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The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Emil Roan - 09-01-2025
September 6th, 1920
Hogwarts
Potions Classroom
9:58 a.m.
Hogwarts
Potions Classroom
9:58 a.m.
"Come in, hurry now. Please take your seats."
Emil Roan, in his first class taught since his university role almost a decade ago, was not nervous. In fact, it was sort of strange how numb he'd felt compared to the first time he'd taught a class. Sifting through syllabi, making sure that vials and ingredients where were they needed to be.
Now he just stared as the students filed in, one by one. They would find nothing in front of their stations today but parchment and quill. There would be no brewing potions today, not for their first class. Instead, lined in front of him on his desk were nine vials covered with cloth in an attempt to conceal them until potions class began. Their focus for today. The very thing they would write about.
And as the last of the students filed into the dungeon-classroom, the door shut behind them. The murmurs silenced.
He began.
"Welcome to Potions. The Slytherins have had the..." He thought that pleasure would probably not be the correct word to use there. Accuracy was important.
"...the Slytherins have met me already, by way of me being their Head of House. For the rest of you, my name is Professor Emil Roan. I am the Potions Master at Hogwarts this term and for the forseeable future. You may call me Professor Roan or simply, professor."
As he began walking around the room taking sight of each student and their unique colors assigned to them, he continued addressing the room.
"I'm not sure what all of your opinions are on the usefulness of potions in this day and age, but this class will hopefully work to alter the mindset that they are anything but useful. In fact, in this magical world of mostly wand-waving wizards, there are certain things that can only be accomplished by the right brew."
His finger moved in motion, counting out the things he could think of.
"Making someone think they've fallen in love is one. Quite popular among schoolchildren. Then there's creating luck. A polyjuice potion can fool most wizards, the only downside being the ridiculous brewing conditions and the horrid taste. The Wolfsbane potion, if any of you have heard it, was a recent invention that is only possible in potion form."
He stopped cold in the middle of the room between a pair of shaking first years. His hand slowly went into his pocket as he pulled out a small, orange-filled vial, no bigger than the palm of his hand. He tapped one of the nervous students' shoulders and pointed them to the back of the classroom, where a conspicuously empty space with a rather large impress had been cleared.
"Watch carefully, please."
He gently tossed the vial underhand, careful to aim his toss true. And as it looked as if the vial would shatter gently across the floor, an explosion was born.
*BOOM*
His other, non-throwing hand, held his wand as the force and fire of the explosion met with his silent protego. Although the detonation's true destructiveness did not reach the students, power completely and noise half dulled by the magical shield holding it within that corner of the room, the effect still very much left the impression it meant to. The wind created by the initial bang had swept through the room, clinking and clanging the vials fixed inside of the shelves. Emil walked towards the now smoldering corner of the room, confident the students' eyes were fixed there than in the front.
"That, my students, was a small sample of an Erumpent potion. No spellcasting, incantations necessary in making that grand explosion happen. Just a vial and a dream. A well-brewed potion can exceed the power of most spellcasters' own destructive spells as well. And you don't need to be gifted in charms to cause that destruction. Just be the one throwing the thing. It would be wise for you to keep that in mind."
"Now," he said as he slowly walked back to the front of the room, the unbothered nine covered vials waiting for his introduction. "Are we ready to start seeing what these can do?"
OOC: Welcome to Lesson 1!! I've posted early for anyone who would like to to get their posting itch satiated. The first update will come in about 10 days (September 10th/17th/24th is the update schedule) but take your time! Ask questions, feel free to be the nervous student whose shoulder he tapped as well.
The next update will involve more movement from your student, but for now, have fun!!
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Matilda Nordstrom - 09-01-2025
Checking her pocket watch, Matilda knew she was on time, but hobbling down the stairs to the potions classroom was a chore. Taking each step slowly, the minutes ticked by, closer and closer to being late. Thankfully, the crutches were getting easier, and baring weight on her right leg, not as painful as a week ago. Unfortunately, anything more than resting it on the ground and a zing of pain went up her thigh. Actually standing on it would make her knee buckle, something she had found out on day two of school when her crutches were annoying her.
Lesson learned.
With the door in sight and minutes to spare, Matilda propelled herself forward until she had entered the class.
"Come in, hurry now. Please take your seats."
Matilda found a seat towards the front of the class, not wanting to move any more than was absolutely necessary. She plopped down, bag landing on the floor with a thud, crutches (the magical variety) folded three times until they were as small as a paperback novel. In her bag they went. Notebook and book came out, quill as well, and with that she was ready.
"Welcome to Potions. The Slytherins have had the..." he seemed to pause, "...the Slytherins have met me already, by way of me being their Head of House. For the rest of you, my name is Professor Emil Roan. I am the Potions Master at Hogwarts this term and for the foreseeable future. You may call me Professor Roan or simply, professor."
Matilda listened as he waxed poetic about how potions were a superior branch of magic, and honestly, she had to agree. She wouldn't be at the castle if a potion hadn’t help save her life. Whatever potion they used at St Mungos, helped stop the spread of the neurotoxin though her bloodstream. So yeah, she thought potions were pretty terrific.
