Grrrrr.

She understood why the points had been taken. Fire wasn't something to mess around with. But from everyone instead of just the people around the human kindling? Just because said human kindling was too stupid to be able to pinpoint an enemy that would be likely to pull something like that?! Heather couldn't let that go, so she quickly jotted out a note on some empty parchment, balled it up and threw it at the Slytherin.



Anyway, the professor had decided to move along with the lesson. Calmly approach the cart. Okay. She took a few moments to take a few deep breaths before the man with the cart reached her. Once he did, Heather started taking very calm, purposeful steps towards the cart of plants, stopping when half of them started to move. After waiting for them to stop, she started stepping again, this time managing to get as close as an inch to the cart before having to stop.

Samantha was a bit annoyed that she had lost two points. She couldn't help it that she had frozen in fear. She certainly wasn't expecting to see a student set another student's robes on fire. She took in a deep breath and moved on to the activity.

She made sure that she had calmed down and was free of any nervousness and tension when the professor with the cart reached where she was. She walked slowly over to the cart full of bouncing bulbs with an air of serenity. She inched closer and closer until she was a mere inch from the bulbs which began to move. It was time was Sam to discontinue, which she did.

Welp. WELP.

Toby had never lost a single house point IN HIS LIFE. EVER. Of course, the fact that it was a sort of blanket punishment meant that it wasn't SUCH a huge deal, but that was a long streak to break, y'know? Though... judging by how not-happy Professor Walton seemed, Toby very privately thought that maybe it was a good idea that they all take the blame for it. One kid against Walton? Scary.

But... Grayson didn't seem too happy, of course, and obviously wanted to know WHO had done it so they would be dealt with properly, and Toby ALSO agreed with THAT. It was difficult, sympathising with both sides, and sort of made his head hurt. In the end, Toby just thought to himself about how thankful he was that he'd not seen any more (like who had done it) because he didn't know WHAT he'd have done in that situation.

Okay. Right. He was composing himself, ready for this activity. Luckily enough for him, Toby was much more relaxed and settled than he might usually have been; he wasn't sure if the bouncing bulbs would appreciate a bouncing human. As for nerves? None here, 'cause Toby was a confident kid (for the msot part), and was at his most confident in the Greenhouses (or in the air, but that was another matter). But yes, the important thing here was being calm and not seeming like any sort of threat.

Tobias watched Walton push the cart around the greenhouse, and the other kids approach the cart with varying degrees of success, and then finally it was his turn. The Hufflepuff looked to Walton first, giving a little smile out of pure habit, before focusing on the bouncing bulbs.

The trick here was not to be TOO cautious or casual, because it was like when people tried to act natural, and ended up acting the very OPPOSITE of natural. Plants could be super sensitive and, like animals, could sense when something was up. So being too cautious was just as much a problem of being too forward and excitable and everything.

Having waited a moment or two to process all these thoughts and work out a plan of action, Toby finally got to it. It probably LOOKED like he wasn't trying anything differently at all, when really he was TRYING to... not try anything? Acting natural totally WAS hard... but it was apparently... right? Toby simply... strolled up to the cart, not too fast, but not too slow. Not tense, but not careless. Not anything, really. It was sort of like how they'd had to clear their minds in Divination, but the more you thought about it, the harder it got. Here it was just... easy. Because plants.

And it paid off. Toby got more or less right up to the cart without anything untoward happening. He looked up at Walton again, somewhat surprised and smiling a little, and then back at the bulbs. Having something academic come so naturally to him was really quite... awesome.

At that moment, the bulbs started to quiver. Toby didn't know if they would attack or anything, but he was aware that they might have caught on to his slight change in demeanour, and courteously took half a step back, and waited. And wasn't attacked or anything. Nice.

Angel wanted Professor Bentley back and she wanted her back now... Seriously this Professor was going to take 2 points from everyone, seriously this was totally unfair and Professor Bentley wouldn't be like that but saying that maybe this Professor was just going through some nervous moments and stuff she had no idea.

*breath Angel breath* She was mental in her head ready to leave one of her favourite lessons because of the man but she wouldn't, she didn't want to get into trouble.

Angel was going to do this task and she was going to do it well. She had been taught a lot by Professor Bentley last term and one of her friends mothers who had a garden taught her lots but that was muggle stuff.

