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Join Date: May 2008 Location: Hobbiton
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Hogwarts RPG Name:
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Ravenclaw
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Ronnie Thurkell
Gryffindor Seventh Year
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Stella Jarsdel
Transportation
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Calyx Morgan-Bott
Ecological Protection
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|  still time to answer! lives in a hobbit hole || Ern and Touz's Nuzzle || roflysst || looking at a seed packet
SPOILER!!: replies Quote:
Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19  It was indeed quite a list. Claudine made meticulous notes. She had been pleasantly surprised to hear some answers she had never thought of coming from her classmates. The concept of permaculture? She definitely had not heard of that. Claudine didn’t count on herself as being too environmentally conscious but perhaps she would locate a book or two in the library and read up on the topic. Maybe. Just maybe.
Herb spirals? You know what? Claudine found this topic oddly fascinating. Yes, she was vaguely familiar with these spirals, just never had ever taken the time to learn anything whatsoever about them. As for the handouts? The Snakette was grateful for them. The entire battalion of Celtic information confused her so she looked down at her handout, reading it through and trying to make sense of it all.
It took her a few minutes and it took some re-reading some key sentences. Claudine thought that she might develop a headache before the lesson was over. It was all so much to process. Her hand eventually went up. “It seems to me that the three Elements represents the life cycle of the plants and the garden... um, herbs? The new life of it being planted, then its changes as it grows over time until it dies.’’
Maybe?
Maybe not?
"The life cycle is fundamental, that's right." Carmine encouraged. She knew it was a lot to take in, but it was just an overview, and one that they would grow more familiar with over the term. Quote:
Originally Posted by Crayola Uhhhhhhhhhhhh..... sorry, what?
Did Beryl know this was the VERY FIRST DAY OF CLASSES??? And this was Herbology? Usually he just came along because it was fun to poke around in the dirt but now she was talking about magical significance and dimensions and weird concepts and somehow Arithmancy was involved?
Sorry, but that was where he drew the line.
Not that he was drawing a line. Or doing much of anything, really; unless doodling aimlessly on his notebook counted as doing something. Probably not. "I dunno ... but they probaby didn't make it sound so boring." He whispered to ... uhm, was Céline around? He whispered to Céline, either way. She was bound to be close by and she would definitely laugh at that. As for any attempt at academia, just reading the handout that landed on his desk (which was so extra but sorta cool, by the way) was making his head hurt, so -- naaah. Was Mr Willard taking notes? Professor Beryl resolved to check in on him later - the school term was begun, and summer was over. It was time to work. Quote:
Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom Nettie honestly have never considered how much work went in to planning a garden - neither of her parents had green thumbs, and she herself only really dabbled with gardening when it came to school work for Herbology. She took her notes meticulously, copying everything Beryl had written on the board word for word and then starring important information on the handout she gave them about the three druidic elements.
This question was...difficult and kind of broad. Mostly because Nettie's brain was just not wired to think about Herbology that...deeply. Yes, that was it. After a bit of thought, she raised her hand. "For the spiral garden, I agree that the three elements apply to the life cycle of plants. Not only from the beginning stages of life and eventual decay of the plants, but the sustenance that they can give us as well. Oxygen, fruits and vegetables, flowers, a sense of fulfillment while taking care of them...stuff like that," she explained. "Some good thinking, Miss Gladin." Carmine responded, nodding at the prefect. Quote:
Originally Posted by love-for-HP Blake blushed a deep chrism red. He had not raised his had and was called out on it... ugh ... why was he so foolish.... he mumbled/whispered an apology "Sorry Professor" while copying his notes into his journal.
He read .. then re-read the 3 rules ... or whatever you wanted to call them ... what in the name of Merlin's Beard was this Professor talking about ... Blake was so far out of his league here. Blake took a listen to his fellow student responses and nodded his head vigorously in agreement with them. Raising his hand slightly he added "I agree with them." He gestured toward the room.
Meanwhile Blake thought about just sneaking off, he had sort of answered the question and now wanted to ditch the rest of class. Would the Professor even notice??? He could probably get away with it..... maybe.....he could use the excuse he needed to go to the loo right???
Standing up to 'stretch' he took a look for the door to see how close he was to it.....
