Charm nicely done--she didn't need to check, she knew Julie had done it right--Jessa proceeded to reach for and pluck the fireseeds from the fireplace. Just as she was set to remind her friend of the number, the obnoxious noise coming from the fireplace rang out.

Merlin's. Beard.

Why had this ever been thought to be a good idea? Were she in the middle of important reading when someone walked up to this fireplace like this, the Ravenclaw would have been absolutely beside herself. The Library was no place for loud noises...and no, the one Julie made just now didn't count. It was nothing compared to this atrocity right here.

"FIVE!" Jessa tried to yell over the alarm as she dropped her third fireseed into the bucket. "Grab those two, we're out of here." The sooner they could get away from this loud thing, the better. "I think I know where the next two are." And off she went, all too happy at the sound getting lower and lower with each couple steps.

A shiver shot went through Julie as the noise (merlin, that ringing) from the fireplace rent through the air- clearly without any worry or concern for the ears of those around it. Almost immediately, her hands shot up to cover her ears and her eyes screwed up in discomfort as the alarm happily rang out. "O-Okay-" She could barely hear Jessa over the noise, let alone her own thoughts. Julie quickly grabbed what she could (three fireseeds) and followed after the Ravenclaw with measured but hastened steps.

Would her ears ever stop ringing? Because seriously.

Okay, the kid was growing on her. Anyone that excited about potions ingredients was going to have a blast at Hogwarts, particularly in Potions class. "That, Miss Maddie, is definitely the coolest thing you'll see today. Potions is hard and sometimes frustrating, but it's the fairest and most elegant form of magic we've got. And it's all about figuring out what secrets the very cool things, like this, have to share with us." Because the best part of the fire seed, after harvesting it, was seeing what happened when it combined with other ingredients.

Okay, cauldron was hot enough. Awesome. Katy pulled on her own gloves and carefully tucked her sleeves inside. She held up a hand to show Maddie. No exposed skin or exposed clothing. No one was catching on fire today! Once she was sufficiently covered, Katy reached into the flames and plucked a single fire seed off the bush. It came out of the fire still smoldering.

"And it goes right into the bucket, which will keep it comfortably warm until we're ready for it." Maybe she was over cautious in placing her seed into that bucket, but Katy didn't want anyone flinging fire seeds around. She'd lost enough hair already this year! Katy plucked a second seed from the bush, enjoying the weird sensation of putting her hand into a fire that wasn't really a fire. Unreal.

"Okay, we need three more. Want to try?" Katy placed her second seed into the bucket.

Maddie nodded as her eyes begin to shine with excitement. "You talk just like a professor," she said, and that was a compliment, by the way. In Maddie's mind, this meant Katy sounded like she knew almost everything in the whole world about potions. She looked back at the fire seed bush, suddenly seeing it in a different light. She was amazed by it before, but now it seemed like this mysterious object that held so many secrets just waiting to be discovered! Maddie just didn't want to catch herself on fire in the process!

Maddie nodded at Katy's gloves then held up her own to say that she, too, was prepared and ready to go! With her eyes about as wide as they could possibly go, and her heart beating two bazillion miles per hour, Maddie watched as Katy dug deep into the bush and pulled out a smoldering little seed. "Wow," she whispered. So this was why the bucket needed to be so hot for them to pick the seeds. AMAZED was an understatement right now.

"Boy do I ever!" she exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear at the very thought of plunging her hand into that fire. She wouldn't burn to death...she had an older, super smart, professor-like student with her! What could go wrong?! Maddie sat on her knees and leaned over toward the bush. She pushed her gloved hand into the bush, wrapped her fingers around a seed, and pulled it out. "This is as exciting as cupcakes!" she said to Katy. She repeated this two more times until they'd collected all their fire seeds. "Done," she told her partner.

The wand he had in his right hand felt more familiar now than it had when he first got it. He slipped the protective gloves onto his hand that would hold the bucket. Better safe than sorry he figured. He flicked his right wrist muttering the charm to make the bucket not catch fire he assumed. "Ready whenever you are Dahlia."

