Obviously the teacher has not heard her question so Sarah raised her hand and asked it again.""The muggle world is very scared about crumbling ecosystems, about how Humans are abusing nature and soon nature wont exist etc. Can the magical world survive without ecosystems, making spells to imitate nature, like spells to give off oxygen or suck up carbon dioxide or decomposing spells?" Sarah looked at interest at the swamp before her, she had seen it before. Sarah was not worried about the dirtyness of the swamps, rather she was nervous about what was lurking it. She was scared of crocodiles and poisonus snakes that tend to lurk in the swamp and mosquitoes that carry malaria. Those were all muggle animals yet there was also magical creatures to contend with. Sarah was sensitive to smells, so she was feeling a bit queasy and nauseous and her head ached. Her smile once bright had turned limp. She breathed through her nose now as her nose contained cilia to filter the air for her respiratory system.

The swamp.

Yes, indeed it was magnificent. Kat wasn't been here before and she was really glad that Bentley had really nice plans for her classes. That's why Kat loved attending Herbology. She may not be the shiniest trophy in Bentley's shelf, but she always did her best to be good enough. Or maybe, she wanted to be up high.

Kat looked around with that biiiiiig smile on her face. "Professor, this place is amazing," she said, still wonderstruck. The place looked AMAZING, to be honest. Kat wondered if amazing was an understatement for such a remarkable and beautiful and *insert ALL good words* place. Gaaaaaah.

Minerva looked around and crinkled her nose to the smell. Well this was different and interesting. How in five years did she never notice this before. Not that she spent much time in the corridors, but still, you would think walking from class or to class someone would smell a swamp.

Looking around it seemed everyone else was a bit surprised as well. She wanted to get closer but it was roped off and did someone say about falling in and vanishing? Swamps weren't that dangerous, were they.. Minerva moved a little to see it better, but kept her distance just incase they weren't allowed to close.

Aurora must have walked past this swamp a million times... but she'd always just accepted it as part of Hogwarts and hadn't bother to question its existence. She hadn't even thought much about it being there, or how it worked. It was just... there.

She stood there, looking at it curiously. She'd assumed it was just a bit of magic, but if they were here on an eco-systems lesson maybe it was more than that. "Professor? Is there anything living in there? I thought it was just created from magic or something..."

HOLD UP.

"Is it possible to create whole eco-systems with magic?" Because that would be AWESOME.

All right!

Finally he could think straight and not have to worry any longer. he took in the nice fresh air outside as he practically skipped his way up the grounds and into the Castle's first floor. Once he caught up with the rest of them he looked to see what it was they were all talking about.

"A Swamp?" Oakey said curiously, no there was more to this swamp. "Is this THAT swamp?" by THAT he meant the swamp the Weasley Twins left behind many years ago.

She quite liked the swamp.. even with it's aroma and the sounds.. oh the sounds...

It was exciting stuff.

Oohh good question.
"Nothing can survive without ecosystems... but ecosystems are forever changing, they adapt, but they will always be there just perhaps not as they used to be."

But in terms of magical influence...
"We can alter or manipulate conditions through magic... so in a sense we can sustain particular ecosystems, yes."

Did anything LIVE in there. Well it certainly looked that way. "Of course," she said naturally. "When there are conditions ideal to meet to needs of particular organisms who are they to go elsewhere?" After all, the swamp had been there a long time now. It should even be heritage listed.

"To an extent, there is only so much magic can do... and powerful magic at that... but ultimately nature has to take its course."



Alright, enough dilly dallying.. if there were laggers they could answer to her later.
"So as you can see, the second part of today's lesson will be a case study of the Weasley Swamp. Now I'm not a history teacher, so if you have any questions about its origins I suggest you consult Hogwarts, A History or alternatively go see Professor Scabior, I'm sure he'd appreciate your questions." Oh how priceless that would be. She really did hope at least one or two of them would do and take up his time.

"For now, just drop your bags against the wall so that you're comfortable... and you'll need to take notes."

Now, to see what they already knew about swamps.

"There are typically two categories of swamp, the first is fresh water and the second is salt water... can anybody offer me a characteristic for one of them?"

OOC: The lesson will continue in approximately 15 hours. Please only offer ONE characteristic for EITHER salt water swamps OR fresh water swamps. Thanks! (;

Alyssa placed her against the wall before listening as Professor Bentley posed her next question to the students.

'What were the characteristics of a a fresh water or salt water swamp?' Alyssa thought to herself. When she thought that she had the answer, she raised her hand and answered.

"Professor a saltwater swamp is normally found in the inter tidal zone between the ocean and the land. It is formed mainly by sea water flooding and draining into that specific flat lane and are common in river estuaries, in bays, and behind dune-protected seacoasts."

As Bentley said, Kat placed her back against the wall. She also took out her parchment and quill for more note-taking. Yeah, maybe they were going to be copying stuff about swamps. Then the blonde waited for the questions to be raised.

Characteristic of either fresh water or salt water. Uhm, well. It was good cos she could only choose ONE out of the two and only state ONE characteristic. Saving up for the rest, too. Good idea. Kat raised her hand. "Fresh water has low salt concentration which is ideal for some aquatic plants and animals that cannot take or survive water with high salt concentration, like the sea." Cos seas were salty. Her brother said so cos he tried tasting it. Merlin, it was awkful. Eek.