Angel waited until the Professor came to her table with the cart before taking a deep breath and completely focusing on the task in hand.

She slowly and very quietly moved forwards... she was trying her hardest not to scare the plant she had never met a plant she didn't like and she didn't intend to start now. She was totally in love with plants.

Angel continued to slowly move forwards looking straight at the bouncing bulb not showing one ounce of fear she didn't want to spook the Bouncing Bulb at all.

Angel saw the bouncing bulb shake a little bit but she wasn't scared in fact what she wanted to do was sing it a song like she had with a few of her other plants when they got nervous but well she didn't think the Professor would like that so she didn't.

TWO POINTS?!

She was losing TWO points for something she hadn't done? Siiiiigh. Well, at least it was only TWO; she could win those back easily. Besides, she had lost TEN last term and hadn't even cared. She would gladly lose fifty points to the Healer any day if Bay was involved. Wouldn't bat an eye either.

Shrugging the two points loss off, Lux watched as the cart approached. Not the prettiest plants, were they? Oh well. Prettiness wasn't everything because plants had more purposes than the be decorative. Besides, this exercise could be fuuuuun. So with a smile on her face she slowly and calmly made her way towards the cart. No sudden movements or talking and the most innocent look on her face that she could muster. Continuing her walk forward, she only stopped when one of them wiggled slightly.

The wiggling was bad, no?

All the madness aside, Zander was pretty darn proud of himself. He had finally done ONE thing right this term. Just one, but a big one. "Oh, uh, of course Grayson! It was nothing," Really, he'd save the guy's life anytime and okay, okay so it wasn't nothing. It was pretty great. Ahem. Any decent person would extinguish the fire though, and Zander was pretty decent, you know? But Grayson made it sound like he was a REAL hero! MAN! Like a real life Superman!!! Merlin, maybe he'd get his own comics?!?! Zander Adair, saving the world from Cold Ones and extinguishing fires. One term at a time.

Then, Professor Grumpy Pants was over and okay well if he was here to yell at Zander again, guess what. He EXTINGUISHED the fire so there was nothing to yell about this time. Not like there was anything last time either. He was heartbroken. Nothing to get mad about. If anything Zander should've been the one to get angry. This guy just came marching into here taking over Beautiful Bentley's greenhouses and thinking he ran the place. But right, anyways... Three points!?! AWARDED?! Zander's mouth kind of hung their in shock for a minute. Really? Points?

Was he a disappointment to his house now, PROFESSOR?

..... UH. Hold up. Did Professor Grumpy Pants just say what everyone thought he said? Two points? From... Everyone? And suddenly the small smile that had made it's way onto Zander's face completely disappeared. How was that fair? He had just GOTTEN points for putting out the flame. But now, he was going to lose two of them? That was like a net amount of one point. One point for saving a life. HMPH. Angry glares at EVERYONE and a pout for Mr. Grumpy Pants.

Zander waited patiently until the cart came rolling towards his and Grayson's table. Normally, he LOVED Herbology, or maybe he loved it because he loved her. Ahem. But he did like the subject, 'cept the idea of seeing the bouncing bulb did not excite him at all. Not even one bit. Actually, he really just wanted this lesson to be over. It was hard being in the greenhouses again. It was so hard on his poor heart. IT WAS AWFUl. But he had to come to class to make her proud. She would've wanted it this way. Not to mention he just saved the day. So that happened too. But anyways, the cart starting rolling forward, and Zander could see the plant trying to hop out of it's place.

The younger Gryffindor watched as the fifth year approached the plant first. Waiting until Grayson was finished with his turn, Zander started taking small steps over. Just watching it carefully. Actually, scratch that bit about not being interested by the plant. It was actually pretty cool looking and really restless.

... Maybe a bit too restless. Ok, OK this did not look good. Taking a few steps back, he slowly made his way back to the spot he was in before. Right. Well that wasn't bad.

Wh.... what?

"B-but we're friends, Le-.... Ma.. felicent." Was that what she kept calling herself? "We share potion ingredients! We're HOMIES."Why was she being MEANer than usual? Dima didn't understand, and she was making him sad.

Least she hadn't yelled at him like she had to Kyroh though.

There was fire. Huh. What? 'Scuse whoever had done that?

