Herbs and Vegetables

Orwell Brocken

Eco-Anarchist & Activist
 
Messages
793
OOC First Name
Emzies
Blood Status
Mixed Blood
Relationship Status
Interested in Somebody
Sexual Orientation
Destroying Capitalism
Wand
Knotted 14" Sturdy Pear Wand with Unicorn Hair Core
Age
12/2024 (37)
Orwell had been surprised upon getting his letter telling him all about the new term that he had been made the leader of the wild patch club, he had enjoyed his time among it in the previous year, and here he was in charge it. He had excitedly loud Archie who had then been made to join, or would join once things got started. Orwell however was so excited about his role that he'd been planning things for weeks, he wanted to set up a vegetable and herb garden as part of the Hogwarts garden, he wanted to produce natural products which the elves could then use to make food for the students, so he knew where at least some of food was coming from. He wanted to get this place to start using far more natural products. Which was why he had come to Hogwarts equipped with his books from home, more about the planting season, and how best to tell which plants should go where, of seeds and strict instructions on the spells to try when making them grow, he had also consulted books from the Hogwarts library which sat stacked on his bedside table. He didn't want to be a group leader who did nothing, not when he was so capable, he wanted the input of others within the club, and he didn't even really like the fact he was a group leader, since he didn't like to think of himself above others in any way. It went against almost everything he stood for. The anarchist was currently out in the gardens, he was wearing old clothes, far older than the ones he usually wore. They were dirty, old and worn, with plenty of holes, but perfect for the fact he was currently tidying up a little section of the garden he'd managed to corner off for their use.

The teen had a box of his utensils, of the different things which he had borrowed from the herbology greenhouses. Brock had a large box beside that, which houses little creatures that he had removed from the dirt so that they wouldn't end up getting killed by accident, he was working very carefully, going through the motions of finding the correct place to plant what he'd brought. Potatoes, carrots, strawberries, he had plans to grow some mint, some parsley. He wanted to start simply and hopefully when the clubs were in session they would be able to grow extra things, he had a chart of when things were best to be planted and he had his notes on allowing the soil to replenish too. Orwell had taken off his shoes to work in the dirt, it wasn't too muddy since it hadn't rained all that much in the last few days, he hadn't wanted to get any dirt on his shoes, and for that reason too he had rolled up his jean legs so they were above his ankle. The ravenclaw teen stood up to full height and then smiled happily, it was looking pretty good. He made his way out of his little area to where he'd left his stuff, a bottle of fresh water, half drunk, Kitchen picked it up and drank thirstily from it. Some days at Hogwarts he felt too distant from his roots, from his community but he was happy with this, happy with the responsibility he had been given, Orwell had stuck a proud eco-anarchist flag in the furtherest corner of the garden, with the words Wild Patch written across it. Yes, this was perfect. As Orwell drank his water, he watched as a little bird sat down on the garden bed, Brock knelt down and smiled at it, the bird didn't seem put off by Orwell's presence, so he reached out carefully and slowly, until he was able to touch it, and stroked it's feather's lightly. A smile erupting on the young teen's face, yeah, forget all the books, forget the OWLs, forget the professors, this kind of thing was just as important, nature, life, plants, this was his element, everything he had left behind.
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Arabella was conflicted about being back at Hogwarts. She had a very happy home life and missed her family when she was at school. That probably wasn't typically of average fourteen year old girls, but Bella wasn't average. She never had been, not that she let it bother her. Her mother and step-father kept a warm, open home full of love and laughter. Not that she usually thought of Alastair as her step-father. He was her dad in all of the ways that mattered. She had never known her bio dad. He had died before she was born. However, she still saw her bio dad's parents regularly. They were kind to her, and she enjoyed spending time with them. Still, returning to Hogwarts was bittersweet. She liked school, but it could be a rather lonely place. Arabella didn't have many friends, despite the fact that she was friendly and likable. Bella blamed it on her Veela blood even though she knew that was supposed to attract people to her. It certainly did for her mother.

