"Ah, merci pour ton offre, Phoebe," Jade said, "mais je crois que je suis attendu au chateau! De toute facon, je passerais par ici pour discuter avec toi, d'accord? A tout-a-l'heure, my chère!"

And with that, and a final wave, she disappeared.

"A bientôt, Jade," Professor Phoenix said, watching the visitor leave. She checked her watch. "A few more minutes before we begin."

*Smiles and waves back to Aiden* Hi there^^ *whispering* I don't understand a thing of what they are talking about, do you? AND I studied French some 2 years at school! Though it's true that it never was my strong point, amost failed, and the teaching wasn't that good. Still I think I prefer Japanese or Latin

*Nadia regains her posture still humored by her little understanding of what was happening*

Aw, still more minutes? I'm dying out of curiousity here, professor!

*watches as the Beaubaxtons professor leaves the greenhouse then turns her attention back to Professor Phoenix and the veiled plants*

"Is everybody here?" Professor Phoenix called over the hubbub that their being in one of the more advanced greenhouses – number three out of five – had caused. "Then we will start."

She waited for silence to return before continuing.

"In front of each and every one of you, you will find a pot covered with a black veil. Please do not lift the veils yet – we will be working in the dark, because these plants, unfortunately, are very sensible to light. Therefore, I wish you to prepare; firstly, by casting Lumos on your wand, and secondly, by putting on your dragon hide gloves."

She tapped the blackboard with her wand, before turning back to the class and using the spell they had already heard in the lesson before. "Nox Solem Chambren!"

Professor Phoenix turned back to the blackboard, whispering "Lumos". Her wand lit magically and she picked up a piece of chalk, writing on the board.


Dremuni Plants


Due to her enchanting the blackboard, the white chalk glowed in the inky darkness for a while, before the students, one by one, lit their own wands.

<reaches for her wand, but can't find the proper dexterity with the bulky gloves on. Takes off one glove, pulls out her wand, replaces the glove and>

"lumos" <the wand tip glows. She then looks up at the glowing chalk words and wonders about this "Dremuni Plant">

*Pulls wand out of pocket, carefully setting his dragon-hide gloves down to his right. Grips wand and wispers*
"Lumos"
* puts on his gloves and waits for more instruction*

*Looks at the black pot in front of her excitedly, wondering what is in it.*
"Lumos."

Ali got out her wand and looked around nervously. "I hope this is easy," she whispered.

*walks in an takes a seat next to Ali and I begin to join the others with today's lesson

* raises my hand and asks Professor what are we going to be learning today?

*Nadia raises her wand and casts "Lumos" while doing so she thinks 'So much times I've used, I must be becoming an expert! '

Nadia then writes in her notepad 'Dremuni Plants' and nothing else, for she knew nothing of these plants. Immediately she took various of her books, Herbology One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi (Lexicon), Latin Translation, etc., to find more about them.

'Well, it doesn't seem to be Latin...' Look up in other idioms, mythology, her Moder Botanica book... Nothing.

So... Nadia really wondered where did this plant come from.

"You'll see - there now," Professor Phoenix said, her flushed cheeks still showing through the eerie glow of the wands. "Now we can get started. You can take the veil off your plant cautiously – they are placed over the plant to keep them from coming in contact with light, because they would start an overproduction of poison, which you will soon see. Try to touch it as little as possible, even though you have your gloves on. These plants are lethal, very poisonous. Some of the toxin could stick to your gloves and come in contact with your skin, and we don't want that to happen."

Professor Phoenix pulled on her own gloves before lifting the black cover slowly. What appeared to be a miniature white tree with apparently candy floss for leaves, like spider-webs wrapped around the thin, silvery branches, emitting an unnatural, creepy gleam that brightened the room a fair bit, was revealed. She stepped back and folded the cover neatly, making sure to not touch the chalklike dust on it.

"A Dremuni Plant."

Ow, I thought we wouldn't study dangerous plants! *Nadia pouts and watches the plant.* My luck...

*Shivers at the sight but feeling like eating some cotton candy as she did. Nadia puts her dragonhide globes firmily thinking of washing her hands with them on once the lesson is over. For extra-reassurence Nadia put the sleeves of her shirt and cloak securely under the gloves. Very slowly she took a point of the cloth and pull it upwards to reveal the white three.

OK, I need space, Nadia thought while taking the clothes out completely. Truth to be told she almost liked the spectacle; it looked like an scene of a horror movie and that made it facinating. Her pulse failing miserably at first, she finished uncovering the Demuri Plant. Taking a spare sheet of clothes Nadia felt the need to clean the gloves before she raised her hand to ask a question:*

Professor, wouldn't the light from the Lumos spell made the threes produce the poison? Plus is it true that no matter where on earth you are, no matter the time, there's always a little sun light reflected from objects and such - such as the moon itself reflecting the light of the sun at night. So these plants should be always producing poison?
Mmh, if that's right then we could poison ourselves by only breath, I mean, I'm thinking of photosynthesis here: all the air they produce should be poisonous! Or only a great consentration of it, as when touching them, do the real trick?

