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SPOILER!!: quotes Quote:
Originally Posted by Hera  As the blackboard moved into place, Seren flicked her wand at the chalk sitting on its ledge and watched as it began to write up instructions in neat cursive writing. SPOILER!!: Responses
"You're on the right track, but no we don't use manure for these seeds. Not until they're grown and even then only a minimal amount is required."
Seren nodded, yes obviously location was important for a number of reasons... but it wasn't quite what she was looking for, until..
"Ahh yes, certainly, the key is too keep the seed hot enough beneath the ground."
Erm..
"Well, yes, those are important, but I was asking about plant care not people safety." They had rules in place for that.
"It's generally a good idea to cool the seeds down before handling it, but in this case it would just place the seed at risk of not germinating."
Extinguish the fire?
Seren eyed her prefect. "Uhhh no, I wouldn't recommend that, the seed needs to be alight in order to survive and grow.... putting out the fire will only kill it."
"Ahh good point Kurumi, we most certainly do use water, but there's a trick to it, which we will get to," she said with a wink.
"You're on the right track, we don't actually fertilise fire seeds until they have germinated, and as for water, there's a special trick with that," she replied brightly.
"Sort of... we do use water, but there's a trick to keeping the seed active."
"Mm yes, that's why we have classroom rules, but I was thinking more along the lines of caring for the seed..." because plants were more important than students?
"Yes, excellent!"
"That's an interesting... and seemingly logical thought, though no, we do use water."
"Yes, that would be a very good idea..." following rules was sort of essential to not being kicked out of the classroom... but it still hadn't really answered her question. "I was asking more for what would benefit the seeds."
"Yes, I'm sure fire seeds... like others wouldn't appreciate being stepped on."
... Interesting response.
"Yes very good, temperature is something we definitely need to consider with these beauties."
"Yes, place is important, obviously fire seed bushes prefer dark, damp and more enclosed places."
... clearly. Or had the child not read the class rules before?
"I was asking for from a caring for the seed or plant perspective."
Another SAFETY issue... "well yes dear, but I was asking how do we care for the seed or plant... not what's around it."
"That's an interesting point, but no we do use water... only there's a trick to it." Which they were going to learn today... obviously.
"You're sort of on the right track. Certainly the fire seed benefits from the darkness, but warm soil is essential for it to grow, as is water."
"Not a bad theory, but surprisingly, no, fire seeds need little nourishment."
"Yes! precisely, maintaining a high enough temperature for the seed to remain active is crucial to its growth."
"Not bad idea, but no... the fire seed requires very little nourishment."
"Nope, not in this case... we don't want to risk extinguishing the seed and thus killing it."
Seren smiled, amused by the idea. "I assure you dear the seed wouldn't be extinguished by moving too fast, the warmth radiates from within... it would take a lot more than a little bit of a breeze for it to burn out."
"Yes, very good."
"Yes, and no... it depends how you define special," she mused.
Resisting the urge to smirk, Seren simply nodded. "Well that is a good idea... I was asking more in terms of caring for the plant though."
"Right so aside from the common sense, follow the classroom rules regarding safety... gloves, goggles etc. there are a number of things we need to consider when planting fire seeds. They are not particularly high maintenance, but there are a few crucial things to remember. The first, is temperature. You do NOT want to extinguish your seed using the Glacius Charm or by drowning it in cold water. Secondly, fire seeds do not require much, if any nourishment... so fertilising is not required." Seren paused to let this information sink in and plant themselves in the students minds. She had a feeling some of them would be pleased to know there wouldn't be any dung involved this lesson. "Now take a moment to read and note down these instructions, you'll need them soon enough," she said stepping to the side to let the light from the torches shine onto the blackboard.
After waiting a short while for students to write down these notes, Seren stepped forward to continue the lesson. "Now before I get you to start the process, you first need to know how to perform the Chaudensis Charm. This will charm the pot to heat itself." "Please DO NOT take out your wands just yet, I want you to practice the incantantion without the risk of blowing something up first..." she said eyeballing them all. "Repeat after me... Chaudensis... Chaw-den-sis..."
Seren observed and listened as the students practiced the incantation. OOC: Practice the INCANTATION ONLY. Lesson will resume in approximately 12 hours.
Amelia listened intently to what the professor was saying about the other responses to the questions, she didn't want to get hurt or do anything wrong after all. Besides, focusing on the Professor made it easier for her to not focus on the fact that they would be planting fire seeds, and the fact that she was deathly afraid of said seeds.
Taking a small breath Amelia looked at the board when instructed to write down what they would need to do. She quickly scrawled everything down; Quote:
1. Charm pot to heat itself.
2. Fill half of pot up with soil and let it rest for several minutes to warm up.
3. Carefully take a single fire seed with dragon hide gloves and place on top of the soil.
4. Cover fire seed with soil, so that pot is filled. Pat the soil down a little (not too much, you don't want to suffocate it).
