Just like that, Professor Flamsteed had allllll of her attention. Would they get to consume gillyweed? Eden hoped so. That would definitely make up for all the swimsuit-related emotional turmoil the Ravenclaw had experienced that morning.

Hand raise. Time to try to be a good student.

"It's native to the Mediterranean Sea, Professor.

"Someone was trying to be cheeky when they named it." Misa said. Seriously. WHY were there so many things named after what they did and then some things had just names.

The namers or things should have had a consensus. Now half of them just looked silly.

That was pretty interesting, actually, that those water lilies were strong and large enough to hold a baby. Probably wasn't a good idea to actually set your baby on one, but it was still cool that you could.

Gillyweed was the main focus of the lesson though, which sounded pretty promising. There were a lot of neat facts about that particular plant. And a lot of useful things about it too.

Ivy raised her hand. "I think how long the effects last differ depending on whether you're in fresh water or salt water. I don't remember what the different lengths were though." They probably weren't too big of a difference anyway.

Lisa raised both eyebrows at Professor Flamsteed's added wisdom. REALLY?! Now that was interesting indeed! Deliberately growing aquatic plants in different conditions just to harness those magical abilities... Intriguing.

She smiled when the Remy had guessed the first topic flawlessly. That was her friend Lisa was so so so proud!

Ivy's comment about gillyweed having different lasting durations piqued her interest. OOH! She wrote down that comment in her notebook. Something for her to look into later.

"Gillyweed also helps you adapt to the colder water temperatures so its easier to breathe and not like breathing on land in the cold!" she raised her hand, building off of what her brother had said.

Right, Gillyweed. It was the obvious choice of answer anyway, as it was the most popular in Herbology. Of course, he knew a thing or two about Gillyweed-- it allowed the consumer to breathe underwater, give them gills and webbing between their fingers and toes for easy navigation when in water. Its provenance was mentioned as well, and, well, basically everything he should know about the plant were already covered. He wasn't the type of student who'd go deep into research, like Catherine, as he was the no nonsense twin between the two of them. Basic and helpful information was all he needed. And one of the basics that wasn't pointed out yet was, "Aside from the fish-like properties it lends the consumer, it also allows humans to adjust to the water's temperature, and it protects the eyes from irritation as well." Basic and practical. His cup of tea, yes.

Any remnants of sleep were extinguished from his system. Aside from the fact that they were going underwater today, without having to worry about the cold, his arm was about to be pulled out from his shoulder socket. "Ow, ow, owwww... easy, Scar..." he did understand her excitement. She was always excited about... well everything, even Healer Poppy's bread. He'd looked around for Catherine, hoooping she came to class with a Calming Draught for Scarlett. Merlin help them all if she swam too far today.

Gillyweed, huh? It was safe to assume they were going to do something fun and practical with the stuff, which was a nice change of pace. Not that Herbology wasn't MOSTLY fun and practical, but it was usually dirty and digging, rather than splashing around with the squid.

"The scientific name is Cuscuta oxygenium. I think it's the only kind of cuscuta that's magical."

Quinn watched as Atlas walked up to the group and his face reddened a bit. He... did not seem to be wearing a shirt, which was alright, so.... yeah, that was swim attire, which should be expected. Quinn should've expected that. But his chest hurt a little bit when he stopped in his tracks and stood somewhere else. Quinn didn't connect Atlas's glance at Ash to any reason he wouldn't come stand closer. He thought they were getting back to some semblance of normalcy but.... at least there was a wave. So he waved back. He guessed... this was to be expected, too.

•••

Quinn thought about everything he had read about gillyweed to come up with something new to say about it. Almost everything had already been covered, sadly, but that was alright. "Gillyweed is supposed to have a very slimy, rubbery texture, which can make eating it rather difficult. So, I guess that'll be... interesting." Quinn wasn't very excited about eating the gillyweed and was even less excited about going in the lake. He... would rather not encounter the creepy creatures in there. Or his dream monster. But he didn't think his dream monster would actually be in there.... hopefully....

