Kirk had been intrigued about attending another lesson of Herbology. His history with this class was a little shaky at its worst, but no foul play has ever occured with him lately. Entering in the greenhouse he was met with the strong odor, fighting the urge to grimace with a small smile. "Hello again, Professor." His pseduo-uncle had the benefit of being very chummy with this man so Kirk saw his professor a number of times outside school.

It was like something died in here and Kirk wasn't off from the truth judging by the look of these grotesque creatures.. Oh, mandrakes. Dead ones. He took a mask to put on before taking his seat at a workstation. His eyes glanced at the door occasionally, as if waiting on someone.

THEY WERE CUTTING OPEN MANDRAKES TODAY!!!

Jessa BOLTED to Greenhouse Five, barely managing a breathe when she finally skidded to a stop on the inside. Not the time asthma, certainly not the time. "Here! I'm here! Present! Tell me I didn't miss anything." No the smell didn't bother her. It reminded her of the stuff she used to preserve her own specimens. You could say the young girl was already somewhat used to it.

"I love that side note you added to the noticeboard Professor. I hope it means the class will run smoothly today." No activists trying to protest what they were doing. No one questioning the morals. She trusted that anyone who walked through those doors today was FULLY INFORMED AND KNEW WHAT WAS GONNA HAPPEN, because so help her Merlin, she didn't wanna sit through anyone whining and making the biggest of fusses.

This was science.

Plus the Professor just said he didn't kill these himself. What more did anyone need to here.

Anyway, she was READY. Jessa walked over to get a mask--to look official and legit before making for a workstation. Look at the little precious. Just think of everything she would learn today. THIS WAS SO FRICKIN' EXCITING!

Sheer curiosity was what had brought the blonde twelve-year-old down to the greenhouses in time for the next Herbology lesson. Stasya hadn’t quite decided what she thought about Professor Myers, nor had she forgotten her terror over the thought that they would end up suffocating their orchid mantises during the extra-credit activity, but she was curious about mandrakes. If they really looked like people, because that would make it awfully hard to dissect one. She wasn’t really sure she could dissect one to begin with, but she wanted to see one. Plus, it gave her an excuse to go over to the barns after the lesson was finished. Since she’d already be outside and all.

“Hi Professor Myers,” she greeted the professor once she’d gotten to the greenhouse where the lesson was at, her smile faltering a little as the smell hit her. Ew. She took a mask quickly and put it on, turning to find a seat and looking at the mandrake intently. She even reached out and poked it lightly, just to make sure it wasn’t just sleeping. Did mandrakes sleep anyway? They weren’t really a creature, so she didn’t know.

You could bet your buttons that Nicholas Tate was getting a mask AND a scalpel. With his nose more wrinkled than an old hag, he immediately made a beeline for the supplies. "Good morning, Professor Myers. Thank you for the options." This lesson would go much more smoothly now.

Perhaps Levi Kenning was right, and Myers really was one of the least incompetent (he wouldn't go so far as to say competent) professors he had.

Securing a mask over his face and unsrunching his schnozz just slightly, Nicky made his way to a workstation and looked over his tray. Hmm. He was playing the part of a Mungo's healer today, it seemed. Hopefully, he wouldn't be shoddy at it.

Dissection sounded like an interesting lesson. Olly had never dissected anything before - when would he have? He wondered what dissecting a plant would be like. Plants didn't really have...insides, did they? Except mandrakes looked like little people or whatever, which was a little creepy actually. Why was he doing this again? Oh yeah, because it would be fun. He grinned when he entered the greenhouse.

"Hello professor! I'll have one of those." He meant the mask thing. It wasn't even because the smell necessary bothered him. It was more for the aesthetic. He made his way to a station and proceeded to search through his bag for something he could draw on it with.

Henry was aware of what this lesson was about as they had received prior notice, and he was kind of intrigued though he also thought it a bit odd. Even though he knew they were plants and not creatures, mandrakes appeared to have human-like qualities that made him feel somewhat conflicted about cutting them open. But he still wanted to give this a go even though he knew about the alternative to the activity. He might need this skill if he ever really did pursue any kind of job in creatures. Maybe. Did they do magically surgical stuff like this?

