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sweetpinkpixie · 10-01-2025, 02:32 AM

Ancient Runes & Potions
L E S S O N

The Potions classroom holds its usual cool hush, lit not by daylight but by the steady gleam of sconces enchanted to burn without smoke or soot. Shadows pool in the corners between shelves of carefully labeled ingredients, while the stone floor carries the faint, lingering scent of ash, bitter herbs, and something acridly metallic. Every workstation has been carefully prepared for its student. As promised, each cauldron rests upon its burner, flanked by a neatly arranged set of mortar and pestle, a silver knife, brass scales, and a single crystal phial whose label is intentionally left blank. At the front of the room, Professor Cox stands beside a small brazier flickering with well warmed coals and the occasional quiet POP as moisture in the black porous structures escaped the only way it knew how to. Nothing out of the ordinary to see here as the brazier has been a constant companion all term, but the symbol on the blackboard written in chalk is a new addition:

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackboard

ᚲ

File in quietly and take your seats. If you wish to chat with your peers, do so - but be prepared to shift into focus mode the moment the lesson begins. And that moment will be soon.

lesson index
QUESTION | In what ways has fire been wielded as both a destructive force and a tool of progress within wizarding society?

ACTIVITY | Brewing the Fire Protection Potion
CHECKING IN | Mr. Grunt (Fearleadleader19) & Miss Webb (squidnie)

CHECKING IN | Miss Bay (WhittyBitty), Miss Webb (squidnie), Mr. Grunt (Charely Potter), & Mr. Prince (Felixir)

CHECKING IN | Mr. Grunt (Fearlessleader19)

ACTIVITY | testing the Fire Protection Potion
CHECKING IN | Miss García Massey (Samia), Miss Webb (squidnie), Miss Montmorency (PhoenixRising), Mr. Grunt (Fearlessleader19)

ACTVITY (?) | moving down the ladder into the classroom's basement

ACTIVITY | playing with fire, literally
CHECKING IN | there's no baseball in Kenaz

CHECKING IN | a clue, a clue!

CHECKING IN | this isn't dueling club or a quidditch match

CHECKING IN | a clue!

CLASS DISMISSED | cryptic food for thought

▶▼◀▲▶▼◀▲▶▼◀▲▶▼◀▲▶▼◀▲▶▼◀▲

OOC: Hello and welcome to the Ancient Runes & Potions lesson thread! A reminder to please check out Professor Cox's rules for both subjects for important IC tone and reminders, as well as a general guide to OOC conduct

This lesson has not yet begun, but will do so in approximately 24 hours from the time of this post.

I am looking forward to exploring Ancient Runes, Potions, and their relationship to one another together in this lesson! As always, if there are any questions or things that need clarifying OOC, please feel free to reach out to me via VM or PM and I will be happy to help out!

sweetpinkpixie · 10-05-2025, 12:41 PM

Text Cut: Miss Aurora Bay

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhittyBitty

Aurora smiled and nodded in agreement at what Professor Cox said in response to her. She continued to take notes as he spoke to the class, wondering what potion they would be brewing today. Obviously it would relate to fire and could be used alongside Kenaz.

Oooh the Fire Protection Potion.

That piqued Aurora's interest. This was one of the potions that he mother brewed quite often, but she had never made it herself before. It was always nice when she got to brew a potion for the first time. As Professor Cox talked about the potion she continued to take her meticulous notes. Idris asked some good questions, and Professor Cox's response to him was also written down. Since she was an OWL student she was happy to be able to do the extra step.

Ready to begin, Aurora started by using Scorgify on her cauldron. Just to make sure that there wasn't any dirt or dust in her cauldron. She had a brass cauldron, and was glad to know that it would offer the best stability to the potion. Once she was sure that her cauldron was clean she set about gathering all the ingredients that she would need, laying them out in front of her.

The 500mL of distilled water was added to her cauldron, and she set it to a low flame. Once the water had reached a gentle boil, she slowly added the ten drops of salamander blood. Then she used her silver stirring rod to give it three clockwise stirs. Aurora was happy to see that her potion turned to a glowing orange colour. Using the mortar and pestle she set about crushing the three fire seeds. Once she felt that they were crushed enough, she added one silver spoonful to the potion, waiting for it to fully dissolve before she added another spoonful. After repeating that process with the rest of the crushed fire seeds, she gave the potion two clockwise stirs.

With her knife, Aurora next set about dicing the two bursting mushroom tops into small pieces. After they were added, she watched the small bubbles that formed, relieved when she saw that the vapors they released when popped resembled butter. According to what Professor Cox told Cat that meant she was on the right track. Hopefully the younger girl would be able to either salvage her potion or have better luck if she decided to start over again. Aurora would be happy to help her if needed.

The 5g of dragon scale shavings were sprinkled in and Aurora saw it spark. It was green, so she knew that she was still doing things correctly. Next came three slow clockwise stirs. She made sure that each stir lasted as long as five 'hippocampus'es muttered under her breath. The 3g of wartcap powder was slowly added to the potion. It immediately started to thicken, and she watched as it turned the shade of dark forest green that it was supposed to. The four drops of essence of murltap were then added, the potion being stirred after each drop. The potion turned to a vivid purple with gold flecks in it.

Now it was time for her extra step as an OWL student. Aurora added a pinch of the phoenix feather barbs in. The potion got four counterclockwise stirs after that. The heat was then reduced, and Aurora let the potion simmer for five minutes.

After the five minutes, the potion was removed from the heat and she waited patiently for it to cool down. Once her potion had turned a rich cerulean colour and the flecks had turned to a copper colour, Aurora knew that her potion was ready. She carefully added some to her phial and worked on labeling it.

That done, she waited for the next part of the lesson.

Cox strolled around the classroom, pausing beside Miss Bay's station when her hands turned idle, eyes narrowing as he scrutinized the surface of her brew for several long moments. The potion’s hue held true, near textbook, and the scent suggested balance rather than haste - anyone could observe that she was comfortable in this particular setting, no wasted movements and poise as she worked. He gave a small, approving grunt. "You may place your phial on my desk, Miss Bay."

Text Cut: Miss Cathryn Webb

His attention lingered on the newly filled phial and, more significantly, Miss Webb's new posture. Her shoulders squared, movements surer, the hesitance of her first attempt replaced by something steadier. He flexed his fingers, the faint crack of his knuckles breaking the silence as he picked up her phial as if to examine the cerulean color more thoroughly.

She'd chosen the harder route and many of his university students would have opted to try and fix it rather than empty their cauldrons, start again, and endure whatever nonsense quiet embarrassment that came with it. There was something to be said for that kind of persistence. Cox gave a single, restrained nod, the closest he came to approval.

"Leave your phial on the desk, Miss Webb," he said at last. "And 5 points to Ravenclaw for demonstrating perseverance and the wisdom to learn from error."

Text Cut: Mr. Jansher Grunt

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charely Potter

Jan would love to work with Idris, though they were given permission it seemed reluctant. "Don't worry, we'll do excellent." He gave his brother's shoulder a light squeeze before getting to work. He listened to their questions being answered, he was in the zone with getting everything all ready with the ingredients set aside. He wordlessly cleaned the cauldron before he poured in the 500ml distilled water. After adjusting the flame low for a gentle boil, Jan added just a drip of the salamander blood slowly...

Drip

Giving it a stir three times the potion turned a glowing orange. He glanced over at Idris to see if they were doing okay before he got back to the brewing. "Looks almost good enough to drink, but we're not chancing this." The fire seeds thankfully were already cool to the touch, so Jan just needed to crush it with the moral and pestle, swirling it around just before it could resemble some powder. He scooped with the silver spoon dumping it one at a time. When he poured the first scoop it, he could hear a soft sizzle and one it dissolved, he repeated the step until there was nothing left to pour in. Now he could stir it.. one time... one more time..

Jan then diced the 2 bursting mushrooms tops into small pieces before dropping them into the cauldron. Small bubbles appeared, that reminded him of soup beginning to boil. Each bubble released white and pale yellow vapors.. Now let's see the next step. Sprinkle... Okay, he can do that. Jan took the Dragon Scale shavings and pretend it was like confetti, sprinkling it into the cauldron with one arm.

SPARK, SPARK, SPARK

Jan ducked momentarily at the green sparkle effects, but it didn't last long when he stood up again. "Heh, that was pretty cool." He then began to stir it as slowly as possible 3 turns spaced just long enough to last 5 hippocampuses. Then he slowly added 3g of Wartcap powder. The potion already started to thicken, changing from lime yellow to light green to a deep green resembling the trees in the forest. Okay, now the Essence of Murtlap, he would stir it once after each drop. After the fourth drop, the potion was now purple like grape juice with golden flecks.

