It would be okay, this last five minutes, if it wasn't going to be followed by even more waiting. Char turned the heat off, side eyed the cauldron, and then figured she might as well clean up her work station, except for the cauldron anyways. Fifteen minutes was way longer than what was needed to clean up though. So..... doodling? Yep. Doodling. Including the phrase: Char + Henry = Love, right across the top of her paper.

She also wrote her name on a label all prepared for when the time would come to finally finish it off, and decorated THAT too.

..... Char supposed fifteen minutes had passed. Close enough at least that the potion was cool. She made quick work of using the dropper to decant the liquid, only because there was a spell to look forward to.

.... and it wasn't even an exciting spell it was just ANYTHING would be better than all the w a i t i n g with nothing to fill that time in and having to make sure she didn't get sidetracked. O worthy suffering for any Gryffindor really!

She stoppered the phials up then stuck on her decroated label before turning her attention to scraping the dregs off the bottom of the potion and shmeaaaaaring it into an empty, clean tin. She adjusted the sleeves of her labcoat slightly, preparing herself for casting, and eyed the newly filled tin. Easier than a tongue at least!

"Venenum Inverto!" She cast firmly, not even sure how to tell if it worked or not. Well either way, it was DONE and she was done aside from the last of the clean up. She sagged in her seat dramatically and heaved a sigh of relief. At least cleaning up was doing something.

How had her table mate managed? She looked at Derf and then got stuck in cleaning out her cauldron. Honestly? She hadn't concentrated that hard on potions EVER and she still wasn't convinced it was worth it, not even for Healer Reed.

Three minutes, which actually passed even slower than when she was stirring, maybe because she wasn't doing anything but watching. Lowering the heat, Sklyar then donned her dragon-hide gloves and glanced nervously at the fire seed vial from the fireplace. Yes she had collected them herself, thank you to Cassandra for giving her that confidence boost, but that didn't mean she still wasn't afraid of them. These seeds burned her! Two years ago, but still. Okay, maybe she could tap the vial to slowly let them drop into the cauldron...

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Which seemed to work effectively in releasing one seed, plop, two, three, four ... eventually five... And removing her dragonhide gloves now because the fire seeds were safely in her potion, time for the pure rock salt. One by one, precounted to fifteen so she wouldn't actually add extra. And more extended stirring, this time for five minutes. Had Healer Reed mentioned something with the counter-clockwise stirring? Oh yea, because it reverses the effects of the poison. Also, what is primrose yellow and how did that color compare to Hufflepuff Yellow? Or Sunshine Yellow? Oh. That's how.

Carefully, laying the five strips of wiggentree bark across the surface, she then used her stirrer to push the bark to the inner walls of her cauldron, which was actually harder than it looked, pushing against the liquid of her potion. And increase the heat and wait for the potion to boil slash bubble. Once the potion started to bubble, Skylar picked up the five betony leaves from the garden, crushing them within her hand over her cauldron and watched curiously as the potion slowly shifted in color. Sapphire blue; a REALLY REALLY PRETTY SHADE of blue, she should note.

Five minutes later, heat turned off completely and now to wait for the potion to cool for fifteen minutes before bottling it into the designated glass phial. And labeled "SKYLAR DIGGORY. SLYTHERIN. FIFTH YEAR" All she had left to do was deal with these dregs now...

FIVE minutes.

Five minutes was a long time to wait.

Cameron would've used the time wisely to put away his things but then what was he supposed to do in the FIFTEEN MINUTES of waiting time that came after that?! So instead he sat down in his chair, looking around. Maybe he'd see something or someone interesting. So far, not so much though. Everyone seemed very focused on brewing their potions. Which was good. For them.

But boring for him.

So instead he let his mind wander a little. Not too far though. Five minutes could also be JUST five minutes after all. He didn't want to fail this assignment just because he'd been daydreaming. Or more accurately, compiling a list of questions to ask Jessa next time he saw her. As it were though, five minutes passed (SOMEHOW) and he leaned forward to turn off the heat completely.

Okay. Now he could clear out his workstation, save the pipette and glass phials.

Text Cut: Notes

Antidote to Uncommon Poisons No. 005

Ingredients:

• 50 ml Distilled Water
• 14 ml Liquefied Antimony
• 32 grams Stargrass
• 302 ml Boom Berry Juice
• 23 drops Essence of Dittany
• 5 pieces Fire Seeds
• 15 pieces Pure Rock Salt
• 5 strips Wiggentree Bark
• 5 pieces Fresh Betony Leaves

Procedure:

1. Clean all equipment to be used: Cauldron, Scales, Stirrers, Phials, Etc.;
2. Bring 50 ml Distilled Water to a boil in medium heat;
3. Add finely chopped 32 grams of Stargrass. Use a silver dagger for this step;
4. Add 302 ml Boom Berry Juice and stir counter-clockwise for three minutes pause 5 seconds, and continue to stir the solution counter-clockwise for another two minutes. Use a glass stirrer for this step;
5. Remove the stirrer from the cauldron, and add 23 drops of Essence of Dittany into the solution;
6. Let 3 minutes pass, and then adjust the heat to low. Slowly add 5 fire seeds into the solution after 2 minutes. Use your dragon-hide gloves for this procedure;
7. Add 15 pieces of pure rock salt one by one, and stir the solution counter-clockwise for five minutes until the solution turns primrose yellow. This will indicate that the solution has been activated to counter the effect of poisoning;
8. Lay 5 strips of Wiggentree bark on the surface of the solution, and slowly push it one by one to the inner wall of your cauldron. Turn the heat back to medium and wait for the potion to boil;
9. Once bubbles appear, crush 5 fresh Betony Leaves with your hand, and add it to the boiling liquid. The potion should turn a shade of Sapphire Blue;
10. Wait five minutes, and then turn off the heat. Let the potion cool for 15 minutes, and then bottle it in glass phials using a clean Pasteur Pipette (dropper). Label your potions;
11. Scrape off the dreg at the bottom of the cauldron, and pack it in a tin box. Draw the Asclepius Staff with your wand, while saying the incantation: Venenum Inverto (nullify the poison).