"Sit down, please, Blake. You are not permitted to leave your seat without being instructed to do so." Professor Beryl said, upon noticing the boy getting up to stretch for some reason. They had hardly been in class long enough for him to cramp up in any way: it was unnecessary. Once again, being the first lesson, she was sticking to reminders, but these things were not up for negotiation either. The rules were the rules for good reason.
She made a mental note to talk to the boy later too - an I agree without elaboration was not answer enough in her eyes. She had high expectations because she believed in her students. Quote:
Originally Posted by Freyr "I thought of a garden in the shape of a dove but enchanted to make it look like it is fluttering. Molies, asphodels and orchids may be used" he said and stopped for a few seconds before saying, "I thought it may be relaxing for the people near it, but I don't know if gardens' work like that." He felt that he blushed but he said it so he was proud. Then he continued to listen to others' responses.
Freyr had to compute this much information for a second. Then one by one ideas started to form in his head while noting all the articles on the board down in his journal. While reading the handout he thought that it was like the three parts of nature and one had to consider all three in all levels of the spiral garden. He raised his hand and said "It seems like lack of any of the three druid elements will lead to failure of the garden. For example lack of Nwyfre, for example, lack of care will let weeds grow and hinder the plants' growth. Lack of Gwyar, for example, lack of water, nutrients in the soil or insufficient will also hinder the plants' growth. Lastly, the lack of Calas, for example, insufficient space between plants, consequently a bustling garden, will not give plants enough space to grow and ultimately will hinder their growth. Therefore, in the example of a spiral garden, all three druid elements should be considered since as already stated varying need for different things such as sunlight, water." Freyr felt like his answer might be both very wrong and at the same time very correct. He wondered what the Professor would think and then started to read the handout again. "Some very creative thoughts, Freyr." Professor Beryl responded. It was good to hear some out of the box thinking, and it boded well for his future efforts too. And then his next answer had her nodding too. "Very good." Quote:
Originally Posted by SneakySeverusSnape Analiese has always underestimated Herbology and didn't think there was this much to it. She read through the handouts and was entirely clueless. She wrote down the Three Druidic Elements and what they meant. So... Nwyfre meant life and and consciousness. Got it. And then... Gwyar was movement and change. Then Calas meant stability. She raised her hand and attempted at an answer. "Nwyfre means life so plants would need it to... just live, in general. Then Gwyar is change so it represents how the plants change during its life cycle. Then Calas meant stability so I think it means you would have to care for the plants in a stable routine so that it can have a stable life." "A very good attempt at applying the elements, Analiese, thank you." Carmine said approvingly. Quote:
Originally Posted by hermionesclone Lucas only had one mood during Beryl's entire explanation: ??????????????????
That was a lot of words. A LOT of words. And he was sitting there, trying to keep up with his notes while still visualising how this garden was supposed to look like. It was a spiral, that was a nice start. But then there were different levels and each level had different things that applied to the plants. And then there was a significance to the shape that had something to do with Arithmancy, which only got the boy's brain thinking.
Was it because spirals are never ending? Or supposed to be? And this was great for biodiversity? Was that it?
He needed to speak to Sissay after this.
But the part that really got him? Elements. Not the four elements or the chemical elements. No no, there were other elements now, and it was difficult to wrap his head around that small fact. And they meant different things, like life, change, and stability, not, you know, the elements you find around you and on different planets.
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah. ?????????
It came as a relief when the handout was, uh, handed out and he started reading, instead. He made a point of just reading through it and not answering the question that was asked. Besides, life cycle sounded like a good answer, especially once words like 'life force' jumped out at him. Yeah, he wasn't adding anything else, just reading for now. Professor Beryl didn't mind that Lucas didn't volunteer an answer since he was obviously trying to pay attention and she could see he was reading the handout. And she knew it was a lot to take in and process, so she did not expect essay length answers or textbook style response (nor did she ever). It was important to her, though, to frame her lessons to encourage critical thinking, even if it meant a few brain wrinkles along the way, she knew they were capable of it. Quote:
Originally Posted by Cassirin So on the list of professors who actually liked Phoebe James, versus those who tolerated her, versus those who HATED her... Professor Beryl was gonna go in tolerated. But not like, and that frustrated Phoebe. She'd apologized and EVERYTHING, but she hadn't raised her hand, so she was just messin' up again.
