Good influences on Herbology

Nathan Xavier

February 05, 2022 1:22 PM

Intermediates: Labyrinth in Review by Nathan Xavier

Nathan Xavier stood in his normal place in front of Greenhouse One as the Intermediates arrived, feeling more on top of the new school year than he had in years. His two children were getting bigger and more self-reliant, and he'd actually had opportunities to do planning and prep work over the summer that was a little more than the cursory 'look over old notes and figure he'd try the same thing again' that had been his go-to since Dora was born.

He handed out syllabi to each third through fifth year student as they arrived in the clearing in front of the Sonora Greenhouses, welcoming them back to Sonora, and inviting them to wait outside because while the Gardens were quite warm on this early September day, inside the Greenhouse it was even hotter. Once he had the whole class gathered in front of the greenhouses, he cast a mild sonorus charm on himself so they could all hear him as he made initial statements.

"To the fourth and fifth years among you, welcome back to Intermediate Herbology. To the third years, congratulations, you've made it past the basics and things will get a bit more interesting from here. As you probably all recall, the Greenhouse is quite unpleasantly hot this time of year, so I usually try to plan lessons to take advantage of the nicer weather we have out here. And since it's our first day back after a long summer, I'm not going to introduce anything new today, but just do some review. Would the fifth years please raise your hands?" He used his wand to levitate a hand-out to all the self-identified fifth years. "Fourth years?" A different set of papers went out to them. "Third years?" A final version of the hand-out went out to the last group. "Did anyone not get a paper?"

Once he sorted out any missing handouts, he went over what they were looking at. "What you've got there is a Bingo card of specific and general types of plants." The older the year, the more specific the plants became, as he expected them to be able to identify a larger variety of magical plants by sight, while third years were only expected to be able to pick out whether a plant belonged to certain categories. "Your assignment today is to use what you know about herbology to locate a specimen of each plant listed on your paper. You'll earn points for each line you manage to complete and a free homework pass to anyone who can complete your whole card. When you find a plant meeting one of the items on your card, touch some part of that plant the appropriate square, and the box will mark itself as complete by turning green."

"Are there any questions?"

Once he addressed those, he made an inviting gesture to the gardens around them. "Go ahead and start hunting. You may work together if you like. Raise sparks if you need any help. Good luck, Intermediates. When you're done, bring your card back here to turn it in to me. If I'm not here for some reason, put your name on it and stick it under the greenhouse door. Class is over when you either finish or at the normal dismissal time. You can leave your bags and robes here if you don't want to wear them or carry them around with you."

OOC: Items on the list may be as specific as 'Fanged Geranium' or as general as 'a vegetable'. There will not be anything especially dangerous on the sheets like a whomping willow or devil's snare, as those would be kept in restricted areas of the Gardens. Feel free to chose what plants you want for this as there will be variation between the sheets.

Subthreads:

I can do this! by Xavier Lundstrom with Valentine Duell

Good influences by Oz Spellman with Billy Cobb

This should be fun! by Iris Cobb with Lydia Priory

1 Nathan Xavier Intermediates: Labyrinth in Review 28 1 5

Xavier Lundstrom

February 05, 2022 7:08 PM

I can do this! by Xavier Lundstrom

To say that Xavier was not looking forward to intermediate classes would have been a wild level of understatement. He had lain awake for most of the previous night, just imagining all the different, horrible ways he might be totally humiliated in the morning. Or maybe he’d just finally explode. That was what was supposedly wrong with him, after all. He couldn’t channel his magic outwards, and he was in danger of shredding himself from the inside out. Would an increase in the power of the spells he was trying to use put him in more danger? No one seemed to have worried about that, but he was under the impression that most people were making up how to deal with him as they went along. Even if they’d had a rock solid plan, it didn’t help when you were lying alone in the dark, staring at the ceiling.

Charms and Transfiguration had been brutal, as he’d expected. Along with DADA, they were the classes that most often made him feel like a failure. The one saving grace that intermediate classes had was being back with his best friend, and he’d stuck close to Oz during their lessons so far today. It still sort of sucked, because it wasn’t like the utter failure side of him was one Oz saw too often. They hadn’t been in classes together since Xavier was a first year, when a degree of struggle had still felt somewhat normal and acceptable, at least at first. He sat with Oz because he liked him, and he trusted him, but it didn’t mean that he could just suck at everything without the slightest shred of embarrassment. It was still utterly humiliating to be the class failure.

He wasn’t totally convinced he’d get a break in Herbology. Herbology, COMC and Potions were hit and miss. Potions almost always required a wand wave to seal the deal, which was a huge amount of pressure given the amount of time and literal sweat that had gone into concocting the perfect brew. He could do all those steps, and he didn’t want his stupid failure at wandwork to mess up all that hard work. They often worked in pairs though, so he could leave it to his partner to do that step. Herbology and COMC varied. Sometimes you needed a spell to get the job done, sometimes they were more hands on or observational. He had a feeling that, as they progressed into Intermediates, they were going to be merging a lot more of their supposedly acquired ‘basic skills’ into those subjects, and he could see himself falling further and further behind. Using your wand well was always going to count for a lot with wizards. There was just no escaping that.

Still, as Professor Xavier began explaining the class, it seemed like he could breathe a sigh of relief, for today at least. It was a scavenger hunt. This was pure Boy Scout or hiking I-spy territory, and that was definitely something he could do. The cloud that had been hanging over him all day shifted, and he actually gave Professor Him a real smile as he claimed his worksheet. A whole class that he could do!

He glanced at his worksheet, which included ‘Any non-magical plant’ and ‘Any magical plant.’ He was pretty sure the hedges were just… hedges. Though they were growing in a desert. Though it wasn’t a desert. The environment was magical, but they were normal. Right? He tentatively touched a leaf to the ‘non-magical’ box, and gave the air a fist pump as it turned green.

Part of him wanted to venture off by himself, and take the chance to fully and independently complete something. He couldn’t remember when he’d felt so in control and capable during a class. But he was also aware that this was a chance to be social, without his conspicuous lack of magic holding him back or embarrassing him. He looked up, seeing one of his classmates still hanging nearby.

