| Banshee
Join Date: May 2007 Location: Gotham
Posts: 51,213
Hogwarts RPG Name:
TBD
Gryffindor
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Zara H. Bunbury-Foster
Slytherin Fifth Year |  repotting time! Hop to it. Have fun. ;) (also I forget how many carts she has, sorry) Professor Pink | Mrs. Bruce Wayne | I'm on a Goat | Glitterpuff | Dumbledore's Defense Squad | BHB
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Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19  Okay, soooooo properties of the magical mandrakes. The Puffer raised a hand. "We can expect the mandrakes to be screaming and crying but we shouldn't be able to hear them because of these.'' He held up his earmuff. "That's a good thing because their cries are dangerous but only if they are fully grown.'' Adi didn't state what happened to persons who heard the younger mandrakes' cries on purpose. He would leave that for someone else. "Excellent, Adi! Exactly what I was looking for." And so his answer was added to the chalkboard, quickly quickly now.
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Originally Posted by Squishy Back at her desk, Lux added on to her notes so that she was up to date with everything that was going on in the lesson. ... And of course there was the big reveal. She had been expecting that given the nature of today's lesson. Raising her hand to answer the next question she said, "The cry of a mandrake is fatal to humans." "Very good, Lux," Bunz combined that answer with Adi's, in a way, for the chalkboard notes.
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Originally Posted by Sararara The fourteen year old held a pair of fluffy earmuffs to her cheek as she put a hand in the air to answer the question. These things were crazy soft, did everybody know? Ahem. Mandrakes. Riiiight. "They scream like crazy, like mad little babies! That's what the roots look like, too. Mad little babies. I think they're really loud." Hence the earmuffs. The soft, soft earmuffs. "Excellent description," the Headmistress replied, with just a bit of amusement at the girl's ...teenage accuracy. Hehe.
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Originally Posted by Govoni Gabriel flushed slightly at the redhaired woman, carefully settling the mandrake in hand back down on the cart. "I have other questions about this...but I can ask later." They were moving on, or so it seemed, and he didn't fancy holding anyone up. And it was just knowledge for knowledge sake. anyway. So, nothing urgent.
"Their behaviors match what a human child's would?...As...they grow older, they mirror their age.".....That had actually sounded much smarter in his head. Was he even making sense right now? "For instance, they'll act out as teenagers will do when they reach adolescence...and when they mature, they'll demonstrate more adult conduct." "Okay. You know where to find my office if you'd like to ask later," the Headmistress replied simply, because (nothing personal), she just didn't have time for discussions with today's lesson. They still had LOTS to do to be useful to Hogwarts.
But his second answer, yes, made perfect sense. "Very well said, Mr. Banner! Please take note of this, class!" And adding that to the board...
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Originally Posted by kayquilz She eyed the choice of earmuffs...and...let out a laugh. Wow. Okay. "Your...earmuff choices are....brilliant, Headmistress." She said with a small chuckled as she SNATCHED the hamburger ones because those were REAAAALLY cool. She wondered where Bunz had gotten them...she kiiiiind of wanted a pair, to be honest.
MAGICAL MANDRAKES.
Eden raised her hand once more, the other one scribbling down notes frantically, and sighed. "Well. I remember reading somewhere that mandrake behaviors parallel that of humans...which I find really interesting. I also had another question, Headmistress--" she said, blinking a lot, and hoping...well, wow. Okay. Her cheeks turned red. Nervousness. Ahem. "These plants definitely seem to...somewhat have their own little minds and whatnot--what stops them from being creatures? Is it just the fact that they have ROOTS and grow in the ground?" Because they seemed like such a mixed.......oddity, really. Well, well, look who was getting along with whom in Herbology today! Bunz was surprising herself. No, it was Eden who was making the effort. Anyway. "Glad you approve," she replied lightly, looking to the board and then back to the Ravenclaw as she thought of something else. Oh, a thoughtful question.
"Interesting thought, but I had never considered these to be creatures... they simply don't have anything resembling the digestive system of a creature. They are still plants and still experience photosynthesis... you know, converting light energy into chemical energy for their fuel. I can't think of any creatures off the top of my head, magical or mundane, who solely use photosynthesis like a plant does. Also," she held up a finger, realizing as she did so that she was probably rambling now, "mandrakes are only humanoid or creature-like, if you will, in cosmetic appearance. That's just the fun or dangerous aspect of them. You do still harvest them like any other plant and chop them up like a plant and repot them like a plant and water them like a plant... but I digress. You'll see by the end of term, I'm sure, why mandrakes are 100% a topic for Herbology and not one for Care of Magical Creatures."
