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Hera · 01-11-2014, 02:52 PM

Seren had been eagerly awaiting the students' arrival, just so she could see their faces. Because it was pretty awesome, if she did say so herself. It was exactly the type of thing Derf would be able to appreciate too... she'd have to introduce one to him at a later date.

Taking a moment to brush some hair out of her eyes, she grinned down as the first students arrived.

SPOILER!!: Reponsessssss

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Adi stepped into the student Garden and his attention was immediately caught by the topiary animals. At once he grins. This was going to be an exciting lesson. He walked among them, admiring how real they looked except they were green. He paused in fromt of the owl and patted the turtle and horse. Was there a hippogriff around here?

His Hippogriff thought was interrupted as he spotted Professor Bentley, perched comfortably on an elephant's back. He grinned at her and waved. "Hello, Professor!'' he called to her. The greeting was hardly out of his mouth when the boy jumped as something brushed him around the ankles. Hurriedly looking down he sees its just a squirrel. Realisation dawned on him. They were enchanted to move! This was so cool! Adi pats the squirrel's head, a huge grin on his face.

The reactions didn't disappoint, especially Aditya's. "Hello Adi," she greeted from her perch, her grin growing as the Hufflepuff received a surprise from a cutesy squirrel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OnceUponAStar

Well, there was nothing like being to class on time. It gave you a sense of accomplishment, or a sense of loneliness being the only one around. The garden was vast with it's mysterious plants and exquisite topiaries that made you feel like they would come to life at any moment. Altair could of sworn that he saw the large giraffe's ear move. "That's odd," he said to himself. But, he didn't know if that was the best description because he actually found it quite beautiful. He hesitantly moved closer to the giraffe and then it took a step towards him. "Whoa!" he shouted. "You do move!" The giraffe bent his long neck down and lightly nudged Altair's cheek, making him giggle. "Well, hello there," he laughed as he patted the giraffe's head. "I already know I'm going to love this lesson!" He looked around him and noticed that there were other animals moving about to. It was extraordinary and he was wondering how it was all possible. Of course the answer was obvious, that being magic, but be was curious as to what magic was used. He continued to stroke the giraffe's neck as though he was the real thing. "I hope it's okay that I'm petting you," he said hesitantly, but the giraffe didn't seem to mind as he nudged Altair's cheek making him giggle once more.

And ooohhhh lookit! A new student! "Hellllooooo, and welcome to herbology!" she greeted with much enthusiasm as she watched the boy interact with the giraffe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom

While it still wasn't his favorite class, Herbology wasn't TOOOOOO bad. It was fun. You know, as fun as plants could be and all that jazz...

Today they were doing something with shrubs, apparently. Caleb took his seat and looked around at the animals, noticing how a few moved. He waved at Bentley who was seated on an elephant nearby. "Hey Professor!" he called.

The cavalier Snake dampened her mood, only slightly, as she watched him wave, apparently not phased by the awesomeness that was topiary. "Hello dear," she greeted with a nod.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

HERRRRBOLOGYYYYYYYYYY.

Here it was. Arguably Tobias' best class. The third year DEFINITELY had his smile with him today, and was at the student garden on time. Early, even. And when he reached the garden-

"Woaahhhhh..."

The boy was amazed. Magic was awesome, okay? And surprises were even awesomer. This Hufflepuff beamed at the sights around him and stepped up to... was it a squirrel? It looked like a squirrel. He knelt down and examined it closely, intrigued. Well, his attention has certainly been caught, he was ready for this lesson.

After he'd had his fill of staring at the topiary squirrel, and lightly touching it's leaves, Tobias stood back up and wandered in a bit. He encountered the Herbology professor and the topiary elephant at the same time (obviously) and beamed up at her.

"Hi Professor Bentley!" he called up, before reaching out to gently touch the elephant's trunk, almost like it was made of delicate china and he was afraid he'd break it. "These animals are brilliant!"

Enthusiasm. He had it.

She'd watched avidly as ~~one of her favourites~~Toby joined their ranks, examining the wonderful creations. "Hi Toby!" she returned the greeting, grinning ear to ear, "They are, aren't they?" That much was obvious, it even made her feel giddy and childlike inside.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga

Hmm was he in the right place? There were a few green houses, but he thought this was the right one. Bart wandered into the area and then stopped, "Is that an elephant? " Like it was a plant, but an animals this was so cool. "Can we ride the elephant?" because he was going to do it either way so if it was allowed that would make this process so much easier. Walking in further he was still looking at the elephant and not paying attention to where he was walking.

Smack

Onto the ground he went. Bart looked around to find what he tripped on and then he saw it hopping. IT WAS HOPPING.. Did they see it.. did they. "That is a frog.. It's a frog." Hello that was where Bart would be with his buddy the plant frog. Yep he followed it until it stopped moving. It so needed to hop again, but if it didn't he could just poke it a bit. "Hey Toad you have to see this." He pulled the frog from his robes and set him on top of the green plant frog.

Looking up he noticed a woman there was a woman on the elephant. "Hey can we ride that too?" Yes because Bart was planning on it, that or riding this frog one.

There were a few names that she had been quick to learn, particularly from her Lion mob, and Bart was one of them. The boy wreaked of trouble, innocent trouble, but trouble nonetheless. It pleased her that he was enthusiastic and thus far not breaking any rules...
"Bart," she nodded in greeting, grinning brightly. "In due time," she added. Not just yet, there was some work to be done first.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy

Errr, were there usually animals in Herbology class?

Blinking, Lux looked around curiously at all the wildlife around her before realizing that they looked to be made of plants..or something. She had never seen a leafy giraffe before in her life, and cautiously held her hand out towards it when it moved in closer.

Oooh, this was cool!

Seeing Christmas near her, she smiled at her friend. "Isn't this just awesome? I want a leafy giraffe!" Too bad she doubted her parents would let her have one at home even if they could make one for her.

And there was the professor on top of an elephant. "Hello, Professor! I'm Lux!" because she was new here, and introductions were nice.

There was another new face, one she didn't know... so it came as a relief to her when the girl introduced herself. "Lux, it's a pleasure to meet you... welcome to Herbology!" she greeted warmly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Expecto-Penguin

Kace made it to herbology on time. He was quite excited to see what the professor had in store for them this year. As he made his way to the classroom, he noticed that there were hedges. But they seemed to take the shape of animals. He saw an owl, a giraffe, an elephant and many more. He thought they were SO cool.

He saw the professor riding the elephant. He wanted to try and he was with Bart on this one. He went over to stand next to him. "Hey Professor!" Kace said giving her a friendly wave. "Yeah can we ride the elephant?" he asked the professor as well as Bart did.

He then caught a glimpse of an owl there as well. He walked over to it and gave it a quizzical look. "Hey there..." and then it MOVED. He jumped back and it almost like collided with his face. His heart was racing fast and he had to catch his breath.

"Hello Kace," Seren greeted as another Badger joined them, clearly as eager to have a ride as Bart and some of the others. "In time," she replied, in case he missed that part.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlytherinSistah

Cutty failed at Herbology. This was largely due to the fact that he was absent - almost entirely - the nurturing and gentle nature needed for Professor Bentley's, who Cutty happened to think was a bit craycray, more aware take on the subject. He could learn things about plants and the secundo had already, thanks to the professor and Tobias Tempus (who Cutty now began to think was full of it for telling him he was no star student in Herbology last year), but woe to the plant left entirely to Cutty's non-existence care.

And, speaking of Tempus, there he was ...

Kissing backside.

Which Cutty had a deep appreciation for himself if applied correctly.

Good job, Tempus! Good show! First, the Hufflepuff was all good-riddance about his grand-dad, then he set himself up for success in Quidditch and now here he was sucking up to all the right people! He could learn a lot of Tobias Tempus. Oh, yes, very much indeed. Cutty took a seat at a nearby vacant one where he could see the Professor and...The Topiary Menagerie!!!!!!! Herbology just got interesting and Cutty was already imagining the ways in which an army of blackberry thorn spider monkies might come in handy one day. You know, Herbology wasn't so bad. He even liked the teas they did last term. Salted Caramel Barty Crouch, Senior.

And would you lookit that, the Slytherin was gracing them with his presence. It was a shame he was not more ... enthusiastic... about herbology. But it wasn't for everybody.
"Cutty, it's good to see you," from allllll the way up here. Seren smiled brightly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riverlynn

If there was one thing Bay had learned from her two previous years at Hogwart's it was to expect the unexpected. Surprise, intrigue, and out of the box activities were a staple of the professors and nothing was every dull. So when she walked through the garden and found the Professor on the back of a bush-elephant-plant-thingy (Bushephant?) she smiled at the marvel before her. Again she was struck byjust how cool magic was. More surprise ensued when the Bushorse near her gave a whiney and pranced around her.

"Brilliant!"

Now that there were more students present, Seren had a difficult time keeping up with all the reactions and watching them interact with the topiary.. she did however manage to catch Bay's exclamation.

Yeah. It was rather brilliant. "Hello dear."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Presley Black

Okay, the plants class. Gwen was a little less excited for this class than she had been for the others. She had grown up in the steel jungle of NYC and moved from there to London. Nothing about that screamed "nature, come and greet me." Apparently it was a required class. She stepped into the garden, careful not to let any of the greenery touch her. Wait, was the professor sitting on an ELEPHANT? Granted it was made out of plants, but it seemed to be moving like an elephant would. Gwen took a deep breath. These people all knew magic. She was going to be okay, right? An important question popped into her mind. Did wizards ever die from anything other than natural causes? Could they be killed by say, a stampeding elephant? That was something she would have to find out right away.

"Heeellooooo! Welcome to Hebrology," Seren greeted the unfamiliar Claw face. The girl looked a bit stunned really, like deer in headlights... which struck her as odd. Topiary was nothing to be afraid of. Unless it was closing in on you from all sides and squishing you to death... not likely to happen right now though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saz Hale

Christmas smiled at Lux and said "Yeah it is awesome" Christmas spotted Professor Bentley sitting on an elephant and said "Good day Professor Bentley have a nice summer?"

And there was one of her Lions! and soon to be graduating too... so sad. "Hello Christmas, dear," Seren greeted with a small wave, "a wonderful summer thank you," she nodded.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireboltAvis88

Sander had wandered the school grounds trying to find where Herbology class was going to be held. Having not explored the school grounds, he was so far not having much luck until he saw some students heading down the grounds in the same direction. So Sander quickly followed behind them, hoping that they were indeed heading to the Herbology class and not to the Quidditch pitch...wherever that was.

