...yes, thank you for sparring him, professor.

Again, this man's saving grace for one Eiji Rasting was that the man knew what he was talking about. So the enthusiasm he could tolerate as long as he kept the sixth year on track for his NEWTs next year.

His quill down for now, Eiji was...hardly inclined to contribute to the discussion which was mostly consisting of responses tip toeing around the same sort of use for the plant of the moment. No one had really touched on his own personal favorite use for the plant so there wasn't exactly any building to be done. Moisturizing quality was, perhaps, the closest to what he would share...but even then it was a bit of a stretch. The mention of constipation, internal usage, was closer still.

Sighing, he decided to just...venture a go at speaking. Professor Rainwater had earned one spoken answer from him per class and this could be it.

"I more commonly encounter aloe vera in cube form in my morning yogurt," he explained with a small glance towards his yellow pot. "It's presence compliments and enhancing the benefits of yogurt consumption in several ways...such as a liver detoxifier, constipation...as my peer already addressed, and boosts one's immune system and heart function."

She had been there the entire time, of course she had been, it was herbology after all. So Chloe sat there with her workstation ready, her notes done on the plant in front of her that she knew many things about. She did, however, fight the urge to touch the plant and not to cringe too much when someone suggested tearing off the leaf instead of being gentle with the plant.

"Professor Aleo Vera is actually good for hair as well. It can help with dandruff, ph balanced, and hair growth." So many products had aloe in it anymore, it wasn't surprising with all the benefits it had and why they had a few in their home.

A THUMBS UP. That’s what Naya got. It wasn’t one of the out of the box answers that Gus was hoping for, but it was the main answer that he expected from the kids. A good answer. A darling answer. It was added onto the whiteboard by the marker as the first point on their list of aloe uses. ”Excellent, excellent, Miss Lindsay. Aloe is also a wonderful ingredient in my favourite sun burn cream. My children burn easily, you see. Their mother, well, she’s very fair and they get very red very quickly. LOTS OF ALOE IN OUR HOUSE!” Well, in his flat and in her house. Because they didn’t live together. Oh wow. He was thinking about their mother a lot, wasn’t he? This was a lot? OKKKKKK MOVING ON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

”Thank you again, Naya.”



Really, really moving swiftly on because his thoughts were running wild and he needed to get back to the task at hand. ALOE VERA. ALOE. ALOE. ALOE. ”YES, FABULOUS. Probably not the best idea for the worst burns, for sure. Thank you, Claudine. A wonderful continuation and exploration of Naya’s answer.” And so it was added to the board.

HOORAY 4 ALOE.



Oh, Bernadette. Oh, Bernadette. ”Yellow is a happy colour, I agree. I hope the yellow brings you happy.” And he hoped that the BRIGHT YELLOW PLANT POTS gave all of his students the HAPPY !!! Not the ick, but the HAPPY!!!! All happy students, please and thank you. ”Yes, Bernie! The leaves that you have cut do not grow back, but a new one will grow instead after a little time. Obviously you shouldn’t be cutting all of the leaves off really quickly because then we’ll end up with no leaves at all and a long wait for new ones to grow! BUT if you take your time with them, then you’ll get the BEST longevity outta them!!!”

Did they realise that he loved these little things? Oh yeah he did.



Gus laughed. He couldn’t help it, but he’d been waiting for this answer and here it was from one of the very students he expected it from. ”I think it’s an acquired smell, Phoebe. Personally, I don’t find it that stinky. But perhaps I’ve been exposed to it for too many years. What would you say it smells like?” You know… for reference sake? Personal reference sake, that was. Did it smell the same to her as it did to others? WERE THEY ALL SIMILAR IN SNOUT SMELLING?!!!



A full on circle clap was given for Isla’s answer and Gus BEAMED at her. ”FABULOUS, Miss Bellchant!” Reaching for a bottle on his desk, he lifted it into the air. ”My favourite face lotion! Thirty percent of the ingredients is aloe vera gel. It’s wonderful. My face is wonnnnnnderfully smooooooth. I love it!” And so did his friends that he had gifted a bottle each to. Well, that’s what they said. And it was what Gus was going to believe.

ALOE FOR LIFE.



Another nod and a show of his bottle of face lotion. ”It IS wonderful for your skin. I think my wrinkles are kept at bay because of my skincare routine. I’m impressed, thoroughly, by the wonders of it.” And if anyone wanted recommendations, he HAD THEM!!!



His board marker worked quicker than he did, but as he fought to find the words to respond to Heath without laughing like a child, the marker drew both a toilet and something that ended up in the toilet, should you be using aloe latex for constipation. Ahem. His marker hid nothing. His thoughts always came out that way. And it was only when the marker squeaked that Gus turned to look at the board and HOWLED laughing. Loudly. So loud. So violently that he had to hold onto his stomach to contain it. His hand waved in apology towards Heath, because it wasn’t HIM he was laughing at. It was the drawings! THE POOP ON THE BOARD!!!

Honestly.

He was SUCH a child.

But his kids would have found this hysterical too.

They got their sense of humour from him, clearly.

When the laughter passed and he was only chuckling lightly, Gus smiled at Heath. ”Sorry about that. Immature, I am.” But he wasn’t apologising for being immature. Just for losing his cool in class like that. The howling. The stomach clutching. ”Excellent out of the box answer, Heath. I’m impressed!”



Gus chose to ignore Cora. If she wanted to discuss his decision to, she could visit him after class. He doubted that she would, given that he knew her well enough. But he just skimmed over her presence in the greenhouse for right now. Especially as she continued to ‘Gus’ at him.

Did she realise that she was her own worst enemy? Honestly?



IN YOGHURT?!!!!!!!! Why was Gus not encountering this in HIS morning yoghurt? That was his FAVOURITE answer. Forget the skincare, forget the uh….board drawings… THIS WAS HIS FAVOURITE. He clapped loudly for the answer. ”I’ll have to get some cubies added to my morning yoghurt also. I’d like to have those benefits on the daily also.” Especially the heart function. He needed that as he was getting older. Probably also the immune system too. Germs were everywhere.

”An excellent out of the box answer, Eiji. Impressive. Well done.”



AND THERE IT WAS.

THE PERFECT ANSWER.

