[Herbology] Lesson I

[Prof. Eithne l'Keitha]

Dull sunlight seeped through the cloudy glass panes, weathered by centuries of dried leaves, old rain and rust, and flooded the greenhouse. Shadowy patterns wavered on the dirt floor, The air, perpetually moist and earthy, hung thickly as Professor l’Keitha waited for her students to fill their places around the wooden trough of dirt.

[Dax Simmons]

Slowly Dax walked into the greenhouse letting his eyes adjust to the sudden change in light. After blinking a few times he was able to make out objects and realises the fact he was the first student to arrive. With a sigh he pulled his back higher up on his shoulder and walked towards the professor with a smile.

“Hello Professor. I’m not to early I hope?” Dax came to a stop and placed his bag down on the dirty floor. Hw was paranoid about the stereotypical attitude that all Hufflepuff's love Herbology…even though he did enjoy it Dax never liked admitting it and turning up first for the lesson would not help.

[Helia Ollivander]

As Helia walked into the greenhosue she was glad to see there was another student there already. She had let herself off work early to make sure she got to this class. She had been looking forward to the Herbology class for quite some time now. She just hoped her mind wouldn't drift into her book bag [where rested three unfinished wand casts and two ancient books she was studying] during and important part of the lesson. She sat down on the bench on the right side of the green house and set her bag down beneath the trough laiden table. Once she was situated she looked over at the hufflepuff boy; at first she had though he might've been Bog, but as her eyesight adjusted to the bright lights of the plant nursery she realized that she hadn't the foggiest clue who he was, so she introduced herself, "Hi, I'm Helia, I don't believe we've met?"

[Jac Shaw]

Jac ran into the greenhouse shortly after Helia. She had seen Dax leave the castle and had run to catch up with him. She hadn't. She stopped in the dark doorway and blinked a few times. She made out a few humanoid shapes: one she could see was Dax's, the other seemed to be a ravenclaw and another was their professor.

Jac cleared her throat and waked in. "Good morning, Professor," she said cheerily and went to stand in front of the long table next to Dax. "Morning to you too!" she smiled. She set her rucksack on the floor next to her and looked at the dirt-covered table. "What's all this about then, do you supppose?" she asked curiously the ravenclaw conversationally.

[spaghetti231]

Zerrubabel walked cautiously toward the greenhouse door, conscious of the fact that this was the professor he'd met last night in the library. It's not that he had a bad impression of the professor, but he did have his doubts about herbology. In the short time that he had been on land in his life, namely the last few years, he had come across very few plants. The far north doesn't support wildlife very adequately.

Taking a quick glance around to make sure he was in the right place (which of course was purely instinctual, its pretty hard to miss the greenhouse), he opened the door and walked into the dark room.

He saw the professor standing near a table, adjusting her notes. Her gave her a small wave as he made his way toward the other students who talking near one of the workspaces.

"Hello, my name is Zerrubabel, but you can call me what you wish. I haven't really made any new nicknames yet, I just transferred." he explained to the three other students as he placed his backpack with everyone else's.

[Prof. Eithne l'Keitha]

"Good afternoon, class," Prof. l'Keitha looked up from her notes and closed them into the large volume she took out of the library last night. "And welcome to your first herbology class of the term."

The dirt in the trough shuddered and seemed to churn.

"If you would please open your texts to the first chapter "Plants Have Feelings, Too." Before we get to the fun stuff, we need to review proper plant care. Just because our human ears are not keen enough to hear their screams doesn't mean plants aren't very much alive. I won't even get started on muggles and their deforestation..." said the professor, rolling her eyes. She drew out her wand and pointed it at the large trough in the center of the greenroom, which shook again.

[Ian Gray]

Ian stared at the lively trough with fascination, not realising he had nearly stood up off the bench he was sitting in to take a closer look. Seeming to realise where he was when the professor's voice rang throughout the greenhouse, he leaned back on his seat and pulled out his books a bit reluctantly, his gaze still drawn to the display in front of him.

Flipping to the right page in his text, he took out a notebook and lazilly wrote down a title before twirling his quill through his fingers distractedly. Hearing another boy approach theml, who looked to be from his house, Ian gave a broad smile and shoved over so he could sit down.

"Looks interesting, doesn't it?" He gestured toward the trough, watching it for a moment, before turning back to Zerrubabel. "I'm Ian." He added as an afterthought, a bit awkwardly.

[spaghetti231]

Zerrubabel pulled out his text and sat down on the bench where a place had just been made for him. He began to flip through the pages as the other boy introduced himself.

"It does, but to be honest, I'm not too stellar with plants. Except maybe seaweed. Or kelp. I can make a wicked kelp burger." said Zerrubabel, adding in a nice little white lie to heighten the mood of the conversation. As he was finding the right page in his textbook, Zerrubabel caught a glimpse of a rather violent shake from the trough in front of him.

"A bit fiesty it seems, wonder what it is." stated Zerrubabel to Ian, pointing at the dirt. Inwardly, he was more worried about keeping his fingers than finding out what was under that dirt. Zerrubabel liked his fingers like he liked his women, intact and ready to be used.

[oneeyedbattleowl]

Hawkeye flitted inconspicuously in and out of view through the crystalline glass windows of the sunlit herbology greenhouse.

[Prof. Eithne l'Keitha]

"Just like any mundane plant, magical plants also need the three basic factors of sustenance: water, nutrition, and sunlight - there are, of course, always exceptions to the rule, which we will be exploring very soon. Exceptions to the rules are the real fun stuff," the professor declared, a mysterious glint flitting across her eyes. "Anyhow, the key difference is what kind of nutrition magical plants take in. The first source would be the soil and type of fertilizer in which embryophytes grow - that is, typical green land plants."

She smiled at her students and their rapt attention. Great bunch this year, she thought. This was going to be a very fun term, indeed.

"Who knows that makes magical soil different from mundane soil that muggles use?"

[spaghetti231]

Zerrubabel did not know the answer to this question, however, this did not come as a shock to him. He reached out to examine the soil, 'maybe it has a different texture or something' he thought as he put his hand deep into the trough, momentarily forgetting his premonition with keeping his fingers.

[oneeyedbattleowl]

Hawkeye flitted by again. He forgot the rest of his meal.

[Prof. Eithne l'Keitha]

Once Zerrubabel grabbed a fistful of the dirt, the whole trough began to shudder even more violently before, and a deep muffled growl began to emanate from within.

"Oh dear, I didn't think someone would do that so soon," the professor sighed.

The dirt in the trough surged upward into Zerrubabel's hand and merged with the dirt in his clutch. The thick dark mass rose up toward the glass ceiling, taking the form of a large face, then became an amorphous mass again and crashed down on top of the student, engulfing him.

[spaghetti231]

Zerrubabel immediately realized he had made a bad decision, but for whatever it was worth, he knew the answer now. Apparently, magical dirt attempts to consume your body. But then again, it really didn't feel that bad. It kind of felt nice, a warm fuzzy feeling. Plus dirty. At this point, Zerrubabel decided to do the same thing anyone else would do when entirely covered in a magically amorphous dirt substance...

"HAHAHA, I am the invincible Mudman! All will fall victim to the destruction of my wrath. Taste my mudpie of doom!" yelled Zerrubabel as he ran around the greenhouse waving his arms and making random arm movements, throwing off dirt toward the glass walls.

[oneeyedbattleowl]

The dirt newly caked on the greenhouse windows hid Hawkeye from view as he again flitted past silently.