Stuart smiled at V. Yay for friends so he didn't have to sit alone in classes.

He raised his hand. "Depending on ingredients you could end up poisoning yourself." he offered. "Or someone else." It wasn't specific to the pumpkin potion but in general that was always a good answer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

Oh. Okay, so her idea wouldn't work after all. She wasn't surprised. She'd never even tried making her head into a pumpkin, so what did she know about it? She gave a little nod in reply. She got a little laugh out of the whole 'pumpkin with a migraine' comment he'd given someone else. Anyway...the people with comments about costumes and distractions during Quidditch had gotten closer to the right answer than she had. She really needed to start thinking less outside the box. Or maybe more outside the box. One of those.

So, wait...there were side effects to messing up on this? I mean, of course there were, but...that just gave Delilah a good reason to start being concerned about what they were about to do. What if she turned herself into a rotten pumpkin or something? Ewww... Hey, that sounded like a good answer! "What if you accidentally turned your head into a rotten pumpkin?" she suggested, raising her hand. Or ended up with orange spots on your face? Yeah, uhh...could she just try this potion on someone else instead?

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazykitty

Aaaaaaaand this is how Dia ends up failing potions. Not that she was doing so hot in the class anyway....

A basically useless potion that does something stupid? Ugh. At least give them something useful, Professor! "Probably nothing." Else, why would the Professor have thrown the question out like that? And the detail about how it was a great potion to fine-tune their measuring? Totally had to be nothing, right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Huh? Maybe her answer wasn’t much appreciated for it didn’t seem to draw much of a response from Hernandez. Still, there was the blanket remark about the answers provided being ‘very good’. Aria shrugged then proceeded to brainstorm an answer for the next question.

Hmm.

Delilah’s response had Aria laughing - softly, of course, so as to not disrupt the lesson. Someone being turned into a rotten pumpkin… just picturing that situation had her amused. Aria waved her hand around once more. “For a period of time, one’s head probably could change from a pumpkin to their regular head then the cycle repeats. So maybe they have the pumpkin head for a few seconds or a minute then POP! They have their regular head. POP! Pumpkin head and so on.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Again, Cooper would have been incredibly enthusiastic for some impractical potion brewing on any other day. The fine tuning and attention to detail was perfect for NEWT revision and having a silly outcome to get a chuckle from it afterwards too. At this moment, however, when Professor Hernandez casually mentioned that there was unlikely to be any real practical application to the brew...well...the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he shoved his quill back into his inkwell so quickly that a little splash of ink dotted his parchment and got on his fingers.

Leaning back a bit, the Ravenclaw casually glanced over to Lydia and may have chuckled a little under his breath as his head bowed down again to try and rub the ink off his finger. An impractical cleaning technique, but it was a distraction while he mellowed out enough to offer some sort of response this time.

"Cauldron could explode," he answered abruptly and with a gruffer tone than usual.

Quote:

Originally Posted by love-for-HP

Raising her hand again ... "Could you head be stuck as a pumpkin ... forever???" That seems liked a rather awful side effect if she did say so herself, who would want to stuck as a pumpkin forever ....

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayquilz

Victoria had stayed quiet with her head on her desk for the first question, but at the second question she sighed as she sat up, noting that she'd probably lose points soon if she didn't. Not like she cared that much, but it wasn't something worth losing points over.


"Is it easier to lose your head if its a pumpkin?" she said with morbid curiosity. But like...weren't pumpkins easy to slice? She supposed she could have asked a better and less...violent....question.

But whatever.

V was too tired to be concerned about others.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelliephone

Truthfully, kudos to the rest of his classmates. Evan had chosen to remain silent during discussion, other than a whispered hello to Ash as well when she had joined. He couldn't think of any practical uses or needs for a pumpkin head, though they'd all certainly been creative enough. Some of the answers were... odder than others, and it seemed most really just gave more of a feel of what they could reasonably expect from the potion. But that seemed worthwhile and helpful on it's own.

When the second question was posed, Evan considered mentioned it'd be easier for a first year to nom on your noggin, his mind still on some of the more chuckle worthy answers, but he didn't think Professor Hernandez would appreciate. He raised his hand, "I imagine you could accidentally make your pumpkin look different colors if not properly brewed. Which if your goal was disguise, might not give the desired affect." Hiding in a pumpkin patch with a giant purple pumpkin head would probably be pretty conspicuous.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

And so passes... that one pumpkin. RIPP. Rest in pumpkin pieces.