He grinned when he saw the garden up ahead. He had seen one like this where the plants had been trimmed into topiary animals.

He wandered among the magnificent sculptures admiring each and every one of them. There was a unicorn, a dinosaur, yes even a dog.

But wait...what's this? Was there an adult sitting on one of the elephants? Sander squinted and walked towards the adult. She looked familiar and then it dawned on him that he had seen her sitting at the staff table. She had to be their Professor for the lesson today.

But was she stuck? Did she climb up there only to find that she didn't know how to get down? Cats did that all the time.

Sander approached the Professor, looked up and greeted her, "Hello Professor, my name is Sander. How is the view from up there? Do you need assistance getting down? he asked politely.

Again, new faces, new names... more things for her to remember. But at least he had been polite enough to introduce herself and not leave her hanging - for want of a better term. "It's a pleasure to meet you Sander," she greeted with a brilliant smile. "The view is a delight, and thank you... but I managed to get myself up here, I'll manage to get down." It wasn't this Professor's first rodeo. Nope.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emzily

Bahhhhhh, Herbology. Theo hated Herbology.

But he was here nonetheless, and he couldn't help but admire the topiary hedge things. If that was the subject of the lesson, then maybe it would be a good one. WOAH, WERE THEY MOVING? Not cool. Theo jumped a little when he saw them, and he kept his distance. "Hi, Professor Bentley." She was sat on top of an elephant. Hum... interesting.

And there was Theo... Seren almost felt sorry for him. Herbology, was very clearly not up his alley, but she was sure that what he was lacking in green thumbs, he made up in other subject areas - and quidditch too.
"Hellooo Theo!" she greeted with an almost regal wave.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PotterHeadforLife

So Herbology. Yeah. Astrid wasn't really the best student in this subject. but she really enjoyed the plants especially if they liked attacking and stuff. It only made the plants and the subject interesting, leaving the brunette wanting to learn more about stuff. The sixth year made her way to the greenhouse... but then... okay, they were there at the little garden. Student garden, she remembered. They were allowed to plant stuff in here, right? Awesome. She should schedule a visit here one day so that she could grow a plant and leave her mark here at Hogwarts. Sounded like a cool plan to her, so yeah. It will be in action sooooon.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAA. Astrid's eyes were all sparkling and wide. There were animals. She wasn't in the wrong class, was she? That was supposed to be Care of Magical Creatures... but the animals were topiary animals. It was still Herbology-related stuff, but it was a nice connection. Maybe there could be a joint class between Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures? That'd be nice.

Ahem. Right. The professor was right over there, sitting on the elephant topiary plant. LOL. Didn't think she'd be able to see her there, huh? Just LOL. "Good day, Professor!" Astrid greeted with a smile. "My name is Astrid. I'm new here." Just saying. Remember the name, okay? Okay. But then a random topiary plant came towards her. Looky! A giraffe. It was so tall. Merlin, it made the Slytherin feel awkward about her height. Ahem. Share some of your height, please, giraffe? Yeah?

"These are nice topiary animals, Professor." Could she keep one of them? Please? :3

New faces, new faces, new faces! ... Was it just her? Or had they had a jump in enrollment this year? .... Perhaps she'd check with Annie, it hadn't struck her until now.
"Astrid," Seren nodded, committing it to memory, "It's a pleasure to meet you, welcome to Herbology."

As for the topiary, yes, they were nice -- though she'd have thought a little bit better than nice. "I'm rather fond of them," she replied, settling for that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rosebub6200

Robin skipped to class,which was unusual for her because she was usually serious, but she couldn't help it. Her bag with supplies including gloves and parchment hit her thigh with every hop. This was going to be her favorite class, she knew it even before the student garden was in view. Stepping into the 'classroom' she took a breath. The air was fresh and lifted her spirits, it reminded her of her grandmas tea shop a bit, which is why she was so looking forward to it. She knew it would take her a while to catch up because she didn't have any background on this stuff, but she would definitely try her best.
She stepped closer to the amazing topiary animals, sighing in awe. How were they grown that high and healthy. The leaves looked thick with minerals and she couldn't even see any brown leaves. She jumped back in surprise when she realized the teacher was sitting on the elephant topiary. She jumped up and down waving and called to the teacher.
"Hello professor! Amazing topiary~ did you grow them yourself?"
She realized she let her excitement get control of her and stopped the jumping. Face red, she quickly bowed in the teacher's direction.
"S-sorry!My name is Robin, I'm really excited for your class!" She couldn't help but give another grin. This was going to be fun.

Again, the view she had was rather beneficial for observing the darling students. And one in particular caught her attention -- especially with all the jumping up and down and waving. She grinnnnnnned brightly, chuckling to herself. "I'd love to take credit, but no, I didn't create these masterpieces," she mused. She probably could have gotten away with saying that she did. Oh well.

Robin. Yeeeesss, one of her new Lions. It was a name she wouldn't forget. "I'm delighted to meet you, Robin," Seren replied, waving off the girls apology, there was no need for it. "Well I hope it lives up to your expectations, so pleased you could make it."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bumblebee

Herboooooooology!

Wooohoooo!

Silver was beyond thrilled to be here, this was her most anticipated class yet. As she mad her way to the lesson she glanced at the topiary animals soaking in all their magnificent glory!

With a huge smile on her face(that somehow matched her big fluffy hair) she noticed the Professor and waved.

I should have brought my camera!. She thought to herself, the camera is always absent when cool things happens.

Oh cool! Familiar faces, some more than others.

I'm so happy here! Silver thought to herself. *insert Silver internally dying of excitement here*

Another Lioness caught her attention, waving and smiling and the like. Seren returned the girls enthusiasm with her own wave, "Hello dear."

Quote:

Originally Posted by SweetPeea

Josette managed to find her way towards a beautiful garden by the greenhouses & her eyes lit up with amazement! There were plants in the shapes of animals! Not only that! The plant animals were MOVING! She'd never seen anything like it before back home! This was by far too cool of an opportunity for not to mention in her next letter to her father!

Her eyes were immediately drawn to a certain smaller collection of plant animals that looked like puppies! She gasped as they began to use their tiny bushy feet to run towards her! Clearly they wanted to play, so who was she to deny them this fun! Josette soon began to run around the gardens with the topiary puppies following not too far behind her & all she kept thinking about was how this school kept surprising her & more every day she's here!

The young Ravenclaw was new, obviously, because Seren had not had the pleasure of teaching her before... and she seemed preoccupied with the pups. Shame. Hello's would have to wait till later, as well as introductions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by feeheeheeny

Whooooaaaaa. "Especially cool decor today, professor," Sophie noted upon entering the student garden, a grin already on her face at the sight of all the topiary animals. She instinctively gravitated toward the turtle one, and in an attempt to use good judgment, she did not climb aboard it. But.. she really wanted to. But she liked Bentley and the class as a whole and thought Bentley liked her well enough, too, but she wasn't going to push her luck.

There were plenty of other students who were dumb enough to try to ride one without asking, she thought, so she would let them test those waters.

For now, Sophie settled for petting the turtle topiary, wondering what in the world they would be doing for the day's lesson. Whatever it was, Sophie was already way too excited. Where did the professor even get these?

The decor, hehe, "I'm thrilled you approve," Seren noted, greeting Sophie with a small wave and a knowing wink. It was perhaps evident by her own riding that they too would have the opportunity... just not yet, and Sophie was bright enough to realise that. Ravenclaws.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BriGranger1990

Bri walked down to the student garden for her first Herbology class. She wasn't sure about this class yes, she has never really cared for plants before, besides watering the ones in her home.

Her mouth dropped open when she saw all the animal- shaped bushes. They looked like they would move at any moment, the brunette smiled, they probably could move. She had to crane her head to look at some of them, and when she looked up at an elephant, she saw someone sitting on top of it. It was Professor Bentley, Bri recognized from the feast. She smiled up , and gave a little wave before calling, "Hello Professor Bentley! How are you?". Bri, then decided to roam around looking at all the different plants that were in the student garden, occasionally smiling at the other students and saying "Hello" to the ones she knew.

More new Badgers, there was about enough of them to form a modest army, no? Still, Seren greeted the girl with a complimentary bow of the head, "Hello, I'm well thank you... and apologies, what's you're name dear?" Names were nice, that way she wouldn't have to resort to rude finger pointing or oi you there's.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lislchen

First Herbology lesson of the term. And they weren't in the Greenhouses. Interesting. Also slightly discomforting. This wouldn't involve running around and picking flowers or anything, right? Or perform a rain dance.

Though, Professor Bentley didn't really seem the type to make them do either of those things so it was all good.

Actually, once Olly entered the student garden it became QUITE clear what it was they would be doing today. Well, or, discussing at least. What they would be DOING was a whole other question. The Hufflepuff sent a friendly nod the professor's way (would they get to sit on the animals too later?) before walking up closer to a topiary giraffe. She craned her neck slightly to see its face and regarded it in silence for a moment.

Could they be trained? Or were they merely animated to...do what exactly? Walk around? Why? How was that useful?

Olly received a small wave in response to her nod. It pleased her to see the girl engaging with the topiary... such wonderful things.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

There was only one thought going through the Gryffindor's mind as she made her way to Herbology. Whatever they were learning about...she wanted it to be man-eating. It was just a thing. After facing that Snargaluff last term she had a new appreciation for the kind. As she got closer though, she noted the lack of terrified screams and resigned herself to the fact that everyone would make it out of class with all their limbs in tact. Pffft.

What she didn't expect though was the topiary animals, the moving ones.

"Whoa...." Lex looked around the student garden at all the mundane animal cut outs. Nothing magical? Awww, but those were the most dangerous. It was only by luck that she actually spotted the Professor riding on the elephant, LUCK. "Hello Professor! How's the weather up there?" She always wanted to ask something like that but yeah, usually when height was involved she was in the sky as well or too busy watching the game.

"Are we going to ride these? If so, I calls dibs on the giant snake. I'm willing to negotiate other riders so long as they aren't pansies." Where was Alice? Did she hear her give the pansies warning? The girl did think Lex liked hanging with that bunch.

