Old clothes? Yep, Jude had dug out some of his rattiest clothing {which truthfully wasn’t that ratty looking since he prided himself in dressing properly}. This comprised of acid washed jeans {which had once been jet black} ripped at the knees, a light blue button shirt and a worn pair of boots that he had almost thrown out but had for some reason changed his mind about. “Hi, professor!’’ What will they be potting today, hmmm? His gaze surveyed his surroundings.

What pretty flowers!!! They were exactly the mix that Jude adored: bright, eye-catching colours! Oh, his Hufflepuff heart was in love with them all, even the green and blue {eh?} ones! “Loving those flowers already!’’ After announcing this bit, he flounced off to have a seat where he could clearly admire the tulips. Could he by chance have a pink one? No, an orange one! Yellow? Blue?

Could he have them all instead?!

No Disney inspiration to be seen today, as Mouse made her way down to the greenhouse in a pair of her favorite jean overalls - patches smattered around the legs and a simple blue long sleeved top underneath. She'd seen the notice about being prepped to get dirty, and that was what this look was for her. And old stains around the cuff of her pants especially showed this was not the first time this particular gardening look would was seeing the light of day. She'd helped her maman in their small green houses plenty of times - and she'd always made sure she had clothes specifically designated to do so.

Which tended to come in handy for class situations, such as today. Making her way into the greenhouse, she eyed the tulips with interest - an eyebrow raised a bit at the unusual colors - before she found herself a folding chair to settle into. "Hello, Professor. Hi, Jude! Wonderful day to dig in the dirt. " but low key wasn't any? She might not be brilliant at Herbology, but she certainly liked to give it a go.

"Hello Professor" Maxine said with a smile. Herbology could be fun. "I love tulips" She added making her way into the greenhouse. She was ready for good lesson. But tulips were not exactly magical were they? Wonder what they had in store for them today.

Maisey was always excited for Herbology. Always. So much in fact that since today the could wear comfortable clothes that she didn't mind getting dirty. Today the first year was sporting a t-shirt with sunflowers on it, with squiggly words saying 'You're a sunflower and a pair of patched-up dark blue jeans. She also had slipped on her sunflower designed crocs and a pair of green fuzzy socks to keep her toes warm. In her opinion she had the perfect outfit for the day.

The young Slytherin practically bounced all the way down to the greenhouses. Walking to the temporary greenhouses, she spotted the covered up plants. She remembered those! She didn't have to duck down to get in through the door. She smiled as she also spotted the professor. 'Good Morning, Professor DeVries!" She turned and seen "Oh... tulips!" She could not believe how many different color tulips that were in front of her. Wow it was like a rainbow of tulips. She waved at the older students who were already there Jude and Mouse "Hey Jude, Mouse." She said brightly with a smile. She was starting to warm up the older students. Always trying to make a good impression on them.

Dressed in old clothes…check.

Gardening gloves to pot with…check.

Rajesh was ready for the latest herbology class, the seventh year making his way down to the temporary greenhouse when the time was right. He ducked as he moved to the doorway, just a touch glad he wasn’t nearly as tall as the herbology professor as he made his way inside. “Good day, Professor,” he greeted the man in question standing off to one side, his gaze looking around to take everything else currently surrounding him in the greenhouse. Ooooo…tulips. In a rainbow of colors. Definitely an improvement from the drabber colors outside in the winter weather.

“Hey guys,” he greeted both Mouse and Jude as he settled into a folding chair of his own. And awaited what was up with the tulips besides the colors seeing as on their own currently, they seemed a bit mundane for the average lesson.

Brandon's first thought upon entering the herbology class was that his sister would love the flowers. His second thought was that HE loved the flowers!!! Completely enchanted, he came to the front and looked at them closely, taking a little mental picture and noticing every color and detail of the flowers. He even let out a little happy sigh. He loved flowers! "They're beautiful, Professor DeVries."

Smiling, he took a seat next to Maisey. He was more smiley than usual- he could always find a reason to smile at flowers.

