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Herbology Lesson 1: Blue Spruce Near a small plowed field just past Greenhouse 4, Kassandra stands adjacent to a pile of garden boots and a bucket full of gardening gloves. Her hands are on her hips as she slowly breathes in the smell of fresh soil while watching the students arrive. On the ground, leaning against a large wooden box is a sign: Quote:
OOC: Welcome to the first Herbology lesson. Please keep in mind that this would not be their first lesson IC. If you haven’t already done so, please take a moment to check out the class rules and expectations. Lesson Progression: Question 1: Evergreen Trees Mini Activity: Prepping the field Question 2:What are some advantages of a rapid growth tree? What are some possible problems that could arise with growing rapid growth trees?” Main activity: Tree planting and decorating |
Austin was a bit nervous. He was the first one here. He was still not comfortable giving a verbal greeting yet so he gave the professora nod in acknowledgement and a small wave. |
Daisy made her way to the field where the lesson would be taking place. When she reached Professor Sutton, she smiled and greeted with a "Good afternoon, Professor Sutton." She had changed into her pair of gardening boots prior to heading to the lesson and had her gloves so there was no need for her to change. Daisy then stood on the grass next to the field as per the instructions. |
Jade skipped down to the field next to Greenhouse 4 for the Herbology lesson. Admittedly, Herbology was not one of her strongest subjects; she always understood the theory, but did not do so well on the practical portion - that is, the actual taking care of the plants. Nevertheless, she found the class really interesting and tried her best in every lesson. She was looking forward to learning new things today as well. "Hi, Professor Sutton," she greeted the professor brightly and proceeded to read the sign. Well, she was already wearing her boots (she didn't want to SHARE gardening boots, no thanks) and she had brought her dragon-hide gloves! So she moved to the grass next to the field and waited for the lesson to begin. |
With a smile on her face and skip in her step Ellie hurried down to the field next to Greenhouse 4 for today's Herbology lesson with her head of house. Herbology wasn't exactly her strongest subject since she usually managed to overwater and misinterpret plants needs , but it was still fun. So what if she wasn't exactly the strongest in the practical execution parts but she was there to learn so maybe practice makes perfect? Ellie passed by their Professor on the way greeting cheerily "Hi Professor Sutton!" as she read the sign her eyes went down to her black leather shoes. Maybe a change was best if they we're going to be trekking in mud or something... Grabbing a pair of garden boots Ellie quickly changed before she went over to stand next to Jade in wait for the lesson's start. "Hi Jade!" she greeted to the one year younger eagle girl with a smile. |
Rylee arrived at the small plowed field near greenhouse four with the brightest smile on her face. It was a good good day. All her homework was complete, she was very much ahead in her studies in most lessons, her plants were coming along fairly nicely as well. Things were going good. "Hello, Professor Sutton!," the fifth year chirped happily, waving at the others that were already there. Spotting the large sign easily she nodded only slightly to herself walking over to the grass by the plowed field. Setting her bag down in front of herself she was able to pull out her own gardening boots and dragon-hide gloves. Whenever Herbology was involved she always came prepared. One at a time she removed she removed her shoes to slip on each boot as quickly as possible so she wouldn't topple over. Setting her shoes into her bag she pulled out her gloves. Now she was ready to get started. |
Ah... Herbology, one of her favorite classes besides CoMC that is, but both her strongest subjects besides Charms. Skipping happily down towards the greenhouses, she wondered what they were learning about today. Walking into the greenhouse she smiled at the smell of fresh herbs, ah... nothing like the smell of fresh herbs. Things were going great, she was all caught up on her homework in her classes, everything was great. Although she always had her homework done so she could spend time with Oceanus and her friends. Seeing Professor Sutton she smiled brightly at her. "Hello Professor Sutton, hope you're well." she said happily. Looking around she noticed the large sign she walked over towards the grass by the plotted field. Seeing Rylee and Ellie she smiled and waved at them. "Hiya! Rylee and Ellie!" Taking her seat at the front beside Rylee she gotten out her boots and gloves ready to start. |
Herbology was one of those classes that made Holly wish she could protect her cuticles from the dirt... even if she didn't actually mind the getting dirty part itself.... Though sometimes the weird plants they came across gave her shivers up her spine. Plants that looked like spiders? No thanks. Plants that screamed? Nope. Just... give her some proper flowers and stuff please... that would be just all right for her. Sighing as she pulle her hair up into a messy ponytail, the Slytherin moved to give the Professor a way before she picked up the protective boots and gloves that they were apparently going to need today. .... That was always a scary, unknown prospect.... |
"Hello Professor." Vita offered a smile as she joined the group of students gathered, eyeing the boots set out by their instructor. She had her own wellies and would much rather do her work in those, but the gesture was nice, she supposed. Forgetful classmates might benefit from it. Checking that her gloves were still safely tucked in her pocket, the seventh year waited for the lesson to begin. |
"Afternoon," Kaiser greeted the professor as he joined the students that had gathered for Herbology class, casting a look at the provided boots and gloves as well as the sign that went with them. Kaiser didn't have garden boots of his own - he didn't possess more than two pairs of shoes, in fact, because he was not made of money - so he grabbed a pair that looked to be roughly his size. He did have dragonhide gloves, but as there was a selection of gloves devoted to gardening laid out for them here, he took a pair of those instead. Glancing around briefly at his classmates, Kaiser went off to find himself a space that he could change into the boots, and once he had done that, he waited quietly for the lesson to begin. |
Well, this was...... odd. It's safe to say that Lucas was quite confused as he walked towards the spot where the Herbology lesson was taking place. Herbology was one of those strange subjects: they could either learn about something cool and nice or they could learn about something that might take his life. You didn't know what you were going to get and he..... didn't know how to feel about that. Not to mention that Sutton was teaching this now. He tried not to remember the events from last term but they kept floating back, especially when he saw her face. So, joining the crowd, the third year offered her a small and polite smile before saying, "Uh, hello, Professor." Hello. Hey. Everything was fine. Awkward? You bet. To distract him from this, he, instead, pulled out his dragon-hide gloves from his bag. Having changed his boots on the way here, he didn't need to change them again but he did pull on his gloves, giving his fingers a bit of a wiggle as he did so. And what was with all the boxes? |
Did Maeve like Herbology? Sort of. At least it was one that she was generally kept moving and didn't need to listen to some BORING lecture, nor did it involve things that she'd likely never utilize such as runes or numbers. Plants were everywhere and she'd like to be able to tell the difference to a mundane versus a poisonous one, so there was that. Professor Sutton always seemed super nice too and Maeve was grateful to see her teaching a practical subject rather than the arbitrary subject of Divination as she had last year. Greenhouse four. Wearing her own boots, but she did swipe a pair of gloves from the pile. "Hi Professor Sutton!" she beamed at her new head of house. "What lovely Fall weather, yes?" |
Avalon made her way over to the field next to Greenhouse 4 for the next herbology lesson. Had she gotten a little more used to the prospect of magical plants since the beginning of the term? Slightly. Had she overcome her fear of the Venomous Tentacula? Nope. The memory of getting bitten as a child still haunted her mind. But with each lesson, she was becoming more and more accustomed to weird wizarding plants. Joining the rest of the students gathered from Professor Sutton, Avalon scanned the sign. "Hello, Professor Sutton," she said with a smile. She patted her robe pocket to make sure that she had remembered to bring her dragon-hide gloves and glanced down at her black lace-up boots. Thank goodness she had remembered to bring her own boots from home when she was packing for the term. Communal gardening boots were not Avalon's idea of fashion. |
Text Cut: Welcome!! Kassie glanced down at her watch and noted it was time for class to start. "Welcome to our lesson, everyone. I know that a lot of you have your own boots and dragonhide gloves. However, please do feel free to use the boots and gloves provided. Especially the gloves. I find that for what we will be doing today, the dragonhide gloves are a bit too, well, protective. The cloth gardening gloves will give your hands more freedom. Still up to you which you would rather use." She moved a few steps forward to be closer to the students. "I don't wish to run out of daylight, so let’s begin. I’m sure you are wondering what we will be doing today, and maybe how much hands-on work will be involved.” She gave them a smile as she gestured towards the tools. “But, before we get to work, I have a few questions for you. First off, what can you tell me about evergreen trees?” She wanted to hear it all from them. Types, where they grew best, how big they got, what they could be used for… OOC: Class has started. Feel free to jump in at any time. Just post as if your character as been in class the entire time or IC consequences may happen. For the first question name one thing about evergreen trees. It can be anything about them. The lesson will move on in about 24 hours. |
