[Herbology] Lesson One: Mandrakes

[travisbourke]

Travis walked along the path that lead to the green house, in which he begin his teaching. He couldn't believe he was excited. It was like being back here again, only this time he was teaching the students, instead of being them. Oh, the fun it would be. He now had a little more power, nothing too big though. But enough to make him feel more important then before. Opening the door to his class room, he breathed in the smells of the plants. Grinning, he took in the wonders of the place, and began wondering if this was the same green house he too sat in once, years ago.

Whipping out his wand, he conjured a small black board, where he would be able to write things down for the students. Flicking his wand, the words 'Mr. Bourke' appeared. Pausing for a moment, his mouth twitched into a smile, as he flicked his wand again and 'Professor Bourke' appeared. It was time to give up his Ministry name, and start his teaching name. Of course, he would still be working at the Ministry, just until he had a little more galleons in his pocket, that is. His Ministry job would just be part-time now.

Looking up through the glass window-roof, he grinned again. Today was the perfect day. The sun was shining, there were few clouds in the sky. All signs of a lovely day. But, Travis decided that today, they would start with Mandrakes. The creatures would probably shattered the students' ears, but, it was going to be the price to pay if they were going to take up Herbology. Wheeling around, he wandered over the to the small desk where he was to work and sit at. Sitting down in the chair, he placed his feet up on the desk, and folded his hands on his stomach, and grinned. This was going to be an amusing job.

Gryffindor:
Hufflepuff: 15
Ravenclaw:
Slytherin:
(Side notes: Points will be awarded for participation. And If I don't post for a whiel, I have like some mental thing going on right now, so I'll think I'll posted, when I really don't. So excuse my absentness~)

[Nikole Talley]

Nikole skipped down to the greenhouses. Herbology was always an interesting subject. Even though it wasn't as challenging as transfiguration or potions, she enjoyed it. Entering the green house she looked around at the green and smiled. She quickly found a seat and then looked up at the professor.

"Hello, Professor," she looked up to the blackboard knowing that it would hold his name, since new professors always wrote their names upon the board. "Bourke." Glancing over at the door, she hoped the other students would arrive soon. She was eager for class to begin.

[Bradyn Reed]

Bradyn took the obnoxiously long trip to the Greenhouses to the class he had most trouble with. Why was he even bothering to go to this class? Because there was a new professor, of course. Shay said he was coming too, but he wouldn't walk with Bradyn. Bray just huffed and said he'd meet him in class, and that be better not be late. So when Bray walked in and saw who was teaching the class, he jaw dropped a little.

"You! From that time! Oh no!" He said, unable to control himself. Looking around, he saw that only Nikole was here. "I mean, good day.. Professor Bourke." He smiled and waved a little at her, trying to convince her he wasn't crazy. 'Oh no, I hope Shay doesn't come..' He thought and took a seat in the back, busying himself with his bag. 'If he's here.. that means she is too. Must've followed her here like the creep he is.'

[travisbourke]

As a student entered, he scrambled to get his feet off the desk. Though, it wouldn't matter. He wouldn't be in trouble. When the student called him 'Professor Bourke', he grinned. He was enjoying this, a little too much. "Hello. How are you today?" Travis replied, not knowing her name. That might be a problem, considering he'd have to call on students. Was there a list or something? Ah, well. He figured they would say their names, just because he was new.

Another student entered the green house, causing Trav to stop thinking about the name problem, and turn his gaze to a boy. A familiar face as well. Sitting back in his chair more, he grinned. This boy was Mayella's little brother, and Shafer's friend. Chuckling at his rambling, he gave him a toothy smile. "Hello, Mr. Reed. And how are you, today?" The thing that caught him was that Shafer wasn't with him. Ditching? Or did he even take Herbology? Travis did hope his little brother would, it would be very interesting.

[Felicity Locke]

Wow, Felicity didn't sleep in today. Maybe that's because she started Herbology today. Yippee frickin' doo. She trudged down the hallway, grumbling under her breath. Evette said she had to 'brush up on her plants'. Pfft, like she'd ever need it. She could always find someone else to help her.

Fay stepped reluctantly into the classroom and glanced at the board. Professor Bourke. Bourke? Despite herself, Felicity laughed. "Mornin' Professor Bourke." She tried to control her giggling as she walked over to a seat. Fay chose one in the back. She hated being in the front, then the teacher could actually see you. Ug, horrid. Felicity noticed Bray and Nikole. She waved to both, still trying to hold down her laughter. Felicity ducked her head down and pretended to look for something in her bag. Bourke. Ha!

