potions lesson 2:amortentia

Nikkita walked into the potions class and wrote on the board: AMORTENTIA
She layed her books on the desk. Then she sat down and started waiting for her class to turn up. Suddenly everyone started arriving at class. She wrote ingredients on the board and told her class "Today we are learning about Amortentia."

James pushed the door leading to the dungeon where potions were held. "Good afternoon" he politely greeted professor Carter as he was walking over to his place. Despite the gloomy atmosphere of the classroom, he was glad to have this class. He had discovered during last lesson that he had some sort of a talent for it, which was a nice change compared to the disciplines that required some nerve such as Defence Against the Dark Arts.

As usual he was the first to arrive since he's always hated being late. He raised his head to glance at the blackboard, looking for indications on what potion they were going to learn today. "Amortentia" he read, and pondering about the possible effects of such a brew, he grabbed his copy of Magical Drafts and Potions from his schoolbag and searched it in the summary, taking advantage of the time he had before the others would come. Apparently, Amortentia was the most powerful love potion that existed. Despite being a member of the magical world for some time now, James always felt pleasantly surprised and amazed when discovering new things about it, such as the existence of such draughts. Wondering about how wrong it was to tamper with one's feelings in such ways, he suddenly heard the door open, and he reflexively glanced at it to see who would enter.

Richard entered the classroom. On the way to his seat, he nodded to James, gauging his reaction to see if the effects of their awkward first encounter had worn off. He dropped his schoolbag under the desk and slouched on his chair. Relaxed, he gazed at the blackboard to find out the subject of the day's lesson, then just stared at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts while waiting for the others to arrive.

Kim entered the room, glancing both at James, whom she met by looking at the big pumpkins near the forbidden forest, and to Richard, her fellow Slytherin. She sat down beside Richard and looked at the word written on the board, 'Amortentia'. Amortentia? The love potion? Are we not to young to learn that kind of draught?, she thought, but knowing that all of the professors are extremely evaluated before being accepted in the school, Kim realized that Professor Carter knows best.

"Now you may all be thinking that it is a strange potion to do for 1st years but I think you should learn the effects of amortentia. Everyone open your books to page 43 and follow the instructions. Also we are starting potions club so if you just can't get enough of potions or you need improving or you just want to join for fun then please stay after class and put your name down"Nikkita said.

Keith ran in. Glancing at the clock, he realizing he was almost late. He took a seat and began to open his book to page 43. He listened to Professor Carter about the Potions Club and thought about registering, after all, he wasn't too bad at Potions.

now then, keep following the instructions and make sure the potion looks like the pictures as you go through the instructions.

Kim opened her bag and took out her book for potions. She, then, turned it to the page where they are instructed to turn to, page 43. Having a peak on what kind of difficulty of potions they are about to make, Kim made a sigh and looked around on what is everybody's doing, she noticed that no one has started making the Amortentia yet. Kim placed her pewter and made some fire. She sliced some ingredients as slim as possible, as indicated in the book. Whenever she had doubts about it, she glances to her book and try to understand it as clearly as possible. After reaching the step number seven, the solution inside her pewter is bubbling and immediately turned into a reddish-purple color. She looked at the picture in the book but she was having a difficulty figuring out what kind of color should it be. Nervous if she did something wrong, she called out her professor without taking off her attention to the brewing potion.

"Excuse me professor but I am having a hard time determining whether my solution is the same as the solution in the book in terms of color. Is it the same or something is not right with my potion?"

James was already on page 43 when professor Carter instructed them to try brewing the potion. Amortentia seemed to be a quite advanced, as it required a considerable number of ingredients and the stages were far more detailed. On their first lesson, he had had quite a success with his Ageing Potion, but he felt that it wouldn't be nearly as easy this time.

After placing his Pewter Cauldron to boil, he walked to the ingredients cabinet, in order to search for three nettles, powdered asphodel root and four knotgrass blades, which he didn't have in his Potions Kit. When he came back to his place, he noticed with satisfaction that the temperature of the water was optimal and that he could now start the brewing process. The first stage consisted of stirring the contents while adding one pinch of powdered root of asphodel on every sixth counterclockwise turn. James was utterly concentrated on the task, as it required an utmost precision and perfect timing. Repeating the maneuver five times, as instructed in the book, he watched the concoction go from transparent to light brown. It seemed to be going quite well for now, but this was but the first step of many.

James glanced at the clock. There was half an hour remaining until the end of the class. He switched his concentration back to the potion, which was slowly taking a reddish tone, when the book indicated a light pink colour at that stage. With a sigh due to his current state of slight exhaustion, he went on to the last step, which consisted of adding a pinch of cinnamon of three rose petals at regular intervals, while lowering the intensity of the flames under the cauldron. After executing the instructions, James sagged on his chairs, relieved that it was finally over. All he had to do now was to wait five minutes and the brew should be ready. For the first time of the lesson, he had a few moments of rest. He had been so focused on the task that he hadn't even noticed his tousled hair and the juice from the tendysprague pods on his hands. He glanced around, checking the performance of his classmates. Apparently, they were all having some difficulties with the very complicated brew.

Suddenly, a sweet scent reached James' nose. He immediately searched for its source, and found with surprise that it was coming out of his cauldron, which now contained a light liquid with a mother-of-pearl sheen. The aroma wasn't very strong, but it was the most beautiful one he had ever encountered. He couldn't precisely define what it was, but it reminded him the smell of pine trees after a rainy day, and at the same time the exquisite taste of chocolate. After enjoying it for a moment, he searched the book for an explanation. It has a different aroma for everyone who smells it, reminding each person of the things that they find most attractive, even if the person themselves don't acknowledge or are unaware of their fondness for the object of their affection, he read at the end of the instructions about the brew. He also noticed that the concoction on the illustration had steam rising from it in spirals and a slightly different colour than the one in his cauldron. However, he was rather content with his performance, though somewhat disappointed that it was not exactly as it should have been.

Richard opened his book at page 43. Glancing at the instructions, he had the feeling that he had never seen anything more complicated in his life. There were three entire pages of meticulous stages, in which a slight error in the amount of ingredients used or imprecision in the making process could have serious consequences on the potion itself. He took out his cauldron, went to the cupboard to take some of the required ingredients, and started thoroughly reading the indications.

Finishing the first stage of the process, he looked at the next instructions. However, focused on his reading, he had forgotten that at that step the brew had to be stirred every ten seconds, while slowly lowering the temperature. Suddenly, he heard a boiling noise, and raising his head, he noticed with horror that his potion was turning light brown, with bubbles appearing on the surface. He quickly reduced the flames and stirred the concoction, trying to get it back to the beige tone described in the books. However, while he was busy attempting to repair his mistake, he didn't have the time to squeeze juice out of the tendysprague pods, therefore missing the right timing to perform the third step. Slightly starting to panic, he watched his potion's colour get darker, until it reached some sort of mud-like texture. He glanced at Kim, whose brew had a tone similar to the one on the illustration. "How did you do it?" he whispered, somewhat resigned. "I mean, look at mine, it looks like... Well, it certainly doesn't look as the one in the book." he added, while a few curls of smoke were arising from his cauldron.

Eliza strode into the room quickly. "I'm so sorry that i am late but i do have a letter from the hospital wing." exclaimed Eliza. She sat down at the nearest place and turned to page 43. Everyone else had almost finished. James seemed to have already finished.