Nineteenth Spell: Mix-Up
"It's because of the Magic Circle on the backdrop," said the chestnut-haired boy who was seated behind Haru. "That's what allows the teachers to change the classrooms to suit their lessons and so the students can have all the materials they need without having to carry some of the stuff to their classrooms."
"Thank you for the explanation, Gyoku Wataka," Midorime said as she faced the class. "For today's lesson, we are going to brew a simple Headache-Reducing Kampo Tea. You'll find the recipe for it in Kampo Herbs and Spices by Pikuru Sora, and have all the tools to make the tea in your tea sets. Also the mortar and pestles are available for everyone to use, so don't hog them."
Everyone got up immediately and went to the back of the classroom. Not only were there multiple sets of granite mortar and pestles, but also a bunch of copies of the book Midorime mentioned. Though not all the copies were in perfect condition, having yellow pages or torn edges. Haru's copy was one of these as he found some of the pages stuck together by a sticky substance that looked like honey.
Fortunately, the recipe for Headache-Reducing Tea was still accessible. So Haru opened the box of his tea set and assembled a clay bowl and cup, a metal sifter, a bamboo spoon and whisk. Next he grabbed the herbs he needed to make the tea, which included: safflower petals, red peony root or chi shao according to the jar label, quicksilver leaves, chasteberry fruit, and privet pollen.
He then figured he had to use the Firelighting Charm to light the kindling in the fire pit to boil the water that was already present in the kettle. So Haru cast the spell very carefully and was able to get a good fire going.
"Very good, Ryuji-Kun," Midorime said. "I take it you learned the Firelighting Charm already."
"Well, I practiced it a little before I got here," Haru admitted.
"Excellent foresight!" Midorime beamed. "Ten points to Byakko!"
"Yeah!" Nayu cried out. But when she saw everyone look at her, she shriveled like a worm. "I mean, cool…."
As the water was heating up inside the kettle, Haru followed the instructions in the recipe and used the mortar and pestle to crush the dry ingredients. Then he filtered them through the metal sifter into the clay cup till all that was left was a fine pale-green powder with orange and purple bits. Once the water finished boiling, he poured steaming water from the kettle into the clay pot before adding the powder using the bamboo spoon and then whisking it till the tea was frothing at the top.
"Have you all finished making your teas?" Midorime asked the class.
"Yes, Midorime-Sensei," everyone in the class said.
Midorime then went to each student and tried the teas they made while critiquing them the way a sommelier does with wine at a vineyard.
"Hmm, this is decent," Midorime said to Haru after she sipped his tea. "Not the best kind I've had, but passable."
"Thank you, Midorime-Sensei," Haru said, bowing in respect.
Next, Midorime tasted Gyoku's tea. She seemed puzzled by the taste, but then she suddenly moaned in a pleased way.
"Wataka-Kun," Midorime asked, looking embarrassed. "Did you mix white peony root into this tea by mistake? It's also called bai shao."
Gyoku looked towards the shelf and realized his error. "I thought it was chi shao."
"Don't worry about it," Midorime assured. "The two roots sound very similar in Chinese, so it's easy to get them mixed up."
"Why did you moan just now?" Seita asked, opening his eyes briefly.
"Because white peony root has the side-effect of raising estrogen levels in women," Midorime explained. "That's why it's used in performance kampo…for adult stuff."
Realizing what Midorime was referring to, Haru tried his hardest not to picture it. Then a crowing noise was heard, forcing Midorime to gather her things.
"Be sure to read the section on Kampo Teas and their health benefits before tomorrow," Midorime said. "And by the end of the week, I want you to be able to name five common ingredients in Kampo Teas."
After she left the classroom, Seita chuckled. "Nice going, Gyoku! You made our teacher horny."
Gyoku said nothing out of shame. Then through the door the classroom came one of the strangest things Haru had seen since being exposed to the Wizarding World. It looked like an ordinary boulder, but it had a hehenonomoheji face painted on with black ink and had a miniature red-and-white robe placed on top with a matching Musubi-kiri knot tied around its mid-section.
"GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE!" shouted the boulder.
"Good morning, Ishi-Sensei!" said the rest of the class except for Haru.
The talking boulder took notice of Haru and hopped over to him. "YOU MUST BE THE OSOZAKI STUDENT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT! IT MUST SEEM STRANGE TO SEE A LITERAL ROCK TALKING TO YOU!"
"Y-Yeah, it is," Haru said, flinching from being so close to the talking boulder. "But why are you shouting every word?"
"IT'S THE WAY I NORMALLY TALK, SO GET USED TO IT!" Ishi stated. "FOR I'M A YONAKI ISHI, A ROCK YOKAI THAT WAILS WHEN A PERSON HAS DIED! HENCE MY NAME, DENSHŌ ISHI!"
"Okay," Haru said. "I mean, thanks for the explanation, Ishi-Sensei."
"HMPH! AT LEAST YOU'RE POLITE, UNLIKE YOUR PARENTS!" Ishi then addressed the class. "FOR TODAY'S HISTORY OF MAGIC CLASS, WE'RE GOING TO REVIEW THE ORIGINS OF MAGIC IN JAPAN INCLUDING THE SACRED TREASURES, THE FOUNDATION OF YAMATAI AND MAHOUTOKORO!"
Seita groaned. "Do we have to? We've been fed these stories since we were all seven."
"AND YET YOU STILL FAILED THE FINAL EXAM FOR THIS CLASS LAST YEAR, FUMITO-KUN!" Ishi pointed out. "SO WE'RE GOING OVER IT AGAIN FROM THE TOP! RAKKASHI-CHAN, WOULD YOU KINDLY TAP THE MAGIC CIRCLE WITH YOUR WAND FOR ME?"
"Yes, Ishi-Sensei," Nayu nodded and got up, tripping in the process.
While a few students laughed, she crawled over and tapped the magic circle on the backdrop with her wand. The classroom changed back to the way it was before Midorime tapped her wand against the backdrop an hour ago with the black desks and cushioned seats on the floor.
To be continued…