She sighed heavily, very put upon by how hard it was to just live, and raised her hand. "I think maybe the circle of life is represented in the spiral shape too? So the life cycle imagery is repeated over and over, which means the druid elements are too. And representational imagery is important in magic." She shrank a little, and Phoebe was never one to shrink. "I think." "Very true, Phoebe." Carmine said, having called on her this time with the hand raising. "Representational imagery is absolutely important in magic. Good answer." She said approvingly. As long as she engaged like this and learned from her mistakes, and learned to think before she acted, Carmine was satisfied. Quote:
Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy Blink, blink. Tina's eyes widened slightly as a long list appeared on the blackboard. Wow, that was… a lot to take in all at once. She divided her attention between writing down the information on the board and listening to Professor Beryl's lecture, hoping she wouldn't miss anything along the way. Permaculture? That sounded like a complicated concept that Tina had never heard of, but as she heard it explained, she realized she had heard of it. She'd just never heard it called by that name before.
Tina mentally sorted through the bits of new information. Okay, she understood what permaculture was. She understood how a spiral garden worked. She even understood the meaning of the three druid elements, but when asked how they applied to a spiral garden, she was totally lost! She read and reread her handout, hoping that would jog her mind, but the only thing she could think of was the obvious connotation of the life cycle… which had already been said several times. There was no way she was repeating answers twice in the same lesson, so it was back to the drawing board.
As Tina pored over her handout for what felt like the hundredth time, a thought struck her. When Professor Beryl asked the question, she'd mentioned a spiral garden specifically. Did that mean there was something about the shape of a spiral that represented the druid elements more so than a different shape? It seemed like a longshot, but it was the only idea she had. With some hesitation, Tina raised her hand, and asked, "Do the druid elements correspond to different areas of the spiral?" Hopefully wording her answer in the form of a question would make her look less stupid if she turned out to be wrong! "For example, Calas represents stability, which could correspond to the ground level or foundation of the spiral. Gwyar is "flow" so that could mean the flow throughout the spiral, leading to the highest point at the center, which would correspond to Nyfre's meaning…"*
She trailed off nervously. The answer made sense in her mind, but once she voiced it, she realized how off base it sounded. Could they just pretend she hadn't spoken at all?
"That's the sort of thinking I want to encourage, Tina. A great start." It was a lot to take in, she knew, but it was also far more simplistic than most were likely aware of. Critical thinking did not necessarily mean overthinking - sometimes the most obvious answers and most literal correspondences were the most useful. Quote:
Originally Posted by Daydreamer11 Naya had her journal open and her quill out. She had jotted down a few notes, as her classmates were giving their answers to the first question. And then.......whoa. A whole lot of information was unleashed. Naya was listening and writing and trying to process everything. She was actually keeping up for awhile. Permaculture, okay. Herb spiral, got it. The druids though, that’s when confusion set in.
Naya was having trouble wrapping her mind around the druid details. When the handouts were distributed, she hoped that would help clear things up. It didn’t. Even after reading the handout twice, Naya was still trying to grasp the information. Unfortunately, the next question had to do with precisely that. While listening to everyone else’s thoughts, she tried to come up with an answer of her own. Nothing was coming to her, so Naya decided to stay quiet and hope that she would have some sudden inspiration. Soon. Naya was another quiet one and that was fine, the professor had seen her reading over the handout and she appeared to be listening attentively enough. She smiled encouragingly at the young girl and moved on. Quote:
Originally Posted by Fireheart Avalon's quill started flying across her parchment as soon as Professor Beryl said 'permaculture.' Her eyes darted between the teacher and the blackboard as she scribbled as many notes as she could manage. This was a lot to take in for their first lesson of the term. Thank goodness that the professor had given them a handout on these druids. The second year had never heard of them before, and she was a bit unsure of how to answer the question. Nwyfe was life, gwyar was change, and calas was stability, right? So how exactly did that translate into a garden? Avalon propped her chin on one hand in thought and tentatively raised her other hand into the air. "I think that you need all three elements in any garden. Plants can't exist without all of them, right? They need nwyfe for their spirit, gwyar to grow, and calas to actually exist." As to how nwyfe and calas related to a spiral garden in particular, Avalon didn't know. She could really only see gwyar working in that shape. "And gwyar could relate to the changes in moisture and temperature throughout the garden that you mentioned." A good start.
