A Little Bit Magic [6th and 7th Years]

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

6 January 2026

Okay, so usually Hazel didn’t put this much thought into her classes, but she was really going for the wow factor this time. It was her last term with this batch of 7th years, after all, and that meant she only had a few more months to really drill into their heads how fabulous alchemy was. Most people were woefully ignorant and just didn’t realize how much of their daily life was possible thanks to the work of alchemists. And Merlin, those poor children must be bored out of their minds studying for their NEWTs with professors that absolutely insisted on giving them a dreary amount of homework. No no, there were better ways to design a curriculum, and as much as her sister might gasp in horror at how Hazel went about setting up her classes – well, an exam really wasn’t the best way to really show off the subject. Even so, she'd decided to do something different and more interesting and combine her 6th and 7th year classes -- a one-time only occurrence, a seminar none of them would forget!

Not that her class was the forgettable kind anyway --  it had always been more hands-on, naturally. She barely used the textbook, instead much much more interested in doing fun experiments in class to test the students’ hypotheses (even if Hazel already knew they were wildly wrong). How else were her students expected to learn except through repeated failure, at least until they finally stumbled on the right formula? Hazel didn’t like to lead them to the solution, but she also didn’t see much sense in pressuring them either. That would just give them the silly notion in their little heads that alchemy wasn’t fun, which it very much was. So. Last term to really show off the subject for the 7th years, and show the 6th years what they could expect soon enough. Hazel had a cute little project in mind, one that would be assigned for the rest of the year, but no spoilers yet! Students wandering into the alchemy classroom would likely be shocked at its transformation. She had carelessly pushed all the desks to the fringes of the room – not by hand, of course, Merlin she wasn’t a Muggle! But she wanted all the focus to be on the little show she’d staged in the center. Hazel had set up several wooden tables across the room, and on each one sat a different alchemical product she had prepared beforehand. The point of the exhibition, she hoped, would be clear very quickly – a few of the most interesting and awe-inspiring alchemical innovations, from vastly different cultures and vastly different times.

There was Aqua Regia, a brilliant orange-red acid that could eat through most metals and leave nothing behind – and, because of an extra pinch of magic and a small tweak to the recipe, would do so incredibly quickly. Europe, 16th century. Resting innocently nearby in a ceramic bowl was a few handfuls of gunpowder – recipe courtesy of the Chinese alchemists of the Tang dynasty -- and on the opposite end of the room was a selection of poisons from her very own home country of South Africa, conceptualized and perfected long before Europe had ever ventured so far. These ranged from an innocent looking vial of clear liquid to a jade green mixture that was emitting ominous sparks. Halfway across the room from those was a sample collection of druid spagyrics, an ancient alchemical technique developed by the druids during the time of the Roman invasion to create tinctures and essences from herbs, anything from essential oils to deadly mixtures. Finally, of course, she had a large selection of different noble metals on display – huge lumps of silver the students had finished transmuting only last term, a few bars of platinum, and a perfectly formed sphere of gold with no discernible flaws on its surface that she had finished only last night.

Hazel examined her nails idly, leaning against her desk and admiring the stained glass pattern she had painted as the 6th and 7th year students filed in one or two at a time. She wore a pleased little smirk on her face at the whispers and confused murmurs that followed as students hovered uncertainly by the door. She didn’t give any instruction, or even look up, until the buzz of noise had lowered an octave. “First off,” she began in an overly dramatic tone as she pointed at a student near the back of the group, “take off that hideous hat. What, did you dress yourself with your eyes closed this morning?” She pinched the bridge of her nose, then gave the class a cheery smile, looking immensely pleased with herself. “Well, what’re you waiting for? Go on then, walk around, take a look! What do you see?” she asked eagerly, her eyes drifting among all the different stations. She was excited to see where the students would drift, what would capture their imagination. Most importantly, she was eager to note how long it took them to notice the pattern she was going for.

