Henric grinned back at Professor Myers. He was kind, positive and fun at the same time, what was not to like about the man? A little eccentric but who cares,right? He continued meditating as he held the hands to whoever sitting at his side. Breathe in....breathe out...ZEN....ommmmm. How refreshing...

After their little breathing exercise was over, it was time to begin class. Henric truly had no idea how they grew floating tree without the soil. He knew of course they were other ways to grow plants without the need for soil but not floating tree ones. The most likely answer was that it got its nutrients from the sunlight and rain. Since it could float practically anywhere, they could easily adapt to the different environments too? Like a castus? They could retain water in its branches or something?

Oliver was a little bit distracted by the floating trees. And by a little bit, it actually meant that he had not really paid attention to anything professor Myers was saying. Something about the floating trees probably. And how they had gotten there. Where could they grow? Did they just grow out of the air? The floating trees were weird.

Wait they were being asked the same questions he had just been wondering. But how was he expected to know those answers? Wasn't it the students job ask the questions and the professors job to answer them? He just fixed professor Myers with a look that told him exactly how he felt about those questions.

Gravity resistant trees? Caleb thought those were just a myth! But nope, here they were, all...real and stuff right in front of him. Crazy!

How did they get nutrients? Huh. Good question. Quite frankly, Caleb didn't care, but what if it showed up on NEWTs? Yes, he needed to try and focus. He raised his hand.

"Well, I imagine you would water them just like any other plant. Probably with a hose or something so you can...reach them," he explained. "Or a really powerful Aguamenti spell," he added. Really, wouldn't you just do the same thing you did for any other plant, just in a modified fashion since they were...floating?

WAIT

What just happened. Did that hufflepuff Henric just wink at him and give him a flower. What was going on. While flattered, he had no idea why the dude would do that because they only talked like once and that was it. Well Dante was not going on to dwell on it anymore even though it was weird. Though they were the trees Myers had mention in their meeting at the beginning of term. Well nice to know he remembered somethings.

Yeah he was never feeling all the postivity stuff from the mediation and was more than happy when lecture happened and he got the the question. Not that he was going to answer.

But if he had. His answer would have been simply magic.

These were gravity resistant trees after all. Which broke the a muggle law or something.

Janelle gave a wink to Adi, as he smiled in her direction. Then it was meditation time. Following directions, Janelle took the hands of the students nearest her. Then she began to breathe deeply in.......beartiful day........and out.......negative thoughts. In......companionship and out.......deeper self. Ok, time to get the party started.

Gravity Resistant Trees. That was cool. Janelle listened as Professor Myers spoke and took notes as he went along. Annnd how did the trees get their resources? Janelle raised her hand. "Well, I think that these trees can get most of the things they need the usual way. Water, air, sunlight.......that would be no different than regular trees. The difference would be how they get nutrients and minerals. It would have to be from the rain, the air, the sun. Maybe they can absorb the things that they need to survive." Janelle wasn't exactly sure how that would work, but what else could it be?

Candice was a big fan of meditating so she didn't mind doing it before class but this time she much more interested with those floating trees. She wondered how did the Professor get his hand on that? And the professor said he's wonderful. No duh!. She would be wonderful too if she had one of that trees. "I'm good too. Looking forward to today class." Nod. Nod. Nod.

Not long after that the class was started. Gravity Resistant Trees? So that's the name of the trees. Noted. The Gryffindor was listening very carefully when Myers informed the class about the origin of the tree. He mentioned something about crossbreeding. She was hoping the Professor would said more about that but he didn't. Frown.

How did the floating trees get light, air, water, nutrients, and minerals? Well, the tree was floating so getting air and light wouldn't be much problem and for the rest of it. "By magic, Professor." They're product of magic-ness like the Professor said so magic might be used for them to get the nutrients. Enough said.

….? Feeling better? ”Yes sir,” what exactly he was feeling better from, Zander Adair had no idea. But Professor Myers was a strange one, so uh, he only nodded. The bin though? Zander didn’t even look for it. He wouldn’t need that one, thanks.