"Yes, gwyar could very much relate to those aspects. Good thinking." Professor Beryl said, after listening to the girl.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Felixir Did Professor Beryl remember that really glazed over expression Kaiser always sometimes wore in her Ancient Runes classes last year, particularly when the subject matter got any more intense than 'this is Sowilo, it means SUN'? Because that was exactly how he looked now.
Functioning on no sleep was definitely not helping either. Kaiser felt oddly detached from the room, sort of floaty, one foot in a parallel universe, pretty much. But, well, he was also under no illusion that he would be doing any better on a full night of solid sleep. Firstname Kaiser did not a plant nerd make.
He was just about with it enough to throw a sideways glance at the gaggle of first years beside him, and wonder if they were following or if they were having trouble, and also hope that they wouldn't expect any sort of assistance from him.
But yes. No. Glazed over, very much so. And Kaiser... well, call him a bad influence, but he hadn't even tried to take any notes yet, mostly because it was extremely difficult to copy things down at the same time as listening and mentally translating everything. He was sort of hoping he could rely on... uh... well, hmm. Gunnar, maybe? The other boy had been a real friend to him the past few months, hopefully he wouldn't begrudge a little note-copying on top of that.
A few phrases and concepts were getting through to Kaiser here and there - permaculture, herb spirals, and microclimates, oh my for example - but when they reached the part about druids, he was basically lost. To try and get himself back on track, and also to look busy and not simply sit there staring off into space - Kaiser peered at the handout that soon reached him. Squinted at it, really, because he was well into the 'blurry eyes' stage of tiredness. Not that he could focus on any one section of it for long enough to read it and comprehend, but, well, the thought was there.
Uhhh... okay, so. Three Druidic Elements. Spiral garden. He could do this. This wasn't so hard, he just had to... to focus, and... and... not say anything... hopelessly stupid. He could do that, right?
........ Right?
Despite the extremely high risk of that exact thing happening, Kaiser raised his hand anyway. It wouldn't do to not write anything, look totally absent, and not even make an attempt at an answer, would it? "I think, in the-..." He tried to think of the English for 'literal way', but his brain would supply only German or Italian. He faltered, feeling a bit like he was short-circuiting, and not quite having the brain power to get around this minor hiccough. In the end, Kaiser abandoned the sentence, and skipped straight to the next one. "The first at the top, the sky, the second in the middle and it flows down, and the third on the ground with stability." "Yes, that's right, Kaiser. This is a good beginning." She encouraged, well aware that the boy often had some difficulties keeping up initially, but he was a good thinker and she thought that he'd actually do quite well with this particular topic and the tasks that would follow. Quote:
Originally Posted by Jessiqua Abra saw the list and briefly wondered whether they were to be writing it all down. She did, though, because Herbology was INTERESTING and she wanted the list to refer back to.
The word Permaculture wasn't something Abra had heard, but once Professor Beryl began speaking about it she realised she knew what it meant. The rest, however, was kind of lost on her. Elements of Nwyfre, Gwyar, and Calas? She took a good look at her handout, trying to think of how they might apply to a spiral garden.
Listening to all of the answers from the kids around her sounded plausible but something that confused Abra. Why couldn't they just plant some seeds and document their growth? It seemed Herbology was going to be a lot tougher than she had imagined. She just wanted to get her hands into the soil, even doing a hard session of weeding would make her feel better. Speaking of, were there weeds around?
Abra opted to remain silent, only because she had nothing new to add that she hadn't heard yet. But boy, was she trying hard to think. The professor noticed Abra's silence without being particularly concerned by it. She was clearly paying close attention and that was the important part, so Carmine simply smiled at the girl before moving on. "Its a lot to absorb, don't concern yourselves with becoming instant experts. This material will be here for you to refer to as the term goes on." Carmine assured them all after a batch of answers. She was still calling on more students as they put their hands up though. "Anyone else have any thoughts to share on how the Three Druidic Elements might apply to a spiral garden, or to gardens in general?" ooc: Still time to answer, I just wanted to get the majority of replies up. We'll move on in the next four or five hours. If your character hasn't answered yet they can, or they can elaborate if they want to! If nobody replies by the time I am ready to move on, I'll just edit into this post and bump the thread. For anyone just joining, my last post has the handouts/notes to copy from the blackboard.
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