After the Ear-Wiggling Potion, Rob had learned that putting potions in his pregnant wife’s pumpkin juice was a bad idea. He had learned this not because anything had happened exactly, but rather because he had a strong survival instinct and Celia could, at times, be just as scary as Rob’s former Quidditch Captain, Cosette Embers. So today, he had opted to not test the potion he would be using on his beginner class on his wife. Of course, it was just a simple Hiccuping Solution so it didn’t really need to be tested, but Rob was not usually one to pass up the opportunity. So instead of testing it on Celia, Rob had sneakily slipped it into another staff member’s drink during breakfast.

Their hiccups would wear off in a couple hours. It would be fine.

Rob wheeled to the practical lab, humming, as Lapis trotted by his side. Although it was November, the brown-haired man still wore a t-shirt and jeans. Today, the t-shirt was gray, with a dark, flowing design on it that looked a little Gothic. In the bag attached to the back of his char was an aerosolizing bottle full of diluted Hiccuping Solution; in the pouch on the right side of his chair was a wand. Unusually, he would be using his wand in class today.

Once at the practical lab, Rob cast an air purification charm around himself and Lapis - the charm was similar to the bubble-head charm in effect, although completely invisible. Once that was done, he rolled around the classroom liberally pumping the solution into the air. Due to a charm placed on the head of the bottle, the particles of solution would remain hanging in the air until breathed in. Since mucus membranes were one of the best ways to absorb something quickly into the body, Rob was fairly certain that the students would be hiccupping wildly before he finished up the lecture part of the lesson.

Satisfied with his work, Rob rolled back to the blackboard and tapped it with his wand. The recipe for the Hiccuping Solution appeared:

fill cauldron three fourths of the way full with water and bring to a boil.

crush one handful mandrake leaves with a silver knife.

drop mandrake leaves in to the boiling water. Let boil for two minutes, then reduce heat. Let simmer for 20 minutes.

while the mandrake leaves simmer, dice a handful of Flabberghasted Leeches and extract the Croakoa pod essence by flattening it with a silver knife.

slowly add the leeches while stirring counterclockwise seven and two-thirds times.

drizzle in the Croakoa essence and reduce heat. Let sit for ten minutes.

add exactly four drops of concentrated essence of astragalous.

remove from heat, cool, strain, and bottle.

Shortly after he made the recipe appear on the board, the first of the students began to trickle in. Rob grinned at them in a combination of friendly greeting and mischievous delight at what was going to happen next. One or two of the students stopped to chat with him, but the majority went directly to the lab benches. They might have found it unusual that Rob was there on time, but the Potions professor was fairly certain that they didn’t know him well enough yet to find it suspicious. With great exercise of self-control, Rob had managed to avoid pranking his students thus far. Well, the students who weren’t in Aquila. They had gotten cupcakes on the first day of school that made them talk like they had swallowed helium.

Once it looked like the majority of the students were in the classroom, Rob rolled towards the benches and waved to get the class’s attention. When all eyes were on him, the man began to talk.

“Okay so today on the board we have one of my favorite potions: the Hiccuping Solution.” Rob gestured to the board behind him. “Now, I know you might be looking that and finding it a little challenging. Some of you may not have the ingredients in your Potions kit to make it. And that’s perfectly fine, because it’s a fifth year potion, not a beginner potion. You’re off the hook on that for today.”

Hic

It came from one of the first students to enter the classroom.

“What we are going to do today is a little bit of problem-solving.” Rob said. “Using the directions for making the Hiccuping Solution, I want you to back-solve to find a reversal potion for the effects of this solution.”

Hic.

A simultaneous hiccup from two students on opposite sides of the room.

“Now, one of the things that you’ll find useful as you progress in your potions career, especially those of you taking your STOATs this year, is being able to work under pressure.” the hiccups were becoming more frequently as the potion began taking effect in more students. “So today, we’re going to work under a little bit of pressure. As some of you may have noticed,” Rob grinned. “Our class has seemed to come down with a case of the hiccups!” More hiccuping. The mischievous professor was on the receiving end of more than a couple of glares. “That would probably be because I sprayed aerosolized Hiccuping Solution over the classroom before you came in. Now, I know some of you know the counter-charm for hiccups, so I’m just going to let you know now that it won’t work.” Rob had added some iron as he was brewing to imbue the potion with magic resistance. A talented older witch or wizard could easily break through the resistance and remove the hiccups, but there was no way any of the students in this class could manage. In all honesty, Rob himself probably couldn’t do it.

“When you get the recipe right for the removal potion, your cauldron will glow a bright blue and you can feel free to drink it and relieve your hiccups. It should work almost instantaneously. I don’t suggest,” Rob added, “drinking anything you brew before your cauldron turns blue. I don’t really want to send any of you to the medic today.

“Now!” the man said cheerfully, over a chorus of hiccups. “Go ahead and get started in groups of two. Raise your hand if you need me!”

|OOC|
The potion that will work to reverse the hiccups is the Basic Reversal Solution, which you can find here. It would be reasonable for a second or third year student to know about the basic reversal solution. However, in order to completely get rid of the hiccups, the student would also have to add salamander blood; just the solution would minimize but not eliminate the effects.

Other than that, follow the rules and write interesting posts because more interesting posts get more points and everyone wants more points. Tag Rob in the title of the post if he’s needed.