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*Holmesian Feline* · 05-18-2025, 02:51 AM

On an early autumn morning, Greenhouse Two is a comfortable oasis for human and plant alike, though it isn’t time for relaxing. The chill of the later season hasn’t yet fully hit in the shelter of the castle, and the assorted plants situated around the perimeter of the greenhouse are looking still quite perky. But then one who knew the man in charge of them knew he would hardly leave them to look less than content in their surroundings. Instead basking in the morning light as if waiting for the lesson themselves.

Come in when you arrive, Professor Cole is awaiting your arrival for the latest Herbology lesson, the man in question standing just inside the door to the greenhouse to greet everyone. Feel free to settle in with your classmates and supplies amongst the stools scattered around the worktables but be ready to pay attention when the times comes. Hopefully you have your dragon-hide gloves as requested.

ooc: Welcome to Herbology. This is obviously not the first lesson of the term so act as such.
Also, please remember to label your first post at least with your students name to make it easier to be sure which student and house gets credit.
Lesson will officially begin in roughly 24 hours.

Class Progression
Greetings and First Question
Responses and Second Question
Mini Activity
Main Activity

badger_boy_93 · 05-22-2025, 04:52 PM

Xerxes smiled and clapped his hands together in delight when Professor Cole put both of his suggestions up on the blackboard. He watched as the teacher added other medicinal plants to the list.

Then Professor Cole offered the class a bucket with stacks of cards in it. Xerxes took a stack and returned to his seat at the large trestle table. He took the binding off the stack of cards and laid them all out. Half of the cards had pictures (mostly of what appeared to be flowers) on them and the other half contained descriptions of where the plants were from and their uses in healing potions, balms, and tinctures.

Truthfully, Xerxes had absolutely no clue what any of these plants were called, nor what they were used for. He began to pair them up, merely guessing at which card matched which description.

First, Xerxes focused on the card with the white flower, thinking about how it looked and trying to pair it with an appropriate description (not that he had any inkling of the correct answer). He finally landed on the description: "Southern Europe. Reduces Inflammation. Speeds the healing process, especially wounds."

Next, Xerxes picked up the card with the yellow/orange flower in it. He had no clue what to pair it with so he closed his eyes and pointed at a random description card. His finger landed on: "Native to Asia. Ingredient in Skele-gro."

Third, Xerxes laid the card with the sinister-looking blossoming bulb on it. Of all the plants on these cards, this one looked to be the most magical, or maybe just the least Muggle. Therefore, he matched this card with the description: "Wandcore. Often in liquid form, used on open wounds."

Xerxes picked up the fourth card and laid it out directly in front of him on the table. This card contained a picture of a tiny yellow flower, with many blooms on a single stalk. There were only two description cards left, so now he thought to himself "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe. Catch a dragon by its toe. If he breaths fire, let him go. Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe. This one!" His finger landed on the description: "Native to Eurasia, the Middle East, and North America. Good for digestion, arthritis, and excites nervous system."

Xerxes then put the last picture card in his array. There was only one description left, so no decision or debate was necessary. He placed the last description card, which read: "Native to Mediterranean. Ingested; helps counteract spells.", on top of the picture card. This completed his matching exercise. Though he was not confident in the accuracy of his matches, he was at least confident that he had completed the mini-activity in its entirety and according to the instructions given.

"Professor Cole," Xerxes said out loud, raising his hand and looking around to catch his Professor's attention. "I think I've completed the assignment. Did I get any correct?" He gestured to his matched cards and held his hands out like the assistant in a Muggle game show would do to introduce a fabulous prize. "I did my very best." Xerxes explained, smiling and beaming up at his teacher.

Charely Potter · 05-22-2025, 06:06 PM

As soon as Diego left the Greenhouse, he sat down by the door to weep in peace. He just needed his Baba in the moment, and would've preferred to be left alone since it was embarrassing to have another witness him be this soft. But he didn't dismiss anyone, especially one of his close friends coming over to check. Without Baba, he nodded before allowing the feelings of missing his family to overcome him, as he sat up, knees to chest, head buried in forearms. Last year, he managed okay with the feeling of being homesick, but now it was a little more difficult since he had gained a new brother who added to the weight of people he missed. Moments like these made him wonder if he should've been in Gryffindor...

