Herbology: Lesson One (All Years)

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Carlotta had seemed to have walked in on a bit of an argument, naturally probably caused by none other than her littler brother, Eli. She was certainly not surprised. He had quite a mouth on him and often took things way too far. She gathered that someone had called him an idiot- someone was standing up for him, and because everything was a joke to him, he had started to act like none other than an idiot.

She knew entirely what he was going to do when he said "Would an idiot do this?".

Yes, growing up with him was quite a challenge, but she recognised the patterns. She acted quickly though- ear muffs only meant mandrakes- mandrakes meant fainting. And the bloody trouble-maker was going to advance the lesson quite a bit.

She drew her wand, "Confundo," she aimed at her brother, and saw a dazed look glaze over his eyes, as he let go of the mandrake, glancing around, confused. She stowed her wand away, sighing with relief that she had managed to stop him.

"Sorry about Eli, Professor… He just gets a bit eager, that's all," she said, making her way across the classroom to sit with the only other person she knew, which happened to be Arthur.

Guest

As Nirek stepped in to Herbology, it seemed everything was kicking off with a number of students. Rolling his eyes at the childishness of them all, Nirek moved away from the commotion to an empty space in the middle of the room. It wouldn't do well to get sucked in to that - especially with a new professor. He would probably try and pull some bravado any moment, and Nirek did not wish to be the cause of any docked house points for Gryffindor.

Pulling out his text book, Nirek took a hold of the ear muffs that had been provided and slipped them around his neck - like one would with the old style headphones. He wasn't trying to be cool, or anything, Nirek simply didn't trust his fellow students to not try something stupid. Their current position would allow for a quick move to put the ear muffs on, should it be needed.

Until then, though, the Gryffindor would remain quiet, and wait.

Guest

At the sight of his first student, Caspar gave the boy a small smile, hoping his nerves wouldn't show too much. The question that was presented by the Gryffindor boy made Caspar open his mouth to reply before being cut off by the next witch that entered.

His eyes widened a little at the use of words the girl had picked to describe the other boys question. "Now, I don't thi-" Caspar started to say but the younger student was defending himself, and Caspar decided to go quiet. Control was not something he was going to have from the outset, it would seem.

Especially as a third person got involved, defending the younger boy - they were in the same house, so it made sense. Caspar nodded his agreement with the older Gryffindor in that moment, because he had been about to say the same thing. But, his mood towards the outburst was broken by the fact the older Gryffindor knew what a Mandrake could do. Caspar was impressed with her - it had sorted out his first question of the class.

But before Caspar could speak again, another two boys had entered, the second jumping on the bandwagon and calling the Gryffindor boy an idiot. Caspar couldn't help but frown to himself, flustered already because he was struggling to sort this out.

For a moment, however, Caspar thought this might dissipate, with the Ravenclaw witch turning towards the Slytherin... and flirting? Caspar shook his head at the thought, before noticing the Gryffindor (younger) was moving off towards the Mandrakes. "Umm... please, sit down, Mr-"

But the dazed look that took over his facial expression made Caspar worried, quickly moving to the Gryffindor and holding him up as his eyes scanned the room, before landing on another Ravenclaw. Holding her wand, and then addressing him directly, the witch explained the Eli - the Gryffindor boy -was much too eager. Helping Eli back to his chair, Caspar decided that now was as good a time as any to get started.

"Right, okay. Everyone please settle down now. I know you're probably a little bit excitable, you have a new professor, it's your first lesson back. I know these things get a little much at times. But, please, when you're in the greenhouses, do not think you can do as you please. Some of these plants are wildly dangerous, and can maim, or seriously injure. Whilst I'm glad you stopped Eli," Caspar continued, motioning to the Ravenclaw witch who'd cast a Confundus Spell on him. "Please don't use your wand in my classroom unless you've been told to. For safety reasons, I mean. I'm not a grinch."

Okay, that wasn't the best opening speech, but Caspar was quite flustered with the opening scenes in his class, and he still didn't know whether to tell off the older students who'd picked on the Gryffindor boy.

Deciding against becoming a complete grinch, Caspar looked around for his notes on his desk, and upon failing (with a number of papers heading off on adventure away from the top of his desk, Caspar shook his head and berated himself internally. Pull yourself together!

Motioning to the Gryffindor girl who had been defending the younger Gryffindor, Caspar continued on. "Umm, Miss..." He paused only long enough for the witch to say her name before continuing. "Told those of you who were here in the time of a small kerfuffle that a Mandrakes cry can be fatal - in adult form. A younger mandrake will only knock you out. As you have ear muffs on the desks, I'm sure as Miss Seele told us, you will have worked out that we will be repotting mandrakes. Take five points for your answer, Miss Seele, even though I didn't ask the question...