Milo took the replacement from Mr Hernandez with a simple, "Oh," which could have been taken any which way. 'Oh, that's a shame.' 'Oh, that's harrowing.' 'Oh, I don't mind.' 'Oh ho ho, it's magic, you know.' He placed the pumpkin on its side and lay his head down on it, listening closely. No beheadings today. Maybe tomorrow.

He stayed like this, blinking his eyes hard several times, and grimacing just once, and watching Mercer and trying to see if he could track the ticking of his brain just by watching his face. And he stayed like this still longer as he guessed at an answer. "Indigestion." That was a side effect of many things.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadAlice

"It could turn your head into an itty-bitty pumpkin, maybe, if you didn't brew it right,"Violet volunteered, thinking to herself that that would look silly and not be frightening at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by siriusblackliveson

Jacoby was seriously imagining all the ways this potion could go wrong. There is spontaneous combustion, wrong color, upset tummy, shrunken head... His eyes grew bigger. Raising his hand "Like someone else said, could your head be smaller, would it dry out and look a lot more like a shrunken head?" He was so sure his parents would be proud of him knowing something like that. Come on he really only wanted to learn potions so he could make things go boom and aid in an mischief.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Indigestion? Like... like because they were full of pumpkin in their STOMACH as well as in their head? Mercer gave Milo a wide eyed look, because Milo's brain was AMAZING. It would be a shame if his head was full of pumpkin instead.

"It would be real bad if you got the potion wrong and your head turns into spaghetti squash." Much too small for a head. Plus full of spaghetti.

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrocat

See, there was a problem here. You should never worry about having the side effects of a pumpkin head. THE PUMPKIN HEAD WAS THE SIDE EFFECT. YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE A PUMPKIN FOR A HEAD. Ash was quite confused by the light-hearted potion, and it showed. "Your head would be a pumpkin. That's the biggest problem." And yes, she was hung up on this fact. It agitated and frustrated her. Pumpkin??? Head??? Huh???

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady of Light

Very easy to mess up?? o_______o Valentina already started to feel nervous, definitely not looking forward to brewing the potion now. ugh. She stayed quiet for a few moments before raising her hand, somewhat hesitantly.

"Maybe.. your head will turn into a pumpkin at all??" There could be no side effect at all. She tapped her nails against her desk, really not liking some of the suggestions that her classmates came up with. Scary.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

Nerina didn’t care what the use was, rocking a pumpkin on one’s head would ruin any chances of showing off a beautiful head of hair, so she was decidedly against it. ...Even if it did have a sort of vintage Halloween vibe to the look.

She imagined all manner of disaster awaited those who weren’t fortunate enough to be good at potions. There were worse things than the pumpkin not forming at all. ”A messed up potion would probably end in you looking even more silly than you would with an actual, successful pumpkin formed on your head. Maybe you’d turn a ghastly shade of orange. It’s not everyone’s color, you know.” She turned her own locks orange once and it hadn’t been pretty.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LilFox06

Stuart smiled at V. Yay for friends so he didn't have to sit alone in classes.

He raised his hand. "Depending on ingredients you could end up poisoning yourself." he offered. "Or someone else." It wasn't specific to the pumpkin potion but in general that was always a good answer.

"Good answers, everyone," Javier said with a smile. "You all came up with some good scenarios, and I am here to let you know that most of them will not come to be if you mess up. The ingredients are not lethal if brewed incorrectly. Commonly, the potion can sometimes fail to wear off in a timely matter if brewed incorrectly but a simple reversal spell is all that is needed to fix it," he told them.

"The most common side effect is having an orange body instead of a pumpkin head, or having a head that resembles more of a basketball than your typical jack-o-lantern, with eyes and mouth appearing as though they're carved out of the pumpkin. Size of the pumpkin is dependent on your natural head shape, so usually you don't find a strange side effect in that, but it's not impossible depending on how poorly it's brewed" he explained. "Again, all these effects are easily fixed, and the potion itself is not DESIGNED to last very long even when brewed correctly."

"As for your question, Miss Prescott, that will only happen if you use rotted pumpkin in your potion, which you should NEVER be doing regardless of what you're brewing. Always use fresh ingredients unless otherwise stated," he reminded the first year.

