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Class Roster

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Gloria Gibbon

+1

+2

Sonya Bennington

Alvis Norling

+1

+1

Amara Báthory

+1

+3

Gideon McElroy

Katy Bevans

Addison Rockwell

+1

+3

Erin Dark

+1

+1

Ambrose Pepper

+1

+3

Ayla Collins

Zoe Torret

Rose Holloway

Lua Taylor

Angie Lemon

Cyhirae Trishna

Casey O'Doherty

+1

+1

Moira McBoid

+1

+2

Kelvin Watkins

Naomi Foley

Winifred Oliver

+1

+1

Juni Zamperia

+1

+1

Nick Mensforth

Zeta Pepper

+1

+3

Connor Todd

Scribbled on the board above the head work bench

Come in and find a spot - any spot.  Get your things settled and take out a bit of parchment.  In two sentences only write why Herbology is important to you.

Deaglan McDonough sat perched on the corner of the work bench at the front of the class, watching quietly and patiently as the new students entered and selected their spots.  This would be the man's first encounter with the fourth years - a precarious year, perched somewhere between childhood and OWLs.  As a student, Deaglan had found these years amongst the most difficult.  As an adult, this was the age he most enjoyed working with.  A peculiar irony. 

Bergin, the tall wiry lurcher[1], lay curled up underneath the teacher's workbench.  He seemed to give little care to the incoming students; he only briefly fluttered one eye open before seeming to drift back to sleep. 

There were a few, subtle indications of the recent change in Herbology staffing.  Greenhouse 2 had been cleaned up some, organized.  The six students' benches were now bare and empty.  One large bin of peet and compost sat on the floor at one end of each bench while a large bin of dirt sat at the other end.  Stacks of empty, earthen trays  were piled on the middle of the benches.  The Pavee wizard's small, dome-topped vardo[2] was nestled between the front of Greenhouse 1 and the castle wall - just outside the castle's backdoor[3].

"Good morning," Deaglan offered as the students found their places.  "As you take your seats, please take a few minutes to answer the question on the board.  Once you have your answer, since we are all still but strangers, we'll start off with some brief introductions.  I am your new professor - Professor McDonough.  And, to answer the same question I've posed to you, Herbology is important to me because plants provide us the foundation of what we do and who we are.  They embody our spirits, our sustenance and, without them, we wouldn't do much of anything.  Yellowheart," he offered, pulling his long, yellow-hued wand from his pocket.  "Without that tree, this wand wouldn't be worth much of anything.  No matter what the core." 

Still perched on the desk, Deaglan turned to look at the first student, nodding his head encouragingly. 

1.	Bergin
2.	Deaglan's wagon
3.	Hogwarts map

Professor Longbottom had gone, that as much had been clear from the welcoming back feast the night the train had rolled back to Hogwarts. The new Professor was older, and Ambrose hadn't been able to get much of a measure of him until his arrival in the greenhouse that day. Now, his eyes took in everything from the dog to the man's handwriting on the board. It was a little welcoming - not that Longbottom hadn't been, but he didn't look like a bad wizard.

In two sentences, why was Herbology important to him? Hmm, Ambrose considered, eyes still busy taking in the faces of his classmates that morning and also the changes in the greenhouse. He smoothed out his parchment which had got squashed in his bag, Ambrose extracted a quill from his bag and contemplated two sentences. Herbology was important, because, well, it just was.

Herbology is important to me because Ambrose scrawled upon his parchment, always a good start to restate the question. because putting Devil's Snare in your salad is a really bad idea. He passed the feathers of his quill over his top lip and stared out of the window a moment. And because plants form potions which can be used to make us better when we are ill.

Looking up from his scribbling he realised the Professor was looking right at him, so he swallowed and glanced at his classmates, initially wondering if he had something on his nose again.

"Ambrose Pepper, Sir." He addressed the Professor, "Gryffindor. Uhm, do you want us to read what we've put?"

The crow's feet at the corners of the professors eyes wrinkled deeper as Deaglan smiled at the first youngster to speak up.  A Gryffindor - one of his charges - by the looks of the lad's robes.  Though, given the rumors and comments he'd encountered about the Lion's house, this must be one of the softer spoken Gryffs in the castle. 

"I would like you to answer the question," the man confirmed, dipping his chin slightly.  "You may use what you wrote as a guide.  If you absolutely must do so, you may read it from the paper.  But, I'd prefer you restate what you wrote.  Sometimes, the second telling of a story provides more insight than the first." 