Arabella knew that it was unseasonably nice outside today, and she decided to take a stroll through the grounds. Bella loved to be outdoors in the sunshine and fresh air. She made a right turn into the gardens. She was enjoying the peace and quiet and serenity of the gardens when she happened across an unusual site. A boy Bella recognized from her year was holding a bird--in his hand! She stopped and stared, knowing it was completely rude of her to stare. The bird was beautiful, and the Hufflepuff girl smiled. "Wow. How did you do that?!" she asked, wondering if he had seeds in his hand.
 
Orwell had always been good with animals and plants, he had always been good at not startling them, of allowing them to come to him, the boy spent a lot of his time out in forests, he'd spent most of his life up until now doing just that. He had begun to find that no matter what comforts the castle brought to him and how amazing and rich the food was all of the time, he liked being out here, in amongst the fresh air, the dirt and the animals. He felt like there was no were else. The placed some spare seeds on to his hand and then held it out to the animal that seemed confident enough to then jump into his hand to eat the seeds, he leaned back slightly, careful to not move to suddenly, and stroked the bird while it ate. It was such a simple pleasure, such a beautiful little bird in his hand, he loved it, he thought it was beautiful, he thought the moment he was spending this bird was better than all of the O's he had gotten from his classes. The teen had returned to school happy with his grades, but he had also come to the realisation that they didn't altogether matter to him.

A voice close to him caused him to look up, though thankfully it didn't startle him, the teen currently had dark purple hair and was glancing at the girl who was standing not too far from him, looking at the bird in his hand. He gave her a small smile, "I have seeds in my hand, but the little bird seems to be resting now," he spoke softly not wanting to do anything that would scare away the bird, he was really enjoying it, "You want to hold it?" he asked, offering out his hand to her as he lightly continued to stroke the bird's feathers. As he looked at this girl he began to realise that he knew her a little, they were in the same year, though that was about all he knew about her, "Don't worry about this little one, completely harmless, just take some seeds for that little bag of seeds on the bench and then place them in the palm of your hand," he instructed her, before waiting, maybe she didn't want to hold onto the bird, but he was being sure that if she did she would be able to.
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Arabella nodded her head. "Yes, I would love to." she said, before going to where the bag of seeds lay. This was familiar to her. She had held many a bird, cat, snake, and more as a child when her mother owned the Magical Menagerie. Bella had always loved animals. She gathered seeds into her hand and moved silently to where the Ravenclaw boy was. She held out her hand, the seeds exposed to get the bird to come to her. She had done this before, but never with a bird in the wild. The tiny bird hopped from the boy's hand to her own. Bella grinned at the bird, pleased.

"I know we are in the same year, but I don't think we have met before." Arabella said to the boy. "My name is Arabella Rider, but my friends call me Bella." she said in a friendly voice.
 
The teen watched the girl as she took a handful of seeds into her hand, and he then lightly guided the bird until it had jumped from his hand into her hand. He gave her a warm smile as it happened, trying to hide his enjoyment of the little creature, his eyes not leaving it, just full of awe at how beautiful it was. He had always loved animals, just adored them, it helped that he had lived amongst so many of them. The teen looked at the girl as she continued speaking, they were in the same year, Orwell was new so it would be likely they wouldn't know each other that well, "Bella," he repeated with a nod, "Bella is italian for beautiful," he didn't mean anything by what he was saying, just stating fact, looking between her and the bird in her hands, "I'm Orwell, Archie calls me Brock, but most others just call me Orwell" he told her, though it was a slightly long way of telling her what he was called, since no one but Archie called him Brock, and he didn't mind it, not at all. The teen quite enjoyed the nickname and the way Archie would say it, Archie was his closest friend, he was practically family.

Orwell smiled happily at her, "It's such a beautiful bird," he said in a sigh of awe, he looked back at the bird and just smiled at it, just took in the reflection of the sun on the bird's wings, the way it moved around, he just couldn't understand how a person could ever kill a bird, or any creature, he saw the little movements and thought them amazing. He watched the way they hunted, or lived off the land, he saw it and thought mother nature an amazing thing, how anyone could ever stand by and let any of that be destroyed was beyond him, "I love the shine the sun gives on it's wings, I love the wings of a bird, just such power you know?" he said to her, "I don't understand why anyone would ever keep a bird of any kind as a pet. This bird in any kind of cage no matter how big would just be so wrong," he muttered the last bit as he looked back up at her, he was still smiling but it was a smile of wonder and awe, like he truly believed what he was saying, and the majesty he believed all birds to have.
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Arabella smiled at the boy as he told her Bella meant beautiful. She knew that, and it was what her father had wanted her to be called even though he had died before she had ever been born. Bella wasn't sure who Archie was, but she decided she would call him Orwell since he said that was his name. The blonde didn't want to call him by a nickname that seemed unique to one special person."It's nice to meet you, Orwell." Bella said pleasantly.