The Gryffindor didn’t really have much longer to worry about what the heck Professor Myers thought he had come down with, because before he knew it, Sophie Brown had made her way inside… Her light a little dimmer than usual. Somehow it always worried Zander seeing her like this, even though she had been this way for a few weeks now… With reason, of course. ”Hey Soph,” he held out his hand and gave hers a squeeze when she went to hold it.

Errrrr… And then came the weird meditation thing. He was used to it, but… still weird. Use your entire person to breathe? As opposed to…? Okay, yeah, this wasn’t as revitalizing as Professor Myers probably thought it was. But y’know, seventh year and everything. No need to say anything about it. Just following along for now. And Professor Myeres wasn’t all that bad. Except okay one thing, what was his deeper self because Zander was pretty sure his only self was Zander.

As for the actual class part of things, Zander nodded along with Zeke’s answer… Deciding that he liked that one a lot. He didn’t raise his own hand to answer, knowing he’d probably just end up saying some repeats. Also, it was Ariana’s bedtime and this was very deep critical thinking. But the next one, he’d say something for the next one. That way Professor Myers didn’t think he was sick with dragon pox or something. Because apparently that was a legitimate fear?

The professor got a HUGE HUGE grin from Dot, and she wanted to give him more flowers. Maybe she'd even bring him one in a pot that would never die, and he'd see that she'd braved dirt for him. That would be... too much, probably. Dirt. Yikes.

Still, she was so thrilled at a lesson that suited her interests, and the trees really were amazing, and... yeah. She was so keen for this lesson. "I would think these type of plants can take in moisture through more than just their roots? And are the roots at risk of drying out? What about, like... osmosis?"

Meditation exercise out of the way, Paulina giggled at Professor Myer's little joke. It was time to start the lesson and she was excited to work with these trees. She had HEARD about them, but never imagined that she would ever see on - let alone in a greenhouse.

Tempted to touch one, Paulina listened as he explained a bit about them to the class. She herself had no problem working with dirt but she could understand why some of her classmates might. Manure was another turn off for a lot of people, though she had gotten used to the smell a while ago.

After thinking for a moment, Paulina raised her hand. "Well, air and sunlight wouldn't really be an issue since they can still get those no problem. Same with water so long as it rains or someone sprinkles them with a hose or something." Well, it WAS possible. She was just saying. "As far as nutrients go, I'm thinking along the same lines as Adi. Could they possibly be sprayed with nutrients and minerals so that they can be absorbed?"

Paulina was so FASCINATED by this topic.

“Yes, Mr. Browne, the sunlight intake remains the same.” That much was correct. “And YES! Water vapor is important for these trees! Trust me, they don’t lack for thirst.” Hehe. He nodded at the boy and gave him a thumbs up. “Take two points!” Because vapor!



“Well, right...so fertilizers can work…” but he wanted some expansion on that, so he moved on. But Ava got an encouraging smile.



Adi was beginning to think, yes….”Well..not exactly--but that’s a VERY good guess...an informed guess, for sure.” He smirked. This was fun!



“Yes, Norah, continue--” but she did even without his prodding, heh. Norah was such a delight. “Well...the air is important, yes...but remember these are...MAGICAL trees, as well.” Maybe some of them would be more creative now? Hmm? “Yes. These trees do have special cells to help them absorb what they need, correct!”

HE HAD SUCH SMART STUDENTS.


Henric looked like he was deep in thought. He got a smile from Paul...thinking was okay. Sometimes one had to get his or her thoughts together before speaking in class. Completely okay!




Paul eyed Oliver. He looked VERY UNHAPPY. Hmph. “Nothing to add, Oliver?” he asked before raising an eyebrow and moving on.

He blamed it on pre-teen hormones.



HEH! “VERY GOOD CALEB!” he smirked. “No one should rule out aguamenti! It doesn’t even--oh well--we’ll GET there--take two points--” he winked at the prefect. Smart smart!




