Nathan Xavier

March 20, 2023 10:57 PM
Nathan Xavier stood amid the Advanced students who had chosen to continue into the RATS level. It was often a small class, which Nathan was actually glad about, because it meant he could give each student individual attention and he'd be able to react quickly if there was trouble from one of the students' specimens, particularly since advanced herbology units generally had one of two qualities that made them 'advanced' - the plants themselves were dangerous, or there was a high risk of something going very wrong if the witch or wizard did not follow instructions exactly.

They'd already covered the carnivorous plants, and the volatile plants that reacted with violence or poison either in self-defense or just because that was how they were. They'd also just finished the unit on highly sensitive plants that needed to be cared for just so or they either produced weak or even harmful potion ingredients, or didn't produce anything at all. As the days began to grow longer and the walk to the greenhouses became less of an attempt by Mother Nature to turn them all into icicles, the advanced Herbology class was beginning its final unit before the RATS exam preparation took over the class.

"Hello, everyone," he greeted once the full class had arrived in Greenhouse Two. Along the walls, there were no venomous vines reaching for anyone, no sharp teeth gnashing at the students. Neither were there any wilting stems or rotting fruits because it dropped two degrees too cold overnight. In fact, the shelves along the greenhouse walls were quite barren today, save one that had been filled with a collection of teapots and teacups in a wide range of colors and designs. "As you probably know, we'll be starting the unit on Herbology in Medicine today, which will be somewhat less practical than most of the units we do here."

"This will be our last full unit before RATS prep begins, though I have scheduled several lessons throughout the spring for revisiting our last unit, to work with a few plants that need more direct sun than we could provide during the winter months." Weather was an obvious factor in that point of scheduling, but he'd also planned it that way so they'd get to do some practical work even through this mostly theoretical unit, and to keep those skills fresh as they moved toward the seventh years' exams.

"As I'm sure you've heard from the other professors who have a Healing unit," specifically Charms and Potions were both very important prerequisites for anyone going into a medical field of study, "it is difficult to practice healing arts without running into ethical dilemmas, so this will largely be a theoretical unit, though we will definitely be going out into the gardens to learn which wild and or common plants could be used in the case of a medical emergency, with or without any brewing. Seventh years, you did this last year in the fall, but what is available or useful in the fall is not always so in the spring, and there will be other options available soon, when everything is fresh and new."

"Generally speaking, herbology in medicine is used mostly for first aid, or minor ailments, as there are almost always charms and potions that work better and faster than raw plants for most medical conditions. Nobody at a hospital is going to give you a lavender leaf to disinfect your cuts. They'll give you a salve that may have lavender in it, but it certainly won't be recognizable as its original plant. You're not going to learn formal medicine in this class. What we are going to do today might be a more useful life skill though."

He waved his wand and murmured a spell, and burners like they had in Potions floated from behind his desk and landed in front of each student. "Potions are not the only way to brew plants. Who here has ever had tea when they felt sick or even anxious? Today, we're going to brew some lavender tea. It's good for relieving stress and anxiety, improves sleep quality, and can help boost your immune system and soothe headaches. Obviously, there are medicinal charms and potions that are better at any resolving any of those symptoms, but tea has many fewer side effects and doesn't require any special medical training to make. So if your symptoms are mild, a cup of tea may be all you need."

"Here we have some lavender blossoms," he used another spell to deliver a couple of fresh flowers to each student. "Obviously, these are what you would pick right off the plant, not what you normally brew in a teapot, as they are much more potent when dried. You'll only need a small amount in your tea, and you can mix it with some other flavors as well, as it can be a bit bitter on its own. I have some mint leaves, rose petals, and chamomile as well, if you would like to create a blend. Each of those have some minor healing properties of their own, and I'd like you to write a short essay on medicinal teas for homework this week, about which ingredients you can use and what effects they can have." He put out small tubs, clearly labeled, with the other ingredients where the students could all reach them.