He scooted closer toward the fire as more students got what they needed. He figured they worked well as a pair and should easily be able to finish the task at hand. "Settling in okay?" He asked while they waited their turn to get the fire seed. If anything he had found that school was a great deal more fun than muggle school. His small talk was more to make the waiting to get into the fire easier.

Checking his watch as he dashed into the library, Ronan saw that he had exactly ten minutes left to gather the fireseeds and get back to Potions. Which meant he had to be quick about this. He quickened his pace and reached the fireplace in good time. Pulling the bucket out of his bag, making sure nothing was in it, he cast "Chaudensis!" on the thing. Then he slipped his dragonhide gloves on and stared at the flames, looking for one that looked good enough to pick. Because obviously, he didn't want to have his hands in there too long. Talk about ouch!

Using seeds that grew in fire was one those things that he would never understand would probably keep him from ever being a potioneer.

Cassie couldn’t help it. It was ingrained to behave in the library so she did her best to head towards the fireplace with decorum and not rush and cause too much noise and drama. Again there were others from their class around so the Ravenclaw was pleased to see she wasn’t the only one with the thought to go to the library fireplace. She made her towards the fire figuring her partner was right along with her as she had been the rest of the way. And look! There in the flames!

It was fireseeds!!

“Jackpot…” she said excited, kneeling before the fireplace as she thought back to the lesson they had had on the fire seed collection. Oops….she had forgotten something to collect them with. “No pails…” she mused with a sigh, the sixth year biting her lips as she tried to think a way out of her…their dilemma. Cass dug into her bag of supplies for ideas, finally coming along a sample jar. Not quite big enough….yet. Setting it out on the floor, she took out her wand and focused on the image of a pail and tested her transfiguration. Then with the fish-like wand movement, she cast the switching spell which thankfully worked leaving her relieved.

Now for the preparation before collecting.

“Chaudensis!” she cast on the new pail, willing it to warm up quickly so they could move on. At least she hadn’t forgotten her gloves in the protective gear she had on.

With the fire seeds sitting in the heated bucket, Vi waited and watched Ace get his own fire seeds. She was keeping an eye on him cause you know. She didn't want him to get hurt or something okay so she just really cared about him and all that-- he was fiiiiiine. She directed her thoughts elsewhere by staring at the bucket and casting a quick non-verbal shield charm to stop the heat from resonating from the bucket. Gotta keep the heat in; otherwise, it would all escape. Principles of heat transfer. Though heat was still transferring through the side of the bucket.... but.... technicalities.

Vi giggled, getting the reference to the beloved bat vigilante. She beamed. "Yes, to the batcave, batman!" With their buckets. On y va! Here they went. Back to the lab!

"Eurkea!" He'd found the perfect one and quickly reached in and picked it, making sure to use his right hand so as not to damage his watch on his left wrist. Having the seed out of the fire, he quickly tossed it into his warmed bucket before reaching back in for the one that had been beside it and tossing that one too into the bucket. He repeated this action three more times so that he had five fireseeds in his possession, then slipped his gloves back off, blowing on them to cool them off and stuffing them back in his bag once they were. Grabbing the handle of his bucket, Ronan checked his watch again. "Oooo, only five minutes left!" He took off, running full tilt, hoping he could make it back in time.

The library would have been literally the last place Matt would've thought about to collect Fireseeds. How random. But the kiddo was right, there was already a group of students there around the fireplace.
"Well done!" He praised the younger boy for... you know, listening. Something Matt didn't do often.

The sixth year raised his eyebrows are Kyle transfigured a parchment cup into a metal bucket. "Merlin, you sure you're a second year?" He laughed. "I don't think I could've done that back when I was your age." But then again, Transfiguration wasn't Matt's strongest subject. But maybe that was just Matt, as he was sure his little brother would've been as good as Kyle. Yep, it was definitely Matt, lol.