From everyone's answers...it seemed like they were supposed to be taking gillyweed and going in the lake? That sounded...a little cool. As long as the gillyweed didn't run out when there were all at the bottom of the lake, and then they'd all drown. No. Flamsteed wouldn't let that happen.

She hugged herself a bit (from nerves, not cold) and adjusting her gloves. She might...no, she'd probably not go all the way in the lake, still. Maybe she could stick her head in though? For just a second. Just to see.

She raised her hand. "Professor, is gillyweed used in potions?" she asked. It seemed like most magical plants were, and some mundane ones, too.

The witch's ganglion IS a super rare plant, and yes, Serena knew of it. The fact that it made the professor smile that big and impressed her, brought an actual smile to the redhead's face. Heh.

Wiping the smile off her face, Serena jotted down a few notes and then raised her hand for the next question. "Elladora Ketteridge first discovered the effects of Gillyweed, but a herbologist of the name Beaumont Marjoribanks was later given credit for it." Hmph! If THAT ever happened to Serena...if someone stole her discovery...she'd flick them in the throat.

Ooooh hey! Look at that. Remy had mentioned the topic of the day and, honestly, it just made Atlas all the more excited. Gillyweed was WAY better than a Bubblehead Charm (no offense to their Charms professor) and that only partly had to do with the traumatic experience that had come from last term while learning the charm. Specifically the experience of believing that one Kinsay James had a death wish for him. But that was all water under the bridge now.

Mostly.

Not holding a grudge at all.

Mostly.

Glancing over at Remy briefly, a grin curling his lips as he did, the Gryffindor remained clueless to Quinn's internal monologue with himself and the fact that they seemed both be on the same page while simultaneously be in entirely different libraries. Basically, being 12 was so complicated and surviving a war just made it more so. Maybe 13 would be less confusing. A boy could dream, right? Having unreasonable expectations was one of his things.

Still rocking back and forth on his heels, the aviators on his nose slipped all the way down and nearly fell right off his face. Thankfully the Gryffindor had moderate to above average reflexes and caught them at the last second before they did, but he decided to push them up all all aaaaaaaaaall the way up and used them like a headband for the moment. His blonde hair was getting kind of long and he hadn't really thought about that until just now with his hair out of his face.

"Gillyweed basically turns you into a fish! Gills and webbed fingers and toes and everything! Gillywater, however, does not do that when you drink it and that's really lame. So ... suppose that means that only when you have undiluted and raw form you get those results... do you HAVE to chew it or can you just suck it up like spaghetti and swallow it without chewing?"

Text book answer or not it had still been a right answer and Daniel could not help but smile at the praise. Before the smile disappeared and he sneezed again. Maybe he should go see the Healer... And maybe he should get some extra sleep over the weekend and not read his books in the middle of the night but they were so fascinating! MAGIC!

At the question about Gillyweed, the Hufflepuff knew that they would be going in to the water soon...the cold...water... The thought made him shiver and he hoped that his cold wouldn't be getting any worse. But the chance to see the Lake underwater was too good to push away so the first year pretended to be fine.

"There's a myth about a mortal who ate gillyweed and became a minor sea God!" he spoke enthusiastically after a sniffle of the nose.

Gillyweed?!

Very much internal squealing going on over her.

Dahlia tried not to appear to excited at the possibility of trying gillyweed. That would be a totally new and exciting experience. Getting to have gills and webbed hands and feet?! Having to chew the slimy gross stuff wasn't even really a thought in her mind at the moment. If this didn't happen today she was going to be seriously disappointed. Could they get started now and go into the water?!

Siiiiiigh..

Okay, so what did she know about gillyweed. Pretty much exactly, every single thing that had already been said. Lia crinkled up her nose a tiny bit not really wanting to repeat any answers so maybe she could just add onto what had already been said? Raising her hand first she gave her answer. "I remember reading once somewhere that it is used in potions but I can't really recall which ones but I do know that just one small spring of gillyweed when consumed can allow you to survive under water for around an hour." Which was a pretty decent amount of time to be swimming around.

