Student Name	House	Attendance	What is a salve?
Joshua Harcroft	Gryffindor
Neely Woolfolk	Slytherin	(Excused)
Megan Ruiz	Ravenclaw
Sasha Schlagenweit	Ravenclaw
Mystique Ketteridge	Hufflepuff
Evie Pascal	Slytherin
Figaro Sellaphix	Hufflepuff
Beatrix Dark	Ravenclaw
Elijah Grimlish	Ravenclaw
Ferguson Amherst	Slytherin
Ferris Quinn-Nightwing	Ravenclaw

The simple sentence was written on the board behind the professor, who was cleaning off his knifes, cauldron, and vials in the sink embedded in his lab table.  The room was a bit messy, lime green and violet slimy substances slowly trickling off of various walls and corners of the room and his goggles too, which were currently perched on the top of his head.  

The first years had quite the time today chopping off things with pressurized liquid inside.  Many had forgotten to slowly make a small hole with the paring knife before hacking away at it, or they thought they had made the hole but had not managed to puncture the rubbery skin.  Thankfully the contents were harmless.  He learned to make sure of that the hard way when during his first term teaching seven of his wee students were sent to the Infirmary.

Oh well!  You live and learn, and the ickle firsties were certainly learning.

"Good morning, sir," Sasha offered the professor before taking his usual spot.

Though an unquestionably well-versed potions master, Professor Gunnar wasn't known for his tidiness.  It was one of the several personality traits that seemed different between the tall, gangly blond student and the Potions Professor.  Though he'd gone through the same process during the last four years of potions class, Sasha still couldn't help wondering if pulling his wand from his pocket and magically cleaning his usual front row workplace was rude or pretentious.  But, just like with any previous class before, he couldn't resist it.   

Once the space was clean, Sasha set his knife set and cauldron out on the periphery of his workspace before laying out his notebook and quill in the center.  Once his area had been carefully set up, he turned his attention to the board. 

What was a salve? 

The question seemed deceptively simple.  If it was any other instructor, Sasha would have been convinced the professor was looking for some deeper consideration of the question.  But, things were rarely so predictable with Professor Gunnar. 

" Hello Professor Gunnar" Said Josh, just as he stepped into the room. The funny thing? the workplace he used, and promptly cleaned, was the exact same one his brother, Charles, had used. Setting his workplace up like usual, he looked to the board. What was a salve. Just the kind of question professor Gunnar would ask.

Figaro tromped down the stairs into the Potions dungeon.  He had always liked potions.  There were knives, messes, fire and Professor Gunnar - who may as well be the Hufflepuff Head of House, he was so nice. And. Well, yellow.

He stopped in his tracks on his way to a table to read the board.  He squinted.  And without a word, he changed his direction and turned back towards the front.  He didn't make eye contact with Professor Gunner, but instead, moved past him to the blackboard.  He took up some chalk, and after a moment of consideration, he crossed out the world 'salve' and corrected the spelling.


He put the chalk down, and dusted off his hands on his sweater.  As he walked back around Professor Gunnar, he gave him a wink and a thumbs up  - bad spellers had to stick together.

 "Good morning, Professor Gunna-" Fergie began with the usual saccharine sweet attitude he used to greet his professors, as he stepped into the doorway of the potions classroom. He broke off, however, and stopped short, almost tripping, when he noticed the state the class room was in. Trails of bright green and purple slime were everywhere.

 "Um..." he said, giving a little half laugh that was more anxious than anything else. "Are we expected to learn in this environment?" Godric, he hoped not. If there was one thing that could make his skin crawl, it was knowing that he was in a messy environment like this. He wouldn't be able to concentrate.

 The fifteen year old's blue-gray eyes fixed themselves on one glob of slime, watching as it dripped off a corner of the desk and onto the floor. He gagged. "Professor, this is unacceptable," he stated, taking a step back out of the classroom and holding his hand up as if to shield himself. "I can't go in there! These are new shoes."

Before he could open his mouth to greet Sasha and Josh, Mr. Sellaphix decided to take matters into his own hands.  He quietly looked at the boy, his jaw dropping once he saw his “correction” to his question.

“Ah-hem…”  The man stood up, took up some chalk and wrote:


And sat back down.

“And a good mornin’ to you too, Mr. Amherst!  And yes, as a proper Potioneer you must learn to work in such an ‘environment’,” his gloves squeaking as he made the air quotes, “but if it is not to your liking, I suggest you go on ahead and take after Mr. Sasha and Harcroft,” wiggling his fingers toward the young men he spoke of.

[Outfit]

With awkward hesitation, Beatrix Dark strutted down the dungeon corridor and towards a classroom she hasn't been in for so long, she nearly forgot what she liked about it. Of course, the last time she set foot in the room, she ended up flashing her professor and bawling on his floor. That most likely wouldn't happen this time, but who knows what could possibly go wrong when Miss Dark was around? One could even lose a limb. Even so, Bea brought with her a large banana nut muffin with a pink bow tied around it. As she did for every teacher in the beginning of the year... The only difference was that Gunnar was the only one who ever got banana nut.

