The name of the theme of this month left me baffled. I mean, sure, steam is often associated with potions. But, what does punk mean? It apparently means 'a genre of music that was popular in the Muggle world that was absolutely horrifying and bloodcurdling.' I have no idea how those Muggles even call that music. Anyway, I didn't see how this could possibly be joined with a serene word like 'steam'. Steam is so relaxing, and it can tell you many things if you are making a potion: if the potion is smelling right or not, if the colour is exactly as described in the recipe books, and other things.
After some extensive research, I found out that steampunk is actually a genre of sci-fi (which is apparently a genre in which Muggle authors write about how our world works by explaining it through Muggle theories known as science, ick) in which the modern Muggle world is not dependent on the blue magic-like thing that flows through thin wires to power up their household things, but rather on gears and clocks! From what I've gathered, things such as houses are mostly depicted as bouncing due to the gears (I did not know that Muggle houses had such elasticity! The Muggle architects seriously need some praise).
After some digging, I found out about a potion that was sold in the 1950s. Its name is not mentioned, but this potion could do magic that is closely aligned with steampunk! This potion, when poured on a house, could make it work on gears and steam! This potion was short-lived so not much is known about it, but I reckon it was true. If poured on a house from the outside, the potion could make the house fly! Gears, clocks, and other mechanical things would be developed at the bottom of the house that would release steam that would push the house up! And then you could steer the house in any direction you wanted! Though, the steam would be expelled from the sides of the houses.
Of course, the problem with such a dream is that this would cloud your house's windows and a lot of steam would end up in the house. Additionally, this potion was discontinued after only two months in the market, which might've been due to its fake effects. But, imagine for once, your house flowing through the air while bouncing in and out with a lot of steam. Your whole family stares through the windows to look at the view outside, but they instead feast their eyes upon a thick layer of steam. Due to the steam, your family members would cough, expelling all the dirty particles inside the body! Your children would dance in the coloured steam, not knowing that the steam contained all the clean and glittering particles of your house's basement. Yeah, not a dream I would have either.
Coming to our next potion, we are gonna see a liquid of several colours. This potion, sadly, does not have any name, so you can't look it up in an apothecary simply by looking at the shelves. This potion helps you to release coloured steam out of anything that works on gears and clocks with an opening! Albeit, not a very impressive potion (there seems to be a potion for everything nowadays), it does seem to be fun if you have an old Muggle clock that works on gears. This potion comes in a variety of colours, so if you drop a small amount of each of the different colours of this potion, it will release steam which is a mixture of many colours. Now, the effects of this potion would last for a maximum of 30 minutes, which would be quite ample. So, walk up to an apothecary today, demand this potion, and it will be pointed out to you (though you may need a lot of time describing it as this is a rather obscure potion that is usually stacked in a dusty corner).
Well, this issue was a lot more boring to write about than I thought. There just aren't enough potions to write on steampunk. And, really, this month's Rant is exactly right. How can steam and punk be joined together to create a word concerning steam and gears? Those two are so separate that they might even be parallel and never meet one another. But, here it is. The Muggle world works in some magical and mind-boggling ways that mean I shall never be able to comprehend its complexities and oddities. Well, goodbye, dear reader! Back to my small little office with my cute little pixie!