Greenhouse 1
Tuesday, January 27th
7:55am
   
"Ouch!" Graham quickly withdrew his hand from the  snappish palm, examining the cut on his finger.   It'd heal soon, just a surface scratch.   He gave the palm a disapproving look, however, and put his gloves back  on.  The palm shuddered in response,  seeming playful as if it knew what was going to happen soon.  The palm it self had thrived under Graham's  care, over ten foot high, and its leaves were threatening to overtake the  greenhouse.  While he normally kept it in  a separate space, it was needed for today's lesson. 

Leaving it to set up the classroom, Graham wheeled the  chalkboard out of the supply room and into the greenhouse.  In the space of ten seconds, the palm's  branches were already reaching out, threatening to topple over a chair.  "No!" he spoke firmly, as if to an  inattentive puppy, "No chairs.   No."  It recoiled slightly,  as if suddenly disheartened.  "Oh  get over it," he muttered.  That was  the trouble with hybrids--no discipline.

The door creaked open as Graham wrote upon the chalkboard,  one eye upon his handwriting, the other upon the mischievous plant.  "Take a seat, please.  And get out your gloves.  This will be a hands-on lesson,  shortly," he called out.


Ethics of Herbology
1.Identify
2. Plan
3. Harvest
 

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Wiki article on plant mentioned

Herbology was one of Baxter's better classes. Not just because Graham Bombay was his own head of house- though that certainly helped, and Baxter did have a tendency to brown nose and inform his head of house if Ravenclaw kids were up to anything out of line- but because it wasn't heavy on the wands. Although Baxter did very well in all of his classes, he had to try harder in some than he had to in others. Herbology was one of those classes that wasn't as difficult to grasp, and it was a great way to get prepared for potions class and it even crossed with care of magical creatures sometimes.

Baxter eyed the plant warily, coming in as the professor chided it to leave the chairs alone. So he chose a seat off to the side, hoping to be out of the plant's reach for the day. (Although hands on lesson did not seem to be very supportive of his hopes to stay out of reach.)

The Ravenclaw boy found his gloves, and set them on top of the table, not pulling them on just yet. And he remained quiet. It was obvious Professor Bombay was already splitting his attentions, there was no reason to cause the man to split them any further.

As Erin noticed the plant try to topple the chairs, she smiled.  This was going to be a fun class.  She then noticed the title on the blackboard.  Ethics.   Erin could not hold back a small groan.  That meant frivolously getting into such trivial things as morality and right or wrong.  Erin knew they were important, but she would rather try to do something interesting.  After she heard the professor say that this would be a practical lesson, Erin perked up a little.  That meant that the professor would (hopefully) not drone on about..well anything really.  But ethical lectures were about as fun as looking at sand in the dessert.

In the meantime though, Erin was twirling her shovel around her finger and not really paying attention to her surroundings. 

A gentle chuckle snuck out of Naomi’s throat when she walked into the greenhouse and saw Bombay chiding a palm tree. An amused smile had already played across her face from the type of plant, it reminded her of more tropical and colorful plants, although, she had admittedly never seen the plant before—she just knew it was a palm.

Although she had never seen a palm tree misbehave either.

She strolled up to the tables with the other students, slid her gloves from her khaki robes, and started to whip her gloves over her hands and tug them into the gaps of her fingers. After Bombay finished speaking she pointed an empty leathered glove-finger at  the palm, “He havin’ a part in ‘dis?” She said with an amused coil.

"Herbology, bleh." Niko grimaced and entered the greenhouse. Herbology was his least favorite class by far. Not only was it really boring but the professor was a complete and total tosser.  It certainly didn't help that he was absolutely horrid at the subject.

He sank down into his seat and irritatedly pulled out his gloves. Dispite that Bombay had said that this would be a hands on lesson, looking at the board Niko had his doubts. "How can an ethics lesson be hands on anyway? A demonstration of what to do and not to do with handy diagrams and sad pictures? A display of abused mandrakes and how to tend to their ills? How to beat down a Fanged Geranium ethically?" Niko paused his mental rant, "Actually that last one sounds like fun."