Sliding past Mister Amherst without even a nasty remark (Most likely about his lame hair) escaping her lips, Beatrix trudged into the room. A numb feeling passed through her fingers as she laid eyes on the professor, but Beatrix couldn't let the past bother her. Bea let her cheeky grin carve into her numb face and she set the muffin down in front of Gunnar. "Nice to see you, Professor Gunnar." Beatrix eyed his surroundings and tutted. He was like a child with all the filth he had around. It was no surprise Bea hadn't noticed this before. She never really cared about how Gunnar kept his class, and neither should anyone else.

Letting her eyes drift to the board, she read "What is a slave?" and had to double-take. Oh. SALVE. Beatrix bit her lip and asked "Umm... Do we write the answer down on paper or do we just tell you?" And will she get extra credit? Beatrix KNEW what a salve was, yes. Of course she would. She just never knew what to do with the answer.

For days Eli had carried around the small vial of potion. He had tried, unsuccessfully, to identify the ingredients in the potion. He had interviewed as many of the students he could find that had had the vile potion dropped on their heads to find the use of the potion, but apparently no one could remember what happened when the potion was dropped on their head. When he had approached Peeves about it, the poltergeist shouted ‘weeeeeeeeeeeeeee’ and scampered off like he usually did. This little potion was starting to get on his nerves.

So, for once, Elijah wasn’t worried about the stars, he didn’t even bother reading his tea leaves that morning, he simply HAD to figure out what was going on in the gooey orange potion. As usual, upon entering the classroom, Eli realized that it wasn’t in the tip-top condition that most professors kept their teaching environments. It wasn’t exactly a shock; Professor Gunnar’s classes always seemed to be a little messy. Then again, he sure hoped the mess wasn’t poisonous.

Didn’t matter. He had much more important matters to attend to. He barely even noticed that the board mentioned slaves and salves. Perhaps he’d add to it later, he knew what a slave was, knew what a salve was too, but he couldn’t say it as a fancy definition. He marched right up to Nico’s desk and pulled the cork stopper out of the potion vial and shoved it underneath the professor’s nose. “What is this?” He asked, as if Professor Banana could tell with the gooey mess an inch beneath his nose.

The first Potions class of the school year, and Meg was wide awake for the class. It wasn't directly after she got up, so she wasn't still tired from her sleep. It always took her a few days to get caught up with the sleeping patterns at Hogwarts. After all, she would hate to fall asleep during class, no matter if she liked the class or not. Since Potions was about to start, that was the class that she would focus on for the moment. Potions was always a fun class, and thankfully, she didn't have a problem with the usual messiness of the classroom. However, she didn't keep her bed messy, but it was more like she didn't mind being around a mess, and making a mess.

Therefore, it was no surprise to Meg, as she walked past Ferguson who was at the doorway, to notice how messy the classroom was. "Good morning Professor," she greeted Professor Gunnar as she walked into the room. She walked over to an empty seat near where Sasha was sitting, and sat down. She didn't clean up the space around her, but just set up her workspace as she normally did.

After taking a little bit of time to set up, Meg looked up to the board in the front of the classroom. What is a salve? It sounded so close to slave, but it wasn't exactly that. She had no idea how Professor Gunnar wanted them to answer, so she just sat quietly.

Hitting his face with his palm as Beatrix walked through the door, he sighed, “Miss Dark, please, please, PLEASE! wear the proper uniform…” he winced, “I got yelled at for letting you go about as you are without saying anything.”

Truly, he did.  Honestly, he didn’t give a whit about what the kids were wearing, so long as they were safe.  Which reminded him, “and don’t forget, Bea, I do prefer long-sleeves and closed-toe shoes so you don’t get things bitten, sliced, and/or burnt off.”  As for he question, he could finally smile, “Let’s just write it down for now,” he looked at the clock, “and give the rest five minutes to get in—WHAT IN THE LORD’S NAME?” he shrieked as the smell of moldy gym shorts mixed with silage invaded his nostrils, his attention thoroughly jerked away from any other incoming pupils.

Looking down, he saw Elijah, Opie’s nephew, was handing him a vial full of an unknown substance.  Plopping on his goggles and changing into new gloves, he carefully took up the vial and with a maniacal grin he said, “Oooo… thank you, Mr. Grimlish!  I do like surprises.”  Setting it down in one of his test tube racks he looked back up to the clock and down to the lad again.  Huffing in frustration he said, nearly in a whisper, “If you want, Eli, you can stay with me through lunch so we can investigate further,” he cited needing another pair of hands to help, though he could do it more than well enough on his own.  He saw instances like this as perfect opportunities to keep a student interested in his subject.

“Ooor... after classes, hmm?” he added as a second thought.  At his age you could never drag Nico away from any meal, or snack, or dessert, or nosh, et cetera.

Sasha looked up from his carefully arranged  work place to watch as Figaro walked up to the board with his usual mischievous intentions.  Though he knew, logically, it was unlikely Professor Gunnar would associate himself with any such behavior, Sasha couldn't help self-consciously - and even a little embarrassedly - dropping his gaze to his hands. 

