With his house scarf secured around his neck to combat the briskness of the day, Rajesh made his way down to the ground floor and out to the greenhouses for the latest herbology class. Hopefully whatever they would be doing for the lesson might need to be watered since his special skill had been coming and going all morning. As he stepped out into Greenhouse 3, he was debating if the flooring was better for his leaking shoes that made it slick, or would it have been worth it for a more dirty floor that lead to mud in places. Raj was about to great the professor, but he didn’t notice him around just yet. He guessed that was the need for the note left there.

Don’t touch the plant? Well that was fine by him. He could wait until whatever was to be revealed was revealed especially since he didn’t want to run the risk of something happening. You never knew with magical plants…creatures was more his speed.

It was April, and April meant that it was his older sister’s birthday. The trouble was, he hadn’t even gotten Reagan a present as yet and as he made his way to Herbology, he wondered if he should get her some sort of plant. Something nice that she could take care of and keep her company while she took the year off to tour with Koen and his band while she waited for Jude to graduate so that they could attend WADA together. Maybe he would ask Devries for advice. But where was the man?

He eyed the sign on Greenhouse Three before stepping in. Well, this was interesting. The covered plant he meant. It certainly was going to be up for a big reveal. Shrugging to himself, the Hufflepuff moved to take a seat somewhere in the middle of the semicircle.

Looks like seeking advice would definitely have to wait until after the lesson.

It was cold out today, but Ash didn't mind because long-sleeved shirts were all she wore these days anyway, and it wasn't inconvenient. Plus, her jacket was stylish! Stepping into the greenhouse(the usual flowers trailing after her), her eye was immediately drawn to the plant that she was not supposed to touch. She walked over it to stare(NOT touch) a little curiously, then took the seat next to Raj, giving him an unusually happy smile and a wave. "Hi Raj! How's it going?" She felt like they hadn't spoken in a while. To be fair... Ash hadn't spoken to anyone in a while.

Professor Devries did realize that telling people not to touch something only made them want to touch it more, right? Especially when said thing was just plunked down in front of the class and left there, alone. Or was it just him? Either way, Alfred managed to keep his hands to himself (for now). After all, what if the plant was Devil's Snare? He was all for chaos, but not at his expense. Instead of touching the mysterious plant, he parked himself at one of the workspaces and settled his stuff beside him.

Luther walked through the door of Greenhouse Three with caution in his steps. Herbology has never been one of his strong suits. Partly because of that and partly because he didn't like the feeling of wet soil on his hands, Luther has never been interested in the art of caring for magical plants. Therefore, upon seeing Professor Devries' note, Luther gave a wide berth to the concealed plant in the middle of the greenhouse with a slight frown on his face. Seeing those who arrived already, he said distractedly his eyes on the plant, "Hello everyone!"

There was nothing like wanting to touch the plant that they were told not to touch. But resisting the urge - Maxine took a seat and started looking around to see who else was at the lesson yet... but also side glancing at the plant.

"Hello Professor" She added looking at the plant once again. She hadn't even looked around to see if the Professor was in the classroom - she was too busy looking at the plant ... did she mention the plant?

Tapio DeVries suddenly appeared in class through the back door of the greenhouse, hurriedly wiping his hands on a towel, which he then carelessly set aside on a nearby work table. He could barely repress a grin from his face as he looked back and forth from the students to the covered plant in the front of the room. He was definitely very excited about the coming lesson, but there was still a little time left before class was due to start, so he contained his eagerness while he waited for more students to arrive.

"Good morning, students! It's a wonderful day, isn't it?!" he exclaimed, even though the weather was still a bit chilly and not what one would call beautiful.

Hearing Luther’s greeting, Jude tore his gaze away from the hidden plant. What was under there? He was dying to know! But amidst that overwhelming curiosity, he waved to his Gryffindor friend. Not long afterwards, there was the sound of Devries’ voice. It took the Hufflepuff a moment to register that the man had entered the Greenhouse from the back. No doubt he had been busy tending to some other plants.

Was it a wonderful day? Meh. It was passable but it was no autumn day when there were leaves of pretty colours. Jude chose to not answer the question but did greet Devries. “Good morning, professor!’’ Could the great plant reveal happen already?

Daniel walked towards the Greenhouse for another Herbology lesson, loosening his black and yellow scarf around him as he stood in front of the greenhouse. His eyes caught sight of the warning sign and he wondered how many unthinking students had already ignored it and touched the plant. A small smile crept across his face as he thought that this was something his older brother would have done while he was still at Hogwarts.

The Hufflepuff entered the greenhouse, looking far more refreshed than in the previous lesson. Although he was still tired and had noticeable bags under his eyes, he had gotten a good night's sleep for a change, which had re-energized him. He was eager to begin today's lesson!