But he didn’t give it away. He just gave a thumbs up and nodded. ”Excellent, excellent, Chloe. Wonderful, yes. Great things for hair care. Amazing. Wonderful. Fantastic.” ComplimENTS.

!!!!!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

”Great work, everyone!” Gus smiled, looking back over his shoulder at the list that they had created together. ”Like Miss McCarthy said, aloe can be GREAT for hair care and scalp health. In fact, it is an ingredient in many natural shampoos and conditioners. The work aloe does for your skin in terms of moisture and soothing is excellent for your scalp. It can help with dandruff, irritants and stimulating hair growth specifically. But it can also moisturise your hair and also smooth out frizz. There are many a benefit. Many that we don’t always talk about.” And many that he was going to continue to go on about for the rest of the lesson and then for the next few lessons afterwards. You know.. He loved to extend a topic past one lesson.

You couldn’t fit all of a curriculum topic into one lesson. It was not feasible. It was not appropriate. There was no time for FUN and experimental learning in cramming. ”A lot of you focussed on the uses of the gel in the aloe vera plant, but like I said there are many forms. One of those forms, the one we are going to be looking more in detail at today is powdered aloe. Now, powdered aloe can preserve the benefits of the plant if kept contained properly. It’s fun to see the change in the powder if you add moisture back into it, but that’s not our intention today and I don’t want to see it done just for fun.” They’d be able to add moisture to it later if they wanted to. That was part of the end goal today.

Once the board marker finished making notes from everything he had said, it transferred the information onto sheets of parchment and flew out to the cubby of each student. See, he just really provided for them. Good teacher right here. (He tried to think that at least once a day otherwise he ended up doubting himself for hours.)

”SO. You’ve all got an aloe plant. One each, even. The plants are yours. You can take them to their dorm or keep them in the greenhouse, but you are welcome to keep them. Today, you’ll be using one of the leaves to reduce down to powder. You could always buy your own powder, but how do you know it’s 100% aloe? Best to do it yourself, I say!” And obviously that was what they were going to do.

The board was quickly updated with instructions for this portion of the class as Gus gathered his own plant from his desk and beckoned the students over to an empty workstation to watch as he demonstrated what he expected them to do. ”So first, you’re going to cast a severing charm to take one of your leaves off. It’s best to choose one of the largest leaves your plant has, so you have room for error and also can get the most out of your work this lesson. You’re going to use Diffindo a lot for this part of the lesson, so a reminder to be careful and also put on your gloves. I want no lost fingers. Healer Recard might be in the middle of something and I have no plans to sew fingers back on myself. Of course, you can always use your cutting toolkit if you do not want to use your wand.” He gave the gathered students a smile and unholstered his own wand and cast a severing charm to cut the largest leaf off of his plant.

Gus unfolded his cutting tool kit and checked that the kids were paying attention before cutting it into slices.”You’ll want to cut them into slices about 5mm thick before laying them onto a tray. We’re going to put them into the dehydrator over at the back. Keep one aside, I’d like for you to feel the gel yourselves while we wait for everyone to finish. Think about what it reminds you of. Make note how your fingertips feel after you’ve rubbed the gel in. Apply it to a dry patch. Think about the uses we talked about and see if you can experience one whilst we’re waiting.” He nodded again, walking his tray over to the machine (that wasn’t on yet, so there was no danger) and opened the doors up before popping his tray onto a shelf in there.

”Ok, off you go. Back to your workstations. I’ll give you about fifteen minutes to get this done and then we’ll move on.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whiteboard Instructions

DEHYDRATION, DEHYDRATION, DEHYDRATION

GLOVES ON. WANDS OUT. SAFETY FIRST.

• USE DIFFINDO TO CUT OFF A LARGE LEAF. (EASIER THAN TUGGING)
• CUT/SEVER YOUR LEAF INTO 5MM SLICES.
• KEEP ONE SLICE AT YOUR WORKSTATION.
• PLACE YOUR OTHER SLICES ONTO A TRAY AND SET THEM INTO THE DEHYDRATOR AT THE BACK OF CLASS.
• WAIT FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS - TAKE OFF YOUR GLOVES, FEEL THE GEL IN THE LEFTOVER SLICE.

Be free, little slicers. BE FREEEEEEE.

OOC: OK. Let’s go! I think Gus and I got everything explained well. If not, please come find me and I’ll try explain a little better. I tried to put everything in, but things slip through the cracks. Gus would like for your characters to take a large leaf from their plant, cut it into slices roughly 5mm, place them onto a tray and then into the dehydrator at the back of class. They should keep one of their slices to feel and explore with while they wait for everyone to get finished up.

We’ll move on in about 72 hours from this post! <3

Claudine was pleased with herself. It sort of made up a little for the slight chill she still felt from Bernie. Instead of focusing on her friend (ex-friend?), she watched the list on the board grow. And she watched Rainwater loose composure because of Heath’s answer. Really, Rainwater was such a happy-go-lucky man. How did one be like that? Did Rainwater offer lessons in that? Did she even want to be happy-go-lucky too?

Oh. This little spikiness was going to be hers? Lovely. Maybe her pet rat would love having it as company in the dorm by her bedside. When they were beckoned over, she allowed others to go first just so that she wouldn’t be caught too much in the crowd. Luckily, her view of Rainwater and his plant wasn’t too obscured by taller students.

Okay, so the demonstration seemed easy enough and they were required to work as a team or as a group. Which was a good thing because Claudine was once again starting to feel cool towards Bernie. She had definitely made the mistake of taking a station beside the Gryffindor.

Claudine silently got to work by first putting on her gloves and taking up her wand. Now… which leaf would work best, hmmm? Which was the largest?

Sometimes he wondered if Professor Rainwater was purposefully acting cheering as a means of trolling him. The man did not come off to him as the sort to be oblivious to personality traits. Quite the opposite, honestly. Though it was hard for Eiji to remain too grumpy in the face of compliments. Though the Slytherin had never really taken himself as the out of the box sort. In his world, there simply was no box.

Yeah. Edgy like that.

