[7th years, please post your entry and overview of your station.  5th years, please wait to post until Graham notes your arrival.  Thank you. Also, this thread takes place on Thursday.  I just don't pay attention to how numbers correspond with days of the week.  This has been corrected.]

January 8th,
4pm


Once again, Graham found himself at a clearing beside the lake.  This time it was not turned into his own magical forest, but rather kept as a clear open space.  He wanted to be able to keep an eye on everyone, this time.  Hopefully the fifth years would not manage to either drown, set fire to the area, throw objects at him or verbally abuse him with some false sense of righteous indignation.  Graham could only hope.

The seventh years were approaching, and Graham was curious to see what they might have managed.  He had tasked them to create or team up and decide upon a station by which they were to test the fifth years' practical knowledge.  He let them have their pick of his first and third greenhouses, and set no limit on how the tasks might be performed.  Except fire.  No fire was allowed.

His purple velvet throne was absent, replaced instead by a small lounge chair with a suspiciously opaque glass resting in the cupholder.  He stood beside it, parchment and quill in hand to take role and jot down just what they had in mind for the fifth years.  This would be quite exciting.

Matty was very excited about this particular assignment. He had never thought about becoming a teacher once graduated. His mind was still set on going into Ministry work but the project set in front of him had him giving it another thought, perhaps as a fall back career, after all the saying did go 'Those that can't, teach.' He didn't believe this was true of any of his Professors, especially Bombay but it was one of those long ago sayings that always stuck in your mind. He had made a decent tutor over the mid term craze before the holidays and figured he actually wouldn't be too bad at it.

As he approached the clearing where Bombay stood Matty gently lowered the dufflebag he had brought to class. With a flick of his wand he conjured up a small wooden table just large enough to hold all the plants he had brought with him. Matty had decided for his test he was going to focus on identifying danger. He didn't think it would be too challenging, as long as the fifth year he got partnered up with knew their stuff. In Herbology Matty believed being able to identify the possible dangers plants posed was very important. It was like knowing about deadly substances when brewing a potion. You had to know not only which ingredients were deadly but which ones turned deadly when brewed with others.

With a slight glance towards Bombay Matty, started to remove several pots from his duffelbag and place them on the table. There was a deep clay pot that had a large leafy plant sticking out. The leaves were spotted with small yellow pustules. To an experienced Herbologist, or even an attentative Fifth year, they would know that the plant was a Mandrake in it's adolescent phase. They would need to ask Matty for proper ear protection before replanting it.

The second pot contained a cluster of dried and almost dead looking sticks poking out of the soil. This one was going to be harder for one to identify. The plant was currently in it's dormant state and wouldn't bloom again until the spring. However even in it's dormant state it posed a threat if it wasn't identified properly. The dried up plant was easily identified by the purple vein that ran along the wood. Though dormant that purple vein still held a strong enough toxin that could paralyze anyone stupid enough to touch it without proper protection. It was a defense mechanism to keep animals or any other threats from harming it while in it's dormant phase. When in bloom the plant was even easier to identify. The large round leaves were unique to the plant and of course the large cluster of five petaled flowers helped, not to mention that when in full bloom the flowers had a vicious little mouth of fangs to trap it's prey. The Fanged Geranium posed a threat no matter what the season and his fifth year would have to know the precautions needed to repot this one into a larger pot to get it ready for spring.

Matty's final pot was a large square flower box that was covered in a cluster of blackened vines intertwined with vines of midnight blue. The small flower box needed pruning but unless the fifth year could properly identify what the two intermixed plants were they would be in a heap of trouble. The darker of the two vines should have been easy enough to identify as Devil's Snare while the second slightly lighter coloured vine was the completely harmless Flitterbloom. Using a spell such as Lumos Solem would allow the caster to direct sunlight and use it like a pruning tool to guide the Devil's Snare away from the Flitterbloom and separate the two plants so that the Devil's Snare could be safely repotted into a separate pot.

Now all Matty needed was a fifth year to test.

presentation | outfit

Waker poured over her note cards, keen brown gaze narrowing ever more as she raced line by line. The standard size, immaculately printed cards corresponded flawlessly with the Muggle-style science board she'd spent four hours putting together with Spell-o-Tape and Sticking Charms. But she was sure something was missing!