“One down,” he grinned, waving his sheet. “Want to go around together?” He wasn’t sure they would exactly be working together, as there were different things on the sheets, but they could be a spare set of eyes for each other, and hopefully just have some fun.

OOC: Mentions of Oz are acceptable because he is also my character.

13 Xavier Lundstrom I can do this! 1529 0 5

Oz Spellman

February 07, 2022 1:23 AM

Good influences by Oz Spellman

It had been a really weird day. On paper, Xavier was meant to be a much better student than Oz. Oz didn't need to see their transcripts from before Sonora to know that. He would bet his next three hot meals that Xavier could outclass him academically without even really trying. The 'without really trying' was the key part there. Oz wasn't stupid, at least not in academic terms. He was kind of stupid in how much he let bad influences or set backs get to him. He could have done better in school if he had just applied himself. Xavier had glided through life without anything ever really touching him. Oz wrestled constantly with the idea that if he'd had the breaks Xavier had, their transcripts would have been reversed, versus the idea that it was fundamentally himself that was at fault. After all, it was possible to have his genes and be raised in the exact same environment and not be a screw up. There was living proof. What did that leave except personality flaws?

Now though, that was sort of behind them. The morning had been weird because he had sat next to Xavier, who'd probably never had a bad report card in his life, and watched him struggle. Like, really struggle. Oz had known from Xavier confiding in him that his magic was all screwed up but it was different seeing it for real. He could practically feel the frustration and the fear radiating off Xav, though he didn't blow his lid like Oz would have done. He seeemed determined to keep it quiet, not wanting to draw any extra attention to himself. In that sense, Xav was still going to be a good influence on him. He was focussed and adverse to having an audience, which was the opposite of Oz's natural tendencies. Oz wanted to do the right things for Xav though. More than that, he wanted to help. Not drawing unwanted attention didn't really feel like enough. It was stupid to hope he could fix it when teachers and stuff couldn't, but best friends - proper actual best friends, not the kinds of people he'd had back home - were meant to look after each other.

Still, there wasn't a lot he could do about it in herbology, unless Professor Xavier happened to have a magic plant to cure magic blockages. He sort of figured that if he did, someone might have tried that by now.

This prediction did indeed prove correct, though Oz's mind lightened quite a lot at the idea of running about in the gardens for the next hour. This was his kind of lesson! Minimum supervision, maximum fun! He took a cursory glance at his sheet, feeling like it'd be pretty okay. The Henry voice in his head was talking about priorities and staying focused. It had a point... He bounced on the balls of his feet, glancing around for a partner. Xav seeemed to have disappeared, which was probably for the best as Oz didn't want anyone to think they were dating, which they might if the two of them hung out every single lesson... How much he stayed on task was, after a long day of being on best behaviour, probably going to depend a lot on who he partnered with...

OOC: Mentions of Xavier allowed because he is also my character.

13 Oz Spellman Good influences 1514 0 5

Billy Cobb

February 09, 2022 10:00 AM

Like me. by Billy Cobb

Herbology was usually a good class. It at least didn't usually feel to Billy like he was trapped in a classroom. The greenhouses were about as 'outside' as you could get while still having a roof and walls around you. Plus Professor Xavier was a nice teacher. As such, Billy didn't linger until the absolute last moment to find his way inside. He certainly wasn't early by any stretch of the imagination, outside the greenhouse wasn't just a musty ol' hallway, it was actual outside.

The assignment for the day sounded great! They were gunna spend the class wandering the garden? Awesome! The question was, who did he want to wander with? Well, frankly that was kind of a stupid question, Ray was back in his classes this year! Which meant so was Iris. Ugh. That thought made him think a moment, and reluctantly gave up his quest for Ray, to find someone else. Oz.

He spotted his roommate and friend, and quickly found his way over to him. "Hey Oz! Bet I can get my sheet filled out first!" He challenged with a friendly smile. "Come on, let's go!" Then without really waiting he headed out into the gardens, still not having looked at his sheet at all. Hopefully Oz would catch up. They had some talkin' to do once they were away from other folks.

2 Billy Cobb Like me. 1519 0 5

Oz Spellman

February 09, 2022 2:54 PM

Sometimes by Oz Spellman

It was Billy who found Oz first, though the fact that he initiated partnering up as a competition more than an actual partnership meant there was a snowball's chance they'd get something done. Along with living together, it was things like this that made it hard to shake Billy. Oz couldn't deny that maybe nine times out of ten they were a slightly bad influence on each other, pulling each other off topic, but there was that one time in ten when their energy vibed in a way that was actually constructive, and which made him not want to relegate Billy to the list of Bad Influences. There was also maybe the fact that the bad influence was only slight; Oz was used to bad influences who worked him into a corner where he had to do things he didn't actually want to do. When he and Billy were 'bad' together, it was usually also fun. It was the same conundrum he'd faced before, in some ways - doing well in school and getting others to like him seemed to be in direct competition. And even if adults said it was obvious what you should choose, it really wasn't.

"You're on," he grinned, not at all daunted by the fact that recognising plants actually played into Billy's skillset far more than his. A challenge had been issued, and the thrill of competition was pumping in his veins. He took a quick look at his sheet, noticing one of his items was 'anything used in a potion.'

He followed Billy, pausing when he saw a plant his was pretty sure he had cut up in potions. He tapped it against the box. Nothing happened. He tapped again, wondering if he'd misheard the instructions, but then figured he was more likely to be misidentifying the plant.

And that wrong answers didn't count against you.

Yes! Kind, Teppenpawish Professor Xavier wasn't the kind to let their worksheets end up a mess of big red Xs. Oz tested this theory (which made him sound much smarter than saying 'cheated like a cheetah') by smushing his whole worksheet against the hedge. When he pulled it away, it had checked two boxes. Even better, one was for 'variegated leaves,' which he had no idea of the meaning of. Yes!

He jogged to catch up with Billy, determined not to show him this shortcut.

"Two down," he grinned.

OOC: Worksheet mechanics confirmed with Professor Xavier.