Bella made her way down the temporary greenhouse clad in an old hoodie, old jeans with holes, and some old sneakers. She also had a pair of dragonhide gloves with her as well as writing materials in her backpack. Bella eyed all the fragrant vibrant flowers as came closer to the rest of the group. She sent a smile over in greeting to Professor De Vries. "Good day Professor, so many pretty flowers!" Heading over towards Jude she shot smile to the others already present "Hi Mouse, Hi Maxine, Hi Rajesh, Hi Maisey and Hi Brandon!"

Stomping over to sit down in an empty folding chair next to her friend Bella greeted with a beam. "Hi Jude," lowering her voice so hopefully Professor De Vries didn't hear her she asked in a whisper "Should i feel bad for thinking the plants we helped with in the fall were mandrakes, and not something as harmless as tulips."

Tapio waited just five minutes for any latecomers, then stepped forward in front of the tulips to begin the class. "All right, everyone, please give me your attention. As you all may have guessed by now, today's class will involve tulips. Before we begin to talk about the plants we're working with shortly, can anyone tell me anything about tulips? Because there were a lot of similarities between ordinary tulips, such as might be found in any Muggle garden, and the tulips standing before them now--and a few differences as well. But that would come later.

His admiration for the tulips {and his thoughts about Keigh’s superpowers from last term} were only interrupted by the appearances of friends and classmates. Not that these were bad interruptions. “Hi, Mouse! Definitely! Maybe we can see if we can find any worms today.” He grinned, quite up for this suggestion at any point in their lives. One of the saddest things about bonding with the younger students was that he was graduating soon and he’d be out of their lives for a while. But Maisey… he liked Maisey a great deal. “Hi!’’ Then there were the seventh years whom he knew well. “Hello, Raj, Bella!” Jude nudged Bella playfully. “But do we know these just harmless tulips?” he whispered back. “After all, Bouncing Bulbs look innocent enough.”

And off the lesson went!

So… tulips. What did this Hufflepuff know about them?

“Tulip petals can be consumed, and are commonly used in salads,’’ he volunteered once called upon. Can you imagine having such a colourful salad?! Like… souldn’t it be too pretty to eat?!

Each individual who had entered after got an enthusiastic smile and a greeting, particularly those who had caught her attention by name. "Hi Maisey!" She had quite the soft spot for the majority of the first years, perhaps because she was slowly warming up to the step-sib or perhaps just because she felt a certain kinship with them having traveled to the castle with them this term. Brandon got a smile as well as he sat on the other side of Maisey. And then Raj and Bella were both in not long after and she smiled and wiggled her fingers at both in greeting - smile widening the slightest bit more. "Hi guys!" Jude's remark about worms caught an amused expression from her but before she could ask anything, class was starting.

What did she know about tulips? Ermm... well, truth be told this knowledge was very limited. But she did have one tidbit. Raising her hand she waited her turn before offering anything. "In the language of flowers, tulips represent perfect and deep love. This meaning can be changed by what color is presented but... it starts there." Was that helpful for the lesson? Probably not, but she liked to participate.

Somehow, and it really shouldn't be a surprise, Mercer was already dirty. He hadn't been near a plant yet, but here he was, filthy hands and smudged face. He gazed at the tulips with great interest, hoping to see if they started spitting fire or whistling the school song. Anything, really, although they were pretty enough without any fancy tricks.

Tulips? What did he know about tulips? "They grow from bulbs, yeah? Like little dried up onion things that you put in the ground and it just manages to produce an actual plant from it."

Brandon wrote down in his notebook a list of things he knew about tulips. He knew a lot. Scientific name, how to grow them best, when and where they grew best, what you could do with them, what colors they... his writing slowed to a stop. "They're not supposed to be blue unless dyed. The bluest nonmagical tulips are much more purple. They don't have the pigment or conditions to be properly blue." And yet... he was sure that these tulips were the real deal, not dyed or artificial. "Which means that these ones are magical, I guess."

It bugged Brandon how many things magic could do that couldn't be done otherwise. He didn't like that, not that he said so out loud. He just kept adding to his list.

Bella took another good look at plants surrounding them before whispering back to Jude as she nudged him back playfully."Aren't bouncing bulbs smaller and move around on the spot?" As far as this snakette had seen these plants hadn't moved an inch since they got there. Sadly there was no more room for small talk as the lesson got started.

