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Maxilocks · 05-21-2010, 06:14 AM

SPOILER!!: Gemmaaaa <33

Gold needed to hurry up! The sixth year had not been in her element lately, and she hoped that the next week would see her more cheerful, and more attentive. Not that was not in a pleasant mood, these days. But her usual concentration had lacked, for some reason.

She had no tangible explanation, either.

But, it was time to get a move on, and start milking her aloe-vera. God knew she would be left behind, if she didn't get a start already. The sixth year shook her head, and directed her wan on either side of a leaf. It was a matter of a simple "Diffindo," then, as she trimmed off the edges. They were sort of pokey-pokey, what with smallish spines and everything, but she could handle that. Herbology was an okay subject, for her.

One that she was sure she would scrape by with an E, in her NEWT's. An O, if she tried harder. But an E, she could manage.

Cutting vertically lengthwise, through the very middle of the leaf, Gold neatly separated it into two pieces. She could see how the gel was encased, now. Poor, poor leaf. Gold wanted to pet the poor dear.

But she had an aloe-vera to milk. She eyed the leaf for a bit, and then proceeded to collect an amount of the thick, clear, gel-like substance. It was rather sticky, in a sense, but at least she was not going to get hurt by it, or something of that sort. Gold bottled it up, into a vial, setting it aside for future use. Now, what was next on the agenda?

Mugwort!

Gold headed to the front, grabbed a few leaves as they had been instructed, and then proceeded to pick up a mortar-and-pestle. She heard a younger Hufflepuff ask why the instrument was named, as it was, and raised a hand. "Professor?" She said, very timidly. "I -" She was hopefully not speaking out of turn, but her Latina roots seemed to be forcing her, to speak up. "I believe the Mortarium was an old Roman kitchen vessel. Conical bowl, with a coarse grain embedded into the internal surface. The word 'pestle' would come from Pestillum. That would roughly be Latin for 'pounder' or pounding. I think -- that's why the tool is named as it is, sir," she finished, politely but almost shyly. It had once been completely unlike Gold to be shy, but she had changed, since the end of last term. She could be much less cheerful than she once used to be, often much more thoughtful, and could sometimes suddenly become very under-confident or extremely shy.

Which was exactly why, to hide the fact that she looked all timid, the sixth year hurried to crush the leaves she had grabbed. Maybe Professor!Herbology wouldn't eat her, then.

Or be angry with her.

05-21-2010, 06:14 AM	#171 (permalink)
Maxilocks SS Featured Author Türk Bilgini Bugbear Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: {in a leap of faith} Posts: 31,791 Hogwarts RPG Name: Sarani Glass Graduated x12	No more exams! For a while. xD BREATHES and catches up ♥ Mrs. Itachi Uchiha™ & MAJNOO! : Bleach & Kyo & Natsume ♥ [ Maxh!Jesh ] SPOILER!!: Gemmaaaa <33 Quote: Originally Posted by Waterloo "Nice work everyone, now we're going to get a closer look at the gel inside the leaf. The gel with all the 'healing powers.'" Sage moved to the table infront of him again, laying the leaf flat on the surface. "This process is often known as 'milking aloe vera,' the professor explained as he carefully retrieved his wand. "For this we'll be using the severing charm, like so." Muttering the incantation 'diffindo,' Sage directed his wand first up either side of the leaf, neatly trimming off the slightly spiny sides. "By cutting off the edges, we're making the gel easier accessible." He then moved his wand to cut vertically lengthwise through the center of the leaf, cutting it neatly into two pieces which he proceeded to hold up. "After slicing down the middle, you can see the gel is encased inside." He ran his index finger inside, collecting a goopful of the thick, clear gel-like substance. "Go ahead and 'milk your aloe vera,'" he said to the class, "if anyone needs help with their severing charm ask me or one of your peers." Quote: Originally Posted by Waterloo He moved towards the side of the classroom where he'd left a cutting of Mugwort. It looked like a common weed. "Mugwort was used in ancient times, by Roman centurions as a cure for sore feet." He carefully picked off a couple of the leaves and dropped them in a mortar on his desk. "The leaves can be crushed up," he explained, demonstrating as he used a pestle to grind the leaves, "and the result is then placed in your shoes!" Wasn't that cool!? He certainly thought so. And yes, there were Mugwort leaves in his shoes. "Now if you'd like to come and snag a few leaves, grab a mortar and pestle from the store cupboard, you can get yourself a cure for foot fatigue!" Yes, that was an instruction. Gold needed to hurry up! The sixth year had not been in her element lately, and she hoped that the next week would see her more cheerful, and more attentive. Not that was not in a pleasant mood, these days. But her usual concentration had lacked, for some reason. She had no tangible explanation, either. But, it was time to get a move on, and start milking her aloe-vera. God knew she would be left behind, if she didn't get a start already. The sixth year shook her head, and directed her wan on either side of a leaf. It was a matter of a simple "Diffindo," then, as she trimmed off the edges. They were sort of pokey-pokey, what with smallish spines and everything, but she could handle that. Herbology was an okay subject, for her. One that she was sure she would scrape by with an E, in her NEWT's. An O, if she tried harder. But an E, she could manage. Cutting vertically lengthwise, through the very middle of the leaf, Gold neatly separated it into two pieces. She could see how the gel was encased, now. Poor, poor leaf. Gold wanted to pet the poor dear. But she had an aloe-vera to milk. She eyed the leaf for a bit, and then proceeded to collect an amount of the thick, clear, gel-like substance. It was rather sticky, in a sense, but at least she was not going to get hurt by it, or something of that sort. Gold bottled it up, into a vial, setting it aside for future use. Now, what was next on the agenda? Mugwort! Gold headed to the front, grabbed a few leaves as they had been instructed, and then proceeded to pick up a mortar-and-pestle. She heard a younger Hufflepuff ask why the instrument was named, as it was, and raised a hand. "Professor?" She said, very timidly. "I -" She was hopefully not speaking out of turn, but her Latina roots seemed to be forcing her, to speak up. "I believe the Mortarium was an old Roman kitchen vessel. Conical bowl, with a coarse grain embedded into the internal surface. The word 'pestle' would come from Pestillum. That would roughly be Latin for 'pounder' or pounding. I think -- that's why the tool is named as it is, sir," she finished, politely but almost shyly. It had once been completely unlike Gold to be shy, but she had changed, since the end of last term. She could be much less cheerful than she once used to be, often much more thoughtful, and could sometimes suddenly become very under-confident or extremely shy. Which was exactly why, to hide the fact that she looked all timid, the sixth year hurried to crush the leaves she had grabbed. Maybe Professor!Herbology wouldn't eat her, then. Or be angry with her.