Starting fires was HIS job, thank you very much.

Trying to clear his head of those thoughts, Dima refocused his attention on the scary plants on the cart. Honestly, he was quite afraid of being attacked by them, but he didn't want to look like a CHICKEN in front of all his classmates, so he took a step away from Maleficent!Lex and the table.

The bulbs twitched a bit, but upon receiving no further reaction, Dima moved closer... and closer...... and closer, until he had closed the gap between himself and the professor's cart. Surely, the man wouldn't let him get ASSAULTED by his PLANTS, right? The second year continued inching forward until he was so close to the plants that he could have extended his tongue and licked one (but he wasn't gonna do that 'cause gross).

... and another twitch from a bulb sent him turning and BOLTING back to his table. Yep. K. Done with that.

Two whole points, and she’d done nothing. Brooklyn was about to protest the injustice, except nobody else was. Not just at her table, but anywhere else, and whoever it was that had felt the need to set Grayson ‘s robes on fire obviously weren’t about to confess either. Maybe that would be the better protest, except she wasn’t about to go through the work that would be needed in order to find out who it was. That had nothing to do with her, except for the fact she was apparently losing two whole points for it. Not fair.

The other reason she kept it to herself was that Professor Walton definitely didn’t look like he would react well to a protest. She definitely wasn’t going to do anything that risked more points lost, or loss of reputation amongst the professors. She wanted respect, and that meant not having a tantrum over unfairness. She’d just have to deal with the rest of the lesson, and then she could complain to Tywin or anyone else who wanted to listen. After she wouldn’t risk points loss. It was time to go back to bouncing bulbs, which sounded kind of stupid until the part about them actually being kind of violent came out. Plants that could sense nerves and might bounce into someone’s face actually sounded kind of cool. It almost made her want to learn more.

As the cart was wheeled to her table, she’d hung back as Dot had stepped forward first. Use the slightly older girl as the test, but as she seemed to come out relatively unhurt, any nerves Brooklyn had left. After a moment, she’d stepped forward confidently, staring the bulbs down as she slowly took one step and then another toward the cart. She almost dared any of them to act like she was nervous, almost dared them to try and bounce toward her. She wasn’t afraid at all. Princesses didn’t get scared of things. Lannisters didn’t get scared of things. Therefore, she wasn’t going to be scared of anything on the cart. They should be afraid of her, even if she was tiny. Once she knew all the spells she wanted to learn, she’d really be dangerous.

Hady wasn't very thrilled about losing two points each for something she hadn't done but the girl wasn't about to complain. She was sure it wouldn't do any good and most likely would've just ended up in more points lost for her house. Really though taking points off of everyone? Shaking her head slightly she let it go the best she could.

The Professor had started walking from table to table with the cart. As he reached her table she watched as Dot and then Brooklyn gave it a try. Feeling confident with herself Hady slowly moved away from the table. One step. Two steps she took towards the cart before stopping. Some of the plants seemed to be bouncing in place a little. Watching them closely she waited until she thought they were settled enough and slowly took another few careful steps forward. Being small and a first year wasn't going to stop her from trying to do her best.

What.


Zahra raised her hand. "Hey Professor Flowers man? I know you're new, but Lex must have fell down the stairs and hit her head on every step along the way. She needs medical attention or a hug or something." JUST FYI.

Meanwhile, since she was pretty cool with her bulb (??? probably?) Zahra spent a whole minute making funny faces at Dima. SHE could be mean to baby Toussaint, but NO ONE ELSE COULD.

Two points from the entire class including Grayson . Walton just KEPT getting better. Maddie really wanted to have a sit down with the guy because she was curious now. Had he ALWAYS been this way or had growing up done this to him? Did he have a sense of humor? Was he going to go back to his office and laugh about this later? Something told the small brunette 'no' but she was still going to mull it over. And why not while she approached the cart, right? Keeping her mind on something else would help her not be as nervous and would hopefully keep those bulbs at ease. SEE? She was smart.

The second year stood when the Professor had neared her, waiting for Toby to take his turn before she gave it a go. And then she approached the cart, slowly and confidently, as if she was just going to pass it by without a second glance. She wasn't going to bother you, bulbs. She was merely going to bypass you so she could do more important things. Yup. So no need to get all bouncy and attack. No need at all. And it looked like this approach was working because they didn't SEEM threatened. She DID stop a bit shy of the man and his plants, though. JUST in case. Looking up at him, the small brunette raised her eyebrows. Was that good enough or?