Now the extra ingredient, since he was a NEWT student and Idris was in his OWL year, he took a pinch of the phoenix feather's barbs, "Cheers." Giving Idris a sort of fist bump while they held the barb before he added it into his cauldron. Now he stirred it in 5 times counterclockwise.

With that done, Jan reduced the heat to let the potion simmer five minutes. "That wasn't too bad.." Giving him time to sort of double check the steps and make sure he didn't miss anything. After the five minutes, he set the heat to off and awaited for the potion to cool off into the right colour... a rich cerulean, just like the waters in the Carribean from his summer trip. The flakes soon followed changing to a copper colour. Without missing a beat, Jan used the ladle to carefully scoop the results into the vial before labeling it.

He tilted his head slightly as the shimmer of cerulean caught the light, the faintest arch of a brow forming while his lips pursed in contemplation. "Confident execution, Mr. Grunt. Perhaps a touch too much so considering the ... flair with your… confetti technique and additional stir upon adding the phoenix feather barbs," he noted, a dry note crept into his tone as he leaned forward to the vapors. "A hint of a burnt smell to it because of that, over mixing phoenix feathers will have that effect as well as cause potions to split, but the potion looks as though it will likely hold. Precision before performance, Mr, Grunt. Theatrics belong to the duelists, not the potioneers." He paused again to glance over at his desk and gave a curt nod towards it. "You may place your phial on my desk."

Text Cut: Mr Typhon Prince

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

It wasn't unusual for Ty to simply sit quietly in lessons, even when he knew the answers (or, more likely, thought he could give a very good guess, which often turned out to be more or less on the money) to the questions posed. Not all the time, of course; he made sure to give his input often enough to show he was engaged and not one of the sullen silent types (common in his house, he'd noticed), and there were times it was necessary to voice something if he thought it important to do so, but he was usually content with listening and note-taking. Such was the situation today so far.

Once Cox had reached the end of his spiel and revealed the potion recipe on the board, Ty scribbled down as much as he could remember on the subject of fire and then briskly underlined his notes, in order to jot down the instructions. Much easier to keep track of his own brewing progress that way, even if it meant he took a little longer to get started. Plus it meant avoiding the initial rush for supplies.

After a few minutes, Ty dropped the quill on top of his parchment and went to go and collect what he did not already have. He dithered for a moment or five over the phoenix feather, but ultimately chose to grab one. He'd decide how the potion was looking when he got to that stage, and if he was not confident in that step, would simply... return it, he supposed. It was not exactly that he lacked confidence in his ability, more that his potions did not always share that confidence with him.

Back to his workstation, and then it was down to business. Ty was nothing if not diligent when it came to his schoolwork, and did not find himself hampered by starting a few minutes behind schedule. At least potions was relatively simple in essence, even though that didn't necessarily translate to being easy. Just follow the instructions as closely as possible. Do what was expected and try not to mess up. He was good at that. To a fault, sometimes. In fact... well, no, he would simply not mess this up, that was all.

As Ty went, he ticked off the steps on his parchment. Water boiling gently over a low boil, tick. Ten drops of salamander blood followed by three stirs, tick. Glowing orange... or... was that maybe closer to red? Blood orange? Well... tick, all the same. By the time Ty was crushing the fire seeds, though, he could feel a familiar, uncomfortable ticking in his chest too, and found himself sending a wary glance or two in Cox's direction. But still, he forged ahead, spooning the crushed fire seeds into the potion with his silver spoon, staring intently at the liquid throughout the interminable wait while they dissolved. Then two stirs.

But it was after adding the mushroom pieces that Ty suddenly stalled. The potion was bubbling alright, but... the vapours. The instructions said white or yellow. Ty's were closer to white than yellow, but Ty had been listening to the talk in the classroom, and Cox had only elaborated on the ideal yellow shades. After a moment of considering his potion, Ty wasn't even sure these vapours were white at all; it suddenly seemed not just probable but likely that he had convinced himself of it. Surely these were grey. Beige. Brown, perhaps. Taupe.

(Narrator: The vapour was, in fact, white-ish yellow.)

For a moment, Ty froze. He hated the way this happened, how the anxiety swooped in out of nowhere, entirely missing the memo that he was not an anxious person. He chanced another glance at the professor again and then at his closest neighbours. Doing nothing was not an option, obviously, not with a potion bubbling right in front of him, probably going through all kinds of different processes the longer he stood there. He could not call the professor over either, but Cox was the person best placed to advise; Ty wasn't sure how much he'd trust the input of another student, especially now that he had so completely discredited his own senses. But he wasn't about to just barrel ahead either, and risk turning a failing potion (Narrator: The potion was perfectly acceptable.) into a catastrophe.

So Ty mustered his courage, and cleared his throat. "What colour would you say these vapours are?" he asked out loud in his most confidently curious, would-be casual tone, addressing no one in particular, but hoping intently that it would not be the professor who came over to check. But also hoping that it would be. But also not. But.

His strides slow as he rubbed his scruff while continuing his route around the classroom, Cox's gaze drifted over at the next question, the one clearly meant for him despite the phrasing and one he was tempted to pretend he had not heard... as well as drifted to the whole phoenix feather on the student's station. "That," he said evenly, nodding toward the cauldron, "shade suggests greed and a lack of consideration. There is one phoenix feather in use, Mr. Prince. See to it that you return that to my desk immediately. Slytherin ambition preventing other OWL and NEWT candidates to perform? He was not yet ready to make that assumption, but certainly wouldn't put it past some. "Otherwise, the color is well within range and a pleasant pale gold in hue. Keep an eye on your burner and make sure the flames do not get too high. Though, that being said, doubt will curdle a brew faster than heat ever could."

Just something to stew over as the boy continued.

OOC: Alas, today was a DAY and my brain is far too mushy to come up with dry, whimsical textcut titles

Grateful as always for your patience and creative voices

I plan to move on to the next stage of this lesson within twelve hours of this post.

FearlessLeader19 · 10-05-2025, 04:35 PM

Id, forever the expressive one, paid no attention to one of his brows lifting in surprise. It would have been quite something if the barbs helped one to be briefly protected from Fiendfyre. But unlike Cox, his optimism skyrocketed; perhaps a barbed potion of the sort he was about to brew with that strength could be a thing. As for the second question, Idris made a face at the possibility of one’s cauldron exploding from adding a bit of dragon liver. “Thanks, professor! You helped clear things up. I’ll be sure to put extra care forward when handling the barbs.” He quickly scribbled some notes before getting started on brewing.

“Jan and I have always been a good team, Professor. I promise we won’t be working together for all of your lessons.” The Gryffindor didn’t find the need to explain that he was rather sad that his brother was graduating in the new year and that them working together was just one more way for him to make a valuable memory. Instead, he grinned broadly at Jan and bounced once, twice on his feet. “We got this!’’

Opting to use distilled water, five hundred ml of it was measured and added to the cauldron. “Incendio,’’ the fifth year muttered. Once the burner was lit, the flame was adjusted to low. Some time passed but eventually, there were bubbles swelling and popping. Not the fierce sort of swelling and popping, but of the gentle kind. This told Id it was time to add the salamander blood. Drip by ten drip, they fell among the bubbles. Silver stirring rod in hand, the mix was stirred clockwise thrice. Immediately it turned a lovely shade of orange. At his big brother’s words, he looked over once more at Jan’s cauldron and saw that they were at the same stage. “Makes me think of orange juice!” he chirped. “Grab a glass with me in the kitchen when we have some free time?”

As Jan moved on, so did he. The Language Enthusiast added the three fire seeds to the mortar and began to crush them with the pestle. The first scoop of the seeds was scooped up with a silver spoon and shaken into the cauldron. Once that was dissolved, the step was repeated for the remaining spoonfuls. The new mix was stirred clockwise twice. The two mushroom tops were diced, all the while Idris was working in tandem with Jan. He felt at ease and just as confident as if he had been working alone. The pieces were placed in the liquid, him being careful not to throw them in too hard so as to minimise any splashing. With fascination, Idris watched as bubbles formed, small ones, and they popped soon after. They released yellow vapours - this made him happy as they reminded him of Paully. The five grams of dragon scale shavings joined the other ingredients before he hurriedly retreated a bit. Id did not fancy getting sparked upon. This time, he was reminded of Jan as the sparks were green, and he peered over at the Slytherin. “Extremely cool! Too bad we can’t do that again.” With a chuckle, Idris approached his cauldron again. Stirring ensued once more, this time at a pace slower than the previous; he made sure to count out fifteen hippocampuses across the three clockwise stirs.

Now the three grams of Wartcap powder was slowly sprinkled in, all the while his gaze remained fixed on the potion. Indeed it began to thicken and undergo a colour change to forest green. The first drop of Essence of Murtlap was placed into the thickened potion followed by some stirring. This was repeated for the other three drops. Id was in awe of the new colour that appeared, exactly as described bright purple speckled with gold. A look towards Jan’s potion told him they had brewed correctly so far.

