Anya did a weird half-shiver half-skip down to the greenhouses. She was glad she grabbed a coat. She'd been forgetting how cold it was outside recently. How? She had no idea. It just kept happening though.

She pulled her coat tighter around herself and slowed as she approached the greenhouse. "Hello Professor." she said as she passed. Then she went to go stand and wait for the lesson to begin.

Emmanuelle was bundled in the largest, most ridiculously thick coat she could find, and her feet were encased in fur lined boots, ditto her hands in gloves. Her blue earmuffs were perched in their rightful spot and her Slytherin scarf was wraped around her neck and a little on her mouth and nose. She wasn't taking any chances on getting frost bite. She'd heard about that stuff from a friend that visited Alaska once and it didn't sound very pleasant. So, no frostbite for her, thanks.

As she made her way across the grounds to the Student Garden, there was a distinct CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH noise from underneath her feet from her stepping on the frozen ground. She couldn't understand why a professor would hold a class outside in this weather. Back home, this would've at least caused the cancellation of all outdoor activities. Emmanuelle guessed that she should be happy that it wasn't SNOW.

Finally reaching the garden, she entered and found herself a place to stand. "Hello, professor," she said, voice slightly muffled by her scarf.

Desiree walked at a fast pace down to Herbology class, which happened to be in the student garden today.. and wrapped her green Slytherin scarf tighter around her neck. She could even see wisps of breath coming from her mouth. Luckily she was in a really good mood today. Ya it was cold, but not unbearable. Besides she was excited for Herbology, she wasn't very good at it, but she always ended up enjoying it.

Seeing the Professor she smiled happily, "Hello Professor Bentley!" she said as she gathered around with the other students, although what they were supposed to be looking at she wasn't sure.

Zhenya walked down to the Greenhouses for the second lesson of the term. She walked through and spotted Professor Bentley, "Hi Professor!" she greeted happily, and went to stand with Desiree.

"Hey! Fancy seeing you here," she joked.

It didn't come as a surprise to her that the students weren't pleased with her choice of setting. Be that as it may, they didn't have a choice, and she didn't have a choice. The opportunity had come along and she had thrown out her lesson plan completely, new topic, new activity. Though it still fit in with the theme for the term which was handy.

"Morning everyone!" she greeted brightly, clearly unaffected by the weather. Perhaps the new Charms Professor ought to teach a lesson on warming charms, so that way the little ones wouldn't have to freeze their butts off during class or quidditch.
"Now I know the weather isn't exactly ideal for us to be working outdoors today, but it is a necessity."

"During the night we experienced a heavy storm, while the gardens are usually sheltered enough from the winds... there are always exceptions."
Around the garden, broken and damaged branches could be seen strewn across the ground and hanging limply attached by a few fibres.
"As you can see around you... many of the trees and bushes were damaged, and today... we will be healing them."

So now came the moment of truth.
"Now, how might we do this? How to we heal broken branches? One suggestion per person please."

OOC: The lesson has officially begun, do not post yourself arriving from this point onwards, just pretend you were there the whole time. Please give only ONE suggestion. The lesson will continue in approx 10 hours.

Desiree smiled as her friend joined her, then turned to the Professor as she finally addressed the class. A storm? She had thought she had heard something last night.. She looked where the Professor pointed and it was true, there were broken branches scattered everywhere.

At first Desiree figured they'd just be asked to clean up and cut off the broken branches, but they were going to.. heal them? The first thing that came to mind was obviously a spell, like reparo maybe, to repair the two ends. But that was too simple.. maybe an actual healing spell like episkey? broken bones, broken branches, similar enough..

She tentatively raised her hand, there was no harm in trying, "Professor, is there a certain spell that we could use, such as a general healing spell like episkey, or something more specific?" like a spell that's only function is to heal broken tree branches? It was a stretch, but there did seem to be spells for almost anything, so why not this?

Kennedy was not a fan of cold weather. Being from California the boy thrived in warmth, but he didn't mind chilly temperature either. He tugged his outer robe tighter and glanced around when Professor Bentley mentioned several plants being damaged from last nights storm.

There was a mess.

Now to think of a way to repair them. He remembered his mother fixing up her five foot garden after a storm. How different could it be from the magical world? He raised his hand. "A way we can help heal broken branches is by wrapping the split branch with something that'll hold it in place until new tissue grows around it." His mother used shoelaces. Yeah.

Healing broken branches? Aurora hadn't noticed the mess... Her face fell as she looked around the garden... The poor poor plants... "Professor, don't some plants heal themselves with their sap? Is there a man made sap we could use?" she asked. Like a potion? She just wanted the plants to be better... They'd had a storm that had ruined the gardens back home in Ireland once... But she couldn't remember how they had fixed it - she has only been little and hadn't been allowed to help.

She took out her quill and parchment and began to jot down notes as people spoke - her brain wasn't working well enough to remember all of this lately. Sigh. She sneezed. Great. A cold. Just what she needed... Episky, something to hold it in place, sap...

Alyssa thought for awhile before raising her hand.

"Professor, do we do it like how one would heal bones? Use a piece of straight branch and attach it to the broken one and then tie bind then together until the broken branch heals?"

