Gabriel showed up at the greenhouses, camera in hand and a slight scowl on his face. This was difficult for him to do...because he didn't particularly care for plants...but Charms homework required that he photograph something that could moved. And he didn't want to take pictures of people...and the one person he wouldn't have minded taking pictures of....Well, that would've been embarrassing.

...and he'd already embarrassed himself enough in front of her. Just ask anyone.

So, that was NOT an option. Sads...but he still had the photo Ruby had taken...So....

*shrug*

Knowing that some Flutterby bushes were in the greenhouses, Gabe picked the correct one and slipped inside. The great thing about this particular bush was that it was animated....and harmless. There was seriously NOTHING BAD about this decision, obviously. He would get the homework done...and no harm would befall his person.

Ravenclaw = 1; Professors trying to kill us = 0

Quickly finding what he was looking for, Gabe aimed the camera and clicked...as the bush shook.

It was depressing, really. Being able to play such wonderful melodies and have no one... no thing... follow.

So he'd made his way to the greenhouses, where he could at least pretend that moving plants responded to the flute. They couldn't walk away, at least. That was what stung the most. That everyone, every thing, could freely leave.

And so he sat, hidden by the flutterby bushes, playing notes long and low.

WHAT. WAS. THAT?!

There. Was. NOISES. Of course, it sounded like a human instrument; a fife, maybe...but Gabe wouldn't have put it past this school to have a plant that could make muscial sounds. In fact, it seemed wholly logical and possible.

It only took a second to find the source, of course.

It was an instrument...and a little boy. From his house...but wearing a weird green cloak.

After observing for a moment, breath held, he was deemed harmless...and the mock 'photo shoot' could continue.

Raising the camera again, Gabe snapped another photo. The animation spell would happen after he'd finished taking the pictures; the most LOGICAL plan of action.

SQWACK

The note turned sour as the Piper's attention was caught by a larger boy pointing a strange noise-making, light-producing box at him.

Camera is what he thought it was called. Had the music drawn him? Had it worked?!

"Do you seek only to steal my image or.." and at this, he stood, hopefully. "Were you perhaps drawn to the music?"

He took a step closer.

"Did.. it make you want to do anything?"

This wasn't what Zahra had had in mind when she headed down the Greenhouses. She had been excited, READY TO HELP PROFESSOR PLANTS, but he'd made it pretty clear they weren't here to have fun, do work, chat and junk. No, this was definitely punishment for a crime Zahra didn't even really remember doing. She wasn't gonna get to tell him about the troll even, was she????

When Zahra finished up her row of bushes, she raised her hand. "You wanna inspect these, sir?" SIGH.

Praising himself for his smarts on pulling something so clever...Gabe fought down his smile. He wasn't alone, after all. There was the matter of the music!playing guy...and Gabriels didn't relax around people they didn't really know. It was a minor rule of thumb...

He was just about to take his third picture when a voice sounded just off to the left. It took another second to realize that the boy, who'd been playing the music, was now speaking to him.

...............................What had he just asked him?

Did the music MAKE him want to do anything?

Uh?

STARE. "............No."

OH. LOOK! Leaping toadstools. Gabriel inched in that direction (AWAY FROM THE KID)...snapping a picture of a Dirigible Plum tree in passing. Floating plums. That was animated, right?

No? No.

The Piped Pipers shoulders slumped and he turned from the boy. Tossing the flute against the wall of the greenhouse, he pulled his hood up over his head, muttering. He was a failure.

Steal his soul with the image box, if you must, tall boy. The Piper started to walk away, cloak waving behind him.

Oh. No.

Guilt.

Really, Gabriel didn't know when he was being a jerk....but also, getting asked if the music made him want to DO anything.....That was equally CREEPY and NOT OKAY. Who was this kid, anyway? Yes, he was in Ravenclaw with Gabe...Thronton was his name, right?

The guilt forced him to raise the camera and take a quick photo of his retreating back.

There.

...but that had NOT been the music's....fault?....And yea, Gabe was getting out of here before ANYTHING else strange could be said to him. He didn't need to be....weirded out by people anymore than he already was.

Justine raised an eyebrow at the taciturn answer, it had not been wholly unexpected, half the student body had been speaking about Professor Walton's less-than-cheery personality, and yes, Justine was quite aware he was looking at her like she was an idiot, people had given her worst looks. Besides, she just needed an excuse to look at him for an extended period of time.

She was about to speak, when he beat her to it. "A side effect wouldn't do, it's too unpredictable... There's far too many variables for that sort of thing, this has to full proof... " Justine thoughtfully bit her lip. Without asking, The Ravenclaw sat down beside him on the bench. "I need something else then... Is there anything with similar effects in Herbology?" She asked, turning slightly to look at Professor Walton, not eyeing him, just looking....

