First Year Potions 101 Closed

Lyssa felt like the only person in the room who didn't know what a pepper-up potion was... Or who had never even seen a potion in person.

She skimmed through her potions book on the train, but could remember very little of it. There were just so many new things to take in! So many subjects she was starting at square one for.

She found herself flipping to the page on 'liquid luck'. She folded a piece of parchment into a bookmark to hold the page. That would be something to learn about later.

Lyssa kept an eye out for someone else without a partner, but whenever she spotted someone they paired off with another before she could get to them.

With a very quiet curse, Lyssa began brewing the potion on her own. She started with the easy steps (chopping the snail shells, adding ingredients that she could identify) but before long found herself stuck.

Lyssa leaned over to the pair sitting closest to her. "Which of these is the mandrake root?" she asked. "I know mandrakes grow into creepy screaming kids, but this just looks like a potato. Did I grab the wrong ingredient?"

Ryan had been sitting at her desk for the first few minutes of class, waiting for someone to show up and take the seat beside her so she would have a partner. While she was waiting, she was reading over the instructions for making the required potion, a Pepper-up potion. 
Ingredients: Two pinches of crushed Bicorn Horn, Mandrake Root, Three Sprigs of English Thyme, Five drops of Salamander Blood, Four Fire Seeds.
Brewing Instructions: Add 1 piece Bicorn Horn to the mortar, Crush into a very fine powder using the pestle, Add 2 pinches of the crushed Bicorn Horn to your cauldron, Add the Mandrake Root to your cauldron, Heat on medium for 10 seconds, Leave to brew and return in 30 minutes, Add 3 sprigs of English Thyme to your cauldron, Stir 4 times, clockwise, Add 5 drops of Salamander Blood to your cauldron, Stir 2 times, anti-clockwise, Add 4 Fire Seeds to your cauldron carefully, Let set for 1 Minute.
It seemed pretty straight forward, but she was still a tiny bit nervous, she assumed this would be quite similar to cooking, but more precise. Still waiting for her partner to turn up, she goes to the cupboard to gather her ingredients. She has to make a couple trips, due to having small arms and not wanting to drop anything. She takes the horn and puts it in the mortar, starting to crush it up as finely as she could get it with the diminutive strength she had in her hands.

Lyssa spotted another Ravenclaw who had no partner, but seemed to know what everything was. She hurried over. "Would you mind being my partner? I don't really know much yet, but I'm a quick learner, I swear." Lyssa tried to keep her nervousness out of her voice.
She clutched her Potions book, which was already bursting with homemade bookmarks. Her eyes darted around the room, trying to take in everything going on. She had a restless energy to her, even when standing still.
In hopes of convincing the girl to work with her, she added "I have some of those every flavour beans. I'll share them with you while we work! Or, I guess after we work so they don't fall in the potion. I don't know what would happen, but it probably wouldn't be good."
She made a mental note to find out what WOULD happen if candy fell in a potion. No, that's too vague. She would have to find out what would happen if the wrong ingredient went into a Pepper-Up potion. Although she still needed to know what a Pepper-Up potion WAS.
After class she was going to start rereading her potions book. She wouldn't be this unprepared next time.

Sophia Montgomery wrote:Sophia stood up and excitedly gathered the ingredients to create the following Potion with a joyful smile on her face — though it was fake. She glanced at the book and shoved the ingredients closer towards her study friend. “I don’t know if you’ve told me your name, ma’am. I know, for a fact, that I’ve told you mine.”

Jenna felt stupid for not introducing herself. 

"I'm Jenna. Jenna Loveland." She smiled brightly, but it wavered. "But you know, I would much rather be referred to as Jen. I think that is a more than fitting nickname, but others seem to..." 

Why am I still talking? Stop being so stupid! 

"Sorry, I guess that doesn't matter. Just call me Jenna." She wanted to crawl into a hole and die, due to the heat rising to her cheeks. Jenna hated when she blushed in embarrassment. She couldn't seem to go anywhere without embarrassing herself. Her head flashed with not-so-distant memories of her blowing up an origami duck in the Study Room while trying out the Severing Charm. She shivered. That was so awkward...

