They were moving on and AJ was on the same page as the rest of the class. That sure was a good feeling. She listened closely to the next batch of instructions because one little mishap and your potion would be vanished. That had not happened to her, and she wasn't planning on that happening to her now. Nope.

Fluxweed leaves were up. AJ cut them into three pieces and added them into her cauldron. The lion picked up her wooden stick and cleaned it with a quick "Scourgify." Man, that spell came in handy. Checking the board a few times to make sure she would be stirring in the correct direction, she dipped her spoon into the mix.

Clockwise, then counter clockwise. It was hard to get her arm to keep up with that motion because her brain was working against her. Apparently it wanted to go the easy route, but that was wrong, brain! Once she got to fourteen stirs she stopped and eyed her potion. It definitely looked muddy. Please don't smell. Please don't smell. A quick whiff eased her mind. No smelly potion here.

Boomslang skin was added into her potion, and the next thing she had to do was the waiting game. This time she had to wait five whole minutes. Ugh. Patience was not her thing. Five seconds was okay, but five minutes. AJ checked the time and tapped her foot while her hand held up her head. When the minutes FINALLY passed by she added the larvae.

Just like magic her muddy potion was clean and clear. Wicked. If one didn't know anybody it could pass as water. It never ceased to amaze her how cool potions could be.

You know what? He liked checkpoints. They were a good way of seeing whether he was on the right path and, more importantly, they were good at boosting his ego when he realised that he was on the right path. Ego boosting was always nice. Always.

In went the two measures of Boomslang skin and then Grayson glanced down at his watch. One...... two...... three....... four....... five! Bingo! And then in went the larvae. Simple couple of steps, wasn't it? In fact, this whole potion wasn't exactly hard to begin with. Good. If a potion like this came up for the NEWTs, he was gonna be dead chuffed.

A glance at his notes told him that they were nearly done. Neaaaaarly. Did they get to pick their own emotion to go with or what?

Text Cut: Journal

Emotion changing Potion
Grayson D. Whitlock

Ingredients:
- Two sprigs of lovage
- 4 mistletoe berries
- 4 measures of fluxweed
- 2 measures of boomslang skin
- Ten newt larvae
Happiness: 3 Alihotsy leaves
Sadness: A teaspoon of glumbumble treacle
Excitement: Half a handful of ferret fur
Fear: A scoop of black flies
Tenderness: 2 teaspoons of dog saliva
Anger: 7 hippogrif feathers

Steps:
1) Fill halfway with pure water
2) Slowly lower your wand as if you're drawing a straight, vertical line with your wand and say Apto pressura.
3) Heat to 100 degree celcius and keep the heat at 100 and ONLY 100 AT ALL TIMES
4) Chop lovage well and add it
5) Wait five seconds
6) Add berries immediately
7) Cut Fluxweed into three pieces and add
8) Wooden stick, stir once clockwise and then once anticlockwise; total number of stirs: 14.
Checkpoint: Muddy but not smelly
9) Add Boomslang skin and wait for five seconds
10) Add larvae
Checkpoint: Should be completely clear, like water

Henric followed what llia did which was to clean the cauldron. His cauldron was mighty dirty, he realised it now after not touching it for months. He shrugged and cast the spell, "Scourgify.". Hmm…better now.

Step one was to fill it halfway with water. "Aquamenti!" but water started to gush so fast into the cauldron, it almost splattered him. Henric grinned sheepishly at llia who was doing well so far. Alright done…what was the next step again? Right, the spell…which was what agai? Henric glanced at his notes,”Oh…Apto Pressure,”he read. At a count of three, he would say the spell while pointing straight at his cauldron. One…two… three…”Apto Pressure!”

Third step…heat the cauldron to 100 degrees…that was easy. He pointed his wand beneath his cauldron and recited the spell that could make fire,”Incendio…” Nice...Henric wasn’t the most patient of types so he let it heat fast by raising his wand a little higher before slowly drawing away his wand. His brew was brewing…that was for sure. Look at all those bubbly clusters forming on top!

Forth Step...chopped some lovage sprigs and he did. Henric was pretty sure he chopped in such a way that most of the sizes were uneven and chunky. Note to self: Learnt how to chop from chef dad. Ehh…it would do for now and he added them in and watched them sink in the boiling hot mess.

Fifth Step, he needed to wait for 5 seconds so he could add the mistletoe berries. Finally! It was done! Henric wiped the sweat from his forehead, fuu…it was like cooking in a very heated kitchen back at his parent’s restaurant. He waited for a moment before continuing with the rest of the steps.



Sixth Step...time to chop up some leaves! Cut...cut..cut...alright, pour them into the mixture. Henric quickly picked up his wooden spoon and stirred exactly what his notebook instruct him to do. Why did it remind him of spaghetti sauce while he was stirring like this? His stomach grumbling again...

