Elephant's Toothpaste Open RPG++ Closed

The Quidditch Stands had become a regular hangout spot for Calanthe. Not many students frequented the area and those that did were the ones that wanted to be left alone. It presented a soothing atmosphere that felt like it was a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of the castle. If she had been inclined to study, the Stands would also be the perfect spot for that. She just could not focus in the library. Every sound – a page flip, a light scuff of the shoe, dipping of quills into inkwells and godforsaken breathing – sought to drive the witch up a wall.

The Stands were void of any of these. Only the sound of birds squawking and the occasional whipping of the flags atop the stands infiltrated Calanthe’s ears and she somehow found these sounds to be most pleasing. The creaking of the floorboards when students climbed to the top of the Stands annoyed her some, but the traffic was low in the area so her annoyance as few and far between.

The Stands had potential to be abominable, especially during any sort of Quidditch activity. Truthfully, Calanthe had not yet attended a Quidditch game and only sought out the Stands when the pitch was empty. She was not uninterested, but to her, attending games and becoming involved in the community of the school would lead to her thinking that she actually belonged here. That she liked it. And I definitely. Do not. Like it here.

A sharp gust of wind threw her hair into her face and interrupted her thoughts. The pages of the book she was pretending to read flew into a tizzy and she patted them down quickly, hoping to not find annoyed faces when she looked around at the spotting of students in the stand with her. Then she had to remind herself: Literally no one cares.

For all the pros of the stands – the quiet, the low body count and the gorgeous view – there was one con that threatened her peace. The bloody wind.

Thinking she could put up with the harsh breeze, Calanthe pulled her jacket tighter around her small frame and thanked Merl – ah… thanked God that she chose to dress conservatively today. But the boots and long pants could not keep her warm as the wind became even more unrelenting in its obvious pursuit of ruining Calanthe’s day. Slamming the book down onto the seat next to her and rattling some of the lonely souls occupying the stand, she pulled herself up and readied for the trek back to the castle.

Tall enough to see over the railing for the first time since she sat down, Calanthe caught a glimpse at the pitch. The once bare green grass was now littered with various vats and other paraphernalia that she could not recognize from this high up. It looked like a science experiment of some sort. And the thought of science was all it took for Calanthe to race down the steps to the stand, embarrassing her inner demons. Exiting the hulking tower, she rounded to the front.

Is that… Professor Lian?

And the memory of the seeing that colourful poster pinned to the Transfiguration billboard came rushing back to Calanthe. No, that’s not right. You don’t look at that bulletin. You probably heard murmurs of it somewhere. The demons were eager to suppress this one. But Calanthe’s interest in the situation won out.

While she could not say she enjoyed her Transfiguration classes, she was most delighted with the inclusion of so much science, a topic that Calanthe had practically grown up on. She was never the best at Physics, which the Transfiguration lessons featured heavily, but she appreciated its appearance, nonetheless, and it made her gain a soft spot for the Professor of Transfiguration.

However, the scene before her seemed to be nothing like Physics or Transfiguration. Attracted to the small crowd, Calanthe stopped at the back of it and listened to the Professor’s words. Unsure of what was actually about to happen, she unconsciously followed the crowd as they picked up safety goggles and gloves as directed by the Professor. Standing a few paces away from the group after putting on her PPE, she waited for more information on whatever the hell Elephant Toothpaste was.

On the day that Professor Lian posted the colorful flyer proclaiming some kind of record breaking science project, Flash knew it was up his alley. He already held the utmost respect for the way she held her class and didn’t condescend to her students’ intelligence just because they were young. She was quite young for a professor herself, so she must have had high hopes for their ability to achieve great heights of learning even at their ages.

That was even despite the fact that Flash was already interested in knowing everything he could about transfiguration. The idea of altering the form of matter was at first completely shocking to him, he was afraid of the kind of power that bestowed on the user, reminding him much more of Lovecraft than of science. Even given his trepidation at the start of the year, Professor Lian had diligently led the young students through the material without holding anything back.

It was quite a refreshing change from the brainless tenured nobodies employed at his private school back home. Most of his teachers had been decrepit old white men whose lessons were antiquated and soulless. Flash did most of his learning from his family or independently, the busy work at the school had massive barriers of being simultaneously boring and pointless. Perhaps it was the material, since children under ten weren’t supposed to be learning about psychology and physics, but Flash couldn’t help but feel like they had all given up on trying to be effective teachers long ago, and instead worked as glorified babysitters for rich parents.

