"Broccoli!" LouAnn shouted out, not thinking to her raise her hand ahead of time. A second later, a little after the fact, her hand shot into the air. She grinned at the professor and lowered it before speaking again. "The stuff is disgusting! Caution, I tell ya! Caution! I think we should just respect the stuff and let it grow to its little heart's content."

"Oh, and...a Venus Fly Trap," she said, only mentioning that after the whole broccoli speech. "Oh, and...all of them," she said, nodding towards a Hufflepuff who'd just spoken up and mentioned that.

Livvy just stared at those people that were reluctant to let go of their wands and blinked at them. Many screamed, many just wouldn't let go. It was juuuust wand. Sure they used it for defense and for many useful things, but sometimes they had to learn how to let it go and do things the old fashioned way. Plus, if anything happened, they'd just have to hope that Bunbury would know what to do. She WAS the expert, after all.

Yayy... finally. Class had started. Once upon listening to the professor's questions and everybody else's answers, Livvy raised her hand into the air. "Well, like everyone else said professor, all plants should be treated with respect and with caution. I'm sure that that the Fanged Geranium is a mighty good example as one of those plants," she said, nodding her head. Not too good if you got bitten by one of those.

'Hmph.' Emily thought to herself when the woman spoke to her in a tone that was less than friendly. The excuse was feeble.. Herbology may be a struggle for the girl but even in her frustration she wasn't going to start hurting poor defenceless plants.. Oh Merlin.. and now she was starting to sound like Kate. “Okay.” she replied and watching the woman take her wand. She began to turn away but turned her head to look at the woman over her shoulder. “Oh and Happy 40th by the way.” She smiled sweetly before turning and heading to her seat at the back of the classroom. 'Hmph.'

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

Welcome to Herbology, students," she started in a rather exasperated tone. "This is a class where we work with plants. All sorts of plants. Plants of different classifications and skill levels and levels of toxicity and danger and such."

Duh.

"Tell me, students, what are some plants you can think of where caution and RESPECT FOR NATURE," Bunz was not shouting, she was just emphasizing that phrase, "might be useful? Hmm?"

Ems sat attentively as the professor addressed the class. She raised her hand. “What about the Fanged Geranium, Professor? The plant likes to bite humans so caution would be advised when planting them.”

"Venemous Tentacula" Tavelon said, trying to give credence to his sudden outburst. "Which is why I was trying to remember to pronounce.... erm... " he faltered.

"Because it's poisonous."

Duh.

"Mandrakes, Professor," Anya said after lowering her hand. "Because no matter how loud they get, you have to be gentle and kind with them."

Keeley twiddled with her scarlet hair nervously. Having been in the hopital wing last class, she knew asolutely nothing. But, she wanted to look as though she were participating, and pulled out her favorite peacok feather quill and started scribbling notes.

''C'moooooon! They are just plants what is the big deal?'' Josh laughed off all the comments ''See? We don't even need wands to deal with them so i don't think they are of such a great danger'' Seriously why would anyone needed to respect a plant? That was confusing. ''But i think fruit trees are quite respectable'' he added ''Because of you know..mmmm...tasty!''

Cela, who had turned in her unyielding 10 inch Ebony wand with unicorn hair core quite happily, raised her hand.

"Professor, all plants should be respected. You should be nice to them and talk to them and understand them. You should thank them and stuff." She tipped her head to one side, "As for caution, well obviously there are some dangerous plants, but like, if you know them and understand them then you don't have to worry. Like with devils snare, if you just relax and don't panic and if you are totally desperate, use a heat and light spell, then it won't hurt you. Even mundane sorts of herbs should be respected because a lot of them are still poisonous. And like, dittany? When it gets that oily coating and spontaneously burst into FIRE? If you knowww that its flammable and use caution, then you are less likely to do something stuuuupid."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoerawrr

"Devil's snare?" Jake said, in a pleasant tone, with also a dark look in his eyes. Not only did he remember that detention (and should he be in his other state of mind, the boy would have totally FREAKED at the mere thought of the plant) but he also remembered what he'd done to Bunz's office.

Bwahahaha.

"Erm....yes, actually, that is precisely the answer I was looking for....points to you, Upstead...." Bunbury murmured with a slow turn of her head in Jake's direction. She stared the boy down, wide-eyed and unblinking for a full minute before turning back to the rest of the class.

Quote:

Originally Posted by logger31

Damon raised his hand "Professor wouldnt garden plants be one type that should be respected." Damon thought that any plant that grew food for example might be of note. some of these plants might have things that you needed to be wary of such as bad things in them.

