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STRAINING, HARVESTING, AND PICKLING MURTLAP TENTACLES
The late January sun shines through the windows as you make your way to the spare classroom that Healer Reed found for the term’s second seminar. The man was considerate enough to place warming charms within the room, both for the comfort of the participants...and the creature that they will be working on. As you step inside the classroom, you will find rows of tables, each filled with the following items: A cauldron, Bunsen burners, safety goggles, dish clothes, aprons, scissors and tongs. Between the cauldron and the tray of tools, is a clear glass box filled with heavy mist. The top lid of the box is locked and sealed by a charm.
You will find the Healer up front with his sleeves rolled up, checking and re-checking his supplies for today’s seminar.
Come on in, choose your workstation, and make your presence known. The seminar will start in a few minutes!
OOC:Welcome to the second Healer’s Health and Wellness Program! Post your charries joining Healer Reed and we will start in approximately 12-24 Hours from this post. Please read our RULES, before posting. Thank you! (P.S: So sorry for the very late announcement!)
The second seminar is now on-going. Please do not post your character arriving late, unless you want points deducted from your student. You’re more than welcome to jump in the discussion and activities anytime, just post them as if they were there all along
Moments later, Abey's hair was suddenly lovely and warm and dry, as was his uniform. Of course, Abey was no stranger to spells like these when he was at home with mama actually, or visiting his cousins (because aunts and uncles). He had always had something of a bad habit of getting himself into all sorts of mischief and mess, so was no stranger to such charms being used on him. He reached up to touch his hair, noting it was all smooth and nice and probably looked much better than when he had tried to 'style' it actually.
"Thank you!"
Soooooo, creatures AND potions then? That sounded like... they might be collecting potion-y bits from potion-y animals, didn't it? Easy question to start with, too, so Abey raised his hand (he was remembering!) and pointed at the creature in the box.
"That's a Murtlap!" And, just in case that wasn't enough information, he added, while wiggling the fingers of both of his hands as appropriate. "They have wriggly bits on them." See? He was demonstrating, but he didn't need to, because there was one here in class today too, actually, in case the Healer hadn't noticed. Even though actually he had already revealed the creature so it was likely that he had noticed it.
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Murtlaps. They were ugly little buggers but their tentacles had many healing properties. Juno raised her hand, and when called on replied, "Well, they are actually marine beasts, and basically look like a bald rat with tentacles that look like anemones attached to their backs. Also, they like to eat crustaceans." Everyone had already stated the healing properties, so she figured why not go with more basic description and eating habits.
Hopefully their Care of Magical Creatures teacher would have been proud she knew the answer.
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Potions? Etta might have looked even more disappointed when she realised that this seminar was just going to be like every other class. She sighed and just hoped that it would be an interesting lesson, at least. At the professor's question, she frowned and tried to come up with something about murtlaps.. which wasn't much.
"Erm... they look like rats but they have a weird growth on their back. Those tentacles can be eaten to improve one's resistance, I think." ..... ugh, yes. Gross. How do people EAT that? She mentally shook that thought out of head and listened to all the other answers given by her classmates.
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Leon smiled as Juno came to sit next to him and he gently nudged her, not daring to do anymore in class. "Hey Jun.. " He said with a warm smile as he looked up at Healer Reed as he spoke about what they were going to be doing today. Hmmm, potions ehh? That sounded pretty fun actually! He was looking forward to whatever this was..
Until Healer Reed vanished the mists in the box and ewwww Murtlap., he was going to add a few facts but decided to go off the previous girl's answer..
"You can eat the tentacles, but eating too many may cause you to grow purple ear hair.. " So a general warning to everyone..
Creatures, yes! Potions, not so much. Henry was growing more convinced that this was seminar going to be much more class-like than anything active, though he had already kind of guessed by the info on the noticeboard and the room's setup. Still, he was holding out hope that they might do something more fun than what normally might be done in Potions class as it certainly wasn't his best.
But his attention was soon diverted as the healer revealed what was in the mystery box - a murtlap! Sure, they weren't nearly as cute as a kitten, but they were cool in their own right, and Henry stared at the creature as he thought of something to contribute.
Yeah, he heard that people ate parts of them, but that seemed pretty gross to him. And he couldn't help but give Skylar a side-glance at her contribution to the discussion. He did not know what murtlap smelled like, but he was pretty sure that wouldn't have been part of his amortentia bouquet. Not that he'd feel so compelled to share that in class anyway.
Anyway.
As for an answer, he had nothing that was really different from what anyone else said, though he supposed he could expand and then ask a question. "I think when one eats murtlap tentacles, they're usually pickled," he offered as he raised his hand. "But.. can they be taken from the creatures without harming them?" Because the alternative seemed awfully cruel to Henry for something like jinx resistance.
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Derf had arrived WELL before the start of the seminar and had even selected a spot aaaaaaall the way in the front but had chosen to remain uncharacteristically quiet - not even greeting the Healer - as he had made his way inside. He was still MIFFED about a FEW things, okay? Like the false advertising that had been the last seminar. Pffffft. But at least the healer seemed to have learned his lesson since this time the man had not put any label on the seminar other than 'healing' so...the Hufflepuff supposed there were a few brownie points earned.
Maybe. He would wait to see what the rest of the seminar held.
CREATURES WHAT?! REALLY?! FOR REAL THIS TIME?!
Potions...well..that left much to be desired with the first year, but at least that was not dependent on spellwork so there was more hope for a decent execution. Explosions were still very much a thing though. Oops in advance.
His bright blue eyes WIDENED when the murtlap was revealed and he was mouthing the creature's name just as the healer did - what a coinkidink!
What did he know? Weeeeeeeeeeell...since the man had asked so nicely...
"Murtlaps-s-s are found in the coas-s-stal areas-s-s of Britain - s-s-seashore dwellers-s-s - are are wicked us-s-seful!" he began after he had been called upon. "Fey like to eat crustaceans-s-s-s bes-s-st and fat growff on their back - the tentacles-s-s - can be pickled and eaten to improve your resistance to jinxes-s-s. Too much pickled murtlap growth will turn your hair PURPLE fough. ALSO! That growff...the tentacles? Yeah, FOSE! Fey are also used in Murtlap Es-sss-sssssssss-ssence. AND AND AND Newt Scamander kept one in his suitcase! OH! And their bites-s-s can be realyl REALLY bad if you have a s-s-serious reaction to fem. Fire out of your bum!"
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Rosalyn had been here the entire time.
Maybe not the ENTIRE time, but she had situated herself in the room before students had finished coming in, greeting each in turn with a friendly smile and a nod. It was nice to see that so many people were excited to come here and learn something from River. Looking at the state of things as far as Bunsen burners were concerned, someone wouldn't be attending the seminar and she would miss his presence. Oh well, they would be seeing each other later.
As the first question was asked, Rosalyn remained silent. Even though she had things that she could contribute, it was always best to leave it to the students. This was mostly for them after all.
Matt was just sitting there, wondering why they were inside for a health and wellness seminar. Exercise was the number one thing for that, so WHY weren't they out there in the grounds running again?? WHY???
But Matt still had high hopes because Healer Reed had proved he could hold fun activities. The boy was trying to figure out just HOW sitting at a desk would be interesting and fun, but he'd had no luck so far.
He did smirk, though, when he saw the Murtlap. What did he know about them? Apart from the obvious. "They have this cool mohican going on." The fifteen year-old said, using his right hand to gesture the hairstyle over his own head. "Very fashionable, if you ask me." Lol.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stefan
If he was going to be honest with himself, he was surprised to see Miss Kettleburn in his seminar. If he remembered it correctly, he did not explicitly said in the announcement that today's activity would involve the outdoors. He thought that putting 'Lecture Hall' in the announcement would hinder most, if not all of the active and outdoorsy kids. Nonetheless, it was worth it to take note of this observation. Social experiment, anyone? It was very telling. "Hello, Miss Kettleburn. It is a pleasure to have you back." River was really happy to see her join them for today. It was the perfect opportunity for him to introduce balance into her active lifestyle.
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River closed the door as soon as the last participant entered the classroom. The Healer rounded his work station, and tucked his hands behind him giving the group a pleasant smile. “Good afternoon, and welcome to the second Healer’s seminar of the term. Welcome back to Hogwarts, and I hope that you all had a fun holiday.” His vacation had been short-lived considering that the staff needed the extra time to prepare and grade papers over the break. He did enjoy his Christmas and New Year’s celebration though. Nothing beats welcoming the New Year by going way up north to view the Aurora Borealis, sans the merriment and noise of firecrackers.
“I trust that each and every one of you now knows how to conduct oneself when dealing with creatures and brewing potions because today, we will be doing an activity that concerns both subjects.” River walked the length of the classroom, got his wand from his arm holster and lifted the heavy mist that clouded the creature inside the glass box. “Let’s review, shall we? What can you tell me about Murtlaps?”
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OOC: The second seminar is now on-going. Please do not post your character arriving late, unless you want points deducted from your student. You’re more than welcome to jump in the discussion and activities anytime, just post them as if they were there all along. ONE ANSWER PER PARTICIPANT PLEASE! Thank you! I'll move on in approximately 24 hours from this post (2:00pm GMT).
The thing with announcements about scheduling things was that Char absolutely didn't bother reading them unless they were about dueling. So for her, she had heard about the seminar through the Gryffindor grapevine, which hadn't at ALL focused on the part where there wasn't going to be any Yetis. Not that she needed Yetis in particular, but oh BOY the healer totally should have built up to that awesomeness because really, how DID you follow that?
With a sit-down lesson that required note-taking, apparently. She DID give him a big smile though, the healer. Just because she was somewhat disappointed, it didn't mean she wasn't going to at least TRY to learn something useful. Maybe something that would be helpful in dueling? That would be okay! Lets salvage the wreckage of her active-lesson dreams okay?