Id made sure his fingertips weren’t sweaty before taking a pinch of the phoenix feather barbs. “Cheers! We’re almost done!” He bumped the seventh year’s fist. The barbs safely in the mix now, four stirs were done in a counter clockwise direction four times. Now, the heat was reduced so that the potion could simmer. “Nope, it wasn’t! I hope it’ll be a part of at least one of our exams. We’ll score full marks!” While keeping an eye on the time, Idris began cleaning up his workstation. The time elapsed before he knew it and so the cauldron was removed from the heat for cooling. This was obvious by the way the cerulean colour slowly emerged and the gold became copper. Like Jan, he too was thinking about their trip since the former colour reminded him of the calm waters.

After placing some of his mixture into the phial the relevant information of his name, House and Year were written on it.

sweetpinkpixie · 10-06-2025, 11:56 AM

Text Cut: Mr. Grunt

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Id, forever the expressive one, paid no attention to one of his brows lifting in surprise. It would have been quite something if the barbs helped one to be briefly protected from Fiendfyre. But unlike Cox, his optimism skyrocketed; perhaps a barbed potion of the sort he was about to brew with that strength could be a thing. As for the second question, Idris made a face at the possibility of one’s cauldron exploding from adding a bit of dragon liver. “Thanks, professor! You helped clear things up. I’ll be sure to put extra care forward when handling the barbs.” He quickly scribbled some notes before getting started on brewing.

“Jan and I have always been a good team, Professor. I promise we won’t be working together for all of your lessons.” The Gryffindor didn’t find the need to explain that he was rather sad that his brother was graduating in the new year and that them working together was just one more way for him to make a valuable memory. Instead, he grinned broadly at Jan and bounced once, twice on his feet. “We got this!’’

Opting to use distilled water, five hundred ml of it was measured and added to the cauldron. “Incendio,’’ the fifth year muttered. Once the burner was lit, the flame was adjusted to low. Some time passed but eventually, there were bubbles swelling and popping. Not the fierce sort of swelling and popping, but of the gentle kind. This told Id it was time to add the salamander blood. Drip by ten drip, they fell among the bubbles. Silver stirring rod in hand, the mix was stirred clockwise thrice. Immediately it turned a lovely shade of orange. At his big brother’s words, he looked over once more at Jan’s cauldron and saw that they were at the same stage. “Makes me think of orange juice!” he chirped. “Grab a glass with me in the kitchen when we have some free time?”

As Jan moved on, so did he. The Language Enthusiast added the three fire seeds to the mortar and began to crush them with the pestle. The first scoop of the seeds was scooped up with a silver spoon and shaken into the cauldron. Once that was dissolved, the step was repeated for the remaining spoonfuls. The new mix was stirred clockwise twice. The two mushroom tops were diced, all the while Idris was working in tandem with Jan. He felt at ease and just as confident as if he had been working alone. The pieces were placed in the liquid, him being careful not to throw them in too hard so as to minimise any splashing. With fascination, Idris watched as bubbles formed, small ones, and they popped soon after. They released yellow vapours - this made him happy as they reminded him of Paully. The five grams of dragon scale shavings joined the other ingredients before he hurriedly retreated a bit. Id did not fancy getting sparked upon. This time, he was reminded of Jan as the sparks were green, and he peered over at the Slytherin. “Extremely cool! Too bad we can’t do that again.” With a chuckle, Idris approached his cauldron again. Stirring ensued once more, this time at a pace slower than the previous; he made sure to count out fifteen hippocampuses across the three clockwise stirs.

Now the three grams of Wartcap powder was slowly sprinkled in, all the while his gaze remained fixed on the potion. Indeed it began to thicken and undergo a colour change to forest green. The first drop of Essence of Murtlap was placed into the thickened potion followed by some stirring. This was repeated for the other three drops. Id was in awe of the new colour that appeared, exactly as described bright purple speckled with gold. A look towards Jan’s potion told him they had brewed correctly so far.

Id made sure his fingertips weren’t sweaty before taking a pinch of the phoenix feather barbs. “Cheers! We’re almost done!” He bumped the seventh year’s fist. The barbs safely in the mix now, four stirs were done in a counter clockwise direction four times. Now, the heat was reduced so that the potion could simmer. “Nope, it wasn’t! I hope it’ll be a part of at least one of our exams. We’ll score full marks!” While keeping an eye on the time, Idris began cleaning up his workstation. The time elapsed before he knew it and so the cauldron was removed from the heat for cooling. This was obvious by the way the cerulean colour slowly emerged and the gold became copper. Like Jan, he too was thinking about their trip since the former colour reminded him of the calm waters.

After placing some of his mixture into the phial the relevant information of his name, House and Year were written on it.

Yes. Indeed. Clarifying was all in a day's work for a professor and what not.

He couldn't quite help his jaw setting once again with the enthusiasm over this alleged teaming up. Potions require precision, after all, not collaboration. The more hands involved, the more likely things go wrong. Too many cooks spoil the brew, and he'd seen enough failed attempts to know that.

Easy to say for the man whose picture was featured next to 'solitude' in the dictionary.

No matter, for as his gaze flicked to the cooling potion, he nodded gently in approval. "Mind your tempo on the counterclockwise stirs in the future, make sure you are keeping the same pace and there isn't too much variation in your movements. Confidence shouldn't outpace precision," he cautioned, nodding towards his desk in the next breath. "Acceptable work, Mr. Grunt. Leave your sample on the desk."

- - - - - -

With the final phial corked and set aside on his desk, Cox's gaze swept the room once more and took the briefest of moment to enjoy the lingering hum of simmering cauldrons before they entirely quieted to an expectant stillness. Clapping his hands together suddenly, the runes on his hands once again glowing, a single glass cup shimmered into being upon each workstation. He exhaled slowly, though a sharpness hung in the air from his tone, as he wiped his brow with the back of his hand. "Ladle out some of your potion ino the glass," he instructed. "120 milliliters, approximately one ladle's worth, will be more than sufficient for what comes next." He paused to let them accomplish this, eyes tracking for spills or overfilled cups [s]and expecting to see this from two students in particular. "You'll be testing your brew firsthand. The potion, when properly made, should produce a mild cooling sensation beginning in the chest and spreading outward - though it is also very likely that you will feel that coolness as the liquid travels down your throat, similar to how it feels to swallow an especially cold glass of water. A soft tingle across the skin is normal and it is merely a sign that your body is adjusting to the fire resistant properties. If you feel burning, dizziness, numbness, or anything beyond this cooling sensation... report to me immediately. No exceptions."

He allowed the words to settle, then added dryly as he produced a couple larger phials filled with the crisp cerulean liquid from the topmost drawer of his desk, "For those of you uncertain about your handiwork, or your courage, you may come to the front. I've a handful of phials from my own brew you can use.”

Once the clinks of cups and ladles was heard, timid or otherwise, Cox snapped the fingers of his left hand thrice to summon candles from various positions in the classroom to hover near each workstation. There were not enough candles for every individual student, so hopefully they would sort out on their own that they needed to share.

"These are for you to test your protection in a confined space before we truly put them to the test." The cork gave a quiet pop beneath his thumb before he downed the contents in a single unceremonious swallow. The familiar chill spread from the base of his throat, settling in his chest like a pocket of winter before radiating outward in slow controlled waves and a faint tingle crawled along his fingertips - the unmistakable sign of successful transference. His brow lifted a fraction and the corners of his mouth twitching as if to say 'as expected'. "Hold your hand close to the flame," he continued, demonstrating as he spoke. "You shouldn’t feel heat. A properly brewed Fire Protection Potion will allow you to pass your hand through it slowly, or even rest upon it, without discomfort. If you feel anything more than a whisper of warmth, stop immediately."

He straightened the stack of parchments on his desk with the edge of his hand, expression unreadable save for the faintest tug at one corner of his mouth. The lesson, after all, was far from over and he was quite curious how they would handle the next challenge.

OOC: Another 24 ish hours before we really start to heat things up

Samia · 10-06-2025, 12:58 PM

Marina had been doing so well keeping quiet or at least, as quiet as she could manage. But the word marshmallows still echoed in her head, and she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing outright. It wasn’t that she wanted to make fun of him, but… Professor Cox saying marshmallows was something she’d probably remember forever.

All thoughts of things fluffy anf marshmallows went out the window though once those instructions appeared on the board. Well then.

Somehow though .... she began.

“Okay…” she muttered to herself, pouring water into her cauldron. “Salamander blood. Ten drops. Just drops, not... oh no” Two drops went splat instead of drip. “Right. Eleven it is. It’s fine. It’s… fiery symmetry.”