Her eyes didn’t the professor as he walked around the room, which was probably a mistake, because she missed his action and subsequent *BOOM*
“Oh for the love of cauldron cakes, what the hell was that!” She whisper shouted. Looking this way and that towards her friends.
"That, my students, was a small sample of an Erumpent potion. No spellcasting, incantations necessary in making that grand explosion happen. Just a vial and a dream…" Matilda sat back, letting her heartbeat return to normal. She hadn’t survived the jungle to be blown up in potions class, thank you very much.
"Now. Are we ready to start seeing what these can do?” Was that a rhetorical question? Because if he was asking honestly her answer would be no. Although, leaving the class would require hobbling up the stairs, and she was hoping to bribe Ren or Benji into a piggy back up the stairs, so maybe she would stick it out, just for now.
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Tulip Asquith - 09-02-2025
It was still early in the year so the dungeons hadn't developed the cold damp smell they did in winter nor the sickly sweet mouldy smell they did in the summer months. Then potions became a chore. She honestly didn't know how the SLytherin's could stick it down here, it was probabily why Rose sprayed so much perfume, to hide the smell of dank dungeon.
As always Tulip headed towards the back of the room, when you hid at the back it was almost an unwritten rule that you weren't one of the studious pupils, and were probabily not going to really take part. That and it meant Tulip could start to consider other things, she was curious to know where the magic had gone wrong and how she could either exploit it or if it was dangerous how she could challenge it.
As she sat down and saw rolls of prachement instead of a cauldron she sighed, so it was back to copying out of books, it wasn't even ten in the morning and clearly it was time for a nap. But at least if Potion's was going to be dry copying from dryer tomes. Well at least if the new potions Proff was going to make them write at least whichever class had Briar in it wouldn't have to worry about being blown up or poisoned.
"I'm not sure what all of your opinions are on the usefulness of potions in this day and age, but this class will hopefully work to alter the mindset that they are anything but useful. In fact, in this magical world of mostly wand-waving wizards, there are certain things that can only be accomplished by the right brew."
Tulip raised an eyebrow and muttered "I'm not sure how much potions will be if we don't make actual potions." she muttered quietly to whoever else was on her bench.
The "Boom" happened very quickly and Tulip did almost jump out of her seat. Seriously what kind of utter loon throws homemade bombs around their classroom. Once Tulip's heart had returned to a normal rate she hoped this idiot wouldn't be teaching that to the younger years, especially Briar and Poppy, if those saw that little display the school would need to seriously think about increasing it's insurance premium. Although Tulip wondered where she could get a hold of that mixture, whoever had decided it was a good idea to cancel Quidditch this year needed it thrown in their office.
That, my students, was a small sample of an Erumpent potion. No spellcasting, incantations necessary in making that grand explosion happen. Just a vial and a dream. A well-brewed potion can exceed the power of most spellcasters' own destructive spells as well. And you don't need to be gifted in charms to cause that destruction. Just be the one throwing the thing. It would be wise for you to keep that in mind."Are we ready to start seeing what these can do
"Prof are we throwing more things at walls or do you have other methids you'd like us to try first?" Tulip asked from the back of the room, knowing this place they'd probabily have to lick them to see if they were dangerous.
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Elias Everett - 09-03-2025
Elias followed the cluster of first years down toward the dungeons, his footsteps crunching.
The steps grew narrow and steep, damper the deeper they went. His foot slipped on something slick and he pressed against the wall to steady himself, his shoulder and sleeve getting damp from the moisture. Torches flickered in their brackets, making the carved faces in the stone seem to leer down at them.
What were those faces supposed to be?
Water dripped steadily somewhere ahead, echoing as they descended.
They passed a side passage so black it seemed to swallow light. Elias craned his neck to peer into it as they walked past. Where did it go?
They reached a door marked with a brass nameplate, standing slightly ajar. Through the gap, Elias could see pale, ghostly light flickering within.
It creaked open fully, revealing a vaulted stone chamber. The smell hit him immediately - old herbs, burnt metal, and something sharp that made his nose wrinkle. Elias chose a wooden stool about three rows back, setting his bag down carefully to avoid the weird dark stains. He pulled out his parchment and quill, wondering what had left those marks. From here he could see Professor Roan's desk at the front, where nine cloth-covered vials waited like tiny shrouded figures.
He tried to get comfortable on the hard stool as the professor started talking about different kinds of potions. Something about love, something about luck. Then he said "Polyjuice potion."
Elias frowned. Why was it called juice when it was a potion? How did bad-tasting juice fool people? Was it some kind of prank?
The professor was moving around the room now, and suddenly stopped right between Elias and another first year. A hand tapped his shoulder, and the professor pointed toward the back corner where a large space had been cleared.
What had that been for?
Before he could puzzle it out, the professor pulled out a small orange vial and drew back his arm. Elias watched, confused, as the man hurled it toward the corner.
*BOOM*
The explosion punched all the air from Elias' lungs. His hands slammed against his ears but the sound still crashed through his skull. His quill rolled off the stained surface onto the floor, and every bottle on the stone shelves rattled. For several seconds he couldn't hear anything but ringing.