He was glad he got rescued from that mind-numbing academia with his letter to Hogwarts. The teachers there were brighter, more engaged and interested. The subjects were also much more interesting. He found it to be somewhat nostalgic and also comical that a professor with incredible powers of transfiguration would still be interested in experimenting with chemical reactions. The whole experiment seemed downright… fun. Flash was noticing with the passage of time that it was important to do things that meant something to you, even if it didn’t have a practical reward at the end.

Well, that wasn’t to say the event in question didn’t have a practical reward. There was the possibility of a record being set. Regardless, Flash found himself immediately wanting to take part. He could broaden his understanding, spend more time with one of his favorite teachers, and perhaps be a part of something memorable. He awaited the arrival of the day, desperately needing something light to distract himself from the stress and confusing feelings all around him.

When he arrived, he was surprised to see he was one of the first ones to arrive. He liked to be early, but he didn’t usually find himself being the first few. It was just as well, he wasn’t afraid to show his enthusiasm for the project. He had dressed appropriately for the occasion, strolling up the pitch to where Professor Lian was preparing for the students to arrive. There were safety goggles nearby, as well as the protective gloves he was told to bring. The weather was finally starting to get warm enough that they were a bit of a burden, but it was a small price to pay for science.

There wasn't much else to do besides wait for the others to arrive. Flash knew his professor to be quite thorough, so he doubted there was anything she needed help with. Certainly she asked someone to be her aide already. Despite that assumption, it was only polite to offer.

"Professor, this is Flash Holmwood, first year Slytherin." Flash announced his presence, since she clearly heard his approaching footsteps. "If there's anything at all I can help with, please rely on me."

Interacting with: @Cypresse Lian
Word count:630
Open to interactions

@Cypresse Lian

Elephant's toothpaste. If that wasn't enough to pique Piérre's interest, then nothing would. To make things better, the project for breaking a record, something else that Piérre liked to do, was being watched over by one of his favorite teachers: Miss Cypresse Lian!

Being a bit of a fool for interesting experiments and general curiosity being his bane, of course Piérre was all over causing a mess and being in the midst of it. That was why he was sprinting across Hogwarts' main lawn, dashing to the location of where a small group of people were already gathered. With a shout and a bright call that was his signature to his blind Transfiguration teacher, the Britalian skidded down the hill, shouting and waving excitedly, "HI MISS CY! I HEARD SOMETHING ABOUT FOAMY TOOTHPASTE!?!?!?!"

Of course the Britalian had met the teacher before. He was a decent student in her class, and truth be told, while he was impish at times, he certainly preferred Miss Cy's style over any other teacher's. Perhaps that was because Piérre could notice a kindred spirit in mischief when he saw it. Filled with witty remarks, snappy humor, and certainly not without a strong knowledgeable mind to back it up, perhaps Piérre had been storing some of Cy's made up threats for when he could finally master his own spells and poke fun at other people.

Having committed to the instructions that Cy had posted for participating in the experiment, Piérre had done as he had been asked, having had to root around in his luggage for a rowdy long-sleeved shirt that he wouldn't mind getting dirty, one of his pairs of jeans (because Scotland was far too cold for the Mediterranean-raised boy), and his typical black sneakers. Surprisingly, his shoes were the only things that didn't really have a color to them; mostly because black shoes were easy to hide dirt and muck in, but also because black went with everything. If he was going to have a pair of shoes (which, he might add, he was starting to grow out of), he may as well have shoes that were durable and able to withstand a lot of running, skidding, tripping, treading, and other activities that a young and overly eccentric boy could engage in.

Besides, it wasn't really a fashion show; this was an excuse to get messy and have a little bit too much fun than simply engaging in homework and being a general bookworm. Hanging about, Piérre threw himself down the hill without a care before sputtering to a stop and looking at the equipment that was set up on all sides. It looked like some sort of mad scientist lab that he had seen in old movies, and there were barrels everywhere. In the center of it was Miss Cy, who was dressed like a classical mad scientist. She was not wearing a bandage to cover her eyes, and Piérre found himself smiling at just how beautiful they were, even if he knew that they couldn't see. They were beautiful in their own way; whether they were the cloudy white kind or if they simply were the kind which possessed color and were merely glassy and sightless.

Unable to prevent himself from making a small crack at a joke, Piérre added with a small laugh. "You look good as a mad scientist Miss Cy!"

