This should be fine. on Herbology

Nathan Xavier

March 10, 2020 9:18 AM

Advanced Class: Sneezewort by Nathan Xavier

Nathan stood at the entrance to Greenhouse Two as the Advanced class arrived. The weather was starting to get warm again and the sun was already well over the horizon even at this early hour of 8am. Nathan, of course, had already been awake for two hours because Dora was constitutionally incapable of sleeping past six o’clock but on a day when Nathan taught, that was fine. That gave him and Isis two hours to get all three of their family fed, dressed, and out to wherever they needed to be, plus deal with any minor House emergencies in either Pecari or Teppenpaw. Sometimes two hours wasn’t quite long enough for all of that, especially if Dora had taken exception to letting go of his leg at her grandparents’ house.

Fortunately, today was not one of those days, and he was at Greenhouse Two with plenty of time to spare. He returned graded research papers as each student arrived and remarked about one of the things he had liked best about each paper. “Go on in,” he invited, a little apologetically because he planned to do outdoor lessons for both of the younger classes today, but RATS level plants generally shouldn’t be allowed to grow out in the Gardens where anybody might stumble upon them. It was one of the reasons he had asked for advanced herbology classes to be first thing in the morning when he had started teaching it. The worst heat didn’t hit until the afternoon.

At least the greenhouse interior wasn’t yet as sweltering as it would get closer to summer. It was still definitely warm in there though and as he entered the greenhouse after everyone had arrived, he began with the general announcement, “Due to rising greenhouse temperatures, school robes are no longer required in Herbology for the remainder of the school year, and I hope you wore short sleeves.” Even if they hadn’t, they were advanced level students now, and he trusted they could handle some cooling charms or sleeve transfigurations if they felt too hot. Besides which, today’s eighty degrees Fahrenheit was downright mild compared to what it was going to feel like in here in just a few weeks.

The few outdoor lessons he did have planned for this class would be held later, when a dry ninety degrees outside would feel better than a chokingly humid 105 inside the greenhouse.

“Today we will be looking at the relatively innocuous sneezewort plant,” he began the lecture. Relatively innocuous was not a particularly high bar to reach, given that the unit they had just finished studying was entitled ‘flesh eating and dangerously sentient plants.’

“You probably recognize the name from Professor Brooding’s class. Can anyone remember which potions use it?” He took a few answers, nodding in approval at the correct ones. “Good, have you all noticed a common theme in these potions?” Nathan asked, expecting that they had seen that most of the correctly named potions affected mental states or moods.

“This plant is not covered in Herbology until now because they can affect your brain in several negative ways and handling them can be a bit dangerous, not so much because they are directly harmful as because they can make you angry and reckless.”

“For the practical portion of today’s lesson, we are going to explore which parts of the plant are most potent. Using you dragonhide gloves and your paring knives, separate a sneezewort plant,” he gestured toward a shelf of unassuming potted plants with small white flowers; enough pots were present for each student to have one, “into the different parts of the flower, a leaf, the stem, and the roots. You will each be given a vial of calming solution, which acts as an antidote to raw sneezewort. If you feel you are becoming affected - direct touch and ingestion have the strongest effects, but pollen inhalation can also cause mild symptoms - go ahead and take a small sip from your vial.”

“Once you are done with that, collect a puffskien from the box on my desk. Don’t worry, puffskiens are not dangerous even angry, and while they may become agitated, they will not be harmed by exposure to sneezewort. Introduce the puff to each part of the plant and observe how it behaves. Then let it have a drop of calming solution - droppers are on my desk, too - before moving on to the next part of the plant. You may work individually or in pairs, but each of you must turn in your own four inch essay on what you observed. Any questions or concerns?”

OOC: If you have no questions or concerns, get to it. If you do, the class discussion can be continued. Have fun and enjoy. Sneezewort reference is here: https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Sneezewort but additional information has been made up. Effects on puffskiens are open to your creativity

Subthreads:

This should be fine. by Gary Harper with Parker Fitzgerald

1 Nathan Xavier Advanced Class: Sneezewort 28 1 5

Gary Harper

March 17, 2020 12:39 PM

This should be fine. by Gary Harper

Gary wandered his way towards the greenhouse for herbology. He spent the entire trip wondering why he hadn't dropped the class like he had dropped Care of Magical Creatures. It was certainly not one of his best classes, and he was pretty sure it wasn't going to pertain to anything he was going to do later in life... but he didn't know that for a fact. He still wasn't sure what he was going to do with his life, and that seemed to be a problem for his psyche. His talk with Mr. Row had been helpful... but there were a lot of things to consider before he could make a decision. He just had known when figuring out which classes to take this year, that the plants had a lower track record for assaulting him than the creatures did, so he had kept taking it. However the latest plants they had been learning about had him wondering about that.

