Destiny was just about to give the demon plant one last good whack, but when she went to swing down the broom was suddenly gone. As Destiny was backing away from the snare, she felt a hard sting across her ankles. 'Oooww!' she looked down and started to rub her red ankles. Yep, that will bruise later.

Destiny stood up straight, forgetting about the pain in her ankles when Professor Bunbury started yelling. 'She is really mad.' Turning around to the professor, eyes filling with tears, Destiny whispered a quick 'I'm sorry' and ran back to her seat.

Evelyn, for some reason, didn't hear which house the professor took points from, but she did hear how the professor sounded extremely angry. 'Great! First the devils snare...and now an angry professor who probably enjoys torturing students with devils snare...and hopefully that wasn't our house that got those points taken away!' Frustrated and tired, and noticing that the plant stopped squeezing her to death, she was about to yell for someone to pull her out when she saw a purple flame appear, coming from the professor.

Eyes widening and mouth open in shock, 'She used my wand...', Evelyn didn't feel the tendrils unwrapping around her until she fell out onto Josh, falling to the ground. "Sssorry." she stuttered quietly to Josh, pushing off of him and moving a little away to the side, and conveniently, under a desk. 'No plant will get me here.'

Breathing in deeply to calm herself down and not fall into hysterics, she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. 'Hate Herbology-' she started to think, but her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed something on her arms. Dark red marks could be seen all the way up to her sleeve. "What is this?" she mumbled, frowning, and turning her arm around in different angles to look at the marks. They were sensitive and surely marks from where the plant squeezed her, making her wonder how many others there were on her body, but she didn't care. She was just thankful to be away from the devil plant.

OH MERLIN'S BEARD WHAT NOW?

Just because she had TRIED to host one TEENY TINY escape mission and now she was LEG LOCKED?

NO. WAY.

Ignoring the muttering and frustrated looks from other students, Lucille wriggled, trying to move. She failed, and ended up, with a loud "Umph!"on the floor. Ugh, it felt horrible, not being able to move her legs. And since she was on the floor, she couldn't get UP.

She was stuck.

Ooh, this lesson was NOT turning out well.

"What was it you were saying about her NOT harming us?" she whispered angrily up at Jake from her place on the floor.

Suddenly hearing a shout from behind, Jake jumped about a foot in the air. GAH! He should have known that wouldn't work... shoulda KNOWN! Jakey!Jake was also back, but not really respond. He kind of couldn't... being all shocked and whatnot.

As the curse/hex/jinx hit him, Jake grabbed onto the desk/surface/thing and managed to stay upright, though Lucille wasn't so lucky.

"Wuh-wuh-well," Jake stuttered out, his impediment becoming worse than ever. "Shuh-she huh-hasn't ac-ac-actually hhhhurt us... sssssee? An-an-and... we kuh-kinda duh-duh-did do sssssometh-thing buh-bad..."

Granted, Jake couldn't quite remember what that was, but he was sure he'd find out. Eyeing the stool he'd sat on earlier, Jake reached out for it and scooted it closer, so he was sat on it instead of laying on the floor. Had he been somewhat closer to Lucille, he might have helped... but from Bunz's scale of anger, Jake decided he really shouldn't push it anymore. "Uh-uh-uhm ssssorry," he said, speaking to both Lucille and Bunz though not actually looking at either of them.

Chyeah, and I think we all know that Jake NEVER says sorry to Bunz these days.

Lucille, from the floor, had an idea that Jake was talking to her as well as the professor when he said sorry.

"S'ok," she said. She tried to look at the professor through the load of legs obscuring her view.

"I'm sorry, too," she called to the professor. She really wished she could get up - she had fallen on her arm and it had fallen asleep.

Tavelon sighed. They were far enough behind in points without people deliberately disobeying the professor right in front of her. It was rather obvious that no one would get their wands until Bunz said so.

Whenever that was, however, he had no idea, because she vanished the entire bin. Hopefully not permanently.

Tavelon gingerly picked himself up as the snare retreated, rubbing the large bruises on his arm where the snare had grabbed him. It was actually quite fun, in retrospect. Usually such adventures are.

