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SEMINAR 2: Healer's Challenge :: Straining, Harvesting, & Pickling Murtlap Tentacles STRAINING, HARVESTING, AND PICKLING MURTLAP TENTACLES
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The last seminar she'd attended had turned out to be an obstacle course in disguise, but Sinead had done a bit more research before turning up this time and she was pretty sure this one would involve some more actual learning-healing-stuff. She really hoped so, anyway. Walking into the classroom gave her a weird kind of happy shiver as the magically warmed air surrounded her, a noticeable contrast from the draughty old corridors of the castle. The setup of the classroom seemed promising: potions weren't her favourite, but she knew they were important for healing and she didn't really mind them. "Good morning, Sir." She bobbed her head politely as she entered, taking the desk at the front opposite the Healer. If he did the practical parts as well, she may as well get the best view possible- it could only help her learn, after all. |
Hattie had adored the first healer seminar, and she really could not wait for the next one. So when the notice went up, she was really excited. She didn't really want to be a healer, but it had been fun, and she was sure that the next one was bound to be really good and exciting too. On the day she got dressed excitedly, and then headed to the spare classroom where the seminar was to be taking place. She was looking forward to seeing what they would be learning. She beamed as she found the classroom, and she went in. "Oooh...." There was lot of interesting things on the tables. She recognised some of the things but not all of them. It looked kind of like a potions lesson, but with more muggle thing. That was actually pretty interesting. She turned her attention to the healer, and smiled at him. "Hello Sir" She murmured, greeting him with a smile before she headed to the rows of benches, and found herself a seat. |
Levi had missed the first seminar for reasons he'd pondered on his way to the classroom but could no longer remember. It'd probably involved getting caught up somewhere in the library finishing a book or helping Declan read some bones (or rather hear Declan read and interpret the bones). It could have also been that he'd been busy dealing with Althea's general extra factor without getting hexed into his next birthday. Those were really the only three options. Perhaps it'd been all three. That was possibility, too. But the important thing was that he'd made it on time for the seminar, and that he was free to choose whatever work station he liked best so he occupied one on the first row. Levi made as if to touch one of the tongs, but then quickly dropped his hands, content to just see for now. Well, not content, but. "Oh, hello." He greeted the school healer, at last. Would they be dissecting something??????? |
Leon was curious as to what the Healer would have in store for them this time and he made his way into the empty classroom and looked around, part of him was looking for a certain Hufflepuff Prefect, the other part of him was looking for clues "Hello Healer Reed. " He said with a warm smile. Since connecting with his half sister Azura he had learned that the Healer was her best friends Uncle. He had yet to meet Jace, but he hoped he would eventually.. He took his spot at a desk and then looked at the supplies there.. Huh... he had no idea.. |
Standing still for a few minutes before the door to the room she hesitated, she NEVER before had showed any interest in this subject but, she wanted to know more about all the different kinds of magic and healing was one of them. She found it really bothersome that she didn’t knew much about all the different things you could do with magic because of her muggle upbringing and she wanted to find out if she liked this or not and… If it would be too difficult for her at all to understand because that too was a possibility! Taking a deep breath she decided that it couldn’t be bad to just try it and… Maybe it could even be a good thing for her to be here because, you know… Maybe she even would earn some housepoints by doing this! Entering the room she saw the healer standing in the room. He was a person from the castle she only knew from name and position but she never actually had needed to visit him so she never had really talked to the healer and she didn’t knew if she would like the lesson he was going to teach. Well… One way to find it out! Stepping forward she walked toward the healer and smiled friendly. “Hello, I hope that I can join this lesson today because… Well… I don’t know much about healing so I want to find out more about it” she smiled. “Oh, and I’m Leesha Griffel” she introduced herself, not sure if the healer knew who she was because, again, she never had visited him, not even for such a simple thing as a cold! |
By the time Abey made it to the seminar his hair was STILL all damp and maybe a little bit soapy on account of a few certain pre-class preparations. Or, well... failed preparations, actually. The water had dripped down onto his uniform and made his collar all damp and the parts of his hair that weren't still sticking up in every direction were instead plastered down onto his head. None of this went very well with the cold cold cold corridors, so Abey was SO RELIEVED to walk into the classroom and find that actually it was lovely and warm inside. "Hi Professor!" Abey chirped, suddenly in such better spirits. Technically also he sort of did know that the healer wasn't a professor, but he had gotten so into the habit of calling all adults 'professor', because it was a lot easier to get through the day without trying to remember all those little details, so he was going to stick with that. Getting himself situated (alone) at a table, Abey (obviously) couldn't quite resist poking that strange glass box. And maybe trying to see if he could nudge it open. Turned out that he couldn't, so instead he just settled in at his workstation, fiddling with the tools that were there, and kept one eye on the door to see if and when Derf was going to show up. He might actually have also already put his work goggles on, just because they were there. |
Although he had not participated in the first seminar, Mason still wanted to see what it was all about and who knows, maybe he'd like it so much he'd actually found something that he wanted to do after graduating. Because owning a big personal library did not exactly pay the bills. Once he had entered the spare classroom and with the way it was set up it reminded him of the potions class. He walked forward once he spotted the Healer himself as he seemed to check everything. "Hi sir" greeted with a small smile and a nod of his head "look! My nose and fingers are still normal" he said, a bit too proudly for some reason...before he found a place to seat. The place in question was somewhere upfront and as he sat down and looked at the items on his desk he wondered if they were going to make antidotes or something. Not to mention that that box was calling his name , ok not really, but he DID want to open it and check what's in it. But after being here for two years now he knew better than to poke so he got out one of his trusted books, a fantasy novel from the muggle world this time, and opened it to the last 75 pages in the back. Almost finished~ |
Henry had an awesome time at the last seminar, but it wasn't that surprising. He loved being outside and being active, and it had been such a fun obstacle course. And so he was looking forward to this next seminar, hoping it would be as fun as the last. But he wasn't completely sure that it would be. Not when they were instructed to wear their school uniforms and bring note-taking materials. Still, he had high hopes. As he walked into the classroom, he noted that it reminded him somewhat of potions equipment. Would they be doing something potions related? Henry wasn't the best at potions, but he did try. He nodded to the healer, giving him a grin as he passed by. "Hello, Healer Reed." Hopefully, they'd be doing something active though, and he stood over by his buddy Mason as he waited somewhat impatiently for class to begin. "What do you think is in that box?" he whispered to the boy with a book. Because that misty stuff had his focus for the time being. |