The potion still glowed orange, and Marina exhaled in relief ... she stirred three careful times, counting under her breath. Everything was fine. This was not going to be a disaster. It looked promising.... right up until she realized her cauldron was on the wrong flame setting. “Right,” she murmured to herself, twisting the knob down half a turn. A faint hiss came from the cauldron anyway. She winced, gave it a stir ... counterclockwise, as the professor had said... and pretended that little puff of smoke had definitely been intentional. As long as she gets a pat on the back for trying - she was totally fine with this. By the time the potion turned the approximate shade the instructions described (read: “stormy blue”), Marina was standing on her toes to peer inside, hair frizzing from the heat.

When Professor Cox’s voice cut through the room, as if on queue... the potion burbled in response. She glanced around at the other students, then back at her own work. “Alright. You’re fine. You’re…mostly fine,” she told it softly, as if reassuring the potion itself. “Please don’t explode.”

All saaaaid and done, somehow she eventually made it to the point that her first potion ever made it to the desk of the professor. And then ... came the worst part.

“Testing?” she whispered, eyes darting toward the glass cup that shimmered into being in front of her. “Oh. We’re actually… drinking it.”

“Fun” Read: NOT FUN AT ALL.

Still, she ladled carefully and despite her best efforts, the potion sloshed over the side, so she wiped it on her sleeve before remee,bering she probably shouldn’t. Ugh. She eyed the potion suspiciously. And then sighed. Surely the professor was told to save a student if they ended up killing themselves with their disastrous potion making.

So with a determined nod, she took a small sip.

Her eyes went wide, “Oh” she gasped.

".....Im dying. I am definitely dying, professor"

*squidnie* · 10-06-2025, 08:55 PM

Testing their brew firsthand. Even without knowing fully what that meant, this was exactly why Cat had started over with her potion. These wizards were absolutely batty and she was not surprised that they were now (theoretically) in danger of bodily harm if their potions weren’t correct.

Cat eyed her cauldron suspiciously, suddenly trusting her brewing abilities even less than she had before. This potion was supposed to keep her from, like, burning herself? In some form? She inspected the potion for another moment, then inspected the instructions that she’d already gone over many times in her head and one-and-a-half times in practice, then inspected her potion again, then nodded to herself. Okay. She could do this. She could.

So, she did. She had just gotten a scoop ready for herself and consumed the questionable potion as instructed when Marina caught her attention. That gasp and those wide eyes were not promising (neither were those words, which were a bit more… concerning).

“Marina?” Cat whispered, reaching toward the girl to poke at her a bit. ~~Helpful~~. “Professor?” Cat pulled her hand back and raised it, just in case he didn’t hear Marina. “I think we need a bit of help over here.” Quickly, please. No dying friends, please.

Notably, though Cat was too not-quite-panicked to take stock, she was now feeling a curious cool sensation throughout her chest and arms and when she had taken her hand back from ~~poking~~ checking on Marina, it had passed through a bit of her fire with no noticeable negative effects.

FearlessLeader19 · 10-06-2025, 11:31 PM

“Will do, Professor!’’ Idris chirped, not at all put off by the words. He simply saw them as constructive criticism. To cement that he was very serious about this, Id really did scribble the following in his book: keep the same pace with stirs; minimise variation. His confidence though… that was always sky high. Oh well. That was a problem to temper for another time. Once he was done scribbling, he skipped off to deposit his potion sample on the man’s desk.

Back at his workstation, he watched with great fascination as a glass cup materialise there. Cox’s entire process reminded him of Dad D and their wandless magic/non verbal talent. His professors were awfully talented and Id admired that. His goal to be a Language Professor wouldn’t require such practicality, but still… maybe he’d gravitate towards acquiring some special skill at some point. With two mutters of ‘Scourgify!’, the ladle he was about to use was cleaned, as well as the glass. In his bounciness, the Gryffindor actually did spill a couple of drops on his workstation. Woops! The required 120 ml was doled out and only then did the small mess magically cleaned.

Nothing to see here, Professor! All was well

A slight face was made when the potential negative reactions to the potion were made known. Goodness, he hoped he had brewed this properly. He hoped Jan had. Then again, they both had followed the instructions to the letter, and it looked exactly as the finished product had been described. “I’m trying my own potion,’’ he informed Jan with a beam. “Here we go!” The fifth year lifted his glass to his lips and chugged.

It was just as Cox described: Id felt the coolness as the potion travelled down his oesophagus. The sensation reminded him of drinking iced water. Soon it spread through the rest of him, and after a brief moment, the tingling began - starting in his fingertips. He was still for a moment, bracing himself for any bad effects. All the while, his gaze was fixed on his brother; Jan was feeling okay, right? Since nothing negative happened, he moved towards the candle’s flame. “We get to share a candle!’’ he stated brightly.

So did Id actually feel any heat with his extended hand? Nope. Not a thing. Beaming in further excitement, he moved his hand closer to the flame to see if anything would change.

Also... that girl wasn't really dying, was she?

Charely Potter · 10-07-2025, 01:19 AM

Who said Potions couldn't have a little flair to it? Jan considered it an art, though he had his own motivations for perfecting potions. Like the hair tonic he and Drake had been working on since 3rd year with their hair journeys. But that was irrelevant to this combo of a lesson. "Yes, Professor." He said. As for them with the teamwork, "And don't worry, we'll continue sticking together as moral support instead of sharing answers." Though he probably could've benefited that. "Hopefully, he didn't see that." Jan whispered from the little slip up. The Professor did seem to have a sharp eye. He turned his vial in as instructed.

So Jan's potion had a little burnt smell to it, nothing too bad, from what Professor Cox suggested. Though he did get a little hesitant at taking a sample, with the first year claiming she was dying and his likely to have a burnt aftertaste. Jan felt a relief to see his brother would not be dying. Pouring some of his into a glass, "Here goes.." He took a swig and...

"Ack.." Jan began coughing before he sighed. "No, no, I'm not dying. I'm okay. It just went down the wrong pipe for a sec." Clearing his throat, he took another swig to finish it off, while it smelled a little burnt, the taste was cool to the touch before he could feel it through him. "That's better."

"Awesome, my turn." Since Idris didn't have any bad effects, he then moved his hand over the fire and... "Hmm.. it felt like a soft touch, but nothing warm." That was good news, right?

WhittyBitty · 10-07-2025, 01:25 AM

So Professor Cox wasn’t saying anything about her potion, but the fact that he wasn’t pointing out any flaws made Aurora feel like she had made the potion properly. She took his small grunt as an expression of approval and brought her phial to his desk when he told her to.

It was no surprise to her that they’d be testing their potions before getting to the main activity. That was to be expected. Aurora felt quite confident that her potion would work well enough, or at least she hoped it would. Well, only one way to know for sure…

After pouring out the required amount into her glass, Aurora drank. It was as the professor described. Pretty much immediately she felt the coolness as the liquid went down her throat. Then it travelled outward throughout her body. The tingles followed soon after. Everything was working as it should, though she waited a little longer just in case any bad effects followed.

Once she was sure everything was as it should be, Aurora walked over to the flame when it was her turn to and held her hand out over it. There was no heat whatsoever. Testing it further, she moved her hand slightly closer. Still no heat. It had worked! BEAM!

…

That girl wasn’t really dying, was she? Aurora was alarmed, but was also sure that Professor Cox would be able to deal with it and she would be okay. She was still worried though.

*PhoenixRising* · 10-07-2025, 03:04 AM

OH that makes sense!! Emma nodded at Aurora when the girl explained that it wasn't a proofreading mark but a rune. Yea, she didn't take runes. Well, up until this year, so she was definitely behind on knowing the runic alphabet. She'd definitely be bugging Aurora for some extra study time later on some rune review. For now though the lesson was starting with a discussion on how fire has been both destructive and protective? She didn't really have anything to add, still beating herself up on her rune mistake.

She waited her turn to collect her ingredients, she transcribed the ingredients and preparations into her notes to help commit it to memory. Fire protection potion would be quite useful, she maybe felt like she needed it already. Cleaning her cauldron, pewter, she aguamenti'd some water into her cauldron and increased the heat. Slowly she dripped the salamander blood into the cauldron, one.... two... three.... four... five... six... seven... eight.... nine ... ten ... wait, was that nine or ten? She stared at the cauldron looking at the color. Emma squinted at the orange and decided it wasn't quite 'glowing' enough, so she added a bit more. Three crushed fire seeds into the cauldron. Stirring twice clockwise, she added the two mushrooms (diced, of course). The potion started to bubble quite a bit and she wondered had she added more than just the tops? She couldn't recall. The stems wouldn't have ruined the potion, right?

Maybe she should hold off in case she needed to start over. "Uh Professor? If say I added the stems too, inadvertently, the potion... It's okay, right?" Huh, what was that about that young first year dying?

sweetpinkpixie · 10-07-2025, 06:13 AM

Text Cut: it is always going to be you two, isn't it?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samia

Marina had been doing so well keeping quiet or at least, as quiet as she could manage. But the word marshmallows still echoed in her head, and she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing outright. It wasn’t that she wanted to make fun of him, but… Professor Cox saying marshmallows was something she’d probably remember forever.