Carter watched as some hufflepuff students attempt to steal their wands back. Crazy kids... he thought. He then turned his attention back toward the devil's snare and wondered whether he wanted a turn at it.

Amadeus decided to give it a try, he putted his hand up and volunteered. He stepped up and walked towards the Devils Snare, he put his hand out. The tentacle wrapped over his arm, it felt smooth. He tried to get out of it, but it wouldn't leave him. He decided to relax and calm down. The Devils Snare had slowly left his arm. Amadeus then walked back into the crowd.

Melanie'd been spending her time a nice 8 foot radius from the Devils Snare, sitting perched on a table, and swinging her legs to and fro. The third year was munching contently on a sticky chocolate frog she'd found in her pocket, while watching. Yep, of course she'd been witnessing the lesson, paying attention...and all that lovely stuff, just from a distance.

This way she wouldn't need to worry about Mr...or Ms. Devil's Snare saaaaaay...

Attempting to pry her arm off. She liked her body intact, if you get where I'm going with this.

Melanie watched the scene before her, with wide eyes, her usual curiosity building up inside her. It now became obvious to her why Bunbury might want them to hand over their wands. Many of the students had decided to be violent toward the Devil's Snare, when they failed to calm themselves down. And with their wands, surely one of them could have came up with a way to actually, truly, hurt it in the process of trying to get it to release them.

There was a bit of a flaw in this theory though, which Melanie noticed, as she realized the Professor had been using everyone's wand but her own throughout the lesson. Perhaps, her's was missing...?

Odd. Very, very odd.

Melanie couldn't help but wonder what sort of evil plot Bunz might have lost her wand carrying out, and ponder on the possibility that she might be simply doing it to bug some of the students, AND contemplate the chance, that maybe the Snare fed off wood and asking for their wands was really allllll about giving it a nice big meal. She was so very deep in thought, that when Bunbury began to yell at who knows what... Well, she just about toppled right off the table.

Thankfully she managed to steady herself, though. Grasping the sides of the it (and of course, keeping a tight hold on her chocolate frog.), she looked up alertly at BunBunz, just as she was announcing that they were done with the strangling plant. Wondering what was next, or...if the lesson was over, she waited patiently to find out. Throughout this whole time Melanie had failed to notice that the Professor had just vanished all of their wands...

With her eyes tightly shut, LouAnn continued singing softly to herself...

...what a wonderful world.

She suddenly felt as if a weight, a huge weight, was lifted off her. Had she actually defeated the Devil's Snare? Had she honestly, truly, really relaxed enough to overcome the hungry little (or not so little, actually) plant? Slowly, she opened her eyes, realizing shortly thereafter that she'd really done nothing. It had been The Bunz and a few dancing flames (oh, Purple!) that had saved the say.

Abby nearly jumps out of her skin when Bunbury yells at her. "Sorry professor, I just wanted to make sure my wand was in the bin." Abby steps away from Bunbury and the Devil's Snare.

Quote:

Originally Posted by destinyjazzhands

Destiny was just about to give the demon plant one last good whack, but when she went to swing down the broom was suddenly gone. As Destiny was backing away from the snare, she felt a hard sting across her ankles. 'Oooww!' she looked down and started to rub her red ankles. Yep, that will bruise later.

Destiny stood up straight, forgetting about the pain in her ankles when Professor Bunbury started yelling. 'She is really mad.' Turning around to the professor, eyes filling with tears, Destiny whispered a quick 'I'm sorry' and ran back to her seat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by individual

Evelyn, for some reason, didn't hear which house the professor took points from, but she did hear how the professor sounded extremely angry. 'Great! First the devils snare...and now an angry professor who probably enjoys torturing students with devils snare...and hopefully that wasn't our house that got those points taken away!' Frustrated and tired, and noticing that the plant stopped squeezing her to death, she was about to yell for someone to pull her out when she saw a purple flame appear, coming from the professor.

Eyes widening and mouth open in shock, 'She used my wand...', Evelyn didn't feel the tendrils unwrapping around her until she fell out onto Josh, falling to the ground. "Sssorry." she stuttered quietly to Josh, pushing off of him and moving a little away to the side, and conveniently, under a desk. 'No plant will get me here.'