Five minutes felt like an awful long time. Apparently it was long enough for Hattie to manage to do a quick sketch of Flynn Kowalski on the corner of her parchment. Awkward. That was not what she was meant to be doing. She glanced around, before quickly turning her parchment over. Nobody needed to see that. Her timer dinged, indicating that it had been 5 minutes. Perfect. She grabbed the stirrer, so that it didn't stir any longer. She did not need to go wrong by stirring for two much. The potion was a kind of yellowy colour. It was close to primrose she guessed. She wasn't he best potion brewer in the world, so Hattie was pretty content with that success for now.

Now onto the next step. Picking up the Wiggemtree leaves, she laid them onto her potion, before carefully pushing each one in turn towards the inner wall of the cauldron. She though that was slightly strange. Wouldn't the leave just stick to the cauldron. She had a few issues getting them towards the inner wall, but they did eventually go then. Just needed a bit of force. Hattie then turned the flame back up under her cauldron, so it was on a medium temperature.

And now she had to wait for it to boil. So she sat herself back down, and waited. Hopefully no drawings would occur this time round.

After waiting for his stirring to be complete he looked at his notes to see that he needed to take the stirrer out of the cauldron. Grabbing the Essence of Dittany he began to count to the 23 total drops needed. ”Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three. Sweet,” he glanced back down at his notes. Three minutes of resting. He glanced up at the other students in the room to see that he was still on par with them for actually finishing his potion. While he liked other courses he was taking, this one felt so much easier than the other courses every time he was in the classroom.

Lost in his thoughts he almost didn’t adjust the heat to low at the three-minute mark. Crap he quickly lowered the heat to low. His notes said he needed to add the fire seed into the potion. Pulling his gloves back onto his hands he began adding the five fire seed into the potion. Now onto 15 pieces of rock salt, one at a time. He started dropping the rocks into the potion, ”thirteen, fourteen, fifteen” he mumbled under his breath. He saw that he needed to stir counter-clockwise again for five minutes. Lovely, he thought as he began stirring again, watching the pot for that primrose color he needed to find.

What exactly did primrose even look like, he had no idea what it was to be primrose yellow, but he was hoping that he would know when he saw it because otherwise his potion would end up something it wasn’t supposed to be. The potion finally turned a yellow color at the five-minute mark, he assumed it was the primrose color that his professor had mentioned.

Glancing down at his notes he saw that he was to lay five strips of Wiggentree bark on the surface. What the heck was the purpose of that? Shrugging his shoulder, he began to lay the bark into the cauldron pushing it toward the inner wall of his cauldron. Now he needed to get the flames going again, grabbing his wand he brought the flames back up to a medium heat and began the wait for the potion to bubble.

Checking his progress with his other classmates he noticed that many of them were nearly finished, or actually finished. A bubbling noise started coming from his cauldron, he noticed the bubbles were starting to appear, good he hadn’t missed the chance to finish the potion. He felt like he was a chicken with its head cut off right now because he felt all over the place. Now he needed to crush the 5 Betony Leaves into the potion. ”Here goes nothing.” it was kind of terrifying coming to the end because you either did it or you didn’t do it.

The leaves crumbled in his palm and fell into the cauldron. Now he just needed to make sure that the color was the Sapphire Blue that his notes told him it needed to be. Glancing over the rim of the cauldron he noticed that it was starting to change over to that sapphire blue color he needed it to be. Clapping his hands together he was so happy with the results thus far. Now more waiting.

Waiting.

Thankfully this time it was only five minutes. Now he just had to take away the heat. And let it sit for fifteen minutes. He figured that he could label his potions now since he didn’t want to risk dropping his potion since class was almost nearing an end. He wrote Patrick Dooley, Slytherin on the side of the tin and the bottle that the potion would be going into. He looked around at the other students as he continued to wait.

Aw nuts. There was even MORE waiting to do? Zoryn hated this so much. Potions really was the worst. Who the heck did they think she is!?! Zoryn Amari Spinnet can't just sit around and WAIT. To keep herself distracted, the Gryffindor pulled out one of those flyers that had been put up in the common room. She had to make sure she was the most prepared for these play auditions so that she'd get the leading role.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity and a half Zor decided that five minutes was up and that she could go back to her-- WAIT, SHE HAD TO WAIT AGAIN??????

This was so bogus.

Her potion wasn't even blue yet.

Disgruntled, she turned off the heat and took out a label. Might as well make some use of the time, yeah? She began with scribbling her own name on it before deciding that she didn't like how it turned out. So she took out another paper to do it again. This persisted for all of seven different labels. And by the time she had gotten to the last one, it felt like time had worn down.

Deciding that she ought to check to see if her potion was actually cool enough, Zoryn stuck a single finger into her cauldron. Yeah, it was alright.

Using the dropper, she bottled up her potion in some of the glass phials and stuck her name labels on them so that Professor Healer Reed would know. Normally this is the part in the class where everything is done and they were dismissed except this time there was still one last task to be done involving the potion.

