Alyssa happened to be walking by the greenhouse when she smelled smoke and then she saw Professor Bentley running towards the student research shed. She quickly ran after the Professor. She didn't know how she could help, but help she would if she was needed. Then she rounded the corner of the greenhouse and saw the Head girl and the Gryffindor Prefect running out of the smoking greenhouse. "'Where's the Professor. She still isn't in there is she?", she asked anyone would know.

Bouncing Blueberries!

How had this gotten so out of hand, and how had it started to begin with?
Seren gave Josh a sympathetic look, it was very noble of him to help out and being the Gryffindor that he was, he hadn't done it half-heartedly.
"Catch your breath ... Evelyn, make sure he's alright will you?"
It seeemd as though the Head Girl had things under control... though perhaps that had something to do with the fact that Josh was topless and sweaty. Hhmm...

Hearing a familiar voice, Seren spun on her heel to face Alyssa.
"I am right here!" she said impatiently. Honestly, was she invisible or something?
"Now out the way, out the way!" HER precious shed's life was on the line. All those research notes... gone. Just great. Well at least there hadn't been any plants in there, just a lovely collection of exotic seeds. Sigh.

Raising her wand toward the flames, Seren approached the small shed.
"Aqua eructo," she said with conviction, watching as a large jet of water consumed the fames.

She maintained her focus, directing her wand over the flames.

Bentley was here. Thank Merlin. She would know what to do, especially since Presley had a Sesivium Decido locked away in the furnace of a shed. That rare plant she'd given to Bentley from the Galapogos islands. She wanted it to survive! Presley watched Bentley perform a spell to create water, and instantly copied her. "Aqua Eructo!"

Trying to take in more oxygen and blinking to help himself to get rid of the blurred sight, Josh rolled back on the ground to look at the burning shed. He could not tell if there was already too much smoke expanding around like thick fog or if it was just his sight, still blinking more and faster he tried to see what was going on.

*cough*

Gah!!! He had recovered from the sickness but now he was coughing because of that. He really hated coughing and...ooh? Someone was beside him and hearing the Slytherin girl voicing his name automatically made him look up at her. Eh? Umm...if only he could see her face properly nevertheless he gave her a quick nod and took another deep breath ''I'm...'' *breath* ''...fine.''

Then upon hearing her, he looked back at Professor Bentley, maybe he had missed the look she gave him so he felt the need to make an explanation ''Professor, i did not do anything. It was not me. It was already burning when i came here.''

Huh? Aqua Eructo? This one definitely seemed more effective but since it was another water spell maybe it would not work so well with his wand either. Still it was worth trying so trying to reach for the holster, he attempted to take his wand but....it was not there.

Wand? Wand? Where was wand? Did Evelyn take it?

He eyed, or tried to eye, the girl back. Nope, she did not seem to be holding his wand.

Eh...great!

Letting out a loud sigh, the Gryffindor boy just lied back on the grass. At least the grass was cool and relaxing. It could help with recovering from the lingering heat on him.

Alyssa was glad that the Professor was safe. She saw the Professor take out her wand and say "Aqua Eructo" and immediately water started spurting out from her wand. She knew how precious the Student Research Shed was to the Professor, so she pointed her wand at the flames and copied exactly what the Professor did and said "AQUA ERUCTO". Water started spurting out of her wand too. She looked to see whether others had seen the smoke and were now coming to help.

And of course, not knowing the spell everyone else seemed to be managing, nothing happened for Presley. Her wand did nothing. She shook her wrist out, and tried again. "Aqua Eructo!" Well, now her wand was sprayying the thinest stream of water, but at least it was something. Vowing to later look up and master this spell, Presley directed the flow of water toward the base of the flames, backing away as the smoke got to her eyes. She coughed, and blinked. She would never make a good fireman, that was for sure. Sheilding her mouth with one arm, Presley re-tried the spell again, producing a little heavier stream, but not by much. At least she was helping a little, she reasoned. Or maybe the job for her was to run for the headmaster? That seemed to be increasingly Presley's job during a crisis. As if she wasn't useful for anything else. But her water was putting out the flame, little bits at a time. Somebody else could run for the headmaster this time.

Directing her stream of water over the flames, almost as if directing an orhestra, Bentley focused on the task at hand, though her ears picked up on everything Josh had said. Well of course he hadn't started the fire, sure he was a seventh year, but it would take some powerful magic get into her shed in the first place. How it caught fire though... well that was a mystery.
"I believe you," she said over the hissing sound of water coming into contact with fire. Ghastly elements they were. First, water floods her precious greenhouse, next fire burns down her shed. How delightful... not.

Her little helpers Presley and Alyssa were doing an alright job at helping out, their magic was developing quite well, even if their use of the spell didn't have quite the same effect as hers.

"Right...." she mused as she watched the last few embers die down.

The fire may have stopped, but the smoke was still thick. In a sweeping motion, she doused what was left of the structure again, just to be on the safe side.

"Thank you all for your efforts," she said non-verbally ending her spell and letting her wand arm fall to her side. "... I really appreciate it."
That, she did. And they would be rewarded for their efforts. It was the least she could do...