I'll be okay.. After a few minutes, Diego wiped his red eyes, took a handkerchief out to wipe his nose before he headed back in the Greenhouse. Rather than sad, he felt a mix of relief, numb, and a slight case of being mortified. His smile wasn't as bright as before, but enough for him to know he'll be able to handle the rest of the class. Arriving back at his seat he was back in time to hear the instructions before they were ordered to collect the packet of cards.

Once Diego approached the desk, he said quietly, "I'm sorry for disrupting and leaving the class, Professor.. I just needed a moment, and I feel okay now. Thank you for letting me do so." He took the packet of cards with another thanks before heading back to his seat to sort them out. Diego spread them across the table. The first one, looked like Clematis flammula, which was part of Europe & North Africa, so he slide the approach card matching. The second... Isn't this marigold? His Papa was much better at Herbology, and he was still learning things. The third one looked like Fanged Geranium, which was a part of Skele-gro. So he matched that... as for the others, he stared hard, trying to decide on the rest.

sweetpinkpixie · 05-23-2025, 09:54 AM

Oooooooh fun! Nyle played this game sometimes with the herbs grown in their garden back home! Or something like it. Usually it was more matching seeds to the image of the plant they would grow into but still along the same line of thinking. Also studying for Herbology exams had him leaning into making similar sorts of study guides ― which came in real handy for one of these plants in particular and his fingers still had the occasional phantom pain from where it had chomped him. The bite marks were gone at least, which lead him into being able to identify another one of the images. Or, well, at least he was pretty sure he had identified it.

The Hufflepuff tilted his head as he studied the picture cards he had fanned out over his station, the top row for the plant images and below them the cards bearing the descriptions, and rubbed his hands together as the mental gymnastics began. He was very confident that the white flower was wild rue. The plant was wiry and wild-looking, small yellow-green flowers clustered on branching stalks...though he was not certain at first which description best matched it so he would hold off doing that for the time being and hope that process of elimination would treat him well.

He moved to the second picture, eyes lighting up slightly at the flash of bright orange petals. Definitely Calenduleae, the distinct coloring made him confident enough in that choice but how resinous the center looked in the image pushed him even further towards the conclusion. It was easier to match this one to the description as well, it was grown in their home garden for a reason and we use it in some homemade healing salves for minor cuts and irritated skin. Nyle hesitated at the next image and squinted a moment before feeling a tad embarrassed he hadn't recalled it immediately ― his fingers certainly took great pleasure in reminding him while they brushed across the image. Chomping Cabbage. Yup. Right. That pesky bit of flora. If only he had better aim with his spell casting he might not have such a visceral reaction to the image and his face much less scrunched up.

The next image with yellow flowers gave him pause. Yellow yarrow? Wait...no...Ajania? The leaf shape was giving him more Ajania the more he squinted at it but it had always come across as more an ornamental bit of flora for some reason. Yellow yarrow did grow in the areas listed specifically on one of the cards...so, maybe he would stick with that for now...but he wasn't nearly as confident as he had been with the others thus far.

Finally, he reached the last card with unmistakable purple flowers. Or, well, he hoped they were as unmistakable as he believed! Cunila, dittany, and the bread and butter to every healer or witch and wizard who wanted to heal something. Though the description he was certain it belonged to included wandcore in the description and that was throwing him. He had never heard of dittany used in such a way but that certainly did not mean it was not true. He hardly knew everything there was to know about everything, after all. Iris was the one who knew all about wandlore, or at least knew loads more about them. So, a little uncertain but more certain of where one description belonged over the other, the third year arranged his cards into five sets of pairs on his station and leaned back to reflect upon his decisions.

He soon glanced up at the professor, expression both sheepish and quietly proud. He wasn't sure he got all of them right, but... it had been loads of fun. Like memory work, only with more petals...which was always a bonus.

Photos!: Nyle's card arrangement

WhittyBitty · 05-24-2025, 09:12 AM

Ooooh, it was time for an activity!

