Fifth Years: Lesson Five

Angel had been waiting by the lake, peering over his sunglasses at his pocket watch. He’d sent word for the class to meet him out here today rather than the greenhouses for something a bit more exciting than the usual lecture or repotting and was eager for the class to finally arrive.

Smiling when the class began arriving, Angel snapped his watch closed and resettling the sunglasses once it looked like that’d all finally gathered. The weather was starting to turn colder, already overcast today, and he figured it was better to try this lesson now rather than later when the cold water was more of a punishment than a treat.

“Hey everyone, welcome to the great outdoors,” Angel said grandly. ”I’ve got something a little more adventurous for you lot today,” he said, giving a small metal tin near his feet a slight kick. “But first, get changed, hope you all brought a towel.” Grinning, he motioned to a selection of wetsuits and privacy screens he’d managed to scrounge up from previous lessons involving lake work, flapping his hand to get the class moving. He could tell some of them were understandably curious about the change of scenery and was quite enjoying the drama of it all for now.

“Right, now that we’re all suited up, let’s look at today’s plant,” he said, flicking open the metal tin to reveal a selection of rubbery, balled up plants inside, rather reminiscent of rats’ tails. “Everyone take a bit. It's not pretty but it’s perfectly safe fine, just don’t do anything with it yet, please,” he said, passing the tin around the class and giving a few of the more impatient looking students a weighted look as they took their piece.

“What you have there is Gillyweed. A Mediterranean plant that is great if you’re a fan of swimming, maybe in the Mediterranean, perhaps. Anyway, eating this plant results in the subject growing gills and webbed fingers and toes. It’s rather a hot topic for debate on the duration effects in fresh versus salt water, but in fresh water like the lake here, it should last for about an hour. Kinda gross, but excellent for breathing underwater.

“I figured what better way to get a little break from all this OWL stuff than a little dip in the lake. Feel free to test out your gillyweed, or just take a dip. But I will judge you if you don’t at least have a little nibble. Have a sense of adventure and all that,” Angel said, nodding encouragingly to a few nearby students as they sniffed at their gillyweed. “But seriously, that’s it, go, swim, have fun. If you get into serious trouble, send some sparks up or something, we’ll come fish you out. I’ve been told there are some critters in the lake so play nice,” he said, wrapping up the lesson and settling himself into a deck chair he’d brought along to ‘supervise’ from, pulling out a book. They were big kids, they could look after themselves for an hour.

-----
RP the lesson, feel free to have some fun in the water. If you’re planning anything a bit more dramatic, please PM me beforehand.

 

[Dominic Owens-Lee]

Dominic was sad that the semester was coming to an end soon, but he still had a couple of more weeks to go before the exams, so he was simply going to make the most of his time. He thought about asking his friends to do study sessions with him, but he was admittedly a little shy at the idea of asking for help. With a sigh, the Hufflepuff just packed his belongings into his backpack and headed to his classes.

As Dominic gathered around the lake with his classmates for their Herbology lesson, Dominic wondered what the lesson would be about. He listened as the professor explained, and a little confused, he put on the ridiculous looking wetsuit as instructed. As the professor lectured them about gillyweed, Dominic wondered why on earth anyone would want to grow gills. The point of the plant made absolutely no sense to him, but he was keen to give it a try nonetheless.

When instructed, Dominic shoved the plant into his mouth, cringing a little at how chewy it was and how unpleasant it was to swallow. Eventually, he managed to get it down, and when he started to struggle to breathe, he quickly dived into the water and felt a sense of relief flood over him as he realised he could finally breathe underneath it. He brought his hand up to his neck, amazed at the feeling of gills that had appeared. He spent the lesson swimming around, enjoying himself, before the class quickly came to an end. After drying himself off, he thanked the professor and headed back to the castle.

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey quite liked swimming. She had learned when she was very young, and while she didn't really get to go swimming as much as she would have liked (the lake wasn't as comforting as a pool, in all honesty) she still kept up with it when she could. It was good exercise, but she'd always just liked playing around in the water. So naturally, she was thrilled with the fact they'd get to actually use gillyweed. She was certainly curious to see the difference between salt water and fresh water - maybe she'd have to buy some and test it herself - but for now she forced down a good chunk of the gillyweed. It was certainly unpleasant to swallow, but it was worth it in the name of adventure and experimentation.