He nodded, again, to encourage the young man. 

Casey's probation in Herbology had run its course. To think it was such a privilege to be back in the greenhouses with the rest of the class!

Already Casey could feel the familiar ills. The humidity under the greenhouse. The heavy stenches associated with plant growth making the back of his throat dry. And to add to the number of potential allergens in the room, dog.

Casey took a place at the workbench as far away from the dog as possible while being in around the middle of the greenhouse. No, not going to feed the hound at all indeed. Casey shrugged on his overcoat and cloth gloves for herbology. He couldn't use dragonhide or any leather on his skin. He took out a quill to write.

The one thing keeping this class from being as miserable as it could was the brief knowledge and rumor Casey knew of the shabby wizened old man at the professor bench. Deaglan McDonough was said to be a Traveler and a wand maker. It was the latter that interested Casey the most. What different materials McDonough used, what were the wands then like in personality and expertise. If wand woods or something ever became a topic in class, that would be the one time Casey would not have to feign interest in Herbology.

Such a genuine interest came during the professor's introduction when he displayed his wand. Yellowheart. Casey had never seen such a wood before, goldenrod like a grain more than the browns and reds of most woods. And McDonough said the wood was an important part of the wand.

Lowering his eyes from staring, Casey penned his lines.

Herbology is important for Ordinary Wizarding Levels. And to better Potions knowledge.

And that was that, he'd be dropping this class the moment fifth year was over, which was a small eternity away. Sakes Ambrose, do you need to be spoon fed instructions every minute of the day?

"Casey O'Doherty, professor. Slytherin. If you haven't seen my file yet," and what a file that had become with all the healer records and reprimands, "I will send you a fresh copy of the list of plants and such that bother my allergies the most. What does Yellowheart mean for your wand?" A second later he added "Sir" only out of the politeness expected from student to teacher, lest the school counselor be set upon Casey again for bad behavior in class.

Pepper nodded, glanced at his parchment and elaborated - trying not to look down to read it again. He could hear his classmates around him shuffling impatiently.

"Herbology is important to me because," Ambrose began, voice wavering and then firming as he restated, "plants are used to heal us. Its also important," Ambrose realised he'd written something a little silly about salad on his parchment, which this morning he didn't much feel like speaking aloud given the feeling in the room, "because plants can be used feed us and animals, and we wouldn't want to be poisoned."

Deflating slightly he let the parchment curl from his fingers and sank back a little on his stool, daring to look round, Casey being picked to speak next - the Slytherin's words sort of washing over him without entirely concentrating - something about allergies, the fourth years were rather used to it by now.

Winifred dragged her feet along as she went to Herbology. She wasn't horrible at it, but she didn't like it a whole lot. She didn't like getting dirty ad there was always dirt to be digging in and stuff like that. She just... it wasn't her thing. But it wasn't as complicated as casting spells or potions work.

She sat down with Ambrose, and listned as he explained why Herbology was important to him. Oh, that was a good answer!

"I'm Winifred Oliver!" she said. "But you already know that!" Deaglan had been the one to sell Winifred her first wand. She'd finally replaced it this year, and her wandwork had gotten much better now. "I'm a Hufflepuff," she added. Which was obvious to anyone who had ever met Winnie.

"And Herbology is important to me because... It's not as hard as other classes which means I usually pass the class!" Barely passing, but still, that was a good thing. Which was important to her considering how abysmal her grades usually were. "And yeah, the other stuff you guys said about food and everyting."

Herbology was a class that Addison enjoyed. She was saddened to hear that Professor Longbottom was no longer going to be teaching them. He was such an inspirational teacher! Of course, he wasn't the only one. Headmistress McGonagall was another inspiration. Despite these inspiring figures, that didn't necessarily mean that the new Herbology Professor was going to be mean. No, on the contrary, she definitely didn't think so.

That was Addison's immediate thought when she first entered the less messy greenhouse, and greeted Professor McDonough. Upon taking her seat, she smoothed out her skirt, very happy for the leggings that she constantly wore with it to keep herself warm. Taking out a piece of parchment, as the instructions on the board said, she contemplated what exactly to write. In TWO sentences! Bah, that was going to kill her.

With a short sigh, she thought about why she liked Herbology. Of course, it was one of the few classes that connected rather easily to a muggle counterpart. But, there was really no need to remind anyone that she was a muggleborn. They probably all knew by now anyway. In her normal neat handwriting, she began to write:

Addison Rockwell
5 January 2010

I enjoy the hands on approach to learning about the different species of plants and fungi. The different specimens that we study have other practical uses that I find intriguing.

