That made sense, Aurors did need to know about plants for.....Auror things. Pulling out her notebook and quill, she took down some notes while picking at the hole in her beanie. A part of her wondered what they were going to be working on today as she glanced at the things on her workstation.

Tori listened keenly as she wanted to be an Auror when she left Hogwarts. She had learned from members of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement that she had to be well versed in Herbology to be one.

Zane beamed seeing as how his answer was the one that the professor wanted. He grabbed his quill and jotted down all of the other answers as well, and then a few other notes that came to mind, waiting on the professor to continue.

Aurowhats needed plants for what? Detectives needed to understand poisons, sure, Fletcher got that... but he really had no idea what else the professor was going on about.

The boy slumped down in his seat a little and eyed the red petals scattered about. Erm, how... romantic...?

Chris listened hard to all of the talk about plants doing the work of most spells and potions. "Professor I have a question!" the head Boy said as his hand shot into the air. "Are there some plants that will counteract the effects of others, like the juxtaposed idea of spells and their counter-spells?" finishing he grabbed his notes quickly, quill on paper ready to get this answer!

*hyperness*

Merlin and Morgana, really? Magical forensics?

Brinkley leaned on the back of his chair as he glanced over his shoulder at...he wasn't sure who he was looking at it but it soon bore him. It. Him. Whatever. Instead, he sat up straight to look at Dodson. He'd assume that glassy big eyed look which could me misinterpreted as bushy eyed innocence.

Awe, too, if you were oblivious enough. It had worked well during his years at Hogwarts. Well enough to get him by under the radar--just how he liked it.

He wrote down notes in his typical unintelligible scribbles only to pause and gawk at a student.

Juxtaputterwhat? Twirling his quill between his fingers, Brink resisted the urge to make a face and instead went back to his notes.

Brinkley was just surprised no one mentioned Gardeners.

William was totally and utterly confused. It was all about Aurors wasn't it? It wasn't fair; it seemed he would have to forgo his Potion learning for a little while longer. Sighing he stiffed another yawn, wishing he could sleep right now. He wasn't interested in Aurors, sure they were the leading job but still, it wasn't that important. How could plants help Aurors anyway? And then Chris asked a question and he blinked stupidly.

Huh?

What?

Blinking again he rubbed his eyes writing things down lazily, his scrawl almost unintelligible. He'd pay attention but he wouldn't have to like it.

Cela gave Chris a surprised look. Well, of course there was.

"Like poisons and antidotes?" She suggested helpfully, looking at the Head boy, with her eyebrows up earnestly. "And herbal remedies."

Of course there was.

Turning around at the sound of a very familiar voice that would be a crime not to recognize in a classroom setting, Chris listened to Cela. Oh yeahhhhh...


"Thanks Cela." he grinned at his female counterpart. He had pretty much forgotten about that for a second. "But I would have to agree with what Professor Dodson said before, it would be a major pain to have to find the plan that counteracted the poison from the first plant." the Head Boy said with a nod.

"Sure," Celandine answered, "Just like any opposite might be hard to find, create or cast when it comes to magic. The point is learning about it and knowing your options, right? And of course, if it involves saving a life, its probably worth the effort. And my brother says, if you can identify the bits that make up the poison, even if its just one plant, then its easier to find a way to counteract it, whether you use a single plant, a spell, or a specially brewed potion." Cela made a face though. Potions was not fun.

"But then, if you study herbal remedies, which is much more interesting than potion junk, theres far more options there, more than one opposite, and more than one solution, even a partial solution." Celandine nodded and smiled back.

Lexi instantly perked up at the talk of Aurors... her life long dream had just been mentioned. Granted she was only 13... still, she was ambitious about being an Auror. Indeed. Lexi knew from her Auntie that there was a LOT of training that needed to be done before one became an Auror, but she had never really given much thought to the Herbology side of things. Quill and parchment at the ready, Lexi listened with rapt attention.

Fallon sat in Herebology and was glad that she could actually understand what was going. For the moment at least. Knowing this class it was bound to get confusing sooner or later. She couldn't think of any other jobs and she had no questions so she sat there and waited for the lesson to get confusing.

Lysandra took out her notebook and jotted down some notes, then put her quill down, listening intently. She knew things from the last lesson, but she was kind of out of it today, due to the lack of sleep. She yawned.

Alexandrie took notes from where she was sitting next to Zane, she knew next to nothing about actual Herbology, Potions yes. She glanced at him smiling proudly at him, she knew he could do it. She thougth happily waiting for the class to fully start. Alex wanted to be a healer..this class was a needed subject for it.

Nymphy was pretty much on board, but wanted o be in the loop so he made up a question. It was not one that really had a defnite answer, but was meant more to make the professor and others think.....