"Hello, Professor!" Henry greeted the man cheerfully with a smile as he entered the greenhouse, that smile soon turning to a grimace as he was hit with the smell. Yeah, he was taking one of those masks, especially hearing that the smell was going to soon be worse. The seventeen year old slipped it on over his mouth and nose as he looked for a place to sit, soon deciding to take the workstation next to his fellow Hufflepuff, Nicky Tate.

"Hey, how's it going?" He greeted the other boy as he slid into his seat, though it probably came out muffled due to the mask covering his mouth. And the friendly smile would have gone unnoticed too. But his attention was soon obviously taken by the materials on his tray as he vaguely listened to Professor Paul speak. This all seemed so official and professional. It might actually be pretty cool.

Time for Herbology!

Olivia was in a very good mood today. She had woken up early and hadn't need a cup of coffee to get herself awake. She was wide awake and ready to go. And she had done some studying for OWLs already so that was a bonus too.

"Hello Professor! How are you?" she beamed as she entered and then was hit by a strong SMELL. Her nose crinkled and she winced. Bleugh. She did not like the smell but the idea of a dissection seemed really neat. She was excited to start and took a seat next to Henry. "Hey Henry!" she beamed and then noted a boy (lemon) she didn't know. "Hi! Olivia Holden."

Trying to be nicer to her Head of House, Althea made it a point to at least arrive a little early for class. Herbology wasn't exactly her strongest subject, but she would try (not that she had a choice, OWLs were looming around the corner.) When she walked into the greenhouse, she noticed that Myers had set things up a little differently, and were those mandrakes? Huh. "Hello, Professor Myers," she greeted as politely as possibly. It wasn't his fault that he was embarrassing; Althea would just have to suffer until she graduated.

Her eyes drifted down to the masks and she picked one up. If she was going to have to suffer through the lesson, she might as well be able to breathe through it, right? Right. As she made her way over to the tables, she caught sight of the Hufflepuff prefect (aka Hidalgo) and flashed him a grin (she was proud of herself for not choking this time (not that she actually had anything to choke on).) Althea also noticed that Nicholas was sitting near Hidalgo, so she smiled at her other housemate before taking a seat somewhere in the middle.

Herbology. Easily the most USELESS class for her future. It was up there with potions and Muggle Studies. But unfortunately, she HAD to go. Until she got a chance to talk to her Head of House to drop it, of course. Duuuuuuuuuuuh. That needed to happen super soon 'cause it was really cramping her style.

"Hi Professor M!" What? She didn't care for the class, but that didn't mean it'd make it any less fun. Maybe playing surgeon would give her practice for a future role. AND with that in mind she made a grab for one of the masks, this would come in handy. "Can we keep these after the lesson too?" Just wondering. She was building up her costume collection. It was all necessary for practice. Mhm. She was SERIOUS about this.

Yooooooooooooooooooooo, she took a spot near(ish) Olivia Holden. The older girl was smart, so Zoryn could always look to her stuff to figure out what to do. Not copying. Just using her resources. Mhm.

HERBOLOGY TIME! Mel was excited, really, after all Professor Meyers was always soooooooo fun to learn from. The still quite pint-sized brunette looked around the Greenhouse as she made her way to the classroom and their workstations. It was nice, having a class in the greenhouses. It was almost like they could escape the cold Scottish Weather for the rather humid air of the greenhouses…right, the wormy soil scent of the air wasn’t the most fun but seeing the plants was just wonderful.

Looking around Mel gave a little wave to Owlie and then sent the nearby second year Zoryn a little wave as well. Seriously, she didn’t know Zoryn half as well as she knew Olivia but was ＡＬＷＡＹＳ entertaining. It was almost as if she had taken pep potion before every class and Mel really didn’t see that as a problem. The girl had spunk and sass.

When she spotted him Kirk got a little wave her hands still sort of attached to the loops of her bag as she made her way over toward his workstation. “hey, mind if I join you?” she asked and didn’t even wait for a response before simply sitting there next to him…glancing up at Professor Meyers Mel just smiled. ”Hello Professor Meyers,” Melbourne grinned her nose twitching slightly as she stood there.