After writing the two sentences, Addison had to stop herself. She could go on and on. Looking up from the parchment, she listened as Professor McDonough introduced himself as their new Professor. He proceeded to say why Herbology was important to him. Ambrose introduced himself next, followed by Casey and Winnie.

"I'm Addison Rockwell, sir, Ravenclaw," she introduced herself with a smile. "As for why  Herbology is important to me, well, I enjoy the hands on approach to learning in this class about the different plants and fungi. They often have intriguing practical uses."

Hogwarts seemed to change professors more often than it would socks. It was disconcerting—Amara was a habitual person. Or was she? The moment she entered the greenhouse, black ribbon pinned to her jacket, she scowled upon seeing the man. She didn't like old people... No, her experiences with the elders of her family haven't been at all pleasant. Old people had the advantage of age and experience, of knowing, when all these other sad little creatures - her colleagues - did not. She took a seat at the front, as usual, but something compelled her to sit in the middle, as opposed to a far corner.

At the least the greenhouse was a bit more organized. She listened patiently to the conversations around, trying very hard to keep her mind focused on the now, and not on what was lingering very close to the surface. She turned to look at Mister Pepper, curiosity in her eyes. And she huffed. This boy would not fare well in the real world if he did not grow up fast. She couldn't help but scowl at O'Doherty and his allergies and his complete lack of propriety. But when Miss Oliver opened her mouth, Amara rolled her eyes in her head, and for a flash second she had the ardent impulse to hex her mouth nonexistent. She was sure many would be grateful.

These were all children. Children. And she couldn't help notice that she wasn't anymore. And she felt constricted and irritated at being lumped together with them. She wondered how Hogwarts would look in flames... she smiled. Quickly getting back from her terrifying mind and into the classroom, she took her quill and put it n a bit of parchment.

Amara Ecaterina Báthory, Slytherin
5th of January, 2010

Plants are a fundamental part of life on Earth—they generate the oxygen and food that allow humans and other organisms to exist, ergo the study of Herbology is vital. Herbology can also take or grant life, either through its use in potions, or through the knowledge imparted in everyday life.

Her quill froze on the last word of her phrase. A messy spot of ink got sucked into the parchment, but she couldn't notice. No. Her mind was on the events the day after Yule. "-her body was thrown on the other lane-", "It was muggle London-", "-there wasn't much muggle medicine could've done for her-", "-it was too late." She heard the voice of the mediwizard spinning in her head, and her hand on the quill clamped and balled into a fist around the writing utensil. She thought they could've saved her, were she at St. Mungo's, or were their father home, or were she at home. Why was she not there?

Her hand kept squeezing around the quill, and it gave way with a loud crack and her slow descent into boiling rage was stalled. She slowly released the hand around the broken quill, and she mindlessly realized she had teared into her skin with her nails. She discarded the useless quill, then quickly put her hand into her lap and covered it with the other. Amara smiled before softly whispering her apologies to those closer to her.

And so it began. 

When the Slytherin, O'Doherty, spoke up, Deaglan turned towards the young man and shook his head.  "I have not read any of your files," Deaglan confirmed, dipping his head once in the young Slytherin's direction.  "You, Mr. O'Doherty are in complete control of the reputation you would like to foster." 

Turning towards Pepper as the young man finally spoke, the old Traveler grinned broadly.  "Very right, indeed!  Half of the nightshade family can send you crawling to the hospital ward.  The other half is delicious fried and served with toast.  A point for Gryffindor." 

Deaglan grinned and winked at the lad, pushing himself down off the corner of the teacher's workbench.  Who would have thought he'd be saying those words?  Him - awarding points!  The old man circled around the table and, with a flick of his wand, lowered the chalkboard down within reach. 

"Another point for Ravenclaw," he offered as Rockwell introduced herself and provided her answers.  He scribbled notes on the chalkboard as the class spoke.  "Indeed.  Hands on and practical.  And, thank you Ms. Oliver."  Though, he didn't exactly reward a point for the Hufflepuff's provided answers. 


Deaglan turned to face the class, again, his green eyes fixing on O'Doherty.  "To begin answering your question, allow me to ask one in return.  If I were to take a strand of unicorn hair and wave it around the room while muttering words, what do you think would happen?"  The man's gaze left the Slytherin and traveled across the room, inviting anyone to offer an answer.  "For those of you in Care of Magical Creatures, has moving any body part of a magical creature caused things to vanish, appear or explode?"

