First Years, Lesson One

Landon was very excited for his first Herbology lesson with his new first years. He was confident that he was going to have fun with them and would try his best to make the year as good as possible for them.

The Professor stood at the front of the Herbology greenhouse with a beaming smile on his face as he looked around the room, waiting for his new batch of first years to arrive. The greenhouse was decorated with still pictures of muggle plants, from daisies to tulips to orange jessamine. They wouldn't be learning much about them, but he still felt that the plants were pretty and that it gave the atmosphere a homely feel. He was sure that the muggle-born students like himself were going to like the interesting touch too and he hoped that it would make them feel comfortable during their first lesson with him.

Soon enough, the first group of students entered the greenhouse followed by more and more people which just made the man even more excited for the lesson. "Come in, come in!" Landon exclaimed as he gestured for a couple of hesitating children standing at the door to make their way inside.

Once everyone was settled Professor Carter began pacing the room in his best attempt to make himself comfortable. "Good afternoon first years, I am Professor Carter and I will be your Herbology professor for your first to fourth year." He said, his voice quite loud and clear around the greenhouse. "Now, can anyone tell me what Herbology is?" Landon pointed to a student in the front row and smiled at them. When they managed to get the answer right, Professor Carter beamed. "3 points to your house! Herbology is the study, along with the use, of both magical and mundane plants. The way muggles look after them are much similar to the way wizards look after them, but with obviously some magic involved." The man paused as he looked around at his students, some of which were writing notes already. Many of them were listening intently, which made Professor Carter smile. "But don't be too worried about all of that just yet. For now, I will be handing around pieces of paper and a pencil with a little introductory quiz on it. Luckily, it will only be one of your few assignments this year. I look forward to teaching you all." Landon handed each person in his class a single piece of paper and a pencil before dismissing them. Parchment was too overrated, and his students would be seeing none of that in his classes.

Quiz

Name:
House:
What are you looking most forward to about Herbology?:
Do you prefer lectures or going outside?:
If you have any questions, please write them here and I will answer them to the best of my ability:

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Assignment: Just post attendance and fill out the form above! First poster, please answer the question. Please also take some time to check out the Herbology Classroom Policy.

 

[Aaron Dela Cruz]

Aaron shuffled slowly into the greenhouse, a little weirded out by everything he was looking at. His eyes darted around the room mostly feeling really detached about this whole process. The still images of the mingle plants on the walls caught his attention for a moment, and it reminded him of the lush gardens back in the courtyard area in Mandaluyong. The green spaces were some of his favourites and he liked to go there sometimes just to sit on his laptop, not that this was anything like that, but it was sort of nice to think about since he couldn't seem to wrap his head around anything else at the moment. He couldn't help but to think though that the images looked rather like something he would have seen in a high school biology book. Why was this class called Herbology when they were studying plants? Shouldn't it have been called botany? As Professor Carter’s enthusiastic introduction filled the room, Aaron found himself tuning in and out, distracted by thoughts of how magical plants could be classified using some kind of digital taxonomy. When handed the quiz, he stared at the paper with mild amusement, already contemplating how he’d tweak a database if he were back home with his laptop. He scribbled his name and answers onto the paper... parchment? and made a mental note to figure out why wizards couldn’t just digitise this whole process. It was only his first lesson, but he was already itching to find a way to blend magic and tech—maybe then, Herbology would make a bit more sense. If this was magic, he really wasn't seeing the difference between doing this back home and doing it here.​

Name: Aaron Dela Cruz
House: Ravenclaw
What are you looking most forward to about Herbology?: I guess learning how plants work
Do you prefer lectures or going outside?: The weather is too cold to go outside
If you have any questions, please write them here and I will answer them to the best of my ability: why is this called Herbology and not botany?

 

[Daisuke Kaster]

The greenhouse was cozy - something that Daisuke didn't quite expect. He supposed he should have though, because the Hufflepuff Common Room was the same. However, the best thing about the Common Room was perhaps the fact that Hachiro hadn't been able to get to him for most of the day. He'd taken to keeping to the Common Room, foregoing exploring, unlike much of his peers. He sort of lingered at the door to the greenhouse, clutching his bag tightly before the professor tried to nudge them in. He quickly found a seat at the edge of the class, eyes darting around nervously to assure himself that his twin wasn't here. He carefully raised his hand, wanting to take that first step forward. He could do this now that his twin wasn't there to make fun of his every misstep. "T-the study of plants and their care. Magical and mundane plants," he said quickly. When the professor hand mentioned the quiz, it made him nervous, what if he hadn't read the chapter for the quiz yet. What if they asked him to name magical and mundane plants, it felt like he'd just blanked and he could hear Hachiro in his head chanting "daisy, daisy, daisy". Thankfully, the quiz was not related to a lesson they've yet to study. His shoulders relaxed a little. He enjoyed the quiet task, even if it was just a quiz. When he finished, he placed his pencil down and glanced at Professor Carter. Maybe this class would be fun.​