Why, the Headmistress was almost beaming by the end of that response. Wow. She really DID miss teaching Herbology.
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Originally Posted by Symphora Henric had his own dragonskin gloves on but he felt it was a little crowded over at the front so he preferred to remain seated and listened to their observations instead. He took down notes as well about the Autumn Mandrakes, carefully putting them in each bullet points.Then, they were told to put on earmuffs because they were going to pull out magical mandrakes now..cool! There were tons of different colour earmuff designs available for them to choose from. Henric chuckled at the variety he saw, there was even the pink fluffy one, why did it remind him of pebbles?...Man...he missed that little pet rock already. He hoped Prof.Flamsteed found her soon...Anyway, he grabbed quickly a piece of earmuff with no girly, frilly things on it...nope.
"Umm...they look like humanoid babies when they're young, professor,"he answered. "Excellent," she forced herself to stop thinking about the fun of harvesting mandrakes and instead went back to adding notes to the chalkboard. This lesson was an excellent showing for Hufflepuff, hehe.
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Originally Posted by Jessiqua What would they expect? Zhenya could make a big list of them, but she would just settle for one. She raised her hand and said "They will bite your finger if you put it in their mouth." She remembered that; finger was NOT to be used as a dummy. "Good point," the Headmistress chuckled briefly. "Take note, students: Do NOT stick any appendages into the mouth of a developing mandrake. Or the mouth of an older mandrake, for that matter. They WILL bite down, HARD, and I will not be responsible for trips to the Hospital Wing to get your appendage back. We simply can't afford to waste materials like that." Mandrakes were valuable, duh.
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Originally Posted by Felixir "Even though only the adult cries are fatal, even the cries of the super young baby ones will knock you out, which is preferable to dying but still pretty unpleasant." And, y'know, counterproductive when it happened in the middle of the classroom. Toby glanced at the contents of the cart that had been uncovered, trying to ascertain what life stage they were at. Not adults, he guessed, mainly because Mandrakes were usually re-potted when they were still super young, and those ones were all together. Likely they were babies. Curtis-aged. Maybe toddler mandrakes. Toby didn't think they'd be allowed to work with the adult ones, not with much closer supervision; earmuffs could malfunction or get knocked off accidentally and everything, after all, and that would not be a happy accident. Preferable to dying but still very unpleasant... for some reason, Bunz chuckled at that part of Toby's answer. "I will add that to the board indeed."
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Originally Posted by SlytherinSistah "Would yer say that the potency of their shrieks is in proportion to their maturity level, then? And that the younger they are, the less likely they'll be to kill yer." His hands idly pulled at the plushie hamburgers that hung around his neck for the moment as he considered the somewhat repetitive nature of what they were saying. "Is zar always going to be true? If yew were an infant like would the screams of a young magical madrake carry the same potency fer yew as the screams of an adult mandrake on an adult witch or wizard?" Or were young mandrakes always going to produce less lethal effects no matter the age of the audience? "Yes, of course. That's the most logical way to describe a mandrake's cries." They more or less already had that on the board, though. "I haven't tested the fatality of a mandrake's cries against a baby, though...." And she was sure any Herbologist who was credible and published and would never admit to doing such a thing... "so I'm afraid I can't answer your last question with any certainty, Cutty."
She gave him a somewhat longer look, however, as though trying to gauge whether or not HE would test such a thing. Not a look of judging, just a look of curiosity...
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Originally Posted by Harry174 Angel raised her hand. "Professor can't they do something to you, that makes It so you can't move?" Angel wasn't really sure but she thought that she would guess at that. "Erm, their cries can knock you unconscious..." Was that was Angel was getting at?
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Originally Posted by Anna Banana Headmistress Truebridge wanted MORE properties?! Kate could come up with loads, but coming up with things that had already been said was the hard part. Raising her hand, she added, "You can tell when a Mandrake is fully matured, because they start moving into each other's pots," she said. That was important, because wouldn't their screams be the most fatal? "Good detail to add, thank you dear." And it was added to the board.