All thoughts of things fluffy anf marshmallows went out the window though once those instructions appeared on the board. Well then.

Somehow though .... she began.

“Okay…” she muttered to herself, pouring water into her cauldron. “Salamander blood. Ten drops. Just drops, not... oh no” Two drops went splat instead of drip. “Right. Eleven it is. It’s fine. It’s… fiery symmetry.”

The potion still glowed orange, and Marina exhaled in relief ... she stirred three careful times, counting under her breath. Everything was fine. This was not going to be a disaster. It looked promising.... right up until she realized her cauldron was on the wrong flame setting. “Right,” she murmured to herself, twisting the knob down half a turn. A faint hiss came from the cauldron anyway. She winced, gave it a stir ... counterclockwise, as the professor had said... and pretended that little puff of smoke had definitely been intentional. As long as she gets a pat on the back for trying - she was totally fine with this. By the time the potion turned the approximate shade the instructions described (read: “stormy blue”), Marina was standing on her toes to peer inside, hair frizzing from the heat.

When Professor Cox’s voice cut through the room, as if on queue... the potion burbled in response. She glanced around at the other students, then back at her own work. “Alright. You’re fine. You’re…mostly fine,” she told it softly, as if reassuring the potion itself. “Please don’t explode.”

All saaaaid and done, somehow she eventually made it to the point that her first potion ever made it to the desk of the professor. And then ... came the worst part.

“Testing?” she whispered, eyes darting toward the glass cup that shimmered into being in front of her. “Oh. We’re actually… drinking it.”

“Fun” Read: NOT FUN AT ALL.

Still, she ladled carefully and despite her best efforts, the potion sloshed over the side, so she wiped it on her sleeve before remee,bering she probably shouldn’t. Ugh. She eyed the potion suspiciously. And then sighed. Surely the professor was told to save a student if they ended up killing themselves with their disastrous potion making.

So with a determined nod, she took a small sip.

Her eyes went wide, “Oh” she gasped.

".....Im dying. I am definitely dying, professor"

Quote:

Originally Posted by squidnie

Testing their brew firsthand. Even without knowing fully what that meant, this was exactly why Cat had started over with her potion. These wizards were absolutely batty and she was not surprised that they were now (theoretically) in danger of bodily harm if their potions weren’t correct.

Cat eyed her cauldron suspiciously, suddenly trusting her brewing abilities even less than she had before. This potion was supposed to keep her from, like, burning herself? In some form? She inspected the potion for another moment, then inspected the instructions that she’d already gone over many times in her head and one-and-a-half times in practice, then inspected her potion again, then nodded to herself. Okay. She could do this. She could.

So, she did. She had just gotten a scoop ready for herself and consumed the questionable potion as instructed when Marina caught her attention. That gasp and those wide eyes were not promising (neither were those words, which were a bit more… concerning).

“Marina?” Cat whispered, reaching toward the girl to poke at her a bit. ~~Helpful~~. “Professor?” Cat pulled her hand back and raised it, just in case he didn’t hear Marina. “I think we need a bit of help over here.” Quickly, please. No dying friends, please.

Notably, though Cat was too not-quite-panicked to take stock, she was now feeling a curious cool sensation throughout her chest and arms and when she had taken her hand back from ~~poking~~ checking on Marina, it had passed through a bit of her fire with no noticeable negative effects.

Cox's brow arched faintly preceding the quiet scrape of a stool as he hurried over. "Dying, Miss García Massey?" His tone was flat, perhaps a bit too much so. "Let’s refrain from premature dramatics. I take such claims seriously," he cautioned, and not entirely unsympathetically, before adding what he considered a humorous afterthought. "Besides, strictly speaking, dying is prohibited in my classroom" He crossed the room with quick measured steps and extended a small stoppered vial, its contents a cooling teal with the slightest of shimmers. "Simple antidote against poisons. Sip, not swallow. You’ve ingested a concoction not quite meant for human consumption, but you’ll be fine. The sensation you’re feeling will pass shortly." He paused, his eyes flicking toward the cauldron and workstation that had survived her enthusiasm. "Sit. Breathe. Let the antidote settle before attempting to move again. I’d rather not have have you faint and my need to carry you to the hospital wing."

He turned his attention next to Tweedledum - or perhaps Tweedledee - and exhaled a quiet sigh. "Your concern is touching, but rest assured, your partner in chaos is in no mortal peril." He waited long enough to ensure the Gryffindor followed through before adding, quieter but no less pointed, "When you're steady, you may join the others in testing my brew. It will give you the proper sense of what your potion was meant to achieve before you added too many drops of salamander's blood, stirred the wrong direction, and potentially scorched the bottom of your cauldron. The last on that list nothing a bit of elbow grease cannot fix."

Text Cut: /magically/ cleaned up a spill?

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

“Will do, Professor!’’ Idris chirped, not at all put off by the words. He simply saw them as constructive criticism. To cement that he was very serious about this, Id really did scribble the following in his book: keep the same pace with stirs; minimise variation. His confidence though… that was always sky high. Oh well. That was a problem to temper for another time. Once he was done scribbling, he skipped off to deposit his potion sample on the man’s desk.

Back at his workstation, he watched with great fascination as a glass cup materialise there. Cox’s entire process reminded him of Dad D and their wandless magic/non verbal talent. His professors were awfully talented and Id admired that. His goal to be a Language Professor wouldn’t require such practicality, but still… maybe he’d gravitate towards acquiring some special skill at some point. With two mutters of ‘Scourgify!’, the ladle he was about to use was cleaned, as well as the glass. In his bounciness, the Gryffindor actually did spill a couple of drops on his workstation. Woops! The required 120 ml was doled out and only then did the small mess magically cleaned.

Nothing to see here, Professor! All was well

A slight face was made when the potential negative reactions to the potion were made known. Goodness, he hoped he had brewed this properly. He hoped Jan had. Then again, they both had followed the instructions to the letter, and it looked exactly as the finished product had been described. “I’m trying my own potion,’’ he informed Jan with a beam. “Here we go!” The fifth year lifted his glass to his lips and chugged.

It was just as Cox described: Id felt the coolness as the potion travelled down his oesophagus. The sensation reminded him of drinking iced water. Soon it spread through the rest of him, and after a brief moment, the tingling began - starting in his fingertips. He was still for a moment, bracing himself for any bad effects. All the while, his gaze was fixed on his brother; Jan was feeling okay, right? Since nothing negative happened, he moved towards the candle’s flame. “We get to share a candle!’’ he stated brightly.

So did Id actually feel any heat with his extended hand? Nope. Not a thing. Beaming in further excitement, he moved his hand closer to the flame to see if anything would change.

Also... that girl wasn't really dying, was she?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charely Potter

Who said Potions couldn't have a little flair to it? Jan considered it an art, though he had his own motivations for perfecting potions. Like the hair tonic he and Drake had been working on since 3rd year with their hair journeys. But that was irrelevant to this combo of a lesson. "Yes, Professor." He said. As for them with the teamwork, "And don't worry, we'll continue sticking together as moral support instead of sharing answers." Though he probably could've benefited that. "Hopefully, he didn't see that." Jan whispered from the little slip up. The Professor did seem to have a sharp eye. He turned his vial in as instructed.

So Jan's potion had a little burnt smell to it, nothing too bad, from what Professor Cox suggested. Though he did get a little hesitant at taking a sample, with the first year claiming she was dying and his likely to have a burnt aftertaste. Jan felt a relief to see his brother would not be dying. Pouring some of his into a glass, "Here goes.." He took a swig and...

"Ack.." Jan began coughing before he sighed. "No, no, I'm not dying. I'm okay. It just went down the wrong pipe for a sec." Clearing his throat, he took another swig to finish it off, while it smelled a little burnt, the taste was cool to the touch before he could feel it through him. "That's better."

"Awesome, my turn." Since Idris didn't have any bad effects, he then moved his hand over the fire and... "Hmm.. it felt like a soft touch, but nothing warm." That was good news, right?

His gaze cut sharply toward the flicker of movement and at the Gryffindor’s workstation just as the faint shimmer of a spell upon the surface faded. The faintest twitch pulsed at his jaw before he spoke...low, calm, but edged with unmistakable disapproval.

Yes, he had, in fact, seen that.

"Mr. Grunt, do my eyes deceive me or did you just clean up a spill with magic?"

Text Cut: djsjafa

Professor Cox’s gaze shifted toward Emma at her question, one brow lifting as he took not of the color of her brew currently. Cue a slow breath through his nose. "Depends on your definition of 'okay,' Miss Montmorency," he with trained restraint. "The stems aren't toxic, but they are laden with additional moisture that dampens magical conductivity. In essence, you've blunted your potion's potency before it had a chance to develop...but I would be more concerned with how much salamander blood you've added considering its currently color."