He raised his hand and asked, "Yes, Professor Dudson. How can one appraoch Herbology in forensics and Auror-ship in a balanced way.....I mean to say, in Herbology, the plant is both the poison and the antidote, the gun and the shield, the weapon and the defense. How does one differentiat and make desisive decisions in such a complex field." he said, proud of his question. However, he realized that it may be a bit much for one question....so he amended "That is to say, that was a lot to handle in one question. I guess it was made just to be considered as a braod topic rather than receive a specific answer......"

Nymphy put his hand down and looked inquisitvly at his Professor, hoping that he had impressed him, without offending or confusing him.

No questions, yet. Gold beamed at her notebook, as she rested her quill a little over its surface, not taking any notes yet. Mostly because nothing she felt like she should jot down had been said, up till now. The sixth year listened intently, however, to what was being said.

General stuff.

"That reminds me of how Unspeakable Bode was killed, back in 1996, sir," she offered. "Nobody recognized that the plant he had received was Devil's Snare, and not Flitterbloom." That was why aurors needed to be all the more cautious, Gold guessed. She didn't actually have an interest in the field, however. But she did know a bit about it. Mostly from lots of career counselling leaflets she had skimmed through, last year.

"I guess that's why an E in one's Herbology NEWT is generally a requirement to apply to the auror office, professor."

She lowered her hand, which she had raised out of habit, and went back to thinking what to jot down

Patroclus had no questions. He sat and waited for the class to continue, but visualized the death that Gold was describing.
Glll. Plants can be deadly. gruesome even.
He wrote that down in his not book and underlined it, heavily.

Rae actually knew a question!!!! She shot up her hand and spoke, "Professor, for a career of caring of magical creatures, one would need to know how to heal with plants and whatnot..." That was an answer right?

Marie finished writing down some notes then sat there listening to the others ask questions. She really had none of her own at this time so she was going to take the opportunity to just sit there and listen. You know, before the class starts to get all hands on and crazy.

Kate looked at the red thing in front of her...What could it be? She hadn´t a clue...and she didn´t know about auror, but this definetely awoke an interest in her...So she listened carefully to what the Professor was going to teach.

Sage smiled at the discussion going on between Chris and Celandine and nodded in an approving manner. That's what he liked to see. Involvement. A few of the others looked kind of stumped... he hoped they'd perk up when they got to the practical stuff.

"There are opposites for almost everything," the Professor nodded, "even in the world of plants. A simple example for that could perhaps be the stinging nettle and the dock leaf?"

Whoa. Okay.

Sage couldn't help but blink a little. That was a pretty complex question.. or was it a statement? Either way, the Professor sent Nymphy a nod. It was impressive. "You make a very good point Mister Smith," he smiled proudly, "and while the plant might be both the poison AND the antidote.. the weapon AND the defense, like anything there is also a middle ground."

He stopped there.. not wanting to edge away from the point of the lesson.

"Right, that's EXACTLY why an E is required in Herbology if you're looking for a career in being an Auror," Sage agreed, "great example, Gold."

He wasn't entirely sure what this question had to do with Herbology and Aurors, but Sage smiled nevertheless. "You're right there.. if you want to work with animals you need to have knowledge in Herbology for healing and nutrition.. et cetera."

But back onto the subject.

"Now, I'm sure you've all noticed the petals infront of you.. these are used frequently in Magical Forensics," he retrieved a couple from his own desk and held them up. "They're petals from the blood plant.. can anyone guess what they do?"

OOC: FYI, I made the flowers in this lesson up so creativity is crucial here. Imagination is guuurd!

Nymphy raised his hand "They proably turn a certain color if a substance is blood or a bodily fluid and either change to a different color or stay the stay the same if its not" he said, just guessing (in an educated way....)

Zane raised his hand up, "Could it be because they are used to find blood at crime scenes, and then absorb it to keep the sample fresh, and then be pressed and released, like muggle cotton fibers?" he said, beaming. He thought it was a good guess.

Gold raised a hand. "Do they change colour, based on blood samples?" She asked. It was a guess, of course. "Like switching to specific shades to show the presence of certain substances, in the sample; or to show if it's fresh or not. That way, they could be used to ascertain not only the time of a crime, but the ingestion or injection of specific poisons, as well."

She lowered her hand, and then raised it again, rather thoughtfully, "You know sir, if that were true, it could help narrow down the hunt, for an auror. Based on comparative analyses, where the poisonous substance is more commonly found, which individuals have a history of using it, or are more likely to put it to use, et cetera."

Hey, cool!

A blood plant? Hmm, she never heard of it before. The petals were a pretty color though. And the person who mentioned them absorbing blood gave her an idea. "Like...he said..." pointing to whoever it was that spoke about it. "Are they used to absorb the blood? But so they could get to the other evidence it is covering? Or see if there is anything else they missed without vanishing the blood and risk vanishing something else that is important?"

That would be cool. Whatever the plant did, it was cool. Ish.