Norah opened her mouth to protest but closed it again quickly as not to draw any attention to herself from this meany professor. TWO points? She hadn't even done anything! She stuck her tongue out at her parchment as she started to record what Professor Walton had said about bouncing bulbs. The second year eyed the cart apprehensively. Those things didn't LOOK like they could do anything harmful, but neither did the professor and it turned out he was meeeean.

Norah took a deep breath and eyed the cart. She'd be fiiiine. She stuck her nose confidently in the air and took a slow step towards the cart, exhaling steadily. A peek at the cart informed her that she was doing well, so she proceeded with another two slow steps in its direction until she was standing just a few centimeters away. She looked at Professor Walton and then back down at the bulbs. They seemed to still be laying there limply as before. That was good, right?

No one was going to come forward and admit it? Wow, cowards. That hardly counted as a prank if that was the intention in the culprit's mind. And no one protested as well? PSHT. Was he that intimidating? GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD. mwahaha. Maybe teaching here wasn't that bad after all.

Andrew watched the Ravenclaw prefect, she was handling it correctly. Good. He was worried about the instructions not being clear for them or something. But then again she was a Ravenclaw who might have read about this somewhere before. Anyway, she was doing well. And even when she stopped, Walton was almost certain that she could have come closer without disturbing the plants. But safe better than sorry. "Good Job, Miss " he said before moving on to the next person.

This kid was a hungry kid. "I suggest you have breakfast before you come to class, miss Kettleburn," he told her. And no, no one was making s'mores in his lesson! This wasn't a picnic, merlin!
The bulbs did rattle a bit when the Gryffindor approached. But she wasn't tensed so they did nothing more. This was good and so Andrew nodded at her before wheeling the cart away.

This one seemed a bit hesitant but he was doing a good job of concealing it. And he was far which caused Andrew to nudge the cart towards him a bit. Because there was no way of knowing how he was doing when he was too far away. But the boy was doing well, so Walton didn't linger any longer and pushed the cart away to the next person.

Why did the kids think that talking to the bulb would help? He was certain that there were no ears and he said nothing about communicating. However, the kid, who didn't know how to write his name, wasn't nervous so the bulbs didn't jump up on him. Moving on.
And this one was smiling at the plant? Okaay. guess it's less weird than talking to it. Maybe she was smiling at a memory or thought or something. Although that would indicate her not being fully concentrating. She did look focused, though. Or at least not nervous and well composed as the plants didn't go crazy. So the girl got a nod before he pushed the cart on to the girl next to her.

This one looked slightly more nervous than the others. But he wasn't going all crazy sweating and all. The bulbs did start to move and fidget but not entirely. He could do better, though, the boy. But this was good for a first time. The Hufflepuff got an encouraging nod.

The prefect's mixed emotions were probably the reason he alarmed the bulbs. Was he excited ? Nervous? Both? "Try to slow your breathing," which will cause his heart-rate to slow down as well. Maybe the next time, the prefect could do better. Not that this was lousy.

Tiny people were hard to spot. Andrew didn't see from which way the little Slytherin come from. "Er…" And why was she not moving? Like at all. Tilting her head at her, Walton's eyes glanced at her name, "Miss, Wojack?" What are you doing? "This isn't how it works." Could she hear him? Or did she like shut down or something. Unless she planned to stay like that for a while composing herself. Although, they didn't have the entire day.

This was one of the brave ones. Or careless? Either way, his method worked. Because although the plants rattled a bit, they didn't feel the need to attack the nearest person that would be him, Andrew. Oh, and the kid wanted to pass them again. Not a problem. "Good job, Mister Rogers," he told the boy before moving along.

The Gryffindor here started well which led to a successful approach. Andrew nodding approvingly encouraging the boy to come closer. Some didn't know they were doing well and that it was safe for them to move on. But that was better than being reckless.

The girl was apparently nervous. Andrew watched her as she seemed to be composing herself and all. He would have suggested she took more time doing that before stepping closer to the cart but when she did do that, the bulbs stayed put and didn't bounce. Which was good. "Good, Miss Mcgee," He nodded at her. He certainly wasn't going to grin back at her.