Hum.....evergreens....Austin did have an answer although it be a bit obvious but he raised his hand anyway. "..." He hessitated, opening and closing his mouth. "Evergreen trees are always green," he said. |
Stella knew quite a bit about evergreens due to the ranch she lived on being filled with them. There was so many evergreens though, she wondered which ones they were going to talk about. Stella was a plant and tree lover, she loved trees and plants magical and non magical. She also heard that pine needles were used in potions, she wondered if that was true or not, none the less she wanted to find out. Biting her lip she raised her hand. "There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs." she said blushing at her answer. It was indeed true, but she felt sorta embarrassed that she couldn't think of a better answer and that just came out of her mouth. Looking down she started taking notes of the sibject keeping to herself. |
Seeing an older Gryffindor walk over to her, Jade frantically searched her mind for the girl's name. She had seen her in other classes before, but they had never really talked... was it Ellen? Ella? Ellie! "Hey Ellie," she smiled nonchalantly as she returned the greeting. Soon the lesson began and the second year listened to Professor Sutton's words. Hmmm, okay. Better to use the school gloves? She moved to the buckets and picked a pair of cloth gardening gloves. She wasn't going to be stubborn and use her dragon-hide gloves when the professor said explicitly that they could be unsuitable for today's lesson. See? She could be flexible at times too! She then thought about the question posed by the professor. Evergreen trees... she had read about them before, but could not remember much other than the basic facts. She raised her hand to give an answer. "They keep growing leaves to replace the leaves that fall off," which she thought was pretty cool. |
She hadn't picked up a pair of the gloves or boots initially, believing them to be for those who hadn't yet purchased any. But hearing Professor Sutton explain why she had the gloves, Hanna was ready to try them out. She didn't mind getting dirty, so would have been all too happy to forego gloves all together. Except for dangerous plants, or hazardous substances. Hanna thought for a moment and put her hand up. She thought Evergreen trees were the most beautiful trees, mostly because they were ever green. When deciduous trees lost their leaves during autumn, and were skeletal during winter, Hanna felt the cold. But when she was around Evergreen trees, somehow it made her feel like spring was going to be there soon. Raising her hand she said "One example of an Evergreen tree is the Fir, and the 12 or something different species of Fir can be used for things like inflammation, infections, respiratory problems, and the nervous system." She had certainly had a tea of Fir bark at times where she felt most anxious. |
Ellie had put on a pair of garden boots initially when she had read the sign. Hearing Professor Sutton’s words she trotted forward to pick up a pair of garden gloves before she retook her place next to Jade. Ellie furrowed her brows a little in confusion by Professor Sutton’s words that her dragon hide gloves we’re too protective. When wasn’t protection good? Shaking her head Ellie focused on the first question thinking hard, what did she know about evergreen trees except that they were always green and full of leaves? She racked her brain for a moment and then raised her hand "An example of an evergreen tree is the pine tree. Also most plants, shrubs and trees in warm temperate climates are of the evergreen type." Like in tropical rain forests. Maybe they were going to go out in the forbidden forest to look at trees? |
Uh yeaaaa .... she was going to use her own boots, no offense. The gloves she'd taken from the pile, but it was bad enough having to wear the same shoe as her classmates in the Runes seminar. And that was before quidditch had fully taken off, so she couldn't imagine the odor of some of classmates feet now that the season was back in swing. Evergreen trees? "Aren't they also known as Christmas Trees?" At least she was prettty sure that was the kind of tree used at Christmas. See. Herbology was very practical. |
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Eni raised her hand after hearing the question. When called upon she answered, "Correct me if I'm wrong Professor, but aren't Evergreens used for their medicinal properties as well?" She was sure of it's needles having been used for a variety of healing salves and teas in the past. |
Her dragon-hide gloves were...too protective? That was interesting. Avalon wondered what they would be working with today that required less protective gloves. She decided to keep her own gloves in her pocket and opted for a pair in one of the wooden boxes. And now they were talking about evergreen trees. Well, at least that was a seemingly safe plant to work with. Hopefully they wouldn't be messing with any vicious vegetation today. Avalon had been around a lot of evergreen trees in the past, especially at her grandparents' estate. But she didn't know too much about them -- only that they were green all year round, were used for Christmas trees, and had a pleasant scent to them. Most of her classmates had already offered up answers of that sort. She raised her hand, hoping to add to the conversation. "I'm pretty sure that even though they are green all year round, they do still lose their leaves. But it's a lot slower than normal trees that lose all their leaves at once." Avalon knew it probably didn't have much to do with the lesson, but it was one of the only things she knew about evergreens, and she didn't want Professor Sutton to think she was uninterested. |
So they didn't need their dragon-hide gloves? Lucas glanced down at the pair he'd strapped on, turning his hands over while a small frown formed on his face. This only made him even more confused about what they were doing. But, maybe, if they could use the regular gloves, that meant that they weren't doing anything dangerous, right? With that thought in mind, the third year quickly shuffled forwards, grabbed a pair of the regular gloves, and then shuffled back to where he was standing before. While Sutton was talking, he took off his own gloves and swapped them for the regular ones. They were..... a little bigger than he would like but that didn't matter. Magic could solve this, right? But first: there was a question. A question about evergreen trees that only raised even more questions in the young boy's mind. He tried to push those thoughts away and focus on answering the question for now. What did he know about evergreen trees? Well, apart from the fact that they lasted all year long, not very much. So, he'd have to start with that. "Uh, see, they survive in the winter, right?" he started, his hand up in the air, "So I'm guessing that they can survive on very little nutrients? I think you can find them in areas where the soil isn't very fertile or is..... well, not great. Or, where they can't get nutrients easily. But I guess they survive on that." |
sneaking in Patrick had hated walking down the hill to the greenhouses. He had just about gotten to get rid of the boot, but was two days away still. He was seriously hating the hobbling down on the uneven ground. He just wanted to be back to his normal self. He had brought some plastic to keep the dirt off of it and his boot on the other. He had greeted Professor Sutton on his way in just as he would any other day.... even if his mood was a tiny bit sour because of the boot. He decided he would do as she said and grab a pair of the gloves. He supposed it was obviously there for a reason. Raising his hand he knew of one evergreen that wasn't a christmas tree. "The Eastern Hemlock, or Canadian Hemlock was used to tan leather in the olden days back home." He knew enough about that tree since it was a part of Kentucky history before he started at Hogwarts. |
Text Cut: Answers Once the last student had answered, Kassie continued with the lesson. She grabbed her gloves from her pocket and slowly put them on while she spoke. "I'm very pleased with the well thought out answers you all have given. Now that we all know just a little bit more about evergreen trees, let's move on with today's activity." Moving over to one of the smaller wooden boxes, Kassie lived the lid to reveal a pile of yardsticks. "Today we will be planting and growing Rapid Growth Blue Spruce trees." She paused, knowing there was much more to say about the trees, but she knew that they needed to get going with the field prep before she went into detail. Otherwise, they were going to run out of time. "More on that in a moment. Before we can get to the growing, we need to prep the field. What I would like each of you to do is grab a yardstick and a shovel, then head out on the field. You will each be planting two trees, so you need to prep two holes. Each hole needs to be one foot deep, one foot in diameter, and three feet apart from any other holes. Pile the soil near the hole for planting the seeds. The field is plenty large enough so feel free to spread out." She gestured to the plowed field. "It's up to you if you wish to dig the hole with the shovel or use a gouging spell. Either way, the measurements need to be as exact as possible." Her eyes scanned the class, hoping for no questions before she set them loose on the task. "Well, let's get to it. I don't want to run out of daylight. Once everyone has finished their holes, we will move on to the next question." OOC: Have your charrie prep their holes in as many posts as you like. They can even work with a partner to dig and measure. If you are just joining us, please feel free to catch up. We will move on to question 2 in about 72 hours. |