Breathing in deeply to calm herself down and not fall into hysterics, she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. 'Hate Herbology-' she started to think, but her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed something on her arms. Dark red marks could be seen all the way up to her sleeve. "What is this?" she mumbled, frowning, and turning her arm around in different angles to look at the marks. They were sensitive and surely marks from where the plant squeezed her, making her wonder how many others there were on her body, but she didn't care. She was just thankful to be away from the devil plant.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoerawrr

Suddenly hearing a shout from behind, Jake jumped about a foot in the air. GAH! He should have known that wouldn't work... shoulda KNOWN! Jakey!Jake was also back, but not really respond. He kind of couldn't... being all shocked and whatnot.

As the curse/hex/jinx hit him, Jake grabbed onto the desk/surface/thing and managed to stay upright, though Lucille wasn't so lucky.



"Wuh-wuh-well," Jake stuttered out, his impediment becoming worse than ever. "Shuh-she huh-hasn't ac-ac-actually hhhhurt us... sssssee? An-an-and... we kuh-kinda duh-duh-did do sssssometh-thing buh-bad..."

Granted, Jake couldn't quite remember what that was, but he was sure he'd find out. Eyeing the stool he'd sat on earlier, Jake reached out for it and scooted it closer, so he was sat on it instead of laying on the floor. Had he been somewhat closer to Lucille, he might have helped... but from Bunz's scale of anger, Jake decided he really shouldn't push it anymore. "Uh-uh-uhm ssssorry," he said, speaking to both Lucille and Bunz though not actually looking at either of them.

Chyeah, and I think we all know that Jake NEVER says sorry to Bunz these days.

Quote:

Originally Posted by firenjen

Lucille, from the floor, had an idea that Jake was talking to her as well as the professor when he said sorry.

"S'ok," she said. She tried to look at the professor through the load of legs obscuring her view.

"I'm sorry, too," she called to the professor. She really wished she could get up - she had fallen on her arm and it had fallen asleep.

Yeah, sure they were sorry. They would be sorry. They didn't know the meaning of the word sorry yet.

Ignoring the students completely, Bunbury extinguished the flame at the end of her current wand and then muttered a few more things to the Devil's Snare. She patted it twice and then stood up again, dusting off her robes as she marched back to her desk at the front of the room.

She took a breath and stared out at the class before shaking her head at the Hufflepuffs. "You will both stay after class shortly." It wasn't a question; neither could hardly get up and walk out.

"Moving on, before I give out the homework, let's review a few things about flitterbloom." The professor tapped her nails on the desk and waited for some answers. "Well? What's it do? Why is it popular? What kind of care does it require? What do you think?"

Cela raised her hand cheerfully. "It sways around and its pretty. Its popular because its harmless and doesn't require any specialist care, just love like any plant. It doesn't need to be all damp and stuff like Devils Snare, and can survive for a looonnnng time without watering, though it might be a bit put out with you." Celandine thought about this for a second, "So it must retain water somehow right? Is it a succulent? Or does it have like one of those gourd thingies in its roots?"

Herminny instantly raised her hand and said, "Flitterbloom has long tenyacles that move back and forth. It is famous because it looks a lot like devils snare which could potentially be dangerous however the flitterbloom is harmless.".

"Doesn't the flitterbloom actually like the sunlight? And it's pretty much harmless...Probably why people like the plant so much. Or flower...whatever it is." Evelyn mumbled from under the table, distracted slightly from still examining the marks on her skin. She was not moving out from under there. Nope no no. Too many dangerous plants.

'It's still ugly though.' she thought, smirking slightly. Why people couldn't plant regular things like roses and such instead of the plant that looks like devils snare...she would never know...

Fyo raised a hand. "It looks... nice?" He suggested, glad that Professor Bunbury had calmed down a little. "It's sorta like the Devil's Snare in appearance, but it doesn't have the same kind of defense mechanism - which means it doesn't have such a strong sense of - or a very immense reaction to - touch. It probably won't like lots of fire, either but, like the average plant, it tolerates - likes - sunlight. Plus, as far as I know, it only asks for respect and a bit of good "food," and that's it."

