(Herbology) T5-C2-Pink and Pretty and Dangerous.

[herbie]

Sitting at her desk in her office, Jane was putting the finishing touches on a frame she had made out of twigs for a picture of her daughter. It amazing. Next year she'll be starting Hogwarts. She was growing up so fast. She smiled at the dark hair of her girl. Her gorgeous blue eyes smiling back at her.

Jane chacked her watch and realized that she was late for setting up the green house. The students would probably arrive before she was ready. Grabbing her jacket, she slipped it on over her peasant blouse, green of course, and jeans. Her hair, straight, feel on her back, she smiled as she reached the cold outdoors. The snow was pretty. However, winter wasn't Jane favorite season. She couldn't get over how everything was dead, even though she knew it was all just hibernating. Spring would soon come with all its new green.

Jane walked into Green house four, smiling as a green hue fell over her. She loved the greenhouses. Even in the dead of January, they were green and beautiful.

Jane walked over to the back of the green house and carried out six plants to the front tables. She was hoping it was a large class. It would be much more fun if it was.

The class would be split into two parts. Harvesting and planting. Jane smiled at the planting part. It would be a fun time for the kids. Smiling at the strange looking plant.

It was really cute, except for the spike tentacles at the bottom. What was it with Jane and tentacles? She laughed as the green house door opened and the first student arrived.

__________________________________
Points:
Hufflepuff: 0
Ravenclaw: 0
Gryffindor: 0
Slytherin: 0

[Via Thorn]

Another day, and another lesson. Yet this was different, it was Via’s favourite lesson and by her grades, she was doing really well in it too. Wrapping her Hufflepuff scarf around her neck, not because she was cold, but due to habit, she flattened down her white dress complete with lemon yellow flowers on it, and walked out of the empty common room. Her face always lit up when she was on her way to Herbology, and she loved the fact that something could make her as happy as that lesson did. It helped that she got on well with the teacher, because if Professor Vance was teaching it, it wouldn’t seem half as inviting would it?

She began to think about her Natterjack Toad, Arnie, and knew he would be harassing the Gryffindor girls in their dorms, trying to kiss them. He had this habit of stalking them out, and clambering all over their belongings and them trying to kiss them to see if he turned into a prince. Giving a little giggle to herself, two younger students looked at her funny as she was laughing to herself. Via just shrugged and carried on giggling. Before she knew it, her long legs had carried her to the Greenhouses, and she found herself opening the doors.

Seeing the professor standing infront of six rather odd looking, yet beautiful plants, she looked back inbetween the plants and the professor before giving her a smile.
“Good Morning Professor, I see something has tickled your funny bone too” she grinned, referring to the laughter she had heard from the Professor.

[Erys Grace]

It wasn't long before Erys Grace slunk in to the room, paws slapping against the greenhouse floor before elongating and stretching in to that of a human's. Soon she was standing there, fur-lacking and beautiful; nodding to the professor before taking a stand behind one of the tables away from the PeachPuff. "Professor." The Slytherin greeted, better so than a nod, she figured, before stretching her arms out and yawning. The day had been uneventful, except for a few excellent brews in Potions and - ironically - tentacles sprouting from a second year Gryffindor's face. Hadn't been the most dramatic day of her life, though it wasn't the dullest, for sure.

Eyeing the pink-blossomed plant in front of her, it took a bit of mental coaxing before she pressed her hand against the desk, refusing to touch it despite is beauty. Erys had heard a bit about this plant last year; the spiked tentacles appeared pretty dangerous. Best tempt a younger year to touch it first, right? Better safe than sorry. Hah! Like she followed that rule. It was only because her house points hung on the line, that prevented her from rule breaking and stirring up trouble. Silly guidelines.. She'd be past those next year. Then again, she'd have even more to follow, if you looked at it. No hexing the students, show up in time for every Dark Arts class, be sure to keep all of them alive during your lesson, etc etc. Pity, too.

Angel had probably pouted last class, sitting there alone while Erys skipped Charms that day. She had to study for a Dragonology quiz - hah, not really, but that was her excuse - when really she had better things to do. Like lull around the common room, conversing with the various ghosts that floated on through and the casual straggler doing the same thing she was doing: hiding from teachers and missing out on good, educational fun. Emphasis on 'fun'.