...and when the professor continued on to explain how they would be learning how to turn it the plant and its gel insides to a powder AND they got to keep the plant itself, well, Eiji Rasting was officially tuned in and dedicated. There was additional relief when the uses of their tools was acceptable over the use of a Severing Charm. Eiji was proficient in it, of course, but when it came to this sort of thing he much preferred to do it all manually. So out came his silver knife and off he was examining the leaves for harvesting. Though he was disappointed that they would not be learning how to magically dehydrate things themselves but...you win some you win less with others.

He took his time to examine each leaf before slicing off his personal favorite as close to the base as he could. Cutting it into slices was easily done as well and he lined them up on a tray - with his name clearly written on it - and then got up from his spot to insert them into the dehydrator. They were funny little machines, one he was somewhat familiar with since his mum used one sometimes in her baking. Back at his station he...refrained from handling his remaining slice.

He knew what aloe vera felt like, thanks.

Jillian chuckled at the professor's response to her about aloe vera. "Your skin is glowing, Professor" huh, maybe she should ask his formula to his this nice skin care routine.

Anyway it was time to move on to the activity. Jillian figured that they might explore more to this aloe vera plant but it is turning out to be one of those Potions lesson where they cut something and touch it.... Ewww. She's familiar of the texture and she's not a big fan of it. But she's not complaining. She took out her wand and pointed towards a large size aloe vera, holding the leaf with her other hand she uttered the spell. "Diffindo" she said in a soft yet audible tone and as the leaf separates from its stem, Jillian carefully placed it on the tray in front of her.

With the help of her cutting tool, she got in closer and sliced the leaf in 5 mm as instructed and demonstrated by the professor. Carefully moving them and making sure that each had enough space on the tray before she made her way towards the dehydrator. Of course she took note where her tray way and besides she knows the way she cut the plant.

As soon as she went back to her seat she stared at the leftover aloe vera in front of her. The professor wrote that they may touch it but again... she's really not a big fan.

The Snakette eventually figured out which leaf she would like to work with: a thick and sturdy one. “Diffindo,’’ she stated confidently, doing the wand movement aimed at the base of the leaf. Once it was severed, she got to work by slicing it up. Claudine was careful to cut the leaf into five millimeters slices but that didn’t mean she got every slice perfectly. There were some slightly larger or smaller than the required measurement. Soon enough, she was done and all but one slice were resting on a tray. She stood up,looking uncertainly at the dehydrators. Fortunately, Eiji was taking the lead so she followed suit, sticking her tray next to his.

Back at her station, the second year tugged off her gloves while looking thoughtfully at the sole aloe vera slice. She had had an encounter with the gel a long time ago but by now, had forgotten what it felt like. It was the perfect time to refresh her memory.

Isla hadn't been expecting the round of applause...literally...when she gave her answer. Apparently, Rainwater seriously loved beauty products. Who could blame him, though? The way he talked about aloe made her almost want to go out and buy some right now. It was interesting how it all played into Herbology, too.

Oh, they all go an aloe plant of their own? That was awesome! "Thanks, Professor Rainwater!" she said. As she listened to the directions, she pulled her gloved out and secured them on her hands. She glanced around her plant and chose the largest leaf she could find. She made a face when she heard the professor mention sewing fingers back on. Eww.

She placed her wand toward the largest leaf. "Diffindo!" she said, and then she carefully removed the portion she needed. She measured everything out and pretty soon, the leaf had been cut into 5mm pieces. Looking back up at the whiteboard, she noted where everything was supposed to. She kept a piece for herself and placed the other slices onto a tray. In to the dehydrator they went!

With all that taken care of, she went back to her workstation and removed her gloves. While she waited for the next set of instructions, she felt the gel in the leftover piece. Awesome! "Want me to cut you a piece or two, Professor?" she asked.

"Garbage," Phoebe gave a pert nod as she dragged her aloe vera plant across the work station toward herself. "It kind of smells like garbage. Like not stinky bad four day old in the sun garbage, but sort of natural and moldy and icky." That was probably as good a description as she could manage.

She pulled her wand free from inside her pocket and pointed it at the largest leaf on the plant. She liked that leaf, though. It was her favorite one. Maybe she'd go with the third largest, which was also sort of wilting and ready to be pruned. "Diffindo." Surprise of surprises... it worked.

Now for the harder part: cutting the leaf into additional strips. Lots of little cuts, which required much more precise magic. "Diffindoooo?." Tiny little cut, but not a very good one. She'd keep trying... there was an awful lot of leaf left.

She smiled to herself when he responded to her answer and then went on to talk about what they were doing today. Her smile grew, even more, when he said about taking the plant with them when they were done. Did she need another aloe plant? No, but would she take it? Yes, of course, she would. She loved plants and wouldn't just leave a perfectly healthy plant when given to her.

Once he was finished talking she pulled her materials out and put on her gloves. Pulling the plant a little closer she picked up her wand and very confidently, "Diffindo" doing the wand movement and cutting a very straight line so that the Aloe leaf came off nice and straight. Givin the plant a small thank you and a little massage where the cut was she set the leaf down in front of her.

She then took her wand and carefully made 5mm slices into it, gathering the pieces together, but one that she left on her work station. She got up and placed the others onto a tray.

Naya appreciated the fact that the professor gave them notes in their cubbies. That meant she didn’t have to write down every little detail during class. It gave her more time to focus on what everyone was saying.

She listened as the professor explained what they would be doing for their activity. Naya was happy that they would have an aloe plant to keep. It would definitely brighten up her dorm room, now that Sierra was gone. Plus, she could always use a little aloe juice for emergencies. The one thing that worried her though was the thought of a class full of students (of various experience levels) using the severing charm at the same time. She would have to remain alert while she was completing her task. She wanted to leave the class with all of her body parts intact.

Naya put her gloves on and examined her aloe vera plant. She wanted to pick just the right leaf to use for her powder. When she had chosen what she thought was the best one, she aimed her wand at the leaf. “Diffindo”, she said, while removing a large leaf chunk. She debated using her knife for the next part, but decided against it. Repeating “Diffindo” several times, she cut her 5mm slices of leaf and laid them on the tray. She almost forgot to save one, but remembered at the last minute. After putting one aside, Naya took her try to the dehydrated and placed it inside.

Returning to her workstation, Naya removed her gloves and picked up her aloe slice. She was quite familiar with the plant, but squeezed the gel onto her hand anyway and rubbed it in. Of course it felt good, but she took a moment to really notice the results. Her hand felt smooth and moisturized. She really needed enough for both of her hands, rather than one little patch. For now though, she just had to wait for the next set of instructions.

