Alchemy 101 - Sixth and Seventh Years

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ALCHEMY

For the first time at his new teaching job, Simon walked out of his office and into the connected Alchemy Classroom.  He had taken the liberty of writing out a few chemical equations, some comparisons between Chemistry and Alchemy symbolism, and even a simple transmutation circle off to one side.  He smiled at his work as he brushed a little chalk dust from the sleeves of his tan leather jacket. Not all of the students would yet understand what he had written, and judging from the gap in time since there had been an established Alchemy Professor at Hogwarts, he wasn't quite sure just what these students would or wouldn't know.  Best to start from the beginning though!  The real beginning!  No traditional teaching methods would be taking precedent in his class!  No, these students would get the truths of alchemy from the start without any hidden pieces or conveniently forgotten information that he had so rudely been victim to in his early alchemy education.

Simon leaned on the frontside of the desk, with his hands leaned on the desk's old and wooden surface.  He scanned the room to see if any students had come to class a minute or three early.  


Full Class Roster:

@lynx @ranger @sophia @braelynn @philiplongbottom @crystal2 @cainedge @alucard @casey @carcerronaldhagrid @kay @theodorus @desirae @marcia @abigail holly proserpina mcgonagall @alina

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Phil ran down the hall, he couldn't be late for his first day with his new alchemy professor. Glancing at his watch, he had three minutes to go. he wasn't normally one to be early, on time was fine for him. But he also didn't want to be late. He had woken up and gone down to breakfast, then gotten distracted by a play by play of a recent quidditch game. The next time he looked at his watch he had 10 minutes to get to class, and he still hadn't grabbed his books. 

He dashed into the classroom, using the door frame to swing himself inside. He saw the empty chairs and tables, and instantly felt a little sheepish for coming so quickly. Now not only did he appear to be late, but he looked way to eager. Well he was eager, why should he be ashamed of that? He walked up to the second row and set his books down on the edge of the table. There was a man standing at the front of the classroom, leaning against his desk. He was probably the new teacher. Professor Callahan. 

Smiling at him and only briefly making eye contact, Phil bent down to grab some parchment along with his quill and some ink from his bag that he had dropped to the floor. Great. A witness to his embarrassment. 

[Deleted]

Sophia, to be honest, was excited for Alchemy. She'd read about the subject a little during her six years and always found it so fascinating. But it wasn't until now they'd had a chance to actually study it. The young Hufflepuff hurried through the halls with a relatively calm expression, the only sign of her excitement being her slightly hurried pace. She didn't want to be late! It was a brand new professor, what was his name again? Racking her brain, she was only sure that it started with a C.... The rest remained a mystery to her.

There were only a few students in the classroom when she arrived. A Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. She recognized both, but the Longbottom boy was more familiar to her, simply due to being in the same year. But... that didn't mean she knew him well at all.... It really didn't help that his sister had a... distaste for the girl. The Ravenclaw she only knew in passing, his name escaping her like the professors.

Shyly, she offered a smile and nod to the professor perched at the front of the class room and took a seat by herself, probably the farthest spot possible from the students already in the room. Once seated, she turned her gaze on the board, smiling a little more.

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The clock on the far wall chimed briefly, signaling him that it was time to start the class. He had watched the students enter his classroom, though for a first day's turnout, Simon was disappointed. So far, only four students had shown up for class. He had sent out the letters by owl to every student that had signed up, so he knew that all of them were notified. He decided that for today, he wouldn't mark the late-comers as tardy, though all no-shows were still going to get an absent grade for the day. So far, only 4 of the 17 enrolled students were there.

"Well!" Simon began. "Hello everyone! I am Professor Callahan, but you can call me 'Simon' or just 'Professor'." He casually took out his wand from the inside of his leather jacket and flicked it once at a stack of books that were on his desk. Four of them began to float and levitated across the room. The books weren't very thick, though this was only the beginning. Simon believed the real trick of alchemy was keeping most of the content in one's own mind instead of on the pages of a book.

As the books began to rest upon the four student's desks, he continued his introduction.

"Alchemy! The science of understanding the structure of matter, breaking it down, then reconstructing it as something else. With it, one can make Gold from lead, but Alchemy is a science! It must follow natural laws. To create, something of equal value must be lost. This, students, is the principal of equivalent exchange." Simon looked at the four students. "To study Alchemy is to study the world around you. To practice Alchemy is to intimately know the harmony and balance provided in the world around us, and to keep it... guard it... and protect it. As with all things, there are rules; and breaking the established Rules of Alchemic Practice will put a person in prison faster than you can disapparate."