Open to having a partner! :) While she might not have answered the first question, Rylee was definitely listening closely to what was being said. There may have been the slightly look over confusion that briefly passed across her face when it was said the dragon-hide gloves might be to much for today's lesson however. This only made her even more curious as to what they would be doing. Rylee practically wiggled in excitement. Planting her own Rapid Growth Blue Spruce trees! Getting to work with plants was always amazing but getting to plant some trees was really nice. Trees would be around for a very very long time. Without wasting any more time, the lioness grabbed herself a yardstick, shovel and switched out her own gloves for the ones Professor Sutton had brought. Slipping the gloves on and making sure they fit as they should, Rylee headed out onto the field away from everyone else so she would have more room to work. That didn't mean she wasn't open to having some help though, should anyone want to work with her or near her. Laying the yard stick down beside her work spot, she got to it. Pressing the shovel into the dirt she began to work on digging a hole. Completely hands on and not worried about getting herself dirty. Now that was what working with plants was all about! |
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Stella bounced happily at the change of growing her own Rapid Growth Blue Spruce Tree. She was going to leave a mark here at Hogwarts after all, ok... along with other students, but she was happy about it! To know that she planted one of these many trees made her happy, knowing that many years to come, she'll look back and smile at the memory of her planting it. She couldn't wait to get started, she was ready to leave her mark here at Hogwarts that would be here for years and years to come. Seeing Rylee she smiled happily at her before skipping over towards her friends. "Hiya! Rylee can I join you?" she asked her. "Aren't you excited? We get to plant these trees that will be here many years to come, just to come back here and say that you actually planted one!" she said happily. Slipping her gloves on that Professor Sutton brought, she slipped them on and nodded to herself. Perfect fit! "What can I do to help? You know me, I'm not afraid of getting dirty." she said shrugging as if it wasn't no big deal. That was all planting something was about, getting your hands dirty and sweating a bit to grow something beautiful. "Ooh... is there another shovel? I'll help you dig!" she said. |
Given the fact that he knew very little about your average evergreen tree, Kaiser had remained quiet when the question had been posed to them. Herbology was not exactly a strength of his, he was much more at home in cities and urban landscapes than he was in nature, though admittedly he had felt quite at home for the few weeks he had lived in a foster home in a forest in Germany. Even so, mostly his knowledge of trees was that they were good for climbing, and really, what else did you need to know? They weren't going to be standing about for very long, it seemed, as after only a few minutes of talking from the professor, they were being sent out to do their task. For once, Kaiser had a good idea of what it was they were supposed to be doing, as he had followed what Professor Sutton had said almost without issue. He went up to grab a yardstick and a shovel, as they had been instructed, then moved on out into the field, seeking a spot that was a good distance away from everyone else, so that he didn't need to worry too much about measuring the distance between himself and any other students. The professor had said they could use spells to dig, and it was tempting, but Kaiser felt he would manage getting the exact measurements better if he dug by hand. Once he had found himself a space, he got started, digging two holes in the ground that were each roughly a foot deep and wide, and four feet from each other, just to be safe. Once he had two holes dug, he got to work with the yardstick, making sure each hole was as close to exactly one foot deep and in diameter as he could get them. |
Okay, so they'd just be planting trees. And they didn't seem like they were dangerous or vicious in any way. That was a good sign, at least. Avalon sighed as she picked up a yardstick and shovel. Measurements...the ultimate stressful task for the perfectionist. She slipped on a pair of gloves from the box and got to work, finding a nice spot of land toward the middle of the field. Avalon hadn't yet learned the spell that Professor Sutton had mentioned, so she opted for handheld digging. She measured out three feet from her selected spot and used her foot to make an indentation in the soil so she could remember the proper area. Then, she knelt on the soil and began to dig, frequently referring back to her yardstick to make sure that the measurements were correct. When she was done, Avalon grabbed the yardstick again to double check. The second hole was 1.3 feet in diameter. No. That just would not do! Pushing the dirt back into the hole to fill it up, she decided to start over on the hole. She wouldn't be satisfied unless the measurements were exact! |
Digging a hole seemed easy enough. Austin grabbed a shovel and a yard stick. He headed to an empty spot and started digging his first hole, every so often measuring to make sure it was as correct as possible. "This seemed right," he muttered to himself. When Austin was done with his first hole, he measured three feet away and made a mark with his shoe. Afterwords, Austin set the yardstick down and grabbed the shovel and began digging his second hole, again, checking every so often to measure. |
Although the Ravenclaw had stayed quiet during the question, he had opened up his notebook to scribble in a couple of keywords about the evergreen trees topic. He knew of a cookie named evergreen though but he also knew that that kind of answer was not what the Professor was looking for. After scribbling down the last few words, Dorian placed his notebook inside of his robe pocket, his non-wand side, and got ready to go out in to the field. He had chosen not to work by hand and use magic instead. This decision was not made because he was lazy. He ran in the early morning everyday before most people got out of bed, he was not lazy. But he had chosen this method because it helped him perfect his magical abilities. He might have aced his OWL exams last year but that had been achieved with extremely hardwork and effort since he wasn't the greatest when it came to spell work. So whenever he could practice spells, he would use them. As he found a good place to dig, away from the others in case something went wrong, he took out his acacia wand and pointed it at the ground before him. "Defodio!" he said as he focused on the intensity of the spell. He just wanted to make a hole not destroy the whole field. Luckily, he managed to succeed at the first try and he started to remove the ground and neatly piled it next to him. He stopped the spell and looked at the 1 foot hole. It looked about right. Smiling to himself, he pointed to the ground yet again a few steps away from the previous hole and used the gouging spell again until he had dug two. |
Hanna loved herbology, loved gardening, loved the feeling of soil underneath her fingernails. So, she had chosen to keep her wand in its holster and opted for the shovel which she retrieved along with the yardstick. She was much more of a solo worker, so she chose a spot in the field slightly away from other workers and measured the first hole. She placed the stick down, indented the soil, flipped the stick, and indented it again to give her the shape needed. It was definitely far enough away from other holes, so she got digging the first hole. Once she felt it was deep enough, she neatened out the hole and placed the yardstick back to measure to ensure the distance. Not quite one foot deep, so she emptied a few more small shovels of soil before it was right. With the first hole complete and good for size, she measured up the second hole, dug it out, measured it, re-dug, and set her shovel to the ground. |
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"There's lots of shovels over near the professor. We can dig the holes together and measure them all to make sure each one is the perfect size." She knew Stella didn't mind getting dirty at all just as she herself didn't mind it. Working alongside side her friend was going to be really easy to do during this lesson. Rylee started to hum softly to herself as she worked on digging the first hole with Stella. "This looks pretty good, think it's the right size yet?" Kneeling down into the dirt she held the yardstick along the inside of their hole. "If I hold this right here can you just go around the hole and make sure it's the same and nice and even?" Teamwork for the win! |
Patrick wasn’t too sure who would want a slower partner so grabbing the gloves she provided, the yardstick and decided he’d dig a few holes by hand. He needed some cardio. With not playing quidditch he was starting to feel as if he was rounder than he had been pre ankle break. He set out far enough away that he could still be near by them but far enough away that he could enjoy the labor. He started digging enjoying the fact that he was working up a bit of a sweat which was kind of appreciated at this point. Grabbing the yardstick from beside the hole he started digging he checked to see if he was a foot deep. Nope, just six inches so far. He let his hands shovel more dirt out, deep breath in, deep breath out. He was enjoying this so far. He wondered just how rapidly these evergreens grew. |