Bernie was SO going to keep this aloe alive. So easy. She was happy to have a cheerful plant to put in her dorm. A little sunshine for the girls' room. Wonderful. It was almost as awesome as Rainwater absolutely losing it over Heath's answer, heheeheheheheh.

She followed the professor's instructions easily, casting diffindo to remove one, ONLY ONE, leaf from her aloe.

It was much more difficult to get her wand to make small, 5mm thick slices. This took a LOT of concentration, and Bernie felt more than a few beads of sweat break out on her forehead. She got through it, though, and put all but one of her slices on the tray and the tray in the back.

Then she poked around at the spare one, eying Claudine as she did so. "Hey Claudine," she casually addressed her former best friend. "Hey. Hey. Have you ever tried this stuff?" You know, like, licked it? Because she had before today, not now and it was VERY bitter.

Erm.

.......... hello?

She had participated, hadn't he heard!? ACTUALLY participated. In a class discussion. Her. Cora Dredworth. HELLO?

Not a fan of being ignored, Cora narrowed her eyes at Gus and actively chose not to listen as he droned on and on and on and on. She often zoned out when teachers spouted their nonsense but usually, it just happened naturally and this time she was doing on PURPOSE. So there. Take that, Gus.

And of course that meant that while everyone else started following his instructions, Cora had no idea what was going on. Not a single clue. She kicked Józef under the table and wiggled her eyebrows in his direction. "Aloe aloe aloe, fancy seeing you here."

Ahahahahaa.

O_______O What the heck just happened?! One moment, the class was having a normal discussion about the uses of aloe (or as normal as anything that ever happened in this class, anyway), and the next thing Heath knew, the professor was laughing like a hyena… because of his answer. His ears and face, though partially hidden behind his long dark hair, turned bright red, and he started at the floor to hide it… either that or to avoid the judging eyes of his classmates.

Idiot! he berated himself. Despite his answer being factually correct, he couldn't help but feel he'd said something very wrong! He should've guessed someone would react to his answer like that; he just never imagined it would be the professor. Could the floor just swallow him up now, please?

Heath was only half listening to everything that was said after that. The storm of his emotions… confusion, embarrassment, fear, disappointment, maybe a bit of anger… made it practically impossible to concentrate. Besides, he'd completely lost interest in aloe, to the point that he didn't even bat an eye when he heard they were allowed to keep the plants. If that had happened five minutes ago, he would've jumped at the chance, but now the smiley face pot he once liked was nothing but a bad reminder of his embarrassment.

So what were they doing now? Right, powdered aloe, cut large leaf, 5mm slices, all but one go in the dehydrator. Whatever. Heath didn't care anymore; he just wanted to get through the rest of this lesson without drawing any more attention to himself. The sooner he got this done, the sooner he could be alone with his thoughts! He tugged his gloves on - a task made much harder by his suddenly trembling hands, though he didn't know if the shaking was out of fear or rage.

Ugh, not today, please! Heath really didn't feel like making a million failed attempts at spell casting right now, so he did what he always did when he needed to escape his own emotions: act out someone else's… someone who wouldn't take this kind of embarrassment lying down, and Heath knew exactly who that was! Channeling his inner dark side, Kylo Heath (or was it Heath Ren?) brandished his wand, aiming at the largest leaf on his aloe plant. "Diffendo!"

There was a slight edge to his voice, and he waved his wand a bit more aggressively than intended but it got the job done. Now he just had to do it again several times to cut the leaf into 5mm slices. "Diffendo! Diffendo! Diffendo!" he repeated, imagining his wand was a lightsaber. He had to admit slicing the aloe leaf was pretty satisfying, maybe not as much as smashing a mask against a wall or taking a lightsaber to a chair, but still.

By the time he was done, there were five equal sized slices. Still very much in character, Kylo Heath placed four of the slices on a tray and walked with confident, commanding strides to the dehydrator. After placing his slices in the machine, he returned to his station and removed his gloves to touch the remaining slice. It wasn't anything special. It just felt like cold goo.

While Lucas wasn't really paying attention to who he sat down next to, he did end up noticing when someone came and sat down next to him. While he knew Nina and had interned with her over the summer, he didn't think they were fRIENDS - no offence - so it was safe to say that he was confused. And she was greeting him? Uh????

He gave her a very awkward smile but decided not to say anything. Hey. Hello.

Please don't let there be group work.

When the lesson started, he turned his attention back to the front and...... was immediately disappointed. Piggyback answers? This just sounded like another word for a discussion and that was something that this Gryffindor wasn't taking part in. No. He was just..... going to sit there. And listen. And show some face reactions that he couldn't hide because some of the answers were very weird.

It came as a relief when the discussion stopped - AND when a parchment of notes flew into his cubby. And the news about keeping the plant? Well, yeah. Okay. It was nice of Rainwater but not something he cared a lot about. But, then again, he could always use it for his skin. Or simply give it away to his mum or Emma or-

Oh, they were starting? Right.

Lucas strapped on his gloves, giving his fingers a little wiggle at the end before taking out his wand. Using Diffindo to cut off one of the large leaves sounded easy enough - and that's exactly what he went on to do. But, uh, 5mm slices? Lucas bit his lip as he glanced up at the board and then back down at the leaf again. What if they weren't the same? Or weren't 5mm exactly? What then?

Oh merlin oh merlin oh merlin.

His heart started thumping loudly again and it was all he could hear as he bent over the aloe leaf. But he did his best to ignore it as he started using Diffindo to cut up the leaf into 5mm slices. Or, well, as close to 5mm as he could get it. Some were a little smaller than others but Rainwater wouldn't mind, right? Maybe he won't notice. Yeah. Maybe.

After what seemed like the entire lesson, the fifth year straightened up, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so. He had slices. That was a start, right? He started placing them onto a tray, leaving one behind for......... well, he didn't know what for but he had the one. One that he didn't really feel very comfortable with touching right now.

Instead, he went to quickly place the tray into the, uh, dehydrator, was it?Yeah. That.

