| Gnome
Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Australia
Posts: 298
First Year |  Post 2
SPOILER!!: Teachings Quote:
Originally Posted by Hera 
Seren listened intently as the students made their suggestions, guessing at what the curious 'stools were.
"Talking toadstools, no... Fly Agaric, no ........... Amantia Muscaria, no.......Poisonous, no.... Leaping, no."
And finally....
"Biting toadstools! Correct!"
Seren turned to give the 'stools an appreciative look. They really were magnificent.
"Now don't be alarmed, these toadstools - while they do feed on flesh, they don't have near enough of an appetite to take a chunk out of you. The worst injury you get is a little uncture or a scratch.... But that's why you have you dragon hide gloves with you." She eyed them all. They did remember to bring them, did they not?
"Now as your aware, toadstools are often used in potions, though we generally use caps, stems and spores, Biting toadstools offer us a different ingredient."
"Fangs!"
She waited for the reality of what was about to happen to sink in.
"Today, we will be harvesting biting toadstool fangs. But only the fangs."
After a brief pause, taking the time to make eye contact with each student, she continued, "The biting toadstool is blessed with the presense of many teeth, which you will see around the underneath rim of its cap. There are, two fangs which protrude a little further than the rest of the teeth. These are the ones we will be harvesting."
"But before we do that, you need to familiarise yourselves with a numbing charm. This will ensure the toadstools aren't in any pain when we.... so nicely yank them out."
Sort of like dentistry.
"You are to repeat the incantation after me." She paused, then flicked her wand at the board.
"Viro Torpeo", she said in a loud clear voice. "Incantation only."
"Viro Torpeo."
OOC: Practice the incantation only. We will practice the wand movement shortly before continuing with the activity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hera So... the students seemed to be responding quite well. And they had questions too! Questions were always welcome.
“Ok, now get out your wands,” she instructed, holding her own in front of her. “We’re going to practice the wand movement WITHOUT the incantation.” She said this in a stern voice- well as stern as she could... it wasn’t really her style.
Demonstrating, she jabbed her wand forward. Almost looking as if she was going to spear a student, but of course she would never do that.
“The wand movement is a jab,” she said, repeating the movement. “But do not make physical contact with the toadstool when you do this...” Otherwise you will regret it, though she didn’t say that bit out loud.
“Practice that a couple of times, and then I’ll show you how to harvest the fangs.” Because like everything, there was a process, sort of.
OOC: The activity will begin in approx 3-4 hours. Quote:
Originally Posted by Hera Seren watched as the students continued to practice the incantion and the wand movement... seperately of course.
“Ok now I understand you haven’t practiced the spell yet... but you will be doing this on the toadstools.” Yes... first time’s a charm? She hoped sp. She didn’t want them to suddenly become Blaze Again Buttons. “Remember to speak very clearly, and calmly... don’t rush it.” Pause.
“You will know that they’re numb when they no longer have control of their actions... so they’ll be a little... all over the place, and slower than usual.” Seren took a few strides toward one of the Biting toadstools, pulling on her dragon hide gloves as she went.
“Viro Torpeo,” she said jabbing her wand in the ‘stools direction. Of course it had the desired effect. Seren wiggled her finger around the toadstools cap, as it squirmed around trying to get its teeth around her glove and failing. It seemed to be a little groggy.
“Now as I’ve already mentioned we will be harvesting the fangs so that they may be kept in the potions stores cupboard for later use.”
She positioned herself behind the toadstool, facing the class. Demonstration time.
“Start by getting a firm grip on the toadstools cap, be careful not to get too close to the teeth. ... And don’t grasp the cap too tightly, or you’ll risk damaging the plant.... “ she demonstrated by placing her hand on the top of the cap and holding it in place.
“Do not... under any circumstances use a Freezing Charm, otherwise the fangs won’t come out cleanly and you’ll run the risk of them not growing back.”
She gazed around at the students’ faces to make sure they understood.
“ Then you need to get a good grip on the fang... one at a time... and yank in a downward direction.” Gripping one of the fangs, Seren did just that. With a sharp, clean yank, the fang came out. The toadstool didn’t protest... much. “Try to do this in one swift movement, it’s the quickest and the most efficient way to get them out... otherwise you’ll be pulling a little while.” Either way, they would get them out. Eventually.
She held it up for the class to see. Quickly she repeated the process, then held up the second fang to show the students. “Once you have successfully harvested both fangs from your Biting Toadstool, please place it in this jar.”
Seren held up a fairly big jar and placed it on a spare stool beside the blackboard.
With a flick of her wand, the instructions appeared on the board.
“Right, make sure you have your gloves on. If for some reason you forgot to bring them with you... or have misplaced them, you will find spares in the cupboard by the greenhouse door. Please return them at the end of class if you borrow them.”
And without further ado, Seren stepped aside, motioning for the students to approach a Biting Toadstool. Let the fun begin!
“Once you have completed the activity you may return to your seat.”
OOC: PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING
For this mini-activity you need to post a total of 3 times to be eligible for maximum participation points. This part of the activity will be open for approx 18hours, or longer, depending.
Post 1: Perform the Numbing Charm, and make sure it worked- you don’t have to get it right the first time.
Post 2: Harvest the first fang. Follow the process.
Post 3: Harvest the second fang and deposit them into the jar.
Please Indicate in the title section of your post – or at the top of you post, what the number of that post is. E.g. Post 1 ... Post 2... Post 3 (you get the drift)
DO NOT DOUBLE POST, thank you! (:
Elsie after regaining her composure moved onto the second step. Removing a fang. She looked back up at the board for the instructions. nervously she gripped the fang, making sure her fingers were not in any danger. She said to pull down, swiftly and strongly down. Five, four, three, two, one.. Elsie yanked her hand down attempting pulling out the fang. It didn't move at all. Elsie frowned, she obviously didn't use enough strength. She tried again, getting a stronger grip. Five, four, three, two, one. Elsie's hand went down, with fang in hand, right to the ground, the whole movement made her fall over. Okay maybe a little too much force that time, she thought. The fang was still in her hand and after a quick inspection seemed fine with no damage being done my the tumble. Elsie looked around to see if anyone else notices. A few people were looking at her strangely but most people seemed to peoccupied to notice. Okay next. Step three. |