"Now, onto the main event. First thing we have to do is pull the innards out of our pumpkins. You have each been provided a large scoop on your tablets," he explained, pointing them out as he walked by. "Using a Diffindo charm, please cut the top of your pumpkin off, around the stem. Scoop the pumpkin guts out onto your tray, and pull the seeds out as you do so, separating those into another pile. You do not need to completely clean out your pumpkin as the recipe calls for 2 cups of densely packed pumpkin innards - once you have that amount and have cleared all the seeds out, you can stop. Or carve your pumpkin if you're still in the Halloween spirit!" he added with a small smile.

"You may begin, I'll give you all about 10 minutes," he said before giving them a nod that they were free to start their work.

OOC: Hello hello! I am so sorry I didn't do individual replies - seasonal depression is kicking my booty this week. You have about 48 hours to complete this mini activity! You can do it all in one post if you would like, just as long as your character A. removes all the pumpkin guts as instructed and B. makes a separate pile of seeds you'll receive full credit. How you want to break it up is up to you!

Did Apollo see the use for turning your head into a pumpkin? Not at all. He was actually more curious to see if one could carve that pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern? Would that cause you to have actual scars on your face once changed back from the pumpkin? Also, Lisa Nam offered a very interesting strategy and made Apollo grateful she was not on the opposing quidditch team yet.

Side effects. "Uh... pumpkins rot, so you could end up with a rotting pumpkin for your head and ew. No one wants thats." He shrugged.

Victoria’s face slowly evolved into that of extreme disgust the more the professor talked and explained what they were doing next. Scooping out the INNARDS of the pumpkin? V had maybe carved a pumpkin ONCE when she was a kid and her dad had wanted to, and it had been absoluuuuuutely disgusting. “Ugh. NO way am I carving it after,” she muttered to Stewie as she took her wand out to cut off the top. “Have you ever carved a pumpkin?” She asked as she did the DIFFINDO and cut the top off.

She placed the top to the side and leaaaaned over the top of the pumpkin. UUgggghhhhh. “I don’t want to touch it with my hands. Did I bring my gloves?” She began to frantically search her bag. Pumpkin insides were GROSS.

Use a DIFFINDO CHARM? Mercer raised his wand and then lowered it a few times before giving the pumpkin a puzzled look. Like... probably the incantation was 'Diffindo', but if it CUT things, he wasn't sure he wanted to try it out for the first time for realsies.

Was there a knife?

He dropped his wand and picked up the scoop, giving the top of his pumpkin a nudge with the scoopy end. "Can someone cut my pumpkin? I don't know that spell yet. And I don't think you want me cutting things, just saying."

Zoning in and out of focus, the consequence of an improperly brewed potion not being enough to capture his full attention at the moment, Cooper zoned back in when there were instructions being relayed to the class on how to prep their pumpkins. Not feeling at ALL in the Halloween spirit, there would be no carving done for this Ravenclaw. Instead the seventh year turned to his notes and began adding to them.

Quote:

THE POMPION POTION
popion: modification of Middle French pompon; Italian popone from classical Latin pepōn-, pepō | a kind of pumpkin/gourd/melon
When drunk, causes the drinker's head to turn into a pumpkin temporarily

PREPARATION STAGE

1. cut the top of your pumpkin off around the stem (use Diffindo)
2. scoop out the innards of the pumpkin and set aside
3. separate the seeds from the pulp (make sure there are no seeds remaining inside your pumpkin)
4. recipe calls for2 cups of densely packed pumpkin, so ensure you have that amount available

His fingers still stained a bit from ink, Cooper tried not to be too disgruntled about the dark smears that appeared in the margins on his parchment. It had been his own doing that they were there in the first place so he could only be upset with himself. Which, well, was also part of what had him so grumpy today.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Use a DIFFINDO CHARM? Mercer raised his wand and then lowered it a few times before giving the pumpkin a puzzled look. Like... probably the incantation was 'Diffindo', but if it CUT things, he wasn't sure he wanted to try it out for the first time for realsies.

Was there a knife?

He dropped his wand and picked up the scoop, giving the top of his pumpkin a nudge with the scoopy end. "Can someone cut my pumpkin? I don't know that spell yet. And I don't think you want me cutting things, just saying."