Just to the left of her poster board-- a presentation tool to which she was no stranger, having attended five years of primary school in the Muggle world-- was a tray table holding a several little vials of random, plant-derived ingredients and beakers of soil. There were neatly labeled, painfully organized in their arrangement, and the obvious brainchild of an Obsessive Compulsive. There was also a Flutterby Bush hanging from the top of the board, it rotund middle shaking, and its leaves scattering into the air like floral butterflies. In the fresh earth sat various other types of plants, each colorful and deceptively pretty, and another tray, full of tools and a pair of spotless gloves for Flutterby Pruning demonstration.

The fold-out board itself contained many a chart, from genetic squares, to growth cycle calendars, to basic facts and an essay on crossbreeds. (She'd made sure to choose one the professor had not marked up in red, lest the Fifth Years think her a fraud). Waker's favorite part of the presentation were not the eye-catching photographs of shrubbery in its natural habitat, but the flow chart she'd charmed to move like a pinwheel.

With little to do but suspiciously hover over her note cards, as if their script might grow feet and flee the scene, Waker took a few tentative steps in Matty Amherst's direction. She tried not to look overly interested, but was still curious about the competition collective collaboration of her peers. In an effort to appear nonchalant, she smoothed her skirt and fussed with her jumper.

Grace's day had been horrible thus far. And it seemed the degree of horribleness was just going to become greater. The DADA fiasco had sent it all spiraling out of control, even if the consoling she had received from Chance and Fauna had been a bittersweet reprieve.

The warm fuzzies from that encounter had been shortlived, as they had been informed of their detention with Professor Storm around lunchtime. Grace felt horrible about her friend's being punished because of her, even if they claimed one hundred times over that they would do it again for the cause.

Grace had very little time to dwell on how horrible her evening was bound to be, as the rest of her day wasn't even over yet. She had eaten sparingly at lunch and her stomach dropped even further as she thought about the Herbology class that she was now headed off to. She was grossly under prepared for the project that Bombay had assigned to them over break.

She had been so optimistic about it when he had originally given the assignment. She had been keeping meticulous notes on the plant that Bombay had tasked her to care for and Grace had planned on using said plant and notes for the project. Then, over the break, she had received a note from Bombay letting her know that her caretaker services would no longer be needed. It had been a retaliatory gesture on his part based on what had happened when she and Chance spied on him and Professor Levartian. Grace had messaged him back and tried to get him to see reason, but her letter had gone unanswered.

So Grace had found herself in need of a plan B. And when news of her mother's condition had come about, being worried about her schoolwork had drastically fallen down on her list of priorities.

Which meant that the usually studious and overachieving Grace was arriving to Herbology with absolutely nothing to put on display for the 5th years. Herbology was far and away one of her best subjects and she was always prepared and ready for everything having to do with the class. Now, she felt naked as the only thing she carried with her was her textbook and her notebook, which she clutched to her chest.

As Grace passed by where some of her fellow seventh years had already set up their stations, she felt her stomach go even more queasy with unease. She spotted Bombay standing beside a lounge chair up ahead made her way towards him. The walk seemed to take forever, but that was probably because she felt tortured to have to go and tell one of her favorite and most respected professors that she had nothing prepared.

Grace just hoped that he wouldn't be so disappointed that he refused to listen to her reasons why.

Finally before him, Grace hugged her books to her (for comfort) and raised her eyes to Bombay's face. She swallowed hard and managed to say, "Professor...I...uh....need to speak with you...." Anticipating his disappointment, she felt the need to add, "Please. If that's okay?"

Major projects were a secret love of Astrid, but then as a Ravenclaw you couldn’t say that would surprise anyone. Despite all the personal trouble, and the need to be involved in SAWS, Astrid had made lots of time to care for her Herbology project. Sure it wasn’t Divinations and didn’t come to her with such ease, or sparked as much interest as Care of Magical Creatures, but she put a lot of effort forth when it came to this class. As a seventh year she was determined to show her worth.

Finally it came the day to put her project to the test, and in a sense teach the other students. Astrid love to teach, she did tutor from time to time or, at least she did before her life became much more complicated than she had dreamed. SAWS had completely taken off and then the whole vision episode getting worse before it got better. Astrid still remained curious as to why the visions had gotten so strong this past year.

With all difficulties aside Astrid had focused on her assignment and was now ready to show it off. Astrid had found a spot making room on her table. There were five plants, none of them labelled. With paper before each one of them Astrid was putting the fifth years observation skills to the test. Astrid herself could identify these plants and name their effect with ease, she only hoped the fifth years could complete the task. It not only challenged their observation skills but their recollection of what had been taught. Astrid always felt that once out of school you would have to rely on these skills to know which plants were which.