Smirking, Nikolas ignored the rest of the class filtering in as he imagined himself beating down a large plant monster with nothing more than a pair of chopsticks and a roll of duct tape while a hot chick clung to his thigh.

Blake practically glided into  the greenhouse, for once not arriving to class right before the bell was slated to ring, and happy that they would not have to share their class with any fifth years. For the most part, Blake enjoyed the other students in his year, regardless of what house they were in. They managed to work well together and again, for the most part, were respectful of each other.

Seeing Baxter and Naomi, Blake hurried over to where they were sitting and saw what they were doing and what they were looking at. He instinctively followed their lead and pulled his gloves out of his bag and started to pull them on. Then he quipped, "Got live ones today, huh? Sounds like fun..."

Graham crossed the last 't' on the chalkboard, his chicken-scratched handwriting no better than usual.  He turned, glancing back with a smile to see one of his favorite Ravenclaws sitting prepped and eager to learn.  Perfect.  "Nothing to be afraid of," he spoke up, dusting his hands on his robes more out of habit than to get the chalk off his fingers.  He gave his favorite pupil a rare, teasing grin.  "He doesn't bite...hard," he ended, with an eye at the perpetually bored Erin Dark.  As more students began filing in, he stood back, admiring the eagerness that played across a few faces. 


"You bet," he answered Miss Foley, as he took a seat for himself.  A tendril of the palm gently curled around the arm of the chair, and Graham stroked it carefully, being sure to go in the direction of the spikes and not against.   When the excitable Mr. (Good) Knight showed up, Graham felt the need to put on brakes for the first time in a while. "Slow down, Mr. Knight.  Patience is key."  Perhaps it was the pronoun change from he to a 'live one,' but Graham slowly felt his more jaded, professorial side come out a little bit. 

Ayla slinked into Greenhouse 1 dusting snow off her cloak and tipping it off her boots. She let a small shiver run through her as her body got accustomed to the heat in the greenhouse. It was a lot more comfortable than the winter air and since she started wearing her uniform up to code the winter air started to feel a lot colder than normal. She settled into her seat purposely ignoring the trio up at the front. As much as she would have loved to sit with her best friend she wasn't too keen on the company he was with. She was still weary about Baxter and his thoughts on werewolves and as for Naomi, well she was a Slytherin to begin with and Ayla didn't much care for how friendly the girl was with Blake. So she was jealous, so what? Blake wasn't even her boyfriend yet so it wasn't like he could get mad at her for it.

She slipped off her cloak and pulled out her gloves. With the promise of a hands on lesson she refrained from putting her gloves on right away and instead busied herself with separating her hair into three sections and swiftly twisting it into a braid. It made her miss her short hair but no matter what she did her hair always grew back to this length. She made a mental note to yell at Lexus for it when she saw her cousin during the next Hogsmeade weekend.

Erin saw a couple more of her classmates walk into the greenhouse, but paid them no mind.  She was a woman with a purpose in life.  She suddenly felt the urge to respond to some greater power, something that would bring her to loftier goals and make her renown throughout the land.  And right now, that urge was telling her to go find pill-bugs.  The special brand of woodlouse was always such fun to play with, and Erin figured she would need something to keep her entertained during the lecture.  So doing, she started walking around the green house, looking for one of the crustaceans.  Seeing one, she picked it up with her shovel and it rolled into a ball.  Apparently this pill-bug was shy.  Getting out her gloves, she watched the pill bug roll up and unfurl a few times.  After all, playing with pill-bugs was serious business.

"Dark," he spoke firmly, calling the girl back to attention.  "Now, can anyone identify this specimen?" He spoke crisply, indicating the towering plant that took up the majority of the greenhouse.  Try not to look in your books."

He paused, walking between the rows with one watchful eye on the plant.  "What are its major characteristics, and why..." he paused, stressing the last word, "is it important."

