Professor Nathan Xavier
August 16, 2019 2:36 PM
Beginners: Flitterblooms and Devil’s Snares by Professor Nathan Xavier
As was his norm, Professor Nathan Xavier stood at the door to Greenhouse One and welcomed the beginner students as they arrived. Each student received back their homework from their last class with a personalized comment ranging from ‘I really liked your drawing of the leaf structure, it was very accurate,’ or ‘Great improvement, I knew you could do it,’ to a gentle reminder of his Wednesday office hours.Once everyone had arrived and found seats around the two long work tables that ran down the center of the greenhouse, Nathan took his place near the middle where the largest number of the students could see him. However, due to the large potted plants with long lethargically swaying dull green tentacles that covered the tables, it was simply impossible to stand somewhere that everyone could see him.
He smiled at some nervous looking students reassuringly and said, “Don’t worry, that is not a Devil’s Snare in front of you. Does anyone know what it is?”
When he got a correct answer, he nodded. “That’s right, it is a Flitterbloom. Flitterblooms are entirely harmless, but they do share a remarkable resemblance to a much more dangerous plant, the Devil’s Snare, which can use its tentacles to squeeze and strangle a person to death, though if you remain calm and relaxed, it will likewise relax and stop constricting around you. It is, admittedly, difficult and counterintuitive to do that though. A Devil’s Snare plant, however, hates light, preferring dark and dank environments, and will recoil from bright light. Flitterblooms, on the other hand, are perfectly happy in a sunny garden.”
“Obviously, as beginners, you are much too young to encounter a Devil’s Snare in any practical form yet, but these flitterblooms will serve as an adequate substitute. Take out your wands, please. You should have covered lumos in Charms by now, and it has several practical uses in Herbology as well. Firstly, and most commonly, it can mitigate the effects of sun deprivation. These flitterblooms have not received enough sunlight recently, and a strong enough lumos will help restore them. The tentacles will sway in a more lively way, brighten up a bit, and they won’t be quite so droopy. It you get that effect from the flitterbloom, you’ll also have cast a strong enough lumos to repel a Devil’s Snare so that anyone trapped by it can make their escape. That is a far less common herbological use of the lumos spell, but it could save a life if you do encounter a Devil’s Snare someday.”
He gestured toward the plants. “So that the practical part of today’s lesson. Cast the lumos spell at various intensities and distances from the tentacles and note down how the plant reacts to it. For homework, please write a short essay about what you saw. You may begin. Raise your hand if you have questions or need help.”
OOC: Welcome to Herbology! House points are awarded to class posts based of length, creativity, realism, relevance, and writing quality rather than your student’s displayed skills, knowledge, or behavior. Further information about flitterblooms can be found here: https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Flitterbloom and that article links to one about the Devil’s Snare.
Subthreads: Something about you being my sunshine. by Felipe De Matteo, Crotalus
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Professor Nathan Xavier
Beginners: Flitterblooms and Devil’s Snares
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Professor Nathan Xavier
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Felipe De Matteo, Crotalus
August 16, 2019 9:45 PM
Something about you being my sunshine. by Felipe De Matteo, Crotalus
Felipe was as happy as ever to be in Herbology, but also a bit disappointed with today's lesson. While he enjoyed the plants and spellcasting, and appreciated a chance to use them together, he was much less interested in these sorts of plants than in most of the producers they worked with, or some of the other more garden-appropriate varieties of plants. More than that, the plants at home rarely suffered from anything like sun deprivation and were actually more likely to get too much sun than too little. Still, he supposed it was a good application to learn in case he brought a potted plant from sunny Los Jardines de Plata to his more shady dorm room here.Flitterbloom struck him as having about the same personality as Leonor. Given the choice, she'd probably like to sit in a big pot and bathe in the sunshine all day, and when she was happy she was practically glowing. She would enjoy her turn at this lesson in the future.
Felipe turned his focus back to what they were doing. He'd gotten good feedback from Professor Xavier and wanted to keep up that trend by paying attention in class, doing well, and writing a great essay later. It wasn't his favorite thing to do by far, but it was good for him and that was important.
"It's a bit incredible to think of how different two related species of plant can be and how differently they can react to the same spell," he said to the person closest to him. "Maybe that is a good colloquial replacement for the 'black sheep' of the family."
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Felipe De Matteo, Crotalus
Something about you being my sunshine.