The third year went ahead and scrapped off the dreg at the bottom of the cauldron and carefully packed it all up in the tin box. "Venenum Inverto," she said while attempting to make the staff thing with her wand (a total failure, by the way).

He looked at his notes again and at the time. His hands a bit sweetie from working with the steam of the cauldron when he rubbed his cheek he then noticed something on his hand. "What the???" He looked around and then turned over his spoon to see his reflection in it.

"WHO WROTE ON ME?"


Eddie was never one to raise his voice or even speak louder than a whisper most days, but this was something he needed to know now. He wasn't going to be the joke of the school, no, he would be the death of this school before ever being the joke. Did the lady that was here see anything, maybe she would tell him?

He turned to focus again, but he was irritated and the focus part wasn't going to work out so well. Instead of thinking about his potion he started thinking about ways to make the person pay that did this. Poison would be too obvious after last term and this lesson so he would have to think about something else.

Ok three minutes was up, so Ace took to lower the heat on his burner which was made to simmer for two more minutes. In the meantime he prepped his gloves again and then removed the seal from the container that held the fireseeds he picked up from the library. Dropping those in, he could hear the fireseeds sizzle as they swam in the solution. He grabbed the tweezers and dropped the rock salt piece by piece. In goes the glass stirrer again, and he commanded it to stir in the same direction as before for five minutes. Well it may be a whole lot of waiting but hey the automation does allow him to actually chill like look at Vi some more.

About halfway through the stirring process he can see that his solution is turning a nice shade of yellow. This thing is actually starting to look yummy. Color changes also means its time for the Wiggentree bark to join the party in the pot, and he intro'd them in as instructed before cranking the heat back up to medium. Shouldnt be long before these start to boil yeah?

He cracked open the seal on the container for the Betony leaves they collected earlier, and crushed them over the solution which is now in a rolling boil, and almost immediately the solution turned into a nice shade of blue. Seems like he's right on track. Five more minutes of this and he could start winding everything down. In the meantime, he should go prep the labels for his containers....

Text Cut: notes

Potion: Antidote to Uncommon Poisons No. 005 (Hospital Grade)
Effect(s): This healing potion cures the effects brought about uncommon poisons. This formula has been altered to have a stronger effect, covering a wider range of poisons known to wizard-kind.

Ingredients:

• 50 ml Distilled Water
• 14 ml Liquefied Antimony
• 32 grams Stargrass
• 302 ml Boom Berry Juice
• 23 drops Essence of Dittany
• 5 pieces Fire Seeds
• 15 pieces Pure Rock Salt
• 5 strips Wiggentree Bark
• 5 pieces Fresh Betony Leaves

Procedure:

1. Clean all equipment to be used: Cauldron, Scales, Stirrers, Phials, Etc.;
2. Bring 50 ml Distilled Water to a boil in medium heat;
3. Add finely chopped 32 grams of Stargrass. Use a silver dagger for this step;
4. Add 302 ml Boom Berry Juice and stir counter-clockwise for three minutes pause 5 seconds, and continue to stir the solution counter-clockwise for another two minutes. Use a glass stirrer for this step;
5. Remove the stirrer from the cauldron, and add 23 drops of Essence of Dittany into the solution;
6. Let 3 minutes pass, and then adjust the heat to low. Slowly add 5 fire seeds into the solution after 2 minutes. Use your dragon-hide gloves for this procedure;
7. Add 15 pieces of pure rock salt one by one, and stir the solution counter-clockwise for five minutes until the solution turns primrose yellow. This will indicate that the solution has been activated to counter the effect of poisoning;
8. Lay 5 strips of Wiggentree bark on the surface of the solution, and slowly push it one by one to the inner wall of your cauldron. Turn the heat back to medium and wait for the potion to boil;
9. Once bubbles appear, crush 5 fresh Betony Leaves with your hand, and add it to the boiling liquid. The potion should turn a shade of Sapphire Blue;
10. Wait five minutes, and then turn off the heat. Let the potion cool for 15 minutes, and then bottle it in glass phials using a clean Pasteur Pipette (dropper). Label your potions;
11. Scrape off the dreg at the bottom of the cauldron, and pack it in a tin box. Draw the Asclepius Staff with your wand, while saying the incantation: Venenum Inverto (nullify the poison).

Notes of interest:

• The quantity of each ingredient is a product of Five; the number for Healing;
• The stirring movement is counter-clockwise; activating the healing properties of each ingredient, ultimately reversing the effects of the poison;
• The healing properties of each ingredient becomes more potent because of the presence of Fire Seeds. Said ingredient is born of the alchemical element fire, which represents life;
• Salt is one of the Three Principles in Alchemy or one of the component s of the Universal Language of Nature. Naturally it is a product of the Earth and Water elements—the same elements associated with humans and beings. Salt can preserve (the body of the victim) and corrodes (to nullify the poison. In this context, it will absorb the dark/evil energies present), thus making the potion more potent;
• The dreg can be used together with the potion to enhance its effect. The Asclepius Staff* should be drawn on the victim's tongue using the dreg while reciting the incantation: Venenum Inverto

*The Asclepius Staff is an alchemical symbol (and a universal medical symbol) for healing (or doctors in the muggle world).

After waiting for the longest 15 minutes of his life, he finally got to put the potion in its glass container that he had labeled. He grabbed his Pasteur Pipette and began to transfer the potion to the vials. This was way more tedious than stirring counter-clockwise for any amount of time. He finally saw the dreg at the bottom of the cauldron and danced with glee.