Jenna grabbed a couple of ingredients and began measuring them. She dropped them in the cauldron in front of them.
((OOC: Sorry I always respond so late after yours...))

Lyssa Clark wrote: Lyssa spotted another Ravenclaw who had no partner, but seemed to know what everything was. She hurried over. "Would you mind being my partner? I don't really know much yet, but I'm a quick learner, I swear." Lyssa tried to keep her nervousness out of her voice.
She clutched her Potions book, which was already bursting with homemade bookmarks. Her eyes darted around the room, trying to take in everything going on. She had a restless energy to her, even when standing still.
In hopes of convincing the girl to work with her, she added "I have some of those every flavour beans. I'll share them with you while we work! Or, I guess after we work so they don't fall in the potion. I don't know what would happen, but it probably wouldn't be good."
She made a mental note to find out what WOULD happen if candy fell in a potion. No, that's too vague. She would have to find out what would happen if the wrong ingredient went into a Pepper-Up potion. Although she still needed to know what a Pepper-Up potion WAS.
After class she was going to start rereading her potions book. She wouldn't be this unprepared next time.

Ryan nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a voice so close by, but she manages to look cool and collected while she turns to look at the girl. She was a fellow Ravenclaw at least, so it was a good bet her insistence that she was a quick learner was true. She smiled though, happy to finally have a partner.

She nods, handing her a mandrake root, "Toss that in the pot once I get the crushed horn in, ok? Then we got to get the heat to medium for about 10 seconds... after that we have to wait for 30 minutes before we can continue. Sound good?" 

She giggles a bit when the girl offers some candy in exchange for being her partner, "I don't really trust those beans, when they say every flavor they really mean every flavor... but if you're careful, I don't mind if you try to eat them, they are yours after all, just try not to lean over the pot while you eat ok?"

"Sounds good!"
Lyssa was relieved to have a partner. She was also relieved that she had been right about which root was from a mandrake. She was glad it wasn't screaming, but it would have made confirming it easier. Studying it closer, she could see that it still looked like a small person. It felt odd adding it to the potion.
"I'll keep beans out of the recipe. It's funny, I think the chance of ending up with something like earwax is why I like them. I keep hoping I can figure out a trick to telling the tasty ones from the gross ones. It's a challenge!"
Speaking of challenges...
She tried to watch what the girl did closely so that she could figure out what to do for next time. Lyssa jotted down occasional notes to help jog her memory.
She drew a picture of the curved horn and a diagram of how to crush it properly. As things got a bit less overwhelming, she was able to relax a bit. 
"I'm Lyssa. What's your name?"

Lyssa Clark wrote: "Sounds good!"
Lyssa was relieved to have a partner. She was also relieved that she had been right about which root was from a mandrake. She was glad it wasn't screaming, but it would have made confirming it easier. Studying it closer, she could see that it still looked like a small person. It felt odd adding it to the potion.
"I'll keep beans out of the recipe. It's funny, I think the chance of ending up with something like earwax is why I like them. I keep hoping I can figure out a trick to telling the tasty ones from the gross ones. It's a challenge!"
Speaking of challenges...
She tried to watch what the girl did closely so that she could figure out what to do for next time. Lyssa jotted down occasional notes to help jog her memory.
She drew a picture of the curved horn and a diagram of how to crush it properly. As things got a bit less overwhelming, she was able to relax a bit. 
"I'm Lyssa. What's your name?"

She raised a brow at her assessment, thinking it funny that the girl didn't seem to mind tasting earwax in an attempt to get a tasty treat. She nods though, adding a pinch of the crushed horn, and then another, moving back a bit afterward so that Lyssa could add the root.  Once she had, Ryan turned the heat up to medium and counted out loud, "One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight... nine... ten." She then turned the heat back down and took a seat, "We've got to wait half an hour now..."

