Armand chuckled softly. "For those who would like to wait until after I've talked with the other students privately, just sit tight. Or gather close. I'll go ahead and walk you through the repotting."

He looked to Dia and nodded. "Yes, we wouldn't want that showing up. I do have an alternate assignment for you. Xana as well, if she has done the same. They aren't as picky as the konkagami, but it will test your care abilities all the same."

Xana followed Dia up, knowing Professor Erikson was already aware of their history. She heard what he said as she approached and whispered to him so none of the students could hear. "How specific are the konkagami? I mean... is it any dark curse that is reflected in the plant or just.. you know... Unforgivables?"

Dia nodded. "Thank you, professor."

Torie had no qualms about this assignment and in fact was sort of looking forward to it. She had never been very good at taking care of plants, but perhaps this one would have more of an appeal since it was supposed to reflect her. She raised her hand to get some answers about the needs of the plant. "Professor, what kind of light conditions does this plant enjoy? Does it need lots of watering or only a little?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zellanna

Armand chuckled softly. "For those who would like to wait until after I've talked with the other students privately, just sit tight. Or gather close. I'll go ahead and walk you through the repotting."

Hmmm… this was a tricky one. And the first, and most important question was: Where the devil to begin? She glanced around at the other students to see what they were doing before flicking through her textbook for a few tips. Professor Erikson was bloomin’ scary! ...Ems would rather struggle through this on her own than ask for help. Plus, she didn’t particuarly like to look stupid ...but when it came to Herbology she most certainly was.

She breathed a sigh of relief as Erikson said he was going to walk them through the repotting. She gathered closer, eyeing Xana and Dia as they approached the professor. This, would certainly be a revealing lesson.

Hermy looked at the range of fertilisers, and started scribbling some ideas on her parchment. She was tempted to use the same mix she had for her hybrid a few terms ago, since that had turned out so well, but she also fancied using a muggle chemical fertiliser she had researched. And that was before she considered the soil. A mind map appeared in front of Hermy, linking together all of her thoughts.

Marco had finished organising his hair in his mirror, and found he had a pot infront of him. He tucked the mirror away in his pocket. What was he meant to do with this pot? "Erm Professor what am I meant to do?"

"It shows all curses, in varying degrees. The Unforgivables do have a very specific mark, however. Which I will be explaining to the class. But every curse does leave it's mark. If it's been a while, or the curse was minor, at most it will make the blossom darker, or have black markings. Honestly, I expect a lot of plants with such small markings. There are a good deal of harmless curses which children tend to cast on each other, after all."


"This plant prefers dim or partial sun, dependent on if you're using natural or artificial lighting. Making sure the soil is moist each day is enough for the plant, soggy soil will easily eat its roots.

He looked over to Marco with a sigh. "Please, just go ahead and sit at the table with Kayla. I will get to you in a moment."

Daphne looked at the pot and fertilizers in front of her. She pulled out her text book and began to furiously thumb through it. She glanced around the room; other people seemed to be confused, like her. She decided to wait for the Professor to properly explain the potting process. Daphne didn't have what the muggles called a 'green thumb'. Experience dictated she wait.

James got to work. He grabbed a seed and put it in the pot. He was not that good in Herbology, actually quite bad, but he was determined to make it his best subject this year. His best subject was charms....and he wasn't quite good at it. He started to put soil on top of it and patted it down. Hmm....some water would do good....he thought as scrutinized every little detail.

Xana nodded. "I think I probably ought to do whatever care exercise Dia's doing. " It seemed wiser.

Marco sighed and went and sat with Kayla. He hated Herbology. It was one of his worst NEWTs. And now it had proved he was stupid.

Torie nodded at the Professor's comments and noted them down on the parchment in front of her. After the ink had dried, she moved her writing supplies to the side and set the terra cotta pot directly in front of her. She scanned her eyes along the array of fertilizers that were available. She didn't know what to choose.

