Kassie raised her hand and said, "I've never seen that plant before. Where can it be found?"

Touy raised her hand and said is it some kind of a succulent?

Rose looked blankly at the professor. She truly had no clue what the plant was. She wished she had a tiny clue, but instead she just sat back and waited to learn.

Touy raised her hand again and said I think its common name is maternity plant.

"It is native to Madagascar, but it can be found in Africa, Asia by the Indian Oceans, and North America", she replied patiently.

"Yes, it does. It has a tendency of storing water... and sometimes poison", she said with a small smile.

Kassie raised her hand "Is it a tentacula?"

"Although some of its common names do have the word mother, it is not known as the maternity plant", she replied. "Yet, it was a good point, so 1 point will be awarded to your house.

Professor Virohsa frowned. "No, child", she said briskly. Waving her wand, a huge tentacula plant appeared on his desk. "That is a tentacula plant", she said as she arched her eyebrow and waited for more answers.

Erin timidly raised her hand, not sure if the answer she had in mind was correct. "Is it a motherwort plant?" she asked, still unsure of herself.

Kassie blushed bright red. and hid behind her book.

Professor Virohsa shook her head. "No, not quite. Ok, I will give you a hint. Start looking under the Crassulaceae family", she said slowly.

Lauren inched her hand up in the air, nervous that she would be wrong but out of options. The images given looked a little like a plant that had grown in the woods behind her backyard at home, so she decided to give it a go. "Professor, could that be a Mother of Thyme?"

Professor Virohsa frowned. "Wrong. Mother of Thyme looks quite diferently"

Erin raised her hand again, hearing the new hint they were given. She flipped open her book to make sure she was pronuoncing it right before slowly asking, "Is it Bryophyllum?" Erin dropped her hand slowing, hoping she got it right this time.

Kassie raised her hand and said, "Is it mother of millions?"

"Ah! Very good! It is! 6 points will be awarded to your house", she added. "Now, what can anyone tell me about this plant? What makes it so dangerous? And how can we protect ourselves?", she asked the class.

Touy raised her hand and said because it stores liquid it could store a poison so we need to have eye protection and protective clothing like glove when we handle it.

Kassie raised her hand " byrophyllum toxins are spread by water and touch so the only way to protect yourself from it would be to keep it from touching you."

Professor Virohsa nodded. "Very good. 3 points shall be awarded to your house. Now, we can proceed. Everyone place the red sand on your pot and prepare to grab a small plant. We shall raise them until the end of the semester, where you will use them for your final exam", she explained.

Erin beamed, happy to have earned points for Gryffindor. She raised her hand again, a bit more sure of herself this time. "Ummm..." she began. "All of the plants parts are poisonous if ingested, so we could protect ourselves by... not eating it," she explained, laughing at the obviousness of what she'd said before continuing. "Also, handling the plant can cause irritation to the skin or even cause allergic reactions, which I assume is why we are wearing gloves."

Erin, seeing that the class was continuing, took some of her sand and carefully put it into her pot.

Lua raised her hand and answered "The edges of the leaves on most of these species produce large quantities of plantlets, that eventually detach and start growing wherever they fall. So we need to becareful were we place them or else we will be squishing their poison onto our body if we step overthem unkowingly".

"Ah, very good point indeed, 3 points for ravenclaw. All of you, take note! It can be spread through touch and water", she said harshly. "Now, moving on. Make sure your plant is secured on the red dirt.. And make sure the dirt is red.

Kasie poured the dirt into her pot and set the pot down. She looked around and then waited for instruction.

Lauren, feeling a bit disappoined by her wrong answer (which, looking back, clearly had no chance of being correct), dumped her supply of sand into her pot. The sand made a small red mound at the bottom, so she gently pushed the top down and smoothed the surface with her hand, causing the sand to fill in little holes and even out across the top. After this, she pulled on her gloves to be sure they were on securely and grabbed one of the plants that the professor made available. She held it over the pot, waiting to hear from the professor the correct way to pot and take care of the subject of their first lesson.

"Yes, you do not want to eat it. Very good, 3 points"

"An extremely good point, 3 points. Be careful where they land", she said as she eyed the students' clothing....