Not really expecting anyone else to laugh with him, Piérre shrugged and kicked at the ground before nodding to everyone else. "Hi! I'm Piérre! Piérre Marchonné! Nice to meet you all!" He offered a smile to affirm his words, for most of the people before him were unfamiliar faces. New opportunity for friends! People who were just as curious as he was about this toothpaste experiment.

"So... what are we doing? Are you gonna Transfigure an Elephant so that we can brush its teeth, Miss Cy?" Genuinely, the Britalian had no idea what they were going to be doing. He only had a gut feeling that this could end up being a good time and he was willing to take the risk and go along for the ride. If he was there, things could only end up turning out well, and it would certainly be a fun (and quite bumpy) ride.

717 words

Interacting with @Cypresse Lian and @Piérre Marchonné

Covering the quidditch pitch in foam? Seemed like a good idea to Margo. In fact, she couldn’t think of a better way to spend her Saturday. Perhaps, if enough foam was created, quidditch matches would be cancelled. And if there was no quidditch, there was no reason for them to have flying lessons. She would no longer have to worry about the nauseating panic of getting on a broomstick, and her brother would have no reason to find out about her fear of flying. All in all, life at Hogwarts would drastically improve.

So you can imagine why Margo jumped out of bed early that morning and started scraping the cat hair off of her tight black clothes. They were the same, skin covering garments that she had worn to do some slight rule bending about a week prior, and the happy memories generated from that particular occurrence put her in an even better mood. She gently shoved a sleeping Hades, her furry feline, off of her hairbrush and pulled her wild blond hair into a rough ponytail before leaving the dormitory. She wouldn’t want to be sent away because she wasn’t dressed appropriately. No, stoking Professor Lian’s desire to break the ‘Elephant Toothpaste’ record was much too important. 

The pitch was as daunting as always when she arrived. The goalposts loomed over the vast expanse of grass and Margo tried to imagine how people could voluntarily fly up to that height.  Gulping, she caught sight of the Professor in a white lab coat and quickly hurried over. 

“Howdy, Professor Lian! It’s second year Margo White here.” Margo audibly cracked her knuckles, smirking in excitement. “Can’t wait to break that record.” And ruin the pitch so that flying is cancelled for the foreseeable future.

For some reason, Margo thought it best not to say the last part out loud. Some people could be unreasonably touchy about their passions, something that Margo didn’t think was without merit as she would hate to have her sewing insulted. She just didn’t see how flying could be a passion...

The assortment of vats, bottles and barrels next to the Professor snared Margo’s curiosity. How were they actually going to do this? Margo expected that some sort of explosion was necessary to spread the foam, but beyond that she was clueless. Were they actually safe doing this experiment? Margo doubted that the professor would risk her job and students’ safety on purpose, but accidents happened in a school of magic. Then again, they were supposed to be dabbing into muggle science here, something which Margo had absolutely no experience in. The only thing she remembered from her science classes in primary school was accidentally dyeing her teacher’s hair blue when she got bored. In hindsight, paying attention could have done her some good...

But weren’t teachers supposed to answer questions? Margo decided she might as well ask this teacher — she’d never understood the point of being discreet. “So... are we going to mix some chemicals and cause an explosion, Professor?” She tried and failed to sound knowledgable. 

Margo looked around her thoughtfully and realised that she already knew one of the students present. It was Piérre, a boy she’d  met shovelling leaves. It had been pretty hard to discover his name after one meeting and a wrong coloured scarf, but she was much more inclined to accept his enthusiasm now that she was in a better mood. Polluting a quidditch pitch was exhilarating! 

“THAT’S FUNNY, PIERRE, COZ I HEARD SOMETHING ABOUT ELEPHANTS.” She shouted to the boy. 

All that was left to do now was to discover how elephants and toothpaste were related, and to cover an entire pitch in foam. Easy, right? 

WC: 627

In Ami's egotistical little mind, she had decided that the poster Cy had put up in the Transfiguration classroom was clearly directed at her. Of course, she had to weigh the pros and cons for partaking in the experiment, first- life was all about pros and cons, and she had to weight them before making decisions. At least, that was what her mother kept telling her, instead of her racing off to do who knows what half-cocked as she'd always done. As Ami refused to take medication for her ADHD, her mom simply had to resort to different methods to keep her rogue cannonball of a daughter under control.