This smell was going to get to her.

Vivienne went up to Professor Myers' table and grabbed a mask. She loved the perfume that was sprayed in the mask.

She wished that there was a sign that said: "No mandrakes were harmed in this class." She hated looking at dead mandrakes. She felt bad for the poor thing. She preferred to use her wand instead of a scalpel. She then sat and kept quiet.

When Vivian first saw the announcement of the next Herbology class on their common room notice board, she felt a mixture of cringe and excitement. Dissecting mandrakes wasn't something they did everyday here at school, so she was obviously hyped about it and definitely sent a letter to her parents, who were just as keen for the activity. However, yeah, they did mention that it would stink a little. After all, by the look of it, the mandrakes they were going to deal with were dead. Which sounded really gross all on its own. Like performing an autopsy, except on a rather sentient human-plant.

Skipping inside the greenhouse, Vivian CRINGED at the smell and sort of choked a bit. Gross. But, y'know, it was Professor Paul so the Slytherin forced a beam on her face though it obviously held a tinge of 'something died in here'. "Hi, Professor!" She said, and then skipped to take a seat near ickle Stasya. "Hello!" She greeted the younger girl and then wore a medical mask without hesitation.

Aaahhhh, sweet pea.

THAT SMELL. Etta stopped abruptly just outside the greenhouse, very seriously considering as to whether should she should simply head back. Why was the smell so disgusting, though? She wasn't one to fuss so.. putting on a brave face, she picked up a mask from a basket near the entrance, for which she was extremely thankful for and made her way to an empty seat. Besides, she couldn't miss Professor Paul's class.. after all.

"Professor!" She greeted, trying to appear as cheerful as she could before putting on her mask. Oh, the relief. The girl sat down, trying to not look at the workstation for now. Waving at a few of her classmates, her eyes drifted back towards the professor as she waited for class to begin.

HERBOLOGY!!!!

Not to...alarm anyone, but Olivia always looked forward to Professor Myers' lessons for very specific reasons. One, the man always humored her dramatic side, which wasn't something many of her teachers did... And also, the Greenhouses were a safe space for her. A place to run to when the castle was simply too suffocating. Naturally, it'd been too cold lately to do this, but...Well, anyway, she was happy for Herbology.

That was the gist.

Moving into Greenhouse Five, for MANDRAKES (omg, OMG), Olivia immediately greeted Professor Myers with a warm smile. Even though the objective for today was dissection, she felt completely at ease. Strangely enough. Also, she was noting the various supplies on each tabletop. Mandrakes....silver utensils... Oh, buddy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverTiger

Sheer curiosity was what had brought the blonde twelve-year-old down to the greenhouses in time for the next Herbology lesson. Stasya hadn’t quite decided what she thought about Professor Myers, nor had she forgotten her terror over the thought that they would end up suffocating their orchid mantises during the extra-credit activity, but she was curious about mandrakes. If they really looked like people, because that would make it awfully hard to dissect one. She wasn’t really sure she could dissect one to begin with, but she wanted to see one. Plus, it gave her an excuse to go over to the barns after the lesson was finished. Since she’d already be outside and all.

“Hi Professor Myers,” she greeted the professor once she’d gotten to the greenhouse where the lesson was at, her smile faltering a little as the smell hit her. Ew. She took a mask quickly and put it on, turning to find a seat and looking at the mandrake intently. She even reached out and poked it lightly, just to make sure it wasn’t just sleeping. Did mandrakes sleep anyway? They weren’t really a creature, so she didn’t know.

Hm, she'd be working with Stasya today, yes. If they were allowed to do that. You know, just in case the small girl required her help. But first, Liv made her way to the front of the room and collected a mask. Putting it on, she noticed the sweet scent, but tried to breath through how overwhelming it was at first. That would pass.... Whew...

Hm. She also noticed Vivian, who as a Slytherin girl...but made her mind of her. Liv was friendly. "Are you excited?" It was directed at Stasya.