She was going to suggest using the Ferula Charm but wasn't sure whether that was only applicable to human bones.

Kurumi's eyes fell on the broken branches and she bite down on her lip nervously as Professor Bentley asked them how best to fix the problem. Kurumi's initial reaction was to say that some of those breaks looked beyond repair, but that wasn't what the question implied. Rubbing the back of her neck for a moment, Kurumi cocked her head to the side as she tried to remember the things her grandfather had done in their garden at home. If the man had been a wizard, Kurumi was sure that he would have been a Herbologist.

Remembering an instance after a rather nasty typhoon had struck her town, Kurumi raised her hand. "Depending on how severe the damage is to the branch," she began, putting a little disclaimer on what she was about to say. "You could make a sort of splint out of a small block and tackle or winch." Her grandfather had been rather elaborate in his efforts, using bolts and other things as well, but it had worked several times.

Spike adjusted his scarf, and looked round at the broken branches. He'd heard the storm for the tower last night, but he hadn't realised it'd been this bad. Poor, poor plants, not being able to shelter inside and out of the way of the whipping wind. He reached out to touch one of the nearby plants, stroking it caringly. There, there, it'll be all better soon.

At Bentley's question he turned his attention back to the Professor and raised his hand. Supporting the branch was certainly a good answer, but he knew other ways to help. "You can help stimulate growth where the branch has been broken," he said with a nod. "It encourages the plant to heal itself, rather than let the branch die." Because the risk of infection was high, some plants would consider a broken branch a lost cause, and focus their growth efforts elsewhere. "For some plants there's a balm with certain ingredients and hormones designed to do this and also to prevent the wound from getting infected, but for others you can do it with a spell."

How to heal broken branches?

Chelle frowned, trying to recall what she had once read in a book in the library once. There was a certain spell that helped to fix broken bones, fractures and all of that in the human body. Trees were, after all, living objects. So she presumed that those spells would work on the branches as well.

"Professor, how about the Ferula spell?" she said. The ferula spell could be used to fix broken bones or fractured bones.

And if that didn't work, then we could always use Reparo, right?

As if they could have anything GOOD on ice, let alone a good morning.

Still, João figured now that he was here, he should at least do his best. And thus, he raised his hand.

"We should trim them, because as far as I know, a tree grows the opposite side of the scar."

Lewis stopped bouncing on the spot - which he had started in an attempt to warm up a little - once he spotted Kurumi joining the group. And she was coming towards him too. "Hi." He smiled at her fondly, shuffling just a liiiittlee bit closer to her so that their sides were touching. Suppressing the urge to reach of her hand, the Hufflepuff continued to flex and unflex it in his pocket, trying to get some feeling back into it. It felt as if it was about to freeze off. He hadn't brought gloves or a scarf or anything since up until like two minutes ago, he'd been absolutely certain that they had Transfiguration class now. Inside.

No such luck though. A look at his timetable had told him that he had Herbology instead. Outside.

Following the professor's gaze towards all the broken branches, Lewis frowned a little thoughtfully. They looked...dead. Could they really be repared? Still, this whole thing reminded him of last Herbology lesson a little. He slowly raised his hand and suggested, "Well, we could try Adhaero. And then hope the branches will just grow together again eventually." Where was Louisa actually? He hadn't seen her around in a while to be honest. Had Professor Bentley already noticed that one of her Piranha plants had a loose tooth?

Vickers turned to look around at all the broken branches and such. He winced, imagining if those broken branches feels like broken bones to a person. Raising his hand he replied "Professor, is there an equivalent of the Ferula or Episkey spell or like a Skele-Gro potion but for plants?"

They were going to heal the branches?

... who said anything about being cold?

That's right, Nora didn't. If it came to healing those, she didn't care if she was freezing or not. Yup. She felt like she was going to do a good thing, and that was... good. However, she had no idea how she was going to do it. "I don't think Reparo works here, does it?" She suggested as she raised her hand. "Perhaps there is something similar to bone healing?" Well, branches were like bones for trees. Hehe.

Ella frowned. Poor trees! The cold was clearly messing up their lives as well at the moment. But wait-how cool was it that they would get to heal them! Ella's smile returned at the thought. Ella Bishop, healer. HEH. As for how they would complete the task, the second year didn't have a clue. She tried to think about how broken bones might be mended if they were broken. Her classmates were right, they would have to be set and cast. "Professor, I also think the branches might have to be realigned where they broke and wrapped up." And then hopefully they could somehow grow back together or something.

Jezzabelle pulled her coat a little tighter as a small breeze came by and ruffled the ends of her hair. She raised her hand and said, "Wouldn't we have to make a splint and then use a charm of some sort that way it doesn't heal the wrong way?" She would hate to have to break the branch again because it didn't heal right.

Nigel thought about the question and since he did not really know how to heal damaged trees and bushes, he decided to guess. "Professor, can't you use a charm or something to heal the broken branches?" Nigel thought there was bound to be a spell in the world that would fix broken branches.

