So will we get an article from the Gazette before you move? Or am I going to end up being the sole journalist employed this year :-D I guess this week will be a lot of planning and packing and cleaning things for you, so I hope it's not too stressful and tiring.
One week "This Potions exam will last one week and determine your classification, and your class, for the next three years," said Professor Several Snipe. He was in human form -- not always a given for a man who could turn himself into a flock of birds and disperse quite widely without losing his sense of identity -- and walking around the Potions classroom. The previous Potions Master had had a fear of the light, and open spaces, and possibly a few other things and had held classes in what was best described as a dungeon lair. The darkness, damp, and general putridity of things down there had made it exceptionally difficult for students to learn Potions, let alone pass the exams, so Snipe had moved the classroom up to an airy solarium on what was probably the 83rd floor of the school. That there were no floors numbers 55-71 was all part of the magic. Here though the sun shone brightly and warmly, a cool breeze drifted through the tall open arches, and occasionally students fell through the arches and had to hope they knew how to cast a levitation spell while reaching terminal velocity. "Mistakes in this exam will be detrimental," he said, drawing the word out. "These are either the hardest potions you've made this year, or new potions that use techniques you are expected to have learned. You may, if you do things wrong, blow yourselves up, blow your neighbours up, poison an arbitrary number of students, or attract Miss Mangey's attention inopportunely. While she is currently under a one-week bond of good behaviour I am sure she has worked out ways to subvert it." Hermione inclined her head towards Snipe in what might have been respectful agreement, or just her stretching her neck. Ronnie Weasel, sat next to her, starting trying to edge away. "Occasionally," said Snipe, "some neophyte asks why the exam is so dangerous. The answer, obviously, is that magic gets more and more dangerous from here on in. Potions are not made casually if they are to have extraordinary effects, and so you must learn to guard against mistakes now. If you cannot, then it is better than you do not attempt Potionation at all, and some of the consequences of this exam will see to it that you don't." A hand, wavering slightly, was raised from amongst the students. "Are all our exams like this?" "Yes," said Snipe. "Even Arithmancy has a couple of death traps in it, for students who've failed to learn the difference between magical and non-magical numbers."
Greg - yes, you got an article out of me. I hope I captured the tone and the town accurately, as I couldn't really remember any details of the paper from its Protag days.
Another interesting and entertaining visit to your version of the Harry Potter world. The theory behind making the exam so dangerous is quite sound, which I suppose is a little bit of a worrying thing to admit.
2 comments:
So will we get an article from the Gazette before you move? Or am I going to end up being the sole journalist employed this year :-D
I guess this week will be a lot of planning and packing and cleaning things for you, so I hope it's not too stressful and tiring.
One week
"This Potions exam will last one week and determine your classification, and your class, for the next three years," said Professor Several Snipe. He was in human form -- not always a given for a man who could turn himself into a flock of birds and disperse quite widely without losing his sense of identity -- and walking around the Potions classroom. The previous Potions Master had had a fear of the light, and open spaces, and possibly a few other things and had held classes in what was best described as a dungeon lair. The darkness, damp, and general putridity of things down there had made it exceptionally difficult for students to learn Potions, let alone pass the exams, so Snipe had moved the classroom up to an airy solarium on what was probably the 83rd floor of the school. That there were no floors numbers 55-71 was all part of the magic. Here though the sun shone brightly and warmly, a cool breeze drifted through the tall open arches, and occasionally students fell through the arches and had to hope they knew how to cast a levitation spell while reaching terminal velocity.
"Mistakes in this exam will be detrimental," he said, drawing the word out. "These are either the hardest potions you've made this year, or new potions that use techniques you are expected to have learned. You may, if you do things wrong, blow yourselves up, blow your neighbours up, poison an arbitrary number of students, or attract Miss Mangey's attention inopportunely. While she is currently under a one-week bond of good behaviour I am sure she has worked out ways to subvert it."
Hermione inclined her head towards Snipe in what might have been respectful agreement, or just her stretching her neck. Ronnie Weasel, sat next to her, starting trying to edge away.
"Occasionally," said Snipe, "some neophyte asks why the exam is so dangerous. The answer, obviously, is that magic gets more and more dangerous from here on in. Potions are not made casually if they are to have extraordinary effects, and so you must learn to guard against mistakes now. If you cannot, then it is better than you do not attempt Potionation at all, and some of the consequences of this exam will see to it that you don't."
A hand, wavering slightly, was raised from amongst the students.
"Are all our exams like this?"
"Yes," said Snipe. "Even Arithmancy has a couple of death traps in it, for students who've failed to learn the difference between magical and non-magical numbers."
Greg - yes, you got an article out of me. I hope I captured the tone and the town accurately, as I couldn't really remember any details of the paper from its Protag days.
Another interesting and entertaining visit to your version of the Harry Potter world. The theory behind making the exam so dangerous is quite sound, which I suppose is a little bit of a worrying thing to admit.
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