Because his leaf was cut up, Gus was going to use this time to walk around the greenhouse and check that the students were following his instructions to the best of their ability. He first checked in on Claudine, passing her a smile as she got to work. ”Careful work makes best, Claudine.” But he also knew that being careful was difficult when someone was watching you so he moved on.

In another life, Gus probably would have been desperate for Eiji to like him. But...he wasn’t. He just hoped that he was at least going to take something from every class he held. That would be enough. No, no. That was enough. But, if he were to continue attending classes like he was supposed to, then he’d find that a lesson in the next month was based specifically on using magic to dehydrate plants. It just wasn’t this one. But it was planned and ready to go!

His skin was glowing? Oh no, that was just him blushing about the compliment. Gus gave Jillian a thumbs up and walked on past, leaving the Prefect to continue slicing and then getting her leaf into the machine at the back of the greenhouse.

Wandering back through the workstations, Gus passed Claudine who was just taking her slices to the dehydrator. Another thumbs up in her direction, as he had been impressed with how careful she was. 5mm was recommended, but there was never a need to be exact. Not in slicing for this job. The slices would all dehydrate. The size just made them easier to powder down later.

Did he want a piece to be cut for him? Gus was confused by the question, because he’d already gotten his into the machine, but nevertheless, he smiled at Isla. ”It’s perfectly fine, Isla. Thank you for the offer.” He also had many aloe plants in his office and hidden in corners everywhere. It wasn’t a problem. It was a lifestyle.

Garbage? Oh…… huh. Right. ”Interesting sense of smell you have there, Phoebe.” He’d never heard of that one before. Not about this plant. About others, yes. But this one? Not at all. Never. Had anyone else? Now.. at least Phoebe was moving onto the leaf work and Gus noticed was she was a little apprehensive about the magic involved. He didn’t want to draw attention to it, because teenagers could be cruel when aware of things. He disliked them almost as much as he liked them. ”Perhaps use your cutting tools if you feel that would be easier, Miss James.”

Another one that completed the activity with ease. Gus was always impressed with Chloe’s work in his classes and the standard of the homework she submitted. She had a talent with Herbology, that much was clear. And it wasn’t because of outside influences in her life, it was something she had in herself. A part of who she was. ”Well done, Miss McCarthy.”

He was always intrigued to see which students went with a sole magic approach to the slicing part of this activity. He preferred to use his tools for the intricate work, but things were much smoother if he used magic to get the leaf off first. Mish mash of the two methods. Gus gave a nod of approval to Naya before she went off with her tray and then he moved on too.

Another double magic user. Interesting to see that Bernie was finding it a little fiddly, though. At least she powered through it and managed to get hers into the machine. ”No eating it in class, Bernadette. I’m watching.” That was nOT the aim of their lesson !!!

Could he just ignore a student for the rest of the class? Because… honestly, Cora was heading for a one way ticket to detention. He didn’t want to let her school behaviour go home to Stemp House, but he had already drafted a letter to Lorelai in his head about Cora’s behaviour and it was disappointing that he was going to have to send it. She hadn’t even started the activity, and without it.. She wasn’t going to be able to complete the rest of the class.

Still, he said nothing and walked past her workstation without a look.

Since his laughing fit, Gus had moved on and almost had forgotten about the little poop doodle that his magic marker had done. Clearly, Heath hadn't moved on and Gus could tell by the way he held himself and the sharpness of his shoulders. He lingered around in case the casting went awry and more so in case he ended up as the target of it. What a way to go. Severed over a poop doodle.

Yikes.

Whatever happened, Gus was avoiding old sulky shoulders over there for a while longer.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As he watched the last couple of trays go into the machine (minus Cora’s non-existent one), Gus headed that way. ”Okay!” Did he have their attention? Hello? Yes? Hello! Clicking the doors shut, he pressed the button on the front of the left door and let it begin it’s work. It wasn’t loud, there was a very small hum coming from the machine if you paid enough attention to listen, but the greenhouses were never really quiet enough for a noise that small to be heard.

”It shan’t take long to dehydrate the leaves, actually. So we’ll do a couple of things and then we can have them to use!” Magic was their friend in this situation. Lessons weren’t that long and their project was time sensitive in preparation. ”Let me brinnnng you back to when I mentioned how aloe is good for both hair and scalp health! Roll your brains back. Are you there? You look like you are!” Did they though? Probably not. Nevermind. HE WAS THERE !!!!!! ”Our school is in Scotland. And, as you’re all very aware by now, the weather is pretty dreadful up here. When it’s cold, it’s collllllllld. And do you know how bad that is for your skin? AND for your hair?”

He could feel it.

Vomit.

The word kind.

The rant kind.

THE HAIR RANT KIND!!!!!!!!

And so Gus gave himself a spin on the spot to distract himself and pushed his hair back. Oh, his hair. His hair that had really struggled with moisture since being here. But he’d gotten to a good place with it again. It had taken a lot of experimentation, but he’d figure out his own hair routine and things were going well with it. His scalp was in good health and he actually hadn’t had an issue with slow hair growth either!!!

”This is my first time in Scotland, and my hair has been on a significant journey since September. It’s been dry, my scalp has been flaky and itchy -- and no, none of you gave me lice -- but it’s been stressful. There’s a need to deep-condition and sometimes to use dry shampoo remedies to survive from wash to wash, because… washing your hair every single day is ACTUALLY bad for it! Did you know that?! I didn’t until I went to university.” And then he’d been all about getting things right and knowing everything he could about what to use on his hair. And it all started with knowing your hair type and figuring out what you needed.

”SO. All hair types are different, some are curly, some are straight, some are between. Some are thin, some are thick. Some are naturally oily and some naturally dry. What can you tell me about your hair type and what are some of the NATURAL ingredients in your hair products?”

OOC: Feel free to play catch up for the mini activity! All trays would have been in the machine before Gus closed it, so your character would have their leaf slices in there! (Besides Miss Cora, but that’s a different story)

We’ll move on in about 48 hours from this post! <3

Claudine had actually been poking the gel, which to her, felt rather cool, when Rainwater called to them. Yes, she did remember when he spoke of that earlier. Yes, she knew that the cold was very, very bad for hair and skin. No, she did not get that dramatic about her hair which she was currently wearing in a ponytail. Actually, she never got that dramatic about her hair or about anything.