Mr. Barrington was also quiet. Well. That was okay. Paul hoped the boy was at least paying attention. He knew the boy wasn’t all that fond of Herbology, after all.



Paul nodded at Janelle until the very last sentiment...and then GASPED. “M’DEAR!” He flailed a little. “ABSORB IS THE EXACT WORD I WOULD USE--YES--take THREE POINTS!” YAAAAS! This was FANTASTIC! And so so so BRILLIANT!



Hehehe. After the excitement over Janelle’s answer, his cheeks were red and he was a bit out of breath, too. He may have jumped a little...but Miss Messer’s answer made him chuckle. “Well, you’re not wrong, Candice.” He winked and walked towards the front of the classroom once more to continue on in the lesson.



He passed by Mr. Adair on his way back up and patted his shoulder. Poor boy was sick. That’s why he was being quiet. Paul….still hoped he would feel better! Why had he come? HE SHOULD BE RESTING IN BED RIGHT THIS INSTANCE. Maybe he’d tell him that…

NO!

That would be overstepping the boundaries--so he just smiled at him.


DOT WAS SMILING OMG.

Paul had to check to make sure this was real life. He pinched his arm.

This was real life, yes.

Ahem.

“WELLLLL yes--the roots most CERTAINLY can dry out, Dot, good thinking!” He beamed at her, now standing in the front of the class once more. “OSMOSIS! Dot!” He waved his hands around...like, spirit finger style. “OSMOSIS is the right idea! YES YES! Two points for you! Very good!”

GAH WHY WERE HIS STUDENTS THE BEST.



Paul was so impressed in general..he nodded at Paulina. “Yes--you two are on the right track, for sure--” he grinned and kind of...flailed about because he was reaaaaady to move on and tell them ALL ABOUT THE TREES.


TO MOVE ON!

OKAY. “So...as most of you mentioned...not much has changed when these trees take in air and sunlight….” he nodded. “That works all the same way as your average tree--what’s a little different is it’s water and nutrient intake as well as minerals.” He gestured at the board, which had begun to copy down his words. “Water...there is two ways to water a Gravity Resistant Tree...one of which requires no work. They pull in the water from the air around them--” he smiled at Zeke, who had brought it up.

The chalk moved across the board along with his words. Nifty little spell, this was.

“AND...the thing about these trees that make them so….interesting...is that their roots work in a very similar manner to aerial tree roots--which MEANS that--” he moved towards one of the enormous trees. “Their roots soak in whatever minerals and nutrients and WATER they need….and since these trees are not simply mundane...and they ARE gravity resistant...it means that once a substance touches the tree...that it, too, becomes gravity resistant!” THERE was the answer to how these trees worked!

“So...to expand further...if I aim my wand at the roots--” he squinted at the tree and aimed his wand. “And-- Aguamenti!--” water jetted in a steady stream from the wand tip to the roots, and as the water touched the roots, the water stuck to the roots, as if encasing the roots with an outer layer. Paul smiled. “The tree will take in water as it needs it...it does the same for fertilizer, which are absolutely necessary for this tree. They NEED fertilizer because no soil is involved…and another thing...in order for the trees to constantly have what they need...the fertilizer on their roots must be regularly replaced so that they can soak in the nutrients as they please.” he turned around to face them. “Does this all make sense? Does anyone have any questions?”

If not:

“Okay, so, I would like everyone to pick a tree of the four to tree some water on...simply cast an aguamenti spell...and watch as the water ‘sticks’.” He patted the trunk of the tree floating next to him. “And then we have a few more things to discuss before the FUN ACTIVITY I have planned.” Was it really fun?? Paul certainly thought so .

OOC: Just a post involving watering one of the trees. Feel free to ask Myers questions and stuff! I will resume class in about...15/16 hours ish! MAKE UP POSTS ARE TOTALLY ALLOWED. Sometimes I feel like I don’t explain things clearly, so if this post is one of those times...don’t neglect to ask me/Paul the things! <3

Okay, so his answer was off but Myers had said it wasn't a bad one. Goody! Adi paid attention to the other answers, grinning at Polly when she agreed with his. But WOAH! These trees were even cooler! He though the whole thing of pulling water from the air was awesome! And it didn't stop there. The whole thing about substances becoming gravity resistant too...!