Jessa was forcing him to be here and that was IT. So he had basically draaaaaaaaaaaaaaagged himself out of the common room and nearly made a stop by a suit of armor again like he had during his first year because the topic today was DEADLY.

M A N D R A K E S.

THIS MAN WAS A DARK LORD AND NO ONE COULD CONVINCE HIM OTHERWISE NOW!

So, wary as ever, Derf made his way down to class wearing an absolutely ridiculous pair of HUGE earmuffs looking like enlarged pygmy puffs attached to his head. Derf was not afraid to wear pink but he WAS afraid of DYING.
He liked Peter Pan well enough and Picketta totally was his Tinkerbell to his Peter Pan, but he did not exactly agree with the whole 'to die would be an awfully big adventure' concept. No thanks. NOT TAKING ANY CHANCES HERE!

Since he couldn't hear ANYTHING with these on his head, the Hufflepuff was even louder than usual. "WHAT?"

Professor Dark Lord Myers' lips were moving but nothing was coming out,
you know?

Anyway...don't mind him. Just going to find himself a seat. By Jessa?
It was HER fault he was going to DIE today.

If Emmeline had needed any further convincing that the Herbology professor was a Dark wizard, the notice in the common room had quickly provided it. She didn't pay any attention to anything that said the professor hadn't killed all of these poor mandrakes himself, because obviously he had and was lying if he said otherwise. That was the kind of thing Dark wizards did, you know? Sadly, her Herbology marks hadn't been super great so far this term so Nanny had said in her last owl that Emmeline had to make doubly sure that she didn't miss any lessons or assignments in that subject. The first year didn't like the idea of spending lessons in a greenhouse with a Dark wizard every week, but Nanny always gave her good advice, so here she was.

The smell emanating from Greenhouse Five did NOT make Emmeline any more eager to be here today. She made a beeline for the scented masks, but put one on with some reluctance; the masks cleared up the smell issue, but had Professor Dark wizard cursed them?! She forced herself to smile politely and say in a perfectly calm tone of voice: "Hi, Professor." There. No indication that she knew what he was, nope. Even if she did move away to a table much more quickly than she would have done in any other lesson. She waved to Miss Mel, the Miss Olivias, and Stasya as she plopped into a seat at the table with Derf and Jessa. Jessa looked really excited for this lesson, so Emmeline figured that if she couldn't stomach anything, the older girl would happily take over for her. She hoped that wasn't mean or anything. Anyway, she gave both of her tablemates a bright smile and a: "Hi Derf! Hi Jessa!"

That was when she noticed Derf's earmuffs. She'd been kind of preoccupied with the mandrake and stuff. Emmeline frowned in confusion; could dead mandrakes still make deadly screams? Maybe this was the professor's Dark plan to kill them all. She looked worriedly at Jessa and the even older kids around the room, but none of them had earmuffs on. Weird.

Students were arriving! He was excited! DISSECTION TIME WAS ALMOST HERE. He smiled at Kirk as the boy entered and gave him a cheerful wave. “Hello there, m’boy! How is your day going?” he asked peppily (which isn’t a word, but Paul insisted we use it). Peppiyl.



Paul nodded and grinned at Jessa’s entrance. “Well, I didn’t want anyone to show up and...panic or freak out. Not fun for anyone involved. Plus...I always love an essay to grade.” He winked. The alternate assignment for those who didn’t attend the lesson was, indeed, an essay.



It seemed people were opting for the masks. He himself WOULD have had he not been teaching the lesson. They needed to hear his DULCET tones, you know?

“Helllllllloooooo, Staysa!” He waved.



“You’re VERY welcome, Mr. Tate!” That kid was all sorts of serious. Paul didn’t think he had ever seen the kiddo laugh. Maybe he’d make that a goal before summer came.

He made a mental note.



“Yes yes, take one, m’boy!” All were welcome to! “And yes...taking notes might be a good idea.” He saw Oliver reaching in his bag for a notebook. Some of this stuff...might be on end of the year exams >.>



“Hello there, Henry! Hope your day is going as well as mine is!” Which, for the record, Paul was having a pretty fantastic one. His mood was light and cheery. It was probably just exuding off of him.