Haha! There she was! Her ~~Prefect~~Commander in Chief. Seren grinned, offering Lex a salute before replying. "The weather, is looking pretty good," she nodded. And ppppffftttt, it would be rude of her to ride the topiary without offering them the same opportunity. "You can, and you will... but we'll save that for the end of the lesson." They could have some free time, yeah, something like that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grrr..Meow

Bay walked into the class room and said hello to the professor "Good Morning Professor Bentley.. nice day isn't it" he beamed.

noticing Christmas was sitting with Cucumber he made his way over to them "Hey Christmas, hey Cucumber…I'm excited aren't you guys" he was very eager to learn.

This Lion, didn't seem to react at all!! ... how disappointing, she had been hoping to see some more open mouths or grinning or anything.
"Hello dear, it is a nice day," she agreed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

SMILES.

Ella was all smiles because hello, mini topiary garden! That'd been her favorite when she was younger and attending Hogwarts. She'd met Edric there! Right by the elephant topiary, of course. Good memory, that was. She'd been really sad when it'd disappeared from the grounds so to have something like that here now was really cool. The eighteen year old was excited by this, that was for sure.

"Hello, Professor!" She chirped as she navigated by students and topiaries alike, drawn to the elephant for reasons. "This is brilliant." Really it was. And hey, Tobias. Ella touched the other side of the trunk gently and grinned. "Elephants are my favorite."

...As if anyone didn't know.

And here came the Head Girl! "Hello Ella, dear," she greeted. She rather liked hearing how brilliant the topiary were, because agreed 100% and it was nice to know the students appreciated it as much as she. "It is brilliant, which is why I couldn't resist," she mused, sighing gently. Happy sighs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fanficfanatict

Herbology. Yeah, Ascanius could stomach this class. Bentley was a good professor, nice too look at and she didn't drone on about things for the fun of listening to her own voice. So he wasn't too cynical when he made his way down to the student gardens, even if the sculptures were a bit much.

He smiled at Professor Bentley, "Hello Professor...you look nice today," he noted casually before sitting down.

She did.

Ascanius. She still didn't know what to make of the Slytherin, but he was polite enough, perhaps even tooooo polite at times. Seren smiled, offering him a nod by way of greeting. She was a little disappointed he didn't pass comment on the topiary, they were far more interesting than her.
"Thank you... but rather, don't the topiary look exceptionally looovely?" Because they did.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

It was probably unacceptable to immediately start climbing all over the topiary, even if the professor was doing it. Professors were such strange creatures, and he wasn't willing to press his luck this early in the term. The RAvenclaw did do laps around the various topiaries to make sure he knew where the best handholds were.

Just for reference.

"Morning, Professor. Did you shape these yourself? You have an artistic eye." Yup. Flattery got you everywhere, especially if one wanted to climb a topiary later.

"Good morning, Mo," Seren replied, having observed the Captain do his rounds of the topiary... curious. "No, sadly I didn't... but I assure you my eye is artistic enough for this." Landscaping had been her thing for a while, so she was rather familiar with the skill.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goblinfrog

Raven walked into the very pleasant looking garden. She loved the garden. "Hello professor, good morning to you." Then she gasped at the sight of the topiaries. "How beautiful!" She exclaimed out loud. It was hard to pick a favorite.

And aawwww, wasn't this Ravenclaw just a daaarrrling, "Good morning to you too, dear!" Seren replied enthusiastically. Yesss.. it was all rather beautiful.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nanyjj

Leah was really looking forward to her first Herbology Lesson, as she was a bit of the nature type of person. She gasped at the beautiful topiary animals in the garden. Were they always there, or was it for today's lesson? Leah wondered.

"Hello, Professor Bentley. My name's Leah Abbott." Leah greeted the teacher with a smile and walked around the student garden to get a closer look at the animals before class started.

More new students, Badgers no less... Seren was beginning to think this was an invasion of sorts. Not an entirely unwelcome one, though perhaps she ought to keep an eye on Hadley. Was the woman scheming?

"Hello Leah, welcome to herbology," she greeted with a nod - thankful the girl had introduced herself first.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holmesian Feline

Herbology was a class he didn't mind, taught by a woman who was far more friendly then others on the staff. So Ben might have admitted he was actually looking forward to the lesson. He didn't have trouble in it and it kind of reminded him of the occasions with his mum in the backyard. Muggle-style gardening wasn't that much different from the wizarding type. Other than the rise in the danger range when dealing with the less than perfectly safe type of plants.

Making his way down to the ground floor and heading out to the greenhouses, Benjamin soon found himself at the Student Gardens. The location where the notice had said that the class was to be taking place today. He stepped inside to see a good number of students had already arrived and he had to glance at his watch to make sure he wasn't late. Nope...still on time. He noticed Adi and Bart and Alexa as those he was familiar with, offering a friendly smile as he took in the room.

"Hello Professor Bentley," he said, greeting his head of house as he spotted the woman upon the elephant topiary. Those were cool!

"Goooooood morning, Ben," she greeted atop her elephant. "Lovely day, don't you think?" He was a good Lion, one of those responsible and quiet types.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mell

Michael walked into the student garden almost on the heels of Ascanius Stark and he rolled his eyes at the older boy's obvious sucking up to the Professor. What a LOSER!!!

He still had the guy's drumstick in his bag which he needed to give back. But he would do that when he was good and ready and at an appropriate time.

"Hey Professor." He greeted the woman as he passed her. "Cool elephant." And no he wasn't sucking up, he was merely stating the obvious.

The elephant was cool.

"Morning Michael," Seren greeted the Lion as he passed, his comment about her elephant pleasing her to no end. "It is rather coooooool, isn't it." Yep, cool. That was the term.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HOPEendures

Hope had found that it was a piece of cake to locate this area for class than finding the other classrooms in general. it may have had something to do with the fact that it was outside, and really, finding a greenhouse wasn't all that complicated right? As she walked in she tilted her head to the left and then to the right. Topiaries? She admired them and shrugged. Okay. Upon a bigger one, maybe the biggest of all, was her professor. She smiled. "Hello, Professor." Introductions would have been better before hand. Sigh.

Another new face. Merlin. Seren had new names coming out of her ears now, and this one, didn't even introduce herself. Shame. "Hello dear, welcome to herbology," she greeted regardless.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LilFox06

Mitchell had an amused expression on his face as he looked around. This. Was different. Really different. Being from New York, he'd seen quite a few cool topiaries. He stepped up closer to one of them. Were they making these today? Because, he'd never admit it, but some of these did look pretty cool.

He was too busy checking out scenery that he didn't even notice the Professor on top of one of them.

AHA! One of her new faces, though for the life of her she couldn't remember his name. Not all that surprising considering how many she had to commit to memory this year.

Still.. she figured she ought to say, "Hellllooooooo down there!" She didn't startle him did she? Heh.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bubbles

There was the professor on a topiary elephant. There was a topiary squirrel. Topiary snake. Topiary turtle. What caught Beverly's eyes was the topiary owl. Aside from dragons, owls was on her top five favorite creatures.

Wandering into the garden she nodded politely at the professor, and gripped the strap of her bag tighter. There was already a handful of students here. She reminded herself it wasn't so bad. So far the lessons have been okay and the people weren't as bad as she'd first thought.

Walking pass the topiary turtle, she saw Train Boy (she needed to get his name soon) and sent him a shy little wave, then stood close to the topiary owl.

Raising herself on the balls of her feet, she reached up slowly and pet its beak. It felt odd, being topiary and all, but it was cool. She needed to get some of these for the manor gardens.

A new Slytherin girl? And again, no introductions? That was a shame, but perfectly understandable considering the wonderful distractions surrounding them. Seren returned the girls nod with a bright bright smile.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Govoni

Oh, wow.

Upon arriving to the student garden for the Herbo lesson, Vesper was hit with the urge to immediately pull her notebook and pencils. Topiary animals littered the area, and Ves had to stop and try to remember if they'd been here last term. They hadn't, right? Because she was sure she'd have been out here sketching them painstakingly (for hours, no doubt) if they had...

Since class hadn't started quite yet, the Ravenclaw went ahead and pulled her sketching supplies. The topiary cobra had to be her favorite...and she wandered closer to it, flipping to a clean page in her notebook as she went. It was the flower detailing on the tail that did it for her, she assumed. It had color...and she loved colors.

Not seeing the teacher (as she beelined for the cobra), Vesper settled down on the ground and began to draw. Of course, as she did this, she heard her classmates greeting Professor Bentley...So, the woman must have been around...but the lesson wasn't started just yet, right? So, Ves could draw for just a little bit...right?

She decided to start from the bottom and work her way up...choosing to sketch the tail first.

There was no greeting from Vesper, and frankly, Seren didn't think the girl had even noticed her - which wasn't a problem. The girls reactions were all the greeting she needed. Happy days.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saraie

Asher one loves herbology. It was one of his favorite subjects. And professor Bentley wasn't bad herself, yep. It had seemed so long since he had been the greenhouses or anything near it in forever. As he walked he noticed many new things. When he got closer to the student gardens he stopped right dead in front of a giant bushy snake. Hello.

Actually there were tons of other bushy giant animals. Trophy. What I was really called. He headed over it where the rest of the students were. But the Slytherin still didn't see Bentley that was until he seen someone else who spotted her on the elephant trophy. "Oh there you are Professor Bentley! Hello!" See anything interesting up here?

She really was beginning to feel like a child again, noticing Asher observe the topiary and then look around before exclaiming upon locating her. She waved, grinning. "Hello Asher," she greeted, "how's it going down there?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by SakuraMochi

Haruka could feel a bit of excitement welling up inside of her as she entered the greenhouse. She was rather fond of Herbology, although there was a bit of bias. Herbology had been her sister's favorite subject. Just the idea of magical plants had made her giddy. Haruka recalled how, after she'd returned from school for the summer, Sayaka would ask their father to bring the two girls to a woods somewhere, where she'd point out all of the plants she'd learned about to her father and sister. Sayaka enjoyed it so much, and Haruka was happy just from seeing her sister happy. She smiled solemnly at the memory.

Haruka shook those thoughts from her head as she approached a woman sitting on a topiary elephant. The professor. "Hello, I'm Haruka Kaze," she said up to the woman, smiling kindly. "I'm excited for class to begin." Then she got distracted when she noticed a leafy cat resting on a table, and she went over to see it.