Open to all 6th and 7th years! (Ideally taking the subject, of course)

[BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH]

Getting excited over a class was a feat usually reserved just for Addy, but Brígh was practically vibrating with enthusiasm as she took the stairs two at a time to reach the Alchemy classroom. She hadn’t been able to take the class last year due to being pulled from Hogwarts for the year, but the prospect of transmuting metals (especially into gold!) piqued her interest more than almost any other subject. When she’d had the opportunity to sign up for classes, Brígh had predictably taken all the required courses for curse breaking, but had also added on alchemy. It should have come as no surprise that she had an interest in gold, especially with the treasure hunting aspect of curse breaking. Not to mention, Brígh had spotted professor Burke in the corridors and she actually seemed… cool.

Brígh was the first student to enter the classroom, and stopped at the doorway. Her eyes fixated on the display in the centre of the room, an exhibition of sorts. ”Blimey,” said Brígh in a low voice, stepping further into the classroom, finally sparing a glance for Professor Burke. She idly examined her nails and didn’t bother looking up as she entered. Brígh was begrudgingly smitten with her and her seemingly effortless attitude. ”Good morning, professor,” said Brígh, though expected no response as she drifted over to the orange-red acid that seemed to hum with power. Brígh resisted the urge to touch it, considering nothing good ever came out of that sort of thing.

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Deleted]

Catsie Carmichael was far from being the sharpest tool in the shed. As a matter of fact she was so painfully average in her academics that she often wondered why people made her bother with schooling at all. It was clear whatever talents she possessed (if any) would not be discovered through bookish pursuits and complex subjects. So far she was good at doing her nails, her hair, and absolutely obliterating the competition in quidditch. She was also fantastic at color coordinating things! But taking a class as complex as alchemy was nowhere on her list of things to do.

Which was why it might have seemed strange that she was so excited for alchemy today seeing as she wasn't in the class. The young girl didn't have all the details, but she knew enough. It was open to sixth and seventh years. Which meant one thing only: Seventh year boys. More importantly, smart seventh year boys who were about to graduate and be men with jobs who were probably looking for trophy wives. Since Catsie was pretty sure that was her career path she did her hair, wore her brightest pink lipstick, and showed up with a hot pink quill to take notes with. She had some blank scrolls of parchment with her bound from unfurling by a purple bedazzled ribbon.

She followed the instructions, looking around at the various things in the room. Hopefully no one would notice she wasn't supposed to be here. Obviously she was drawn to the sparkly green poison that the others in the room had the common sense to avoid.

[Deleted]

Always the unassuming figure in the room, Zakariya had slipped past most of his classmates that clogged the doorway like a public toilet at a music festival. Honestly, it almost smelt as bad too the sixth year noted as he scrunched his nose up while pressing his way to the front of the fray. Did that suck-up of a Gryffindor girl brown-nose the professor so thoroughly that you could literally smell the shit on her? Zak certainly gave the girl a look as if she did.

'Good morning Professor' he heard as he headed towards one of the tables that Professor Burke had set up. If Zak could roll his eyes any further into the back of his skull, he'd have viewed his own massively superior brain. 'Can I wipe your arse for you, Professor?' Zak finished off the sentence for his classmate in his head.

Zak's attention was momentarily distracted when Burke commented that some dolt of a classmate had entered the room with a hat on. Probably a Hufflepuff, Zak decided as he had looked up from the gunpowder too late to see the actual culprit. Only a Hufflepuff would be so incredibly lacking in common sense as to have a hat on when they were so deep inside the castle.

He was about to answer that he saw people who weren't even classmates - had she gotten lost on the way to the Quidditch pitch? "A whole lot of ways to bring Hogwarts to its foundations," Zak replied to the teacher's question with a rather apathetic tone to his voice. "Here, smell this potion," he said with a daring smile creeping onto his angular face as he motioned to the one with sparks coming from it. "Don't let the sparks fool you, it smell's to die for."

One less Gryffindor on the Quidditch team. It was rather selfless of Zak to be so friendly to the wayward student with hot pink lips.