What did she know about tulips? Contemplating Bella raised her hand "Tulips can produce new bulbs when they bloom after a year if you care for them correctly. I also think if i recall correctly that tulips originate from Asia or the Netherlands." At least that was what she had heard, and read about the muggle version of the plants.

Lola hadn't said hi when she came in, preferring to not talk unless she was asked a question. She brushed her dark bangs out of her eyes and listened to the chatter of her classmates subside to be replaced by the first question... about the colorful tulips.

This time she had to answer. People might notice if she stayed silent the entire class. But did she know anything about tulips? Aside from how they looked, not really. She considered admitting it. No. That would be lame. Her hand shot up.

"Tulips are a thin flower that look kind of plasticy." Plastic, like some of the people here. "If roses didn't exist, people would give each other tulips instead. They kind of look similar, at least, they usually do..." Probably not an impressive answer from a Ravenclaw, huh.

There had to be something she was missing - again tulips weren't that magical - I mean flowers in general held at type of magic right? Like red for love and all that - but she didn't see how a muggle flower was going to keep them busy all day - okay that's not fair her mother grew all kinds of non magical flowers and she spent all day in the garden in the spring .. back to to the task at hand.

"Tulips are Tulips are native to Central Asia ... I think anwway and they are the national flower of Turkey. She remembered that from a family trip there to visit their uncle who now lived there. Strange the facts our brains rememeber.

Tulips? That seemed easy enough. Nancy admired flowers, but wasn't a big fan of having to actually DO any gardening or take care of them or anything like that. She appreciated their beauty, though, and was very intrigued to see what MAGICAL tulips were like. They WERE going to be studying magical tulips, right? She assumed that's where they would be going with this...

She raised her hand. "Rabbits really like the taste of them, apparently. My mum always had some when I was growing up and I remember she'd get so mad when the rabbits would eat all of them!" she explained.

Maisey smiled. Taking one of the folding chairs nearest to her. She smiled and waved at Brandon as he came and sat down beside her. Bella arrived and Also got a smile and wave. Finally the lesson was getting off to a start. She didn’t know much about the flower exactly but she was going to make a guess. She raised her hand “Tulips are related to lilies, onions, garlic and asparagus.”

As the students had been giving their answers, Tapio had used his wand to move a large whiteboard on an easel over in front of the class and he had been writing each fact on it as they went along (writing with magic, of course).

Text Cut: Whiteboard

TULIPS

• edible (for humans)
• means true and deep love
• grow from bulbs
• older bulbs can reproduce--"naturalizing"
• make good gifts
• first recorded in Central Asia
• national flag of Turkey (also several others)
• rabbits like to eat leaves
• belong to lily family (Lillaceae)

"Those were all very good answers," Tapio said. "Now, as Mr. Fox guessed, these are not ordinary tulips, such as one would find in any Muggle garden. They are in fact a magical variety which look nearly the same, except for some of the unusual colors, which have to be kept out of sight of Muggles. But the main difference is not in the way they look."{/b] As he had been talking, Tapio had slowly walked over to one of the groups of tulips--the blue ones--and gently picked one up and carried it back to the front of the room, where he carried it to a small narrow table he'd placed there earlier. (My, he was glad his arm was no longer in a sling!Thought it had given him some trouble, a combination of Japanese remedies sent him by some acquaintances he'd met over the summer and the efforts of the school Healer, Professor Feirgrund, had quite cured him and he was as good as ever.)

Placing the tulip ever so gently upon the table, Tapio took a step back and gently touched the stem with his wand. The tulip swayed slightly and emitted a clear, soft trilling sound. When the sound had died out after a minute or so, Tapio said quietly, "These are called Trilling Tulips, and when planted together in compatible groups, the sounds they make are truly wonderful.

After pausing a minute or so to let the experience sink in, Tapio went on, "The key to planting them is to coordinate the colors. Some colors blend nicely together to make a pleasing sound, but others clash and then produce a rather sour note. Unfortunately, although there are some classic combinations of what to combine and what to avoid, the tulips themselves do not always follow the norm, and some seem to have their own notion of which colors match with them. Therefore, it's best to group them together in a separate staging area ahead of time to make sure you get the sound you want, before planting them in their final homes. That's what we will be doing today--creating small groups of tulips that blend together, and then taking them over to Greenhouse One to plant in the beds next to the Honking Daffodils. If we do this correctly, it should produce a very musical display over there.