At her question, she smiles a bit, tucking a lock of her own hair behind her ear, "I'm Ryan, nice to make your acquaintance Lyssa." she holds out her had for her to shake, smiling as friendly as she can, "So while we're waiting why don't you tell me a little about you? Were you happy about being put in Ravenclaw?"

Ryan hadn't heard too much about the houses, but based on what she had heard, none of the other houses would have been as good of a fit for her as Ravenclaw was sure to be.  According to what she had heard from people talking, Slytherin had a bit of a bad reputation, but officially valued cunning over anything. Simultaneously, Griffindor was noted for bravery, something Ryan lacked in most respects. Thirdly, Hufflepuff had a stigma for being a house of leftovers, and Ryan was quite happy not to have been put there. Lastly, Ravenclaw was known mostly for being an academic house, though it also valued creativity and individuality. So all and all, she was quite happy with her house placement.

OCC: I edited, hope its better now.

Lyssa shook Ryan's hand and took a seat. "Nice to meet you, too. To be honest, I don't know much about Ravenclaw, or any of the other houses. My Papa's a squib, so he told me a bit about wizards, but never went to Hogwarts himself." That was an overstatement. Papa had barely told Lyssa ANYTHING. He hated talking about his childhood. "I've been reading a lot to try and get a hang on things, but there's so much to remember... Ravenclaw is the academic house, right? Or, I guess not academic, but the people who value wisdom?"
She went through the list in her mind: Gryffindor valued bravery, Slytherin valued ambition, Hufflepuff valued kindness, Ravenclaw valued wisdom.
Lyssa wondered about which house Papa WOULD have been in. Gryffindor, maybe?
She glanced around the room, wondering if anyone had been caught off guard by their houses. If someone had been put where they felt was wrong. How would that feel?
She hoped her potion's partner wasn't in that boat. Ryan seemed kind.
"What about you? Did you expect to be put in Ravenclaw?"
Lyssa glanced at their potion, feeling odd to leave it unattended. Would it be like cooking, where a moment too long causes it to burn?

Lyssa Clark wrote: Lyssa shook Ryan's hand and took a seat. "Nice to meet you, too. To be honest, I don't know much about Ravenclaw, or any of the other houses. My Papa's a squib, so he told me a bit about wizards, but never went to Hogwarts himself." That was an overstatement. Papa had barely told Lyssa ANYTHING. He hated talking about his childhood. "I've been reading a lot to try and get a hang on things, but there's so much to remember... Ravenclaw is the academic house, right? Or, I guess not academic, but the people who value wisdom?"
She went through the list in her mind: Gryffindor valued bravery, Slytherin valued ambition, Hufflepuff valued kindness, Ravenclaw valued wisdom.
Lyssa wondered about which house Papa WOULD have been in. Gryffindor, maybe?
She glanced around the room, wondering if anyone had been caught off guard by their houses. If someone had been put where they felt was wrong. How would that feel?
She hoped her potion's partner wasn't in that boat. Ryan seemed kind.
"What about you? Did you expect to be put in Ravenclaw?"

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Ryan shrugged non-committally,  "I only know what I overheard some other students talking about it, they all seemed to think the choice was between Griffindor and Ravenclaw. Both Slytherin and Hufflepuff were seen as bad houses to be in apparently, but for very different reasons." She smiles at her thoughts, shrugging again at her question, "I see it more as Ravenclaw values aspects of the mind. You know... creativity... individuality... and of course knowledge." She giggled, then sat down as well, keeping an eye on the clock so they didn't wait too long before continuing their potion making.

"Before I got my letter, I didn't know anything about Hogwarts... or magic in general. Both my parents are muggles, so it was quite a surprise to them too, at first they thought it was a prank and didn't give me the letter, but then they sent a few more, and they decided to go along with it. Good thing too, or I might not have been able to go to Hogwarts at all." She giggles nervously, thinking back on how worried her parents had been that they were being tricked when really it was real.

At her question, she blinks, then smiles quite wide, "Oh, I never expected to be put anywhere else! I couldn't be happier with my placement. Being surrounded by other people who are clever and quirky and for the most part really nice, I couldn't ask for a better house!"