Hazel Rosalie Burke BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH @catsie

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

The class had slowly begun to shift from caution to curiosity, and Hazel watched with satisfaction as the students began to disperse and eye each of her alchemical creations. She leaned against the edge of her desk, idly adjusting the sleeves of her robes and taking care not to chip her fabulous nail art. A small gaggle of seventh years had gathered around the noble metals, and jostled each other as they argued over which lump of silver had been theirs and whose had the fewest imperfections. Hazel snorted at the circus but didn’t intervene. A few giggly Slytherins were examining the druid herbs, daring each other to smell the tinctures and guess if it was lavender or belladonna. That could potentially turn into a lawsuit, but Hazel only eyed the sixth years and didn’t say anything. If they had made it to NEWT level without being able to tell their poisonous herbs apart, then that wasn’t even remotely her fault.

She perked up as her eyes swept across the poisons station. One of her brightest students, a Ravenclaw with the sort of dry humor that came across equally well in class and essays, was teasing another student about one of the poisons. As he goaded her to take a whiff, Hazel smirked and pushed herself off her desk to walk over to the pair. “Oh, we can do better than smelling, can’t we?” she drawled as she came to a stop between the two, leaning over to examine the jade-green poison she had prepared last week. “Ribbons, be a good girl and fetch the distillation equipment from my desk,” Hazel ordered – she didn’t remember the girl’s name, but that wasn’t much of a shock as she rarely bothered to try. Instead the professor referred to her student by the lovely ribbons she used to bind her notes together. Hazel raised her voice to address the entire class as she added, “I’m sure you all remember how to distill potions to identify their ingredients. But someone please remind the class how alchemists do it.”

Hazel rubbed her hands together in excitement at the thought of an experiment. Naturally she knew every ingredient, but it would be an adventure to let the class piece together the brewing process. Once Ribbons had brought over the equipment – nothing more than a series of tubes and glass containers haphazardly slapped together – Hazel carelessly lifted the poison so everyone could get a good look at it. “This poison,” she began in a gleeful tone, “is rather nasty. It’s got a neat little temper, and will kill you very, very quickly. There are three core ingredients, and I threw in a little something extra for the color. It’s a lovely shade, isn’t it?” She swiftly handed off the glass vial to the redheaded Gryffindor who had been the first to greet her. “Carrot Top, pour it in and light a fire. First student to correctly identify an ingredient wins points for their House. Hurry now, don’t tarry!”

[Hello! We are currently looking at Agathodaemon’s “fiery poison” (feel free to look it up!). The four ingredients are: copper, realgar, natron, water. You’re free to have your student recognize one by name, sight, etc. For example, the realgar looks like rubies, natron would look like salt here, and so on. The distillation equipment is your typical weird looking tubey thing all magic people seem to have in the movies. Have fun with it 😊]

[tobias charles watkins]

Toby arrived to class a couple of moments before the tardy bell, which normally wasn’t the case for the Ravenclaw, but today he got caught up with Lusie in the hallway while walking her to class. After a year of going steady, he still walked her to class every day when he could. He was completely smitten by the princess, there wasn’t a moment of the day he wasn’t thinking of her. Toby knew he was was lovesick puppy but he didn’t really care - he was the one who had a lovely girlfriend and it wasn’t like it affected his grades or part-time job.

The gangly Ravenclaw ducked his head when he entered the classroom, but he was amazed by the transformation. Pushing the desks toward the walls completely opened the room and Professor Burke had put together a nice display. He was curious to see what she had up her sleeve for them today.

Toby saw BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH with an empty seat next to her so he slipped into it. ”Hey Brigh,” he greeted with a polite smile. ”You look like you could use a partner.” Toby offered in a friendly tone. His caramel brown eyes examined the glowy reddish orange fluid in the vial as Professor Burke spoke. He found her sharp tongue quite entertaining, only he didn’t like when it was directed toward him. When Professor Burke called Brigh 'Carrot Top' his eyes involuntarily widened, clenching his jaw awkwardly. He was waiting for her to call him 'String Bean' or something. Most of the time he stayed silent in class unless if it were to raise his hand to answer a question or participate in a class discussion. 

