Copies to Headmistress Rutledge, Divination Prof. Kitsune, Delilah Darwin, Wylder Pan, and Kapu Ren.

I'm disappointed that my sojourn at Hogwarts was so brief... I hope to return, but I won't deny that this trip holds danger along its paths. I would not be going, except that the need is urgent and the journey necessary. I'm glad that the Headmistress understood, and allowed me to go... My mother is old and quite ill, so I must return to Ecuador for a while, but my mission requires a side-trip, and therefore I am taking a roundabout route, that needs must include a visit to Nepal, of all places! I surely hope this will help the experiment! I hope all my students understand my absence. Please assure them that I will return to Hogwarts as soon as I am able.

Sincere thanks,
Prof Constantineau

ingredients: dried nettles, crushed snake fangs, stewed horned slugs, porcupine quills (added after taking the cauldron off the fire)

Properly brewed this potions cures boils on people and animals. Must be drunk, not put on the boil.

1st: collect the ingrediants from the herb cabinet.
2nd: carefully measure 6 ounces of horned slugs (the horns make them heavy!) and place them in your cauldron and begin the boil with green flames (use the Incendio charm). Boil for 10 minutes until the slugs turn red. Crush your snake fangs with your mortar and pestle while you wait on the slugs.
3rd: add 1 ounce dried nettles to the brew, and reduce the flames to simmer for 10 minutes. Add no more than 3 ounces of water if your water boils down to less than 2 ounces (use the cauldron's measuring marks to tell).
4th: add the crushed fangs slowly, stirring all the while. Keep the fire at simmer.
5th: remove the cauldron from the fire, or simply douse your flames. Do NOT add the porcupine quills until the flames are out!
6th: add the quills one at a time, stirring rapidly CCW. 

~End of Student section~

FYI, substitute teacher, if the quills are added while the fire is on, the cauldron will hiss and begin to melt, and if the potion splashes someone they'll get boils! Simulate this with some red particles or something.

You could possibly "melt" a cauldron by editing its color to red, then deleting it... only will work if you have permission to edit however...

New homework assignment: study boil cures in the Hogwarts Library. Write an essay on them and explain what you did right or wrong on your own potion.

Best of luck!
Korak

1. Tell everyone who missed class to get a Notecard from my Handouts Scroll in the Lab. Read your notecards.

2. Buy your lab supplies. I will provide cauldrons for now. But you will need your own soon. The other supplies are listed in your first Notecard. (And that Notecard is contained in the previous Journal Post!)

3. Read the Encyclopedia of Potions section of the Harry Potter Lexicon, and write 3 inches of parchment on it (couple of paragraphs). Turn in a notecard of your essay to me next week.

Notice: I took 10 points from Hufflepuff today, for attempted theft of Lab supplies. The one who did it has been suitably punished and sincerely regrets his actions. That is why I did not take even more from Hufflepuff. Be warned, students- I do not intend to play around. The next time I catch a Hufflepuff stealing potions or potion supplies, 50 points will be taken... Per item/and student involved. Potions and their brewing is dangerous enough for trained wizards. Don't think you can get away with it unnoticed and unscarred!

OOC: Who's keeping up with the House Points tallies? Let me know.

Best,
Korak Constantineau

Welcome to Your first Potions Class at Hogwarts Reborn! My name is Professor Korak Constantineau. I intend to do more than teach you how to brew a decent Potion, I intend to take you on a journey through time and space to a place you never imagined existed. I will show you ideas that will challenge you, not just mentally, but deeply at the fundamental levels of your awareness. I don’t believe in coddling lazy students who think Magick is a toy they can make dance to their tune… without effort. You who want to learn, who feel Hogwarts and learning Magick is their destiny, their deepest desire, will not only be up to the challenge of this class, they will find it deeply satisfying… and indeed, its rewards ARE numerous- beginning with that sense of Empowerment success usually brings.

Potions are a tricky Magickal Art… they can be absurdly simple, and yet dangerously difficult. Many of you will never be up to brewing some of the most difficult ones. Most of these are so difficult very few ever succeed with them. However, most of you, if you apply yourselves, will certainly be up to brewing the less complex of the more common Potions. And after this term, I fully expect you to succeed at the ones I will teach you. If not, well… you and I may then part ways. I am not pleased by simpletons or slackards or wiseacres.

Who am I?  (what’s Korak all about?)