13 Oz Spellman Sometimes 1514 0 5

Billy Cobb

February 09, 2022 6:20 PM

All the time! by Billy Cobb

Billy jogged along the path sliding his paper along the plants that lined the one side as he went. He wasn't sure if the tactic would work, but if it did this would be a really easy assignment. They could get it done fast and then have some fun. He stopped to examine his work so far. One of the squares had turned green and there were a few minor tears in the paper. He briefly wondered if that would count against his score, but he hadn't remembered the professor saying anything about the state of the paper, just that it had to be turned back in. He also assumed, the professor would need to be able to see which squares were green though.

He looked up as Oz approached with a grin. "Aww.. I only got one so far." he commented showing his roommate his sheet. The plants along this particular path had been pretty uniform. "I'm gunna have to find a more varied place." He looked at his sheet and for the first time actually looked at the things he was supposed to be finding. He grinned, "I know where to find some of this stuff! Come on!" He waved to Oz and started off once more, holding the paper in the plants again as he went. You never knew... maybe something was hiding in there.

"Anyway," he said to his roommate, "The other reason I wanted ta team up with you was so we could talk just a bit." Billy nonchalantly turned left deeper into the gardens as he walked and talked. "I was jus' wondering after the ball 'n all last year..." He fought with his words for a minute looking a bit uncomfortable, "Well... do you got any idea what's going on with your brother and my sister?" His own thoughts on the subject of Ray were, well those of a fourteen year old boy, and the idea of anyone having any such thoughts along those lines about his sister made him uncomfortable. "You know if there's anything I should be worried about?" He looked at Oz with a pile of unsureness.

2 Billy Cobb All the time! 1519 0 5

Oz Spellman

February 10, 2022 3:16 PM

No by Oz Spellman

It seemed like Billy had hit on the same strategy as he had. Dang, there went his competitive advantage.

"I was doing the same," he said, deciding that it was better to admit this than to look like he was copying as he also trailed his sheet along the plants they were walking past. He stooped to get some ground ones too, figuring that there would be a variety.

The fact that Billy wanted to talk did not raise immediate alarm bells, given that he really did little else. Though when the subject turned to Iris and Henry and their date, Oz almost fell over his own feet. It wasn't a subject he particularly wanted to think about. Yeah, he had a lot of his own opinions on how kissing and touching might be all kinds of awesome. But he definitely didn't want to think about Henry having those kinds of thoughts, especially not about Billy's sister. He was pretty sure that the best way to deal with that was definitely not making it a subject of conversation. Billy, as usual, had other ideas. The worst part, was he seemed to know exactly what they were talking about too, because he was talking about needing to worry about things. Ew. Oz's mom had been nineteen when she had him and Henry. 'An accident but not a mistake' was how she'd always tried to differentiate it, to make it clear that no, this was not a good life plan, and they absolutely should not follow in her footsteps but she didn't regret or resent their existence. She had been pretty clear on what was safe and what was unsafe. Oz suspected he had had those lectures repeated more often, both because he was more likely to do something stupid and because he always needed telling everything more than once for it to go in. So, no obviously Henry wasn't going to do gross things with Iris, and now he just had to deny that possibility whilst mentioning it as little as possible because it was all icky. There was also that churning, fiery feeling he felt whenever anyone expressed something that was not entirely neutral or positive about Henry.

"I dunno. They just went to the ball," he shrugged it off, like it hadn't been a big deal. That was the impression he had got from Henry too, when he'd asked. She's fine. It was fine. Kinda weird. Oz had agreed most heavily with the last point, both in terms of that being his own experience with Lorena and because he agreed Iris was weird. He wasn't sure whether Billy now wanted something to be going on, or definitely didn't want anything to be going on, but he figured downplaying it as just one date was a good idea either way. Oz definitely didn't want anything to be going on. He'd really only just got Henry back, had just patched over all the ginormous cracks he'd made in their relationship. It was bad enough that he and Henry had to be in separate rooms here at school, and Oz didn't want some girl stealing him during their waking hours on top of that. "And it's Henry," he pointed out, regarding Billy's other question. "Sensible is the only mode he has." He felt a little bad saying it, reducing Henry to a single dimension, when he could also be kind, driven, and even funny. Those things were mostly reserved for Oz and their mom though. They were private parts of Henry that Billy, and Iris and everyone else, hadn't earnt yet. Oz ignored the voice saying that he had un-earnt them. And the one trying to remind him about Henry's random Robin Hood spree. Henry was sensible, and wasn't going to do acts of unspeakable grossness with a girl. That was the bit that mattered right now.

OOC: Bits about Henry supplied by his author

13 Oz Spellman No 1514 0 5

Iris Cobb

February 11, 2022 7:22 PM

This should be fun! by Iris Cobb

Iris loved herbology, it was by far her favorite class. Now that she had moved up to intermediates she wondered what all they might learn about. Billy had told her some of what he'd been doing last year, but she wasn't sure how much of that to believe. It was Billy after all. So she was naturally excited for class, and only minorly disappointed that they were still in Greenhouse One.

She listened attentively to the professor as he began class, and raised her hand at the appropriate time to receive a third year paper. She glanced over it quickly as the rest of the class got their papers. It was a grid with various different plant descriptions in each box. Iris nodded her understanding as Professor Xavier explained the assignment for the class. Looking over her paper once more, she thought that this should be fairly simple.

They had the whole garden to explore for these plants? Oh, thank-goodness. The downside of the intermediate classes was that her brother was in them as well. At least for today, she didn't think she'd have much to worry about, Billy would be off and running and away from her. That would be nice. She watched him run off with Oz without much surprise. Next she just had to decide if she wanted to go at this alone or to find a partner or maybe even a group. Either could be fun, maybe she didn't want to be walking around the gardens alone though, just in case Billy found her. She'd hate to have to put up sparks because he got injured.

Iris began wandering looking for both plants on her sheet or someone to work with. The first plant was easy and her first square had turned green. One down, a bunch to go. She smiled at someone who looked like they might want to work with her, "Hi, would you like to work together or were you planning on going at it alone?"

2 Iris Cobb This should be fun! 1526 0 5

Billy Cobb

February 11, 2022 7:40 PM

No? by Billy Cobb

Billy took a look at Oz's sheet. He had some different stuff on his and two green squares already. Dangit. Oh well. "It was nice of the professor to set it up like this, but..." he paused to look at his own paper again. "Some of this stuff we'll have to hunt down specifically I think." It was odd, Oz's sheet didn't have the same small tears and such on it that his did. Oh well.