The professor was talking again, but Elias could only catch fragments through the noise in his ears. He stared at the smoking corner, then at the eight remaining vials on the professor's desk. He could barely manage to light his wand properly, and here was magic that could blast holes in stone walls. What if they expected him to brew something like that?
He reached down to retrieve his fallen quill, his hand still shaking slightly.
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Ruth Elliot - 09-05-2025
*BOOM*
Well, that was one way to get her attention. Rae had been leaning on her empty workstation, waiting for class to end. She raised an eyebrow when the explosion erupted, and the only thing standing between them and disfigurement was the professor's shield. Someone's trying to make an impression she thought, but the girl remained unimpressed. It was no secret--except perhaps to the new professor himself--that Rae didn't care for potions. She never had, not even back in her first year.
In the beginning, it was all the reading it forced her to do. All the recipes, all the ingredients...the precision of the steps required. It was all more than the girl wanted to be fussed with. What should it have mattered whether she turned her spoon clockwise or counterclockwise? Why did the world have to end every time the bloodroot wasn't crushed well enough?
They were concerns for those who were too weak at casting; nothing she wanted to spend her morning being drilled on. Consider her thrilled to learn they wouldn't be brewing at all that day. Without Rocio to keep a careful eye on her cauldron for her, there was every surety that the professor's wouldn't be the only explosion that would've gone off.
Rae glanced across the classroom to where her friend would usually have been found, her heart sinking a little at the reminder that those days were now passed.
“Oh for the love of cauldron cakes, what the hell was that!”
Rae, who hadn't been sitting all that far from her friend, gave a small shrug at Tilly's question. "The professor wanted to show us his toys." Suffice it to say, she wasn't buying potions being stronger than the most powerful of wizards. The thought was categorically rejected. She knew well enough there were spells no potion could stop. "Must be his way of making sure we don't skip the rest of the term. You'd think he'd just bring muffins to class." That would've been infinitely more compelling for the girl who often lost her cauldron on purpose.
Usually right before an assignment was due. Funny how that always worked.
Dark eyes followed the man back to the front of the room, where other vials waited. Was it her, or did it feel too early for all of this to anyone else? The first week was always rough while Rae got her sleep back into something resembling control, but Merlin's soggy beard, she needed another vacation.
"Are we ready to start seeing what these can do?"
"Not quite, Professor," Rae said with a yawn. He'd asked. Surely she was allowed to respond. "Might we have another 15 minutes. Elias is looking awfully sick and might need a slower start."
Despite having spared not even a single glance over at the boy, Rae's tone held all the concern in the world. Truly a caring and considerate individual, looking out for the younger ones.
Hufflepuffs had nothing on her.
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Rosalie McCormick - 09-05-2025
"Come in, hurry now. Please take your seats."
All the professors around here were always rushing her. She didn't remember them being so pushy last term, and could hardly understand why these new ones were always so frantic. Rosalie wasn't usually disrespectful, and didn't think she was being so now, but she wrinkled her nose at the command, noting that there was still a good two minutes before the class was meant to begin.
It wasn't like she was late.
She slipped quietly into her chair, dropping her bag onto the floor next to her and reached in to pull out her parchment and quill.
"Watch carefully, please."
As a general rule, Rosalie liked potions. She enjoyed the chemistry of it all and figuring out which ingredients went well with which. Before everything had gone to hell, she had sat with Julia every Saturday, watching her cousin brew her potions for the week, taking mental notes and admiring how easy it all seemed. But it wasn't and she rather relished the challenge of -
*BOOM*
A shriek left the girl's lips as her entire body jolted in her chair. For a moment, the girl was aware of nothing else but the slamming beat of her heart against her sternum, the startle having nearly given her a heart attack. Merlin on toast, you'd think the professor would give them a warning beyond 'watch carefully'. Perhaps 'cover your ears' would have been a nice heads up?
Again with these new professors.
“Oh for the love of cauldron cakes, what the hell was that!”
"A preview," Rosalie muttered, a smirk growing on her lips as she raised an eyebrow at Matilda but didn't elaborate. Cheeky girl she was this morning.
"Now. Are we ready to start seeing what these can do?"
An Erumpent potion. Interesting. She raised her hand, about to ask for clarification first when Rae piped up, seemingly (not really) concerned for the little first year who had lost his quill. She reached down quickly at the same time Elias did, plucking the quill from the floor and offering it to him. "Don't worry," she whispered lightly, her own hands still shaking from the explosion, "If worse comes to worse, we'll sacrifice Rae to whatever catastrophe happens and make a run for it together." She gave the little boy a bright smile and turned back to her own parchment.
She'd forgotten the question she'd had ready, but it was no matter. Seemed the professor was ready to show them the rest of the vials anyway.
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Cassian McCormick - 09-07-2025
"Come in, hurry now. Please take your seats."
He was going as fast as he could...sort of.
Cassian had fallen into the trap of perusing the small library within the Ravenclaw common room before heading down to breakfast that morning. What had been meant to be a light read had consumed him through both ancient runes and history of magic. The boy couldn't tell you what the professor had stressed during the small lecture on mannaz and tiwaz. Forget whatever the other professor had mentioned on the invention of floo powder--Ignatia Wildsmith in the thirteenth century, by the way. He remembered his own reading on that.
