June 1st - June 19th
It's almost summer! The last few weeks of school have come, and students will need to study hard for their final exams! Don't let up yet, or your grades won't be what you want them to. Of course, the weather is almost perfect and pristine, in attempts to lure students away from their studies.
Herbology // Lesson 3 // 3rd & 4th Years
As her students began to file into her classroom greenhouse, Kaniliel kept herself occupied by cleaning up after her previous lesson. The species the fifth years were working with were already borderline aggressive for the level, according to the Ministry, and would definitely not be suitable for third and fourth years. As she carted away gnawing and gnarling fanged potted plants, Kaniliel beamed smiles at her younger students.
"Good afternoon! Please be seated, shouldn't be too long before I'll be ready to begin class. I just need to take care of these fiesty ones a minute."
Considering what had happened at the Hallowe'en Masque, Kaniliel had quite the cheery disposition. Her date had run out on her on some urgent business, only to be the victim of a dark and ancient curse, one of her most gifted students falls unconscious (poisoned by one of her own foreign yet enchantedly harmless Amazonian snakes), and she had consequently ultimately drunken herself into oblivion. All in the same night.
It would've been considered normal to be in some sort of a neutral - if not utterly foul - mood after such an experience, yet one of Kaniliel's strengths was to be able to set such things aside in order to give a good lesson in a pleasurable environment. Her students didn't need to suffer the consequences of her repeated disappointments.
Lissy dragged herself into her classroom with her shoulder bag scraping against the stone floor behind her. She was hardly feeling up to the task of yet another class. Her two earlier ones left her feeling weak and exhausted, though it didn't help that she hadn't gotten much sleep last night. She hadn't gone to the Masque, her heart wasn't in doing anything fun, and from what she heard, she wouldn't have enjoyed it much. It wasn't like she had a date or anything, and if she had gone with Puck she would have felt like a third wheel. Or fifth wheel. She didn't really understand the saying.
The whole night was spent in the dormitories, from scribbling half-heartedly in her journal to trying to study to struggling to read. Eventually she ambled down to the deserted common room and was able to Floo-talk with her family. She saw her younger siblings decked up in their costumes before they went scrambling out for candy, then talked a little with her mother. It didn't last long, however, as her parents had a previous engagement for a Halloween party of their own. Lissy didn't want to seem clingy, so she made up some kind of friend and quickly brought her head back to Hogwarts. The rest of the night was spent laying on her bed practicing her Charms homework.
Despite the listless night, Felicity felt exhausted. She had hardly paid attention in her earlier classes, in fact she couldn't remember if she'd gotten any homework. The only consolating thought was that she had Divination next with her uncle, although he was probably as tired as she was. In an attempt to entertain herself last night she wandered to the Divination tower, but stopped short when she saw a dark-haired woman climbing up the stairs to the tower. Lissy didn't know what dear Uncle Cyrus had been doing last night, and it wasn't her business to know either, but still.
Ms. Hymnwood's cheery demeanor made her grind her teeth slightly. Lissy smiled at the teacher nonetheless and slunk wordlessly into her seat. She pulled out her Herbology book, set it on the table, and let her forehead fall upon it with a solid thunk.
Re: Herbology // Lesson 3 // 3rd & 4th Years
Lenna had actually made it to a class early today and was quite proud of herself. She might of even offered to help Professor Hymnwood if those...things didn't look so threatening. Instead she had quietly set her things down and started not paying attention to the class before it even started. Her Herbology book was serving the purpose of shoulder prop, and she was taking part in another one of her bad habits; doodling. It wasn't that Lenna was a bad student, or had anything against Herbology she simply had quite the imagination and a few concentration issues.
Halloween was by far Lenna's favorite holiday and she had been quite down about missing the Masque as well. She had spent the night instead in the hospital wing and her dormitory to sick to stand for long amounts of time. Lenna as well though was dateless and tried to keep her lurking disappointed feeling inside. The regret had seemed to turn into it's own little monster though that reared it's head every so often if someone said something to her the wrong way. Lenna was usually quite optimistic and kept others first, so she was confident she'd let go sooner or later.
