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One minute he thought he was going to DIEEEE.. ahem... and the next minute, he was saved. Saved, and then saved again. Zeke wiped his brow but QUICKLY righted his pot, doing his best to shove in the dirt that threatened to fall out, and shoved the Bulb in with it.

"Th-thanks," he replied first to the Slytherin girl he didn't know. She was new though, like him... he was sure he'd seen her at the sorting ceremony. "How'd you do that? I couldn't get it to work for me before..."

His other rescuer was also appreciated, hehe... though, WAS he okay? Was he? "I think so," he started, though he sounded more as if he was wondering out loud. "Does my nose look alright? It hit me pretty hard..." and more than once. This was one thing he wouldn't be writing home about. No need to go telling people he was beaten up by a plant.

Zeke kept a firm hand on his bulb, slowly feeding more of the soil in and around the bulb in the pot.

"You're welcome," Hady replied warmly with a friendly smile. "Honestly I'm really not sure I didn't think it would work..." She admitted chewing her lower lip out of habit. "I just remembered what Professor Romanos told me during DADA when I was having trouble. You have to have clear intent on what you want to happen." It was true she figured. If one didn't believe in the spell/charm they were using and wasn't focused it probably wouldn't work.

Seeing that he was alright other then his nose being red from where he'd been hit with the bulb she figured she should get on with her own work. Not before she introduced herself though cause it would be rude not to. "I'm Hady by the way, if you ever need help and I'm close by just ask and I'll help if I can." It was always nice to help someone else and maybe even make a friend?

That being said she slowly began to make her way towards the cart which wasn't very far away from them. Small, slow careful steps. Every few steps she would stop and watch as the bulbs would move about, wiggle and attempt to bounce about. She was going to get one!

Without any shame, AJ stared at Lex and the loud girl. She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing when the younger girl aimed her spell right at the head girl. AJ admired Lex, but she was sort of asking for it lately. If nobody was going to do anything to help her, you had to be able to defend yourself. AJ thought for sure that Lex would have gotten the other girl back, but she was off lately. The professor came over and threatened them, and all was well in the class again.

It would be a good idea for AJ to get some practicing in seeing as how flippendo was another spell that she had never used. This one would come in handy in a duel, so she needed to get it down. "Flippendo, Flippendo, Flippendo." The second year said it over and over until she felt comfortable.

She picked up her wand and did the V formation a few times as well. It was pretty safe to say that she had it down. It was time to plant some bouncing bulbs. AJ was making about to make her way over to the cart when she heard her man in distress. The bouncing bulb was attacking his... HAIR. "Not the hair," she hollered. AJ started to run over to him, and tackle the plant off of his luscious locks, but Benny beat him to it. Good thing too because his head was much clearer than hers. AJ didn't even think to use to spell she had JUST been practicing. When it came down to it the lion was more comfortable with combat instead of using her wand. That sort of thing happened when you came from a muggle background.

She'd backed away PRETTY quickly when the crazy Gryffindor girls started their little greenhouse duel, not wanting to be SWARMED by agitated bouncing bulbs. If they could just SAVE their fighting for later, she'd be HAPPY to be an audience to it. But different venue ladies, yeah? This was NOT the place and time. Luckily plant man AGREED, giving her the opportunity to have another go at grabbing a bulb.

Before she went for attempt number two, the brunette decided to add a BIT of extra soil to her pot. It was already halfway full but having that extra would let her cover the bulb a BIT and hopefully give her some time to get the rest without having to worry. So spade was grabbed AGAIN and the pot was filled a bit more. She gave a satisfying nod and then eyed the cart. YUP. Time for round two. Cool, calm, and collected. She HAD this.

The brunette strolled towards the cart, once again acting as if the bulbs were of ZERO interest to her. It seemed to be working okay, this strategy. It helped that there was a lot going on in the areas, things that Maddie could focus her attention on. Helped her to quell any nerves and get RIGHT up to the cart. Only when she DID pause at the cart, the bulbs seemed to SENSE a shift in her intent? Could they DO that? Because there was movement. Small movement that could lead to BIG problems and the second year had to act fast, that much was clear.