Again, the conspiracy came to mind... but nevertheless, Seren smiled warmly at the new Hufflepuff, offering her a bow of the head in greeting. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Haruka. Welcome to herbology."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward Penguin

Ian walked into the garden and followed other students to the center where he saw the topiary animals. He stood there for a moment, holding his herbology gear while he watched. It was amazing. The problem was there was a snake. He hated, HATED snakes. He tried to figure out a way to avoid that particular one. It was huge and overshadowed everything else in his mind as it moved. The way it slithered along the ground around other students creeped him out and he just stood there transfixed and a little bit frightened.

And another one...

....

....

Only, this one seemed to be transfixed by the display. Aaaawwww, it was so nice to see students engaged in the art. She would have greeted him, but didn't want to startle the boy, he seemed to be deep in concentration, lost in thought.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

As she approached the gardens, Sophie paused and allowed her jaw to drop. Whoooa. Those were some cool creatures! Well, plants, but still...plant!creatures. Yup. Sophie eyed the plant!creatures as she entered the garden.

Where was the professor anyway?

Sophie looked around and stopped once again when noticed the woman on top of a huge elephant. COOL! "Hello, Professor!" she greeted. She waved from way down on the ground. "Think I can get up on that snake over there?"

She'd been watching, the whole time. And watching Sophie's jaw drop had delighted her to no end. Brilliant! Of course, she was found out, seeing as her secret hiding spot wasn't so secret, even if it wasn't easily noticeable.
"Hey Sophie," she waved, "I most certainly think you can," she agreed, before adding, "but not just yet, patience."

Quote:

Originally Posted by amadshade

Tora officially decided that this was one of the best Herbology classes ever. She wasn't great at Herbology, but plants that were animals that were enchanted to move? Yeah, this beat the tea lessons from last year. She grinned as she entered the gardens and soon spotted the Professor high up on an elephant. Would she get to ride a big plant too? Would she get to make her own?! And then ride it of course. If she rode the owl, would she be able to fly? She just had so many questions!

"Hello, Professor!" she called up as she walked closer to the elephant. "Do we get to create our own?" she asked, ready to lock and load and get a move on with this lesson. It certainly looked to be a fun one!

Tora's reaction was just as good as some others, the delight was evident on the girls face, and so Seren was pleaaaaased. "Hello dear," she replied brightly. The Ravenclaw raised a good question, one that hadn't been asked just yet. "Aaaawww, you don't want me to to ruin the surprise do you?" she asked playfully in return. Of course they would be!

Quote:

Originally Posted by carpediem

Caelen walked into the garden, standing on the edge and feeling rather bored already. Herbology. Soooo plants? That's what they were learning? No offense to the professor or anything, but it didn't sound rather interesting.

She wasn't totally hopeless, she had SOME knowledge of how to work with the flora stuff but it wasn't her best subject. Not that she would know, more like a guess.

And yes, the topiaries were rather cut, but she figured that this class wasn't going to be a funfest.

From her perch on the elephants back, Seren could see a rather unimpressed looking Claw... aawww, what was up her nostrils today? Huh?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScarletCharm104

Marigold skipped into the student garden and then stopped. THAT WAS A LARGE PLANT ANIMAL COMBINATION THINGY. She stared in awe at the elephant. PLaNT ANiMAl tHInG was STrAnGE. O.o

She gave a wave to the professor, though. "Hiya, Professor. How are you?" Grin.

Ha! Marigold appeared to be slightly taken aback by the topiary display, hehe. Seren, lips pursed in amusement offered the girl a small wave. "Excellllent my dear, and how're you?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabben

*Walking into the gardens Rom saw all the plant animals then jumped a little when they moved. Walking over to a spot away from the moving ones he set his bag down. Looking around he wondered where the professor was. When his eyes fell on to the elephant he couldn't help but smile.*
"Hello. A very noble steed professor."

A noble steed? Did she hear noble steeed? Peering down, Seren noticed the third year and smiled. "Well thank you, he issss rather noble," she agreed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemon

Of course she saw Bentley on the elephant's back over there, but there wasn't time to greet her. Instead, Alice just sent a cheerful smile and a wave her way as she made her way around the garden. She hadn't seen the topiary since... what, her second year? Were they the same ones? Merlin knew she'd been even more antisocial back then than she was now, and these shaped hedges had been her best friends.

But her favorite dragon didn't seem to be present today, so Alice headed for the cobra, since that was the next best thing. The flowers around it's tail really brightened it up in comparison to the other topiary, and she examined them, enthralled.

"Hey, professor? Can I climb one of these?" The giant snake was HERS, Lex.

And her Captain had arrived, Seren offered Alice a nod as the girl made her way around, observing. As she neared though, and the cobra caught the girls fancy, Seren beamed in amusement. "Yessss," she started, "in a short while." Patience was a virtue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DH Vixen

Herbology. Perhaps Lana hadn’t really given the subject the attention that it really deserved the past few years, but she didn’t completely dislike it. She did find it interesting and did enjoy it. She just wouldn’t say it was her ultimate favourite lesson. It was up there though and she always gave the class a chance when she attended the lesson.

Upon hearing that the lesson was in one of her favourite places, she was thrilled. The student garden always seemed to have a special place in her heart and any amount of time that she could spend there; she was overly content with. It was a pretty place after all.

As she approached the garden, she took a moment to take in what she saw before her. Now, that was different for sure. The last time she could remember seeing topiaries on school grounds, was back in her first year. Those were nice, but the ones she saw now kind of took her breath away. They were breathtakingly amazing in her eyes and she wanted to get a closer look at them. Rushing the rest of the way, she made a beeline for the turtle. It was so cute and wanted own of her own. Carefully, she reached out and petted it. She wasn’t completely sure how one approached enchanted topiaries and she didn’t want to offend them, in case they could be offended or something. The turtle didn’t seem to take an offense to her as she admired it more. It wasn’t as big as the others around, but she did find it adorable all the same. Next she ventured over toward the giraffe and the owl. They looked so lifelike and she wanted a closer look for sure. A part of her did want to climb on the back of the creatures, but held herself back from it for the time being.

Noticing the presence of the professor atop an elephant, she waves and smiled. ”Good day, Professor Bentley. Amazing topiaries!” Oh, she was so going to enjoy this lesson.

And here was another one of the seventh years... soon to be departing - how so very sad. "Hello Lana," she nodded, "they are rather amazing, I agree." Of course she agreed. She was completely and utterly biased.

Quote:

Originally Posted by McFeisty

Amelia’s eyes widened as she spotted the state of the student’s garden. What on earth had happened in here? The Topiaries were walking around? Was this a dream or a dream within a dream? This had to be a dream right?

Walking topiaries – and Professor Bentley was riding one like she was some kind of Hindu goddess using her vahana. She didn’t know – but she looked really neat up there all regal like.

“Hello Professor” she called up the moving elephant topiary and glanced around. Where they making topiaries today? Or learning to enchanted them? She couldn’t tell really…it was one or the other or a combination of neither.

"Mika! Hello dear!" Seren greeted, offering the girl a feminine wave from her spot. Such a good view. Suchhhh a good view.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverTiger

Heading out to the grounds for the first Herbology lesson of the term, Lily hadn’t known what to expect. She knew Herbology, she liked Herbology, but Hogwarts lessons rarely ended up being what she expected. The only guaranteed thing was that there would be plants involved, and seeing as she’d been directed toward the student gardens, that was likely. She just was prepared for plant-related situations that weren’t obvious, and as she’d turned the corner to go through the gate, she definitely knew that was happening. Moving topiaries weren’t obvious, but they were very Hogwarts. At least, they were definitely magical. She imagined it was possible they could have moving topiaries back home, anyway. It wasn’t completely unlikely, but it still felt very Hogwarts to her.

Anyway, she’d glanced around the group already gathered there, noting that Astrid and Mika were there, along with a lot of others, but let her attention go to the figure perched atop the leafy elephant first. “Hi Professor Bentley!,” she called up. “What made you decide to ride a topiary to class today?” It seemed like a logical question. Either that or she’d just decide to climb up there to see how many of them noticed her before she started the lesson, but she was choosing to believe the first option. Riding an elephant to a lesson would be kind of amazing anyway, although she’d much rather it be the topiary horse. She was more familiar with horses and how to ride them. Elephants had to be different, but that’s why it was interesting.

Lily's reaction had been an interesting one, and leave it to a Ravenclaw to question why she was sitting on a topiary elephant.... "Hey," she greeted before giving the girl a somewhat mischievous look, "why wouldn't I?" she asked, "best make the most of the opportunities we're presented with." Because honestly, who didn't want to ride a topiary elephant to class?

Figuring it was perhaps time to start the lesson... and also figuring they probably wouldn't take her seriously if she conducted it on top of an elephant, Seren motioned for the topiary to kneel to the ground so that she could descend. It was easy enough, sliiiippping from it's back and landing lithely on her feet, boots connecting comfortably with the grass.

"Welcome! Everyone! To the first herbology lesson of the year," yes, she was in high spirits, perhaps a little dramatic too. "For those of you who don't know me, I'm Professor Bentley," she announced, making eye contact with a number of the new faces in the crowd. "My rules are simple, wear gloves, don't eat, and be sensible... there's no need to risk your lives or the lives of your peers."

Now, on with the good stuff. "Before we begin, I'd like to answer a frequently asked question," in case anyone had missed it since arriving, "you will have the opportunity to interact more with the topiary, and ride them, once the lesson has been concluded, so please save your energy for then." Or risk losing points or being banned from riding them. Mmhhmm. There were consequences!

"Today, we're fortunate enough to have this marvelous collection of topiary, on loan, from the Wizarding Horticulturalists Aboricultual Organisation, it will remain here in the student garden till the end of the week after which it will sadly be returned." So yes, they should make the most of it while it was here, but sadly it would not last... which led into the next part of what she wanted to say, the actual lesson part. "However, this term we will be working on creating our own topiary masterpieces and looking at a number of aspects which need to be taken into consideration when working with such plants."

So..

"First thing's first... can anybody tell me what types of plants are most suitable for topiary work?"

"Generalisation, specifications and examples are all welcome."

In other words, discusss!

OOC: The lesson will continue in approx 24 hours.