He wasn't sound angry, even if he may have looked it from the crease in his brow, just pragmatic. "If you continue as is, since you are uncertain as to your process, you're likely to produce something serviceable at best...a potion with a lower threshold and less longevity when you drink it. You have two options: start fresh, or compensate by adding an additional two grams of Wartcap powder and extending your simmering time by five minutes. Time is tight, however, so it may service you best to join Miss García Massey in taking one of the phials. Or you may take a ladle full from Miss Bay's."

The choice was hers, but he certainly could not leave her alone in the classroom to brew unsupervised so a choice may be made for her depending on how things proceeded from here.

. . . . . .

Cox checked the wax pooling at the base of the candles and nodded - right on schedule, mostly. "Enough brewing for now." With a flick of his wrist, a small chest on his desk sprang open and revealed neatly folded strips of cloth in pristine white alongside a collection of smooth rune stones etched with the shape of Kenaz. "Each of you will come forward and collect three sashes and one stone," he instructed. "The cloth will fasten itself to your robes wherever you decide to place them - though I recommend your back or hips - and the rune stones were carved by hand by myself, so try not to drop them," he explained as he pulled three strips of ribbon from the chest and attached them to the center of his back and on either one of his hips. "Kenaz creates the flame. Your potion keeps you from being roasted alive," he gestured, stomping his foot twice on the stone floor and the trapdoor with a ladder leading down revealed itself. "Let’s put both to use. If you would all please follow me down beneath the classroom, I'll explain further."

And down he went, descending the narrow ladder with practiced ease, the dim torchlight from below catching faintly on his chiseled features and making his rugged scruff appear to glow for a fraction of a second. Cox stepped aside once he reached the floor and waited at the base of the ladder with one hand resting lightly on the rung, ready to steady any student whose footing faltered on the way down.

OOC: While we are moving locations IC, OOC we will be staying in this thread

The room your characters will enter is a simple spacious stone storeroom with bare walls, cool air, and only a few iron sconces casting torchlight across the space. Nothing about it seems remarkable… which of course might make it all the more suspicious

Instructions for the final activity of the lesson will be given in 15 ish hours from the time of this post.

WhittyBitty · 10-07-2025, 11:33 PM

So the girl was going to be okay. Aurora had expected as much, though she had still been worried. Now it looked like things weren’t going great for Idris, who had clearly used magic to clean up a spill. She sent a look of sympathy towards her friend. Hopefully it wouldn’t go too badly for him.

It seemed things were also not going well for Emma, who didn’t have the time to restart her potion. ”My potion works perfectly,” she said as she demonstrated by placing her hand right over the flame. No heat! So it would work for her if she decided to take the potion from her. She was more than happy to share.

Time for the activity!

Aurora was really curious about this part. She took three sashes and a rune stone. Listening to the professor’s advice, she fastened the sashes to her hips and back in the same way that he had demonstrated. Okay, time to begin and not get roasted alive.

Honestly it was no surprise to her to see that there was a trapdoor in the Potions classroom. There were secrets throughout Hogwarts. Though it was cool to be discovering a new one. Being careful not to drop her rune stone, Aurora went down the ladder and took a glance around her new surroundings. Nothing was remarkable, but she figured that might change.

FearlessLeader19 · 10-08-2025, 12:24 AM

Id turned out that the spill had been seen. Just when he thought that he was fully sinking into enjoying the reward of his hard work, he was called out by the Professor. Again. Though this call-out was unlike the others; in the Gryffindor’s opinion - and his imagination - this one sounded of bad nature. “Er… Yes, I did, Professor.” The next thought that followed in his mind was ‘Let’s see how you can turn this into another learning experience, Iddy!’ And he'd have definitely considered Rory's concern for him as sweet if he knew what she was thinking.

Idris hadn’t felt anything when it came to the flame, even when he had slowly passed his hand through the flame. It occurred to him just how wonderfully he was advancing when it came to Potion brewing. True, he never did poorly at the subject but sometimes all the ingredients and steps had been overwhelming for him. And as Jan said, they were working together as moral support, so that went a long way in Id’s success with today’s potion. His big brother was the best!

He couldn’t help but watch proudly as Jan took the potion. Though he got super concerned at the reaction, and had a sudden image of Jan dying flashing before his eyes. He was just about to thump the other boy on his back when the coughing ceased. “Stop scaring me!” he whispered. Shaking his head as if to dispel feels of anything unfortunate happening to Jan, he simply watched in anticipation as the candle was put to use once again. “I knew it! I knew you’d brew the potion perfectly!” With great control, he resisted throwing his arms happily around the seventh year.

Now that the lesson was moving along, Idris focused on Cox and the chest. Ohh, what an interesting way to get the next phase started! As instructed, three sashes and one stone were collected, and afterwards, he presented his back to Jan. “Can you place them all on my back, please?” Id willed himself to stand still so his request could be easily fulfilled.

Sashes in place, the Gryffindor thanked his brother then flounced off to descend the ladder. Naturally, he took his time in doing so. The room was unimpressive, or so he thought after safely stepping into it. Oh, there was some amount of squinting as though narrowed eyes would help him uncover the secrets of it.

Charely Potter · 10-08-2025, 12:59 AM

Jan couldn't help but want to stick up for his little brother, who cleaned up after himself, "Our mother always said, don't leave a spill unchecked." It was practically a habit for them to clean up after themselves, even if it was with magic.

With the next set of instructions, Jan went up to collected the sashes and stone. Then he helped Idris with getting them set on his back. "There we go." The Professor was right in that as soon as he put them on, the cloth adjusted themself perfectly on their robes. For himself, he decided to attach it to his hip area, he was flexible to add it to his own back, but wanted to be quick. After making sure they wouldn't slip off, he followed the Professor and everyone else down the ladder.

sweetpinkpixie · 10-08-2025, 03:13 AM

The reminder of peer to peer hospitality was pleasant, as was the accompanying demonstration of Miss Bay's brewing capabilities to Miss Montmorency to help the seventh year make her decision. Now, one to something slightly less uplifting but a learning experience nonetheless.

Text Cut: The Grunt-lemen

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Id turned out that the spill had been seen. Just when he thought that he was fully sinking into enjoying the reward of his hard work, he was called out by the Professor. Again. Though this call-out was unlike the others; in the Gryffindor’s opinion - and his imagination - this one sounded of bad nature. “Er… Yes, I did, Professor.” The next thought that followed in his mind was ‘Let’s see how you can turn this into another learning experience, Iddy!’ And he'd have definitely considered Rory's concern for him as sweet if he knew what she was thinking.

Idris hadn’t felt anything when it came to the flame, even when he had slowly passed his hand through the flame. It occurred to him just how wonderfully he was advancing when it came to Potion brewing. True, he never did poorly at the subject but sometimes all the ingredients and steps had been overwhelming for him. And as Jan said, they were working together as moral support, so that went a long way in Id’s success with today’s potion. His big brother was the best!

He couldn’t help but watch proudly as Jan took the potion. Though he got super concerned at the reaction, and had a sudden image of Jan dying flashing before his eyes. He was just about to thump the other boy on his back when the coughing ceased. “Stop scaring me!” he whispered. Shaking his head as if to dispel feels of anything unfortunate happening to Jan, he simply watched in anticipation as the candle was put to use once again. “I knew it! I knew you’d brew the potion perfectly!” With great control, he resisted throwing his arms happily around the seventh year.

Now that the lesson was moving along, Idris focused on Cox and the chest. Ohh, what an interesting way to get the next phase started! As instructed, three sashes and one stone were collected, and afterwards, he presented his back to Jan. “Can you place them all on my back, please?” Id willed himself to stand still so his request could be easily fulfilled.

Sashes in place, the Gryffindor thanked his brother then flounced off to descend the ladder. Naturally, he took his time in doing so. The room was unimpressive, or so he thought after safely stepping into it. Oh, there was some amount of squinting as though narrowed eyes would help him uncover the secrets of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charely Potter

Jan couldn't help but want to stick up for his little brother, who cleaned up after himself, "Our mother always said, don't leave a spill unchecked." It was practically a habit for them to clean up after themselves, even if it was with magic.

With the next set of instructions, Jan went up to collected the sashes and stone. Then he helped Idris with getting them set on his back. "There we go." The Professor was right in that as soon as he put them on, the cloth adjusted themself perfectly on their robes. For himself, he decided to attach it to his hip area, he was flexible to add it to his own back, but wanted to be quick. After making sure they wouldn't slip off, he followed the Professor and everyone else down the ladder.