Slowly and cautiously scraping the bottom of the cauldron he began to pack down the dreg in the tin box the professor had provided for the class. Finally, had the tin full of the dreg. He grabbed his wand and readied himself to say the incantation that was needed to ensure that the dreg worked. He paused with his wand ready, afraid he might mess up the incantation and lose all of his precious work. With a big sigh he moved his wand as professor had said while saying, “Venenum Inverto”. Patrick smiled as he watched the Asclepius Staff appear, he had done it right. He had never felt so much relief as he did in that moment.

He had done it, this semester was only going to get better he figured as he set to washing his hands afraid something bad might happen if he didn’t.

Ooooh. It had finally boiled. That was good. She jumped up from her stool, ready for the next step. She just wanted to get done with this potion now, because it was kind of hard work, and she was getting a bit of a headache from all of the concentrating. But if that meant that she did good, then she would be happy. She picked up her 5 betony leaves, and crushed them in her hand. That was kind of icky. She'd have to make sure she washed her hands later. Carefully, so she didn't burn herself, she added the crushed leaves to her potion. She leant on her tip toes, watching as her potion turned into the sapphire blue colour. "Yaaay" That meant she had to have done something right since it kind looked the right colour. That made Hattie very happy.

Oh no. Some more waiting. She put 5 minutes on the timer, and then mooched around, tidying things up, so that she didn't have too much to do later. The timer dinged, and she was quick to move onto the next step. She really didn't want to make a mistake. Harriet turned the heat off, and then sat back down, making some notes as she waited the 15 minutes whilst the potion cooled down.

There was a lot of waiting in this potion. Hattie decided that she didn't like it. She wasn't that much of a patient person. So it was probably a good thing that she wasn't going to be making potions for a living. She would not be able to try and be patient all of the time. It just would not work. Once the 15 minutes had gone by, dining off on her time, she carefully picked up her phials, and using the pipette she put her potion into the phials, and then labelled it up with her name. She did not want anyone taking credit for her potion, not after she had worked so hard on it.

After all of the potion was in the phials, she leant in and carefully scraped the dregs off the bottom of her cauldron, and put them into the tin box. Tis was weird, but she did it anyway. Hattie then drew the Asclepius Staff over the tin whilst saying "Venenum Inverto" She didn't really know if it had worked. But she was so done now.

So she popped her wand, and the tin box down on the bench, and began cleaning her cauldron and stuff down. Then she could rest. She had totally earned it.

Scarlett was scribbling like mad in her notes - OMG. Potions had suddenly gotten HARD now that Professor/Healer Reed was teaching. She had thought for sure after her awesome OWL score in this class that she was just going to coast through the next few years - big mistake. Huge.

First things first as she frantically tried to catch up - clean her materials. She took out her wand and waved it over her cauldron, silently casting Scourgify on the cauldron as well as her stirrer. She then took her vials and measuring equipment and did the same. She then pointed her wand at the cauldron and cast Aguamenti, measuring out 50mL of water before stopping and then pointing her wand at the base of her cauldron. A second later, she'd cast Incendio and the water began to boil. She smiled to herself at how fast she was able to get her station set up. Quick and efficient, but good quality still!

She then took her silver dagger and the Stargass and began to chop it up finely. This was always one of the hardest parts for her, and she squinted so she could make sure it was nice and fine as she chopped it up. Chop chop chop. Once she figured she had about 32 grams (just by eyeballing it) she took it and placed it on her scale. About 35....she took a pinch of it off...ok, there we go! 32 grams. Perfect. She peeked at her cauldron and was happy to see that the medium heat had brought it to a boil while she was chopping and she added her ingredients to the cauldron.

River had been zig-zagging his way around the room, correcting and helping those who got his attention. There was of course, the occasional tuts whenever he caught students being careless. Again, they were supposed to be responsible with their actions, and if things went kaboom-- not his fault. Instructions had been very clear, yes?

Also, River squinted at Mr Blaze. The Healer rolled his eyes, and moved on. He had it coming, did he know?

And then there was the question. A very good observation in fact. So someone was actually paying attention? Good! "Ah, yes. The Antimony is what makes this potion Hospital Grade. SO, with that in mind, you have to add it after bottling it. No need to add it on the dreg version." River was mightily impressed by this. Yes.

And since some of them were already done, River began to hand them out the liquefied antimony and watched them add it to their bottled solutions.


OOC: My internet has gone from worst to NONE EXISTENT. It's been really wonky the last two weeks, so apologies to all who were waiting on River. ANYWAY. If you're done, you can RP getting the Antimony from River and adding it to your finished product. You have 3 hours left before I close this thread. THANK YOU!

As he kept an eye on the cauldron, Remy carefully measured out the 14mls of liqufied antimony into his second measuring jug and then followed that by measuring 302ml of boom berry juice into his re-cleaned first measuring jug so that it was sitting ready once he got to that stage of the potion. Just so he was ready. Usually he complained about having to use so much equipment but it really did just make more sense. There, both jugs held an important ingredient… but the water still wasn’t boiling.

He looked out his timer from his bag and set it next to the chopping board that held the stargrass. Checking on his cauldron once more he noted that the water was simmering rather than boiling - so he left it alone and organised the next ingredient since his equipment was already laid out on the table. Since his essence of dittany was already in a vial with a squeezable dropper, he skipped it to count fifteen pieces of rock salt out into a small container.