Anywho! When was this shindig going to start? Best hurry up, people.[/color]

[Polaris Stormwrath]

Ah, Herbology. A class that was much more exciting than she would have ever thought. Last class was a blast! With a smile on her plush lips, Polaris walked into the chosen Greenhouse and nodded cheerfully to the Professor. "What a fine class you have here, Professor Beckket. I'm glad to have signed up!" The compliment was bursting tot he seams with truth and jubilee.

Standing front and center, the animagus poked at a plant with the tip of her wand. "Cute lil' thing." She said with a giggle. [/color]

[Jason Walker]

Another herbology lesson. Joy. Jason walked briskly to Greenhouse four, wanting to get in before the other students rushed in. Passing through the enterance, Jason noticed that he wasn't the first one, but the fourth. Not bad at all, considering who the students were. No matter. He knew he was the best, and that's all the mattered.

Brushing past the other students, Jason stood in between a couple of them to make sure he got his house points up to the maximum he could. It was always a joy, and with how the other class was, it should be simple as well. The Slytherin simply stood stagnant with hazel eyes fixated on the plants before him. Cute wasn't the word he wanted to use, but was the only word on his mind. Disgusting. Jason almost hurled at the thought of having the word 'cute' be muttered from his lips.

Instead of saying anything at all, he remained silent and attenative. [/color]

[Bradyn Reed]

If there was one lesson Bradyn absolutely loathed, it would be Herbology. He was terrible at it, hated plants, and at times got the weird catlike urge to gnaw on something. It was really rather irritating to him, and as he walked down to the greenhouses he was just glad that he was usually loud enough to earn them a few points. Lord knows they needed it, and Professor Beckket didn't seem to mind him in the class anyway.

Fay better show her cute little batooty this time, since last time she was the only one to loose points and get a bit fat Poor. Oh how long he laughed at that and gloated about his Outstanding. Smirking at the thought, he opened the door to the greenhouse and slipped inside stealthily since he wouldn't put it behind the professor to have some dangerous plant waiting for them. Instead, it was an odd looking one that he'd never seen before. Perhaps the lazy Ravenclaw boy would actually learn something today?

"Good'ay, Professor." He said with a glance at the students assembled and eventually decided to amble over to his fake rival Erys. "Grace, I see we share this class once more." Bray said lazily before plopping down in the chair next to her uninvited and shoving his bookbag under the desk.

[Felicity Locke]

So, she had missed the first class. But that was only because it was about Devils Snare and she was still scared spitless about that at that point. Today, she was showing up though. Ravenclaw couldn't afford to lose any points, and she still needed to sock Bray for his little gloating adventure. Next Quidditch practice, he is so getting a bludger to the stomach.

Fay mumbled a greeting to the Professor and dropped her books next to Bray and flopped down on one of the seats. She really didn't want to be there today, considering that Herbology was her least favorite class. Ah well, whatever, it would help in the end anyway.

(Meh at my post)

[Erys Grace]

"Grace, I see we share this class once more."

Oh, she knew that voice all too well. Bray. "Indeed." She muttered with barely distinguishable disgust (though the majority of her tone was playful, and a three-legged, deaf bear could understand it), rolling her eyes and not bothering to conceal it. As if she wasn't surprised enough when he shoved on down beside her, uninvited one might add, then his boob-buddy Fay traipsed on over as well. Eyes widening slightly, the Slytherin choked back an amused snicker, replacing it with a wry, incredulous look, "This isn't a free-for-all-Claws, people." she replied dryly, gesturing towards the seats beside her. Just because she was on good terms with the other cat animagus, didn't give the rest of his scooby gang rights to mosy on over to her table. By the looks of it, and knowing furball to her right, they weren't about to give up their spots just to satisfy queen bee- snake. How lovely!

Of course, if she was concerned for her reputation, Erys might've given a damn. But she wasn't, and she didn't. Care about it, that is. So without further ado, she retrieved her supplies assuming she hadn't done so already, arranging them in front of her effortlessly. With that out of the way, there wasn't much left to do but sit there either in awkward silence, for one party anywhere, or stay quiet as the pair of teenyboppers to her right giggled about whatever young kids did these days. Deciding to be charitable today, she graced them with conversation, finding it was easier than just sitting there, "Didn't figure you for a botanist, Bray," Erys started with a grin, "What are you in it for, furball? The catnip?" Said with a complete lack of malevolance, and a mixture of humor and playful teasing, Erys continued to grin. Sure, he could shoot a similar comment right back, seeing as she was a cat morph too, but where was the originality in that?[/color]

[herbie]

"Ah, Morning Miss Thorn." Jane said, her smile still present on her face. Jane was happy that it was a Hufflepuff who walked in first. It was a good omen. Not that Jane was at all interested in divination, but she had a good feeling about this class. Hopefully they would be as timid as they were last lesson. However, Jane feared the worst. They weren't exactly active when her life was in danger, what would they be like in a normal atmosphere.

