, in her books was for one purpose and one purpose only. The reason she loves food. "Taste," she said, raising her hand. "Salt is needed for taste or else the crust will taste bland no matter what toppings it has." As for the flour: "I believe flour is added little by little to avoid bubbles in the dough or clumps." Clumpy dough was no good. Imagine biting into that?

He wasn't sure the answers to the questions being asked. All he knew was that pizza was being made and that was all the fifteen year old cared about at the moment. weather ingredients were added for flavor or texture all he knew was it tasted amazing in the end so Who cares!?

... any volunteers to start a fire? *twitches* Kidding ... or not? *glances around*
 

Hadley was listening to the student replies as she willed time to move faster ... wasn't there a way to make dough rise faster? She was pretty sure there was a spell for that. Of course it probably had side effects but you know. Uh what was the question she'd asked again? Ah right, about salt.

"Salt as you may or may not know is a mineral substance composed of sodium and chloride; now the chemical history behind the substance isn't so important for this class, at least," other classed they took it might be, but she wasn't interested in it. "Salt, like sugar, can be omitted from the dough recipe yet it often is utilized as its not much. The main role of salt is for flavor, as many of you said, though it also plays a role in the dough's elasticity and texture. It ultimately creates a stronger dough that feels less sticky so it is extremely helpful in the stretching of the dough when forming the crust."

"Just as sugar is food for the yeast, salt regulates the consumption rate, creating a more consistent fermentation. It allows for the gluten to become more fully hydrated and prevents the dough from over fermenting quickly." Yes, this probably seemed unimportant and boring, but it was quite the contrary, especially considering how many were interested in actually EATING decent pizza. "If the dough ferments too much or too quickly, then there will be less sugar left over to caramelize the dough when baking, thus lacking that golden brown crust we all love. So in essence, salt is critical to the end result of a tasty crust."

"A crust without salt will seem bland and takes away from the overall experience of the toppings. Not to mention that one of salts principles is that it holds water. Holding water is critical to keeping a moist and fresh dough. Without salt, the bread becomes dry and stale within a few hours of baking; effects that cannot be slowed or reversed."

Glancing around at their dough, she nodded in approval. "It seems, we're just about there for the next part - the rolling of the dough." She paused, waiting... "There's two options for this; if you like thinner crusts, then you should use the rolling pin to roll out your dough onto the round pizza stone. However, if you prefer a thicker crust, then kneading it with your hands is best. Yes, if you're daring, you may try tossing it into the air. But if you drop it on the floor, then we're not trying yours..." That was a joke. Maybe. "The ovens are preheating now to 425, while we knead our dough. Once your dough is kneaded or hand-tossed into a round circle, prick it with a fork in various locations a few times throughout the dough. This process will help to oxidize the dough and keep it fresh. Drizzle your dough with olive oil and garlic salt. Why do we do that?"

It was time for another pizza question from the Professor. Jasmine raised her hand to take a stab at the answer. "Olive oil and garlic salt both add flavor to the pizza crust. Drizzling olive oil helps the crust to have a golden color after it is baked and it can also help it to have some crispness to it if the crust is thin."

Jasmine thought about what type of crust she might like to have for her pizza. Then she continued to write notes, condensing all of the information that the Professor had provided. She also had to figure out how she and Cris would divide up the next tasks for making their pizza.