Wikia

Tolfdir the Absent-Minded

Quest Giver	Tolfdir
Location	College of Winterhold
Prerequisite	Complete College of Winterhold Quest - Hitting the Books
Next Quest	This quest may be given twice
Reward	30 , an empty Soul Gem
Type	College of Winterhold Miscellaneous quest

WalkthroughEdit

Upon returning from the quest to recover the books from Fellglow Keep ("Hitting the Books"), Tolfdir may ask the Dragonborn to recover his misplaced alembic. The alembic will appear in one of three randomly-selected locations in the Hall of Countenance:

On the top floor: in the northern room, atop a barrel to the right of the central table.
On the top floor: underneath the left display case in the enchanting room.
On the bottom floor: on a crate in the eastern room.

PC 360 PS3 The quest does not seem to appear on the quest log, nor does it generate a normal quest message upon completion. However, bringing the alembic to Tolfdir will grant you the reward (some gold and a soul gem).
After saving the college, Tolfdir may lose his Alembic again.
It was reported that even when the quest has been started the Alembic didn't appear anywhere in whole Winterhold college. So far only fix for this bug was adding item by console using marked ID 0026C31.
It is also possible that the Alembic stay in your inventory even though you completed the quest and received the reward. It is impossible to remove from your inventory due to the fact that it is a quest item. As a quest item, though, it will not weigh you down.
If the Alembic is picked up before asking Tolfdir for the quest, the objective "Find Tolfdir's Alembic" will be stuck in the Misc. Quest menu. To avoid this use the console to drop the Alembic before asking Tolfdir for the quest then pick it up after it appears in your log. This will cause the quest log to update normally.

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College of Winterhold Quests
Main Quest	First Lessons • Under Saarthal • Hitting the Books • Good Intentions Revealing the Unseen • Containment • Staff of Magnus • The Eye of Magnus
Side Quests	Arniel's Endeavor • Daedric Relic • Aftershock • Out of Balance • J'zargo's Experiment Brelyna's Practice • Onmund's Request • Fetch Me That Book! • Tolfdir the Absent-Minded
Master Spell Quests	Alteration Ritual Spell • Destruction Ritual Spell • Conjuration Ritual Spell Illusion Ritual Spell • Restoration Ritual Spell