Bella looked down at the tiny bird in her hand, eating the seeds. She listened to Orwell talk. It was a beautiful speech, and she could see how much he believed what he said. "It is so very beautiful, but I am glad I don't have wings." she said with a shutter, thinking of her heritage. Full veelas had wings. She was lucky she wasn't a full veela. She wasn't even sure she liked flying much. "My mum used to run the Magical Menagerie. She had birds in cages." Arabella said, stroking the creature's head. There was no malice or tension in her voice. Just facts. "Would you like it back?" she offered him the pretty bird.
 
Orwell nodded at the greeting, but didn't respond to it, but instead kept his focus on the bird, it was for them, for the creatures and for the entire betterment of the world that Orwell fought quite as much as he did. He didn't ever know what to expect from it, the teen looked at the girl as she agreed with him, finding the last comment a little strange but dismissing it since he knew he said strange things all of the time. However, at the thing she said which followed Orwell suddenly had the largest urge to just grab the little bird back from Bella, she seemed to treat the little bird so well, but her family, her mother had kept birds in cages. He gotten into an argument with the store owner in the winter before his first semester of this school about the creatures he kept and sold. The teen didn't believe in the buying and selling of animals, he believed in leaving them alone. He believed in letting animals be free to roam and only eating what they needed, the mass production of packaged meat was to Orwell one of the worst things. He was therefore happy when she offered the bird back and he was able to take it back from her.

Instead of holding on to it, the boy just placed it down on the ground with all the seeds and then watched it, "I don't like pet stores, of any kind," he glanced up at Bella as he said this, "Animals should be free," Orwell reluctantly used the owls in the school to send the odd letter home, mostly just informing them of his safe arrival and of his departure date, nothing more. He usually didn't need to send much more, anything he needed to tell them could wait, and they like him not believing in the use of Owls as a delivery service sent him nothing in reply, "I had an argument with the store owner of the shop recently, don't think I'm allowed back in the store," he said with a small chuckle getting to his feet and then fetching a bag of seeds, he wanted to get planting, "What do you know about gardening?" he asked her, indicating to the small patch which he had, essentially inviting her to help him plant some herbs and some vegetables, knowing he could get the club in on this action but wanting to start himself and a little help from her if she wanted to.
 
Bella listened to Orwell as he talked, thinking him to be a bit strange, not that she would ever say such a thing. She was always respectful of other people's beliefs even when they did not match up with her own. She rarely contradicted anyone at all. Instead, Bella listened. She was a fantastic listener. "My mum sold the shop ages ago." the blonde told him. She knew he couldn't have been fighting with her mum, though most people didn't fight with Lindsay. Bella supposed it was her Veela blood making people want Lindsay to like them. "I have a kitten. She usually follows me everywhere. I'm surprised she hasn't turned up here yet." the girl said with a shrug. Ollie always found her when she wasn't in lessons. She thought he must be off somewhere taking a nap.

Arabella looked at Orwell as he asked what she knew about gardening. "Not too much." she admitted. "I like herbology class. Does that count?" Bella said, looking at Orwell. "Is that what you're doing out here? Making a garden?" she asked curiously. It sounded fascinating and wondered if he would let her help.
 
Orwell didn't think this woman's mother was the owner of the store that didn't like him, since that person had been a man, and well, Orwell remembered such details, however, this being said, he was sure that he would've likely had the same fight with him as he'd had with her. There was just no stopping that from happening, when Orwell was passionate about something, he rarely knew how to make it stop. He just nodded along with what she was saying, a kitten that followed her around everywhere, that must be neat, he couldn't help but think. He loved animals, to have one following him around would be just amazing. He had always wanted a pet to follow him around, but this was also something that would never happen, "That kitten sounds pretty cool, what's her name?" he asked, curious about this girl's animal, keen to learn more about it. He couldn't have a pet of his own, because he didn't believe in the ownership of animals, but he wasn't completely against learning about other people's and this girl seemed to love her kitten, why wouldn't he want to hear about it.