He paused, then added, "It's used for ornamental purposes too, isn't it, Professor?" Prettyplantyay, maybe?

"But i said i was -" Lucille nearly burst before stopping herself. She corrected. "Ok, Professor."

She wished that she would at least get her up off the floor. She could no longer feel her dead arm and her face was slodged onto the greenhous floor, making her words muffled.

She couldn't answer the question. So she lay silently on the floor.

Sigh.

Nodding once but not looking at Bunbury, Jake remained quiet. He didn't know anything about flitterbloom... other than the fact that it was a plant. All he could think about was how much he'd blown his attempt at trying to be good. It just wasn't working for him. Grrrrr.

He still hand a couple of wands on his person, but... *sigh* he couldn't do magic... so he really was stuck. Deciding to just at least TRYYYYYY to be good for the remainder of the lesson, and hope he wasn't in for another detention, Jake listened to the class.

LouAnn raised her hand. "What's it do? Hmm...it does nothing. Well, it dances back and forth, doing a little jig and all, but as far as attacking the way a Devil's Snare does, it's just pretty much harmless," she replied. "I think it's popular because it looks so much like a Devil's Snare, but since it doesn't attack, it can be kept as a nice house plant. I think people must enjoy watching the way it sways back and forth. As far as caring for it, I guess you could talk to it, cheer it on, or pat it every now and then. I don't think there's anything special you have to do for it. Just care for it the way you would any other plant."

"Devil's Snare and Flutterbloom must be identical in appearance. How else can you explain people so easily mixing the two up. I can't be sure-having never seen a Flutterbloom-that it does not have the ability to feel. If it does, the Fluttebloom must not react in the same violent way as the Devil's Snare. I wonder why the Devil's Snare is more violent than the Flutterbloom?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celandine

Cela raised her hand cheerfully. "It sways around and its pretty. Its popular because its harmless and doesn't require any specialist care, just love like any plant. It doesn't need to be all damp and stuff like Devils Snare, and can survive for a looonnnng time without watering, though it might be a bit put out with you." Celandine thought about this for a second, "So it must retain water somehow right? Is it a succulent? Or does it have like one of those gourd thingies in its roots?"

"Correct....mostly," Bunbury acknowledged Cela with a tip of her head. "It is not in fact a succulent plant and should be watered regularly. It likes water, it likes to be moist like a normal house plant though not nearly as damp as Devil's Snare."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herminny

Herminny instantly raised her hand and said, "Flitterbloom has long tenyacles that move back and forth. It is famous because it looks a lot like devils snare which could potentially be dangerous however the flitterbloom is harmless.".

"Yes, that is precisely the only claim to fame flitterbloom has: its superficial appearance to Devil's Snare. I suppose it helps that the plant waves its tentacles to and fro similar to how Devil's Snare uses its tendrils to attack."

Quote:

Originally Posted by individual

"Doesn't the flitterbloom actually like the sunlight? And it's pretty much harmless...Probably why people like the plant so much. Or flower...whatever it is." Evelyn mumbled from under the table, distracted slightly from still examining the marks on her skin. She was not moving out from under there. Nope no no. Too many dangerous plants.

'It's still ugly though.' she thought, smirking slightly. Why people couldn't plant regular things like roses and such instead of the plant that looks like devils snare...she would never know...

"Erm," Bunbury had to lower her gaze significantly to the girl hiding under the table. "Yes, Ev...Ev....Evelyn," that was her name, right? "Thank you for participating."

Why was she under the table again?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SenoritaMaxie

Fyo raised a hand. "It looks... nice?" He suggested, glad that Professor Bunbury had calmed down a little. "It's sorta like the Devil's Snare in appearance, but it doesn't have the same kind of defense mechanism - which means it doesn't have such a strong sense of - or a very immense reaction to - touch. It probably won't like lots of fire, either but, like the average plant, it tolerates - likes - sunlight. Plus, as far as I know, it only asks for respect and a bit of good "food," and that's it."