Before her on the table was a Abyssinian shrivelfig, gillyweed, bubotuber, Alihosty, and a Flitterbloom. Astrid particularly was keen to see what people thought of the Flitterbloom and if it would be incorrectly categorized and name. In truth it was the wild card and tossed in to trick a few. If the fifth years weren’t careful she figured it would be incorrectly named. The Alihosty was also going to be interesting to see if each student would correctly guess its name. Had they encountered it much before? She hoped it was not to easy or two hard.

Astrid waited with baited breath for the first to try it. She had many sheets of parchment with spots to fill in the blanks. For anyone willing to take a shot she would hand over the piece of parchment. Each piece was charmed with anti-cheating charm, to make sure it was completely effective she had asked one of the professors to assist her with it. Astrid was able to perform the spell but it was best to have a professional make sure it was strong.

[Fifth years are now permitted to reply.]

The seventh years always managed to restore his hope in humanity.  As his students meandered out towards the area, Graham was pleased to see a couple of rather intricate displays.  He watched, the faintest smile lingering over his lips as they began to ready themselves as teachers. 

"Well done, Amherst," he said, laying a hand on the boy's shoulder briefly.  The fresh air, attentive students, and a project particularly dear to him in utilizing the mandrake--it was a combination that made Graham almost happy.  Of course, he also had a slight amorous feeling floating about him, but that was purely incidental, and fleeting once he turned serious thought toward it.  His jovial expressions of fraternity were rare, and Graham overlooked the oddity of his gesture.  Graham scribbled a few phrases down on his parchment and strolled over to Waker's booth.  Again, an exceptional booth.  While the diagram was a bit provocative, it was well put-together, as most of her work was.  "And Waker," he added, with a smile.  He jotted down another note, pleased by his Ravenclaw Head Girl. 

Then there was Grace.  He immediately turned away from the girl, his expression souring.  "I'm sorry, but you'll have to speak to me after class," he spoke, already planning a quick get away to escape from that situation as well. 

He rushed over to Astrid's set up, pleased to see her utilizing a variety of plants.  "Good job," he said, although not able to recapture his previous joy.  His Ravenclaws would have to carry the day through, sometimes they were what kept him going.  He was pleased to see the impressive turnout--even Amherst was a fine specimen of a Hufflepuff.  But Merlin, he loved Ravenclaw.

"Alright, the fifth years should be here soon.  Get ready!"

Amherst was a fine speciment for a Hufflepuff, but as Astrid approached, he was pleased to once again be proud of his house.  Merlin, he loved Ravenclaw.  He nodded in recognition, again scribbling with his quill as she set up.  This would be a fine start to the semester, indeed.

Callum hated Herbology. He could not wait until he took his OWLs and could pick and choose his classes. Herbology would not be one that he kept. Who the hell needed to know a damn thing about plants anyway? They weren't exactly useful. Well, he supposed they were important in potions, but he didn't really like potions much either. He liked wand based classes, and his electives were fun too. But this... this was crap.

And, naturally, they were going to be in class with the seventh years. Why did the professors always combine them? There was a reason they were in different years after all...

He approached, and peered at the seventh years who were gathered. He peered at the others in his year who were there, wondering what this was all about... No telling with Bombay. Who was one of his least favorite professors. He was just so... weird. Callum didn't like people who weren't normal. They were annoying. And Bombay was hardly a good influence on the Hogwarts student body.

Xavier approached the clearing with a sense of indifference that seemed to be a growing trait for him. Before the break he had actually enjoyed Herbology. There was something about getting his hands dirty that had been good, solid, and whole. He could really put himself into the work and delight in the reflection his marks gave upon that work. Despite all appearances Xavier was actually a good student, a dedicated one, an intelligent young man that had a promising future but all of that had been before the break.

Now, with his bandages covered with weather appropriate gloves, he joined the rest of his classmates watching the older students prepare their little tests. He felt a pang of loss over take him. He knew that had things not turned out the way they had he would have been overtaken by a sense of joy and excitement. An almost sick sense of pleasure for showing that he knew more than someone two years older than him. That sense of loss was almost tangible and it made him scowl harder.

Standing near Callum he watched and waited for further instructions. He felt sorry for whichever seventh year he got paired up with. While he wasn't going to perform any worse than he normally would have all the pleasure this sort of exercise would have brought was gone for him now much like many things in his life at the moment.

"I....can't wait until after class, Professor Bombay," she stammered out. She splayed her hands out before her, almost as if a silent peace offering. Or to show that she was truly empty in what she had brought to the class.