Take it as a compliment, Kyle!

Ah bless, he offered to make one for Matt too. Matt really liked this kid. BUT he was a sixth year and couldn't let the boy think he couldn't do anything himself. Ahem. Besides, he COULD do that type of Transfiguration now, lol. "Thanks, I've got it!" And in no time Matt had his own bucket, rah. "Chaudensis." He said, rotating his wrist while pointing his wand at the thing.

Guess who didn't have gloves on? This boy. "Yeeeah, I'm not sure I'm up for that." Getting burned, that was. He also couldn't be bothered to actually put his gloves on - which yes, he had brought with him, but eh, too much of a fuss. So he levitated some Fireseeds, as you do. It wasn't like they were plucking them out of a bush anyway.

Judging by the influx of students now at the fireplace, Daisy was now positive that the librarian was perfectly fine with her gathering some fire seeds. Daisy placed a small metal bucket beside her and grabbing her wand from her bag. Daisy performed the Chaudensis Charm by rotating her right wrist. The bucket was now prepared for the seeds.

Daisy placed her wand back in her bag and made sure that her gloves were on properly. When the opportunity arose, Daisy carefully reached a gloved right hand into the flames and plucked five fire seeds, one at a time and placed them into the bucket. Daisy got up and made her way back to class.

Just like with the herbal garden, Rhea followed Luci and Miranda on this one. They clearly knew what they was doing. Meanwhile, Rhea was very much spaced out and only replied when asked to do something.

The library was quiet, but there were a lot of students coming and going from the area where the fireplace was. They were definitely in the right place then. As Luci prepared to heat the pot, Rhea made sure that her protective gloves were on properly and that none of her uniform could accidentally catch fire. "I'll get on that," she nodded and glanced at Miranda. "It was five seeds each, yeah? So we'll need fifteen?" That's what she assumed was the case anyway.

With the pot heated, Rhea began harvesting the Fireseeds. 1 .... 2 .... 3 .... 4 .... 5 ....

Cameron had been trying to ignore the fact that they'd have to extract fireseeds from a FIREplace so far, instead focusing on the task at hand. Meaning to FIND the right fireplace for now. Apparently the library was the place to be though, judging by the number of students who went in and came out again after only a few minutes.

Okay then. This was it.

He stopped within a safe distance of the fireplace, not too bothered by its presence. He'd gotten used to fireplaces of course. It would be hard not to at Hogwarts. That didn't mean he was keen on getting REALLY close to the flames, though. So he waited. And watched Junia. "Looks good." He offered words of encouragement because honestly, that was the least he could do.

Matt levitated enough fireseeds for him from the fireplace and into the bucket and looked at Kyle to see if the boy was collecting his own. As each of them had their own bucket, he supposed they could get just the right amount for themselves as individuals instead of what they had done with the stargrass and betony leaves.

He double-checked to see if his bucket was still nice and warm aaaand it was.
Goooood.

The Gryffindor waited until his partner had collected enough fireseeds for himself and grinned. "Cool, we're all done!" Boom! Easy peasy.

Seeing more people from potions class here made Skylar realize that they were in definitely in the right place. Or everyone was wrong. But then, hearing Cassandra's explanation of Jackpot! Oh, so they were all right, then? Wait, no pails? "I beg to differ." She might not have been the critical thinker that her Ravenclaw counterparts were, but she was excessively organized. Or well, the sixth year had another idea which was to use a sample jar and transfigure it. That worked too. But she did have a pail in her supply bag, to which she removed...

"Chaudensis," She casted on the other pail. And then donned her gloves to prepare to reach in pluck fireseeds. Only, she froze up as her gloved fingers were inches from the flames, recalling the burns two years ago. Why was she able to so effortlessly conjure fires, but when it came to sticking her hands in fire, she couldn't do it?

"I ... I can't..." Skylar whispered.