“I am great, m’dear! How about you?” And yes, Professor Myers could tell the Gryffindor was in a good mood. SHE ecuded it TOO!



“Good day to you, Miss Kenning!” he nodded in her direction with a gentle smile. He was surprised to see her, he supposed. Dissection didn’t seem to be something Althea Kenning would be into. Perhaps….she was curious. Or was a scalpel super ~interesting~.

It was vASTLY INTERESTING.



“HELLLOOOO MISS Z!” he shot back at her JUST as enthusiastically. “Sure! I won’t have a use for them, and they’ll be full of your individual germs anyway. GO for it!” They would be breathing into them all lesson...and stuff…

So no. Paul was just going to recycle them anyway.



“Heeeeyo!” it was a new greeting. Hello kind of got old, didn’t it? Heeeeeyo sounded cooler, maybe. Paul was totally an expert on cool. Ponchos were cool (eh, kind of warm, honestly) and pAUL MYERS WAS COOL.



The young Ravenclaw entered quietly, and Paul shot her a friendly smile. [B]“Hello, m’dear! Welcome, Vivienne!” [B]



Keep that thought about them being sentient in the back of your head for now, young Slytherin. Paul maaaaay be touching on it later, who knows.

“Good day to you, Vivian!”



When he spotted Henrietta coming in, he really hoped she was feeling all right. Ever since the second challenge, he was worried about her. He gave her the BIGGEST smile he could muster. “Hello there, Etta. Having a good day?” she seemed okay?



”Good day, Olivia!” Paul greeted the Gryffindor cheerfully as ever. He was always happy to see her in his classes. Liv was good people. A good student, hardworking. Lovely young woman.



……..

…………

The young badger had earmuffs on, did he know? Paul blinked at him a few times before standing up, making his over to Derfael, and pulling one ear off of the boy’s head. “YOU DON’T NEED THESE!” he said LOUDLY. “The mandrakes are----you see, dead?” he gestured wildly at them. “Honestly, Derfael. Did you read the notice? Are you going to be able to handle class today?” The last thing he needed was Derf fainting .____. It WAS VERY PROBABLE. “Take the earmuffs off, please---Merlin.” He shook his head slightly…..but chuckled. “I can’t be yelling the entire lesson! I’ll lose my voice.”



“Hello to you, too, Emmeline!” Paul called to her as she arrived. He glanced at his watch. “I’ll give everyone a few more minutes to arrive, but we need to get started!”

….

Five minutes went by, and Paul clapped his hands together as he glided to the front of the room. “ALLLL RIGHT EVERYONE! We will begin! Humor me while I chitter on a bit---but I’ve got important things to say!” he stopped behind the table where he would be doing his own dissection, in front of the blackboard. “Mandrakes ARE humanoid in appearance---we all know it, you all can SEE it.” It was fairly obvious. “However...once we begin cutting, you’ll very quickly notice just how planty they are.” Planty. Totally a professor word. “But that’s why we’re doing this...they’re...an odd specimen, to say the least.”

Pause, cue taking a small sip of water. His mouth got so dry lately, it was really awful. He needed water whenever he was speaking a lot. “Now, the mandrake plant is, indeed, a root, and if we want to be more specific, a branched root. As you can see, the humanoid part is the root, and there are little twiggy branches coming off its ends. Mandrakes most resemble a carrot in how they look in regards to texture, as well as how they take in nutrients from the sun and from dirt and water.” Another sip of water. He licked his lips, too. Maybe he needed chapstick. He didn’t want to be that dried up old person ;___;

“Let us begin! Get your scalpels or wands ready!”

*DRUUUUUUUM ROOOOLLLLLLLLLLL*

“I have copied the pictures from the textbook and rendered them LARGE for easy viewing. The line is where the first incision should be! Right down the middle there!” Paul flipped the first poster board over. The line was...super distinct. So. Hopefully everyone could see it.