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Ellie Alperton, Aladren
August 24, 2019 7:51 AM
I don't think so by Ellie Alperton, Aladren
Ellie had done a really good drawing of a leaf structure. That was good to know. The task was familiar enough to have not felt totally strange. She wasn’t sure it was something she’d actually done in school - she could remember collecting leaves, and looking at them, and growing cress on the windowsill or whatever - but it seemed like the kind of thing she might be set in non-magical school biology. Whilst she was enjoying the whole magic thing, it was sometimes a relief to get a homework assignment that she just… got. In the other sense.She took a cautious seat, hands gripping the sides of her stool and not leaning in too close to the table because the plant on it was moving by itself. She wasn’t really sure what that meant, and it seemed better to take a cautious approach. Professor Xavier assured them though that it was fine - or rather, he told them not to worry because it wasn’t Devil’s Snare, and even though she didn’t know what that was, it implied this plant was harmless, and she leant in curiously.
She quite liked Herbology. She did not like the sound of plants that would try to squeeze her to death, but as Professor Xavier stated, they were too young for those. Right now, they were coming across a lot of really interesting things. Walking through the greenhouse and seeing plants wave to you or hearing them whispering with each other was one of those experiences that made it hard to forget you were literally surrounded by real life magic, like the paintings moving and talking. She was looking forward to cheering up their sun-deprived little flitterblooms and seeing them do happy little dances. Maybe that wouldn’t be quite literal but she could imagine that was what their movements meant.
“Lumos,” she cast, pleased to be able to already use magic to help a plant grow, or at least feel better. It felt very witchy, and it was exciting to think she knew enough from one class to put it to use in another. She watched the tentacles swaying softly, trying to decide if they were moving more yet. It probably took quite a bit of sunshine to feel better. She could empathise there, and so she patiently held her wand over the plant - she supposed she could focus in on a particular tentacle to see the effects more quickly, but it seemed fairer to give the whole plant the light it needed, even if that was slower.
The boy next to her started chatting. She wasn’t sure he was right in what he was saying - had Professor Xavier said the two plants were related, or just that they looked similar? She thought it had been the latter, and she was pretty sure it was possible for things to have very similar appearances but not be biologically related. Still, she wasn’t going to correct an older student. She probably wasn’t going to correct anyone her own age either. She generally wanted to stay out of arguments. Which was a good plan, until his next remark caught her so off-guard, that her head had snapped up, a startled expression on her face, and she had responded by reflex.
“S-sorry?” she stammered, and the light in her wand flickered and went out. Given that she was now staring at him, she probably needed to clarify why. She felt a blush creep across her cheeks because she didn’t want to have an argument, but she hadn’t expected someone to just… off-hand be so callous. “You want to call people,” she consulted her notes, “Devil’s Snares?” she asked, her voice quiet, still not confrontational. She thought the phrase ‘black sheep of the family’ was outdated anyway, and didn’t really need replacing. What it actually needed was to go away. Her family had never treated her like a black sheep, but she knew that other people’s did - the idea that someone different in their family was the source of shame, rather than the people who shamed them for it was a horrible enough idea, and the existing phrase was bad enough, but she somehow felt the replacement suggested was even worse.
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Ellie Alperton, Aladren
I don't think so
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Felipe De Matteo
August 24, 2019 4:38 PM
Oh, I'm sorry about that. by Felipe De Matteo
Felipe was usually very polite. While he certainly lacked any of the innate sense of goodness that Zara and other Teppenpaws had, he didn't think he was all bad either. He had a practiced sort of civility that usually got him by just fine. Unfortunately, it was always when someone was really likely to be hurt that he did something dumb. Trying to push aside the way his mother would look disappointed - like she'd hoped for so much better from him - and the way his father would just look away - like he wasn't really surprised - and the way Leonor would just look on - like she was learning from the worst role model that genetics could have provided, Felipe frowned."I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "It was only meant to be a joke. I only meant that I'd rather be a funky plant than a sheep if I'm going to be the odd one out." He wasn't quite ready to admit that he might actually be just that in his own family, and wasn't actually sure whether he was or not anyway, but his tone made it clear that it wasn't exactly hypothetical either.
"You were doing very well with your spell," he added, hoping to continue working with the girl. She seemed nice, and was bolder than he might've been. Sometimes, when outright confronting something that wasn't okay, it was at least important to interrupt it. "I didn't mean to stop you."
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Felipe De Matteo
Oh, I'm sorry about that.
