Herschel had meet with Ishane just before the school year started, discussing the particular situation of a third year who had nearly destroyed the greenhouses in his exam. He had been meaning to get back in touch with her now that the school year had started, and see if she'd had any trouble out of the rest of the students.

Since the headmaster had been intending to have a look at what the professors were doing during classtime, he decided to stop by during the time she held her NEWT level class, to have a look at what she was teaching and to have a quick chat afterward. (Unless, of course, Ishane was interested in attending the seminar that afternoon.)

Entering the greenhouse, Herschel was glad to see the students hard at work on some sort of project. Hands on tasks were always the best for Herbology. If you had a green enough thumb. Some people, hard as they tried, just couldn't get plants to grow properly. "Good afternoon, Professor Blair," he greeted quietly. A few heads had popped up at his arrival, but he hoped they would continue working. "I thought I would pop in and see how classes are going and chat with you a bit."

He looked at his pocket watch. This Herbology class would be over in about twenty minutes. "Can you tell me what sort of task they're doing?" Herschel asked curiously. "They certainly seem to be hard at work."

"Headmaster." Ishane tilted her head in greeting with a smile.  "This is a pleasant surprise. Welcome to my greenhouses." Her voice was warm and welcoming as she had every reason to be. She hadn't known Snark long enough to guess how she would have ruled, but the fact that Reid had agreed with her about suspending the brat had earned him her gratitude.

"They're setting up the next part of their project. We've been studying alternate growing systems and today their working on setting up an Areoponics system." She gestured to the students who were clustered around several five foot tall a frames, carefully inserting seedlings into one of the many two inch diameter holes on the sides of the frame. "The idea comes from plants with air born roots like orchids or umbrella flowers, and the main goal, among other things, is to reduce the need for both water and eliminate the need for soil."

Ishane pointed out the roots hanging inside of the a frame. "The plants roots are misted with a nutrient rich solution daily to both water and feed the plants." She turned back fully to the headmaster and added, "It's been very popular with commercial growers for a couple of decades." She didn't think the headmaster would throw a fuss over more modern techniques, especially ones that had it's roots in older techniques, but it didn't hurt to talk it up a bit.

Herschel listened closely as Ishane explained the assignment, looking on to the closest group with interest as they worked on their projects. It sounded like a fascinating little project. Herschel had NEWTed in Herbology- getting an E on the exam- but had not used it very much once he left Hogwarts. (Apart from the odd bit of tutoring now and again.) Even so, the subject had always fascinated him.

"That all sounds very fascinating," he said. "Much different from the way we learned Herbology when I was in school. Of course, that was nearly fifty years ago- things changle a lot in half a century." Herschel chuckled at himself. Yes, fifty years ago many things about Hogwarts were different. Some for the better, and some for the worse. But he trusted that Professor Blair was a capable woman. She certainly seemed to be very experienced in this particular field, especially if she was teaching such an interesting growing technique.

"What types of plants are they able to grow in this manner?" he asked. Herschel recognized a couple of the plant breeds, but not all of them. "Or is it possible to be done no matter the type of plant in question?" He took a few steps closer to one of the groups, watching as they diligently worked on the project. It seemed they had a very good grasp of what they were doing with the plants, and juding from the healthy look of the leaves either had very green thumbs or had only just begun.

Ishane mentally sighed in relief at the headmaster's positive reaction. It didn't look like her classroom would turn into a battlefield like Tappy's had. She smiled at the headmaster, "I can imagine. Heck things can change almost overnight if a big breakthrough happens, even if it takes a while to trickle down for usage at the layman level."

"Most plants can be grown this way. In fact the only types that can't are one's that require being almost or completely submerged in water, like Gillyweed." She followed the headmaster as he stepped closer to one of the groups for a closer look. "Large plants or vines require support to grow properly which leads to a slightly different set up than the ones the students are using currently. Even growing trees are possible, though highly impractical for large scale growing operations."

She stepped up next to Herschel, "To be honest I find aeroponics to be one of the most fascinating of the alternate growing systems. It's been around officially since the 1940's, but most of the more interesting developments have come from this past decade with the biggest pushes coming from NASA and the organic movement. A lot of people in the field feel that techniques like this are our future, at least in food production. A great deal of our vegetables are already grown via aeroponics and hydroponics."

Herschel understood a lot about breakthroughs. When he was employed by the Department of Mysteries there seemed to be breakthroughs happening all of the time. Of course, just because their understanding of magic changed didn't mean it always trickled down. Many of the mysteries they solved would never be shared with the world as a whole. Often times you had to protect certain types of knowledge for the greater good of the world.