Aurora was excited and ready to do this. She had a lot of knowledge of healing plants because of spending so much time helping her mother with potion work over the years. Her mother had taught her all about the different ingredients that went into potions and what their effects were. So she was quite sure that she would manage to do a good job on this.

Taking her cards, she looked over them carefully. Then she got to work.

Right away she saw that the first plant was wild rue. Wild rue is used for digestion and arthritis. It also has the ability to excite the nervous system. Her mother explained to her that this was because of harmala alkaloids. There was more to it than that, but Aurora honestly hadn't fully understood it. She was still confident enough to place the two cards together.

The second plant she immediately identified as Calendula. That plant has a number of uses, and especially when it comes to skin conditions and the healing of wounds. It has anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties. It also is native to southern Europe. That was two down and three to go.

The third plant was definitely Chomping Cabbage. There was no way to mistake it. Aurora knew that it was native to Asia and was also an ingredient in Skele-gro. She placed the cards in the correct spot then moved on.

The next plant was the only one that made her slightly unsure. She squinted at the image before glancing at the cards that listed the different uses. She knew that Moly is a plant that helps counteract spells when ingested. But it was a white flower with a black stem. That didn't fit with any of the images. Hesitantly she placed the cards together, though she wasn't confident.

The last plant was Dittany. There was no doubt about it. It was the only wand core that had its liquid form used for the care of open wounds. She confidently placed the cards together then waited for the next part of the lesson. She couldn't wait to get working with the plants.

FearlessLeader19 · 05-24-2025, 01:59 PM

Id felt as though he might go a little dizzy with all the information being provided. Yes, it was sort of overwhelming, the good sort. Maybe he could turn this into one of those bonding moments with Dad E; they could talk about plants and healing. What a jolly, extra length conversation that would be! For now, the Lion busied himself by making his notes. By that time, Diego had returned. Idris gave him a look that wasn’t pity but understanding. Yep, he was surely going to check up on his Housemate later on.

As professor Cole instructed, the fourth year got himself one of the packets of cards from the bucket. Already he was absolutely excited about the task of ‘matching’ the pictures with the words. It shouldn’t be too difficult, should it? Hopefully his knowledge on medicinal plants would be sufficient today. If not… then he’d be learning, right?

Once seated again, Idris got to work.

SPOILER!!: Id’s work!

*Nordic Witch* · 05-25-2025, 05:37 AM

When Professor Cole mentioned the other uses of lovage to the whole class Jasper felt a blush come up his neck. If it was used to treat inflammatory things why did mum use it in cooking? Strange. Best not to dwell on that he told himself as the first mini activity was presented in the form of what Jasper viewed as a sort of plant memory where he had to match the right flower to the right description tricky, but fun.

Jasper went up front to get his cards, and then back at his seat he began matching the flowers and descriptions with energy and curiousity. The white flower he wasn't sure on but it looked like wild rue and that matched with native to the Mediterranean and counteract spells. The big orange flower he first wanted to say sunflower on, but landed on Calendula in the end since sunflowers weren't orange. He matched the Calenduela as coming from southern Europe and speeds the healing of wounds.

The brown plant Jasper immediatly identified as a chomping cabbage since his grandpa had grown some on his windowsill at home from time to time. That plant was native to Asia he knew as well as an ingredient of the Skele-gro potion. The fourth yellow flower Jasper hoped was dittany since it was the only plant he could think of. He debated on which of the two descriptions that matched but in the end chose the one that listed good for arthrits and exciting the nervous system...

The last purple flower he couldn't identify the name of Jasper was a total blank on that, the only thing he had to go on was the remaining description say that it was a wandcore. When done he checked over his matches one more time before sitting back in his seat to wait for the correct answers. Jasper had a tiny feeling that he had mismatched some pairs.

SPOILER!!: Jaspers work

*Holmesian Feline* · 05-25-2025, 05:04 PM

Leaving the students to their thoughts as they each come up as directed for their cards, Marcus took a moment to make sure everything was in place for the final activity. His attention was grabbed, however, as Mr. Melo-Dreamer made his reappearance inside Greenhouse 2. “All is forgiven for I am sorry my question caused upset,” he answered just as quietly, lightly waving off the thanks. “Though know if you ever need to talk, you can reach out to me.” Or any staffer for that matter. They were there to help, not just for classroom matters after all.