The already clean and tidy cupboard took no time to be clean and tidy. Surprise. He sighed at the lack of things to do then reached out to grab the tea kettle. Drinking tea sounded like a very good idea right now. He was about to head to his very well-isolated corner where he brewed his tea far away from any plants that could be harmed. He'd almost forgot that he was not alone at the Greenhouse. After seeing that she'd been doing well he'd stopped watching. But now that she'd asked, he did turn around and walk over to her.

Bending down closer to the bushes, his eyes cast a quick glance before he nodded in approval. "Good job," He told her.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" he asked straightening and continuing to where he was going to brew his tea. See, the tea wasn't part of punishment. But he wanted to save the rest of the bushes for the Head Girl who still had not shown up. The both of them were the ones who caused disturbance or whatever at the lesson so yeah. And the man was a fair one, he wouldn't let the fourth-year do all the work. So yeah, tea.

He was worried about having to repeat himself again and explaining more and giving examples and spending the rest of his day on this matter. But the young lady seemed to have understood right away. Which impressed the man, internally, since his face showed nothing. She did get a nod, though. "Exactly, Miss Janvier," That was her name, right? It'd be really awkward if it was not.

....

Did she just... sit next to him? Yes she did.

Walton politely scooted an inch making more space for her. Her question was intriguing. "Similar effects? As in a herb that would tamper with someone's speech?" he asked wanting to be clear on what she was asking of him. "May I ask why do you wish to acquire such a herb, Miss Janvier?" He as a Professor was responsible for what his students put to use.

Hmm... That voice; Was everything about this man just impossibly attractive? Well, his manners could be a little better, but considering Justine had been raised by a woman who believed learning to tell which fork was which was more important than learning to crawl, she supposed her expectations were probably high. Besides, with a face like that who cared. Justine grinned charmingly. "Thank you, Professor."

Justine's face showed none of the amusement she felt as she watched Walton scoot away from her, thank goodness she was an actress and found this easy, The Ravenclaw was trying to appear innocuous after all, and giggling at him might have ruined it. "Yes, exactly... Not their accent, more their dialect." She replied, nodding. Justine should have expected that question. Was pranking another student against the rules? The Canadian had never heard of the practice being prohibited, but it was probably not praised ether... She was about to lie, tell him it was an experiment she was conducting with a friend, but somehow she thought Walton would catch on. He seemed like a very shrewd man. "I have this friend and his has a very unique accent... " Justine said, tucking back a lock of her hair. "And I thought it would be a funny, harmless prank, to have him speaking in a silly dialect."

Yeah, she was definitely getting reprimanded, whatever at least she got to sit with him and take in those gorgeous features, unbothered by any silly students.

Quote:

Originally Posted by the fastest seeker

The already clean and tidy cupboard took no time to be clean and tidy. Surprise. He sighed at the lack of things to do then reached out to grab the tea kettle. Drinking tea sounded like a very good idea right now. He was about to head to his very well-isolated corner where he brewed his tea far away from any plants that could be harmed. He'd almost forgot that he was not alone at the Greenhouse. After seeing that she'd been doing well he'd stopped watching. But now that she'd asked, he did turn around and walk over to her.

Bending down closer to the bushes, his eyes cast a quick glance before he nodded in approval. "Good job," He told her.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" he asked straightening and continuing to where he was going to brew his tea. See, the tea wasn't part of punishment. But he wanted to save the rest of the bushes for the Head Girl who still had not shown up. The both of them were the ones who caused disturbance or whatever at the lesson so yeah. And the man was a fair one, he wouldn't let the fourth-year do all the work. So yeah, tea.

....wait....really?

Really, really??? Tea with Professor W? "Of COURSE, Professor!" MAYBE SHE HADN'T JUDGED THIS ALL WRONG AFTER ALL!

He almost got a hug. Almost. Zahra didn't push it... for now. "Do you grow your own here? Like the leaves? Do you grow those here? I'd grow LOTS of food if I had a greenhouse. And then the house elves could COOK up all that food. Man, Professor, I don't know if you've got to meet the house elves yet or not? But they are UH-MAY-ZING. Like really."

DID HE NEED HELP WITH TEA? Zahra bounced around him, completely forgetting that he had not wanted to be friends earlier.