She immediately reached down and plucked a bulb from the cart, holding on to it as firmly as she could and lifting it towards the pot. Only as SOON as she took hold of it, it began to move more violently. Bouncing bulb should be called flailing bulb because THAT was what Maddie was dealing with. She watched with a bemused expression, equally fascinated and put off by the plant. But the fact that she'd paused to look at ALL was a mistake because next thing she KNEW, she'd been socked in the eye. "Oi," She squeaked, squeezing said eye shut and holding the bulb at arms length. She NEEDED that eye. She had THINGS to accomplish. Crazy bulb.

In the next moment she narrowed her good eye and thrust the squirming bulb into the pot, focusing only on covering it with the bit of extra soil she'd added so she could buy some time. That extra soil didn't stop the bulb's movement, though. STILL bouncing. Gosh.

Hurrying over to where the soil was located, one hand still on the bulb, the second year prepared to cover the thing fully.

The girl fight was broken up and Adi's hair was rescued. It seemed like a pretty safe time to get her very own bouncing bulb. The lion's hair was tied up in a messy ponytail so maybe the bulb wouldn't see any point in latching on to it. Of course the plant could see it as a handle, and if that was the case then AJ would just smack it down. They could do that right?

It was her turn at the cart, and she actually followed directions and started to slowly approach the plant. One foot in front of the other just like before. AJ made eye contact with where she figured the plant's eyes would be, and keep staring there. No fear was going on inside of her because she had her big bad magical stick. If the spell ended up failing her, then she could still whack the plant with it. One way or the other the plant would be going down.

AJ was almost in arms reach now. The plant started to rock back and forth. No matter. She wasn't backing down. The bulb was hers, and she hoped it didn't try any funny business. A few more steps, and AJ cried "Flippendo," for good measure. AJ wrapped her arms around it like she was giving it a bear hug, and took it back to her work station.

Angel was totally looking forwards to this activity, seriously were they allowed to take a bouncing bulb home because Angel wanted one and she wanted one know. She decided that she would speak to the Professor after the lesson about how she went about getting one for her own garden at home.

Angel went over and got a pot, she knew what type the Professor was on about since she had a garden at home and she loved working on it... but at the minute she wasn't enjoying this lesson because well this Professor wasn't nice and seems a bit rude docking everyone 2 points and all the other stuff though she decided to give him the benefit of doubt that maybe he was nervous.

Once Angel had her pot she filled it up half way with soil making sure that it was done correctly. She had been garden for most of her short life so far and she enjoyed making the plants a nice home for them to stay in, she then looked to see what was next.

Marigold liked this teacher so far. He was a bit extreme about some things, but then again, with Lex in the group, one kinda had to be extreme. She finished her note taking, then confidently went to approach the plants. She walked slowly, and cleared her mind a la Divination, which was easier this time around. She walked confidently until a few steps away, then decided she was close enough and ran back to her desk. She grabbed a pot and carefully filled it with soil. She got this.

When Angel was working with plants she totally zones out from everything because it was always important to make sure the plants got your full attention and that is what Angel was doing giving the plants her full attention... the only thing that might make her distracted was Ben now but even then he would have to do something amazing to get her attention she just loved plants.

Angel slowly approached the Bulb and made sure she didn't scare it one bit. she knew what it was like to scare plants, sometimes they got defensive and hurt you even though they didn't mean to.

Angel smiled as she was able to get close to the bulb she decided not to take any chances though, no fear what so ever was showing through as she got close and then pointed her wand at the bulb. "Flippendo!" Angel did the wand movement and then she smiled as she grabbed hold of it so it looked like she was giving it a hug before she went back to her work station with it.

BOIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

What the-- Grayson glanced down at the piece of parchment on the floor. One that had bounced off the side of his arm. Curiosity got the better of him so, reaching down, he picked it up and unfolded the piece of parchment to read--

..................... Seriously? SERIOUSLY?! He was trying to get an education here, HELLO.

Know your enemy. PSH. Some people were so freaking weird. It wasn't HIS fault that he had too many enemies or that they were jealous or whatever. Could he help being as great as he was? No. And it could be some kid's idea of a prank and they decided to go for him, instead. Jeez. This was probably some kid who cared more about points than anything else.