Concentrate Henric...it was not lunch time yet. Once done stirring,he moved on to the ninth step which was to put the boomslang skin in. Those things were nasty...urgh. He waited for another 5 minutes before heading towards the larvae cacoons. Poor little guys...he felt it wasn't right to add them in...but he had to because he would fail potion making if he hadn't.

"Sorry guys...see you in the next life..."Henric whispered, before reluctantly adding them in. The next thing he knew, his potion had become clear as water! Amazing! Success! Hope he wasn't lagging behind though...

Tossing his notes aside, Ethan reached out for the fluxweed leaves, cleaned his silver knife once more and sliced those in three equal parts. The rest was neatly placed on an empty tray, which he will have to vanish after he’s done with the potion. Scooping up the leaves, he carefully placed the ingredient inside his cauldron.

Forcing himself to tune out all the noise around him, the Slytherin furrowed his eyebrows in concentration as he got his wooden stick and wand at the same time. Ethan pointed his wand at the wooden stick to clean it, only to realize that he was actually holding the wooden stick, and trying to clean his wand with it.

Well, too much concentration? Probably. Switching both sticks, Ethan scourgified the wooden stick with his wand this time. Shaking his head, he consulted the blackboard once more and absorbed the eighth step. Should be easy. He’s been doing the stirring business since he was a first year in Durmstrang, so no worries. Carefully dipping his wooden stick into the cauldron, Ethan stirred the contents clockwise once, then counter-clockwise once. Stir clockwise, stir counter-wise.

11...12...13...14.

Aaaaaaaaand? Checkpoint? Muddy consistency? Yeup. All good here.

Two measures of boomslang skin were gathered, and those were also added after Ethan was satisfied with the muddy consistency of his potion. The Slytherin eyed his new watch from his father, and waited for five minutes.

Tick...tock...tick...tock.

Ten newt larvae were added exactly at 00:05:00, and the Slytherin was happy to see his potion turn into...clear water. Well, if it were muggles, they’d think that the Professor was just trolling them. They started off with clear water, and they ended up with it as if nothing happened. As for Ethan though, he knew his base potion’s a success, so there’s that.

Ilia added to her notes as she listened.

SPOILER!!: Notes

Base Ingredients
- Two sprigs of lovage
- 4 mistletoe berries
- 4 measures of fluxweed
- 2 measures of boomslang skin
- Ten newt larvae

(Can be kept for up to one year)

Emotion Inducing Ingredients

- Happiness: 3 Alihotsy leaves
- Sadness: A teaspoon of glumbumble treacle
- Excitement: Half a handful of ferret fur
- Fear: A scoop of black flies
- Tenderness: 2 teaspoons of dog saliva
- Anger: 7 hippogriff feathers

Instructions
1. Fill cauldron halfway with pure water
2. Slowly lower wand, drawing a straight, vertical line, incant 'Apto pressure'
3. Heat to 100 degrees celcius and keep heat there constantly
4. Chop lovage sprigs well, add
5. Wait for exactly 5 seconds
6. Add mistletoe berries
7. Cut fluxweed leaves only, into three pieces and add
8. Stir clockwise and counter clockwise alternatingly fourteen times
9. Add Boomslang skin and wait for five minutes
10. Add newt larvae

Step 7. Ilia took the fluxweed and cut away everything but the leaves, then cut the leaves into three exactly equal pieces and added them. Bloop, into the pot

Step 8. Taking up her wooden spoon that she had cleansed before starting, she gently stirred her potion. Clockwise 1, counter clockwise 2, clockwise 3, counterclockwise 4, clockwise 5, counter clockwise 6, clockwise 7, counter clockwise 8, clockwise 9, counter clockwise 10, clockwise 11, counter clockwise 12, clockwise 13, counter clockwise 14. With her stirring complete, she examined the potion. Muddy as the bottom of a pond, but not foul of odor.....not like her last divination class. She cringed silently at the thought.

Step 9. Now time for the measures of Boomslang skin. She delicately lowered them into the cauldron. Double double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble. She hummed to herself quietly as she timed the five minute wait. She took the wait time as clean time and"Scourgify" cleaned everything that she had just used.

Step 10. It was now time to add the larvae, the point that she wasn't terribly fond of. Ilia could empathize with the girl who asked what else she could use. She wasn't fond of it either, but she knew it was part of potion craft and that sometimes there wasn't an alternative that would produce proper results. She comforted herself in the thoughts that other animals would eat them and that the professor probably treated them very nicely. She took a breath and added them , counting carefully. Upon the last one, the brew became as clear as before she added anything to it.