Andrew scratched his chin looking thoughtful as he recalled the magical herbs. He could remember most of them of course but not all. There were many. "I do not recall a name of a herb that has that specific effect but I can look into my books. I'll lend you one of my books about Magical Herbs if you would like," She looked old enough to be able to take care of a book and not damage it. Hopefully that was not a very wrong and dangerous idea. The man was quite fond of his books. "Are you interested in herbs the most?" He asked trying to know if the girl only cared about this for pranks or if she was fond of Herbology in general. Not that he would not help her if the later was the case but he liked to know what he was up against. Might not give her a less precious book then.

As for the reason, he had guessed it had something to do with that. "Just make sure that whatever you use has no permanent or dangerous effects or side effects," He told her. He didn't really care if she was going to prank a friend or an enemy. What concerned him that no one got harmed in the process. And certainly not in the name of Herbology. Besides during his years at Hogwarts he'd led a seven year long prank wars with Airey. Which reminded him.

"There are some herbs that cause the tongue to swollen up temporarily. That certainly affects one's speech," A smirk started pulling at his lips as he gazed off with memories flooding from past times. His request was completely misunderstood.

He did not mean it was time for them to chitchat. The man did not want to be too rude by sitting on a chair sipping his tea while the student worked having to smell the wonderful scent of mint tea without being able to taste it. Next time he was not going to care about being rude.

As he started preparing the tea leaves while waiting for the kettle to boil, he looked to his right and opened his mouth to answer the Gryffindor but she'd bounced to the left. He turned to the left to find that she was back on his right. There was just no way of making eye contact. The girl could not stay still. The times her mood changed in this short previous of time was ... something.

She was asking many questions and he was not prepared for social interaction. "There are tea leaves here, yes," he nodded mechanically because that was just the way he was. He didn't know how else to talk to strangers. He could only be at ease with very few people. "Yes. I went to school here, I am very familiar with the house elves," he told her setting two cup of teas on a small table. Waving his wand he extinguished the fire under the kettle and waited for the leaves to simmer.

Better start thinking of another chore for the fifth-year to get busy with after tea. Or during tea, too.

Justine listened quietly as the Professor spoke; saying how he would look into the matter for her, and how he would lend her one of his books and she just managed to turn her smug smirk into a smile that no less showed her actual appreciation, after all this herb thing was going to be hilarious to use on Jun, and the Professor choosing to help her was wholly unexpected - considering the rumors flying around of his prejudice - and very welcome. "Thank you, Professor, I'd be very grateful if you did and for the book as well," Justine said, fluttering her green eyes innocently at him. She bit her lip. "I do have some curiosity for Herbology, not a very extensive interest, but some of the flora and fauna can be fascinating... " She actually used to love learning about magical plants and gardening with her mother, but her affection for the practice had diminished since the very messy divorce of her parents.

No slap on the wrist? No reprimand? Not even a tut of disapproval? Justine was surprised to say the least, a feeling she didn't often share in. And now she was grinning, properly grinning, the light mask of innocence slipping away. "No, no, I actually like the person, I wouldn't want to hurt them.... Just.. Mess with them a bit." She said, feeling far more comfortable now.

ugh. That smirk, the way it lit up those gorgeous eyes. Her stomach flipped a bit, which was absolutely ridiculous, but it did. "You don't say? Would you mind terribly showing me? For scholarly reason, of course." Justine joked, smirking up at the Professor, unable to help herself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by the fastest seeker

His request was completely misunderstood.

He did not mean it was time for them to chitchat. The man did not want to be too rude by sitting on a chair sipping his tea while the student worked having to smell the wonderful scent of mint tea without being able to taste it. Next time he was not going to care about being rude.

As he started preparing the tea leaves while waiting for the kettle to boil, he looked to his right and opened his mouth to answer the Gryffindor but she'd bounced to the left. He turned to the left to find that she was back on his right. There was just no way of making eye contact. The girl could not stay still. The times her mood changed in this short previous of time was ... something.

She was asking many questions and he was not prepared for social interaction. "There are tea leaves here, yes," he nodded mechanically because that was just the way he was. He didn't know how else to talk to strangers. He could only be at ease with very few people. "Yes. I went to school here, I am very familiar with the house elves," he told her setting two cup of teas on a small table. Waving his wand he extinguished the fire under the kettle and waited for the leaves to simmer.

Better start thinking of another chore for the fifth-year to get busy with after tea. Or during tea, too.

"OH yeah? That's cool. I think you're doing it right. We really should grow some BIG OLE PUMPKINS out here, too you know. And tomatoes. I didn't like tomatoes when I was little, but they're growing on me now. Is it true that chocolate grows on trees? I'm not trying to tell you what to do, you're the boss, but a chocolate tree would be a BIG hit, Professor W." JUST SAYING.

