It was a miracle they were still having Herbology lessons but not a surprise. Myers was a determined man and by the looks of the students and the fact the man was now up and about again--albeit less erratically than she was used to--told her the curses couldn't have been all that serious. On the contrary, despite several students being pulled from school, Jessa was all the more convinced there was nothing seriously wrong and the term would end without much more dangerous incident than a few unconscious kids at a time.

"Hello Professor." She greeted, taking in the mini forest that opened up into the classroom setting inside the Greenhouse. The fact there were no plant bodies on the tables told her it would be yet another lowkey lesson but the request for volunteers caught her attention.

"I'll volunteer." The Ravenclaw offered, moving toward the closest table. "Does it have anything to do with tasting?" Because....all the bushes with berries and that fruity aroma that was probably coming from all over.

Probably wasn't a good idea, to agree to taste things before knowing what they were but it was May, the term was wearing on and she was having a very yolo day.

It smelt fruity in here....

Interesting.

Making sure to wear older clothes that she didn't particularly care about getting messy. She was grateful for the change of clothes because wearing older clothes meant that they were more comfy. Now what exactly would they be doing this day? That was a question. "Hello Professor Myers," she greeted with a smile and then nodded to Jessa.

Nicer and humane Hunger Games? Vi Holden raised an eyebrow at that statement, feeling rather uncomfortable with such a statement. She didn't even know what he meant by that. As she eyed the small forest, she debated whether or not she should volunteer. The classic Gryffindor dilemma. Volunteering for no particular whatsoever but..... Fortunately, Jessa Cambridge had already offered herself as tribute. Though the mention of tasting did earn an eyebrow raise from this Gryffindor. Fruity...tasting... they weren't going to be tasting berries... were they?

Zoryn hated this class. H A T E D. Y'know, hate wasn't even a strong enough word. She despised both the class AND the Professor who taught it for giving her the WORST role in the history of all roles in the ENTIRE WORLD. So of course she made it her personal mission to skip class when she didn't feel like attending (most days) and to raise all heck on the days where she did attend (like today).

Upon entering the greenhouse, Zoryn's first instinct was to glance at the blackboard. Upon reading the statement, she made a face in absolute judgement. "Um, no offense," actually in ALL offense. "But who'd make being hungry a game? That sounds like ZERO fun."

Myers probably thought hunger was a game because he was SO old and close to death that he probably forgot what fun felt like.

Ew.

Zoryn hoped she never got that old. That'd be horrible.

Wooooow really?? This would be an impressive lesson indeed, Jonas thought as he walked in and noticed the small forest.
. A strong oder overtook his nose. Fruits? Yeah! This lesson was gonna be great!
"I'd volunteer," he said standing next to Zoryn not really acknowledging her.

Natalie was excited to wear something other than her uniform to class today. She enjoyed Herbology for the most part, but she was a little wary of the Herbology Professor. Apparently he had recovered from the fiasco that happened in the room of requirement... But he was very loud and dramatic and a little overwhelming.

And for that reason, Natalie stayed near the back in her old jeans and a t shirt and did NOT volunteer for this... safe and humane hunger games. Whatever it was, she didn't want to be the one to find out if it WASN'T safe.

The instruction not to wear anything she cared about had been met with a bit of confusion, but still, Stasya had shown up at the greenhouses wearing jeans and a Talons t-shirt she’d gotten from her mama instead of her uniform. Plus, she’d had her dragonhide gloves with her because those always seemed important for Herbology. Even if she regularly convinced herself the gloves hadn’t hurt any dragons. Maybe dragons shed their skin like lots of reptiles and that was what the gloves were made from. It was possible. But maybe thoughts like that were just her distracting herself from the continued worry over what exactly was going on at school this term. That and her continued possible distrust of the subject she’d come to the greenhouses to learn about, although she’d felt like she was hiding that pretty good. She still hadn’t forgotten the mandrakes.

And the forest in the greenhouse didn’t help any, as the slender thirteen-year-old thought about not venturing down the pathway at all. She’d heard people volunteering for something, though, which piqued her curiosity along with how fruity the surrounding area smelled. She liked fruit. She liked berries, even if she liked cookies better. Fruit usually didn’t hurt animals after all, even if she had her suspicions about half the ones in the greenhouses.

“Hi Professor Myers.” The professor got a tentative smile as she finally made it into the clearing, still sticking close to the pathway just in case.