"Garden plants, like mundane Muggle ones? Is that what you mean?" she asked the Ravenclaw for more clarification.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessica94ear

Iris thought about the question that had been asked, and looked at her book... Hmmm... She raised her hand. "Um ... would Mandrakes be one, Professor?" Well ... you had to be coutious of them, right?

"Yes! Very good. And why would one want to be cautious around mandrakes?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by individual

"Pretty much all plants should be respected, professor." she muttered tensely, still keeping her eyes on the bin. Even though she hated most plants, unless they were roses *hehe*, everything should be respected..yes... even plants. And wands! Wands should be respected too! Don't touch it! After that, all she could think about was that her wand was mingling with the others. Touching all the other woods and who knows what fingerprints and grease stuff were on them...'OKay, got to get over it.' Breathing in a deep breathe, she sat up straight in her seat and tried to focus on the lesson. Maybe...

Bunbury's eyes followed Evelyn's to the bin of wands and her hand suddenly itched to grab one and show the class why they should be wary of mandrakes.

She refrained though. Being good. Bunz was trying to be good. "Yes, you are correct. Hear that, everyone? ALL PLANTS DESERVE RESPECT. Points to your House."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs_Molly_Weasley

Becca took a minute to think before she answered, seeing as Herbology was not her best subject and she didn't really have a green thumb. "Would a Snargaluff be one, Professor?", Rebecca asked, unsure of her answer. Maybe it worked or maybe it didn't, but what did she know? She was not a Herbology professor.

"Snargaluff!" Bunz repeated in an a-ha tone. She often forgot about the offensive...er....defensive properties of that gnarly stump. "Yes. Tell the rest of us why one should be cautious around such a plant."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miss Lissy Lou

Jack tapped his chin a couple of times, trying to think of an answer. Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in his head and his hand shot in the air. "Well, professor, you'd have to use an awful lot of caution around a Mimbulus Mimbletonia, wouldn't you? I read somewhere that if you poke them a certain way, they end up spraying you with this nasty, smelly gunk. Because the Mimbletonia is very rare, you'd have to give it a ton of respect with examining it to make sure you didn't damage the valuable plant," he said.

After attending her class for a number of terms now, he hoped he had given her an acceptable answer. Bunz was always about being nice to the plants.

She nodded at Jack's answer as well. "While the stinksap a mimbleus mimbletonia spews is not poisonous or anything," as far as she knew, "it is a very rare plant and it does have defensive tendencies you should be aware of. Yes. Points to Gryffindor."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sherbetsnitch

“The Whomping Willow professor?” Abigail could still remember its reaction to her just taking ONE of its loose leaves; it wasn’t a happy tree that was for sure.

Bunz almost chuckled under her breath at this answer. "Haha YES," she pointed at this Hufflepuff, "I appreciate that answer. I was actually going to bring this topic up because I discovered, much to my dismay," Bunbury reached into her bin of wands now and withdrew a 10 and 3/4 inch willow wand with a phoenix core. She twirled it about her hand and then looked up to continue.

"As I was saying, after our joint Herbology/Care of Magical Creatures lesson, I discovered that Hogwarts' very own, most noble Whomping Willow tree had been riled up and emotionally scarred by some students sitting in this very room."

She paused and glanced around at them all, tapping the wand in the palm of her free hand. "Perhaps we should discuss the proper way to approach an animated tree like that and how not to approach it. Any GOOD IDEAS?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luna Laufghudd

Miranda took a deep breath as she watched the Professor deal with the students. That Prefect had just WALKED OUT. Like whoa.

Poor Miss Bunbury, she's having a hard day...
So it seemed, but the woman didn't really look like a dangerous person or someone who is crazy. She shrugged.

Listening to the professor and then the qustion she asked, Miranda raised her hand to answer.
"Professor, miss" she said before, "Does not that apply to ALL plants and nature things? Because if we do not treat the greenery with respect then, like most things, they will be destroyed by our bad care." Did that sound right? "Though, some plants do have the need for more care than others, like the Mandrakes...Maybe treat the plants like we did last term, you know with the singing and the snuggling..."

"Yes it does, yes Miranda, and I believe you are referencing the flutterbies from two terms ago....?" the redheaded professor quirked an eyebrow. "Some plants are more lively than others, as I'm sure you've noticed."

Quote:

Originally Posted by dingDong

OOOOH! OOOH! Class started. Cam raised his hand and thought for a minuteeeee. Which plant? Cautionnnn? RESPECT FOR NATURE?! "Professor, I think that one Venomous Tentacuuuuuulaaa should be VERRRYYY cautioned and respected because they strangle people aaand... well I think that's a VEEERRRY bad thing."