Where was she? Oh right, pros and cons. Well, first and foremost, and most obviously, was the topic of the advertisement itself. Elephant's Toothpaste; a semi-dangerous experiment commonly performed in countless classrooms across America to teach budding young scientists about catalysts and just chemical reactions in general. Ami, herself, had witnessed this particular experiment when she'd only been in 4th grade, which was perhaps a smidge too young to be that close to hydrogen peroxide. Nonetheless, it had been fun to watch, although she had to admit, the black sugar snake experiment appealed to her much more. But more important than the experiment was the fact that they were going to break a world record, even if it was unofficial and without the presence of a Guinness World Record official. That portion of it was particularly enticing to Ami's competitive streak, regardless of how well she tried to keep that part of her hidden away. It was too Slytherin, too much like her mother- so she tried to pretend that competitions were of no interest to her. But a world record wasn't really a "competition" per se... right? 

However, what made her flinch was the inclusion of science- a subject she had never been particularly adept at. Okay, well, she wasn't particularly adept at any subject, period, except maybe gym class, but that was beside the point. Science was hard, although she'd gotten marginally better at it thanks to Transfiguration. But on the other hand... Cy. She liked Cypresse- a lot. If she had to choose, she'd really probably name Cypresse as her favorite professor, especially considering that Cazarez had left and Lear was, well, presumed dead. Science, but also Cy... a con and a huge pro. Therefore, they canceled out, and she was left with two pros and no cons.

And so, that was how the inquisitive little Hufflepuff found herself traipsing down to the Quidditch pitch that Saturday with all the necessary items- skinny jeans, her Docs, her leather jacket, her hair pushed back out of her face with a black bandana, and a lollipop dangling out of her mouth. By all accounts, she looked like someone in a biker gang rather than a student ready to perform a scientific experiment, but then again, she was all about breaking stereotypes. Her cat, Leo, trailed behind her, despite her insistence that he stay in the dorms. 

Entering the Quidditch Pitch, Ami spotted Cy, along with a couple of other students, in the center of the field. She grimaced at the sight of all the chemicals in quantities that she decided should never exist, and scanned the pitch for Cy's owl. "There, you stinky idiot," she said, pointing towards Diogenes. "Go hang with Di, he'll keep an eye on you, okay?" After a whiny mewl, Leo bounded off towards the hoops, where Diogenes seemed to be keeping watch over the proceedings. He'd probably scratch at the posts until the owl came down to tell him to knock it off.

Having dealt with her cat, Ami turned towards the cluster of people. Taking a deep breath in order to amplify her voice as loudly as possible, she hollered, "Hey Cy! It's Procoppio-" Okay, did she need to include her name? Probably not, her American accent would be enough for Cy to narrow it down to her specifically, but she still liked to clarify for the sake of clarifying. "-and I'm coming at ya from your 8 o'clock. I've got some candy for you, too- I would've brought coffee if I hadn't drunk it all, sorry." After Cy's critical part in helping Ami pass Transfiguration, it was hard not to see her as an older sister figure in her life. She had an incredible sense of style, especially considering she couldn't even see, a cool personality, and a grounded aura that the Hufflepuff couldn't help but jive with. And she knew what Cy liked from her students, in order to give her the clearest picture of her surroundings, so Ami always tried to give her as much of that as possible- announcing her presence and describing where, in relation to her position, she was had become second-nature to her at this point.

As she neared the group, her volume dropped, although Ami had no hesitation in continuing with their usual banter. "Cy, I'm about three feet away- or a meter, you crazy British bastard." Sidestepping, she added, "I'm at your... uh, what is that? Like, 11 o'clock-ish? About half a meter away, now. I'm going to put this lollipop in your hand, and then grab safety equipment, okay?" Reaching out, she gently touched Cy's wrist first, before placing the wrapped lollipop in the professor's hand.

Turning, she smiled at the other students, although she recognized absolutely none of them. None of them were in her year, to her disappointment, but it was fine. She could still have fun without someone her age hanging around. She grabbed gloves and a pair of safety goggles, snapping the gloves onto her hands and putting the goggles on immediately. She hated the feeling of gloves, so she'd rather wait till the absolute last minute until she put them on, but if Cy told her that she needed them... well, who was she to argue with a bonafide genius?