------------

She knew prodding Henric earlier had made him happier and that made her feel a little better. She kept her eye on him throughout class, to make sure he wasn't stumbling or having trouble. Though she did poke him just lightly as he stared into his now clear potion. Good job, she mouthed the words and nodded to him. Encouragement couldn't hurt right? She decided when it came choosing time that she was making a happiness potion, as she thought of him.

Time to Get Started on this Potion and hopefully if Merlin will willing. Dante will not mess this up. There is always a chance. But you know. He wanted to succeed. So he cleaned out his cauldron with magic. Which was awesome to watch every time and then he filled it with water. Which he did start learning last year with help and now was okay at it. So yeah. Next step. He slowly lowered his wand, drawing a straight, vertical line, and bam

"Apto pressure"

Than he had it way hotter in his still space than it should be 100 degrees Cecilius is just to hot. But Professor C said so, so Dante did it. And kept it there. Chop Chop the lovage sprigs. Keep on chopping until he did it as well as he could. And than bam into the cauldron they go. Next he waited for EXACTLY 5 minutes. Don't ask how he did it. He just did. Then he added the mistletoe berries. Weird things. Do you kiss if they hang in the air. Or is that some other type of mistletoe.

Onto the cutting of fluxweed leaves. Fluxweed. Such a cool name for a thing. HE cut them into three pieces and added them .Okay so far. Hopefully no explosions so far. Stirred clockwise and counter clockwise alernatively for fourteen times. Which was jut weird to do. He would rather just go one way. It was easier.

And bam he added the boomslang skin and waited exactly five minutes again and added the next larvae.

So had he messed up he had no idea. He would know at the end. Merlin potions was hard.

Poor Angelfish. Adi felt a little... no, a whole lot sorry for her even though he had been struggling with some stuff about her. Not the time to focus on that. "Don't worry,'' he whispered to her. "We'll get it fixed.'' Adi looked back towards Culloden. Uh oh. "Professor, I think Angel's potion needs fixing. Or she needs to start all over because she added the berries after the five seconds.'' Angel's potion certainly didn'tquite have the texture like his had.
....................

Boomslang skin, where art thou? Oh, THERE you are. The Hufflepuff snagged the ingredient and added it to the cauldron. He counted the minutes out on his watch, shifting his eyes to Angel occasionally. She wasn't going to cry, was she? He might have to ask Benny to come over and comfort the girl. Anywayyy. Larvae! That came next and since the five minutes were up, in went the ten newt larvae!

HEY! His potion was CLEAR as crystal. WOOOOT!

Hugh was not behind. He was just taking his sweet time getting all of his work done, yo. Could not rush potions. He had seen what happened when people did.

Besides, he was only half-way paying attention to everything that was happening as he was lost in his own (and in his opinion) far superior thoughts. He was doing what he was supposed to be, though, which had to count for SOMETHING.

First, he doubly checked that it was 100 degrees Celsius. CHECK.

Then he cut the fluxweed super slowly into three pieces and added it. With his wooden stick he stirred it clockwise then counter clockwise and back and forth and back and forth seven times. Fourteen times all together.

Next he reached for the boomslang skin and added it.

The next part was the waiting game for five minutes. Five long minutes where he thought about the universe and cheese.

BEFORE HE, last minute, ADDED THE LARVAE.

Everything turned to look like clear water.

Norah checked to see that her thermometer still read 100 degrees before eyeing the potion in her cauldron. Helloooo muddy looking thing. Nice to see you too. She grinned at it, because mud was FUN even if her mum always made her clean it up. But apparently it was supposed to turn clear later which was much more boring, and as she recorded the next steps she found herself secretly hoping that it'd stay muddy. It was a secret though, 'cause if it did stay muddy Culloden would vanish her potion into a bunch of nothing and THEN there'd be nothing at all. That'd be even boring-ER.

"What's a boomslang?" she asked nobody in particular as she levitated two measures of the thing's skin into her cauldron. It just wasn't glove kind of day, but she couldn't just add it with her hands or else something bad would happen, probably. What if it went BOOM? Professor Culloden would DEFINITELY be unhappy about that, but it had boom in the name and everything so it wouldn't be her fault, right? She stared at the clock as she waited the five minutes, remembering to check the thermometer every now and then but not really looking so by the time she noticed any change it'd already dropped to 98 degrees. Whoooopsies. She poked the burner with her wand and gave a satisfied nod when she saw it was back up to 100, then back to waiting waiting waiting.

Norah, who had been reduced to humming softly under her breath to keep herself entertained, straightened up and levitated all ten of her little larvaes into the cauldron. Hehehe. Wingardium Leviosa made her feel so FANCY. She grinned down at her cauldron as the potion went from muddy to clear, looking up at Professor Culloden to see if he NOTICED how perfect it was. She thought it was perfect, anyways.

