It's a fine, sunny, crisp autumn afternoon on the grounds at Hogwarts. Greenhouse No. Five is the smaller one usually reserved for student projects and special experiments and plantings for N.E.W.T. herbology students and Professor Tapio, himself. Today, however, it's been open to everyone--everyone who is taking Herbology class today, that is.

Inside, any projects and plants have been moved off to the dimly perimeter of the room, and out in the middle the classroom is setup with tables and stools, enough to seat up to 3 or 4 people per table, but also with enough room for a few to work alone, if they choose. Up on one side, in front of the desks, are three tables, each containing plants, Professor Tapio's ever-present whiteboard, and a cupboard containing--well, it's closed right now, but I expect you'll find out what's inside soon enough.

Written on the whiteboard is a message:

The three tables each have a little sign, magically stuck to the front ends, with the numbers 1, 2, and 3. The plants on each one look like this:

Table 1
Table 2
Table 3


Standing near the whiteboard, or rather looming over it a bit, is Professor Tapio himself, ready to greet you and answer any questions you might have before class gets started.

Greetings and First Question
Answers to Q1 and Second Question
Answers to Q2 and First Activity
Main Activity, part 1
Main Activity, part 2
Main Activity will continue till Tues. afternoon, Feb. 6

Ary was sure of it: not for the last time would he be dragged {though not reluctantly} to Herbology. By dragged, he meant that Drake had grabbed a hold of his hand and was literally pulling him towards the Greenhouses. Did Aryan mind? Not at all. Holding Drake’s hand was nice. “Bet you we’re going to be the first students there again,’’ he remarked, just half a step behind his friend. Thanks to the other Slytherin, the subject had become a favourite of his; his knowledge on magical plants had even increased a fair deal. When OWLs and NEWTs came around, there was no chance of him failing, not if Drake was still in his life.

Once the duo had made it to the right Greenhouse, Ary immediately glanced around. He took in the layout, the plants and the professor at the whiteboard. The man got the usual finger wiggle-wave before Ary’s attention moved to the board. Okay. Those were simple enough instructions. “Which ones do you like best, Duck?” Best, because knowing the other guy, he liked each plant there already. "I kinda likes two..." Yes, Ary did like two. That plant would be his choice to take with him.

"Hi Professor Devries, principal of plants!" After enthusiastically greeting the professor of her most favorite subject, Phoebe looked at the instructions on the board (for once). Oh.

Asking Miss Pheebs Calypso to pick between three different plants was a nearly impossible task! How could you do this to her??? She looked between each table, inspecting the plants carefully for what felt like ages. Was she being annoying by taking so long? She felt annoying. Oh no!! She had to hurry her decision. She ruled out lavender because it wasn't green, and then ruled out mint because... because. She liked the other one and it made her happy. "All these plants smell so nice! Is this one medicinal? Can I theoretically eat it? It's so pretty!" And it was GREEN. Phoebe really liked green.

She plopped down next to Ary, silent approving of his plant choice since they had the same one.

There was no doubt in Aurora’s mind as she entered Herbology, a subject she was trying her hardest to be good at, that the pretty purple flowers on table number one would be coming back to her desk with her. In fact she had gravitated towards it before even acknowledging Professor DeVries or the other students in the class. Not only was the colour a beautiful shade of purple which reminded Aurora of Professor Fergersnout’s favourite hat, but the smell that was radiating off of them was reminiscent of an air freshener her Mums had at home.

Once she had settled in a seat did she send a beam over to the gentle giant of a Professor. “Hi Professor! It smells really good in here today.” Not that it always smelled bad but sometimes there was manure involved and that wasn’t exactly pleasant. A sweet smile to the younger students sat together quickly followed.

Despite have zero aspirations to become a herbologist, Mitsuki held a deep appreciation for the natural world and the secrets of it that flora unlocked. Mostly this manifested in her hobby of making paints from petals and leaves, but there were other reasons behind them as well. Perhaps she had Peeves to thank for the inspiration, considering he had bestowed upon her the ability to manifest flower crowns for a time and the Ravenclaw had researched options to put these conjured blossoms to good use and waste not their potential.

Her keen interest in floral color theory made her choice an easy one as she entered the greenhouse and offered their Herbology professor a soft bow of the head in acknowledgement. Only one thing, an appearance, cause a moment of hesitation in her step and that was the effervescent aurora of a very particular younger Ravenclaw. Already committing to the lavender, Mitsuki had no intention of changing the course of her steps now but it was a trivial inconvenience. And besides, she would not be following instructions were she to shift her attention towards the other two lush green options.