Ami turned to look at the students in the group surrounding Cy, trying to remember if she'd ever seen any of these kids at all. Her definitive answer was a hard no- and besides, she wasn't sure what they were doing here, either. They all looked quiet and shy, or eager-to-please (like that Holmwood kid), or... excessively loud? Ami's smile slipped as the two students started yelling, although she held her tongue. Was that really necessary...? And their jokes were bad, too- even worse than hers, which was an impossible task within itself.

Really, though, there was the smallest hint of merit to their inquiries. Try as she might, Ami had absolutely no idea as to why on earth the experiment was called Elephant's Toothpaste. She figured that it had something to do with the size of the experiment, how theoretically, you could make enough to brush an elephant's teeth... but if it was that big, couldn't you also call it like, T-Rex Toothpaste? Blue Whale Toothpaste? The Amount of Empty Space in Ami's Head Toothpaste?

Idly, she wondered how on earth Cypresse had gotten Professor Bercegeay to agree to all of this nonsense. This would, no doubt, absolutely ruin the Quidditch field, and probably make more than a few Quidditch players absolutely livid. She'd seen this be done on a larger scale, too, and wondered if they needed more than just safety goggles and gloves for protection... maybe they could dump everything while they were on brooms? No, Cy wouldn't go on a broom, unless she was sharing with someone else. The idea was ridiculous, even if the person organizing it had two working eyeballs to see everything with.

Just exactly was Cy's plan? Well, whatever it was, it was probably absolutely ridiculous.

"What will we be doing, Cy?" Ami asked out of pure curiosity. When she'd done this experiment in school, the teacher had done every single step- the students were only there to take observational notes and write down the data. But here, she saw no clipboards, no paper, nothing for them to record. So... was she actually going to trust these volatile preteens with chemicals that were on the more dangerous side of things in the universe. "Are we going to take a video of it...? Or a moving photo?" There was no way that they'd ever get this in the official world record book, considering that No-Majs definitely couldn't come onto the grounds, but she at least wanted a little keepsake when it was all over. She needed something to bring home to her mother during summer break, to show Scout that yes, his older sister was kind of dumb, but at least she did cool things like this!

After all, she was giving up her Saturday for this nonsense.

"Please don't tell me we're just doing the food coloring, that would be lame as hell, man," she added with a dry laugh, although she assumed that Cy would have them do more than just that. She knew the Transfiguration professor had also experienced the pains of being slept on simply because of her age, and the way she taught reflected that. She wanted to include the kids, regardless of how much (or little) they knew. "Also, I swear to God if you make us actually learn something today, I'll transfigure your desk into a whale." Hmm, were empty threats really the way to go? Probably not, but Cy knew Ami's mouth tended to move faster than her brain could cope with... not that her brain could cope with much in general. "I mean, not that I can... but I will. You've taught me too well, Cy."

Grinning expectantly at the other students, Ami couldn't help but feel eager and ready to start. She didn't know these students well at all, but she knew that soon enough, they'd have at least one thing in common, whether they liked it or not- they'd all be fleeing from the grand disaster they were about to create on the Quidditch field.

Interacting with everyone.

It was frequently observed that Pericles suited many stereotypes of his house. He was curious, inclined to acquire knowledge, and willing to take risks in order to do so. Needless to say, being selected as a "safety supervisor" was no small honor for the up-and-coming Ravenclaw. While fame and glory were not necessarily on his list of to-dos, everything about the experiment appealed to him. He enjoyed being helpful, and above all, he craved seeing something new. It was a fine day for pushing limitations. Most intriguingly, Professor Lian had equipped him with a camera, an antique of a device which was capable of operating at Hogwarts due to how grievously outdated it was. Toting around a relic was a rare treat, thus Peri handled the device as though it were made of fragile porcelain. As students started pouring into the pitch, he snapped a quick photo: curious arrivals filtering into the frame while Cy sat in the midst of barrels, a baffling if undeniably intriguing image for any who did not know its context.

Naturally, he had done his best to prepare beforehand. The lad was clothed in fitted trousers and long sleeves, all black to avoid any incidental staining. He had already equipped goggles, gloves, and wore a pair of tall rubber boots which would protect him from burns (though, preferably, they would be able to outrun the impending foam leviathan). Pericles had taken the assignment quite seriously. That wasn't to say he wasn't wide-eyed with excitement, eager for a bit of destructive fun which was- most shocking of all- entirely endorsed by a professor. Lian's nonchalant attitude had done wonders for the boy's stark aversion towards teachers. If there was anyone on campus who could have shown him that they were people (and not indomitable godlings) like anyone else, it was definitely her. He would endeavor to return the favor by being the best assigned assistant he could possibly be.