Why was it that whenever Atlas spoke, V had no clue what he was talking about? She stared at him for a flat-out FIVE WHOLE SECONDS as he spoke and then just shook her head at him. "Okay. That's swell." All she got from that was that the sun could tell someone the time. HOW? There was much confusion. Science was dumb.

And useless.

They had magic.

But she liked Atlas regardless for the sole reason that he didn't let Daniel forget his hypocrisy from earlier in the term. Even if he spoke a whole lot about things V didn't care to know about.

Wait a minute ---- she RAISED HER HAND. "How is CORAL an animal?! It has no FACE. MOUTH. EARS????" How mouth was in a COMPLETE O SHAPE. THERE WAS ENORMOUS SHOCK. Wow. Wo would have THOUGHT.

She still really liked coral colored things.

And no, V knew nothing about gillyweed. It sounded horribly ugly but cool since it could apparently make them breathe underwater? OH. WOULD THEY BE DOING THAT??

Nem's strained smile was cause for some concern. Kinz wanted to check in with him and see if he was sad, but before she had the chance, class had already begun and Nem had pulled out a book. Maybe she'd ask later. But she diiiiiiiid lean over just a tiny bit to see if she could catch what he was reading about (spoiler alert: she could not).

Nem wasn't the only one to be proper upset with the lesson though. Because after that one first year (Victoria) countered Kizzy's question so unkindly, Kinsay James began to frown. "Tentacles," she corrected the younger girl quietly, not wanting to be incessant and interrupt class. This was also, coincidentally, the reason why she didn't immediately counter V's explanation. Kinsay didn't think Squids wore watches! She never said that!! And now EVERYONE thought that's what she meant!

Which made her feel silly. And feeling silly was not a thing that Kinsay liked very much at all.

So when Atlas spoke up to explain more about squids and time, Kinsay was already very much disengaged. She was also disengaged when Professor Flamsteed added to the conversation too. In fact, the only thing that somewhat reeled her back into the lesson was when Mamie mentioned ducks. But only somewhat.

So when the next question was posed to the class, Kinsay didn't feel super up to answering it. Not until the same first year spoke again and Kinsay suddenly felt the need to stand up for herself. Sort of. "You don't need a face or ears to be an animal," she pointed out very politely with her hand still extended in the air. "Corals can't make their own food, so they can't be plants." Actually, this could very well be wrong. Kinsay wasn't entirely sure what corals could or couldn't do, but plants did photosynthesis and if Professor Flamsteed said that corals weren't plants then there was a high likelihood that Kinz was right. Maybe.

Also, now that her hand was up and she felt better about class again, Kinsay had a question about gillyweed gills. "Professor Flamsteed? Will gillyweed give us shark gills? Or fish gills?" Because there was a difference. Shark gills were way cooler because they didn't have something covering them up and there were LOTS of them. Bony fish only had one on each side and they had these weird flaps so you couldn't even see them! Kinsay knew because she used to have a fish before she killed it it died.

More than fine here too, quite content reading, occasionally flipping a page with unnecessary force. Flip. Nem was more than aware of some of the younger kids distractedly trying to get a look at what they were reading, but that was nothing to do with them. Flamsteed was a funny one; she made her feelings far more clear than was really wise. Just handing them ammunition.

Gillyweed. Who could have expected.

Nem still had nothing to say to June Flamsteed.

Flip.

Okay, so gillyweed. For the second time today, Heath wasn’t surprised by the direction the lesson took, but he was curious as to what they were going to do with the gillyweed. Was that what they were going to observe in the lake? Or maybe they were going to eat the gillyweed so they could breathe underwater to do something else? He supposed he’d find out soon enough. For now, he focused on the question… a little too focused, it turned out. He spent so much time thinking that his classmates once again beat him to every fact that came to mind.

Feeling frustrated with himself, he racked his brains for something - anything else to say. All he could think of was Harry Potter’s use of gillyweed for the second task in the 1994-95 Triwizard Tournament… but that was more of a History of Magic answer than a Herbology one. Not at all confident in his answer, he kept quiet this time.

Eeeep, she had received a point!! Not only that, her answer was the topic of the lesson, which felt super cool. Remy beamed and looked around the class to see her friends’ reaction to how smart she was.. Totally smug.