OH! Boiling! He thought as he looked at his cauldron. From there, he carefully added the finely chopped stargrass into the boiling water and antimony mix, being careful to only touch the ingredient with the silver dagger. He wasn’t sure, but it seemed important - perhaps the silver had some form of alchemic compound that helped the stargrass? Huh. Would need to remember to speak to Healer Reed about that too.

Next, he added the boom berry juice and then carefully, trying to be as precise and as rhythmically in sync as possible, he started to stir the potions counter-clockwise with the glass stirrer. When he put the stirrer into the potion with his right hand, he started the timer to three minutes with his left hand - and then kept stirring until the little gadget chimed. He watched the counter move on a further five seconds and then started his stirring again. The timer was reset for a further two minutes.

Removing the glass stirrer from the cauldron, Remy let out a breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding. While he had been working hard on his potion skills, he wasn’t a natural at them and he had to focus every time definitive stirring was required - he simply didn’t have that type of patience or precision naturally… though he seemed to do okay with concentration. A lot of concentration. Placing the stirrer on top of the used chopping board next to the used silver dagger, Remy moved to pick up the Dittany vial.

One... Two… Three… In went the drops as Remy counted. Seven… Eight… Nine… Watching carefully to make sure a spare drop didn’t make it into the potion without his knowledge, Remy completely forgot about the rest of the class as he was so engrossed in this healing potion. It was a feeling he often experienced in Defense Against the Dark Arts or when he was training -- but it was nice to see that he could find that peace in Potions since it was going to be a crucial part of his future. Twenty… Twenty-One… Twenty-Two… Twenty-Three…

Stepping back from his potion, Remy left it alone for the three minutes that were specified. Once again, his little timer got set.

And now it was time to work with the dreg at the bottom of her cauldron. Only ... reading her notes about the ingredient list, Skylar realized that she hadn't added all the ingredients. She did everything according to procedure; water - check; Stargrass - check; Boom berry Juice - check; Essence of Dittany - check .... and halfway through the list, Healer Reed addressed the concerns of the missing ingredient.

Oh. Antimony makes the potion Hospital Grade. Skylar noted down, thinking one less ingredient she had to research about the purpose of. Taking the liquid antimony, she added it to the labeled phial of potion and then set to work on collecting her dregs. Scraping the bottom of the cauldron, she carefully scraped it into the tin canister, thinking how reminiscent it was of used coffee grinds. And thankfully the asclepius staff wasn't that difficult to sketch, something of which Skylar carefully etched onto the canister. "Venenum Inverto" she said. Huh, so the dregs were poisonous by itself, then?

And she was done. Now to clean up her work area!

Maddie nodded. "I'll let you know! I'm even surprising myself, though! This is one of the first potions I've ever brewed by myself," she said. She smiled at the older prefect then turned back to her potion. So where was she again? She'd just added the five fire seeds... That meant she was on the seventh step! Seven out of eleven wasn't really that bad, so she seriously might be able to finish this!

She turned toward the pure rock salt and counted out the fifteen pieces. She then began adding them to her cauldron one by one. "...twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen," she mumbled to herself. She stirred the solution counter-clockwise as she kept careful watch of the time. Five minutes and five minutes only! The potion was turning a really awesome shade of yellow, which excited Maddie. This was turning into an actual potion that might really work! She counted out five pieces of wiggentree bark and laid them out on the surface of the surface of the solution. Then she pushed them one by one to the inner wall of the cauldron. That part was kind of fun to watch happen!

With that done, she turned the heat back to medium then waited for things to come to a boil. Just a few more steps!

hile the timer continued to count down the seconds, Remy non-verbally scourgified the items that he had already used. The dropper, the silver dagger, the chopping board, the glass stirrer, both measuring jugs. Checking the time once more, he noted that he had a minute left - a minute that he spent looking further down the potion, making sure he knew what was to be done next, it was never bad to know a few steps ahead.

Pulling on his dragon-hide gloves when the time passed into the last thirty seconds, Remy picked up his wand and when the timer ran out, he adjusted the heat of the potion down to low before resetting his timer for another two minutes. Although the heat being low/medium/high wasn’t as exact a science as he would have liked, Remy hoped that he had been making enough potions by now to get it right. Hopefully.

With the heat of the potion changed and the timer dinging once again, the Seventh year picked up the first fire seed and gently placed it in the solution that was gently heating. Slowly… Wasn’t very descriptive. He added them one at a time, and hoped that placing them into the potion one tip first and then lowering it to the surface equated slow - like you would if you were getting into an over full bath and wanted to keep the water from sloshing out all over the floor with the displacement.
Two. Three. Four. Five.

Next came adding the pure rock salt. Again, he used his gloves to make sure the potion didn’t burn or poison him. He placed the first piece of rock salt into the liquid, and then the second. Hmm, silently he wondered why it was important to add them one by one, but perhaps it was the act of time or the slow seep of melting salt? Who knew. Six. Seven. Eight. Careful to add them in set time, Remy kept adding until he had added the required fifteen pieces of pure rock salt.

With that added, he followed the end of the instruction and stirred the potion in a counter-clockwise direction for five minutes. Once again, his timer got set as he tried to keep his stirring motion steady and even. He wasn’t sure if it was important - but he really wanted his option to turn yellow ate this step. What even was primrose yellow? Wasn’t there only yellow and gold? Maybe he should have paid more attention to Olly and his painting skills… Urgh… Well, here’s hoping.