"Professor," Toby interjected, raising his hand into the air for long enough that it would be noticed by Culloden and grab his attention. "Is there no, sort of... Stasis Charm we can use to keep the temperature at the same level while we brew the potion?" Even as he spoke, Toby was checking the cauldron thermometre again, 'cause that was the hardest part of the entire potion, keeping it LEVEL. "Or would that somehow make it vary by too many degrees, like not specific enough? Or perhaps would one of those only work if you're not actively making changes and adding to the potion?" As soon as he'd said his original question, all his own follow-up ones had occured to him as well. Even as he thought about it, Toby was working on cutting up the fluxweed leaves into three pieces with his CLEAN knife on their CLEAN surface. "That is, if one exists at all. But I think they should. And if they don't, someone should get on that." For long-term potions brewing, see?

Anyway, the longer he spoke, the more time was spent not making his own potion, because Toby was no multi-tasker. In fact, that was why he'd asked the question about the charm, because he was having to really overwork his brain by doing the brewing AND checking the temperature. A few times it had already gone a little over or under what it needed to be, probably ruining the effects of the potion, though considering the nature of the potion itself, that might not be such a bad thing.

Using his wand again, Toby levitated the cut up fluxweed leaves over and into his cauldron, finding that in the case of potions, using magic instead of the muggle method was usually the way to a better result. He went for his wooden stirrer then, and cleaned it with 'scourgify', before using it to stir the potion.

And narrowly avoiding a potential disaster, because at FIRST, he'd went to stick his wand into the cauldron, and only realised what he was doing a fraction of a second before it connected with the surface. WHEW, OKAY. So yes, he stirred it with the STIRRER, not his wand, clockwise, then anti-clockwise, then clockwise, and anti-clockwise, over and over, until it had been stirred fourteen times in total.

Toby withdrew the stirrer and automatically cleaned it, before hurriedly checking the temperature again. It had occurred to him in the middle of stirring that it had probably crept back up again. Aaaand yep. Toby couldn't tell for SURE, because the dungeons were always a little dingy what with the lack of windows, but it looked like it had gone up by about two degrees. Muttering a couple of harsh, self-deprecating comments to himself under his breath, Toby quickly adjusted the temperature and then checked the potion.

... It didn't smell, and it could definitely pass as muddy. Sure. Not perfect, but then he'd struggled with the temperature thing multiple times. This potion wasn't going so well for Toby, but he'd struggle through it anyway. And hopefully not have to start over; he didn't think his brain would cope with having to concentrate on all that aaaaall over again. He already had a headache and he was falling behind as it was.

No. Positive thoughts, Toby. C'mon. You can doooo eeeet.

Janelle added the next steps to her notes and then prepared to continue her potion. She retrieved a wooden stick from her supplies and proceeded to Scourgify it. Then she took her clean knife and grabbed her fluxweed. Checking her notes first, Janelle then cut the fluxweed leaves into three pieces. She moved the remnants to the side so she could dispose of them later.

Janelle added her fluxweed leaves to her potion and picked up her wooden stick. She had to be very careful. One little lapse in concentration could ruin her whole potion and she had no intention of doing that today. Janelle dipped her stick into the cauldron and began to stir. One clockwise, one counterclockwise. Two clockwise, two counterclockwise. Three clockwise, three counterclockwise. Four clockwise, four counterclockwise. Five clockwise, five counterclockwise. Six clockwise, six counterclockwise. Seven clockwise, seven counterclockwise. Janelle was almost afraid to look closely, but she did. With extreme relief, she saw that her potion was indeed muddy. Taking a quick whiff, she smelled nothing stinky so, that was good.

Janelle was ready for the next step so she checked her notes again. She picked up her boomslang skin and added it to the mixture. Then she checked her watch and began to time. What could she do in five minutes? First, she took her leftover fluxweed parts and threw them away. Then she got her wooden stick and knife. Taking her wand, Janelle said, "Scourgify". Now that she was up to date with her cleaning, Janelle looked at her watch. Just in time. Four fifty seven, fifty eight, fifty nine and.....time. Reaching for the newt larvae, she picked them up (barely supressing an "ewwwww") and added them to the potion. If Janelle wanted to be good at potions, she would have to deal with the ickiness of the ingredients. With her fingers crossed, she looked into he cauldron. Fortunately, the muddy potion began to get lighter. Finally the brown color disappeared and the potion became clear. "Whew", Janelle said to herself. "So far, so good."

Now onto the next set of steps that Professor C put up. He squinted his eyes through the smoke and realized there wasn't too much to do. After he finished stirring his potion, he copied down the notes. He used his quill and scribbled...