Nicer and humane hunger games? Etta raised an eyebrow on entering the greenhouses, staring at the blackboard for a long moment. She wondered what the professor had in mind as she watched Jessa volunteer for.. whatever it was. There was no point in her wanting to volunteer as well, yeah? But, she raised a hand anyway.

“Hello, professor.” She greeted politely before carefully turning to look at her surroundings, the fruity aroma tickling her nose. She doubted they’d be eating fruits but one never knew. The smell was starting to make her feel hungry, though. The prefect sighed, waiting for class to begin.

Considering that Herbology was basically like gardening, shouldn't the instructions always have been to wear clothes one didn't care about? Either way, Ronan had followed said instructions before making his way down to the appropriate greenhouse for the lesson.

The smell that hit him as he entered the greenhouse would've made him think he was in an orchard or vineyard if he was blindfolded. But, he wasn't, so the sight of a forest had him confused. Sure, he spotted a berry bush here and there along the small trail, but still.

He reached the clearing where the class was gathered and instantly became more confused. The nicer and more humane Hunger Games? He had heard of the books before, but had never read them or seen the movies based on them. He did know the Hunger Games were supposed to be brutal. Needless to say, this was one Gryffindor that wouldn't be Gryffindoring today. "Hey, professor." Confused Ronan was confused.

Patrick walked into the greenhouse in a pair of his old sweatpants that hadn’t seen much wear and tear this year and an old shirt he had somehow borrowed from a friend back in Kentucky that never made it back to their house. He continued further into the greenhouse and noticed the smell, ”That’s not soil I smell.” he mumbled under his breath before walking further into the room. The smell was more of a sweet smell, he wondered if it were a bunch of food.

First, he noticed that the room was a forest. Woah, why would they need a forest? He spotted the welcome to the hunger games and groaned. He did not like the sound of that at all. Who would like the hunger games to be a thing here? People thought the Triwizard cup was fun from what he understood, but no one died in that. The hunger games had caused death. Professor Meyers asked for a tribute, nope not him that was for sure. ”Hello Professor, interested to see if we all survive unlike the hunger games.” he stated plainly while taking a seat at one of the tables forming a circle shape.

Old clothes for getting dirty…check.

Protective gloves…check.

Her wand and rest of her usual supplies for Herbology…yep, she was all set.

So Cassie had set out after grabbing a quick lunch to the familiar greenhouses ready for the latest lesson. Except as she stepped inside the glass house it looked more like she had stepped into the forest instead. Good thing she was sure that she hadn’t made a wrong turn, especially given the forest was much, much further away from the castle. Nevertheless, the Ravenclaw was sure she was in the right place from the notice on the board and moved further inside the greenhouse, eventually stepping into the clearing within.

“Good afternoon, Professor Myers,” she greeted with a smile. The man may have been more subdued lately but that didn’t mean he wasn’t the same professor that she liked and Cass was still Cass. As for the notice of the board, the sixth year raised an eyebrow having caught the reference. Book lover and avid reader and all that. “Just how much nicer and more mundane…” she asked curiously. The original was pretty out there so that was a high or low bar to work with.

Derf was...surprised? Concerned? Sacred? Everything and the kitchen sink? It was hard to put to words just WHAT the Hufflepuff felt seeing his Head of House all...vibrant and such after what had happened. It was...unnatural. Forced? Like seeing a niffler stick its nose up at something shiny and instead go chasing after lint. That's what Professor Myers was, a broken niffler.

A BROKEN NIFFLER.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahlooo

Natalie was excited to wear something other than her uniform to class today. She enjoyed Herbology for the most part, but she was a little wary of the Herbology Professor. Apparently he had recovered from the fiasco that happened in the room of requirement... But he was very loud and dramatic and a little overwhelming.

And for that reason, Natalie stayed near the back in her old jeans and a t shirt and did NOT volunteer for this... safe and humane hunger games. Whatever it was, she didn't want to be the one to find out if it WASN'T safe.

And yes. He was just going to stop and stand next to Natalie, thank you very much.

"More...humane?" he whispered to her, eyes darting to the blackboard and then back to his friend. "...how is starving us humane?"

Hunger games? Maybe he SHOULD have skipped class today.