Aha! ...The potion had started bubbling, which meant that it was time to add the Betony leaves. She crushed them in her right hand and dropped them into the solution and watched as they essentially disappeared. After a moment or so, the potion turned sapphire blue, - there was no question about that, it was a strikingly pretty colour - which meant that her brew was still successful.

Next step...

Ah. More waiting... Of course...

To pass the time, Rhea started adding to her notes, glancing at the clock every now and again. When five minutes had passed, she turned the heat off and prepared herself for another fifteen minutes of w a i t i n g. Plenty of time for her to copy the extra information about the potion there were brewing.

After letting the potion cool for fifteen minutes, she took up a clean pasteur pipette and started pipetting the solution into glass phials as instructed. It was a time-consuming step but it was soon done and she moved on to labelling them.

Finally, she was on the final step. And potentially, for her, the hardest step. Scrapping the dregs from the bottom of the cauldron was least pleasant part of the entire brewing experience and she was relieved when she'd finished packing the dregs into a tin. There. Now to draw the symbol. She practised a few times to make sure she could do it properly and then did it on the tin itself and confidently muttered the incantation. She wanted this to be done now. "Venenum Inverto." Was that it? Was it done?

........

SPOILER!!: Rhea's notes

5 pieces betony leaves / 32g stargrass / 5 pieces fireseeds

Antidote to Uncommon Poisons No. 005 (Hospital Grade)

➸ Ingredients
50 ml Water (distilled)
14 ml Antimony (liquefied)
32 g Stargrass
302 ml Boom Berry Juice
23 drops Essence of Dittany
5 p. Fireseeds
15 p. Pure Rock Salt
5 strips Wiggentree Bark
5 p. Betony leaves (fresh)

➸ Effects
Cures the effects of uncommon poisons. Altered to have a stronger effect. Covers a wider range of poisons known to wizard kind.

➸ Procedure
1. Clean equipment / cauldron, scales, stirrers, phials, etc.
2. Bring 50 ml Distilled Water to boil in medium heat
3. Add 32 g Stargrass (finely chopped) / use a silver dagger
4. Add 302 ml Boom Berry Juice & stir counter-clockwise for three minutes, pause 5 seconds, & continue to stir the solution counter-clockwise for another two minutes / use a glass stirrer
5. Remove stirrer from cauldron & add 23 drops of Essence of Dittany
6. Let 3 minutes pass & adjust the heat to low. Slowly add 5 fire seeds into the solution after 2 minutes / use dragon-hide gloves
7. Add 15 pieces of pure rock salt one by one, & stir the solution counter-clockwise for five minutes until the solution turns primrose yellow. This indicates that the solution has been activated to counter the effect of poisoning
8. Lay 5 strips of Wiggentree bark on the surface of the solution, & slowly push in one by one to the inner wall of your cauldron. Turn heat back to medium & wait for the potion to boil
9. Once bubbles appear, crush 5 fresh Betony Leaves with your hand, & add to the boiling liquid. The potion should turn a shade of Sapphire Blue
10. Wait five minutes, & then turn off the heat. Let the potion cool for 15 minutes, & then bottle it in glass phials using a clean Pasteur Pipette. Label your potions
11. Scrape off the dreg at the bottom of the cauldron, & pack it in a tin box. Draw the Asclepius Staff with your wand, while saying the incantation: Venenum Inverto (nullify the poison)

➸ Notes
The quantity of each ingredient is a product of Five; the number for Healing;
The stirring movement is counter-clockwise; activating the healing properties of each ingredient, ultimately reversing the effects of the poison;
The healing properties of each ingredient becomes more potent because of the presence of Fire Seeds. Said ingredient is born of the alchemical element fire, which represents life;
Salt is one of the Three Principles in Alchemy or one of the component s of the Universal Language of Nature. Naturally it is a product of the Earth and Water elements—the same elements associated with humans and beings. Salt can preserve (the body of the victim) and corrodes (to nullify the poison. In this context, it will absorb the dark/evil energies present), thus making the potion more potent;
The dreg can be used together with the potion to enhance its effect. The Asclepius Staff* should be drawn on the victim's tongue using the dreg while reciting the incantation: Venenum Inverto

*The Asclepius Staff is an alchemical symbol (and a universal medical symbol) for healing (or doctors in the muggle world).

There was ANOTHER ingredient to add?! Emmeline groaned inside her head so Mr. Healer couldn't hear her at the thought. She had been happily doodling creatures on the edges of her incomplete super good notes for the last five minutes, thinking she was all done. But she remembered her manners, so she did say "thank you" to Mr. Healer when he gave her the liquid antimony or whatever it was called. She even managed to dredge up a small smile.

A smile that grew by accident when she heard Eddie yelling. Guess he'd finally noticed he looked like a kitty. She kind of hoped that no one sold Mr. Ronan out, though, 'cause Eddie really was good at gross spells in dueling and stuff. That wouldn't be cool.

The Gryffindor opened up her bottled potion and carefully poured the last ingredient inside. She watched hopefully 'cause her potion was a way darker blue than the sapphire color it was supposed to be, but it only got a little bit lighter in color. Oh well. She supposed she had gotten some of the timing or stirring wrong like she always did in Potions. Emmeline put the top back on her labelled potion in the glass phial thingy and went back to doodling a demiguise and waiting for the lesson to finally end.

As Remy stirred the potion, it definitely changed colour - and it definitely became yellow. He just couldn’t define the ...shade… of yellow? It was simply yellow. Just like blue was blue and green was green. He never had understood Marsha and Melbourne talking about variants in colour… it just was to the Hufflepuff man. He couldn’t see it. Anyway, he was getting distracted which wasn’t a good thing mid-potion.