Fire boy still looked confident. Good, the burnt robes didn't shake him or anything. That's how Slytherins rolled, Andrew approved and was glad to see that Slytherins were still the good old same. Before the man could speak and tell the boy to stop, the boy did that himself. Which was good judgment. "Well done," he told him before moving on.

This girl didn't stop when the bulbs started wiggling. She should have. Although she was confident and didn't show any nervous signs, her speed still rattled the plants. So Andrew was ready to handle the results but then the girl stopped. Good.

……………………………………….
Did the Head Girl think that with this attitude she was going to be granted access to the dangerous Greenhouses? She was wrong. Andrew moved on without commenting.

Was the Prefect nervous or was he curious? Andrew couldn't decipher his expression. But what was important that the Slytherin was smart enough to know when to stop. Good. The Professor nodded with approval before pushing the cart further away.

Why was the boy whistling? He hoped it was an unrelated reflex rather than thinking it had anything of looking calm and all. Though, that wouldn't be weirder than the ones who talked to the bulbs. Oh, and he stopped whistling, good.
And the boy was getting TOO close. Andrew arched an eyebrow at the boy's bravery? Recklessness? Whatever it was it didn't end up with anyone struck in the face. Which was surprising yet good. So the boy got a nod of approval.

Another person who knew when to stop and when to go on. Andrew was pleased that most seemed to be able to tell. Although you couldn't see any signs of anything on his face. His face was closed and blank. But he did nod at the girl at the end just before he pushed the cart away.

This one seemed totally composed and calm. Which was very good. Andrew was glad no one was freaking out or anything. When the girl got too close without disturbing the plants, Andrew was actually impressed but that probably didn't show. Anyway, moving on. "Good job, Miss Cosmos," he told her then wheeled the cart away.

Andrew gave the Hufflepuff an encouraging nod at the beginning then watched him getting closer slowly. He wasn't surprised seeing the boy handling it correctly, he expected just as so and was glad he wasn't disappointed. The bulbs then did start to wiggle but nothing too serious, none jumped up. So Andrew nodded at the fifth-year approvingly before moving on.

Good, the girl was stepping forwards slowly. And she was done crying which was a relief. He hadn't seen it before but he was quite sure that crying while approaching the bulbs wouldn't be a good thing. And she'd done well. Andrew nodded and pushed the cart to the next table.

Walton pushed the cart to the Hufflepuff and waited for her to approach. A part of him wanted to rush her because he sort of got bored but that wouldn't really be fair since the others got their time and it wasn't her fault that she chose this far table from where he started. So eh, waiting it was. When the bulbs started wiggling, he was alarmed and ready to take any procedure that would be necessary but the girl had stopped. Good call. On to the next person.


Hmm. Andrew was quite curious to see how this particular Gryffindor handled things. So when he pushed the cart further towards him, his eyes were on the boy and not the plants. He looked sort of nervous but he masked it well, though, he didn't seem the type to take a risk. Since he kept a safe distance and all. Well, not too bad for a first time.
This girl was brave. Andrew could tell that from the beginning. He nodded encouragingly at the kid, although she didn't look like she needed it as she stepped forwards by herself. "Well done, Miss Lynch," he told her before pushing the cart away.

Another tiny kid. Andrew watched her to see if she was as brave as most proved to be. And indeed she seemed to be just so. After she got closer, Andrew's eyes were focused on the plants to see if any of them was going to bounce on them. Nope, didn't seem like it. "Good job, Miss Andrews," This girl had his name for a lastname.

What a brave kid. This one was. Not afraid to get unnecessarily TOO close to the bouncing bulbs. Well, Andrew thought that until the boy bolted away when one of the bulbs quivered. Not bad, though. He nodded at the kid.

He was wheeling the cart towards the next table when the hungry Gryffindor called out to him. By NOT his name. Huh? The girl had many ideas. Which were all not suitable for this particular lesson and man. "No hugging in my lesson," he simply answered. That was the only part he cared about. People hitting their heads on steps or doors was the Healer's division and not his. Mooving on




Another young student. Those seemed to be the braver which was odd actually. Or maybe it made sense. As they hadn't seen much of plants and what the dangerous ones did. Andrew was about to yawn because he'd gotten bored by now. Actually it got bored after like the first table but eh. Good thing the girl seemed to be a good judge and didn't rush to the cart. The bulbs didn't bounce or anything. "Good job, Miss Cooper," he told her.