[Libbi Puddifoot]

Libbi had wandered across the lawns,she had smelled a rose in the courtyard and had finally reached her far out favourite subject Herbology. Her mother was master in it,so was Libbi. She wondered what kind of plant they would talk about. There were far too many interesting herbs. She knew almost every single thing. Libbi hopped in the greenhouse.She gave a loud peep 'Good morning professor,wonderful day isn't it?' She hopped to a place somewhere in the front of the class. She took a deep breath,delicious the scents of fresh growing Herbs!She smiled very very very overreacted at the professor,it must have been very weird to look at. Libbi asked with a peppy voice: 'What are we doing to day, professor?'

[shafer]

The morning was glorious. A prefect day to ditch, and wander the grounds aimlessly while professors wondered where you were. But, rumor had it that there was a new professor, and they so happened to be Shay's first class. Being the jerky Slytherin he was, he had told Bray he would catch up with him at the class, causing him to walk alone. As Shafer wandered into green house, ready to make this new professor wish they hadn't taken up teaching at Hogwarts.

Sitting down next to Bray, he looked up at the black board, and saw his last name. Wait. His last name? It either meant they had hired Marten, or worse, Travis. And sure enough, as Shay lifted his eyes, dreading the second choice may be correct, there stood his older brother, Travis. His eyes widened in horror. Why had they hired him, of all people? Grumbling, he attempted to hide his face, which was hard to do for someone as tall as Shay. Maybe his brother would cut him some slack, and leave him alone. Doubtful, though.

[Bradyn Reed]

Bradyn sat there glaring at the teacher. "I'm just peachy." He said through a clenched jaw, irritated that the new professor would single him out already. He probably didn't even know his first name, just that he was Mayella Reed's cute little brother. 'Oh, this is going to be a long day.' and just to make things worse, he saw Felicity walk in too.

He bite his tongue to keep something rude from flying out, not wanting to extend their grudges against each other. He silently hoped the moping Ash wouldn't come too and join Fay in glaring daggers at his back. Bray smiled when Shay sat next to him, and he realized that he didn't hang out with his supposed 'best mate' as often as before. Just in tutoring sessions, and who called that hanging out. "Look Shay. We got a dandy new professor." He said, his voice sarcastic and obviously just as irritated as his friend. "Maybe if we crawl out now, he won't notice."

[travisbourke]

More students entered the green house, causing Travis to get ready for the lesson. Glancing to the back of the room to make sure all the supplies were there, he heard a student say his name. "Good morning." He called out, again not knowing the name. Another student sat in the front row, looking over energetic. "Yes, indeed." He replied, smiling at her. As she questioned him, his smile turned into a grin. "I'm glad you asked. Today, we'll be working with mandrakes." Leaning on the front of his desk, and crossing his arms, he averted his gaze to the rest of the class. "You guys may have already done mandrakes, but I wouldn't know. So, you may have to deal with it." Travis said, shrugging his shoulders.

From the corner of his eye, more students were entering. And a particularly tall one had caused him to turn his head. This 'tall person' that had entered, was no other then his brother. Grinning devilishly, he stared at him as he sat down and glanced to make sure it was his older brother. Waving at Shafer, he stood up straight. "Good morning, Shafer. And how is my little brother doing this fine morning?" The grin on his face had grown bigger. His little brother was here, and he could embarrass him all he wanted without being beaten down on. This was going to be an interesting lesson..

Turning his back for a moment, he grabbed his wand off the desk and flicked it again. The board now read 'Mandrakes'. Turning around, he smiled. "Alright. Obviously, I'm a new professor, and I have no idea what you've all learned. I thought we'd start off with something easy. There are earmuffs and gloves in the back of room. If you'd all grab a pair of each, and head to the tables with the potted plants, we'll begin the lesson." He said, in a semi-professional way. Grabbing his own earmuffs and gloves off his desk, he pulled the gloves on, and waited for everyone to proceed to the tables with the potted plants.

[Sarie Thimble]

Sarie was very late and she didn't like it. She sprinted down the halls a few prefects and maybe a professor or 2 may have told her off on the way but she needed to get to Herbology. She came running though the door and stopped dead when she noticed who was sitting at the desk. She knew him she had seen him in Hogmeade. He worked for the Ministry she felt her heart skip a beat. He said they where doing Mandrakes. Sarie had read up on them some where but not much.