Declan wasn't very good at many things. In fact, he was very average and at times sub par in classes. He wasn't very athletic either much to his mother's disappointment. There was no one to carry on her legacy and she liked to whine about this during family dinner's. It didn't matter, however, because neither of his siblings or himself ever really felt that guilty about it. He wasn't sure how his brother Levi felt or how his sister Althea felt. On his part, Declan just had too much on his plate to worry about than to add death by bludger to the list. What topped his list was a good night's sleep, something he hadn't had since he turned 13. It hurt to think about. Declan didn't think that was an issue most teenagers faced and so he liked to stay busy to quiet his own voice along with the others that kept him awake day and night. This seminar was a great way to stay busy even if he had no idea what he was going to be doing. Declan grabbed a dish cloth and tied it around his face, hiding his nose and mouth. "Safety first," he told his brother from the desk to Levi's left. "You never know where toxins might be creeping around waiting to shock your nerve system and sending you into respiratory arrest." |
Juno wasn't one for healing, in fact blood made her a little squeamish at times, so hopefully they weren't going to have to do to much with that kind of stuff. She missed the first seminar, but Leon had said how much fun it was so she decided to check this one out. "Hello, Healer Reed! It's nice to see you." She hadn't had many run in's with the healer but he seemed pretty cool. Then the buff, brown haired Ravenclaw caught her attention and a huge grin spread across her face. She made her way towards him, boots clicking the floor as she went. "Morning, Cap." She whispered with a wink. The nickname fit him so well. |
The last seminar had been TONS of fun in Charlotte's opinion. They'd gotten to run around, in the SNOW. And there had been obstacles and she'd made friends with a first year and slid on an inner tube AND been chased by a Yeti. So naturally Char was looking forward to something similar. What would it be this time? Rafting on a rapid river? Spelunking in hidden caves? Deep There were cauldrons and stuff too - it looked like potions class. Like potions class mixed with a muggle science class. But what it looked like, more than anything else, was actual WORK. Char felt TRICKED. Healer seminars were supposed to be fun and active and a perfect outlet for all the excess energy that coiled up within the blonde, not a place where she'd have to suppress it all and concentrate and be studious and all of that. Even the mystery of the mist-filled glass box wasn't enough to brighten her spirits and sense of foreboding about the WORK that was ahead of her. Even that didn't tweak her Gryffindor curiosity enough to make up for the fact that they were clearly gonna be stuck inside this time around. "Hello Healer Reed." She greeted, deflated now, despite having bounded into the room with an excess of energy just a second ago. Charlotte found a seat somewhere in the middle where she'd be able to notice anything even slightly interesting that might happen, and only then did she take another look at the glass box. Which she of course tried to open. Sort of. At least she nudged it with her little finger and discovered the lid was locked at least to casual lifting. She didn't try to unlock it or anything. ..... why was it glass though? Like, what kind of box needed to be see through? Especially when there was a mist in it that you couldn't see through? Making the best of a bad situation, as usual, Char's curiosity began waking up. Sluggishly, but present all the same. Were they supposed to put the goggles on? And the aprons? Char picked up the goggles and put them on her head for now, but not down over her eyes, and looked around, foot tapping in silent impatience and restrained energy. |
She wasn’t exactly certain about the seminars, considering the last one had been more heath related than healing, but that wasn’t a reason for Elle to not attend the second seminar. Besides, she had a bit of an ulterior motive to attending, although not one of a devious meaning. It was more the chance at learning anything she could about healing, to bolster her studies of Herbology and help her direct it in the path she’d almost officially decided she wanted to go in once term was over. She’d figured she could have asked Professor Myers some of her questions, or even Professor Newton given the fact Potions were generally important too, but neither were in fact healers. Healer Reed was, and this was easier than just stopping by his office unannounced sometime. The Potions train of thought only became stronger as she’d walked inside the classroom to see the setup. It seemed very Potions-like, beside the mystery box filled with mist. She’d stopped at a table near the front, waiting a moment before greeting the healer. “Good morning Healer Reed,” she said politely, giving him a smile. “If you don’t mind, can I speak with you after the seminar?” Nothing serious, although she could have just wanted to thank him for helping Nat. However, it was more of a personal thing. A more intensive exploration of what she needed to do after graduation. |
Another seminar. Etta made her way to the classroom, looking and feeling rather glum. It had been a weird past few days and as much as she thought talking about things with someone might be a good idea, she decided against it. Heh. Back to classes and stuff now.. she would be distracted from her thoughts, at least. "Hello, Healer Reed." Etta muttered as she found her way to an empty work station and stared at all the supplies. UHM... what was this seminar going to be about? Wasn't it going to be as fun as the previous one? Oh, no. She sighed, leaned forward across the desk and waited for the class to begin. |
School uniforms. Note-taking equipment. Classroom. Upon first finding the announcement for the second Healer seminar, Daisy had been pretty excited but that excitment soon disappeared as soon as she read what they needed to bring to the seminar. Worse still, as she had read the place where it would be taking place, she had released a deep sigh. What happened to running courses in the snow? And magical, animal fake Yetis? Still, the Slytherin made her way to the classroom Healer Reed had appointed, hoping to at least find his perfectly adorable, ginormous, drooly dogs. At the sight that expected her inside the classroom, however, the Slytherin had to stifle a groan. Not even the dogs were here!! MEH. Oh well. Since she was here already, might as well stay here. Even if the classroom reminded her strongly of the Potions classroom. She had enough of Potions in ... well, her Potions lessons! "Healer Reed." The girl greeted the staff member politely with a head nod and a smile, stopping to watch him for a few seconds. "I feel slightly betrayed, Sir, but alright. I trust you." Look, she was probably trying to convince herself that this would be FUN as well as useful. She grinned at the man and nodded her head once more. RIGHT. No use in being negative. With that, the Slytherin turned around and started making her way to one of the desks. HMMM. Maybe one around the middle? Yes, that would suit her fine. |
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"Misty stuff" he said with a shrug of his shoulders before he focused his dark brown eyes on the book again which was far more interesting than misty stuff in a box in his opinion. He hoped the Healer wasn't going to start the lesson before he finished the chapter... |
Last seminar had left him traumatic. With the YETIs, Liv fainting and the whole you know, actually running around. But this seminar was held in a class room so he hoped no YETI would be present. Carlton marched into the classroom, looking around him curiously. SO MUCH STUFF TO TOUCH AND LOOK AT. He beamed as he ran up to the healer. Sup. "Hi Sir-healing-professor-Reed!" Again with the titles, he wasn't sure what to call him. Carlton walked around in circles around the supplies with excited little steps. He scanned ALL OF THE STUFF that was laid out on the table. "Oh, what's this?!" He poked it. "And what's THAT?!" He poked it. He spotted the safety glasses at the nearest bench. "And what are THESE?!" He quickly put them on. YES. "And THIS." 'This' being the apron that he was trying his best to tie behind his back. As soon as this knot was tied he was ready. Ohh.... Scissors. BEAM. |