Oz just kinda shrugged at his question about Iris an Henry. A flood of relief ran through him, he let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Whew." he exclaimed, "That's good. Still.." he paused, "Iris wouldn't talk about it at all, I was hoping it didn't go extreme one way or the other." By the sounds of Oz's comment it hadn't. That was good, he didn't need to worry about anything, yet. Oz was right about Henry though, if there was one boy that he knew around this place, Henry might well be the best one for this sort of thing. "If you hear about anything changing, you'll let me know, right?" He asked.

Nice! Another square had turned green on his sheet as they'd been walking. "Hey," he interjected, "What 'bout you and Lorena? How'd that go?" He waggled his eyebrows mischievously at his roommate. "Did you write over the summer at all, or call it quits after the dance?" He'd not written to many to Ray over the summer. Pa had told him to be careful about that sort of stuff soon after they'd gotten home.

2 Billy Cobb No? 1519 0 5

Oz Spellman

February 13, 2022 3:59 PM

Definitely not by Oz Spellman

OOC: CW mild homophobia BIC:

Billy seemed to have hit on the same conclusion, which was that the less romantically entangled Henry and Iris were, the better. Well, at least three out of four of them seemed to be on the same page. He just had to hope Iris hadn't got any silly ideas into her head, though given that she was a girl, that was maybe too much to hope for.

"Sure," he nodded, to Billy's comment. If Iris started being an idiot, he would tell him in a heartbeat. If Henry was, or if there was anything he did that Billy might disapprove of, Oz was definitely keeping that information as far away from his roommate as possible.

Him and Lorena had been about as exciting as Henry and Iris, he suspected. He liked to think he'd done a bit better than his brother, and he had made her laugh a few times. He'd agreed with Henry that dates were weird and awkward, hoping that the implicit pact was that they would wait another four years before going on any more of them.

"She thinks I'm funny, in the good way," he grinned. He wasn't sure whether he had down played it for Henry or was playing it up for Billy. He had had an okay time, and it was true that she'd laughed at his jokes, which was a good start. He wasn't really sure what to do with that, or the feelings that other people could be Fun, or how to make those two things connect in a way where one led to the other. "I don't do letters," he shrugged. Billy should know this. They'd been friends for years and barely exchanged a word during the holidays. Who wanted to do extra writing during the holidays, or figure out owls? Or pay for them. He wasn't sure how much it cost to send wizard mail, but he hated asking his mom for extra money for anything. He almost brought up that he'd talked to Xavier in the holidays, just to prove he wasn't a total social outcast, he just needed other people to know normal ways of communicating, but then he reconsidered. 'No, I didn't write to my ball date but I did phone calls with A Known Gay'... It wasn't like that, but Oz knew how it sounded. He did sort of wonder if Billy knew that about Xav, or knew what that meant, as he got the impression that Billy spent most of life under a rock of absolute cluelessness, but apparently he knew some stuff about what girls and boys got up to, so maybe he knew more than Oz realised. "Guess we'll just see how it goes this year."

13 Oz Spellman Definitely not 1514 0 5

Valentine Duell

March 12, 2022 8:32 PM

Yes you can! by Valentine Duell

Valentine made her way into the greenhouse for class, she still had her prefect badge even after what she had done at the opening feast. She greeted Professor Xavier at the entrance, accepted the papers he was handing out and quickly found a seat. So far things were okay, but she didn't want to rock the boat to much now. The professor had caught her earlier and reminded her about proper opening feast behavior and traditions. He had assured her that it wasn't a problem, but that it shouldn't happen again. She had found it impossible to promise that it wouldn't. What if someone needed her? Wally had been so... sad. She had however, assured Professor Xavier that she understood the situation. As much as she was honored by being chosen as prefect, people were more important than a badge. If she had to give it up to help someone, well, that really wasn't much of a choice.

While she waited for class to begin she looked over the syllabi, she didn't really take in the information, but she looked at it until the professor began talking. Valentine raised her hand when he asked the fifth years to do so and caught the paper that came to her. It looked like a plant based bingo card. When he started talking again he explained that exactly what it was. The lesson seemed simple enough and review was never a bad thing. Once he set them to their task she left her bag, but decided to keep her robe. It was warmer that way, but she was supposed to be setting a good example. Even if the professor said it was okay.

Val wandered out of the greenhouse and looked around, it was so tempting to run off into the gardens with Bonabelle and... do the classwork. Or, find Henry and spend some time with him. Maybe go and work on the classwork with Lavender. Something inside her said that she still had something of a debt to work off, she needed to be a good prefect, to show Professor Xavier that she was one.

She smiled brightly at Xavier's approach. "Sure!" She responded cheerily. Xavier wasn't someone she had interacted much with, since he was two years younger. This would be the only year they'd be sharing a class, she may as well take the opportunity to get to know him a bit. "Looks like you're ahead of me though," she commented with a grin indicating his sheet and her own still blank one. "Let's see what we can find." She waved him on as she began trekking into the gardens while looking at her own sheet again. They were mostly familiar names, but couldn't recall what they all exactly looked like. Hopefully she'd remember once she saw them. "I need to find a flitterbloom, a puffapod, and plenty of others. What all is on your sheet?"

OOC: Earlier Professor Xavier actions approved by his author.

2 Valentine Duell Yes you can! 1490 0 5

Xavier Lundstrom

March 13, 2022 6:22 AM

...thanks. Uh, you too? by Xavier Lundstrom

He’d caught the attention of Valentine Duell. She was a slightly familiar face, as she occasionally came to LGBTQIA+ cafe meetings, but Xavier didn’t know her well. It was a small enough school that he knew about her. She was a Teppenpaw, a newly minted prefect, and super popular. He tried to push down the hissing, spitting feeling that reared its head at that last point. He could recognise the monster, even if he didn’t really want to admit to it with a name… At his old school, that could have been him. Friends had come easily before, and he had been popular like she was now. Still, resenting Valentine for her social life wasn’t going to improve his own, and letting any of those negative feelings out could actively harm it. Snapping and making digs at the most popular girl in school wasn’t exactly a move in how to win friends and influence people.