"You all remember the leaf drying spell you learned for the CATS, right?" It had been part of the unit on preparing potion and herbal ingredients. "Assicco, with a long sweeping wand motion. That will work on these lavender flowers as well. The teapots are on that shelf there." He pointed them out for anyone who had missed them. "Pick one that takes your fancy and brew your tea. Instructions are on this sheet, for anyone who hasn't brewed tea before." He distributed copies to each student. "Honey, spoons, sugar, infusers are there." He indicated a table off to the side of his desk. "As this is not a restricted substance, and safe to drink even if you don't have any symptoms, you are permitted to drink your own tea this class.
You may need to try a few different combinations to find a blend that you don't immediately want to spit out, though. Bad batches can be dumped in that bin there. Unless anyone has any questions . . . ?" he held the question and looked around to see if anyone did.

"You may begin," he concluded, once there seemed not to be any more forthcoming.
Subthreads:
1 Nathan Xavier Advanced: Herbology in Medicine 28 1 5

Valentine Duell

March 21, 2023 7:05 PM
If she had to be honest with herself, Val was looking forward to graduation and moving onto the next stage of her life. That was probably a good thing, because it was going to happen whether or not she wanted it to. Her school days had been filled with friends and good times, but she was anxious to see what the future held. Once she got past the RATS.

The last section they were going to have, didn't really interest her much. Val knew perfectly well how good it was to have a healer around, and a small bit of that knowledge was better than none. But she was taking Herbology to learn more about the nature of plants and their role in wand making. That mostly leant itself to tree woods, but not entirely. The previous section on caring for and identifying plants had been more relevant.

As usual Professor Xavier was there to greet them, and she responded in kind. Val's first impression of the greenhouse was that it was really empty compared to how it had been for their previous units. The things that were there looked awfully familiar. She smiled as he talked and explained the day's task.

Val had, in fact, brewed tea before. Tessomancy lessons for the past few years had prepared her well for class today. The main difference here, other than the medical angle, was drying the leaves first. So she cheerily got to work, picking out a teapot, selecting a mixture of ingredients, and drying them. There hadn't been much need for the leaf drying spell lately, but she was pleased with the ease at which she cast it.

It wasn't long before her concoction was setting over the burner, starting to heat up. While it did so, she turned to a nearby fellow classmate. "This makes me think of Divinations class," she said with a smile, then continued with a slight giggle. "Perhaps these tea leaves will tell me that we won't have headaches in the immediate future."
2 Valentine Duell Teatime! 1490 0 5

Ian Malone

April 08, 2023 7:08 PM
For just a second, Ian felt delighted that they were going to start a Medical Herbology unit-and then Professor Xavier immediately put a damper on his hopes by saying it would be mostly theoretical. The sixth year sighed to himself. After having to go through all those units on dangerous plants, that he very much did not want anything to do with, given that he wanted as little danger in his life as possible, they could at least teach him something useful for Healing.

Ian was, of course, well aware of the ethical problems involved in teaching medical things. Like they couldn’t break the bones of one of his classmates, and let him set one or give medicinal potions to people who weren’t sick or make people sick so he could brew up a Healing potion and give it to them. That would be wrong.

However, as far as Ian was concerned, it was also unethical to expose people to dangerous things where they could get hurt or at least become traumatized. And even if someone did get hurt, they had to go to the medic as it was unethical for someone like him who did not have a medical license to treat them.

So,right now, he felt like he was sort of wasting his time, not really learning anything especially useful while having to deal with dangerous things, both here and elsewhere. How to practically defend yourself or deal with harmful things when Ian was never ever planning to be around said things. Like, he needed to know how to make antidotes for people being poisoned, not how to take care of poisonous plants or carnivorous ones. If those somehow had a practical healing use, like producing an ingredient that could be used in a potion that boosted the immune system, then it was someone else’s job to harvest them while Ian diagnosed patients and figured out what would work best for their conditions.

Yet, the Teppenpaw had to do practical work with plants that could maim or kill him, risking injury himself but on something that was actually useful to him, he could only do theory work. Which he devoured like the plants wanted to devour him.

To be fair though, as bad as venomous and carnivorous plants were, they still weren’t as traumatic as DADA and having to duel and be active and have everyone see how bad Ian was at all things athletic. He always worried about people laughing at him as usually the people who continued that one tended to be more on the athletic side. Although some of the people in it were nicer ones, like Phillipe and Val, he still felt like people wondered why he was even there and were secretly mocking him and thought he had no place being there. That said, Ian sort of agreed on that last bit other than learning about the maladies caused by dark magic and dark creatures and theoretically learning how to treat them. He had no place dueling or fighting dark creatures or anything else that involved being fast, tough or strong.