So far no one did anything stupid or got attacked. Andrew wondered if that was going to be the case still. Well, actually he was on full alert to make sure that he kept the cart at a safe distance in case the students made a poor decision. The Hufflepuff girl here wasn't rushing, she was going slowly which was good. Better safe than sorry. Walton nodded at her when she was done.

Now, finally there were NO more students who hadn't approached the bouncing bulbs. Man, this took ages. He needed to nap. He also needed three cups of mint tea now. Teaching was hard. Too many kids. Anyway, time to move one. Andrew pushed the cart back to his table and stood there. "Now, there's one last step before we start potting the bouncing bulbs." They did know they were going to do so, right? " Like we said there is a huge chance that the bouncing will attack you and will jump. That's because you're not only going to approach it but you will be putting it in a pot so you will have to grab it. Something the plant won't like." Whereas Andrew would be so entertained watching. This was getting good. " And in order to do that you will be needing to use the knockback spell. Which I assume most of you are familiar with it." Or were they? "First, I would like it if you practiced it and made sure you could do it before casting it on the plants. I understand this is something you normally do in Charms lesson but I would feel better knowing you can handle the spell before presenting you with the plants." Well, he was exaggerating. He didn't care that much. But something told him that a bunch of students being sent to the hospital wing right after his lesson wasn't a nice thing. "To remind those who might have forgotten," He didn't want to bet but that might be half the class. " The incantation is Flipendo. Go ahead, give it a go." he said. But actually he didn't want to wait for ALL of them to be done.

"But aside from that. We have finally reached the last part of the lesson." The part which was fun to him and not to them. " I do trust that you are now ready for it and have the required knowledge of what you will be working with." Trust was such a huge word, though. " What you will be doing is grabbing a pot," Did they know what that was? " Fill it half way with soil then approach the bouncing bulbs like I told you how and manage to get the bulb into the pot." Mhmm. Good luck. " Do not try to handle two bouncing bulbs at the same time." Like really, they wouldn't be able to do it. "Once you have placed the plant in the pot you will have to half bury it in the soil by adding more soil. Any equipment you may need will be found either on the tables or in the cupboards. The plants are in the cart and I will bring another one. So do what I said and you will have finished." Easier said than done.

"Off you pop," He clapped his hands together. Showtime!


-
OOC: You will need THREE posts to get full credit. The steps are simple;

- get a pot and fill it with soil.
- get the bouncing bulb into the pot using the knockback spell if necessary.
- half bury the plant by adding more soil.

How to split up those steps in the posts is entirely up to you! Students can work together but remember each one has to pot at least one plant, as in if you help a friend with their plant you still have to do yours. If you need Andrew's help, mention that in your post title. The Professor is wandering around the students' watching their work. Also, please keep in mind that the young bulbs aren't capable of much damage other than jumping on someone and hitting them on the face, shoulder, arm or messing their hair…etc. There will be no serious injury so play accordingly. Lastly, PLEASE have fun and be creative! =D And yes, you still can catch up with the mini activity. And it's up to you to have your charrie practice the knockback spell or not. If you have any other questions do not hesitate to poke me and ask me via PM.

You have about 36 hours 48 hours from this post's time.

Was that a success?

Well Professor Plants did not say anything. Which Dante took to mean he succeeded. Dante listened to him continued explaining what they would be doing next because he was trying to be a good little good student.

The only problem with this whole activity besides the fact that Dante would rather not do it. Was he did not know what the knock-back spell was and the incantation did not help if he did not know the wand movement or it's purpose.

He could guess from Knock-back. But that did not help.

"Hey Professor Plants. First Year, Here. I don't know the Knockback spell"

But he did get the pot and fill it with soil. He could do that much at least.

Man. Lots of rules in this class. Zahra was LUCKY that everyone lost points up front because it seemed like she was likely to lose a few more before the end.

1. Eat Breakfast
2. No pumpkins
3. No S'mores
4. No hugging

So Professor Grumps was one of THOSE types of Professors. Bummer. Zahra shrugged at the Head Girl. She'd tried to help, you know? Head injuries could be serious. "If you say so, Professor."