"Yes indeed. You should even be careful around the seeds. Points to Slytherin." Bunbury had to agree with Cam even though he had started that whole vicious 40 rumor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by firenjen

Lucille tapped her head in a knowing sort of way.

"All of them?" she said. "Unless they're evil," she said with a nod.

"Yes and no no no no no." Bunbury shook her head and tsktsked at the Hufflepuff. "There IS NO SUCH THING as an evil plant. If you ask me."

Quote:

Originally Posted by destinyjazzhands

Destiny rasied her hand 'Would the bubotuber be one? It should be cautioned and respected because it is kinda dagerous and it can help you.'

What was up with all these classes and dangerous things? Not fun for Destiny.

"Very good, Destiny. Who can tell me how exactly bubotubers are dangerous and yet also helpful?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanialRadFAN01

Chris raised his hand. "Well like someone said, all plants should be treated kindly but wouldn't close to defefnsless plants like bouncing bulbs need extra care and respect?" he said thoughtfully.

"Gentle plants too, like bouncing bulbs," Bunbury almost smiled at Chris, because she remembered working with him and the bulbs, "do indeed deserve protection and extra care. Yes, points to Gryffindor."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Copernicus raised his hand. He was in fairly good humor so long as he could keep an eye on their wands from where he sat. "Professor, I know this isn't precisely what you mean, but I have a healthy respect for calendula. Someone I care about has a vicious allergy."

"Someone is really allergic to marigolds?" Bunbury tilted her head at the Ravenclaw. "I've heard that its extracts can have healing properties, really..."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

"Broccoli!" LouAnn shouted out, not thinking to her raise her hand ahead of time. A second later, a little after the fact, her hand shot into the air. She grinned at the professor and lowered it before speaking again. "The stuff is disgusting! Caution, I tell ya! Caution! I think we should just respect the stuff and let it grow to its little heart's content."

"Oh, and...a Venus Fly Trap," she said, only mentioning that after the whole broccoli speech. "Oh, and...all of them," she said, nodding towards a Hufflepuff who'd just spoken up and mentioned that.

Merlin here was another half-possessed child. Bunz took another lonnnng minute to stare at Lou-Ann and her exclamation about broccoli. Honestly. "Um.... yes, the Dionaea muscipula is carnivorous so you should be careful around it..."

Weird, weird child.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daffy.Potter

Livvy just stared at those people that were reluctant to let go of their wands and blinked at them. Many screamed, many just wouldn't let go. It was juuuust wand. Sure they used it for defense and for many useful things, but sometimes they had to learn how to let it go and do things the old fashioned way. Plus, if anything happened, they'd just have to hope that Bunbury would know what to do. She WAS the expert, after all.

Yayy... finally. Class had started. Once upon listening to the professor's questions and everybody else's answers, Livvy raised her hand into the air. "Well, like everyone else said professor, all plants should be treated with respect and with caution. I'm sure that that the Fanged Geranium is a mighty good example as one of those plants," she said, nodding her head. Not too good if you got bitten by one of those.

"I agree, dear, all plants should be treated with respect." She nodded. "Fanged geraniums, bless their little blossoms, aren't afraid to bite as a defense mechanism though. Mhmm."

Quote:

Originally Posted by noodles

'Hmph.' Emily thought to herself when the woman spoke to her in a tone that was less than friendly. The excuse was feeble.. Herbology may be a struggle for the girl but even in her frustration she wasn't going to start hurting poor defenceless plants.. Oh Merlin.. and now she was starting to sound like Kate. “Okay.” she replied and watching the woman take her wand. She began to turn away but turned her head to look at the woman over her shoulder. “Oh and Happy 40th by the way.” She smiled sweetly before turning and heading to her seat at the back of the classroom. 'Hmph.'

Ems sat attentively as the professor addressed the class. She raised her hand. “What about the Fanged Geranium, Professor? The plant likes to bite humans so caution would be advised when planting them.”

"I did NOT turn FORTY," Bunbury muttered under breath angrily before rolling her eyes at this girl's answer. Wasn't she a Greenwood? Mmhmm.

"Yes. Fanged Geraniums. Already been said."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nicholas Flamel

"Venemous Tentacula" Tavelon said, trying to give credence to his sudden outburst. "Which is why I was trying to remember to pronounce.... erm... " he faltered.

"Because it's poisonous."

Duh.

"Er yes, yes it is.... good....." Okay Mr. Possessed Puff #2.