"Miss Grace." Jane responded shortly to the short greeting she got from the next student. Slytherin as she might be, Miss Grace was one of Jane's top students so far.

"Why thank you!" She said, to Miss Stormwrath as she complimented Jane's class. "I do try and keep things a little interesting." She said with a smile as she waved her off to her seat. "Ah ah ah..." Jane said, walking briskly over to the plant. It tentacle had risen slightly in an annoyed manner. "Miss Stormwrath, do you normally poke things which look menacing with large thorned tentacles?" She asked, and with a quick wave, "Sit down before you take your own head off." Jane shook her head.

Two students joined the group, one of them being another one of Jane's favorite students. Then a gain she could be incredibly biased, but Mr Reed had shown his worth the previous lesson, and had a lovely grade to show for it. "Same to you Reed." She said with a smile as he went to sit down.

Seeing a girl walk in, Jane folded her arms. "Nice of you to join us Miss Locke." She said, looking at Felicity, not letting her slip in so easily. "I trust you will work extra hard to raise up you abysmal grade." Jane said, expecting nothing less of the Ravenclaw.

Jane walked to the front of the class, standing the side of the plants she had on display. "Ok, enough chatter, lets start. Not as many as I'd hoped, but it will do." She looked over at the plants, and smiled as she did. "Now, I have to admit, your books give a horrible description on the plant I have here. They seem to focus solely on the seed pods and there abilities, not even giving you a picture to reference." Jane sighed. "However, you're a bright class. Tell me, what do we have here?"

__________________________________
Points:
Hufflepuff: 5
Ravenclaw: 15
Gryffindor: 0
Slytherin: 10

[Polaris Stormwrath]

Laughing softly at the Professors reaction to her poking the plant, Polaris wore a smile that spoke of a playful nature. "Hehe, I tend to have that habit, Professor." She replied with a nod and shrug. Figuring she might as well make up for annoying the plan, the ravenclaw raised her hand.

"Professor Beckket, I believe that is a Puffapod, right?" Polaris questioned with her head tilted. Now, herbology wasn't her thing, but she was damned if she didn't put her knowledge to the test.[/color]

[Bradyn Reed]

A free-for-all for Claws? Silly Slytherin girl, why did he even bother talking to her sometimes? "Of course not, Grace. We're just saving the hot seats until some Gryffindors show up, then we'll gladly move away and let them sit here." He said sarcastically and just leaned forward onto his elbow to smirk at Erys. "Claws aren't all that bad, though. We're more selective of our students then some houses." Stupid Hufflepuffs and Gryffindorks.. "Though lately it's been a little slack on the standards." Cough, Ash, cough. But talking to a simple-minded Slytherin about who's house was best was about the same as talking to a wall. A magical wall, that was likely to strike out and punch you in the nose, that is.

Bray reached down to work on organizing his things after a speedy dismissal from his early class, but, surprisingly Erys wasn't the silent type like he took her to be. Ah, well, he wasn't going to waste this chance to taunt someone when he'd have to be an attentive little Ravenclaw for the rest of the hour. "Actually, I'm an Amazonian from the jungles of Brazil, most people are just ignorant and think I'm a little white boy from Ireland." He began just as jokingly sarcastic, since berating himself was never a problem. "And yes, secretly Beckket gives me her stash of catnip because she likes me more than you."

Though, as a most rare occurrence, Bray was out of snappy witty comments to fire back at her. It just seemed odd picking on her morph since it was about the same as his and just seemed pointless. Blood wasn't a good one either, considering they were both from pureblood families --hell, her mum and his sis were freaking work buddies. Without much to pick on her for, he just glanced to the teacher hoping she would save him from this self-disgrace. Luckily enough, she did talk and he just nodded to her greeting and her greeting for Fay was not so nice. Snickering, he brought up his hand to cover the smug smirk. Sadly, him and Erys were given the same grade so he couldn't even show her up in that. Most unlucky.