There were however more pressing matters at hand, he had a garden to prepare, something for the wild patch to get started on. He hoped that they would have their patch be constantly soil rich, and with plants growing, but he needed everyone to be on board with it. He hoped any progress he made would actually help them, "It's for the wild patch," he explained, having nodded at her earlier statements of not knowing much. Orwell knew he likely looked very strange, few people opted to forgo shoes when gardening, and he definitely didn't seem to mind the dirt. Orwell was almost most at home in these situations, just able to be in amongst what he loved, which wasn't the walls of any castle, but the gardens outside them, the forest which lay behind him. Orwell grinned happily at her, "I want to plant more herbs and vegetables which could be used by the kitchens, fresh produce for the elves, no harmful chemicals or unwanted items, just natural products," he told her proudly, "I'm just preparing the soil, then, I'll be planting some of the seeds," he continued motioning to the seeds, "Want to give me a hand," he asked, he didn't mind if she wasn't part of the club, he knew the importance of working collectively, he took a handful of seeds and then began to demonstrate how they were doing it, explaining what was going where, "It would be easier to do it with magic, but there's nothing wrong with a day's hard manual work,"
 
Bella smiled at Orwell, thinking that he seemed like a nice boy. He had been kind and welcoming to her despite her intrusion on his activities. The blonde thought he was pretty cool. "Ollie is her name. She's really very adorable." Bella answered. "Mum and Dad gave him to me for my birthday." she said. Alastair wasn't her biological father, but he had always acted as her dad in all the ways that mattered. She loved Alastair as much as any other member of her family. He had been a member of her family since she was a toddler. Bella had grown up in a loving household full of laughter and fun. She happened to believe that she had the best parents and siblings in the entire world.

"I think it's really awesome that you want to help give the school fresh produce. Very admirable." Bella said honestly as told Orwell as he detailed his plan to her. She thought it was lovely that he wanted to give back to the school, and she would gladly help. The blonde girl was delicate in appearance, but she was a hard worker and didn't mind getting dirty. "Just tell me what to do to help, and I will do it. I don't know anything about gardening, but I can follow instructions." she said in a cheerful voice. She sat down on the ground next to him and waiting for his instructions. She would help in any way that she could.
 
Orwell had never really celebrated his birthday in the way he was learning that people here did. His parents had always wished him a good day, as had most others in the community if they remembered, but he'd never been given anything, they had nothing to give in his community, and Orwell had never been that fussed about it anyway. He didn't care much about birthday's anyway, and since he only really actually owned five things total, the teen had never really cared much for person belongings, so it wasn't too much of a stretch of him to be alright without getting anything for his birthday. He wasn't however jealous of her and the fact she had received something for her birthday, he knew that people got things, Orwell just didn't. He didn't really get much joy from getting things, only the jumper that Archie had given him and the wand were things he loved having as his own.

At her words, he couldn't help but smile proudly, "We have a garden patch, it would be silly to waste it," he told her plainly, this was what his community was all about, using the space and resources that they had to be able to grow things, and with magic things generally grew faster, so he wasn't expecting there to be a shortage of food, or an uneven supply of it. He smiled at her as she seemed eager to help him, Orwell always enjoyed when people helped him out, and this would a good thing, perhaps in this time he could convince her to join the Wild Patch club, he was always keen to get new members and he at least needed support for his protest, which Orwell's heart was set on having. He smiled at her, and then began explained in very easy terms to Arabella what he wanted her to do, "I want you to start here, I'll start the next row from the top and work my way down, you work your way up," he finished with a smile.

Orwell glanced at her looking her over and then it occurred to him that she unlike him might mind getting clothes dirty and such, "Do you want other clothes? I have a jumper you could use to make sure your top doesn't get dirty but aside from giving you my trousers I have nothing to help your bottom half," he told her, while his tone was joking, if the girl really wanted his trousers, the teen had no qualms doing this in his underwear. He then motioned towards her shoes, "You can use my shoes," he stood up to full height, getting ready to hand over the clothes if she wanted them, once she was ready to get start, Orwell knew he too would get started.
 

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