Know what could help pull him from his disgruntled state? Someone having an issue and Cooper able to provide a solution. Mercer coming in a clutch once again. Smiling, the seventh year moved over towards his brother and Milo. He half wished that some of Milo's smashed pumpkin were still around so that they could use that for practice. "I think I want you to try," he nudged his brother gently. "You got this, bud. Just make sure the tip of your wand it pointed where you want to make the cut and then move it nice and slow along the path you want to cut. It's really not much different than using a knife, save for you don't need to put any physical force on the object." Cooper smiled and picked up Mercer's wand, twirling it around in his fingers a bit before offering to this brother with the handle towards his favorite first year. "This is all practice, Mercer. You got this."

Interesting. This was all very interesting. Aria scribbled her notes, head tilted to the side as it was whenever she wrote. The point about fresh ingredients also was jotted down even though she knew this long before even attending Hogwarts. Aria twirled her wand in hand, having replaced it from the quill. “Diffindo!” she muttered confidently. Light green light shot from her wand to cut away at the top, the part around the stem.

Scoop in hand, Aria began removing the ‘guts’ of the pumpkin, humming as she did so. The guts made one pile, and when she averaged there was enough for two densely packed cups, the next step was moved onto. Still humming quietly, Aria removed the seeds, dropping them to make another pile. Toasted pumpkin seeds later, anyone?

Summer who had been sitting quietly through the questioning because she was so confused, why didn't her mother Angel tell her that Hogwarts was like this, seriously you didn't know if you were coming or going.

Summer looked towards the Professor as she asked them to use a Diffindo charm or something like that to cut a pumkin, like seriously what spell was that, and why weren't they just using a cutting object like everyone else would. "Professor what's the incantation for this spell or the wand movement?" Yeah like she would need to know that right.

SPOILER!!: Question 1 & 2 catch up

Rosa was inspecting her pumpkin for damage after it's previous fall as Professor Hernandez began the lesson. What uses could she have of turning her own head into a pumpkin for an hour or two. Raising her hand Rosa said. "Well you could use a pumpkinhead as a part of your halloween costume if you wanted to go all in.

Rosa was a bit nervous about using her pumpkin in the potential potion brew, but that would come later. First she had to come up with side-effects of brewing the potion incorrectly. "I suppose you could get an orange body instead of a head or the pumpkin head doesn't take the shape it should which could be frightening." And be a cause for worry and make you want to turn your head back to normal directly.

It was good to hear from Prof Hernandez that all the most common side-effects and others could be taken away by a simple finite spell. Rosa wouldn't want to be stuck with a pumpkin head. Of course they were going to get physical with their pumpkins. Pulling out her wand she muttered confidently "Diffindo!" as she chopped off the head of her pumpkin and began pulling out the innards with her fingers mumbling "Ewwww!" to herself as she set them aside and began on the seeds. Would her fingers smell like pumpkin for the rest of the day?

Jacoby bent his head aptly writing the instructions down because he had honestly figured this would be a fun thing to know later. He glanced around to see if his twin was paying attention. Not wanting to look for him too long he began writing. Turning his pumpkin a few times he glanced at the older kid (Cooper)giving advice about how to ensure that they took care of the charm correctly.

Taking a deep breath and pointing the tip of his wand toward the pumpkin he readied himself to take care of the charm. Deep breath in deep breath out. "diffindo" Oh it felt kinda weird. but he watched as a line started to show meaning he was actually cutting a pumpkin. He couldn't believe that he had actually done it and mostly on his own. It wasn't pretty that's for sure but it actually worked.

Javier nodded at the young Gryffindor and headed over to assist her. "It's quite simple. You draw your wand in the shape of whatever you're going to cut - so in this case, a circle over the stem, and say DIFFINDO nice and confidently," he said encouragingly with a smile. He stood nearby so he could oversee and assist further, if needed.

"If any of the younger students need assistance with Diffindo please let me know, or ask an older student. Thank you, Mister Branxton, for taking initiative," he added with a nod at Cooper as he helped his younger brother.

OOC: A little over 24 hours till we move on!

Mercer beamed when Cooper slid over, although that smile flickered when Cooper insisted he try the spell. With a wand. That sliced things. It wasn't that Mercer couldn't do magic at all, but he just couldn't... do it on command or the way that he wanted it to go. His wand was the smartest and best wand in the world, but it still did mostly what it wanted.

