Open WPC Meeting Y38/S1 - Hordes of Horklumps

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot had spent most of the first few weeks of the semester getting the Wild Patch back into shape before their first meeting with their new members. He'd planned on working with the club on composting, which, while not the most exciting subject, was a vital part of maintaining the patch. He'd arrived at the patch yesterday however and was distraught to find all the earthworms he'd been cultivating had inadvertently encouraged their poor Wild Patch to be overrun in a swath of horklumps. They hadn't yet completely overtaken the patch yet, but it was certainly more than Elliot could clear on his own before their scheduled meeting.

Resigned to adjusting his plans, Elliot smiled sheepishly at the club as they began to arrive, waving an arm a bit listlessly at the fungus-like infestation they'd not doubt already noticed once everyone was settled. "Hey guys. So I had a bit of a different meeting planned for us today, but the garden had some other ideas. You've probably noticed our unwelcome guests." Again, Elliot glanced at the patch of slowly spreading horklumps, sighing. "For those who aren't familiar, these are Horklumps. They're a pretty common garden pest who feed on earthworms. They can be a bit tricky to remove, but the best remedy would be Streeler venom, which I was thankfully able to get ahold of for us today," Elliot motioned to the selection of vials, goggles, and gloves set up on the table nearby. "Though if you prefer, you can also use a knockback or stunning jinx and some elbow grease to pull them out, just be careful," he said, glancing over his shoulder in case the horklumps were somehow getting wise to their plan to oust them. "So for today, we'll be clearing out the horklumps from our poor Wild Patch. Please do be careful and use the gloves and goggles, streeler venom is not something you want on your skin." Elliot gave the club an imploring look. "But work together, be careful, and we'll have things cleared up in no time," he said, offering the club a smile before moving over to the table to start helping hand out supplies so they could get started.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander had rocked up a little early to the wild patch, never one to miss a meeting. Outside of the tournaments, these were the club events he looked forward to the most. At the sight of the horklumps infesting the garden, he sucked in air through his teeth and folded his arms. That was some really bad luck. He listened to Elliot speak, wondering what they'd be up to today, given what was going on with the patch. His face fell at the mention of streeler venom. Horklumps were a pest and needed to be removed, sure, but they were also animals, technically. They did look just like mushrooms, but he had no idea how sentient they were, or what they could feel. Poisoning a ton didn't sit well with him. It reminded him of the mandrakes in Herbology, which weren't even counted as animals despite being way, way more active and sentient than horklumps. He shifted uncomfortably, glancing at the mandrake socks he'd bought at Vibez, and worn specifically for today's meeting. He certainly couldn't murder any horklumps today. It was fine for gnomes to eat them - that was nature. This didn't feel like nature. "The ones that we can pull out, what's happening with them?" He asked, sidling up next to Elliot. He knew horklump juice was used in potion-making, and as much as he loved brewing potions, he didn't love the idea of sending them off to be killed prematurely for the sake of it.​

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot wasn't surprised someone was worried about the fate of the horklumps. He'd have prefered a gentler solution to them as well, though if they weren't careful, the horklumps would kill all their plants and overrun the patch if left too long. They'd also likely attract gnomes and leave them with a whole new host of problems. "We've still got some of the sacks we've used in the past for gnome catching. Put them in there carefully, and I'll work with Professor Ateara and Professor Cullen to find a better home for them," he said, giving Lysander a sympathetic look. @Lysander Summers

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander gave a relieved nod. There was bound to be some kind of horklump reserve or something, just a field of mushroom creatures as far as the eye could see. Reassured, he rolled up his sleeves and dropped down near a patch of horklumps to quickly get to work. Being a beater had its perks when it came to the more physical tasks, such as uprooting things in the garden, and the faster he could go about it, the less there'd be for anyone else to douse in poison.​

 

[Ana Sofia Burleigh]

Even if Ana Sofia had never been the best with plants and flowers and all that she still thoroughly enjoyed being part of the wild patch club. Although perhaps that was a big part of the club as well. To learn about different things together whilst taking care of the wild patch. She liked how diverse their activities had been so far as well so she was curious as to whatever it was they would be doing for their meeting today. Ana listened to what Elliot had to say, quietly observing the horklumps as the boy talked. Getting rid of them with the steeler venom sounded harsh so she definitely wanted to opt for the idea of pulling them out. Unsure of what exactly to do though she stood back for a second, watching others to see what best way to go about it without hurting the horklumps too much.

 

[Bern Malakas]

Bern first time to attend his wild patch group and our Head Boy Elliot said what we need to do before Bern to this some activity he watches their older members and when he is ready he wears the gloves and goggles because it's always safety first before we do anything, and he clears the horklumps and this is the beginning that Bern is a true member of Wild Patch.

