First Years, Lesson Three

[Professor Landon Carter]

Landon walked into the Herbology greenhouse rather early for his third lesson of the semester with the first years. Last lesson had been quite fun and he was surprised with how successful each of his students were with the treasure hunt. Lucky for them, they would be going outside today and he was very excited to see how well they would do with their first harvest. They seemed like a trusty bunch and so he was confident that today's lesson was going to be yet another success.

"Morning first years!" Professor Carter exclaimed when he was sure everyone had taken their seat. "We are going to jump right into it today so there is plenty of time for the fun stuff. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Halloween?" Landon pointed to a student near the back of the room. "Pumpkins!" they said excitedly, already beginning to get an idea of what they were going to be doing. "Yes, exactly right! 3 points to your house. We will be planting some pumpkins today. As I said before, I would like to get right into it, so..." With a flick of his wand, Landon watched as the board began writing notes by itself. "Once you've finished copying down these notes, come with me outside."

* The Pumpkin is believed to have originated in North America, where the Native Americans dried strips of Pumpkin and wove them into mats.

* The original name for the pumpkin was Pepon, which was Greek for large melon.

* The Pumpkin is widely known for being served at feasts as Pumpkin Pie, but its notoriety comes from its established tradition at Halloween.

* Pumpkins can also be used to celebrate good harvest, and at Christmas and thanksgiving where it is typically roasted.

After everyone was finally done copying down the notes, the professor slipped on his leather black gloves and walked outside with them. His tools, a spade, a watering can, and a rake were waiting for him at his section. The dirt looked ripe and eager for planting which Landon smiled at as he observed where his students would be working. Each station was in the shape of a huge rectangle. Landon pulled a bag of Pumpkins seeds from the inside of his robes and gave each of his students a seed for their own use. "Be sure your soil is tilled, or rather soft. I have tilled the soil already so that shouldn't really be a problem. Your pumpkins are to be in the ground and ready to grow by the end of today's lesson."

Landon flicked out his wand, "Watch what I do. You will be doing this in regular labour." A smile formed on his face. His spade hovered in the air. "Get down on your knees, since it's easier to reach the dirt. Take your spade and dig a small hole in the ground and drop the seed into the hole." His spade did exactly that, and Landon dropped the seed into the hole. "Refill the hole and then pat the soil lightly and don't compact it." Landon's spade gently patted the ground like he instructed. "Now, give it a generous amount of water." His watering can poured water over the dirt. "And now do exactly as I did."

After everyone was finished, Landon smiled. As much as he wanted to teach them the muggle way of planting, he knew that they couldn't wait too long until harvest, so he took out his wand once again and spoke to his students. "Now, in order for the pumpkins to grow a bit faster, a spell will need to be involved. Please take out your wands and repeat after me." Landon waited until all of his students had retrieved their wands and stated clearly, "Sementis medicates." He then waved his wand in a loop over his planted pumpkin seed. The sprout emerged from the ground, thickened into a vine, twining and extending its vine, waiting for the others to grow. A small bud flowered, then bloomed yellow before the petals fell away and a small, light coloured melon was clinging to the vine. "Great job guys!" the man exclaimed when he looked around to see that everyone had successfully practiced the spell. "Once you are all packed up, you may leave. Have a good week!"

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Assignment: RP the lesson. First poster please answer the question. For extra credit you may write a paragraph about the pumpkin.

 

[Christa Langley]

Christa enjoyed getting to work in the soil, because it was more artistic than taking notes and she couldn’t wait to get to let Sabrina know all about the different things she might have a chance to do at Hogwarts once she got here. She was sure it would be really cool for her sister to see. When Professor asked about the first thing that came to mind when thinking about Halloween, Christa hesitated for a second, because she was about to say sweets. She’d never celebrated Halloween before the Halloween party last semester, so it was all very new to her, but she’d heard it was sort of important to magical people so she was trying to understand it a bit more. “Pumpkins!” She said instead, hoping that was correct. The answer earned her some much needed house points and she grinned in delight. Maybe they could catch up with Slytherin? (Doubtful) Christa followed Carter outside and immediatley dropped to her knees in the soil, eager to get started with digging her hole. She gently placed the seed inside and then quikcly covered it back up with the dirt she’d removed. Pat pat. The spell she was a little less eager about. Whilst she was fine with gardening - it was a skill her parents had always drilled into them incase they ever needed it - she wasn’t sure how she felt about the whole using magic to garden thing. It seemed like, if not cheating, then at least something. “Professor, how come using spells on the plants doesn’t hurt them? Are they still okay to eat if we use it?”

@Professor Landon Carter ​

 

[Miles Flynn]

Miles had no problems with digging around in the dirt, but that didn't mean he actually enjoyed Herbology. Plants and all that kind of stuff was of little interest to him, so while he was tolerating the lesson, he didn't think it was going to become his favorite or anything anytime soon. Still, he was curious to see what they would be doing this time around. Pumpkins certainly hadn't been on the list, but even though there was a little note-taking to be doing, going outside was still better than a full lecture. And it didn't even sound hard what they had to do, crouching down so he could dig his little hole and plop his seed right into it before carefully covering it all up again. Next came the water, and he assumed that was going to be the end of it. But, apparently, there would be magic involved as well. Now, Miles was never going to turn down learning some magic, fumbling for where his wand was in his pocket before pointing it at his little mound of dirt. It took a couple of attempts, but eventually a small sprout did poke up through the soil. Feeling pretty pleased with himself, Miles shoved his wand back into his pocket again before heading back to the greenhouses to grab his stuff once they had been dismissed.

 

[Professor Landon Carter]

Landon enjoyed walking around and helping his students cast the spell. It was the only spell he would teach them, and he wanted to make sure he did it well. At the Gryffindor's question, Landon was quick to respond. "Of course! Magic isn't going to harm it in any way at all!" he exclaimed, a little shocked that she could think of such a thing. Perhaps magic wasn't taught to be so great as the girl was growing up. Landon would make it his challenge to try and change that way of thinking for her.

@Christa Langley