"I don't really think that's a good... okay." With a sulky pucker of his lip, Mercer poked his wand against the top of the pumpkin. "Diffindo." His wand sunk into the pumpkin so deeply that his arm disappeared up to the elbow behind it. "Um. There. I tried. You do it."

For the record, Ash thought this was a terrible idea. Where did your brain go when your head was a pumpkin??? Was it illegal to prank people with this potion??? Hello??? Ash had so many questions. Brewing though... she could handle that. As long as she didn't have to ingest it.

1. Oh! Diffindo! Ash was good with that one. In fact, it was one of the spells that she could already consistently do nonverbally(along with reparo, incendio, and aguamenti). She sliced open her pumpkin carefully. Ash was not the greatest potions student in the world, but she could follow instructions.

2. Ew ew ew. Pumpkin insides. NOT a fan. She scooped out and separated as much of the stuff as she needed and vanished the rest. Goodbye. It was kind of nauseating and Ash was glad to not be using her bare hands.

3. Ash carved a frowny face into her pumpkin. And nobody was going to comment on it. He said they could carve the pumpkins. Well, her pumpkin was sad that she had taken away its pumpkin type organs. It had a right to its feelings.

In case his aversion to crossing the pit of slugs to satisfy his curiosity was not enough evidence, this class would certainly further back the point that Evan Nam was not a fan of goop. And while he did not know the technical definitely of that word, pumpkin guts fit into the category for him. But this was the assignment for the day, so he'd be the good Ravenclaw he was and put his all into it. Sighing a little as he grabbed his wand to start with Diffindo, Evan paused hearing the various first years ask questions regarding the charm. The younger 'claw was covered ala his older brother, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to sidle over to one of the others in case they needed help and Professor Hernandez was with another student.

Spotting a Gryffindor, Valentine he believed was part of her name, he left his spot near his fellow fifth years and slid into an open seat - pumpkin in two - near her. "I can help if you need it. But you should give it a go." Like Professor Hernandez had said, it was a fairly easy spell, but there was also no shame in needing help as long as one tried first.

Focusing back on his own pumpkin, Evan lifted his wand, keeping his movements slow just in case, and drew a circle over the top of his pumpkin. "Diffindo!" Once that was cut, he started the process of scooping out the innards, making sure to separate the pumpkins from the rest as he did so. He briefly wondered if this was because pumpkin seeds were another good potion ingredient, or if the Professor was hoping for a snack later. He considered asking, but decided it wasn't relevant enough to take up class time.

On and on he scooped, until the majority was out on the tray and there was a thin layer still inside the pumpkin. Did he perhaps take out too much?

There were a lot of things this world that didn't make sense. Milo wasn't entirely sure of the ratio relative to things that did make sense, and it seemed best not to even estimate it because things always turned on their heads, and what was up sometimes became down, but it was safe to say many things were in either category at any one time.

One thing that didn't make sense was that Milo's pumpkin was Vanished and replaced, even though he had already removed the innards of that one. They had touched the floor, that was true, but some might have been salvageable. He would never know, because the pumpkin and its guts and/or brains were now everywhere and nowhere, in the very air he was breathing and settling in his lungs but also not. That probably wasn't a death rattle.

It was also true that Pumpkin Death #1 did not fulfil the requirements of the first instruction, but there was more than one way to skin a kneazle, and as the rest of the pumpkin could then be carved according to no specifications, maybe this was one such kneazle.

That, and the fact that Milo had not yet learned Diffindo either, and also did not want anyone to help him, was ample excuse for him to go about all this in his own way. His own, very pointed way.

Meaning, as Mercer was getting private tutoring from his brother right beside him, Milo hefted his own pumpkin up and slammed it down against the corner of the desk, punching a hole right through the orange flesh. "Diffindo."

Ah, pumpkin guts. Nerina couldn’t wait to handle that.The fifth year rolled up her sleeves, all the while watching baby Mercer, who was actually not a baby at all. His ‘diffindo’ attempt earned a soft snort from her, though she did her best to mask it with a cough. It was a lot harder to hide her amusement when his little mate whacked his pumpkin right on the corner of their work station to create a hole. A little violent, but 10 out of 10 for usefulness. First years were the best. Pure entertainment.

Her own pumpkin was handled with care. A nice, neat hole carved out at the top. The whole scooping aspect was done with the use of tools and not her hands, though she did need to use fingers to separate seeds from the stringy orange insides of Marie. Marie the pumpkin. Somewhere along the way she’d been named and once the sorting was done, Nerina decided she needed a face.