Olivia was wary about attending another seminar with their friendly, neighborhood Healer, in all honesty. Still suffering from some residual embarrassment over the episode that closed out the previous one, the blonde kept her head low as she entered the classroom - yes, an actual classroom - that was set up largely like a potions lab. Brewing, she could definitely handle. Considering she was no longer suffering from many of the ailments troubling her last time, Olivia's general outlook and optimism had greatly improved. Not so surprising, though, seeing as she had no say in the matter these days. It was either get well or be removed from school... There were people she didn't want to leave. Important ones. Actually, homeschooling probably wouldn't have been that awful, but spending twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week... with her mother, did NOT sound like any fun. Whatever perks there might've been would've been massively outweighed by the bad. It was known. Picking a workstation near Carlton, because she hadn't spent much time with him recently (and SHE MISSED HER SMOL CHILD), the blonde began inspecting all the gathered materials. The clear mist-filled glass box held the most mystery, and Liv found she couldn't tear her eyes away from it. Everything else they'd be working with was uncovered and familiar. So... What was this? A bit pink, she quietly said hello to the man at the front of the room. She promised to do her best....in not causing a scene today. |
SPOILER!!: Individual Replies! --- 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?” --- 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). |
Question at the end! :) 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. |
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. |
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. |
Sort of a wrap of a DARE here from like ages ago *hides* 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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
slight catch up :3 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!" |
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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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 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. |
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. |
SPOILER!!: Individual Replies! 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! ^^ |
Purple ear hair over heereee! 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 |
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. |
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.. All right! What was next? |
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? |
@Healer Reed. The last paragraph, anyway. :3 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. |
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. |
question 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? |
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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"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? |
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. |
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? |
SPOILER!!: Replies! "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:
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! ^^ |
sort of catching up but apparently mostly /giving/ up "Tentacles. Yes. Those wriggly bits." Abey nodded and smiled because it was nice when people understood his less than proper descriptions of things, rather than looking at him all weird actually. ... Oh... oh no. As the seminar progressed, and Abey paid actual attention actually, he soon felt a very difficult-to-ignore sinking feeling in his stomach. Not only was the ProfessorHealer saying a lot of words that Abey didn't even recognise, let alone understand, he then proceeded to give them a whole lot of instructions in one go, rather than take them through it step by step, and then wrote the lot on the board for them to refer to, which............. made things a whole lot harder actually. Abey chewed on his lip and, at first, tried to remember what the Healer had told them, but already he was starting to mix up the earlier stages which made him all the more unsure. Which meant... using the written instructions. A sense of impending doom filled Abey all the way from the tips of his toes to the ends of his hair. This was bad, this was awful, this was TERRIBLE. This was all going to go wrong. Like others had done, Abey put on all the protective clothes and stuff that had been laid out for them. Okay. Easy. Fine. All good. Next, he... kept watching everyone else, but most people were a lot faster than him, and Abey couldn't be sure who was doing the first step. He stared up at the board - really stared at it - and then back at the things on his workstation, again thinking back to the verbal instructions again. So... he needed a wriggly bit - a tentacle. Abey fished one out of the jar after struggling a little with the lid, and sort of just held it in his hand, giving it a good look. Gross. He looked up at the board again; something about squeezing it? Searching through the written instructions, Abey tried to find a word he recognised, but the words were all wobbly and flashy more than usual and weren't staying still or cooperating at all actually and he felt his anxiety levels get higher and higher until his breathing got quicker and his eyes started prickling as the stress of not knowing what to do and not being able to keep up really started to get to him. Trying to ignore his wibbling bottom lip, Abey bowed his head right down and tried to sort of maybe turn completely invisible. He still had a handful of tentacle too, but... well... all he could really do was try to remember and/or guess what to do with it. Swallowing a hard lump in his throat, Abey tried his best to squeeze the tentacle like he was squeezing a sponge, but he held back from doing it too much, because what if he ruined it? He couldn't remember for the life of him what the Healer Man had said about that - if anything - so all he could do was to be careful. But what if he was being TOO careful? He didn't knoooooooow. The tentacle juice was squeezed into a vial, but again, Abey couldn't remember how to tell when it was done and what was too much. He stayed where he was, looking a little bit lost for a moment or two, before just... doing away with the stupid thing, throwing it into a bowl like everyone else seemed to have done. The Healer had already started talking again, so before Abey could even try to remember what to do with the stuff in the vial, he had to take a break and pay attention to the next lot of instructions or he really would be doomed in a minute. And there WERE a LOT actually. Abey tried to keep up, he tried to listen, but now, being that he was fretting and worrying, the words that were going into his ears now sounded just as strange and wobbly and wrong as when he looked at them written up on the board. All of the information was too much to keep up with and it felt like STAMPEDE of words actually, coming at him in millions of different forms. And oh, how he hated words. Too much, it was toooooooooo much. AND he looked like an idiot with these goggles on, and nobody liked looking like an idiot when they were upset. Now sniffling just a little bit, Abey tugged his gloves back off and dropped them onto his desk, then pulled off the stupid goggles so that he was free to rub at his eyes and shed just a few tears because of how utterly hopeless he was at everything. Wibble. |
Post 1 Well this was going to be interesting. Leon eyed his glass box warily as he listened carefully to the Healers instructions on what exactly to do.. He took a deep breath and slowly moved to the front to grab a handful of shrimps.. He sorta envied the little creature right now, Leon was hungry and shrimp was good! But instead of snacking on them he just took them back to his desk and after making sure his gloves, goggles and apron were all on properly, he moved his hand towards the glass box and slowly started to open the lid.. Merlin! Healer Reed wasn't kidding about them being skiddish. He was going as slowly as he could and still the little creature was freaking out just a bit. He slowed his movements even more so he was barely lifting the lid and the murtlap finally seemed to calm down. Good! He ever so carefully lifted the rest of the lid and then gently dropped the shrimps inside, and watched as the murtlap went to investigate it. He was almost holding his breath as he watched it eat before gently lifting his hand and starting to put it down into the cage! |
SPOILER!!: We're not giving up on him though ;) As the other students started off with their harvesting, River collected a bunch of fresh shrimps in his bowl and went around the room, supervising the students...and would occasionally help them out with their tasks. The Healer man passed by the Gryffindor's work station, and back pedalled when he saw Abraham no longer wearing his goggles and looking...distraught. Uhm...? "What is the matter, Master Botros?" he asked putting down his bowl of shrimp and looked at the boy. Was he crying? "Do you need help?" |