The Hufflepuff watched the demonstration. Man, he was loving these trees already! Fascinating how they stuck to the roots like that. Yep, Professor. Everything made sense. Time for them to do some actual watering! Adi headed over to a tree after giving Benny an indication to the tree he was headed for.

Upon reaching his selected tree, Adi silently cast the incantation. Aguamenti!'' Wheee! Look at the water go to cling to those roots!

The statement Professor Myers had made to her hadn’t entirely been believed, but then they’d moved into the meditation before she could say anything else. After that, the discussion, which Brooklyn had merely listened to, maybe occasionally taking notes if she felt like it. Actually, she felt like the discussion just proved him wrong. Maybe the trees wouldn’t hurt her, but he’d just said that whatever the tree touched would stick to it. She hardly felt like being stuck to a floating tree for the rest of her life, especially if the tree then sucked nutrients from her. That sounded rather bad to her, so therefore she was staying as far away from the trees and their roots as she possibly could.

At least as they’d been released to pick a tree and water it, she had no problem staying away from certain people. She just made sure to pick the tree that was furthest from the one the Hufflepuff prefect had chosen, taking her wand out as she had walked over to it. Although she still kept a distance away, at least an arm’s length. That should be safe enough, but she was blaming the professor if her wand stuck to the root. “Aguamenti,” she cast clearly, keeping her wand at least an inch or so away from the root as water started to jet out of it toward the root and clinging to it. That was definitely weird. Floating trees were weird.

Angel had been sat quietly thinking about things and she seriously didn't know what to say about the first question, so she just sat listening to what everyone said and made a few notes, because well that was the best thing to do when you were lost right.

Anyway after a bit the Professor moved the lesson on.

Angel went and picked a tree to water because that was what they were told to do, she hoped that everything would go well because lately things had gone wrong for her again and she had no idea why. Angel grabbed her wand and then looked at the tree she had chosen, once Angel was ready with everything she pointed her wand and said the incantation. "Aguamenti!" Angel pointed the wand at the tree making sure that she kept the wand a little bit away from the roots and then watched as the tree got watered after a little bit she stopped the spell and looked at the Professor.

Score! He'd gotten points, it was nice to be right and things. Herbology for OWLs... a very real possibility.

Half listening and half tuning out, Zeke appeared as if he was listening. His head nodding at all the right times. Of course, the demonstration clicked with him, so when they were given the command, he knew perfectly well what their task was.

Taking his Larch into his hand, Zeke approached one of the gravity resistant trees, aimed and discharged water its roots. "Agumenti." It was a strange thing to watch, at the water seemed to actually gravitate to and cling to the roots itself.

Floating trees were cool.... well, you know, cool for trees. Because let's be honest here... how cool could trees really be? Although, AJ wouldn't mind some trees like the ones she saw floating around her. Couldn't she just put a spell on a regular tree and make it do the same thing? Probably so, but would it be the same? NO. She wanted a crossbred tree. Any other tree simply wouldn't do. It wouldn't. It wouldn't. It wouldn't

It was question time, and that was her least favorite time unless it was HER asking the questions. As it was, she wasn't. So BOOOO.

"Floating buckets of water?" Made sense to her.



More talking which she was pretty sure meant that they were moving on. Fingers crossed that the next part involved climbing said trees. Pretty please. It would be the coolest thing ever. No more chocolate before class for AJ Valentine.

They were going to pick a tree. YES. "To keep, professor?" Forever, and ever! The water charm was needed and AJ had perfected that one years ago. Yes, she did. "Aguamenti!'" Out came some water.

Go, water. Go be with your tree. Sure enough it went straight to the tree roots like they were destined for one another. "How does it know to do that?" Maybe she should explain herself a bit better? "The water I mean." And how did it know to go to HER tree? Questions, she had them.

