Potions -- Class One

[Alex Zander]

"But you did tell him to keep his trap shut, Professor” Alex said leaning forward on his stool, this was by and far a lot more interesting then actually making potions; finally a teacher with balls of steel.

Alex approved of this attitude in teachers; even if she was a woman she still seemed to have some of the strength and bit in her that lacked with most of the female staff, though Alex did stand with Jay; who calls someone a scone…

Alex did find Jay’s response just a little funny though; it amused him that someone from the Saphricorn House would get so uptight about being called a cooked lump of flour. It did seem an odd insult though, didn’t people eat scones? All in all Alex could assume that he didn’t really understand everything that was going on. All the same he would watch and grin, and if need be he would offer a stick or two to the flames of the outburst that was so humorously bubbling before him. Alex had a reputation for being and liking funny moments.

Jay had started preparing for the potion he was supposed to make though, so Alex obliged by doing the same. He pulled out his book; the Professor had assigned him the cheerfulness potion. He thought this was rather pointless; he was one of the happiest people he knew. This thought made him smile.

"In Australia we don't call people scones. It’s just not right!" Jay said. And Alex grinned.

“Damn right, brother, testify!” Alex couldn’t help taking the piss out of Jay, it was just too easy when someone… or everyone was being serious, to turn it all around and make a lot of people laugh. Alex had noticed this from when he was young. When you were in an environment full of tension, people often searched for a way out of it and always responded well when provided with one.

That and even when there was tension, people just really like to laugh… its no crime.

Apart from this Alex merely looked on with an excited expression looking somewhat like hunger. He was ready to see what the Professor was capable of. Did she really have balls of steel, or would she fizzle out.

Either way, Alex had the best seat in the room to witness it all.

[Jay Rastan]

Jay couldn't care less about the threat of detention. He'd never have a detention before and really, what was a school experience without experiencing the ups and downs of it all? So what was one detention other than another tick on a long list of accomplishments.

"Hypothetically if I did receive a detention, I would spend it with my Head of house or another professor wouldn't I? Not necessarily with you." Jay said, looking up from his prepared ingredients before sliding them into his cauldron.

So she didn't call him a scone. 'Yeah right. She probably did call me a scone but she is just trying to cover up. Probably didn't realize you don't call people scones here in civilization' Jay thought to himself rather snidely.

Of course than that joker Alex Zander had to but in as per usual thinking he was all funny. He must have thought himself very funny, Jay felt sorry for the boy, he didn't;t understand the difference between people laughing at his 'jokes' or that fact that people were just laughing at him. Jay almost felt sorry for the poor boy, it was really rather pathetic.

"Shut up Zander before I shove a ladle somewhere I'm sure only you would enjoy" Jay retaliated with a smirk.

If he had been in the right state of being and in his usually attitude he would have been telling himself to pull his own head in and stop acting like a jerk.

But didn't everyone just have one of those days?

[Elouise Sullivan]

Elouise was not usually one to laugh when someone was having a go at someone else, but she found Jay’s attitude to be quite out of place, and had to grin at Alex teasing him. He seemed incredibly uptight for a Saphricorn and she was glad that someone thought it appropriate to point this out to him. He seemed to feel he was being rather ruthless and Elouise wondered for a moment if Jay was just behaving this way to impress the Ruberagon’s, it was all quit pathetic and somewhat childish to say the least.

And so what if the professor had called him something; she could have called him a strawberry cheese cake for all Elouise cared, she just wanted to get through the class and get back to things that were a littler more important… like breathing. She rolled her eyes as Jay pursued his ignorant aim of making himself look like an idiot. She was quite happy to leave him to it and decided she was going to stay quiet and let him get it out of his system while she focused on what the Professor had asked her to do.

But then of course, Jay had to take it that one step further and take out his frustrations on another student, biggest mistake of which, happened to be one of Elouise’s good friends.

“Well Jay, you know, we can all see that you have taken this very special moment to put effort into showing everyone just how pathetically immature you are today, and for that I wish to let you know, your effort has paid off, we all know you are a wanker, but it will pass, just like constipation, it will be a little painful, but-“ she shrugged with a mock grimace. No one attacked her friends and got away with it. No one.