The other factors didn’t have much impact on him. Teppenpaws were good, he supposed, because they tended to get along with everyone. And her being a prefect… Well, he wasn’t the type to get in trouble.

“Aconite, knot grass, wolfsbane—which is a trick question because two of those are the same thing,” he answered about his sheet. Right? He’d said it with confidence, but it wasn’t like the Herbology professor to be tricksy. Was it aconite or asphodel? Dang, he’d been so sure of the theory until that point. Still, he kept his face relaxed and confident. If she corrected him, he would just laugh it off. Who cared about a silly mistake on a bingo sheet? How pathetic would you have to be if getting that all correct was the only way of maintaining your last little shred of dignity?

“And something medicinal,” he added, listing one of the broader categories. He wondered if they were allowed to go into the greenhouses for any of these. He certainly knew a few of the medicinal plants they’d grown in beginners, having been subjected to several of them at the other end of the process. Though he had no idea whether their bean trays and other experiments in planting had become a permanent part of the greenhouse flora. Probably not? If Professor Xavier kept everything a student kept alive, the greenhouse would be absolutely overrun and cluttered from floor to ceiling. And just because it was those things didn’t mean he kept them. It would just be… even more so if he did.

“I reckon I can find them all,” he added, glad to have the company of a chatty (possibly also queer?) classmate, but not wanting her to start helping him when he could actually do it himself.

13 Xavier Lundstrom ...thanks. Uh, you too? 1529 0 5

Valentine Duell

March 13, 2022 12:43 PM

Thanks! by Valentine Duell

Valentine was almost certain there was a flash of.. hesitation? She wasn't sure though, if Xavier had show anything strange, it was gone in an instant. That was fine though, she was a fifth year and a prefect, maybe he was worried she might get him into trouble or something. Maybe he had been thinking about trying to rush through the assignment and ditch class as soon as he could, and now he was stuck with a prefect? She giggled internally, but did her best to pretend she hadn't noticed anything because she might actually not have. She didn't mind getting done with the assignment early if possible, any amount of extra time she could reclaim for her schedule was a good thing.

"You got it," she confirmed his statement of aconite and wolfsbane. "Looks like Professor Xavier is being extra nice, you get two boxes for the price of one plant." This time she did actually giggle lightly. "Somehow I don't think he's going so easy on us fifth years." She added eyeing up her sheet. Nope, no such luck there.

Val nodded, hopefully reading into his final statement correctly while putting it together with his initial invitation. He wanted to do the assignment himself, but didn't mind some company along the way. She approved wholeheartedly, that was the best approach to learning stuff as far as she was concerned. There had been so many times she'd been tempted to just have Bonabelle tell he what do or what the answer was. But, she wouldn't learn anything that way. Plus this was a review from Professor Xavier for everyone, if she did it for Xavier, he wouldn't know what he didn't know.

"I don't doubt that you can," she replied giving him an encouraging look before turning to look at the plants around her. They weren't to far away from the green houses yet so.... Yup! There it was! She figured Professor Xavier wouldn't let it grow to far away from his domain. The green plant with purple flowers and shiny black berries was growing in a small patch slightly out of the way of the normal path. "Belladonna," she commented as she carefully touched the sheet to the plant. The square turned green. "It's poisonous, so don't eat any, but other than that it's okay. You should have some if it in your potion kit." Then with a wink to him she added, "It wouldn't be considered a 'medicinal' plant."

It only now occurred to Val wonder a bit if there was any reason in particular that Xavier had picked her out of the group to team up with. He seemed confident enough in the classwork to not want any help. She'd seen him at Ellie's cafe a few times, when she had time to make it... something along those lines maybe? Maybe he was just curious about joining the gaming club and wanted to talk about it first? Maybe he wanted to talk to a prefect without making it look suspicious? It could be anything really, and it could also be nothing. Maybe she had just been the closest when he was looking for someone to wander the grounds with. Regardless she just needed to be friendly and open, if he had something specific to talk about he would. She just had to make sure he was comfortable to do so.

That meant she needed a nice, safe, generic topic to converse about until he felt ready... assuming there was anything for him to feel ready about. Unfortunately she didn't know a lot about him, other than he was a third year Pecari, and she thought she'd heard that he'd gotten to be pretty good friends with Oz. This early in the term, the previous summer was usually a big topic, but it could also be dangerous since she didn't know what his summer situation was like. Best stick to school things. "So, have any big plans for this year?" she asked in a light, casual tone, "I think my plans are to survive CATS." Another thought suddenly struck her, "We've got the fair this year! I don't suppose you've heard anything more about it yet, have you?"

2 Valentine Duell Thanks! 1490 0 5

Xavier Lundstrom

March 15, 2022 5:12 AM

You're welcome by Xavier Lundstrom

Two-for-one, and a nice gesture. Hm, that was a very Teppenpaw way of looking at it. Given that Professor Xavier was a Teppenpaw, Student Xavier guessed that was possible, though he’d initially been more inclined to think it was slightly tricksy. Then again, perhaps it could have been slightly sleep deprived and done in error. Still, now he’d cracked the words, Valentine was right and this was in his favour, assuming he knew what aconite-wolfsbane looked like. He… thought so?

Valentine also didn’t doubt that he could do this! It was practically said with exclamation points, and he wasn’t sure if she was this chipper to everyone or whether it was pity niceness, and he was so abysmal that his reputation preceded him, even to a fifth year Teppenpaw who had no business knowing that much about him. Although, if people gossiped about him properly, they’d have said he was good at theory, but the trouble with gossip was it was only the exaggerated bad bits which got passed around. She probably thought he sucked at everything.

“You’d be surprised how often medicines contain something that’d kill you if you take it straight,” he said when she said belladonna was not medicinal. He tried to remember whether he’d been given anything with that particular plant in it, but this was quickly eclipsed by worrying whether that was a weird thing to know. Though if she already knew enough to pity him and think he was useless, she probably also knew he spent more time than the average student in the hospital wing—’being melodramtic about having a headache,’ probably, given that he doubted the gossip mill actually understood the sheer, mind-melting misery of a migraine.