Audrey quickly dived into the lake, feeling herself become a little breathless, and immediately relaxed as water washed over her. She looked down at her fingers, freaked out at the webbing, and touched her throat to feel the gills at her neck. What was stunning to her, however, was how natural they felt. Not just in that the gillyweed had made the essential transfiguration relatively seamless - and indeed, it had to be a partial transfiguration that completely changed the makeup of one's breathing as well as physical features. But it felt like it was something natural to Audrey herself. Merlin's beard, Audrey thought, treading water just below the surface as she took in the sensations. Am I a sea creature? I hope I'm a shark. She would have to tell Professor Pirrip about it, but for now she set about doing somersaults and dolphin kicks about the water while she pondered whether gillyweed, too, could be used for a more complete oceanic transfiguration in the vein of a canary cream, or for a long term underwater breathing potion, or even just how it worked as a transfigurative plant. Before long, she realised she was struggling to breathe - had it really been an hour already? - and quickly kicked her way to the surface, gasping for air and looking rather satisfied.

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

Teddy could swim but didn’t love swimming and he wasn't he strongest swimmer either, mostly because he never bothered learning a proper technique. Still, he wasn't going to back out of an adventure and after changing into a wetsuit, he took a chunk of the gillyweed and swallowed it when told to do so by Castillo. The texture was slimy and it tasted horrible, but then, his body started changing.

Teddy could feel his lungs shifting and instinctively flung himself straight into the cold lake for air. He looked down at his webbed fingers, then reached up to touch his gills, which fluttered with each breath. Teddy took off through the water, kicking his legs wildly. He thought he was quite fast but there was no way he could keep up with Audrey. He gave up trying to keep up with her and instead explored on his own. Eventually, his chest started to tighten, and he realised his time was up. Teddy broke through the water and gasped for breath, then he doggy paddled back to the shoreline.

 

[Lucy Montague]

Lucy thought swimming was pretty great, though she wasn't an olympian by any stretch of the imagination. It was just something she did occasionally as a kid, but not so much now. She got dressed into a wetsuit and took the gillyweed after listening to the professor give a brief rundown. It wasn't the most pleasant, but Lucy coped and then felt her body start to change. It was an unusual sensation as gills emerged on her neck, her hand going to feel over them with perfect curiosity. She dove into the lake, swimming down and looking at the undersurface of the lake with intrigue. Time passed quickly for her as she explored until eventually it was time to come up again - heralded by a desire for oxygen. She broke the surface and climbed back out of the lake with a grin on her face. That had been bracing, but fun. She got dressed, dried herself off with a towel, and once dismissed, went on her way.

 

[Dante Styx]

The Slytherin fifth year could not imagine that they were already getting close to the OWLs and then the NEWT level courses would be next. That sounded absolutely like hell to him. He hated that he would have to work really hard to do well, or decently. Dante Styx did not like to work too hard at anything. He just wanted to have some fun and for a good reason. He found that if he did not leave, he would be late. He did not want that because he did not want that sort of attention. He grabbed his bag and left the dorm room in a hurry.

Dante walked to the greenhouse and then ran to the lake since he remembered the note that he received from Professor Castillo. He was a little out of breath when he arrived. He suited up for today's lesson since he was sure that they would be playing with gillyweed. Nothing like swallowing rat tails. Once he received a bit, he just pinched his nose together, and ate it. He ducked his head under the water as fast as he could, as the gillyweed did it's magic. Dante swam under the water to see if he could see anything. It was murky. This would have been better in an ocean. He emerged when the webbing was gone from his toes and fingers. The lesson could have been better.​

 

[Marley Owens-Lee]

Marley was surprised at the change of scenery for their herbology lesson today, but didn't complain and quickly made her way to the lake where she was supposed to meet the professor. Marley noticed some swimming gear and some sort of changing booths. Marley grinned excitedly when the professor announced that they were able to swim. She listened carefully as the professor explained about the weird plant thing he had offered to them. The idea of a plant giving you the ability to swim and breathe underwater seemed really cool! Marley quickly changed into the swimming gear before taking a decent bite of the gillyweed. She frowned a little, not liking the taste or how chewy the plant was. "Gross," Marley muttered a little, and it wasn't long before she dived into the water with her friends and the rest of her classmates.

Marley felt that her body was quite different from how it usually was. She wasn't sure how she felt about the webbed feet and hands, nor the gills that grew on her. She tried not to freak out too much at the idea of her body changes. Despite her freaking out a little, Marley decided to swim around the lake. She spent some time swimming in the water with her friends, as well as moving around by herself. Marley knew her time was up when she noticed her body changing back to normal, and Marley headed out of the lake and met back with the professor.