Her hair type? Um… “Straight, thick,’’ came her reply when it was her turn. As for ingredients… “I think water is a natural ingredient.’’

Mmkay, well, suit yourself, Rainwater. She thought he might like a few extra pieces for the beauty routine he seemed to enjoy, but apparently he already had what he needed. She gave him a smile and a nod anyway. Isla watched as the dehydrator sprang into action. Well...it didn't exactly spring into action. It pretty much did all its work quietly, which fit in nicely with a lesson going on.

She hadn't exactly ever thought about the weather playing into her skin and hair, but it did make sense. Maybe it was the fact that she was twelve years old now, but those type things were starting to occur to her whereas they didn't before. "My hair's not too thin or too thick. I think it's somewhere in the middle," she said, raising her hand to chime in. Natural ingredients in hair products? She was guessing he meant other than aloe vera, since that had already been brought up. "What about shea butter? I see that on a lot of the labels."

This was interesting. Professor Rainwater seemed to be very in tune with his hair. Naya thought maybe she should ask him for some beauty tips. Clearly he was very knowledgeable. Anyway, to the question. What could they share about their hair? Well that was complicated. Nonetheless, Naya raised her hand.

“My hair is wavy.......naturally.” That was before she took a flat iron to it. “It’s kind of a medium thickness and tends to be dry. I know that there is coconut oil in my hair products.” Among other things.........nice moisturizing things.

Was it really bad for his hair that he washed it every day? Gunnar paused for a moment to consider Rainwater's words. He felt the need for a daily shower after his morning runs, so he wasn't sure he was going to change that part. And even though he thought he took at least a small amount of pride in his hair, he wasn't sure he noticed any problems. Hm.

He thought it kind of a strange question but he raised his hand after he thought about his hair....and his hair products. "I suppose my hair is a little wavy and a little thick." Or at least it wasn't thinning or anything like that. "I'm not sure about my shampoo because I haven't read the ingredient list in awhile," he admitted, not remembering exactly what was in there. "But I'm pretty sure jojoba oil is used sometimes." And that came from a plant that he wouldn't mind studying a bit closer.

Uhhh… well, this went in a completely different direction than expected! Heath didn’t know why he was surprised by that fact; nothing in herbology class ever turned out the way he thought it would. He was somewhat listening as the professor started talking again but quickly tuned out when the topic turned to hair care. Um, no, he didn’t know how bad cold weather was for his hair, nor did he particularly care. His appearance was a touchy subject for him, so he tried to think as little about it as possible. Why did this matter anyway?

Oh, so there was a point to this after all… Heath considered the question. He knew exactly how Kylo Ren would answer; he would either give a sarcastic reply or else absolutely lash out at Rainwater, neither of which were happening right now. Behind the act he put on to escape his own emotions, he was still shy, self-conscious Heathcliff Jones. There was no way he was going to risk embarrassing himself twice in one lesson, and even if he weren’t terrified of saying the wrong thing, he genuinely had no idea how to answer the question.

The extent of Heath’s knowledge about his hair was that 1) it was dark and sort of wavy. 2) He grew it long to give himself something to hide behind when he was scared or sad, and 3) it tended to get flat and straw-like if he went too long without washing it. Was that the kind of answer the professor was looking for? He didn’t know, and he was just as confused by the second part of the question. He just used whatever kind of shampoo his mum gave him; he never really bothered to read the ingredients label. He sort of remembered his sister going on about some coconut papaya shampoo - she said it smelled like a tropical paradise; he thought it smelled more like a fruit salad - but he didn’t know whether those ingredients were actually good for hair or just added for scent. Either way, he was keeping quiet this time. No chance of saying the wrong thing if he said nothing at all!

The discussion about uses of aloe vera wasn't particularly surprising considering they had started the lesson by writing down their thoughts, but what was surprising was when Chloe McCarthy mentioned using it for hair care ????? She was was well aware about the benefits for skin care and burns, even constipation, but somehow never realized people used aloe in their hair? Was that a thing? Did it help keep it moisturized?

Carsyn wasn't phased in the least about her dormmate either, because after lessons and rooming with her since first year, she was practically immune to her antics. As long as she didn't do anything dumb like get them killed. She did roll her eyes when Cora started talking to her plant instead of partaking in the activity. But somehow after knowing someone for so long, you begin to realize that ignoring them and not encouraging such behaviors is really best for everyone.

Slipping on her dragonhide gloves, the Gryffindor Prefect used her wand to point at the largest leaf she could find on her plant and cast diffindo to cut it free. Easy task, really, as the severing charm was one she'd used before. Nothing new here. With her own cutting tool kit, Carsyn took hold of one of the knifes in there and then held the leaf firmly onto her desk. Kind of like slicing vegetables, which to be honest was one of Carsyn's least favorite kitchen tasks - she was a baker, not a cook. Once she had several slices, she placed all but one on a tray, scribbling her name 'Carsyn Rose' onto a small tag next to the leaf slices and inserted the tray into the dehydrator.

Back to her workstation, she removed her glove to feel the gel that had oozed from the remaining slice, before rubbing it into her hands. Winter was a rough time on the hands, quite literally. Her light eyes fell onto Professor Rainwater as he continued the discussion again and she felt mesmerized for a moment when he pushed his hair back. Focus, Carsyn, focus

When he started talking about his personal experience with the Scotland climate and the stress, she half wanted to comment about how teaching a bunch of rowdy teenagers probably didn't help matters in terms of stress.

"Straight. Somewhere in between thick and thin." Cause she wasn't sure she had super thick hair, but she also didn't think it to be thin either. "Coconut oil, sometimes...." There was also a whole lot of ingredients that she couldn't pronounce when she'd looked at her shampoo bottle before, but that was one that she was pretty sure she remembered seeing on the list and it made her hair smell good too.

Nina would have typically turned her nose up at a question such as this one. Though she could see the linkage he was trying to make her, it felt unnecessary to frame the question in this way because quite frankly? Nina didn't care about what type of hair her classmates had.

As it was, however, Nina loved this line of conversation. The excitement was clear on her face as her hand shot up in the air (also surprising because she NEVER spoke in class if she could help it). "I have thick hair, with natural curls," she answered before pausing for a moment. "Soft curls, not tight ringlets." Though she liked to wear her hair differently every day, which meant she was often wearing it straight or in a high-pony. "One of my favorite curl defining creams uses argon oil." With her answer, she tossed her hair behind her shoulder. See? It really worked.