Derf had already slipped on his gloves while he and Char had ascended the stairs to the library. There were LOADS of places that had fires here in Hogwarts - LIKE THE KITCHENS WITH THE HOUSE ELVES but those had proven fruitless despite their search efforts. The common rooms also came to mind but then like..er...well...he could only get into the Hufflepuff one and he wasn't sure Professor Healer Man wanted them breaking rules for the sake of lessons (not that he would be opposed or anything) but then the fireplace in the library came to mind.

Kinda ironic given mum had told him about this HUGE fire that had happened while she was at Hogwarts and now here they were collecting fire seeds.

It seemed that they were in the right place too since there were LOADS of others around, which only elicited an eager little bum wiggle from the third year like an excited cruppy. "They're here they're here!" he chirped excitedly to Charlotte while tugging on her robes and beeline-ing it towards the fireplace. Protective gloves in place and all that - Charlotte with their bucket - Derf didn't give things even a fleeting thought before he THRUST both arms into the fireplace to retrieve a fire seed. Twist and gently pull later, and Derf had spun around to face the older Gryffindor with bright eyes...until he remembered something.

"I...er...can you do the warming charm on the bucket?" he murmured, wishing he could ruffle his hair but unable to due to the fire seed cupped in his hands. "I melted the bucket last time I tried...and then Da--- Professor Myers made me decorate it..."

" I'll go and grab what we need, Luc", Miranda smiled as she pulled her Dragon hide gloves on and flexing her fingers.

She made her way back to where the crowd from class had started to thin out a bit as they had already collected their Fireseeds.

She didn't have to wait too long in order to get near the bush and get the required amount of seeds for herself and her partners..

She practically skipped back to them and announced,"Got 'em!... Come on... We're nearly finished...".

They were doing a good job being time efficient she thought, right?

So he wasn't going to help or?

Junia gave Cameron a once over as she secured her gloves, making sure absolutely no skin was showing. She'd go first, but if she had to stick her hand in a fire, so did he. Teamwork was SO great like that, wasn't it?

The fifth year bit her lip and moved closer to the fireplace. She hesitated for only a moment to zero in on a fireseed and then she reached in, closing her fingers around it and carefully pulling it out. She let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding when it came free and she showed it to Cameron before placing it in the bucket. She repeated this twice more, securing three of their fireseeds for them. "Okay, your turn."

NOT GONNA LIE, CHAR JUMPED WHEN DERF THRUST HIS HANDS IN THE FLAMES. Sure there were gloves on, they both had them on, but still, she didn't want him to get hurt and what IF his gloves were faulty, hmm? What if? She had her wand out in an instant just in case, but it all seemed well. AND she needed her wand anyway. "I sure can!"

Char rotated her wand inside the bucket, concentrating on the chaudensis spell without overly moving her hand, just rotating at the wrist, tracing a circle with the tip of her wand. NOT TOO enthused either, because she didn't want to explode or melt any buckets. And..... there. Done. Non-verbally too.

"Ready!" Teamwork here, Derf was in charge of putting those seeds in the bucket. She was just the bucket GUARDIAN.

"Should we get a few extra just in case?" And enough for both of them too, obviously.

Rhea went with Miranda and helped her collect the fifteen seeds that they required, chatting as they did so.

They made a good team.

She slipped off her dragon-hide gloves and nodded at the girls. "Let's go."

Junia was doing really good. Cameron was proud of her.

Very.

His face said as much when she looked back at him. That is until she said that he would have to get some fireseeds out of the fire too. He swallowed but shook his head, trying to put on a brave face. "Can you get mine, too?" Briefly glancing at the fireplace, his eyes were soon back on hers.

"Please?"

Etta quickly entered the library, heading towards the fireplace obviously, making sure Vivi was keeping up with her. They didn't have much time left, yeah? And she didn't want to leave the task incomplete.. especially when they both were perfects. Ahem. The girl finally stood in front of the fireplace, setting the bucket down on the ground. She clearly remembered the charm, of course. All the OWLs preparation had made sure that she knew most of the spellwork that she'd learnt over the past few years.

