Well huh, it was nice floral in here. Jim looked around, side stepped the fanged geraniums and waited to be invited to sit.

"I just wanted to..." See if the new professor was gonna be crap or not? "...meet you and... talk about Herbology and junk."

Right.

Seren moved back behind her desk, closing the book she had been reading and set it aside.
"Please take a seat", she said gesturing to the one of the stools in front of her desk.

Smiling Seren observed the young man... 'herbology and.... junk' huh. "Right well... I'm Professor Bentley, and don't worry unlike them I don't bite", she said looking past him at the fanged geraniums, a small smile pulling up the corners of her lips. Oh Seren was all up for a discussion on herbology... thought she wasn't sure about the 'junk' the boy had mentioned. He appeared to be one of the older students, seventh year most likely. After her breif moment of thought Seren realised she didn't know the boys name.
"So what is it you had on your mind .... sorry what did you say your name was?" she asked, wondering if he had introduced himself at all.

Riley walked in behind his fellow seventh year and stood by the wall away from the flowers that looked pretty hungry actually and waited to see if she was going to let them sit on anything.

He looked around the room for a few seconds and then spoke. "Yes I am here for the same reason as Jimmy here, I was just coming down to welcome you and talk to you about Herbology, it's been a whole term since we've been taught it properly." he nodded.

Vindictus was a Quidditch guy, the most he should deal with Herbology would be his Pitch lawn.

Seren nodded in understanding,"Yes so I've heard, though from my understanding Professor Vindictus conducted his lessons quite well." It seemed sensible enough. She gestured for the Gryffindor to take a seat at her table also, before she stood and turned her attention to one of the small cabinets by the window.
"And what was your name?" she asked. Fingers crossed she would remember all these names.
Turning back to her desk she set down a pot of steaming warm peppermint tea, with a quick flourish of her wand cups and saucers appeared on the desk before them.
"Peppermint tea?" she offered the two boys as she returned to her seat.

Riley kind of made a small discreet face and then just nodded at her Vindictus comment. It wasn't that he disliked the Flying Instructor he just found that he was slightly itimidated by the guy and giving him free reign of man eating plants like the ones over in the corner didn't make him comfortable. So needless to say he had studied other subjects in his Herbology-onced filled class period. "Oh and my name is Riley, Professor, Riley Sinclair seventh year Gryffindor."

And she had refreshments for them? That was nice. He took a seat and looked at the tea before them. "Oh yes please." he said with a small smile. She didn't seem half bad so far.

"I didn't." Jim answered, sitting down and shooting a look at Riley as the Gryffindor introduced himself.

"James Wilkes."

...


...


He was wearing his uniform, did she need him to tell him he was Ravenclaw?

"Yeah all that..." As in Vindictus and whatnot. "And... uh...." He was looking for a challenge but not wanting to admit it. "Wondering if Herbology is gonna be hard this term."

Please. Please make it be hard.

"Pleased to meet you Riley". Riley Sinclair, seventh year... Riley Sinclair, seventh year. Somehow she would have to committ that to memory... along with the other hundred or so names. She would manage, somehow.

Gesturing at the empty cups, Seren spoke to the teapot next. "Tea please."The teapot set about pouring the tea into each of the empty cups, once it had stopped it set itself back down on the side of the desk.
Seren addeda lump of sugar to her tea, "Help yourself."


"Nice to meet you James."So he wanted to know if classes were going to be difficult this term... Seren pursed her lips, not entirely sure how to approach this question.
"Well... it depends on your definition of hard Master Wilkes, but I can assure you that it will not be an easy term. However you should be, I hope, more than prepared for your N.E.W.Ts by the end of it. Provided of course you study hard, and practice."Yes practice was one thing students often forgot to study for. The practical portion of the exams were usually the ones where students either excelled... or failed. "If you don't mind me asking, what line of work are you thinking of getting into after Hogwarts?"

Riiight. Jim eyed the tea, not immediately willing to trust a professor who had access to soluble poisonous plant extracts. He'd wait and see if Riley carked it on the spot before he considered taking any tea.

His eyes flickered to the professor. His definition of hard was...

.. well.

Not many people knew that Herbology was kind of his thing. He didn't tend to advertise it.

"I... dunno actually. Tate reckons I should do the Auror thing. Vindictus reckons I should do the Quidditch thing." Jim thought about his garden at home and fell silent. Hmm.