Ian also cringed to hear RATS mentioned. Yes, of course the sixth year was worried about them already. He’d only been worried since he’d gotten his CATS scores. While DADA was the one he was most worried about for obvious reasons, he was obviously worried about the others too. Worrying was just his natural state of being. And what if he got an examiner next time who was mean and became an examiner out of sadism? Just because Mr. Barba was nice and understanding did not mean they were all like that. What if his DADA examiner was one of those jock alpha male types who wanted to be a Quidditch player but wasn’t quite good enough and took out his frustrations on students, especially nerdy unathletic ones like the Teppenpaw?

Also, Ian did have to agree with Professor Xavier with regards to Charms and Potions being more overall useful in Healing than Herbology, and he personally was likely not going to be out in a dangerous situation where he had to know how to use them in their raw form. Ian needed to know how they combined to treat various conditions.

He was not at all upset to find out what they were actually doing, however. Especially when Professor Xavier mentioned the parts about “boosting the immune system” and “relieving stress and anxiety,” the latter of which was more pertinent at the moment given how Mom wasn’t there to give tea that boosted her immune system-he would remember that for later though-and anything that made Ian less anxious was probably a good thing.

The sixth year got his ingredients and began to brew, finding a spot next to Val. He gave a small smile at her words. “I actually didn’t take Divination.” Ian replied. “Nothing against it.” He quickly added, because Professor Duell was the older Teppenpaw’s aunt and he didn’t want to offend her. “I just had too many other classes that I need for becoming a Healer, and while I’m sure Divination has legitimate uses, that’s typically…not what’s used to diagnose people.” He looked back at his classmate. “I also hope nobody gets a headache.”It wasn’t as if he could do more than identify what would help. “Although what I’m really hoping for is the calming effect.”
11 Ian Malone Hopefully a nice time 1522 0 5

Valentine Duell

April 10, 2023 8:55 PM
Divinations was not a large class, none of the advanced classes really were, so Valentine was not surprised when Ian responded that he hadn't taken it. She smiled at him as he did the social niceties to ensure that she knew that he thought it was alright that she did something that he hadn't done. "Everyone has their own path to walk," she stated kindly, doing her part to acknowledge his part in the verbal dance. "The path of the healer is a hard but important one, I have no doubt that you will do great things," she added sincerely.

There had been a very brief time when she had thought about going along the healer route. That was an excellent path to helping people when they often needed it the most. However, she just didn't think she actually had what would take; facing the sickness and injuries everyday, all the time. Having to face people at their near physical worst, confronting the pain an agony all the time? She just knew she didn't have what that would take. She was glad that Ian did.

Her head bobbed in agreement to his statement about nobody getting headaches. "True, but I will take a headache over some other ills that could befall a person." Val paused slightly as a thought occurred to her, "I wonder if we'd be allowed to have some of the nice calming tea with us during the RATS? That would be nice."

"Oh," she continued as her mind wandered back around to where they had been before as she watched her kettle continue to cook, "There apparently is a very small section discipline in divination that specializes in diagnosing people. As with anyone in divinations though, not to many folks think much of them, but sometimes desperate sick people will call on them." She shrugged and began to get her cup ready. "Are you all ready to move on from Sonora or are there still things you need to get ready next year? Do healers go for apprenticeships after this level of education?"
2 Valentine Duell Those are always nice 1490 0 5

Ian Malone

April 12, 2023 4:49 PM
Ian blushed at his housemate’s kind words to him. “Thank you.I’ve never wanted to be anything else. My mom has had an immune deficiency her entire life.” This wasn’t exactly private information and Val was hardly the kind of person who would say anything mean about it. “and I just want to help people like her.” He added “She does have a potion she takes, that helps but it's expensive. I mean, it’s not a big deal for us, but there are people who can’t afford it.”Granted, even if there was a different potion that cured people completely, it would likely be too expensive for some people too. That was a highly depressing thought.

