Open Phoenix Scouts: Badge Work

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Getting together with the tween/teenage scout groups was always difficult, having to take the Hogwarts schedule into account, so Kauri had jumped at the chance to get the groups together on a Brightstone weekend. He had spent some time the previous week finding a plant-dense area of the park that had everything they were looking for, and now with the kids assembled he cleared his throat to speak. "Kia ora koutou! I hope you guys are all having a good semester at school. Thanks for coming along on your free weekend. Today we're gonna be doing a bit of work for one of your badges, the Naturalist badge. If you're particularly interested in Herbology or Potions, this badge should come easily and help you a great deal. And even if you aren't, it's useful to know what kind of plants are around you, so you can identify which plants are weeds and which plants are vital for our environment to flourish, or which plants would poison you versus which plants are safe to eat if you were stranded somewhere. It's important to have an understanding of our natural world so that we can co-exist with it in a safe and healthy way." Kauri smiled, bending down to retrieve some things from his bag.

"I've got a notebook and pencil for everyone, and a sheet of identifying characteristics, but no pictures. I want you to learn to differentiate plants in the wild without having a picture to follow." He explained, handing out the supplies as he spoke. "You've got half an hour to identify as many plants as you can, then we'll meet back here and have a look through some books to learn more about what we've found." Kauri said cheerfully, gesturing to the small bush area the scouts would be exploring. "Any questions I'm right here, just shout me over and I'll come help."

Out of Character:

This thread is completely open to any characters who are members of the Phoenix or Hippogriff scouts! The group is completely open for any characters based in NZ who fit the age requirements (11-14 for Phoenix scouts and 14-18 for Hippogriff scouts), so just jump right in if you're keen! For more information on the organisation, read the thread here! To discuss Phoenix scouts further, take a look at the dedicated Shouty room!

For ideas of the kinds of plants that would be available to find in this park, take a look at a list of muggle plants here, and magical plants here. Please don't RP your characters finding anything too dangerous to be planted in a public park!

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy had been anxiously awaiting Brightstone weekend ever since she heard about the scouting event. It was a shame they only had a chance to participate during school breaks and she thought this was a brilliant idea. She had stopped on her way to the park only to say hello to Knox at Honeyduke's but she arrived just on time for the activity to begin. Poppy know she would have no problem with this activity. She had been learning how to identify plants before she could even read thanks to her dad. The magical ones she wasn't as certain on but she was getting better all the time. Once they were all let loose to explore she grabbed a notebook and quickly started to go through the list.

 

[Salem Lee]

Salem was always keen to get some time out of the castle, even more so if it was something for scouts. Originally, she hadn’t put much stock in scouts being that interesting, figuring it would get old staying in the same country after awhile, but Salem had come to find New Zealand had a lot of exciting things to learn about in nature and there was something to be said for sticking around to learn it all.

Stretching out in her spot on the grass, Salem listened as Kauri offered them a chance to put that knowledge to the test, enjoying imagining a scenario where she was fending for herself in the woods. She liked to think she’d do pretty well, pushing to her feet to start poking around what she could find in the park.

Salem figured she’d start with the trees; most of them wouldn’t be that edible, but they were recognizable and excellent for climbing. “Hey Poppy!” Salem announced, swinging upside-down from a nearby branch when Poppy moved past with her notebook, nearly dropping her own as she swung a little from the motion. “Do you know how to spell pohutukawa? P-O..H?" @Poppy Perkins

 

[Isadora Novak]

Isadora had missed scouts quite a bit while at Hogwarts, so she was happy to attend the meeting over the Brightstone weekend. She showed up bright and early, shooting Kauri a grin. She always liked it when he ran the events, he was very nice. He told them they woul dbe doing work for one of their badges, the Naturalist badge. Isadora did enjoy herbology, so she figured this would be fun. Isadora grabbed a notebook and a pencil, as well as the sheets Kauri had explained. She tried her best to get started quickly, though she didn't really know that much about plants. It was really more her sister's thing, but Isadora was going to try her best.

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy idly hummed to herself as she bent down to inspect a bush she was trying to identify. It’s leaves made her think it was one thing but the color and texture of its branches didn’t seem to match up. She poked one of the leaves with the eraser side of her pencil and chewed on the inside of her lip as she thought. She hardly noticed Salem until the younger girl swung upside-down. Poppy gasped as she saw her out of the corner of her eye and placed a hand on her chest once she was sure she wasn’t about to fall. “What?” she said, not able to process Salem’s question right away. “Oh! Well, let’s see.” she said once it clicked. She wasn’t the best at spelling but she would give it a try. “I think it’s p-o-h-u-t-u-k?” she stared and tried to visualize the word in her head but it wasn’t working. “Sorry I think that’s all I’ve got.” she shrugged sadly. @Salem Lee

 

[Salem Lee]

The blood was starting to rush to Salem's head, but she did her best to focus on what Poppy was saying. "I think I can sound the rest out, thanks," she said brightly, doing her best to write it down while still hanging from the tree branch. "It's both easier and harder than I thought to write upside-down," she mused, finally giving up when she nearly dropped her pencil and swinging back down the ground with a small grunt. She was fairly sure she'd spelt the word right, but whether or not it was legible was a whole other question. "Did you find anything interesting?" Salem asked, picking a few bits of bark from her palms as she moved to join Poppy by the bush she'd been investigating. @Poppy Perkins