Upon entering the greenhouse he immediately noticed how warm it was, and it wasn't even that warm outside yet. He got himself ready for class, and was glad when Professor Xavier, heh.. that still didn't get old, let them take off their robes. Hope rose again in him when the professor announced that they were done with those horrible attacking plants. The world really didn't need actual Twig Blights and Vine Blights

When the professor asked his introductory questions to the class, Gary helped answer them. Potions was going alright, and he had been trying to link ingredients to resulting potion attributes. It wasn't always as simple as adding A to get Y trait. A came with Y and Z traits so you had to add some of B with trait S to cancel out Z to get the desired result. It made for a very intricate crafting system, especially when the precision agitation was factored in as well.

Once invited, he collected his potted plant and a calming solution, then returned to his seat to get to work. As instructed, he used his gloves and knife to separate the plant. It may have been the pollen, or built up frustration from the last set of plants that he had really wanted to take a knife to, but the sneezewort may have suffered a little more than it should have during the dissection process. Realizing this he took a small sip of the calming solution and felt a little better. He turned to his neighbor, "These things can get under your skin, can't they?"

2 Gary Harper This should be fine. 1404 Gary Harper 0 5

Parker Fitzgerald

April 11, 2020 9:29 AM

Fine...or Freaked Out, Insecure, Neurotic, Emotional? Cause this is my happy place. by Parker Fitzgerald

Cool, crisp air outside gave way to the warmth of the greenhouse. Both had a calming effect on Parker’s mental state and he took a deep breath at the door, enjoying the momentary space between the two points. Added to the fact that Herbology was one of the two classes Parker did well in, the other being Care of Magical Creatures.

There was something about learning to take care of things, help them grow, and to see the results in real time that Parker enjoyed. That and the fact he could be both dirty and, as the last unit had shown him, embrace the adrenaline-inducing aspect of his personality. Still, tending and caring for plants and animals, Parker wasn’t used to calling them ‘Creatures,’ was one thing. If the discussions he’d overheard other classmates having were any indication, he needed to start thinking about what he was going to do… after Sonora.

If he was still in the Muggle world, he knew he could get a sports scholarship and go to university somewhere or join the military like his older brother. He knew different paths because he’d seen them. In the Wizarding world, he had no idea, but he wanted to make sure he could figure it out before his sister had to start going forward.

In between, that’s how he always felt. As he stood a few more seconds in the doorway, he began to realize he enjoyed this place, getting to experience both the fresh air of the Muggle World and the welcoming warmth of the Wizarding World. Realizing he might be blocking the way Parker moved into the classroom and started taking off his robe. He was folding it up and putting it into his bag when Professor X began talking.

He had looked around for Cleo, but not having seen her, decided to go towards Gary. As Professor X started talking, Parker felt he’d made the right decision. If this could make him act recklessly, maybe partnering with Cleo wasn’t the best option. Listening carefully, Parker got his gloves on before heading over to pick up his plant and then carefully dissecting it. Parker smiled at himself. This was something he could do. He was good at this.

He looked over at Gary’s dissection. It looked a bit more like a crime scene, or at least the pollen did. Parker’s eyes grew wide for a second before Gary took some of the solution and Parker’s heart rate went down.

“Ya, I could see that,” Parker said, pointing towards the flower. The heat of the greenhouse combined with the focus Parker had used to try to dissect the plant carefully, was causing him to sweat and he used the back of his hand to wipe his brow.

“Still, angry and reckless? That sounds like how the news describes teenage boys back home, no? So how would we tell the difference?”

Parker laughed a bit and gave Gary a soft nudge with his elbow.

“You want me to get us both Puffskiens or should we go together fearless DM?”

41 Parker Fitzgerald Fine...or Freaked Out, Insecure, Neurotic, Emotional? Cause this is my happy place. 1402 0 5

Gary Harper

April 14, 2020 7:01 PM

Happy places are good by Gary Harper

Gary smiled at Conner's remarks. "True I guess." He looked back down at the mess in front of him... the giant rats that Heinrich's Dragonborn character has dealt with wouldn't look much worse. "It seems like I rarely make it out of this class unscathed though. I'm debating if I should take it again next year. What's your plan? Do you have your future all figured out yet?" He was still unsure of what to do with his own life. Maybe Parker had some really good ideas that he could steal.