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Originally Posted by PhoenixStar The earmuffs were bloody brilliant. AJ was all over the one that looked like a hamburger. Back up people. This one was hers. Snagging that one, she thought about what to add to the comments already made. Ohhh... she had a Ravenclaw-ish answer. "They get pimples." Beam. Gryffindors. Bunz nearly smiled back at the girl, though, so proud as she was of her answer. "True." Sure, why not add that to the board.
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Originally Posted by ScarletCharm104 She raised a hand to answer before she put her earmuffs on, so that she could hear her own voice. "Dugbogs and Flesh Eating Slugs eat mandrakes." Did that count as a fact? "And their leaves are used for antidotes in potions." "Oooh." No one (Eden aside) had mentioned mandrakes as food yet! "Excellent excellent, Marigold, thank you for not letting us forget those key facts." It figured that a girl named Marigold would be good at Herbology. Her parents had named her well.
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Originally Posted by Cassirin "No, Professor. I was being metaphorical, like a Ravenclaw," Dot did inch forward and stroke a leaf, and then she skittered back to her workstation. She was super brave and didn't get dirty and the professor had made an almost-not-quite-smiling face at her. Maybe they were best friends now?
Muffies, though! Pink ones, which were fuzzy and fabulous but didn't quite fit over all of Dot's hair. She nestled them down as much as possible before raising her hand. "Professor! I think they get HORMONAL like people do. Moody brat plants. And they keep having to get repotted into bigger pots 'cause they get SO big." Metaphorical, like a Ravenclaw... HAH. Truebridge chuckled for like the third time that lesson must be some sort of record and watched, with genuine amusement, as the non-Herbologist scuttled forward, touched the leaves, and scuttled back. "Moody brat plants is... definitely one way to look at these DEAD USEFUL plants, Dot." But okay, she'd add that to the board.
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Originally Posted by Chalkboard Notes MANDRAKES- also called Autumn or Mediterranean Mandrake
- perennials
- branched roots, which appear humanoid in appearance
- must mature before harvesting for use
- mundane: used by Muggles to make patients unconscious (anesthetic)
- mundane: highly poisonous when eaten (alkaloids)
- mundane: tufty, with purpleish greenish leaves
- mundane: related to the potato
- mundane: five-petaled flowers
- mundane: globe-shaped berries
- mundane: berries turn yellow-orange when ripe (in autumn)
- magical: cries of fully-grown mandrakes can kill an adult human
- magical: roots of immature mandrakes look (and scream) like crazy, mad little babies
- magical: cries of baby mandrakes can cause temporary unconsciousness
- magical: behaviors match the growth and development of a human's; mandrakes experience childhood, puberty (acne), adolescence ("hormonal" without having hormones), and adulthood similarly to wizards
- magical: mandrakes are known to be mature when they start trying to move into each other's pots
- magical: require repotting as they grow
- magical: they WILL bite appendages off if you stick them in a mandrake's mouth
- magical: favorite food of both dugbogs and flesh-eating slugs
- magical: leaves can be used in antidotes
- magical: used to make the Restorative Draught
- magical: most famous use was during the Hogwarts basilisk attack of 1992
OKAY. Whew. This class had certainly delivered and proven that they knew the theory and a lot of background about mandrakes. And what some kids didn't know, well, with these notes they would certainly be able to study the mandrakes in more detail later. Now, moving on to some practical magic...
"I'm going to show you how to move a mandrake from its GENERAL HOME HERE," she spoke VERY loudly and gesticulated to the original cart full of rustling baby mandrakes (in case some people were already muffed up), "to HERE," and Bunz dramatically threw the sheet off the next cart, which was full of brown terra-cotta pots. She tapped both carts with her wands so that they expanded into one long workstation where students could belly-up with plenty of elbow space to work. "ONE MANDRAKE PER NEW POT, PLEASE. Toss some dirt from their original container on top when you move them; that way they'll feel more at home. Remember to firmly grasp the mandrake at the top of its head when you move them. DO NOT DROP THEM. Watch me first."
And... go! She led the way by snapping on her own pair of pink fluffy earmuffs, firmly grasping the mandrake at the top of its head (bottom of its tufty leaves), pulling it STRAIGHT UP and out of the general pot, and quickly over and into a new pot. She gently swatted its long finger-like roots away from the edge of the pot where it was clinging and crying, and tossed some dirt on top to stifle the cries and placate the 'moody brat plant,' in Dot's words. When it was all covered (it only took a matter of seconds), the Headmistress gave everyone a thumb's up to signal that they should try now.
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yeah, there's one thing about me that you should know________________________________
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