October 28th, 1892 — Location

'Good afternoon class' Meserimus greeted warmly.  'Today we will be making a start on the swelling potion.' he clapped his hands and the burners beneath the cauldrons came on.  'This potions are key to the OWl exams, and those undertaking the exams this year should ensure they have a good understanding of the stages of the potion by the end of the year.'

The door to the ingredients closet opened for them to take what they needed.  'I shall walk among you and keep an eye on how things are going.  If you have any questions please me know. '

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Meserimus will move through the desks and 'grade' the potion every time you post, and there will be a weighted final score for the final potion. If you post 3 times you 'completed' the potion.
1-5 -potion backfires
6-10 - doesnt work
10-20 - Fine potion
25 + Great potion
30+ exceptional

Code:

[b]Owl grade:[/b] letter grade*
[b]Skill:[/b]1-5
[b]Member of potion club:[/b] yes/no

*Speculative

  

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Bee is amazing

Henry liked potions class, there was something relaxing in the measuring then stirring of a potion and watching it change as new ingredients are added. He didn't like it as much as he did Defense Against the Dark arts but far better than other classes. Henry didn't think he'll make a career out of potion making but was confident he'll be able to make any potion he wanted to once school was done.

When Professor Valenduris began the lesson, Henry quickly turned to the appropriate page of his Potions book and made a quick note. He wanted to do well in his OWL so any potion mentioned to be on the OWL test Henry wanted to make sure he memorized ahead of time. Though with potions practical applications of forumulea would be just as important as the theory but he wasn't sure if he could practice making potions as not all the ingredients were easy to get ahold of. If he felt he needed practice he was certain he could arrange something with the Professor.

Once they were given leave to gather what ingredients they needed, Henry read over the list in his book then rose to gether what he needed. Fortunately there weren't too many ingredients so he didn't have any trouble remembering to get bat spleen, dried nettles and puffer-fish eyes.

Once back at his desk he grabbed his mortar and pestal and placed two scoops of dried nettles and three puffer-fish eyes then ground them together. It took some effort to make sure the ingredients were ground into a fine powder, the eyes were perticularly difficult to crush as they had a tendency to bounce away from the pestal. Finally he used the tip of his knife to hold the eye in place then crushed it. He was glad they were at least dried and not wet and gushy as fresh fish eyes would be.

Now that he had the first two ingredients crushed into a fine powder, he took two measures and added them to his cauldron. Next he added two tablespoons of water and put his cauldron onto the fire to heat it up, mixing several times to make sure it was well blended. Now he just had to wait for twenty minutes before doing the next step.

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Owl grade: hopefully an E
Skill: probably 4, due to putting the effort/reading needed
Member of potion club: no

  

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set by Bee

Potions was one of those classes that Nicodemus Dursley tended to do well in. He wondered if it connected any to the fact that he was also decent at cooking in general. He had no idea but he set about gathering and preparing his ingredients before starting on the first stage of the potion.

Owl grade: O
Skill: 4
Member of potion club: yes

  

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set by Lady!

Paxton was average at best when it came to potions. It was looking like it would be unlikely that he ends up in the NEWT class without resorting to having to plead his case with the professor. Ah well, he wasn't going to worry about that right now.

He got his ingredients together, prepared them and set to work on the potion they had been tasked with.

Owl grade: A or E
Skill: 3
Member of potion club: yes

  

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set by Bee!

Why on earth he would need to make things swell up in his future was, to be honest, rather beyond Rex, but the Hufflepuff had always been one to listen to his instructors. If Professor Valenduris said that this particular brew would be integral to the spring's Ordinary Wizarding Levels, who was Rex to disagree?

And so, while he could not foresee a world in which it would be useful past summertime, the fifth year diligently added his puffer-fish eyes and dried nettles to his obsidian mortar and began carefully grinding them together.

Owl grade: E or O
Skill: 4
Member of potion club: No

  

A deep breath filled her lungs as the third year considered her Potions book. Her brother's book from a few years ago, he had added commentary in the margins of select potions. Probably those he was most bored with or excited by, she decided. The scribbles, and sometimes doodles, weren't all that helpful other than to give Millie a giggle or roll of her eyes when she read Fletcher's sympathy drifting across the years to his little sister.

Under this one he had drawn a crude picture that made Millie blush and snicker together.

She wasn't about to take his doodle's suggestion, not that she could, so the young lady tried furiously to keep her eyes on the list of the potion's ingredients instead. Millie was glad for its simplicity, all of them fit in her arms to carry back to her cauldron station in one trip. She needed all the time she could get to make sure the potion brewed properly, her marks were bad enough in Potions already.

Adding the scoops of nettles and trio of puffer-fish eyes to her mortar was easy enough. Grinding it turned into another experience altogether. Millie found the fish eyes needed several smashes of her pestle to break up, and by the time they were in satisfying-enough chunks to grind, the nettles had already quickly broken up. She checked her book, which was very clear about the results being a medium-fine powder.

Millie desperately hoped she could still achieve that.

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Owl grade: P*
Skill: 2
Member of potion club: No

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This group was proving to be rather a mixed bag, he had nodded approvingly of several mid range attempts, Mister Fudge for example had done rather a good job, but he had to admit he was surprised when he assessed Mister Thompsett's and Mister Dursely's attempts. 'Excellent job sirs, 5 points each' he congratulated the two young men.

It didn't seem fair to point out the poor showing of the Miss Potts and Mister Crabbe, but as he passed each he provided them both with some minor modifications to their potions that could help them get them back on track.