Quote:

Originally Posted by miss.weasley23

"Mandrakes, Professor," Anya said after lowering her hand. "Because no matter how loud they get, you have to be gentle and kind with them."

"Mandrakes has also been said but I appreciate that, mmhmm," Bunbury nodded to the 'Claw. "Gentle and kind. They really are very child-like plants, you know."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lara_the_Firelady

''C'moooooon! They are just plants what is the big deal?'' Josh laughed off all the comments ''See? We don't even need wands to deal with them so i don't think they are of such a great danger'' Seriously why would anyone needed to respect a plant? That was confusing. ''But i think fruit trees are quite respectable'' he added ''Because of you know..mmmm...tasty!''

Blink. Blinkblinkblink.

Bunbury stood up from her desk, still twirling that willow wand that reminded her so much of her own, and click-clacked over to the Know-It-All Gryffindor's desk.

"Just plants?" The professor's voice was low, dark and disapproving as she leaned down and stared in his face for a minute. "I think you are a fruit tree and you'll come to regret that statement someday," she scoffed at the boy, straightening back up and returning to her desk.

Gryffindorks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celandine

Cela, who had turned in her unyielding 10 inch Ebony wand with unicorn hair core quite happily, raised her hand.

"Professor, all plants should be respected. You should be nice to them and talk to them and understand them. You should thank them and stuff." She tipped her head to one side, "As for caution, well obviously there are some dangerous plants, but like, if you know them and understand them then you don't have to worry. Like with devils snare, if you just relax and don't panic and if you are totally desperate, use a heat and light spell, then it won't hurt you. Even mundane sorts of herbs should be respected because a lot of them are still poisonous. And like, dittany? When it gets that oily coating and spontaneously burst into FIRE? If you knowww that its flammable and use caution, then you are less likely to do something stuuuupid."

"Yes you should, Cela, I agree," Bunz shot a LOOK at that Gryff. "It's all about knowledge, isn't it? This is what I am TRYING to TEACH YOU ALL. How to be careful around some plants and respectful toward them all. It is not my fault if some people refuse to learn."


She took a breath. "Now, to continue, or reiterate," because she had kind of mentioned this in passing, "What allegedly 'dangerous' characteristics do some of the plants you've mentioned possess that would make one exercise caution around them?"

Iris looked at Bunbury. "Well ... the main thing that you have to be cautious of is their cry. A baby Mandrakes cry is enough to knock you out, but an Adults mandrakes cry can kill you. You can avoid death-by-mandrake-screams by wearing earmuffs when you're handling them." Iris thought about her answer. "And wouldn't another thing you have to be ... well not cautious of, but careful of is when you harvest them? Because they have good healing um ... powers ... haven't they, but they have to be harvested at a certain stage, or age for them to work best in the healing potion your making with them." Iris sighed, half of the second bit of her answer didn't make much sense to her. Lets just hope that Bunbury knew what she meant.

Dangerous plants...Jack could think of a LOT of reasons why plants might be dangerous. He raised his hand again. "Well, going back to the Mimbletonia, Stinksap might not be DANGEROUS but it's definitely SMELLY and can offend people around you, therefore making your friend count go down a bit," he explained.

Ok, time to get serious again. "But some plants have thorns that can cut into your skin and really hurt you. Some even have poisonous thorns, and then some plants just have a lot of vines that can strangle you and cut off your oxygen supply!"

Staring right back at Bunz, as unblinking as he usually was during his little... times, Jake quirked a slight smile. "Devil's snare... can try to kill you... if you're left with a psychotic and murderous teacher. It can also cause one to potentially lose their job..." he added the last nit quietly, but loud enough for Bunz to hear.

Oh yeah. He went there.

Destiny raised her hand again. 'The bubotubers have these bubble things on them that are filled with stinky pus. If the pus touches human skin it will leave painful boils on it. But if diluted, the pus could cure acne!'

Yet another thing to put on Destiny's list of 'do not go near'.

Cam thought for a minute and raised his hand, "Well the Venomous Tentaculas are WAAY dangerous because they shoot out venom and all, and ... one part of it is poisonous I think. Deadly plantsssss they are, mmmhhhmm."

"Yes Professor" said Damon raising his hand just in case again. " I did mean to clarify those as muggle garden plants." He wanted just to add that.

Cela raised her hand.

"Yes professor, with the Whomping Willow, I found it kind of easier to get leaves than most of the others did because I always respect her. She's so lovely. So like, you should never assume anything or like assume that you have a right to take her leaves, but she's still a tree so I offered a trade. I watered her. And like, she's almost 100 and it doesn't matter that she's a tree and not a witch or wizard, you should always show respect to your elders. You shouldn't try to trick her because she has seen a lot. It helps to not put yourself in the way of her whompers if you dooo make her mad."