Pulling his mind back to the potion, he picked up his wiggentree bark container and placed the first strip onto the top of the liquid like he had done with the fire seeds. Two. Three. Four. Five. Once they were all resting on top of the potion, he carefully pushed each one to the edge of his cauldron. Satisfied, he quickly scourgified his gloves before he picked up his wand once more and changed the heat of the potion back up to a medium heat.

And then he waited once more for the potion to come back to a boil. This time, there was no specified time limit, so he made sure to have the betony leaves close by and his gloves were off… but until then his mind wandered. Silently, he wondered what Toric was doing… if he was working, or if he was playing with Selene or visiting Tallyn. He sighed and pulled his mind away from that train of thoughts before it descended into too much of a spiral and he couldn’t get his mind back on track. Again, that wasn’t good for his potion.

He turned his attention back to the liquid, watching it as the bark slowly disintegrated and the liquid began to heat up once again. Once the first bubbles appeared, he picked up the five betony leaves, scrunched them up in his hand and added all of them to the liquid. Finally, a step that was quicker than the rest. Eyeing the potion, he grinned as the potion turned blue. Wahey! Though, again… don’t ask him if it was Sapphire blue, what the heck kind of colour was that?? He was getting somewhere. Turning the timer on for another five minutes once the potion had finished turning colour, Remy once again set about tidying and scourgifying anything that he was finished using. When the timer dinged once more, he turned off the heat.

Having cleaned up and scourgified his workstation in the meantime, Cameron then looked back into his cauldron. It LOOKED alright, although he wasn't sure if it should have changed colors again since the last time he'd checked. Sapphire blue anyone?

Using his wand he cleaned the pipette AGAIN and carefully extracted the potion before putting it into glass phials, filling them up one by one. After he was done with that step he labeled them with "Antidote to Uncommon Poisons No. 005" and wrote his name below that. For good measure he also added today's date. That could be relevant, right? In case this was used by someone. Not that he thought anyone would actually use STUDENTS attempts at brewing this in case of an actual emergency but it was still relevant information.

Once that was done he focused on the dregs.

But first his attention was caught by a certain dormmate yelling about about someone drawing on him. Cameron quickly glanced over to him. He would have been amused but honestly whoever had done this clearly had a death wish. Not literally perhaps but he definitely wouldn't recommend anyone get on Edward Blaze's bad side. Much less actively antagonize him. That was a bad move.

Sooooo back to his cauldron. Scraping off the dregs Cameron then put it into one of the tin boxes. And labeled that too. Finally he pulled out his wand and tried his best to draw the Asclepius Staff on the box with his wand. "Venemum Inverto." He could feel the magic through his wand but still wondered how they'd know if the spell had worked as designed.

Oh well. He was finished now. What was that about the Antimony?

Text Cut: Notes

Antidote to Uncommon Poisons No. 005

Ingredients:

• 50 ml Distilled Water
• 14 ml Liquefied Antimony
• 32 grams Stargrass
• 302 ml Boom Berry Juice
• 23 drops Essence of Dittany
• 5 pieces Fire Seeds
• 15 pieces Pure Rock Salt
• 5 strips Wiggentree Bark
• 5 pieces Fresh Betony Leaves

Procedure:

1. Clean all equipment to be used: Cauldron, Scales, Stirrers, Phials, Etc.;
2. Bring 50 ml Distilled Water to a boil in medium heat;
3. Add finely chopped 32 grams of Stargrass. Use a silver dagger for this step;
4. Add 302 ml Boom Berry Juice and stir counter-clockwise for three minutes pause 5 seconds, and continue to stir the solution counter-clockwise for another two minutes. Use a glass stirrer for this step;
5. Remove the stirrer from the cauldron, and add 23 drops of Essence of Dittany into the solution;
6. Let 3 minutes pass, and then adjust the heat to low. Slowly add 5 fire seeds into the solution after 2 minutes. Use your dragon-hide gloves for this procedure;
7. Add 15 pieces of pure rock salt one by one, and stir the solution counter-clockwise for five minutes until the solution turns primrose yellow. This will indicate that the solution has been activated to counter the effect of poisoning;
8. Lay 5 strips of Wiggentree bark on the surface of the solution, and slowly push it one by one to the inner wall of your cauldron. Turn the heat back to medium and wait for the potion to boil;
9. Once bubbles appear, crush 5 fresh Betony Leaves with your hand, and add it to the boiling liquid. The potion should turn a shade of Sapphire Blue;
10. Wait five minutes, and then turn off the heat. Let the potion cool for 15 minutes, and then bottle it in glass phials using a clean Pasteur Pipette (dropper). Label your potions;
11. Scrape off the dreg at the bottom of the cauldron, and pack it in a tin box. Draw the Asclepius Staff with your wand, while saying the incantation: Venenum Inverto (nullify the poison).

This time, when he set the timer he had very little to do as he had already cleaned up the items he had used. So, he set about packing away the rest of his potions ingredients to keep his desk tidy. Once that was done, he took out a selection of glass vials - that he scourgified to make sure he didn’t contaminate the potion at the last minute - for the liquid part of the potion and a tin container for the dreg’y stuff at the bottom. Silently, he pondered if this would look like used up tea leaves or coffee grind… but he guessed he would find out in another ten minutes.

Next, Remy took care in writing five labels that all said Remy Lex Edwards, 7th Year, Hufflepuff, Antidote to Uncommon Poisons 005. After all, he wouldn’t them assuming the potion was another potion of the same colour. That didn’t sound like it would be helpful at all.