Big almond shaped eyes, eye lashes, delicate nose, and a pucker of a mouth. All carved right into the front of the pumpkin. When she’d finished, the Ravenclaw grinned at Marie the pumpkin, pleased. ”Not half bad, Marie. Just wish you had hair.”

Aaaaah. All of the instructions sounded simple enough. Valentina drew her wand out and casted a diffindo. She took the top off and placed it on the side. Now, for the scooping part. Wait, did she HAVE to use her hands?? She didn't have any gloves.. the blonde looked around for a moment, noticing that most people were using their hands.... meh. Might as well just do it.

Pulling a face, she scooped out the pumpkin innards slowly. She set them aside and got to separating the seeds from the rest. This was just not fun, okay!! Once that was done, she scooped some more.. until there was enough innards that could fill two cups. Even three perhaps. Ooops.

Unaware that Charlie's little brother was observing him, Cooper kept his attention on his little brother and gave him the same sort of stern looks of encouragement like dad would give them both from time to time. There was even the addition of a thumbs up as Mercer begrudgingly got to the task and...well...technically he had completed the brief, so to speak. The point was to be able to empty your pumpkin and get all the seeds so...an arm size hole should do the trick. "That's a solid first effort," he praised while doing his best to keep a straight face and not laugh at the fact that the little Claw was elbow deep in pumpkin. He did, however, place one palm on to the pumplin and the other grabbed on to the sleeve of Mercer's robe to help tug the arm free of the pumpkin. "Little messy but...effective t----"

Speaking of unconventional methods...Cooper found himself staring at Milo as he too punctured his pumpkin, this time with the desk instead of the floor or an arm. This time, technically, it did fit the brief so...who was Cooper to say that he had done it 'wrong'. Really just needed to make a hole to scoop, right? "Just...well...you both make sure not to miss any seeds, yeah?" the seventh year chuckled before giving his little brother an affectionate hair ruffle. "Want me to clean that sleeve off for you?"

At last, down to business! Violet neatly cut a circle in the top of her pumpkin with a deft Diffindo and was happily engaged in scooping out the insides with the scoop. Once out, she wound up digging around in the innards with her hands to feel the seeds and separate them out. She could hear the buzz of students' voices in the background, some of whom seemed to be complaining about the 'ickiness' of pumpkin insides. She snorted to herself--if they were squeamish about a little thing like that, imagine how they were going to handle some of the really disgusting potions ingredients. Oh well, not everyone was cut out to be a brewer, she thought complacently to herself.

Using a handkerchief she'd had in an inner pocket to wipe off her hands (because sometimes magical cleansing just didn't get the job done!), Violet looked at her piles of seeds and pumpkin guts. She was pretty sure she'd gotten every single seed, and from the size of her pile, she had more than 2 cups of pumpkin. She was ready!

Mercer was grateful to be separated from his pumpkin, and grateful when Cooper offered to clean off his sleeve. He offered up his pumpkin-arm for Cooper's attention, but his attention was definitely on Milo's method for carving out the top of his own pumpkin. Diffindo wasn't supposed to be just done with a wand? It could be any CHOPPING type motion? Pumpkin to the table corner?

"Magic is very messy, isn't it?" Mercer retrieved his arm and set to scooping the seeds and innards from his pumpkin. "I guess that's a good thing. If it's only ever precise then first years will take forever to get up to speed." Like Mercer and his inability to master a spell the first time he tried it.

Delilah just nodded along, tuning in and out a little as her brain forced her to think of pumpkin heads and orange bodies. What if someone got stuck like that forever? I mean, wouldn't that just be the worst? She'd honestly almost rather have a boil or two or something. Eww. Maybe not. At least there was no danger of a rotten pumpkin head. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She'd always use fresh ingredients. She just kind of imagined all of that going wrong with a botched potion, but she guessed not.

Delilah didn't have a weak stomach, but there was something about the word innards that made her take on a face of slight disgust. But there was a scoop, so that was good! A little unsure about using Diffindo, she raised her wand and pointed it toward the pumpkin. "Diffindo!" she said. Her cutting line was sort of squiggly, and she had to redo a few of the lines that didn't quite cut through, but she managed to cut off the top of the pumpkin. She took the scoop and plummeted it into the pumpkin. Out came all the innards, little by little, mind you. She scattered the guts onto her tray and begin separating the seeds into their own little pile. Pumpkins were kind of disgusting, weren't they? Pretty good made into a pie, but...this was no pie. She kept on digging and separating until everything was scooped out and sorted.