"So.. we'll have to heat the bucket first, yeah?" She pointed her wand at the bucket, taking a deep breath. "Chaw-den-sis." The girl cast the charm accompanying it with the appropriate wand movement which was a light movement of the wrist in the shape of a circle. Heh, not bad. "Since that is done.." She looked up at her friend, grinning a little. "Would you like to pluck out the seeds?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

NOT GONNA LIE, CHAR JUMPED WHEN DERF THRUST HIS HANDS IN THE FLAMES. Sure there were gloves on, they both had them on, but still, she didn't want him to get hurt and what IF his gloves were faulty, hmm? What if? She had her wand out in an instant just in case, but it all seemed well. AND she needed her wand anyway. "I sure can!"

Char rotated her wand inside the bucket, concentrating on the chaudensis spell without overly moving her hand, just rotating at the wrist, tracing a circle with the tip of her wand. NOT TOO enthused either, because she didn't want to explode or melt any buckets. And..... there. Done. Non-verbally too.

"Ready!" Teamwork here, Derf was in charge of putting those seeds in the bucket. She was just the bucket GUARDIAN.

"Should we get a few extra just in case?" And enough for both of them too, obviously.

Derf was every shade of starry eyed when Charlotte performed the charm - and NONVERBALLY AT THAT. Like...he was just in awe at the skill of many and could only hope that he could one day have that level of mastery. Although if he was really going to pick and choose what he mastered he would rather bet on Parstletongue because that would be wicked useful in his preferred field of study.

But anyway...

"Woooooooow..." he whispered, cheeks flushed in admiration and AWE. The fire seed basically fell into the bucket with an unceremonious THUD as it rolled out of his hands. Attention drawn to Charlotte and her wand at the moment....so her words just barely registered. Ish. "Huh? OH! OKAY!" And any extras he could maybe sneak out of class like he had done in Herbology and keep under his bed juuuuuuuuuust in case he FINALLY found himself that dragon egg.

Thus his somewhat capable 13-year-old hands were thrust back into the fire and he plucked another one...two...okay three for good measure since most everyone had already taken their share and there were still plenty in here soooo...waste not what you see, right?

Right.

"Okay. I think that's good," he nodded as they joined the first in the bucket. "Is it too heavy? I can try and carry it...." Or she could do a Levitation Charm and he could get all googly eyed at her again. That too.

"I didn't know you were afraid of fire." Lots of people weren't too keen to handle it, she was sure, but he seemed extra wary and she couldn't help but wonder why that was.

With a sigh, she reached in and harvested the rest of the seeds they'd be needing, enough for both of them. She worked quickly and carefully as before, not daring to leave her hand inside the fire any longer than was absolutely necessary. She knew her gloves were protective, but not even the comfort of wearing those would make her linger close to the flames for long. That was Gryffindor-type business.

Glancing down into their bucket, the fifth year gave a satisfied nod. "Since I did the work, you carry the bucket back. Deal?" She got up and shouldered her bag, eyeing the younger snake. He couldn't really argue with that plan, considering.

Vivian followed Miss Etta along, trying to keep up with her pace despite her short legs. See? Her auntie Elise was right when she said being tiny was inconvenient, but the prefect didn't have time to be thinking about that! She had fireseeds to gather and a potions class to ace today!

... Right. Watching Miss Etta as she did her spellwork, Vivian made a mental note to herself that she needed to start reviewing on those charms if she wanted to pursue wandlore or some really cool career one day. And to think Charms wasn't her best subject, either, but she wasn't going to be easily put down. The blond grinned at her fellow prefect, though. "Well done!" She was going to have to practice that spell too, just in case. "Yes, will do, Miss Etta!" The prefect gave her a salut before moving over to grab a few (okay, maybe a little more than necessary but it was better to have more than less, yeah?) of the seeds.

Hands covered with the dragonhide gloves, Vivian carefully plucked some out and beamed at the Hufflepuff. "Got it!" She even waved a seed in the air.