Celandine took a breath before answering the other question.

"Well like, with devils snare, it constricts its prey, choking and squeezing the more the prey struggles. It is attracted to movement and kind of looks like a flitterbloom to someone who is ignorant. So thats another reason you should pay attention, so you don't confuse a harmless plant with a dangerous one. Ummm and the scream of an unearthed full grown mandragora will kill any human that hears it, the baby one will only knock you out for a few hours aaaand umm the Venomous Tentacula spits venom from its shoots, and has poisonous spikes. Its bite is super poisonous too. Ummm what else? Oh! The fire seed bush can burn you super duper easily on account of it always being on fire."

Abigail smiled glad to have given a correct answer, but her smile quickly disappeared. She’d been one of those students but she’d made it up to the tree ‘I should really visit it.’

“Well you should ask it nicely, and I gave it chocolate for one of its leaves and it seemed quite happy with that.” Thinking for a second she answered the professor’s second question “well one dangerous thing about some plants is the noise they make...well with Mandrake’s anyway.”

Evelyn breathed out a long sigh when she saw it wasn't her wand the professor was holding, though became nervous again when she mentioned the whomping willow and certain students being there. Yea, she was one of them. But she hardly hurt the thing...she just followed what that one ravenclaw girl did and got out quickly and alive. Well, that was after she had been there for awhile already...Leaning forward slightly, she continued to listen to everyone's responses. Hopefully none of this stuff was needed for her to remember...wait...nah. She could probably remember this stuff without notes.

Upon hearing Josh's comment, she looked over at him and raised a brow. 'Has he never heard of Devils Snare before?' she thought, giving him a quizzical look. Devils snare was really the only plant she was scared of. Everything else she could deal with. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she moved her gaze back over to the bin and just...waited.

No such thing as an evil plant?

*Blink*

Even the ones with teeth?

Straaange.

"Ones with teeth," she said again, in answer to the question.

Lucille snorted. Loudly.

"Oooh, burn!" she chuckled.

LouAnn watched as the professor pulled a very familiarrrr looking wand out of that container she'd been holding. So familiar, in fact...oh my! Willow; Phoenix Feather Core; 10 3/4 inches...that's mah wand! LouAnn sat up straight and tall, proud of her wand for making a cameo appearance in Herbology class.

...but then...ohhh, apparently it wasn't a good thing to have such a wand, as someone---not LouAnn, of course---had sent the Whomping Willow into near about St. Mungo's status. LouAnn had approached the tree during that little scavanger hunt, true. Had she peer-pressured it, though? Nooo, she thought not. Deciding not to bring attention to the fact that her wand was being displayed during a speech about emotionally scarring a tree, LouAnn raised her hand to answer all the questions that had been asked.

"We should be cautious around mandrakes, because if your ears fall victim to their screams, it could kill you! Even a baby mandake can put a person out of orbit for a while," she said, answering question number one.

Umm...What in Merlin's name was a Snargaluff? Deciding to save face and not attempt things she didn't know about, she cleared her throat and moved on.

...Oh, yes! Back to animated trees and how best to approach them. LouAnn eyed her wand---she wanted it back---then shot a suspicious glance over to the Bunz. LouAnn had not manhandled the Whomping Willow! "I think we should keep a careful eye on the plant and see how it reacts to certain movements from us. If it seems alright with what we're attempting to do, then we can take that as a sign that it's safe to continue like so. On the other hand, if its leaves get all of a dither, then we should back up and find a different approach. I've learned that most animated trees will more or less tell you what to do with it."

"Oh, and bubtoubers are dangerous, because they resemble slugggssss," she said, thinking how disgusting it'd be to accidentally pick up a slimy slug thinking it was a bubotuber. "...and I don't mean the jelly kind either! Oh, and they smell like petrol! Anyway, if you don't cure it correctly, it can cause painful boils! If you do, those, it can cure acne."

Josh moved where he stood uncomfortably as his eyes followed Professor Bunbury walking towards him. She looked much more beautiful when angry with this thought he had quite a difficulty with managing not to grin but once she was right before him and speaking with a nearly hissing attitude his cheerful mood drained off in sudden leaving its place to a stubborn and i'm-not-scared expression. ''I hope so professor'' he replied with a resisting tone though he still did not believe that a plant could be of great importance.

