You know Cassia liked when people got excited and happy and expressed that. Especially Professors. She would have gladly bounced along with Professor Bentley but the woman was excited about something didn't interest Cassia. Plants..Insects...Eww...Though reacting in general is something that Cassia appreciates in Professors. You know some don't show any kind of....anything.

So they were talking about what harmed plants. Cassia would've been honest and said that she could be considered a factor to harm those things. But then she would've probably been thrown out of the greenhouse or the school. So honesty aside. "Gnomes....they harm the plants." Good for them! "But I guess they only want something to eat." Yup she was defending those little creatures. Might even raise them in their backyard at home. Her grandmother's plants would be convenient meals. Mhm..

Jen thought about this for a sec...
"Aithids are garden pests. Lady bugs eat aithids." Yes. Exactly.

Jayden smiled, she LOVED Herbology. It was totally her THING. And plants? Her best friends in her spare time, which lately, she had NONE of. "Professor..." Jayden paused thoughtfully after raising her hand and being called upon. "Spider mites and centipedes would most certainly be types of garden pests, right?" She answered, tired smile on her face. She needed to get more sleep.

UGH.

Oh... so the Professor was looking for something specific? He furrowed his brows, as herbs in general are quite resistant to insects, but he raised his hand and offered this answer "Professor what about bacteria? They cause diseases in plants even when plants are physically protected from insects."

Sheesh. Bentley was REALLY excited about insects, parasites, and pests. Which was...quite odd actually, since all those things were quite bad in terms of trying to keep plants healthy. Hmmm. Interesting.

"Professor, I know chipmunks and squirrels definitely like to find food in gardens...and they can certainly damage plants and flowers." Furry little plant murderers, they were.

Well that went better than the last question. So.. they were improving. At least they'd be ore knowledgeable by the end of the lesson.
Tapping the blackboard with her wand, her previous note erased itself and new words formed on the surface in cursive writing.

"You're all on the right track, but perhaps you need to consider the world you live in with more detail." Because after all, mundane insects were boring in comparison to what magical pests they had. "I'm going to add to this list... and if I were you I'd write it down. You'll need it for the homework assignment." Because they clearly needed to cover these in more detail.

With another tap of her wand, new words were added to the list.

"These are just some of the pests you might encounter in a magical garden... and knowing how to deal with them or prevent infestations is crucial if you're fond of anything you have in your garden." ... like a wand tree... or a flesh eating tree... or lovely creeping ivies... or poppies...

Right. Lesson.

Ahem.

"Now, today we're going to be mixing an organic minsecticide. Does everybody have their gloves?" Raising her own red-gloved hands in the air as an indication they they should also have them on, or get them on... now.

"Any questions before we move on?"

OOC: The lesson will continue in approximately 12 hours.

Oh, not the answer she was looking for. Beezus grinned sheepishly at the Professor before shrugging. "Well, it was worth a try Professor Seren."

So. INSECTS! She meant insects and pests! And yes, yes. If an encounter with pests was a major edge with their discussion today, well, she just had that one. Insects were annoying when they tend to harm plants. Pfft.

Before giving her own idea, Beezus listened to her classmates' answers first but one particularly caught her attention. She literally jerked her head to look at Genevieve. Really? Little brothers? Heh. Ickle kids were pests indeed.

Beatrice raised her hand after a few, "There's also spider mites Professor. They suck juices from the plants causing the plants to look dull and unhealthy." Not that she detested those kind of insects since she was VERY fond of spiders, tarantulas to be exact. But really..they need not to harm ze lovely herbs.

...

....

Insecticide? *eyebrow wiggle* Like dung? Oh, she liked these kind of things! When they were asked for their gloves, she immediately put hers on. Questions... "Errr, will the insecticide work against most of the pests you listed Professor?" Because if it would, then she'd have to hint at her Grandmother to get something like it.

Jayden smiled cheerfully, her eyes widening with excitement as she took out her dragonhide gloves. Today was going to be a fabulous day. Plants, dirt, and fertilizer. Yup. Now it was just time to wait. Hopefully the plants would be in a good mood...

"Nope, no more questions Professor!" She called out cheerfully.

But where was Elliot? That girl always prided herself with being on time...



Merlin.

The fact that she'd not been able to come with a good answer for the second question took some of the shine off of being the only one to get the first question right. Only some though. Emmanuelle was still grinning as they moved on to the next part of the lesson. They were going to mix their own organic insecticide. Awesome! She slipped her gloves on, then waited to hear what her classmates would ask. 'Cause she didn't have any questions of her own.