“In the meantime, if it pleases, can you take a bit of your own advice, and some of the Professor’s, and keep whatever type of dried out oven baked trap you might have, and let the rest of us get on with what we all actually came here to do,” Elouise finished not changing her expression of sweet poison.

[Jay Rastan]

Jay just stared at Elouise with a slightly confused face all the while stirring his cauldron. He knew he had been a little over the top and not acting like his usual easy and laid back self, and as much as he wanted to blame his getting out of bed on the wrong side, he knew that was a cop out.

Considering that they never really had a reason to be on anything but friendly terms it really hit base on how much of a jerk he was being. And it was going to stop right then.

"Sorry Elouise. Didn't mean to bother you with my immaturity" Jay said, shoudlers slumping forwards slightly, with a kicked puppy expression on his face.

'Be a real man Jay, she just insulted you. Nobody insults a Rastan'[/b] Jay could hear the sneering tone of his father in his head. This was all his fault, well, Jay understood he had to take some blame for his actions. But lately he had heard his father's drawl in his head telling him to live up to the Rastan name.

Jay didn't want that, he wanted to be his own person. He wasn't as cold, business like, straight laced as his father and nor did he have the patience. Jay didn't want to become his father.

Grabbing a empty vial, he scooped some liquid into it before putting in a stopper and labeling it. Even from glance he could tell it was a perhaps a little to watery in its consistancy and ever so slightly cloudy, but only noticable on close inspectation and knowledge of the potion. But it was better than handing in nothing, a bad letter grade was much better than an automatic failure for not submitting anything. And it was definately better than hanging around until the finish of the class.

Walking up to the professors desk, he placed it down gently, and turned around to exit, but before he stopped at the desk that housed Alex and Elouise, both hard at work on their respective potions.

"Sorry to you too Mate. No harm intended" Jay said with a shallow nod to Alex. "We all have those kind of days"

And with that he left the room. Leaving his belongings behind on the desk except his wand which was tucked up his sleeve, for Valpot to take care of at the end of class.

[Alex Zander]

“Whoa, Weez, that was a bit harsh don’t you think?” Alex said to her after Jay had walked out.

Alex didn’t really expect anything but, he knew he was being a bit annoying and he half expected either the Professor or the Saphricorn to tell him to shut up, and though he might have agreed with Elouise that Jay was being a bit… well…. You know.

At the very least she could have been a little nicer about getting him to apologise, “Not that I don’t appreciate what you said and all,” he added quickly in case she was about to go off.

He had been prepared for Jay to be annoyed at him, he was taking the piss out of him after all, but he was a little more then surprised at the Saphricorn’s reaction, it didn’t really seem right at all.

Though Jay did have a house elf… maybe it had to do with something in Jay’s home life.

Alex remembered something about the Rastan’s being quite wealthy, he didn’t know how wealthy, but for Jay to have his very own house elf… he had to be wealthy enough… maybe, Alex didn’t know for sure.

When Jay stopped at the table and apologised Alex shrugged, not to say that he didn’t respect or accept the apology but more that he didn’t think he really needed to give it.

In any event, when the Saphricorn walked out of the classroom Alex breathed out dramatically. The whole thing was just a bit over-the-top really.

“So…” he said looking at Elouise wondering how best to break the silence, “You like him don’t you?”

[Andreas Mark]

Andreas watched the little outburst and then the students arguing and had to stop to consider just how vulgar some of these less mentally superior students were. Less mentally superior was probably not even the right use of words; mentally inferior sounded perfectly alright. And so he watched them have their little public display of ignorance before shaking his head at them and returning to his potion. It was almost completed. He didn’t really understand why the teacher set him something so easy; he would be finished before everyone.

Unprepared for the Saphricorn to storm out; Andreas was left with his mouth hanging open. How could someone just storm out of the class? He had witnessed the state of his potion when he handed it in. It was nothing. It was a mess. It was easily a fail, “Professor, professor, does he get any marks for turning that in?” he didn’t want to sound concerned that Saphricorn could beat him but he worked way to hard in every class to be make looked like an idiot when a Saphricorn got marks for doing nothing.

He wasn’t about the shrug the subject off either; he wanted to know that the Saphricorn was going to fail for his… well… lack of attempt.