All done! Thank Merlin...

Javier had been patrolling the room and jumped just a bit when he heard a BAM, and looked over to see Milo holding one completely punctured pumpkin which, judging by the orange goo on the corner of his desk, was NOT carved using the traditional method. SIGH. He got the thing open, at least, but that was not! the! point!

"Mister Evans, next time please attempt the spell - how else will you learn it if you don't practice?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. The kid seemed dead set on making as much of a mess in his classroom as possible. Merlin knew how the brewing portion would actually go with him...best keep an eye on him.

"Ok everyone, for those of you who are ready to move on, here is the complete recipe," Javier announced, waving his wand so the recipe appeared on the board behind him.

Quote:

Ingredients
2 cups pumpkin innards, densely packed (sorted so no seeds)
3 flitterby moths
100g fresh bouncing bulb, stunned if necessary
4g fresh foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) flowers, petals only
10 fresh pumpkin seeds

Recipe
1. Put two densely packed cups of pumpkin innards in the bottom your cauldron with a cup of water. Set over medium heat.
2. Whilst waiting for the cauldron to come to a light simmer, grind 3 dried flitterby moths to a fine powder in your pestle and mortar. Add these to the cauldron and stir clockwise until the contents turns grass green (4 complete stirs should do the trick).
3. Stun your bouncing bulb using Stupefy. Peel off the purple skin, and chop finely with a silver knife. Weigh out 100g. Add to your cauldron and stir enough to incorporate.
4. Let your potion simmer for 30 minutes. You may carve your pumpkin whilst you wait.
5. Pluck the petals from the foxgloves, and weigh out 4g. Crush to release the juices and chop roughly. Add to the cauldron, and stir until potion changes to a dark purple. Wash hands after handling the foxglove - it is toxic if consumed alone.
6. Add the pumpkin seeds one at a time, stirring anticlockwise between each. The potion should turn a bright orange.

"You'll note that this is the latter portion of the recipe in your book - the first few steps go over taking out the innards of your pumpkin and separating the seeds, which we have already done," he explained. And for those who had NOT yet finished their pumpkin harvesting, they still had plenty of time.

"Once you're finished you MAY test out your potion if you wish. This is not required, and since this is a beginner version of the potion it'll only last about five minutes," he said. Plus he was on standby in case anyone skipped a step or two and found themselves orange all over instead of looking like a character out of Sleepy Hallow.

"You may begin the brewing portion now and you have the rest of the class to work which should be plenty of time. Let me know if you have any questions," he added with a small smile before allowing them to begin their work.

OOC: Hello again! As stated above YOU STILL HAVE TIME to do catch up with the mini activity! For full credit for the main activity above, you just need to complete the brewing process. You do NOT have to have your character try the potion unless they want to! How would their pumpkin head look if they did try it? Well, that's up to your imagination!

You have until Monday, January 31st at 6 PM CDT to wrap things up. Once again - CATCH UP FOR THE MINI ACTIVITY IS ALLOWED. Let me know if you have any questions, we will be here lurking and watching!

With her seeds sorted, and her pumpkin innards densly packed in cups Rosa waited for new instructions by carving a girly face on her pumpkin. She had by the time Prof Hernandez moved on manged to carve in eyes, nose and mouth on her pumpkin. It was time to brew which Rosa always felt was the nervous part.

She reminded herself that she could do this, she just had to follow every brewing step without missing any detail. First she placed the pumpkin innards into her cauldron with a cup up of water and put on medium heat. While waiting for the innards to simmer she used her mortar and pestle to grind 3 dried flitterby moths into a fine powder. When the cauldron had beganto simmer Rosa added in the moth powder and stired clockwise 4 times until the content turned a grassy green colour.

'I'm sorry!' Rosa mouthed to the bouncing bulb before she stunned it effectively and began to peel off its purple skin. Maybe she should have put on her protective gloves? Looking down at her hands Rosa decided to quickly slip on her gloves before she did anything else. With the gloves on she began to chop the bulb into fine bits. When she had 100 grams she added them to her cauldron and stirred until it was incorporated with the green mass.

