Potions - Year: 1

How glad he was that Potions and Antidotes class was taking place in Dungeon, he couldn't even express. That light feeling of not having to walk lengths to any of the classes that took place in any of the towers or the grounds. To top it, it was (relatively) so close to his house common room that he could even have a short refreshing nap and be, for first and all, rested. As rested as he could be before class actually.

He didn't even know when he get into the classroom taking a front row. preparing what he expected to use this lesson. A light of memory flashing in his head, he was remembering his fathers words about the importance of poisons and even more antidotes. He couldn't place it, but it seemed as if the old ways of intrigue where poisons and antidotes played a major role have not ended. Have they? He would ask his father, but he knew what he would say. You are young. Learn and have fun, but always learn one way or the other.

With small sigh he opened once again his coursebook reading tidbits of information after information trying to focus on parts obscure. How could Minahilite mixed with Roothane and spider legs make an antidote for Frissite Sulfide? He had to admit it, he was not an ace, but the challenge of becoming one was promising... challenge accepted.

"Oooh! I firstie," Kas beamed as he took in his student. "How are you settling in? Finding everything okay? Beating the older kids to a pulp if you need to?"

"I'm Kasper Van Zandt, your professor, obivously, and I also some how manged to end up head of Slushetal, but we don't need to go into that." He gave the kid a grin, "Oh and please don't bother with any of that Professor, or sir hogwash. It makes me feel like I'm pretending to be more serious than I am. Kasper or Kas will do."

"Now it looks like its just going to be me and you," he quickly glanced down at his roster, "Felix - so, what do you say to just getting started?"

What? I am the only one here? Wondered young Hitrost before something light up in his mind, the gears of great machine called thinking slowly turning into working order.

"Of course Kasper, however I do insist on calling you professor Kasper when it would seem most appropriate." He said calmly before continuing "Then it seems more like tutoring than a class, isn't it? I presume we can work around the system and make a more concentrated, enhanced teaching?"

Kasper smiled slightly at the child. He definitly seemed to be more focus then even he himself was.

He shrugged his shoulders, "Of course, of course. I suppose I can't force you into do anything. Call me what you feel most comfortable with."

"I am here for anything that you need. Before we begin, I suppose I should ask... how much about potions basics do you know?"

That was a good question, very good question. A question so good that young Hitrost was silent for like a few seconds looking at his teacher with blank exression as if looking for an answer and then he spoke.

"To be honest, I know much, but It doesn't matter because mostly it doesn't make sense to me." He said calmly "I tried to learn it and live it, but I seem to not understand the difference between stiring clockwise and counterclockwise, or why semingly unrelated ingredients make an antidote or potion. I know a bit, but It doesn't make sense to me and I am more a person that would like to understand it fully to make his own than follow a 'proven and only one' recipe that was created a long time ago."

"..and I do seem to have a problem picking up the right ingredients not to mention recognising which are of decent quality, and which just look like so." He added as an afterthought.

Kas frowned slightly, nodding his head at the boy. A practicalist. Again his serious nature was striking Kas as far more resaonable for his spot that the otherway around.

However, he enjoyed helping the children, so he certainly would put forward his best effort to do it here.

"Well, those are certainly all good questions. I hope that through out your year, I will be able to help you understand all of them. For now... I will start with some basic generalizations, and then I we can highlight anything as needed while brewing.:

He smiled and hoped off his desk, huming to himself.

"The way ingredents are put together, and stirred a certain way are all about how the react with each other. Their properties blend to create certain combinations of potions. If put together the wrong way, different properties could blend together in a different way, and then create a whole different combintaion."

"Take the forgetfulness potion for example, which we are running through today, if you don't heat the Lethe River water to the right temperature before you put in the Valerian Springs, than the nutrietns - for lack of a better word - won't disolve properly out of the Valerian, and the whole potion will be off."

Listening silently to his teacher he was slowly, very slowly grasping something that was amiss in is studies. It sounded like some form of an obscure type of magical version of muggle chemistry that was to say in short rather intimidating in it's content. That thought alone light a lone dusted bulb in his head.

"Kas? It does sound much like muggle chemistry, doesn't it? Would learning it provide practical applications to the Art of brewing potions? And a shy question, could you please recommend me a bit more advanced books on the Art?" that way he could have something to read during his sleepless nights.

"Hmm, an interesting question.. and an astute comparission," the man bit his lip as he attempted to think about it, "I suppose it could not hurt at all. Although the Muggle's Chemistry works in different mediums, some of which will not transfer at all to this, even wizarding products are made up of the atoms and such they work in. We can not escape the laws of human nature."

He nodded his head, "As for reading, I would try anything by Christine Abagnale. She did an exstenstive series of works regarding potion making that are most helpful."

"Now, if thats everything on the more theoretical matter, what do you say we start in on the practical stuff for today's lesson? And we can work out any kinks from there."

He gave a nod to that. "I guess I have no more questions for now apart form what we are making today on practical? Then I'm more than ready to start on it" said Felix and then added in his heart Let's try not to make a poison out of it..

For as long as he could remember he was never an ace in the Art. Never really tried to be honest, but then, he never seemed to grasp the idea of it. Potions were different than magic, and books he got were mostly boringly gibberish, all rotes, some theory. He would need to get a copy or few of Abagnale. With luck, she will be more comprehensible than other authors.

Kasper clapped his hands, "Good, good, today we are making the Forgetfulness potion. The title makes it affects rather obvious does it not? It causes forgetfulness in the speaker. The amount of memory loss depends on the strength and amount of the potion. If brewed well, and enough taken, it has been thought that it can create complete, and possibly perminant amnesia. That being said, however, most of them time, it merely whipes out a few of the more recent memories, and often as not, the memories come back within a few weeks, months at most."

The ingredents appeared in front of them on the blackboard.

Spoiler:

"There's your recepe, so to speak. All the ingredents you will need, are found marked and labled over yonder, and I suppose we can begin. Any questions at all. I am of course, here to help."

He noted down the list on the board down into his notepad and then went to collect what was needed for the potion. There were however some points he didn't understand.

"Before I start brewing... should I heat the cauldron before adding ingreedients? Then what are the wand movements for the potion?" He asked after picking some Misletoe Berries and Valerian Springs "What measure should I use adding Standard Ingreedient.. and what exactly it is if I wanted to make my own?" He asked finding some Lethe River Water and took a bottle of it. "Are only two drops of Lethe enough for a potion? Will it expand under heat?" He asked finding the mysterious ingreedient.

After collecting the ingreedients he made his way to his workstation sorting the ingreedients.

Kasper wandered the room as the students brewed the potion. Helping where he needed to.

"Now, we are out of time, so if you'll all just leave your cauldrons, I suppose I'll acutally do my job and check your potions, and you may leave!"

He clapped his hand and grinned.

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