[Professor Ainsley Hume]

Ainsley had been watching the goings-on with the happy indifference of someone whose morning coffee has finally kicked in. True, as a teacher she did need to know when to put a stop to students' nonsense, but it hadn't escalated enough for her to bother when Jay suddenly cut his assignment short and left the room. Ainsley raised a non-existent eyebrow and was about to comment when, “Professor, professor, does he get any marks for turning that in?” rang out from another part of the room.

Truth be told, Ainsley didn't have a concrete grading system yet. The one she had used as a tutor would work for the time being, but it had been based partly on how well she'd known her students. Here, it would be a little harder to know right off the bat who was really struggling versus who was slacking because they didn't feel like working. She picked up the vial with Jay's watery potion in it and turned it thoughtfully back and forth between her fingers.

"I dinna generally grade assessments," she said slowly. "Just bein' here's enough. Stayin' for the whole class might be a wee bit better on the grades, though. Not," she added, setting the vial down, "that his grades are any o' your concern."

[Allora Thunder]

“I beg your pardon, Professor, but that is absurd,” Allora spoke up announcing her presence at last. She had remained silent for the most of the class as she felt no need to have any part in the little argument between the students of the other house. But when the Professor mentioned that the grading would be done on class appearance and not on the assessment quality, Allora could not remain silent. “How will you know who has been listening professor? And what if their potions are completely non-responsive to the reaction they are supposed to have?”

“I mean… really, if you think about it, you’re setting them up for a fall, they wont pas their end of year exams, and the good marks you have given them all year will seem… well… lies,” Allora spoke, her ghostly pale face looking somewhat alarmed, though she calmed a little and turned it over in her mind, speaking out loud as she often did while thinking, “Though I suppose ultimately that will be their fault for not trying all year, but still…”

She went back to stirring her potion as if forgetting the Professor was even there, by this time all but one of her ingredients had been added and her potion was exactly the right colour and potency as it said it should have; in her book.

[Professor Ainsley Hume]

Ainsley listened to what the girl was saying and scratched her unkempt head in polite incomprehension for a moment before realization dawned.

"Ah, maybe I'd better start writin' things doon," she said at last. "Because apparently we're havin' some communication problems." She turned to the chalkboard and gave it a smart tap with her wand. The list of assessment potions slid and rippled until it was aligned on the left side of the board, leaving a clear space for Ainsley to write in.

"Now, what you're doin' now, or supposed tae be doin', is an assessment," she said, picking up the chalk and writing down her key points as she spoke. She had amazingly neat and even handwriting for someone who drank so much coffee. "I dinna grade it; I use it tae see where ya are, so I know where tae start teachin'. No point in wastin' 'alf the year tellin' ya what ye already know, aye? But dinna get the idea that this is going tae be an easy class. Once ye start gettin' homework an' class assignments, I expect ye tae do them instead o' nippin'." She set the chalk down and dusted her hands off, grinning as if she wasn't in the least bit perturbed. "Questions? Complaints? Naw? Good."

Ainsley did, however, keep an eye on the class as she sat down behind her desk in case someone did come up with a legitimate question.

[Lady Amberly Ameraid]

There was a knock at the door, which was followed by a very brief moment of silence before the door opened. In the frame stood the perfectly positioned Founder of the Ameraid House. As ancient as she was breathtakingly beautiful. Amberly Ameraid did not smile, nor did she show any sign of enjoying or disliking being here. She simply was and that was enough.

Her eyes dropped over the class and she noticed a choice few of her more… individual house members. She cast a glance for Aurora Celeste and was a little disappointed not to find her there. All the same though, she had intended on carrying on with the task she had set herself.

This new Professor had not yet been viewed in class, and Amberley, after a quick glance around the room, could already smell some tension, which meant she had shown up at the perfect time, though she was also aware some students felt she might have been better off coming sooner.

“Professor Hume,” Lady Ameraid bowed her head slightly as she entered the room, he dark locks hanging stationary from her head to her elbows and the centre of her back. She didn’t feel the need to greet the class. They were busy working and she would not interrupt them.

“Carry on Professor,” she did not smile, she merely watched, “Act as if I am not here,” she knew the students would understand this as one of the founders checking up on the new professor but didn’t feel the need to tell them otherwise; it was pretty obvious.