5. Water the fire seed with boiling water, without drowning it.
before double checking to make sure she hadn't missed any of the steps. Once that was done she began to say the charm.
"Chaw-den-sis," she whispered, trying not to distract anybody else with her practicing. She sounded it out a few more times before saying the word without it being drawn out slowly. "Chaudensis," yep, it sounded right to her ears and so she felt confident that when it came to heating the pot she'd be able to do so. SPOILER!!: wand movement practice stuffs Quote:
Originally Posted by Hera She had been about to assist the Slytherin Boy when Sierra beat her to it... ahh good, "Thank you Sierra," she said brightly as she continued to make her way around the group to make sure everyone was on task.
Everything sounded good to her.
"Alright everyone, now we're going to practice the wand movement."
She watched them all... that's right wands out. Keep with it!
Holding her own wand in front of her she bent her hand at the wrist so her wand was directed at the ground. "Now you want a smooth rotation, remember to bend at the wrist, there is no need to move your whole hand... a little too much force and the charm could go horribly wrong. Please aim your wand away from your feet and DO NOT repeat the incantation as you do so... we are ONLY doing to wand movement at this stage, you can perform the two together in the next step."
Seren continued to demonstrate by rotating her wand in a circular fashion, as if tracing a circle.
...
OOC: Hey! Just practice the wand movement ONLY for the time being, the lesson will resume in approx 12 hours with the practical activity. Thanks!
Wand movement time. Great.
Amelia removed her wand from it's holster and carefully imitated the professors movements. She made sure not to be too forceful in her rotation. She didn't want to have any accidents after all and if she weren't careful that could very well be a reality.
She repeated the wand movement four more times before she decided that she would be ready to perform the charm whenever the professor said they could actually get planting. SPOILER!!: instructions Quote:
Originally Posted by Hera "Looks good dear, just try to keep the motion soft and fluid as if you're doing it without effort."
"Ahh good question Jezzabelle, in fact, have two points."
"The direction of the motion doesn't matter, as we're simply going to be tracing the inside perimeter of the pot, so as long as your motion is smooth and connects, then the charm will work."
Cow?
0_______o
"Uhh what cow?" she asked a little perplexed. How on earth had the boy come to the conclusion of... cow... in the incantation? Chaudensis... there was nothing cow-like about it at all.
"Chaudensis dear... chaw-den-sis."
Well on the whole it looked as though the students were getting along quite nicely. While they continued practicing the wand movement, Seren summoned a box of goggles--because you could never be too safe, and another small cart of watering cans.
Right, gloves, goggles, cans, pots, soil... SEEDS!
Feeling around in her robes pocket, she plucked out an old silver tin and screwed the top off. Inside where the fire seeds, all hot and red hissed a little as it met more oxygen.
"Alright everyone, I trust you all have your notes ready.." and that they were paying attention.
"First things first, you must perform the charm on your pot... now you will know if it has worked because you will feel the sides begin to warm, it wont be hot, just warm to the touch. Then come up and get your materials and follow the instructions on the board."
Simple, yes?
Tapping her wand on the blackboard once more, another line appeared beneath he instructions.
"So everyone come and claim a pot and goggles and get started. ONLY come for your seed when you need it."
"Also should you wish to mark your pot for whatever reason, feel free to do so." ... because she expected at least SOME of them to visit their seedling as it grew.
OOC: To be eligible for full participation marks you need to complete this activity following the following rules:
[1] This must be done in 5 posts, no more, no less.
[2] Do NOT double post.
[3] Title each post with which number you are up to. i.e. #1 ... #2 etc etc
[4] If you require Bentley's assistance write Bentley in the title as well, i.e. #3 Bentley! ...
[5] Have fun, remember you have gloves and goggles so you shouldn't get hurt. If you do you will be asked to leave the class to see the nurse and therefore miss out on the rest of the activity.
And time to start. Amelia wasn't sure if she was happy about this or not. She was probably more unhappy about it than anything, but only because she really hated fire. If it weren't for that fact she'd be excited to get planting.
With a small sigh Amelia walked over to where the professor had placed the goggles and grabbed a pair, placing them on top of her head, before walking over to the pots and selecting one.
Carefully dragging it over to where she'd placed her notes Amelia practiced the wand movement and the incantation for the spell separately once more before she decided to do the spell.
Pointing her wand at the pot as they'd been shown Amelia said the incantation, "Chaudensis," as she carefully traced around the inside of the pot. Her circle was smooth, but just to make sure that the incantation had worked she placed her hand cautiously on the outside of the pot. While they'd been told that the pot would get warm, and not hot, one could never be too careful. She was gratified however to feel that the pot had in fact gotten warm, and that she would therefore be able to do step two. Once she checked what that was...
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