Fergie did little to improve the situation, though Sasha couldn't help blushing slightly when Professor Gunnar recommended the Hufflepuff follow his and Josh's example.  The color was still prominent on his face when Megan slipped into a neighboring seat.  "Allo," he said, quietly.  "It's good to be back, isn't it?"  As Sasha now knew, Megan was one who, likely, really understood that feeling.  It was very good to be back. 

He followed her gaze back up to the board and, trying his hardest to ignore Figaro's addition, he considered the question.  Were they supposed to be trying to answer? 

Figaro squinted again when Professor Gunnar re-corrected his correction.  But a contented smile slid across his face and he gave the Professor a pair of rock & roll horns as if to say, Ah I Get It, Gunnar.   Figaro had laughed loudly when crazy Beatrix got in trouble for her skimy Slytherin tramp clothes.  Those girls, always trying to be women, always looking like little girls playing dress up.  Although the astute might notice that Figaro came to Hogwarts with all his ties already tied, and just loosened and slipped them on and off.

When Professor Gunnar quickly donned gloves and goggles, Figaro did likewise and was out of his chair immediately.  He was ready to be involved in this.  Oversized goggles and gloves, standing eagerly at Professor Gunnar's flank, Figaro looked a little like his miniature.

"Can't we figure it out now?" Figaro suggested over Eli's shoulder in a loud whisper.  "Izzy said you put it on her head and that now she can't remember yesterday.  Where'd you get it, Elijah? The beyoooond?!"

He was teasing at that last remark.  Elijah was always going on about something or another, strange and demented.

Beatrix looked down at her uniform and then back at Gunnar, "Hrm. It's not as bad as last time, at least." She shrugged, "At least I ATTEMPTED to remain in uniform..." Beatrix didn't often dress in correct uniform. No, no. But last year she hardly wore proper attire at all. Beatrix sent a firm glare back at Mister Sellaphix for his obnoxious laughter. She wasn't afraid to use her new prefect powers and whats-its... Even though she still had no idea what exactly they were. Beatrix sighed and finally agreed with the man, "If anyone asks... I'll just say Fleetfoot let me. That'll work." With a bright smile, Beatrix stomped right towards an empty area, right behind Sasha and Megan. She offered them an enthusiastic wave and began to set up her knives and books and ink-stained quill. Maybe Gunnar had finally nudged away the... Incident... Also.

Beatrix scribbled down the answer to the question on the board, ink spotting every time she paused. To say she loved potions would be an understatement. She looked up and blinked, dumbly, at her surroundings. Why was she always by herself in classes?

A strange feeling crept up her throat and she set down her quill. It was either the meat pastries giving her a hard time, or Bea was just over-emotional.

Outfit

It had been nearly too long since the last time Mystique Ketteridge had been down to the Potions area.   Down in the dungeons, she also found it easy to get lost.  This was why she was a bit slower getting to the class than usual.  She should have thought to refresh her mind prior to actually needing to go to class, or perhaps leaving earlier.  But alas, she hadn’t and now she was nearly late for class!

Stepping into the potions room, she saw that most of the other students had already made it in. She also saw some interesting colored substances around the room. Looking from Bea, around the classroom at Figaro, and other students, Mysti quickly took a seat somewhere in the middle of the classroom, by Miss Beatrix Dark.

“Morning, professor!” Mysti said, then started pulling out her notebook and quill.

What is a salve? The question she read lingered in her brain.  Well, of course it was an ointment used to soothe pain on someone’s head or other body area.  Though  she didn’t think many other people would know that.  But Mysti wasn’t exactly sure if Professor Gunnar wanted someone to answer out loud.  She was excited that she knew something asked on the first day of class. Her training from Mungo’s had helped her on that part.

“Professor Gunnar, how exactly would you like us to answer the question? Do we write it down?” She asked, holding her quill in the air with her elbow on her desk.

Outfit

Evelyn Pascal had made her way into the classroom around Ferguson and quietly taken her seat. Grimacing at the slime around the classroom, she made sure to stay far away from it as to not ruin her magnificent shoes. Or clothes. Though she didn’t mind the subject, Evie had never been too fond of potion making.  Professor Gunnar did make it interesting at times, but Evie just preferred to stick to other subjects.  Unless of course there was a potion to help make fashion.

Reading the board, Evie took out her quill and notebook and wrote down the question.  She didn’t know what a salve was, and decided she’d wait until someone else said the answer.  The Pascal knew better than to make a fool of herself in class.  When she didn’t know the answer, she would leave it to those who did.  And if she was called on, she would simply remind the teacher that’s why she was in class, to learn the answer.

When Elijah Grimlish came in, she noticed the orange goo he’d been holding.  Apparently it was something important as he’d gone straight through the substances around the classroom without worrying about them.  Evie took a moment to look at the somewhat odd Ravenclaw.  At least, he’d always been a bit odd, but there seemed something different about him that she hadn’t noticed before...  Shaking her head, she went back to organizing her items at the desk and pulled out her potions book as well.