---

Feel free to call out responses, no need for Graham to call on you first.  Also, the plant will function as an NPC.  Feel free to write its actions/responses within reason (as in pm first if anything major happens), if you do so please bold that portion of your text.  Thanks!

"It's a calamus rotang- also known as a Rattan Palm," Baxter answered. He was much better at classes that required memorization rather than a wand- and Herbology was certainly one of those classes. The Ravenclaw boy paused for a moment as he tried to recall what else he knew about the plant- particularly what Bombay had asked for. The professor was his head of house after all- it was important that Baxter impress him.

He gathered his thoughts before offering further information. "It has a base- kind of like bamboo- and long stems branch off of it. The stems of the leaves are different from normal plants. They face backward so that it can grow over other plants and scramble outward." Baxter watched as the plant shuddered at his description- almost like it had understood him. Quite creepy.

"Well done, Mr. Fox," Bombay replied, please at one of his brightest young Ravenclaws.  As a whole, the first year class was shaping up very well for his house.  Graham continued pacing, raising an eyebrow as the plant shuddered.  It so thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention. 


"The rattan palm also creates a resin that can be combined with other ingredients including belladona, to create a substance similar to dragons blood.  Now, in what way is it not like a Rattan Palm?"  He took a detour at the end of the row, walking sharply towards the plant.  Graham reached out his hand, palm up as if asking for a lady's hand.  The plant graciously acquiesced, lending a branch towards him.  "Sorry, dear," he muttered under his breath, before striking with his wand hand, severing it form its mother.  The plant recoiled, and again Graham muttered an apology. 

"Can anyone tell me," he stated firmly, returning towards the class, "What this leaf resembles?  Now what makes this Rattan Palm not a Rattan Palm?"  He placed the twig on the nearest student's desk. 

Naomi gave a wry smile at the moody plant, “It’s alive, for starters,” she crossed her arms, positive that non-wizarding palms did not recoil or object to having a twig snapped off of them, at least so animatedly; and was curious as to how Bombay got such a plant, and what on earth they were using their gloves for anyway. Not that she was being as antsy as the professor accused Blake as being, but she only found sitting around and answering questions entertaining for so long.

When the twig was put down on her desk, Naomi leaned over, arms still crossed and recognizing the leaf  with an arching eyebrow, “an’ ‘dat’s like belladonna,” definitely not like any palm she had seen, and when you visited the more tropical climates there were a lot of them. The Slytherin shifted a curious gaze to Bombay, “Whadyou do to eet?” The plant was definitely not just some silly result of an enchantment.

The youngest Dark child looked up when she heard her name called, and wondered why the professor seemed so upset about playing with a wood louse.  Not really being able to get a good look at it, she was happy when Naomi identified it for her.  Deciding that there might be some hope if this lesson involved poisons or something that she could use to strike back at her enemies, she wondered if there could be a saving grace to this lesson afterall.  She doubted it though, since though she was sure the DADA professor was tempted, it was against school policy to go around poisoning children.  Or at least, she hoped that was the case.

Still, as she was paying attention (however briefly), she asked what seemed to be the obvious question.

"Is it possible to graft the Belladona leaves into the palm?" she asked wondering if this was one of Bombay's pet projects.

The cheshire cat grin on Graham Bombay's face bared teeth that had been previously unseen for the past two years.  He nodded, pleased that Miss Foley had risen to his bait.  And the melodious chime of Erin Dark's voice as counterpoint made him grin even wider.


"Why yes, Miss Dark.  It is," he replied.  "Now," he snapped, turning back towards the rest of his class, "Why would anyone want to graft belladonna onto a rattan palm?"  He paused briefly before jumping back in, "And there in lay the ethics of dragonsblood.  We can harvest it from the source, or we can develop new sources for individual uses.  While it may not be as powerful as the real thing, it can still do quite a number."


"Has everyone got their gloves?  You'll be harvesting the resin today.  Be careful, grafting usually makes them a bit more mischievous than the natives.  Grab a small knife if you're not comfortable with using your wand--it can be a bit tricky as if you move closer to the trunk--and one of the resin glasses, and we'll begin."