Mordred was about to raise his hand, but Alyssa's was already raised. As he listened, he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

Heh. She pretty much covered everything about Saltwater Swamps. Maybe a little more detail?

As soon as Alyssa was done reciting, he raised his own hand and answered Bentley's question. "Professor, Saltwater Swamps as what...Alyssa said occurs along estuaries near the seacoast. Salt-tolerant trees collectively known as Mangroves dominate such swamps and these are valuable nurseries to fish and shellfish." Mordred said and lowered his hand.

He looked at the swamp before them and studied it. "That thing is definitely not a freshwater one...or maybe it is." he thought and waited for the others to answer.

A swamp in the first floor corridor? Daichi followed the rest of his classmates as they traveled from the greenhouse to the castle. What was up with Professors anyways making them walk back and forth? First in Divination class where they had climbed the looooong staircase only to get back down and now here they were going back to the castle. Oh well, atleast he could excersise a little...

Coming to a halt, the Slytherin looked at the swamp and immediately pinched his nose with his fingers. Ewww, it smelled like a swamp alright. "Salt water is salty" he answered. How was he supposed to know about different kind of swamps?! He would be learning it now when the professor continued the class...he hoped.

She listened to Professor Bentley answering Aurora's answer as she carefully propped her things against the wall as they were instructed to do. She took out her notebook and quill before returning to the group, giving particular attention to the swamp. There were creatures in that. And there should be various kinds of plants.

Now that she thought about it...most of the plants ought to be aquatic, granted it was a body of water...well, technically. So they were working with water plants after all. Just like the ones inside the tanks back at the Greenhouse.

Yeah? There was a high possibility, right?

Chicken-scratching on her notes, the Ravenclaw raised her hand as a question was asked. "Professor, freshwater swamps are mostly found inland." So the Weasley swamp ought to be one, yes?

A case study? What was a case study anyway?

Sierra wondered this, but she had no desire to actually ask about it. For one, she was one of those students whose favorite part of class was the dismissal. Who cared what a case study was. She'd just do it, get it over with, and then hopefully be ready to leave.

Yup. This sounded like the perfect plan.

She got some note-taking materials out her bag then dropped the bag against the wall. So...a swamp, hmm? She raised her hand. "Well, I know swamps have to be near a river or at least some other body of water," she said, "because they rely on the changes in the river's water level in order to get the things they need to...well, survive. I guess they'd dry up otherwise."

There were salt water swamps? Oakey had no idea they existed!
Did that mean that salt water swamps had salt water animals in them?
Oakey imagined a terrifying fin popping up out of the water in the swamp along with some terrifying orchestral music to boot.
No, no Oakey! Sharks wouldn't live in swamps that's just stupid.

According to most of the other students though there were Salt Water Swamps. He didn't like how Bentley said Fresh Water Swamps either
Fresh and Swamp were two words that did not work well with eachother in his opinion, and he just shook his head at it.

Swamps. This was his first Herbology lesson really? This was not fun. But swamps were kind cool too As long as he didn't really need to go in one. Hmm. Did he know anything about swamps? Well he was just about to say the salt-water ones must have been salty. It was in the name, but someone stole his answer. Pfft. How rude. That meant he needed to think of something else. Which was kind of annoying. He thought for a few more minutes, well more like a good 5 minutes. Maybe herbology wasn't his thing. Finally he did raise his hand though. "Well...salt-water swamps are usually found on the coast? Which makes sense since they have salty, sea water in, which could be from the sea which is also salty?"

Rowan was still baffled by the fact that she'd had no idea there was an actual swamp INSIDE the castle. She retrieved some parchment and a pen for notes from her bag, then set the bag against the wall. She really knew nothing about swamps. She quickly wrote on her parchment:

She raised her hand. "Are saltwater swamps the result of flooding from coastal waters? The plants and animals in a saltwater swamp would have to be tolerant of salt. It would probably have plants like reeds and grass. Maybe even have a crocodile or two."

Spike's guess had been right. They were heading for the swamp. And now that they were here, he peered over the ropes. He'd always wanted to to get a closer look.

Maybe now was his chance.

As Professor Bentley said to put their bags to the side and get their notebooks out, however, Spike's grin faltered with a little pout. He was started to get the vibes of a theoretical lesson. Sure, he was still very interested in the subject matter, but it just wasn't the same as being hands on.

Ah well.

He scribbled a heading in his notebook, before raising a hand to answer the question. "Both types have trees, though of course the species varies according to the type of water. They're essential in keeping the swamp, well, a swamp, as they help keep the sediments in place rather than washing away with any water movement, and it's the sediments that hold a lot of the nutrients to maintain diversity."

Ella had always thought it to be quite cool, the whole having a swamp in the castle thing. She supposed the Professors weren't too happy about it at first but hey, it was coming in handy now! ...Even if she'd much rather be out looking at those really cool tanks.