Foot silently bouncing (she was pretty good at this point in her life at fidgeting without disturbing anyone else), Charlotte perked up hopefully when the lesson itself began. Her own holidays had been pretty great, obviously. She had turned sixteen not too long before Christmas, so obviously her first Christmas as a sixteen year old had involved some very grown-up things. The novelty of said grown-up things was still new enough that she hadn't even been bothered about missing out on some of the childhood traditions that she was now expected to put aside.
She hadn't yet been able to forgive her cousin for certain things, which put a bit of a damper on the holidays for Char, but she wasn't mad anymore. Only the hurt part had continued to last for her, but at least she'd forgiven (and apologised to) her parents. She'd sort of taken out her hurt and upset on them a bit, because it was easier to do that sometimes. But it was okay now. Even with a new baby in the house, things at home still felt like HOME.
But the healer, meanwhile, was lifting the mist! And Charlotte was excited right up until the moment she recognized the creatures. Oh. Murtlaps. That was..... she'd hoped for tiny nundus or something, if she was being honest.
So what could she contribute while answers were being given left-right-and-centre? Char put her hand up.
"The ministry classification of murtlaps is xxx, which means 'competent wizards should cope'." Charlotte quoted the classification directly just so that there would be no confusion but she did add, "I think the part where it says wizards -aside from the fact that it should say witches too- is kind of telling, because muggles definitely CAN'T cope with murtlaps." Poor muggles. Charlotte thought she'd read somewhere that they were more likely to have an allergic reaction to their bites too, but she wasn't sure.
As for this business with resisting jinxes... was it really worth the potential purple ear hair? Though you could just take a potion for that, she supposed, it sort of felt like cheating or something, kind of dishonest. But that was just her.
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The distraction on the healer’s part hadn’t bothered Elle overly much. Obviously he wasn’t just standing there waiting for them all to arrive, and his glance toward the window only gave her a minor sense of embarrassment. She’d had a lot to deal with lately, so the fact she had any sense of time at all was an accomplishment. Plus, he hadn’t pointed it out, so she hadn’t needed to be entirely embarrassed. That and he had agreed to her other request, even though she hadn’t said anything about what it was about. “That sounds perfect,” she said, settling at her seat, choosing to leave her reasons until the Great Hall later.
The seminar had begun anyhow, as he’d begun speaking about creatures and healing. Or more accurately creatures and Potions, but given the general focus of the seminar, she had put two and two together. Healing Potions, and she’d merely blinked as he’d dissipated the mist in the box to reveal a murtlap. That certainly made sense given her train of thought. Murtlaps and mandrakes, but the latter was a plant. Not a creature, exactly.
And she’d stayed quiet. She hadn’t been able to provide any information about murtlaps that hadn’t been said, so she hadn’t seen a reason to just repeat the things that were already established.
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Fun holidays... Well, yes, if the Healer was truly wondering and concerning himself with the matter, Olivia had enjoyed a wonderful holiday. With their newly formed staff-student relationship, she found her body was allowing her to experience things and interpret her response to said things in a positive way. So, needless to say, the Gryffindor remained in high spirits. Dreamless sleep and regular meals were capable of working miracles, apparently. The headaches were less frequent, as were the dizzy spells. It was a far cry from where she'd been the last time... Having fainted and everything. Merlin, body, let's never do that again, yeah?
Shifting from one foot to the other, Liv took another gander at the sparse classroom and her peers. Not to offend any of them, but this whole thing was beginning to get incredibly repetitive. Lessons everyday with the same people. Dare she even think... That it would be nice to see some new, unfamiliar faces? Surely that wasn't a true Liv!thought, given that it was something the old Olivia might want. Or perhaps she was just burned out on the routine of it. Before, she'd have knowingly caused anarchy if she fell into this sort've rut. What the Gryffindor wouldn't give for a more practical lesson right now. Just work through whatever mild frustrations were there. She felt better, yes, but there were still some grievances. Unavoidable.
And... while she normally would've sneered at having to do too much writing for her lessons, Olivia felt it was probably best to simply jump right in with the note-taking. She had grade to maintain, after all; even if this was a seminar and not truly a lesson. With the potions theme, surely anything she learned today would assist her down the road. Was it possible for any knowledge to be useless? She didn't think so... But that was just one woman's opinion. There were probably loads of things that others found a waste of brain space... Heh... It was nice to see that her mind was doing that thing again. You know the one... Where it ran away with unimportant thoughts... Merlin, was she actually getting distracted right now?.......... Was it because she felt bored? That had definitely been an issue from the before time. But thankfully, her mind hadn't drifted to more unpleasant things... As it had been known to do with other subjects. Cores ones, at that.
Heh. Okay. Focus, brain.
Murtlaps. They were discussing murtlaps. Of course, everyone was probably aware of the creature and the very helpful remedy made from it's parts. Being a girl who always got more than her own fair share of cuts and scraps, it would've been impractical to not point out that particular fact. Even though, everyone was spilling forth with their own answers. Some were repeats. Others, not so much. Eh, it was the same thing with every lesson, however. Nothing too surprising.... Merlin, HER BRAIN WAS DOING IT AGAIN... F O C U S.
"Murtlap Essence, made from murtlaps bits is probably one of the most helpful 'everyday cures' to ever be created. Right up there with Dittany. Especially if you have little ones, who get hurt a lot." They fall down, bump their heads... Liv was a renowned babysitter in her hometown community, so she was very experienced in that regard. "It smells just awful, by the way." Not that she had to tell him, probably. They were about to work with them, after all. Also, she was 100% convinced that it smelled so bad, because it was a sea-type creature. Strange, given they lived in water, which was good for baths.
Shifting her gaze down to her glass box, she frowned deeply. Eh, at least they weren't getting physical today. Potions were a safe activity for her. "Sir, do you agree with it's Ministry rating?".. And yes, Olivia realize she was being talkative today. Apologies.
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SPOILER!!: Individual Replies!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Artel
Sinead's lips compressed slightly in embarrassment as she realised her mistake- well, that was what she got for speaking on autopilot like that. Still, everyone had been there, right?
"Yes, thank you, Sir," she replied, trying to peer surreptitiously at his box- maybe the mist would be lifted in there and she could see what they were actually working on today? Whatever it was, it seemed a lot more exciting than last time, and she was glad she'd showed up.
This suspicion was only confirmed as he began to speak. She nodded along almost unconsciously to his words- she absolutely knew how to conduct herself around potions, even if creatures weren't her favourite. As soon as the mist lifted from the boxes, her face lit up with interest- she knew exactly what the creature was, and she'd read a bit about them in her Care of Magical Creatures textbook. Actually, healing was pretty interesting in general- she might have heard about them from some other source as well. Hand shooting up into the air, she spoke as soon as River indicated she could, face intent with recollection.
"They can have a dangerous bite, I don't think it's fatal, but it causes a reaction. And their tentacles are valuable, because they can be used for potions, usually healing potions for cuts? Can you use their venom for potions as well?" She couldn't remember reading anything about that, but she knew that plenty of animals' venom was useful in potions, so it kind of stood to reason that the same might be true of a Murtlap.
River rounded up his work station up front, and gestured his hand towards the Slytherin. "Dangerous in the sense that it will try to eat your feet if you accidentally stepped on one of them. They usually are harmless if left alone," River nodded his head as he leaned on his work station, "However, the reaction to their bites are more evident in muggles...causing their back end to produce flames." Not the most pleasant thing to feel...and witness. "Indeed, Murtlaps' tentacles are one of the most rare potions ingredient out there, however, we have yet to come across a study that a Murtlap's venom can be used in potions. What can be utilised is the substance...or the essence that each tentacle holds." The Healer gave the Slytherin a grin, "Good answer, Miss Dance." And moved on to the next student.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oesed
Levi would have told Declan that if his nervous system hadn't gone into shock during one of their super early morning workouts in which Levi had felt little better than an inferi--well, he doubted anything would. In the end, Healer Reed had moved to close the door and Levi had to settle for giving his brother a wide-eyed, incredulous look.
Murtlaps looked like overtly hairy rats, so Levi's feelings were half disgust, half clinical interest. "Dueling club members probably know this already, but eating the growth of a murtlap's back helps with resistance to jinxes." Eating too much of it COULD cause purple hair to grow out of their ears, too. But they could discover that on their own.
The Healer nodded at the Gryffindor in agreement. "It can, but everyone should bear in mind that it will only deflect minor jinxes. Good answer, Master Kenning." Still, they shouldn't depend too much on Murtlaps' tentacles. It pays to be vigilant all the time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by potterobsessionist
One of Carlton's favorite things about Hogwarts was when people called him 'master'. It had a very nice ring to it. And he beamed at the healer when he used that title for him. 'Master Lewis'. Not even his dad was called that.
When healer Reed lifted the SSM or the Super Secretive Mist; Carlton leaned forward in his seat.
WUT.
What in the world was that thing?!
Carlton looked up at the healer and then back down at the little creature. Murt-what now? He hadn't seen one of those in any COMC lesson and therefore he had no idea what kind of creature it was. Honestly, he was still questioning if the thing was real or not. And to answer the healer's question: Nothing. There was absolutely nothing Carlton could tell him about Murt-whatever. It looked like a naked mole-rat. But he didn't need to point that out, anyone with eyes could see that.
So, Carlton continued to stare at it and listen to the other students suggestions. Why they knew so much about this naked mole-rat was beyond him, but he was sure he would find out during the course of the seminar.
River's glance shifted from Levi, to Carlton who seemed to be a bit lost with the creature. That was perfectly fine, considering that not all students aren't into Creatures or Potions. He did bring his writing implements with him right? Taking notes wouldn't be a bad idea too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhoenixRising
At first Skylar was slightly disheartened to see that the next healing seminar was going to be inside, in a classroom, with desks. But she reckoned on some level it made sense since despite the poor insulation castle walls provided, it was still warmer than the grounds.