Did he have big plans for the year? Well, he had to try not to drown in his studies. Like, actually getting a handle on his magic and not dying from exploding would be dope, but was looking unrealistic. And he had to do whatever it took to get the government to butt out of his life and leave his family alone.

“Not a lot. Maybe get a boyfriend.” Oh crap, why had he said that? It had seemed like such a normal teenager thing to say, and he was going for maximum normal teenager here. But like… who was he gonna date here? And whilst it wasn’t a secret that he was gay, he thought other guys might get weird if they thought he was looking at them that way. Maybe it hadn’t really mattered up until now because they’d just been kids. It already seemed like everyone was avoiding him because he was a messed up magic freak. If Valentine repeated that, they’d have another reason to. “I mean, probably back home. I don’t think there’s anyone here…” If he ever got to go home.

“You’d know more than me. You’re a prefect,” he reminded her when she asked about the fair. “And you were here last time it happened?” he added, pretty sure that was how five minus four worked. “So, you tell me?”

13 Xavier Lundstrom You're welcome 1529 0 5

Valentine Duell

March 15, 2022 7:55 AM

Shall we get to work then? by Valentine Duell

"Oh yeah?" Valentine asked in response to Xavier's poisonous medicine comment. "I just might be, I have really looked much into the healing and medicine field to much." She'd heard that Xavier spend a little more than standard average time for a student in the hospital wing. "Well, no more than we normally cover in classes anyway." She gave him a friendly, but curious look. "Were you thinking about studying medicines and such?" It was a good field of study, and one that helped a lot of people. There was a time when she wondered about going that direction herself, she liked helping people. The downside was you had to see them in pain and agony first, and if she was really, really honest with herself... she wasn't sure if she could take that day in and day out. The people that could handle it were truly incredible. "I guess you've got plenty of time to think about that though," She added casually then sighed, "I'm running a little short on time myself though."

She could not restrain the giggle that burst from her at his plans for the year, and the resulting flash of maybe panic that she thought she caught in his expression after saying it. She did her best to pretend not to notice and swept her eyes over the surrounding plants as he added some qualifiers and such to his statement. "It's alright," she responded kindly with just the hint of a smile, "I want to get one as well, and I've already got a girlfriend." If this is what Xavier wanted to talk with her about, she thought it best to throw out there that she didn't exactly fit 'societal norms' either, just in case that would comfort him at some level. She had plans to have dinner and talk with Wally tonight, hopefully that went well. Classes hadn't seemed like a good place to talk about such things. Then depending on how that went; Wally, Bonabelle and her would all need to sit down and figure some things out... maybe Stanley as well?

Val had played 'matchmaker' plenty last year before the ball, and it really wasn't something she wanted to keep doing. Still her mind involuntarily shifted through the options Xavier had open to him at the school. 'Second through Fourth year Boys' was an easy enough criteria, but ones that might want to date another boy was more difficult. Boys in general always seemed a little weird about that sort of thing. She nodded at the problem though, "Yeah, Ellie's cafe is probably the best place to keep your eyes open for more overt opportunities around here." Her eye caught a flitterbloom nearby as they walked and she got another square marked on her sheet. She turned back to Xavier, "I'm not sure if it'd be any help, but I'm always open to talking about stuff if you need it."

"True," Val admitted, "But that doesn't always mean we get news first. I guess it's still to early for more information yet." She tried to remember the charity fair, it seemed like so long ago. "Well, last time it was a charity fair and the students set up booths and games and things on the Quidditch pitch to raise money and give out information." The memories came back then, and she smiled at herself, "They had wonderful smelling carnival food stands set up as well and it was nearly torture because I spend all my money at one of the stands getting a present for my Aunt and didn't have any left for food. I was starving for most of the day and finally had to run into the Cascade Hall for something to eat."

2 Valentine Duell Shall we get to work then? 1490 0 5

Xavier Lundstrom

March 16, 2022 9:12 PM

Uh, sure by Xavier Lundstrom

OOC: CW bi erasure, poly erasure BIC:

"Uh..." Xavier responded when Valentine asked him whether he wanted to be a doctor - or, he supposed, "healer." The truth was, he hadn't really thought about any future plans since finding out he was a wizard. Vague ideas had floated through his head in first year, but as he had no frame of reference, it was either him in purple robes with stars on, doing unspecified magical stuff, or him throwing out skate tricks but with added magic. Then everything else had happened, and 'survive each grade level' and 'be allowed home' had become the dominating goals that took up his whole horizon. It had been a long time since he had been able to see any further ahead. "Probably not," he shrugged. Her suggestion had felt utterly foreign to him - it was never something he had aspired to do back in his own world, and he had spent too much time on the receiving end of medical care to want to voluntarily spend the rest of his life in a hospital. Even if it was as a doctor, the setting just held too many bad memories.

"Why is that funny?" he huffed, when Valentine laughed at him. He was pretty sure it wasn't to do with him wanting to date boys, given that she came to cafe meetings. If it was he was totally going to...to... report her to Ellie. That sounded a little weird, but she definitely wasn't allowed to both laugh at him for that and keep coming. But maybe it was just that she thought he was a little kid, even though he was thirteen and a half years old!

"You're breaking up with your girlfriend?" he asked, when she talked about wanting to get a boyfriend this year. "Did you decide you're straight or something?" Xavier might have been well aware of LGBTQIA+ but it was more a collective whole for him, and he hadn't exactly processed all of its nuances, especially the ones he hadn't had much exposure to.

"Uh. Thanks. Sure," he added, when Val said he could talk to her about problems and dating and stuff. He wasn't sure he was going to take her up on that if she was going to keep being giggly about it all. She was probably just saying that anyway. Luckily, it probably wouldn't really be an issue, because he'd just been saying something for the sake of it, and there was no way he was going to start crushing on anyone here.

He made eye contact with the ground as he walked, still a little annoyed at her for laughing at him. Though given that the ground was where his eyes were meant to be, that was advantageous, and he was able to spot a little tuft of knotgrass sticking out below the hedge. He bent down, adding another green square to his sheet.