"However, before I set you off on this task... can... can anyone tell me the uses of a Mandrake?" He prompted, looking around hopefully for someone to answer him.

Guest

Violet had been on her way to Herbology, having picked up the lesson to scope out the new Professor, simply curious. She got to the entrance of the classroom, lingering back a bit as she watched the situation inside unfold. Something about insulting a first year or whatever. People will literally turn anything into an argument, it would seem.

She didn't see why people jumped on the bandwagon, the kid didn't seem fazed by it. She figured he was trying to prove a point when he started to act idiotically and attempt to rip the mandrake before anyone was ready. Honestly, it was probably something she'd do when she was younger if someone had insulted her. She wouldn't've give the whole big speech, just gone quietly to do it and walked out.

She watched as the new teacher started to become more and more flustered trying to calm the class. Finally, the interruption ended when a Ravenclaw confunded the kid causing a bit of drama. She assumed that they knew each other from how she apologised for him.

She waited a further few minutes as the teacher calmed everyone down, explaining the rules and starting on the lesson before she walked in, deciding to have a bit of fun, see how far she could push this guy.

"Sorry I'm late," she said after he finished speaking "I was tossing up whether it was worth it to come," he voice was monotonic, apathetic, and her face seemed to give no emotion "I mean, mandrakes? I was wrong, but I was already here and I have an hour to kill," she added with a shrug, heading over to an empty seat.

"As for your question," she added, slumping into the seat "I know one use is to cure those who have been petrified. Once they're mature, of course," she dropped her bag to the ground.

Guest

Caspar looked up as the door opened and admitted another student. Of course, he knew nobody, so the professor could only give the witch a small smile as she entered. He was about to explain what they were doing, but it seemed the witch had been listening as she entered, and his mild mannered approach to the situation blew up in his face almost immediately.

Feeling the bite of the young witch's words, Caspar did his best not to become too upset by the words, but the fact the witch before him had not known as to whether coming here was a good idea was a little bit of a sting to his ego.

But, her answer was spot on, and Caspar wasn't one hundred percent sure what to do. Again.

"Umm, yes... yes, that is one use, once they're fully grown." Caspar agreed with the witch, twitching slightly nervously in that moment because he really hadn't been prepared for the land of teenage children. "It is... apparently, also an aphrodisiac... not that you children really need to know that... Take five points for Hufflepuff!" Caspar said, his obvious unease on show in that moment.

"Now, what I would like for you all to do is to partner up, and repot the mandrakes in to larger pots. Everyone please make sure your ear muffs are on securely, because I really do not wish to bother the school nurse today." Caspar insisted as firmly as he could, motioning to the large pots on their desks and the compost that they could sit in. "Make sure you pack the earth around them securely, otherwise they'll be trying to climb out during the night!"

Guest

Vi was a tad surprised that she had gotten the points. Yes, she answered correctly, but she hadn't been particularly nice. And then she caught what he had said. An aphrodisiac? He really had no clue at all. Like really? Bringing anything like that up in a room full of teenagers? Oh but the look of discomfort on his face was just too tempting. She just had to say something, something that would push just a little more.

"An aphrodisiac?" she asked, raising an eyebrow "Is that why you're having us re-pot mandrakes? Having some issues with that sort of thing are you?" she kind of quickly looked him up and down.

"I mean, you're right, a room full of hormone-fuelled teenagers don't need those sorts of things..." she added casually. But it would usually be embarrassing enough to just point out something like that.

Guest

Lux took one step into the classroom and came across an argument. She listened for all of two seconds before rolling her eyes and muttering under her breath, "Amateurs." The new professor was doing an awful job of containing the argument and Lux snorted in derision. Just great! A brand new professor with not a clue what he was doing and toddlers for classmates. This was going to be an amazing year. It was embarrassing enough that she had to repeat a year - because she went crazy after that whole finding-her-birth-parents thing - but she had to put up with kids in the classroom as well. Sure, she was technically studying the same things so she knew all the stuff, but having to deal with kids who could not for the life of Merlin hold a proper argument was torturous.

She made her way to the back of the class, took one look at the earmuffs, groaned, and called out, "Seriously? Mandrakes? You couldn't have chosen a more interesting topic?"

As he started the class and began talking, Lux couldn't hide a smirk. Time for some fun with the guy. The moment he said he wasn't a grinch, Lux saw her opportunity and piped up, "Yes, Mr. Grinch! Whatever you say, Mr. Grinch."

Then Violet entered the room and it was all Lux could do not to burst out laughing at the exchange between student and teacher. That girl was savage and Lux liked her already. She handed Mr. Grinch's behind to him, nicely roasted and with a side of char-grilled carrots and potatoes to boot.