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But Abey wasn't afraid of admitting that actually yes, he did need help actually, though he was a little embarrassed about the reasons. Rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, Abey looked up at the Healer and nodded, then hesitated, then spoke softly, "I can't keep up, and..." Here, he gestured vaguely to the board. "The instructions are all... wobbly." Seeeeeee? So actually, Professor Healer Man, the matter was that everything was completely very utterly extremely awful and the world was probably ending actually, because he couldn't read the instructions actually, and everyone else could, and he didn't know how to fix it. |
we got you, child :3 Quote:
The instructions were wobbly. Oh. Oh? "We can go about the procedures together if you like?" River placed the bowl of shrimps on Abey's work station and stood beside him, grinning down at the small first year. "If you're up for it, you have to gear up." Goggles, apron, and gloves on please? |
#1 This was exactly the kind of tedious work Declan needed to take up his time with. It was the kind of exercise that required your senses to be present. It did not allow for your mind to wander, at least not at the risk of getting bitten by a Murtlap and who wanted to endure that? Declan had zero interest in being a victim. He grabbed his bowl and walked up to the front, gathered enough shrimp, he thought, to complete the task and walked back to his desk. Once seated, Declan wriggled his fingers to make sure he still had feeling on them. He wasn't used to gloves and it was a strange sensation to wear them for prolonged time. Declan eyed the glass box for a while before he dared to reach for the lid. Carefully, he grasped the edges and lifted the lid off the box. He set it down gently, trying not to make a loud clinking noise or the shake the desk without meaning too. He grabbed three shrimp in a fist and slowly lowered his hand. The murtlap must have smelled its food because it turned its head quickly and Declan froze, feeling a slight jolt in his heart rate. He knew what to do but it didn't make it any less anxious. It sniffed his fist and tried pulling the shrimp from his fingers. Ever so gently, Declan loosened his grip on the shrimp and allowed the Murtlap to steal away from shrimp to a corner of the glass tank. While the Murtlap was distracted, Declan lowered the rest of the shrimp to a different side. While he did that, he grabbed the scissors in his free hand and slowly brought that one to join his other hand as well. The Murtlap was happily nibbling on its shrimp, tiny little bites with speed and precision. Declan didn't wanna think about the shrimp being one of his fingers. Declan reached slowly towards the Murtlap as he pushed a shrimp lightly towards him. The Murtlap seemed startle by the sudden appearance of more food but greed won over whatever sense of self preservation the animal had. He was gobbling the second shrimp when Declan managed to grasp a tentacle between his index finger and thumb. Meticulously, he made sure to move away from the stub, very much NOT wanting to snip too close to the cartilage, and cut off the tentacle in one clean snip. |
#1 Levi had nodded vigorously at healer reed's suggestion but had declined the ned for another tentacle. He hadn't considered the possibility that maybe a more gentle touch was required, but it made sense given the subject at hand. He was itching to take notes, of both the healer's suggestion and also the newest information. But, well, his journal was his best friend after Declan (Althea came third) and he didn't want to stain the pages with essence of murtlap, so he settled for paying close attention. And for momentarily lifting up the goggles til they pressed against his forehead so he could put on his glasses and read the instructions. All very simple. Or would have, maybe, possibly, if Levi had any kind of easiness around magical creatures. He was not scared of them so much as he did not care much about them, and he'd always suspected the feeling was mutual. The boy took a deep breath, took off his glasses, and slid down the goggles so his eyes could be protected. He looked down at the caged murtlap, muttered "Hey, pal," mostly to himself. His gloved fingers lightly tapped against the table. Maybe he was just stalling. Levi heaved a sigh he felt came from the bottom of his stomach, and began to lift the top of the glass box as gently as he could, shrimp in hand. Clearly not gently enough; the creature sprang upwards, though its attempt at escaping was not successful. It did manage to snatch the shrimp Levi had halfway dropped in as bait, of course, which was just typical. It was possible that he jumped, startled. "Alright." It was merrily eating away. Levi closed the lid. "Not 'pal,' then." |
yaaaaaay :3 Quote:
"Really?" Stupid question actually because he was pretty sure that, as an adult who was in charge and stuff, the Healer Man Person Man was not supposed to make false offers and then take them back because that would be mean and Abey didn't think this man was mean at all. Healers probably weren't even allowed to be mean. "Yes please okay yes!" Yes yes! Brightening back up already, Abey put all the protective gear right back on again adjusting the goggles on his face (and not even caring about looking stupid now) before pulling on the gloves and straightening the front of his apron. BIG SMILES for Mister Healer Man. And then... "Thank you, sir." |
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River gave the boy a reassuring pat on his small shoulder, coupled with a sincere smile. “You’re most welcome, young one.” The Healer re-adjusted his gloves, as fished out the remaining tentacles from Abey’s jar. “This tentacle is pretty soft, so it’s best to wring it gently and slowly.” He started by showing the tentacle to the boy. “Hold it at both ends, and slowly twist it to get the essence out.” He continued by demonstrating it, and let the liquid drip into the vial. “Now that it’s shriveled,” he said showing the wrinkly tentacle, “We put it aside, instead of vanishing it. This can be used as fertilizer for plants.” He finished by tossing it in a bowl for collection later on. “Why don’t you give it a try?” River moved on by fishing out another tentacle for Abey and offered it to him. |
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Char was still kind of ?? at the healer, her expression quizzical. Yes... obviously you were supposed to know how to deal with it... as far as Char knew, or was aware, or had thought, the whole 'competent' part actually meant all of that, so why the healer felt the need to lecture her on super duper obvious things, she wasn't sure. Unless he thought she was dumb. She bit her lip a little. Wait a second. This was like that thing that Chloe talked about! Mansplaining! This was mansplaining! Satisfied that she'd figured out what was going on, Char just nodded. The healer had obviously pigeonholed her in a certain way, and underestimated her ability to know basic things, and now was assuming she didn't know stuff and reading into her answers and assuming she thought a certain way when she didn't at all. Well. She wasn't the sort of person to get bent out of shape about it, she would just do what she was supposed to and maybe not..... speak up anymore. She could ask someone else about things, if she had any questions later on. Also, how did she know if the jinx protection worked from eating the tentacle? She tried really hard to focus. That was hard, really. There was a lot of talking and instructions. But she trooped through it. They were going to use crustaceans to distract the murtlaps. She still didn't like the sound of taking the live tentacles though. Even with cartilage, if it was flesh on the other side, didn't that mean it was alive somehow? Wouldn't it have nerve endings and blood vessels and all that? On this though, she was willing to go ahead and do what was instructed. Her conscience was clear, they were supposed to trust professors and healers after all! And now he was talking about how you had to be careful. Well she planned to be! There was no way she'd be hurting an innocent creature if she could help it, especially by taking a little extra care. Charlotte checked her gloves again, just to be sure. They weren't about to be pulled off by a bitey murtlap. She got up and fetched the shrimp she'd need, a good handful, and returned to her workstation, immediately putting one shrimp in the glass box. She'd let him eat that one and then she'd start fresh, with another one. Sure enough the murtlap dove for the shrimp and noisily began eating it. Charlotte watched through the side of the glass box and then dropped another in near the other side of the glass box. When the murtlap finished the first one it sniffed around and soon found the other. Char put her hand in on the opposite side, slowly and carefully, trying to be discreet and not make any sudden movements. The moment of truth! |
