Hogwarts 2022 - Potions Lab

[Ahlanna]

In alchemical production, as with many other things in life, it was important to get the details right. Especially when you had an ulterior motive. So many of her fellow students saw the best schemes brought down by casual recklessness. Well, Eleanor wasn't the type to get swept up in the passions of the moment. No, she preferred to be far more strategic with her passions. Which wasn't to say Eleanor was one to deny the therapeutic value of a nice glass-breaking tantrum. She just preferred to schedule them in advance.

In any case, she measures the distance between the cauldron and the beaker. A glance upward to make sure the ventilation wouldn't be a problem, a check to make sure the heating charm under the cauldron was level, the moonstone ground to a fine powder and carefully sifted to perfection: all carefully attended to. About all she hadn't done was check the stars. And she would have done that if she hadn't been nearly caught by Professor Glass. Not that she was doing anything against the rules – it just would be damned inconvenient if he wanted to try to make it an impromptu lesson and asked her what she was looking for. Fortunately, she had slipped away a split-second before the professor could spot her. She thinks. 90% sure, anyhow.

But the stars were a long way off, and astronomy was unlikely to interfere. Only a couple things left to attend to. Setting out an fragrance burner to counter the scent of the fumes, positioning it just right on the workstation. Perfectly normal for brewers who preferred to mitigate some of the more odiferous scents that could come off of potion-work.

Professor Dellet should be arriving soon. Hopefully he would be approximately on time. The schedule of what needed to happen was fairly flexible, and could accommodate roughly 23 minutes of delay without Eleanor needing to adjust on the fly.

With the O.W.L.s out of the way, sixth year was serious business, and she'd be needing allies at Hogwarts as the students began to worry more about setting up their futures. And who better for an aspiring alchemist to secure as patron than the Potions Master? Especially if he happened to be suddenly named Head of Gryffindor House. How lucky was that?

Eleanor didn't like relying on luck, but she was happy to take advantage of it when it came along.

 

[kckolbe]

After his last class of the day, Eric liked to grab a quick snack from the Hall and take a moment away from the dungeons before coming back down to do some re-organizing of materials used in the day's work. The durations of his breaks varied, but were generally about 30 minutes to an hour. Today he was a bit more drained, still adjusting the new routine at the beginning of the year, so he spent closer to the full hour winding down before getting himself back to work.

The main cauldron in the lab was a large one. Not only did its size make for a commanding presence, but it also served as a makeshift lectern when addressing his class. In addition, a large cauldron made it easier to mass brew potions for afflictions affecting the student body, as various ailments did spread. Due to the size of the cauldron, any concoctions requiring a fragrance burner meant a large one, so he could smell that from the hallway.

It wasn't against the rules for senior students to use the cauldrons unsupervised, though there was something of a coordination factor that hadn't been handled. It was early in the year, though. So he wasn't startled to smell signs of brewing, however surprising it was, though there was some amount of concern. Walking inside, he recognized the face of one of his above average potions students as well as a Gryffindor, and smiled as he let out a sigh of relief. "Ah, Miss Selwyn! Getting a jump on coursework I assume?"

 

[Ahlanna]

Ah, there he was. Good, she had been getting worried about the timing. Everything was still within acceptable tolerances. Now it was just time to …

"Eeep!" Flipping her head back over her shoulder to peer at the arriving professor through large-rimmed glasses … "Oh! Professor Dellet. Umm, hello, yes. It's just …"

Turning around, she gnaws her lower lip, "Well, you know how, now that we're OWL'd, we need a project potion this year, right? And I had some ideas. Well, one really. But one of the precursors for it is Sensing Solution … and that keeps coming out a bit … off."

Of course, Eleanor had worked out Sensing Solution towards the end of last year. It did wonders for correcting her eyesight. She didn't even really need the glasses any more, not as long as she took a couple of daily drops, but it wasn't useful to reveal that information just yet.

Framing that set of redundant glasses, a carefully curated set of wispy bangs hung on either side of her face, with the rest if her hair back in a bun; tight close in and with a bit of poof further out. She had taken to wearing sensible makeup to class two years back, and today was no different. Nothing too wild, just some mascara for the lashes, and a light dusting of blush, liner and a natural looking pink for the lips. Said lips had always been big, but as she had grown, they'd gone from a source of mockery to actually fitting her oval-shaped face fairly well.

A white blouse – made of quality omni-spell silk with stain-repellant and anti-tear enchantments – endowed with long, flouncy sleeves ending in cute little cuffs would be conservative, if it weren't a bit too small for her. Must be a leftover from last year. Cinched around her waist, a swath of mundane silk was bleached to the same white color. Below that, a zip-front mini-skirt of dark chocolate leather gave a contrast to the whites above, and matched the shade of her 6cm pumps.

"So I was just trying to get it right. You … you're not mad, are you?"