She'd of course claimed one of the seats near the front, because the closer to the healer and all, and the better to take in his features. Pressing her quill to her lips in deep thought as the Healer began the seminar, she listened as he introduced today's topic - murtlaps. She knew one thing for them, that they were good for healing cuts, as the one snake first year mentioned already.
What else could she say about murtlaps that would have been unique? Staring up at the tall pale healer, she felt her heart rate increase, as she simultaneously mentally berated herself.
No, don't go there. Don't do it.
But before she could stop herself, her hand was in the air, "My brand of amortentia smells like murtlaps." Because the healer was teaching them about the creature, and obviously it smelled like the healer, but that might have been too forward. Also, just as quickly as she raised her hand, her hand dropped and she sank a bit in her seat, cheeks feeling warm, wondering what in Merlin's beard had come over her.
The sight of a hand close to his face brought the man's attention to the front, almost surprised to see Miss Diggory there. Perhaps he was busy securing one of the glass boxes at the other side of the room when she arrived? Nonetheless, he was happy to see her in his seminar. It seemed that she's interested in Healing as well.
He hoped.
To be honest, there was nothing much to be said about Murtlaps considering how close they are to being classified as 'boring' creatures. However, Skylar's answer took him by surprise. Her...amortentia? Really? River gave her an amused and curious look, thinking that her choice of weakness was that of the smell of...murtlap essence, which by the way...didn't smell pleasant. Huh. Very odd...but very interesting nonetheless. "I see. I...do hope that the smell will not interfere with our activity later on." Of course he took the precaution of setting up various protective charms and barriers around the glass box, but that won't be enough if the participant was too distracted to handle the sensitive creature.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crayola
AWW, look, Healer Reed was apologising. At least, Daisy assumed he had been apologising and therefore grinned happily at him as she tied up her apron. "Don't worry, Sir! We can't run from Yetis all the time!" She waved off his apology and smoothed the front of her apron with her hand. Now THIS made her feel like they would be baking which would be much more fun.
Oh. No.
All thoughts of baking disappeared from her mind as Healer Reed revealed the Murtlap and the Slytherin made a gagging motion. They were so, so UGLY. Like weirdly naked rats with disgusting hair only on top. BLEH. She raised her hand, ready to share what she knew about the creatures (which, granted, it wasn't that much) but then her attention was taken by Skylar's answer. Amortentia? The fifth year gigglesnorted loudly at the answer given by her fellow Slytherin and then tried to pass it off as a cough.
Ahem.
We see you, Sky. We see you.
"It'd be wise to steer away from them, Sir. They have a tendency to bite once stepped on." She offered when she was called upon, still trying to fight the giggles. SEE, this lesson was improving already.
River slowly raised a brow at the coughing, but immediately waved it off mentally—ignoring the fact that he missed something. Was it some kind of code language for girls? He thought it was, and figured that it was best to let it pass. Daisy did not disrupt the session, so everything was good. "Prevention is better than cure, Miss Carden. Good thinking. However, you don't need to step away from it if you know how to handle Murtlaps." Knowledge was key!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ama
Murtlaps were awesome looking creatures. Of course, he still thought they had nothing on his favorite girl Charlotte, but they had their own brand of beauty. Mostly, he liked the little tentacles on its back. He resisted the urge to the tickle the wiggling things.
"You can also use its essence to treat some cuts and abrasions," said Declan with is hand raised. "I've used it on scraped knees before." Declan figured you could probably also use it for whippings and lashes but that seemed rather too gory to share out loud.
Ah, now they were going somewhere! "Very good, Master Kenning." He said pointing excitedly to the other Kenning offspring. He had a feeling that both boys have used the essence, given that Levi supplied the 'protection against jinxes' answer, while the older brother mentioned healing cuts and the like. Two sides of the same coin, perhaps?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Felixir
Fix...? Huh? What?
OH!
Moments later, Abey's hair was suddenly lovely and warm and dry, as was his uniform. Of course, Abey was no stranger to spells like these when he was at home with mama actually, or visiting his cousins (because aunts and uncles). He had always had something of a bad habit of getting himself into all sorts of mischief and mess, so was no stranger to such charms being used on him. He reached up to touch his hair, noting it was all smooth and nice and probably looked much better than when he had tried to 'style' it actually.
"Thank you!"
Soooooo, creatures AND potions then? That sounded like... they might be collecting potion-y bits from potion-y animals, didn't it? Easy question to start with, too, so Abey raised his hand (he was remembering!) and pointed at the creature in the box.
"That's a Murtlap!" And, just in case that wasn't enough information, he added, while wiggling the fingers of both of his hands as appropriate. "They have wriggly bits on them." See? He was demonstrating, but he didn't need to, because there was one here in class today too, actually, in case the Healer hadn't noticed. Even though actually he had already revealed the creature so it was likely that he had noticed it.
Well, yes. It is a Murtlap. River grinned at the Gryffindor and supplied him with the correct term. "We call it tentacles, Master Botros...the, uhm, 'wriggly bits'. Wriggly. He had a feeling Jordan would not approve of that, considering how much he loved creatures of all kinds and sizes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suziella
Murtlaps. They were ugly little buggers but their tentacles had many healing properties. Juno raised her hand, and when called on replied, "Well, they are actually marine beasts, and basically look like a bald rat with tentacles that look like anemones attached to their backs. Also, they like to eat crustaceans." Everyone had already stated the healing properties, so she figured why not go with more basic description and eating habits.
Hopefully their Care of Magical Creatures teacher would have been proud she knew the answer.
The Healer called the Hufflepuff prefect next, and as soon as she offered her answer, River beamed at the young lady. "Correct! And it's important to note that their diet consists of crustaceans. I will elaborate on that later. Very good answer, Prefect Darcy."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lady of Light
Potions? Etta might have looked even more disappointed when she realised that this seminar was just going to be like every other class. She sighed and just hoped that it would be an interesting lesson, at least. At the professor's question, she frowned and tried to come up with something about murtlaps.. which wasn't much.
"Erm... they look like rats but they have a weird growth on their back. Those tentacles can be eaten to improve one's resistance, I think." ..... ugh, yes. Gross. How do people EAT that? She mentally shook that thought out of head and listened to all the other answers given by her classmates.
River moved on to the next student, and clarified Etta's answer. "It does improve one's resistance to minor jinxes, Miss Kramer. The sensation of eating the tentacle might not be a pleasant one, but the effect should prove useful, especially to Curse-Breakers because it gives them an extra layer of defense." Hopefully, she'd give the tentacles a shot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FwooperOnYourLeft
Leon smiled as Juno came to sit next to him and he gently nudged her, not daring to do anymore in class. "Hey Jun.. " He said with a warm smile as he looked up at Healer Reed as he spoke about what they were going to be doing today. Hmmm, potions ehh? That sounded pretty fun actually! He was looking forward to whatever this was..
Until Healer Reed vanished the mists in the box and ewwww Murtlap., he was going to add a few facts but decided to go off the previous girl's answer..
"You can eat the tentacles, but eating too many may cause you to grow purple ear hair.. " So a general warning to everyone..
"Indeed." It would be a funny sight to see but, "Do you think it's worth it, in exchange for extra protection?" Maybe Leon would say no, especially if he had to date the prefect sitting beside him. Would Juno mind? River's eyes gave the Hufflepuff a quick glance and a grin before moving on to the next student.
Quote:
Originally Posted by emjay
Creatures, yes! Potions, not so much. Henry was growing more convinced that this was seminar going to be much more class-like than anything active, though he had already kind of guessed by the info on the noticeboard and the room's setup. Still, he was holding out hope that they might do something more fun than what normally might be done in Potions class as it certainly wasn't his best.
But his attention was soon diverted as the healer revealed what was in the mystery box - a murtlap! Sure, they weren't nearly as cute as a kitten, but they were cool in their own right, and Henry stared at the creature as he thought of something to contribute.
Yeah, he heard that people ate parts of them, but that seemed pretty gross to him. And he couldn't help but give Skylar a side-glance at her contribution to the discussion. He did not know what murtlap smelled like, but he was pretty sure that wouldn't have been part of his amortentia bouquet. Not that he'd feel so compelled to share that in class anyway.
Anyway.
As for an answer, he had nothing that was really different from what anyone else said, though he supposed he could expand and then ask a question. "I think when one eats murtlap tentacles, they're usually pickled," he offered as he raised his hand. "But.. can they be taken from the creatures without harming them?" Because the alternative seemed awfully cruel to Henry for something like jinx resistance.
River beamed at the Hufflepuff with great hair (like his own, ahem), and stuffed his hands inside his pockets. "It is often overlooked that the tentacles should be consumed after pickling. A very good observation Master Whittebrooke." The Healer nodded his head, and then tilted it to the side when he too offered a question. "Yes, it is possible. As long as you know how to properly harvest the tentacles, the Murtlaps will not be in danger, or in pain." And he will teach them a thing or two about it in a while.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie
Derf had arrived WELL before the start of the seminar and had even selected a spot aaaaaaall the way in the front but had chosen to remain uncharacteristically quiet - not even greeting the Healer - as he had made his way inside. He was still MIFFED about a FEW things, okay? Like the false advertising that had been the last seminar. Pffffft. But at least the healer seemed to have learned his lesson since this time the man had not put any label on the seminar other than 'healing' so...the Hufflepuff supposed there were a few brownie points earned.
Maybe. He would wait to see what the rest of the seminar held.
CREATURES WHAT?! REALLY?! FOR REAL THIS TIME?!
Potions...well..that left much to be desired with the first year, but at least that was not dependent on spellwork so there was more hope for a decent execution. Explosions were still very much a thing though. Oops in advance.
His bright blue eyes WIDENED when the murtlap was revealed and he was mouthing the creature's name just as the healer did - what a coinkidink!
What did he know? Weeeeeeeeeeell...since the man had asked so nicely...