When the timer buzzed for the last time, Remy used his dropper to collect up the potion, and carefully placed it in the first glass vial. And then the second. Third. Fourth. Hmm, that hadn’t been quite enough, so he took out a fifth vial for the remaining liquid. Setting them in the stand on his desk, he carefully stoppered each vial, placing a label on each vial. Then he scraped the bottom of his cauldron with a knife and carefully dragged the knife along the edge of the tin to put the dreg into the container instead of on his knife. After repeating this five times, he had a full tin and an empty cauldron. Picking up his wand, he drew the staff symbol over his tin of gunk dreg and said ”Venenum Inverto.” and hoped that he said it correctly and that he hadn’t just screwed up all of that work.

WHEW. What a potion. What concentration.

Setting the closed, newly labelled tin beside the vial stand, Remy set about cleaning up the rest of his potion making ingredients that he hadn’t already cleaned - like the cauldron, the desk and his hands. Once everything was cleaned up, he sat back down and waited for the next set of instructions… or for the class to end. Whichever came first…. but while he waited, he made a list of questions that he wanted to ask Healer Reed about.

Maddie only had about three more steps left, and she was feeling pretty confident seeing as her cauldron still hadn't blown up. She decided to go ahead and finish those last three steps. They probably didn't have much time left, and if she didn't finish soon, she might not have time to finish at all. LET'S DO THIS. She peered into her cauldron and watched for bubbles, and the second they appeared, she clapped once out of excitement before starting the next step. She counted out five betony leaves and began crushing them with her hand. FUNNNN! Once they were all crushed up, she added them to the liquid.

Come on, turn blue...turn blue...turn... "YES!" she cheered. Look at that beautiful shade of blue! At the end of five minutes, she turned off the heat. OMG. She was almost done! Was it too early to go ahead and call this one a success?! It was hard for a kid like Maddie to wait out a whole fifteen minutes, but she did it. She then chose a clean Pasteur Pipette and began bottling her potion. She labeled her potion just like this:

MADDIE KEMP'S POTION!
Done without melting my cauldron
OR blowing up anything!

She then added the official name of the potion under her message. The very last step was to scrap off all that dreg and put it in a tin box. She spent the next few minutes doing just that to the very best of her ability. Once that was done, she took her wand and drew her very best Asclepius Staff. "Venenum Inverto!" she called out. The professor was passing out the liquefied antimony, so Maddie waved her hand high in the air to let him know she was ready for hers. "Thanks, Professor Healer Reed!" she said. Maddie added the liquefied antimony to her bottled potion, and with that, she was DONE.

Oh… so that is why they hadn’t added the antimony yet? They had to add it right at the end after it had cooled? 14mls for the whole vial? That seemed a lot… no wonder it was a potent potion. ”Sir? Is it 14mls regardless of the size of your vial?” He looked between his 5 vials, and while 4 of them had exactly the same amount of liquid, the last one was a slightly larger. But again… that didn’t seem quite right either.

”Or… am I over thinking it?” He muttered to himself, even as he picked up one of the four vials that held exactly the same amount of liquid. Unstoppering one of the bottles, he added the liquified antimony that Healer Reed had handed him and then changed the bottle label to read Remy Lex Edwards, 7th Year, Hufflepuff, Antidote to Uncommon Poisons 005, with added Antimony. Placing it back in the rack with the other vials, beside the dreg-y tin.

Now what? Was that it? Was class finished?

Patrick sighed. He was really hoping that he would have gotten it totally right the first time, but he figured if he had at least done exactly what the instructions had said so he did okay up to that point. He quickly went to get the Antimony and added it to his potion writing down in his notes not to add it to the dreg.

With that he brushed his hands feeling a little bit better, but then he wondered about the antimony, "Professor, what would have been the effect of the potion without the Antimony? Would it have just healed minor poisons and such?" he wasn't sure he understood the difference between the potion before he put the antimony in. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and looked at the professor.

Sam looked up from where she'd been diligently preparing her ingredients - all laid out and in order. She was particularly pleased with the neat chopping of her Stargrass, and had even written out and stuck on the labels for her vials and container for the dregs. The looking up was for the fact that they were mean to add the antimony at the end. Why was it listed second in the ingredients list then? Also, another question: why was it NOT needed in the dregs, but was needed in the vial? A quick glance at the clock told her she didn't have time to ask even if she wanted to, and she frustratedly lit the burner under her cauldron with a non-verbal Incendio.

The stargrass was added to the cauldron once the water was simmering, using the dagger to scoop it up in case that was important, with the boom berry juice soon following. Not possessing a watch, Sam pulled the timer from her potions kit closer, setting it on the edge of the desk where she could see it whilst stirring.

3 whole minutes of stirring with a glass rod. 5 seconds pause. And then another 2 minutes of stirring. All counter clockwise, obviously.

She was glad to give her arm a rest when the timer went off for the second time, and hoped that she'd been stirring at vaguely the right rhythm. Who knew?

Her 23 drops of dittany hadn't been measured previously, since she didn't know how important it was for them to be added in, well, drops. Twenty-three was a lot of count out, afterall - millilitres would have been much easier were it meant to be added in one shot, and probably more accurate too. She counted the drops out under her breath, so she (hopefully) wouldn't lose track with all the other hustle and bustle going on in the room. "One, two, three,..., twelve, thirteen,...twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three."

And now waiting for three minutes. Just enough time to clean up the dagger she'd finished with. She set the timer once more.