Staring at the burned out structure, Seren gripped her wand tightly, she was shaking slightly now. Honestly! WHO had it out for her? This was beyond ridiculous. Ok, sure... there had been more than one snow creature to deal with, and it wasn't only her that was effected, but now this as well. Surely she was being targetted!
As to who it could have been... well that was another mystery. The only thing that she was certain about was that it could not have been a student.

Why her? Why?

It was difficult for her to not fall apart, fighting back the tears proved to be challenging, especially considering how many hours of work went into her research. All... gone.

Alyssa noticed that the fire was dying. She saw the Professor stop the water from spurting from her wand non verbally, but Alyssa didn't know how to do it. So she tried shaking her wand a couple of times thinking that by doing that the water would drain from her wand but nothing changed. 'Okay, what do I do now? 'Alyssa thought to herself as the water continued to spurt out on the burning embers. She looked to see whether anyone would notice and help her out. But for now, she just hid it behind her.

"Professor I'm so sorry about your Research Shed. I know that the contents inside were very important to you." She could see that the Professor was trying not to cry, so Alysssa decided to keep quiet and just stand beside her while trying to figure out a way to stop the water from spurting from her wand. One thing Alyssa couldn't help but think was that the poor Professor and her greenhouses seemed to be the target of misfortune and damage this whole term that Alyssa had been here. First the Snow Dragon and now a Fire!! 'Is someone out to get her?' Alyssa thought to herself. She promised that she would keep both eyes and ears open for any possible information that might be floating around that would confirm or allay her suspicions.

She made no effort to help put out the fire. For one, Bentley had it under control, and secondly, she had to look away. Just one of those moments in which she'd like to not witness.

Besides, the sigh that came from Josh and sudden movement had taken her attention away from the dying flames anyhow. Bentley's orders to make sure he was alright. Staring at him for a moment, the Slytherin hesitantly reached out to touch his arm, but at the last moment, she quickly retracted her hand and stood up, observing the two younger students helping out. He was alright.

As the fire died out, Evelyn took a deep breath, crossing her arms a little as she took the few steps to stand a little to the side of the Professor. The aftermath of fire wasn't nearly as pleasing to see as the fire itself. Glancing towards Bentley out of the corner of her eye, Evelyn blinked and turned her attention back to the shed, aware of what one of the youngsters said. "Perhaps...we should look for survivors?"

The Slytherin wasn't quite sure what went on in this shed, but the younger kid said something about research. It would've been a long shot if any parchments survived that fire.

Alyssa noticed the Headgirl step forward to view the burning debris. So Alyssa went over to her. "Uh, Roselyn could you show me how to stop the water from flowing from my wand?" Alyssa raised her wand to show the Headgirl the problem she was currently having. Alyssa blushed. She knew she looked stupid with a dripping wand but she didn't know how to stop it.

Well...it was very relieving to hear that Professor Bentley knew that he would not just go and randomly set her shed on fire. He would not set anything randomly on fire anyway, it was just...pointless to do so.

As he realised that his eyesight started to get better, he tore his gaze away from the remainings of the shed and the thick smoke to look at the Herbology woman. She seemed tense more than upset. He did not know what was in that shed, he really had not had the chance to see anything to be saved inside but probably he would not have been able to tell even if he had seen anyway because he had no idea what the woman considered valuable. Still...maybe there was a way to help her as Evelyn had suggested.

It was time to move so he looked up at the Slytherin girl to see if she would give him a hand to help him with getting on his feet back. But it looked like she was not even looking at him. Well...that was still fine, he supposed, hopefully he was still in the from to be capable of lifting himself up. So, letting out another deep sigh, the Gryffindor rose on his feet.

''Professor, i did not see anybody around when i approached and there was no one in there either. Whoever it was must have left minutes before setting it on fire because i have not spotted anybody walk or run away. No one crossed my path.''

Eyeing the thick smoke and ashes below as much as he could see, he walked closer to the professor ''....which, i have to tell you professor, i find suspicious because when i think about it, the times just...don't fit. This grounds is wide and we have an open sight of around. Since no one seemed to be around at first place, it means whomever did this had found the time to walk out the open area...but i when i saw the fire, it did not look like that much time had left otherwise they would have been big enough not to allow me inside. You see? The timelines do not fit. So, i think...the person was either invisible or...no person did it at all. Maybe something exploded itself....'' But why would Professor Bentley would keep explosive stuff in her shed. It did not make sense...so realising possibly none of his words had made any sense anyway, the Gryffindor blushed a bit. ''Umm...sorry. Just...ignore those. I probably inhaled too much smoke.''

Giving both the professor and Evelyn a quick smile, he walked closer to the whatever remained from shed near to the younger student girl. She seemed to be a Hufflepuff right. Was she trying to do what Evelyn had suggested? Looking for survivors? ''I highly doubt that there are any survivors there and i suppose whatever clue that could be found about who did this had burned with them as well. I would still like to do whatever needed to be done but maybe you...'' he eyed the students mostly ''...should stay back so you would have proper breath. I aready have inhaled whatever there is. Oooor can someone blow the smoke off with...maybe...some magic?''