Yeah, whatever. He was choosing to ignore this because his comeback was witty -- lulz, WHITTY -- but also full of swear words and he did NOT want to get on Walton's bad side. No thank you.

It was nothing? Dude practically saved his life and it was NOTHING?!

It certainly wasn't nothing to Grayson, who was all smiles at the Gryffindor. Dude was even prepared to negotiate with Walton and get him to NOT take any points off of Zander as well. See? He could be NICE or whatever it was.

And............ they were moving on? Brilliant.

He was only good at the Knockback Jinx when he was up against an opponent and it was a duel to see who was victorious and, ultimately, better at duelling. But against a PLANT? Would it make a difference? He freaking well hoped not. Being hit by a plant would not be his way of ending the lesson. No.

The time was ripe for practice and that's exactly what Grayson was doing as he reached over to grab a pot. "Flipendo........ Flipendo......" Pot grabbed, he placed it down in front of him and started filling it up with soil, "Flipendo........ Flipendo........ Fliiiipeeeeeeeeeendoooooooooo! Flipen--"

............... OH? What was going on over THERE, HM? Girl fight? THAT WAS SO FREAKING HOT. Jeez. MAN. Where was the fist flying? WHERE WAS THE CUSTARD???

Grayson, who tried to look like he was still concentrating on filling up his pot plant, craned his neck a little to try and get a better view of the thing. Lex and Zahra???? Okay, that was probably NOT hot considering the people involved but still. Girl fights, man. ANY fights. He half expected Lex to retaliate and snap Zahra's wand in half. That would have gotten a GOOD chorus of 'OOOOOOOOOOH's, except Walton wouldn't be impressed, he bet.

Speaking of, dude wasn't having a good first lesson, was he?

When the Professor broke up the fight, Grayson looked back at his pot plant and continued filling it up with soil. Halfway, yeah? The fifth year bent down to get an accurate reading of the thing, even sprinkling a liiiiiittle bit more of the soil to make it to that halfway mark.

His head was starting to hurt. This Bulb was annoying. Ugh! Was he going to have to rescue himself? He vaguely heard AJ's voice over the attack of the Vicious Bouncing Bulb then he became aware of the familiar voice that was Benny's casting the Knockback Jinx.

Thank Merlin he was saved! The Bulb was off of his head! Adi looked around and spotted the bulb down behind him. Relieved, he turned back to Benny with a grin. "Tha-'' he began but the other boy was already walking away from him. Frowning, he turned to AJ. "My hair's fine.'' He would just go over there to his pot and finish the activity, yeah? His friends were being weird. First AJ moving away from him when he got to the table earlier and now Benny.

Trying to ignore the dull headache, Adi scooped up the still agitated Bulb before hurriedly placing it into the half full pot of soil. More soil was then added using the spade so that the Bulb was half covered.

All done.

Merlin. Grayson Whitlock was hot. He was easily the belle of Slytherin house.



That was pretty much how the thought ended for Cutty however as a small Gryffindor child had gotten attacked by one of the small bouncing bulbs. Popped him right in the nose! Why didn't he fight back? He could've had it on the ground throwing repeated punches to it's bulbous body.

Anyway, all that commotion stirred up a fuss in some of the bulbs and indeed it would make it a great deal more difficult than Cutty thought it would be to get one of the plants into the soil. It would be done, though. Walking over toward the bulbs as if he had all the business in the world doing so, he took out his wand and hit the magical plant with the knock-back jinx. "Flipendo!" He said, aiming at one of the bouncing bulbs and taking it down whilst separating it from it's brothers and sisters.

Cutty continued his walk over to the now isolated and recently knocked over bulb, but paused within reaching distance of the thing. His eyes remained locked on the target, but the reason he paused was calculated. Giving the bulb time to calm down, which indeed took a long while, he did not take another step forward until it looked to him as if it were docile and recovered from the stress of it's recent life.

It was all about control with plants, just like Bentley taught him.

