N.B. Characters may be late to this first class if you must, but for later classes, I'm sure Penny will start taking off points. It's better if they arrive on time. If you get behind in posting at the start of the class, feel free to post as if they were already in the room! Thanks!

[Outfit]

Lunch imposed a big problem on Penny's candy treatment. The third years would be full by the time they got to potions class and most likely wouldn't eat the candy. It was rude not to offer, though. The young American professor had spent her extra time cleaning up the room and come lunchtime, she'd eaten an awful lot. She wasn't feeling sick, thankfully, but she was full to her stomach. Maybe she'd over-eaten? Nevertheless, Penny sat out smaller piles of snacks in case they wanted to eat them and it saved enough for the seventh years' class.

The bell rang and students would be around any minute now. She hurried over to the Warming Potion, ladled some of it into a phial, and set it on her desk. Seconds before the third years filed in, Penny had picked up her chalk and was writing categories of Potions, Tonics, Draughts, and Remedies on the board.

"Good afternoon," she greeted with her American accent, "the candy is for you in case you get hungry. Hogwarts lunch fills you up, but like I said it's just in case. Have a seat and I'll be with you in a sec."

The woman kept her back turned to the students for a few minutes while she began to write a list underneath each category until each one had five potions underneath them. It was strange for a teacher to actually write with chalk on the blackboard at Hogwarts, but Penny wanted the pleasure of doing it manually. Besides, her wand didn't like casting spells for her unless it was 'in the mood'. Too inconvenient for a staff member, she thought, but for this class she had got it out of her trunk in her office and set it on her desk. Finally completing her lists, Penny placed the chalk down on her desk and turned to face the students. This was so awesome! She couldn't help but grin.

"My name is Penelope Elaine Darling, but I prefer Penny Lane. You can call me that, Professor Darling, Miss Darling, or Miss Penny if you wish. I'll be teaching your potions class this year and maybe longer-we'll see. This is supposed to be a fun class where you can relax and learn at your own pace and in an environment that you create together. Class discussions will be regular, as long as you don't get too personal, and I want you all to participate. I don't care if I ask a question and you guess the answer: as long as you take part in the class, you'll be rewarded!"

She stepped forward with her hands clasped in front of her.

"Taking notes is optional because a lot of the information is already in your books. If you're worried about mid-terms, don't be: I'm winging it and notes will be useless anyway.  Hands on experiences will be as often as class discussions because, seriously, what's the point of taking a potions class if you can't brew them outside of school? This term, we're going to be learning the difference between potions, tonics, draughts, and remedies. Your textbooks go into further detail, but to save time, I'm going to sum it up for you."

Penny indicated the board with a gesture of her hand like a showgirl on a TV game show.

"A potion can be defined as 'a spell in liquid form'; it's a consumable medicine or poison with magical properties. Potions can transform the drinker, make a person fall in love, or even invincibility. Draughts, on the other hand, can be deadly or put the person into a deep sleep. They're the most powerful potions that have strong effects. Remedies can be used to heal a person or be a solution to a problem. This is why certain potions like the Shrinking Solution is classified under a Remedy. Tonics, on the other hand, are a mixture of potions and remedies: they are considered to be a liquid drug used to cure health problems and don't usually require as much advanced brewing as its cousins. An interesting fact is that potioneers look down on tonics because they're considered shortcuts and quick-fixes, something that is offending to those who take their careers far too seriously."

During this pause, she beckoned the students out of their seats. The young woman picked up her wand from her desk, waved it at the tables, and they all scrunched up towards the wall. Surprisingly, her wand seemed to be in a good mood today. Huh. Either way, she flicked it again to bring a group of cauldrons out of the cabinet on the far side of the room to the right of the door and set them all down where the tables were with fires lighting underneath them.

"We have--oh crap!--forty-five minutes. Today, I want you all to assemble into pairs and choose one tonic from the board. Your books have the ingredients and instructions, supplies are in the cabinet. Please, I can't stress this enough, be careful and pay attention. A person I was working as an apprentice for nearly lost her arm concocting a potion and it wasn't pleasant to see! The person with the best tonic will receive this Warming Potion for their use over the holidays. Begin!"

Penny sat down on her desk for the first several minutes to let them get into pairs and start gathering their supplies. She checked her class clock and timed herself: in ten minutes, she'd meander around and supervise. They were third years, not toddlers. By now, especially according to the previous professor's curriculum, they had been informed on safety.