Melina cautiously stuck her head around the door of Professor Bentley's office, and then quietly tiptoed in. Professor Bentley was the first Professor she was meeting at Hogwarts, and she had no idea what to expect.

She was taken aback by the beauty of the office- she had expected dirt, plants, potions, clippings, that sort of thing. But this place looked like it came out of a magazine, and it smelled so good.

That immediately put her mind at ease. Her professor was beautiful! She had expected a short, stout woman with grey hair and a funny hat for some reason. She realized the she should probably abandon any previous expectations she had of Hogwarts in general. She greeted her Professor with a smile.

"Hello, Professor Bently. My name is Melina Morninglory, and I'm a first-year Ravenclaw. I'm really excited to take your class, even though I don't know a lick about plants," she added, blushing just a little.

"Is there anything I should know about class? Where do I go first?"

"Its nice meeting you too Professor Bently." She did seem nice. He hadn't been able to even meet the last Herbology professor before that darned plant ate him. It was a shame really. Oh well.

The Gryffindor took a cup of the peppermint tea when he was offered it and took a sip of the minty-goodness quickly. It was amazing. "Professor this tea is really good! Do you grow the peppermint yourself?" he asked glancing out the window towards the garden and greenhouses.

As James and the teacher brought up the subject of work and the level of difficulty the term held in store for them, Riley perked up in his chair some more. "A challenging term would be nice, actually. Since I focussed in other areas last term, I missed it some. I can't wait to dive back into it again." With gloves on of course, Riley didn't dig his hands into fertilizer just willy nilly now, no that would be ubsurd.

Seren watched as James appeared to be studying the tea, she smiled to herself. Smart boy, hopefully not a paranoid one though... they often bordered on the annying side. It bothered her slightly that the boy didn't trust her, she was after all a professer, her sole purpose was to offer guidance, to educate and to ensure that the students under her care were in a safe environment. But, on the other hand she was new... so she let it slide.

What James said next made her furrow her eyebrows.
"Perhaps you should start thinking about that, after all before you know it the year will have passed. I suggest you think not only about your strengths and weaknesses, but consider what you enjoy doing, and what your passions are. As long as you stay true to yourself you will be not only successful in what you do, but you'll be a lot happier as well."If only she had recieved this type of advice when she was at school... though really she still ended up right where she wanted to be. Alls well that ends well.



Looking up as a small girl in blue robes entered her office, Seren tried hard to relax her facial expressions. Ahh... a first year. Still disregarding common courtesy was a definate no no in Seren's books.
"Miss Morninglory...", she said in a polite tone, greeting the young Ravenclaw- enthusiastic bunch they were at times, though barging into a professor's office without permission, well that could only be over looked in emergency situations. And as there was none.... "I appreciate your enthusiasm dear, but perhaps next time you should work on your manners and knock.. then wait until you have permission to enter."Yes... now thats a thorough telling off. Well it was more of a warning.

Smiling now, Seren gestured for her to take a seat.
"Now I trust you have the required text... its usually the best place to start, though if your looking at some more hands on experience then perhaps you'd like to visit the student garden or the greenhouses."



"Thank you Riley, I did in fact. You will find a great seletion of herbs in the student garden." It was nice of him to notice these things. After all she had put in a great deal of effort during the summer holidays, completely remodelling the gardens and the greenhouses. Which brought her to her next point, "Well if you're looking at getting back into it I wuld suggest you check out the student garden and the greenhouses, there's a whole host of plants you can check out and work on, just make sure you're prepared to handle them... some are... well a bit on the feisty side." She gave the fanged geraniums another look, oh yes they were quite tame. Still there wasn't anything in the greenhouses that would endanger their lives, those plants were very well secured. Wouldn't want any students to go missing... Tate would no doubt pay her a visit if they did.




Hearing a couple of knowcks at the door, Seren turned her eyes to her wall clock- out of habit really. "Well gentlemen, is there anything else you'd wish to discuss? any further questions? or may I attend to the others?" She peered at the door... she hadn't gotten her head around the fact that students might actually want to meet her before classes started... she imagined it would be quite busy.

At Professor Bentley's words, Melina blushed a deep scarlet. With wide eyes, she stammered, "Oh- I'm so sorry, professor! I-I don't know why I didn't think to knock. Really, that's not like me at all. It's just that everything is so overwhelming right now that I don't feel...quite settled in my head yet. Please, please accept my apology- it won't happen again!"