Marigold had practiced the Flipendo wand movement, but she said it out loud just in case. "Flipendo. Flipendo." She got it down pretty quickly, but hoped that she wouldn't need to use it. She got her bulb and held her wand strongly, then quickly put it in the pot and shouted "FLIPENDO," because it was a bit wriggly. She wiped her forehead, getting a streak of dirt on her face. Whatever.

Once the pot had been filled up with the right amount of soil, Grayson straightened up and rolled up the sleeves of his-- LOL, what robes?

Yeah, he rolled up the sleeves of his Slytherin jumper and the shirt underneath, all the while chanting the spell over and over again. "Flipendo..... Flipendo....... Flipendo...... FLIPENDO!" Did that sound right? He hoped so. It wasn't a HARD pronunciation. What was slightly harder was the wand movement, which was a V with the extra squiggle at the end. Pulling out his wand, the Slytherin practised that wand movement over and over again. V and a squiggle, V and a squiggle.

When he was done with that, Grayson turned his attention over towards the Bouncing Bulbs. Approach them in the same way as before? Simple! Easy, even. With as much suave and casualness as before, the boy started heading over towards the cart again. They were only bouncing BULBS, there was no need to get nervous. Even if they had attacked Adi's hair or whatever it was that had been going on over there. Poor dude.

ANYWAYS. Like before, he reached a distance that was just under half a metre, which was when the bulbs started wriggling around again. Oh jeez. Oh MAN. Were they going to make this difficult? Was he going to have to wrestle it just to make it behave? Plants were freaking insane. Not that he wouldn't be up for a little wrestling match but the dude kinda wanted to get this done as quickly as possible.

He reached over to try and grab it but the plant simply wriggled off to the right. Move his hands to the right and it wriggled back. Was it insane or was it trying to play games with him? The boy simply did not know.

Okay, that was it.

"Flipendo!" he cried, moving his wand in that V and squiggly shape he had been practising before. A small smirk spread across his face as he watched the bulb soar away from the cart and onto his table. Brilliant.

Also, his, if anyone was trying to be clever and steal his bulb.

Angel walked back towards her pot with her small bouncing bulb in her arms, she was totally enjoying this and she was whispering to the bulb that everything would be okay. She was trying to make sure the Professor wouldn't hear her because then he might think she was crazy and well she wasn't.

Angel put the bulb into the pot and started to put more soil around it, she was still whispering to it telling it that everything was going to be alright and that no matter what she would always be there for it. She smiled once the plant was half buried knowing her work was done and everything was okay the only thing she wanted to know was could she have one to keep but the Professor was busy at the minute so she didn't disturb him.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Grayson took a few strides to the table and grabbed hold of the bulb before it could go away. Little buggers could easily make a dash for it as soon as it saw fit. And he didn't work hard just to let it get away in the end. No. So, holding onto it with both hands, the boy headed over towards his pot again for the last and final step.

ABOUT TI--

The bulb was wriggling again. It. Was wriggling. IN HIS HANDS. What did it think it was DOING?! "Stay! Stay! STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" he whispered loudly, trying to tighten his grip on the thing. Maybe it was starting to wake up or whatever. Recover from the Knockback Jinx. It was also starting to become difficult to hold onto the bulb -- MAN, he was so close to his pot! -- and Grayson eventually had to come to a stop. "Stop." Wriggle wriggle "Being." Wriggle "Difficult!" HISS from Whitty as the bulb.........

............... seemed to make a wild leap bounce of faith to freedom.

OH NO YOU DON'T.

"Flipendo!" he cried AGAIN, sending the bulb flying again. It soared and SMACKED down onto the table RIGHT next to his pot. GOOD. A hand reached out and grabbed hold of it again before dumping it into his pot. "You're gonna stay there, mkay? This is for your own GOOD." Maybe he was talking more to himself to make himself seem more determined about this. Have a bit of control and all. Some soil was taken and added into the pot, half burying the bulb in it.

And............. check. One bulb half buried in the soil in the pot. Was he done?

SPOILER!!: Zeke

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Originally Posted by Hera

SPOILER!!: our life saversssss!!!

One minute he thought he was going to DIEEEE.. ahem... and the next minute, he was saved. Saved, and then saved again. Zeke wiped his brow but QUICKLY righted his pot, doing his best to shove in the dirt that threatened to fall out, and shoved the Bulb in with it.

