Seventh Years: Lesson Two

Today’s plant was already sitting innocently on the bench as the class began to arrive, rather at odds with other floral, festive Valentine's decorations about the greenhouse today. Angel was grateful for the distraction, turning away from the plant. It looked not unlike a grey cactus, only with boils instead of spines to greet the class. The whole thing looked quite sickly and frankly unnerved him.

“Afternoon, kids, got something special for you today,” he said, motioning to the plant and having the class gather round once everyone had arrived. Unnerving or not, the plant had been hard to come by and Angel was excited to show it off.

“So,” Angel said once the class was gathered and quiet, “Any volunteers to touch it? I promise it won’t harm you,” Angel said, before nodding to one particularly bold student who’d volunteered. Stepping preemptively out of what was effectively the splash zone, Angel smiled glumly as the student touched the plant, resulting in it releasing a stream of vile stinksap. “And this is why we don’t touch anything when we don’t know what it is,” he said, trying not to breathe in too much before vanishing the stinksap as quickly as he could with a flick of his wand. “Ah well, nothing risked, nothing gained, 5 points for your trouble, Happy Valentine's,” he said to his poor volunteer, patting them gamely on the shoulder.

“For those of you who don’t know, this is a Mimbulus Mimbletonia, bit of a mouthful that, a rare plant from Assyria. It’s a member of the cactaceae family, so from the spine plants family, related to the muggle cactus. It’s most notable for its unique defensive mechanism, which is quite potent as we just witnessed. When prodded-” Angel smiled at his poor volunteer once again, “-It will spray out Stinksap from it’s boils here, which as you might recall, smells not unlike rancid manure. Stinksap, while I don’t recommend touching it if you can help it, is non-poisonous and usually dark green in color. If you need a reminder we could prod it again,” he offered, relenting with a laugh after a few vocal protests from the students.

“Native to arid climate, Mimbulus need dry soil and sunlight to really thrive. Supposedly a well cared for and calm Mimbulus make this cute little crooning sound, though it's arguable if the plant is actually sentient or it that's just an autonomous reaction to ideal conditions,” Angel hadn't heard this one coo yet, but they had been poking it a fair bit. Feeling the class had been subjected to enough of the mimbulus, Angel checked his pocket watch, deciding to wrap up the lesson there. “That’s all for today unless anyone needs another round with the stinksap. Go, be free,” he said, shooing the class away and out of the greenhouse.

-----
RP the lesson. First poster can volunteer for some extra house points.

 

[Aurora Archer]

Aurora couldn’t believe she was in her final semester of school. So much had happened between when she’d first arrived and now, now it was almost over. That felt too unreal for her. Too unreal. In her mind she did still feel like the 11 year old who’d arrived, but she really wasn’t. The teen was now already considering pre-filling out the job application to be a healer. She knew that she had to manage this semester to get it, but Aurora felt pretty optimistic about her chances with it. The teen was getting herself together, gathering up books and notes, making sure she had everything she would need before she headed out of the room.

Aurora walked into the herbology greenhouse and took her usual spot in the greenhouse. She took out her books and notes as the professor got started. She could see Rosie volunteering to touch what the professor was offering for them to touch, and stopped her from doing so. Aurora knew it wasn’t a good idea to touch things like that in class like this. The gryffindor prefect was rewarded for this as though it wasn’t that dangerous, it could still be a bit so. It didn’t matter the points. She took her quill and began writing down what the professor was telling them about the mimbulus mimbletonia, about what it was like, where it was from and everything else about it. The lecture itself wasn’t too long and Aurora was able to pack up and leave the room.

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie was being sick every morning. It had gone from just feeling a bit sick, to being sick. It was awful and she wasn’t quite sure what was causing it. Certainly nothing in her diet had changed over the last couple of months. She had done nothing different. The Gryffindor wasn’t sure what the cause was, but Aurora had made her promise to go to the healer if she was still being constantly sick after valentines. Rosie agreed since she didn’t really like being sick. Especially when she couldn’t then just be held by Xinyi. She was getting ready for the day, trying her best to be okay and headed to class.

Rosie walked into the herbology greenhouse a step after her sister and took a spot next to her. She was immediately reaching for the thing the professor asked them to touch, but was stopped by her sister. Rosie reluctantly let someone else touch it and figured that it was probably a good thing that she didn’t. She took her notes and began writing down what the professor was telling them about it. What the plant was and what it did, what it was good for. Rosie liked the plant, despite the fact it wasn’t the friendliest of plants. She was keenly listening and getting down the important bits before the lecture was wrapped up and she was able to pack up and leave the room.

 

[Demetrius Wagner]

Demetrius was tired of all the Valentines' decorations. He really wasn't appreciating it this year - he didn't know if he'd ever appreciate it again, if he was being honest. Not after everything that had happened last year. He stepped into the greenhouse, ready for the next lesson. He looked at the plant, a little curious. He was tempted to volunteer, but ultimately didn't really feel up to touching a plant he didn't recognise. The odour of the stinksap was abhorrent though and Demetrius was glad he hadn't agreed. He took notes for the rest of class, sure this was something that would turn up on exams, which were never more important than they were this year. When class was over, he packed up and left, making note never to touch anything that even resembled a mimbulus mimbletonia.

 

[Monday Weeks]

The second week came around and Monday Weeks was all here for it. He was ready for classes and wanted to get things underway so that he could stay on top of the game. He had his badge on, his hair perfect, teeth brushed, the whole nine yards. He put on his school uniform and wondered how it would feel to not have to wear these things again. He shrugged his shoulders as he gathered his class supplies. He knew where he was due, and he was sure that the professors would not miss him when he left. He already had a good start on his head boy speech.

Entering the greenhouse, Monday was immediately struck by the Valentine's decorations scattered throughout the normally serene environment. The cheerful ambiance clashed with the unusual-looking plant that sat ominously on the bench. He listened as Professor Castillo introduced the Mimbulus Mimbletonia. The noxious odor filled the air, causing Monday to wrinkle his nose from the volunteer. Why anyone would do that, he had no idea. When Professor Castillo finally dismissed the class, Monday was quick to gather his things, eager to leave the greenhouse and escape the lingering smell of Stinksap.​