Taking a deep breath as she settled, eyes closed to recenter, she turned her focus ever so briefly towards Aurora and made a sincere effort not to grit her teeth as she spoke. "...hello."

Desiree reveled in the nice sunny weather as she made her way to Herbology. Greenhouse five today? Hmm, that was an interesting change of pace. The class notice hadn’t given her much of a clue what to expect, but she came prepared with several charms to repel dirt and water on her clothing. If there was one thing she’d learned from herbology, it was that there was always potential to get dirty!

She greeted her head of house with a cheery smile. “Hello, Professor Devries.” Taking note of the instructions on the whiteboard, she glanced at the three plants on the tables. She immediately recognized two of them, and if the third was what she thought it was, she had an inkling where this lesson was going.

As for which one to pick, that was a no-brainer! Lavender was one of her favorite plants. She picked up a plant from the first table, gently carrying it to the nearest seat. “Hi, everyone!” she greeted, waving at each of her classmates.

There had been a bounce in her step as per usual until she got closer to the greenhouses. Several students were ahead of her but these bright blue eyes took in familiar someones that had managed to remain ahead of the entire way. Now most of the time she would've hurried along and caught up with them but she didn't today, her eyes had fallen upon clasped hands that weren't hers. And they wondered why she had to try so hard to get along with certain someone's. And she really had been trying too!

Her smile faltering quite a bit, Bry stepped into the greenhouse trying not to focus on anything but greeting the professor with wiggled fingers. "Hello, Professor Tapio." More wiggle fingers and a light smile was then given to everyone else before she spotted the instructions to collect a plant to take to her seat. Unfortunately today, none of the plants really called out to her. Lavender was purple but she did like mint.. and the other one was cute too. Quietly she picked up the one closest to her, a lavender plant and took it over to an empty seat near Ary, Drake and Phoebe. Not that it was any surprise at all where she would sit.

IT WAS HERBOLOGY TIME!!!!!

Which was the greatest time, if one was to ask Drake. Though considering the clear enthusiasm as he all but dragged Aryan by the hand from castle to greenhouse five, no one probably needed to ask Drake how he felt about the subject. Entering through the doorway with a bright smile, he offered Professor DeVries a greeting before his attention shifted to the plants and the instructions. He could only pick ONE? Cue the slight dismay as that was not a decision he liked making. How were you supposed to pick a favorite? "Ummm. I don't know yet. I might be a second!" he replied, stepping off to the side with an apologetic smile to Ary as he selected his plant and then sat.

Followed soon by Phoebe who also got a wide smile as he contemplated, and then all of the other students. He watched carefully as they all picked. Lavender was getting a LOT of attention so far. And both Phoebe and Ary had picked the second one but.... There was no love for mint yet. Which was a shame because it smelled good and was another herb AND was excellent tea,. Reaching his decision, Drake stepped forward and grabbed a mint plant from the third table before going to sit with his friends and fellow Slytherin second years. "Why'd you guys pick the ones you picked?" He asked quietly, grinning at them all.

Walking into the greenhouses was none other than the Scottish third year, Archie O'Brien. Rather happily too at that. No particular reason other than things were just off to an amazing day so far. And upon entering into this particular lesson of Herbology, he'd immediately greet the Professor with a kind "Good afternoon, Professor Tapio. Lovely day, 'innit?" His accent somewhat clashed with the more British expression, but he just couldn't really resist the temptation of saying it. Regardless, he'd take note of the initial task given to each student.

Walking up to the front and grabbing one of three different kinds of plants. On the way up to decide, Archie would be waving at everyone else who was currently present. And then when finally having fully sauntered up, there was the choice to be had. Not a very difficult one though, for he saw the purple from the lavender and without even so much of a second thought about it, grabbed one of those. He'd then grab one of the closer seats, but still being situated in the center of the room. Didn't wanna be too close to the front, but didn't wanna be far away from all the action either.

Tapio was a bit distracted today, but not so much that he didn't notice it was time for class to start. "All right, class," he said stepping forward to the center, "let's get started. Now, I hope everyone has had a chance to pick a plant by now. If you haven't, please get one as soon as possible and take it to your seat.

So, let's start with a few questions. We have three plants here--Lavender, Marjoram, and Mint. Can anyone name one of characteristics of one of these plants? Or what is something they might have in common?"

[OOC: So, as the man says, answer either of the questions, as you will--just don't answer everything at once, try to leave room for other students to name some things. You'll have about 24 hrs. for this.]