"Murtlaps-s-s are found in the coas-s-stal areas-s-s of Britain - s-s-seashore dwellers-s-s - are are wicked us-s-seful!" he began after he had been called upon. "Fey like to eat crustaceans-s-s-s bes-s-st and fat growff on their back - the tentacles-s-s - can be pickled and eaten to improve your resistance to jinxes-s-s. Too much pickled murtlap growth will turn your hair PURPLE fough. ALSO! That growff...the tentacles? Yeah, FOSE! Fey are also used in Murtlap Es-sss-sssssssss-ssence. AND AND AND Newt Scamander kept one in his suitcase! OH! And their bites-s-s can be realyl REALLY bad if you have a s-s-serious reaction to fem. Fire out of your bum!"
And the incarnation of Newt Scamander has spoken. A bit textbook, but River accepted Derf's answer with enthusiasm. "I hope the rest took down notes, because this young man right here has summed up everything for us today. Well done, Master Derfael of the"pine cones"Chocolate Frogs." River smiled down on the first year before continuing. "I would like to reiterate however, that the 'fire-out-of-your-bum' reaction from the bite can only happen to some muggles."
----------------------------
Quote:
Originally Posted by WhittyBitty
Rosalyn had been here the entire time.
Maybe not the ENTIRE time, but she had situated herself in the room before students had finished coming in, greeting each in turn with a friendly smile and a nod. It was nice to see that so many people were excited to come here and learn something from River. Looking at the state of things as far as Bunsen burners were concerned, someone wouldn't be attending the seminar and she would miss his presence. Oh well, they would be seeing each other later.
As the first question was asked, Rosalyn remained silent. Even though she had things that she could contribute, it was always best to leave it to the students. This was mostly for them after all.
The Healer discreetly regarded Rosalyn by giving her a grin, and then moved on to the next student.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hey Ju
Matt was just sitting there, wondering why they were inside for a health and wellness seminar. Exercise was the number one thing for that, so WHY weren't they out there in the grounds running again?? WHY???
But Matt still had high hopes because Healer Reed had proved he could hold fun activities. The boy was trying to figure out just HOW sitting at a desk would be interesting and fun, but he'd had no luck so far.
He did smirk, though, when he saw the Murtlap. What did he know about them? Apart from the obvious. "They have this cool mohican going on." The fifteen year-old said, using his right hand to gesture the hairstyle over his own head. "Very fashionable, if you ask me." Lol.
"Not every one can sport the look though." River replied with a chuckle, and gave the young man a good pat on the shoulder as he moved around the room.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tegz
The thing with announcements about scheduling things was that Char absolutely didn't bother reading them unless they were about dueling. So for her, she had heard about the seminar through the Gryffindor grapevine, which hadn't at ALL focused on the part where there wasn't going to be any Yetis. Not that she needed Yetis in particular, but oh BOY the healer totally should have built up to that awesomeness because really, how DID you follow that?
With a sit-down lesson that required note-taking, apparently. She DID give him a big smile though, the healer. Just because she was somewhat disappointed, it didn't mean she wasn't going to at least TRY to learn something useful. Maybe something that would be helpful in dueling? That would be okay! Lets salvage the wreckage of her active-lesson dreams okay?
Foot silently bouncing (she was pretty good at this point in her life at fidgeting without disturbing anyone else), Charlotte perked up hopefully when the lesson itself began. Her own holidays had been pretty great, obviously. She had turned sixteen not too long before Christmas, so obviously her first Christmas as a sixteen year old had involved some very grown-up things. The novelty of said grown-up things was still new enough that she hadn't even been bothered about missing out on some of the childhood traditions that she was now expected to put aside.
She hadn't yet been able to forgive her cousin for certain things, which put a bit of a damper on the holidays for Char, but she wasn't mad anymore. Only the hurt part had continued to last for her, but at least she'd forgiven (and apologised to) her parents. She'd sort of taken out her hurt and upset on them a bit, because it was easier to do that sometimes. But it was okay now. Even with a new baby in the house, things at home still felt like HOME.
But the healer, meanwhile, was lifting the mist! And Charlotte was excited right up until the moment she recognized the creatures. Oh. Murtlaps. That was..... she'd hoped for tiny nundus or something, if she was being honest.
So what could she contribute while answers were being given left-right-and-centre? Char put her hand up.
"The ministry classification of murtlaps is xxx, which means 'competent wizards should cope'." Charlotte quoted the classification directly just so that there would be no confusion but she did add, "I think the part where it says wizards -aside from the fact that it should say witches too- is kind of telling, because muggles definitely CAN'T cope with murtlaps." Poor muggles. Charlotte thought she'd read somewhere that they were more likely to have an allergic reaction to their bites too, but she wasn't sure.
As for this business with resisting jinxes... was it really worth the potential purple ear hair? Though you could just take a potion for that, she supposed, it sort of felt like cheating or something, kind of dishonest. But that was just her.
The Healer picked Charlotte's hand next and crossed his arms across his chest as he listened to her answer. "The fact that most of us are prejudiced against rats in general make us look like ignorant fools. What's worse is that we are the same when it comes to our own magical creatures such as Murtlaps, resulting in our incapability to cope with seemingly strange but beautiful creatures." River loosened up and started to pace around the room again. "It's a sad fact, however, not all hope is lost because you and the rest are here to learn and defy such ignorance." The Healer gave Charlotte an encouraging smile, and hopefully his words didn't sound too deep. Sometimes, it was very hard to resist showing his Ravenclaw soul.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverTiger
The distraction on the healer’s part hadn’t bothered Elle overly much. Obviously he wasn’t just standing there waiting for them all to arrive, and his glance toward the window only gave her a minor sense of embarrassment. She’d had a lot to deal with lately, so the fact she had any sense of time at all was an accomplishment. Plus, he hadn’t pointed it out, so she hadn’t needed to be entirely embarrassed. That and he had agreed to her other request, even though she hadn’t said anything about what it was about. “That sounds perfect,” she said, settling at her seat, choosing to leave her reasons until the Great Hall later.
The seminar had begun anyhow, as he’d begun speaking about creatures and healing. Or more accurately creatures and Potions, but given the general focus of the seminar, she had put two and two together. Healing Potions, and she’d merely blinked as he’d dissipated the mist in the box to reveal a murtlap. That certainly made sense given her train of thought. Murtlaps and mandrakes, but the latter was a plant. Not a creature, exactly.
And she’d stayed quiet. She hadn’t been able to provide any information about murtlaps that hadn’t been said, so she hadn’t seen a reason to just repeat the things that were already established.
As he passed by Elle, the Healer too offered her a grin, and moved on to the next portion of the seminar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Govoni
Fun holidays... Well, yes, if the Healer was truly wondering and concerning himself with the matter, Olivia had enjoyed a wonderful holiday. With their newly formed staff-student relationship, she found her body was allowing her to experience things and interpret her response to said things in a positive way. So, needless to say, the Gryffindor remained in high spirits. Dreamless sleep and regular meals were capable of working miracles, apparently. The headaches were less frequent, as were the dizzy spells. It was a far cry from where she'd been the last time... Having fainted and everything. Merlin, body, let's never do that again, yeah?
Shifting from one foot to the other, Liv took another gander at the sparse classroom and her peers. Not to offend any of them, but this whole thing was beginning to get incredibly repetitive. Lessons everyday with the same people. Dare she even think... That it would be nice to see some new, unfamiliar faces? Surely that wasn't a true Liv!thought, given that it was something the old Olivia might want. Or perhaps she was just burned out on the routine of it. Before, she'd have knowingly caused anarchy if she fell into this sort've rut. What the Gryffindor wouldn't give for a more practical lesson right now. Just work through whatever mild frustrations were there. She felt better, yes, but there were still some grievances. Unavoidable.
And... while she normally would've sneered at having to do too much writing for her lessons, Olivia felt it was probably best to simply jump right in with the note-taking. She had grade to maintain, after all; even if this was a seminar and not truly a lesson. With the potions theme, surely anything she learned today would assist her down the road. Was it possible for any knowledge to be useless? She didn't think so... But that was just one woman's opinion. There were probably loads of things that others found a waste of brain space... Heh... It was nice to see that her mind was doing that thing again. You know the one... Where it ran away with unimportant thoughts... Merlin, was she actually getting distracted right now?.......... Was it because she felt bored? That had definitely been an issue from the before time. But thankfully, her mind hadn't drifted to more unpleasant things... As it had been known to do with other subjects. Cores ones, at that.
Heh. Okay. Focus, brain.
Murtlaps. They were discussing murtlaps. Of course, everyone was probably aware of the creature and the very helpful remedy made from it's parts. Being a girl who always got more than her own fair share of cuts and scraps, it would've been impractical to not point out that particular fact. Even though, everyone was spilling forth with their own answers. Some were repeats. Others, not so much. Eh, it was the same thing with every lesson, however. Nothing too surprising.... Merlin, HER BRAIN WAS DOING IT AGAIN... F O C U S.
"Murtlap Essence, made from murtlaps bits is probably one of the most helpful 'everyday cures' to ever be created. Right up there with Dittany. Especially if you have little ones, who get hurt a lot." They fall down, bump their heads... Liv was a renowned babysitter in her hometown community, so she was very experienced in that regard. "It smells just awful, by the way." Not that she had to tell him, probably. They were about to work with them, after all. Also, she was 100% convinced that it smelled so bad, because it was a sea-type creature. Strange, given they lived in water, which was good for baths.
Shifting her gaze down to her glass box, she frowned deeply. Eh, at least they weren't getting physical today. Potions were a safe activity for her. "Sir, do you agree with it's Ministry rating?".. And yes, Olivia realize she was being talkative today. Apologies.