Most of you already know my old House was Ravenclaw… the Hat chooses wizards for each House based on criteria the Founders laid down when they enchanted it. For Ravenclaws, the defining characteristic is Intellect… and the most important quality to an Intellectual Mind is Truth. Nothing on this poor terrestrial sphere can be more valuable than Truth. It cannot be destroyed, and never bought or sold, yet its price is dearer than gold. All of you will not share this dedication to Knowledge and Truth, but it what I find most important, and you will comprehend how best to interact with me if you keep this fact in mind. I’m a foreign wizard and where I came from is VERY different from Europe… most of you will not understand how different until you are older and have had the opportunity to travel more. I have traveled a great deal, and experienced many cultures and peoples. This has made me a wiser and better person, able to perceive and understand truths that even most wizards do not notice. I have a broader perspective of life and our culture than many.

I do not share many of the common wizarding prejudices concerning Muggles and Muggleborns… I feel people are all the same and Magick is just a special talent like a great singing voice. We have Magick, but as a race, we are no better than Muggles- we are fractious, contentious and even vicious, we too make war on our brothers and sisters. It matters not that Magick is our weapon, we are capable of just as much wickedness, if not more. That’s why the Ministry exists- to police and regulate the wizarding world. We are too few to openly declare war on Muggles, we must co-exist! And even if we could, who gives us that right? You think because they don’t have Magick, they don’t deserve to live?!  Perhaps, if you look at this from their perspective- we are a tiny remnant of a dangerous race of inhuman monsters who hope to kill them all one day… shouldn’t we be destroyed for the common good? If you were a Muggle and knew our Dark history, would not you feel we were too dangerous to let live? We have the choice of two evils- to either wipe them out, or let them do the same to us! Neither is acceptable. But there is a third option: to co-exist, if not openly, then at least secretly. This has been the Ministry’s decision for many decades now, and while all of you will not agree with it, you damn well better abide by it. I will not have you endanger the wizarding world itself with rash and vicious acts. I feel a wizard should do more than just hide, however. I believe I stand as a wizard should, holding a torch against the dying light, forbidding the darkness to claim all, using his Magick to aid all in need. For only in unity, love, honor and mutual respect will the wizarding race survive.

What is Magic? (why we’re here- roleplaying)

You’ve heard a lot about spells, charms, hexes, potions and other enchanted objects… many of you are wizard-borns and grew up with the conveniences of Magick. But do you know what Magick is? Can you point to Magick and define it, explain what it is and where it comes from, how it works? If you think you can, I will point out that many better wizards than you and I have wrestled with these questions and failed to come up with satisfying answers!

In this class, we will also wrestle with these questions for even if we fail to find answers, the challenge of the combat is its own reward.

Lab Layout (House tables, etc.): This Laboratry is different from most classes you’ve been inside. There are no desks. Instead there are four large tables, one for each House.  You will work as a House on most given assignments. Many times I will give House points to the House who makes the best Potion. You will not be able to copy the other Houses work, because each will be working on a different brew. Around the room along the walls are the shelves and cabinets for all the supplies and tools you will need. I expect you to be able to use your knowledge of your basic spells to aid you in the brewing of your Potions.

As of your next class, you will need the following equipment of your own…

·         cauldron

·         knife

·         mortar and pestle

·         potion-making kit

·         brass scales for measuring ingredients

Notecards (hand outs): Every week I will have handouts of pertinent information you will need. You are expected to each take a handout from this scroll on my table and study it.

Grading, Tests and Exams :

Tests

Tests will be given once a month. The test will be a review of the month. It will be given on the 22nd of the month and will be due on the 29th of the month by midnight. Tests counts for 2 grades.

Exams

Exams will be given at the end of each term. The exam will be a review of all of the things we went over for the whole term. Exams will be posted on my LiveJournal. Exams starts(date to be assigned). Exams counts for 2 grades. 

Grading Scale!

There will be 13 questions on each test and 39 on each exam. Many of them will be essay questions, nothing less. You will be graded O through T.

O- Outstanding (13 out of 13)

E- Exceeds expectations (11 and 12 out of 13)

A- Acceptable (9 and 10 out of 13)

P- Poor (7 and 8 out of 13)

D- Dreadful (5 and 6 out of 13)

T- Troll (4 and below)

At the end of the term there will be a review exam which will cover all we have learned in that term. It will count for three test grades!!!

Class Format: (teaching more than one “year” students at a time)

Experimental online course~ use HP Lexicon and various websites to study real world and fantasy potions and ingredients … http://www.hp-lexicon.org/

Because this class is unusual in that we have students of different years working together, I have decided to create a special format for you to follow. You will be tested on basic potion-brewing and your results will show me what level you already know. Then, I will expect you to begin a self-study course… where you will research in the Library about Potions. ((OOC: by Library, I mean the internet and particularly HP Lexicon)) You will use this research to write essays and answer test questions. You are allowed to go beyond the usual scope of classes in your research, in fact I expect you to! That does not mean you can flout Hogwarts rules. I will reiterate the pertinent School Rule for those who have not been told- NO unauthorised Potion-brewing by students. No Potion, for any reason. I don’t care how experienced a brewer you may be, or who your parents are, this is a School Rule and violations will earn you detention at least. For more serious infractions (brewing poisons and Darker potions – anything in the Restricted Section of the Library, for example), you can even be expelled. Only a Professor or the Headmistress can authorise potion-brewing by students, and they are expected to supervise such experiments.