So after his potion looked muddy according to his notes, he needed to add the boomslang skin and wait five minutes. He reached for the boomslang skin and added the two measures. After that he watched the clock and waited five minutes. After he saw on the clock the five minutes were up, he added the larvae which looked kind of disgusting. Errgghhh. He added in the ten newt larvae.

1...splosshh.....2...splooosshh...3..splooosshh... ..4...splooosshh....5....splooosshh...

Once he was done with that and his potion looked like clean water, he beamed and waited for the next set of directions.

So far so good it seemed. Nothing needed to be fixed as it appeared to Benny that his work was the right consistency. AND no explosions had happened or been threatening to happen which was always doubly good. Putting the last steps into his notes, the Gryffindor listened carefully as they moved on for two more steps and another supposed change in the appearance of the potion.

He gingerly added the boomslang skin into the muddy liquid before glancing at his watch. A five minute wait was needed per the instructions and Benny wasn't one to risk more than a second or two off. One minute went by...than another...and finally all five had passed and he could continue. The larvae was added next and the sixth year watched and waited with baited breath for the change from muddy to clear.

Come on....come on.

Add boomslang skin...

Natalia daintily picked up the boomslang skin, trying her best to have the least area of her skin in contact with the snake skin. Snakes were cute... the live ones, at least. But the fourth year was not extremely comfortable with making physical contact with the scaly membrane of a dead creature. Didn't the Slytherins adorn their common room with snake skins? No? Was that just a rumor?

*BLOOP*

The Lioness dropped the snake skin into the boiling water when it was still a foot away from the liquid's surface. The deep plunge induced a large splash of water, allowing droplets of the boiling liquid to jump onto her skin.

"OWWW." Natalia quickly leapt away from her cauldron, clutching her right hand in discomfort.

It was only a small patch of redness, nothing to fuss about. She better be careful next time.

Wait five minutes. Natalia made sure to pay attention to her watch this time. Not a second more, not a second less. Exactly after five minutes, Natalia added ten newt larvae into her concoction. To the Lioness, it was such an unprecedented ACHIEVEMENT!

According to the professor's next checkpoint, the potion should appear as clean as crystal water. Pushing her face mask closer to her face, Natalia leaned over to her cauldron and examined her solution. Hmm...it appeared clear... just with a tinge of faded green...

OH WELL. c:

Still keeping an eye out for people who needed help, Sophie went ahead to extract two measures of boomslang skin from her potions kit with a gloved hand, then, while watching her wristwatch, she added them to the cauldron.

T-minus 5 minutes till larvae time.

For now, Sophie went ahead to re-clean her glove, then put it back on to count out ten newt larvae, and set them on her clean countertop. This only took about a minute for her to prepare for the next step, so... she had some minutes to spare.


Good thing she did, too, because Norah was seeking clarification on something, and Sophie Brown was happy to help. Giving her watch one last check for the time to gauge when she needed to move on and making sure the temperature was right where it needed to be, she slipped from her seat to stand near Norah's desk. No need to shout across the room.

"Boomslang is a kinda African snake, so we're using the skin the snake has shed. The skin's usually green for males, and brown for females. They're venomous 'n their venom is highly poisonous, so if y'ever go to Africa... stay away from those," she grinned, not expecting Norah to be trekking to Africa anytime soon. "They're pretty tiny, though, so I'd think y'could outrun it." In case she DID go to Africa. No reason to scare the sweet girl.

Sophie's intentions had been pure all along in talking to Norah, because she adored the Hufflepuff, but... now she caught sight of Culloden, and she wanted to show off. Oops. Norah wouldn't mind her elaborating some more, would she? "So I think... in a potion, it's supposed to represent 'n act as the properties of like... shedding one thing, like a trait or whatever, which in this case would probably be like... shedding of the drinker's current emotions, and taking upon the emotion that the potion is geared toward, y'know? Make sense?"

The Ravenclaw peeked at her watch - she still had a minute and a half till she needed to add the larvae. No real hurry. "Your potion looks good, by the way." Nice and clear. What a champion.

He kept working on his potion chewing his lip as he worked. This was fairly easy in some ways, but he was nervous about getting it right! He took the fluxweed and removed the leaves before he cut them in 3 perfect pieces and added them to his cauldron. Picking up his wooden stick he stirred it clockwise, then counter clockwise, counting each one til he got to 14 exactly and set the stick aside and looked into his cauldron. Swallowing it looked a little muddy. Was it enough?? He really hoped so! It didn't smell, and the professor had said no smell. So at least that part was right...

He took the boomslang skin and added it to his cauldron and set the timer he had so he would make sure not to be off at all on time. He looked around him at the potions brewing and looked back at the professor. He really hoped this went well. He loved doing potions but his mum always said he had to be very accurate and precise with them or there could be drastic changes to what he was brewing! He nearly jumped in his trainers when his timer went off and immediately added the larvae. His eyes went back to the potion and bit his lip. It had a faint colour! NO! He looked worried now and bit his lip. The professor said clear like water!

