Potions -- Class One

[Professor Ainsley Hume]

((Note to student RPers: Ainsley is fairly laid-back. If your character wants to/has to take potions, just have them show up!))

Ainsley was late. This wasn't a very good thing, given that it was her first class, but by the same token...it was her first class. Up until now, she had been used to tutoring, which had involved setting her own time schedule. Having to get up and be ready by a certain time every day was a foreign concept to her.

Because of this, Ainsley had taken pains to scrawl "Class starts at 10AM!" in big letters on several pieces of note paper, which she put in prominent places in her quarters. She had also written it on the chalkboard in the potions classroom itself. Quite a lot of her time the previous day had been devoted to getting herself acquainted with the room's layout and organizing her potions ingredients.

But handwritten notes did not an alarm clock make, so Ainsley was left scrambling around to get dressed, gather her things, and drink her third cup of coffee at 10:05. Had she been a pessimist, she might have gone right back to bed and not bothered, but since she wasn't, she simply laughed at herself, downed the rest of her coffee, and headed for the potions classroom as fast as her short legs would carry her.

[Alex Zander]

“You know I heard you had to be patient in charms but this is getting a bit ridiculous,” Alex said as he started rocking back and forth on the stool behind his bench. His shining new cauldron was sitting motionless on the desk in front of him and his book was poking out of the top of his shoulder bag leaning against the desk down to the right.

He surveyed the classroom looking at some of the interesting things that could be found in the dungeon rooms. For starters, for morning, it was rather subdued in a classroom with such small windows at the very tops of the wall. Secondly it was quite cold for a day at the end of summer. He didn’t know if he liked being in here all that much, but knew as necessary evils are; one obeys to such needs.

”Can anyone else see where it says ’class starts at ten am’ on the blackboard or am I the only one around here that is completely mental and seeing things,” it was nearing ten minutes past, and while Alex wasn’t exactly keen to do school work, he could think of many things he would much rather be doing outdoors. He heaved a great sigh and slumped on his desk. This only lasted a minute though as he started rocking on his stool again.

[Romulus Silvia]

Romulus pulled a sour face when he heard the Emerindyl talking, he didn’t understand how anyone in the Emerindyl house could dare to think that everyone else would be interested in what they would have to say, even if; for the moment’ Romulus agreed with him. He could not lounge in his stool, which annoyed him more, it was stiff and uncomfortable.

He didn’t both looking around the class; the scenery didn’t do much to improve his mood as he waited. How dare someone make him wait, teacher or not, he waited for no person especially when they were the one to set the time. He was very close to getting up and walking out. It amused him to think of doing this, to just get up off of the uncomfortable stool that probably gave him back problems and walk out.

”You mean you can actually read?” he said at last in his very best incredulous sounding voice. He did not wish to speak, but someone had to shut the Emerindyl down, no one needed to hear him, Romulus least of all, “And you know, all this time I thought you were in Emerindyl…” he muttered watching the Emerindyl continue to get on his nerves, what if he hexed him, just this once, would anyone else mind, really? He was just a snotty nosed Emerindyl.

[Professor Ainsley Hume]

((Bear with me while I play around with Ainsley's accent. XD I know next to nothing about Scottish vernacular.))

A few minutes later, at twelve past ten, the door to the Potions classroom banged open and Ainsley breezed in, carrying a large cauldron in which rattled several bottles and jars full of ingredients. Her dark hair fluffed out from her head as she made her way to the desk at the front of the room and set the lot down. Grinning to herself, she fished a Muggle travel mug out of the cauldron and set that on the desk, too. Then she looked up and noticed that there were, in fact, students present, though only two.

"Well, bloody 'ell, are you lot all there is?" she drawled happily. "Ought tae be an easy class, then. Unless everyone else is late, like me. Sorry about tha'." She picked up the mug--it was full of coffee--and took a long sip, and grinned again. "So, I'm Professor Hume. And aye, I'm aware tha' I dinnae ha' eyebrows. Occupational hazard, y'ken."

She was probably talking too much, but what the heck; there were only two students in the room. Plus, she wasn't entirely awake yet.

[Holly MacFarlane]

Holly walked into the classroom right behind the teacher. She was a new tacher, Holly knew that much, so the first class was bound to be interesting. Already in the classroom were Alex and an older Ruberagon.

She'd been on the Emerindyl Quidditch team the year before and so knew Alex quite well and decided to sit with him. No doubt Elouise would want to sit there too if she came to this class, but that was okay by Holly.

"Sorry I'm late, Professor" Holly addressed the teacher who.. didn't have eyebrows? But she knew the Professor had been late to, though there seemed to be a 10am start written on the board. Curiouser and curiouser...

[Professor Ainsley Hume]

"Nae a problem," Ainsley said, waving the girl's apology away. Then she turned and erased said start time from the board, muttering something about needing a better reminder.

"Now," she continued, turning back to the students, "I need your names and years so I can assign an assessment potion. Dinnae worry; they're all easy. I just need tae see what you already know. It'll take ten minutes, tops. Then we can get doon to the real potion makin'."