 

[Julian Nightray]

Julian entered the greenhouse with the other Ravenclaw first years, his eyes immediately darting towards the pictures of plants adorning the space. He recognized a few of the flowers - some of them had been under his care at Nightray manor. He wondered how those plants would be now that he wouldn't be around to meticulously care for them. Perhaps the house elves would care for his plants too along with the rest of the greenhouse. This reminded him a little bit of home, or at least home when he wouldn't be under his father's gaze. When Professor Carter introduced himself and asked the class what Herbology was, Julian listened silently. Another student gave the correct answer, and Julian relaxed slightly. The mention of the quiz had admittedly made him nervous, but upon glancing down at the questions, he immediately settled. It was barely a quiz if it could even be called that. He glanced at Professor Carter and thought that maybe this class won’t be so bad after all.​

 

[Angelo Dela Cruz]

Angelo had never gone into a greenhouse before, much less actually took a class in one. They didn't even have... why was it even called Herbology?... Botany class. Well, they had General Science and he was sure the older students would have Biology eventually, but he was pretty sure his school didn't even teach Botany. He'd always thought that was a college class. Apparently not here. But Herbology was a weird thing to call it wasn't it? Or didn't they know that it was supposed to be Botany? And he thought his English was bad. He watched as the teacher cheerfully called all the students in, noting that he was definitely a lot less strict than the teachers back home. He was also their uh... he forgot what Mr. Carter was called... but it was something like a class adviser. When the class started, he tried to focus as the teacher discussed the lesson. At least he didn't embarrass himself this time by greeting the professor back. He would have answered what Herbology was except he only knew Botany. Maybe next time. Still, he took notes in his trustee notebook with his pen because really? Quills? Ink? They were so messy. Even the professor seemed to think so since they gave out pencils to answer the quiz. Which was barely a quiz. If this was how quizzes were in magic school, he was sure he was going to ace his classes. He did however give a polite "Ten-kyu-ser," to the teacher before he left the classroom. Or well... greenhouse. That was still going to take some getting used to.​

Quiz

Name: DELA CRUZ, Angelo Javier L.
House: Unit 2706, SMDC, EDSA, Mandaluyong City, Philippines
What are you looking most forward to about Herbology?: Learning Herbology
Do you prefer lectures or going outside?: Going outside
If you have any questions, please write them here and I will answer them to the best of my ability: Isn't it suppose to be Botany not Herbology? And will we lecture if we go outside?

 

[Evan DAramitz]

Evan walked down to the Herbology Greenhouse, where a friendly-looking man stood outside, greeting all the first years as they walked into the greenhouse. Once everyone had filed in, the man walked in after them and introduced himself as Professor Carter. Then he asked, as had many a professor in the beginning, if anyone knew what Herbology was about.

Evan raised a hand, but someone else was called upon. He put his hand down, a little disappointed that he couldn't show off his knowledge, but it was OK. Everyone deserved a chance to show off their knowledge. He nodded along as the professor explained that Herbology was the study of both mundane and magical plants.

He was surprised when the Professor began handing out pencils and paper instead of parchment. He knew that Hogwarts NZ was a bit more non-traditional than the original Hogwarts, but he had been practicing with a quill for a reason! Ah, well. He still had other classes to show off his penmanship with a quill, after all.
Evan wrote down the quiz questions, and answered them to the best of his ability.

Quiz

Name: Evan D'Aramitz
House: Ravenclaw
What are you looking most forward to about Herbology?: I'm looking forward to seeing if any mundane plants have any magical properties to them.
Do you prefer lectures or going outside?: I like both, but if I had to choose, I'd choose going outside!
If you have any questions, please write them here and I will answer them to the best of my ability: Is Herbology combined with Potions a lot? I've read that they intertwine, but I'm curious to know how much they do.

 

[Theodore Harper]

Theo was excited for the classes he was going to take, even if there were some that seemed more boring than others. Herbology seemed to be one of them. He wasnt really interested in plants. His sister was more into that; The Ravenclaw quickly packed the things he needed for the lesson, before making his way down to the greenhouses. Once Theodore arrived, he took a seat near the back of the room. He then took out the things he needed and placed them on the table in front of him.

It wasn't long before the lesson started. Theo listened carefully to what the professor had been saying. Even though Herbology seemed boring enough, he knew he wanted to try and at least do well in his subjects. Theo made sure to write down all the things he needed to write, as he didn't want to miss out on anything important, nodding his head to show that he understood the content that was being given. It wasn't long before they were told they had to do the quiz. Theodore made sure to fill out all the necessary questions at best to his ability.

