(Herbology) Class II

[Prof. Eithne l'Keitha]

"Well, after the last class, I figure we ought to take things down a notch," Professor l'Keitha began, to the relief of some students - and slight disappointment of others. "Now, who can tell me what this is?"

With a flick of her wand, the professor levitated a dark green knot out of a deep apothecary jar and placed it on her desk. A briny aroma emanated from the seaweed-like tangle as murky water pooled beneath it. With another wand flick, she rolled the unknown clump onto a student's desk. "Pass it around - take a look, a poke, a sniff. Ten points to whomever can identify it!"

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Zerrubabel stared at the plant. 'Could be gilly-weed', he thought to himself, but he had never actually seen a gilly-weed before. It was worth a shot. "Is it gilly-weed, professor?" asked Zerrubabel. He hoped he was right, his herbology performance hadn't been exactly stellar as of late. Maybe a good guess would even impress the professor he so longed to...speak with...alone...in her office.

[Erys Grace]

Having missed the last Herbology lesson due to problems in her enrollment papers, Erys Grace arrived bright an early like a good snotnosed little student, striding into the class with a determined expression. Slytherin didn't deserve to be so low with the House Points, it wasn't their fault the Hufflepuffs were complete kissasses. You know, it was probably that all the teachers had once been in that house, and suffered the teasings of Slytherins, and in their old age still held sorry grudges.

Glancing boredly at her fingernails, Erys sauntered towards the back row, gently placing her book bag on the floor. Sliding her hand inside, she retrieved her parchment, a new ink jar, and a feathered quill. Setting her supplies on the side table, she squinted up at the table where the dark glob sat inside a jar. Raising her hand, but not waiting to be acknowledged, she said, "Is that gillyweed?" Which seemed to be the only right answer, as far as Erys knew. If she was wrong, at least she tried. But if she was right? TEN POINTS FOR SLYTHERIIIIIIIINN. kick ass.

Glaring coldly at the wierdo unshaven pirate guy who stank like a hedgehog, the Slytherin angrily crossed her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes. Raising her hand again, she cried out, "I was here first! He stole my answer, professor!" It was so unfair.

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Hearing the snotty and seemingly uppity voice of a strange looking Slytherin harlot, Zerrubabel made a sound of disgust. He decided that he already hated this girl. 'Stolen her answer?' he thought, 'maybe I will simply steal her beating heart for my next destructive spells experiment.'
Zerrubabel looked toward the professor, "Am I right, or should I keep guessing professor?"

[Veata Bane]

Veata almost dropped her bookbag when she entered the classroom, expecting to be super late, but finding only two other students present. Hoisting the heavy load back onto her one shoulder, she went and stood beside Erys, who looked to be extremely pissed off. Veata could only imagine why, almost anything could get a Slytherin's goat, but she imagined it had something to do with that ugly boy in Gryffindor robes. Seemed to her that boy, staring intently at the Professor, was all too eager to please.

Messing up her face in disgust, Veata threw her bookbag to the side, praying one of her ink jars didn't smash in the collision with the ground. "Is that a wand in his robes," V hissed playfully in Erys' ear, "or is that guy just all too happy to see the professor?"

Cackling loudly, V leaned down, tearing open her beaten up bag to pull out a quill, ink, and parchment. When she had that all out and settled, she reached over to place a pale hand on Erys' shoulder, hoping maybe it would take that evil look out of her eyes. Freaky.

"If you want, darling," she muttered, "we could always take care of him the way we took care of Ivan."

[understanding]

Oscar had only just reached his desk. Taking one look at the unknown specimen as it was passed nearer, he readily decided he would refrain from touching it. At least until its identity was made absolutely clear to them. With that, the ravenclaw settled easily in his chair and began poking through his bag for the appropriate textbook. Already, Oscar had his suspicions.

[Prof. Eithne l'Keitha]

"Well fortunately for you, Ms. Grace, he stole the wrong answer," Professor l'Keitha smiled. "Perhaps if you'd take a closer look at the specimen instead of its empty jar - though investigating all aspects of a specimen is a good start - you'd gain a bit more insight."

A few pages turned as some students searched their texts for answers while others hastily whispered, "Specialis Revelio!" at the dark knot.

"Gillyweed was a very good guess, though. As you may know, when Gillyweed is eaten, it gives the consumer gills to breathe underwater and webbed hands and feet for swimming. The duration of the gillyweed effect is approximately one hour. It does indeed look similar to this here, or a bundle of slimy, greyish-green rat tails. However, Gillyweed is native to the Mediterranean, and our specimen is much more local... "

[Emily Leets]

Emily stumbled into class - without her book bag as she had been too late (or so she thought) to fetch it. Instead she was clutching her lone book in her arms. She glanced around the room, noticing only one other Ravenclaw, two Slytherins' and a Gryffindor present. Maybe she wasn't that late after all.

Emily walked quietly to a seat in the back, where she glanced at the odd specimen, having no idea what it was. *Oh well* she thought, Herbology had never been her strong point.