The Eagle’s hand shot up a couple of seconds after she asked the class to identify an ingredient. Toby bit down on his lip as his eyebrows furrowed to get a good look. ”I’m pretty sure the red shiny stuff is Realgar.” he answered thoughtfully in a nerdy but confident tone, eyes darting from Professor Burke and back to the vial in front of them to see if he could identify anything else. 

Hazel Rosalie Burke
BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH
@catsie
@zakariya  

[addilyn elara slater]

It's a kind of magic

There can be only one

January 6, 2026
Hazel Rosalie Burke

Alchemy was probably the one class where, for once, Brigh enjoyed it more. Addy preferred Magical Theory with the other Professor Burke, but he kept that opinion to herself as she walked through the door. Immediately she noted the layout had changed, and there were different products on display. A few were familiar from her reading, but she glanced at the student in the back of the group whose hat was pointed out before looking back. Quickly she spotted Brigh, who had arrived before her. It had been about a year since she’d last been in these classrooms, but it was nice to have her back. New Year’s had not gone exactly as planned, but they seemed past it for the moment.

Professor Burke was unlike any Professor she had encountered at Hogwarts. Even the more relaxed ones, such as Professor Vector, still didn’t have the same presence. Addy walked over to Brigh and Toby. Standing next to them silently as she watched Professor Burke had someone retrieve her distillation equipment, a focused look in her eyes. She handed the small vial of poison to Brigh and gave her instructions, Addy took a step to the side so she could see, but Toby already had his hand up. Her brow furrowed in slight frustration, and she moved so she could see better. For some reason, the youngest Slater was also the shortest one.

Toby noted the red substance, which Addy knew was realgar. Her eyes darted to the other colors. Her mind thought through her notes. But, she paused at the clear liquid. It didn’t look very remarkable, but how it reacted to the heat told her that the answer was simple. ”That’s water, Professor.” Addy spoke up. She’d managed to find a spot where someone tall wasn’t standing right in front.

template by vee

[BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH]

Toby joined Brígh and she grinned thankfully - it was unusual for Addy to be late to class, but perhaps she was skiving off? No, she entered shortly afterwards and took the space on the other side of Brígh, who nudged her best friend in the ribs before Hazel spoke once more. "I - Carrot top?" Brígh echoed, flabbergasted at the name. She glanced at Catsie, giving her a shifty smile before taking the potion from Professor Burke as instructed. She poured it in dutifully, admiring the way the light shifted off the liquid. She thought it was rather like her - quick to temper, and quick to forgive - except Brígh was marginally less deadly than this poison.

Addy and Toby both identified ingredients, to which Brígh was more than happy to allow them to claim credit for. Though Brígh was itching to examine some of the other concoctions that lay strewn about the room, she leaned in to watch the way the poison was distilled. Four distinct parts came from the bright red liquid - water and realgar. There was another reddish orange liquid, and something that looked like baking soda. Could it be... just baking soda? She scrunched her nose. "Would that one be sodium bicarbonate? But it's not fizzing quite as much as that would... so maybe something similar," Brígh observed.

Hazel Rosalie Burke
addilyn elara slater
tobias charles watkins
@catsie
@zakariya

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Hazel clapped her hands excitedly as she watched the Gryffindor dutifully pour the poison into the distillation equipment. This was always her favorite part – breaking down alchemy to its basics, combining the building blocks of the universe to create something nobody had ever seen before. She leaned over the equipment, watching as the poison separated into four parts. The water was first, and sizzled at a low boil in the largest container. The copper separated next, and its bright color caught the rays of sun from the window until it sparkled. Then the realgar, which glinted like rubies, and finally the natron, which gathered in the smallest tube and looked no different from table salt (except for the sparks it gave off, naturally).