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Rose loved the Wild Patch Club, it was her favorite and she loved all the events that the club held. Well not all of them, but the ones that required some manual labour. The hornklumps that were currently bugging the wild patch looked rather cute. She didn't want to harm them and thus she opted to carefully pull them out. She was glad to hear that the COMC Professors would rehome them to a better spot. Hopefully filled with lots of worms for them to eat.

Rose walked over to her friend Ana and smiled. ''Do you want to pull them out with me?'' She didn't want to kill them with venom or harm them any other way. She was going to try to pull them out.

@Ana Sofia Burleigh

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy was really looking forward to the Wild Patch meeting. She wanted a chance to spend time with the plants and maybe get her hands dirty. She smiled and waved at Elliot as she entered, and took a seat on a near by patch of grass as she waited for the meeting to start. She frowned when she noticed a grass stain on her pants and a small hole forming in the worn fabric. She wondered when that had happened but brought her attention back to Elliot as he addressed the club. Poppy was concerned when he mentioned an invasive pest. She had learned enough from her father to know how devastating that could be, and remembered a time when their herb garden at home got wiped one summer. She took on the task with a certain fervor as she meticulously went over all of the plants, keeping an eye out for those pesky horklumps.

 

[Salem Lee]

Salem was excited to get back into club activities again this year. They were like classes but she couldn't get bad grades for it. And with the Wild Patch she got to spend time messing around outside, which was far more interesting than a lot of her classes to. She listened, shifting her weight from foot to foot as Elliot explained what they'd be doing today, keen to get started. She'd never seen a Horklump before and wasted no time throwing her gloves on so she could go poke one. It wobbled a bit but didn't move much before that.

Poking it again, Salem laughed before looking around at the other club members, trying to gauge what they were up to. She rather liked the idea of heroically saving the patch from the invaders, so she pulled out her wand, wanting to see if she could knock one of them back. "Hey, think you could grab this horklump if I stun it?" she asked one of her housemates, not waiting for him to answer before shooting a stunning spell at the horklump. @Bern Malakas

 

[Nell Night]

Nell had been looking forward to getting her hands back into the Wild Patch ever since returning to Hogwarts, eager to forget her worries doing physical labour in the garden. She wondered what kind of treat Elliot had prepared for them today, and was quietly disappointed when she arrived and realised what they were doing. Physical labour, this certainly was, but Nell wasn't especially eager for it. She was here, though, so she pulled on her gloves and considered the options before grabbing some goggles and a vial of Streeler venom, hoping she could get this over with as quickly as possible. Putting her head down she went to work, trying to kill as many of the strange little lumps as she could to clear out their garden space.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor was excited to get back into the Wild patch and reconnect to the place he felt the most at home at Hogwarts. He had spent the whole end of the last year feeling angry and hurt and lost, and he looked forward to finding his place again. He determinedly ignored Poppy's presence as he listened to Elliot's instructions, a little dismayed as the prospect didn't sit right in his stomach. He was about to ask Elliot about the wellbeing of the strange little creatures when Lysander beat him to the punch, relieved as Elliot rebuked his biggest fears about the whole process of all this. He still didn't quite know what to think about the people who were poisoning the Horklumps but at least Connor wasn't expected to do so himself, putting his head down and focusing on carefully stunning the creatures and removing them safely, to be taken somewhere they could thrive.

 

[Ana Sofia Burleigh]

Ana Sofia had been observing some of the other students who chose to try and stun the horklumps and pull them out, trying not so much to look at those who didn't seem too bothered by poisoning the creatures. She knew they weren't good for the garden, that they were seen as pests, and obviously wouldn't want to see them destroy it, but at the same time killing them, didn't seem like something she could be capable of. She did decide that if stunning them was what was needed to be done in order to get them out safely before they were killed by someone else she might just have to get over her own feelings and try to do that. It was still better than killing them after all. "Do you- Should we- Don't we need to stun them first?" She asked as she looked at her friend for a second before turning her head back to see if any of the older students were attempting to pull the horklumps out without stunning them first. @Rosemarie Chatwin

 

[Lars van Houten]

The Wild Patch Club had always been something precious to Lars, even when he hadn't been talking to Elliot he had kept coming to events. He knew he would miss the club a lot when he graduated, which made him a little sad. He arrived at the club for the meeting. Lars definitely noticed the horklumps as he arrived, and listened as Elliot explained what they were going to do. He first explained what horklumps were, but they were familiar to Lars, as he lived on a farm. Once Elliot was finished talking, Lars got started. He stayed far away from Nell and started taking out the horklumps without using the venom. Partly because it felt cruel, and partly because he didn't trust himself not to trip and fall while carrying it. He worked quietly, his mind wandering a bit.