Catch up - Q1 & Activity SPOILER!!: Professor Holly saw that nod… and after a split-second, gave the Professor a small smile. She was tired, but that didn’t mean that she was rude. Her Mama wouldn’t like if she was rude just because she was tired. That definitely wasn’t how manners worked. Waiting patiently for the class to start, the brunette twirled her hair around her finger, swaying slightly as she hummed a song in head. A song that she couldn’t remember the words too, andwith only had the tiniest bit of the tune to work with… well, she was never going to figure out what she had stuck in her head at this rate. Sighing, she pulled her attention away from the repeating music in her head and focused on the Professor. And then, with a grin on her face, she pushed her hand into the air. ”Holly.” She paused for a second or two… Y’know cause it was fun. ”Holly, is a type of evergreen.” Hehe. Just like she was ever-happy. Holly was a constant type of thing. She liked that about herself. SPOILER!!: Professor Blue Spruce…. Were the leaves blue? She’d be disappointed if they weren’t. It sounded misleading if they weren’t going to be blue… and she had always liked that Evergreen’s seemed fairly obvious for what they were. If they weren’t blue, she’d need to find out why they were called blue in the first place… but she’d need to wait and see…. See what the leaves looked like. Moving into the muddy field, she looked around pondering where she would be best to plant them. Away from anything tall so that it would get sunlight… but in general it wouldn’t matter. The soil would help it grow… right? Though, it was a magical plant so she doubted that anything she could do it would actually hinder it. Magic liked to override personal capabilities like that. Dragging her shovel in one hand and one of the yardsticks in the other, Holly moved up the field to stand in an area where noone else was. ……… Yeah, this would be fine. Yup. Nibbling on her lip, she made a slight indent where she wanted to dig her first hole, marking a general mark the hole so that whomever used the next spot over knew where to measure from. …. Especially if the Professor was so specific about the trees being planted at least three feet away from another tree…. For the roots?? Maybe??? Eh. She’d tried. Not her fault if the next person didn’t pay attention to the line… … She needed to mark out three feet herself now… So she put the stick on the floor and used the edge of that to then mark out her foot wide hole for the second tree…. Picking the shovel up again, she worked to dig the first hole, piling the earth at the side so that it would be easy to use when they got to that part of the lesson. Digdigdig. When she thought she had got the right size of hole, she used the stick to check and then dug a little deeper still because it wasn’t deep enough. Not quite right yet… though it didn’t take long to make it right. Once the first was done, she repeated the process on the hole that she had roughly marked off and found that the second hole was easier to dig. Easier to guestimate the dimensions of, since she’d already dug one hole. Though when she measured it, it was deep enough but not quite wide enough -- so she widened it and then stood up with a slight huff. This would have been easier last year when she’d been shorter. She thought as she stretched her back slightly. |
SPOILER!!: Professor Eniola loved learning, but she wasn't too terribly fond of getting dirt underneath her nails. Having the chance to use a spell, relieved Eni a lot because she definitely was not in the mood for anything else. Although the spell hadn't been taught yet, she had read ahead a little bit. Walking to find a spot with enough room for herself - although it seemed to be filling up quickly - she concentrated on the size of the whole she wanted to make and the action of lifting the dirt out of the ground. She kept thinking of the charm in her head, knowing it was a long shot, Defodio. Defodio. Defodio. When she felt confident enough she said it as confident as she could be, "Defodio." Somehow it worked...a little. It wasn't as deep as she wanted, but it was pretty good for a first try. Eni did it another time with a bit more success and was satisfied with her first hole. Moving on to her second hole to dig she used the spell again, "Defodio." and again, "Defodio." and again, "Defodio." before she was satisfied that the whole was deep enough and wide enough per the guidelines. She took a step back and looked around to see everyone else's progress to compare. |
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Nodding Stella went to go get a shovel before quickly returning to help her friend out. Working with Rylee was going to be fun, not only was she her friend but she loved plants and Herbology just like her! Humming along with Rylee as she digged she looked around seeing others following their lead, although she seen some people use magic to dig their hole, she wasn't going to judge but that took the fun out of planting something she thought. Stella looked at the hole biting her lip. "Looks like we got a winner, maybe needs to be even a bit." she said. After all Rylee was a bit taller then her so maybe that was why. "Of course!" she nodding at her as she went around making sure the hole was the same as well as nice and even. |
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Turns out she had been right about knowing that working with Stella would workout great. No time was wasted as the younger Gryffindor began helping her dig their first hole. Rylee smiled warmly nodding her head slightly while Stella quickly went about fixing their hold so it was a perfect circle. "Nice work! It looks great!" She held her hand out for a high-five. "Let's keep going and get the next one done." Rylee got to her feet and grabbed her shovel moving over a few feet and getting started on digging once again. Only the sound of her shoveling up dirt could be heard for the moment... and her humming. This time she lifted her head to catch her partners eye and see if she was humming too. |
Rapid Growth Bruce Spruce tree? Lucas...... was curious. And confused. But mostly curious, for once. Planting their own trees sounded great, and a little exciting, but he didn't know what these trees were or what made them bruce spruce. What was Bruce Spruce?! He didn't know. Something he did know was that using a charm to dig a hole was very much out of his abilities so, a shovel it was! Grabbing one of the shovels, he started looking around for an empty spot, maybe one that wasn't as close to everyone else's. The problem? There were a lot of people scattered around close to the spot and running between the two holes was probably not a good idea. Running wasn't a good idea. Making his mind up, the third year shouldered his shovel and yardstick and wandered over to an empty spot way other there. It was...... a little further than he would've liked but it would be enough. And maybe, just maybe, people wouldn't see him messing up so it would be okay. He could place the yardstick down here and start shovelling with his back towards the group. Accidentally. Yeah. The digging? Tiring. It was really making him realise how much he didn't use his The worst part? He had to do this again. When the hole was as close to one foot in both depth and diameter as he could get it - it wasn't perfect but it would do - Lucas begrudgingly moved onto the next one. One that, as he measured with his yardstick, was three feet apart from the first one. This digging process was....... slower. Much slower. This time, Lucas didn't stop because he was measuring the size of the hole, he stopped because he was tired. His muscles were starting to scream in pain and they weren't even done yet! Herbology was tiring and required exercise and he wasn't liking that part at all. A few breaks - to check the size of the hole and to catch his breath back - later, and he had two very rough looking holes that looked somewhat similar. It was okay for now. As much as he wanted to, he...... had a funny feeling Sutton might not like it if he flopped to the ground so, instead, he did the next best thing: streeeeeeeetch! |
The smell of freshly turned earth was thick in the air as her hard-working student toiled away at digging their holes. Rylee and Stella were working well together and their seemingly cheery chatter made her smile. Kassie noticed that far more students had chosen to use the shovels over a spell to dig their holes, the method she would have chosen as well. There was something about digging by hand that made her feel more at one with the plants. She had no objections to those that chose magic and knew very well that the tree they would be planting wouldn’t care one bit. She glanced across the field and it appeared that everyone was wrapping up their work on the holes. “Class! May I have your attention, please?” Her small frame was in no way indicative of her booming voice, which she only used in full force if necessary. The field was large enough to warrant the volume. Once she felt they all were listening, she continued in a far lower volume, but still loud enough that the farthest students would be able to hear. “It’s time to continue with the lesson. I bet you are all curious about what we will be planting today. The Rapid Growth Blue Spruce is a very special tree. Created specifically for the purpose of Christmas trees and decoration. The tree itself is not magical in any way. No, it is simply a charm that has been placed on the seed to speed up the growth.” She took a few steps to her left and picked up one of the seeds. “Now, I must make it clear that once this charm has been placed on the blue spruce seed, it can no longer be used for magical purposes. This is especially important to note since the spruce is a known wand wood.” Kassie placed the seed back on the pile. “Before we start planting our seeds, I do have a few more questions for you. What are some advantages of a rapid growth tree? What are some possible problems that could arise with growing rapid growth trees?” OOC: Time for question 2! Name a possible advantage, problem, or both with growing a rapid growth tree. If you are just joining us, please feel free to jump in and catch up. The lesson will continue in about 24 hours. |