He paused, then added, "It's used for ornamental purposes too, isn't it, Professor?" Prettyplantyay, maybe?

"Very good answer, Fyo," Bunz flicked her eyes to the Gryffindor and nodded. "Ornamental decoration is exactly the only real use for Flitterbloom." Real use..... that was open to interpretation....

Quote:

Originally Posted by firenjen

"But i said i was -" Lucille nearly burst before stopping herself. She corrected. "Ok, Professor."

She wished that she would at least get her up off the floor. She could no longer feel her dead arm and her face was slodged onto the greenhous floor, making her words muffled.

She couldn't answer the question. So she lay silently on the floor.

Sigh.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoerawrr

Nodding once but not looking at Bunbury, Jake remained quiet. He didn't know anything about flitterbloom... other than the fact that it was a plant. All he could think about was how much he'd blown his attempt at trying to be good. It just wasn't working for him. Grrrrr.

He still hand a couple of wands on his person, but... *sigh* he couldn't do magic... so he really was stuck. Deciding to just at least TRYYYYYY to be good for the remainder of the lesson, and hope he wasn't in for another detention, Jake listened to the class.

Bunbury was half-amused at the Hufflepuff that still lay on the floor but she made no move to help the girl up. And neither did Jake, apparently. Wow. What a gentleman. Not. It was all his fault, no doubt, that Anastasia had been forced to take 20 points from her former house. ALL HIS FAULT.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlipperyDeathBanana

LouAnn raised her hand. "What's it do? Hmm...it does nothing. Well, it dances back and forth, doing a little jig and all, but as far as attacking the way a Devil's Snare does, it's just pretty much harmless," she replied. "I think it's popular because it looks so much like a Devil's Snare, but since it doesn't attack, it can be kept as a nice house plant. I think people must enjoy watching the way it sways back and forth. As far as caring for it, I guess you could talk to it, cheer it on, or pat it every now and then. I don't think there's anything special you have to do for it. Just care for it the way you would any other plant."

"Correct, Miss Purple. Flitterbloom really appreciates human interaction, as most plants do. One could easily compare it to the Flutterby bush from a few terms ago."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs. Weasley

"Devil's Snare and Flutterbloom must be identical in appearance. How else can you explain people so easily mixing the two up. I can't be sure-having never seen a Flutterbloom-that it does not have the ability to feel. If it does, the Fluttebloom must not react in the same violent way as the Devil's Snare. I wonder why the Devil's Snare is more violent than the Flutterbloom?"

"It might have the ability to 'feel' as you all seem to put it," Bunbury answered Abby, "but it definitely is a different species from Devil's Snare and therefore definitely not as violent. Same scientific family and genus, entirely different species. It makes a difference."



Moving away from her desk now, Bunbury set down the basilisk-core wand she had been using and started setting out tiny little pots with bows around the lip. They already had a little gravel in the bottom soil in them but (unlike those ones pictured) nothing else.

Once Bunz had set out enough pots for the class, she brought out a bush-like thing with leafy, dark dark green tendrils waving about. It seemed to have more of a form than the pile of vines of the Devil's Snare but other than its animation, the plant could have been identical to its more dangerous twin.

"This is Flitterbloom, obviously," she said by way of introduction. As you can see," Bunz waved her arms around in front of the bush/viney/mabob and it seemed to wave back, "while being very active and animated, it is not at all clingy nor eager to.... grab my arm, unlike Devil's Snare. You can see that this particular plant does have a few spiky spots here and there and isn't all piled up and huddled like the Devil's Snare is."

In fact, it was much more vertical and all the tendrils were separating as they seemed to wave a greeting to the class.

"So as the final portion of the lesson, you may pot a sample of flitterbloom to keep and care for yourself, if you wish. It's simple: use that trimming spell I taught you two terms ago, cut off a small tendril or a bit for yourself, arrange it so it somewhat stands in the pot, add some more soil from the compost pile in the corner, and voilà. Any questions?"