Tea time! Z was happily waiting on hers to cool a little, looking around the greenhouse, helping Professor Walton SEE what ALL they could grow to EAT! She took her seat. "THis is a GREAT place to have tea! I bet you really like being back? Were you a Ravenclaw?"

Well. it was good that she had a nit of interest in the subject and it was also good that she didn't lie about it and exaggerate it just for the sake of attention. Andrew did not like attention seekers. And although she wasn't as passionate as Mister Tempus - who was now the number one example, because hello awesome journal and all- yet Andy was pleased by the fact that a number of students felt that they could come and ask him about Herbology matters. "Of course," he said waving his hand dismissively. Looking into herbs and having a reason to go through his books was not a problem at all.

Yeah he didn't care whether she liked that person neither did he care about the person's feelings. But since he was a Professor here he supposed it was part of the job to make sure the students behaved and all. And Ravenclaws were sensible anyway, so how bad could it really be.

For a second he was back in time to when he was a student and planning the next prank or trying to figure out what the next one designed for him would be. But then he was back to being the current Walton, the professor and the super serious. The smirk slipped off his face and it turned blank again. Should he give her the herb? Or it's better if he didn't get to the level where the students got comfortable asking him for favors and prank ideas? Because kids could be annoying, everyone knew that. But the Ravenclaw was graduating this year and she didn't really classify as a kid. Without saying anything, he was off the bench and at his table rummaging through his always-locked drawers. Hmm. Had to be here somewhere. THERE!

Walking back to the seventh-year, Andrew held up a tiny container. "This is it, but don't give it to anyone or tell anyone about it," Why was he even helping? He did not know. Maybe it was the school boy in him.

It always amazed him how the students felt the need to evaluate him or his job. Like that Hufflepuff telling Andrew he was a good teacher after the first lesson. The Herbologist said it once and would be saying it all the time if he was one to use many words, he didn't care what they thought. Eh.

"All the plants here should have academical use," Did that make sense? Tomatoes were not academical. And there certainly wasn't going to be a lesson on them. And this wasn't the kitchens and it wasn't his job to grow crops and he said absolutely none of that.

Psht. Chocolate. Like he would put anything remotely close to that in his Greenhouses. For a very valid reason that MANY kids would be roaming around and that meant danger. He was regretting putting that tree and the rocky chairs. People were climbing it! He was still considering booby traps.

A Ravenclaw. Walton was holding the cup of tea close to his mouth and was about to sip from it but he PAUSED that. "Slytherin," He corrected her then took a sip.

That was a very, very grown up way of saying "no" and Zahra knew it. She figured tomatoes and pumpkins were educational in their own way, but she ALSO knew when no meant no. So she didn't push it - no matter HOW cool of an idea it was. So she sipped her tea quietly for a minute, happy to be here, happy to be helping, happy that he had decided to be friends after all.

"Slytherins are way cooler, Professor," Zahra grinned, TOTAL APPROVAL. "I'm glad you weren't a Claw 'cuz I want to think of you as NEARLY as cool as Professor T. You aren't quite THAT cool yet, if you don't my pointing out. Hehe." KIDDING (sort of...) hehe.

....high five? Zahra offered him one anyway? Yeah?

"When should I come back? Or will you just let me know?" Justine asked. It was a totally valid and normal question, it certainly had nothing to do with wanting to see him as much as possible, no, what? That would be silly. Justine was too mature for such childishness.

He was so serious, was he really always like this? Justine thought she saw a glimpse of a more mischievous side to the Professor when he had smirked. Yes, it had definitely been there, and he'd even gone a little glassy eyed like he was remembering some far off, much beloved memory. Justine was sure he must've been a Slytherin, it was practically written all over him... That was if he had attended school here.

The Ravenclaw had been about to scoot closer to him when he stood, crossing to the cupboard and seemingly searching through it. Damn it, Justine should have moved a bit faster, but then it would have been too obvious, pity. Discreetly, while his back was turned she reapplied her lipliner, taking pains to make it perfect. As he turned, she abruptly put it away.

Justine grinned, rising from her seat and gladly taking the container, which she quietly, smugly inspected. "It's our little secret, Professor Walton," She said, turning her attention back to the older man, her eyes lit with the promise of mischief. Psh like she would tell anyone about this, no no, this was between them. Justine was rather pleased, this had been much easier than she'd expected, not that the girl was complaining, oh no. She had the herb for Jun, and had garnered the Professor's good favor, all in all, a pretty decent day's work for the clever girl, she was just surprised Walton was actually helping her.

Part of her wanted to ask why he had helped her, but Justine thought that would be pressing her luck. So she held her tongue. "Are there any foods it doesn't mix with?" Much safer question.