As another girl entered Lenna could only look up and frown at the sight of her, she looked much more upset than Lenna and without knowing, for pretty much the same reason Lenna had been. Watching the girl smash her head into her book Lenna smiled now twirled the charcoal stick she had been doodling with between her fingers. Lenna Marie Darkwood's second worse habit; biting her lip. She did this while watching the girl not to far from her and finally decided to say something, though quietly.
"Herbology isn't that bad!" She smiled brightly and now propped her head with the arm still resting on her book. "I'm Lenna, I don't think we have met yet. You don't exactly look like you want to either but I hope you cheer up!" Lenna lingered her focus on the grumpy girl and kept her upbeat smile for a moment or two then returned to her doodle. Class would start soon, which meant Lenna would have to at least partly pay attention so she savored the time for her precious art while it lasted.
Re: Herbology // Lesson 3 // 3rd & 4th Years
Kaniliel tried not to wince when she heard Lenna say, "Herbology isn't that bad!" to Felicity, her colleague Cyrus Archer's niece, who seemed to be in just about the same mood she was presently in. Gloomy and depressed. But there was no better cute for gloominess and a depressed state of consciousness than good, hard word.
"Ok! Well today's going to be a real treat, sort of as a tribute to those of you who couldn't make it to the Masque. For those of you who did get to attend, I'm sure we're all unanimous in the sense that we all have mixed feelings about it. And that was my editorial for the day."
Kaniliel knew she had to change the subject, and quickly. Her tone was suffering greatly, and getting more and more sour with every word. She took a deep breath, and reset her thoughts onto something she loved.
"Right, well onto the treat then! You will still need to get your hands dirty, but that should be a given. Books away, you won't be needing them. As usual. I've only asked you to get those for reference purposes only, and to potentially help you with homework. But so far, I haven't given you any, right?"
Indeed, Kaniliel had been especially kind with this group when it came to homework. They were getting into the month of November, and still nothing in her Office Box from her third and fourth years! She knew she must be breaking some sort of unspoken record.
"Today's work could be considered a game, but with a very productive goal. Popping Oxalis seeds are extremely useful in Potions, and are often the key ingredient to many remedies. The fun part is collecting these seeds. They tend to, well, pop up like popcorn. And you need to catch them in mid-air, because they become useless once they touch the dirt from whence they came.
"Also, the seeds pop up at a certain time at night, but I've managed to figure out a way to encourage popping artificially without having to wait around for crazy moon cycles. All you have to do is sprinkle dried lavendar near the root of the stems. I have no idea why this works, I'm still trying to sort that mystery out, but it works. I came across it purely by accident. A pouch of dried lavendar I had collected burst near one of these plants, and it began popping seeds like crazy."
With a flick of her wand, Kaniliel sent lavendar to every desk along with three potted Popping Oxalis blossoms. The flowers were an adorable shade of mild pink with small bunched up dark green leaves.
"A special prize goes to whomever collects the largest amount of the silvery seeds. Get popping!"
Re: Herbology // Lesson 3 // 3rd & 4th Years
Felicity was somewhere between sleep and awake when she heard someone muttering toward her. She lifted her head from her book and looked over toward a girl she'd seen around the Gryffindor common room but had never gotten to meet.
"Herbology isn't that bad!" She smiled brightly and now propped her head with the arm still resting on her book. "I'm Lenna, I don't think we have met yet. You don't exactly look like you want to either but I hope you cheer up!"
The young girl's smile practically blinded Lissy's little bleary eyes. She brought up a fist and rubbed her eyes, stifling a yawn and making a funny face while she tried. Lissy had no qualms about Herbology, to be sure, but the book made a nice pillow. At least it was clean and not covered in dirt like the tables might be.
She put on a small smile for Lenna and sat up straight. "Yeah, I know. I'm Lissy, by the way. Thanks."
Before anything more could be said, Ms. Hymnwood began the lesson. Lissy struggled to pay attention, stashing her book away and pulling out a bit of parchment to scribble down notes because she knew she was going to forget whatever the instructions for the class activity were.
Popping Oxyliss seeds, used in potions. Pop like popcorn, hot potato, no touchy the dirt, she wrote. Lavender=popping.