Typically the first hand in the air was Claudine during his lessons, and Gus never knew what to expect from her. Or so.. He hadn’t, because he was coming to understand her learning styles more as the year went on. ”Water is a natural, yes. Not so much what I was thinking of, but thank you.” He supposed it was listed on ingredients lists.

Whilst the students were giving their answers, Gus was looking at their hair a little more intently than he probably should have. Just to see if he thought different about their hair type. Which, he had done with every student. But then he didn’t know their routine or the ins and outs, just what he could see from afar. ”Shea butter. Excellent, Isla. Shea butter is excellent for hair and scalp health. It works for dry scalps and also for oily scalps. And with a healthy scalp, comes healthy hair growth! These things are LINKED. And if your hair is reallllllly damaged… then you can leave it in overnight! Like a MASK!!!!!” And oh ho ho did he have a TREAT for these kiddos!

Wavy, yes. Good observation, Naya. Gus had a couple of more things he could say about her hair, but they were things he’d hope she’d notice more through their homework assignment. ”Absolutely, yes.” A typical marker squeak from behind him as it was added to the new list they were working on. ”Coconut oil, much like shea butter is GREAT for moisture. It’s an oil, of course. But one of the biggest things it can help with is the prevention of hair breakage and split ends, and therefore works on giving you longer luscious locks. If that’s what you’re lookin’ for anyway, kids.” Coconut oil was a very versatile ingredient and he knew it had a lot of uses, much like the subject of their lesson right now. Aloe. Maybe they were use friends. HAH.

”I always suggest reading the ingredients list. The more natural, the better. Avoid sulphates!” Or don’t. It was a personal choice, but Gus thought it was the best decision he had made for his hair in a very long time. Outside of cutting it from that very strange shoulder length he’d grown it out to when he was twelve. That was a time he didn’t want to think about or ever see pictures from. No thank you. ”But, yes. Jojoba oil, like those previously mentioned is great for moisture. It also contains a LOT of vitamins and minerals that are FABulous for your hair. It strengthens it. AND prevents hair loss and gives you thicker hair! A wonderful choice for an aging man.”

Like himself.

Or not.

He wasn’t old !!!!!!!!!

No answer from Heath, but Gus spent a couple of seconds analysing the hair type of the boy before looking around the greenhouse for the next student to get an answer from. He couldn’t change his behaviour in class if Heath said nothing to him or expressed his discomfort with things in Herbology. It was obviously something they needed to talk about before the subject got too much for Heath to continue with and it hindered his education.

Something he wondered when Carsyn answered was how different her hair type was to that of her twin. Obviously, there were differences between their looks, so he just wondered if hair types was one of them. Did one have coarser hair? Finer? Thicker? Thinner? Heavier? Lighter? Knottier? Oh! He had all the questions about it, but it was perhaps a little invasive to ask it all. He’d just have to launch into research of twins hair types.

”Yes, yes. Coconut oil, like Naya mentioned earlier. It’s also good for skin, if you want to look more into that. Hair is my strong point.” He knew bits about skincare, but not nearly as much as he did hair care.

Had Gus ever seen Nina light up like that? Nope. Was he thrilled by it? Oh absolutely. He didn’t even try to hide the GRIN on his face as she answered, but he did stop himself from hurrying over to stand with her to talk in DETAIL about her curls and the curl cream and what her wash routine was like and whether she was one of those curly girls that didn’t brush after a wash because it went crazy or if she was a brusher and a product tamer. OR IF SHE WAS A HAIR DIFFUSER. SO MANY QUESTIONS. But he kept them to himself even though he really didn’t want to.

”I love argan oil! I use it on my daughter’s hair! Brilliant for the shine and giving your hair some life and some pizaZZ.” PIZAZZ, OK?!!!?>!?!?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Right, right. Was that it? Were there any other hands in the air? No? Ok. Clapping his hands together again, Gus smiled at them. ”Thank you for sharing, guys. I’m always intrigued to hear about your hair types and what ingredients you’re aware of. I hate to say it, but there are SO many out there that everyone is oblivious to. Not just you guys, but the world. For example, in my shampoo there’s avocado, sea kelp, tea tree oil. As well as the ingredients you guys mentioned. Banana treatments are something people do for their hair, also. I find it really interesting to hear how things actually work for different hair types. What works for Nina, may not work for Carsyn. And what works for Gunnar may not work for Heath. Hair type is personal and reaction to ingredients is even more personal.” And he could probably stand here for hours to explain all of that to them.

But he wouldn’t, because he couldn’t. This wasn’t the last class of the day and people had places to be after being in here.

”The hair product business is large. There are so many brands, so many price points, so many conflicting theories and preaching people. I’m not going to preach about what I think your hair needs. I think I know what each of you needs, but I also want you to figure that out for yourself in the usage of your hair products or your routine.” Were they following him? Had they picked up on what his plan was for the rest of this lesson? No? ”SO. Hair products! We’re going to put together our own, build our own based on your hair needs. Are you a bit dry? So you need moisture. Do you have split ends? So you need something to help with your hair strength. Scalp problems? You need oil balancing. Oily hair? You need something mattifying and controlling. There’s always an answer. Always a solution to those problems. You just have to look into your ingredients and your routine. Overwashing dries out. But if you NEED to wash every day, then you can deep moisturise.”

”Oily hair usually happens because your scalp is dry and therefore your body is producing more oil to try hydrate. So in that case, you can add more oil and balance it out. Hair care is a balancing act. Easy to figure out, for sure.” But he was here to help and so were their ingredients. ”So, our task now is to put together a personalised hair product. A deep conditioning treatment, a dry shampoo in powder form, a shine control serum. Have a think about what you need, what you want and what you can achieve by yourself. Dry shampoo is excellent for getting from wash day to wash day and letting you take a break between washes. You can wash your body without washing your hair. That isn’t something we talk about, but it’s helpful, honest.” Had Gus began pacing? Yes. But he WAS placing a list of ingredients, the types of hair they were good for and what changes they would make to your hair onto every workstation. It was about five pages deep and things were listed in powdered forms and liquid forms or solid forms. Whatever form it could come in, it was listed. Like aloe. It was listed as a gel, but also in powder form.