Once settled with his tasks as the Gryffindor returned to his seat, the herbology professor began a slow circuit around the perimeter of the greenhouse to observe the thought processes as guesses and matches were made before each of his charges. At Xerxes’ call and raised had, the man in question moved over to see what the first year had come up, glad to remark something in the positive. “I’m sure you did, Mr. Cadwallader,” he assured the boy with a smile. As a first year only in the second month of Hogwarts, he was hardly expecting him to get all of them correct as he was learning. “And you did get the fourth one correct.”

He continued around, the work of each of the gathered students was a mixed bag of answers. The professor encouraging each and every one with the ones they got right. “Great job, Mr. Harden” he remarked to the third year Hufflepuff who had successfully matched all ten cards to each other. “Good work, Ms. Bay, Mr. Grunt” he said, complimenting each in turn with a nod, the two of them having three of the five pairs matched. There appeared to be some confusion with the other two, though not the same two which was interesting. Finally he came up to Mr. Buckthorn and his work. “Great job, Mr. Buckthorn” he remarked, the Ravenclaw having gotten all his cards matched as well. All in all, it seemed as if everyone was grasping some of the varieties of healing plants and characteristics.

Returning to the front, Marcus turned his board around where he had kept the correct answers presented for all to see including the plant names. “Everyone did well for what they knew,” he encouraged as he stepped back, giving them a few minutes to copy stuff down in their own notes if they hadn’t been correct previously.

Quote:

1. Moly – Native to the Mediterranean/ ingested/ helps counteract spells
2. Calendula – Southern Europe/ reduces inflammation/ speeds the healing process, especially wounds
3. Chinese Chomping Cabbage – Native to Asia/ ingredient to Skele-gro
4. Wormwood – Native to Eurasia, the Middle East, and North Africa/ good for digestion, arthritis/ excites the nervous system
5. Dittany – Wand core/ often in liquid form/ used on open wounds

“Now for the rest of the lesson, we will be working on our harvesting,” Marcus informed the class bringing them back together. “We have Bubotuber pus and dittany leaves to collect,” he added motioning to either side of him and the greenhouse where the respective plants were. Granted mandrakes also populated the glass room they were currently in, but not only was it a lesser used supply, but the herbology professor would much prefer for a class focused solely on them given the needed precautions to work with them.

“As the dittany is the easier of the two, younger students and anyone truly not comfortable with the bubotuber are to work with that. Leaves are to be harvested either by cutting with some shears” a box stashed nearby for use. “Or a careful Diffindo,” he instructed, demonstrating by casting on one of the plants nearest him. “While it is its most aromatic and strongest when first in bloom it is useful regardless of what time of year it is harvested. "

“As for harvesting the bubotuber pus, it requires a bit more patience. However, I would encourage older students to at least give it a try.” A little patience and practice never hurt someone. “You’ll need pails,” he instructed, motioning to the pile by the plants,” and wear your dragonhide gloves at all times as undiluted pus causes skin irritations where the diluted helps with skin conditions. Simply massage and squeeze one of the protrusions and you should get results.” The professor slipping on his own gloves and working a little bit on one of the plants to demonstrate. The petrol-like smell not bothering him in the least from experience as it started to leak into the pail he held. “You may begin.”

ooc: Sorry for the delay…dealing with a personal issue. We’ll be wrapping up Wednesday. Have fun!

WhittyBitty · 05-25-2025, 05:37 PM

She had managed to do a good job. Despite not sleeping well the night before and getting herself a little confused. Aurora was rather pleased with herself all things considered.

It was finally time for the main activity.

Since she was a Fourth Year she would be working with the bubotubers, leaving the dittany for the students who were on the younger side. It wouldn’t be a problem for her just as long as she was careful. And the dragonhide gloves would keep her skin protected.

After putting on her gloves, Rory grabbed a pail. She was ready to start harvesting now.