Gloves? Of course! Vivi finished jotting down the rest of the list of magical pests, mentally slapping herself upside the head for not thinking of them, before she pulled out her own dragonhide gloves. They were a bit long in the fingertips, but they were the smallest size available, aside from children's sizes.

Vivi slipped the gloves on and noticed Beezus giving her a semi-smirk. Probably about the littler brother line. She gave her fellow 'Claw a wink before focusing her attention once again on the professor.

"Nope, no questions,'' Jory thought to himself as he jotted down some notes. When he was done he looked around for his gloves, and not finding it. For a moment he wondered if he had forgotten to pack it. But then he found them at the bottom of his bag and quickly slipped them on.

Okay...wait...

Typically Kurumi assumed that a look from Sierra meant that she was comparing her to the gnomes as being a best. ONLY this time there wasn't a glare attached to the look but...agreement? This really was something that Kurumi was going to have to get used to - not that it wasn't an unwelcomed change.

Now all Kurumi had to worry about were death glares coming from Ravenclaw females.

Her attention was brought back towards Professor Bentley who...seemed to not be as cheerful as usual. Did anyone else notice that? Was there something going on? She seemed...grumpy and short with everyone...

Minsecticide? Kurumi knew what an insecticide was...but what did a minsecticide do? Gloves still on her lap - and somewhat fearing the wrath of Professor Bentley turning into a flesh eating plant or something - Kurumi raised her hand. "Professor, I know that insecticides work specifically on insects...but what does an minsecticide focus on? Really really small organisms like nematodes and parasites?"

Presley reached into her bag and pulled out her bright purple gloves. They were really the only thing that made her happy to put her hands in dirt and dragon dung and stuff. Because they were purple. Mixing minsecticide didn't sound so bad though. It could be useful. Very useful.

At the Professor's motion, the Ravenclaw reached out for his gloves and started slipping them on his hand. When she added something else on the board he hastily added them in on his parchment then paused to re-read the list. Well now indeed a lot of these were pests, just not the kind that would quickly occur to him to be a garden pest unlike the aforementioned gnomes and slugs, but there was something else that now had him curious. Questions? Oh yes. Up goes the hand "Professor, arent chizpurfles usually a parasite in animal feathers and fur? With what we're mixing today, does that mean you would recommend the use of it on creatures as well?"

West did write the list down and then after looking at it, put his hand up. "What about how some of them have their own particular kind of 'cide'? Like,doxycide? Does that mean that this stuff we're going to make won't work as well on doxies?" On account of, if it did, wouldn't everyone always use a one-cide-fits-all approach?

He put his gloves on and shot a curious look at Vivi and her too-big-gloves. Wasn't she old enough to be able to use spells to make them fit good? And wasn't she Ravenclaw enough to think of it? His dad had adjusted his to be the perfect size.West flexed his fingers and waited.

Kat raised her hand. "Gnomes, that's all I can think of if we're talking about magical garden pests," Well it is true. "They're not really that vicious ... But if we're talking about what Muggles consider as garden pests, there are about a hundred of them. I can't name them all."

This was Herbology... at Hogwarts. Not some fancy Muggle pest like those caterpillars. What is scary about those anyway? They just eat leaves. They look so harmless. Honestly.

What in the name of Salazar Slytherin is with these Muggle minds?

Minerva took out her parchment and wrote down the pests that the professor had placed on the board. She listened as Professor Bentley went on and felt herself groan quietly when the word Pixie's came on the board. Those stupid pixies, she still remembered first term in the green house with them. Her head hurt for weeks after they pulled her hair so hard. Then she dealt with them again in a flying lesson. She never wanted to see them stupid pests again. She reached in her bag with one hand and put up her other, "Professor, will we be encountering any.. umm.. Pixies today?" please say no, please say no, please say no.. she begged in her head.

Hannah jotted down everything that was on the board and listened intently to what everyone was saying mainly because she would need all the help she could get in this lesson. Gloves? Yes of course she had them. Questions? Nope. She just hped for the best. She slipped them on and waited for further instruction. She wished Elliot was here in case they needed partners and such!

Gloves? Cardigan rummaged through her satchel, looking for her dragon hide gloves. Where are they, she thought, digging through books, textbooks, pieces of parchment, inkpots, and quills. Gosh, she needed to be more orderly about all of this! It was going to keep her behind, in more ways than one.