She jumped when the little packets of dried lavender popped up on the tables. So it was something like a task this time around. Hopefully all her Seeker practice would help her keep an eye on the popping seeds and snatch them up before they hit the dirt. After a long, languorous stretch of her arms, Felicity picked up the small bag, opened it and dumped a bit of the lavender by the roots.
A few moments later and a seed sprung up into the air. Lissy's quick reflexes snapped it up at it's apex and she carefully placed the shimmering seed on her parchment. Then there were two in the air at once, then three, then five. Eventually Lissy couldn't do it one by one and had to use both hands to catch the seeds and they popped up into the air.
"Finally," she huffed and sat back on her chair with a huff as she was done with the first pot. She emptied her handful of seeds on her parchment, which already had a decent pile resting on it. Maybe she could get that special prize at the end of the class.
"Professor," she said as she picked up her lavender bag again and prepared to pour some on the second pot. "What happens to the seeds if they hit the dirt? Why do they become useless?"
Re: Herbology // Lesson 3 // 3rd & 4th Years
Herbology was Raena’s second favorite class, so it was only natural for her to be in a congenial disposition as she made her way inside of the greenhouse where her class was currently stationed. Her favorite class was Potions, which anybody who had known Rae for more than five minutes could tell you about her, and so it was only natural for her to love Herbology as the two classes came almost hand in hand. She knew that in order to be a skilled potion’s master some day, as she hoped to be, she knew that she must also have a full grasp of Herbology.
She took her usual seat and sat down, putting her bag and everything that she had in it underneath her chair so that it was out of her way. She took out a few sheets of parchment on which to write notes if she had to, and her quill. They usually didn’t need their books and so she kept it in her bag before the Professor had even told them that they weren’t needed, but she kept her wand in her pocket just in case. Some times they used them, but it wasn’t an everyday occurrence in Herbology.
Again, Raena was glad for the lack of homework in Herbology. She was hoping to enjoy this year with as little stress as humanly possible, because from what her brother had told her the fifth year at Hogwarts was a horrible one work-wise. She listened attentively to the instructions that were given to the class by Professor Hymnwood, and recognized the name of the plant and the seeds because she had used them in a potion or two over the past summer.
Rae watched as the bags of dried lavender were given to each student, as well as three potted Popping Oxalis plants. The first thing she did was take the lavender out of the bag and split it into three equal piles so that she wouldn’t use too much on one pot and then not have enough for the last two. She even kept a little off to the side in case one of the plants gave her some trouble and needed a little more coaxing. That done, she began to sprinkle some of the lavender onto the first pot in front of her.
“Woah!” She said quietly, her right arm suddenly outstretched to catch the first seed that had popped up even before she had finished setting down the lavender. It had caught her a little off guard, and she giggled as a few more popped up and she had to reach out quickly and grab them. As this pot seemed to have no rhyme or reason to it’s popping she just had to keep an eye out and grab the seeds as they shot up, using both of her hands when needed. This was a lot harder than it looked!
checkyourpockets
Edward "Ed" Tate
4th Year Ravenclaw Resident Wallflower
Jason Cromwell
5th Year Slytherin
Prefect/Slytherin Chaser Power-Hungry
Re: Herbology // Lesson 3 // 3rd & 4th Years
The chill had subdued since that morning, but having been inside all day, Ed wasn’t aware of the cold breeze lurking outside. The time that he spent outside during his walk from the entrance hall to the greenhouses was filled with thoughts of his experience at the Masque. Although things didn’t go as well as he had planned, Ed was happy with the outcome and was slightly more extroverted than before. He had made a few friends and was happy that he’d be taking classes again so he could get back to something he was used to. Being outgoing wasn’t Ed’s natural state of being and it made him feel awkward a lot of the time. However, now was not the time to think about his feelings because frost started to make Ed’s journey down the steps to the greenhouse slightly treacherous.
Slipping slightly, he started across the grounds as he reached the landing and neared the short, long structures. A blast of warm air greeted him as he pushed the door of the building open and he quickly closed it, as to not let in the cold. Shivering, he took off his mittens and his knitted cap, revealing his ears to the warmth and making them burn slightly. He rubbed them with his numb hands to heat them up and took his seat as he shoved his gloves and hat into his over-robes. Taking a seat at a secluded (yes secluded, Ed is very much so shy still, shyness doesn’t disappear in one night), Ed pulled out a notebook but was quickly prompted by the professor’s explanation of the lesson for the day to put it away. Today, like most days in Herbology, they would be having a hands-on class that included catching a plant’s seed.