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Zerrubabel watched as another Slytherin clouded the air with her poisonous fumes. "Mind if I join you?" he asked Oscar, "I don't want to catch anything standing too close to those," pointing to the Slytherin's as he finished.
Zerrubabel tried to think of something else to guess, but nothing came to mind. Rarely did he venture into the water in search of plants, instead he was often on it in search of galleons and wenches, but really just galleons.

[Erys Grace]

As if reading his thoughts, Erys whipped out her wand, tempted to hex a multitude of boils onto his grungy little face. They wouldn't seem that out of place, among the pimples and acne scars. Resisting a snarl at the ugly boy, she rapped her fingers angrily against her skin, wondering what the hell the answer could be otherwise. Stupid Gryffindors, goggling at teachers. They put the whole of Hogwarts to shame.

Glancing acidly at the Ravenclaw girl who had dared sit even closeby her, Erys resisted the urge to Tarantallegra his ass. The jinx was slowly starting to become her favorite torture method. Fortunately for him, there was a professor present, and the result of her temper could lose her magnificent house points.

"I was looking at the liquid remaining the jar, professor. If it left any clues as to its identity, of course." Smooth Erys, smooth. Nice save. Fixing her eyes on the smelly plant, the witch grinded her teeth together, distracted by the appearance of Veata. "He nearly stole my answer, the horny rat." She hissed, her lips hovering inches away from her friend's ear. Her eyes brightened at the prospect of torturing another student, especially that lame pirate poser. "That sounds perfect."

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[Emily Leets]

Emily sat stiffly in her seat, trying to avoid eye contact with the cold Slytherin girl who had just glared at her. It seemed that she was easily annoyed and she didn't feel like pissing her off at the moment. In fact, she was getting the feeling that she should relocate spots. Without looking at the Slytherin, she picked up her book and moved a few rows away.

*It's not like I'm always a pushover* she thought absently. Maybe she should've been sorted into Hufflepuff, the way they act, all nice all the time. The Ravenclaw continued to stare at the odd plant, although she wasn't really considering what it could be. It just gave her something to do.

[Veata Bane]

Smiling at Erys' response to her offer, V took a look at the slimy, slithering plant the professor had placed on a desk. Lifting one crimson eyebrow, she thought hard. If it wasn't gillyweed, which it looked almost identical, her only other guess would have to be...

"Professor, is that Devil's Snare?" V asked, her slender hand raised only slightly above her head. Never one to like offering answers in class, her porcelain complexion turned a blotchy red, and she dearly hoped no one was looking at her.

Busying herself with opening her new jar of ink, she inched closer to Erys, hiding her red face behind her hair. God, why did she always turn beet red when she spoke in class? Couldn't she be as calm and collected as she was outside the classroom?[/font]

[spaghetti231]

Remembering the Professor's words at this class being less dangerous than the last one, Zerrubabel highly doubted that she would have brought in a Devil's Snare, but it did seem like a good guess. That got him thinking...what was like a Devil's Snare, but could take sunlight like this plant was..."How about a flitterbloom, professor?"

[Prof. Eithne l'Keitha]

Professor l'Keitha rested her head in one hand and yawned lightly. Why did students always act like they could read each others' minds? As if Legilimency could be learned and achieved by sheer will and ill-intentions... but children will be children, and Slytherins never had a knack for simple human interactions and social etiquette. It was an awkward yet endearing trait of that house, and she usually found it amusing.

"Ms. Leets! Mr. Strauss! So quiet today? Why, even Ms. Grace and Ms. Bane have become class sycophants!" Professor l'Keitha said playfully, eying the Slytherins' supplies and text laid meticulously on their desks. She continued to smile benignly at her class. "Devil's Snare? Not quite - if this little thing were Devil's Snare, its tendrils would be trying to throttle you. Like Dionaeatron, it is a mobile plant, as in capable of voluntary movement much like animals. And Flitterbloom is a good guess and adheres to the specimen's immobility and lack of sun-aversion, Mr. Jones - but alas, still not on mark. "

"Alright, a little hint before we get this class started. That specimen is not quite a plant, although it is composed nearly entirely of underwater plant and algae substances."

[Erys Grace]

Restraining a loud, ungraceful snort, the Slytherin relaxed her shoulders a bit, seeing as the Gryffindork was as far from the answer as she and Veata were. Mulling over the idea of it being 'not quite a plant', a list of water creatures popped into her head, each name scrolling into and away from her eyes. As if she actually had a list in her hands, from which Erys looked at and crossed out possibilities.

It was around this point that she would shout anything with the hopes of it being right. Slytherin needed these points, not the lame lion house. Biting her lip, irritated now, Erys nearly gave up in frustration. No wonder she was in Slytherin, and not Ravenclaw. "Is it a Murtlap then?" By now, she barely had the will to raise her hand at all. The action was now just a flick of the wrist, close to becoming a distant formality. "Murtlaps live around seashores. They're ratlike creatures that seem to have sea anemones on their backs." It was worth a try, seeing as it was the only thing in her head right now.

Except for jinxes Erys might use on the Gryffindork, who at a closer, discrete inspection, was in desperate need of a bath. Haven't you ever heard of personal hygiene? She thought angrily, the words a livid hiss inside her head.

At mention of being a 'sycophant', her eyes narrowed. It wasn't she or Veata who were trying to win over the professor with flattery, they were just trying to win their house points.

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