Got it!

Her hands had resurfaced with the gloves, clenched tightly in her palms. She proceeded to slide them on, doing it quick and precise. Hey, she was getting better at this! As in, being quick and orderly...

Any questions? Nope, nada.

"Minsecticide," she corrected Beatrice. Looking from the Eagle to her Lion prefect, she grinned. Good questions. Very good questions. "Yes... and no. It's a preventative measure... so it won't work against specific infestations, those require more specialised treatment."

"It works predominantly as a deterant for most magical pests, though mundane pests are also included." Nothing a little organic magic counldn't handle.

"Yes, but remember they feed on magic... so magical plants, particularly wand trees and flesh eaters are also affected."
And try giving an Ambushing Aspen a chizpurfle treatment... not so easy.
"The one we're using today is organic, so it's safe to use on creatures... provided they don't ingest it. Perhaps sedate them for a day or two if you plan on using it. Or... use a cone thing..." as degrading as they were.

West's insightful question didn't surprise her, instead she nodded. "Speciffied treatments work best when dealing with an infestation, but as a preventative measure, the minsecticide covers most of your bases."

"Minus three points"... "Keep up dear," she stated not amused.

OOC: Please use the question/activity links in the first post (at the top of the page) to keep up. Thanks.

Pixies? Today? ... "Well I don't have them planned if that's what you're asking." If they popped up however... well... that was a different matter.



Right. Everyone got their gloves? Good.

"Now as I've just stated, the minsecticide is used as a preventative measure... a deterant as such, to most pests. It is by no means the most full proof method, but it is the most efficient in terms of time management and it's usually all you need."

"Now, before I get you to move to your stations, how often do you think a minsecticide would need to be utilised in order for the treatment to be most effective?"

OOC: Last question before the activity! We'll continue in approximately 12 hours.

Um...Presley mum always put some down in the spring, and sometimes halfway through the summer? Presley raised her hand tentatively. "Every couple of months?" she guessed. Because maybe it was different for every garden. "Or maybe it just depends on the gardens infestation of pests." she suggested. She really hoped she wasn't wrong. Because she answered like that in front of the whole class, and hers was the first answer. Everybody mentally scorned the first answerer who was wrong.

Scribble. Scribble. Scribble.

Ella took down notes as Professor Bentley went along, trying to be as detailed as possible. Especially since some of the information was sure to be needed for the homework assignment. When she was finished she made sure her gloves were out and ready for use before turning her attention back to Professor Bentley.

Minsecticide, huh? Ella chewed on her lip, thinking over how often one might have to use such a thing to make sure that it was working in the garden. She figured it probably depended on the situation, like whether or not you had different types of pests, the season, stuff like that. You'd probably want to use it often at first too, and then gradually decrease the amount as the pests stopped bothering the garden? Or at least those were the thoughts rolling around in the third year's head. Raising her hand, she settled on an answer. "Professor, perhaps you'd want to use it every couple of weeks?"

Nodding as Professor Bentley answered her question and her classmates', Kurumi scribbled some notes on her parchment before glancing up again when they were asked another question.

How often...Merlin, Kurumi had no idea to be entirely honest. Thinking back on what they had just been told - and what she knew about the creature equivalent of pesticides and all that - applying it every day was an almost guarantee bad thing. Hair loss and illness would be a given. Or, well, not hair loss in this case, more like leaves falling off and wilting and the eventual death of said plant. And they were making an organic variety of this solution, so it was bound to be a little 'healthier' for the plant than those that were based off of chemicals.

"Weekly?" she asked with her hand raised. "And applied in the morning or evening perhaps?" Her grandfather was always rambling about the morning being better because of there being less wind or something.

Hannah was taking notes likes nobodys business. That was the only way that she was going to remember anything about this class after she left. Herbology...there were just too many plants and details that she was just never going to get or remember.

Most effective? She had absolutely no idea. She thought about it for a minute. Hmmm... she raised her hand. "Professor I would think that you would need to do it weekly or atleast bi-weekly." Of course this was just completely guesswork. You would think there would be a simple spell so you wouldn't have to do all of this.

Laura looked at the Professor, she thought long and hard before coming up with an answer. "Well if we start with a 5 and then and10 because that's the best thing to count down from and I'd say 510 years Professor." Laura smiled she wasn't sure if it was right but it was worth a guess.