The realgar was identified first, and Hazel smirked at the Ravenclaw whose hand had shot up immediately. “Nicely done, Flagpole. 15 points to Ravenclaw.” She didn’t have to wait long for a Slytherin to pipe up next, no doubt unwilling to be upstaged by a Ravenclaw, and Hazel nodded to acknowledge her answer – although it was a wonder any blood could make it to her brain with how tightly her tie was knotted and starched to perfection. The last student’s answer caused Hazel to scoff slightly, although she gave a hum of agreement at the Gryffindor’s thought process. “And 10 each to Slytherin and Gryffindor. The natron does have some sodium bicarbonate, around one part to eight of soda ash. But never mind that, you can read the textbook if you really care about formulas.” The details were boring to Hazel, because it took absolutely no talent to memorize passages from the book. No, the real difficulty was in knowing how to apply the knowledge to create something wonderful.

Now the real fun could start! Hazel waved her wand carelessly towards the board, and writing began to appear, an elegant script that listed out the ingredients and some background on Agathodaemon, the poison’s creator. “So we know that these three elements, as well as a dash of copper, combine to form Mr. A’s fiery poison. But this isn’t potions class, you know. It doesn’t matter if you can only recreate what I’ve done. Alchemy is about pushing boundaries, not just copying what others do.” Hazel removed the container holding the realgar and placed it in front of the Ravenclaw who had identified it. “Ever seen this before, hm? The realgar will have you on your back in five minutes flat, that’s for sure. It’s been used for executions since the Greeks. But it’s not just the one thing, is it? The Chinese have used it for centuries to ward off evil spirits.” Hazel removed the natron next to place it in front of Carrot Top, who didn’t seem to appreciate the nickname. “And natron? It can be used to brew a memory draught so powerful you’ll need to be spoon-fed porridge for the rest of your life. That’s all it was, until a druid alchemist discovered it can treat even the most horrific of burns. And then it was an American who introduced it to hospitals to flush away the toxins in the body for those diagnosed with dragon pox.”

Her explanation grew more passionate, and Hazel impatiently turned towards the board to get out her thoughts before they disappeared into the ether. She drew a circle on the board. “That is the point of alchemy. Imagine this is lead. A boring, insignificant little piece of lead. It’s an alchemist’s job to see the potential it has, the potential that already exists inside it.” She drew a little G inside the circle to represent gold, P for platinum, and even a PS for the Philosopher’s Stone. “If you can see beyond what others have already done, and if you have the talent of course, this piece of lead can be anything. An alchemist’s only limit is the size of your own imagination!” Hazel abruptly turned back to the class, an excited glint in her eyes. “These ingredients aren’t just tools that can be used to follow the recipe, get your O and get out of here. They demand more respect than that.” Hazel waved her wand again so the black velvet bag that had been sitting innocently on her desk flew into her hand. “Anyway, you’ll learn that soon enough. I’ve got slips of paper listing alchemy’s greatest creations in here. Your job is to reach in, pick one, and then break whatever you’ve got down to its basic ingredients. Then choose whichever interests you most and make something for me.” She shook the bag in her hand. “Any volunteers?”

[This project will be something to pursue for the rest of term, whether you want to write it out IC or have something for your student to do when you’re not writing them! I can assign your student something (ie: gunpowder, druid tonics, or something based on a specific region or alchemist). OR, you can choose something for yourself if you want!]
BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH
addilyn elara slater
tobias charles watkins
@catsie
@zakariya
...and anyone else who wants!

[Deleted]

SPARKLES!

Catsie's eyes lit up as @zakariya offered her the potion to smell. She was a little too trusting and figured that a Ravenclaw of all people would know what he was talking about. She was about to take a rather deep whiff of the potion and was, thankfully, distracted when she realized the Professor's attention was on her. Her eyes went wide as she waited to be caught, called out for not being in the class, and escorted out. Instead she was given a cute nickname and a job! "Ah, o' course. Not a problem at all," she lied in her heavy Cumbrian accent.