[briar]

"Oh no! Oh no!" was all Bry could say as she sprinted down the halls of the castle. She was gonna be late, no, she was late! She ran past a few students, almost knocking them down. Normally, she would've stopped and apologized but today she couldn't. It was her first day with a new teacher in Herbology and she couldn't risk being in trouble already. She had just started to turn her life around.

She could see the greenhouses as she approached them. "Finally," she said as she neared. She attemped to go through the doors but all she managed to do was trip over the frame and crashing into a few empty chairs. 'Great,' she thought.

She picked herself up and looked at the professor apologetically as she scrambled to pick the chairs up. She glanced around the room and spotted Bradyn. Quickly, she took a seat close to him and Shay trying to hide the shade of pink her face had become. She grabbed a pair of earmuffs as the rest of the class already had thiers. "Oh, yay. Mandrakes," she murmered sarcastically.

[Libbi Puddifoot]

When Libbi heard the name Mandrakes she held her hand up high with one finger firmly stretched as in a reflex. She said on her own lievely way: ''Ooh.. Ooh.. Professor, I know everything about Mandrakes.Libbi didn't wait for the professor to give her permission to speak,she said in one long breath:"Mandrakes also known as Mandragora belongs to the family of nightshades, we used the mandrake for magic rituals in the past, it is still used nowadays.The Mandrake has a parsley-shaped root which is often branched. There spring from the neck a number of one-flowered nodding peduncles, bearing whitish-green flowers, nearly 2 inches broad, which produce globular, succulent, orange to red berries, resembling small tomatoes, which ripen in late spring. All parts of the mandrake are poisonous." Libbi took a deep breath, and talked on as if she was reading a book out loud:"The mandrake is also mentioned in one of those weird holy book of muggles: The Bible. When the root of the Mandragora is dugged up it screams you must wear earmuffs when your handling the Mandragora."Libbi took another deep breath but finally stopped, she was proud of herself and looked at everyone to spot any open mouths.

[shafer]

Rolling his eyes at Bray's comment, he nodded in agreement. "Care to escape while my arse of a brother blabbers his mouth off?" He replied, not caring if his loving brother heard or not. All Travis could do was take points away from his house.. And maybe give him a detention. But he couldn't beat on him now. He'd be taken away or something like that. Leaning back in his chair more, he watched as two students came in late. Would Travis take points away? He didn't know what his brother was capable of as a professor. To lazy to get up, Shafer simply pulled out his wand and muttered, "Accio gloves! Accio earmuffs!" and caught them as they fly towards his head.

Shay saw Bry come in, noisily, and sit next to Bray. He smiled at her slightly, attempting to be polite, since he really never talked to her. Only moments later, he heard someone yammering on about mandrakes. Expecting it to be a Ravenclaw, he turned towards the front to see a Hufflepuff doing the talking. Raising a brow, he looked towards his brother, expecting him to do some professor type thing now.

[Nikole Talley]

Nikole went to the back of the room with a bounce in her step. She quickly grabbed a pair of earmuffs and put them on. Then she did the same with a pair of gloves. After making sure her earmuffs were on securely, she walked over to the table. She looked up at the professor, awaiting further instructions.

[travisbourke]

Frowning at the late students, he considered taking points off. But, Travis was attempting to get the kids to like him, and wasn't about to bother. He was grateful that they grabbed their earmuffs and gloves, and began walking over to the table as every one else did. Hearing some one call professor, he turned around to find the cheerful girl who had seemed lively to be here. Listening intently to her, he grinned. "Excellent! Fifteen points for-" Travis checked her robe before finishing his sentence. "-Hufflepuff!" He announced, smiling at her.

His smile was wiped off his face as he saw his lazy little brother, still sitting at his desk. "Get up, you lazy..." He mumbled, drifting off. Knowing he couldn't do anything to harm Shafer, he turned back around, and stuck the earmuffs around his neck. A semi-fake smile lay on his face, he turned to the awaiting students, and clapped his hands together. "Alright! Now, of course, most of you know that Mandrakes can harm the ears. So it would be easier if I just told you now, but some of you have a short attention span." Glareing at his brother for a moment, he then pulled out his wand, and had the board levitate over to the table. Flicking his wand, his name and 'Mandrakes' were erased from the board, and replaced with instructions. "Okay. I'll be guiding you all through this, but if you can't hear me, just simply look at the board. First of all, put the earmuffs on, and we'll begin!" He announced, waiting for the few students who hadn't put their earmuffs on.