Also... what would we be doing with them, if we cannot touch them? And what properties do they have that makes us want to cultivate them? Oh and what does the name mean?
*blush* Sorry for all the questioning, I happen to be too curious^^

Aiden pulls out his wand and whispers Myung-bul to light its tip then whispers Bu-tcheo (a sticking charm) and sets it end down on the table so it stands like a candle

Aiden then takes up his quill quickly and lists all he's already learned about this new enigmatic plant. Under the entry for Dremuni Plant he descibes it's light sensitivity and poisonous properties, then lowers his quill, pulls on his gloves and removes the black veil from the plant. After setting the cloth aside, carefully folded, he raises his hand...


Professor, is the poison a self defence system, feeding system or was this plant perhaps bred for a darker purpose? Also, could you give us a reference where we can read more after class?

-K-

*looks at the dremuni Plant curiously*

"Interesting looking plant...."

*Mike takes out his wand and casts the spell.* :sorcerer:

"Lumos!"

*He then moves to the plant and slowly togs the cover off to reveal the plant. He steps back and admires it for a moment.*

"Professor how are they cultivated if they are so dangerous? By the way does it cause an instantaneous death or a slow and painfull one?" he asks as an evil smile streches across his face.

*Gives Nadia a strange look for talking so much, but pulls out her wand and easily casts LUMOS!*

I love that spell... she says very quietly to herself... simplest one I know.

"Very well observed, Nadia. Indeed, the plants are producing poison at the moment, but since it's very dark, only in tiny amounts, so no need to worry."

"The air is not poisonous - the toxin does not leave the plant, except when there's too much on it, so again, don't worry, Nadia. I also have a potion stored here in case someone does touch some."

"You'll see, you'll see," Professor Phoenix laughed. "I don't want to be spoiling the surprise.

"Poison usually is a self-defense system. This plant however was first created and cultivated by Dark Wizards indeed, and there is very little reference about it. It has been legalised only recently, but even so, you can't get them easily."

"They are cultivated only by experts and most of their secrets are kept in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry and St Mungo's. The death is painful - you paralyze slowly, until the poison reached your heart or lungs."

"Now, I doubt you have heard of the Dremuni Plant yet," Professor Phoenix said once all veils had been lifted, "for it only recently has been introduced to the curriculum. Fact is, when handled irresponsibly, the damage could be beyond repair. I hope that is enough of a warning for you," she said, her voice unnaturally hard.

"So, what does the Dremuni Plant do?" she asked the class. "It produces a poison, that's what it does. This toxic substance is a white powder that falls from the Dremuni's webs," she explained, cautiously prodding one of the candy-floss-spider-webs from which a cloud of dust appeared.

"See? The substance is so tiny that, in contact with your skin, it will sink in and paralyse your muscles, which is not nice and why, at all costs, you must avoid touching it directly. If you inhale it by accident, I'm sure you understand the consequences," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Death," Professor Phoenix said needlessly. "Slow and painful."

"What could be possibly need this plant for? Any ideas?"

*Raises hand*

Professor, couldn't teh plant and maybe its poison powder be used in any type of potion? And could it also be used in a garden around the property line to prevent pests, such as gnomes, out of the garden?

And since you said its secrets are kept in The Dept. of Mysteries, and St. Mungo's, could St. Mungo's Healers be using it to some how make a reverse paralysis potion of some sort?

*Writes down what professor has said...*

*Lina carefully lifts the veil of her plant and folds it up neatly at her side, careful not to touch anything. After studying the plant carefully from a safe distance she hears the professor's question and raises her hand*

Professor, couldn't this type of muscle relaxing poison be used, if given in a very low dose of course, to help patients that suffer from cramps, for example if you've exercised to much or perhaps have heart problems? These are both caused by overactive muscles, so it would probably help to relax the muscle a little...

*Looks back at her plant again*

But maybe its too poisinous for that...

Maybe if you made the plant into a potion very carefully, it could be used to counteract curses like tantellagra? Or for more serious uses, maybe it could be used to get the body under control, like in the case of a werewolf- to protect against involuntary action?

"The poison of the Dremuni Plant – next to some illegal uses, which I am sure you can guess – is used for several potions. For one, in very low concentration, it is used in a potion to paralyse certain areas when medical access is required. Another, also mostly medical purpose, is a sleeping draught. Usually, depending on how much of the poison is added to the basic potion, it is more or less powerful. If too much is added, the outcome is comparable to the Draught of the Living Dead. But, as I said, this is a medical sleeping potion. It is seldom used in wizarding households, simply because Dremuni poison is not sold in your next door Apothecary. One might find it in Knockturn Alley, of course," she said rather lightly. "But not that I recommend it. A lot of things can easily go wrong with this potion. If there is a simpler equivalent, it is better to use that."

"It would kill off too many other things," Professor Phoenix said. "But in reduced concentration, maybe it is in some pesticides."

"It's always a very tricky thing to use poison against curses, because you can't really tell how intense the curse is, how strong the person that cast it, and it could easily poison a person. That's why up to now - until St Mungo's or the Department of Mysteries have new results - the two potions are its only legal uses."

Aw! Mean!

Aw, beautiful thoughts! *sacastically/jokingly*

*raise hand* Sorry, professor, I wanted to let you know that we did the basic sleeping potion with professor Airlia and we didn't use Dremuri Plant to do it, so I am assuming this is a new kind of Sleeping Draft? Maybe it powers up the potion? Besides the sleeping potion is common and you say this is just have been legalized so it can't be the same potion, right?

*listens to the Professor and copies down notes*

"Interesting plant indeed..."