She turned on her heel away from Zak and his plan to rid Gryffindor of their most brutal beater. She tried to remember literally anything from potions and transfiguration that could help her figure out what the heck distillation equipment even looked like. Miraculously she managed to glean enough context clues to select the correct tools and earn herself a few more moments in the classroom.

She frowned as Professor Burke explained their assignment and instantly went to cling a few steps behind BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH like a shadow. She returned the older girl's smile with a small giggle and whispered softly "Go on, Carrot Top, you got this!" She looked over the older girl's shoulder as she worked with addilyn elara slater and tobias charles watkins . Together the trio identified most of the ingredients and to say Catsie was impressed would be an understatement. She'd definitely be staying behind them so people didn't notice she had nothing to contribute aside from playing fetch.

She tried shrinking behind the group so she wouldn't have to pick an invention to distill. Catsie was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to do it without hurting herself.

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[tobias charles watkins]

Toby smiled a hesitant but satisfied smile as Professor Burke granted Ravenclaw points after his hand was the first to shoot up to note one of the ingredients. First, she called him 'Flag Pole', which he wasn't sure if he was offended or not. Since she granted Ravenclaw 15 points, he'd happily take the nickname, this time. Or probably every time, considering he was too chicken to talk back to authority.

The Ravenclaw listened closely while huddled around Brigh, Addy and Catsie, listening for Professor Burke's following instructions after they answered her first question. Toby listened intently to the lesson with a nerd fueled excitement.

Shrugging, 'Flag Pole' stepped forward to grab one of the slips of papers and read it aloud obediently, "Gun Powder." he nodded his head awkwardly and looked down at the paper. He knew nothing about guns but he knew that gun powder was a mix of sulfur, carbon, and potassium nitrate. He quickly stepped back into place beside Brigh, crumbling the piece of paper in the palm of his hand as he hoped one of them would grab a piece of paper next so he wouldn't have to talk about anything he knew about Gun Powder.

(I'm going with one of the ones your wrote bc I have no idea what to choose tbh lmao)

Hazel Rosalie Burke
BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH
@catsie
@zakariya

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Hazel’s crooked smile widened as the students all stared wide-eyed at the black velvet bag in her hand. By that point they’d mostly huddled together into little groups, and the nervous silence rang in the room as nobody dared to step forward first. Their loss – she quite enjoyed selecting a forced volunteer if nobody was brave enough to raise their hand themselves. And this project was somewhat unconventional, in that it would take the rest of term and required a lot of independent initiative from the students. It wasn’t an essay that could be written in one sitting, or even a project they could skive off on and force their tutor to do. No, they’d have to research their invention in the library, track down a recipe, and then make it. They would have to undoubtedly ask her or the potions professor for supplies, and even if they worked together (which sounded quite fun, she liked that) it would take time. But there was a chance to get creative here and learn more about alchemy at the same time -- not to mention, these creations were all so interesting and unique. Valuable life lesson, in her opinion.

She gave an excited gasp like someone had just finished telling her a scandalous story as Flagpole finally stepped forward and stuck his hand into the bag. “Oh, fancy that! A Ravenclaw first? Take another ten points, then, for having more guts than the Gryffindors.” Hazel gave a nod of approval as he read off ‘gunpowder’ and then stepped back to join his little group. Gunpowder was centuries older than anybody gave it any credit for, and could be used for anything from powering Muggle weapons to setting off fireworks. It also happened to be one of the easier concoctions she’d written down so she informed the Ravenclaw, “I expect you to have some fun with that one. But don’t set any classrooms on fire!” She waited a moment longer, but no other students piped up so she sighed slightly. Very well, more fun for her. There were still so many things that hadn't been chosen -- druid inventions, potions that ranged from healing to any sort of mischief-making purposes, and of course all of alchemy's greatest hits. Hazel approached the small group Flagpole had just come from, mostly composed of the students who’d answered her questions and seemed to know what was going on. She shook the bag slightly. “Well?” she challenged.

tobias charles watkins
BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH
addilyn elara slater
@catsie
@zakariya