01-11-2014, 02:52 PM	#53 (permalink)
Hera DMC Abraxan Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Perth, AU (GMT +8) Posts: 25,070 Hogwarts RPG Name: Jasper Hart First Year x10 x10	½ EagleBrain ♥ Creeperdoodle ♥ Raven Dor ♥ Berry ♥ ½ Team House Elf Seren had been eagerly awaiting the students' arrival, just so she could see their faces. Because it was pretty awesome, if she did say so herself. It was exactly the type of thing Derf would be able to appreciate too... she'd have to introduce one to him at a later date. Taking a moment to brush some hair out of her eyes, she grinned down as the first students arrived. SPOILER!!: Reponsessssss Quote: Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 Adi stepped into the student Garden and his attention was immediately caught by the topiary animals. At once he grins. This was going to be an exciting lesson. He walked among them, admiring how real they looked except they were green. He paused in fromt of the owl and patted the turtle and horse. Was there a hippogriff around here? His Hippogriff thought was interrupted as he spotted Professor Bentley, perched comfortably on an elephant's back. He grinned at her and waved. "Hello, Professor!'' he called to her. The greeting was hardly out of his mouth when the boy jumped as something brushed him around the ankles. Hurriedly looking down he sees its just a squirrel. Realisation dawned on him. They were enchanted to move! This was so cool! Adi pats the squirrel's head, a huge grin on his face. The reactions didn't disappoint, especially Aditya's. "Hello Adi," she greeted from her perch, her grin growing as the Hufflepuff received a surprise from a cutesy squirrel. Quote: Originally Posted by OnceUponAStar Well, there was nothing like being to class on time. It gave you a sense of accomplishment, or a sense of loneliness being the only one around. The garden was vast with it's mysterious plants and exquisite topiaries that made you feel like they would come to life at any moment. Altair could of sworn that he saw the large giraffe's ear move. "That's odd," he said to himself. But, he didn't know if that was the best description because he actually found it quite beautiful. He hesitantly moved closer to the giraffe and then it took a step towards him. "Whoa!" he shouted. "You do move!" The giraffe bent his long neck down and lightly nudged Altair's cheek, making him giggle. "Well, hello there," he laughed as he patted the giraffe's head. "I already know I'm going to love this lesson!" He looked around him and noticed that there were other animals moving about to. It was extraordinary and he was wondering how it was all possible. Of course the answer was obvious, that being magic, but be was curious as to what magic was used. He continued to stroke the giraffe's neck as though he was the real thing. "I hope it's okay that I'm petting you," he said hesitantly, but the giraffe didn't seem to mind as he nudged Altair's cheek making him giggle once more. And ooohhhh lookit! A new student! "Hellllooooo, and welcome to herbology!" she greeted with much enthusiasm as she watched the boy interact with the giraffe. Quote: Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom While it still wasn't his favorite class, Herbology wasn't TOOOOOO bad. It was fun. You know, as fun as plants could be and all that jazz... Today they were doing something with shrubs, apparently. Caleb took his seat and looked around at the animals, noticing how a few moved. He waved at Bentley who was seated on an elephant nearby. "Hey Professor!" he called. The cavalier Snake dampened her mood, only slightly, as she watched him wave, apparently not phased by the awesomeness that was topiary. "Hello dear," she greeted with a nod. Quote: Originally Posted by Felixir HERRRRBOLOGYYYYYYYYYY. Here it was. Arguably Tobias' best class. The third year DEFINITELY had his smile with him today, and was at the student garden on time. Early, even. And when he reached the garden- "Woaahhhhh..." The boy was amazed. Magic was awesome, okay? And surprises were even awesomer. This Hufflepuff beamed at the sights around him and stepped up to... was it a squirrel? It looked like a squirrel. He knelt down and examined it closely, intrigued. Well, his attention has certainly been caught, he was ready for this lesson. After he'd had his fill of staring at the topiary squirrel, and lightly touching it's leaves, Tobias stood back up and wandered in a bit. He encountered the Herbology professor and the topiary elephant at the same time (obviously) and beamed up at her. "Hi Professor Bentley!" he called up, before reaching out to gently touch the elephant's trunk, almost like it was made of delicate china and he was afraid he'd break it. "These animals are brilliant!" Enthusiasm. He had it. She'd watched avidly as ~~one of her favourites~~Toby joined their ranks, examining the wonderful creations. "Hi Toby!" she returned the greeting, grinning ear to ear, "They are, aren't they?" That much was obvious, it even made her feel giddy and childlike inside. Quote: Originally Posted by Bazinga Hmm was he in the right place? There were a few green houses, but he thought this was the right one. Bart wandered into the area and then stopped, "Is that an elephant? " Like it was a plant, but an animals this was so cool. "Can we ride the elephant?" because he was going to do it either way so if it was allowed that would make this process so much easier. Walking in further he was still looking at the elephant and not paying attention to where he was walking. Smack Onto the ground he went. Bart looked around to find what he tripped on and then he saw it hopping. IT WAS HOPPING.. Did they see it.. did they. "That is a frog.. It's a frog." Hello that was where Bart would be with his buddy the plant frog. Yep he followed it until it stopped moving. It so needed to hop again, but if it didn't he could just poke it a bit. "Hey Toad you have to see this." He pulled the frog from his robes and set him on top of the green plant frog. Looking up he noticed a woman there was a woman on the elephant. "Hey can we ride that too?" Yes because Bart was planning on it, that or riding this frog one. There were a few names that she had been quick to learn, particularly from her Lion mob, and Bart was one of them. The boy wreaked of trouble, innocent trouble, but trouble nonetheless. It pleased her that he was enthusiastic and thus far not breaking any rules... "Bart," she nodded in greeting, grinning brightly. "In due time," she added. Not just yet, there was some work to be done first. Quote: Originally Posted by Squishy Errr, were there usually animals in Herbology class? Blinking, Lux looked around curiously at all the wildlife around her before realizing that they looked to be made of plants..or something. She had never seen a leafy giraffe before in her life, and cautiously held her hand out towards it when it moved in closer. Oooh, this was cool! Seeing Christmas near her, she smiled at her friend. "Isn't this just awesome? I want a leafy giraffe!" Too bad she doubted her parents would let her have one at home even if they could make one for her. And there was the professor on top of an elephant. "Hello, Professor! I'm Lux!" because she was new here, and introductions were nice. There was another new face, one she didn't know... so it came as a relief to her when the girl introduced herself. "Lux, it's a pleasure to meet you... welcome to Herbology!" she greeted warmly. Quote: Originally Posted by Expecto-Penguin Kace made it to herbology on time. He was quite excited to see what the professor had in store for them this year. As he made his way to the classroom, he noticed that there were hedges. But they seemed to take the shape of animals. He saw an owl, a giraffe, an elephant and many more. He thought they were SO cool. He saw the professor riding the elephant. He wanted to try and he was with Bart on this one. He went over to stand next to him. "Hey Professor!" Kace said giving her a friendly wave. "Yeah can we ride the elephant?" he asked the professor as well as Bart did. He then caught a glimpse of an owl there as well. He walked over to it and gave it a quizzical look. "Hey there..." and then it MOVED. He jumped back and it almost like collided with his face. His heart was racing fast and he had to catch his breath. "Hello Kace," Seren greeted as another Badger joined them, clearly as eager to have a ride as Bart and some of the others. "In time," she replied, in case he missed that part. Quote: Originally Posted by SlytherinSistah Cutty failed at Herbology. This was largely due to the fact that he was absent - almost entirely - the nurturing and gentle nature needed for Professor Bentley's, who Cutty happened to think was a bit craycray, more aware take on the subject. He could learn things about plants and the secundo had already, thanks to the professor and Tobias Tempus (who Cutty now began to think was full of it for telling him he was no star student in Herbology last year), but woe to the plant left entirely to Cutty's non-existence care. And, speaking of Tempus, there he was ... Kissing backside. Which Cutty had a deep appreciation for himself if applied correctly. Good job, Tempus! Good show! First, the Hufflepuff was all good-riddance about his grand-dad, then he set himself up for success in Quidditch and now here he was sucking up to all the right people! He could learn a lot of Tobias Tempus. Oh, yes, very much indeed. Cutty took a seat at a nearby vacant one where he could see the Professor and...The Topiary Menagerie!!!!!!! Herbology just got interesting and Cutty was already imagining the ways in which an army of blackberry thorn spider monkies might come in handy one day. You know, Herbology wasn't so bad. He even liked the teas they did last term. Salted Caramel Barty Crouch, Senior. And would you lookit that, the Slytherin was gracing them with his presence. It was a shame he was not more ... enthusiastic... about herbology. But it wasn't for everybody. "Cutty, it's good to see you," from allllll the way up here. Seren smiled brightly. Quote: Originally Posted by Riverlynn If there was one thing Bay had learned from her two previous years at Hogwart's it was to expect the unexpected. Surprise, intrigue, and out of the box activities were a staple of the professors and nothing was every dull. So when she walked through the garden and found the Professor on the back of a bush-elephant-plant-thingy (Bushephant?) she smiled at the marvel before her. Again she was struck byjust how cool magic was. More surprise ensued when the Bushorse near her gave a whiney and pranced around her. "Brilliant!" Now that there were more students present, Seren had a difficult time keeping up with all the reactions and watching them interact with the topiary.. she did however manage to catch Bay's exclamation. Yeah. It was rather brilliant. "Hello dear." Quote: Originally Posted by Presley Black Okay, the plants class. Gwen was a little less excited for this class than she had been for the others. She had grown up in the steel jungle of NYC and moved from there to London. Nothing about that screamed "nature, come and greet me." Apparently it was a required class. She stepped into the garden, careful not to let any of the greenery touch her. Wait, was the professor sitting on an ELEPHANT? Granted it was made out of plants, but it seemed to be moving like an elephant would. Gwen took a deep breath. These people all knew magic. She was going to be okay, right? An important question popped into her mind. Did wizards ever die from anything other than natural causes? Could they be killed by say, a stampeding elephant? That was something she would have to find out right away. "Heeellooooo! Welcome to Hebrology," Seren greeted the unfamiliar Claw face. The girl looked a bit stunned really, like deer in headlights... which struck her as odd. Topiary was nothing to be afraid of. Unless it was closing in on you from all sides and squishing you to death... not likely to happen right now though. Quote: Originally Posted by Saz Hale Christmas smiled at Lux and said "Yeah it is awesome" Christmas spotted Professor Bentley sitting on an elephant and said "Good day Professor Bentley have a nice summer?" And there was one of her Lions! and soon to be graduating too... so sad. "Hello Christmas, dear," Seren greeted with a small wave, "a wonderful summer thank you," she nodded. Quote: Originally Posted by FireboltAvis88 Sander had wandered the school grounds trying to find where Herbology