He sat on the stool at one of the wooden worktables and placed his notebook and pen just as the Professor entered the greenhouse through a back door.

Desiree was here on time and dressed in gardening attire, as per the directions on the class notice. For her, “gardening attire” meant coveralls, this time blue instead of her usual pink because she didn’t feel very princessy anymore, and a coat to keep out the brisk weather. She had been ready to greet the professor upon her arrival, only to find the man absent. Hmm… weird. Was he okay? Maybe he was here under a disillusionment charm all along? She knew that professors sometimes did that, though she had no idea what that would have to do with herbology!

She glanced at the plant, mildly intrigued. What was under the cloth, and more importantly, what would it do if you tried to touch it? Granted, she wasn’t stupid enough to touch a strange plant and find out, especially not when the instructions on the board said otherwise. If it was on the board, there must be a reason not to touch it. Did it bite? Burn? Wrap your arm in a vice grip? Oh well, she supposed she’d find out eventually.

She took a seat at the back of the semicircle, someplace where she hopefully wouldn’t draw too much attention to herself if she transformed into a wombat in the middle of the lesson. She had just enough time to wave at Jude before Professor Devries came in through the back. “Hello, Professor,” Desiree returned the greeting. As to the question, that was a matter of opinion. If she could make it through this class without transforming, she’d agree that it was a wonderful day!

Herbology wasn't a favorite at all. Ruby found a spot near the back just as a girl (Desiree) also found a seat. "Nice outfit" Ruby muttered as she sat down.

The item covered in white was now pulling at her own curiosity. She was tempted to touch it. Or at least throw something at it.

Instead, she pulled out her gardening gloves and pulled her hair back into a bun. Would throwing something at it get her in trouble? Whatever it was going to be, she hoped it wasn't super deadly. I mean, maybe someone else will touch it. Who knows? Maybe if the Professor steps out, she could try throwing something at it? She had some old wooden buttons in her bag. It was just innocent curiosity. She placed a hand in her bag and felt the buttons, taking another moment to consider the action.

Then she remembered her older cousin mentioning something about the detention in the dungeons before.

Pouting a bit, Ruby sat back in her chair and waited for class to begin.

"Greetings, everyone!" Tapio nodded at the students who greeted him on his way into the class, barely able to contain his excitement, until he came to rest standing beside the mysterious plant. "Thank you all for not bothering the plant. The predecessor to this plant was lost in the unfortunate fires that destroyed the greenhouses several years ago. It's taken me some time to replace this one, because it's rather rare, but I was finally able to locate one thanks to the help of a colleague overseas, and I thought it would be interesting to make it the center of our study today.

So...who knows what this is?" And with that he proudly drew the groundcloth up and revealed what looked like a small grey cactus covered with knobs.

Oh hey…Ash had came up beside him and took the seat next to him. “Hi,” Rajesh said, returning the greeting. “Um…same old same old. “Still randomly conjuring water and mini storms around his person, still trying to attend glasses without drowning or slipping down a whole bunch of stairs trying to get to them and injuring himself. Now there was the professor. “Good morning,” he greeted the man who was hard to miss. Before long Devries beginning the class in earnest by revealing the mysterious plant from its cover.

“That would be a mimbulus mimbletonia,” Raj spoke up to answer. He remembered reading about them in one of his OWL study sessions.

Hiii, Desiree! Jude waved at his fellow Puff whom he was happy to see was in her human form at the moment. He knew how unexpectedly those transformations took place all too well. His attention soon enough went back to the professor. In Jude’s opinion, the man seemed highly excited. Did that mean the covered plant was something just as thrilling?

You know what was thrilling though? That another one of the rare plants had been replaced. Good on professor Devries for that! Then the grand reveal happened! The sixth year immediately knew what it was but doubted he needed to answer since the name of the plant was already given. Instead, he began doodling a tiny image of the mimbletonia in his book just for the fun of it. At the same time, he couldn’t help thinking this sort of plant wasn’t exactly what he would gift Rea.

"Correct!" exclaimed Professor DeVries with enthusiasm. "A rather rare plant. Now I invite you all to come up and take a look at it, and then when you're done, I'll ask you to give some detail of information about it. That can either be from your observations today or from something you've heard or read." Tapio paused expectantly, looking around to see who would be first. "Go on, go on, there's nothing to be afraid of," he said encouragingly. "But whatever you do, don't prod it!"

[OOC: Have your student go up and examine the plant, and then go ahead and offer some piece of information (if they have one)--you can assume the Professor has called on you, don't wait for me to call on each one. Feel free to catch up on any parts you missed if you're tuning in late. You have about 2 days, and class will continue on Nov. 20.]