Stuff was being said. Stuff that she should be taking note of. Hady hadn't really said much so far this lesson other then the normal greeting upon entering the greenhouse. Her lack of words was just fine as she was very much paying attention so there was no need to worry.

Selecting a clean sheet of parchment and a quill the fourth year allowed herself a few minutes to quietly take down the proper notes from the board. It was likely that she'd need this information at some point in time again. Returning her things to her bag once finished she pulled out her wand and walked towards the nearest of the four trees. Holding her wand upwards she aimed directly at the roots, "Aguamenti!" Water flowed nicely from the tip of her wand straight at the tree roots clinging to them perfectly. There was nothing at all strange about watering a floating tree.

Text Cut: Notes

Gravity Resistent Trees:

• combination of hydroponic and aerial root breeding
• magic allows them to suck in what is around them
• need everything a normal plant needs, but are just floating in the air
• magic of the gravity resistant tree reacts with the substance, causing anything aimed at it to stick to the root
• when the tree needs nutrients/minerals, it will suck them in
• trees must be watered by tapping your wand to the root and letting it suck in the water from your wand tip
• make sure to constantly keep the roots covered so that it can take the nutrients it needs

Davie diligently copied down his notes, then got up with a sigh and edged in toward the floating trees. Everything he'd learned about them so far made sense with what he already knew of mundane aerial root trees. He was just... glum, still.

"Aguamenti," the first year cast with a sigh, watching as the water from his wand inverted and floated up to the roots, sticking to it wonderfully.

Well that was cool, but David had a thought. The professor might answer it shortly but he was going to ask. "Can you grow these trees from a seed, professor? Do you start them out in water?" He was just curious what the baby trees looked like, since the professor had mentioned hydroponic growing.

Paul zooooooomed over to Mr. Truebridge when he saw his hand. HEHEHEH. THE SEEEEDS! Paul smirked a little to himself.

"We'll learn more about the seeds later. But you're right in that...well, the seeds are similar to hydroponics, yes." He nodded. "But we WILL get to the seeds at the very end of class, I promise. It has to do with your homework." David Truebridge, ahead of the step! Look at that.


"Okay, a few more minutes of this!" He could see not everyone had gone. That was cool. It was all cool. Paul felt so mellow.

So she wasn't wrong though. Good guess. Ava listened to the Professor about the gravity resistant tree and he seemed very... enthusiast. Well, the gravity resistant tree was cool though. So she didn't really blame him to be more enthusiast.

And time to water the trees. Cool!

Once she finished copying the facts about the trees, the young lioness then walked to the nearest tree from her seat. So, she just needed to... tap her wand to the root? Okay... she tapped her wand to the root. "Aguamenti..." Well... how often she needed to do it actually. "Yo, Professor Myers! How many times in a day we need to water the tree?" She asked the man.

It looked like many people were getting the hang of this. It wasn’t very hard, no. This part was very simple and straight-forward, even if it did require magic. It didn’t have to require magic..well, the water part, because one could technically use a watering can or something. If they could reach the roots well enough. If the tree wasn’t floating too high or floating on it’s side, certainly the roots weren’t too hard to reach.

He glanced at Ava. “Well….there’ is not a specific amount of times, but you should check on the trees at least once a day to make sure the water surrounding the roots isn’t getting too low. Even so...these trees ARE able to pull water in from the air, but this also means they are using more energy, so the fertilizer intake would have to be more, in those cases.” He hoped that made sense?


But he checked his watch--and it was time they move on! They had other things to get to! “SO now that you’ve all experienced that--we have a few more minor things to discuss! Firstly...what would be a drawback of growing a plant in soil? What do you think a drawback to growing one of these trees is?” he asked. He wanted to know what they were thinking, and he wanted them to think CRITICALLY about things. “Which of the two trees do you think would be EASIER to grow? Why?”

Maybe he was just so used to academia, but he just wanted his students to THINK instead of doing mindless memory games all the time...pfffft! Application was important for real life!

“Anyone have any thoughts on any of those questions?”