Entering greenhouse this afternoon for plants class Emerald was struck immediatly by the lovely smells. The flowery smells always brightened her mood like this time and it made her shoot their professor standing up front a big smile in greeting "Hello Professor DeVries!" Choosing the number one plant which had a nice purple colour and smelled nice Emerald made her way over to sit next to Desiree. Knowing her track record in classes it was probably best to sit with or near a senior student so that she could get assistance if things went awry. "Hi Desiree, mind if I sit with you?" Emmie asked suddenly a little nervous. The table with Ary, Bry, Drake and Pheobe was full, but she had chosen to sit with Desiree anyway even if that table hadn't been full. Emmie wanted to concentrate and not mess up.

With his plant picked and settled on the table in front of him, Drake couldn't help but lean in to take a deep inhalation of the smell of the one he'd chosen. Lavender was certainly what he would have called a 'louder' smell, as the sweetness of it was what stood out the most to him in the room, but he loved the crisp cool of the mint. It was almost like a good palette cleanser for his nose from all of the sweetness around.

But lesson had now officially started, and the second year was all eyes and ears and ignoring his nose as best he could while Professor DeVries began. What were characteristics of these plants? Well... He could probably come up with a few things, but he knew better than to rant and rave and give up too much without his peers getting a chance. He also could think of less things they had in common, so Drake chose to go with an answer to the second question to better keep himself in check. Hand shooting up, he waited to be called on before speaking. "All three of these plants are said to have health or wellness effects with their scents and used in aromatherapy. They have multiple uses but some examples are lavender is said to soothe your nerves, making it good for battling insomnia or anxiety." Why yes, he did have a lavender scented stuffy he kept on his bed for this reason. It was a skunk which was a peculiar combo but his favorite. "Marjoram also can be used to soothe, particularly when one is feeling stressed. And mint can actually be used when your sick and sniffly to help clear out your sinuses."

Maxine had grown to like herbolgoy ... she wouldn't say 'love' but at least like. She didn't hate being here at least. So looking at the potted plants she was tryring to decide waht they had in common. She struggled a bit and decided to just go with the lavendar. "Well Lavendar is used in alot of essential oils by the muggles, it's suppose to have claming qualities." She actually really liked the smell of lavendar was one of her favorites.

Why was he not at all surprised that Drake would take an extra bit to select his plant? Aryan knew that Drake would have liked nothing more than to cease one of each plant and march his way to a seat. But his friend eventually chose plant number three and they both selected a seat. He sat there admiring his own choice and looked up when the question was asked. He shrugged once. “It looks nice?” Other than that, he hadn’t any valid reason for his choice.

Ary looked around as Phoebe joined him and Drake. His gaze immediately fell on her plant of choice and his face lit up with a grin when he saw they had chosen the same one. “Excellent choice, Pheebs,’’ he said, throwing in a nod of approval in for emphasis. And now it was going to be a trend, him checking out what everyone else chose. He waved back at Desiree, noting that she had chosen the first plant. There was nothing wrong with that, of course.

Naturally, with Bry trailing behind, Ary hadn’t seen her. If he had, well. He didn’t know what he would have done. Knowing himself, he probably would have withdrawn from everyone and ceased talking completely just to avoid conflict. “Hi, Bry.” Ary gave her a wide smile though it vanished pretty quickly. “Everythings okay?’’ he added softly. She seemed… off; less energetic and hyper. He was so thrown off by her demeanour that he hadn’t noticed that Emmie had considered sitting with his group.

With the lesson now beginning, Aryan reluctantly trailed his gaze from Bry to DeVries. A characteristic for one of the plants? It really wasn’t any surprise that he had to take a moment to think of something. It also wasn’t surprising when Drake rattled off a slew of information. Naturally, he couldn’t help but be impressed by his friend. He finally raised a hand. “Marjoram can easily be identified by the small, white tubular flowers. They grow around a green middle in a knot-like shape. The leaves are pale green and oval shaped." An obvious answer, he knew, but helpful all the same.

There was just something so captivating about lavender; both as a plant and as a color. It was one of those things that just very naturally was eye-catching. Not quite as light and pastel as its sibling, lilac. But it also was a far cry from being dark and rich like the jewel tones of amethyst or even just a base color of violet. It was like being in a dream-like state with an effervescent haze of light purple, trance-inducing and mysterious. Intuitive even. Such was the way with most shades of purple, at least that was the young Archer's opinion on the matter. Even as the little plant was simply sitting there, stationed on the left corner of the desk, it was tantalizing and awe-inspiring in his blue eyes. Just seeing it alone gave a numerous amount of ideas for color combinations of outfits that he'd now be more inclined to style whenever he would actually get the chance to do so. The key phrase there was whenever that would be because that was relatively harder to do in a school where uniforms were a relatively solid and staple requirement. Albeit, this didn't truly translate directly over to a hugely keen interest in plants as a whole. Just an appreciation towards them for their vivacious nature.