Not seeing the “game” in the lesson, Ed saw the potted plants and a bag of lavender float towards him. Surely this would be easy, but then he noticed a few students having trouble trying to catch three seeds at one time, then five. This might be a little harder than I thought it would… Ed thought to himself, scratching his head and sighing. The plants and sack had placed themselves lightly on the dusty bench that Ed sat at alone. Surely the plants had some reason for reacting this badly to the lavender shavings. He studied them both carefully and laughed. He was thinking that it could have been the smell of lavender that caused the Popping Oxalis to react so strongly. The lavender did indeed bloom and send out its scent during certain moon cycles. That’s not what we’re learning about, Ed, he said to himself and set himself to the task that was at hand.
The knot on the bag of lavender was undone and Ed pinched a bit of it between his thumb, index, and middle finger. He figured with a slight scent the reaction of the Oxalis would be less than if he had put the whole bag onto the soil that is sat in. A few seconds passed after he sprinkled the shavings onto the dirt the plant shook and popped out a shining, silvery seed that reached a height of about 2 feet before Ed’s hand snatched it eagerly. Ed’s reflexes weren’t all that great and he decided on a better way of doing it. He would wait for a few to pop out and he would cup his hands and catch them. It wasn’t reliable but he didn’t have much tim — another popped out quick and Ed grabbed it just as hastily. Okay, there has to be an easier way to do this, he thought annoyed. Looking around his eyes met his hat poking out of his inside pocket and he took it out quickly. Another seed shot out of the plant and Ed was ready to catch it this time with his hat in hand. He stretched the hat out further creating a rather large area to catch the seeds on. Figuring they would be fine as long as they didn’t hit the soil again, Ed pour a little more lavender onto the soil and the plant shook furiously, almost reacting like a nose to pepper, and seemingly sneezed out seed after seed. Catching about twelve and having four or so fall back onto the soil. Like the girl that had not been answered by the professor, Ed too wondered why the seeds were useless after they hit the soil. How would they reproduce otherwise? Perhaps the soil contained a certain chemical at the time of the moon cycle in which the Oxalis reproduced, causing the seeds to replant themselves. Without thinking again he pour the rest of the lavender onto the area surrounding the plant and awaited more seeds. To his dismay only six more came out, but he was happy to catch every one of them. He had caught twenty-two seeds, most very shiny but the last few lacked the silvery sheen. Be supposed that was because the plant was not used to producing that many in one night. He leaned back satisfied and took the seeds out and placed them on the table, awaiting the teacher to count them.
Re: Herbology // Lesson 3 // 3rd & 4th Years
Kaniliel watched with increading entertainment as her students scrambled to catch as many seeds as possible. She was also impressed at Raena's tactic to spread the lavendar in quite the strategic way, maximizing her seed profits.
"Ten points to Hufflepuff for Raena's ingenious use of lavendar! Very impressive."
One boy's plant was absolutely out of control. Kaniliel had forgotten about how the overly productive one, and had included it into her teaching batch. The poor boy scurried on the floor, trying to pick up the seeds that seemed to escape from the plant at a rate not unlike that of an active volcano. She was about to go assist him when Felicity raised her hand to ask a question.
"Professor, what happens to the seeds if they hit the dirt? Why do they become useless?"
"Excellent question, Lissy! Ten points for Gryffindor for intelligent curiosity. Here, let me show you what happens when the seeds touch the dirt," Kaniliel said as she moved towards Felicity. Not wanting to use up the girl's seeds which would be needed in winning the prize, she dove into her robe pockets and pulled out a small handful of her own. With her wand, she summoned a pot already filled with dirt and dung.
"Please observe closely. Gather round! It's ok, they'll keep popping seeds without you." Kaniliel waited until she was surrounded by her students before putting down the pot on the nearest desk. "Look as I deposit the seeds lightly onto the soil." Mere seconds later, the seeds were sucked into the earth. "This is why the seeds are useless once they touch the dirt. You can't get them out afterwards, and even if you manage it, they've already grown roots and they'll be useless in potion-making. You may return to your seed collecting."