Juni was having a off day today. The only reason why she was going to class was because it was outside. The Third year really wasn’t in the mood today. It was lucky that today was one day that she could wear old clothes or at least ones she didn’t mind getting dirty. Because she was definitely wearing a plain white tshirt, and pj bottoms, regardless of the dress code of the day.

She headed into the greenhouse, which was more like a deep part of a forest. Seeing Professor Myers did bring a small smile to her face. He more than anyone else besides Junia knew what she was going through. ”Hi Professor Myers.” She read the board, then took a seat.

A volunteer? Uh No thank you, not today. Any other day but today.

Ohhhh this place smells like a harvest is a-comin!

It reminds him very clearly of his grandparents' farm, or those trips the family goes to when they visit local farming partners. And the sights and sounds of those which promise yumminess always puts an extra spring to his step, an extra sparkle to his already brilliantly warm smile.

"Goodafternoon Professor M!" Tenacius greeted the Deputy Headmaster brightly, pretty much in the same breath as his blue-green gaze found the writing on the board. In the next second his hand shoots up as he yells "I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!" Yep he totally gets that reference.

This was the right greenhouse, yeah? Somehow a forest had appeared, and Sam curiously followed the path to the clearing inside. It smelt of fruit, berries, and Sam was following her nose as much as the path. It reminded her of the hedgerows near her Dad's, thick with not-quite ripe blackberries when she'd left for school in September.

Her eyes sought out Professor Myers, and she greeted him with a small smile and nod. "Good day, Professor." She'd happily be a volunteer, but she wasn't sure whether that was a good idea, so she found her way to a table quietly and pulled out her parchment and quill. Hunger Games, that was a Muggle book, no?

He followed everyone in and as soon as he did he wanted to walk right back out.

Welcome to the Humane Hunger Games?

Lame...

Why was it always lame and what were the hunger games anyway? Eddie just rolled his eyes as people actually volunteered for something that they didn't know what it fully was first. The first step in survival never just volunteer without full contracts of safety plans and instructions of everything that one will be doing.

He found a spot he could just observe and hopefully that was what he would do, observe it all.

"Hey professor," Remy greeted, slightly distracted by the words on the blackboard. She raised an eyebrow at the professor. She did get the reference, she didn't want to know why he was comparing this class to the Hunger Games though.

Was it too late late to go to the sick bay and bail on this class?

Probably.

It wasn't her fault she wasn't that fond of this class, not that she'd ever tell Professor Myers. It was just that she much preferred the plants that wouldn't try to kill her. She still hadn't really adjusted to magic.

Paul smiled when Jessa volunteered becaaaaause it was right up her alley, wasn’t it? “Okay, come up here by me.” He gestured at her. “And no, not really,” but that’s ALL she was getting at the moment.



Paul would have let her be a volunteer if she had done it, yes, but he was okay with just using Jessa for now. “Good day, Olivia!” he said cheerfully, even if a bit more tiredly than usual.



Paul merely raised an eyebrow at the Gryffindor child. “Well, Miss Spinnet, it’s a reference to a set of books that some of your peers may or may not have read. And I don’t appreciate the attitude. So...you should lose it,” he said, semi-sternly. And he had only recently caught on to her little….tone problem. And Paul KNEW IT WAS BECAUSE OF THE PLAY, ZORYN SPINNET. And his patience was running THIN, MISSY.

Ahem.




“Okay Jonas, come right up, then!” He smiled at the boy, WHO WAS IN A BETTER MOOD THAN ZORYN.



Paul sent Natalie a small little wave as she came inside. One of the quieter ones. No problem, though.



“Helllllo, Stazy!” he said in a chipper tone, not realizing he had completely GOTTEN HER NAME WRONG. Good Lord, Paul, if he had heard himself - WOW.



“OKAY I’ll take you, too, yes, come on up, Etta!” he beamed at his prefect being all prefect-y. What lovely student leaders he had. Such NICE AND WONDERFUL STUDENTS. UNLIKE ZORYN SPINNET.

HMPHHHHHHH.



And Ronan had arrived. A Gryffindor Paul thought was increasingly helpful if he wanted to be, but not always. He liked the kid enough. “Well hello to you, too, Ronan. Nice day today!”

Oh, the chitter, the chatter, of casual conversation.



….ha! “Well, I said the HUMANE hunger games. So everyone will hopefully be surviving...and if not, I’ve clearly done something seriously wrong. Botched up something along there…” considering what he had planned, literally NO ONE should get hurt! They were having a nice class...a relaxing class!