The man's gaze rested on one of the other young Slytherins who seemed frazzled.  "Blast ended skewts aside, of course," he added. 

And so the routine started all over again. When Moira came in she avoided the other students and with a glance at the board picked a chair in the back, as far away as she could get from the others. Coming back was always the most difficult part. She liked the solitary world she had grown up in, away from all but the two members of her family. Her immediate family anyway. Moira ached to go back.

Dutifully she wrote down her two sentences though paused when realizing they had to actually speak. Normally, she liked herbology. She didn't mind getting dirty and it was something you just learned and didn't have to reason about. When it came around to her Moira just sat there for a few moments, gaze fastened on the dog. Speaking to the dog and pretending the others were not there helped a little.

"Moira McBoid. Hufflepuff. Herbology is important because we must learn about the plants in order to co-exist with them. It also teaches us how to use them properly and how to be safe."

Alvis stayed quiet for the first chunk of the class, his confidence and security somewhat shaken by a passing glimpse of the wagon set up between Greenhouses. He understood that it belonged to their new teacher, but it brought up still-sour memories of the winter break, a man in ringing robes, enticing whispers and promises that couldn't be real...

No. No dwelling on that. Pay attention. What's the Professor asking about now?

...Wand cores? The man was going into wand lore?

Alvis sat up a bit straighter, his interest piqued. Wand-makers often a subject of of contention among their fellow artificers -- some, not all but some considered themselves to be auteurs in possession of knowledge arcane in every sense of the word, while a few of their comrades in item-crafting found them unbearably pretentious. As a result, they rarely mixed with the greater artificer community, and tricks of the trade were almost never exchanged outside the specialization. And to actually have a discussion about item-crafting of any sort in school...!

He couldn't help himself. His hand shot into the air.

"Sir! If it's anything like making an old broom, the core's how the magic get stored up but it's the wood that channels it proper. It's the same way it's able to carry water when the plant's alive. That's why the core doesn't do much if you wave it around on its own."

He grinned, his face shining with excitement as his grandfather's old words came rushing back. "Of course, they don't use cores for brooms much anymore. Can't mass-market them that way and enchantments get the same results for a decade or so, which is long enough for most. Besides, it's a tricky business matching 'em up right, and they tend to grow a personality, which most don't want from their mode of transportation. But if what you want is a solid flier that'll keep up and stay strong for a century or more, then you've got to get one hand-made with feathers in the heart. Phoenixes are no good -- too potent, they tend to catch fire -- but a normal bird's with the right resonance, like an eagle or a raven, means you're right as rain."

Alvis finally stopped for a full breath and realized, for the first time, that a number of his classmates were staring. He flushed bright red and cupped his hands over his mouth, wanting nothing more than to sink into the nearest pot and disappear.

"Um," he squeaked, the blush spreading all the way out to the tips of his ears. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ramble." What was it they were supposed to be doing? Yes, introductions, and the reasons for Herbology. He dragged the parchment closer and busied himself with it so he wouldn't have to look up. "I'm, uh. Alvis. A-Alvis Norling, Ravenclaw. Her, uh, I was just thinking that, well, Herbology's important because you've got to know your components. For potions and, um, for making...things, too."

Casey had half opened his mouth (which only afflicted his throat further) when Alvis burst into excited chatter. Casey broke eye contact with the professor to look across at the Ravenclaw.

"To distill what Norling said," Casey added after Alvis muttered into silence. He balked internally at the trivia of early brooms having cores like wands. That just seemed silly. Who would want to fly and fire spells off from crotch level?

"It's not a complete wand. All a unicorn hair will do for good is be a strong binding. Cores provide the magical potential to be channeled through a wand quality wood. Both wood and core are key components for a wand's personality and power. Even length, flexibility and design on the wood can effect the wand."

Something Gloria always wore in Herbology classes, whether or not the equipment was needed, was her own personal pair of puffy orange earmuffs clamped on either side of her head above her ears, the band back against her neck when not in use. You never knew when a mandrake improperly applied with not enough soil could poke its head into screeching range. At least, that's what he great aunt advised, and she nearly had a Chocolate Frog card commissed for a record number of survivals from the cries of grown mandrakes.

"Gloria Gibbon!" Gloria said for attendence from a spot between Winnie and Addison. Her lips bounced together in silent popping noises as she tried to think of something to do with Herbology that hadn't already been said. "At the very least, if you're stranded in the wilderness on an adventure its good to what know plants and fungi are safe and what's hazardous."