Class Rules: Because of the annoyance of multiple people “talking” at once, the Headmistress has determined that students are required to use Ims to speak to each other. NO talking on the open chat channel is allowed during class. If you wish to roleplay asking a question, please use the Chat command /me raises hand. You may also use the provided hand-raise gesture as well, but bear in mind, I may not see your gesture, while I will see the Chat command.  Thank you.

Another important rule is Lab Safety. I expect there to be ZERO horseplay and such assorted silliness. NO broom-riding, no Levitation, no spells what-so-ever that do not involve brewing your assigned Potion! If you try any of this during my class, House points will be taken and likely a detention will be given to those involved. I expect Hogwarts students to behave better than street urchins!

Homework: You will usually receive homework every week. And I usually give extra credit assignments. If you do these extra credits and I feel that they are good enough you will earn some points for your House! I will be giving a test every month. I hope you will learn enough to perform well on the tests because they count for two grades. Also, I will be sending reports about you to the headmistress about you including...

~If you do your homework

~What grade you receive on your tests

So do your best on everything. Do not lose your House points- or worse!- by skiving off!

My laptop, my only computer capable of handling Second Life, finally stopped getting online yesterday. It has been a pain for weeks, getting slower and slower. I had problems with McAfee Virus scan not working and a bunch of other related problems... basically, the whole hard drive needed wiping. And therefore, a complete reinstall of Windows. With my computer-savvy brother's help, I was able to get most of the job done this evening. But it's late now, and I don't have time to finish the process. I have to get some sleep before working all day tomorrow. So tomorrow night, after work, I'll be building a recovery disk, and downloading another copy of SL, and reinstalling Word 2000 (because 2003 utterly sucks!) and Photoshop 6.0. I can't afford CS2 yet. When all that's done, I may have time to Photoshop some more textures and work on the hand-outs for my potions class. I don't think that this will delay my class, as long as nothing goes wrong, but it is a possibility. I feel a warning is necessary! Most likely, I will just have to do without some of the "props" I was planning on. If the class is postponed, I think Friday will be more than enough of a delay. Let's say the same time, 6 pm SLT, Friday May 18th? If that's a conflict with another's class, let me know and we can work out an alternative date. 

Thanks for your patience!
Korak

While I have been inworld enough to roleplay some and cause a bit of a ruckus... I have mainly been frantically writing class material and building textures in Photoshop for the last 5 days. I literally worked in Photoshop Friday for almost 12 hours continuous. Not that this means you should expect a miracle! I am a raw novice, and made a horrible mistake on all my textures that were not clothes, causing every single one of them to need repair before I could upload them to SL. Now that's done for most of the things I've made, but I still have a long ways to go. That's one of the reasons for an "orientation" class on Thursday, but not the only one by a long shot.

I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do with this class and the Hogwarts game in general. I see how big a commitment it requires and I definitely want to be a part of it. But unless I have a stable DSL connection, I am going to be a bit player at best... simply because I cannot be inworld every single evening like the main characters. However, I'm not going to let that stop me! I still plan to teach a class regularly as long as players want to attend. I have carefully devised a Rowling-style cirriculum and grading scale, and I have considered deeply what I want my character to do and believe. I have already allowed "his" passions to be fired up in an argument with a student PC. It worked very well, and I owe it to the player who did such a great job of playing his own character without ever forgetting that it's roleplaying, that we're really friends helping each other make an enjoyable Rowling-canon world even more lifelike. Thanks, Theodore.

Meanwhile, here's a little treat: My latest Photoshop creation... a full scale mock up of an SL-style Chocolate Frog Card. I have in my history that Korak was "recently" added to the line of Chocolate Frogs, so of course, I had to try my hand at building one. Bear in mind, I just learned Photoshop 6.0! And I am no magazine layout specialist either, though I will call myself an artist. So the card may be a bit hmmm naive, to some eyes. And it's a big tall card as well, I hated those small pentagonal cards from the films... never in the books was a shape mentioned. And the one picture I've seen from the Scholastic (American) editions is Mary GrandPre charcoal that depicts a playing card-sized and shaped item (with Dumbledore). So my card is also rectangular, not pentagonal.