He'd done it precisely! He knew he did! He also had made sure to thoroughly clean it!

Marigold's hair was getting all frizzy, so she accioed a hair tie from her bag and slipped it around her wrist before pulling her hair into an impromptu bun. A few wayward curls slipped out in front of her eyes, and she impatiently swept them to the side. She rummaged and took out the fluxweed leaves. She cut them into three semi-equal sized pieces and pushed the rest away, then added the leaves to the cauldron.

"Scourgify!" to clean the wooden stick, and then it was stirring. One clockwise, one counterclockwise, one clockwise, one counterclockwise, one clockwise, one counterclockwise, one clockwise, one counterclockwise, one clockwise, one counterclockwise, one clockwise, one counterclockwise, one clockwise, one counterclockwise, and then she brought her nose semi-close and sniffed.

…it definitely smelled like something, dirt, perhaps? Not bad.

Zander felt pretty good about his potion thus far. Nothing seemed to smell funny or look strange. So that was always a good sign, right? Plus, he had tried to follow the instructions as exact as he could. Didn't seem to be too difficult either. All the stirring got a bit confusing, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. The stirring was always the most confusing part after all.

Then came the bloomslang skin. One of the weirdest names for a potion's ingredient. 'Cause like, what even was a bloomslang? Zander had absolutely zero idea. But he wasn't gonna question it. So in it went into the cauldron.

And checking the time. So that approximately five minutes later he could get to the next bit. The next bit being the larvae, of course. He added all of it into the potion as well and watched as... Oooh COLOR CHANGE. Potion clear. Huh. Always got him kinda excited to see something happen. Meant the magic was working.

At that point Norah had paired her humming with some good ol' inspection of her sparkly nail polish, so it took her a moment to realize that there was a real live person next to her. Was it Culloden here to admire her? She spun around so enthusiastically that an auburn curl hit her right in the nose. Heh. Nobody saw that, right? Except somebody probably did because there was Sophie Brown saving the whole entire day with her ability to know every single thing under the sun. That was a lot of things, y'know. She watched with wide eyes as Sophie explained and explained and explained more things than the Hufflepuff even thought there was to SAY about boomslangs. The color thing was weird though, 'cause her mum always said that you weren't supposed to say genders had colors 'cept apparently the boomslangs hadn't figured that out yet. Her mum would have to go down to Africa and give 'em a firm talking to, 'cause it sounded like they needed one. "I'll remember that for when I go to Africa," she said, nodding importantly as if she knew for sure that was going to happen, and then breaking out into a grin because keeping a straight face was all sorts of overrated. Straightening up to her full, 'zactly five feet of height, she added, "And I COULD outrun them, I bet." Did Sophie KNOW how much Norah liked to run? 'Cause she'd tell her. It was her number one talent after twirling. And hugs. And making messes. And cartwheels. Okay fine, maybe it wasn't her number one talent, but it SO counted.

She opened her mouth to ask another question 'cause she was sure Sophie Brown'd know the answer to anything she could come up with, but was reduced to beaming and WIGGLING in excitement 'cause guess WHAT. She said Norah's potion looked good! She really did! She put both hands on her cheeks with a soft PLOP sound and squished her cheeks together, 'cause how else were you supposed to respond when the best potion-maker in the history of the entire UNIVERSE probably complimented you? That's right, she really didn't know either. "Thank you thank you thaaaaank you," she said, but it came out sort of muffled 'cause apparently that happened when you were squishing you cheeks. She removed them in the interest of some more grinning. "Yours does too! I bet. Probably. You look good. I like your watch. And YOU, obviously, 'cause you're the coolest." Maybe complimenting people wasn't her number one talent either, but who was counting anyways.

As the next set of instructions appeared up on the board Hady quickly took her quill and parchment and wrote down each step clearly before setting it aside. With a simple 'Scorgify' she once more cleaned her cutting knife as well as the chopping board and the wooden stick she was to use next. before carefully cutting the fluxweed leaves into three parts and adding them into her cauldron, the rest of the fluxweed leaves set aside to be thrown out.

Using her just cleaned wooden stick she started with a clockwise stir and then went to a counter clockwise stir. Hady repeated this process over and over until she had stirred the potion both clockwise and counter clockwise seven times apiece for a total of fourteen complete stirs. With that step finished she once more used the cleaning spell on the wooden stick and set it aside.

Peering into her cauldron she noticed it did look muddy and didn't smell at all! So far so good.