Post 1 .......... Etta wondered if it would be alright if she just excused herself from class? She didn't like any of this. Not even a little. The Hufflepuff looked very much upset as her eyes shifted to look at the murtlaps. What if it got HURT? She was considering asking someone for help but... people seemed to be busy with the activity. And the professor was helping someone else SO. Taking a deep breath and doubly making sure she had her gloves on properly, she held its food in one hand and used the other to gently lift the lid of the glass box. GULP. Almost immediately, she lowered the lid again. Yes. She was a little scared, okay? She frowned and calmed down a bit before carefully lifting the lid once again, quickly dropping the food inside and ---------- --- and it caught at her hand!! She closed her eyes, trying so hard to not yell. Oh goodness! Please let go. Pleaaaaase. It DID let go after a few moments and she immediately pulled her hand back. Phew. Etta watched as the murtlap ate its food... Since it seemed distracted, the girl slowly put her hand in once again. EEEEEEP. This was so, so scary. |
2 The glass lid that she'd gently removed earlier was in her way, so Char nudged it further across her workstation with her unoccupied hand so that it wouldn't be, her attention on the murtlap. It had apparently noticed her hand but seemed like it wasn't particularly bothered by her for some reason. Well okay, Char would take that small victory. She nudged a few more crustaceans towards the lil guy, coaxing him over and making sure he associated her with food. The part she wasn't sure about was if the tentacles felt anything or not. Surely they had some kind of sensory purpose? So the murtlap sure would notice when you touched it even if it apparently didn't hurt it to take the tentacles. Once she was sure said murtlap was eating and preoccupied, she moved her hand, still no sudden movements, to the back of the creature. How many tentacles did she need to harvest? She couldn't leave him tentacleless, right? The other murtlaps might tease him or something So maybe.... five? Since that was how many that had been in the jar.... Though that seemed a lot now that her hand was in the glass box. She carefully felt down deep amongst the tentacles, closer to the creature's actual back, and her fingers found the stubby bit, which she then walk-slid index finger and thumb up until it began to feel different, almost squishy. That was it, right? She checked again and then, still trying to be calm and gently, picked up the scissors with her free hand. The murtlap, she saw, was still eating. Time to cut the first one. Bravely, Char lowered her other hand in, and then carefully moved the scissors in to cut the selected tentacle, being sure not to harm the parted ones as she did so. She removed the snipped tentacle and held her breath a bit, waiting to see of the murtlap would react, but it was pretty happy with its shrimp apparently. Char put the tentacle aside on the clean tray, using the hand which held the scissors to do so. Her other hand she kept in the box. Better than moving around too much. She also began to feel around for another good tentacle. A long one? As long as she remained calm and was efficient, this went pretty smoothly so far. After three carefully harvested tentacles, Char wondered if it was enough. She checked the murtlap was eating between each one, and kept adding more crustaceans to the box as they seemed to be needed. "Pr-Healer Reed?" Char asked, not quite able to put her hand up given her hands were currently in use with the murtlap. "How many do we need?" If he'd said she hadn't registered. |
#2 Levi had tried again and again without much success. He felt like it'd been so long that he'd more or less forgotten the instructions. The boy had to push up the goggles up to his forehead, again, and use his reading ones once more to review the steps. No touching the stub, otherwise...the healer had said the reason WHY, Levi knew, but--was it because of the nerves or...? He sighed, in frustration. Levi supposed those details were not too important at the moment so long as he did not pulled from the root. Because he wasn't supposed to pull at all, he was supposed to cut. Levi grabbed the scissors and as slowly as he could, lifted the box's lid. Two more failures later, Levi had managed to distract the murtlap with sufficient food to feel for the stub. It was--well, it felt much like the tentacles he'd touch earlier, but there was a slight difference. Or maybe it was the knowledge they were attached to a living thing this time. Levi had no love for the creature, but this made him narrow his eyes. In what he hoped was a centimeter above the stubs, Levi held his breath as he severed four tentacles. Taking more would maybe makelook the murtlap look...bald. Maybe. He placed them carefully on a tray, fed more shrimp to the murtlap and then closed the lid. "The tentacles do grow back, right, sir?" He hoped so. Levi was perhaps not overly concerned with his appearance, as evidenced by the fact that he'd yet to wipe off of his cheek the essence of murtlap stain, but he could not imagine walking around with chunks of hair missing. |
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He watched the Healer closely, trying to make a mental note of exactly how everything was being done. Gently and slowly, riiiiiiiight. Well, THAT was certainly not how Abey had attempted things earlier. He had been a little too heavy-handed, which was funny actually because he didn't have heavy hands at all on account of his hands were all little because so was he. "Okay," Abey said with a firm nod, when it was his turn to try. Carefully - caaaaaaaarefully - he took the tentacle from the Healer Man and made sure to hold it by each end. With some difficulty, he did that twisty squeezy thing the Healer had tried, before adjusting his grip, and wringing it out a little more effectively. Hey! This wasn't so bad actually! Abey kept a CLOSE EYE on what he was doing too even though actually his mind was wanting to wander and watch everyone else for a moment. He HAD to keep looking to make sure he was collecting all the stuff he was squeezing out, otherwise what was the point? After a few moments, Abey was left with a rather sad and droopy looking tentacle, which he thought must have been all squeezed out now. He probably COULD have tried some more but then he might damage it and then what would have been the point of being so gentle in the first place? See? He could be smart. ... Sometimes. After dropping it into the bowl with the other one, Abey glanced up at the Healer, not quite confident, but no longer completely uncertain. "Like that?" |
SPOILER!!: Char! As River watched Abey extract the tentacle's juice, the man looked up as soon as he was addressed once more by Charlotte. "Hmm?" Oh, oh. He forgot to write that one down. He supposed ten tentacles would be the perfect count, but given that not everyone is into harvesting tentacles, he mentally reduced the number to half. "Five would be perfect, Miss Kettleburn. We don't want the poor creatures bald." River offered Char a grin, because...yes, tentacles and hair are pretty much the same you know. It's a big deal. Huge. SPOILER!!: Levi! River made a full 360 to face Levi this time and nodded at the boy. "Yes, of course, the tentacles will grow back, that's why it is important not to severe the stub, or the cartilage. Aside from introducing pain to the creature, it will cut off the necessary nerves for the tentacles to grow back." Besides, not every wound can be treated or reversed by magic. SPOILER!!: EVERYONE! Some were definitely not enjoying the activity, but nevertheless, they were all making good progress. Now that most of the participants have successfully harvested their own Murtlap tentacles, River excused himself from Abey and moved closer to his workstation. “Now that most of you have harvested your tentacles, it’s now time to pickle them properly. Each mason jar shall contain the following,” River turned to his blackboard, gave his wand a wave and more words formed on it, revealing all the ingredients and steps that have to be followed, “The steps are very easy, in fact, you need not perform any spell to finish the pickling process. Just follow the steps on the board, and we will be done with the seminar.” River gave his wand another flick and clean mason jars and blank labels flew from his workstation, and onto each and every occupied workstation. “Don’t forget to label them when you’re done.” He smiled to the rest of the class and went back to help Abey.