Even now, walking into the potions classroom, the boy's nose was buried deep in his book, and his steps resembled a slow march. It was a wonder he'd managed to find his workstation next to Rosie's, slipping in just seconds before the door slammed shut with a thud that hadn't been able to shift his focus.
Cass gave Rosie a light nudge as he settled at his station, leaning forward with a hand propping him by his cheek. He turned the page, never noticing the professor was setting up for some big introduction until--
*BOOM*
"Son of a--" He caught himself in time, dark eyes rising to find he wasn't the only one who'd been startled. It took him a second more to realise it wasn't some errant explosion but a calculated welcome from the Slytherin head of house.
"Now."
Reluctantly, Cass stuck the bookmark between the pages and closed the book.
"Are we ready to start seeing what these can do?"
Somehow...contrary to Ruth's protest, Cassian didn't think the man was actually asking them for permission. He didn't know how much advocacy the first year actually needed, but he doubted the girl would care so much if there wasn't something in it for her.
Slytherins.
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Corbin Donahue - 09-07-2025
Corbin had settled into a desk near the back corner of the dungeon classroom, close to an empty space which had been cleared for some reason. It was further away from obnoxious classmates, so it suited him just fine. The moonlit lanterns above each station cast a steady, if dim, light across the pages of his leather-bound notebook. It was an improvement over flickering candles, but not by much.
His raven feather quill moved steadily across the parchment as Professor Roan walked around the classroom speaking:
- Love Potions - popular with schoolchildren (Why? As if the idiots need them... Duration? Antidotes???)
- Luck Potions - creating luck (Could use several gallons. What kind of luck? How much? Side effects?)
- Polyjuice Potion - can fool most wizards, ridiculous brewing conditions, horrid taste (Fool them how? What does it actually do? Why so difficult to brew?)
- Wolfsbane Potion - recent invention, only possible in potion form (How recent? What's it for? Who needs it?)
He paused, looking over his notes. Corbin considered himself a somewhat capable potioneer, but half of these he had never heard of before. He would need to look them up later. Probably tonight after he finished that History of Magic essay, he reckoned. That was going to be such a joy to write. What did he care for entitled European wizards and treaties older than his father? Nothing, that's what.
Maybe he could squeeze in some more research time before Divination tomorrow. The library should have proper potion references—assuming he could actually find any in that maze. His last few visits had been far too much of an adventure for his liking.
His planning was interrupted when Professor Roan suddenly pulled out a small orange vial. What was that for?
He ducked instinctively behind his desk.
*BOOM*
The explosion cracked through the dungeon, muffled by whatever protective spell the professor had cast. From behind his desk, Corbin could smell something sharp and pungent.
He pushed himself back up, brushing the dust off his robes. That had certainly been exciting. His notebook was a little askew, but there was no harm done. He picked his stool back up and resumed his seat without a word, keeping a much more careful watch on the professor's hands.
When Roan had finished explaining the varied uses of Erumpent potions, Corbin picked his quill back up and added:
5. Erumpent Potion - explosive, no spellcasting required (Wonderful. Just what we needed in a school. Blast radius? Safe handling? Required ingredients?)
He glanced at the tiny first-years in the front row. Poor things probably thought they were signing up for healing potions and whatnot. Instead, they got explosives. That was fun.
Nine more covered vials sat on Professor Roan's desk. What other delightful surprises did the man have planned? Corbin kept his quill ready.
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Joshua Henley - 09-09-2025
Growing up without knowledge of the magical world somehow made magic seem both more exciting and more puzzling all at the same time. It had taken Joshua a good while living with his grandparents in Ilkley to properly wrap his head around magic and all the things you could do with just a wave of your wand. Even now, nearly two years later, the things he saw witches and wizards do with ease and such nonchalance sometimes surprised him. Just a small flick and a lamp turned into a rat. Or a person sneezed slugs. Or someone just disappeared and apparated!
And it wasn't just the spells. There was also a whole world of magical creatures and herbs and potions to discover. Joshua had been especially excited about those three and had done what he could to study at the local library before the start of term. Living near the moors in Ilkley had provided him easy access to some plants and herbs that he'd proudly collected and kept track of in his magical plants' notebook, but magical creatures were a bit trickier to just come across like that. And potion making, that was something his grandma and grandpa had quickly refused to let him do.
Hopefully Professor Roan would be more willing to let him try brewing. He wasn't so sure about creating luck or making someone fall in love or any of the other potions the professor mentioned, but Joshua did like the idea of creating something that could help other people. Potions to cure headaches or colds, or potions to make someone sleep well at night. He wondered if you could make a potion to help someone be happy.
With the different possibilities of potions to make in his mind, the first year nearly missed the vial Professor Roan pulled out of him pocket, but he did see the tap on Elias' shoulder and turned his head just in time to watch the vial sail through the room and...
BOOM
Without a second thought Joshua slipped from his seat and down under the table, blue eyes wide and heart in his throat. That was... that was...that...
Something had exploded! There was fire and heat and vials rattling on the shelves. It was like a small bomb had been thrown.
The first year still remembered the stories his older brothers had told.
Joshie took a breath, trying to slow his racing heart as his classmates came with various outbursts and comments. He was okay, he wasn't hurt. He was okay. Another breath.