Now, to help you out, I've prepared a list of the tulip colors we have here today and their meanings, because you can take those into account as well as the colors in grouping them." Tapio waved his wand and the white board turned around to reveal a list of colors written in Tapio's bold, printed handwriting.

Text Cut: Tulip Colors and their Meanings

• Red - love and romance
• Pink - happiness and confidence, good wishes
• Yellow - happiness, cheerfulness, and hope
• Orange - understanding and appreciation
• Purple - royalty and elegance, rebirth
• Blue - individuality and uniqueness
• White - innocence, forgiveness, respect
• Green - fresh beginnings, hope

"So, what I want you to do is, get into small groups, or you can work alone if you really want to. Then select a small group of tulips, two or three different colors that you think go well together--you could even try four if your ambitious, but no more than that. Carry them one by one over to one of the staging areas I've set up around the greenhouse." Tapio gestured with one hand at a number of little cubicle-like areas around the walls of the greenhouse, separated by clear partitions that almost looked like Muggle plastic--but these were magic, designed to keep any sounds inside each area, and protect it from sounds from outside. "Set each of your tulips next to the others, then touch each one on the stem with your wand--it doesn't have to be the same wand, you can all take a try if you're in a group. Then stand back and see if the sound is pleasing or not. Oh, and you should grab a pair of earmuffs before you get started." Tapio pointed to the large box of earmuffs that had been on the supply wagons way back in the fall when the students had helped him unload things, and took the opportunity to get a pair for himself. "These tulips won't hurt you, knock you out or kill you like a Mandrake's sound, but the noise can get pretty awful if you pick the wrong combination, so you may want to use them. If you do get a bad sound, try to figure out which color of flower is causing it and replace it with another choice. I'll be walking around to check your groups and to help, if you need it. So, everybody clear on that? Then let's get started!"


[OOC: So, is that clear as mud? PM me if you have questions, or have your student ask Tapio IC. You can base how many tulips you try to match (2, 3, or 4) based on your student's age and skill at Herbology (and maybe confidence). Putting the colors you use in your post's title line would really help me, and don't RP the result of your choices, I will (promise) be keeping a close eye on this starting tomorrow (Feb. 18) afternoon and will rp the results. This half of the main activity will continue for about 3-4 days, so have fun with it!]

“It bounces around like a maniac,’’ Jude said to Bella with a nod, one hundred percent sure of this. Then he was paying attention to the class and all the happening while, of course, being distracted by the pretty tulips. Such attractive things they were! But were poisonous to certain creatures. Right! There was no way he’d be having his itty bitty Ned eating any of it!

Fascinated, Jude watched as DeVries touched the stem of the blue tulip with his wand. Trilling Tulips! Yes, Jude had heard of those. He had always associated them with singing, since that’s what their sounds reminded him of. He tapped his bare knee through the ripped pieces of his jeans, his anticipation for the activity just growing. This was going to be so much fun! It was like trying out melodies and lyrics together on the piano, something which he had been doing a lot of recently. Let’s see if he’d be able to translate this into work with the tulips!

“Want to work with me?” the Hufflepuff asked Mouse and Bella. They were, after all, two of his closest girl friends at Hogwarts. “I think red and pink would go smashingly together! Yellow too.”

Big romantic here, people! Big romantic. Uh huh.

He grabbed three pairs of earmuffs: one each for himself, Mouse and Bella regardless if they choose to work with him or not.

"It'd be cool to see a bouncing bulb sometime." Bella murmured to Jude before focusing on the lesson at hand. Taking up her quill, ink bottle, and some parchment she began copying down all the facts about magical tulips as they appeared on the big whiteboard.