Remy was a little distracted listening to Atlas’ answer, not for any reason other than it was a bit of a… waffle. Also - SHE was gonna mention webbed feet. Hmpth.

As for more information about Gillyweed, Remy had to really think back on what she has recently read about it, since she had already given a small blurb about it. “Apparently it’s really slimy and I bet it’s really gross to actually eat it…” It wasn’t the best fact in the world, but in an effort to not repeat what had already been said…

She shuddered a little, better get in that warm water soon. It had better be warm!!

Gillyweed?

Emmerson had a fair idea of where this lesson was going already. Usually, if something was the focus, it was inevitable they would use it. In this instance, that meant the lake, in the morning, cold water, probably ugly merpeople. This was really not working out to be her day, was it?

“Gillyweed is one of the surest ways to make sure I stop looking cute, Professor. Do you know what gills would do to this?” She asked, gesturing to her face, the one she’d bothered to put lipgloss and eyeliner onto. No one told her before she left her dorm to make sure she used the water proof one. Dressing water appropriate for her sounded more like a possibility her feet would get wet.

“I’m also having a REALLY good hair day. I got my bun just right and the curls here at the front tool ages to get right. Can’t we learn about snargaluffs instead? It’s too early for me to be dripping wet and unattractive!”

Why was no one else this concerned??

It was important.

June retrieved her wand as the students started speaking.

"Right you are," June nodded before flicking her wand toward the chalkboard she had placed on the tree behind them. And one by one the right answers made their way on to the board.

And as per tradition - most of the answers were on point. The wayward ones did what they usually did, and June wasn't surprised or bothered by them. Miss James took care of Miss Gellar's question, and June decided to address the relevant questions altogether as she moved the class along:

SPOILER!!: the chalkboard

Helps to breath underwater
Gives consumer gills and webbing, making it easier to swim underwater
Scientific name is Cuscuta oxygenium
You can't breathe air when the gillyweed is in effect
Grey-ish/green-ish in colour
Undiluted and raw form can get you better results
One small spring of gillyweed can allow you around an hour under water
Native to the Mediterranean Sea
Allows humans to adjust to the water's temperature
Elladora Ketteridge discovered Gillyweed, but herbologist Beaumont Marjoribanks got the credit for it.

"Excellent answers, everyone" she repeated for the second time today. "Gillyweed is a very very useful plant. It has helped the wizard kind travel underwater with great ease for many many years. A small amount of this plant can give you hours underwater. And besides the added benefit of breathing underwater - it also helps you adapt to the water's temperature - why I wasn't concerned to hold this lesson during this time of the year" she smiled, before walking up to the tree and pulling open a box - which held her record player.

"I know some of you are concerned about the swimming part - but the area I have chosen for you is relatively shallow, and yes - I have charmed the area to a limit - which means you can't go where I didn't intend you to go. And the gillyweed? It's fish like gills will also help you move under water."

"Now - lets warm up a little before we step in there, shall we?" June beamed and tapped her record player to play an up beat tone. Was Schmoe nearby? She was sure he could help with this part. Moving to the front again, June Flamsteed placed her hands on her hips, and announced over the beat of the music playing "now you can follow me - or just move with the music, the point of this is to get your muscles warmed up and ready, so lets go!". Immediately after, the brunette very enthusiastically started doing some stretches, followed by some lunges, "Come on - everybody, looook alive!"

OOC: Mini Activity is UP, you guys! And it's very simple! Just move I'll post June again very soon - doing some more movements. If you want your character to follow June to the tee,THESE are the movements she is performing As always, have fun!

Lia took great care in listening to everything that June was saying and all the answers that had been magical transferred onto chalkboard. All of this information was important and she sort of wished that she had a sheet of parchment and quill out so she could write it all down. Just because it was stuff she already knew didn't mean that she didn't like to be prepared on the chance that she may need it at some point. Once the lesson was over she would have to write down everything for her own comfort purposes.