[OOC: List of Tonics on the board are found Here with their instructions that can be found in their books. Feel free to make up what happens when students mess up.]

Potions was Ayla's favourite subject. It was the only class she took that actually managed to keep her entire attention the whole time she was in it, to the extreme that the previous Professor Gunnar had no idea that Ayla was a social butterfly who didn't know when to shut up. All of her other Professor's likely found her a pain to teach but Professor Gunnar, or so she had always thought, loved teaching her. He was the only Professor that was the least likeliest to owl her parents with a note saying, 'Ayla has great potential and will one day be a fine witch, however she needs to pay more attention in class and keep the talking to a minimal.' She was sure her parents were getting tired of phrases like that considering she had been getting them since her first grade in elementary school.

As Ayla entered the Potion's dungeon she was highly disappointed that Professor Gunnar was gone but the sight of the new teacher was enough to keep her hopes alive. She was young, pretty and had a wild fashion sense and when she spoke Ayla fell in love. Listening to the woman's voice was enough to make her homesick, even though she instantly recognized it as a Texan accent it was still closer to her own speaking voice than anything any of the other students spoke.

When they were sent to work Ayla claimed a cauldron and let her partner come to her. She wasn't particularly picky when it came to the third years. She got along with all of them (except Roxanne) it was the fifth years that she was really having a problem with lately, especially after the weekend she had just had. She still couldn't believe that Bea and Bella could do something so horrible to her and the massive fight she had had with Dahlia afterwards wasn't exactly helping her feel any better about it.

Without even checking to see if anyone had joined her Ayla set to work on the Headache Tonic listed on the board. She started to shave a set of chamomile roots letting her love for Potions help her wash all the icky feelings she had been having lately away.

[Outfit]

Roxanne entered, stared at the candy with disgust, and sat down. She didn't have much of a sweet tooth. The new American was their professor? No, wait. Their new professor was American. Whatever. An American was their professor and the woman's accent grated easily on Roxanne's nerves. She wasn't a big fan of Americans, but it was all the same to her. Another professor, another class she only got an A at, and more work to be done. Thankfully, though, at least she wasn't required to take notes. This woman might have been as lazy as herself, though she seemed more spontaneous and spastic than anything else.

She droned on about potions, tonics, the differences while Roxanne dug around in her bag to find her book. The least she could do was set it out for the woman to know she wasn't a total loss. By the time she found her book, the professor announced they'd be working in pairs. Roxanne stood up, nudged Garrett Thornton with her book, and headed towards a cauldron near Ayla and Blake's. Before Blake could get within ear-shot, Roxanne leaned closer to Ayla while Garrett went to fetch the supplies.

"Mind you, I am sorry about your birthday party. Shouldn't have been that ugly to your sister, though."

On that note, she stepped away to start work with her thick-bodied Gryffindor partner on a Livestock Health-Improvement Tonic. She didn't have any livestock, but there was a cousin of hers that did.

Potions was not Erin’s favorite subject.  It just took so long for things to simmer, strain, and pretty much do nothing but look at a cauldron for fifteen minutes.  Quickly looking up at the blackboard, Erin decided to attempt the cough and fever tonic, since that one had the least amount of time for things to cool.  Plus it changed colors.  Wondering if she had been hanging around Beatrix too long, she wondered if her sister would change her hair to lilac or if it was too dull of a color for her.  Since she apparently had nothing to do for the next five minutes besides stir something counter clockwise, she left to get one of the pieces of candy.  Not because she was hungry, but because they had shiny wrappers.  If there was one thing Erin did not know how to avoid, it was bright and shiny objects.  Tossing the candy into her tonic, and then proceeding to play with the wrapper Erin was unaware that her potion was boiling over. 

<FWOOSH!> The potion shot up, and drenched the area near the cauldron, and Erin as well. 

Apparently candy the candy and headache tonics did not mix well.  She had some sort of lilac colored goo all over her.  Wondering what its properties were, she tested it.  It seemed to be some sort of rubbery concoction.  When she tried to take a step back in order to start cleaning the mess - she shot up into the air.  Noticing the ceiling coming up fast – Erin quickly panicked, before she realized that she was bouncing off the ceiling, along with the next three hard surfaces she came across.  Erin was not really concerned with the safety of other students, she was too busy bouncing off the walls.  Completely oblivious to any chaos she may be causing, she wondered if she could reproduce this result.  She was having entirely too much fun.