Ha! Another one who knew! “MUCH nicer..and MUCH more humane, I promise,” he winked at Cassie.



Paul didn’t hear any of Derf’s mutterings, but no matter. He still waved at the boy warmly and nodded in his direction. So, his quirkiness was growing on him, even if Derf HATED PLANTS. He thought that aspect was getting better, though, too, and Derf was a student Paul had a haaaaaard time forgetting over the summer.



“Hello, Juniper. Feeling well, I hope?” he asked softly, since...yeah. All the things. And his mind then went to Junia, who he didn’t see yet, and then to...other Botros children who he had HEARD had been pulled from school.

Which...broke his heart. It was with a sort of heaviness that he thought of their grandfather, someone he had worked under and with for just a year, but in that year, he had shared many thoughts and ideas and just...friendship with the man. And he felt he had let that man down, not only in not protecting his family, but in….just…..how could he not have felt guilty? He hadn’t been paying attention--and it was then, for the first time, that the twinge of guilt, snowballing downhill into a bigger ordeal, began to pick at his internal thoughts.



Professor...M? “Merlin, child, Professor M?! I’ve never been called PROFESSOR M in my life. It’s...short. Is Myers not short enough for you?!” he asked with a chuckle. “And I think I have enough tributes up here..thank you, though, Tencius.”



Sam Tyler had arrived, and he met her gaze a split second longer than anyone else, smiling earnestly at her. “Good day, Sam.” His tone was warm.



Eddie never greeted him, or at least he hardly did, but Paul still waved at him. Hellllllo there, Eddie. We see you.



Paul smiled at Remy as the timid student came inside. IT WAS ALMOST TIME TO START NOW!

Okay. OKAY. He got his three volunteers (Jessa, Jonas, and Etta) and gestured them forward. “Okay. I’m going to pretend to give you all some berries. Then, you must act like you ate and act out the results of eating these berries. These berries would cause you to fall on the floor and DIE.” He smiled! “DIE. So pretend to eat these and die. Make it as dramatic as you want, of course.”

And Paul cleared his throat to turn to look at the class. “You all are going to GUESS what berry these guys are going to act like they’ve eaten from watching their actions closely. They won’t be eating any actual berries at this time--” the last thing he needed was for Derf to not be paying attention and then FREAK OUT when people suddenly fainted from eating a berry. Especially not in the current climate within the castle. NOPPPEEEEEE. “So they’re ACTING everyone, acting.” Just to clarify.

“But my VOLUNTEERS, here are some berries...now eat them up--” Ahem. “If anyone is familiar with the Hunger Games muggle series you may already have caught on to what plant this is.” There, there was a difference...the one in the books was BASED off the real plant, though their effects were pretty much identical. But he’d address that shortly.




OOC: SOOOOOO CLASS HAS BEGUUUUUUN. A day later than I wanted, but I had a REALLY hard two days and yeah. BUT I'M ON BREAK SO HERE I AMMMM! Hello! Those of you who volunteered, go ahead and post acting out what Paul said. Others of you can start guessing as soon as it's possible. No rush. I'm not putting another time limit because I don't wanna not keep to it xD SO GO FORTH AND POST.

Oh awesome! Jessa all but skipped over to the Professor, having been accepted as the first of three volunteers. The Ravenclaw took a spot by the man, waiting for the instructions that would finally tell her what she'd volunteered for. When she finally did hear, it didn't seem all that hard at all! On the contrary, it was probably the easiest exercise ever.

Jessa nodded, displaying her comprehension of what was explained. Play dead. Easy peasy.

The Fourth Year pretended to accept the 'berry', popping it into her mouth (pretending to anyway). Seconds later, she clutched at her throat and began coughing in like manner to when she was in the middle of an asthma attack and couldn't actually breathe. It was a piece of cake, really. Within the minute, Jessa was already on her knees, gasping and gaping for air, clawing away at her throat as if it could offer any relief.

This didn't continue for long before she slumped against the floor and pretended to draw her last gasp.

Dead enough for you, Professor?

Natalie looked up when she felt a familiar warmth stand next to her, and smiled when she saw Derf. As for the humane starving thing... "I have no idea," she whispered, still very much NOT volunteering. In her opinion, Myers was a little too bonkers to be trusted sometimes, so she was just gonna sit this one out.