Ash took a long time looking at the plant, even doodling a little drawing of it on her hand. When she was done looking at it(NOT touching it, because that was gross), she went back to her seat. "Those boils-" she stated, starting to sketch the plant in her notebook with her notes, and moving it a little away from Raj so it wouldn't get wet- "are a very important part of the plant's defense mechanism. That's where the stinksap comes from." She didn't mention what exactly stinksap was, surely someone else would say it for those who didn't already know. Also she forgot to explain it. She was more interested in her drawing.

Luther carefully walked closer to the plant. He was definitely not comfortable around plants, especially those that warranted extra caution. He inspected the plant carefully. With its thorns and weird smell, the plant looked the part of something coming from a herbal nightmare. Deciding he inspected the plant enough after a while, he walked silently back to his seat and started taking notes on the plant. He even tried to draw the plant, 'tried' being the operative word.

Soon enough, Jude had his turn of examining the plant. In his opinion, it was unattractive but to each their own, right? That aside, he was thrilled nevertheless to have an up close and personal meeting with the Mimbletonia. These were rare for a reason. He took care to ensure that he didn’t come in contact with it in any means, and once Jude had seen enough, he headed back to his seat.

Right.

What piece of information could he volunteer? After some thought, a hand went up. “The plant is thought to have originated from the Middle Eastern region of Assyria.”

Summer went over to the plant and stared at it, she loved plants, but there were a few that she didn't enjoy, expecially dangerous plants but this one didn't seem to be very dangerous.

After looking at it she went back to her seat, she couldn't think of anything to do with this plant. "eh, it's a plant." Yeah that was all she could think of to say about the plant.

Honestly, Alfred was absolutely glad he didn't touch the plant now. Even dinky little cacti like that could hurt if you touched them. Er, wait. That wasn't what it was? It sure looked like a cactus. Were they sure it was this 'mumble mumbletonia' plant thing?

Move closer? Um, no thanks. He wasn't afraid of the thing or anything, but he'd heard what that seventh year over there had said about stinksap and now he was both avoiding the plant because of it and figuring how he could use it in a prank. He also knew nothing about the plant, so he was taking notes off of what his classmates were saying about it.

Tapio stood back to give the students the opportunity to examine the plant, staying on the alert in case someone ignored his instructions not to prod it. He noted a number of them were making sketches of it --Ashley Fox, and Luther Starriver, who seemed a little afraid of it, but was at least trying. Unlike some others, like Alfred Devereaux, who seemed reluctant to approach it, though at least he was taking what appeared to be notes.

When Tapio felt everyone had had a chance to examine the Mimbulus (which was really an exciting thing--not all wizards got the chance, after all), he stepped back up front and called the class to attention.

"Very good, very good. I'm pleased to see you all taking notes and even drawing sketches--which is a very good way to make a record of plants you're observing, by the way. And several of you have given some useful information about the Mimbulus Mimbletonia. Miss Fox is correct in noting that the plant has boils which are filled with a substance called stinksap, which it uses to defend itself. And Mr. Anders correctly pointed out that this plant is believed to have originated in Assyria. And as you can see, the Mimbulus has a rather pulsating, squirming nature." Tapio looked over fondly at the plant, which was indeed gently moving and pulsing as it sat in its pot on the high stool he had placed it on.

"The Mimbulus Mimbletonia can live up to 50 yrs. if taken care of properly, though its color begins to fade a bit as it ages. If it starts to fade before then, though, it's a sign that something is wrong. This plant grows best in full sunlight and should be watered with either rainwater or, if you happen to have access to them, centaurs' tears. You should water until the soil is soaked through and there is about a half inch of soil on the top that is dry. And you should make sure your pot drains well.

In addition to its boils, the Mimbulus Mimbletonia also produces flowers, though very rarely. If you're lucky enough to have a plant that does this, they bloom in spring and usually produce pink flowers.

One other thing about the Mimbulus Mimbletonia--if you take care of it well and it is happy, it will make soft crooning noises for you when touched--it's rather the same thing as when a cat purrs for you." As he said this last, Tapio had reached out one of his large hands and begun very gently touching the Mimbulus Mimbletonia, which did indeed began to make strange crooning sounds. The professor and his plant seemed both very taken with each other.
Finally Professor DeVries seemed to remember that he was supposed to be teaching a class and pulled away from the plant, which subsided into its previously quiet state. Then he gently picked it up and moved it over onto its new home on one of the greenhouse shelves near the windows, where it seemed to bask cheerfully in the sunlight.

"Well, now," Tapio said as he returned to the front of the class, "as was mentioned before, the Mimbulus produced boils that are full of stinksap, which it uses for its own protection. But stinksap is also useful for wizards and witches. It's a green fluid that smells, unfortunately, a little like manure, but it is useful in a number of potions. For example, it can be used to heal creatures that are ill, and one enterprising wizard actually developed a toothpaste made out of it. The Mimbulus will squirt you with stinksap if you prod it or meddle with its boils incorrectly, but if you know what you're doing, you can extract stinksap yourself without danger. And that's what we will be doing today.