[Professor Ainsley Hume]

Oh, bloody brilliant, thought Ainsley. Parents had occasionally pulled a similar trick during her time tutoring. They would wander into whatever room she was teaching in, despite the fact the door was closed, and pretend to do something important while really watching her out of the corner of an eye. At first, it had bothered her immensely, but after a while she learned to ignore it. Ainsley did this now, taking the probably not-so-sincere suggestion from Lady Ameraid to act like she wasn't there. No reason to get upset, after all.

As it didn't seem that the class had any questions, Ainsley got on with what she had been about to do before Lady Ameraid came in. She carefully removed everything that she had carried into class in her cauldron, lining the bottles up in order according to the opacity of the liquid inside. The last contained something that looked suspiciously like espresso.

Fighting the urge to hum something stereotypically Scottish, Ainsley began to put a little of this and little of that into the cauldron, glancing up at the class from time to time to make sure that they were all on track.

[Valpot]

The potions room door swing wide open to admit... well to the normal eye it looked like now one. Well, unless they were looking towards the ground, then they would have seen Valpot in her own little set of robes with the Rastan family crest leaving little to doubt who she worked for.

"Inconsiderate...Pompus...Lazy...Valpot have in right mind too..."

What exactly Valpot had in the right mind to do was left unsaid for the moment as she looked at the professor at the front of the class with a look of mild dislike.

"Master Jay most unhappy...Found right shoe... stormed off"

Valpot continued in her mutterings as she walked to the desk were she had deposited her master's belonging's earlier in the hour. Climbing up on the stool, with more than a little aid of her elven magic, with the snapping of fingers and wild gesturing all the utentsils emptied, cleaned and rearranged themselves into an appropriate manner for her master for his next lesson with his horrid woman as Valpot thought in regards to this new professor.

"Incompetent...sweet natured...wrongfully....insulted.."

Valpot was well know for her tirades of somewhat badly strung wording. Before making her way out of the class with a cauldron full of supplies and instruments left behind by Jay, she noticed Lady Ameraid, and gave a bow before continuing on towards the door.

[Mariana Torrenne]

Mariana watched the house elf come and go and wondered how it came to be that someone in her own house happened to have a house elf. She knew the school provided the Ruberagon’s with a house elf and wondered briefly if the school had provided this one. See that the elf was not wearing a uniform near to what the other house elves wore though; Mariana decided the elf must belong to Jay Rastan.

She didn’t know much about the boy who had stormed out of the classroom. It seemed very unlike a Saphricorn to be so high strung about such petty things. Still, he was cute. Mariana made a mental note to look him up later when she got back to the commons.

She thought about him as she worked. He did seem to have an uncanny reaction to other people and this made her feel he was different to other Saphricorn’s. She saw so many in her time at the school. How odd this boy was.

[Barnak Pengryffin]

Barnak had been only mildly interested in the goings-on between their disorganised potions teacher and the arrogant Saphricorn, pricking up his ears when the argument had become more heated, but as it degraded into farmyard banter between those from less important houses he had switched off again and returned his eyes to his quietly bubbling cauldron.

The sudden presence of the house elf would have been of equally little import had it not been yammering senselessly as it carried out its duty. For drawing such unnecessary attention to itself his father would have had an elf beaten: Barnak looked up at it with a frightening sneer but found himself unable to do more - it had not come anywhere near his solitary seat at the back of the classroom and his wand was busily stirring his potion.

He glanced back at his book, hovering in the air beside him so as to afford him more elbow room at the desk, and wondered if indeed it was supposed to have already turned such a lovely shade of... well, brown.

[Professor Ainsley Hume]

Ainsley barely noticed the house elf come and go. She was pretty well absorbed with her own potion now, though she was keeping an ear open in case any of the students needed help. Eventually, she came to the last ingredient, poured it in, and was rewarded with very quiet foomp sound, like a cotton ball imploding. Nodding to herself, Ainsley tapped the cauldron with her wand, putting a small stasis spell on it in order to keep the potion from going sour before she had a chance to bottle it.

"A'right," she said, glancing at her watch. "I'll give ye five more minutes tae finish with the assessment. Anybody havin' any trouble?"