Rosa spent the 30 mins she waited for her potion to simmer with carving hair on her pumpkin or trying to at least. Next step was to pluck off the petals from the foxgloves and to crush 4 grams of them to release their juices. Rosa knew the foxglove were toxic so she was glad she had put on gloves. She then chopped the petals into rough bits before adding them to her cauldron and stirring. Rosa went to the sink to clean her gloves, hands and equipment before going back to finish the last of her potion brew.

One at a time she added in the 10 pumpkin seeds, taking time to stir anticlockwise between each seed. A big smile appeared by itself when Rosa's potion after adding the last 10th seed and stirring turned a nice bright orange colour. She was done! Rosa was not going to drink the potion. She did not want to have a pumpkin head for an hour or two.

Aria was ready to move on!

The ingredients and steps appeared and so she immediately got to work by making her notes. Only then would she actually be ready to commence the brewing. It turned out that Hernandez had had them do a part of the prepping already. That was smart and helpful. Hmmm! Maybe she would even try out her potion if there was enough time.

To work Aria went!

A quick Cleaning Charm was cast on her cauldron and the other necessary equipment she would be using. The two cups of pumpkin innards went into the cauldron, hitting the bottom with soft and squishy thuds. “Aguamenti!’’ Aria happily incanted. With one cup of water measured out,it was added to the innards. “Incendio!’’ Was the burner adjusted to medium flame? Yep.

With her attention half on the cauldron as she waited for the contents to come to a simmer, Aria set about grounding up the three flitterby moths. ‘Fine powder’ repeated in her head like a chant and it was only a matter of time that the moths were reduced to just that. By that time, the simmering started and so the powder was added to the mix. Next came four complete clockwise stirs with the wooden stirrer and viola!

Green contents!

Was it grass green? It certainly seemed so!

Ash turned her pumpkin around so that its feelings wouldn't be hurt when she used the pumpkin insides in a potion.

4. She put the pumpkin type organs into her cauldron. Two cups, densely packed. Easy. Medium heat. slightly less easy, but still okay.

5. Ash added the moths. She did not like seeing them. Why did they have to kill things so that they could have a dumb pumpkin for a head? Where did they GET the moths from? Ignoring that thought, she added the powder to the cauldron and stirred clockwise. Her potion turned a grass green color. Ash was glad the shade of green was specified. Lime green was quite different from forest green, and the exact color of potion was important.

6. More murder. Sure, it was just a plant, but it kind of felt like it might have feelings. They were magic plants, after all. She stunned it anyway, and then she chopped it up. Chop chop chop with a silver knife. Finely chopped bouncing bulbs with the skin peeled off. She stirred it counterclockwise, because it didn't specify and counterclockwise was just cooler.

7. So much of life was spent waiting. This was boring and Ash got easily distracted. In the thirty minutes, Ash somehow ended up with a half sleeve temporary tattoo that she made using a spell she'd learned. She was so fixated on it that she almost went overtime. Good thing she set a timer.

8. Ash methodically plucked, weighed, and added the foxgloves. They were pretty. That didn't stop her from wearing gloves(she was sure she'd somehow poison herself and die on accident). Foxglove poisoning was rare... but so were a lot of things Ash had experienced. She wore gloves. And then she washed her gloves and the equipment that touched the foxglove. And then she took off the gloves and washed her hands for good measure. She stirred until the potion was a pretty dark purple. Ash thought that sort of purple would taste good, but she knew better that to drink potions that weren't finished. Or pumpkin head potions in general.

9. Ash added a pumpkin seed, and then stirred counterclockwise, and then added a pumpkin seed, and then stirred counterclockwise and then... Ash added and stirred until her head hurt and the moments blurred together, which was not a long time at all with her attention span. She was glad that the orange color of the potion was so bright. Otherwise she would have added too many seeds or something.

That was not an appetizing color. Were the seeds and petals WHOLE in there? Ash was glad that she wasn't going to drink it. She made her potion. Now she would file this potion away in her mental "things I don't need but cannot forget" filing cabinet.

She turned her pumpkin back around to face her and started cleaning up the table and equipment. She wondered if the professor would like a sad pumpkin. Or maybe a sad pumpkin if a sad Ashley gave it to him. Probably not. Sigh. She'd just take it back to the dorms with her.