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Working with Rylee was fun and easy, not was she working with one of her good friends, but she was working with someone who loved trees plants and flowers more then she did so it made it easier and fun. Of course she wasted no time, she wanted to plant as many trees as she could, the more the better! "Thanks, but we did it together, team work for the win!" she said giggling as she said that. High-fiving her back she smiled happily down at their work. "Ooh… okay, like I said the more trees the better!" Taking her shovel she followed her fellow lioness friend over towards their next spot. Digging her shovel into the hole Rylee made, she hummed along with her friend. The only sounds that were made was their shovels and their shovels as they worked. Hearing Professor Sutton she stopped and looked up at her. Hearing her question she raised her hand. "Root & leaf enhancement can be one of the benefits, but grown too quickly it can make the roots grow too quickly I suppose. Balance between the tree’s crown and root system is important for maintaining healthy trees." she said hoping that was right. |
I'm going away until Tuesday; unsure if I'll be around again <3 SPOILER!!: Professor Heaving air back into her lungs, Holly had stretched this way and that, helping her back to work out any of the kinks that she had inflicted on herself with being so scrunched up over the earth. … she really needed to work on her ability to do that gouging spell so she wouldn’t have to dig if she didn’t want too. Mentally, she added it to the list of things she needed to work on this year as she waited for the Professor to continue to the class. She’d been twirling her hair between her fingers when Professor Sutton had called the class back to attention. Tilting her head a little to the side, Holly nibbled on her bottom lip as she listened. … So the magic to grow the tree so quickly, eradicated the actual magical properties of the Spruce??? That seemed weird. Shrugging slightly to herself she put her hand in the air. ”Professor, an advantage would be the ability to keep magical spruce trees in the ground instead of cutting them down for a months worth of Christmas decorating… before burning them … That must have been a huge waste of potential wand material… but would their core be compromised and less stable with growing rapidly?” She saw it all the time… Gymnasts who had a major growth spurt had to relearn to restabilize their core if it had pushed away from where they were used too. |
Stella & Answering the Professor's Question Rylee smiled over at Stella. "It is kind of sad that not everyone feels the same way we do about plants and flowers and trees... but everyone's completely different and that's what keeps things interesting." No two people were alike, just like no two flowers or trees were alike. "Don't forget to let me know what you plant when you decide. I'd love to see it if I'm still here." Since she was two years ahead of her friend. "Team work makes the time pass by quicker, too." She laughed as they high-fived one another on a task well done. Right now she was in her element and there wasn't anything that could get her down. As they moved on to digging the next hole, there was just the sound of their shovels meeting dirt and the two of them humming. It was a wonderful calming sort of silence that went along with their work. Their silence was only broken with Professor Sutton called everyone's attention. Pausing her digging, Rylee raised her hand just after Stella finished speaking. "An advantage would be that the tree could be used for a certain purpose much sooner. Like you mentioned earlier these particular trees could be used for Christmas trees. I sometimes use a rapid growth charm on the flowers I grow if I want to use them to make flower crowns for special occasions." |
Hanna had just put her shovel down when Professor Sutton called attention, which was what Hanna did. She was going to look forward to watching the Rapid Growth Blue Spruce grow, and perhaps they would even be used to decorate Hogwarts during Christmas. One good thing about winter. Hanna thought about what rapid growth meant. There were many obvious advantages, but what about disadvantages? Hanna raised her hand and said "One disadvantage might be if there's a mutation in the structure of the tree, there's no way for the tree to control it. It could end up with some significant defects, and if it was something like extra long branches it might be dangerous." Branches could fall onto people, that sort of thing. "And advantages are fast growth. People like things now, and this just gives them something quickly." Such as planting trees and having fully grown trees in a very short time. Christmas, decorations, or medicinal use. |
Lucas was still stretching when the Professor decided to move on with the lesson. He had to admit, he was happy to get an explanation about the trees from her. It helped with the confusion about the trees but there was a fresh wave of curiousness that he wasn't able to wash away as easily. But something he understood very well? They were growing CHRISTMAS trees. Which meant that maybe, just maybe, they could decorate it as well. Before he could think ahead about how he was going to decorate the tree and if Sutton had tinsel in one of those boxes - did she?? - she had asked a question that he should...... probably...... concentrate on first. Yeah? Yeah. Some advantages were, of course, that they would grow up faster. You don't have to worry about caring for the plant everyday because you forget and that was exactly how his plant died. But a disadvantage? Hmm. Something he'd mentioned earlier came back to him and he soon found himself raising his hand for answering, and not stretching. "Well, does it need a lot of nutrients at once to make the rapid part work? Because, I mean, the plant uses up a lot of nutrients during its growth, right? But it's using all of that in one go. Which meaaaaaans that you need even more fertilisers?" Did he know what he was saying? Not really? Pause. "Professor? Does the spell work only for this type of tree or can it be used for any tree? Or any plant?" |
Text Cut: answers She clapped her hands together "Now it's time to plant!" With a quick flick of her wand, the tops of all the wooden boxes lifted, revealing all types of Christmas decorations, and a box of house colored decorations for each of the houses. The tensile and colored balls sparkled in the sun. Just to the left of the decorations was a cauldron filled with a bubbling lilac-colored liquid fertilizer and a pile of small droppers beside it. Next to the cauldron was a wooden barrel filled with water and enough watering cans for the class. Kassie reached over and picked up the container of seeds and gently held it in both of her hands. "What you will need to do first is come over and fill a watering can. Take it to your prepared holes and pour exactly one-half liter of water in each. That will give you a nice moist base for your seed. Next, come and get a dropper and fill it just enough for two drops of fertilizer, one for each hole." She pointed to each of the items needed to make sure everyone saw where they were. "After you have watered and dropped the fertilizer, you can come and get two seeds from this container." She held up the container that looked like an old tin coffee can then placed the container on the little table next to her. "Take your seeds back to your holes and place one in each, very gently pushing it into the ground. Grab your shovel or use your hands and cover the seeds with the dirt you dug out to make the hole. They should be well covered, but do not pack down the dirt." She paused a moment to let the first set of instructions sink in. "Now comes the work. These trees will grow at a rate of about twelve inches every five minutes. You must pay attention to the growth of both trees. Every six inches of growth, they will need one drop of fertilizer and at every 12 inches, they will need one liter of water. You can keep a full watering can next to your area, but the fertilizer must be retrieved fresh from the cauldron each time." She began to wonder if she was giving too many instructions at once and quickly jogged over to the side of Greenhouse 4 and rolled over the board. "Not to worry, the steps will be on the board." "Now, the most important part. Once your tree has reached between five and seven feet tall, you must come and get one dropper full from the vial next to the seeds. The red liquid. It will stop the trees from growing any taller." She pulled the large vial from under the table and placed it gently next to the seed container. "Once you have stopped the growth of your tree, you are welcome to decorate however you wish. You can decorate for Christmas, or you can make a house pride tree...let your creative side have some fun. You have two trees to decorate and all of these decorations to choose from." "If you have any questions, I'll be available, but I have full confidence in you all." She moved to stand behind the seed table. "You may begin." Once she made her announcement, she quickly wrote the steps on the board for all to reference. Quote:
OOC: Sorry about the long post. Have your charrie plant, grow, and decorate their tree in as many posts as you like. You are welcome to work with a partner. Catch up posts are always welcome and encouraged if anyone would like to jump in. You have about 72 hours before we start wrapping up. |