It wasn't long before the lesson had come to an end and they were dismissed. Theo quickly handed back the questionnaire to the professor once he was done. He then quickly packed up his things and tided up his area. Theodore then says a quick yet appreciative thanks and goodbye to the professor before heading out the door with his friends and classmates.

Quiz

Name: Theodore Harper (please call me Theo!)
House: Ravenclaw

What are you looking most forward to about Herbology?:
I don't know really. It seems boring...

Do you prefer lectures or going outside?:
Going outside seems more fun.

If you have any questions, please write them here and I will answer them to the best of my ability:
Is there anything really fun about Herbology? Do we learn about any dangerous plants?

 

[Henri Fontaine]

Henri had completely lost track of time, it had only been when he’d stepped back into the common room, that one of the other students had flagged to him that he had a class. He tookt he time to look at what the schedule said he had and then decided based on that whether he was actually going to bother going. He wasn’t going to go if it wasn’t interesting. He knew that the first classes would just be introductions, but perhaps that was worse. He haphazardly put on his uniform and then headed out to class.

Henri had found his way to the herbology greenhouse, but he wasn’t that interested in going in, just outside he’d spotted a bug he liked the look of, but the professor summoned them in before he could chase after it, leaving the class. So instead he went in. he didn’t bother taking out his normal books, he’d actually forgotten most of them, and just took out his bug book, flicking through it until he found the bug he’d been looking at. He missed most of the lesson, only looking away when the parchment was placed down in front of him. He looked at it and then filled it out before heading off.

Spoiler

Name: Henri Fontaine
House: Hufflepuff
What are you looking most forward to about Herbology?: Are we gunna cover bugs?
Do you prefer lectures or going outside?: Outside
If you have any questions, please write them here and I will answer them to the best of my ability:
What was the lesson about?

 

[Persephonia Rose]

Persephonia was still a little groggy from her sleep, but her composure was just as steady as her readiness for her first lesson in Herbology. She had been already fascinated with the floras and the faunas and standing now in the greenhouse in her proper uniform for the class was what she had been looking forward to. Although the excitement wasn’t visible in her nonchalant demeanor, she was just all ears to start the day especially after having her freshly prepared hot cocoa in the Great Hall.

However, being in a closed space could always make her feel a little suffocated. And just in time when they were handed parchments, did her hand itch to take the quiz to distract herself from her own “dilemma.” She took out her quill and jotted everything that was required to fill out.
​

Name: Persephoneia Rose
House: Ravenclaw
What are you looking most forward to about Herbology?: The different traits of each plant specie and their nature and how to interact with them.
Do you prefer lectures or going outside?: Lectures.
If you have any questions, please write them here and I will answer them to the best of my ability: As some magical plants differ from a muggle plant, thus acting like having a mind of its own, are they somewhat similar to animals?

For a moment, Persephonia stared at her last answer, pondering if she wrote something silly and obvious. But she wanted to leave already so she wouldn’t be squeezed by her classmates as she goes. After deciding for like not so a second thought, she submitted her parchment and thanked her professor before heading off.​

 

[Heemi Blenheim]

Hēmi didn't quite know what to expect from Hogwarts. Plants were pretty cool though, so he thought herbology might be his speed. The greenhouse was nice, Hēmi thought, and he wondered how weird some of the plants might end up being. They didn't exactly dwell much on anything in particular, but were given a sort of form to fill out. Hēmi shrugged. Sure, he could fill out a form if that's what they wanted.

Quiz

Name: Hēmi Blenheim
House: Hufflepuff
What are you looking most forward to about Herbology?: Taking it easy. You know, in an learning sort of way. There's less wands, right?
Do you prefer lectures or going outside?: It depends how cold it gets
If you have any questions, please write them here and I will answer them to the best of my ability: I can't think of anything right now, sorry.

 

[Carolina Morales]

Herbology had been the one class Carolina was looking forward to more than any other class on her schedule, her love of all things that grew and especially her interest in magical plants calling her to the subject. She had been looking forward to her first herbology lesson all day and was sure to show up to the class as early as she could to get the best seat. She choose a seat near the front of the room and watched and listened intently as her head of house began to introduce himself and the subject. She tried to raise her hand to answer the professor's question and was slightly bothered someone else answered but quickly forgot this as she continued to focus on the lesson.

Carolina looked at the quiz and pencil that was provided to her, and made sure to complete it as soon as she could so she was prepared for her next lesson. She then reluctantly left the greenhouse when the lesson was dismissed, feeling a bit sad not to spend more time there but understanding she needed to move on with the rest of her day.​

Name: Carolina Morales
House: Hufflepuff
What are you looking most forward to about Herbology?: EVERYTHING, I want to see all the plants!!!
Do you prefer lectures or going outside?: Going outside and seeing the plants, please.
If you have any questions, please write them here and I will answer them to the best of my ability: Will we get the chance to take care of a magical plant during the semester as a project??? I promise I will take great care of it!!!