Re: Herbology // Lesson 3 // 3rd & 4th Years
Felicity was glad she hadn't sprinkled her other pot with the lavender as Ms. Hymnwood floated over to her table and brought along an extra pot. Even if the seeds did continue to pop, who knew if she could get them and find them all, or keep them from touching the dirt they were born out of. She didn't want to lose any of them in the cracks in the floor or in other potted plants nearby.
She leaned in to look at the pot, watching as the professor deposited a seed onto the soil. When it was suddenly sucked into the soil, Lissy let out a small peep of surprise and blinked at the teeny tiny hole dug into the dirt. "Whoa..." she mumbled.
"You may return to your seed collecting," said the professor.
Lissy sat back in her seat and looked at the pile of seeds she had snatched from gemination resting on her notes. She hadn't tried to count them, since they had sprung up too fast to keep track of. The first pot done, she pushed it away and pulled the second toward her. She picked up the bag of lavender and was about to pour it out when she thought of something.
Hmmm...Maybe it'll work... she thought and reached into her robes to pull out her wand. With one hand she pinched the lavender bag in a spot so she would still have enough left over for the next pot, and in her other hand she held her sleek wooden wand. She took a deep breath and sprinkled half of the remaining contents of the bag onto the plant.
As soon as the first seed popped she dropped the bag, snatched up the seed, pointed her wand at the plant and said "Impedimenta!"
It was a new spell she had learned recently, but it was beginning to have its uses, such as now. Hopefully it wouldn't be cheating to use magic on a magic plant, but Professor Hymnwood hadn't specified how to collect the seeds as long as they were collected. Or if she did Lissy hadn't been paying attention.
For several long seconds the plant remained stationary, and Lissy was worried she had killed it somehow. Then one of the buds popped slow enough that she could see it opening. With a gleeful squeal she watched as it opened all the way and the shimmering seed inside began floating into the air like it was in zero gravity.
"Bwehehehe," she chuckled and easily plucked it from the air. "Shouldn't be too hard now...."
Finn Calloway
Care of Magical Creatures
Posts: 188
(8/6/05 5:59 pm) Reply
Re: Herbology // Lesson 3 // 3rd & 4th Years
Carla, who had snuck into the class some five minutes late and hoped desperately that no-one had noticed, was watching Felicity from behind her plants. She wasn't entirely sure what the other girl was doing, until she heard the muttered word 'Impedimenta'. Only then did she realise what tactic was being employed.
She couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Charms wasn't one of her strong subjects, and so far even some of the simple jinxes such as that one had eluded her. A small part of her hoped the other girl would be chastised for not undertaking the task in the proper way. A larger part of her, however, wished she had thought of the idea first. Not that she would have been able to cast the jinx properly even if she had thought of it.
With a sigh she picked up her lavender bag and sprinkled some on the earth around it. As the seeds began popping from the ground her grievances were quickly forgotten, occupied as she was with catching all the shiny silver pods.
Lyssa Kerr
Bridget "Brid" Campbell
1st Year Ravenclaw Fly on the Wall
Adrienne Denton
4th Year Ravenclaw
Chaser It's all in the Details...
Posts: 31
(8/7/05 7:12 am) Reply
Re: Herbology // Lesson 3 // 3rd & 4th Years
Adrienne hated being late - it was so embarrassing, for one thing, and it wasn't something she was used to being. But here she was, racing towards the greenhouse with her robes billowing out behind her and her socks slipping down. As a result, her run was rather awkward since she was trying to pull up her socks and keep going as quickly as possible at the same time; she was already late, and didn't see why she needed to look sloppy too. She made it to the Greenhouse about seven minutes after class started, with no good excuse as to why she was late except for that she'd forgotten the time, and that was no excuse at all. Hopefully no one would notice her arrival. She slipped into the Greenhouse as quietly as she could manage, and took a seat so that she could pretend she'd been there the entire time, only to find that she had no idea what was going on.