Could they?

The Gryffindor blinked at both the professor and the head girl.

Finally, it was out. But the shed was ruined, destroyed. Presley couldn't see how any plant could still be alive after that blaze. She looked over at Professor Bentley, and gauged her reaction. Not good. She looked as though she were about to cry. "We'll just have to start over." She said decisively. If she didn't act as worried as she was, maybe it would be easier for everyone else to pretend it wasn't that bad. She paused to cough up a lung, not literally, but she did cough an awful lot. When the fit was over, she straightened up. "I know there was a lot of work in there, but there's no use lamenting it's loss now. We can help you start to collect some of the stuff that survived, and the rest will just have to be begun again." There. Everyone was looking extremely upset over this, and granted lots of those plants were rare, some maybe even one of a kind. Pres had seen them, she knew. But that didn't mean that the world had come to an end.

She was suddenly conscious of the fact that her pant leg was soaking wet. She looked down at her still leaking wand. She had no idea how to stop it. She couldn't copy Bentley, because...she hadn't even noticed Bentley stop her own wand. Presley lifted it up and looked sheepishly at the professor. "How do I stop this?" She gestured toward the wand that was now watering her expensive shoes.

Just staring at the burned shed, forehead creased in disturbance at the sight, she was half listening to what Josh was saying and half thinking of other...things...that the Professor and everyone else there wouldn't approve of. Like creating another fire for instance.

However, she was forced back to reality when one of the short people started talking close by, apparently to her. Roselyn? Frowning at the name, she stared at the shorter Hufflepuff, eyeing the wand that was still shooting out water. "Finite usually works, but..." she trailed off, before plucking the wand out of the girls hand; causing the spell to stop. That works too.

Looking back over to Josh, the slight humor that she gave herself just seconds before was gone as she gave him a LOOK. A sarcastic 'way to be positive' look. "You never know." she muttered, handing the wand back to the Hufflepuff second year. Even the Ravenclaw second year received the same look that she gave Josh. For the love of Merlin people...

Alyssa heaved a sigh of relief when the Headgirl stopped her wand from pouring out water.'Duh! Was it that simple?' Alyssa thought to herself. "Thank you, Roselyn," Alyssa thanked the Headgirl before turning back to gaze back at what was left of the Professor's Research Shed.

What was that look? Presley felt bad. She had sounded too heartless. She hadn't meant it to come across that way. She looked down at the dirt, noticing the water still pouring onto her shoes. She heard Evelyn say something about finite, and realized just how stupid she was for not trying that first. "Finite," she mumbled, instantly stopping the water.

She looked back at the group. If Evelyn thought Presley was heartless, as she seemed to be saying with that look, Bentley would definitely think that. "I mean, it's really sad, but we can't undo it, can we? It's not like we can turn back time and change the fact that it burned." She said defensively, but softer than her previous comment.

"Professor do you need us to help look through the rubble to see whether we can salvage anything? Maybe some of your research papers got protected somehow and didn't get burned. There's still hope." Alyssa tried to console the Professor who was still staring at the remains of her research shed.

She was still trying to figure out how all this had happened. Perhaps Herbology was cursed? after all she had overheard students talking about a Professor that was eaten? killed? by his own plant?.... odd. She didn't know how much of it to believe. The poor man had probably just had enough of the strange on-going's around the school. It was enough to send anyone mad.

Speaking of which, she needed a cup of tea. Stat.

Bentley's ears perked up a little as she listened to Josh's rationale. He made a valid point. The grounds were rather open and exposed, so unless whoever did this was small or invisible, then someone, anyone, would have seen.
"Interesting theories Carter, though at this point it’s hard to tell... though I doubt anything in my shed would have exploded." No... she wouldn't be that careless.

All this talk about searching through the remains just made her more depressed. What was the point. "If Carter's clothing didn't survive then I'm sure my parchment didn't stand a chance..." Yes indeed... what had happened to Josh's shirt? Strange Lion.
"Thank you Josh, for all your help, I will see to it that you are rewarded for your efforts, but... perhaps you should head up to the castle and rest. Make sure you eat something, stay hydrated and have yourself a shower, seeing as the Hospital Wing is closed, maybe Professor Lafay will have something to help ease your discomfort."
Smokey lungs were never a good thing.

Turning to the girls, she had to fight back a smile as she overheard Alyssa address the Head Girl as Roselyn... instead of Evelyn. Not once, but twice... Honestly. Hufflepuffs, heads in the clouds!
"Thank you, but the only thing that’s worth salvaging is likely to be a pile of ash... and I do not care for ash." Simple as that. Parchment = valuable, ash = not so much...

"Perhaps you should head up to the castle as well. I know I could definitely do with a cup of tea."
Yes, tea. And muffins! At this rate Hogwarts was going to make her rather plump. Emotional eating wasn't something she was accustomed to doing, but right now, it sounded like a good idea. Shame she couldn't rely on the house elves to fix her up a nice trifle.