Herbology Lesson One - Years 3-6

Third to sixth years. Selena didn't really know what to expect from this class. Her little helper boy Evan would be in it so that would be interesting. Hopefully they weren't too squeamish and wouldn't mind squeezing pus out of slug-like plants. That did sound worse when you put it that way, even to Selena, who wasn't disgusted by anything.

She stood at the front of the greenhouse like the queen she was, curiously waiting for her students. This would be fun.

Okay. Herbology. First Lesson. I can do this. Ryland thought as he walked around the many corridors to get to the greenhouses in which Herbology class was held. He'd never cared for muggle plants, let alone magical ones, but he wanted to keep his options open when it came time to see his Head of House for Career Advice.

Walking towards the classroom, or rather the greenhouse, he found a woman, Professor Skylar he assumed, and greeted her. "Hello Professor. I'm Ryland." he smiled and introduced himself before walking into the green space. He wasn't surprised that he was the first one, as he had basically ran out of the Great Hall during lunch to make sure he knew where he was going.

Herbology. Plants. Sounded boring. But she sort of liked Potions and you needed plants to make potions, so it was probably a good idea to register for the class. Before, because of the lack of teachers and, quite frankly, interest, she never had but Jennifer realised she needed to start thinking about her future and everything. This meant trying new stuff.

When she got to the greenhouse, she realised she was the second one there. That was stupid. It made her seem too eager. And Jennifer was doing pretty well pulling off the cool, not bothered thing. "Hi, Professor," she said tiredly, making her way into the classroom and finding a table away from the door and the front of the greenhouse. Now she just needed to wait for everyone else to turn up and the lesson to start.

After his first time in Herbology, Kynan had absolutely loved the subject. Learning about plants with magical powers was probably the most interesting thing he could find. Weirdly. It was a shame to see someone else teach the subject, though. He had enjoyed the lessons with Professor Henley. But, oh well, what could he do? Professor Henley was teaching Potions now, anyway. Maybe he'd like the new professor better. Maybe.

For once, Kynan decided to try and be early for class. So he left lunch early, carrying a few sandwiches to eat while walking down towards the greenhouses. When he arrived, he had already eaten all of his sandwiches and looked around. He was the third one to arrive, after Ryland and a Slytherin blonde which he did not know of. And then there was the Professor. He didn't really greet everyone, though. Kynan found a random spot, anywhere with sunlight and sat down.

"Good morning," Selena smiled at the nice, polite Gryffindor boy. He'd even introduced himself. She nodded at the Slytherin girl who walked in next and then the not-so-polite Gryffindor boy who ignored her. Never mind. He might turn out to be her most brilliant Herbology student, in which case it would be sort of okay.

Frowning because a few students weren't here yet, Selena decided to start the lesson anyway. They were probably all still in lunch and she wouldn't take points away this time, since it was the first lesson and everything. Not in a pushover sort of way.

"Good morning! I'm Professor Skylar, your new Herbology teacher!" She didn't want to talk too much about herself because it would consume time in the lesson and the students would find it boring. In the Greenhouses, it was about Herbology, not Selena. So straight into it. "Can anyone tell me what a bubotuber is?" It was okay if they didn't know. But if they did, great.

ooc - I was too excited to wait. You can act as if you've been here all along but you won't get points taken off or a detention if you roleplay being late.

Evan reached Greenhouse's entrance when he heard Professor Skylar introduced herself to the students. Then she asked the first question, answer for which Evan knew well. He was a teacher assistant after all. "It's a super disgusting plant. It's even nastier than Devil's Snare. It looks bad and smells bad," he answered. He probably looked really cool now: he came late like he didn't care, but still managed to answer the question without much thinking. He strolled casually to the table where Jennifer was sitting and took a seat next to her. "Hi Jen," he said to his friend.

Evan was late. Which she didn't mind, because it was only a few minutes. He still managed to answer her first question, though. It wasn't exactly what she'd been looking for. "Not quite, Mr Williams. It does look and smell quite bad, though," she said. No points to Ravenclaw. "And please try to watch your timekeeping in the future." Selena wasn't going to take points away or anything. First lesson. That would be mean. But no special treatment, not even for her classroom assistant.

"A Bubotuber is a magical plant which rather resembles a large, black slug." She murmured a spell and the covers on the two large plants fell off to reveal the hideous things. "I hope that none of you are too squeamish," she smiled, slightly excitedly, "because we are going to be squeezing the Bubotuber pus. The pus, when diluted, is a very useful treatment for acne and can also be used in certain magical medicines." So, basically, she was using her students for free labour. Hopefully, she wouldn't have any incidents. She loved the Bubotuber lessons.

Right, now on to the practicalities. "As you can probably see, on the plants there are large spots. What you have to do is squeeze the greenish-yellow pus that comes out into the buckets on your tables," Selena beamed. "So get started! If you need any help, tell me!"

ooc- Different characters will react differently. If you want yours to throw up, feel free. Drama

She smiled at Evan when he came in and sat down next to her and then turned her attention to the professor, who was introducing the plants and revealing them. Those were hideous. They seriously had to squeeze pus out of plants that looked like slugs? Jen had thought Herbology was going to be boring, but now it was simply her least favourite subject. She felt like vomiting at the sight. She didn't know what was going to happen when she got to the task.

After swallowing loudly, she plucked up the courage to grab a bucket and make her way towards the Bubotuber nearby. Then, with shaking hands, she squeezed one of the stinky, hairy spots and squeezed it. The pus that came out fell out into her bucket. This was the most disgusting thing she'd ever done in her life. And she felt sick, but managed to stay quite calm on the outside. Any moment now, though.

When Evan heard the Bubotuber question, he hoped it was just and abstract question with no connection to their current lesson. If he was a bit more religious he would even pray for that. Please be just random question, please be just random question! Because he knew exactly what Bubotuber was.

When Professor Skylar uncovered the plants, Evan's heart sunk. But he was prepared. With a wave of his wand Evan created a bubble around his head to prevent the terrible smell from reaching his nostrils. He also closely inspected his protective gloves before coming to these obnoxious plants, as he didn't want pus to make contact with his skin. He heard this thing was really dangerous.

Jennifer was already collecting pus when Evan walked to one of the Bubotubers. She looked calm. What a fortitude! Squeezing pus was probably the most unpleasant activity Evan had ever done before. He shut his eyes. Now he couldn't smell, he couldn't see, and the gloves preventing him from direct touch. I'm in Paris. Everything's fine. I'm looking at the Eiffel Tower and drinking a cup of nice tea. From time to time, however, Evan opened his eyes to make sure he didn't mess anything up.