What had that been?
What was in the vial?
Had it really exploded?
Had the professor done that on purpose?
Carefully leaning out between the stations, Joshua peeked towards the back of the classroom where a corner had been left smouldering. The professor was there now and as he started explaining, Josh listened carefully, his thoughts a mix of curiosity, wonder, hesitation and fear. At least from his position on the floor between the tables, he was a bit more safe and sheltered from whatever the professor next threw at them. Or at the wall.
Right?
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Alice Ravenstone - 09-09-2025
Alice was not confident in her potions skills. She understood the basics of healing, but could not wrap her head around the various ingredients and their singular effects, plus those when added with others. It was worse than math, if she were honest.
So she didn’t want to go to Potions, but here she was, in the classroom in the creepy dungeons, listening to the new Potions professor speak about what they were going to learn. Would she have to brew a perfect potion at the end of term to pass? She had no clue. She hoped not. But her friends were in the class so she was too.
A follower. That’s what she was. Forever.
She jumped at the explosion. A damn explosion? Is he nuts? she asked herself, narrowing her eyes. She felt shaky, her heart still pounding in her chest as she tried to come down from the adrenaline rush that the potion demonstration had caused her.
If she were to survive Hogwarts as a student, she might be lucky to leave without being scared to death. Otherwise – well, she’d be scared to death. And that would be quite final. She bit her lip, and dug her nails into her palms, clenching her fists tightly.
The girl was already pretty tightly wound, very concerned about how she appeared to others. To have yelped and jumped like that was quite unbecoming. What would her mother say?
Alice bit her tongue, looking at her potion station. This was going to be a disaster.
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Emil Roan - 09-10-2025
The reactions of the students around the room varied, but at least the students were paying attention. That, of course, being the goal of the exercise. Although a better eduucator might have been able to gather their focus with a less flashy method, Emil preferred to stick to tried and true methods. No matter where he'd gone in his life and what research he'd done, explosions always seemed to turn heads. He'd make a note of those who complained. They probably wouldn't like more explosions.
And with that, he flicked his wand towards the tarp covering the vials, unveiling the potions in the front of the class.
"Well, we won't be throwing these against a wall. And we won't be brewing today. Today's potions are already brewed for you all." The tarp floated up to the ceiling vanished into nothingness as what remained were ten vials lined up next to each other. His wand rolled around his fingers, losely held, clinking it against the tiny vials as he walked by each of them. He turned to his class once again, eyes looking nowhere in particular.
"Before we brew," he started, swishing his wand in the air, "it's important that you understand the effects that these potions can have on a wizard. Which brings us to today's lesson."
Focus came back into his eyes as he pointed his wand behind him.
"Everyone pick one and drink."
Emil walked back towards the table and swiped the small, golden vial from the desk. His wand pointed at the cork which flew to the back of his desk. "You will be choosing one potion. Any of them will be fine, but it's first come first serve. Remove the stopper and down it. Some of these don't taste... lets say, particularly good. Try to down it all at once." He shot back the tiny golden brew just as he'd instructed the students to do and looked at them once more.
"Give the brew a few moments to work their magic. At which point, the parchment will come into play. You'll be writing down what you feel, if anything. You may wish to partner up for this in case your potion's a doozy or try to keep it together and self-reflect. Of course, you won't know what you've taken until you start to feel it."
"Now, pick your poison."
There was probably better phrasing for that.
OOC: Welcome to update 1!!
For the first update, react as you will, but your main goal is to pick a potion. There are nine left, after the one that Emil took for himself. Pay attention to what the people before you pick so you know what's left and try to bold your choice so others can TL;DR to make sure they chose correctly.
Also, you can pair up or ride the next part solo (where you document your potion's experience), so feel free to do so if you wish! The next update will happen the 17th!
- The dull brown vial sat heavy on the table, its contents sluggish and muddy, clinging to the glass as though it didn’t want to settle.
- The vibrant turquoise vial seemed alive, its liquid swirling with inner currents that caught the torchlight in electric flashes.
- The pale pink vial shimmered faintly, its smooth surface gleaming softly, like light brushing across polished pearl.
- The watery blue vial looked almost clear, sloshing thinly like water, yet with a faint haze that made the edges blur when stared at too long.
- The dark crimson vial was dense and opaque, heavier than blood, faint ripples forming across its surface even when untouched.
- The bright green vial practically glowed, bubbling to life with impatient pops that rose and vanished at its surface.
- The sickly yellow-green vial was cloudy and unappealing, tiny bursts of gas pressing against the cork and leaving damp condensation around its seal.
- The two murky violet vials looked almost alive, its surface bubbling sluggishly as thick clumps shifted and broke apart. It gave off a faint, acrid odor, like burnt hair and damp stone, and the liquid seemed to change consistency each time the glass was tilted. (Two available for this one.)
- The golden vial glowed as though molten sunlight had been captured inside, radiance spilling into the dungeon’s dim air.
- The clear vial with its silver shimmer looked almost empty, except when it caught the light and a quicksilver gleam rippled like liquid lightning within.
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Corbin Donahue - 09-10-2025
The potions on the desk were revealed in all their glory, and just like that they were told that they had to actually drink one of the things. Just pick one and swallow it down. Like that wasn't mental.