”Your mother was correct, Mr. Grunt. Cleanliness is a virtue in any workspace,” he began, folding his hands behind his back. “However, in this classroom, I have stated quite clearly that spills and messes are not to be handled magically. Magical energy on top of magical substance does not dispel the magical essence within a mixture. Residues can linger, warp reagents, destabilize enchantments, and, in some cases, trigger unpredictable reactions such as explosions.” As creatures of habit, there was always at least one who forgot this no matter where he taught. Mr. Grunt was simply joining the Wand Dependency Club. “You will stay behind a moment to clean your station properly,” he elaborated, offering a bottle with a liquid so clear inside it it almost looked as though it were empty, “with the neutralizing solution and a rag before you join us below. Five points from Gryffindor, to serve as a reminder that classroom instructions are not arbitrary.” A faint exhale through his nose followed. One that was neither irritation nor amusement, merely finality. “That said, your honesty is noted and appreciated, so a point back to Gryffindor.”

OOC: A little bit of wibbly-wobbly timeline is totally fine here since you already had him climbing down the ladder. In your next post, you can just mention it in the past tense as if it’s already happened - easy peasy lemon squeezy!

- - - - - -

Hmm, it was a bit darker down here than he remembered it being, even with his eyes adjusting. No matter. That would all change soon enough.

"Right then, onto the reason I brought you lot down here." He raised a smooth, rune-carved stone between his index and middle finger. "This, as you all recognize now, is Kenaz rune stone - a rune that represents illumination, transformation, and, most importantly for our purposes, flame. When tapped once with your finger..." he demonstrated, shifting the rune into the palm of his hand and pointing it away from students and towards the nearby stone wall. A bright burst of orange fire leapt from the stone before vanishing harmlessly into the air, "...it produces a brief flare. Ordinarily quite hot and hazardous, but thanks to your brews is now perfectly safe for our little game."

He pocketed his own rune for the time being and took a couple slow steps back away from the group of students, pulling four more sashes into view and attaching them to various parts of himself - bringing his total to seven. "Your task as a team is simple: burn away as many of my sashes as you can before I do the same to yours using only your Kenaz rune stones. The flame will catch on the sash but not on you." He may - or may not - have chuckled to himself. "Each burned ribbon sash will fall off and change color to reveal part of a message. A message you'll want to decipher on your own time, so do collect those and keep them in your pocket. The decision to share the knowledge you gain from the sashes with others or not is your choice to make."

He smirked faintly, clearly pleased with himself, and continued to take a couple more steps back away from the group - the man needed a bit of a head start, after all. "Remember, aim for precision as it is possible to miss and accidentally burn off one of your classmate's sashes instead of mine. You’ll be using flame born from intent and control which are two qualities every proper practitioner of rune magic should master." He allowed for one final pause, his body pivoting into a sideways stance indicative of someone about to take off at a sprint. "Let’s see if you can take the heat."

And with that and a burst of unexpected speed, Cox darted away- the large mouth bass days and their paralyzing aftermath long since burned away.

OOC: HUZZAH! Here we are at the final activity of the lesson

A little straightforward bit of magical 'tag' with Kenaz flare.

Just one small friendly reminder: please don’t RP the effects of any Kenaz fire on Professor Cox or your fellow peers.

Other than that, let your creativity run wild (like your characters in this underground space) and most importantly - have FUN!

Approximately 3 days is available for this activity

*squidnie* · 10-09-2025, 02:48 AM

... They were playing tag??

Cat almost laughed, looking around at the other students to gauge their reactions before she did anything. Whatever she had envisioned happening in this room, it was definitely not a game of tag. And that was a pleasant surprise. She slapped her sashes onto her back and each hip (those had been the suggestions, after all) and inspected her rune stone.

It was then that she put together the whole picture. They were shooting fire at each other.

She replayed the past few minutes in her head, trying to recall actually testing out her fireproof qualities. The distraction with Marina had been, well, a distraction. But she'd tested herself, right? Yes. Probably. Maybe.

But... just to be safe... Cat bee-lined for the back of the group a second after Professor Cox started moving. She had to... strategize. Yeah. She needed to do some planning. Not to mention, she wasn't confident in her rune-wielding (was that the right term?) yet. So, just to try it out... she set it in her palm like she'd notice Professor Cox had his, and aimed it at a blank wall.

GOFIREGO.

WhittyBitty · 10-09-2025, 04:47 AM

The activity was a game of tag?!

Out of all the activities they could have done, Aurora hadn’t expected it to be tag. But she wasn’t complaining. Far from it. Tag was FUN. Even the fact that they were shooting fire at each other didn’t bother her since she knew that it was perfectly safe.

Aurora was more than ready to play. But before she started going after the professor, she decided to test out her rune stone and see if she could get a handle of it. Then there was less chance of her missing the sashes he was wearing,

Aiming towards the wall, she pressed the rune stone the way they were instructed ans watched as the flare was emitted. After trying it out a couple more times, she was ready to get started.

*PhoenixRising* · 10-09-2025, 11:30 PM

Truer words could not be spoken, depends on definition of 'okay'. Because while she definitely did not know everything, in her eighteen years of life, she'd definitely learned that some people are okay with mediocrity. Sometimes she'd fallen victim to that. She nodded though about blunting its potency but it was the second bit that stopped her dead in her tracks. She HAD miscounted the salamander blood drops. While she hated the fact that she had to succumb to using someone else's potion, pride and all, she knew that Professor Cox was probably right. Skimming the rest of the protocol, she saw she had at least five minutes left on the potion that may not have the desired effect.

Time was ticking and she turned to her younger friend. "Thanks Aurora," but then back up at Professor Cox. "May I use the laboratory to attempt the potion again on my free hour tomorrow afternoon? I promise to clean up when I'm done." Potions being an essential course, she would hate to fall behind with any of the potions needed for NEWTs, even if she doubted she would pursue anything related to the subject after June. One never knew though. "If Aurora is free, she can come coax me along to make sure I don't mess up again." She didn't want to volunteer her friend for anything she wouldn't want to do, but also maybe having someone skilled in potions besides the professor might be more convincing to let her use the potions laboratory.

--

In the meantime, it was time for tag. Taking a ladleful of Aurora's potion, into a glass, she swallowed it, hand instinctively going to her cheeks as she felt the tingling associated that he had described. Testing the fire protection, she ran her hand over the flame and nodded in approval. Not hot. As to be expected from Aurora saying her potion was perfect. Even if it made her feel inferior, although she'd never admit it.

Following her peers in the line, she collected three sashes and one of the stones. Turning it over to inspect it, she clutched it while debating where to place the sashes and decided her back and hips would be a good choice as he recommended. One on her back, the remaining two over her hips. Descending the ladder, grateful for her quidditch agility training.

While she had 6.5 years of potions ~~and nothing to show for it~~, rune-wielding was a unique process for her. Tapping it as he demonstrated, she jumped at the sight of the orange fire, but relaxed almost as immediately once she realized it wasn't as hot as expected. Burn the sashes. So what? She had to throw the stone at his sash? She was a seeker, not a chaser. And did her runestone come back to her if she threw it? Was there a pile of kenaz runes that she could collect from? She decided to follow Aurora's lead and throw it at the wall to test. While also keeping a side-eye on her target (Cox)

FearlessLeader19 · 10-10-2025, 12:23 AM

Id hadn’t really processed all that had happened with the spills and whatnot prior to him joining everyone in the new room. He had simply nodded to all Cox had had to say and tried not to think how yet again he was disappointing his Dad E. Not even Jan sticking up for him had helped. So now, as the activity was explained, Idris did his best to make himself small {which was ridiculously difficult given his lanky frame} since the negative feelings were starting to sink in. He felt rather discouraged, something even his vastly bubbly and positive personality could not fix. He sincerely hoped that the activity would serve as a distraction.

The Gryffindor kept his eyes on his shoes, he determinedly focused on Cox’s voice instead of the growing buzzing that was a voice telling him that he shouldn’t face Dad E again. To help keep that at bay, he toyed with the rune stone, taking a closer look at the carving after some time. It was rather an impressive piece of craftsmanship that the professor had done here.

Not even the reveal that the students would be on one team and Cox would be on his own surprised him, something that would have thrilled him otherwise due to the challenge such a dynamic would bring. Checking that his classmates and their sashes were out of ‘harm’s’ way, he lifted his right hand that held the stone. Goodness, the professor was as fast as a cheetah! Id, without much motivation, tapped his stone with his thumb, turning his body and aiming towards the man.

Point to note: the guy didn’t care if he hit any sashes.

sweetpinkpixie · 10-10-2025, 01:28 AM

Upon making a sharp cut right to cut across part of the room, Cox caught a glimpse of students demonstrating some degree of forethought in tapping their runes lightly in various directions and observing how the flame responded at varying angles and distances. Sensible, Cox thought as he slowed his pace around perimeter, eyes briefly glinting with approval. Best to understand the mechanics before flinging oneself into chaos...and probably something he should have considered before expending so much energy to put a fair bit of distance between himself and his student.