SPOILER!!: Abester "Exactly like that, Master Botros. Well done." River beamed at the first year, and helped him finish extracting the tentacles into his vial, and corked it for him. As much as he wanted to let Abey do the rest, they simply had no more time to spare since most were now pickling their tentacles. The important thing was, Abey was able to perform, and experience the task. "Label your vial after the seminar, and you may take the essence with you." He was a Gryffindor. He was sure it would be dead useful to the boy. "Now, we move on to harvesting your tentacles. We start off by slowly removing the lid," River took the liberty of opening the glass box, and gently put the lid aside. "Next is, we have to distract the murtlap with food. They love shrimps." he continued, getting his bowl of the treats from earlier, and passed it on the Abey. "Gently drop a couple of these in the box, and wait for the murtlap to eat it. Whenever you're ready, Abraham." It was a lot to take in, but River did his best not to put unnecessary pressure on the boy by calmly throwing in instructions. So far, so good. OOC: 1. NOW is the time to do catch-up posts! Just label them appropriately and carry on with the rest of the activity; 2. This post contains the last set of instructions, and I will be needing a MAXIMUM of 5 posts for full activity credit; 3. There is actually an 'Easter Egg' in this seminar, and if you were successful in "finding" it, incentive points will be given. This is your last chance to find 4. You have until Friday, 24 February 2017, 5:00 PM GMT to complete everything. 5. Again, if you have any questions/clarifications IC or OOC, please label your posts or send me a VM/PM. Thank you! ^^ |
partial catch up Henry had squeezed out a couple more of the pickled tentacles into the vial, but it was quickly growing boring and he was distracted by other things, like actual purple ear hair from his classmate. At least he had gotten three done though and he looked up when the Healer answered his question. Re-pickling them? Huh. That was interesting. Henry actually had more questions about it, like how much to actually add and how long it needed to go back in the solution, but he could ask later since they were moving on. If he remembered. It was too bad he didn't know this at the beginning of term when the little tree wasn't doing as well. "Okay, cool, thanks," he grinned at the Healer, then tried to focus as the man began to demonstrate. It was important that he watch and listen carefully because Henry was still kind of worried about hurting the murtlap. But he didn't think the healer would have them doing this if they were easily hurt... right? Especially with younger students here? Okay. Crustaceans to feed and distract them, freeze your hand after sticking it into the tank... well, not literally freezing. Also, he wondered how that one way barrier worked with getting your hand out once you stuck it in, but he tried not to overthink that bit. Feel for the stub and cut off above it with scissors. He watched the healer do it, then he looked at his own little murtlap and frowned a bit. Shouldn't they use some sort of charm to freeze the tentacle or numb it first? It was really hard for him to believe that it wouldn't hurt him, though maybe it was like hair or fingernails. He was about to ask if the tentacles grew back when he heard the same question voiced by Levi and he lowered his hand, though he was still concerned about the answer. Because if they didn't, what would stop someone from cutting them all off and dumping the poor little murtlap back by the shore all tentacle-less? What if he felt embarrassed or got shunned by all the other intact murtlaps? |
Post 2 mini activity - catch up! Leon was focused on what he was doing - namely trying to put his hand in the glass case so as not to scare the poor murtlap - to pay attention to what was going on around them. Namely all the concerns about the poor creature going bald! For merlins sake couldn't they just trust the healer? Ahh well. Leon kept moving his hand slowly and gently down and he would freeze whenever the murtlap looked up and sniffed.. Nothing to see here little creature! Move along! Finally the murtlap went back to eating and after letting out a breath, Leon was finally able to move his hand down into the tentacles. thankfully the creature seemed to be happy with its seafood and didn't seem to mind the sudden intruder that was trying to take part of its back! He made sure there was still plenty of shrimps in the case before he started to gently move his through the tentacles and selected one that he thought would be good.. He moved his fingers down and felt the hard nub and then moved his fingers upwards and felt around.. Okay! He slowly took his scissors and then.. Snip!! He pulled the tentacle out and set it on a plate before repeating the process until he had five tentacles. Okay! Now onto the pickling process! |
1 - catch up Daisy totally empathised with the Murtlaps, what with its weakness being food and all of that. She totally understood that. Food was awesome and you needed it to live so yeah, what were a few ruddy tentacles compared to fresh, pink shrimp? Nothing, that's what. Equipped with the shrimp she had gotten from the front of the room, the Slytherin settled into her desk and made sure she had everything she needed at hand. Scissors. Schrimp. Clean tray to keep the freshly harvested tentacles. All check. Carefully and very, veeery slowly, the Slytherin removed the glass lid from the box, now taking a good inside. Okay, that Murtlap did not seem too happy, but its life was about to greatly improve because FOOD. And a new haircut. She grabbed a handful of shrimp from the bowl and gently dropped it inside the box, infront of the Murtlap. There you go, buddy! Now to get her hand inside the box. She paused for a second, both to look around and check if anyone had been bitten and to check if her glove was tightly in place. She did not want that Murtlap pulling it off and bitten off her fingers. The creature did seem pretty distracted by the little snack it was having so Daisy slowly reached inside the glass box an -- OH FREEZE!! Not that distracted, then. Alrighty. The Slytherin was frozen in place and the only thing moving were her eyes as she tried to see whether or not the Murtlap was approaching. Had Healer Reed told them what to do incase they got bitten? Were they allowed to take their hands off the box in that case or were they also to stay still??? Why didn't she remember that befoooore? After a few tense minutes, the creature returned to munching on its rosy shrimp and the Slytherin let out a sigh of relief. Okay, next step then. It looked like the theme of this task was gentleness so the fifteen-year-old softly touched the tentacles, picking one on the edge and trying to find that cartilage. She really, really didn't want to hurt the poor little creature so Daisy moved upwards the tentacle, leaving the cartilage and the nerves way, waaaay down. It would mean that her tentacles would probably be shorter than her classmates' but she'd rather play it safe. Her sensibility was being thrown off by the dragonhide gloves. Right, one tentacle snapped and laying on that clean tray, now for the rest. |
Main activity post 1 All right.. Leon slowly and gently moved the gass lid back down on top of his murtlap, because the last thing he wanted was to chase an escaped creature around the classroom! He scooted out from his desk and moved around and walked towards the the front, where he collected an empty mason jar and some more supplies for making his pickling solution.. As an after thought the seventh year grabbed an already full mason jar full of pickled tentacles, just so he could see what the solution ended up looking like.. and the grey eyed boy was sort of curious about what a pickled tentacle might taste like.. Surely just one wouldn't give him purple ear hair, yeah? He unscrewed the top of the mason jar and took out a pickled tentacle and then popped it in his mouth... Blech... The seventh year nearly choked as he managed to get it down and he screwed the cap back and set it clearly to the side, before tending to his own empty Jar.. The seventh year glanced at the board before laying out all of his supplies, measuring spoons, and extra glass container and all of his liquid ingredients, and a small thing of salt.. He grabbed his wand and cast a quick "Scourgify " to make sure his jar, gloves and measuring utensils were clean. All right, now it was time to get to work! |
Post 2 - mini activity Okay... Etta breathed in and out, trying to calm down and hoped she would get this done properly. And most important of all, hoped that the poor creature wouldn't get hurt in any way. Eyeing the murtlap, which seemed to be way too busy with its food, she carefully felt for the stub of the tentacle first. OOOOH. Yes, found it. The girl shifted her glance towards the murtlap again before gliding her fingers to a spot that was about two centimetres away from the base. Okay. Trying not to make any sudden movements, she picked the scissors and severed the tentacle very carefully. She immediately looked down at the creature but it seemed... normal? Phew. She set the tentacle on the tray before repeating the same procedure again. The professor had mentioned five tentacles, right? Etta quickly grabbed more food and dropped it down for the murtlap to eat. The more busy it was with eating, the better it was for her. At the end of ten minutes or so, the girl had five tentacles on her tray. FINALLY. Over. Making sure the murtlap was alright once again, she proceeded to continue with next activity... which was to pickle the tentacles. Uh. |
