Potions and Items, Desperately Needed [Open]

[jointheclub]

[The Itemcrafting classroom looks like something out of The Sword in the Stone today, with beakers, cauldrons, tubes, liquids, chests, and sundry supplies all floating around in midair, almost but not quite bumping into each other. On one side of the classroom, knives furiously chop away at roots, stalks, and bulbs; on another, large tongs stir boiling cauldrons. In the midst of all this, Slughorn directs traffic with his wand, hurrying here and there to check this process or temper this reaction.]

[Truth be told, Slughorn is running himself raw, between days of gathering up students on the Island and nights of making items and potions to repair the damage they've done to themselves. A very uncharacteristic scowl seems to have landed permanently on his face, and he is constantly mopping at the shine on his increasingly-mottled forehead. In fact, one might almost say he's showing his age...]

Don't even know why I came out of retirement. What am I, a Healer?

[He flicks his wand irritably, sending two completed sleeping draughts and a half-dozen Potions flying into a box.]

Comments

[tiamat_shot]

[If nothing else, the Commander made sure that the people not involved in the expeditions were too busy to protest; He'd tentatively been helping out Reno, but he was almost immediately grabbed to do grunt work because of his relative newness. This also meant that the medics were sending him to get the supplies they needed; supplies that Slughorn was busy making.

Supplies that just went soaring barely over his head, causing the small moogle to duck and cover for a moment.]

Kupo! Mind watching the aim a little bit, professor?

[jointheclub]

It wouldn't leave you in worse shape than the cadets returning from the Island!

[Slughorn gestures irritably at the box he'd just packed, which bangs closed dramatically, then seals itself. He glares at it a moment before the lines of his face soften.]

Merlin's beard, listen to me, I'm starting to sound like Minerva. My dear boy, I'm dreadfully sorry.

[tiamat_shot]

[The moogle gives a headshake, straightening his hat and sighing.]

Fair enough point, though. You know, I've only heard murmurs, but whatever's out there, it isn't garden-variety malboros, kupo.

I-I don't envy 'em, but... everyone's gotta learn how to handle pain sometime, kupo. S'part of joining an adjudged clan, and I guess it's part of having these GF things.

[jointheclub]

There'd be none of this nonsense back at Hogwarts. We had a sensible curriculum there! [He taps his wand angrily against a cauldron, stoking the flames beneath it, before pausing to amend his statement.] Well, Care of Magical Creatures could be rough on a bad day, but it was never supposed to injure the students. And Quidditch always sent its fair share of players to the hospital wing, but those were the rules of the sport.

[tiamat_shot]

Hogwarts? Where you... w-worked before, I take it?

[He's picked up the box by now, but before long it's set on a nearby table to keep the conversation going.]

Did they have magicks that made it impossible to die in combat, kupo? I... I think that's a big source of the difference.

[grainsoftruth]

[From the look of defeat on this cadet's face as she trudges into the classroom, one small box of supplies more or less in tow, you might have thought she'd just walked all the way back from the island itself. In fact, this is almost true - just replace "back from the island itself" with "up one flight of stairs".

She stumbles over to a wall and sets the box down on the floor so she can catch her breath. Going over to the cupboard on the other side of the room is a bit much to ask from her right now.]

Oh my. I just don't know if I'm cut out for - aah! [That was the moment one of the sleeping draughts bounced right off her forehead.]

Owww...

[jointheclub]

[After a moment, Slughorn becomes aware of the low moan over by the door and turns to see its source.]

Merlin's beard! Another cadet in miserable shape thanks to this mission! What have they thrown you against -- marlboros? Cactuars? Dragons?!

[grainsoftruth]

...Huh? [Osaka blinks. It takes her a second or two before -] Aah, no, that's not it! That's not it at all! [She hurriedly straightens up, waving her hands in front of her.] I don't know about any of that stuff. They just told me to bring this box here up and put it in the cupboard next to... uh...

[She trails off, looking uncertain.]

Say, you wouldn't happen to know where this box goes, would ya?

[jointheclub]

[Slughorn blinks, then flicks his wand irritably to bring the draughts back into line.]

What's in it?

[grainsoftruth]

Um, let me think. [She squats down to pick the box up and weighs it in her hands.] They told me it was...

[This silence goes on for a long, long, time.]

...You know, that's a really good question. You oughta be a teacher or something.

[earthlychild]

[A weary Aerith enters the room, bags under her eyes and herbs in her arms.]

Don't worry so much, Professor. We've got enough supplies to last.

[jointheclub]

I can hardly agree! We had no Skele-Gro whatsoever till I brewed up this latest batch, for example.

[earthlychild]

Are we really going to lose that many bones? I thought we were more in danger of breaking them.

[jointheclub]

And if a chimera stomps on some cadet's foot, do you think there will be much left of all those tiny bones to put in a cast?

[earthlychild]

You're right, of course.

[Aerith delivered her herbs onto a desk and sank onto a stool, dropping her head in her arms.]

We've just narrowly avoided that so far. So many of us have been chewed on.

[crablette]

[Sophie is curiously looking around Garden. She's getting a bit worried about all the people who're coming back hurt, and she's been using a little healing magic, but since she's not permitted on the Island itself she's not entirely sure what the full extent is.

When she peeks her head into the room Slughorn's working in, she watches him for a moment. He looks... frazzled.]

Instructor... [That's what they're called, yes?] do you need some help?

[jointheclub]

Quiet retirement, crystallized pineapple, and a glass of mead. That's what I need!

[He irritably bangs open a drawer, draws out a shriveled fig-like thing, and lays it on the table to be chopped.]

Failing that, a few dozen assistants skilled in the art of Potions might be helpful, but they seem in rather short supply here.

[crablette]

[Huh. What do you know. Sophie has no idea what those three things are!]

...I didn't know you could turn pineapple into crystals...

I've never made potions before... but, I could help if you tell me what to do! Even if it's just cutting things up.

[jointheclub]

Sugared and dried. Don't ask me the recipe. I don't make it myself. Time was my students loved nothing better than to send me a tin. Repayment, you know. Fond memories. [Slughorn heaves a melodramatic sigh, then turns to assess her, squinting at her as he quite overtly mulls over her offer.]

[crablette]

Really? Well, if I find any, I'll get you some! You kind of look like you need something to make you happy.

[youngnobelman]

[With Touma busy in the infirmary when he's not on the Island himself, Gaomon's found himself without a lot to do. The basic first aid training Touma made him learn isn't enough to help in the infirmary beyond "pass me the whatever", so Gaomon was shooed off to try and help in crafting. Touma was thinking along the lines of fetching supplies, but Gaomon figured that if he can mix teas, he can probably help with potions.]

It's supposed to be this color, right?

[jointheclub]

[Slughorn paused in his swooping about the room to peer at Gaomon's concoction -- having finally persuaded himself to accept the help by first considering his aching back and chest, and second realizing he could view Gaomon as a particularly odd house-elf.[

Greener.

[youngnobelman]

[He checks the recipe, and stirs a little faster, keeping a careful eye on the contents of his cauldron.]

I imagine this isn't the kind of thing you'd rather be making or supervising, sir.

[jointheclub]

I'd rather be sitting in a comfortable chair eating crystallized pineapple. I seem to have the worst luck with coming out of retirement.

[youngnobelman]

[Eying the recipe again, Gaomon puts in just a pinch of...something.]

Why did you come back, if you don't mind my asking? I was under the impression that when humans retire, they stay retired. [Until they die.]