”We’re going to get our aloe leaves out of the machine, grind them down into a powder and then apply them to our other ingredients to make our products. Obviously, the gel will start to bind together once more if you add liquid to it to create a deep conditioning treatment. I suggest you add the liquid or oil last before you transfer your product to your tubs and take from class. But that’s what we can do after we’ve decided on what you’re putting in there. That’s up to you though. This list” he gave the last few in his hand a wave and a smile. ”has everything that I’ve got in stock for you to use in the next room.” He figured this was a lot to take in and he’d already talked a lot, so he would just move on to putting the instructions onto the whiteboard.

”This is the plan. It’s a lot. I’m here to help. I’m here for ingredient choices and opinions. Utilise me. But also, your choices will ultimately be your own. Because your homework is to test your product, come back and adapt it each month until the end of term if something isn’t working for you. And to keep a diary in those journals I gave you. Part of your final grade this year will be based on this project.”

Enough chatting.

Whiteboard time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whiteboard Instructions

HAIR PRODUCT CREATION

1 DECIDE WHICH PRODUCT YOU ARE CREATING, COLLECT TWO TUBS FROM THE SHELF UNDER YOUR WORKSTATION AND LABEL IT WITH YOUR NAME AND WHAT YOUR PRODUCT IS. ONE WILL BE YOURS TO KEEP, ONE WILL BE MINE TO SAMPLE AND GIVE MY THOUGHTS BACK BY NEXT WEEK.

2 COLLECT YOUR DRIED ALOE LEAVES FROM THE DEHYDRATOR AND USE PULVERIS (WAND MOVEMENT: CIRCLE AND A VERTICAL LINE THROUGH THE MIDDLE) TO TURN LEAVES INTO POWDER

3 COLLECT YOUR OTHER INGREDIENTS, KEEPING DRY AND ‘WET’ APART

4 PUT YOUR INGREDIENTS TOGETHER IN YOUR TUBS, MIX THOROUGHLY TO INCORPORATE THEM ALL AND ACTIVATE THEM TOGETHER INSTEAD OF INDIVIDUALLY

5 APPLY LID TIGHTLY. AIR TIGHT WILL BE YOUR BEST FRIEND WITH THIS.

6 RECORD YOUR ASSUMPTIONS FOR THE NEXT FEW MONTHS IN YOUR DIARY

7 LOVE YOUR HAIR

”I know you could use a mortar and pestle for the dried leaves, and you’re welcome to, BUT in my experience, I’ve found that it doesn’t grind the aloe into a fine enough powder compared to other powdered ingredients and that affects how they bind when wet or can cause leftover debris in your hair in a dry product. Pulveris has always been my go to for getting aloe leaves into a powder. Remember, a clockwise circle and a vertical line through the middle is the wand movement for that one.” Was he forgetting anything else? ”Two tubs like the instructions say. Labelled. I’d like to have a list of your ingredients, but that isn’t a requirement for my feedback. It’d be nice to give you recommendations that aren’t already in there.”

Pretty sure that was it?

OH OH. THE DEHYDRATOR! HAH.

With a laugh, Gus hurried to the back of the greenhouse and opened up the doors on it. ”Careful with your trays. Gloves on is necessary.” And once they were open, he darted over the the side of the greenhouse opening up the room that he usually used for practical activities (like the whizzing pot game) to reveal a fully stocked store room of powdered and oil ingredients. ”BE FREE, MY LITTLE HAIR BABIES.”

"Oh. And Cora, you can have my dried leaves."

OOC: Sorry for the extra 24 hour wait, guys. Yesterday was hectic and I didn’t leave myself enough hours in the evening to put a cohesive post together and I definitely didn’t want to rush this as...well, it’s a lot of information. Maybe too much information. BUT. I’m going to post each day until I close the class in five days to work alongside you guys if you need it or your character wants help. It’s a big thing and I don’t want to overwhelm you and Gus also wouldn’t want to overwhelm the students. Like this would have been a double lesson in the day and a whole hour would be left for this portion so no need to IC rush with it.

I broke it down into steps on the whiteboard for you guys to follow through - Gus would have taught the Pulveris spell back in October or November, around the time he taught Venenum Hortus (lesson 1 from this term) when he was teaching the topic of resources outside of research, chance and physical tools. There’s a lot of information online about natural ingredients for hair (honestly, so many different things can be used!!) and Gus would have a huuuge store of all these things. He was collating them and preparing them for a while before this lesson so the kiddos had access to anything they could want. Be wild with your imagination, and if there’s something you think he may not have, feel free to mention it in a post and we can see if he has an alternative. Or maybe he has it in store elsewhere! No idea is too crazy.

Soz for how much he talks. Soz for how much I talk. We're erratic. You’ve got between four and five days to get things done, but I’ll give 24 hours notice before I close the class <3 Uh uh uh uh uh uh idk what else to say lol ily.

Any questions, as always… ask. I’m here. I’m so sorry about the level of info lol lol lol. Ily <3

Bernie didn't really have an answer as to what was currently in her hair products, because she just used whatever? Whatever was available? Unlike Nina Castillo, she'd never given her hair much thought, just allowing her mum to cut her fringe and give her ends a trim whenever she'd determined she needed it. But was this what most teens, most girls did? Put a lot of time into their hair?!

Huh.

Bernie decided that she'd give hers more attention, starting... oh, now, she supposed, since she was going to make her own hair product. She was going to make SOMETHING that would turn her hair VERY shiny and irresistible. Yes. As to how she would do that... uh, that's what Professor Rainwater would teach her, yes, yes.

She labeled her two jars, fetched her dried out aloe, gloves on and all that, and came back to her workstation. Time to P U L V E R I Z E, eeheehehee. "Pulveris!" the second year cast, drawing the circle and line quickly as she pointed her wand at the aloe vera leaves on her tray. BOOM! She had aloe dust. Bernie coughed a little at the sudden change but was pleased the spell had worked.

Now she had to decide what else to put in her tubs? Eh? "Professsssssor," the lion popped her hand in the air, "what other stuff should I add to make a shine...." uh, "serum?" A shine serum! That sounded good.