“You can see as you cut it open...it isn’t very much humanlike at all in regards to the skin. It cuts like a carrot! Now I know that’s an easy step, but I’ll wait to move on!” Paul grabbed his scalpel and….made the first incision near the bottom of the line on the picture was located, and began cutting upward. Yes, the inside of it...and the skin, it was very carrot-like, except brown. Paul hoped they took note of it. It was an easy cut since the root wasn’t tough, like an animal would be. “Just cut straaaaiiight up. Easy enough. We’ll pause and wait for everyone to….be at the same spot. You may use the scalpel or your wands, if you wish, with diffindo.” Had he mentioned that? He had now!

“Does anyone have any idea WHY a mandrake, both the magical and the mundane ones, resemble the carrot?”



OOC: Class has begun! Do not post arriving late if you do not want to suffer IC consequences! Hop in if you like, right where we are! I’ll be moving on in about 24 hours. Feel free to take as many or as little posts as you need for this. <3

PS. Paul made these diagrams himself so DON'T JUDGE US.

When Skylar first saw the announcement about mandrake dissection, she had to admit she was slightly nervous and yet excited at the same time. Usually lessons were rather monotonous in the way they followed the textbook, but the opportunity to do something as cool as dissect a MANDRAKE, even if it was kind of like a plant baby, was definitely appealing.

Inspecting the tray of supplies at workstation, she decided she would use the scalpel, because even though she was competent with diffindo, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to control it enough and end up slicing the whole thing in half instead of the mere incisions. A scalpel would definitely allow her greater control. When indicated, she carefully took her scalpel and made the small incision as Professor Myers indicated, and then posed with them a question about why it resembled a carrot.

"Well, I'd have to say, it maybe has to do with something about both mandrakes and carrots growing in the ground? Maybe the soil gives it something to do with the texture?" Was she close? Completely off?

And now was a good time to put on that mask before the stenches got too bad.

"Oh yeah, definit--" Before she could really respond to the Professor's comment, Derfael Mitchell Asburry-Hawthorne happened. Yes she was thrilled he'd decided to listen to her and attend his lesson given the alternative would have been levitating him over here but Merlin's beard she didn't expect him to come with earmuffs clapped over his ears like that.

As he got to the spot next to her, amidst the shouts of the Professor, Jessa plucked them from his ears and lowered them to the table. She wouldn't shout like Myers was doing. They're dead." The Professor had given the long explanation, she was simply recapping in case he missed any of it. "They're long dead. We're cutting them open now."

Blue eyes fell to Emmeline as she joined them and a wide grin spread across her face. "Hi!" WAS SHE EXCITED ABOUT THIS LESSON TOO???????????

Oh Merlin the Professor said they could start cutting!

She so had this. Opting to, in the long run, better her spells when it came to experiments, Jessa choice her wand over the scalpel, simply because she would need to get the hang of having precision with her magic. Of course, she was listening as the Professor spoke, finding she could multi-task with this fairly easily. The young girl had been cutting rats and other things open for over a year now, making an incision on a plant was child's play.

"Is it because they all share the same plant family?" And he was right, pretty much like cutting into a carrot, which was actually much easier than a rat.

Vivienne waited until all her classmates filed into the greenhouse. Why did they have to be so slow? Finally, Professor Myers started the lesson.
He had a lot of important things to say.

Text Cut: Class Notes

Mandrakes ARE humanoid in appearance--we all know it, you all can SEE it. However...once we begin cutting, you’ll very quickly notice just how planty they are. Now, the mandrake plant is, indeed, a root, and if we want to have to be more specific, a branched root. As you can see, the humanoid part is the root, and there are little twiggy branches coming off its ends. Mandrakes most resemble a carrot in how they look about texture, as well as how they take in nutrients from the sun and from dirt and water.

Vivienne was ready to start. She took out her wand.

She looked at where she was to make the first incision.

She noticed as she cut it that it cut like a carrot! What was the bloody hell going on?
Then the professor waited to move on? Why? She took her wand straight up to make the incision. She waited for the others to be at the same spot. She wished to use diffindo. It was less bloody and messy. She hated surgery.

She had no idea why a mandrake resembled a carrot. At all.