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Henry NAt 20 :: Nicodemus Nat 20 :: Paxton 17 :: Abraxas 8 :: Millie 3

  

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Bee is amazing

Nicodemus was pleased to have gained points for Ravenclaw. And so had a Gryffindor, he smiled over at Henry before continuing on with his potion work.

Owl grade: O
Skill: 4
Member of potion club: yes

  

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set by Lady!

Marshall was always on his best behavior in Potions Class in the off chance that they would be forced to drink their potions. Plus, one year he had seen a cauldron release a puff of smoke that had managed to dye a fellow student's eyebrows a strange color for a week. He was not looking to be that student, especially as a fourth year. Besides that, he had his future to think about, even if it wasn't as serious as the fifth years. He did think that being skilled with potions would help him later in life, especially if he wanted to buck tradition and head away from the Ministry.

He carefully prepped the ingredients, wondering why anybody would even want a swelling potion. But it was apparently important information, and Marshall peeked around at the others every once in a while, to see how they were doing. He just hoped he could manage to avoid messing up and having the Professor correct him in front of everyone else. That would be more embarrassing than any large mistakes he made. At least he could laugh those off. Concentrating, he didn't realize that he was making a face as he was making his potion.

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Owl grade: E or O*
Skill: 4
Member of potion club: no

  

Henry was pleased the Professor granted him 5 points for how well he was doing with his potion so far. There was still plenty of steps to complete to finish the potion however and he didn't let his success so far distract him.

For the next stage, Henry waved his wand over the cauldron then waited. According to the directions the mixture had to brew for some time before he could add the bat spleen and finish off the potion. While he waited he looked around at his fellow students, curious to see how everybody else was doing.

He spotted Nicodemus smiling at him so he gave the Ravenclaw a nod and smile in return. They had both done well and earned points for their respective Houses. Henry wasn't so competitive when it came to winning the House Cup to feel resentment another student did well for their own House. In truth Henry's competitiveness only really came out during Quidditch or Dueling Club. There really wasn't anything to compete over in Potions class other than having a well brewed potion.

  

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set by Bee

The old wizard stood, tall and looming, over her cauldron just before she was about to tip the powdered mixture into her potion. She started at the shadow, Millie had lost track of the Potions Master and his progress around the room. Looking up, she caught sight of his keen eyes scoping out her mixture, assessing at once what she had done wrong. Then he muttered some vague instructions before moving off towards another cauldron, leaving the young witch dead in her tracks.

She looked down at her ground mixture, scowling at its too-fine powder interspersed with unbroken chunks that definitely did not qualify as medium-fine. The professor was right, of course, it only seemed like a waste to get rid of the ingredients. Looking sourly at her cauldron, Millie considered how much of a waste that might be to her grade.

Reluctantly she did as the professor suggested, dumping out her mortar along the way. When she returned with fresh ingredients, Millie started first with the eyes, crushing them until they were nearly ready. Only then did she add the nettles, and a wan smile appeared as the mixture became a medium-fine powder as her book inscribed. She gladly added them to the cauldron, mixing in the right amount with water and setting the mixture to heat.

Now the only trouble might be how far behind she was now. Oh well, the young witch decided as she waved her wand over the brew, better late than botched.

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Wincing internally, Rex made the requisite adjustments to his potion—at least it wasn't so far gone that he'd have to start over again! He redoubled his efforts as he continued with the steps, taking greater care to follow them to the letter.

Owl grade: E or O
Skill: 4
Member of potion club: No

  

Meserimus complimented both boys on the continued quality of their attempts. Both potions were certainly significantly better than average for their OWL potions and he had high hopes for both boys end of term grades. Miss Potts- rather like her older sister seemed to be struggling somewhat with the practical elements of the class. Perhaps there was something to be done for the two Potts sisters together - all of the various flowers of that family tended to be hard workers at the very least.

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Henry 20 (2):: Nicodemus 28 (2) :: Abraxas 12 (2):: Millie 5 (2)

Last Rating 16th december

  

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Bee is amazing

Nico worked towards completing his potion. He had a strong start but even one mild misstep could ruin the whole batch.

Owl grade: O
Skill: 4
Member of potion club: yes

  

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set by Lady!

Paxtons potion seemed to be coming along just fine so he continued the task.

Owl grade: A or E
Skill: 3
Member of potion club: yes

  

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set by Bee!

Henry's confidence on his potion being perfect by the end of the class grew as each step continued to go well. He didn't let that confidence interfere with his careful reading of the instructions and preparing ingredients for each step. Potions wasn't second nature to him, though he did enjoy the class so he had to read the source material and double check his instructions. He did enjoy potions, finding it rather fascinating how each ingredient interacts with others and a bit of magic to produce so many wonderful things. He suspected it was a little like cooking, not that he knew much about it personally.

For the next and final stage of the potion he added the bat spleen to the cauldron and stirred it counter-clockwise four times. Stepping back slightly he counted slowly to 30 as the directions indicated. Henry watched the potion as it seemed to thicken with the addition of the spleen in a way the book had said it should at this stage. Now for the final direction.

Henry stepped up to his cauldron again and waved his wand, hoping he had successfully completed the potion and would get a good mark. Since the Professor hinted this potion would be on the OWL exam, if he did it well now, Henry knew he would in the final as well.

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Owl grade: hopefully an E
Skill: probably 4, due to putting the effort/reading needed
Member of potion club: no

  

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set by Bee