Herminny certainly had a question about the next task considering that 1st and 2nd year did'nt know the spell cause she taught it two years ago and some older students may have forgotten so she raised her hand and asked, "Professor could you demonstrate the spell for the younger students who were'nt in you're class two years ago and don't know it and for the older ones who may have forgotten", Herminny asked giving the professor a sheepish smile.

OOOOOHHHH FLITTERBLOOMS!

Cam was just drizzle-dazzled from watching the magical plant dance and swaaaay. And they were allowed to keep one for themselves??? BUNZZ WAS A SAAAINT!11 A GODDESSS. He was the first to step up from the crowd and tried to uh, remember that rhyyyyme. "Flipnsnipwitit, ac-cent your t's to cut it sharp like cheeeeeeese, remember the rhyme and you'll be done in no ti-me," he chanted under his breath and eyed the Flitterblooooom.

Wait.

"Professah BunBURRRRYYYYYYY, can I have my wand back?" Unless she already gave it back and he hadn't noticed?

"Ev...Ev...Evelyn. Yes, that is my name. Surprised she didn't call me Rose...' she thought, glancing towards Josh for a split second. She sat still from under the desk, hearing things being set on a table. Curious, Evelyn scooted out enough from under the desk to see what the Professor was doing. Something to do with pots and planting your own Flitterbloom.

'Why would anyone want such an ugly thing?' she thought, frowning at the plant and standing up, brushing out any wrinkles in her shirt or skirt and trying to pull her sweater sleeve down as far as it would go so it would hide the red marks. 'Hmm...on second thought...maybe taking care of a plant would help me appreciate them more.' Evelyn really didn't like the idea, but it would at least give her something to do in spare time when she was bored.

And that's when she noticed, the professor didn't have her wand anymore. 'Where did she put it? Is it safe? Is it in her pocket? Or out in the open? Why would she put it in the open where anyone can steal it!?!? It's practically the only wand in the room!' Glancing everywhere the professor was or had been, she saw the dark wand laying still on a table. Breathing out a long relieved sigh to know where it was, she moved closer to the front where the wand lay, for one, to get a pot for the Flitterbloom, and two, to be closer to her wand, maybe even grab it back...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herminny

Herminny certainly had a question about the next task considering that 1st and 2nd year did'nt know the spell cause she taught it two years ago and some older students may have forgotten so she raised her hand and asked, "Professor could you demonstrate the spell for the younger students who were'nt in you're class two years ago and don't know it and for the older ones who may have forgotten", Herminny asked giving the professor a sheepish smile.

"Uh, yes, I suppose I could.... remind you all of the spell," Bunbury started to say. Now where had she put down that wand? The nice, strong basilisk one?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dingDong

OOOOOHHHH FLITTERBLOOMS!

Cam was just drizzle-dazzled from watching the magical plant dance and swaaaay. And they were allowed to keep one for themselves??? BUNZZ WAS A SAAAINT!11 A GODDESSS. He was the first to step up from the crowd and tried to uh, remember that rhyyyyme. "Flipnsnipwitit, ac-cent your t's to cut it sharp like cheeeeeeese, remember the rhyme and you'll be done in no ti-me," he chanted under his breath and eyed the Flitterblooooom.

Wait.

"Professah BunBURRRRYYYYYYY, can I have my wand back?" Unless she already gave it back and he hadn't noticed?

Oh look at that, Cameron Karsten wished to demonstrate it for them all. Lovely.

"To answer your question, Herminny," the professor nodded in the Gryffindor's direction, "that is how you do the trimming spell to cut off a portion of the Flitterbloom. Flipnsnipwitit, accent your t's to cut it sharp like cheese; remember the rhyme and you'll be done in no time."

She patted around the desk for a moment and then found the basilisk wand. "Aha." Bunz swirled the wand about and then the bin of the students' wands reappeared. She tossed the basilisk wand on top of the pile, sad to part with it but fully aware that there was no way she'd just be able to sneak off with it.

"There. You may all come up and get your wand back.... except you two," she shot a GLARE to Jake and Lucille. "And only use it for the potting of these plants. Be responsible. Come on. You can start potting and whatnot whenever. I'll be handing out the homework shortly." Sigh.

Was it obvious this lesson had stretched the Bunz to her limits?