When he gave his last instruction to pack the mandrake tightly, Lux couldn't stop herself from saying, "So that they can act as an aphrodisiac for you in the night?" She grinned, not caring that talking back to him could get her in trouble. It was way too much fun and completely worth any detention he might give her - not that she thought him capable of sentencing a student to detention.

Putting on her earmuffs, Lux began the task of re-potting the mandrake, not bothering to work with a partner since she'd done this before in one of the previous years and knew exactly what to expect.

Guest

The confundus charm wore off rather quickly. Eli saw that it was his sister that had cast it, and he wasn't at all surprised. He supposed he'd sit down when the professor started talking. It was then this older girl walked in and, well, she wasn't particularly nice to the poor bloke. She was actually rather nasty.

The mention of aphrodisiac came up, clearly meant to be just excess information, but the Hufflepuff and Slytherin girl made some rude remark about it- a joke that simply went over his head (something that rarely happened).

He furrowed his brow and then asked "Sir, isn't Aphrodisiac like a Greek god or something?" This question, was actually genuine- perhaps the confundus charm hadn't quite worn off just yet, but the word sounded familiar, but not quite right.

"No Eli," he heard his sister chime in "You're thinking of Aphrodite- goddess of love. But that is where the word comes from," she corrected.

He nodded a bit before leaving it, looking to see who he could partner up with.

Guest

Elleon took a deep breath, his eyes fixed on the door as if it was a monster waiting to devour him, chew him to little bits, and spit him back out. He knew it was just his overactive imagination but that didn't make him feel better about the year ahead of him. He'd been held back one year after failing in his classes but this time, Jelena, his sister who also acted as his interpreter, had moved on to the next year. He'd have to get through the year - and pass everything - without her help. It was difficult enough with her help and he didn't know if he could do it.

Deaf people can do anything except hear. His mother's voice rang in his head, echoed by his former teacher's encouragement. Never let people look down on you because you're Deaf. Prove that you can do better than them.

He would work three times as hard as anyone else and show that being deaf was not a handicap. After the pep talk, Elleon stepped into the room, right into chaos. Not being able to hear anything, he used his eyes to decipher the situation. All he got from it was a bunch of people talking not so nicely to each other, and the new professor trying to calm everyone down.

Elleon took a seat near the front and took out his notebook. As with every new professor he got, he began writing a note. My name is Elleon Caverly and I am Deaf. I would appreciate if you would look in my direction when you talk so that I can read your lips. Thank you. Busy with writing the note, he completely missed the professor's words, looking up in time only to catch: "I'm not a ....ch." What? He's not a what? So many words ended in -ch but before Elleon could figure it out, the professor was talking again. Elleon kept his eyes on the professor's lips, managing to make out enough words to know that he was talking about the Mandrake's cry.

Elleon was about to put up his hand to answer the question when someone walked in. He caught her apology and a few words after that, but whether she answered his question or not, he didn't know since she sat down and he could no longer see her lips. Glancing back at the professor, he found that she did answer the question but the professor didn't repeat it, leaving him clueless. Quickly, not taking his eyes off the professor, he jotted down in his notebook: read Mandrake uses. There was one more word the professor said that he couldn't make out. There definitely was an a followed by an f,o and dee formation. He'd just have to ask the professor later.

Once the instructions were given, Elleon took the note he'd written and approached the professor, handing it to him and waiting until he'd read and acknowledged it before moving back to his desk. He looked at the earmuffs for a moment, debating whether or not to use them. He was deaf after all and no matter how loud the Mandrakes cried, he doubted it would affect him. But just to be on the safe side, he picked it up and went in search of a partner.

Looking around the classroom, he spotted a first year Gryffindor boy and approached him. "Hi. I'm Elleon. Would you like to partner?" he asked, hoping that he boy understood him through his accent. He'd gone for intense speech therapy but knew the did not sound the way Hearing people did.

Guest

The retort from the Hufflepuff about the plants being aphrodisiacs and Caspar himself needing them made the Irishman balk for a moment. How could one child be so damn well ruthless? Caspar did not know, and his mind was in a frenzy on how he should approach this subject. After all, talking about his own sex life was hardly going to do him any favours.

"I don't think that's a conversation that we should be having, Miss..." Caspar came up short, though, realising he did not know the witch's name to be able to admonish her for her words. Flustering even more at that, Caspar shook his head. "Please don't do that again." He decided on, firm enough to be taken seriously in any other situation, but undoubtedly failing to do a thing in this moment.

Another student piped up, but Caspar just let out a small sigh, and decided to ignore them. Bickering with children would not end well.

"Earmuffs on." Caspar called out once more, paying those who chose to try and disturb his class no mind. They would not ruin his first lesson!

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