Now, Archer wasn't really, to use Professor Cornish's wording, an 'eco-warrior' but there were things bothering her about this lesson. Things like why this particular tree here. "You know, there are plenty of trees that are native to Scotland, why bring in one that's not? Sort of flies in the face of Professor Cornish's lesson on disturbing the ecosystem and why," there maaay have been a hint of a chuckle in her voice "you should......not." You know, because they were disturbing the ecosystem by introducing a plant that technically didn't belong, since it wasn't native to the area. "Also, if you are going to go ahead and do that, shouldn't it be with something useful to muggle and magical humans and creatures, like, I don't know, apple or pear trees?" Was she missing that the point of the lesson was the whole process of a fast-growing tree? Not at all. This was just an important issue to bring up, okay? Okay, okay, it maaaaay have just been Archer being Archer. Still though. And she had to drag the ol' conversion table out and a piece of scrap parchment, since, you know, part of her education had been in America and she STILL hadn't gotten used to the metric system. Ooops? Okay so to convert liters to fluid ounces, she had to multiply the amount of liters by 33.814, so .50 times 33.814 was about 16.9 fluid ounces, or about the size of a typical water bottle. And the professor couldn't have just said this why? It would make it much easier on people like her. She jotted the figure down in her notes beside the original measurement, just to help her understand when she was reviewing later. Then she fetched and filled the watering can and added the required amount of water to each of the holes, added the drop of fertilizer to each, fetched a couple of seeds and dropped a seed each into the holes, gently pushing them into the soil as required. Once she had pushed the topsoil back over the holes, it was time for more conversion. Or not, as the professor suddenly switched to the imperial, or 'American' system.....? It was appreciated, don't get her wrong, but odd. |
Catching up: Mini activity, Q2 + start of main activity Prepping the field Ellie repeated to herself in her head several times as she grabbed a yardstick and a shovel on her way out on the field. She tok care to spread out from her peers so she had a good piece of field to work with. Grabbing the shovel she started with energy on digging the first hole according to Professor Sutton’s instructions. When she felt finished with the first hole some 30 or so minutes later Ellie was sweating like a goose. Her whole body felt icky with sweat from head to toe and she also felt parched. It had been so hard to dig in the hard field. Massaging her aching arms she measured the hole to see that it was one foot deep and one foot in diameter, which it was. For the next hole Ellie took a moment’s rest as she debated her options and decided to use the gouging spell. Her arms we’re aching from all the shovelling and yard sticking and for all she knew there could be more to lift or do later. Taking out her wand Ellie measured upp 3 feet from her first hole and then aimed her wand towards the field as she casted loud and clear ”Defodio!” After pushing away some damp strands of hair out of her face she casted again ”Defodio!” The hole was now after some careful measuring one foot deep. Ellie needed one last spell to increase the hole to the right diameter. "Defodio!" she casted again and then she was finally satisfied with her work. ------------------------ Professor Sutton moved on and Ellie decided on offering up an advantage since most of her peers had focused on the problems. Raising her hand she said "If you move into a new home for example without any trees or bushes lining your yard then planting rapid growth trees can quickly give you wind shelter and privacy from nosy neighbours as well as keep out traffic noise and other sounds." Ellie spoke from experience since they had moved three times so far in her life. ----------------------------- Then it was time to plant! Ellie was positively amazed to hear that these blue spruce trees could grow so super fast. 12 inches every five minutes it was faster then she could ever complete a quiz. She listened to all the instructions first panicking thinking she had to memorize it all but she didn’t. Professor Sutton put it all on the board. Leaving her holes she walked over to fill a watering can with water, so she could get started! |
Catch Up + Activity Avalon wasn't too familiar with rapid growth trees. Or much of anything that had to do with herbology, to be perfectly honest. It was the one subject that she didn't have the curiosity or motivation to learn more about, except for the tidbits she gathered from her lessons at Hogwarts. It most likely had something to do with the incident with that Venomous Tentacula from back when she was a kid. However, she was certainly relieved that they weren't working with any predatory plants today. She racked her brain to think of some possible advantages and disadvantages of rapid growth. Tentatively raising her hand, she said, "Would an advantage be that you can speed it through a bad growing season? For example, if you plant a tree in the spring and then learn that the forecast next week will be too cold for plant growth, could you use the charm to make it finish growing before the weather got too bad?" They would be decorating Christmas trees? Okay, this was officially one of the best herbology lessons she had ever been to. No vicious plants and getting to decorate for the holidays? It was almost a dream come true! Avalon made her way over to the front to fill up a watering can before pouring a half liter into each hole. Then, she gently placed one drop of fertilizer into both. After she put her seeds in, Avalon used a shovel to cover them gently with some soil. She instinctively began to pat down the soil with her gloved hands, but stopped as soon as she remembered what Professor Sutton had said. She used her fingers to loosen the soil a bit. And then it was time to watch it grow. |
Catching up :3 OOH so she was right about evergreens being a sort of Christmas Tree and Maeve couldn't help but wonder if these rapid growth blue spruce trees would be utilized in the Great Hall in the coming months. But no time to really consider this, as the sixth year set to work on digging a hole. Okay, sooo Maeve was not cut out for physical labor. She would glad cheer on her friends in a quidditch match, for instance, but actual digging? No thanks. However, at mention of the gouging spell, Maeve internally was jumping for joy because spell versus actual shovel digging, obviously it was a no-brainer as to which she was going to choose. "Defodio," she cast on the spot to make a hole. And cast again. Two holes. Perfect. Quote:
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And now it was time to plant!! Guess might as well get dirty. Taking one of the watering cans, as instructed, she cast aguamenti to fill up the can. Filling each of her two holes with some water, Maeve then dropped fertilizer in each. One seed in each. And covering some with some dirt. Was this right? It wasn't a lot of instructions and yet it required attention to detail in making sure the order of things was perfect. Attention to detail; something that Maeve definitely felt she lacked. Reading the instructions and simultaneously trying to listen to Professor Sutton to make sure she understood everything, the sixth year waited and watched. Was that it? Was she supposed to water it again? Probably. [/COLOR] |
It should only be used on plants for decorative purposes? ........... Huh. Lucas's mind started to wander as he tried to think about what he could use it for. And if that meant that he could use any plant for decorative purposes? Could he use it on Emma's favourite plant to decorate the Quidditch banners he makes for her? Would she like that? Would it be distracting?? There was only one way to find out but this...... wasn't the time. Or the place. But maybe, maybe, this could be a test. With that thought in mind, the third year grabbed himself a watering can and started to fill it up. Half a litre each, yeah? Half a litre. He watched the can fill up, letting the water flow past the half-litre mark and only started to slow down the flow when the water was approaching the litre mark. This was just easier, okay? He didn't want to be walking back and forth, not when his dug-up holes were all the way over there. Next came the fertiliser, which he decided to pick up now, instead of later. He took a dropper and started to fill it up with just enough fertiliser for two drops. Well. It was a little over the two drops mark - or very over - but that was fine, right? He only needed two drops for now. It was a few seconds of thinking before the Gryffindor decided to wander back to his dug-up holes, one hand holding the watering can and the other hand holding the dropper. The walk back was...... slower, and he was starting to regret digging up holes that were all the way over there. Maybe he should've picked a better spot, something much closer and easier. Eventually, he reached the holes again, much to his relief. He gently set the dropper down before carefully pouring out the water into one of the holes. This was probably the easier process - it was only pouring water, after all - but he stopped every now and then to check that he'd only poured in half a litre and not any more. Was the measurement accurate? Probably not. But he had a half in this hole and the rest could be dumped into the other hole. See? Easy. The fertiliser step was another easy one. A drop here, a drop there, and that was that! Satisfied, he started to walk back to get two seeds from the container, and to fill up his watering can with as much water as he can. Which, considering his arms, wasn't going to be very many. Maybe he could try for two litres this time? Yeah. The seeds were the easy part but two litres of water was....... well. It wasn't difficult but it was starting to make his arms hurt more and more as he started to walk back to the holes with his things. Lucas didn't know what this meant; was he that weak? He couldn't be, right? Sure, he didn't like to exercise and avoided it at all costs but...... he was growing! So his muscles had to be growing as well! Hmm. Reaching the holes again, he, very gladly, placed the watering can down and started with the process. A seed went into one of the holes and was gently pushed into the ground. Gently. When the same thing was done for the other hole, he used his hands to start packing the holes with the dirt he had dug up earlier. He was..... trying to focus but his mind...... well. His mind was starting to wander. |
