Potions Essay
Alexia S. Luclwit

All of the Potions' Masters and Mistress's have left MNI, and a crazy new Potions' Master/Mistress takes over the class. Describe, by hour, the crazy Potions' Master/Mistress's day in the lab.

The day had begun with a large Great Horned Owl flapping upon his window. Markus Anderson was by no means an early riser, and this was not his preferred way to begin an otherwise perfectly good Thursday. Nevertheless, he found himself pushing open the catch and untying the letter while the owl danced around him and pecked at his sleeves.

Dear Markus,

All of the Professors have inexplicably vanished upon yesterdays evening tide and we are in dire need of a potions replacement for an unknown amount of time. We would be overjoyed if you could fill in for a few days, with full Professor Salary.

Several Passwords followed this statement and Markus knew that the 'full salary' had nothing to do with politeness, it was there as a bribe. Why they would ask him remained a mystery.

Smiling faces greeted him as he settled his notes on the lectern. He looked up, taking in each steady gaze and the occasional flicker of eyes to one another. He had been right about one thing, they were here to take advantage of him in any way possible and he wouldn't be able to do a thing about it.
He suddenly decided they would need a larger amount of bribe-money to keep on the regular staff, for a person would have to be truly mad to make a living out of this.
"Professor" Anderson suddenly decided he didn't feel all that well. How long would he be subbing in? He didn't have time to ponder the matter; the pranks were just getting underway.

The third period of the day took the prize in the Hall of Horror memories. Four caldrons melted, he was back-talked and whispered about, vials smashed and a student managed to upend a package of fizzing-wizbees into her caldron. The room had to be evacuated and de-fumed which took him several minutes. During that time several students saw fit to slip away to Merlin knew where...

The hours seemed to drag. Lunch was no consolation and Markus could full-well understand why the staff members had vanished. He could see them all sipping nectar from coconuts on some tropical island while scrying upon the unfortunate subs while laughing. All the way back to the class a noise such as the sound as fingernails put to a blackboard tapped at the edge of his conscious. The dungeon was cold compared to the rest of the building and when he returned the class was almost sympathetic to him.

That lasted until the smashing of the beakers. The stains looked permanent, Markus's vision was fuzzy and then the rapping of the chalkboard became unbearable.

His eyes snapped open, taking in his own ceiling and a Great Horned Owl flapping furiously upon his window. Upon closer inspection it was indeed the owl, the one owl, that had summoned the beginning of the two weeks of his life he had tried his best to forget. With shaking hands he let it in, finding the letter of the very same wording as before. Without a second thought he snatched a quill and scribbled a hasty reply.

Dear Professors,

I am extremely sorry for the inconvenience, but I am indisposed for the next few weeks and will not be able to take the class. I am sure you will be able to find some other adept replacement, and I hope I will be available in the future.

Yours, Markus Anderson

With a shuddering sigh he released the owl into the early dawn and then returned to his bed, hopefully to never again dream of his unfortunate class with the students of MNI.

My very first potions essay!