Adrienne watched the other students around herself closely, trying to see what they were doing - they were taking pinches of... something... and using it to cause the plants to pop out small silvery things. Seeds, she thought, though she couldn't be certain. Glancing around, she saw that she'd taken a seat in front of some of the pots. There was a small pouch of powder there too, which she discovered was lavender. Watching the other students out of the corner of her eye she copied their movements and as a result was completely startled when several seeds popped out. She only caught one, and that was pure luck - but she knew that the second time around she wouldn't be nearly as surprised. Quickly she began to sprinkle more lavender and collect the seeds, hoping she was doing the right thing.
She supposed someone would point it out to her if she was doing something wrong, though maybe they wouldn't. After all, they all looked quite busy with... whatever they were doing. She'd have to look this up in the library later to find out what it was called.
Lenna hadn't been quite sure if both Lissy or the Professor had taken her comment the way she meant it. She was the type to try and make others smile at any cost, and also the kind to not exactly think before speaking. She regretted joking about her class now a bit but had no time to show it. The lesson had started and Lenna was immediately shocked to hear the first set of words an exact imprint of what she was thinking. Then again, pretty much everyone was thinking about the Masque so it wasn't to big of a surprise. Rumors and stories and filled the castle walls to the point where what really happened was unknown.
"Right, well onto the treat then! You will still need to get your hands dirty, but that should be a given. Books away, you won't be needing them. As usual. I've only asked you to get those for reference purposes only, and to potentially help you with homework. But so far, I haven't given you any, right?"
That was indeed true, but still it was instinct to pull out a book. Homework was never something the young Gryffindor enjoyed and it just made Herbology even more a fun subject. As for getting her hands dirty, what was more fun than that? Lenna listened carefully now with the mention of a game and how Professor Kaniliel had discovered a secret to popping the Oxalis seeds faster. She couldn't' help but admire her teachers at times like this. Magic was so interesting to Lenna, so learning new things was fun even in her third year.
Clearing her desk for the approaching pots and lavender bags, she stuffed her parchment in her dark green messenger bag and kicked it under her desk. Having things soaring toward her was old news now so she just waited it's arrival and bit her lower lip. Waiting a moment she supposed they could just go at it, she shrugged and picked up the bag of lavender. She struggled with the task of untying it, but once she had she poured a little amount of the lavender into her palm and sprinkled it slowly over the plant.
Watching the potted plant burst to life could only remind her of popcorn. She grinned and snatched a few of the silver seeds on the first round with enough success, the ones she dropped had only fallen from her hands. It was difficult to hold seeds in your hands and try to catch others. This problem seemed easily solved, Lenna poured the seeds into one hand and reached back into her bag for a piece of parchment. Just in case, she carefully slid them onto the paper and lifted the bag of lavender again. She was more prepared this time, and ready to cup her hands instead of using both separately.
The girl Lenna had spoken to earlier had asked a question Lenna had also wondered. She had just about poured the lavender onto her pot for the second time when the class was called over for an observation. Fumbling with the bag to stop it from releasing it's contents and not spill she set it back down and stood. She was close enough to Lissy so she hardly had to side step to get a good view.
"This is why the seeds are useless once they touch the dirt. You can't get them out afterwards, and even if you manage it, they've already grown roots and they'll be useless in potion-making. You may return to your seed collecting."
Lenna watched quietly and reacted like most of the class had. Raising her eyebrows as the seed dug it's own little hole deep within the dirt. How convinent for the little seed. They must grow quite fast then... she thought to herself, and obeyed the command to return to her seat and start with those seeds. Her pot wasn't as gracious on the second and third time so she moved to her second pot and gradually her pile of seeds grew. Lenna was known to be a clumsy girl, but with a possible reward in the picture she was extra careful, though worked slower to do so.
Re: Herbology // Lesson 3 // 3rd & 4th Years
As Hufflepuff was awarded ten house points for her idea of separating the lavender, Raena couldn’t help but beam just a little. She had a fierce sense of house pride and would do anything within her power to help Hufflepuff earn house points. As much as she loved to earn points herself, she never felt angry or jealous when other houses won points as well, so when Lissy won Gryffindor ten house points Raena shot her an encouraging smile. She never really got into the house rivalries at all, even when it did come down to the House Cup. After all, she could always take that out during Quidditch!