It was good that they were given the option of using spellwork or a shovel to dig their holes because, even though Gunnar had fairly developed arms due to his position on the quidditch team, he didn't see much sense in expending so much energy when magic made it easier. And he was well-accustomed to digging holes with his wand rather than a shovel, so he felt he could be rather precise about it. Once he finished both of his holes and made sure they were properly measured, he turned his attention towards their professor again as she wrote out instructions for them. Straightforward and simple. Hm. As he went to retrieve a watering can, he heard the Hufflepuff prefect's concerns. It was a fairly good point and he was curious to hear the professor's response, but he wasn't entirely sure that was a pressing concern for these types of trees. "It's not necessarily an invasive species though," he said, not arguing but simply providing his viewpoint. "Some species of plants and animals can be introduced into other areas and be beneficial. Cats, for instance. There wouldn't be any in this country if they hadn't been introduced by sailors who had them on their ships to keep rodents away, and sailed here from distant countries." Not that it was exactly the same, but they had been introduced without being a detriment to the ecosystem. |
After carrying her full water can over to her holes Ellie went back to Professor Sutton to pick up the fertilize dropper. Back at her hole she carefully poured in half a litre of water into each hole and then 1 drop of fertilizer in each too. Next Ellie went and got her two seeds from the seed container. She gently pushed down the seed into the ground in the first hole and covered the seed with dirt and then she repeated the process. Taking a stand between her holes Ellie watched with fascination as her tree seeds started to grow. Remembering Professor Sutton’s instructions she sprinted over to fetch fresh fertilizer from the cauldron to be read to give the budding trees new drops. With her yardstick she measured when her trees had grown 6 inches and dropped in one drop of fertilizer into each hole again. When the trees had grown up to 12 inches she poured in another litre of water. Pausing she wondered if she was supposed to also add in a drop of fertilizer too? It was another 6 inches. Jogging over to the container Ellie quickly refilled her fertilizer dropper and then hurried back to her trees to add one drop of each of fertilizer. The process with dropping fertilizer and water was repeated every 12 and 6 inches as her tree grew tall. When her trees had grown an equally measured 6 feet tall Ellie poured in one dropper full of fertilizer from the vial into the hole and she was done! Taking a step back to rest and the breath Ellie surveyed the beautiful trees that she had grown all on her own with the help of the instructions and materials but still she was responsible. Beaming widely up at her christmas trees Ellie spent next 30 minutes or with decorating her trees with masochist ornaments like balls, glitter, stars and santas helpers before she considered herself finished. |
.......... Focus! Lucas shook his head. Come on! This was when he needed to focus! He even So, getting up, he decided to go and grab some fertiliser while he waited. Sutton had said it would take, uh - he looked at the board quickly - oh, five minutes? For twelve inches? So he had two and a half minutes before he had to be back with the fertiliser if he wanted to be back in time. This was...... okay for now but he had a feeling that when the watering can came into play, he might not be so lucky. Grabbing the fertiliser, he jogged back to his trees, holding his dropper up like a sword. Maybe he really should've picked a spot closer to the cauldron. This was..... fine for now but when he needed to add in the water and still make it back in time? That...... was going to be tough. And it would mean a LOT of exercise from him. This was the one time when he'd consider flying, instead. Reaching the trees, he waited a moment or two to see if the trees reached the six inches mark before adding a drop of fertiliser in each one. And then? And then he was walking back to the cauldron again for more fertiliser. It..... was a little annoying that they had to keep going back and forth - not to mention a complete waste of time - but he.... would keep quiet. When he'd squirted up two drops of fertiliser, Lucas wandered back to the trees again, only to see that they were now nearing - uh, he measured quickly with the yardstick - a foot tall! One whole foot! They grow fast, don't they? Was this what parents felt like with kids? Because he had gotten a LOT of relatives telling him that he was growing too quickly which...... he still didn't know if it was a good thing or not. He was going to say it was good, though. One drop of fertiliser went onto each of the trees, this time followed by a litre of water as well. He didn't even stop to see the effect, he simply wandered back to the cauldron again, filling up the dropper and the water as well. Heading back to his trees was even more of a challenge now. He tried to jog back to the trees but....... well. The water was starting to splash around a lot, some drops even splashing out of the can itself. Uh....... this would be fine, right? Don't spill the water, don't spill the water, don't do it Lulu The third year reached the trees a little soaked in water but otherwise glad to be there. He hardly stopped to check the size of the trees - they had to be right..... right? - but, instead, just dumped the fertiliser in. And then, before he could rest, he'd have to go back for some more. Merlin! This process continued back and forth. The boredom was starting to settle in. Why? Because this was boring. He was doing the same thing a LOT of times for a tree that was growing very quickly - faster than he can keep up with. And he wasn't even there to see it grow properly because he was running back and forth! Not to mention that all this walking was slowly having a toll on his feet, which just wanted to rest. How long it had taken, he didn't know. It almost felt as though he was running back and forth for ages - occasionally bumping into people as he went. But soon enough, the tree had reached his height, which meant that there was no more fertiliser or water needed. Thank Merlin! This process was close to stopping and he was going to be very happy about that. One last trip was made to the front, this time to get some of that red liquid that would stop the trees from growing. What was it? Was it harmful? How did it stop the trees from growing? He didn't know and didn't even want to ask right now. He just wandered back, almost zombie-like, and added the dropper full of vial to the trees. And with that, he was done. DONE. And so, Lucas flopped down onto the ground. He didn't even care about decorating right now, he just wanted a nap. |
Vivienne was excited to plant. Christmas decor? Was it not a bit early for that? Then she relaxed when she saw the seeds. She walked up and filled her watering can with her wand. Then she returned to her workstation and filled a half liter of water in each hole. She watched as the soil turned moist. She then went up and grabbed seeds from the coffee can. Then she returned and put in the seeds. Then she took out her quill and parchment. Quote:
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asdfjkl! *Catches up on all the things* Text Cut: Question 1 Text Cut: Mini activity Text Cut: Question 2 She stayed quiet, listening intently to the professor's next set of instructions. Mumbling matagots, that was… a lot to take in! So ˝ l water and 1 drop fertilizer in each hole, then seeds, then dirt, then 1 drop fertilizer each 6 inches and 1 l water at each 12 until the trees reach 5-7 feet, then a drop of red liquid from the vial? Was she remembering all that right? Thank goodness it was all on the board, in case she forgot anything! Not that that was likely to happen… Tina had an excellent memory! She filled a watering can and brought it back to her station. paying careful attention as she poured to make sure she had exactly ˝ l in each hole. Then she added a drop of fertilizer to each hole. Now it was time for seeds! Tina went back to retrieve a couple of seeds and carefully deposited them into her holes, gently covering them with dirt (but not over-packing it) when she was done. Now came the hard part - and by "hard part", Tina meant the careful, precise work that she actually enjoyed and excelled at! She stood halfway between her two holes, her dark eyes glued to her emerging trees. So if they grew at a rate of one foot every five minutes, that meant fertilizer every 2.5 minutes. She consulted her watch, and at the 2 minute mark, she went to get some fresh fertilizer. By the time she got back, it would be about 2.5 minutes. Upon returning, she held her yardstick up to the growing trees… 6 inches exactly! Tina gave each tree a drop of fertilizer, then continued monitoring both the trees and the time for the next 2 minutes. This time her trees would need fertilizer and water. as 12 was a multiple of 6, right? She went to refill her dropper from the fertilizer cauldron. Merlin, this was going to be a lot of running back and forth, wasn't it? Good thing she was in shape and fairly fast! As soon as her trees reached exactly a foot in height, she added the fertilizer and 1 l of water. She repeated the process of monitoring, measuring, and adding fertilizer and/or water until her trees reached 6 feet… a few inches taller than her but still short enough for her to reach the top. Tina went to fill her dropper with the liquid from the vial and applied one drop to each of her now fully grown trees. Perfect! She stood, admiring her trees for a minute, before going back for the final time to gather some decorations. She could already visualize the finished product in her mind's eye. She wasn't decorating for the holiday or for house pride; her trees, like everything she'd done since she came to Hogwarts, were going to be an homage to the person who should've been here alongside her. She chose balls, stars, and drops in shades of black, purple, red, and gold - she even found a couple of lions. Did she know how weird it probably looked for a Ravenclaw to decorate with Gryffindor colors? Yes. Did she care? Not at all. She mentally separated each tree into four sections (left, right, front, and back) and set to work placing the black and purple decorations on the side sections and the red and gold ones on the front and backs. After placing the lion ornaments front and center on each tree. she stepped back to admire her work. It… needed something else. Too bad she couldn't find any purple butterfly ornaments! The thought crossed her mind to ask Professor Sutton if she could charm some of the ornaments to look like butterflies, but she figured the answer would probably be no. Then it came to her - her butterfly hair clips! Those were hers, so she shouldn't get in trouble for charming them. She removed the tiny butterflies from her dark hair and cast an enlargement charm on them. When they were about the size of her fist, she stopped the spell and carefully clipped each one to the top branch of a tree as if it was a star topper. There, now it was perfect! |