Turning his attention to the plant as class started, he sadly couldn't answer as to what it was though surely soon he'd know what it was about. At the name puffapod he couldn't help but give an 'oh!'. "Oh right, that seed pod plant... Are we going to be doing something with flowers today, Professor?" He said since he couldn't help asking. All the puffapod section in their book was just about that it had seed pods that turned into flowers. Hell, muggle plants could do that... maybe not just by being dropped on the ground, though.

[bleh xD]

[herbie]

Jane straightened out her blouse as she waited for an answer. Of course, it was a Ravenclaw whose had went up. She called on the girl, and smiled. "Very good Miss Stormwrath. If you knew that in the flirt place, why did you get so close to the plant?" Jane said with a smirk. She shook her head. Silly students thought that they were invincible.

"Exactly right Mr. Reed, take five points." Jane smiled. "Oh, and Polaris, Five points as well." She said, neglecting to reward the girl. "Well, yes, we will be working with flowers, but not right away." She answering the boys question. "Now, last week, we covered another tentacled plant whose weakness was light." Jane smirked. She love giving trick questions.

"Does anyone know this plants weakness?" She said.

__________________________________
Points:
Hufflepuff: 5
Ravenclaw: 25
Gryffindor: 0
Slytherin: 10

[Polaris Stormwrath]

Polaris laughed softly and waved a dismissive hand. "Bollycocks. It's not like I was going to drop the thing, besides.. we Norwegians are crazy. Nothing to difficult for us. Even little thorned plants." She nodded with another laugh, hoping the teach would know she was joking around.

But this next question.. that was a tricky on. Their weakness? I thought it was just being dropped.. Rambling outloud, the animagus was truly stumped. "The dark, perhaps? Since the last was the light.. maybe.. yeah?" Bi-coloured eyes peered up to the Professor and only one word could describe that puppy dog face; helpless.

[Via Thorn]

Via had just been observing the slanging match between the Ravenclaw and the Slytherin, a little annoyed that they weren't really paying attention to the lesson, before flicking her head back to the front of the class just in time to hear the question that the professor threw at them. Thinking for a moment, she looked back down, she observed the plant for a moment, and tried to picture it in the herbology books she had. This was a big test for her, being a seventh year, these lessons were more like revision lessons for her before her exams. As the gears whirred in her head, they finally clicked into place and she raised her hand.

"Professor, I'm not sure of it's weaknesses, but I know that the seeds burst into flower if dropped, maybe dropping the plant could count as it's weakness?" she answered, moreso asking herself if it was the correct answer.

[herbie]

Jane smiled as both a Ravenclaw and a Hufflepuff tried to answer. "Nope." She said with a smirk, but nice try, two points each." She said, pacing in front of the class. She looked at the plant, and then back at her class.

"Did anyone notice when Miss Stormwrath so foolishly touched the plant what happened? You are correct if you say that the tentacles moved." Jane raised her wands and muttered an incantation, a few stones flew from her wand and hit the middle plant straight in the front. Suddenly it began swinging its tentacles violently.

Jane stepped backed and smirked. "Those would hurt anyone close enough to get hit. The long sharp thorns are very good protraction for the plant." The plant began to quiet down as it realized that no one was trying to bother it anymore. Jane stepped back in front and faced the class.

"As Mr. Reed suggested before, we will be harvesting the pink pods hanging on the plant. Also, as Miss Throne suggested, these pink pods, when thrown on the ground, do in fact create lovely flowers." Jane smiled. "I was thinking that the Greenhouses need an outside garden. So, we will be carefully harvesting the pods and then bringing them outside to add a little color to the grounds."

Jane turned and carefully moved the six plants away from each other so the students could work safely. "There are six of you and six plants, perfect. However, if we have some stragglers, we may need to double up."

Jane smiled and pointed each of her students to a plant. In position she instructed them. "So, how do we thwart the Puffpod plant?" She said with a smile. "It it really simple actually, and Professor Hubble's is going to love the practice you are getting. We will be using the Impedimenta Charm. Please repeat." Jane did a lovely swish and a poke as the wandwork instructed. "Impedimenta" She said loudly so her whole class could hear.

"Buckets..." She said, going to the closest and sending buckets to her students." And now begin, but please, be careful, both eyes open. When all your pods are picked, please returned to your seats. Remember, place them carefully in the bucket, or you'll have flowers galore. Off you go."

__________________________________
Points:
Hufflepuff: 7
Ravenclaw: 27
Gryffindor: 0
Slytherin: 10