Corbin's quill slipped from his fingers with a soft thud, ink still wet on the tip. He was not quite sure when his stool tumbled to the flagstone floor, but he was moving.
His feet carried him between the rows of desks, past the shelves of preserved things floating in murky jars. The air still tasted acrid from the explosion, but the sensation was vague, secondary. He ducked past the panicked first years, one of them under their desk and the other looking shaken up from the blast.
He reached the moon lantern lit desk first. Eyed the nine little vials lined up like muggle soldiers. The violet one moved wrong - thick liquid that shifted on its own. Yellow-green gas leaked around another cork. The bright green potion bounced in its bottle like it was trying to escape.
The vibrant turquoise vial was the one that caught his eye. It seemed almost alive. Liquid swirled in patterns that caught the light from the swinging moon lantern, electric flashes dancing through the currents. The obvious danger made it more interesting, not less.
Before the sensible part of his brain could object, he reached for it.
The glass felt smooth and heavier than expected. As he walked back toward his desk with his prize, he smiled a little. His potion seemed like fun, if not necessarily safe. Hopefully it didn't taste gross like he suspected some of the others would.
His leather notebook lay open where he had left it, his notes on love potions and Polyjuice visible. He really did need to research antidotes for that first one. A fresh page turned easily enough under his fingers and he started sketching. A few quick strokes outlined the vial's shape and the way the liquid swirled inside.
With a thoughtful hum, he put quill to paper:
Professor Roan's "Let's All Drink Random Potions" Experiment
"Lightning in a Bottle?" Potion - It's got a bright blue almost turquoise colour. Not sure if that means anything? The liquid keeps swirling around and it catches the light strangely. Kind of like lightning? (It's honestly a little suspicious. I better not get electrocuted...)
Hopefully it's not Actual poison. If it is, Professor Roan did it.
The electric flashes danced faster now, as if the potion knew what was coming.
Corbin pulled the cork free and tilted the vial back.
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Tulip Asquith - 09-10-2025
Tulip crossed her arms defiantly across her chest leaning back in her chair as the other students around her settled back down after the professors attempt to jump scare them all. She wondered if the professors had a sly book on the side in the staff room taking bet on how they were going to shock, distress or traumatise the students this term. She figured Proff Roan would be getting at least a 7.5/10 for this. At the very least Tulip was now awake. Even for a Gryffindor Tulip really wasn't studious, she did enough to get by, she did okay in tests, learnt most spells, but lessons tended to bore her. Tulip loved adventure, she loved the thrill of danger, tht moment of excitment before you got caught somewhere you weren't meant to be, or doing something you shouldn't. She got none of that normally from her lessons. Tulip had plenty of ideas about what would happen to her after Hogwarts, but there was zero chance it would have anything to do with what she learnt here.
She watched as the professor took off the cloth covering the potions, after explaining none would be thrown at any more walls. She saw all the various vials, perhaps this suspcious rainbow was what they would be making this term.
"Before we brew," he started, swishing his wand in the air, "it's important that you understand the effects that these potions can have on a wizard. Which brings us to today's lesson."
"Everyone pick one and drink."
"You what?" Tulip exclaimed, "So much for the last 3 years of potions safety," she shook her head "No one drinks anything they don't know what it is and never drink a potion unless you know what it will do!" she replied in a high pitch mocking voice of a previous Potion Mistress. Clearly Proff Roan was aiming to push his 7.5/10 to a full 9.5. She dreaded Briar finding our about the lesson when it was her turn to do potions. She would be in her element at the thought of drinking random potions. Or more likely getting other people to drink random potions.
Tulip look at the array of colours in the vials and went down the list, watching as Corbin took one, "Ew, pink, unlikely, nope, nope, just no, gross, absolutly not..." that left the clear liquid looking one at the end. She shook her head, what was she doing? Tulip reached out and picked the last vial, a clear liquid with a silver shimmer, It was probabily too much to hope it was water, bt it was the least suspect looking of all the vials.
She took it back to her desk and gave it a little shake, it would have been pretty if she wasn't about to drink it, now it was just unnerving. She popped the stopped, she was not going to sniff it, as if it smelt gross there was no way she was drinking it and would happily take a detention for throwing it at the wall. "Oh sod it" she said knocking it back in one go, the way Rose had taught her to drink fire wiskey over the summer.
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Elias Everett - 09-11-2025
Rosalie handed him back his quill. Elias's fingers closed around it, hands unsteady from the explosion.
"Thanks," he managed.
She was saying something about sacrificing Rae if things went badly, something about running. Elias blinked at her, then glanced toward where Ruth sat with her arms crossed. The Slytherin girl always looked mad. Like she wanted to take away his sweets or something. She probably deserved it.
He nodded slowly. "Right. Good plan."
Elias turned back to his desk and set the quill down beside his parchment. He reached for his ink bottle, misjudged the distance, and nearly knocked it over. His hands were still shaking. He steadied the bottle with both hands, then tried again with his notebook.