She bit her lower lip and realizing that her revelation about her lack of preparation was going to need to come out in a much more public light than she had anticipated, she called after him. "I...wanted to tell you that I don't have my project done for the lesson." She swallowed hard. Saying that she had failed at something was hard for Grace Eddy. Feeling as though she had disappointed someone who's opinion truly mattered to her was hard. All of what was happening in her home life was hard. All of it together was unbearably so. She knew what might make it easier but she couldn't bring herself to be that vulnerable in front of Professor Bombay and the rest of the class.

So Grace waited for the Herbology Professor to react and tried to keep from looking as anxious as she felt.

Four in afternoon and the day was, thankfully, already fading as Sasha trailed his fellow fifth years in their trek across the grounds towards the lake.  The cold that tried to bite through his thick, long robes hinted of the coming night but, despite the cold, it felt good to be outside.  It had been a long, trying day - more so than most.  The morning had started with that horrible debacle in Defense Against the Dark Arts when Sasha's spell had done more to Knight than he'd been expecting.  The Daily Prophet article had started really making its circuit during lunch and the day seemed to continue to chug on from there. 

Sasha seemed to be struggling to convince his new Hogwarts professors that the reputation he held before his suspension was the more fitting one.   It was a relief, then, to find himself in the classroom of a familiar professor and his head of house as well.  Knight was there when Sasha arrived and Sasha was careful to avoid looking at the Slytherin and gave him careful wide berth.  Luckily, Knight was likely nowhere near foolish enough to try an retaliation in this class. 

Keeping a good distance from Knight and Tawse, Sasha glanced around at the gathering of seventh years, glad to see a few of his fellow Ravenclaws. 

Peyton joined the rest of his year in the clearing curiously looking at the presentations the seventh years had put together. His eyes instantly drew to Grace Eddy who seemed to be having some kind of problem. He didn't really know the girl but he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She seemed to be the only one of her class that wasn't prepared for it. He wanted to offer her some kind of comfort. He supposed it was just residual guilt for having caught the snitch instead of her in their last Quidditch match. Otherwise he didn't think he would have any thoughts towards her.

He looked to his head of house. Bombay seemed to be a little grumpier than usual which was actually saying a lot for the tiny Herbology Professor. Peyton had been trying to keep in good graces with his head of house and wasn't about to call attention to the foul mood he seemed to be in. He wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that Grace wasn't prepared for the assignment that had been given to them.

As his cool grey blue eyes scanned the gathered students they lingered for a moment on his brother. Xavier hadn't said one word to him since they had come back to school which was definitely strange for the two of them. Although Xavier was more of the kind to speak with his fists rather than his mouth he hadn't even been doing that. They had no contact whatsoever and it was having an affect on Peyton that he wasn't really sure of how to react to. He felt guilty for Xavier's situation and oddly needed to make sure there wasn't something seriously wrong with him (aside from his broken hands)

"Don't just stand there like some flubberworm, get going!" he yelled as the fifth years began to herd together, "You must visit at least three of the stations.  You have the entire class period, now go!"  As they dispersed, Graham found he was still being followed by Miss Eddy.

He turned on her, suddenly, after her mention of the project.  He recovered the distance between them, his voice low and harsh.  "Then why are you wasting my time?  Perhaps you should talk to your head of house," he paused, mentally registering Myrni's image, "And remove yourself from the course if you think we're no longer worthy of your time."

 Though George had considered going in on Waker’s project as an easy way to skip by this lesson, as soon as he started considering a mini obstacle course… well, he left her to work on her Herbology lesson alone. On top of taking care of his year-long project for Herbology (and making sure the climate stayed appropriate), he had received permission to take over a small area of one of the greenhouses to create his project.

He came crawling out on his belly, elbows digging into the muddy ground through the low crawl, vines above his head, thoroughly dirty and red faced, but with a grin. The fifth years were all ready going about checking out the stations, but he had had to make a run through the course to make sure it was set up just right.

The mud dripped off his clothes as he moved himself back to the start, sitting down in his chair and waiting. He hadn’t made flyers for his area for two reasons. The first, he didn’t want to be bothered, and the second, it was fairly straight forward… You did the course, and you came out at the end because you knew what to do. Wiping his hands off on a towel, he loosened up his school tie and hooked an elbow over the back of his chair.