FearlessLeader19 · 05-26-2025, 01:01 PM

Idris wasn’t sure if he had it all correct but the important thing was that he had done his best. While waiting for Professor Cole to move things along, he passed the time by drawing a tiny Nesquik on the top right corner of his book. He missed his little teeny, tiny baby. Oh, Nes wasn’t anywhere far, just somewhere in the Castle or some other part of the Grounds.

When he finally did check the board, Id saw that he had three out of five right. He was quite delighted because in his eyes, that was quite excellent. Beaming, he happily drew a heart next to Nes with a flourish. Then he pulled on his gloves because this Lion had every intention of working Bubotuber Pus. That is… fourth years were considered ‘older students’, yes? And not fifth years and up? Since Cole hadn’t specified, Id would just roll with it.

The Gryffindor grabbed a pail before skipping off to the Bubotubers.

badger_boy_93 · 05-26-2025, 02:21 PM

Xerxes paid close attention as the Professor gave the class their instructions for the main activity of today's lesson. They were going to be harvesting today. The Professor gave the students two different choices; one easier and the other more difficult/advanced. Being a first year student, Xerxes knew his choice was clear as day. He would pick Dittany.

Xerxes put on his dragon hide gloves (which were slightly overkill for such an innocuous plant) and grabbed a pair of shears. He began by identifying the freshest bloom on the stalk first. Professor Cole had said those leaves were the most efficacious. Once identified, he took his shears and began to cut. Soon he had a sizable pile of fresh Dittany leaves.

He took his pile over the large trestle table and added the freshly picked leaves to the larger pile being made by all the other students in the Greenhouse.

"All in a day's work!" Xerxes said to no one in particular. He looked around the Greenhouse, taking in all the sights of magical plants and students harvesting. As he observed, he wiped a smudge of dirt from his forehead.

WhittyBitty · 05-26-2025, 06:15 PM

Carefully Aurora went about the process of massaging and squeezing the protrusions of the plant so that she could gather the pus in her pail. It was just her luck that she was working with bubotubers when her mind was muddled do to a lack of sleep. The last thing she needed was to accidentally get some on the parts of her that weren’t protected by the gloves.

She was still glad to be here though, because it was one of her favourite classes. And she was working really slowly and carefully so that all of the pus made its way into the pail. As she worked, she fought off the urge to yawn.

*PhoenixRising* · 05-26-2025, 11:16 PM

Herbology wasn't one of Kartik's best subjects but he wasn't terrible with it either and he could see the benefits of being able to distinguish the different types of plants. Although as a seventh year he wasn't sure what he wanted to do yet, but he could see the beneficial properties of plants. When his head of house started off the lesson, Kartik was brought back to when him and his sister were sick a few years ago, the warm vegetable soup and tea was all he could stomach. It wasn't a formal potion in the potion class sense, but it was healing potion in offering comfort to him feeling better.

He listened as his classmates gave off plants with healing properties. But his mind still on the soup and tea, he couldn't really offer any unique plants.

Harvesting bubotuber pus and dittany leaves? Intriguing. Donning his dragonhide gloves, Kartik massaged the plant leaf, but it was difficult to do so with the gloves. He knew it was for his protection wearing them but it definitely didn't make them easy. He used the shear to cut off a piece of one of the bubotubers and gave a squeeze - followed by a little cough as he caught a whiff of the odor.

FearlessLeader19 · 05-27-2025, 11:19 PM

Before he got started, Id double checked that his gloves were securely in place. He did not want to damage his hands, mainly for the reason he was sure to cry before the entire class. But now he was getting to work, gingerly handling the bubotuber. His nose was already wrinkled; this was him bracing himself for the odor that was to come. Idris followed Professor Cole’s earlier demonstration, starting with the massage. He supposed that the purpose of that was to loosen up the pus so it drained easily? He made a face at that but decided he’d try to find out the answer later.

The Gryffindor, using both his hands, applied pressure to the Bubotuber as it was held over the pail. A second later the contents began to ooze into it, wafting the strong petrol-like odor at him. His nose wrinkled further. Aside from the odor, this activity was going along quite well. That was why after Id was finished with that Bubotuber, he moved onto another.