Professor Roan was flicking his wand at the cloth covering the vials. The tarp floated up and vanished, revealing bottles of every color scattered across his desk. Elias blinked at the sudden splash of color - bright turquoise, pale pink, deep crimson, sickly yellow-green. The moonlit lanterns caught the glass, making everything shimmer. The potions looked almost alive.
He turned toward Joshua's seat, already opening his mouth to say something about all the different potions, but—
Empty.
Where had Joshua gone? Elias looked around, then down toward the floor. There - a flash of dark robes tucked under the table beside his own.
He slid off his stool and dropped down beside the other boy, head cocked to one side inquisitively. The floor was kind of cold, and it was quieter down here. All muffled. A little safe space away from the rest of the class.
"When did you end up down there?" he said with a slight grin. "Let's go pick a potion!"
Elias held out his hand. "Come on. He'll notice if we don't."
The dark-haired Slytherin boy was already at the front with some bright blue vial, and the loud Gryffindor girl had taken something clear and shimmery.
Elias looked at the remaining potions on the desk. They all looked equally suspicious. But surely Professor Roan wouldn't actually poison them? That would be crazy. Even for a teacher who threw explosives around.
He grabbed the pale pink one that shimmered faintly without much thought and pulled the cork free.
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Matilda Nordstrom - 09-11-2025
Tilly nodded at Rae, toys indeed. Whatever the reason for the explosion, one thing was for sure, everyone was paying attention… Or on high alert… Probably the second one.
"Before we brew, it's important that you understand the effects that these potions can have on a wizard. Which brings us to today's lesson."
Tilly tracked the professor around the room, listening to every word, waiting for the potential second boom. Although, it was looking less likely, and then he revealed the potions.
Everyone pick one and drink." Oh freaking fiddlesticks. Nothing about this sounded like a good idea. The colors coming off some of the bottles were concerning and she was almost positive one was blood. gag
"You will be choosing one potion. Any of them will be fine, but it's first come first serve. Remove the stopper and down it. Some of these don't taste... lets say, particularly good. Try to down it all at once." Oh for the love… he wasn’t kidding.
Because, of course he did, Professor Roan drank the least offending of the choices. Most definitely the one she would have chosen.
"Now, pick your poison." Expression one of aghast horror, she looked at the Professor with incredulity in her eyes. “You just couldn’t pass that one up, could you?” she said under her breath as she hobbled to the front to swipe a pois… potion. Quite a few people got there before her, so her options were limited. Grabbing the first one that didn’t look like mud, blood, or sewage, she made it back to her desk uncorking the bottle.
Really looking at the vial, bringing it up to her eyes, the bright green vial nearly glowed. This one most definitely looked like poison. Glancing back at the table she sighed when the empty table stared back at her.
“If this makes me glow more green than I already do, I’m going to be pissed.” She said to no one in particular. The gnarly green scar on her leg itched under her skirt, as if thinking about it woke it up and said HERE I AM! “Down the hatch!” she said, closing her eyes and shooting it in one fast shot.
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Vinnie Folwell - 09-12-2025
It should have been easy for Vinnie to arrive on time. All that was required of him was following the herd of other students from History of Magic down to the Potions classroom. Yet in the short time it took to walk from one to the other, he had gotten distracted.
Out of the corner of his eye he had spotted one of the castle’s staircases shifting in a direction he was sure it had never moved before. Curiosity outweighing any thoughts of timeliness, Vinnie had backtracked and taken the stairs up two at a time. At the top there had only been a long corridor with no doors, and a stone wall at the end. Sure that there must be something there, Vinnie had tried everything he could think of. He had cast all of the spells he knew (which wasn’t many) and tapped his wand against stones at random.
By the time he admitted to himself that maybe there was nothing special about that corridor after all, it was several minutes past time for Potions to start.
Vinnie wished he hadn’t been late that day, even though it was a frequent occurrence and rarely bothered him. The fact was, Potions was very quickly becoming Vinnie’s favorite class. Before starting at Hogwarts he had thought it would be right up there with History of Magic as one of the most boring classes offered. After all, what was so exciting about sitting still in a dark room, chopping up ingredients and doing virtually no magic?
As it turned out, everything. There was always so much to do, never a dull moment between the time he arrived and the time class ended. The explosions and bizarre side effects didn’t hurt his excitement either. More so than any other class, Vinnie found he was rarely sitting still listening to a lecture. Which was for the best. He had never been good at sitting still.
When he slipped into the Potions classroom, bag still slung over his shoulder, he was disappointed to hear they wouldn’t be brewing anything that day. His disappointment was immediately rectified when Professor Roan pointed to a row of vials behind him with his wand and said, “Everyone pick one and drink.”
An older Slytherin boy chose the vibrant turquoise vial, a fourth year Gryffindor the clear vial with a silver shimmer, Elias the pale pink, and the last student a glowing green one. Vinnie rushed to the front of the room, staring wide-eyed at his options. It was the dark crimson vial that caught his attention. It looked slightly sinister, between its bloodlike appearance and the ripples across its surface. Vinnie suspected that some of the less appealing-looking ones would have cooler effects, however.
“Are there actual poisons in some of them?” Vinnie asked eagerly. The danger of the idea didn’t daunt him, the novelty of it only exciting him further.