River let out an inconspicuous sigh of relief when Olivia started to talk. He knew she was making good progress, and he was proud of what he was seeing. They still have a long way to go, but to see her getting curious over –should he daresay—boring information, made some of his worries go right out of the window. Olivia was clearly helping herself get through her issues, and River encouraged her further by sticking to the discussion and exploring her answer further. "It truly is a handy remedy...and it does smell awful." River's mind wandered back to Skylar's answer, and wondered what the smell reminded her of? "Although Essence of Dittany is also an important remedy solution, it should not be used for shallow cuts and wounds, considering that the Dittany plant is extremely rare, and hard to bottle. It makes it very expensive and impractical to use in minor wounds." River nodded, and smiled down at the Gryffindor.
And they were back to the Ministry Classification thing. "I agree." He said without having any second thoughts as he gave Charlotte a quick look, then back to Olivia.
The Healer clapped his hands once, and rubbed them together as he took quick strides towards the front of the classroom, and magically rolled down the blackboard behind him, tapped his wand against it and the following words were shown on the board.
Quote:
MURTLAP
Aquatic rats found in the coastal areas of Britain
Has tentacles on its back resembling a sea anemone
Tentacles can be pickled and consumed by magical folks to resist minor jinxes
Strained and pickled tentacles produce the Murtlap's Essence
Murtlap's Essence is used to cure minor wounds and scratches
Rated 'X X X' by the Ministry (Competent Wizards & Witches should cope)
"Now that we have gathered the Murtlaps' basic information, we can now move on to our Mini-Activity for today." River moved closer to his work station and began to line up several sealed mason jars, each containing five Murtlap tentacles floating in a yellow solution. The man picked a random jar and showed it to the class. "By the end of the session, each and every one in this room will get to pickle Murtlap tentacles by making the solution...and of course, harvesting the tentacles from the Murtlaps on your work stations. But before we begin with that, I will get you started by learning how to properly strain these pickled tentacles." The man started off by cleaning his tools and hands with a cleaning spell, and went on to don his dragonhide gloves and safety goggles.
"The pickling solution is made up of spirit vinegar, or white vinegar as what our American brethren would call it, sea salt, sal ammoniac, sulfur vive, and distilled water. This composition is of hospital grade, because of the presence of ammonium chloride and sulfur vive—the same key ingredients you will find in the remedy called Panacea or what alchemists would call the perfect medicine." The Healer began to unscrew the jar and continued, "Those two ingredients are optional, however, it will make your tentacles and essence more potent." River fished a single tentacle from the jar, and held it at both ends. "Straining a tentacle is very simple. You just have to hold it at both ends like this, and wring the tentacle until the juice comes out letting the essence drip in an empty jar. You would know that the tentacle is completely dried out when it's all wrinkly and flat." He said showing the shriveled tentacle. "Collect the remains of the tentacle in a clean bowl...and we will hand those to Professor Myers to fertilize his healing herbal plants. The solution however can be stored to preserve other creature parts...preferably those that isn't edible." River finished straining his tentacles, placed all shriveled tentacles to one side, and labelled his bottle of essence before showing it to the rest of student body. "The first challenge starts here. Come forward to retrieve one jar of pickled murtlap tentacles, strain them in a vial...and label them with these." The man then moved away from his work station to give room to the students, tapped the blackboard once more and the key steps to straining murtlap tentacles appeared.
Quote:
STRAINING MURTLAP TENTACLES
Make sure your hands are clean before doing the activity.
Wear your aprons, safety goggles, dragonhide gloves
Hold the tentacle at both ends
Wring the tentacle and let the essence drip in a clean vial
Set aside shriveled tentacle (can be used as soil fertilizer for healing herbal plants)
Label vial properly
Store in a cool dry place
"ALSO!You are allowed to eat one tentacle from the jar. You all know what would happen if you consumed way too much. You've been warned." River added with a smile. "If you forgot your protective gloves, I have a few pairs here...I believe, that these were from a former Herbology professor." he said showing the class several pairs of bright pink gloves.
So. Who's going to step up to the challenge, hmm?
OOC: For the Mini-Activity, just follow the steps above and complete it in 1 post. Your character has the option to eat one tentacle...but if s/he chooses not to listen to the Healer you may. Just remember that when consuming all the tentacles would result in bushy purple ear hair. XD You have 20-24 Hours to complete this task. (21 February, 2:00 PM GMT). IF YOU NEED RIVER/ME PLEASE LABEL YOUR POST(S). Thank you! ^^
__________________
"It didn't go quite as planned." | The Underground Studio Translation: I may have caused irreversible damage on a monumental scale.
Matt just held his palms up by his sides and shrugged. Tooooo bad if people couldn't see it, the mohican was still pretty cool. If the Murtlaps didn't have that thing they'd just look like naked rodents and how boring would that be? Any muggle rat could look like that. Not fanshionable Murtlaps, they looked awesome! Pfffhaha!
The Gryffindor only half listened and took a quick look at what was now on the board. His extremely useful piece of information regarding the creatures' appearance wasn't included, which made Matt less interested in what was being said and he started to watch the Murtlaps. Lol, what ugly looking creatures. Those tentacles DID look pretty awesome, though. And say WHAT, they could EAT them - oh, he heard that bit alright! -???? HAHAHAHA, Matt definitely wanted a go!!
He immediately perked up and got ready to start. Which obviously did NOT mean he put on his gloves and goggles. If they could EAT the thing, there was no harm in holding them with his bare hands, surely?
Welp, he'd test that. So far so good!! He used his index finger and thumb to pull a pickled tentacle out and gave it a nice wigglewigglewiggle. Snort. How could he take those Murtlaps seriously with those things on them? HAHA, it was too funny!
He grabbed the other end of the tentacle and... stuffed it into his mouth. Noooo straining them just yet. Or at all. Mwahahaha!! Matt wanted to see what would really happen and if the thing about growing purple ear hair that his fellow classmate had mentioned was true or not.
PURPLE EAR HAIR! How epic! The boy kept eating the tentacles from his mason jar and every once and again he felt his ears to check if it was happening yet!
WAS IT THERE YET?? WAS IT?? He casually looked around to see if anyone reacted oddly to his new look.
Sinead nodded along fervently to River's response, grabbing for her quill to note down everything he told her- and that was interesting about the venom. Maybe somebody would discover something really important about it- and she would have been the first one to think of it! It was weird how it affected Muggles differently, wasn't it?
Then again... that suggested it could make a potion which hurt only muggles, and that sounded kind of like a terrible idea.
Perhaps fortunately, there wasn't much more time to speculate on this prospect, as River rattled off a list of ingredients which he probably wasn't expecting them to write down, but what if it was useful for her to know one day?! As he finished speaking, she raced to get the last few lines of instructions down, watching his demonstration out of the corner of one eye. Too many things to do at once- okay, but wringing out the tentacle didn't look too hard, right?
She quickly stepped around her desk to collect ingredients before everyone else reached the front, selecting a particularly juicy-looking vial of tentacles and carrying them back to her desk with care. She couldn't confess any great enthusiasm to eat one of the tentacles right now, and she wasn't expecting to get jinxed in the near future (unless the Healer was hinting at a test to come, but somehow she doubted that.) Instead, she carefully transferred one of the tentacles to an empty vial with a little bit of the preserving fluid and tucked it away into a pocket of her robes. She wasn't sure if they were technically allowed to do that, but hopefully the Healer couldn't see her while everyone else was milling around collecting their equipment. And she would be responsible with it, anyway.
That done, she moved onto straining her tentacles, thankful for the thick protective gloves. She'd slightly questioned what she'd need them for before coming to Hogwarts, but now she was here it was pretty apparent that she wouldn't get far in some lessons without them. The tentacles were kinda gross, but she was too interested in their healing properties to mind that much; soon enough she'd wrung out the jar's worth, the essence filling the vial nicely, and the remnants of the tentacles laid out neatly in the bowl to the side.
What now, then? She just had to put the essence away properly... which was done easily enough, corking and labelling the vial and setting it to one side. She wasn't sure what their next task was, so she settled for tidying all the equipment laid out across her desk, ready for further instructions from River.
Snow Miser | Munchy | Molly Hooper | T | Hey, you | Phantom | Mrs. Chris Evans | Brat Pack | Tristalen
Well this was going to be interesting.
Leon eyed the jars of pickled murtlap for a moment he did not want to eat those things.. because purple ear hair was not an option for the seventh year, especially when he was trying to get up enough nerve to ask the pretty girl next to him out on a date.. so.. straining them it was.
He moved around his desk to collect a jar of the floating tentacles as well as a vial to drain their essence into. The grey eyed boy moved back to his desk and then started to go about putting on his various protective equipment..
Apron.. check! Safety goggles.. check! Dragonhide gloves..Check and Check! All right! He was ready.
He carefully unscrewed the lid to the jar of murtlap tentacles and set it carefully aside while he peered into the jar..
Eww..
He carefully grasped one of the floating tentacles and gently shook it off to remove any excess solution before pulling it fully out of the jar and looking at it for a moment..
Totally wasn't going to eat that.
He carefully grasped both ends of the tentacle and then placed it above the vial and started to wring it out. Wring.. wring.. wring..
Leon watched the essence drip into the vial and then set the shriveled tentacle in a bowl..
All right.. one down..
He repeated the steps for the next four in the jar and finally when his vial was full of essence and his bowl full of shriveled murtlap.. he capped his vial, labeled it when the fancy label things and set the bowl aside..
♥s her SS family l Wifey is MINE | Naughty Niffler l Whittysaur l #awkwardturtle<#
While murltaps were FAR from ascetically pleasing, Rosalyn had to admit that they were definitely beneficial when it came to resisting the effects of jinxes and treating minor wounds. River would definitely have a great use for the creatures. She herself didn't venture much into the world of potion brewing though of course she wasn't bad at it. Would be hard to fail at the subject when her uncle was a Potioneer. As far as subjects had been concerned, Potions hadn't been her strongest, but it also hadn't been her weakest.
Still, Rosalyn was excited to get started.
First things first, she made sure to don all the safety equipment. That was always important and something that she had always made sure to do while a student. And yes, her hands were also clean so there was extra precaution there despite the dragonhide gloves.