Okay so he's got his wand in one hand and the dead mandrake in front of him. Which made him feel a bit sad about it because it looked very humanoid yknow? Like an old old baby. Or Benjamin Button. One of those.

He listened to the Professor, and the main thing that stuck onto the Curly Top was CARROT. So naturally he held the thing like a carrot, and was about to cut it like a carrot for vegetable soup.....

.... good thing the Herbologist had those BIG images with the incision line running across the right way. So riiiight down the center eh? And before he can even open his mouth, his wand was already starting to diffindo the scraggly skin open....Isnt it great how his wand is wired to his brain like that?

Oh and as for the question "Uhm... they're both root crops Professor?"

YES. THEY COULD KEEP THE MASKS!!!! Dude. Zoryn was gonna have such a good costume collection at the end of this year. ”THANKS, SIR!!!” …. She didn’t know the older Gryffindor (Mel) who sent her a wave, but she returned the wave with a HUGE one of her own as she got settled down by her workstation. Eh. She had enough energy to go around.

And dude. Zoryn did TRY to humor Professor M as he chittered on a bit, but MAN he had SO many words. So she didn’t pay much attention… Until the last part when they were supposed to hold the scalpels. Dude. She wanted to cut it up her OWN way. But she followed instructions like a good student because it was too early on in the lesson to cause a scene. Ahem.

And if Zoryn had to take a guess, she’d say they cut the same cause they’re both plants. But the Ravenclaw girl sort of said that. So eh.

She’d focus on getting the cut right. Aaaaaaaand OOOOOOOH it really was like a carrot!!!! ”Do they taste like carrots too?????" Were they EDIBLE? Zoryn NEEDED to know.

Melbourne couldn’t help but chuckle when Professor Meyers said something that sounded akin to hey and an elongated awkward yoooo mixed together. ”I like your Ponchos Professor Meyers” Melbourne grinned and looked up as Professor Meyers explained the first incisions they were about to make.

They were starting the dissection process.

Taking her wand in her hand she got ready to cut the skin of the mandrake root open only to pause. Wait…it cut like a carrot? Looking over to Tenacius as he answered the question Mel jut gave him a small smile. That was a smart idea…carrots and mandrakes were root vegetables.

Isa looked over at her friends Derf, Stasya, Jessa, and Emmeline. Jessa was going to love this and Derf was, well, looking like he thought he was going to die. Poor Derf. At least the mandrakes weren't actually capable of killing people anymore. Maybe knowing that they were dead would make things more manageable for Derf. Isa was, as always, excited about the herbology lesson. Although Isa was generally against killing or cutting plants, she was okay with dissecting a mandrake that was already dead. This was to further her knowledge about plants, and she didn't have to kill any plants to learn so it was okay. Isa had decided not to wear a mask because the smell wasn't bothering her too much yet, and she was sensitive to most perfumes so having a mask with perfume in it right by her nose for a long time would probably be worse than the smell of the room.

They were starting! Isa looked up at the poster showing where to make the incision and watched Professor Myers' demonstration. Picking up her scalpel,
Isa made one long incision from the bottom of the mandrake up to the top just like Professor Myers had shown them. It really was like cutting a carrot. Hearing the next question, Isa was so excited that she almost forgot to put her scalpel down before raising her hand. She knew stuff about why some plants were similar to others and it was something that she read a lot about all the time and it was really cool and she wanted to share about it! "Mandrakes and carrots share common ancestors. The mundane mandrake and the carrot are both part of the clade asterids, so they share a lot of common traits, although mandrakes and carrots have many differences because they belong to different orders. The magical mandrake and the mundane mandrake both have many healing properties. Magical mandrakes have a few obvious differences, with the most obvious being that they can move and scream." Okay, that had gone a bit past what she had wanted to say about mandrakes and carrots, but it was hard for to stop talking when she was excited about something. The first part of her answer was the part that was directly related to the question. Taxonomic classification was fun and herbology was the best class ever! Isa had studied a lot of mundane botany from a very young age. She had a whole shelf of books about botany and mundane plants, and another shelf for books about magical plants. It was really interesting to look and cladograms and see what and common ancestors and how things had evolved. Plants were fascinating.