The fifth year nodded in agreement. “So very true. Most headaches can be easily treated and aren’t a big deal. Although, migraines can be pretty terrible from what I’ve read.” He had never had one, but obviously Ian knew an awful lot about different medical conditions. Even a seemingly minor condition like seasonal allergies could be dreadful. Uncle Ryan had them and they made springtime a thing to be dreaded. His CATS examiner had seemed to be pretty miserable too. “Plus, a headache could be a symptom of something worse. In that case, tea probably wouldn’t be much help other than maybe temporary relief.”

Ian paused. “Sorry to be a downer. I just…think about this stuff a lot.”He smiled sheepishly. “Like medical knowledge, diseases, injuries is sort of my…thing.” The Teppenpaw was constantly thinking of potential calamities, ways that any sort of thing could be dangerous and how people could be seriously injured doing them. And also was well aware of disease symptoms. Then Ian realized what a weird thing that was to say, to be interested in. He quickly added. “Because I want to help sick people of course.” The moment he saw someone around him wasn’t well, all that he wanted to do was fix it. “ But you’re right, most headaches are annoying but innocent. And it’s much better to get a headache from stress than, say, being attacked by a poisonous plant.”

He continued. “Oh, Merlin, yes! I’m already worried about RATS and I don’t even have to take them until next year. Maybe you can have a cup at breakfast the morning of the exams and that will help, I mean, I don’t think it would be construed as cheating to take something to keep you from freaking out.” Ian’s own routine the morning before CATS had been nothing but a complete disaster. He had barely slept the night before, a mixture of feeling he hadn’t studied enough and needed to do more and being way too anxious and keyed up to sleep. The next morning, he had been seriously nauseous, both from lack of sleep, which tended to make the Teppenpaw queasy and, of course, nerves.

Granted, part of the problem was that the Challenges had been last year, which had taken up valuable study time, and next year, with RATS, they wouldn’t be, but honestly, Ian would likely still be freaking out and feeling like he couldn’t study enough. That was kind of just how he was.

“That is very true.” Ian stated. “I mean, even though I plan to go the traditional route, I can definitely see why someone who is desperate would choose that method for diagnosis. I’ve read about people who are definitely sick but Healers can’t figure out what’s wrong with them, and then there are people who get misdiagnosed or even told that they have a mental illness rather than a physical one. Plus some diseases are actually hard to diagnose and people can go years without finding out what’s really wrong with them. Meanwhile, they’re suffering and can’t get appropriate treatment.”

This honestly bothered Ian to no end. He hated that these people were in so much pain and couldn’t really function well. He supposed his mom was at least lucky that way, they knew what was wrong with her and could treat her.Still it had caused her and everyone who loved her misery. “Also, there are times when you know what someone has and can only do so much to treat it.”

“So, what do you want to do when you graduate?” Ian asked Val.
11 Ian Malone Very much so 1522 0 5

Valentine Duell

April 22, 2023 10:08 PM
Valentine listened as Ian talked and encouraged him on. He never seemed to be one to talk a lot, so she certainly didn't want him to stop if he wanted to talk now. She thought that it was both fortunate and a bit unfortunate that she didn't have any family relations in a similar situation to Ian's mother. It would be nice to be able to say that she could relate to that, but her family was in pretty good health and didn't need to take medicine like that all the time. From the sounds of it, that was a good thing from a health and financial point of view. Mama and Papa did well enough to have a comfortable lifestyle, but they sure weren't in Ian's family's league on that front.

"It's alright," She responded when he apologized, "These are things that are important to you, that you are passionate about. That's important to have, that drive will help you to do great things." She smiled at him. For all she knew, he'd revolutionize wizarding medicine in the next few years.

"Hopefully it won't come to freaking out, but I may have a cup of tea for breakfast that morning." She thought just a moment about her own situation. "I'm trying to become a wandmaker. Assuming I do well enough on the RATS, I have an apprenticeship lined up." Her smiled turned a bit nervous, "Wandmaking needs a little bit of almost everything, so while I don't need to do outstanding on the RATS, I need to be at least competent in most of the core subjects and divinations. The only one I don't really need is potions." She did miss potions class a bit, it had always been a fun one.