WhittyBitty · 05-28-2025, 02:34 AM

As Aurora worked, she noticed thar Idris was having a hard time with the strong petrol smell the bubotubers gave off. They definitely did stink, though she wasn’t really bothered by it. Sometimes you just had to deal with that kind of thing. And in time you’d get used to it.

Currently she was thinking more about when she’d be able to take a nap. The lesson should be finished soon. As it was she was about finished with the bubotuber she had been working with. Rory had gathered quite a bit of pus, but she could collect some more. She moved on to the next plant and began the process all over again. Massaging and squeezing the protrusions while making sure that she didn’t get any of the pus on her.

Charely Potter · 05-28-2025, 03:39 AM

Diego really appreciated the words of Professor Cole. He was considering talking with his Head of House, but the cloud of not wanting to bother was strong in the moment. For now, he'd focus on the lesson as he smiled and nodded with a thanks.

Diego then jotted down the correct answers into his notes, and he had gotten two of the answers correct. Now it was time for the nitty gritty of the activity. Diego decided that he would work on collecting the dittany and if he did well, then he could tackle on the Bubotuber pus. He put on the dragonhide gloves, before going over to the dittany leaves.

He saw the first year use the shears, but maybe as a second year he could work on Diffindo. He would just have to make sure he didn't slice his own hand in the process. Ahem. Taking the pail to hold under the leaves, he aimed his wand mimicking what Professor Cole did, "Diffindo!" and the leave was sliced... in half. Okay, at least it worked. So this time he worked a little higher to get a full leaf. "Diffindo!" Much better. On to the next.

*Holmesian Feline* · 05-29-2025, 01:48 AM

The second-year Gryffindor seemed to be in a calmer place at the moment, the professor echoing the boy’s nod at his thanks and letting the scene be truly in the past. Marcus was back on his feet to move around the working students if he was needed for assistance or anyone had any questions. However, it seemed like all was going well as they divided into two groups on either side of the greenhouse with ease. He did have to bite back a chuckle at some of the reactions he was seeing at the bulbotubers’ rather aromatic liquid sludge, the former Ravenclaw highly amused. At least he didn’t have anyone truly turned off by the work. No more upsets on his watch today.

Soon enough, the clock reached ending time and the herbologist returned to the front to gather their attention once more. “And with that, we should have a decent collection of both dittany leaves and bubotuber pus,” Professor Cole remarked with a smile as he leaned his hands on the workstation before him after glancing at his watch. “Great job everyone. I’m sure Professors Feirgrund and Carter will appreciate the assistance in keeping their stock well supplied.” As well as any teenagers dealing with a bad case of acne. Who knew…maybe one of those collecting the pus would be in need of their own hard work at one point in the upcoming months. “Class is dismissed once you’ve finished cleaning up and bringing what you worked on to me.”

ooc: Thank you all for coming! Thread will remain open for a day in case you want to post wrapping up and leaving.

*Nordic Witch* · 05-30-2025, 05:20 AM

Jasper listened attentively as the right plants and descriptions were announced by Professor Cole. 3 out of 5 wasn't a bad score considering that this was his first year still at Hogwarts. For the main activity they could either work with harvesting dittany leaves or bubotuber pus. He knew the petrol smell of the pus was pretty intense even if it was fun to squeeze out the pus from the bubotubers he went for the dittany leaves instead. Professor Cole had said they needed to harvest both plants and with a overflow of elder students Jasper who surely would go for the pus he got himself a pair of shears, and headed over to the dittany plants to get to work.

Pulling on his dragonhide gloves he then picked up his shears and began to carefully cut off the dittany leaves one by one. The smell of dittany was thick in the air too Jasper noted in this part of the greenhouse. After some time with his shear he pulled out his wand to try the Diffindo spell. It took a moment to remember how Professor Cole had demonstrated before he mimicked the wand movement and aimed his wand at the nearest dittany leaf "Diffindo!" Jasper casted, thinking yay silently when the spell worked. He kept on cutting off his dittany leaves in a slow, but careful fashion until class was dismissed. Jasper quickly cleaned his workstation, handed in his harvested leaves and pair of shears before leaving with a "Goodbye Professor Cole!" on his way out.

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