Ariana tried not to pay attention to the other professor who had walked in and sat down. She looked at the plant and raised her hand, "To me it represents justice Professor. It's standing tall and proud which could mean something..." her voice trailed away as she became lost in though. It was hard to concentrate today for some reason.

Kerry thought something strange was going on with a visit from a professor, but she had no idea what... so she perked herself up a bit more, paying closer attention to the class hoping to pick up some clues...

As she did, she kept her head in the class, raising her hand again, "The black eyed Susan is a flower that represents justice, but I've also heard that because of it's dark center, it can also represent cruelty. I guess you can say that justice is cruel or you can say that the meanings of the black eyed susan lie in the eyes of the beholder... as to which extreme they choose to to have the flower represent... justice OR cruelty."

Amelia wasn't sure exactly what the Rudbeckia signified, but it sure was pretty. She commonly knew a muggleterm for this flower as sunflower. She raised her hand and replied, "Well Professor, I think that the Rudbeckia symbolizes happiness and long life and prosperity, because it's so bright and colorful. Also, some muggles like to call it a sunflower."

Tag was getting seriously agitated now. He was shocked--absolutely shocked--at De Luca's wink, which had not gone unnoticed by half the class, and was causing Moretti to puff up like a swollen toad. What was going on around here? His eyes made contact with Jeremiah, who appeared equally irritated. Tag's look spoke volumes. Let's get him after class.

Black-eyed Susans? Jeremiah knew those. His mother loved to plant them every year. He raised his hand and answered, "It is annual, meaning it regenerates itself every year after winter. It is also used to make medicines such as eardrops and snake bite infusions."

Moretti's obvious flirting nearly had Jeremiah on his side laughing in mirth. But he controlled himself by noticing the pang of annoyance at how arrogant the boy was.

The Ravenclaw Prefect, who obviously had issues with Moretti, was looking at Jeremiah now. Quite plainly he was as sick of this nonsense as Jeremiah was. Slowly, he nodded in reply.

Finally, he'd get the chance to blacken one of Moretti's deep blue eyes, which were unnervingly similar to his own. Jeremiah hadn't forgotton the incident at the swimming rock. Lightly he reached up to touch the eye that Moretti had sunk his fist into that day.

Kennedy responded, "Rudbeckia is a part of the aster, daisy, or sunflower family known as Asteracea. The flowers within this family signify pure and lofty thoughts, daintiness, gentleness and innocence, homage and devotion. To me, it almost sounds like it could symbolize childhood and all that is associated with the freedom and creativity of that time."

Natasha caught the look Leo was giving her colleague and twisted round to look at Allegra. She rolled her eyes as if to say "What a ham." before turning back to her students.

"Yes, Ariana...the textbook says it means justice...so perhaps when we encounter this black-eyed-susan, it means that there will be justice in the near future. Somehow or rather, the right thing will happen..."

She noticed the waning concentration in her class and shook her head, trying to suppress the smile. This didn't happen when she was in Armand's lesson last week, probably because she wasn't half as interesting as Allegra was.

"Okie dokie," she said, dismissing the depressing thought, "Now...when you see Begonias...what could that mean? How do you feel?" she asked, standing up and walking over to where a pot of the flowers sat.

Allegra rolled her eyes as Leo was obviously trying to charm her. She pointed to Blaylock which was a signal for him to pay attention. Being Italian and being in charge of this thing with Leo, it made her feel as if she was like her grandfather being over the Mafia. She noticed how two Ravenclaws, Tag and Jeremiah, were glaring DAGGERS at the boy. She gave Jeremiah and Tag both a wink and pointed to Blaylock just like she did with Leo. Giggling, she looked at Nat who also rolled her eyes. There was some tension in this class today and she could feel it.

"well the oranges and yellow petal make me think of summer" Rachel said trying to think about what that may mean.

Kerry raised her hand, "This is another flower that confuses me... many believe it to mean fanciful... but it can also be a warning... meaning dark thoughts and beware. Does this mean that the flower is almost like a false warning... it looks to be so beautiful and fanciful it lures people in?"

Molly raised her hand again "Begonias represent friendliness and warmth.” She stopped before she gave the rest of her answer to watch what seemed to be flirting between Professor De Luca and the Hufflepuff Prefect.

"The begonia seems to have several interpretations - to signify a fanciful nature, to beware and dark thoughts. I suppose if one interpreted it to mainly mean 'beware,' the other two interpretations fell under that umbrella term. One would have to beware of one's own or other's dark thoughts, which could be potentially dangerous. Also, if someone had a fanciful nature, they may be dubious and not basing their judgments on fact - which could also be dangerous." Kennedy replied.