class was going to be held. Having not explored the school grounds, he was so far not having much luck until he saw some students heading down the grounds in the same direction. So Sander quickly followed behind them, hoping that they were indeed heading to the Herbology class and not to the Quidditch pitch...wherever that was. He grinned when he saw the garden up ahead. He had seen one like this where the plants had been trimmed into topiary animals. He wandered among the magnificent sculptures admiring each and every one of them. There was a unicorn, a dinosaur, yes even a dog. But wait...what's this? Was there an adult sitting on one of the elephants? Sander squinted and walked towards the adult. She looked familiar and then it dawned on him that he had seen her sitting at the staff table. She had to be their Professor for the lesson today. But was she stuck? Did she climb up there only to find that she didn't know how to get down? Cats did that all the time. Sander approached the Professor, looked up and greeted her, "Hello Professor, my name is Sander. How is the view from up there? Do you need assistance getting down? he asked politely. Again, new faces, new names... more things for her to remember. But at least he had been polite enough to introduce herself and not leave her hanging - for want of a better term. "It's a pleasure to meet you Sander," she greeted with a brilliant smile. "The view is a delight, and thank you... but I managed to get myself up here, I'll manage to get down." It wasn't this Professor's first rodeo. Nope. Quote: Originally Posted by Emzily Bahhhhhh, Herbology. Theo hated Herbology. But he was here nonetheless, and he couldn't help but admire the topiary hedge things. If that was the subject of the lesson, then maybe it would be a good one. WOAH, WERE THEY MOVING? Not cool. Theo jumped a little when he saw them, and he kept his distance. "Hi, Professor Bentley." She was sat on top of an elephant. Hum... interesting. And there was Theo... Seren almost felt sorry for him. Herbology, was very clearly not up his alley, but she was sure that what he was lacking in green thumbs, he made up in other subject areas - and quidditch too. "Hellooo Theo!" she greeted with an almost regal wave. Quote: Originally Posted by PotterHeadforLife So Herbology. Yeah. Astrid wasn't really the best student in this subject. but she really enjoyed the plants especially if they liked attacking and stuff. It only made the plants and the subject interesting, leaving the brunette wanting to learn more about stuff. The sixth year made her way to the greenhouse... but then... okay, they were there at the little garden. Student garden, she remembered. They were allowed to plant stuff in here, right? Awesome. She should schedule a visit here one day so that she could grow a plant and leave her mark here at Hogwarts. Sounded like a cool plan to her, so yeah. It will be in action sooooon. WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAA. Astrid's eyes were all sparkling and wide. There were animals. She wasn't in the wrong class, was she? That was supposed to be Care of Magical Creatures... but the animals were topiary animals. It was still Herbology-related stuff, but it was a nice connection. Maybe there could be a joint class between Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures? That'd be nice. Ahem. Right. The professor was right over there, sitting on the elephant topiary plant. LOL. Didn't think she'd be able to see her there, huh? Just LOL. "Good day, Professor!" Astrid greeted with a smile. "My name is Astrid. I'm new here." Just saying. Remember the name, okay? Okay. But then a random topiary plant came towards her. Looky! A giraffe. It was so tall. Merlin, it made the Slytherin feel awkward about her height. Ahem. Share some of your height, please, giraffe? Yeah? "These are nice topiary animals, Professor." Could she keep one of them? Please? :3 New faces, new faces, new faces! ... Was it just her? Or had they had a jump in enrollment this year? .... Perhaps she'd check with Annie, it hadn't struck her until now. "Astrid," Seren nodded, committing it to memory, "It's a pleasure to meet you, welcome to Herbology." As for the topiary, yes, they were nice -- though she'd have thought a little bit better than nice. "I'm rather fond of them," she replied, settling for that. Quote: Originally Posted by rosebub6200 Robin skipped to class,which was unusual for her because she was usually serious, but she couldn't help it. Her bag with supplies including gloves and parchment hit her thigh with every hop. This was going to be her favorite class, she knew it even before the student garden was in view. Stepping into the 'classroom' she took a breath. The air was fresh and lifted her spirits, it reminded her of her grandmas tea shop a bit, which is why she was so looking forward to it. She knew it would take her a while to catch up because she didn't have any background on this stuff, but she would definitely try her best. She stepped closer to the amazing topiary animals, sighing in awe. How were they grown that high and healthy. The leaves looked thick with minerals and she couldn't even see any brown leaves. She jumped back in surprise when she realized the teacher was sitting on the elephant topiary. She jumped up and down waving and called to the teacher. "Hello professor! Amazing topiary~ did you grow them yourself?" She realized she let her excitement get control of her and stopped the jumping. Face red, she quickly bowed in the teacher's direction. "S-sorry!My name is Robin, I'm really excited for your class!" She couldn't help but give another grin. This was going to be fun. Again, the view she had was rather beneficial for observing the darling students. And one in particular caught her attention -- especially with all the jumping up and down and waving. She grinnnnnnned brightly, chuckling to herself. "I'd love to take credit, but no, I didn't create these masterpieces," she mused. She probably could have gotten away with saying that she did. Oh well. Robin. Yeeeesss, one of her new Lions. It was a name she wouldn't forget. "I'm delighted to meet you, Robin," Seren replied, waving off the girls apology, there was no need for it. "Well I hope it lives up to your expectations, so pleased you could make it." Quote: Originally Posted by Bumblebee Herboooooooology! Wooohoooo! Silver was beyond thrilled to be here, this was her most anticipated class yet. As she mad her way to the lesson she glanced at the topiary animals soaking in all their magnificent glory! With a huge smile on her face(that somehow matched her big fluffy hair) she noticed the Professor and waved. I should have brought my camera!. She thought to herself, the camera is always absent when cool things happens. Oh cool! Familiar faces, some more than others. I'm so happy here! Silver thought to herself. insert Silver internally dying of excitement here Another Lioness caught her attention, waving and smiling and the like. Seren returned the girls enthusiasm with her own wave, "Hello dear." Quote: Originally Posted by SweetPeea Josette managed to find her way towards a beautiful garden by the greenhouses & her eyes lit up with amazement! There were plants in the shapes of animals! Not only that! The plant animals were MOVING! She'd never seen anything like it before back home! This was by far too cool of an opportunity for not to mention in her next letter to her father! Her eyes were immediately drawn to a certain smaller collection of plant animals that looked like puppies! She gasped as they began to use their tiny bushy feet to run towards her! Clearly they wanted to play, so who was she to deny them this fun! Josette soon began to run around the gardens with the topiary puppies following not too far behind her & all she kept thinking about was how this school kept surprising her & more every day she's here! The young Ravenclaw was new, obviously, because Seren had not had the pleasure of teaching her before... and she seemed preoccupied with the pups. Shame. Hello's would have to wait till later, as well as introductions. Quote: Originally Posted by feeheeheeny Whooooaaaaa. "Especially cool decor today, professor," Sophie noted upon entering the student garden, a grin already on her face at the sight of all the topiary animals. She instinctively gravitated toward the turtle one, and in an attempt to use good judgment, she did not climb aboard it. But.. she really wanted to. But she liked Bentley and the class as a whole and thought Bentley liked her well enough, too, but she wasn't going to push her luck. There were plenty of other students who were dumb enough to try to ride one without asking, she thought, so she would let them test those waters. For now, Sophie settled for petting the turtle topiary, wondering what in the world they would be doing for the day's lesson. Whatever it was, Sophie was already way too excited. Where did the professor even get these? The decor, hehe, "I'm thrilled you approve," Seren noted, greeting Sophie with a small wave and a knowing wink. It was perhaps evident by her own riding that they too would have the opportunity... just not yet, and Sophie was bright enough to realise that. Ravenclaws. Quote: Originally Posted by BriGranger1990 Bri walked down to the student garden for her first Herbology class. She wasn't sure about this class yes, she has never really cared for plants before, besides watering the ones in her home. Her mouth dropped open when she saw all the animal- shaped bushes. They looked like they would move at any moment, the brunette smiled, they probably could move. She had to crane her head to look at some of them, and when she looked up at an elephant, she saw someone sitting on top of it. It was Professor Bentley, Bri recognized from the feast. She smiled up , and gave a little wave before calling, "Hello Professor Bentley! How are you?". Bri, then decided to roam around looking at all the different plants that were in the student garden, occasionally smiling at the other students and saying "Hello" to the ones she knew. More new Badgers, there was about enough of them to form a modest army, no? Still, Seren greeted the girl with a complimentary bow of the head, "Hello, I'm well thank you... and apologies, what's you're name dear?" Names were nice, that way she wouldn't have to resort to rude finger pointing or oi you there's. Quote: Originally Posted by Lislchen First Herbology lesson of the term. And they weren't in the Greenhouses. Interesting. Also slightly discomforting. This wouldn't involve running around and picking flowers or anything, right? Or perform a rain dance. Though, Professor Bentley didn't really seem the type to make them do either of those things so it was all good. Actually, once Olly entered the student garden it became QUITE clear what it was they would be doing today. Well, or, discussing at least. What they would be DOING was a whole other question. The Hufflepuff sent a friendly nod the professor's way (would they get to sit on the animals too later?) before walking up closer to a topiary giraffe. She craned her neck slightly to see its face and regarded it in silence for a moment. Could they be trained? Or were they merely animated to...do what exactly? Walk around? Why? How was that useful? Olly received a small wave in response to her nod. It pleased her to see the girl engaging with the topiary... such wonderful things. Quote: Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo There was only one thought going through the Gryffindor's mind as she made her way to Herbology. Whatever they were learning about...she wanted it to be man-eating. It was just a thing. After facing that Snargaluff last term she had a new appreciation for the kind. As she got closer though, she noted the lack of terrified screams and resigned herself to the fact that everyone would make it out of class with all their limbs in tact. Pffft. What she didn't expect though was the topiary animals, the moving ones. "Whoa...." Lex looked around the student garden at all the mundane animal cut outs. Nothing magical? Awww, but those were the most dangerous. It was only by luck that she actually spotted the Professor riding on the elephant, LUCK. "Hello Professor! How's the weather up there?" She always wanted to ask something like that but yeah, usually when height was involved she was in the sky as well or too busy watching the game. "Are we going to ride these? If so, I calls dibs on the giant snake. I'm willing to negotiate other riders so