"Growing a tree without soil?" he questioned. That sounded incredibly odd. And as Ishane told him- quite impractical. "That sounds like it would be something fascinating to see and to watch, however impractical it might be." Herschel idly wondered whether or not anyone actually sat about and tried growing every different type of plant without any dirt. It certainly did clean up the subject quite a bit.

The professor lost Herschel, however, at the word NASA and ... organic movement? He blinked at her for a moment. They must be muggle things. He could see how this growing system she called aeroponics could benefit in the wizard world, even if its origins were questionable. "Is this something that is on the official NEWT from the ministry?" Herschel asked. "Or is it supplemental material you're padding into the course?" If it was supplemental, he hoped this long-term project would not be a total waste when they could be focusing on something more important.

 It was times like this she wished hadn't inherited her grandfather's prickly temper. 'Must not blow up at the headmaster. That will defiantly not get the headmaster on my side.' Ishane attempted to calm herself. The headmaster was only concerned about the students and their preparedness for their NEWTs, not questioning her teaching ability.

She took a deep breath before answering. "No it's not on the current NEWT so yes it is technically supplemental," She said slowly. "However, this is a class that students hopefully take for their future careers, and I and the previous professors have geared the classes around this focus through projects rather than instruction. A student who becomes an auror or a ministry official won't need to know this specifically no, but a student who has chosen a career in herbology, or perhaps even potions or healing, will find this subject invaluable."

"I'll admit I am giving preference to students who are choosing a plant based career," Ishane continued, "but I feel that they need far more instruction and experience from this class than those who are not." Ishane tried her best to keep her voice at a even tone and pace. She could not afford to offend her new boss, especially when he had been on her side so completely earlier this summer. "I can assure you Headmaster that I will not neglect what my students need to know for their NEWTs but as someone who is still part of the herbology industry, on top of being a professor, I feel it would be a professional failing to not let them experience everything the industry has to offer. Especially things that are becoming commonplace."

Ishane bit her lip after finishing her speech and hoped she did not come off to defensive, snippy, or rude. She was passionate about it yes, but she had given a lot of thought about moving away from the student plot project to a more specific, goal driven project plan.  And she felt that the students benefited from being taught this, even if it was to only expand their minds beyond the tried and true techniques of their ancestors.

Herschel nodded as Ishane defended her choice to teach the current task. He could understand her reasoning. "That is all well and good, Professor Blair, assuming you also prepare those who do not intend to obtain employment strictly in the field of Herbology. The class is useful even for those who do not intend to spend the rest of their lives in greenhouses." Herschel did not mean it as an insult- he had always enjoyed Herbology himself, but practical applications were equally important and useful.

"I trust that you won't leave anyone behind, and I can understand why you feel the way that you do- I have been in your shoes, Professor Blair, instructing at Hogwarts. It is very easy to prioritize those who will be going into your chosen field upon graduation. However, you must be very careful to strike the appropriate balance there. If only a handful of your students pass their NEWTs, and they just happen to be the ones who have received preferential treatment... well... it would not reflect well upon you, and I am certain that neither of us would like for that to happen."

"What will they be doing with the plants after they have grown them?" Herschel asked. "Assuming their attempts are successful, of course. Are you harvesting for anything in particular?"

Ishane relaxed slightly, glad that she had not angered her new boss. She nodded in acknowledgement of the headmaster's concerns. "I understand. I am making sure that I'm teaching the students what they need to know for both the NEWTs and their respective careers and I didn't mean to imply that I'm leaving anyone behind or neglecting their education because they have chosen a non-Herbology focused career.  It's just that students who are going into Herbology heavy careers require more information to succeed and therefore they get more class time devoted to that information."

She turned to watch the students as they worked, "It is a delicate balance, one that I imagine varies in every subject taught." She glanced back at the headmaster and then back to her students, " The easiest way I found to handle it was to use the information required for NEWTs as the core for the class and then ask the students what their career plans were. Though I wish I could teach everything, this way if something must be cut it won't be something that one of my students is required to know for their future."

She smiled at the headmaster, "Well that depends. I didn't assign a specific goal to the project beyond having to learn how to grow plants using a specific system, and the students picked their own plants so it's really up to them. Most of the seedlings I had available were food related because those are the easiest to grow, but there were also flowers and various magical and non magical herbs. They'll be getting access to fungi in one of their next projects."