"Th-thanks," he replied first to the Slytherin girl he didn't know. She was new though, like him... he was sure he'd seen her at the sorting ceremony. "How'd you do that? I couldn't get it to work for me before..."

His other rescuer was also appreciated, hehe... though, WAS he okay? Was he? "I think so," he started, though he sounded more as if he was wondering out loud. "Does my nose look alright? It hit me pretty hard..." and more than once. This was one thing he wouldn't be writing home about. No need to go telling people he was beaten up by a plant.

Zeke kept a firm hand on his bulb, slowly feeding more of the soil in and around the bulb in the pot.

Ben had reacted so quickly he hadn't registered at first that another first year had helped her classmate as well. Both spells had worked and the bouncing bulb was beaten into submission allowing the younger Gryffindor to plant it easy enough. "You're welcome," he said simply staying quiet as he questioned the Slytherin. She had managed the spell well enough for a young student.

As for when attention returned to him specifically, the fourth year leaned a little closer to check the boy's nose. "It looks...fine to me." It wasn't like it was bleeding and he would think a bouncing bulb was certainly gentler than getting hit by say...a bludger to the face. "If it still hurts after class, maybe some ice from the kitchens will help," he added almost as an afterthought as he went to move back to his own workstation again.

Back among his friends who seemed to be working well now that Adi was free from his attacker, Benny did an inventory of his supplies. Pot...check. Dirt from himself and his bestie earlier...check. Now for the bouncing bulb which he was dreading after already helping two people with their own.

Being careful, he headed towards the location where the remaining bulbs were, slowing when he got closer. Now how to express to them that he came in peace? Well for one he wasn't grabbing for one until he was close enough and trying not to do it too quickly. "Nice bulb..." he said quietly as he made his final approach. There was some movement but nothing that worried him too much until he went in for the final retrievable. His grasp didn't quite make it and now his bulb of choice was clearly agitated.

Having perfected, or rather just practiced the knockback spell, Layla was able to progress onto the next step. Or at least she would've continued if her elbow hadn't suddenly been attacked by something. She winced in pain (because hitting your funny bone certainly wasn't funny) before GLARING at whomever it was who did it.

And she could tell exactly who it was by the sheepish look on their face.

Eden.

"Watch what you're doin'!" the Ravenclaw hissed, eyes narrowed at her dormmate. Honestly, if she couldn't control her magic she shouldn't be allowed to go anywhere near her wand. Besides, she hadn't ever performed magic before coming to school and she wasn't going about injuring people. She didn't make anything else of it however mainly because she wanted to finish this task before the end of the lesson. Get the credit and all. Look good in Professor McHotty's eyes. Not that she'd ever call him that face to face or out loud for that matter.

It was all in her head.

Straight faced the fifteen year old headed to the desk to collect the plant pot that they needed and brought it back over to her workbench keeping a large enough gap between herself and Eden in case the other got a little trowel happy. She filled up the pot about half way using the soil because she couldn't be bothered to measure it out correctly. She was pretty certain the plant wouldn't be that fussy over how deep it was in the soil by a couple of centimetres right?

But then again, who knew with all this weird magic stuff?

Toby.

Was.

Staring.

Wide-eyed, at the entire THING that was happening over THERE with Z and Lex. He was feeling more and more lost and helpless by the second, and so very badly wanted to help defuse the situation but knowing he would only make things worse. So instead he just sort of... stood and watched (though he was likely frozen in place thanks to the surprise) until Professor Walton waded in. By that point, Toby felt some relief; Walton struck him as a professor who was strict but fair, and definitely in control of things. He could appreciate that, and totally did.

Toby decided not to waste too long to see how either girl would react, and quickly got on with the activity. Or... well, not quickly, because now he needed to be super casual and careful with retrieving the bulb.

His personal goal in this lesson was to manage this task without magic at all, though of course if he needed it then that would just have to happen. Toby approached the tray of bouncing bulbs when nobody else was nearby, but also didn't leave it too long since the last person had collected one. It was like... if he waited too long they might get too used to nobody being nearby, and therefore very defensive and put up a real fight. But if he didn/t leave long enough they might well attack straight away, depending on the last student.