When @Calanthe Choi tentatively drifted in, seeming hesitant while she made to don protective gear and stand apart from the group, Peri approached with a small smile and a kind (if airily distracted) "Hullo. Care for a hairband?" He had a habit of trying to loop wallflowers into group gatherings. No one should feel apart during a momentous event such as this. He offered out a glass jar of clean ties, and whether or not she saw fit to take one, offered a sleepy smile before drifting to the next distraction. "@Flash Holmwood, was it?" That same half-awake happiness floated for the newcomer. "I'm Pericles, but you can call me Peri. Professor Lian asked me to take some pictures, but..." he gestured to the camera hanging from his neck "...I don't have a great deal of experience with photography. D'you? You could help with this, if you'd like." Of course, there was no ignoring the cacophony which was @Piérre Marchonné's arrival.

Seeing the other boy's energy, which so clearly contrasted Peri's airy manner of wafting around, curled that soft smile into the start of an amused smirk. "Piérre," the young Dralt drawled with a fake tone of chiding, "the professor is a perfectly sane scientist, wild though this experiment may seem. She's provided protective equipment." That was validation enough of the teacher's psychological standing to him. With that, the Ravenclaw gestured towards the table upon which gloves and goggles waited, then scanned the attire of those present to ensure there would be no wardrobe malfunctions snags. It appeared that @Margo White had brought proper clothing, and more importantly, a healthy helping of enthusiasm. The only thing she needed now was protective equipment. "We are equipping goggles prior to the explosions," was his way of inviting her to the table, and- with a perfectly even smile, from behind which one could not determine whether or not he was being serious- he added gently, "but please refrain from trying to brush your teeth with the foam."

Now, while he did not know her, he was quite certain he recognized @Ami Procoppio from brief run-ins at the Headliner office. The first thing Pericles noticed about her, however, was her cat companion. Seeing a feline was bound to simply overwhelm him with the desire to go pet it. He narrowly refrained, if only because that would be a "dereliction of duty". The next prominent feature was her American accent. Lastly, it was that she called the professor Cy, and if that wasn't enough of a shocker, Ami followed up with British bastard. It was abundantly clear that this painfully cool girl didn't require any help whatsoever. In lieu of this, Pericles, well, stared. He watched her as one might a volatile albeit fascinating spectacle floating around behind an observation glass. Then, with that faraway smile of his settling into place, he drifted back to Professor @Cypresse Lian, standing at the ready to assist further.

WC: 813

Calming Presence
Day: 18th of April | Saturday

Frankly the third year had no idea what elephant toothpaste was, but he hoped they would be able to meet a real elephant. He had seen pictures of the animal in the book he had gotten from a girl named Lydia on his birthday. She was a friend of Willow and therefore a friend of him as well. He occasionally browsed the bulletin board for anything that sounded remotely like fun and quickly found the flyer that caught his attention. He probably should have asked what exactly that experiment was about and if it actually involved an elephant coming to the school grounds, but why ask if you can simply find out yourself?

He was fully convinced that the date of the experiment and title was all he would need and his mind would not let him decipher more than just that as he thought about the day for ages. He was quite excited for the actual experiment and hurried to the Quidditch Pitch at the given time. So he did, bringing Tiger with him so that he could also meet a real elephant. His cat surely would not want to miss out on that, right? He was surprised by what he found and what the place was missing. Where were the elephants? Weren't they going to make toothpaste for elephants? Here he was, wearing his red converse sneaker he had bought before the year started, some tight fitted black pants that reached down to his ankles and a short sleeved white shirt that barely reached the middle of his upper arms. Everyone else however seemed to be wearing clothes that fully covered as much skin as possible, making the third year wonder if the weather was not a tad bit too warm for that. But then he caught sight of the professor in a lab coat and he paled slightly as he recognized her. Well there goes the fun, was this supposed to be an actual experiment? However the third year was still convinced by the fact that all of this could still turn out to be quite fun, even if there were not actual elephants around. He wondered who they would be making the toothpaste for, if not for the elephants. Maybe Griffith would be using some of it for the creatures? But he was sure that none of the creatures would let their teeth be brushed without a fight.