..... And why...? Why did pretending to die seem like a good idea given recent events at Hogwarts? Myers was even MORE bonkers than Natalie had thought. Frowning a little, Natalie looped her arm through Derf's, GLAD that they were at least PRETENDING to eat berries, because if there had actually been REAL berries, somehow, they would have found a way to actually be poisoned... and then the volunteers would probably ACTUALLY die.

Wrinkling her nose at the dramatic acts, Natalie turned her head away from the scene and towards Derf, only catching Jessa slumping to the floor from her peripherals. It was fake, yeah, but it was just... too soon, okay?

How were they meant to guess the berry from an overdramatic "death".

Did the student volunteers even know what the berries were and what they did? Was Jessa's portrayal an accurate portrayal of how someone would react to that berry? Was a single berry even enough to poison someone?! This didn't make sense to her. These classes never did.

Her eyes glanced back over at the girl who was now slumped on the ground. Time to wait for the other portrayals. And then the answer.

Henry would have volunteered had he not had a ton of stuff already on his mind, distracting him from paying much attention right at the start of class. But it seemed that Professor Paul had gotten several volunteers anyway.

And he was remotely familiar with the Hunger Games, the movie, having not read any of the books, but he was curious to how their professor would be relating this class to that story. Oh, poisonous berries. Maybe he should be glad he didn't volunteer in time.

He furrowed his brow as he watched Jessa perform her death scene. Dramatic, though he wasn't sure if he should applaud or not. It was a rather convincing performance and he watched her another beat, just to make sure. But, hmm... what kind of berries. He supposed he should know this. Henry was aware that there were poisonous berries growing out in the wild, but the only one that came to mind was holly. They weren't that poisonous to cause instant death though, were they?

Harriet knew about the Hunger Games. She'd read it. She liked books, even if it was a really old book. So she kind of knew about it. She was trying to figure out what it had to do about herbology when the professor began to talk. Oh. That made more sense. Though she wasn't too sure about the whole students pretending to die. Considering what was happening around the school, it was a bit iffy. At least it wasn't a big debate on a subject that was literally happening around them. That had been a bad class. Hopefully they'd move on from the other students acting soon.

Jessa was a good actress. She would give her that. She quite enjoyed the performance. It was obviously the berries. But what berries? There were loads of berries that could kill someone. But obviously it was a berry that was used in Hunger games. That was the hint. Hattie tried to think about, remember the berry from the book. Come on Paton, she thought. She read enough books. She should know this. "Oooooh!" The blonde suddenly burst out, raising nher arm into the air. "In the Hunger games they refer to a berry called nightlock. That's not real though.... but could have been based on Deadly Nightshade, which is a real life deadly berry" and she could thank her nightly OWLS studying for knowing about that berry.

So in Skylar's honest opinion? She was actually enjoying the new mellow and low-key herbology lessons of lately. It made it easier to focus and grasp the concepts that she often found challenging. But she was still not about to volunteer for some unknown task. Although upon hearing what it was the volunteers had to do, well, the fifth year had been wishing she HAD volunteered because acting would have been easier than knowing what poisonous berry her peers fake consumed.

Hattie was onto something though, which triggered something in the she-snake's brain. "The real life berry that Hattie is talking about is called Atropa Belladonna..." At least, she was pretty sure it was, but mixing things up in this lesson wouldn't have been surprising.

.....................

...................................

.................................................. ........

.........no.

Derf fully heard and understood that this was acting, but the moment Jessa's body hit the ground it was anything but that to the Hufflepuff. Suddenly he was back in the Room of Requirement with people falling all around him, Abey sobbing, the Monster appearing, more people dying...

Derf sort of just went all rigid, color draining from his face as though HE had just consumed a handful of White Baneberry - which had ALMOST happened to him when he was younger, actually. He had only had one but it was sweet tasting and he was about to go in for another few dozen when his parents had caught him. All the more reason why he did NOT like plants.

The third year didn't even register Natalie's presence, instead his mind swirled and knees shook slightly.

Of ALL the professors and staff at this school...Professor Myers had been the ONE to validate the noq 14-year-old's feelings since the portal incident and was the last one he expected to show this sort of ill-timed insensitivity. Or, well, this was a thought the boy would have been having were his eyes not rolling back in his head anyway. Heart drumming in his chest so loudly it was a wonder the entire class couldn't hear, Derf hands became clammy and he TOO slumped to the ground like a dropped sack of potatoes.