Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
August 17, 2020 1:51 PM
Don't nettle each other. [Intermediates III-V] by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Gray had been very kind to teach a class that basically got students to do - or at least attempt to do - part of Mary's job for her. It had also given her ideas. She had often thought that students might benefit from more solid overlapping material between their courses and this was a perfect opportunity. Unfortunately, the boil-cure potion (which wasn't terribly helpful for most people since boils seemed rather uncommon), which used nettles, was a beginners lesson. Still, it wasn't unusual for Mary to teach about the myriad applications of a single ingredient and nettles were one such example.As the students entered the room, they found three cauldrons set up at each desk, each already steaming with a different substance. Students took their spots and Mary smiled happily at them, greeting them with nods or words as was appropriate based on proximity and personality. When everyone was ready, Mary clasped her hands in front of her purple grape-colored gowns and took a breath, trying not to seem too excited.
"Recently, you studied some of the spells and theory behind preparing ingredients for potions," Mary said, although that intermediate lesson had been a few weeks ago now. "Professor Wright spoke about the overlap between the fields of charms, potions, transfiguration, and more, correct? Today, we're going to look further into some of that, using nettles again."
Mary waved her wand to flip the chalkboard over to the back, where a detailed diagram of nettles was already drawn, complete with labels and some notations of useful spells in preparation. With another wave of her wand, a stack of papers went out, one paper to each student, with the same diagram and some additional notes about the plant, harvesting, preparation, and more. "You can put those in your class binders," she added, in case anyone thought about ignoring it instead. The class binder, the students should know by now, would be important.
"Each table has a cauldron of the cure for boils, nettle tea, and nettle soup which some have suggested can contribute to increased hair glossiness." Her face was neutral, which was a good sign of just what she thought about that. Nettle wine, she had decided, was not a suitable fourth cauldron for young teenagers. "Feel free to have some of the soup and tea as you talk with your partner, but make sure you leave enough to analyse. I'm going to have you write a paper on the preparation of nettles for each of these concoctions, comparing and contrasting both the manual and magical work involved. For today, however, I want you to work in pairs or triads to discuss what you can assume about each concoction just by what you already know of nettle preparation, or what you can assume about nettle preparation by what you already know of the concoction. For example, nettle tea is a fairly straightforward preparation, designed to feel good and taste good when you imbibe it. How might that preparation differ from preparation designed to draw out the power of the nettle for the cure for boils? Or else, if you know that the tea tastes good, what could you have assumed about the preparation of the nettles, if I hadn't just told you?" She smiled, hoping beyond hope she was clear. She'd been feeling a bit disoriented recently in her curriculum as she had a number of other things on her mind and couldn't quite say why. This term should have been easier than last, but she couldn't help worrying. Not that anything on campus was ever that simple, particularly considering some of the events that had taken place with some of the students. Mary pushed that thought aside and was proud that she didn't even send a watchful glance toward Felipe De Matteo. "If you have any questions, let me know. Otherwise, go ahead and get started."
OOC - Thank you, Professor Wright!
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Don't nettle each other. [Intermediates III-V]
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