Valentine's tea was beginning to steam and she took it off the heat. "Do you have any other interests or hobbies? Dedication to your main goal is good, but I've heard it said that it's good to have other pursuits when you need a break." It was odd, it seemed like she should know some of this about Ian already, but it seemed like he never had been one to talk much, to her at least. Maybe he talked to other people more.
2 Valentine Duell Do you plan on having more? 1490 0 5

Ian Malone

April 23, 2023 6:49 AM
Ian’s blush only deepened as Val complimented him about his passion for healing and his drive to become a Healer. It was just about the most important thing to him ever and he was glad that someone else thought it was a good thing. Well, someone else who didn’t have to. Obviously his family thought it was great and were proud of him, that he wanted to help his mom and do something that was just otherwise unambiguously good. Nobody became a Healer so that they could harm people.

Still, Val did not have to compliment him or encourage him at all. Ian did not feel that he could expect things from his classmates as he did not have many close friends, if any, other than maybe some of his cousins and his roommate.And it was all due to his goal, his life mission. The sixth year was so determined to be a Healer that he’d failed to have much of a social life.

Of course, Ian probably also didn’t have much of one because he was really shy and had a hard time talking to people. He was kind of afraid they’d reject him as nerdy and uncool because he was so…well, nerdy and uncool. Ian was just never going to be the sort of guy who was good at things like Quidditch. Or interested in them either.

So, he appreciated that his classmate thought that his passion and dedication was a positive thing.”Thank you.” Ian replied.

“Oh I hope so too,” He said. “I mean, for both of us. I mean, last time, my routine wasn’t so great. Obviously I know what I should do,with getting enough sleep and eating a good breakfast, but that wasn’t what happened at all. I would like to believe I learned my lesson and will do better next time, but to be honest, I’ll probably still end up stressed out, panicked and expecting the worst.” Which was arguably Ian’s natural state of being “I’m pretty sure the only lesson I actually learned was that not all examiners were ogres, but I’m still rather afraid of getting one that is.”

Ian continued “Although at least when I go for my RATS, I won’t also have the Challenges going on so that will be an improvement . You’re so lucky not to have them the same year as a big test.” The overall experience of the Challenges themselves had not been terrible, for the most part, but had seriously impacted his ability to study for CATS because they’d take time away from them. Obviously, that was what Ian had focused on. Becoming a Healer was much more important to him than the fact that they’d gotten third place. Although, that had felt nice for a moment, and his family was proud of him. Still, he’d quickly moved on to freaking out about CATS.

“That’s a very admirable career choice too.” Ian told Val. “I mean, wands are as essential as it gets. What made you choose it?” He asked, genuinely curious. “And I get it, I basically need all the core subjects except COMC. Although I need more than basic competence unfortunately. I mean, I really need to be good so I don’t kill anyone.” The idea honestly terrified him.

Ian considered Val’s next question. “I do like to read, not always medical stuff or school stuff. However, I really don’t get to do so much.” He realized, with some horror, how little he actually did get to relax. Or even was able to relax since he spent most of his time tense and worried and just plain wound up. “You’re absolutely right though, but honestly, if I ever get time for recreation, I think I need something very low key. Like, I expend so much mental energy in general, that I would want to just lay around listening to the wireless or reading something.” He replied. “So do you have hobbies that you get to do? You seem fairly busy too.”
11 Ian Malone I really really hope so 1522 0 5

Valentine Duell

May 10, 2023 7:26 PM
Ian could apparently be quite a chatterbox when he wanted to. Valentine couldn't help but smile at the thought. It was good when people felt comfortable to talk and get to know one another. She could relate to most of his experiences with taking these tests.

"Yeah," Valentine agreed. "I know I was too nervous to do anything right. Fortunately they went well enough to keep doing the classes I needed. Hopefully this time will be better and have at least the same results." She was incredibly thankful she only needed to show basic competence, and not get everything perfect. As for the lesson that Ian had thought he had learned, "Oh I doubt many of them are ogres. They are just doing their job as well. You can't fault them for that."