 

[Bern Malakas]

Bern approach by Salem and, Bern laugh yeah we can use the stunning spell, this spell is new to me because it's taught to us and I'm happy to that ill be practicing this kind of spell.

@Salem Lee

 

[Natalia Novak]

Natalia had signed up for the Wild Patch Club at the start of the year, somewhat uncertain about her choice. She had always liked plants and taking care of them, but she also wasn't entirely sure if she was the sort of person to be in a club. She had decided to give it a try, though, at least for this year. But as she headed to the first meeting, she quickly realized the whole place was covered in horklumps. Getting rid of them wasn't entirely what she wanted to do, but she had told herself she would give it a chance. She grabbed the Streeler venom and got to work. She saw a few others didn't use the venom even if it was the easiest solution but didn't give it much thought. Horklumps were a pest, and they had to take the best way to get rid of them.

 

[Skylar Anderson]

Having signed up to be part of the Wild Patch Club this year, Skylar was excited to see what the first meeting would be about. Maybe they'd be planting some nice flowers or plants, or simply watering and looking after some of the existing ones. But she definitely hadn't expected to be getting rid of some pest she'd never even heard of. She felt a bit out of place not knowing what a Horklump was since she'd never encountered it back home, but she decided that it didn't matter, at least she'd learn something new! Unsure of how to start, Skylar looked around to see if she saw any of her friends who had also signed up, but she didn't see anyone she knew yet, so she decided she may as well try to make some friends, and walked over to two Hufflepuff girls she knew were in her year. "Um hi! I'm Skylar," she introduced herself, before realising she should probably explain why she'd come over to them. "I've never used streeler venom or done anything like this before so I was wondering whether I could work with you guys?" she smiled as she said it, hoping they wouldn't mind her joining them.
@Rosemarie Chatwin @Ana Sofia Burleigh

 

[Elara Chatelain]

Elara made her way to the Wild Patch in a sundress, embracing the fact that summer would be arriving soon. Even then, she had wrapped herself in a sweater to keep the chill off. Listeneing to the the head boy talk about how they had to potentially dig creatures out of the dirt, Elara realized she was definitely overdressed for the club today. She opted for the streeler venom, even though it made her sad since she had quite a few as pets. Noticing Salem already had a partner to work with, she walked up to one of her classmates from another house. "Can I help you?" @Natalia Novak

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot was glad to see the club working well together, feeling more optimistic they'd be able to reclaim the patch before the horklumps got too comfortable. Content that no one was about to dump any venom on themselves now, Elliot cleared his throat again, waving to the club members to get their attention one more time.

"Hey guys, good work so far. Just one more thing for you and we'll get back to it," he said, content when had the rest of the club's attention. "I actually received an owl the other day from Eleanor Hope, one of the past leaders of the Wild Patch. She said apparently some past club members had buried a time capsule in Tākarokaro Park and invited all our current club members to join her over the holiday break to dig it up. This would be a totally voluntary club event, but if you're able, I'd love to see you guys there," he said, smiling at the thought of getting to see Rose or Ainsley meeting the newer members of the patch from over the years. "If you have any questions, let me know, otherwise, I'll let you get back to it," he said, moving to check on some of the sacks of horklumps to make sure none were escaping back into the garden.

 

[Emori Pourroulis]

Em was excited for the wild patch this year. Though she was every year. But this time, she was going to get much more involved, and help out as much as she could. If only because she wanted to be liked and known and...well, get some brownie points. She arrived to the meeting, eager to get started on whatever Elliot had planned for them this time. She smiled at Ana and Rosemarie, two classmates of hers, and noticed Skylar was there too. She wrinkled her nose at what Elliot said they were going to do. Those poor things. Sure, it was a little disgusting having pests in the garden, but she didn't want to hurt them either. It wasn't like they were purposefully trying to aggravate people. Then again...the horklumps were feeding on the earthworms which were harmless and probably scared out of their minds right now. So removing the horklumps made Emori feel better. When she'd listened carefully to how they were to do this, she grabbed a pair of gloves, goggles and a vial of the streeler venom.

Right before she got her hands dirty though she approached the group of girls and found a patch of the garden that she could work on. "Hey guys," she greeted as she got on hands and knees and began to remove the pests. "Yo, you guys having trouble with this thing too?" she asked them, noticing they were just as confused as she was. It was a vial, so did they just pour the contents onto the grass all at once or? She heard Elliot speak about some buried time capsule and there was no way she was missing out on that opportunity. Em had been dying to go on an adventure. This would probably fit the bill. "One sec," she murmured, before she got up and approached the man himself. "Er, Elliot? Just one thing," she glanced up at him. "Actually, two. I'd love to join in retrieving the time capsule in Tākarokaro Park over the holidays. Also, how the heck are you supposed to use this venom?" she held up the vial for him to see. "Do we pour it all at once, or what?" she asked.
@Ana Sofia Burleigh @Rosemarie Chatwin @Skylar Anderson @Elliot Briar ​