However, since we only have one Mimbulus Mimbletonia, and we don't want to extract all its stinksap from it, which would be harmful to it, I have acquired a number of plants from a different, though very similar type, which we are going to use to practice on. This plant is called [i]larryleachia perlatum] and it is even known in the Muggle world." DeVries turned and gestured toward a table set to one side, which held a number of strange plants that did indeed resemble the Mimbulus Mimbletonia. There were enough plants for everyone in the class.



"Now," continued the tall Herbology Professor, as he moved one of the new plants closer to him, "I will demonstrate one of the safer ways to extract stinksap from a Mimbulus Mimbletonia. Of course these plants don't contain Stinksap, but they have been charmed to mimic the substance for the purpose of this lesson. First, of course, you want to insert nose plugs and put on your dragon hide gloves, just in case." He paused to do so himself before continuing. "So, you need to touch the knobs on the plant, but gently and slowly, without startling it. I find the best way is to take a trowel and softly and kind of rhythmically stroke one of the knobs." Tapio began to stroke one of the knobs of his plant and humming under his breath. After a few minutes, a slow trickle of a yellowish-greenish substance began to seep down from the knob and Tapio caught it in a small glass vial.

"You see? It's not so hard, just be gentle and don't make any sudden moves. Now, one more thing before you get started--I"m going to demonstrate the Scourgify charm, which is important to know when extracting real stinksap just in case...just in case you handle it a little too roughly and have an accident. Again, the cleaning spell is Scourgify -- Skur-jih-fy -- and the wand movement goes like this. Tapio picked up his wand and swept it around in the distinctive 'S' movement. "Now I want everyone to practice this spell a few times, even if you think you know it, because when an accident occurs, you want to be able to do it right away, without having to think about or remember it. While you do that, I'll come around and pass out nose plugs for everyone. This fake stinksap doesn't smell nearly as bad as the real thing, but it still has an unpleasant odor which is somewhat similar."


[OOC: Main activity will pick up tomorrow, Nov. 21]

Luther watched and listened to Professor Devries, simultaneously taking notes. '50 years with that thing? No, thank you.' thought Luther. However, seeing the Professor being so in tune with the plant completely amazed the Ravenclaw. 'I guess he really loves that plant.' When the plant started to purr almost like a cat, just as the Professor said it would, Luther couldn't contain his amazement and a silent "Wow!" escaped from his lips.

After thanking the Professor for the nose plugs, Luther ensured he could cast Scourgify perfectly. 'The last thing I want is smelling like that.' thought Luther as he wrinkled his nose in mild disgust at the smell.

Note taking and sketching making sketches of the Mimbletonia? Yes! Jude was doing exactly that though his tiny doodles had been more for entertainment purposes. Meticulous notes continued to be made by him, each fact revealed by Devries written. Jude was particularly taken with the life span of a Mimbletonia and the fact that it could be watered with Centaurs’ tears. It was with amusement he watched Devries with the plant. Uh huh. Clearly the man was fond of this Mimbletonia.

So they would be working on cacti today. It made sense since the Mimbletonia seemed to be the Wizarding version of these. The Hufflepuff watched the demonstration with an eagle eye; he thought he understood enough how to work his way around the cacti when his time came. As for that Charm? Yes, the sixth year had mastered it a long, long time ago but some practice was done in the form of him doing the appropriate wand movement then muttering the incantation.

After Tapio had handed out all the nose plugs, he watched the students practicing the Scourgify charm until he felt they all had a good grasp of it. Then he stepped forward once more. "All right, everyone, that's very good, well done. Now I think you're ready for the practice. I want everyone to come up and very gently pick up one of these practice plants and carry it back to your workstation. If you want to pair up with another student, that's fine, too.

Once you're back, make sure your noseplugs are in, and then each of you take at least one turn trying to extract 'stinksap' from one of the boil-looking knobs. You might want to put on gloves, though you'll have to wash them later. Even those these aren't real Mimbulus Mimbletonia plants, they've been charmed to temporarily react, and somewhat smell, like the real thing. So be careful not to jab them or startle them too suddenly, or you'll get squirted with the 'stinksap.' And if that happens, you or your partner should use the Scourgify charm to clean up. I'll be walking around and checking on you in case anyone needs assistance. Good luck!" And with that, the Professor stepped back and waved his hand toward the table of Larrylechia Perlatum plants.

(OOC: We're on to the main activity now, or at least the first part of it. It's a little soon, sorry, but I might not be able to get back online tonight and I wanted to start this today--feel free to catch up on any earlier activities as needed. You can roleplay what the professor said to do with the plants, and I leave it up to you whether or not your student has an 'accident' (though if anyone starts getting too rough with the plants, they might just spontaneously squirt you, so easy does it)