Val nodded in agreement, "Yes, I got super lucky and got those challenges right between my testing years." She imagined that the challenges would have been a distraction from studying, but there actually hadn't been much one could have done to prepare for them. The hadn't known what the challenges were until they arrived to do them. But that didn't stop people from trying to figure them out and prep ahead of time anyway.

Ian's question sent Val back mentally a few years. "I like people." She started, just in case he didn't know. "I wanted to do something with them, to help them, but I knew I wasn't cut out for the road you are taking, or some other ones." She remembered sitting in Mr. Row's office and looking through options. "When Mr. Row and I were looking at options and wand-maker came up, I remember going to get my wand. It was such a neat experience finding something wondrous that chose me and bonded with me. It was almost like my first friend."

"The idea that I could possibly create things that could do that was something that I couldn't ignore. It was almost like making characters for people in the gaming club. Making something that would resonate with someone at a fundamental level." She was going to get these RATS right and pursue her dream.

Val almost giggled, "I used to have a lot. I was in most of the clubs the school had." She sighed, "Then studying for the future took priority. I'm still technically the head of the game club, but that's about it these days. It's fun and is a nice change of pace from studying. "
2 Valentine Duell That sounds like a good plan 1490 0 5

Ian Malone

May 11, 2023 9:48 AM
“Oh, I know, but I actually did pretty well.” Ian replied. “But I thought I was going to screw up so badly that I wouldn’t be able to take what I needed, especially with DADA.” Thank Merlin that he hadn’t had to duel in order to pass! “Admittedly, I still worry about that class more than others. Especially since what I really need training in, they can’t ethically teach me much practical stuff. I mean, I’m glad they aren’t hurting people or making them sick so I can treat them.”

Ian did all right in it, actually, when they were doing things that didn’t involve active combat against each other or simulated dark creatures. He could do spells that he was asked to do and the theory was no issue whatsoever. It was just things like dueling that not only required athletic skills like being quick on your feet but went against everything that Ian stood for. He might not be an actual Healer yet, but he lived by the motto ‘First do no harm.” He didn’t want to hurt people even if he could manage to fire first.

“True. My examiner was really nice actually.” Ian replied. “Though I spent the entire time wanting to make him a potion for his allergies. Unfortunately, that wasn’t on the exams though.” Honestly, his instinct when he saw someone who was sick or hurt was to want to fix them. Like how he wanted to fix his mom. He loved her so much. She was sweet and gentle and caring and just overall a wonderful mom despite her poor health. She did not deserve to suffer the way she did.Not that Ian believed anyone did really.

Apparently, the older Teppenpaw didn’t think most examiners were ogres either. Which seemed to be so very Val to assume the best about people. Ian had to admire that about her. She probably wasn’t completely wrong in this case though.”Honestly, I was terrified of them though it might just be what they represent and projecting my anxieties about how important these tests are and potentially failing them.”

Ian nodded. “You really were. I spent a good deal of time while we were doing the actual Challenge events worrying that I really should be studying.” That was the thing. While he had not wanted to let his teammates down-especially considering what Samara’s mother might have done to him if they did poorly-his goal of becoming a Healer was more important to Ian and he put a lot of pressure on himself to make sure he did well enough to obtain it. Plus, the professors were constantly mentioning them and making them sound like life and death. Which in Ian’s case, they sort of were..

Then Val explained why she wanted to make wands, starting by stating the obvious, which was that she liked people. “Wow, I’ve never actually thought of wand making that way.” The sixth year replied. “My wand was made by my distant cousin. He’s sort of the opposite of you. Like, I don’t think he actually hates people but he’s pretty shy. So another cousin,like, actually talks to people and helps them with wand selection.” Ian understood that, sometimes talking to people was kind of difficult. He was doing all right here, but he generally had trouble initiating conversations. Also, he was super busy studying all the time. “That’s really cool though.”

He nodded. “I so totally understand that. I’ve been consumed by studying since the beginning. I’ve never really had time for clubs or much of a social life. Though, to be fair, there haven’t been any clubs that have especially interested me anyway.” Ian especially certainly wasn’t about to join Duelling, Performing Arts or Speech and Debate! Those were all the things that terrified him or that he wasn’t good at. Or in the case of Dueling, something he was morally opposed to.
11 Ian Malone Thanks 1522 0 5