Unfortunately, that fragile streak of wisdom was all too short lived.

A flicker of movement at the edge of his vision and years of reflex honed by less-than-gentle experimentation gone wrong burst into action. He pivoted sharply, his wandless gesture of one hand outstretched in a pose oddly reminiscent of a Muggle comic-book hero - yes, professor were into such things too - almost immediate. The Kenaz stone froze mid-flight, its heat suspended mere centimeters away from the wall.

He exhaled through his nose and stepped closer to the class that had yet to entirely disperse since the activity had begun. "Miss Montmorency," he said, voice dangerously calm as the stone drifted neatly back towards the young witch. "You were instructed quite explicitly not to drop these rune stones. If dropping was discouraged, what would possessed you to think throwing was acceptable?" A long pause followed, one in which his jaw set squarely as he gathered all his composure to not explode like this little rune stone was nearly about to do. Not a massive explosion, mind you, but certainly enough to blacken stone and perhaps chip away at it just a bit. Obviously students could not handle anything too dangerous in the palms of their hands. To think just moments ago he had been praising her work ethic, even gladly approving her use of the Potions Laboratory to attempt the potion again and with the assistance of a friend. "Complete disregard for classroom materials and procedure will not be overlooked. Ten points from Hufflepuff ... and you will report for detention after supper. I trust the difference between precision and recklessness will be clearer by then and that outstanding work ethic you displayed earlier to catch-up."

His hand curled into a fist, and the Kenaz stone hovered inches from the seventh year - waiting for her to reclaim it.

OOC: Carry on! Still plenty of time to jump in and heat things up - especially with Professor Cox exposed out in the open and distracted

Charely Potter · 10-10-2025, 01:35 AM

Interesting, so they were playing a game of tag, but instead of ripping off the sashes, they'll be pressing the runes against them. He looked towards Idris and can see his energy shifted. Poor guy. "Hey, you got a point back. Bet Dad E won't even notice the rest." He gave them a sympathetic smile and a quick squeeze in reassurance, but knew from a past incident that his little brother needs a moment to regain his spark. Speaking of, Jan was mid distracted as he didn't notice the whizzing of a rune fly past him towards the direction of a wall. But it was stopped out of his sight.

When Jan took the rune, he made sure to carefully grip it so it didn't slip from his hand when he tapped it gently to invoke the rune. Considering it was a fire type of rune, well, he'll just focus on....

Jan blinked at the speed of Professor Cox, "I think Professor Feirgrund has found competition on whose the fastest runner." From the amount of times they run around the grounds and full speed. As for himself? Sure, Jan was tall and a Chaser, but on foot... that was more a challenge. Wait, was he circling this way? Oh... Merlin, poor Emma. Points were disappearing today from his little brother and now sister Zen's house. But wait, while he was admonishing Emma, the stroke of opportunity just so happened to present itself. "Now's our chance!" Giving Id a gentle brotherly shove in the Professor's direction before he then took his turn to aim at their sash next.

WhittyBitty · 10-10-2025, 02:00 AM

What was Emma doing?!

Aurora’s eyes widened as she watched her friend throw her rune stone at the wall before she even had the chance to tell her that they weren’t supposed to throw them. Wincing, she braced for whatever would happen when the stone made impact, knowing full well that there would be some effect. But whatever that would have been, she didn’t have a chance to find out as Professor Cox had made his way back and had managed to stop the stone in mid flight.

At least there was that, even if poor Emma was now in trouble for acting without thinking. Aurora looked at her friend with sympathy then she got an idea. Professor Cox hadn’t paused the game so she couldn’t get into trouble for targeting him right now. It was all fair play.

Pointing her rune stone at his back, she pressed it and waited to see if the flames that emitted from it would hit their target.

FearlessLeader19 · 10-10-2025, 11:34 PM

Id sniffled though he wasn’t crying. “He wouldn’t but I won’t ever forget it.” He wanted nothing more than to get hugs from Jan and cuddles from Paul and Nes. The squeeze from the brother did help though and Id gave him a slight smile, who was right: he did need a moment to find himself.

The Gryffindor made a slight face at the Slytherin’s comment. “Professor Feirgrund would win each time,’’ was his confident reply. He took a moment to watch the chaos some of his classmates were causing. Throwing the stone? Definitely something he wouldn’t have recommended. Oh well. A sudden push had him taking an unsteady step forward. It took him a moment to fully understand what Jan was saying.

“You’re right!’’ Id mirrored the other Grunt’s actions by taking aim at the man. The stone was tapped with his thumb, just as before, in a slightly more careful aim. He’d be happy if either of their flames hit; it didn’t have to be both.

*squidnie* · 10-11-2025, 01:41 AM

It worked!! Cat smiled to herself at the successful blast of fire from the rune stone. Curiously, she inspected the stone afterward, trying to determine if it had changed at all. It was pretty cool magic. She’d had her doubts after the fiasco at the beginning of the year, but maybe now she could be convinced to like the subject.

When she tuned back into what was going on around her, she noticed the older girl being chastised. Her attention slid to Professor Cox, who (at least to her knowledge) had not called a time-out or paused the game. And he appeared quite vulnerable.

Well… what was the point of all this if she didn’t go all-out in the game now? Pushing away any trepidation, Cat raised her hand with the rune stone and aimed it at the professor.

All’s fair in tag and war, right?

sweetpinkpixie · 10-11-2025, 06:54 AM

His focus lingered a bit too long on the Kenaz rune still hovering midair when the real heat of the exercise made itself known - four flickers of orange flared in his periphery, streaking from different angles. It was hard to tell who cast which, but one struck true, brushing his shoulder and burning a clean edge through the first sash before it flittered to the floor in hiss of harmless smoke.

Quote:

Originally Posted by clue on the sash

Seek the flame that does not burn,
where knowledge glows and pages turn

OOC: This clue must be discovered in-character to become IC knowledge. Once found, the information belongs solely to that character until they choose to share it

The second loss came almost immediately after in his attempt to pivot away from another incoming flame, his boot caught the edge of his robe and he stepped squarely into a stray arc of Kenaz fire. Thus a second shash floated to the ground, ready to be retrieved by student hands.

Quote:

Originally Posted by clue on the sash

Turn to where where the runespoor, hydra, and fwooper fall in line
the secret waits where bindings show and truth confined

OOC: This clue must be discovered in-character to become IC knowledge. Once found, the information belongs solely to that character until they choose to share it

He blinked, then laughed - yes, laughed - low and deep from his stomach but loud enough that it echoed off the walls. "Now that’s more like it," he muttered, brushing at the spot one of the sashes had once been with more pride than irritation. Then, with the faintest tilt of his head toward the still-hovering rune (now safely stabilized with a deft flick of his fingers), he tapped his own Kenaz rune stone rapidly and sent several bursts of flame back toward the students.

OOC: We’ll be wrapping things up in the next 24 hours. Huge huge huuuuuuuuuuge thanks for your creative energy

2 out of 3 clues achieved! 1 to go! That is, if your characters share

FearlessLeader19 · 10-11-2025, 03:18 PM

It was obvious he and Jan weren’t the only ones to take advantage of Cox’s distraction. It was rather nice to see that his classmates were focused, even if he wasn’t. What was equally important was that two sashes got burned away which made Id punch the air in a silent triumph. He retrieved the first clue, showing it to Jan too, since it may have been his that burned a sash away. “Maybe it’s the library,’’ he muttered without much enthusiasm after reading the words. Perhaps when he had found his spark again, he’d give the clue deeper thoughts.

The other reason the fifth year didn’t really care to put much focus on it was due to the fact that he was sideeyeing Cox. There was the shrewd suspicion that he would strike soon… and how right Idris was! There wasn’t much room for him to think, he simply reacted to defend himself - and Jan and those near to them. There was solely a calm deliberation in which his movements flowed: from unholstering his wand, lifting it and saying with confidence, “Protego Maxima!”

Now, while the basic Shield Charm would have protected from a normal flame, the one coming his and his brother’s way was by no means an ordinary one since it originated from a rune stone. Despite the odds, he was still hopeful that the flame would not get through the invisible barrier. Not on the first try at least. Sure enough, the powerful flame collided with the barrier; sparks bounced off the shield and it shimmered dramatically. Id was in awe, and he knew his Dad D would be super proud of him because of his thought process and the calm manner in which he cast the charm! The thoughts lifted Id’s spirit. He needed to tell the man about this afterwards, regardless if Cox rebuked him for using a Shield Charm. Nothing would take this moment from him!

“I doubt the Charm would survive another attack,’’ he mused. So, instead of hiding behind it for the rest of the lesson, he dropped it. Without hesitating, Idris tapped his stone once more after aiming it in the direction of the professor. A fierce flame shot for it. Would there be another sash burning away?

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