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Ellie
August 24, 2019 10:46 PM
You might not be a cloud either by Ellie
It being a joke would not really have been an adequate excuse. Jokes could be hurtful. And when it was a joke at the expense of someone with less power than you, it wasn’t funny, it was bullying. Not that she would have gone so far as to accuse him of that because he wasn’t directing those words at anyone yet, she just didn’t think they were a good idea for that reason. But then he said he’d rather be the plant than the sheep. That put a different spin on it entirely. You couldn’t tell people what to like being called, or what jokes or comments to be comfortable making about themselves.“Oh. Okay,” she nodded, her eyes flicked curiously over the boy for a second but she didn’t want to feel like she was staring. It wasn’t nice when it felt like someone worked out you had a secret and you could feel them trying to work it out, so she turned her attention back to the plant. She didn’t want to pry about that. She also still thought that being ‘Devil’s anything’ was a bad move, given religion’s tendency to persecute people who were different. Her own church was very LGBTQIA+ friendly and inclusive, her parents had made sure of that even if she didn’t want to be out at home. However, she knew how often people used religion as an excuse for their hatred. She still thought it was better to do away with the idea of difference as shame. But she didn’t really want to open up to this boy about those things, even if he seemed less threatening than he had a minute ago. His own remark had made her question what was going on with him, and she didn’t want to make him do the same with her… With Jasmine, she had found that it was hard to have a conversation about her real thoughts and feelings without revealing who she was, and that had been fine with the older girl, but she wanted to be careful about who she got personal with.
“Thanks,” she smiled, when he complimented her spellwork. That seemed a much safer topic to get back to. She took a deep breath, relaxing her shoulders and cast it again, relieved to see the light flowing back out of her wand. “They’re nice looking plants,” she commented, trying to keep the conversation on this safer, more neutral territory.
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Ellie
You might not be a cloud either
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Felipe De Matteo
September 04, 2019 1:47 AM
At least then I'd rain. by Felipe De Matteo
Felipe wasn't sure what to say, and that was a dreadful feeling. He was sure that either of his parents would have known, and that Zara would have known, and that Jessica would have known. Well . . . Jessica might have known, but she'd try really hard. She just had that spunk to her. Felipe lacked either the grace, kindness, or spunk to get by in these conversations and now he was making the whole thing weird for this poor first year. She was just trying to get through Herbology and he had to go and make it weird.He looked away when Ellie did, grateful for the chance to blink and clear his mind. What was wrong with him? He was usually so confident and easygoing. He was determined to put this attitude behind him forthrightly, and when Ellie spoke again, Felipe was prepared for a second chance.
"Mmhmm," he agreed, looking at the little plants with fondness. "Herbology is my favorite. I love growing things." Yes, because talking about yourself is a much better approach, you dolt. Get it together! He chided himself as he reached for his wand, getting ready to copy Ellie's (much better) example. "Did you garden much before you came to Sonora?" he asked, changing focus.
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Felipe De Matteo
At least then I'd rain.
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Ellie
September 04, 2019 6:48 AM
I would not like that by Ellie
Ellie felt herself relaxing a little more as the other boy seemed perfectly content to let the subject drop. He followed her lead and talked about the class instead, which was a much more comfortable subject."Not really," she answered, regarding gardening. The garden was a place to play, and keeping it tidy and suitable for that was one of the many chores that grown ups did. Cutting the grass was a mission, and it grew way too fast - that was about her sum total knowledge. They had some planters, and she got to choose a few bulbs to put in them... every now and then. She wasn't even sure of the frequency - whether it was seasonal, annual, or just when someone remembered. "Just growing a few flowers, sometimes," she added, not wanting to seem like she was shooting down his topic even though she didn't have a lot to say about it. "So far I like it, though," she added. She wasn't sure it was destined to be her favourite, but it was very nice.
"You did?" she guessed, in regards to gardening before. The way he'd talked about how he loved growing things sounded like this wasn't a recent discovery.
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Ellie
I would not like that
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Felipe De Matteo
September 04, 2019 8:17 PM
Oh, my bad. by Felipe De Matteo
Felipe was ceaselessly amazed by how few American girls seemed to enjoy gardening or other outdoor pastimes. He supposed there were girls who did - Cleo James and Evelyn Stones came to mind first - but they seemed few and far between. Many girls seemed so worried about gardening or farming being dirty, or too hard, or outdoors, or whatever else. He hoped that wasn't why Ellie didn't do much gardening, because she otherwise seemed friendly enough. She was doing perfectly well with the task at hand, so that was good as well. When she said she did actually like it, he relaxed into an easier smile."Growing flowers is nice," he agreed, thinking of the flowers at Los Jardines de Plata. "I grew up on sort of a farm. Agriculture and gardening are important for my people to survive. But also, the plants are very nice."
It was one of the few areas of his life that was not only fact-based for him. The math and science behind agriculture was one thing, but he also just enjoyed plants for their natural beauty. There weren't many other things like that. Music was a science, not an art, to Felipe, and many other fields were the same. But plants were artists themselves, and he liked to think that it was his job to make sure his people had access to their multitudes of produce, even if the idea of doing that with somebody by his side made him want to scream into a pillow.
"Did you grow up near here?" he asked, hoping her dialect wasn't something he should've been able to place. It was a weak spot in his English, and one he didn't care much to remedy, whatever the minor embarrassments it occasionally caused. "I am from Mexico."
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Felipe De Matteo
Oh, my bad.
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