He did hope so, since it wasn't that often people genuinely wanted him to draw something for them. Not with the enthusiasm that Toby had. "I like painting best, but I do all kinds of art. Sketching is just easier to do when I'm on the go, like around the castle." He did have plans to carry his easel around the castle to some of the more beautiful places.

It didn't take him long to finish his sketch, and when he was done, the boy inspected it for accuracy. "I don't think they say it behind your back either." He said idly before rising to his feet. "I saw some pretty flowers outside of the greenhouses that I wanna draw. Ya can come with if ya like." He was offering his NEW friend.

Art, man. ART. Aside from Kace, who he noticed was often doodling something or other in that notebook of his, Toby didn't really know anyone who did a lot of art and drawing for fun, so he was pretty intrigued, to say the least. And eager to see more; something about looking at someone's art was just... well, it always put a super big smile on his face, because they were sharing what they LOVED.

The diagram was done, and the rest of his information spread would be completed over a longer period of observation, and some theoretical research etcetera, etcetera... He sat there flipping through his past pages before looking around at Paris' words and grinning.

Yes. He liked Paris. 10/10, very good friend choice, would befriend again. The Hufflepuff followed the other boy and standing instantly, giving a nod on the head.

"Sure thing!" he replied enthusiastically, stretching up onto his tiptoes in that 'half bounce' thing he'd started doing recently. Also maybe a subconscious way of appearing taller ahem ahem. "Sounds like a plan. Let's do that."

Still grinning, so much grinning as Toby carefully closed his journal so he could follow Paris along.

Ian went out to the greenhouses and looked around for rose bushes. It took some searching, but he found a nice batch of them out near the farthest one. They weren't actually in a greenhouse but they were exceptionally well cared for. He began trimming thorns from each color of rose bush. His favorites were the quietness roses, because his mum loved those. He hated to trim, but needed them for his project.

List of the roses from which he gathered thorns:
Belinda's Dream
Champney's Pink Cluster
Coral Beauty
Diane Grace
Duke of Edinburgh
Emily
Lady Hillingdon
Magic Dragon
Moroccan Rose
Perle dOr
Quietness
Robin Hood
Climbing Fairies

Having gathered up a sufficient quantity of thorns, he headed back to the potions lab for the last step.

So, they needed thirteen thorns from thirteen different roses. That was enough to do. As long you didn't prick your hand or fingers. Adi arrived at the Greenhouses clutching a small glass vial that he would put the thorns into.

Adi located a patch of rose bushes. Excellent! He could get the thirteen thorns right here. There were enough plants. He reached out towards one of the roses, carefully grasping one of the thorns then breaking it off. There! That wasn't so bad. Only twelve more to go.

He thought of using the Severing Charm but supposed he accidentally severed a rose or damaged a plant? Professor Plants would surely find out who damaged his beloved children plants and hunt him down. Hehe. Nah. Picking them by hand was fine by him.
...................

A few minutes later, he had seven thorns in the bottle. Apart from a few minor scratches, Adi was totally okay.

Hoping that she wasn't late, Lux made her way over to the greenhouses. She was to meet Adi so that they could pick the thorns for their potions.

Smiling, she made her way over to the other Hufflepuff who was already collecting his. Fortunately he wasn't done yet. "Hey!" she said before pulling out a vial that she would use to store her thorns. After putting on her gloves, she set about removing a thorn from one of the roses. It would be nice to use the severing charm, but she wasn't THAT confident with her abilities to do so as of yet.

Carefully she slowly worked to remove another five thorns, each from a different rose.

Adi smiled when he heard the very familiar voice of Lux. "Hello, hello,'' he responded. "How are you?'' He divided his attention between Lux and the next thorn, the eight one. He had thought of using gloves a few moments ago but he figured the gloves might make his fingers too thick and he might not be able to grasp the thorns properly. But no matter. He was almost done.

Nine thorns...

Ten thorns...

Eleven thorns...

Twelve thorns...

Thirteen thorns...

All from a different rose.

The best part was that he got no more injuries. Awesome!

"I'm great!" Lux told Adi as she placed the six thorns she had collected so far into her vial. She would talk to him more right now, but she was currently busy with the task at hand. Not like they wouldn't have more chances to talk later on.

She was almost half done collecting the thorns, and she kept count in her head as she went along from rose to rose: Seven thorns... Eight thorns... Nine thorns... Ten thorns... Eleven thorns... Twelve thorns... Thirteen thorns. Each was placed in the vial after she had plucked it from its rose.

After sealing her vial she removed her gloves and placed both back in her bag. It had taken her hardly any time at all she she didn't even have a scratch on her because of her gloves. Awesome.