Once a number of students had gone up to the front and collected a jar of pickled murltap tentacles, she followed suit. Part of her was put off by the appearance of the things while the other part was utterly fascinated by this entire process. This was the first time that she would ever be doing this and while the probability of a repeat performance was slim to nil, that didn't mean she wouldn't get something out of it. As a Ravenclaw, the educational possibilities of this exercise had her excited; however, they didn't leave her excited enough to try eating any of the tentacles. She would pass on THAT.
Now began the process of straining the tentacles. Carefully she set about squeeeeeezing out all the liquid she could get into an empty vial. Once they were all wrinkly and as empty as they would ever get, they were set aside in a clean bowl so that Paul could use them in something Herbology related. How wonderful it was that multiple people could benefit from this!
It didn't take much time for her jar of tentacles to be completely empty. Rosalyn had gathered a substantial amount of essence in her vial. She was pleased. With a smile, she added a label. Now what?
His classmates had a lot to say, some more than the others. Levi had been writing down everything so quickly that by the time healer Reed explained the activity, his hand had begun to cramp. Frowning, the boy realized he'd probably have to go over his hurried scrawl after class, to clear up spelling mistakes and words that, by the next time he chose to review his notes, would be impossible to understand.
...Did one of his notations say that someone's armotentia smelled like multrap? Levi shook his head, and went to retrieve a jar from where Healer Reed had positioned them.
He removed his reading glasses, and after blinking several times, the boy applied on the safety goggles. His vision without reading glasses wasn't perfect, but as long as he didn't have to do a lot of reading or writing, it would...have to do. Levi went then on to put on and tie his apron and clean his hands by muttering the spell and doing a quick flick of his wand. He did it twice on each hand, for good measure; cleaning charms had never come easy to the boy, and that he'd remembered which one exactly was used in such cases was a little bit like a miracle that Levi was determined to count as a victory of sorts.
Once he'd put on the gloves, Levi picked up one of the tentacles and brought it close to his narrowed eyes to examine. He turned it over this way and that, noting that it looked pretty clean. It didn't look necessarily good, but it wasn't attached to something that resembled a rat anymore so deciding to pop one into his mouth wasn't hard. As he chewed, his facial muscles worked over-time to respond and accommodate to the texture and taste. It wasn't that bad. It was weird and he didn't think he'd making them part of his regular diet anytime soon, but it could have been way worse.
Levi took another tentacle, careful not to squeeze it too hard, and wrung it over the vial. Most the essence went in, but some of it sprayed upwards and landed on one side of his face and over one of his eyes. Well, at least the goggles had done their job. Levi reached up with his arm and wiped off the dirty goggle lens. He raised his hand, "Sir, is this enough for the vial or should I use another tentacle? Uuh, I had an accident." And he pointed to the remaining stain on his cheek. As he waited for a response, Levi looked around, gaze falling on the colorful hair growth on the ears of a younger Gryffindor whose name Levi thought was Matt or Mark. He didn't want to be discouraging by laughing, though he wanted to, so he settled for grinning widely, as he tried to keep his shoulders from shaking in refrained laughter. Levi gave Matt or Mark the thumbs up, "Looking good, mate."
Etta listened to the instructions------ WAIT WHAT. Did he just say they could EAT that tentacle? The expression on her face shifted from one of boredom to that of complete horror. AHAHA. Nope. Nope. Like that was going to happen. How unpleasant. She quickly put on her gloves and wore her goggles, wanting to get this activity over already. She glanced towards the murtlaps occasionally. Ugh, they were not the prettiest of creatures.
Moving on. The Hufflepuff moved a clean vial to the centre of her work station first. She, then, gingerly lifted a tentacle out of the jar and held it carefully at both the ends, trying not to look rather... disgusted. Ugh. The girl made sure the tentacle was directly above the vial before she carefully started to wring it until it had become a little wrinkly. Ew. She set it or almost threw it aside and stared at the now juice-filled vial. Okay, DONE. That was satisfactory, right?
Etta labeled the vial and heaved a small sigh of relief, looking around for a bit before she noticed one of her class-mates [ Matt ] gulping down the tentacles like they were snacks. Ew. She stared, suddenly noticing the purple hair that was beginning to grow on his ears.. HEHEH. She couldn't help giggling a little, feeling extremely amused.
Ama!Nabs IS NAMED MINHO & Is SO Black Panther Right Now
Usually Declan was an excellent note taker. He had been taking notes for years now, about things that had nothing to do with his lessons. The amount of personal studying he had gotten done over the past four to five years were surely enough to impress any Ravenclaw. It was just perchance that he really wasn't out to impress anyone only out to understand himself a little more.
An apron was put on to keep him clean in case he was clumsy and a pair of goggles covered what he deemed mostly useless eyes. He grabbed the needed materials and returned to his desk.
The healer had told them they were allowed to have a taste of the pickled murtlap tentacles. Declan was, frankly, not that tempted and he busied himself making his hands clean before putting on gloves. He picked a tentacle up and gave it a good look, squishing it between his thumb and index finger to get a main feel for it.
He worked meticulously--maybe slower than others-- and squeezed every drop into the vial. Declan didn't rush himself and didn't look to the side in order to compare his progress to others. He wasn't interested in competition either. It wasn't in his nature which he knew was a disappointment for his Mama. She was good and she loved him, he knew, but she was honest and blunt. Once the vial was full, he carefully stuck the label on it and wrote his name in a tight scrawl on the line.
Henry was relieved to know that murtlaps weren't normally harmed when harvesting the tentacles. But he still wondered if they grew back or if it was unpleasant for the creatures to be without part of their body. He doubted that they willingly gave them up.
But they were moving on now and he did his best to focus. Ugh. Okay. This was going to basically be a potions class, or at least close to it. Hopefully he didn't mess it up because even though he did try hard at potions, he barely scraped by with a passable grade. He tried to pay attention to the demonstration too, but as always he was thankful for the instructions on the board so he could keep referring back to it.
He wondered why it was important to make sure one's hands were clean if they had to wear their gloves anyway, but he did care that much to question it. He figured his hands were clean enough after giving them a cursory glance and he pulled on his dragonhide gloves before searching out an apron and a pair of safety goggles. And though the thought of eating one of these pickled murtlap tentacles did not appeal to him at all, he couldn't help but to be curious about it. Would it taste like a pickle? Or something else? He thought pickles were okay so maybe it wouldn't be that bad.
But he wasn't that worried about it, he'd rather just get his task done for now. Walking up to the front of the room, Henry retrieved a jar and a vial, and he returned with them to his table. Pulling a tentacle out, he held it at ds like he remembered in the demonstration and wrung it out till it was all wrinkly and flat, trying to get as much of the liquidy part in the vial.
As he set the dried up tentacle aside, he raised his hand. "Professor..? I mean.." Henry shook his head a bit, knowing he wasn't a professor, just was used to using that title in class. "Healer Reed.. can they be used as fertilizer in other plants besides healing ones?" Because he had a little bonsai tree that might benefit from a little extra fertilization. He wrote his name on the label and stuck it on the vial, then looked at the remaining tentacles in the jar. Oh. Were they meant to do all of them?
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Shoe!Girl │ Rebel Ravie │ Confundus Queen │ RP Addict
There really wasn’t any motivation on Elle’s part to actually try eating any of the pickled tentacles, as they’d been given the instructions for the mini-activity and then set free to actually accomplish the task. The healing properties had definitely gotten her interest, as had the other benefits, but she had no desire to deal with purple ear hair. Even without the helpful demonstration from Matt, several work stations away from her own. Nor had she needed to borrow any gloves, as she had her gloves in her bag just in case. She’d slipped those on before standing and walking up to collect a jar, vial and tag. Just in case anything happened, she wanted to be prepared.
Plus, she’d known her hands were clean anyhow. All that remained was to put the apron on along with her safety goggles. If a bubblehead charm would have worked, she would have done that as well, just to avoid getting splashed. Observing the others had its uses. Once she was ready, she opened her jar and pulled out a tentacle, holding it by one end as she got the vial ready then picking the other end up in her other hand. Time for wringing it out. She carefully twisted it, wringing out as much juice as she could and trying to get it all into the vial. It wasn’t the easiest job, but she felt relatively successful after the first couple of tentacles. There wasn’t too much juice on the table anyhow, and she also felt like she was getting into a pattern. Wringing, collecting and setting the wrinkled dry tentacle aside.
She was relieved when she had a full vial, however. This certainly wasn’t her favorite activity ever, even if it might prove useful later on. She labeled her vial, making certain it was sealed properly, then set it all aside to wait for what was going to come next.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stefan
The Healer picked Charlotte's hand next and crossed his arms across his chest as he listened to her answer. "The fact that most of us are prejudiced against rats in general make us look like ignorant fools. What's worse is that we are the same when it comes to our own magical creatures such as Murtlaps, resulting in our incapability to cope with seemingly strange but beautiful creatures." River loosened up and started to pace around the room again. "It's a sad fact, however, not all hope is lost because you and the rest are here to learn and defy such ignorance." The Healer gave Charlotte an encouraging smile, and hopefully his words didn't sound too deep. Sometimes, it was very hard to resist showing his Ravenclaw soul.
------
And they were back to the Ministry Classification thing. "I agree." He said without having any second thoughts as he gave Charlotte a quick look, then back to Olivia.
The Healer clapped his hands once, and rubbed them together as he took quick strides towards the front of the classroom, and magically rolled down the blackboard behind him, tapped his wand against it and the following words were shown on the board.
"Now that we have gathered the Murtlaps' basic information, we can now move on to our Mini-Activity for today." River moved closer to his work station and began to line up several sealed mason jars, each containing five Murtlap tentacles floating in a yellow solution. The man picked a random jar and showed it to the class. "By the end of the session, each and every one in this room will get to pickle Murtlap tentacles by making the solution...and of course, harvesting the tentacles from the Murtlaps on your work stations. But before we begin with that, I will get you started by learning how to properly strain these pickled tentacles." The man started off by cleaning his tools and hands with a cleaning spell, and went on to don his dragonhide gloves and safety goggles.