13 Xavier Lundstrom Uh, sure 1529 0 5

Valentine Duell

March 18, 2022 9:01 PM

You don't sound very certain by Valentine Duell

Oh no! What had she done!? All of the casual levity dropped from Valentine's countenance. "I'm sorry," she responded sincerely, "It's not. I didn't mean it like that." She huffed at bit at herself. Why had she actually laughed? "It was just..." she paused a moment before continuing, "I'm not entirely sure. It was a nice thing to hear you say." She tried a small, apologetic smile. "I know you come to Ellie's cafe, but I hadn't heard much else about you along those lines. The thought that you felt okay telling me that, just made me glad. I don't know if it was a big step for you or not," though, judging from his immediate reaction from telling her, she thought it might have been, "but I was happy that you felt comfortable telling it to me." She then gave an embarrassed shrug, "I tend to giggle when I'm happy. I'm sorry. If you don't want me to say anything to anybody about it, my lips are sealed."

Val raised an eyebrow at his next questions. "No." She replied simply with something of a coy smile. She contemplated, for just a moment, of leaving it at that. While it was well within her right to do so, it wouldn't be terribly kind to Xavier, especially after what he had told her. "I'm not straight, nor a strictly defined lesbian. I'm bisexual, so I don't have the same inclination as most folk that limits their attraction to one half of the population or the other." There was a bit of a smile as she said the words. That was the easier part to understand, at least if her parents and some of her friends were any sort of indication.

"I'm also polyamourous, which means I also don't see the need to break up with my girlfriend to get a boyfriend." Then she fairly quickly added, "As long as they're on board with it as well." She let out a small sigh and spotted another plant for her sheet. After marking it, she turned back to Xavier. "I'm still learning about all of this as well, and trying not to mess up to bad along the way."

She really hoped she hadn't messed up to bad. "If you'd like to talk about something else, that's fine. If you'd like to just focus on the assignment, that's fine as well." Val put the conversational ball firmly back into his control.

2 Valentine Duell You don't sound very certain 1490 0 5

Xavier Lundstrom

March 19, 2022 6:53 PM

The first draft had no class content by Xavier Lundstrom

“I’ve been calling other boys pretty since I could talk,” Xavier informed her, as Valentine took things entirely too far the other way and tried to make this into some big, emotional milestone for him. He wasn’t sure what was up with that – sure, he’d never directly talked to Valentine about it, but he went to café meetings, didn’t he? The café’s promised confidentiality, and the idea that people could be coming to lurk, or coming under the guise of allies whilst figuring themselves out didn’t really occur to him, because they didn’t apply to him. He was out. He was so out that he'd never even considered it coming out – it was just something that was. Except, he supposed, unless he went out of his way to keep pointing it out, people were going to assume things… Etiher they were going to assume he liked girls, unless he made it constantly clear that he didn’t, or they were going to assume that him telling them was some tear-jerkingly significant moment. The closet wasn’t something he was in – it was something other people kept trying to build around him, unless he made a sustained and vocal effort to keep them from doing so.

“My family knows, my friends know… I suspect a lot of random people at this school that I’ve not spoken to much know. So no, you’re not the first.” He also wanted to tell her that she was the first to laugh though. But there were two problems with that. One, that it wasn’t true. His mom had done her best to keep away from people who would react badly, and it had been a minimal part of his experience, but it wasn’t something she could shield him from altogether. Even Oz had been, and still frequently fricking was, a big awkward pile of saying exactly the wrong thing all the time. Which brought him to problem number two… It would be unfriendly to make Valentine feel small and bad. And even though he was feeling a little prickly, he didn’t want to be that much of a jerk. Her apology had softened him back up, and he believed she’d had good intentions and was happy-laughing, even if he didn’t quite need them to have a Hallmark movie moment over it. “But I’m glad that was a happy laugh,” he added, finally giving her a smile again.

He listened to Val’s own explanations. The bisexual part, he got. The other bit… was she Mormon? He’d heard of Mormon guys being able to marry more than one girl (hard pass, thanks), but not the other way around. And she was saying she was new to it. He was also pretty sure Mormons weren’t okay with same sex relationships.

“Okay,” he nodded, at her explanation. He imagined her girlfriend was gonna be hella annoyed, and he couldn’t imagine everyone ‘being okay with it’ but that definitely wasn’t his problem.

He spotted a little yellow flower. There were many little yellow flowers in the world, and a lot of these things were much harder to recognise out of context than he’d thought they would be. He was pretty sure his textbook described some of them as ‘easy’ to distinguish being the only flower of that colour to also have visible bristles and unseparated leaves or somesuch but all those ‘stunningly unique’ features were hard to keep straight for each little yellow plant. Still, he knew a sure way to recognise whether this was what he was looking for. He bent down, pinching one of the leaves between his fingers and rubbing. He sniffed – yup, smelt like disinfectant. He tapped the ‘medicinal plant’ box against it and it turned green.

“Arnica.” It was something his mom used on him when he got bashed up skating, and he’d seen it in recipes here, so he knew it was one of the things that crossed the great divide, even it reminded him more of home than of school. And of Oz. Xavier given him some sometimes for Quidditch bruises, because Oz couldn’t be bothered to go to the medic. Xavier wasn’t sure it was as effective as magic, but he wasn’t going to argue that. “And I don’t mind really,” he said, when she asked about conversation topic. He was sort of curious to know more and talk more about queer stuff, but he wasn’t really sure what to ask. It wasn’t a conversation he’d had that many times. “When did you realise you’re bisexual?” he asked.

13 Xavier Lundstrom The first draft had no class content 1529 0 5

Lydia Priory

March 22, 2022 9:28 AM

I think it might be by Lydia Priory

Lydia was really happy that her cousin Gwendolyn was at Sonora now. She’d always been closer to the Aladren than to Sophia, who had just graduated. In all honesty, she didn’t think her older sister graduating would affect her much. She felt guilty for thinking it, and wished it was something that would have, but Sophia had never paid much attention to her if she could help it. Which had hurt Lydia’s feelings but she was pretty much used to it, honestly. Gwendolyn would probably hang out with her more.

Not that that meant that the Teppenpaw didn’t still want friends outside of her family. In fact, she desperately wanted a best friend.. Even though her cousin was here now and she’d had a group of people to hang out with at the ball-something that was not to be discounted, given that there were some people who hadn’t had that-Lydia still felt lonely a lot.