Apart from the bubbling cauldron, a silvered beaker at her workspace was resting over a burn charm on low. A similarly silvered lid kept the light away from the brew, with a purplish steam rising from the pour-spout. Several reagents had been carefully set out, and weighed on a set of precision scales. Eleanor's diligence in measurements and reagent prepartion was nothing new to the professor, of course, she'd always been the most careful of the now-sixth years. Indeed, she's handwritten out precise amounts, with a formal schedule, set out a timing watch and has been crossing off the items one by one as completed.

Speaking of which, she makes a little 'oh' noise, and rushes back over to the workbench to stir the powdered moonstone into the concoction in the silvered beaker, resets the watch, and then jots down the timing.

"Oh, I'm four seconds behind schedule."

 

[kckolbe]

It was only once she turned around that Eric realized that either his student's shirt had shrunk or that parts of her had grown. They were quite prominent on her small frame. However, he tried to not to let that distract him fro the issue of what she was actually doing. Her explanation of it being coursework made sense, as the project potion was indeed a requirement. "Well, a Sensing Solution is a more difficult potion compared to most of the required work, though certainly not outside your capabilities."

It wasn't just empty praise. Eleanor was among his better students, and while a Sensing Solution was something reserved for final year instruction, it was the kind of thing some learned on their own, and he would have counted her among those capable of doing so.

Normally, he'd have been upset at her just making herself at home with the main cauldron, especially this early in the year when things were more chaotic. However, as she turned and revealed how short the skirt was on her, he found it difficult to muster even any sternness. "No...I support you starting on your project early."

Once she turned back, his gaze went to her chest again. Was her shirt a bit thin on top of being small?

 

[Ahlanna]

Gnawing on her lower lip, Eleanor stirs the cauldron briefly. Everything seemed to be in order. "Well, it's just a pre-requisite of course, I was thinking of a Weather Prediction potion. However, given the rather dull nature of the name, I'm considering calling it Stormscout, instead."

Meanwhile, her omni-spell silken top was basting in fumes wafting up from the cauldron. Just to be sure, Eleanor leans a little bit forward to 'check' on the brewing progress. Ugh! Her nose crinkles a little at the scent, but she toughs it out, holding her position long enough for the vapor to react with the cloth, or more precisely, it's anti-stain enchantment.

Crossing back to her workbench, she turns around and leans her bottom against it – a more casual posture than is typical for the student. The silvered beaker boils lightly just to her left, steaming visibly through the spout. That vapor swirls around the work area, looking for something to interact with, and finding it in the enchantment on Eleanor's tight top. The 'side-effect' inverts the enchantment. Instead of fading stains, it begins to fade the cloth itself.

A hint of hot pink begins to peek through the material, underlining her breasts.

"So my basic thinking here is to use an Ezkovial's Inversion to constrain the aethero-bounding so that the extra senses are attuned to changes in air pressure, shaped by a Limner's curve … I've done all the Arithmancy over here …"

As she rambles on, pointing at her notepad to explain the arithmantic proof, fabric continues to vanish. It's a long proof, and soon enough the professor can make out the shape of a tiny demi-cup bra in vivid pink, embracing the rounded curves of her chest, at least the bottom third of them. Clasped in the middle with a string tie, long loose loops dangle down a bit, as if begging for fingers to tug and pull them free.

Pretending not to notice, Eleanor continues discussing her diagram of the rough thrust of the project. She hasn't worked out all the details yet, and she points out a few areas where she needs further research. Keeping the pace of her speech up, she makes it difficult for the professor to get a word in edgewise, at least if he doesn't sharpen his voice.

 

[kckolbe]

He chuckled as Eleanor discussed the naming of her potion idea. "For the sake of NEWTs as well as recommendations in general, I will be judging the accuracy and utility of your potion, not the branding. Either name would receive the same score."

He didn't know what she was leaning over for, and assumed it was to look at the progress so far. Still, she was bending a bit too much, and not only did that give him an uncomfortably good view of her ass, hardly disguised by the tight skirt...in fact, barely covered by it. After catching himself staring, he attempted to rationalize it. She'd likely just grown over the year and hadn't realized she needed new school clothes until the start of the year. He wouldn't say anything to her about it. However, he could at least mention the leaning down too far. "Be careful, you don't want to risk breathing in, especially in the earlier stages where the mixture is unproven."

When she turned back to him, he did notice the first signs of her blouse thinning, but wrote it off as a combination of cheap material and being too tight. He shook it off and listened to her plan, accepting her offer to review the Arithmancy. He, of course, was no Arithmancy professor, and while he had taken it, he was only a mediocre student, having learned more from trial and error than calculations. Still, he reviewed the notes, and the basic approach seemed to work. He nodded approvingly as she continued, turning back to face her, his expression betraying his notice of her chest, and how much more of her bra he could see. Had it been that thin earlier? If not...anti-stain enchantment. Being rusty, maybe it was possible, but then again, the shirt did just seem small, and he wouldn't want her to think he doubted her.

Instead, he walked over, closer to the cauldron, and evaluated the mixture, standing beside her.