He was quite sure that the professor had told the students something just now while he was approaching, but he could just ask another student for help with that. He caught sight of a familiar face and relief flooded his senses as he walked over to the Slytherin with a bounce in his step. "Flash! I did n-not know you w-would be here! I h-haven't seen you in s-some time!", he exclaimed softly in pleasant surprise as he joined the first year and the other people at the table. He tuned in on the conversation going on around him, catching sight of another familiar face; Pericles. He was a nice kid even though Alan did not know that much about him.

"S-Safety goggles?", he would ask the Ravenclaw curiously as he took a look around the premises. A lot if not all of the students were wearing gloves and goggles now and it made the third year scan the table and grab some for his own self as well. He would curiously glance at the professor, but then directed his gaze towards Flash and Peri and decided to do as they did. He would first place the safety goggles onto his face, wrinkling his nose slightly at the sensation before he grabbed a pair of safety gloves as well pulling them over his hands. Wh-Why? Isn't it supposed to be t-toothpaste?", he wondered out loud, when the Ravenclaw from his club explained that they should not brush their own teeth with whatever they would be making that day. It was supposed to be toothpaste for elephants, wouldn't that mean it should be safe to put on teeth?

mentions @Cypresse Lian
interacts with @Flash Holmwood & @Pericles Dralt

If anyone wants to join past this point, feel free! Just say that you came late.

As people filed into the Quidditch Pitch, Cy climbed to her feet, boots sinking just slightly into the grass below her. "Heya, kids," she grinned, brow a little furrowed with the concentration of doubling the hair tie around the ponytail that was almost too short to exist. "Make sure you've got everything covered! No dangly things, covered skin from the neck down, long hair back, gloves and goggles! You know the drill. If you don't, Peri, m'dear, scream at them for me, thanks very much. You're doing an awesome job."

The first person to speak was not the first person to arrive, @Flash Holmwood. "You'd be a great help to me if you put on some safety equipment," she suggested, tugging on her hair a bit so that the tie wasn't too tight. "Or, hey, if you spot anyone not following safety guidelines, hex 'em for me. Or tell Peri to." She spoke lightly, with a jesting tone - no sane professor would allow her students to actually hex each other.

...Probably. Did Cy count as a sane professor?

The next student certainly didn't think so, a young, precocious, and definitely enthusiastic first year, none other than @Piérre Marchonné whom I owe a thread reply to, I swear it'll happen soon. Normally she'd pay for that kind of energy in the middle of the day, but today the same childish excitement thrummed along her own nerves. "I do, don't I?" Cy agreed, tugging on the hem of her sleeve. As her Safety Manager replied, she couldn't help but snicker. "Can't deny that. Mad scientist hair is not lab safe. Though, you two can judge whether I'm crazy or not in a couple of minutes."

A couple of the volunteers seemed a little confused about the experiment - which she had foreseen, of course, considering the meager amount of information she'd deemed worthy of including in the poster on the bulletin board - but, hey, no worries! @Margo White mostly had the basics down. "Unfortunately, no actual elephants today. Sorry, guys. But we do get to cause an explosion, which I think is a plus! Instead we have..." The woman swiveled, reaching behind her and feeling around until she felt the edge of a barrel. "...a bunch of great chemicals. No touchy until I say so, or I'll transfigure you into a shrub, capisce, everyone?"

A very distinctive meow, followed by an indignant squawk, so entirely cynical and arrogant that it could only have come from her own owl, had her turning towards the side of the pitch before the next student even spoke. @Ami Procoppio, the one she'd practically tutored through an entire year - and turned out incredible. "'Sup, girl," she laughed, accepting the lollipop. "Aw, you had to bring me a pile of food when you knew that I'd have to wait till the end of the experiment to shove it down my throat? You're a demon, Ami." Instead, she tucked it into a hidden pocket on the inside of her lab coat, safe from any chemicals. "And you know as well as I do that the imperial system is blasphemy, hon."

At Ami's joking thread, she snorted, rolling her eyes - this time they could actually be seen, through the glass of her goggles. "The day you turn my desk into a whale is the day you stop getting tutored, capisce? You're at my event, I hope you know me better than to think you won't be learning anything. I'm not boring, though, you're not just gonna do the food coloring. That guy over there has a camera that he doesn't know how to use and he's gonna take photos, but if you want to help him figure out how that thing works, much appreciation..." The last person to arrive seemed a little clueless, but definitely recognizable - @Alan Vanes, another older one. "Hi, Alan," she grinned. "Get that safety equipment on, would you?"