[Jay Rastan]

Things were not going Jay's way this morning, just like every other morning it seemed to him.

First the stupid bird woke him up again. Then his house elf thought it would be funny to run off with his favorite pair of designer dragon hide boots, which after finally bribing his house elf to give back, he couldn't get his hair to sit in the exact way he liked it; stylized windswept look. After spending a hour trying to arrange his hair giving up just short of perfection, he went to the Great Hall for breakfast, but the coffee was cold, the pancakes all gone.

Finally looking at his watched he realized why the Great Hall was practically empty; he was late for class. Shrugging, he walking his slow, confident stride to the potions classroom, followed by Valpot carrying his new cauldron with his school bag and potions supplies in it.

Striding into the classroom he stopped and turned to face Valpot.

"That table there Valpot." Jay said gesturing to one of the back tables with a casual flick of his wrist, watching his house elf scurry over to the desk and set down his items before running back to Jay. "Return after class finishes so you can take my things back to my accomodation"

The house elf left with a brief bow. Jay turned back around to look at the gathered students, not really suprised with the turn out. But then again, he was late so other may be as well, maybe they were having hair trouble also, Jay reasoned.

"I'm here" Jay announced, before walking over to his desk, before trying (and failing) to smother a yawn that was trying to escape as he removed his robe and drapped it over his desk's corner.

'Wonder if I can just nap this lesson' Jay couldn't help but think as he appraised the professor. She didn't look like she was going to be a challenge at all. Hell, she look like she had literally just rolled out of bed and put on some clothes.

That observation disturbed Jay more than just a little.

[Elouise Sullivan]

Elouise walked into the classroom with her bag over one shoulder, her cauldron hooked over her other, and a note written by the Headmaster.

She wasn’t flustered, she was actually rather happy though that had nothing to do with the class or anything in the slightest to do with potions making. She walked into the classroom and over to Holly and Alex, setting her cauldron down on the table. It was rather heavy, and she was glad that she would be able to leave it in storage after this lesson.

After setting her things down she walked to the Professors desk and set down the note, which excused her from being late. Still smiling, she returned to her seat flashing a friendly but silent greeting to Holly and Alex as she sat down

[Professor Ainsley Hume]

Ainsley watched both Jay and Eloise come into class, frowning a bit at Jay's overly casual attitude and use of a house elf to carry his things. Despite having been brought up in a well-to-do family, Ainsley had always done at the easier tasks by herself. But no matter; she was there to teach, not to criticize.

She had another sip of coffee as she scanned the note that Eloise set on her desk. She nearly laughed. After being late to class herself, she had no right or reason to punish a student for being late.

"Let's get this straight," she said with a smile as she crumpled the note and tossed it into the wastebasket by her desk. "I'm nae any good at gettin' up in the mornin'. So, if you're late, dinna worry about it. But, once we're all settled here an' class starts"--she glanced briefly in Jay's direction--"I expect ye tae work, an' work hard. Now, let's get doon tae business."

[Jay Rastan]

"Its not very professional to be late to your first class, now is it?"

Jay couldn't help but sneer. But once again his mouth didn't seem to realize that his inner monologue should stay exactly that, in wards. Shrugging, Jay really didn't care because in all truth it wasn't at all professional. He was a student, so being late was not really a big issue since it wasn't like he was teaching the class or the only student in it.

"And for us to do work we need to be told what task we are expected to complete"

Jay did know why he felt such a dislike towards this professor. He liked potions, it was one of the many things he excelled at so it couldn't be the subject matter. Giving the woman a calculating once over from head to toe, he wondered if it was her hair. It looked like it hadn't even been brushed that morning.

His mother had always told him that a person's self presentation was a sign of respect for those in their company. Maybe he needed to pass that message on. Or his dislike could have been simply chalked up to the fact he got out of bed on the wrong side this morning.

Restraining a obvious eye roll, Jay couldn't believe he was already counting down the minutes until the torture...class would be ended.

[Professor Ainsley Hume]

Ainsley, in her turn, took an immediate dislike to Jay. Well-bred though she may be, Ainsley had rarely used it as an excuse to be a jerk, and when someone else did just that, it rubbed her the wrong way.

"Aye, so keep yer trap shut while I look for my class list, ye wee scunner," she drawled, not necessarily upset, but annoyed enough to let the odd Scottish insult slip. She didn't feel it was necessary to explain her lateness any further, especially to someone whose eyes were practically busting out of the sockets with the effort it was taking not to roll them.

It took Ainsley a minute or two to unearth a folder from all the junk that was on her desk. Her system of organization was the opposite of most: she started the year (or tutoring job) with everything an absolute mess, and things got stored and filed as she went along. She had managed to make the initial mess the previous day when she was settling in and getting a feel for the classroom.

Ainsley flipped the folder open and scanned the papers inside. One was a list of people she should be expecting to turn up in class. There were more students on it than were currently in the room, but Ainsley figured she'd let that slide for a class or two. She looked down the list of names, houses, and years, each student's entry accompanied by a small photo, gave a quick glance around the room, and nodded to herself.