OOC: So I know many of you didn’t get a chance to post after my last post, so of course you can always do a catchup post. That’s not an issue! Please only have your character answer one of these questions...so we have a variety of different answers and stuff! I’ll post again in like...pfft, I could say 12 hours xD

Aaah, so it WAS osmosis. cool. Paulina made a note of that just in case it came up on the exam. Never hurt to have a lot of information and she hadn't really had much of a chance to read up on these trees yet, so this was quite the learning experience for her.

After writing down everything that was on the board, she was ready to do some watering!

Heading over to the closest tree, Paulina took out her wand so that she could give it a nice drink. This was kind of like her suggestion of using a hose. That was more of the muggle way to do things, but she honestly preferred that method when there was an option. Unfortunately she didn't think that there were any hoses at Hogwarts.

"Aguamenti! she said as she aimed for the roots. It was so cool to see the water stick to them. She had a feeling that was how they worked and it was nice to see that she had been correct about that at least.

Paulina smiled. "Drink up, little tree." Yes, she talked to plants and she didn't care if anyone thought it was weird.

Okay, so moving on again. This time they were heading into theory. AGAIN. Man, couldn't there be more practicals? Adi preferred those so more but there was not much he could do in the way of getting away from theories in classes. He tore his attention away from the tree he had been working on look in Myers's direction.

The Hufflepuff put some thought into all three questions but raised his hand to answer the first one. "The soil could have lots or too little of nutrients that could overwhelm the plants or cause them not to have enough.'' That's what he reasoned, anyway. Maybe someone messed up in mixing the fertiliser with the soil was what he was thinking.

No more questions please. AJ had high hopes that thinking part was over, but she was wrong. Getting them to water the floating trees was only a tease. She was willing to bet that there would be even more questions after these. UGH. Some people, man.

Anyways, she had an answer. Sort of. Perhaps a response was a better term for what she had. "One drawback for growing a plant in soil would be that it's more work for me." And that was a bad thing. You had to keep the soil moist and um... there was more to it, yeah?

Oh well. She tried. That counted for something, she was sure of it.

.... Uh.

Why was Professor M looking at him like that?

And the shoulder pat. Zander Adair felt pitied? Uh. Yes, having to do the meditations before class was very tragic, but they didn't merit a look? The Gryffindor was confused, and showed that with the confused look he gave the Professor in return for the smile.

Uh.

Okay.

Moving on then....

Zander listened carefully as Professor M explained how the trees got all that they needed, though he had known the answer all along. Added a few good nods along the way, but otherwise... He was ready to do the thing. And by that, he meant ready to water one of the plants. Seeing a lot of students gravitate towards the other two, he chose to walk to the one that wasn't as crowded. Holding his wand up, he cast a quick "Aguamenti," letting a bit of water come out from the tip of his wand before stopping the flow, "Finite."

Didn't need to give it too much, y'know? 'Sides, other kids were gonna water it too... So...

The antigravity thing was MEGA COOL though. Even Zander had to admit.


Okay, but Zander didn't actually mind those mindless memory games. It meant having to do less thinking. Which y'know, he was very okay with, actually. The less thinking, the better. The less meditating, the better too... But it did waste some class times so... Ahem.

As for the questions, his first thought was that soil meant having to find space. Space was a limit when dealing with potted plants. But he saw many hands raised for that particular question, so he just kept quiet.

Eh, okay. He should probably end up saying something at some point... So second question it was. "I feel like you'd need more upkeep with these trees... 'Cause when they're in soil, a lot of those nutrients and minerals come naturally. But like you said, you really need to check up on these ones and make sure they get all they need. So to supplement that... You've got to make sure they get enough fertilizer, and you need to keep your eye out making sure to replace it with new fertilizer every now and then... Which is probably be a lot of work."

The end.

Angel looked at the Professor and raised her hand, she loved gardening so what her sister said made no sense to her, seriously she could spend months in her garden if her parents would let her. "Professor I think one of the set backs would be the space the tree has?" Angel wasn't sure but she had a feeling it might be a bit cramped in the soil.