Yesssssssss! They were going to be getting into the water and swimming! Obviously. Otherwise wearing their swimwear would've been a complete waste. Dahlia smiled brightly, still rocking back and forth on the heels of her sneakers. She was super ready to get into the water! And even more ready to test out the gillyweed for herself too!

Nooooooo! She let out a breathy sigh as a the music player began. Sure she loooooved music but she just wanted to get into the water already. The small second year placed her hands on her hips and got ready to follow Flamsteed. Allllllll of the stretching and lunging in her area were being done. She was going to make sure she was ready to get into that water!

Ash was always in the mood for swimming. She was NOT in the mood for this warm up. But whatever. She did the warm-up. It wasn't intense enough to distract her from her thoughts tho. Every time she did a rep of the exercises, she thought about how Atlas hated her enough to avoid his actual legit bestie. Every time she did another rep, she thought about how this scenario happened with lots of different people. Ashley Fox really did NOTHING but break friendships, didn't she? And that thought tasted awful, in an acidic way. Like barf. It burned. After a while of this, her mood was pretty much just irritated/guilty/pain. Could they get in the water please? The water would distract her. It would get all the awful-tasting thoughts out of her head, replaced by calm, bland, flavorless, murky thoughts. She really needed to get in the water soon. She could feel it, because her face was getting redder. Not from the exercise though.

Okay, yes.

Claudine knew a fair few of those facts about gillyweed. The point about fish gills was noted. She had watched Flamsteed with interest as that box was opened. Oh. A record player. The girl’s thoughts dashed wildly back to that particular Runes lesson where they had been asked to dance. Though she had enjoyed the activity then, she was in no mood for a repeat. When Flamsteed clarified that they’d be doing exercise warm up, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Off Claudine went, following the woman’s leads. She mostly enjoyed the lunges and stretches for some reason. That’s why she found herself doing those. But wait. “Ashley?” The Snakette paused, holding her position - weight on one leg and arms in the air - and eyed the Ravenclaw's red face. “Um… is something wrong?”

... Alright, so getting to try Gillyweed and swim around in the lake sounded like a legitimately cool class and he was pretty excited. He was a fairly decent swimmer, but the Ravenclaw briefly wondered if he had NOT been if taking Gillyweed also made you better? The webbing made you FASTER sure, but what about talented in general? He made note to ask Professor Flamsteed later, as now it was time for warm up and stretches.

His Professor's were very conscientious of stretching weren't they? It was ... peculiar but not unwelcomed.

The music genre would not have been his first choice, but it was still nice to have some background music. The third year reached his hands over his head, stretching left with his right arm over head, and then switching to some other sides. He did this a few times before starting some lunges as well, loosening up all of his limbs as best he could before it was time for swimming.

Hopefully the Gillyweed didn't taste SUPER gross.

Stretch, stretch, stretch. Easy enough. Eden looked around at her friends as she copied Professor Flamsteed's exercises. Was Quinn really not excited? She knew he liked the tamer plants, but gillyweed wasn't too crazy - just really, really, really COOL. He probably didn't want to go swimming. Ashley looked like she was going through it, but...when was Ashley not going through it? Eden was about to open her mouth to inquire about it when Claudine intervened.

That was fine with her. She wanted to focus on the fact that she'd be swimming and not the fact that she'd shortly be in only a swimsuit.

Stretch, stretch, stretch.

THEY WERE GOING TO TRY GILLYWEED AND GO SWIMMING?

BEST. HERBOLOGY. CLASS. EVER!!!!

She couldn’t wait so she bounced a little, waiting for the Professor to give more instructions. What she didn’t expect was them NEEDING to stretch. Oh. Okay. Stretchy stretch tiiine.

Lisa arched her right eyebrow as she watched Professor Flamsteed revealed and tapped a record player. Music started to play and she was showing them some stretches to do now. They were.... required to stretch in swimsuits? Lisa looked to her left and then to her right before shrugging and then began stretching too. She followed along, watching Eden stretching and mirroring her some of hers.

Claudine’s voice brought her attention to Ashley and she turned her gaze, curious to see what was going on. She frowned, worried about her older friend who looked so lost in thought.