"Oh no," Gary responded, "The plant may have bested me, but I can't allow my dignity to be besmirched to the extent of not being able to handle a Puffskien. If I remember correctly, they don't bite to hard. I'll come along as well." He stood to make his way up front, giving his workspace a look before moving away, "Plus... it may not hurt to get away from here for a few moments to let the pollen settle again." The calming drought had done it's job, but he was still feeling uneasy.

He was well aware that he needed some sort of direction, once that was figured out, the rest would be simple and fall into place. But it was just a little decision to determine the entire course of the rest of his life, no big deal, right? He sighed and started heading to the front of the class.

2 Gary Harper Happy places are good 1404 0 5

Parker Fitzgerald

April 15, 2020 12:25 PM

Plans are not Happy Places... by Parker Fitzgerald

The future. Parker wasn’t too sure how to answer that question and right now he was thinking about another plan. One he’d put in place a few months previously. One that involved plants. And a real live present. Parker looked down at his plant as he tried to figure out how to answer Gary’s question.

“Umm… no plans yet. And still not clear on what the options are really. Not having an adult Wizarding World example that's not a professor really, I don’t know what I could do. I know I won’t be a computer programmer for example, but could I be a landscape architect or an architect architect?” The thought had struck Parker from the blue for the first time. This was odd since it’s what his father was, an architect. Plus he’d been living and seeing buildings. Surely architects were a thing in the Wizarding world just as surely as they were in the Muggle one.

“So the future, definitely not figured out. Then again, what good is an adventure if you have it all planned out right?” Parker smiled at Gary. He enjoyed Gary’s company and felt a bit bad that he hadn’t hung out with him more in their time together at school so far.

Parker let a laugh out at Gary’s last comment. “Good idea. Let’s go. Perhaps we’ll get some cool scars along the way,” he said as he raised his eyebrows.

Maybe it was because Parker was thinking about Plans or Cleo or it was some of the sneezwort, but Parker turned towards Gary as they walked towards the front.

“Hey man. How would…” Parker was trying to figure out how to word his question in a way that might illicit some response. “How would you suggest one of the DnD characters ask out another? Obviously, challenging them to a battle wouldn’t work, cause… childish and dangerous, but how would you make that work as someone who’s played more?”

41 Parker Fitzgerald Plans are not Happy Places... 1402 0 5

Gary Harper

April 20, 2020 5:38 PM

They could be for some. by Gary Harper

"You and me both," Gary commented, "I grew up pure Muggle as well and have no idea what is out there." He paused a moment, "I did go talk to Mr. Row about it, he had some suggestions." He debated asking Parker what his take was on the whole 'innocent guidance councilor' guise, but decided they were to close to official people in the wizarding world. Someone might overhear... who knows where that could lead.

"Huh..." he pondered Parker's suggestions for a moment. "A magical architect... that could be interesting. How much fun could you have designing buildings with magic? Moving walls and stairs? Houses that rearranged their rooms on a whim? Ridiculous levels of secret doors and passages? That could be a blast." He may have to look into that, true it probably wasn't nearly as cool as he initially thought, but still... it could be another option.

"Having the plan is fine. It's good, it gives you direction and purpose." He smirked, "Dealing with the diversions and obstacles to the plan is where the adventure lies." He really needed a plan for his life.

Gary gave Parker a bit of a look as he asked his question. He suspected there was more to this question than Parker was actually asking. "Well..." he started off slow, "First of all, despite the fact that somehow I managed to get a date for the ball, I'm no expert on dating. However I've seen it come up in various forms of media. The DnD character aspect definitely makes it a little different though. Having your character ask out someone else's character would happen like it would in the real world... I guess. But you may want to check in with that other player first and see what their thoughts on it are. Just doing something like that in the middle of a session could be awkward if you catch them really off guard. However, If you'll remember Kir's Erevan and Zevalyn's Amber, I think Erevan challenging Amber to a fight was about the most romantic thing he could do."

He thought a little more before continuing, "The biggest thing I think would checking with them before hand. It could lead to some really interesting stories and possibly tough decisions your character would have to make, but if they're not into it... it could make things really weird at the table."

2 Gary Harper They could be for some. 1404 0 5