Now there were a lot of other steps to do. Beat the bulb up, throw it in a pot, bury it. Brutal. Bad day to be a bulb.

"Practice is for Ravenclaws." Zahra went straight for it, flipping her wand up in the air...READY AIM FIRE!!!

Slow breathing? Okay. Adi nodded and tried to calm himself. Why did he always have to be so enthusiastic about EVERYTHING? Anyway...slow breathing, slow breathing. He could feel himself becoming calmer. Should he approach the Bulbs now? He took a cautious step forward. The Bulbs quivered a little but not more. Another step. This time the bulbs remained still. Awesome!
......................

Neat activity. Except he wasn't quite looking forward to having any Bulb unexpectedly jumping on him. Adi would get to practicing the Knockback Jinx. But first it looked like a tiny dude needed help.

"Hey,'' Adi said, heading over to the firstie. "I can help. The incantation is Flipendo as the Professor said. The wand movement is sort of...like a squiggly line.'' Okay maybe that wasn't the best of descriptions but it was all he had. "Here. Watch carefully. It's sort of complicated.'' The fourth year did the movement- sort of like a V with a hook on the end. He repeated it twice more. "Try it out. Without the incantation for now.'' Just in case the kid had any ideas.

The Knockback Jinx, eh? Maddie had read about it in one of the book's Dora had sent but she had never used it before. She wondered if Walton would be very upset if she practiced on a first year. How else was she meant to know she was able to successfully do the spell, yeah? She s'posed she could simply practice the incantation first and go from there, see how the plant man's mood was. She didn't really fancy a detention and he seemed like someone who would enjoy giving them out. Probably had a creative mind for punishment, this one.

"Flipendo...Flipendo...Flipendo." The more you said it, the sillier it sounded. Maddie let out a small giggle before biting her lip. This was serious business, she needed to get a hold on herself. "Flipendo...Flipendo...Flipendo." Straight-faced this time, much to the thirteen year old's satisfaction. And the wand movement? Maddie flicked her wand, making the shape she'd seen in the book. She did this several times just so that Walton could SEE she'd been listening and then she was ready to go. Now all she needed was a pot, yes? And then she could get going for real.

While Adi waited on Dante to get his practice done, he himself decided to warm up a bit in the form of practicing the wand movement. Like he had told Dante before, it was a complicated one.

So the Puffer began flicking his wand in the V like shape with the hook thingy at the end. And another...and another...another... Yep. He got the hang of that. The incantation wasn't something complicated but still, Adi couldn't help but repeat, "Flipendo, flipendo, flipendo...''

Andrew opened his mouth to say no to whatever other suggestion the girl was about to say. Oh, but she was agreeing? Did he really kill the girl's inspiration or something. GOOD. Or maybe Gryffindors weren't THAT bad. Well, some of them. So Kettleburn got a nod. But a different nod from the other regular nods. There were many kind of nods. Andrew could tell the difference of course, others probably couldn't. Oh, well, who cares. But yeah, A NOD!

The man's butt didn't even rest on the chair when someone called for him. By a silly name. What was the kids' problem with names?

Trying not to look TOO annoyed, Andrew straightened and started making his way towards the nameless boy. Oh, the Hufflepuff prefect was there to help. GOOD FELLA! "What mister Rehman said," Walton nodded. Yup. With that settled he took a couple of steps back watching the kids before allowing himself to sit back and enjoy the show.

The gloves were starting to fit better and better, though still they were a bit ...baggy. So Cutty did what he always did whenever something got in his way. He used his wand to change it. The nuances of the size-changing charms were difficult to master. Transfiguration was more his bag, baby. Nonetheless, he'd managed to get in more practice with shrinking spells thanks in part to Professor Bentley. Surely, he'd miss her command and control...

But Walton, Cutty thought, was measuring up. Quite nicely, in fact. Action-packed classtime and with built-in anti-brown nose. Cutty liked him thus far. Maybe he would explode on the class at a later period.

Taking an empty cup with him, Cutty swung by the tables to pick up a pot for the plant. Then over to the cupboard, where he use the cup to scoop dirt into one of the pots he'd picked up. When he was done, he settled the little scoop on top of the dirt and headed back to his work station. He expanded the cup and filled it with the top layer of dirt setting it aside for covering the bouncing bulb once he had captured it. Her. What if???