Well done, Glory. Muck up your first meeting with your professor, why don't you? Excellent way to start the school year," Melina thought to herself, groaning inwardly. Melina sat down as the Professor gestured to the seat and took a deep breath. She relaxed a bit then, from the lovely smell and her Professor's smile.

"Yes, I have my textbook, ready to go. The student garden sounds lovely-may I actually work with the plants there right away?" She felt so ignorant about everything, and hoped that Professor Bentley (as well as her other professors) would be patient with her and the other first-years. She was eager to get it all right as quickly as possible.

"Thats alright dear, I understand where your coming from, just keep it in mind for next time." Yes some of the other professor's might not be as accomodating as she had been... Seren only had to imagine how Lafay might respond to know that the girl was lucky to have come to visit her instead.
"Yes you may. I suggest working in the student garden the most, simply because the garden was designed for student use and so the plants you'll find there are more.... student friendly. Though having said that you wont come across anything life threatening in the greenhouses that hasn't been locked up."Yes, it would be reasonably safe. "But if you do decide to go in their make sure you keep your wits about you.And if your not aware already, dragon hide gloves are to be worn at all times when handling plants- its just common sense but its a rule I always enforce."

... Right.

No.

Jim had been about to answer, or at least try to puzzle through one when he and Riley got what was pretty much a dismissal.

He gave the professor a look and shook his head.

"No. Thank you professor. Nice to meet you." He got up and left right away, not particularly feeling like he had accomplished anything. Yep. This was why he didn't really... go and see professors.

Nodding as the Professor spoke of the student greenhouses and gardens and the challenging plants that they held that he could work with, Riley sipped his tea. He was slowly getting more and more excited for the lessons to begin already so he could get to work. He decided in his mind that he wouldn't go to the student garden until the first lesson was over, that way he could get aquainted with the newness first then perhaps he could get in there a bit.

He had taken another sip of his tea when he noticed some girl entering the office and heard another knock on the door right after it. Man, this new Professor was a popular lady. He drank the rest of his tea and began to stand up. Before he could say anything however, Jimmy stood up and gave his curt farewell and was out the door in a flash.

O___o

"Umm no that is all Professor Bently." he said grabbing his school bag and heading towards the door, sidestepping away from the plant again. "Thanks for the tea and can't wait to see you first lesson!" and with that the Gryffindor slipped out the door.

Seren bowed her head, as James left her office. He hadn't seemed to enjoy their conversation, granted it was a short one. Making a mental note to try to connect with James at a later date, Seren then turned her attention to Riley.
"Oh good, not a problem, feel free to stop by any time, and I look forward to seeing you in class, I assure you the first lesson will be a good one."

And with that, she took a deep breath, now... how many others would she need to cram into her office?

Hannah walk into the office and took a seat on one of the stools.I thought i would introduce myself to the teacher of my favorite subject.My name is Hannah Malfoy she said with a smile.I was wondering if you can help me with my research for ingredients that can be use in a pain potion.I've have a hard time tracking that stuff down.I was also wondoring if i can have exrta help when lesson aren't going on.I know the term has not start yet.

After returning to her position behind her desk Seren exhaled deeply. Ahh so the young Ravenclaw was a fan of herbology, that was nice to see. Though she wasn't sure about being called Professor B... she certainly had never been called that before."Pleasure to meet you Miss Malfoy", replied Seren as she busied herself pouring tea. The young girl seemed to be getting into the swing of things. No doubt Professor Lafay would find this quality favourable. But heavens!... a pain potion. Frowning slightly Seren surveyed the girl. On the outside she appeared to be a sweet young girl, she only hoped it was the same story on the inside.
"Well Miss Malfoy, I would be more than happy to take you through the gardens if your having difficulty finding something, though I think you'll find that not all the ingredients for a Pain potion will be avaliable to you as they may be a restricted substance." She paused here, a little uncertain of how she could help the girl.
"I suggest, if your looking for potions ingredients, perhaps visit Professor Lafay, she will be your potions mistress. I'm sure she will be able to help you and point you in the right direction, after all she's the expert on potions."
Seren took a sip of her own tea, letting the warmth of the cup warm her fingertips.
"Oh, dear term has of course officially started, classes will be starting shortly so mind you keep on your toes." It was a bit of a worry that the girl appeared to think term hadn't begun... if that had been the case then why was she at school?
"But of course if you'd like some help or tuition I'm sure I could spare some time to teach you some of the basics between classes. The student garden is great places to start if your new to herbology, theres a variety of plants you can discover, learn about and explore. I could come down and show you how to work with them, but there are other students that I'm sure could help you as well."