Post 2- Main activity Leon nodded as he saw that everything was ready and the dark haired boy glanced up at the board to see what the first step was.. easy enough.. Put the tentacles into the jar and add salt. Can do. He used large tweezers and carefully picked up the tentacles one by one and added them into the mason jar. He wasn't exactly sure if they should all be upright or not, and decided that they probably should be, surely that would be easier to pickle then having them all stacked on top of each other, yeah? So the seventh year peered into his Mason Jar and carefully arranged the tentacles so they were all upright and leaning against the jar a bit.. There! Now they all had room. Leon put down his tweezers and then used "Scourgify! " again on the tweezers and plate that had been holding the tentacles. Once those were clean he set them in a neat pile off to the side out of the way. He then reached for the salt and carefully measured out the one half cup of sea salt he needed and gently sprinkled it into the jar making sure it got on the tentacles.. All right! Now to let that do its thing.. Leon cleaned the measuring cup and set it aside and waited for the excess water to leave the tentacles,. |
Post 1 - main activity Moving on.. Etta carefully read the instructions and making doubly sure all the necessary supplies were on her desk, she decided to start with the first procedure. The girl just wanted to finish this activity as soon as possible, okay? She shifted the tentacles, one by one, from the tray and neatly placed them in the empty jar. Okay, done. Now, to add sea salt. Right. The girl reached for the cup of salt and poured the necessary quantity into the jar.. yes, done. Noooow, she had to wait for the excess water to drain. Great. Etta leaned against the desk, reading the next set of instructions. |
mini activity 1 post.... 2 or sth. so slow yikes soz, long day SPOILER!!: Reedster B) YESSSSS! See, this? THIS felt MUCH better. Getting things right and knowing he was on the right track. Much much muuuuuuch better. He watched the Healer finish up all that for him, and nodded because yes yes of course labelling. THAT he could do. Sort of. Sure. "Okay!" Just as long as he remembered. More watching, more listening, more paying lots of attention sort of actually. It had been watching THIS demonstration earlier and trying to commit all the instructions to memory that had caused Abey such turmoil, but this time they were coming at him in a much more manageable way, somehow, though he wasn't even entirely sure WHAT made it so much easier this time. But it was, and he certainly wasn't complaining actually. "Oh, I know what it's like to be distracted with food," Abey chimed in (#relatable), nodding as he scooped out a couple of the shrimps from the bowl and - naturally - looked them over to get a closer look. He couldn't have remember ever having been this close to a shrimp before, even for eating or anything, and they were kind of funny to look at actually. ... They smelled funny too, and Abey quickly moved his face back so he wasn't accidentally sniffing them anymore. Ahem. Ew. Right then. Into the now-open box they went, and Abey peered in at the Murtlap to see if it was taking the bait. He knew if someone had just thrown HIM some of his favourite food, he would absolutely go for it. "I think he's about to eat it..." Was it a he? Abey didn't know, but it looked like one. |
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The Healer stifled a laugh as he reached for another shrimp and placed it inside the glass box for the murtlap to find and eat. "It's hard to resist, isn't it?" even if he was a health buff and does not condone over-eating, he'd admit that food was a very powerful bait. River watched and waited with Abey this time, and was pleased to see that the Murtlap was easily swayed by the scent and taste of the shrimp. "Let's see now if the murtlap would mind our presence..." the man trailed off as he slowly dipped his gloved hand inside, and slowly reached for the creature's back. The murtlap seemed to be very distracted while it consumed its food, signaling River that it was okay to get on with the harvesting. "Now is a good time to get some tentacles, Master Botros. Get your scissors, and slowly put your hands inside the glass box," River then went on to choose a random juicy tentacle while Abey got his equipment. "How about this one?" he asked as gently tugged on the tentacle and showed it to the Gryffindor. "Feel the stub first, then severe the tentacle a few centimeters away from it." the Healer nodded towards the Gryffindor, encouraging him to do the task. |
Post 3 - Main activity. Leon waited for a few minutes until he saw water collecting in the jar and he carefully poured the excess water out into the extra glass cup he had collected. He then arranged the tentacles once more and waited for a few more minutes, just to make sure that all the water had been released, once he was certain that no more water would be released he vanished the water in the glass jar and then cleaned it and set it to the side with the other clean instruments he had used. He liked to clean as he went, it made things easier for him. A clean workspace helped him focus better. Okay, the seventh year glanced up at the board. Liquid adding time. Got it! |
wait no mini activity 2 post 2 yes thats right SPOILER!!: reeeeed This was all very tense wasn't it? Or... was it? Abey didn't know if it was supposed to be, but he knew that HE watched with bated breath as the Healer Man went ahead and stuck his hand in the tank with the murtlap. Were they vicious creatures? WOULD IT ATTACK? ... The answer was likely no, given that they were letting school aged people work with them. BUT EVEN SO! This could all be a daring and amazing adventure actually! Maybe. Sort of. Abey let go of his held breath once everything seemed to be okay, except... well, now he had to do the part that... didn't seem very pleasant at all. He hesitated, looking from the Healer to the creature in the box, and then around at everyone else. There had been no screams of pain from the murtlaps in the room so far, which meant that obviously this wasn't going to hurt them, as long as he did it right. But even sooooooo... it was kind of icky, cutting the LIVING tentacles off of a LIVING thing... thought actually he wouldn't have liked to deal with a dead murtlap so actually he would cope actually. Maybe if he thought of it like he was just cutting its hair? Even though those wriggly bits definitely obviously actually weren't hair at all at all at all. But what if he got it wrong and accidentally hurt it? TENSE. But Abey knew he couldn't wait for long because then there would be no shrimps left in the tank for the murtlap to be distracted by. He nodded, and picked up his scissors. "Okaaaaaay..." If you're SURE, sir. Reaching in the tank - tentatively at first, just to make sure the murtlap was still okay with, uhhh... visitors - Abey caaaaarefully took hold of that one specific tentacle felt around the stub of it. He held his scissors ready. "I don't want to hurt it." Even by accident. That would be awful actually. When he did finally cut off the tentacle right around where he'd been told to, Abey did so with his face screwed up in anticipation of something DREADFUL happening... but everything was okay. Maybe. He couldn't actually be sure if the murtlap had even noticed; it didn't SEEM to have reacted at all. Looking back to the Healer, Abey held up the tentacle for him to see, keeping his nose kinda scrunched up because ewwww it was weird. "Got one." |
Main activity - Post 4. Leon placed the chemicals in front of him and carefully poured out one half cup of Sal Ammoniac into the jar, he put the lid on that and put it to the side. He then cleaned his measuring cup with scourgify and then poured the Sulfur Vive into it. He carefully tipped the measuring cup into the jar, making sure all the contents got safely into the jar before cleaning the measuring cup one final time and setting that to the side with all his other cleaned equipment. Now he measured out 450 ml of Spirit Vinegar and grasped his mason jar with one hand. He tilted the jar a little and then slowly started to pour the Vinegar into the jar, taking care to make sure there were no bubbles.. It was rather a slow and lengthy process, as the seventh year poured as slow as was humanly possible and he had the jar tipped so much the liquid in the jar was practically touching the liquid he was pouring in! Finally though, he got it all poured in with no bubbles and he sighed and wiped his forehead a little with the back of his arm.. Phew! That had been an experience! |
Post 2 - main activity Etta waited as the excess water drained, feeling a little bored and impatient already. But before too long, she could see water collecting in the jar. Perfect. Now, she could proceed to the next step in the procedure. Hoping she didn't spill any of it in the process, she slowly poured the drained water into another cup. She looked up to read the procedure once again before adding the necessary quantity of Sal Ammoniac and Sulfur Vive into the jar using the measuring cup. Easy. Now as for the other ingredient, she carefully tilted the jar to the side before pouring the Spirit Vinegar very, very slowly. Might as well do everything properly, right? Because there was no way she was repeating the entire activity all over again. NOPE. After what felt like forever, she'd finally finished adding the vinegar. And with no bubbles too. Awesome. She looked visibly relieved, glad that this seemed to be going well.. with no problems, so far. Phew. |