Raena stopped working, albeit regretfully, but not before making sure that her plant wasn’t about to spout any more seeds into the air while she was gone. As much as she didn’t want to get Professor Hymnwood angry by not immediately following her directions, she didn’t want to waste a single seed. Now that her first pot was done and only a few seeds had been sacrificed, she made her way over to where everyone else was gathered.
"This is why the seeds are useless once they touch the dirt. You can't get them out afterwards, and even if you manage it, they've already grown roots and they'll be useless in potion-making. You may return to your seed collecting."
This was something that Raena already partially knew. She knew that certain seeds were useless in potion making, though she’d never really realized the full extent as to why. Now that she properly understood, she knew that this only made her one step closer to being a brilliant potions master, as her mind often dwelled upon.
Now that she was back in front of her two potted plants, Rae was faced with the task of collecting two more pots’ worth of seeds. She had only paused a moment before an idea struck her. She knew that they were allowed to experiment; several students had resorted to using magic to keep the seeds hovering in the air, and Rae had to give them credit for their efforts. Though the idea she had in mind wasn’t quite as impressive, it still struck her as the best option she had at the moment.
Making sure none of the soil was going to fall out, she sprinkled the lavender onto the soil and quickly tipped the plant sideways. The seeds shot out across the table at her and she caught them as they slid; since they didn’t touch the soil when they fell, the seeds didn’t grow roots and become useless. And now that they were sliding across the table, they were even easier to catch! She hoped that this would help her not only make up for lost time but also keep as many seeds as possible from hitting the soil. After the first ten she decided that this was proving to be rather effective!
Re: Herbology // Lesson 3 // 3rd & 4th Years
Kaniliel was absolutely delighted to see that her students were enjoying the assignment, and that some of them were actually experimenting with the concepts! She beamed with pride at how her resourceful nature was slowly rubbing off on them. Ever since the term's first day, she had encouraged them to play around with things they already knew which could potentially help them with assignments like this one. Most of the work was done in class, so there was no need for homework which accomodated not only students, but Kaniliel as well. The less homework she assigned, the less homework she had to grade.
Sensing that magic was being used, she turned her head to see that Lissy was using the Impedimenta charm on her plants, which slowed down the seed-popping process. This allowed the girl to collect the seeds in mid-air successfully without losing a single one.
"Bravo, Lissy! Ten more points for Gryffindor."
Kaniliel thoroughly enjoyed giving house points, especially to her own house. She never favoured Gryffindor students above others, but she couldn't help knowing most of them and feeling a sense of pride.
Her eyes then wandered to Raena, who had a reputation of being an excellent Potions student. The girl was increasingly resourceful, and often managed to find techniques that helped her surpass her classmates. Without even the use of magic, Raena was also able to collect virtually all of her seeds without having to slow them down.
"Raena, how wonderful! Ten more points for Hufflepuff as well. This is truly marvelous. Ingeniosity without the help of magic! It's thanks to people with a mind like yours, Raena, that Muggles managed to survive without magic for so long. But please, don't take my word for it. Professor Kumocco is the true authority in anything Mugglish."
Kaniliel's beaming smile was quickly replaced by a rather sheepish one. She hated to admit that she barely knew anything about the Muggle world, especially since more and more of her students came from mixed families and were very in touch with the alternate magic-lacking culture.
Edited by: Kaniliel Hymnwood at: 8/12/05 7:08 pm
Re: Herbology // Lesson 3 // 3rd & 4th Years"Bravo, Lissy! Ten more points for Gryffindor."
Lissy beamed brightly as she watched her plant. This was shaping up to be a good day, after all. Herbology was going smoothly, even restfully as she sat there watching the seeds floating into space for a few seconds before picking them up. It was almost relaxing, although it did make the process go slower.
She took the moments inbetween bud pops to group the silver seeds into piles of five to make them easier to count. Of course she had to do this while keeping her eyes on the seeds as well and making sure they didn't go floating off somewhere. She had quite a few groups when she began to wonder something about the mysterious plants.
"Professor," she peeped, scooping six seeds from the air with one hand, "how many seeds does one of these plants usually have?"
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