Now she needed to add in the boomslang skin. Taking the two measures worth she carefully added that into the potion. Now to play the waiting game. Five whole minutes. That was enough time to add these steps into her notes. Once more taking her quill in hand she wrote down steps nine and ten.

Since that didn't take long Hady hummed very quietly to herself to pass the last two of so minutes by. Another fast glance at the clock told her she had about twenty seconds left. Using that time she quickly counted the ten newt larvae for the next time.

And five minutes were up! Adding the ten newt larvae into the potion she watched as the contents went from a disgusting muddy color to a nice clear water color a grin spreading over her face as it did. Perfect!

Dot was trying to take sneaky sniffs of her cauldron to make sure it didn't stink, but was only succeeding in making herself a little dizzy. It didn't smell, she finally decided, and Dot slid back down to the floor just as the professor gave the next instructions.

Boomslang skin. Booooooooomslaaaaang. She dropped the skin carefully into the cauldron and watched the potion absorb it, all the while mentally counting off the five minutes. Maybe she ought to invest in a stopwatch next. Or one of those little eggtimers.

At the five minute mark, she dropped the newt larvae into the cauldron and went back up on her tiptoes to see if she could mark any changes to the contents. Muddy... muddy... lil bit better... and... clear! Yes!

Okay, it was time to potion. Yes potion was a verb now. Ophelia had made it so. Before she started the potion, out of habit, the thirteen year old tried to tie back her blonde hair before realizing that it was too short for such things. Which was a good thing, because the third year always had a fear of the ponytail getting caught up in her potion and getting her curly hair incinerated off in class. Could the Healer help with that? Was that a thing? Did that ever happen in the history of Hogwarts ever? That would be interesting to look up.

The Ravenclaw filled her cauldron with pure water and smiled at already having the first step done. This potion may have been easier than she thought! Maybe the short girl was starting to adsorb some of Austin and his super potion powers! Maybe soon she would be an awesome potion maker and be able to handle every problem with a few ingredients and a flick of her wand. Or not. Her mother always taught her to do things by hand, and even though the teenager was incredibly lazy --in her defense, what teenager WASN'T-- it might be hard to break that habit.

And besides, Ophelia still had issues reading her textbooks. The blonde tried really hard, but things just got a bit mixed up. It took her a little bit of work, but that didn't mean that she didn't try. That was another thing that her mother taught her. Try and try and try. And then try some more. Which Ophelia always found tiring, but she supposed it worked. That was the only way she got out of the woods when she go lost and the only way she ended up forging a new path that helped her get around the river twice as fast.

Anyway, more on the potion. Because that was what they were doing in potions. Not discussing reading textbooks and paths around the woods. That would be an interesting conversation and 'Ophie could get completely into it, but that's not what was happening. No. No. Potion time.

Using her wand, Ophelia made the vertical line and finished it on her cauldron, completing the second step. Easy enough. Two steps completed. She would be manipulating people's emotions in no time. That was a sentence Ophelia thought she would never say in her entire actual life. Unless the Professor planned on doing something EVIIIIIILLLLL to them. Or, unless he planned on storing them to use at another time. Or never use, since they were manipulative potions. And no matter what the Professor said, Ophelia still thought of those as full dark.

Okay, this step seemed SUPER IMPORTANT, which made the third year kind of scared, as the whole thought of messing it up loomed in the back of her Ravenclaw brain. Heat the cauldron to 100 degrees Celsius and only that number. No more no less. ONLY 100. Merlin help her if she heated it to 101 or 102! Just 100! Okay, now that that was out of the way *cough cough*

Okay, right. POSITIVE THOUGHTS WERE HAPPENING. Where was his boomslang skin... AHA. Right where he'd left it, funny that.

Toby added two measures of the stuff to his potion, wrinkling his nose a little bit as he did, then just sort of... sat around... waiting. For five whole minutes. Merlin.

This had never been easy for Toby. Waiting around and doing nothing while the potion did its thing. He liked to get up and wander around and do STUFF, but also knew he got carried away and distracted very easily. Sooooo... he stayed put, and recleaned all his available potions ingredients and the surface, and put away the ingredient phials he'd no longer be needing, but that only took up like a couple of minutes. So he sat there, fiddly and fidgety and looking like he was about five seconds away from getting into mischief. At one point he began twirling his wand, but abruptly stopped that once he lost control of it and it almost ended up in the potion for the second time that lesson. Sooooo... he put that down.

And sat and waited out the rest of the time.

NEEDLESS TO SAY, it meant Toby was READY and ON THE BALL when the time finally did tick down, and the second that five minutes was over, Toby levitated the ten newt larvae into the potion. And pretended he hadn't just been making it fly around the space above his desk like a stunt plane. Sure.

Okay. So was the potion CLEAR? That was the million galleon question.

Could Norah be any cuter?