It was all done in a very matter-of-fact way. Toby approached the bulbs just as he had earlier, only this time he didn't pause or anything like he had earlier. Just went straight up, scooped up a bulb, and walked straight back towards his table. So now he needed to get back and half bury it before the thing decided to put up a fight. Simple. Except not really, because he could feel it starting to tremble in his hands.

Don't panic, Tobes. You got this.

Slow and steady. That was how she was going to go about this. Take her time and grab one of the bouncing bulbs when it least expected it.

Stop. Watch the bulbs. They were wiggling and bouncing about in place but not to badly. Another step forward. Then another just like before. Stop. Holding her hand firmly at her side she kept her eyes on one of the bulbs closest to her. The one she was going to grab. Stepping forward again she was almost within arms reach now. Just a little closer.

Small step. Then another. Reaching forward quickly she grabbed the bulb gently but firmly at the very same time the one near it bounced forward smacking her wrist. Ouch! That had actually hurt. Luckily she didn't drop her bulb even as it bounced around in her grasp.

Hurrying backwards away from the cart she quickly made her way to her table, the struggling bulb held tightly in her hands. Not tightly enough however for just as she reached the table the bulb bounced from her hands hitting the edge of her table and bouncing back into the air. Smacking her straight in the cheek!

Crazy little thing! She had almost had it! Ignoring the smack to the face from the evil little plant thing she grabbed it and shoved it into the pot of soil holding it down with one hand. Using her free hand she picked up the extra cup of dirt and dumped it over the bulb (and her own hand that was holding it down) and began to pack the dirt around it. Freeing her dirt covered hand she fixed the dirt so the bulb was covered and couldn't move.

There she'd done it! Sure both her wrist and cheek were a little sore but she'd done it!

Easy peasy, right? Marigold just kinda dumped a bunch of dirt onto the bulb, not completely covering it but covering it enough that it couldn't jump out and eat her probably.. She flattened the dirt out with her gloved hands, then drew a few swirlies for fun, then named her bulb Joe because it looked like a Joe. Farmer Marigold over here.

Eden would keep an eye on Dot, but...she needed to get back to work! Potting Bulby--sure, it wasn't the most creative of NAMES but that was all right. She had some questions for the Professor--so...she would ask them once she had this all done. She had grown quite attached to Bulby already, in this short amount of time. She wondered...hmm...

Right.

She took a deep breath, and she was about to start the repotting process when Layla SNAPPED at her. Eden's blue eyes grew wide..and she bit her lip. Her cheeks flushed, too, and she felt bad and embarrassed. "S-sorry, Layla--" she said, and she looked down at her lap a bit. Oops. "It was an accident..." she said quietly. Crud. Now she was feeling all non-confident and stuff--but she had to get this done. So she took another deep breath, watched Layla move very far away, and...got her wand ready in case Bulby decided to TRY anything.

Eden's hands shakily reached forward, and Bulby began to FLAIL about and BOUNCE--yeah, he was really bouncing! Eden would have been amused had he not almost BOPPED her in the nose! She quickly waved her wand and cried "Flipendo!" before scooooping it up in its shock and plunging it into the new pot. Bulby was bouncing around again, clearly NOT happy about being repotted. But he was staying put, and Eden quickly dumped more soil onto him so that he could be NIIIIICE and cozy in his pot.

There.

He was finished. And wiped her hands on her robes in accomplishment. Yeah! Bulby was settling now, and she raised her hand. "Professor Walton--I really like my plant--his name is Bulby--would you perhaps let us come visit the plants we repotted throughout the year?" She asked, completely serious--she liked him. Bulby WAS CUTE OKAY? "I want to watch him grow--AND BECOME AN ADULT BULB!'

So now he was halfway back to the desk and everything was going well. The bulb was wriggling around in his hands and Toby was trying not to feel nervous about it. He just kept repeating to himself that this was cool, this was all totally chill, and he had a handle on it. If needed, he had the knockback jinx in his arsenal, after all. Still, it would be nice to have a handle on this without magic. Or a black eye. Yeah, neither of those.