"The pickling solution is made up of spirit vinegar, or white vinegar as what our American brethren would call it, sea salt, sal ammoniac, sulfur vive, and distilled water. This composition is of hospital grade, because of the presence of ammonium chloride and sulfur vive—the same key ingredients you will find in the remedy called Panacea or what alchemists would call the perfect medicine." The Healer began to unscrew the jar and continued, "Those two ingredients are optional, however, it will make your tentacles and essence more potent." River fished a single tentacle from the jar, and held it at both ends. "Straining a tentacle is very simple. You just have to hold it at both ends like this, and wring the tentacle until the juice comes out letting the essence drip in an empty jar. You would know that the tentacle is completely dried out when it's all wrinkly and flat." He said showing the shriveled tentacle. "Collect the remains of the tentacle in a clean bowl...and we will hand those to Professor Myers to fertilize his healing herbal plants. The solution however can be stored to preserve other creature parts...preferably those that isn't edible." River finished straining his tentacles, placed all shriveled tentacles to one side, and labelled his bottle of essence before showing it to the rest of student body. "The first challenge starts here. Come forward to retrieve one jar of pickled murtlap tentacles, strain them in a vial...and label them with these." The man then moved away from his work station to give room to the students, tapped the blackboard once more and the key steps to straining murtlap tentacles appeared. "ALSO!You are allowed to eat one tentacle from the jar. You all know what would happen if you consumed way too much. You've been warned." River added with a smile. "If you forgot your protective gloves, I have a few pairs here...I believe, that these were from a former Herbology professor." he said showing the class several pairs of bright pink gloves.
So. Who's going to step up to the challenge, hmm?
OOC: For the Mini-Activity, just follow the steps above and complete it in 1 post. Your character has the option to eat one tentacle...but if s/he chooses not to listen to the Healer you may. Just remember that when consuming all the tentacles would result in bushy purple ear hair. XD You have 20-24 Hours to complete this task. (21 February, 2:00 PM GMT). IF YOU NEED RIVER/ME PLEASE LABEL YOUR POST(S). Thank you! ^^
Charlotte blinked at the healer when he responded to her answer. Or at least... she had thought he was responding to her answer. Had someone else said something? Because.... what? Who is prejudiced against rats? Char mentally reviewed what she had said, and tipped her head to one side, eyes going wide in confusion. Who was ignorant? She wasn't and she was pretty sure that her friends weren't either. And she had faith in the rest of the general Hogwarts population too. And anyways, murtlaps and rats weren't even that much alike, excepting that an unsuspecting muggle might assume a murtlap was a type of rat if it came across one.
"I don't think that's what they mean by 'cope' though, Healer Reed." And she did notice, happily, that he'd added witches when he wrote up what the XXX rating meant on the board. "Isn't it just about, you know, not being bitten? Because like.... an unskilled witch or wizard, or a muggle," Which had been her point actually, "They might not be safe around a murtlap, because it could bite them and they wouldn't know what to do, or wouldn't be able to do anything about it.... right?" Wasn't that what it meant by coping, and not.... anything whatsoever to do with prejudice? Also who said anyone was prejudiced anyways? Char sure wasn't. Char had a fondness for snails, and her favourite pet was an Achatina Achatina, an African Giant Snail, so Murtlaps weren't even particularly gross to her mind. "I thought the whole of the Ministry Classification system was about the safety of both the human and the creature, when it comes to how they are graded, and not anything to do with how 'strange' any of the creatures are." Was he muggleborn? He wasn't, right? Soooo why would he think any creatures are strange? Char didn't presume to know, but she watched in complete bafflement as the healer pace around and cut side eyes at her.
Well at least she wasn't bored now. She even managed a few notes, not about the murtlaps cos she knew, but about the essence part. Panacea and vinegar and stuff.
And they were going to strain some tentacles. Charlotte wasn't familiar with this process simply because they had a house elf and didn't ever actually need to do this at home, so she was game enough to try it out. She got up and selected a jar and returned to her seat.
She scourgified her hands, and put her apron on, then pulled her goggles down and put on her gloves. Why did she need to wash her hands And wear gloves? Maybe she was supposed to wash her gloves? She scourgified those too, just in case, and then scourgified a vial.... though wouldn't it just be easier to do it straight back in the jar? Oh well. She opened the jar carefully, not wanting to slop the liquid anywhere. Char reached in and fished out a tentacle with some difficulty. They weren't very big actually, so grabbing it wasn't that easy. She twisted it carefully and watched the liquid wring out of it into one of her vials. Presumably the one they were allowed to eat should not be wrung out though right? Wouldn't want to get rid of all the goodness. The vinegar might make it taste weird though. Or better. Regardless it probably wouldn't taste much like what it would in its unpickled state.
But she was still wringing the first tentacle. Once it looked shrivelled and liquid free enough, she put it aside, into a clean bowl, and picked up the next tentacle. She was still thinking about if she'd eat one or not. Really, she was game to try it. Only one though. And she still wasn't sold on if it would be okay in a proper duel. Char wrinkled her nose, the vinegar smell getting right up in her nostrils even though she was being careful.
A couple more tentacles and she was done, except for that last one. But Char figured stoppering up the vial and labelling it first was a good idea, just in case she or someone knocked it over. She filled the label out and then turned her attention to the last tentacle. She scooped it up, put it in her mouth, and with a thoughtful expression, swallowed it whole.
.....
............ and then she checked for ear hair. But then she'd only had the one so she was probably okay. Good. Her Uncle Plymouth told stories about ear hair experiences at Hogwarts, Char didn't much want to add her own tale to the family history. She checked the label again just to be sure and then eyed the jar. What did they do with the rest of that liquid too?
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be careful who you give it to :: they might not give it back to you
Despite all the note-taking that she was doing, this seminar was managing to be pretty entertaining. Granted, most of it came from Skylar and Matt's answer -- yes, hai Master Solo, we see you -- but one couldn't have it all. Daisy was even slightly amused by the fact that they now got to wring those tentacles for their essence. Things were always better when they were practical and not only theoretical.
After getting one the jars filled with tentacles that Healer Reed had pointed to, the Slytherin made her way back to her desk and got her protective goggles on. The instructions also said to make sure her hands were clean, so she got her wand and scourgified them, before putting on her gloves. HAH. The girl struggled for a few moments, trying to open the jar with those blasted gloves on but finally, somehow, she had managed to do it.
Getting the tentacles wasn't exactly the easiest of things either since they kept slipping out of her hands but she finally managed to get one. Twist, twist, twist. She twisted the tentacle until no more essence was dripping from it and threw it into a clean bowl. Alright, now for the rest. She would do them all, but leave one for her to eat. She wasn't exactly comfortable eating things offered by the Professors but she reckoned that it wouldn't be much of a problem if she got poisoned now. The Healer was right there, after all!
After she had wrung all the tentacles, bar one, she carefully labelled the jar the way Healer Reed had instructed them too and set it carefully aside. AH, all now. Now she could try that tentacle. It kind of looked like an overgrown spaghetti and Daisy was honestly much more concerned about all the vinegar; she did not appreciate it at all. Maybe she could sneakily take a bite out of her chocolate afterwards to hide the taste? Hmmm. The Slytherin threw the entire tentacle into her mouth and chewed it, trying very hard not to grimace at the acid flavour. NOPE, she did not like it, AT ALL. Apparently, Matt had liked them, though, and she laughed out loud at his new ... style. "That's a nice look there, Solo!"
Maybe she should've eaten more than one. Purple ear hair was awesome, as it turns out.
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While this whole pickling practice was interesting...Derf reeeeeally just wanted to fast forward to the murtlap handling. He knew how to pickle things at home - he had helped dad make loads of them while mum was pregnant with his little sister - but he had NEVER handled a murtlap before and that was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more exciting than mixing pickling solution. No offense Mr. Healer, sir.
Getting his quill out the first year copied down the instructions and couldn't help but boyishly giggle at Charlotte's response to what the Healer had said. He ws grateful that the Gryffindor had said something herself because he had wanted to pipe up and say the same sort of thing. Healer Reed was REALLY passionate about rodents though, if that little mini speech was any indication of matters. Rodent advocate!
He was personally a newt fan, but that went without saying.
Hopping up to his feet, the Hufflepuff made his way over to the sink and washed his hands thoroughly. Twice. Okay three times. He WAS trying to get all the dirt out from under his fingernails from his earlier rounds around the grounds collecting worms. Once he had most of it removed - his pinky fingers were being especially uncooperative - he grabbed his apron, goggles, and dragonhide gloves (the ones from his own enchanted suitcase because he knew those were from a maker that collected the dragonhide in a humane manner. Couldn't be too sure about other companies!) and then got ready to handle his tentacle.
Dragonhide gloves made handling the slick jelly-like tentacle pretty easy - and now that he was thinking about jelly he really wanted to eat jelly slugs - the first year held each end between his thumb and index finger on each hand and twisted as instructed..........and completely missed the vial he was supposed to allow the essence to drip into. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, was the silent cry he made in his head as he quickly used the sleeve of his robe to wipe that up.
Picking another, Derf wondered if removing tentacles was like removing the tails of crups. Just a simple severing charm to do the trick? But surely there had to be some sort of numbing element involved because it was CHOPPING something off...yeah? And they could regenerate like an anemone's could, yeah? YEAH?
Of fudgesticks. Missed the vial AGAIN.
Setting his second tentacle aside and wiping up the essence with his other sleeve, Derf was determined on his third attempt. Third time's the charm, right? FOCUSING this time, the first year actually got the essence into the vial this time and quickly capped it before any accident could happen. Well...now he had two shriveled tentacles...and no real interest in doing aaaaanything with them and plants. He would give them to Henry after class maybe.