Turning to the rest of the students, Cy tapped her foot against the grass, arms akimbo. "Okay, someone give me a list of whoever's here and tell me if anyone isn't following safety rules. Also, don't be dumb, or else Pericles here has permission to set you on fire. If you're dumb twice, I'm gonna have to kick you into the Quidditch Stands, so don't be an idiot." With that, she gestured to the barrels behind her with a flourish. A label adorned each of the three rows in the array, identifying each as hydrogen peroxide, potassium iodide, and dish soap. "Hopefully I don't have to tell you what the last one is. It's soap, guys. But does anyone know what hydrogen peroxide is, and what elements makes it up? I'll get to what 'Elephant's Toothpaste' means in a second."

Katrina was already late. Now, this was not, by any means, a normal status for the Gryffindor. She was always early, typically she would be the one there fifteen minutes before the person who set up the arrangement had arrived. Nevertheless, she was late today.

Science had always been her favorite subject. When she had been to muggle school, it had been the class that she payed the most attention to and wrote the most notes in. Chemical reactions had always been a major fascination of hers, although, Hogwarts didn't offer much in the way of them.

The flyer had caught Katrina's eye this morning in Transfiguration, it advertised the 'Elephants Toothpaste Experiment'. However, it was the small script on the top that made her most excited, "Want to cover the Quidditch Pitch in foam because you hate flying?" Now, the 12-year-old didn't exactly hate flying, but she lacked all of the coordination required for the sport (and yes, she considered merely flying on a broom a sport). So, everything about this event was a draw to the young lioness.

Katrina almost flew down the hallway and seemed to hover above the flights of stairs. Que to the requirements on the paper, she had her hair up in a messy bun to keep it from her face. She wore black leggings and a grey long-sleeved shirt, a pair of navy slip-on shoes finished the requirements for the attendance.

Professor Lian was already on the field surrounded by seven other (on-time) students. The Transfiguration Professor was in full 'Mad-Scientist Mode'. She wore a full lab cloak and safety goggles. She was already talking as Katrina jogged up to join everyone. The first thing Katrina heard was that we could be the ones to judge if she was sane in a few minutes. The professor was probably one of her favorites, although she was blind, she was also very interesting, fun, and always had the best lessons. Although, Katrina was horrible at the subject, she loved the teacher.

As the professor finished up her quick explanation, Katrina took the time to observe everyone who had shown up. The Slytherin, from the time that Katrina had sat down at the wrong table for dinner, Flash was his name, stood seeming intrigued. Piérre, with is usual mischievous glint in his eye, was there as well. Katrina offered a wave at him.

"Hey Piérre!"

Speaking to Piérre was Margo. The sight of her brought Katrina instantly to the letter, the fateful letter where Katrina was notified of her parents and brother's death last Spring. The dark memories slowly dissipated as the Professor addressed other students and Katrina took the time to observe the rest of the students. The last three she didn't recognize at first glance. One she thought she saw at summer camp and another from S.W.A.G. Club, but she wasn't sure.

As the Professor finished her introduction with a flourish, Katrina spoke up, "Hi, Katrina Walker. Second year, Gryffindor. Sorry I'm late," An unusual chirrup leaked into her voice. Katrina, if anything, was known for being quiet, small, and unnoticeable. Though in the past few weeks, she had opened up much more. The prospect of this experiment (which she had heard of from muggle science fairs) was a valid excuse for her to be unusually chipper.

Katrina took a few steps to the science gear to snatch gloves and safety goggles. She crammed the gloves on her hands and slid the goggles over her bun, resting them snugly on her eyes. She was ready!

The lioness approached Piérre, "Ready to explode things? I'm sure you have plenty of experience with these kinds of things," Piérre had the aura of a troublemaker and she was sure there was some sort of explosion in his past. A bright smile alighted itself on Katrina, "I know I do," her eyes had a sparkle of mischievousness that was almost always hidden.

Katrina and her brother Liam used to have hours of fun planning pranks before she had gone to Hogwarts. One time, however, they had been microwaving marshmallows (long story), something must have been wrong with putting chocolate candies in them, because the chocolate had exploded from the sugar sealed treats as soon as the microwave opened. Liam had a red burn on his arm for a good week after from the scalding chocolate. Every time anyone had inquired about the mark, he had merely responded with, "I had an explosive incident"

With that funny memory in mind, Katrina turned to the soon to be exploding chemicals. She was more than excited, one could even describe her as almost exploding with anticipation.

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