Toby was still a couple of steps away from his table when the bulb suddenly WRIGGLED FREE from his hands and suddenly BOUNCED up in the air in front of his face. Toby was perhaps a little slow in reacting, for reasons, but managed to stop walking and lean his head back so that his face was out of danger. Shut up, he liked his face.

Before any damage could really be done, Toby, with his heart suddenly having sped RIGHT UP, reached out and snatched the bulb from the air. It was all a little too sudden for the poor little bulb, and Toby felt it gearing up for another attack/bid for freedom beneath his fingers, so he force himself to take it all in his stride.

He took the last couple of steps to his table and gently-but-firmly positioned the bulb inside it, right in the middle of the soil. Without skipping a beat, Toby kept one gloved hand on the bulb and used the other to scoop up the soil he'd left out for himself, glad he'd had the foresight.

It seemed that the brisk method was precisely the right idea. Toby had worried that the bulb would end up feeling his quickened pulse through his finger tips and get, for want of a better word, worried. But no. Once in the soil, with handfuls more being dropped down on top of it, the bulb calmed right down. Still quivering, but not quite so much.

Toby smiled to himself and finally let go, now using both of his hands to carefully half-bury the bulb. Hopefully that would be enough that it wouldn't be able to jump at him again, if the urge struck. Tobias spent a couple of minutes making sure everything was in order here, and that the bouncing bulb was sufficiently covered with soil, before looking up again. He was cool.

He had it...

...

... covered.

Bulb in hand, AJ made her way back to her working station. In the attack, AJ had forgotten all about being annoyed with Adi and Angel. Her first instinct was to save her man. Benny had come to the rescue, and all was well. Or was something going on between the besties? Either way Adi confirmed that he, or rather, his hair was okay. "Good." AJ didn't have time to worry about that now because she had a bouncing bulb that was not going to like what she was about to do.

Her pot was already half filled with soil. The lion placed the bouncing bulb into the soil filled pot, and it didn't like that one bit. The knock back jjinx must have worn completely off because it was putting up a good fight. AJ was ready for that though. Instead of firing off another jinx, she gave the bulb a good whack with her wand... just to show it who was boss.

The whack must have done the trick because the bulb settled down in tie for her to put more soil on top with her spade. AJ made sure to do it to the halfway mark. Done. Whew. Were they going to be able to check on them later? Was this her own personal bulb? Some older girl was already asking if they would be able to keep them. Hopefully the professor would say this was the case.

Jotting down the notes on the bouncing bulbs with her new pen --she found it in her bag and was getting tired of all of the stinking quill ink on her hand and arm-- Ophelia got ready to approach the bulb. Calm and relaxed. Basiclly be not like not herself. Be like Newton. Uggh, as if she hadn't heard that enough. Okay, now was not the time for all of that 'in your sisters shadow' crap. Besides, she lived in her own shadow and not in her yucky older sisters. It was time to approach the bulbs and NOT have them attack her.Shouldn't be too hard right? Two deep breaths. Smile. Pretend that you were approaching a friend, or somethng. It wasn't like Ophelia was afraid of plants, but these could um actually DO something and even though the Porfessor would intervene, it was still a little scary.

Okay, the Professor was there with the cart. Giving herself a last relaxing breath, the first year started approaching. There wasn't much distance between her and the cart, this shouldn't be too hard. Not too hard at all.

She started slowly walking, smiling and breathing as normal as possible. Things like this were always really exciting to her, and she hoped that this all worked out. Maybe they wouldn't be THAT uncomfortable. Maybe they would hate her right away. It was all a guessing game. Maybe she would find interest in plants and follow the path of her brother and be a plant person and take home all kinds of cool stuff that their mom hated on her kitchen table.

Taking a few steps closer, Ophelia smiled. So far so good. Heey-oo! She actually wasn't doing something horrible here! She was doing well! In a class.

But then the rationial side of her brain kicked in and told her that she wasn't even halfway there yet. So it was kind of early to be cheering.