"However," he added, grabbing a fresh stick of chalk from the desk. "In this room you will learn many strange and wondrous things! For instance, you will learn to warp the very ground beneath your feet." He quickly drew a transmutation circle on the floor in front of his desk before clapping loudly and pressing his hands to the cold stone floor. The stone followed his hand's quick motions as he stood up, appearing to stretch. As he kept his hands upon the stone, it warped into a fierce stone gargoyle. He clapped again and it reverted back into a stone floor tile.

"Now!" Who can tell me how many basic states of matter there are and what they are - or how many basic elements there are and what those happen to be?" He didn't expect them to know all of the answers, though he thought that it would be smart to see what they did know before making any assumptions.


(ooc: updated student list!) 

@philiplongbottom
@cainedge
@sophia
@lynx
Irina Rose Krum
@ranger
@braelynn
@philiplongbottom
@crystal2
@alucard
@casey
@carcerronaldhagrid
@theodorus
@desirae
@marcia
@abigail
@annelise

[Irina Rose Krum]

Rina slipped through the just open door as the bell chimed to signal the start of class. She saw the new Professor standing up about to start speaking and quickly stole the seat next to Morena.  She stole a glance over to her friend and grinned cheekily.  She had decided on a whim to take Alchemy this morning, and had arranged it with Professor Longbottom before flying off to try to not be late for the first class.  She knew that her interest in Potions would certainly help in Alchemy studies, but as to how much, she wasn't sure.


"Did I miss anything?" she whispered quietly to Moreta, but just moments after the Professor began to speak.  She listened attentively, but by the time he posed the question to the class, her mind went blank.  She hadn't had any time to study the assigned book for the course, and she certainly didn't know the answer.   She folded her hands in front of her on her desk, glancing around to see if anyone was at least slightly more prepared than she.

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Annelise rushed through the corridors, furious at the circumstance. She was late to class! She couldn't believe it. She hated being late to things, but this was a crazy day and nothing had gone according to plan. Anna was more frustrated than she could explain. Add in the fact that she would be walking into class late and that everyone would be watching, and her attitude lowered even more. Maybe she should just skip class ...

She debated the possibility, even as she was making her way through the hallways. It didn't matter how much she considered ditching, she wouldn't be able to. Her conscious wouldn't allow it, nor would her pride. She'd go, even if it was horribly embarrassing to walk in late.

After what seemed like ages, Anna finally arrived at the class. She took a deep breath and opened the door slowly, hoping to make as little sound as possible. She quickly walked across the room and sat behind Phil. It seemed like Professor Callahan was still introducing the subject, so she pulled out a quil and some parchment before she faced the front. All right, so showing up late hadn't been too bad.

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Marcia had entered the classroom quietly today, observing the new Professor as she did so. She glanced about the room until she found Cain, and a small smile graced her lips. She swiftly moved to take the empty desk beside him, but didn't speak up just yet. She was intrigued by Alchemy, understanding that it could easily carry more magical weight than people gave it credit for.

As the introductions died down and the Professor began to speak, Marcia perked up, listening intently. As he asked the question, her hand was in the air, "solid, liquid and gas?" she had done the necessary studying for the subject intrigued her, and she was a model students even if her rambunctious behavior outside of class didn't always suggest such. It wasn't only that she was mildly interested, though. Her metal arm was a work of art in it's self and maybe, maybe her parents had used alchemy to get it there. She was sure they had merely replaced her real arm with a new metal one, but perhaps alchemy was somehow involved?

She instinctively looked down at the arm, making sure the make up was still in tact. Today she had a tattoo of an eagle, wrapping it's wingspan around her wrist. She changed the tattoo every day or so, getting enjoyment from peoples reactions from it.

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Phil was entranced. This class was going to be awesome. Not easy by any means, but he no longer cared about easy. He wanted a challenge. And this class could provide just that. 

Moreta answered the professor's question as Phil was still thinking about it. Could their be another form? And what were the basic elements? His brain was suddenly exploding with questions so he pulled out his notebook and started scribbling them down. He hadn't been thins excited about a class in quite a while. Other than Herbology of course. But he had put Herbology in a class all it's own long ago.