long as they aren't pansies." Where was Alice? Did she hear her give the pansies warning? The girl did think Lex liked hanging with that bunch. Haha! There she was! Her ~~Prefect~~Commander in Chief. Seren grinned, offering Lex a salute before replying. "The weather, is looking pretty good," she nodded. And ppppffftttt, it would be rude of her to ride the topiary without offering them the same opportunity. "You can, and you will... but we'll save that for the end of the lesson." They could have some free time, yeah, something like that. Quote: Originally Posted by Grrr..Meow Bay walked into the class room and said hello to the professor "Good Morning Professor Bentley.. nice day isn't it" he beamed. noticing Christmas was sitting with Cucumber he made his way over to them "Hey Christmas, hey Cucumber…I'm excited aren't you guys" he was very eager to learn. This Lion, didn't seem to react at all!! ... how disappointing, she had been hoping to see some more open mouths or grinning or anything. "Hello dear, it is a nice day," she agreed. Quote: Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow SMILES. Ella was all smiles because hello, mini topiary garden! That'd been her favorite when she was younger and attending Hogwarts. She'd met Edric there! Right by the elephant topiary, of course. Good memory, that was. She'd been really sad when it'd disappeared from the grounds so to have something like that here now was really cool. The eighteen year old was excited by this, that was for sure. "Hello, Professor!" She chirped as she navigated by students and topiaries alike, drawn to the elephant for reasons. "This is brilliant." Really it was. And hey, Tobias. Ella touched the other side of the trunk gently and grinned. "Elephants are my favorite." ...As if anyone didn't know. And here came the Head Girl! "Hello Ella, dear," she greeted. She rather liked hearing how brilliant the topiary were, because agreed 100% and it was nice to know the students appreciated it as much as she. "It is brilliant, which is why I couldn't resist," she mused, sighing gently. Happy sighs. Quote: Originally Posted by fanficfanatict Herbology. Yeah, Ascanius could stomach this class. Bentley was a good professor, nice too look at and she didn't drone on about things for the fun of listening to her own voice. So he wasn't too cynical when he made his way down to the student gardens, even if the sculptures were a bit much. He smiled at Professor Bentley, "Hello Professor...you look nice today," he noted casually before sitting down. She did. Ascanius. She still didn't know what to make of the Slytherin, but he was polite enough, perhaps even tooooo polite at times. Seren smiled, offering him a nod by way of greeting. She was a little disappointed he didn't pass comment on the topiary, they were far more interesting than her. "Thank you... but rather, don't the topiary look exceptionally looovely?" Because they did. Quote: Originally Posted by Cassirin It was probably unacceptable to immediately start climbing all over the topiary, even if the professor was doing it. Professors were such strange creatures, and he wasn't willing to press his luck this early in the term. The RAvenclaw did do laps around the various topiaries to make sure he knew where the best handholds were. Just for reference. "Morning, Professor. Did you shape these yourself? You have an artistic eye." Yup. Flattery got you everywhere, especially if one wanted to climb a topiary later. "Good morning, Mo," Seren replied, having observed the Captain do his rounds of the topiary... curious. "No, sadly I didn't... but I assure you my eye is artistic enough for this." Landscaping had been her thing for a while, so she was rather familiar with the skill. Quote: Originally Posted by Goblinfrog Raven walked into the very pleasant looking garden. She loved the garden. "Hello professor, good morning to you." Then she gasped at the sight of the topiaries. "How beautiful!" She exclaimed out loud. It was hard to pick a favorite. And aawwww, wasn't this Ravenclaw just a daaarrrling, "Good morning to you too, dear!" Seren replied enthusiastically. Yesss.. it was all rather beautiful. Quote: Originally Posted by nanyjj Leah was really looking forward to her first Herbology Lesson, as she was a bit of the nature type of person. She gasped at the beautiful topiary animals in the garden. Were they always there, or was it for today's lesson? Leah wondered. "Hello, Professor Bentley. My name's Leah Abbott." Leah greeted the teacher with a smile and walked around the student garden to get a closer look at the animals before class started. More new students, Badgers no less... Seren was beginning to think this was an invasion of sorts. Not an entirely unwelcome one, though perhaps she ought to keep an eye on Hadley. Was the woman scheming? "Hello Leah, welcome to herbology," she greeted with a nod - thankful the girl had introduced herself first. Quote: Originally Posted by Holmesian Feline Herbology was a class he didn't mind, taught by a woman who was far more friendly then others on the staff. So Ben might have admitted he was actually looking forward to the lesson. He didn't have trouble in it and it kind of reminded him of the occasions with his mum in the backyard. Muggle-style gardening wasn't that much different from the wizarding type. Other than the rise in the danger range when dealing with the less than perfectly safe type of plants. Making his way down to the ground floor and heading out to the greenhouses, Benjamin soon found himself at the Student Gardens. The location where the notice had said that the class was to be taking place today. He stepped inside to see a good number of students had already arrived and he had to glance at his watch to make sure he wasn't late. Nope...still on time. He noticed Adi and Bart and Alexa as those he was familiar with, offering a friendly smile as he took in the room. "Hello Professor Bentley," he said, greeting his head of house as he spotted the woman upon the elephant topiary. Those were cool! "Goooooood morning, Ben," she greeted atop her elephant. "Lovely day, don't you think?" He was a good Lion, one of those responsible and quiet types. Quote: Originally Posted by Mell Michael walked into the student garden almost on the heels of Ascanius Stark and he rolled his eyes at the older boy's obvious sucking up to the Professor. What a LOSER!!! He still had the guy's drumstick in his bag which he needed to give back. But he would do that when he was good and ready and at an appropriate time. "Hey Professor." He greeted the woman as he passed her. "Cool elephant." And no he wasn't sucking up, he was merely stating the obvious. The elephant was cool. "Morning Michael," Seren greeted the Lion as he passed, his comment about her elephant pleasing her to no end. "It is rather coooooool, isn't it." Yep, cool. That was the term. Quote: Originally Posted by HOPEendures Hope had found that it was a piece of cake to locate this area for class than finding the other classrooms in general. it may have had something to do with the fact that it was outside, and really, finding a greenhouse wasn't all that complicated right? As she walked in she tilted her head to the left and then to the right. Topiaries? She admired them and shrugged. Okay. Upon a bigger one, maybe the biggest of all, was her professor. She smiled. "Hello, Professor." Introductions would have been better before hand. Sigh. Another new face. Merlin. Seren had new names coming out of her ears now, and this one, didn't even introduce herself. Shame. "Hello dear, welcome to herbology," she greeted regardless. Quote: Originally Posted by LilFox06 Mitchell had an amused expression on his face as he looked around. This. Was different. Really different. Being from New York, he'd seen quite a few cool topiaries. He stepped up closer to one of them. Were they making these today? Because, he'd never admit it, but some of these did look pretty cool. He was too busy checking out scenery that he didn't even notice the Professor on top of one of them. AHA! One of her new faces, though for the life of her she couldn't remember his name. Not all that surprising considering how many she had to commit to memory this year. Still.. she figured she ought to say, "Hellllooooooo down there!" She didn't startle him did she? Heh. Quote: Originally Posted by Bubbles There was the professor on a topiary elephant. There was a topiary squirrel. Topiary snake. Topiary turtle. What caught Beverly's eyes was the topiary owl. Aside from dragons, owls was on her top five favorite creatures. Wandering into the garden she nodded politely at the professor, and gripped the strap of her bag tighter. There was already a handful of students here. She reminded herself it wasn't so bad. So far the lessons have been okay and the people weren't as bad as she'd first thought. Walking pass the topiary turtle, she saw Train Boy (she needed to get his name soon) and sent him a shy little wave, then stood close to the topiary owl. Raising herself on the balls of her feet, she reached up slowly and pet its beak. It felt odd, being topiary and all, but it was cool. She needed to get some of these for the manor gardens. A new Slytherin girl? And again, no introductions? That was a shame, but perfectly understandable considering the wonderful distractions surrounding them. Seren returned the girls nod with a bright bright smile. Quote: Originally Posted by Govoni Oh, wow. Upon arriving to the student garden for the Herbo lesson, Vesper was hit with the urge to immediately pull her notebook and pencils. Topiary animals littered the area, and Ves had to stop and try to remember if they'd been here last term. They hadn't, right? Because she was sure she'd have been out here sketching them painstakingly (for hours, no doubt) if they had... Since class hadn't started quite yet, the Ravenclaw went ahead and pulled her sketching supplies. The topiary cobra had to be her favorite...and she wandered closer to it, flipping to a clean page in her notebook as she went. It was the flower detailing on the tail that did it for her, she assumed. It had color...and she loved colors. Not seeing the teacher (as she beelined for the cobra), Vesper settled down on the ground and began to draw. Of course, as she did this, she heard her classmates greeting Professor Bentley...So, the woman must have been around...but the lesson wasn't started just yet, right? So, Ves could draw for just a little bit...right? She decided to start from the bottom and work her way up...choosing to sketch the tail first. There was no greeting from Vesper, and frankly, Seren didn't think the girl had even noticed her - which wasn't a problem. The girls reactions were all the greeting she needed. Happy days. Quote: Originally Posted by Saraie Asher one loves herbology. It was one of his favorite subjects. And professor Bentley wasn't bad herself, yep. It had seemed so long since he had been the greenhouses or anything near it in forever. As he walked he noticed many new things. When he got closer to the student gardens he stopped right dead in front of a giant bushy snake. Hello. Actually there were tons of other bushy giant animals. Trophy. What I was really called. He headed over it where the rest of the students were. But the Slytherin still didn't see Bentley that was until he seen someone else who spotted her on the elephant trophy. "Oh there you are Professor Bentley! Hello!" See anything interesting up here? She really was beginning to feel like a child again, noticing Asher observe the topiary and then look around before exclaiming upon locating her. She waved, grinning. "Hello Asher," she greeted, "how's it going down there?" Quote: Originally Posted by SakuraMochi Haruka could feel a bit of excitement welling up inside of her as she entered the greenhouse. She was rather fond of Herbology, although there was a bit of bias. Herbology had been her sister's favorite subject. Just the idea of magical plants had made her giddy. Haruka recalled how, after she'd returned from school for the summer, Sayaka would ask their father to bring the two girls to a woods somewhere, where she'd point out all of the plants she'd learned about to her father and sister. Sayaka enjoyed it so much, and Haruka was happy just from seeing her sister happy. She smiled solemnly at the memory. Haruka shook those thoughts from her head as she approached a woman sitting on a topiary elephant. The professor. "Hello, I'm Haruka Kaze," she said up to the woman, smiling kindly. "I'm excited for class to begin." Then she got distracted when she noticed a leafy cat resting on a table, and she went over to see it. Again, the conspiracy came to mind... but nevertheless, Seren smiled warmly at the new Hufflepuff, offering her a bow of the head in greeting. