[reserved]
"To business, then!"
Calder slammed the classroom door. It was an old classroom, not Calder\'s usual, and neglected over many years. As a result, the ensuing silence as students hurried to pay attention was broken by a rat plummeting from the rafters. It fell, with a gentle plop, into the cauldron set up by Calder\'s desk. A sigh passed his lips. He retrieved a ladel from next to the board.
"My name," he said, "is Professor Calder. You will address me as \'sir\'. And I have the pleasure of teaching you, for the next few weeks, what happens when we mix varying dangerous bits and pieces together in a big pot and feed it to owls."
The owls in question were huddled in a cage on his desk, hooting feebly. They watched as Calder began to fish the rat out of his cauldron with the ladel.
"Now. I gather you\'ve all been told some basics of poisons before. I should hope you have, anyway." His eyes flicked up to them, ensuring he had at least some kind of nod coming his way. "Yes? Good. Therefore, this class will move at a brisk pace. I trust that any knowledge gaps will be filled, either by you in your own time or... well, there is no other way. We have a library for a reason."
He finally navigated the rat from the cauldron, and tipped it out onto the floor with a look of distaste. It scuttled away, squelching. He hung the ladel back up.
"Now. There are textbooks laid out on your desks, to verify any basics which may have slipped your minds. Get out your notebooks and a pen."
There was a fluttering and scrabbling as everyone went for notebooks and pencil cases. As he waited, Calder shrugged off his top layer of robes and draped them over the back of his chair, left in white shirt and waist-coat beneath. Before most of the class were ready, he began to speak. They would learn.
"Cyanide. Any chemical compound consisting of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Hydrogen cyanide is the common form - a colorless gas, with a bitter almond-like odor, can be smelt by most people. My hamster could detect hydrogen cyanide. Sodium cyanide and potassium cyanide are both white powders, and in damp air - "
"Sir, can you slow down a bit?"
Calder\'s eyes flickered upon the speaker. "Out." The boy blinked. Calder raised an eyebrow. "You heard me. Out. Out before I call someone with the ability to turn you into an owl and put you in my cage for later."
He leant back in his chair, putting his feet up on the desk, and steepled his fingers.
"Inhalation of high concentrations of cyanide causes a coma, with..."