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Rose looked at Ana. ‘Yeah, we probably need to stun them and then we can yank them out.’’ She didn’t want to do the second option, the option that involved murder. ‘’Hello Skylar’’ Rose said while grabbing her wand, she still was not very good at magic and she had no clue if she was going to manage a good knock back. ‘’Don’t use the venom it kills them and they can’t help themselves that they are a pest.’’ Rose said to the girl. ‘’A snail eats leaves to survive, it is the human that doesn’t like their plants getting eaten’’ Rose told the blond haired girl. ‘’It is the person with a problem, the snail is just looking for food its nature’’ Rose paused ‘’The horklump is the same, its programmed to do this, so it doesn’t deserve to die.’’

The thing Elliot spoke about did sound very interesting and she was probably going to join. Emori walked over and she also spoke about the venom. ‘’Don’t use the venom, it kills them and they don’t know any better you can’t punish them for being what nature intended them to be.’’ Humans were having a problem, nature shouldn’t be punished. ‘’Use the jinx and just pull them out.’’ Rose said to the girl.

@Ana Sofia Burleigh @Skylar Anderson @Emori Pourroulis

 

[Ana Sofia Burleigh]

Ana Sofia nodded when Rose agreed they'd have to stun them before attempting to pull them out. As long as they didn't have to actually poison them she was willing to try whatever. "Hi!" She smiled when Skylar joined them, listening to what Rose had to say. Ana couldn't help but to giggle though. She knew Rose was very serious about plants and she liked learning stuff from her friend, but sometimes she sounded like an actual teacher or even a walking encyclopedia which was funny from time to time. "Conclusion: ofcourse you can work with us." She smiled at Skylar when Rose had finished her lesson in plants versus humans 101. "I'm Ana Sofia, that's Rose." She added, not sure if Skyler knew their names.

Ana listened as Elliot made another anouncement, curious about what would be in the time capsule, before focussing her attention back on the people around her when Emori joined as well. She gave the girl a small wave when she joined, surprised by how she went right to work and a little disappointed when Emori seemed to be wanting to use the venom. "It's just.. why kill them when we don't have to?" Ana Sofia added, looking at Emori after Rose continued her speech but now with the slytherin as her audience. "Killing them for just being alive sounds harsh."

@Skylar Anderson @Emori Pourroulis @Rosemarie Chatwin

 

[Natalia Novak]

Natalia was working quietly, using the venom to get rid of a few of the pests. A girl came up to her, and Natalia blinked as she spoke to her, looking over her shoulder to make sure she was indeed talking to her. "I think I'm doing fine." She said, glancing down at her work. "Are you saying I'm not?" She asked the Gryffindor with a slight frown. The Head Boy then spoke again, talking about a voluntary club event that actually sounded fairly interesting. Natalia wondered if she should go to that and if she could convince her parents to let her.

 

[Skylar Anderson]

Skylar smiled as the girls told her she could join them, and listened to Rose as she explained why they'd be stunning them and then pulling them out, rather than poisoning them. "Oh right that makes sense, I definitely like your option more!" she told the girl with a smile, glad that there was a way she didn't have to harm the horklumps. "Nice to meet you two!" she added as Ana Sofia chimed in with her own little introduction. These girls seemed really nice, and Skylar was glad she'd joined this club and could meet them. Another girl came over and Skylar waved as she approached, although the girl left as quickly as she'd come, heading over to Elliot, who had just announced that one of their next club activities this year would be recovering a time capsule. As she heard that, she turned to Rose and Ana, an excited smile on her face. "That sounds like so much fun! Do you think you'll go?" she asked them, while continuing to stun the horklumps and then pull them out. She was glad she could practice her charms during this as well, and it seemed much better than just poisoning them. @Rosemarie Chatwin @Ana Sofia Burleigh

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliott was checking on some of the extracted horklumps, making sure they were properly stunned and contained, when Emori approached him. “That’s great, glad to have you,” he said when she mentioned joining in over the holidays, glad that some of the club members seemed keen for the time capsule event.

Her next question about the venom was a little nerve-racking, and Elliot glanced over where Rosemarie was unsurprisingly advocating against it. He wasn’t going to force anyone to do anything they didn’t want, but the Horklumps were invasive and damaging the rest of the patch, so sometimes more extreme measures needed to be taken. He knew he'd be dealing with any horklumps the club missed himself and he couldn't afford to risk them doing any more damage. “Be careful, for a start, and just a drop should do the trick. It's strong stuff, so it doesn’t take much,” he said, checking to make sure the club members, especially the ones using the venom, all had gloves on. @Emori Pourroulis