Unfortunately, she didn’t really make friends very easily. She was really shy and easily intimidated by people. She wasn’t sure anyone really wanted to be her friend. She thought Iris was, but Iris seemed to be best friends with Amethyst. Hans was all right on his own but Lydia was terrified of his snake, which was probably a barrier to them getting really close and anyway, he seemed to already have Liesl. Who seemed interested enough in being friends with Lydia, but whom the older Teppenpaw found kind of scary. Plus, they were distant cousins, so technically, that wouldn’t be a friend outside of the family. This would also be the case with Amethyst, Connie or Isla. Also, the first two intimidated her and Amethyst and Isla already had best friends anyway.

Maybe Lydia could be best friends with Patience? She seemed to be…more similar to the third year in some ways than they were to Liesl. Or she’d had fun hanging out with Verdillia last year in Tumbleweed or the second year’s roommate Claire who seemed…fairly less scary than the average person, actually less so than Verdillia had prior to the Tumbleweed trip.

Unfortunately, none of those people were in her classes this year, which meant it would be slightly more difficult to better those acquaintances and Lydia really didn’t think there were possibilities among the third or fourth year girls since her own yearmates, other than Iris, were scary, related to her or both. And Iris was already best friends with Amethyst and didn’t seem interested in being such with Lydia

And the fourth year girls were roommates and a trio. The third year honestly didn’t understand how they managed with such a dynamic. Groups of three always seemed so unbalanced to her. Like two would end up closer to each other and gang up on the third. It was like that in books Lydia read, though those often ended with the odd one out making a different friend instead. However, the fourth year Aladrens didn’t seem to have these issues making them sort of an enigma to her.

Professor Xavier began the Herbology lesson. Herbology, like most classes, had some classes that Lydia liked and some that she really didn’t. Like, she liked pretty flowers and basically, things that wouldn’t hurt her. She did not, however, like things that bit and stung and were poisonous. Sophia had mentioned that Advanced Herbology was full of those things and Lydia didn’t know if her sister had done so intentionally to scare her or if she was just being thoughtless. The Teppenpaw hoped it was the latter. Being thoughtless was better than deliberate cruelty.

Today’s lesson seemed to be a scavenger hunt of sorts. She was cautiously optimistic that that would turn out okay and not be dangerous. Even better, Iris had approached her and asked to work together. Lydia hoped that they could still be friends despite the fact that the other third year was best friends with someone else. “I’d love to work together.” She replied, beaming.

11 Lydia Priory I think it might be 1533 0 5

Valentine Duell

March 23, 2022 4:35 PM

Well, it can't be all work and no play by Valentine Duell

Valentine listened intently as Xavier talked about his situation. She liked to talk, but she liked to think she was a good listener as well. From the sounds of it, he wasn't afraid to reveal that part of himself and that was good. Everyone should get to be who they were, they should at least be happy and comfortable with themselves. All in all, it didn't seem like that big of a deal to him. She was pretty sure that was good, it really shouldn't be, but from some of the things she'd heard about so far quite often it was a big deal. The people she knew personally were all here at school, but then again she didn't know a lot of people back home. There just weren't many people her age there. Val reddened a bit at his comment about her laugh, but then he smiled and she returned it.

He seemed to accept her own explanation and found another flower for his chart. She was perhaps falling behind a little bit on the assignment, so glanced around at their surroundings. Nothing much jumped out at her and when she consulted her sheet, that was a requirement for one or two of the plants. She was going to have to continue delving deeper into the gardens, figures that Professor Xavier would make the fifth years travel the farthest. From her explorations of the gardens, she knew where to find a few of them... and they were naturally spread out all over the place. The closest she knew about was nearby but still well out of sight.

Xavier caught her attention again when he spoke again. Oh good, he did still want to talk. She smiled as an initial response to his question. "Honestly? Last year I think." She stared off into space for a few moments considering the question more deeply than she had before. "Early on I just figured I'd find a boy, get married and such like Mama and Papa. Then one of the boys asked to date me and I figured that was how things worked so why not?" She paused and bobbled her head slightly. "It didn't work out great, we just didn't fit together." Val colored slightly, "Not like that!" she added hastily.

"Breaking up was rough, but my girlfriend was there for me when it did." Val continued, "I'm pretty sure I fell for her at that point, but..." she shrugged, "It was a bit until things sorted out on that front. All along I was still noticing guys and I wasn't sure what to make of it. With some help I figured some things out and the ball last year pretty much drove home the point for me." She sighed, "Now I just have to figure out what to do about it. Although I guess ultimately everyone is in that same boat one way or the other?"

2 Valentine Duell Well, it can't be all work and no play 1490 0 5

Xavier Lundstrom

March 24, 2022 4:23 AM

The opposite is frowned upon too though by Xavier Lundstrom

Xavier half listened as Val talked. He guessed he’d asked for the info, and it was kinda cool to have people to talk about this stuff with. It was definitely better than the ‘chapstick is gay’ conversation he’d had with Oz. He guessed he just didn’t see a fifth year with a busy social life really caring about him. It gave him another connection at the cafe, though Val was an infrequent visitor, and usually came with her girlfriend. Maybe this would make her care enough to occasionally peel off and say ‘hi.’

“Huh?” he asked, his attention snapping back when Val abruptly told him ‘not like that!’ Not like what…? He wasn’t really sure he could think of multiple things for that to mean. From her reaction, it sounded like she thought it meant something rude. He gave her a look that was half way between ‘it’s fine’ and ‘I don’t get it.’

“So… she wasn’t your girlfriend at that point?” he clarified, slightly confused by the way Val had told the story, but pretty sure that was the right interpretation. She said they were all in the same boat, and said it like a question, which meant he was probably meant to agree even though he wasn’t totally sure what boat she was talking about. Definitely not the bisexual boat, because he emphatically wasn’t, and not the dating multipeople boat either, cos she’d admitted that one was unusual. “Just try and find someone who might like you back?” he guessed. “You’ve got better odds. Straight boys are like… a pretty common thing. Unfortunately for me.”

13 Xavier Lundstrom The opposite is frowned upon too though 1529 0 5