With class now being underway though, Archie would ensure that he wouldn't become too distracted by the beauty of the lavender. Hearing what was being asked of them all, as well as what was being stated by those who had answered before him. Originally, the youngin' did want to prattle on about the beneficial health properties of the trio. But such an answer was already covered by a fellow Slytherin, Drake. So, in the moment, he'd quickly have to divert his train of thought to travel along another path that was yet to be traveled. Hearing the one, Maxine give the example of lavender specifically being used in those essential oils in which many muggles used these days, that started the wheels to turn; ever so slowly, and that would be made visible. There was that sudden 'aha!' moment which was blatantly obvious by the expression poised on Archie's visage.

So, right hand being raised upwards, he'd give a second before listing his own answer off "All three are particularly suitable when used in tea. Mostly for the health benefits which were already spoken on, but each is rather tasty as well in their own rights. Marjoram though does have a rather earthy and minty taste to it in general, but that's just simply another quality shared between it and mint itself."

Without a second thought Henrietta had selected her favorite plant in this entire universe, lavender! It was a no brainer. Having selected a seat she was eager to participate in today’s lesson. Though Etta wasn’t opposed to working in a group, she found herself working best independently. Social anxiety
.
As it has been pointed out by her intelligent classmates, lavender did wonders with its calming abilities when it came down to mental wellness. Etta had a lavender essential oil that she swore by to help her calm down and alleviate her anxiety and insomnia.

All three plants shared many qualities as well. Some that Etta, herself, has used throughout her young life with the help of her late grandmother. Raising her (shaky) hand, Etta answered. ”Lavender, mint and marjoram have anti-inflammatory qualities. They can help alleviate internal and external aches and inflammation.” Though, they should be used with caution as most people can be allergic to said plants.

Phoebe was right, for once! She resisted the urge to eat a tiny bit of her plant, even though it was edible and medicinal. But she definitely did sniff it so she could get more of its nice scent. "I like my plant because it's green," she stage-whispered to Drake. His plant was green too, but her plant's green was more better in her opinion.

Ooh! She wanted to answer the plant question!! "Marjoram is thought to help colds or infections, and also aid digestion! And I think mint is also supposed to help digestion. But I don't really think lavender does that... it's more for your skin." She wanted to add that they helped inflammation, but Etta said that already. High five, Etta!

Phoebe wanted professor DeVries to know that this was the only class that Phoebe's heart felt like singing on the way to. Wasn't that nice?

Desiree beamed when Emmie asked to sit next to her. Hi, Emmie. Not at all,” she replied. She gave her neighbor's plant an approving glance. Another lavender… great minds think alike, right? She had just enough time to wave at the other students who arrived after her. When Professor Devries spoke, she faced the front ready to pay attention.

Something all three plants had in common? Her thoughts quickly turned to their uses in healing - really, what else would she think, given her chosen career path? She was not at all surprised when that was one of the first answers mentioned. Better think of something else!

Instead of trying to think of something else that all three plants had in common, Desiree focused on the lavender itself. She knew there were many different species of lavender - she was partial to French lavender herself! And she knew it was a member of the mint family, oddly enough. Wait… lavender was in the mint family. Mint obviously was too, but was marjoram? She thought she read somewhere that it was. Her hand went up, and she said, ”Lavender, marjoram, and mint are all classified in the Lamiaceae, or mint, family of plants.”

While Professor Taipo began the lesson and initiated the first round of discussion, Mitsuki examined her selected lavender and lightly brushed her fingers over the soft purple petals. While its primary function was that of an aromatic herb for the majority of people, herself mildly included though she sought it out for the pigments more than its scent, it carried a sedating feeling to the touch as smell and taste. Mitsuki enjoyed that quite a bit, the fact that something so dainty and delicate could access all the senses like that.

Even those beyond the more easily accessible five.

Pinching off just a bit of the lavender, the Ravenclaw crushed the buds between her wrists and closed her eyes as the soothing aroma tickled her nose and danced upon the air.

Tapio was pleased to see the class get so involved today. As each student gave their answer, he wrote some of the key points down on the whiteboard, which he'd magically wiped clean as the class started.



When there were no more hands waving in the air, Tapio stepped up to summarize. Well, as you all can see, these three herbs have a number of things in common--healing, cooking, biological, and, as some of you have noticed... (taking a glance here at Mitsuki ... aroma. But besides all these physical characteristics and practical applications, there are also philosophical and magical properties associated with plants, and that's one of the things we'll be talking about today before we go on to our actual practical work. Does anyone know what a Planetary Ruler is, and what that means? What do you think might be the Planetary Ruler for any of these plants? How would knowing what its Planetary Ruler is affect how you might work with a plant?

