#prof-ottress

[prof-ottress]

At long last, History of Magic and Magical Literature Courses!

Greetings. My name is Professor Ottress. I have the incredible honor of introducing myself as your new History of Magic and Magical Literature teacher. These are two separate classes, but will often overlap in content, so I suggest that if you take one you take the other, as they can be helpful to you.

I will be posting monthly lectures on the History of Magic and assigning homework to students. I would greatly appreciate if you will message me @prof-ottress and give me notice that you are taking my courses. This is so that I can get an estimate of how much homework will be coming in. About a week before the assignments are due, I will message students in my class who have not yet submitted homework to remind them. Obviously you are welcome to turn in homework early, and extra house points will be given for doing so.

The format for homework will be as follows (I will use my own information as a template):

Professor Ottress

Pukwudgie, Year 7(I’m obviously not a year 7 but I need to know what year)

Date: 14/9/2016

History of Magic Homework

The founder of Ilvermorny school is a well known figure, Isolt Sayre. She escaped her aunt and her situation at home to give herself a new life, she chose her own family, and was able to ultimately defeat the shadows of her past and take control of her future. As a general role model, Isolt can’t be beat. But in terms of common sense, Sayre left a lot to be desired. Unfortunately, some of this could be attributed to her early upbringing, where she was kept in a home that survived on title and not merit, where she was thought to be too important to go to a real Wizarding school and deprived of the opportunity for education in a community. But some of the later decisions in her life (the hide behind, the wand, NOT CALLING FOR WILLIAM EARLIER), these frustrate me to my core and I consider them unforgivable.

And there you have it! So, for your first assignment, I want you to message me by October 1 to let me know if you are taking my class. I Look forward to hearing from you all, and I am grateful for this opportunity to share what I know. Have a great day!

[ilvermorny-school]

Potions Year 3

Name me the ingredients of Everlasting Ink, as well as the order of procession. Then, list three reasons for using it, as well as three reasons against using it.

There is no word limit, but please be thorough and cite references.

Due August 22nd, Monday.

[ilvermorny-school]

Basics of Potions (1st years)

Every student here has experienced the helping hands of potions before, whether you’re Muggleborn or you come from a long line of witches and wizards. Ingredients combined together react a certain way to make something that is more powerful than the individual ingredients alone. It’s like the saying, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” We take individual ingredients and make them interact with each other in a specific chemical way, to make something useful. That is why it’s very important to respect the order of operations in Potions class, because if you put one ingredient in the cauldron in the wrong order, you come out with a completely different concoction, which could potentially kill you. I’ve had a cure for warts turn into a very powerful pesticide very quickly because they involve the exact same ingredients, but ONE step is reversed. Put the lacewing flies in before the eye of newt and you have something that will burn your skin, muscles, bones, and the stone you’re standing on in a matter of seconds.

Assignment: List for me the proper equipment needed for potions making and then tell me the order of operations for a simple potion (although extra credit will be given if you provide directions for an advanced potion and get it right). There is no word limit on this, but please be thorough.

Submit to this page or to prof-Ottress.tumblr.com by August 19th.

-Professor Ottress

[prof-ottress]

Third Year Potions and Healing Homework (Second Entry as I forgot to include name and House)

I As a half-blood, I have some experience with both magic and No-Maj ways of life.  With my father being a wizard, I have received healing treatments such as Skele-Gro for when my older brother thought it would be funny to remove all the bones in my left foot (the fool).  But since I haven’t been introduced to many difficult medicinal potions yet in my first two years as an Ilvermorny student, I’d like to focus on a non-magical medicine that I have been given from my No-Maj mother-not exactly a potion but most definitely the non-magical equivalent; Penicillin.  While Penicillin has many inactive ingredients, the main ingredient is essentially bacteria-killing mold that was discovered in September of 1928 by Dr. Alexander Fleming.  When he noticed mold growing in his petri dishes, he discovered that the mold prevented the normal growth of the staphylococci, a kind of bacteria. This mold is now used as an antibiotic, a medicine to treat illnesses such as Strep Throat, ear infections, Pneumonia, and more.  It works by breaking down the cell wall and killing the bacteria causing the illness.  In conclusion, the No-Maj antibiotic, Penicillin, is the closest non-magical invention to healing potions.  This is something I have used in my life and therefore have experience with.   

Sites used for Information

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/the-real-story-behind-the-worlds-first-antibiotic/

http://www.microbiologyonline.org.uk/about-microbiology/microbes-and-the-human-body/antibiotics

-lilahflor3 (I prefer not to include real names)–Pukwudgie

Fun Fact: I am allergic to Penicillin.

I have a Muggleborn mother who has made it a priority to keep Muggle medicine in our lives, but that is not one of them because it will kill me.

I grade based on O.W.L.S. and N.E.W.T score sheets, as to prepare you and familiarize you with their grading system for when you take your tests.

O

[prof-ottress]

Homework Submissions

I have enabled asks on my page so that students may submit their homework. As a reminder, anonymous submissions will not be graded and the house will not be given proper credit. Please remember to properly label all your homework.

- P. Otts

[ilvermorny-school]

Alchemy: Chemistry in Disguise

1st - 3rd Year Potions and Alchemy

Many of you entering the school for years 1-3 are not yet familiar with the subject of chemistry. It is a no-maj scientific study in which we attempt to understand the underlying properties of things. Everything is made up of elements, and certain elements react with other elements in interesting ways. Today, Chemists are often seen as the scientists who can study fire and understand why is is a certain color, but long ago, and still today in our world, Alchemists are the people who do this.

Alchemy is the study of the supposed transformation of matter. Almost all alchemy is concerned mainly with manipulation of metals, with most professional Alchemists attempting to turn any of this matter into gold, the most precious of metals.

Today, we understand more about the nuances and beauties of alchemy, which can be found http://sacred-texts.com/alc/index.htm and http://gnosis.org/library/alch.htm , with a bit more information http://www.alchemywebsite.com/.

Your homework:

400-600 words on the alternate uses of Alchemy, and their no-maj equivalent to the study of chemistry. You must have no less than two of these sources cited properly, with links available.

Homework must be submitted via inbox to prof-ottress.tumblr.com

Submissions will be taken until the 15th of August.