Kassie beamed with pride as she watched the hard work going on all around her. They all were truly excelling at following the instructions as precisely as possible and the trees were growing beautifully. It was hard for her to not be mesmerized by the growth going on all around her. She pulled herself back to the task at hand and checked her watch. "Class, we only have a few more minutes before our time is up. Please continue with your last steps and make sure you have placed the final drop from the container by the seeds on your tree." She took the few steps over to the table and pointed to the vial to make sure everyone knew exactly what she was talking about. "If you haven't had a chance to finish decorating your trees, that's perfectly fine. You have two weeks to finalize any decorations before I need to know where you would like for your tree to go." She reached under the table and picked up a box containing bright red tags and bright green tags. "If you would like for your tree to decorate Hogwarts, please attach a RED tag to the trunk, just above the soil. If you would like your tree donated to St. Mungo's or to the Ministry of Magic for decoration, please attach a bright GREEN tag to the trunk. You can choose a different place for each of your trees. It's up to you." "Once your supplies are returned to their starting location, you are free to go. Thank you for your hard work today." OOC: Time to finish up! The final tasks are to clean up and, if they are ready, place a tag for where they want the tree to go. This will be open for about 24 more hours. If you would like to continue decorating the tree after the lesson closes, you are welcome to use the Flower Garden thread. The tree field would be located on the South side of the garden. Thank you all for coming to the lesson!! |
Wow. So when Sutton meant rapid growth, she meant rapid growth. Hanna got to work, filling her mind with the possibility of a world where trees took over. If people planted rapid growth trees without stopping their progress once they got so big. What would the world be like? Still favouring manual work than wand work, Hanna went to get a watering can, filling it up and carefully poured half a litre into each of her two holes. With the dropper and fertiliser, she squeezed slowly until one drop fell from the tip and into the hole, repeating for the second hole. The seeds were retrieved, and pressed into the soil of her two holes, before she used her shovel to scrape the soil back into the holes, without pressing it down. With that done, the yardstick at the ready to measure, and the watering gan primed and in her hand, she got to it. Watching the growth. Actually watching a tree grow in real life was rather fascinating. That she could have the fertiliser ready in her hands, too, was rather unfortunate, but she would manage. At just past the 2 minute mark, Hanna went to get two drops of fertiliser. By the time she was back, the trees measured six inches, and she placed one drop onto each of the trees. After another two and a half minutes, as the tree reached twelve inches, she watered both trees with a litre of water, and a drop of fertiliser each. She repeated this until both trees were five feet tall, as measured as best she could by the yardstick. As it reached five feet, she went to get the red liquid, and dropped one dropper full onto one of the trees, before repeating it on the other tree, standing a little over five feet. And miraculously, there was no more growth. Deciding to decorate it in Christmas and Ravenclaw colours, Hanna picked out enough decorations to fill her tree without being greedy, and without overdoing the decorating. For this, as the trees were about the same size as she was, it was easy. There was no need to charm the decorations up to the top. By the end of the class, she had two decorated, fully grown trees. Once Sutton called the class back to attention, she was rather pleased with how it all looked. And chose to donate both trees to St. Mungo's, because she was sure Hogwarts would have plenty of trees without one of hers. Deciding this, she attached two bright green tags to the trees, one for each of them. Then she cleaned up her area, returning everything to its place. "Bye Professor! That was fun," Hanna added on her way out, knowing she certainly would be back within the two weeks to make sure her trees looked okay before going to St. Mungo's. |
So this was how rapid growth trees worked. It was fairly impressive to see the seeds sprout and gain height so quickly. Avalon kept her yardstick in hand and positioned next to the seedlings as they grew toward the sky. She referred back to the blackboard to ensure her measurements were correct before filling up two liters of water - one for each hole. Once the trees reached six inches, she retrieved fertilizer from the cauldron and carefully placed one drop onto each plant. Okay, easy enough. She just had to 'rinse and repeat.' Avalon watched her yardstick with eagle eyes to ensure she was watering and fertilizing at just the right increments. Her tree was looking pretty healthy so far! Once the tree reached six feet tall, she figured it was time to stop the growth. That height seemed fairly sufficient: big enough to make a statement but short enough that she could still decorate it with the help of a step stool. She filled up her dropper with the strange red liquid and watched as it dissolved into the trees. Sure enough, they stopped growing. Now for the fun part! Avalon decided to decorate one in generic Christmas colors to send to St. Mungo's, and one in her house colors to donate to Hogwarts. Quietly humming some holiday tunes, she got to work on decorating. Preparing for the holidays was one of her favorite activities. She loved making decorations with her mum and turning their home into a winter wonderland this time of year. Before she knew it, Professor Sutton was winding down the lesson. Avalon placed a few finishing touches onto her trees and stepped back to admire her work. They did look pretty nice, if she said so herself. She placed a green tag on the red-and-green tree for St. Mungo's and a red tag on the Ravenclaw-inspired tree for Hogwarts. Packing up her belongings, she gave her teacher a smile. "Bye, Professor Sutton! Today's lesson was a lot of fun." And it was fun indeed! Avalon never would have thought that she would actually enjoy a herbology lesson. But with the absence of evil plants and the addition of Christmas decorations, this class period was definitely one for the books. |
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"True......but this is still hardly something that a Herbology professor should encourage, no?" Okay, now she was truly just busting everyone's chops. She actually had exactly zero stakes in the whole thing, since she really didn't care, except possibly hearing what the Divination-turned-Herbology-professor might say. Quote:
As for her trees.....well, they were the appropriate height and had the second potion added. But nothing else had been done. Not that she had really wanted to decorate them anyway. Yes, she was usually that person that stood around pretending to help decorate but was really doing absolutely nothing at all, so sue her. Archer gathered her things quickly and left with a "Bye!" |
After the seeds had been planted and the holes covered up with dirt once more, Rylee had followed the next set of instructions to a T. There was never any messing around when it came to working with plants. Going back and forth between the trees making sure each got exactly the proper amount of water and fertilizer at exactly the right times hadn't been the easiest of tasks. However it was completely doable and done with a level of pure concentration that may have even surprised herself. As the trees quickly reached the height of about seven feet, she cast the proper charm to stop the growth from continuing. Returning her wand to the holster on her wrist and returning the watering can and dropper to where she had gotten them from, it was time to decorate the trees! This was clearly fun and she gave Stella a smile as they worked together. One tree was of course decorated in red and gold for Gryffindor, since both her and Stella were lionesses. The other tree was decorated for all the houses. Her wand also came in handy for levitating decorations up to the higher spots on the tree that they couldn't reach. When she had finished a RED tag was placed on the Gryffindor tree for it to remain here at the school and a GREEN tag was placed on the second more color tree for the Ministy of Magic. Returning all the things she had used to their proper place it was time to go. "Thanks for a really fun lesson, professor! See you later!" Rylee called out with a smile, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder as she headed out of the greenhouse. |
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