He took the vial and dropped into a random seat near the front of the class. Rummaging around in his bag, he managed eventually to locate a few loose sheets of parchment, an ink well, and his quill. He laid them out in front of him. Then, with a wide grin, he uncorked the vial and tossed back the potion.
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Ruth Elliot - 09-16-2025
They were taste testing.
Rae supposed there were worse ways to spend a potions lesson. Rather than pouring over a boiling cauldron for the better part of the hour, watching it turn colours she was only half sure about, they would get to watch each other changing colours. While she wasn't sure how reckless the professor was, there was a part of her that wondered whether it would create any interesting patients for the hospital wing after. Rae was always looking for people to practi...er...help, in her pursuit of becoming a healer.
Day or night, she liked to spend a great amount of time among the smell of alcohol, fresh sheets and, often, sickness. It didn't matter what anyone walked in with. Even the smallest of cuts was enough to make her day.
Who knew? Maybe these potions would make her day, too.
When the professor offered the potions, she took the murky violet vial--one of them anyway. If she was going to go down, she may as well go down with a friend. Someone else would have the other and they could have mirrored symptoms.
Besides, Elias had already taken the pink one. It was unfortunate for the girl who preferred her world painted in that soft colour. To her, purples were always a decent alternative. They were a bit more abrasive in their darker shades, but on the lighter end, they weren't so bad.
Tipping her head back, she swallowed the contents of the vial.
And now she waited....and waited...and apparently waited some more.
Were her fingers tingling?
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Cassian McCormick - 09-16-2025
This was the sort of lesson the boy could get behind. Always preferring to be hands-on with his learning, where he could be, Cassian appreciated that they wouldn't just be brewing this time. Instead, they would get to experience many of the effects for themselves. The boy may have tried to guess what they were by appearance alone, but the catalogue of potions was large.
There were plenty that were blue and pink and violet, yellow, green, and clear. Without knowing the texture, the list was even longer.
Cassian leaned forward in his seat, watching the professor while he explained the plans for the day. When it was time, he got up with the others and went to get himself a vial. There weren't many left by the time it was his turn.
It would be the sickly yellow-green for him. Normally, the boy didn't try to swallow potions that looked like this--especially when he didn't know what they did, but he was confident they were unlikely to come to real harm.
It had been going for what would soon be six years in this system, and Cass had seen it all. The professors sometimes had a habit of being... way outside the box. They liked to keep the students on their toes. It worked for the more daring among them, but could be a little jarring for those who only wanted to sit and take notes.
Thankfully, he didn't fall into the category of the latter.
Cass had no issues downing the vial on the way back to his seat.
Were there real poisons? Was it only a turn of phrase? He supposed in another few minutes, he would find out.
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Joshua Henley - 09-16-2025
"We have to drink it!?" Joshua whispered the question to Elias in part awe and part trepidation as he took the other boy's hand and let himself be pulled out from under the table and towards the professor. After what they'd just witnessed the first vial do, drinking one of those potions didn't exactly seem like the safest thing to do. Then again, the man was a professor, so it was probably okay. Right?
Right.
As Joshua watched the other students pick their vials, some more eagerly than others, he considered his options. This was like a game, really. A puzzle. He just had to figure out what the potions were, even if that meant drinking one to learn its effects.
Elias picked the pink one, which seemed a better choice that some of the murkier concoctions on the line. He would hate drinking something that tasted like water from the Lake. Or worse. What exactly the pink potion was, however, besides not a horribly yucky looking one, Josh had no idea.
Despite his interest, the first year wasn't really that knowledgeable about potions, and even though he had read quite a bit about them, he didn't think he'd be able to identify any just by looking at them. He squinted slightly, eying the row of vials, then looked around at his classmates, several of whom had both chosen and drunk their potions by now. He guessed he'd just have to take a chance.
"Here we go!" Joshua muttered as he reached over and picked the watery blue vial.
With a slight smile and a raised eyebrow, he held up his vial towards Elias, mimicking a toasting motion, before pulling out the cork and lifting the vial to his mouth, hoping for the best.
RE: The Power of Potions || Lesson 1 - Catherine Holloway - 09-16-2025
Catherine observed as the vials were revealed to her, noticing with a glance the soft blue color of the substance. It seemed to be water, but the misty aura blurred and shimmered about where the edges should be. Nausea took up a residence in the depths of her stomach. There was a knot beginning to build up in her throat as she listened to the professor's orders. Drink it? And then what? She didn't know.
As others went ahead to select their potions, Catherine faltered, her hand lingering amongst the different vials. They were so dissimilar. There were some that were a vivid red, others a dirty green, but the blue one attracted her. It had a soft glint to it that seemed to be appealing as well as enigmatic. She took it up, with a sense of the glass being cold against her hand. Overcoming her nervousness, she took off the stopper and downed it in one go, as the professor had asked.
A minty freshness hit her taste buds, then a burst of elation that left her with a sensation as if she floated. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation though, and indeed made her feel weightless and free. All the anxious feelings she had harbored a moment ago dissipated. She grinned, a sensation of euphoria rising within her. She felt light-headed, a sensation as if everything responsible had been eased off her shoulders and she could breathe. It felt wonderful, something she wished to retain for a lifetime. She couldn't wait to hear what the other students felt.