You know Dante would be more than happy for Walton to call him Meh. More than happy. Or he just wants Walton to waste the time actually looking it up because who really wants put the effort into doing that.

Oh someone was going to help him. The guy Puff Prefect. Interesting. He has not met a Puff besides Lotus and she was cool. So this would be interesting. And Professor Plants/Walton agreed that he should.


"Thanks and a squiggly line?" Dante watched as The Prefect did it. Looked more like a check mark with a hook on the end to him. But he was not going to say that. "Sure" It looked not that difficult really. Dante took out his wand and made a check mark with a hook on the end.

There.

"So what, you just do that with Flipendo pointing at the bulb...and Thanks"

This was going to be a challenge. Jasmine hoped that she would be able to complete the task without any bodily harm. She figured that practicing the Knockback Jinx would be a good idea. First she repeated the incantation several times. "Flipendo, Flipendo, Flipendo." Then she practiced the wand movement, moving her wand like a check mark with a squiggly line on the end. Jasmine decided that she would consider that her practice and let it go at that. Next she needed to gather all of her supplies.

After putting on her gloves, Jasmine went up and got a pot and a spade from the table. Then she went to the cupboard and got some soil for her bulb. She returned to her work area and tried to think of any other supplies that she would need for the activity. Figuring that she was ready to begin, Jasmine began to pour soil into her pot. She made sure to fill the pot halfway, as instructed. When that was completed, she checked to see that she had enough soil left to finish the potting. Once she had successfully placed the plant in the pot, she'd need to wrap things up quickly. That would not be a good time to run short of soil. OK, now it was time for the fun part.

"Er, yeah.'' Adi grinned sheepishly at the little fellow. "It's all that came to me at the moment.'' He watched the Slytherin trace out the movement with his wand. "You got it,'' he said with approval at the fast learner. "Yep, that's all you do. It's not a problem. If you need anything else, just call for Adi.'' The Puffer was sure Professor Plants wouldn't mind the older one helping out the younger students. Plus he remembered how grateful he was to Mo back in his first year. Come to think of it, it was also Herbology he had needed the Ravenclaw's help. The fourth year patted the dude on the shoulder, gave him another cheery grin then headed towards the cupboard that held the supplies. Needed soil and a spade.

The small Slytherin smiled slightly to herself as she returned to her table. She was proud of herself for not showing fear or backing away. With that she listened as the Professor began explain what they were to do next.

They were supposed to practice the Flipendo spell which she had no idea what that was. Just as she was about to raise her hand another first year had. Well that was good she didn't have to do it. Before the Professor answered however a Perfect showed the boy how to do it. Keeping a watch at what they were doing she nodded to herself.

Pulling out her wand she practiced the wand movement she saw the Prefect show the other first year. Doing this several times she thought she had it down and slipped her wand back into her robes as she repeated the spell several times under her breath. "Flipendo, Flipendo, Flipendo."

Pulling on her gloves she made sure they fit well before making her way to the table to get a pot and cup. After she had both of those she followed the older kids to get some soil carefully using the cup to put the right amount into the pot. Once she had enough in the pot she filled up the cup again with soil and returned to her table setting the cup with soil aside.

Oh. Pity that one had left, he'd gotten himself in her good books for referring to her by her correct name. They were not friends or...'homies' as he called it but there might have been something there with that little Beastling; he learned quickly where others did not.

Oh well.

Hitting her head on every step....? She eyed this one, then the Professor who'd denied her request to give out hugs (and what a relief that was too). If she kept at it, someone might have tried helping the girl and she simply couldn't have that. This body was hers now, she'd possessed it fair and square...as fair and square as a villian could.

Seeing the shrug, she immediately lowered her eyes to her empty pot. Did he mean for her to play in dirt? This was hardly educational, it was peasant work! The Dark Queen was by no means amused, nor would she pretend to be. This would not get done, not while she could help it.

"You there. Over concerned one." She called to the girl who'd tried getting her a hug of all things. "I need someone potting my plant. I'm not a servant nor am I the gardener and this needs to get done."

Someone had to do it, and it wouldn't be her.