Fifth Year Potions

[A.H.]

I am writing a scene in potions and I am completely stuck. This is the reason that I gave up on writing HP FF before, I simply can not write any class scenes.

• What potions do you consider 5th year level? Other than the draught of peace that is in the book.
• Do the two houses sit on different sides of the room, or has there ever been inter-house pairing?
• Snape is in an even worse mood than usual, any advice on making a generaly foul person even more unstandable?
• Also, any advice on describing the dungeon? I've already made it seem the usual "dark and creepy" but do you have any other desribing words that would portray it well?

Capturing the magnificence of Hogwarts is hard, but specific things like this just completely stump me, any help would be greatly appriciated!

[MithrilQuill]

Interesting topic, actually. First of all, the lexicon is the best reference I know of for this sort of thing. You can find spells, potions ingredients, and other such things to use as details.


Here's a link: http://www.hp-lexicon.org


Now, there are a number of potions mentioned in the books and if something isn't specifically described in another class-level then you can use it for a fifth year level. Again, have a look at the lexicon for more detail and some more vague/fancy potions, but you could go with simple things like a Pepperup Potion or something.


I was under the impression that the students sit where they want to so you can expect them to sit on opposite sides if they don't really like each other. But if you need them to mingle more for the purposes of your fic you can just have Snape "punish" them by making them pair up with members of the other house.


As for Snape...hmmmm...maybe make him snap at a Slytherin or lose his temper with them to illustrate how bad his mood is?


I'm not the greatest with physical descriptions, but if you concentrate on things like...the spiders in the corner or something like that then that usually helps convey the mood and atmosphere of the place.


I hope that helped somewhat and if it didn't I'm sure you'll get much more advice from others who have more experience with the particular scene you're trying to write...good luck!

[red haired mom]

I would also recommend using the Lexicon for the potion ideas.

As for the classroom descriptions, there are so many throughout the books, that hopefully we all know what it looks like now. But, I would add something about the chill in the air being a bit frostier. I have noticed when Severus is in a bad mood, whether in canon or in FF the air gets a bit chillier.

If you read Professor rated stories, here is a very good representation of how he treats his classes. And how to actually write the classes. He is in a very bad mood for quite a while, so it will give you several reference points to choose from.

If you still have trouble writing it, just refer to it after it supposedly took place. I have some things I can't write either, but when they are needed in the story, I just refer to them in hindsight, or have someone else tell the characters what to expect.

Don't get discouraged, we all need help from time to time. Keep trying, and if it helps, try going at it from a different viewpoint, if the scene has to take place in the classroom.

I really hope I helped,

~Wendy

[A.H.]

I would also recommend using the Lexicon for the potion ideas.

As for the classroom descriptions, there are so many throughout the books, that hopefully we all know what it looks like now. But, I would add something about the chill in the air being a bit frostier. I have noticed when Severus is in a bad mood, whether in canon or in FF the air gets a bit chillier.

If you read Professor rated stories, here is a very good representation of how he treats his classes. And how to actually write the classes. He is in a very bad mood for quite a while, so it will give you several reference points to choose from.

If you still have trouble writing it, just refer to it after it supposedly took place. I have some things I can't write either, but when they are needed in the story, I just refer to them in hindsight, or have someone else tell the characters what to expect.

Don't get discouraged, we all need help from time to time. Keep trying, and if it helps, try going at it from a different viewpoint, if the scene has to take place in the classroom.

I really hope I helped,

~Wendy

You most certainly did The lexicon is one of my favortie references for anything HP, though I'm finding that these forums are just as usefull really. I've written the passage allready, but it might be one that I re-write a million times (whether I like what I write or not, I barley ever edit.) Thanks for the advice!

Interesting topic, actually. First of all, the lexicon is the best reference I know of for this sort of thing. You can find spells, potions ingredients, and other such things to use as details.


Here's a link: http://www.hp-lexicon.org


Now, there are a number of potions mentioned in the books and if something isn't specifically described in another class-level then you can use it for a fifth year level. Again, have a look at the lexicon for more detail and some more vague/fancy potions, but you could go with simple things like a Pepperup Potion or something.


I was under the impression that the students sit where they want to so you can expect them to sit on opposite sides if they don't really like each other. But if you need them to mingle more for the purposes of your fic you can just have Snape "punish" them by making them pair up with members of the other house.


As for Snape...hmmmm...maybe make him snap at a Slytherin or lose his temper with them to illustrate how bad his mood is?


I'm not the greatest with physical descriptions, but if you concentrate on things like...the spiders in the corner or something like that then that usually helps convey the mood and atmosphere of the place.


I hope that helped somewhat and if it didn't I'm sure you'll get much more advice from others who have more experience with the particular scene you're trying to write...good luck!

Spiders in the corner... that's so subtle that it's brilliant. As I said, I wrote the passage, and I took your advice with him getting impatient with a Sltyherin; I think thats the only part of the scene that I really like. As for the potion they were working on... I just kind of slid over it with complicated instructions about plants and things that I'm sure if actually mixed together would have a nasty result, lol.

Thank you both for the help, I took it all into consideration and I think I've got a good start. Considering my fic is set in school, I'm going to be having alot of problems with classes and your tips have given me a good idea of how to write them. Also, thanks for the links. If I hadn't allready known about the Lexicon I'd probably still be browsing around it

Arianna

Please refrain from posting quotes of entire posts in future.