Professor Philpott
April 01, 2018 10:00 PM
Beginners: The Sopophorous Bean by Professor Philpott
“Good afternoon,” Professor Philpott greeted the beginners class once again. He'd met them earlier in the year when he'd covered for Professor Tarnasay, but he figured a repeat of his name wouldn't hurt. “For those who forgot, I’m Professor Philpott, the independent study supervisor, and on site emergency substitute. Professor Xavier came down with the fever going around the school, so I'm covering his class the rest of today. I've been asked to remind you all that this is a serious fever that can strike very quickly, so you should go to the Hospital Wing as soon as you suspect you may be falling ill." He looked about suspiciously. "Does anyone here feel ill?"Once he was sure anyone who might want to answer in the positive had done so, he referred to the class notes Professor Xavier had left him. "Today's lesson is on the Sopophorous bean. This is used as a potion ingredient, though usually in more advanced potions than you would have brewed at this level, as it can be a tricky ingredient to work with. Does anyone know why that is?"
He waited for any volunteers, though unless they read the chapter already (not necessarily something he would expect from most beginners, though Aladren did encourage that kind of behavior so it wasn't entirely unprecedented at this school) he wouldn't expect anyone this age to know it off the top of their heads. He wasn't disappointed.
"Excellent. Five points. Sopophorous beans can bounce under their own power, and will often do so especially when punctured with a knife. Another magical property of the bean is that they are filled with a liquid that can remove the memory of anyone who ingests it raw, though this effect does not occur when it is used in potions. What we will be doing today is examining the beans, seeing under what conditions they can be made to jump, and making observations about the juice inside. As they are beans, they are also seeds, so we will also be planting them to grow more. On the table in front of each of you is a bag full of beans. Three of them will be Sopophorous beans. Identify them, plant two, and the third can be use for examination and dissection." He sighed breifly, wishing he didn't need to specify this, but it seemed wisest to make sure it was clear before he started getting protests, "Even though they can move, the beans are non-sentient, and don't have a nervous system, so they can't feel pain. The moving is a purely magical defense of a very magical bean, not an intentional physical reaction to injury. You won't be hurting it."
OOC: Reference http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Sopophorous_bean
Subthreads: I'm not lying. I thought that I might lie, but I'm not! by Jasmine Delachene
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Professor Philpott
Beginners: The Sopophorous Bean
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Professor Philpott
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Jasmine Delachene
April 08, 2018 4:09 PM
I'm not lying. I thought that I might lie, but I'm not! by Jasmine Delachene
Jasmine felt bad for the Herbology professor when the substitute announced he was sick with that fever a lot of intermediates were coming down with. She didn't think it had struck her class yet, but it was probably only a matter of time, especially if the teachers were getting it now. She looked around to see if anyone raised their hand to Professor Philpott's question. She wasn't feeling ill, but she was moderately tempted to raise her own hand, because this was Herbology and they'd probably be doing something dirty today. She hated getting dirt under her fingernails, and it always messed up her nail polish.But she kept her hand down, because dirty fingernails could be cleaned (with more effort than Jasmine felt the job called for) and nail polish could be reapplied (which she actually enjoyed doing anyway), but medicine might have weird things like rat spleens in it and that wasn't something she wanted to drink unless she was actually ill.
She had no idea why Sophomore Beans might be tricky to work with, so let somebody else get the five points for a correct answer, and then they were given their day's assignment. Picking out ugly jumping beans with the magic to erase memories and cutting one of them up, and planting the others. Just as she'd expected. Dirt and nastiness again. Lovely. She wondered, was it too late to say she was ill?
In point of fact, Jasmine had contracted the illness going around the school, though she didn't know it, and at this internal question she abruptly did start feeling terrible. "Ugh," she groaned, grabbing her stomach, which was suddenly a giant cramp of pain, and curling in on herself. As quickly as the stomachache arrived, rat spleens were just as swiftly nearing her favorite ice cream in appeal, if they could make this agony go away. Her hand shot up into the air. "I'm feeling ill!" she announced loudly to the room at large.
She didn't see it, with her eyes scrunched closed in pain, but Professor Philpott looked briefly alarmed before recovering himself and asking, "May I have a volunteer to assist her to the Hospital Wing?"
OOC: I'm the author of the Herbology professor and currently have control of Prof. Philpott for this class. Anyone replying may assume he gives them permission to leave class to assist Jasmine to the Hospital Wing. You can reply here or there (reply to the midterm line to keep it on this side of the semester), but please drop an OOC here if you go the Hospital Wing route so everyone knows this thread is closed.
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Jasmine Delachene
I'm not lying. I thought that I might lie, but I'm not!
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Jasmine Delachene
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