Another step closer. The bouncing bulbs started looking a tad bit uncomfortable. Oh. Cool. Apparently it was WAY too early to start cheering, because apparently Ophelia was bad at this class too. She got about halfway there, if not a little further back. That couldn't have been bad for a firstie, but Newton would've gotten al the way to the bulbs and been able to pick one up. Bleeh. Her sister was gross.

Of course she understood was was wrong too. She got excited too early and messed things up. But that was a life lesson, right? Patience. And Ophelia had NONE of that. Oh well, maybe plants weren't her thing. Or, Wizarding plants, anyway. The eleven year old was reeeeaaallly good at figuring out which muggle plants were which, and even baked using some berries she knew were safe in the woods. It came out really well and everyone loved it.

Ian decided it was time. He walked up to the cart, after waiting his turn. It was a hopeful desire to get one. He leaned over deliberately, wand at the ready. He went for the first one his hand was close to. He was visualizing the catch and exulting in the victory. He was soooo close.

It was at that moment the bulb that was next to the one he was going for got froggy. He was completely caught off guard as the bulb, slightly larger than the one he'd gone for, hit him in the temple. He felt shooting pain in the left side of his head. The world got blurry and soon he was looking at darkness. His body slumped to the ground and he moaned. Fortunately for him, he missed hitting any tables on the way down.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpiritWolfe Malfoy

"You're welcome," Hady replied warmly with a friendly smile. "Honestly I'm really not sure I didn't think it would work..." She admitted chewing her lower lip out of habit. "I just remembered what Professor Romanos told me during DADA when I was having trouble. You have to have clear intent on what you want to happen." It was true she figured. If one didn't believe in the spell/charm they were using and wasn't focused it probably wouldn't work.

Seeing that he was alright other then his nose being red from where he'd been hit with the bulb she figured she should get on with her own work. Not before she introduced herself though cause it would be rude not to. "I'm Hady by the way, if you ever need help and I'm close by just ask and I'll help if I can." It was always nice to help someone else and maybe even make a friend?

That being said she slowly began to make her way towards the cart which wasn't very far away from them. Small, slow careful steps. Every few steps she would stop and watch as the bulbs would move about, wiggle and attempt to bounce about. She was going to get one!

She was NICE. That was the first thing he noticed about this girl. She was NOTHING like how he thought the Slytherins were. She wasn't rude, mean, cold or anything like that. He liked her. "Intent huh?" he mused, considering what she had said. Well she must have been doing something better than him, because he was confident his intent had been there. Oh well, he'd just have to practice it later. More homework.... woot.

"Thanks, Hady," he replied, acknowledging her name and doing his best to commit it to memory. "I'm Zeke, and... if you need help with anything other than a knockback jinx... I might be able to help..." he shrugged, grinning. It was worth a shot. And at any rate, he'd have to return the favour somehow, he was kind of indebted to her now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holmesian Feline

Ben had reacted so quickly he hadn't registered at first that another first year had helped her classmate as well. Both spells had worked and the bouncing bulb was beaten into submission allowing the younger Gryffindor to plant it easy enough. "You're welcome," he said simply staying quiet as he questioned the Slytherin. She had managed the spell well enough for a young student.

As for when attention returned to him specifically, the fourth year leaned a little closer to check the boy's nose. "It looks...fine to me." It wasn't like it was bleeding and he would think a bouncing bulb was certainly gentler than getting hit by say...a bludger to the face. "If it still hurts after class, maybe some ice from the kitchens will help," he added almost as an afterthought as he went to move back to his own workstation again.

It looked okay. OKAY!... he didn't think it could have looked worse than it already did, but it was nice to have confirmation. "Ice, got it," he nodded firmly at his comrade.

"Thanks, Ben."




He kept filling more soil around the Bulb in the pot, just as the instructions stated. Half covering it. Just to make sure it was snug as a bug when he finished, he pat the soil down gently. Maybe it if was like being tucked into bed, then it wouldn't be able to bounce out.. just like when he had the sheets tucked in around him, he could hardly wiggle.

Once he was confident he was finished. Because.. HELLOOOO... it was potted, yeah? ... Zeke raised his hand to flag down the Professor.

"I think I'm finished, Sir," he beamed. "Do I... clean up now?" And like... GO? He was a little hungry, and a snack before the next class would be awesome.