Amelia tried hard to concentrate, even with De Luca in the room. Her stomach suddenly gave this loud grumble, and she held it with her hand, hoping no one took notice. She knew it was because something bad was going to happen; and her house prefect was involved.

Regardless, she studied the flowers and one thing came to mind... not stomach pains, grr! im going to kill him after class... no, focus on the lesson. She didn't know why she was having a tough time all of a sudden, so she reached into her bag and pulled out a small vile of potion. She took a small sip, and then returned her attention to the flowers.
"Professor? I think that that floral arrangement of begonias reminds me a bit of weddings. They are so colorful and bright; clearly representing in my mind, happiness and lifelong friendship."

Evan raised an eyebrow at Professor De Luca's weird behavior. He hoped he wasn't the only one who was getting a bit confused about the situation. And what about all those winks? He glared at the Hufflepuff Prefect; clearly, he was very pleased about something, which could only mean bad news.

"To me it represent a certian edge of caution, like a warning. Though the colours of the petals remind me of hope and peace so it's like a double edged dagger I guess." Ariana replied, her concentration coming back now as she tried ignoring the distractions in class. Leo was acting extremly odd now and with the other professor here Ariana's curioustity was raised.

Leo gave a nod to De Luca. He understood what he was suppose to do. Boss wanted Blaylock. Boss is gonnaget Blaylock

Leo sat there for a while looking closely and freakishly at Blaylock. Waiting to do what he was thinking about next.

Hmmm...what on earth was she supposed to beware about? Natasha thought, looking at the begonias closely. "That's right, Kennedy...and once again, we seem to have identified a fault with Floriography. Some of us interpret this as a sign to be wary of something...but then again, some think it means friendships, and warmth." She said, smiling at the young Hufflepuff.

Walking on to the next flower, Natasha pointed her finger at the stalk of foxglove on the ground, "How about foxgloves? What do you think this could possibly mean? We've already identified love, remembrance, justice, waryness...how does the foxglove tie into this odd omen?"

Molly glanced over at Leo and saw an almost crazed look in his eye. He was staring at the professor in a way that made her skin crawl. She just hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid that would loose her house points.

Jeremiah blinked fervently. The hot professor had winked at him. What did that mean? Thrown, he looked from De Luca to Moretti to Blaylock to Tag in quick succession. Then he calmed down and tried to pay attention to the lesson.

The seventh-year captain glanced at Leo once more, only to notice that the boy looked like he was in a sort of hypnotic trance. Getting incredibly unnerved with his prefect, Evan charmed a small ball of parchment, which flew slowly accross the room before smashing violently into Moretti's oversized head. Oh, how he hated that boy.

Kerry saw Professor De Luca point to Leo and then to Professor Blaylock in a signal for Leo to pay attention to Professor Blaylock. Kerry was even more shocked when Leo actually did pay attention! Was she seeing things? Had a professor actually found a way to control Leo?

Kerry shook her head slightly in disbelief and wondered in her head what the heck was going on, as she raised her hand, "The foxglove means Insincerity, I believe."

Natasha snapped her fingers, causing the rolled up piece of parchment that had hit Leo to fly back at the original owner's head. "I saw that, Mr Cassels. 3 points from Hufflepuff for bad behaviour."

She stood in the middle of the class with her hands on her hips, glaring at the students (rather at Leo, Evan, Tag and Jeremiah), "If you do not get those testosterone levels under control, young men, I swear I will send you to the headmistress."

She stomped over to the foxgloves again, "NOW, tell me...what do you think this means?"

Amelia raised her brow, thinking about the meaning of foxgloves. They're weeds to some... a delight and beauty to others... annoying... like the hufflepuff prefect She laughed at this last thought and then raised her hand,

"Foxgloves are rather annoying flowers, because they keep coming back and get in the way of other flowers and plants growing. Some might find them pretty, but for the most part, they are neutral. They are just very weedy and an insincere way to tell someone you love them."

Ariana was finding it very hard to keep up with the lesson now. What with Leo acting crazy and the two Ravenclaws acting strange she couldn't keep up with what the prodfessor was saying. She heard "foxglove" though and replied, "it means insincerity I think ." she shook her head in an attempt to keep her concentration and tried to ignore the rest of the class.

"Foxglove, also known as digitalis, also mas mixed interpretation, signifying insincerity, childhood, and stateliness. This could tie in with the other flowers by serving to illustrate a huge range of emotions and occurrences one experiences throughout life. The insincerity aspect may tie in with the begonia's warning, while the childhood aspect seems to connect with the rudbeckia. FInally, the stateliness aspect implies majesty and elegance, which does not exactly tie in with the others, and so perhaps serves to give its own individual meaning." Kennedy replied.