OH! Too late. No time to run... just get it over with and hope she says no.

Jacob entered the office cautiously, before his mouth fell open. It was PINK! It was PINK and FLORAL!

The HORROR OF IT ALL! SUCH PAIN... HIS EYES WERE IN SUCH PAIN!!!

Jacob closed his mouth, and tried to ignore the rooms brightness. "Hello, Professor..." wait... what was the womans name. Stupid new professors always having to have different names... Why couldn't their last names be their subject. Like 'Professor Herbology' and stuff.

Oh look there were a lot of people here. Maybe she would ask him to come back later and he could avoid ever coming back.

Yes you too Professor, i only need the things that grow in the school garden.Yeah you'll keep my on my toes alright.My mother taught Herbolgy at The Puerto rico school of magic.So i just need help learing new plants that my mother hadn't taught me.Are you alright you kinda burnd yourself on the tea pot.

Nika walked in with a smile on her face. Maybe this professor would know what she is doing, unlike Vindictus. "Hello Professor!" She just stood there waving. "I didn't have a chance to talk to you at the feast so I thought I would stop by and introduce myself." First impressions are everything."I'm Nika Adler and I'm a second year Gryffindor!" Maybe she should have left out the Gryffindor bit because right now they aren't doing so hot.

"Thank you, Professor," Melina replied, grateful that her instructor had been so forgiving of her lack of manners. "I'll do that- I will go and work with the plants in the student garden to get familiar with them. I'm really looking forward to starting your class," she added with enthusiasm.

Keeping her manners in the forefront of her mind, Melina gave her Professor a nervous look and said, "Oh, uh- may I please be excused? That is, if you're finished with me?" She felt better about her exit than her entrance, for sure.

Kyle looked up and nodded at the Professor as she opened the door and beckoned them in. She slowly walked into the office - it was rather nice in there actually.

"Thank you for offering the tea," she smiled happily. "I just wanted to introduce myself - i'm not always the best with plants really but i'm trying to learn. I-er, I'm Kyleigh Manning - but I go by Kyle" she smiled introducing herself.

Seeng that the elder Ravenclaw boy was... in a state of panic? Seren offered him an encouraging smile. "It's alright dear, you'll live to tell the tale of this meeting... I don't bite, and my office doesn't either ... though I can't say the same for the fanged geraniums", she said in a cheerful tone. Why is it that some people were frightful of her?... she couldn't wrap her head around it.
"How can I help you?" she asked.



"Well your more than welcome to wander the gardens and collect what you need, also the potions stores in the dungeon might be of use also." Seren paused, such a sweet girl, perhaps she shouldn't be so ready to send young Ravenclaw's down to Lafay's haunt. After she wouldn't want Lafay to corrupt their minds and tempers- or simplly frighten them off, which she was capable of.
"As you can see I'm just a bot tied up at the moment, but I'm sure if you require my assistance then we could arrange a meeting in one of the greenhouses." She smiled at the young Claw, such good work ethic, it was good to see.



Observing the bright and cheerful Gryffindor girl practically bounce into her office, Seren couldn't help but grin. She like to see happy students, full of energy. "Nice to meet you Miss Adler, it's so nice of you to stop by."
Very good manners indeed.
"Now I'm assuming you like Herbology", said Seren, emphasising the like... she had had far too many encounters of students being fearful of, or not very satidfied with how the classes had been run thus far. Her goal was to change this, ensure that the students felt safe, and more importantly enjoyed the lessons in general.



Oh the poor dear... she was thinking about her manners now.. very hard too.
"Not a problem dear, I look forward to seeing you there", she said with a smile.

Seren couldn't help but grin as the the girl asked if she was done with her. Oh dear.
"Well, you should be asking yourself if you're done with me", she said brightly. "After all I'm here to help you. So as long as you don't have any other questions aor issues you'd like to raise with me, then of course you're more than welcome to leave."



Aahh another Ravenclaw, it was nice to see that her old house well well represented.
"Its a pleasure to meet you Miss Manning... Kyle", she smiled warmly at the girl. Such a strange... nickname?... to go by. But still at least she had character.
"Oh thats not a problem dear, I'm sure I can help you colour your thumb green." Ahh yes it was time to bring out the quirky Herbology jokes... well if you could call them jokes, or perhaps they were just cheesy lines.