When he sat back he could still feel the annoyance of professor's stare on him but he simply tried to ignore it. At first he thought of leaving the class as she spoke sarcastically but deciding it would be a stupid and pointless thing to do he just kept listening to her as if nothing had happened. He was going to give and answer for the next question, yes he was no matter what. ''Erm Professor...'' he stood up again gazing at her ''I really dont have any idea how they could be so dangerous but they are plants, tear up and they are dead. If you cannot touch, say poisonous, cast some fire and pufff they are all nothing but harmless ashes''

Well, that was easy! Fia was careful enough in her seat to keep her wand up her sleeve. There was no need for ANY professor or ANY person to take her wand unless she was in trouble. She sat back in her seat with confidence and was quiet as a mouse to enjoy life among the plants. Needless to say, Miles would be proud of her sneakyness.

Chris raised his hand "Well this wouldn't be much of a problem for humans unless they were stupid of course." he laughed. "Wouldn't the odors or smells the plant puts off, be considered dangerous? If they are simply poisonous or if they are trying to bring in and trap their prey?" he said happily, simply ignoring the morbid truth in his statement.

"Well," replied Becca, "A Snargaluff is a plant with the appearance of a gnarled stump, though when provocted it's deceptive appearence hides dangerous thorn-covered vines that attack the provoker. It contains pods that one can extract which appear as a green pulsating thing about the size of a grapefruit. My brother ran into one once; it was a nasty sight." Rebecca shuddered at the memory of the horrible, bloody pricks her brother, Collin had all over him. She frowned, before sighing. It was just like him to try and be the big shot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessica94ear

Iris looked at Bunbury. "Well ... the main thing that you have to be cautious of is their cry. A baby Mandrakes cry is enough to knock you out, but an Adults mandrakes cry can kill you. You can avoid death-by-mandrake-screams by wearing earmuffs when you're handling them." Iris thought about her answer. "And wouldn't another thing you have to be ... well not cautious of, but careful of is when you harvest them? Because they have good healing um ... powers ... haven't they, but they have to be harvested at a certain stage, or age for them to work best in the healing potion your making with them." Iris sighed, half of the second bit of her answer didn't make much sense to her. Lets just hope that Bunbury knew what she meant.

"Very thorough answer," Bunz was tempted to salute Iris with the wand she was still playing with but that was more of a thing one would use a stolen cane for. Not that she had any canes, but if she did, you know, she might salute people with it. "We'll be working with mandrakes either later this term or the next... and yes, you should always invest in a good pair of earmuffs when it comes time to repot them. And harvesting them has to be timed carefully with their growth. Good."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miss Lissy Lou

Dangerous plants...Jack could think of a LOT of reasons why plants might be dangerous. He raised his hand again. "Well, going back to the Mimbletonia, Stinksap might not be DANGEROUS but it's definitely SMELLY and can offend people around you, therefore making your friend count go down a bit," he explained.

Ok, time to get serious again. "But some plants have thorns that can cut into your skin and really hurt you. Some even have poisonous thorns, and then some plants just have a lot of vines that can strangle you and cut off your oxygen supply!"

"Erm, true, yes, if you care about things like how many friends you have," Bunz resisted the urge to roll her eyes at such a frivolous things. "But yes. Physical characteristics like thorns can be... well a pain in the side." Ha. Punny. Funny punny Bunny.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoerawrr

Staring right back at Bunz, as unblinking as he usually was during his little... times, Jake quirked a slight smile. "Devil's snare... can try to kill you... if you're left with a psychotic and murderous teacher. It can also cause one to potentially lose their job..." he added the last nit quietly, but loud enough for Bunz to hear.

Oh yeah. He went there.

Gulp. This was like playing with fire, this... this weirdly calm and collected Upstead. Was this a side effect from his demon!detention!seizure thing??!

"Er..... yyyes... it could... if... if," she swallowed and collected herself, "only if you are an idiot who refuses to listen to said 'psychotic,'" that was his word, not hers, "teacher."

Quote:

Originally Posted by destinyjazzhands

Destiny raised her hand again. 'The bubotubers have these bubble things on them that are filled with stinky pus. If the pus touches human skin it will leave painful boils on it. But if diluted, the pus could cure acne!'

Yet another thing to put on Destiny's list of 'do not go near'.

"Thank you Destiny, a good point of why plants can be dangerous and powerful. SEE," if only that Gryffindor was paying attention, "plants are USEFUL."

Quote:

Originally Posted by dingDong

Cam thought for a minute and raised his hand, "Well the Venomous Tentaculas are WAAY dangerous because they shoot out venom and all, and ... one part of it is poisonous I think. Deadly plantsssss they are, mmmhhhmm."