Watching with curiousity Bella saw how DeVries put his wand to the stem of a tulip that then produced a sound. Wicked! So these were trilling tulips, pretty cool! They could make their own little melody with the help of the right combination of plants. Then came they the activity and they had to partner up. Luckily Jude offered right away so Bella didn't need to debate over who to ask. "Yes, I want to be partners with you Jude and Mouse too, if she wants?" She chimed in with a smile to her friend before briefly looking over at Mouse with a smile too. Hopefully she'd join them too. After accepting a pair of earmuffs from Jude that she weighed in her hands Bella said "Sure red, pink and yellow seems like a good first try. There is purple too that we can try later. Let's move some plants then shall we?" With those words she walked over to lift up, and then carry a red tulip plant over to one of the staging areas assuming that Jude if not Mouse too were walking behind her with plants in their hands.

Okay, maybe describing tulips as looking like plastic was a stretch too far. At least Professor DeVries liked the other part of her answer - the one about tulips being gifts like roses.

She made notes as each color was explained to her. Purple and white looked good to her, and she liked the meaning of blue, but something was missing. Her hand shot into the air. "Professor, why are there no black tulips?" Or were their black tulips, but maybe they represented a vice instead of a virtue? Lola very much liked the color black, being Goth and all.

Team activity time. Oh, goody. Sarasam. Lola didn't usually do good on a team; she was seen as too aloof and her dislike of being touched even accidentally only reinforced this mentality. But she supposed it was always worth giving it a shot. She'd give others one shot to join her, on her terms. "I'm going to combine blue and purple," she said to no one in particular. This was as close as she would get to inviting someone to join her. If no one joined her, she'd be content to try this on her own. She walked over to grab the blue flower with one hand.

Her surprise that her shared information had been even somewhat relevant to today's lesson was vast. But with the shock, also came excitement. Were they really trying to make music by combining characteristics of the tulips to see what complimented what? Apparently so and that was a VERY cool idea if one was to ask her. She was already staring at the list and contemplating a multitude of options, before the Hufflepuff's question caught her attention and she turned her eyes towards Jude and Bella, nodding and giving a smile at their invitation. "That sounds lovely!"

Accepting the pair of earmuffs he'd grabbed for her with gratitude, she slipped it over her ears as she considered Jude's suggestions, giving a nod in agreement. "I think red, pink and white could be an interesting combination as well. Both in meaning and in color coordination." Considering red and white together made pink from a color mixing standpoint. And it did sound like there was a variety of ways to approach the project. "But maybe we save that to try after red, pink and yellow?" Just in case they needed an extra idea. Though purple would be interesting too, though she didn't know how well it would blend.

Following along after Bella, Mouse picked up a Pink tulip in order to then follow her to place it at their claimed staging area. "Should we each try tapping a color once they're all placed together?"

"Well, Miss A., there are in fact black tulips--they were created by careful breeding by horticulturists fairly recently. Before that, they were only a myth, found only in novels and such. But those are ordinary tulips, the kind wizards and Muggles both might have in their gardens. Unfortunately, there are no black trilling tulips, so I didn't bring any today. I'm afraid you'll have to make do with ordinary colors for this exercise. But if you like, I'll try to get hold of a few when I next go home to the Netherlands. There's a variety called the 'Queen of Night' tulip." Tapio was in fact planning to plant a tulip garden around his cabin in the spring, so maybe he could get one of his friends back home to find him some black ones.

Jude glanced at the board, at the meaning of purple and white as he slipped his own pair of earmuffs around his neck for the time being - it was exactly as when he wore his headphones there while having a conversation with someone. “I think white also goes well with red and pink,’’ he agreed. “For purple, I’d say blue and green sounds like a great combo!” There really was going to be a bunch of combinations for them to try and the guys could hardly wait to get started!

The Badger grabbed the Hufflepuff yellow tulip and followed the girls, already loving the activity and the way that he, Mouse and Bella were working as a team. He placed it down on the staging area. “We should! Don’t forget to secure your earmuff just in case, ladies! We’ll go after three.” Earmuffs in place, he held his wand in his right hand, Jude lifted his hand to do a countdown.

Three, two, ONE!

Exactly as DeVries had done, the tip of his dragon heartstring wand to the stem of the yellow tulip.

He’d give it a bit before cautiously lifting one side of the earmuffs to check on the sound. Didn’t want to startle his ears into any unpleasantness, did he?