West's hand went up but he wasn't exactly gonna say about healing branches with spells cos people already said that stuff. "Professor, sometimes maybe, if its been too long or something, then the branch can't be healed, but that's okay 'cos they can still be used, for wands or for rune sets. And see, sometimes I think stuff shouldn't be interfered with 'cos its not like there's always gonna be a wizard handy out there in the world to fix trees when stuff like this happens. Its nature for them to break. But I did read in my book about making a bandage out of raffia soaked in water or special potions though, if the branch is smallish and doesn't need extra support for its weight." He hadn't heard anyone say that? But maybe it was just because he hadn't been listening all that closely.

Zack was looking around the broken branches and the broken trees all around them. He was a bit confused when he saw them standing in such weather and broken trees around them.

But he got the answer he was waiting for. Did Professor wanted them to tell what could repair the branches? Really? Is there even a spell for that?

He wasn't sure of anything that could repair trees. But he still wanted to try, so he raised his hand and said "Professor, Is there some spell that can help to repair the broken branches?" he said bring his and down.

"Maybe a spell or set it in a splint" Sarah said. Although she personally was too cold to care about trees.

Most of the students had the right idea... or at least were on the right track.
"There is no quick solution to healing broken branches, no spells to fix it within seconds... however there are ways in which we can help the trees heal, and we do this by facilitating the healing process." She paused for a moment in case any students wanted to jot down notes.

"There are a few ways we can do this. Firstly... if the branch is too damaged, then the best thing we can do is trim it away."
Even if it was sad in a small way, it wasn't the end of the world.
"For small bushes with thin branches the Trimming Charm - Flipnsnipwitit is sufficient, however for thicker branches and for trees then the Severing Charm - Diffindo is more appropriate."

Now, time to get these busy bodies moving. No point letting their toes freeze off, she was certain the Healer wouldn't appreciate a ward full of students missing toes.
"To start off our lesson today, I want you all to wander around the garden and trim or sever off any branches that are too far gone."
Though an example would help, yes?

After peering around quickly, Seren identified one that absolutely could not be saved. "One like this... where the ends are too frayed to be properly reconnected cannot be healed properly, so the easiest thing to do... is to chop it.!"

Wand in hand, she directed it just below the break, while holding the detached end with her other hand. "Diffindo," she recited with a brisk slicing motion. The branch fell away leaving a smooth clean surface for new cells to expand from. "Like that..."

"Now if you haven't used the Severing Charm or the Trimming Charm before, then now's the perfect time to practice."

"Remember your incantations, Diffindo for the Severing Charm and Flipnsnipwitit for the Trimming Charm.... the wand movements are simply a swift slicing action along the branch you which to cut."

Perhaps the younger students would need assistance...
"Fourth to Seventh years, I expect you all to assist the First to Third years... should they need it."

"You only need to trim or sever one branch for the time being, should you find one that needs it.... You have ten minutes to do so... Go!"

OOC: The lesson will continue in approx 12 hours. For this activity you need to post a MINIMUM of TWO times (if you wish to be eligible for full points) You do not need to find a branch and cut/sever it... I will leave that up to you. Have fun and help each other out if you can (:

Ella was taking notes as the Professor explained how best to treat trees or bushes that had broken branches. She wasn't surprised to hear that there were no quick fixes, especially because plants were a little different than humans, but the thought of severing plant limbs was still kind of sad and morbid. Oh well, whatever was best for the plants...

The second year looked up from her notes when she heard a strange word. Wait-Flipitysnip WHAT? What kind of word was that anyway? And how was she supposed to say such a thing correctly with a straight face? Just thinking about the word caused Ella to smile so she'd definitely need some practice.

When the task was handed out and the class was free to get started, Ella paced back and force, practicing the pronunciation of the spells. Trimming Charm was definitely up first. "Flipsnipywit...Flipnwitsnip...Melin's beard..." This was actually quite harder than Ella had anticipated. After taking a breath and shaking off her frustration, the little blonde tried again. "Flipnsnipwit...no...but closer! Flipnsnipwitit...Flipnsnipwitit...Flipnsnipwitit!" Yes! Yes! Yes! The second year was beyond pleased. She had said the charm correctly and managed not to laugh. Score-1 Ella Bishop!

Now to practice saying the Severing Charm. This one wasn't as hard to say or think about so Ella had no trouble practicing."Diffindo...Diffindo...Diffindo!" See? Easy as pie! And what had Professor Bentley said about the movement again? A slicing motion? Ella gripped an imaginary broom and began slicing at the air, pretending she was cutting branches. Okay. This wasn't going to be that bad. She could definitely handle this.

Alyssa walked around looking at the damage. She bent down and examined each plant to see how damaged their branches were. Some seemed a lot worse than others and she felt sad that the poor plants had been traumatised.

She bent down and saw a branch that looked like it was barely hanging on by it's fibers. Alyssa sighed because it looked like this branch was going to have to be severed and she hated doing it. But she knew that in order for the plant to regrow, she had to do it.

Picking the branch up gently with one hand, she stroked it and whispered,"I'm sorry", before taking out her wand and with a slicing motion of her wand, she said,"Flipnsnipwitit".

A beam shot out from her wand, and detached the branch from the rest of the plant. Alyssa carried the branch over to the bin and threw it inside.