Characteristics of swamps, eh? Ella didn't know too much actually but she was pretty sure that swamps were often surrounded by trees. Oh and that...well they were near sources of water where it couldn't just like...drain out. That meant that the land didn't slope really, yeah? Raising her hand, the blonde waited quietly for her turn to speak. "Professor, I believe plant life around swamps mostly consists of trees." And this was because...well because the soil was always soaked, yeah? Rather than just being watered occasionally.

Theo wasn't a happy boy. And you could tell by his face.

He hadn't caught anything apart from the question, but all he could manage was, "Dirt." Nope, not even a raised hand there. This was not Theodore Kinsley's natural habitat.

Jory placed his bag against the wall as the Professor had suggested and got out the stuff he would need to make his notes. He raised his hand for the first question. "Freshwater swamps are usually wooded areas,'' he said.

Eliza followed the line of students until she stopped dead in her tracks to promptly place a hand over her nose and mouth. "Ugh!" The smell was creeping into her nostrils, like a dank moldy dungeon. Ew, she thought as she peeked around her fellow classmates to see what all the literal stink was about. A swamp? Not the driest or prettiest thing ever to study, but I guess they're important too.

She lowered her hand to try to get used to the smell. The gurgling and bubbling wasn't very pleasant either but she just tried to pretend it was green paint or pea soup and not a fly swarmed swampland. As for characteristics, she raised her hand to say a pretty obvious one. "Well, I think both types have algae and moldy type things... And um...there aren't any alligators or anything in here are there?" Because at this point, it really wouldn't surprise her.

As Belle entered the first floor, she heard all the noises of what a swamp would sound like. She heard the frogs, the bird chirping and felt the moist humid air in the room. Hmmm now this lesson was going to be interesting. The professor instructed them to put away their bags and she put it on the clean side. Then she took out her notebook and sat down with it.

As she opened her notebook, Belle heard the professor ask a question. What are the characteristics of a salt water and fresh water swamp. Belle had no idea and had to rack her brains from memory. Belle then raised her hand, "Professor i know a freshwater goes by another name called flood forests. Fresh water swamps happen seasonally.."

Then Belle took a breath and talked about Salt Water Swamps. "A Salt Water swamp is usually around really forested areas. Mostly nature's animals sometimes live in salt water swamps like turtles and fish."

Drop bag and take notes? Seemed simple enough, Bliss thought as she took out her notebook, along with a ready-to-write quill. Then skillfully threw placed her bag down by the wall and headed over to join everyone as they stood around the portable swamp. It was...in all honestly...amazing. Bliss had never seen anything like it before. If it wasn't a swamp and if it wasn't a completely ridiculous thing to do, she would totally jump in it. No joke. =|

LET'S SEE. Notes, notes and more notes.

Bliss wrote down what everyone was saying, as it all seemed like good information to know, so it was worth jotting down obviously. Finally, Bliss raised her hand to offer up her own answer. "Er, well...I believe that most freshwater swamps provide excellent ecosystems. Mainly because they are full of many nutrients," and breathe. The third year was happy with that answer and she hoped that the Professor was too. She actually felt smart after saying it.

A surprise in the castle? Interesting.

Renesmee followed along witht he others and almost wanted to have an utter clean freak attack when she saw a SWAMP! EWWWWWWWW!! She wanted to just scream and flail and be all girly and run as far away from the swamp as she could, but she knew how rude that would look and knew it wasn't a good idea.

Instead she tried to focus on what Bentley was saying then rather actually looking at the swamp. Right. Drop your bag on the floor. She did that. Notes. Righty notebook and quill she got them out and was then ready.

Swamp characteristics? Yeah, that definitely wasn't going to help take Nessie mind off the fact that she was standing right beside one. "Whether this is a fresh water or salt water it doesn't smell very nice." That supposed to be uttered more to herself, but Ness had a tendency to say things too loudly sometimes and so it was likely others had heard. But hey, it was true? The swamp did smell badly in Nessie's opinion.

So her question wasn't answered, but Professor Bentley did mention the answer she was looking for would be in a book (Booo!) or she could ask this Professor Scabior person. She'd do the latter since Peyton wasn't patient enough to read over a book.

Back to note taking...she'd also have to look into getting a fancy quill that wrote everything down that was being said. Her mother has one, but refuses to let her borrow it. PFFFFT. The woman needed to learn to share. PFFFT! Anyway, she'd have to use her hand for the mean time. The third year wrote down Professor Bentley's question and was about to raise her hand to say something when...someone said what she was going to say.

Oh, booo!

The answers just kept coming when she finally raised her hand faster than a lighting bolt when it strikes. "Freshwater swamps are at least 1 to 6 feet in depth." There. A characteristic.

The swamp was DISTRACTING. Alice was so busy staring at it that she was tuning out Professor Bentley, but she managed to catch the question. Her relief at the easiness of the question was obvious in her expression. "Professor," she began, tossing her hand up in the air. "Loads of young marine animals find food and shelter in saltwater swamps, so many ocean species enter coastal wetlands to spawn." Mhm. There were a bunch of baby animals in the salty places, apparently.

Could they have ANOTHER easy question after this? Because she enjoyed the lessons where she had a little bit of an idea about Bentley's topics.