Writing his full name - Derfael Mitchell Ashburry-Hawtorne - on the label, he slapped that on to his vial and then left it on his desk while side-eyeing the remaining tentacles. Probably tasted nothing like jelly slugs.
Curious, Derf pulled one out and wiggled it in front of his face. Definitely not jelly slug consistency either. But...he had eaten worms before - he wouldn't feed Scamander anything he himself could not stomach, of course - so this couldn't be all that terrible. Which was why in the next moment the Hufflepuff was slurping up his murtlap tentacle like a thick piece of spaghetti.
hmmmmmm...slimey yet....satisfying?
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SPOILER!!: Replies!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tegz
Charlotte blinked at the healer when he responded to her answer. Or at least... she had thought he was responding to her answer. Had someone else said something? Because.... what? Who is prejudiced against rats? Char mentally reviewed what she had said, and tipped her head to one side, eyes going wide in confusion. Who was ignorant? She wasn't and she was pretty sure that her friends weren't either. And she had faith in the rest of the general Hogwarts population too. And anyways, murtlaps and rats weren't even that much alike, excepting that an unsuspecting muggle might assume a murtlap was a type of rat if it came across one.
"I don't think that's what they mean by 'cope' though, Healer Reed." And she did notice, happily, that he'd added witches when he wrote up what the XXX rating meant on the board. "Isn't it just about, you know, not being bitten? Because like.... an unskilled witch or wizard, or a muggle," Which had been her point actually, "They might not be safe around a murtlap, because it could bite them and they wouldn't know what to do, or wouldn't be able to do anything about it.... right?" Wasn't that what it meant by coping, and not.... anything whatsoever to do with prejudice? Also who said anyone was prejudiced anyways? Char sure wasn't. Char had a fondness for snails, and her favourite pet was an Achatina Achatina, an African Giant Snail, so Murtlaps weren't even particularly gross to her mind. "I thought the whole of the Ministry Classification system was about the safety of both the human and the creature, when it comes to how they are graded, and not anything to do with how 'strange' any of the creatures are." Was he muggleborn? He wasn't, right? Soooo why would he think any creatures are strange? Char didn't presume to know, but she watched in complete bafflement as the healer pace around and cut side eyes at her.
In all honesty, River appreciated the follow-up question from Charlotte, and he too did not miss the confused look on her face. He did it again, didn't he? Over-thinking things was one of his weaknesses, and his answers could lead to more confusion. He really should've considered the fact that he wasn't talking to a fellow Healer, but rather a learning student. The Healer tilted his head to the side to listen to the Gryffindor, his pleasant grin ever present while doing so. "It's good to know what this creature can do to a person, but I think it would also help if one knew what to do in case they attack. This witch or wizard must be capable of tending the bite, and to know how not to agitate it when one comes across it." Did...that make sense? Knowing the facts were never meant to stay in textbooks, rather it has to be further questioned, tested, and constantly proved.
River pursed his lips as he tried his best not to further enable his Ravenclaw mind. Over-thinking was a bad idea, especially in times when he has medical cases to review and think about. The Healer glanced down at Charlotte's work, and nodded in approval when she decided to pop one tentacle in her mouth. "Well done, Miss Kettleburn."
The murtlap in her glass box didn't look amused though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oesed
Levi took another tentacle, careful not to squeeze it too hard, and wrung it over the vial. Most the essence went in, but some of it sprayed upwards and landed on one side of his face and over one of his eyes. Well, at least the goggles had done their job. Levi reached up with his arm and wiped off the dirty goggle lens. He raised his hand, "Sir, is this enough for the vial or should I use another tentacle? Uuh, I had an accident." And he pointed to the remaining stain on his cheek. As he waited for a response, Levi looked around, gaze falling on the colorful hair growth on the ears of a younger Gryffindor whose name Levi thought was Matt or Mark. He didn't want to be discouraging by laughing, though he wanted to, so he settled for grinning widely, as he tried to keep his shoulders from shaking in refrained laughter. Levi gave Matt or Mark the thumbs up, "Looking good, mate."
River wheeled around and took measured steps towards Levi. "That's perfectly fine, Master Kenning. May I suggest that you go about wringing it in a slower manner? Some of the tentacles can get really packed and juicy." And some tend to fall off when it gets too heavy. "You can get another set of tentacles and vials if you wish." River added gesturing to the table up front.
Quote:
Originally Posted by emjay
As he set the dried up tentacle aside, he raised his hand. "Professor..? I mean.." Henry shook his head a bit, knowing he wasn't a professor, just was used to using that title in class. "Healer Reed.. can they be used as fertilizer in other plants besides healing ones?" Because he had a little bonsai tree that might benefit from a little extra fertilization. He wrote his name on the label and stuck it on the vial, then looked at the remaining tentacles in the jar. Oh. Were they meant to do all of them?
Looking up from Levi's work station, River made his way towards Henry this time. The Healer's face brightened at the question, "Yes, it is possible. In fact, in Castelobruxo we re-pickle the shriveled tentacle by using the same secondhand solution, and add it into the fertilizing soil whenever it is needed. Herbology students from Castelobruxo add these tentacles whenever their plants are heavily infested or seem to be dying. It's perfectly safe for healthy, non-healing plants as well as it gives off extra protective nutrients to the soil." It was a classic Castelobruxo trick that River learned and remembered when he transferred there during his O.W.L Year. "You didn't hear that from me though. It's one of Castelobruxo's Herbology secrets." he added in a low tone, grinning at the young man before moving along.
...
River stepped to the side, as soon as he saw Matt sporting the bushy ear hair. "Auditioning for Starwars, Matt?" the Healer reached out to the purple ear hair and fluffed it with his gloved hand. It had been years since he last saw one of those. "You're upstaging your murtlap, my friend." with a chuckle, the Healer moved back to his work station and clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
"Now, we move on to harvesting the murtlap's tentacles. It's not easy to handle a murtlap, given its quick reaction to one's touch, or in the case of its natural habitat...a person's feet. To be able to get near one to harvest its tentacles, one must use its weakness against it, and that is...food." River uncovered one of his cauldrons, tipped it forward so every one can see that it was filled to the brim with fresh shrimps. "We know that they feed on crustaceans, so today, we will give in to their wishes...in exchange for tentacles. Eyes on me now, please." he said as he got a handful of fresh shrimps in one hand, slowly and carefully lifted the lid of his glass box and gently dropped the food inside. "Don't worry about your murtlaps jumping out of their glass boxes, as I have taken the precaution of putting a one way barrier underneath each of the top lids. Be careful in lifting the cover though, because Murtlaps hate hasty movements." he said eyeing some of the overzealous students in the room.
"To test if the Murtlap is distracted, I will slowly put my gloved hand inside and see if it will react to it..." River's voice faded as he slowly dipped his hand inside, but as soon as he did so, the Murtlap quickly made a 360 on its spot, dropped its shrimp and eyed the hand!intruder. "...and when it catches you...simply freeze in place, and wait for it to resume eating his food." River continued talking while his whole body was frozen in place. It took the Murtlap several seconds before deciding it was okay to pick up another shrimp near its feet, and the Healer continued to reach inside the glass box until his gloved hand made contact on its tentacles. Slowly, he got his other hand inside...and sloooowly lifted the eating Murtlap outside of the box and showed it to the class. "Earlier, you all got to experience how a tentacle felt in your hands. You would've noticed that it's very soft, and fatty like our earlobes, but if you look closer, the base of the unsevered tentacle is made up of approximately one centimeter of cartilage that holds the tentacle." River carefully parted the many tentacles of the murtlap, and showed the pinkish stubs protruding from its skin. "We do not want to cut that, as this will introduce immense pain for the murtlap...and cause yourself much trouble." River gently placed his murtlap back in its glass box and waited for it to begin eating its next shrimp. "Since all of you are beginners in harvesting murtlap tentacles, I will have to oblige you to use scissors in severing the tentacles. That way, you get to feel the stub first, work your way upwards toward the base of the fleshy tentacle and cut it from there." he said picking up his own scissors, and made sure that the murtlap was distracted with its food before reaching in again to gently tug on a tentacle, feel its stub, and severe the tentacle just a few centimeters from it. River then held up the tentacle for everyone to see, and placed it in a clean supply tray. "Always make sure that the murtlap is eating its food first before you reach out into the box and procure its tentacles. Also, you are constrained to keep your murtlaps inside the box for safety reasons."Capisce?
River went on to uncover several cauldrons in front of him, all of which were filled with fresh shrimps. "Whenever you're ready, come on up with a bowl, get as much murtlap food as you need and get on with harvesting." the Healer sealed in his murtlap once more, and moved away from his work station to tap on the board once more, revealing the next instructions:
Quote:
HARVESTING MURTLAP TENTACLES
Slowly, and gently lift the top lid of your glass box;
Gently drop its food inside and wait for the Murtlap to start eating;
Slowly reach inside your glass box once the Murtlap is distracted enough with its food;
Freeze / don't make any unnecessary movements when the Murtlap suspects your presence. Wait for it to resume eating before proceeding;
Be very gentle with the tentacles when selecting. Feel the stub first, and then glide your index and thumb away from the stub and severe approximately a centimeter or two away from it;
CHECKPOINT: See and observe if the Murtlap still has food to nibble on before proceeding.
Repeat last step, and continuously check the Murtlap's food supply inside the box;
Set aside all harvested tentacles in a clean supply tray.
OOC:
1. I will be needing a maximum of 2 posts for this activity. Please label them accordingly.
2. Simply follow River's instructions above to get full points for this portion.
3. You have 24 Hours to complete this activity, (22 February 2017, 3:00 PM, GMT)
4. If you need us/me, label your posts or VM/PM me for clarifications. Thank you! ^^
__________________
"It didn't go quite as planned." | The Underground Studio Translation: I may have caused irreversible damage on a monumental scale.
SEMINAR 2: Healer's Challenge :: Straining, Harvesting, & Pickling Murtlap Tentacles 
x12 
x12