[OOC: You have about 24 hrs. to discuss this topic; I plan to pick up class tomorrow (great gargoyles, it's already tomorrow!!) Jan. 31 around 9 or 10 pm CST]

Mitsuki continued to mush the lavender against her wrists and enjoy the aroma as class began, her eyes lazily opening once the professor inquired about Ruling Planets - a thing that the Ravenclaw knew rather intimately thanks to her interests and horoscope column with The Quill. Usually she did not engage with the question and answer portions of lessons, not because she did not have answers but rather it disinterested her to confirm information she already knew unnecessarily. It just seemed superfluous and she did not feel the need to seek out and professor affirmations. However, in light of the memories she had received after The Merge™ had enlightened her to another perspective, one in which it was not about how she benefited from sharing the information but rather peer to peer learning was an effective learning too.

And a tiny voice spewing nonsensical phrases like 'sharing is caring'.

So it was that, after only a couple seconds of deliberation with herself, that he haid rose and crushed bits of lavender petals fell on top of her head.

"Rulership is a unique relationship between a planet and an astrological sign. Each of the planets in our solar system has a particularly strong connection and association with one of these astrological signs and therefore it is said they have the most powerful influence," she explained, wondering just how much in detail she should go into. She had, after all, only begun to scrape the surface and had not yet begun to touch upon Mercury and its rapid revolution around the Sun. "One could say that a Ruling Planet is at home in a particular sign, just like someone who most values personality traits such as wit, acceptance, intelligence, and creativity will feel most at home in Ravenclaw rather than say Gryffindor."

So baffled was Aurora by the fact that Mitsuki had greeted her first and not the other way around that she had completely ignored the first question. If she had heard it, it was likely she would’ve only made some stupid comment about them all smelling nice and that mint was always found in toothpaste although when she was younger she used to have that berry flavoured one and she wondered why ‘adults’ couldn’t have fruity ones too.

Quickly the lesson moved on and even more confused was the fourth year that it had morphed into some Astronomy-Herbology hybrid. Unfortunately, despite her enthusiasm over how pretty stars were, Astronomy was not her best subject. She didn’t have an answer for Professor DeVries and instead listened intently to what the older Ravenclaw had to explain, fascinated by the prospect of what a ‘true’ Claw was with deep set knowledge over subjects that Aurora could only dream of knowing about. Not that she actually took in said information to store in her noggin’, that would clearly be asking too much of the petite blonde.

Hesitantly she raised her hand in an attempt to look somewhat engaged in the lesson rather than being on a planet of her own. “Do some plants grow better in moonlight?” She paused. “No wait, the moon isn’t a planet..” Nevermind. Could they go back to tree hugging and plant petting please?

Maxine had litteraly no idea what the professor had just said. Sounded like he was speaking in a forgein language - which honestly, alot of magic sounded like. Rather than risk answering wrong, Maxine stayed silient with a quill and parchemnt on the ready to take notes, she would learn what it was soon enough.

Desiree went from reasonably confident at the first question to totally lost at the second one. Planetary rulers? That sounded like astrology… or astronomy. Not that it mattered. She wasn’t good at either subject! She stared at her lavender plant, trying to guess what its planetary ruler might be. Maybe Venus? If she recalled correctly, that planet was associated with beauty, and lavender would certainly qualify as beautiful.

Not confident enough to give that guess as her answer, she focused on the third part of the question. Although she had no clue how knowing a plant’s planetary ruler would affect the way one worked with it, it seemed like useful information to learn from a healer’s standpoint if nothing else. She pondered the question. Would a plant be more effective when used in conjunction with something that shared its planetary ruler, like a color or stone? Or would it be more effective when applied to a part of the body that corresponded to its planetary ruler? Come to think of it, would a plant’s efficacy change based on one’s star sign? Like, would a plant ruled by Saturn work differently for a Capricorn like her than for a Gemini like her brother?

Lost in thought, Desiree stayed silent for now.

Ary smiled back at professor DeVries, pleased that his obvious answer wasn’t thought of any less than the other ones. He noted that many of his classmates focused on medicinal purposes, which was good because he was learning quite a bit. This helped him to diligently make his notes. After all, Ary couldn’t always be a bother to Drake and keep asking him for notes.

The Slytherin thought that he had an idea about what a Planetary Ruler is. He thought it might have a bit to do with those astrology stuff he had seen in movies and what his deceased Grandma Rehman {whom he missed so much} had occasionally spoken about. However, Ary opted to sit answering this question; he’d prefer to listen to what others thought.