"And their seeds are apparently," according to some boring Ministry officials, "dangerous enough to be called a Class C non-tradeable substance." Bunbury nodded. Maybe she'd bring out a Venomous Tentacula in a bit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by logger31

"Yes Professor" said Damon raising his hand just in case again. " I did mean to clarify those as muggle garden plants." He wanted just to add that.

"Well mundane garden plants... while still worth of respect aren't usually dangerous enough to necessitate extra caution," Bunz tilted her head at the Ravenclaw but tried to maintain a polite tone. See. She was trying very hard to be kind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celandine

Cela raised her hand.

"Yes professor, with the Whomping Willow, I found it kind of easier to get leaves than most of the others did because I always respect her. She's so lovely. So like, you should never assume anything or like assume that you have a right to take her leaves, but she's still a tree so I offered a trade. I watered her. And like, she's almost 100 and it doesn't matter that she's a tree and not a witch or wizard, you should always show respect to your elders. You shouldn't try to trick her because she has seen a lot. It helps to not put yourself in the way of her whompers if you dooo make her mad."

Celandine took a breath before answering the other question.

"Well like, with devils snare, it constricts its prey, choking and squeezing the more the prey struggles. It is attracted to movement and kind of looks like a flitterbloom to someone who is ignorant. So thats another reason you should pay attention, so you don't confuse a harmless plant with a dangerous one. Ummm and the scream of an unearthed full grown mandragora will kill any human that hears it, the baby one will only knock you out for a few hours aaaand umm the Venomous Tentacula spits venom from its shoots, and has poisonous spikes. Its bite is super poisonous too. Ummm what else? Oh! The fire seed bush can burn you super duper easily on account of it always being on fire."

"Do you hear that, the rest of you?" Bunbury raised a brow and swished the willow wand around at them all. "Take notes on what Miss Toussaint is telling you in regards to the Whomping Willow. We'll be going more in-depth on that next term..."

Maybe. If Annie didn't resign/get fired before then.

"Devil's Snare and Flitterbloom are both plants I actually wish to discuss today." She nodded about three times at the rest of Cela's answer. "And excellent descriptions of the other plants. Mmhm."

The class had better be taking good notes. Cela could be like, Bunbury's teaching assistant or something. Or maybe she could just take over once Anastasia got fired. Yep.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sherbetsnitch

Abigail smiled glad to have given a correct answer, but her smile quickly disappeared. She’d been one of those students but she’d made it up to the tree ‘I should really visit it.’

“Well you should ask it nicely, and I gave it chocolate for one of its leaves and it seemed quite happy with that.” Thinking for a second she answered the professor’s second question “well one dangerous thing about some plants is the noise they make...well with Mandrake’s anyway.”

"Chocolate..... really, did that really work?" Anastasia tilted her head and gave the Hufflepuff a skeptical look. She hadn't noticed any chocolates still lying around when she'd inspected the tree....

Quote:

Originally Posted by firenjen

No such thing as an evil plant?

*Blink*

Even the ones with teeth?

Straaange.

"Ones with teeth," she said again, in answer to the question.

Lucille snorted. Loudly.

"Oooh, burn!" she chuckled.

"Erm........ I suppose... if by 'teeth' you mean 'thorns' on vines and such..." Bunbury sighed at the Hufflepuff's answer. This wasn't a lesson on Dark creatures, geeeez.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

LouAnn watched as the professor pulled a very familiarrrr looking wand out of that container she'd been holding. So familiar, in fact...oh my! Willow; Phoenix Feather Core; 10 3/4 inches...that's mah wand! LouAnn sat up straight and tall, proud of her wand for making a cameo appearance in Herbology class.

...but then...ohhh, apparently it wasn't a good thing to have such a wand, as someone---not LouAnn, of course---had sent the Whomping Willow into near about St. Mungo's status. LouAnn had approached the tree during that little scavanger hunt, true. Had she peer-pressured it, though? Nooo, she thought not. Deciding not to bring attention to the fact that her wand was being displayed during a speech about emotionally scarring a tree, LouAnn raised her hand to answer all the questions that had been asked.

"We should be cautious around mandrakes, because if your ears fall victim to their screams, it could kill you! Even a baby mandake can put a person out of orbit for a while," she said, answering question number one.

Umm...What in Merlin's name was a Snargaluff? Deciding to save face and not attempt things she didn't know about, she cleared her throat and moved on.