The other sheet in the folder was Ainsley's personal list of assessment potions, sorted by age. It was something she'd put together during her years of tutoring, and it checked out rather well against what was taught at Koalingo. She turned to the chalkboard, stuck the list in the upper left corner under the wooden frame, and gave both list and board a quick tap with her wand. Names of potions appropriate for each student in the room started scrawling themselves across the board, sorting themselves by year as they went.

"Now let's get doon tae business," Ainsley said, turning back to the class. "I want each o' ye tae do your best tae brew the potion tha's listed under your year. That'll give me an idea about where ye all are, and once it's out o' the way, I'll know where tae start. Questions?"

[Elouise Sullivan]

Elouise was happy enough with the way the class had begun, and she didn’t really appreciate the loud mouthed Saphricorn; ’How very unlike a Saphricorn, he is’ she thought to herself, able to keep her thoughts in her mind and away from her tongue. She was not silly though, she knew she did not have to stand up for the teacher. It was quite obvious this teacher, like every other, could hold her own.

Elouise scanned the list and found her name; she squinted when she looked at the name of the potion, not because she couldn’t see it, but because she had never heard of it before, “Veritaserum,” she mouthed. She had heard of it once or twice. But the meaning of the name escaped her almost completely.

She pulled out her copy of ‘Advanced Potion Making’ and scanned the index, “Page six hundred and twenty-five,” she said in an undertone and began moving through the pages slowly, catching some other potions names. There was Cheerfulness Potion, Polyjuice Potion, Draught of Dragonbreath, just to name a few… When at last she came to the Veritaserum she scanned the page taking in the ingredients, the cooking process, and at last what it did.

“Truth Potion… interesting,” Elouise suddenly became happy that she had brought along her vile box to collect the potion at the end of class. She knew a lot of people cimply tipped their potions out, but she never understood this. They worked so hard on making these potions, if she was to succeed; Veritaserum would come in very handy indeed.

She got to work at once.

[Andreas Mark]

Andreas didn’t really agree with this professor’s class plan, how could she walk in – LATE – and then just begin telling them to read what potion she expected from them off the blackboard and get to it. He didn’t know anything about her class expectations, the grading structure, when the exams would be, whether this potion would be a major or minor part of their grading, or whether she would be offering extra classes for anyone who wanted them.

All up he was just a little disappointed.

He picked up his fourth year potions making book and pulled his stores towards him flicking through the list of the potion he was supposed to be working on, and organizing them on his desk so that he could thoroughly get started.

“Meaningless Muck,” he muttered as he started throwing the ingredients into his cauldron. His potion was quite simple, and far beneath him. He wondered if the professor knew that SOME fourth years were a lot more apt at potion making then others.

[Jay Rastan]

"Keep my trap shut? Keep my trap shut? Is this how you talk to and treat all your students? Can't imagine why the headmaster hired you."

Jay had been willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, sure she looked more than slightly ungroomed, had a questionable attitude. And then she goes and insults him. By calling him a scone.

All he was doing was pointing out her very obvious short comings. If you didn't want people to know such things then you hide them. Trying to take the higher road, show that he was obviously better than this woman. He opened the stipulated potions textbook for seventh years, found the Veritaserum guidelines. Jay and his father had made this one not to far back in the summer holidays, using it to question one his cousin's fiance so they knew what type of person he was marrying. Totally Rastan family procedure, they had values to hold up.

All the while as Jay was getting his ingredients and utensils ready he could hear that woman's heavily accented irish drawl in his head repeating that one word...'scone'

"You just call me a scone!"

Jay couldn't help it if his mouth over took his mind at times. But really who calls someone a scone, for that was surely what she said, wasn't it? Although, now Jay thought of it she could have said anything in that accent and it probably would have just sounded the same. Irish people's accents always just sounded like drunk slurred speech to him.

"In Australia we don't call people scones. Its just not right!"

He didn't care if he got detention or lost point, he was more worried about this supposed professor. Maybe it was some lunatic pretending to be a professor so she could.... Jay really didn't know what a lunatic would do at Koalingo.

And that worried him a little bit more.

[Professor Ainsley Hume]

Ainsley watched as the students began making their potions and nodded to herself. Despite the looks of discontent on one or two faces, this part of the class ought to go by quickly enough for her to get some real teaching in before class was over. She was just finishing her coffee when Jay's voice rang out,

"You just call me a scone! In Australia we don't call people scones. Its just not right!"

Ainsley swallowed very carefully, and tried even harder not to laugh. She succeeded mostly, though one or two snorts escaped around her hand.

"Scunner," she corrected him, still chuckling. "And I may not have a grasp o' the rules o' etiquette in Australia, Mr."--she glanced at the class list--"Rastan, but in Scotland, a wee scunner's what ye'd be. Now, no more complainin', eh? It'd be nice not to have tae give a detention in my first class."