To start off, the fifth years were forced to hurtle over small (still teething) Fanged Geranium’s—it was just one row, though, and easily done. Once past that, they would be expected to head through the small shed set up, blackened windows to make it hard to see. Having borrowed some flutterby bush, he had lined the inside of the shed on either side of the ‘path,’ making it a bit spooky for someone just stepping in to feel shaking against them. Add some honking daffodil’s, and any person just stepping in might run out as quickly as possible.

Which led to the last course, the muddy crawl arena. Once out of the shed, there was a small, intact area of ground before George had set up the mud pit, a shallow moat surrounding it to try and keep the muddy dirt contained. With the use of wire and thick gloves (and still ending up with a couple of bites), George had managed to secure some Snargaluff amongst harmless vines, allowing for mild danger. One just had to not provoke it… which meant crawling through the small area on your belly (or hands and knees for a smaller fifth year).

The last thing George had set up was a lone Mimbulus Mimbletonia at the end, and in a location that was hard to not prod it (unless you were aware of the location). Not only would the fifth years be covered in mud, but unless they were lucky or were clued in prior to their jog through, they would also be squirted with Stinksap. Personally he thought it was a great little, fairly harmless, Herbology Obstacle course.

All in all, it took less than five minutes, even going slow. But it was fun and dirty, as evidenced by George’s almost unrecognizable uniform. Giving Waker a thumbs up, he waited for his first victim.

When he abruptly turned to face her, Grace nearly jumped back, still somewhat startled to see this side of her professor and to see it aimed at her. His verbal lashing felt especially brutal to her, causing Grace to feel as if she had been slapped.

For the briefest of moments, it looked as though Grace Eddy might burst into tears. But since that was such a rare expression on the Gryffindor's face, it probably went undetected. Almost as quickly, it was replaced by the more familiar look of determination and stubbornness.

Bombay would never know how much his rejection hurt her in the quick moment that it happened. But she was well aware of how deeply it burned into her heart.

"I want to be in this course," Grace blurted out, her brow furrowing and shadows passing over her face. She refused to add that she needed the course for her future career plans. Instead, she shifted her books in her arms and tried hard to keep from clenching and unclenching her jaw. "I just couldn't do this project! I don't need to talk to Professor Levartian," she bit out, making sure to emphasize the other professor's name so that he would know that she knew the reason why he was acting the way he was. Grace's temper flared and even though she tried to keep it in check, the stress of her day was just too much. "I am talking to you, Professor Bombay. Only you are being obtuse!"

Heeding Bombay's urgings Xavier moved to the closest booth if only to get away from the fight that crazy bruinette was trying to start with their Professor. If you didn't have your work done deal with it, no sense trying to argue with the Professor over it. Take responsible for your own in actions, she was a seventh year afterall she should know better.

Xavier soon found himself standing in front of the eldest Amherst. He knew that Mateo was somehow related to his dormmate Ferguson but didn't know the specifics of it. He had never done anything to get in Xavier's way and so the younger Slytherin had paid very little attention to him. He looked over his test and was actually impressed by the amount of detail and time that had been put into it.

Thankfully Xavier was able to identify all of the potted plants the seventh year had put forth for him. After listening to the instructions he nodded and only spoke to the older student to ask for a pair of earmuffs and dragon hide gloves. With the earmuffs in place Xavier ripped the adolescent mandrake from it's pot and hastily put it in the next one covering it with soil to stop it's incessant wailing. He took a quick glance around to see if anyone other than him and Amherst were in hearing range of the little creature. He figured the older man had ear plugs in or had put some sort of charm on himself since he wasn't wearing earmuffs and hadn't been affected by the plant's wails.

Next he pulled on the dragonhide gloves and carefully, tenderly removed the fanged geranium from it's tiny pot and put it in the new one to let it grow into a beautiful and deadly flower come spring. Seeing the purple veined stick made him think of the praise Dazmond had given him for being able to identify the plant in it's dormant state. He had been so overwhelmed by joy back then but that seemed like a lifetime ago now. After making sure the dormant plant was safe and secure he moved onto the third challenge Amherst had set forth.

He tilted his head to the side to try and figure out what exactly he was supposed to do. Mateo offered nothing in the form of specific instructions. He supposed that was the whole point of the exercise, if Amherst told him what to do it would be far too easy for him to get through. Xavier had always considered himself really good at Herbology, he had a natural knack for it but like many before him he didn't notice the slight colour difference between the Devil's Snare and the Flitterbloom. He put his hand forward to prod the bush of vines trying to get a reaction out of it. He instantly regretted his decision when the cluster of Devil's Snare swiftly wound themselves around his wrist contracting more and more as he fumbled with his left hand to try and find his wand within his robes.