She heard a snapping sound and looked around, confused. Had someone stepped on a twig? It came from Amara's direction and Gloria noticed the silver haired Slytherin move her hands to her lap.

Gloria tried to imagine a hypotehtical of causing magic by accident in Creatures class. "If you tossed a Diricawl by the neck you might get it to vanish." The dodo looking birds could disappear at will. Though because of that Gloria knew they hadn't been a previous topic in class, unless they were there while disappeared.

As class continued Gloria dropped her voice to the whispered register of the gossip grapevine. "Hey Winnie, is that a new lipstick?" she said to her Hufflepuff neighbor. Winnie went through more makeup than Gloria ever did but she thought it made Winnie look nice. "Does something seem off about Amara?"

Gloria glanced back at the Slytherin for a brief moment. "Is she smiling strangely?" Her smile looked strained but then Amara didn't smile often. In fact, Gloria couldn't really think of the last time she had seen the icy Slytherin girl break from a stoic stony face.

Herbology wasn’t her favorite class, though that didn’t make her any less determined to do well. Her last term, she had done horribly during her last exam, and that had caused her grades to be much lower than they normally would have been. Juni wasn’t one for average grades, so when her father saw only A’s and E’s, he was surprised and worried. It was the only sign that really had shown how the death of her mother was affecting her, even if Juni was not one to dwell on it for long. That concern had bothered her—and this term, she was ready to improve. She had to exceed this quarter.

Juni wondered what the new professor was going to be like—he was old, that much was certain. She sat next to Winnie and beamed, though she gave Ambrose a polite smile in acknowledgement. It would be impolite to pretend like she didn’t even see him!

She pulled out a piece of parchment and quickly scribbled her answer.

 As he spoke about his wand, and pulled his out—Juni couldn’t help but glance down at her’s. It was brown and boring in comparison to his! Yellow was her favorite color, and immediately she felt a little bit of jealousy over such a minor detail.

“I’m Juni Zamperia. Ravenclaw.” She said stiffly,  trying not to look at the professor's super-cool yellow wand. It'd be rude if she stared! Juni had almost forgotten what she wrote down, and glanced at the parchment for reference, “Annnnd—Herbology is important because, well, it has a lot of uses! We use it for potions or even traps for security purposes.” Devil’s  Snare was what she had in mind.

"Excellent answer, Ms McBoid!"  Deaglan met the Hufflepuff's response with a broad grin and a slight, beckoning bow.  "Take a point for Hufflepuff."  He turned, again, towards the board and the young woman's two answers scribbled their way onto the board.

We Share A World and Must Coexist! Forest Groves Were The Original Magical Schools

Plants have healing properties Plants are used in potions Plants provide Nourishment It's good not to be poisoned Herbology is practical Herbology is versatile and useful We need to be safe

Herbology is easy

Deaglan's mention of wandcores was met with a variety of shuffles, seat-fidgets and murmurs as the topic piqued more than a few students' interest.  But, it was a young Ravenclaw who jumped to provide an answer and the wandmaker returned to his perch on the corner of his workbench. 

The lad's answer was a good one - accurate, if partial, and provided a proper segue to the core lesson for the fourth year's term.  "Excellent!  Excellent reasoning!" he declared, excitement in his voice, nodding as O'Doherty summarized.  "Your analogy of the plant material carrying magic like water is an apt and wise one and an accurate depiction of half of the answer.  Plants, especially tall trees, are beautifully designed to carry water hundreds of feet up - this ability is mimicked in the wood's ability to carry and channel the magic.  That is precisely the similarity between wands and old fashioned brooms." 

"But, there's more to it.  Especially with wands.  Hairs from the Dullahan[1] lie within the core of this wand.  Every type of plant, especially wood, resonates in a different way.   A flute carved from rosewood carries a sound distinct from oak, pine or maple but a flute carved from stone would be worthless.  Like in an instrument, the wood allows the witch or wizard to find harmony - or dissonance - with the raw core material within the wand.  The Yellowheart allows the energy in the core to be manageable and useable."

"Which, conveniently, brings us to today's lesson: trees.  What do you know about trees?"  Deaglan pointed with his wand towards his underlined contribution on the board: Forest Groves Were The Original Magical Schools. 

1.	The Dullahan - a malicious Irish mythical fairy; the traditional origin of the headless horseman and a bringer of death