"Well," said Torie quietly to herself, "It would probably be best to start with some soil first, rather than worrying about fertilizer."

She located a bag of fresh black soil and took it back to her seat. She breathed in the earthy fragrance of the soil and brushed her fingers through the soft mixture. It smelled like spring!

Kayla groaned inwardly when the Professor said for Marco to come and sit at her table. If he takes out that mirror once more I am going to smash it over his head she thought crossly.

Emily didn’t quite know what to do so she went to sit with Kayla and Marco. She frowned slightly ...a hufflepuff and Marco - was this the table for complete dunces or something?

ooc: Have not bloomed yet

He nodded. "Fair enough. Xana, if you could, there is a set of tiger lilies in an isolation chamber in greenhouse six. Their growth was halted to a few days before budding, so that they would be at the same stage as these plants. Please get one for you and Dia. They will need to be repotted as well."

Torie made sure her school uniform was completely covered with her herbology robes before beginning to fill her pot with the fragrant soil. Gently she scooped handful after handful of the soil into her pot until it was about one third full. Dusting the dirt off her hands, she raised her arm once more. "Professor, I'm unsure of what to do with the fertilizer, or even which one to use. Do you have any suggestions or tips?

Xana nodded. "Certainly." She dashed away from the lesson.

Dia bowed her head in response. She had inwardly hoped for a slightly dangerous plant of some sort, but if that was what the professor wanted them to do, there wasn't really a choice... "Yes, professor." she glanced over to Xana. I suppose I'll wait for her here, then...

"This was actually on your homework." He gave her a wry smile as he walked over to the class where Marco, Kayla, and now Emily sat. "Though unlike most plants, this does not do well with dragon dung fertilizer. Use something mild. For the chemical composition fertilizers, use a 5-10-10."

He stood before the three and looked each of them over. "Alright, we're going to start with drainage. Please get a pot and cover the bottoms with some small rocks."

To the rest of the class he announced, "An example of how curses show up in these plants, there has been evidence of how the Unforgivables show up in them. The Killing Curse, for example, appears as vibrant green veins that spread from the middle of the plant. The Cruciatus Curse has been evidenced as a silvery sheen glimmering on the inside surface, or upper surface, of the petals. The Imperius Curse will appear as dark stamens. Some smaller curses that have been evidenced and we are fairly certain of include one that causes lack of pigmentation. Like with albinism, their skin is very sensitive to the sun, and they will burn easily. Such a curse cast by the caretaker will make the plant's color very dull. Keep in mind, however, that this only affects the first blossoming. From that point onward every blossom will match the first time. Later uses will not change the plant."

"Hurry, Back Xana..." She whispered sarcastically looking at her notes... that girl always ruined Cassandra's classes for her.

Alexis sighed she didn't understand this class at all.

Torie's face burned with shame. Not only had she been foolhardy in starting to add soil to her pot, but she had also been caught with not having done her homework. Meekly Torie emptied her pot of the soil and started again, following the Professor's instructions about the rocks. It looked like she was going to have to do some make up studying this evening.

Kayla sighed and walked over and grabbed a pot and covered the bottom with small rocks and then looked at the Professor for her next instruction. God she felt stupid.

Picking up her pot, Liz moved it closer, so she could add the fertilizer. She glanced into her book...Hmmm... so it should be 10-10-10. Wait, but I maybe it's supposed to be high in nitrogen...no I'll put in 20-10-10

She places some rocks in the bottom of the pot and smaller pebbles on top of them, then adds soil on top and fills it about 1/3 of the way up the pot.

Ooops, I a little too much, she says to herself, and then takes a handful off.

She then gently lifts out the monocot, careful not to damage the roots, thinking to herself, she remembered the roots on a monocot are very delicate and netted, also remembering that if any roots are damaged the plant can become stressed until it can regrow more roots at the next flush of growth.

She glances up and realizes that the rest of the class, haven't begun potting the plants yet, so she sits and waits...