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Haruka. Welcome to herbology." Quote: Originally Posted by Edward Penguin Ian walked into the garden and followed other students to the center where he saw the topiary animals. He stood there for a moment, holding his herbology gear while he watched. It was amazing. The problem was there was a snake. He hated, HATED snakes. He tried to figure out a way to avoid that particular one. It was huge and overshadowed everything else in his mind as it moved. The way it slithered along the ground around other students creeped him out and he just stood there transfixed and a little bit frightened. And another one... .... .... Only, this one seemed to be transfixed by the display. Aaaawwww, it was so nice to see students engaged in the art. She would have greeted him, but didn't want to startle the boy, he seemed to be deep in concentration, lost in thought. Quote: Originally Posted by Anna Banana As she approached the gardens, Sophie paused and allowed her jaw to drop. Whoooa. Those were some cool creatures! Well, plants, but still...plant!creatures. Yup. Sophie eyed the plant!creatures as she entered the garden. Where was the professor anyway? Sophie looked around and stopped once again when noticed the woman on top of a huge elephant. COOL! "Hello, Professor!" she greeted. She waved from way down on the ground. "Think I can get up on that snake over there?" She'd been watching, the whole time. And watching Sophie's jaw drop had delighted her to no end. Brilliant! Of course, she was found out, seeing as her secret hiding spot wasn't so secret, even if it wasn't easily noticeable. "Hey Sophie," she waved, "I most certainly think you can," she agreed, before adding, "but not just yet, patience." Quote: Originally Posted by amadshade Tora officially decided that this was one of the best Herbology classes ever. She wasn't great at Herbology, but plants that were animals that were enchanted to move? Yeah, this beat the tea lessons from last year. She grinned as she entered the gardens and soon spotted the Professor high up on an elephant. Would she get to ride a big plant too? Would she get to make her own?! And then ride it of course. If she rode the owl, would she be able to fly? She just had so many questions! "Hello, Professor!" she called up as she walked closer to the elephant. "Do we get to create our own?" she asked, ready to lock and load and get a move on with this lesson. It certainly looked to be a fun one! Tora's reaction was just as good as some others, the delight was evident on the girls face, and so Seren was pleaaaaased. "Hello dear," she replied brightly. The Ravenclaw raised a good question, one that hadn't been asked just yet. "Aaaawww, you don't want me to to ruin the surprise do you?" she asked playfully in return. Of course they would be! Quote: Originally Posted by carpediem Caelen walked into the garden, standing on the edge and feeling rather bored already. Herbology. Soooo plants? That's what they were learning? No offense to the professor or anything, but it didn't sound rather interesting. She wasn't totally hopeless, she had SOME knowledge of how to work with the flora stuff but it wasn't her best subject. Not that she would know, more like a guess. And yes, the topiaries were rather cut, but she figured that this class wasn't going to be a funfest. From her perch on the elephants back, Seren could see a rather unimpressed looking Claw... aawww, what was up her nostrils today? Huh? Quote: Originally Posted by ScarletCharm104 Marigold skipped into the student garden and then stopped. THAT WAS A LARGE PLANT ANIMAL COMBINATION THINGY. She stared in awe at the elephant. PLaNT ANiMAl tHInG was STrAnGE. O.o She gave a wave to the professor, though. "Hiya, Professor. How are you?" Grin. Ha! Marigold appeared to be slightly taken aback by the topiary display, hehe. Seren, lips pursed in amusement offered the girl a small wave. "Excellllent my dear, and how're you?" Quote: Originally Posted by Gabben Walking into the gardens Rom saw all the plant animals then jumped a little when they moved. Walking over to a spot away from the moving ones he set his bag down. Looking around he wondered where the professor was. When his eyes fell on to the elephant he couldn't help but smile. "Hello. A very noble steed professor." A noble steed? Did she hear noble steeed? Peering down, Seren noticed the third year and smiled. "Well thank you, he issss rather noble," she agreed. Quote: Originally Posted by lemon Of course she saw Bentley on the elephant's back over there, but there wasn't time to greet her. Instead, Alice just sent a cheerful smile and a wave her way as she made her way around the garden. She hadn't seen the topiary since... what, her second year? Were they the same ones? Merlin knew she'd been even more antisocial back then than she was now, and these shaped hedges had been her best friends. But her favorite dragon didn't seem to be present today, so Alice headed for the cobra, since that was the next best thing. The flowers around it's tail really brightened it up in comparison to the other topiary, and she examined them, enthralled. "Hey, professor? Can I climb one of these?" The giant snake was HERS, Lex. And her Captain had arrived, Seren offered Alice a nod as the girl made her way around, observing. As she neared though, and the cobra caught the girls fancy, Seren beamed in amusement. "Yessss," she started, "in a short while." Patience was a virtue. Quote: Originally Posted by DH Vixen Herbology. Perhaps Lana hadn’t really given the subject the attention that it really deserved the past few years, but she didn’t completely dislike it. She did find it interesting and did enjoy it. She just wouldn’t say it was her ultimate favourite lesson. It was up there though and she always gave the class a chance when she attended the lesson. Upon hearing that the lesson was in one of her favourite places, she was thrilled. The student garden always seemed to have a special place in her heart and any amount of time that she could spend there; she was overly content with. It was a pretty place after all. As she approached the garden, she took a moment to take in what she saw before her. Now, that was different for sure. The last time she could remember seeing topiaries on school grounds, was back in her first year. Those were nice, but the ones she saw now kind of took her breath away. They were breathtakingly amazing in her eyes and she wanted to get a closer look at them. Rushing the rest of the way, she made a beeline for the turtle. It was so cute and wanted own of her own. Carefully, she reached out and petted it. She wasn’t completely sure how one approached enchanted topiaries and she didn’t want to offend them, in case they could be offended or something. The turtle didn’t seem to take an offense to her as she admired it more. It wasn’t as big as the others around, but she did find it adorable all the same. Next she ventured over toward the giraffe and the owl. They looked so lifelike and she wanted a closer look for sure. A part of her did want to climb on the back of the creatures, but held herself back from it for the time being. Noticing the presence of the professor atop an elephant, she waves and smiled. ”Good day, Professor Bentley. Amazing topiaries!” Oh, she was so going to enjoy this lesson. And here was another one of the seventh years... soon to be departing - how so very sad. "Hello Lana," she nodded, "they are rather amazing, I agree." Of course she agreed. She was completely and utterly biased. Quote: Originally Posted by McFeisty Amelia’s eyes widened as she spotted the state of the student’s garden. What on earth had happened in here? The Topiaries were walking around? Was this a dream or a dream within a dream? This had to be a dream right? Walking topiaries – and Professor Bentley was riding one like she was some kind of Hindu goddess using her vahana. She didn’t know – but she looked really neat up there all regal like. “Hello Professor” she called up the moving elephant topiary and glanced around. Where they making topiaries today? Or learning to enchanted them? She couldn’t tell really…it was one or the other or a combination of neither. "Mika! Hello dear!" Seren greeted, offering the girl a feminine wave from her spot. Such a good view. Suchhhh a good view. Quote: Originally Posted by SilverTiger Heading out to the grounds for the first Herbology lesson of the term, Lily hadn’t known what to expect. She knew Herbology, she liked Herbology, but Hogwarts lessons rarely ended up being what she expected. The only guaranteed thing was that there would be plants involved, and seeing as she’d been directed toward the student gardens, that was likely. She just was prepared for plant-related situations that weren’t obvious, and as she’d turned the corner to go through the gate, she definitely knew that was happening. Moving topiaries weren’t obvious, but they were very Hogwarts. At least, they were definitely magical. She imagined it was possible they could have moving topiaries back home, anyway. It wasn’t completely unlikely, but it still felt very Hogwarts to her. Anyway, she’d glanced around the group already gathered there, noting that Astrid and Mika were there, along with a lot of others, but let her attention go to the figure perched atop the leafy elephant first. “Hi Professor Bentley!,” she called up. “What made you decide to ride a topiary to class today?” It seemed like a logical question. Either that or she’d just decide to climb up there to see how many of them noticed her before she started the lesson, but she was choosing to believe the first option. Riding an elephant to a lesson would be kind of amazing anyway, although she’d much rather it be the topiary horse. She was more familiar with horses and how to ride them. Elephants had to be different, but that’s why it was interesting. Lily's reaction had been an interesting one, and leave it to a Ravenclaw to question why she was sitting on a topiary elephant.... "Hey," she greeted before giving the girl a somewhat mischievous look, "why wouldn't I?" she asked, "best make the most of the opportunities we're presented with." Because honestly, who didn't want to ride a topiary elephant to class? Figuring it was perhaps time to start the lesson... and also figuring they probably wouldn't take her seriously if she conducted it on top of an elephant, Seren motioned for the topiary to kneel to the ground so that she could descend. It was easy enough, sliiiippping from it's back and landing lithely on her feet, boots connecting comfortably with the grass. "Welcome! Everyone! To the first herbology lesson of the year," yes, she was in high spirits, perhaps a little dramatic too. "For those of you who don't know me, I'm Professor Bentley," she announced, making eye contact with a number of the new faces in the crowd. "My rules are simple, wear gloves, don't eat, and be sensible... there's no need to risk your lives or the lives of your peers." Now, on with the good stuff. "Before we begin, I'd like to answer a frequently asked question," in case anyone had missed it since arriving, "you will have the opportunity to interact more with the topiary, and ride them, once the lesson has been concluded, so please save your energy for then." Or risk losing points or being banned from riding them. Mmhhmm. There were consequences! "Today, we're fortunate enough to have this marvelous collection of topiary, on loan, from the Wizarding Horticulturalists Aboricultual Organisation, it will remain here in the student garden till the end of the week after which it will sadly be returned." So yes, they should make the most of it while it was here, but sadly it would not last... which led into the next part of what she wanted to say, the actual lesson part. "However, this term we will be working on creating our own topiary masterpieces and looking at a number of aspects which need to be taken into consideration when working with such plants." So.. "First thing's first... can anybody tell me what types of plants are most suitable for topiary work?" "Generalisation, specifications and examples are all welcome." In other words, discusss! OOC: The lesson will continue in approx 24 hours. __________________