...Oh, yes! Back to animated trees and how best to approach them. LouAnn eyed her wand---she wanted it back---then shot a suspicious glance over to the Bunz. LouAnn had not manhandled the Whomping Willow! "I think we should keep a careful eye on the plant and see how it reacts to certain movements from us. If it seems alright with what we're attempting to do, then we can take that as a sign that it's safe to continue like so. On the other hand, if its leaves get all of a dither, then we should back up and find a different approach. I've learned that most animated trees will more or less tell you what to do with it."

"Oh, and bubtoubers are dangerous, because they resemble slugggssss," she said, thinking how disgusting it'd be to accidentally pick up a slimy slug thinking it was a bubotuber. "...and I don't mean the jelly kind either! Oh, and they smell like petrol! Anyway, if you don't cure it correctly, it can cause painful boils! If you do, those, it can cure acne."

And wow that LouAnn sure knew how to ramble. "Uhhhh sure...." she shrugged and agreed with the Gryffindor's rambling, not sure where exactly an answer was in there. "Bubotubers aren't dangerous because they look like slugs though, erm, but thank you for pointing that out?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lara_the_Firelady

Josh moved where he stood uncomfortably as his eyes followed Professor Bunbury walking towards him. She looked much more beautiful when angry with this thought he had quite a difficulty with managing not to grin but once she was right before him and speaking with a nearly hissing attitude his cheerful mood drained off in sudden leaving its place to a stubborn and i'm-not-scared expression. ''I hope so professor'' he replied with a resisting tone though he still did not believe that a plant could be of great importance.

When he sat back he could still feel the annoyance of professor's stare on him but he simply tried to ignore it. At first he thought of leaving the class as she spoke sarcastically but deciding it would be a stupid and pointless thing to do he just kept listening to her as if nothing had happened. He was going to give and answer for the next question, yes he was no matter what. ''Erm Professor...'' he stood up again gazing at her ''I really dont have any idea how they could be so dangerous but they are plants, tear up and they are dead. If you cannot touch, say poisonous, cast some fire and pufff they are all nothing but harmless ashes''

Two angry breaths through her nose and Bunbury managed to control her temper with this boy. She still tap-tapped that willow wand in her hand though. She would teach him. she would.

"That doesn't necessarily work with every plant... although it does work with Devil's Snare," Bunbury acknowledged him gruffly. "YOU'LL SEE."

Quote:

Originally Posted by LadyNerd

Well, that was easy! Fia was careful enough in her seat to keep her wand up her sleeve. There was no need for ANY professor or ANY person to take her wand unless she was in trouble. She sat back in her seat with confidence and was quiet as a mouse to enjoy life among the plants. Needless to say, Miles would be proud of her sneakyness.

What she didn't see, however, was the girl with the disgusting shoes still holding on to her wand. How could Bunz have been so easily tricked? Was it possible her puppeteer is truly a dunce? Quite possible. ;]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanialRadFAN01

Chris raised his hand "Well this wouldn't be much of a problem for humans unless they were stupid of course." he laughed. "Wouldn't the odors or smells the plant puts off, be considered dangerous? If they are simply poisonous or if they are trying to bring in and trap their prey?" he said happily, simply ignoring the morbid truth in his statement.

"That's a very general answer, but yes, good thoughtful answer, Chris," Bunbury nodded.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs_Molly_Weasley

"Well," replied Becca, "A Snargaluff is a plant with the appearance of a gnarled stump, though when provocted it's deceptive appearence hides dangerous thorn-covered vines that attack the provoker. It contains pods that one can extract which appear as a green pulsating thing about the size of a grapefruit. My brother ran into one once; it was a nasty sight." Rebecca shuddered at the memory of the horrible, bloody pricks her brother, Collin had all over him. She frowned, before sighing. It was just like him to try and be the big shot.

"Excellent," Bunz nodded at the Ravenclaw. "Take note of that. Nasty results can come from certain plant interactions." And Bunbury's gaze somehow trailed off to Jake Upstead.



"Moving on. As Celandine pointed out, it is important to be knowledgeable about ALL PLANTS," ahem, "for your own safety because some look alike and poisonous ones my have non-poisonous twins and so on and so forth."

She hem-hemed for a moment. "Let's take Flitterbloom and Devil's Snare for example." Bunbury walked over to her desk and pulled out a cart from behind it to roll between the desks. On the cart was two samples of each plant with a little glass dome over each. Both were docile and calm, dark green masses of tangled vines and tendrils. The one labeled 'B' seemed to have prickly little pines all over its branch-thingies and the one labled 'A' was much smoother and piled more neatly.

"Which is which, and how can you tell?"