Sophie sure didn't think so.

The sixth year nodded her encouragement at the girl's belief that she COULD outrun the boomslang. "I think so too. Y'seem like you'd be a quick one." Too bad Sophie didn't know the girl liked running, for she'd invite her along to go running with her at dawn every morning. The more the merrier for that kind of thing, really.

The squishing of her cheeks? Adorable. Soph even giggled in good humor along with the girl before giving her a nice sideways hug. "M'not as cool as you. I voted for you for Ms. Hogwarts last term. Betcha ten galleons you'll get it before y'graduate, 'cause that's how cool you ARE. And if y'don't get it before then, we'll find a way to edit all the yearbooks and we'll put you in my place from two terms ago, 'kay? THAT's how cool you are and how much y'deserve it."

She checked her watch just then, and... OOP. LESS THAN TWENTY SECONDS TILL SHE NEEDED TO ADD HER LARVAE. "Larvae time. Gotta jet. Sorry." Soph hurried back over to her workstation, slid her gloves back onto her hands, and looked at her watch... just when the five minutes were up, so she added the ten newt larvae to her cauldron.

And... the concoction was clear as glass. Like purified water, even. Beautiful. Sophie tinkered with the flame again to ensure that the temperature stayed at 100 degrees Celsius, then gave a thumbs up to Norah up ahead in case she was worried that Soph had messed up her potion while talking. NOPE. ALL WAS GOOD.

There hadn’t been any criticism yet, of her potion or anyone else’s really, which kind of set Brooklyn on edge. Not that she expected criticism of her skills. She knew quite well she was capable of brewing a potion, but the fact nobody really had seemed to mess up spectacularly yet just made her wonder when it would happen. It always happened, and she always tried to make sure she was as far away from it as possible.

In the meantime, the instructions had continued, so she wrote them down in her potions journal after what she’d already done. Everything just as it had been written down on the blackboard, so she wouldn’t miss a step. She certainly wasn’t going to be the one to mess up now. Sliding her knife back over to herself, she Scourgified it again before using it to slice the fluxweed into three pieces before she scooped them up and added them to her potion. That was simple enough, as was cleaning a wooden stick to stir with. Lowering it into the potion once it was properly Scourgified, she stirred once clockwise, then once counter-clockwise. One. Two. Now she had to repeat that seven more times. Once clockwise, once the opposite direction, seven more times until she was at fourteen stirs. She did so deliberately, just so she knew she didn’t miss any circles, then she glanced back at her notes. Her potion definitely looked muddy. Kind of disgusting, really, but that wasn’t going to last.

Locating the boomslang skin, she added two to the potion before looking at the clock. Okay. Five minutes, she thought, settling back into her seat before she decided to count out her larvae. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Unfortunately that hardly took up a minute, so she ended up doodling on a spare piece of parchment for the remaining time. Soon enough, though, five minutes was up, and she sat up again to add the larvae. One at a time, since there hadn’t been any specific instruction not to. Besides, that made it a lot easier to watch the color of her potion as it gradually lightened with each larva. By the time she got to ten, it was nearly clear, but she kept watching it for a few seconds later just in case. Yep, she thought with a grin. It was definitely clear now. Now all she had to do was decide what she wanted it to do. That and wait for the instructions as to if she was supposed to actually pick an emotion yet or not.

SPOILER!!: notes

Emotion Change Potion
A half-dark potion that makes the drinker feel one of these emotions: Happiness, sadness, excitement, fear, tenderness, anger.
base:
Two sprigs of lovage
4 mistletoe berries
4 measures of fluxweed
2 measures of boomslang skin
Ten newt larvae
for emotions:
Happiness: 3 Alihotsy leaves
Sadness: A teaspoon of glumbumble treacle
Excitement: Half a handful of ferret fur
Fear: A scoop of black flies
Tenderness: 2 teaspoons of dog saliva
Anger: 7 hippogriff feathers

1. Fill halfway with pure water
2. Slowly lower your wand as if you're drawing a straight, vertical line with your wand and say Apto pressura (wand movement: straight, vertical line onto the cauldron)
3. Heat to 100 degree celcius and keep the heat at 100 and ONLY 100 AT ALL TIMES
4. Chop the lovage well and add it
5. Wait for 5 seconds
6. Add the berries right after 5 seconds
7. Cut the fluxweed leaves in three pieces and add
8. With a wooden stick, stir once clockwise, once counter clockwise and alternate like that for 7 times: so the total number of stirs is 14
CHECKPOINT: It should be muddy, but not smelly.
9. Add boomslang skin and wait for 5 minutes
10. Add the larvae
CHECKPOINT: It should be completely clear like clean water

extra notes:
It's a base potion, which can be stored for a year
The emotion to be decided after the creation of the base