Second Years, Lesson Three

Landon folded his arms as the students filed in and took their seats. He was in a good mood and felt that last lesson was rather enjoyable to watch. He gave a smile to the class, "Good morning guys! How are you all?" He gazed over the class and just kept smiling at them all, even after nothing but a couple of nods from some of the students. "Well, remember the last lesson, you repotted the Mandrake seedlings. It wasn't all too pleasant, was it?" He chuckled softly. "Their cry isn't fatal yet, but it will knock you out for a couple of hours in the seedling stage. As they mature though, they put up more of a fight than what you saw last lesson."

Landon leaned against his desk and continued, "Those Mandrakes right now are in the toddler stage, and will be in the Childhood stage soon. Then, they will acquire more care and attention. But for now, all they need to get through the days is your care." He paused. "They prefer damp soil, shade to sunlight, and occasional food. It may sound easy, but it will take a combination of all three to help them thrive. I would like you all to go and find your mandrake and give them some water. Then, over in the corner are some barrels filled with food pellets. Only a fourth of a scoop twice a day to keep them satisfied." The professor smiled as he watched his students all scurry over to tend to their mandrakes. "Oh, and you'll have to poke the pellets down gently into the compost or they will over stimulate themselves trying to get to the food."

Landon sat at his desk the whole lesson, watching carefully as his students happily fed and watered their mandrakes. When the lesson ended, Landon quickly reminded them about their journals. "Don't forget to keep record of your mandrake. You will name it, talk about the stage they are in, and what you did to help it grow that day. Have a good week guys!"

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Assignment: RP the lesson AND write a second diary entry about your mandrake for full marks. Both only have to be a few words.

 

[Finley Mackintosh Baros]

Finley took his place in front of his mandrake and stared it down. It was in the toddler stage now which meant he was starting to see a bit more a personality and it meant that he was more able to identify it when he had to go looking for his mandrake. It was much more noticeable. Maybe that was a bit intense, but it was the truth any way he looked at it. He did what he needed to, watering the mandrake and dropping some food in when it seemed like it wasn’t going to flick soil at him. He was pretty sure that this mandrake hated him. He couldn’t say for sure, because it was a mandrake and he was sure it probably didn’t have enough feelings to feel any kind of way about him, but call it a vibe. He repotted it when it was required and then headed out of the class when he felt like the Mandrake wasn’t going to try to escape it’s pot and the class was finished.​

 

[Miles Flynn]

Miles was dreading another lesson with the mandrakes, but he also didn't want to get into trouble for skipping lessons. His shoulders slumped as he stood in front of his mandrake, nose wrinkled slightly as they were told what they would be doing in this lesson. As he expected, having to look after a stupid screaming root was just as horrible as he thought it was going to be, and he didn't enjoy a single moment of it. It was also hard to have to try and tend to their needs, making sure that they were at least properly looked after. They were also asked to name their mandrake, though Miles didn't quite fancy giving a plant a name. That was just silly, and they'd be chopped up in the future anyway. So, he didn't name it, just thankful when they were finally dismissed for the day. Though he doubted that was the last time he would have to see the mandrake again.

 

[Christa Langley]

After her discussion with Professor Carter, Christa was feeling a little more confident with her studies in Herbology but she could readily admit she was still a little uneasy about the whole thing. She quickly pulled her earmuffs a little tighter, her face falling into a bit of a grimace as she almost expected another one of those traumatising screams as soon as she walked over to her assigned mandrake who she still hadn’t named and didn’t think she was going to. She looked at Professor Carter as he explained a bit more about what was required and expected of the class and she frowned again when they were told the seedlings… not seedlings - were actually in the toddler stage now - okay definitely not making her feel like she was getting away from the whole baby thing. Still, she couldn’t not do the class now that she’d told him she would try and so she’d obediently walked over to her mandrake, the screechy one, and gave the soil a bit of a water. It seemed to like that because it… well, she would have used the term buried, but it didn’t really move, only sort of relaxed itself deeper into the pot as she pushed some food pellets into it. Once she was done she very quickly backed away and went to pay more attention to what the professor was doing instead of her mandrake.​