2 - main activity The harvesting was done. The Murtlap had more shrimp to eat and the lid of the box was now closed once more. Now for the pickling. It sounded pretty straight forward and Daisy was already unscrewing the lid off of her mason jar when she looked up at the instructions Healer Reed had revealed on the blackboard. Golly. That was a lot of stuff to do. A lot of ingredients, too! The fifth year's shoulders slumped just a bit and she jokingly glared at the staff member. She had trusted him! He had tricked her with his fun seminar into attending his not-so-fun-actually-a-lot-of-work seminar. STILL, she wasn't really one to give up and she was looking forward to telling her Healer!Mum that she too was experienced in the arts of Healing. Sort of. The first instruction was easy enough and Daisy grabbed the handful of tentacles she had harvested and dropped it into the mason jar. Wait -- what came next? The girl looked up at the blackboard once more and mentally chastised herself. Salt. How had she forgotten that? She measured the necessary quantity in the measuring cup that had been provided and then poured it over the tentacles. Gentleness was really not her strongest suit. As she waited for the excess water to appear, she occupied herself with writing down the instructions on her parchment. Healer Reed had asked them to bring note-taking equipment and this probably counted as note-worthy, right? They didn't exactly have to study for this -- and don't go getting any ideas, Mr. Reed -- but it was probably a good idea to save this. Oh, and look! Water was collecting at the bottom of the jar. |
#1 Levi couldn't say he knew if the murtlap's tentacles were just there for aesthetics or for another reason entirely but it was comforting to know they'd grow back. And it also told him why not touching the stubs was important. Because of this, the boy didn't feel too bad about having to take more tentacles. Because he already had practice, it was fairly. Or, well, it eventually became easier. He did sprang back once, startled once more by the murtlap's sudden movement, and another time chastised the creature by wagging his index finger and hissing, "Don't be so rude." A handful of shrimp later, Levi managed to cut the remaining six. It took longer than he'd anticipated, and the murtlap's baldness was significantly more noticeable now, but...there was no need to think of that. Once more, he pushed his goggles up to his forehead, put on his reading glasses and checked the instructions. |
Post 5 - Main activity. All right, so now was just the water and then sealing and labeling the jars.. Seems easy enough. He took the distilled water from his supplied and unscrewed the cap and gently poured the liquid into the jar. His grey eyes glanced quickly upwards to double check exactly how much water he needed. Ahh, just up to the the neck of the jar. He leaned down as he poured so he could see exactly where the water level was. Anddddd done! Leon put the bottle of water down, screwed the top on and put it in his supplies.. Now.. that looked good! Great! He was done! Well almost! He put the metal lid on and then affixed the band in it and screwed it on tightly. He picked the jar up by the mouth to check on the seal and nodded, it felt good! Soo he picked up a label, and wrote on it.. Quote:
He was done! |
Post 3 - main activity Etta was glad this was almost over. It had been rather.. weird and she didn't see how this seminar was going to help her in the future? Unless you studied healing or something to do with magical creatures. ANYWAY. Now, what? To top the solution with water.. got it. She picked up the cup of water that had been drained earlier and with the utmost care, poured it into the solution. And the girl continued to pour until the water was filled to the brim. A few drops more and the jar would have overflowed.. oops. The girl screwed the top on aaaand done! She only had to take care of the labelling now. |
#2 A frown settled on his brow as he worked on arranging the tentacles one by one on his mason jar. Though his wand work was fine enough and was unlikely to cause any accidents, Levi was pleased that they'd have to use just their hands instead. He did not want to risk flicking his wand just a little to roughly to one side and ruin what he'd been working on. Levi went to retrieve the sea salt and lowered himself down until the measure cup was directly in front of his eyes. Once he was sure it was exactly half of a cup, the boy poured it on the tentacles inside the mason jar and waited. For...what, again? Levi sighed, annoyed, as he removed his goggles a little roughly and put on his reading glasses, again. Oh, water release, right. Excess of it, anyway. |
Post 4 - Main activity After making sure the band was screwed in, Etta picked the jar up by it's mouth and made sure that the lid was fastened properly. She didn't want to take any chances. Just to be sure, she did double-check it once again before she was satisfied. It did look alright. She set the jar down and pulled off her gloves, heaving a small sigh of relief. She took off her goggles too. Now, she only had to do the labelling. The girl pulled a label towards her and carefully wrote in her best handwriting : Quote:
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SPOILER!!: Abester! Jordan obviously taught his students well, considering that Abey wasn't the first student to express their concern about hurting the Murtlap while harvesting. it showed kindness and curiosity at the same time. "Their nerve endings stop at the stubs. Beyond that are just tentacles without any trace of dendrites so they won't feel anything. If they did, however, not only will they be in excruciating pain, but harvesting their tentacles would be close to impossible." And in the wizarding world, their tentacles were meant for harvesting...and for healing and protection purposes of the wizarding folks. River gave Abey all the time he needed to harvest his first tentacle, given that it was a bit daunting to execute. Live rodent and all. The Healer kept his pleasant grin as he waited for the Gryffindor, and nodded in approval as soon as the boy showed him his first ever harvest. "Well done, Master Botros. It wasn't that hard, was it?" River adjusted his grip on the Murtlap and allowed Abey to choose his next tentacle. "Four more to go, and we'll be ready to pickle the tentacles." Keep up the good work, Abester! |
Post 5 - main activity Etta labelled the jar..... and the activity was done. Now, what? Where were they to keep it now? Could they just leave or did they have to wait? But the activity was over right? Ugh, confusion. The girl tidied her desk, made sure everything was clean and packed her bag. Until then... what to doooo? She was bored already. Ohhhhh, wait. The girl pulled out her parchment and quill, deciding to draw. She had to wait for further instructions anyway so might as well use the time, right? |
mini activity 2 post 3 SPOILER!!: reeeeeeeedster "Oh, okay," Abey replied, nodding his head, even though he had no idea what a nerve ending was or what that had to do with anything. Dendrites? Not a clue. But he DID know what 'excruciating' meant, so... one out of three? "That makes sense." It did not make sense, but Abey was rather good at pretending, you see. It was like ACTING Anyways, at least he knew what he was doing now, and actually now that he'd already done one of the tentacle cutting things, he felt a little more like he could do the rest. AND, even though he hadn't understood some of those words the Healer had said, he DID sort of work out that what it must have meant was that the murtlaps just couldn't feel the tentacles after a certain point which made it okay to cut them off. "No, not hard at all actually," Abey said with a grin. Okay, yes, he was ready now, and also now he should probably speed up because everyone else was way ahead of him. He didn't seem to be in trouble from being so far behind, but still. After looking over all the murtlap's tentacles and locating the one that looked most like the one that the Healer had picked out earlier, Abey reached into the tank with loads more confidence than the last time. Feeling for the base of the tentacle - the stub, yes that - he made sure to cut a couple of centimetres away from it, now with the (sort of) understanding that he couldn't possibly be hurting it. Abey wanted to be speedy, but he didn't want to RUSH, but he wanted to be speedy, but he DIDN'T WANT TO RUSH. Trying to rush his work when his work included scissors near a live animal and a task he had only just learnt to do was probably actually sort of definitely a bad idea. But he did work more efficiently now, putting the second harvested tentacle into the tray with the first, and then going back to locate a suitable third, fourth and fifth choice, and making short BUT CAREFUL work of collecting those too. Every time he finished one, he checked the shrimp status in the tank too, at one point even added another shrimp or two to the box with having to be asked. And now he had five harvested tentacles! Or, no, wait... Abey paused, and did another count, this time pointing at each as he counted them off, just to be sure, because it HAD looked like four, but no, all five were there! Yesssssss! Oh, and because manners were very important, Abey leaned forward and whispered into the tank, "Thank you Mr. Murtlap." He knew it probably didn't understand him, but it was important to say please and thank you actually. Done! |
3 The water level seemed to have stabilised, now, and Daisy was pretty sure that the tentacles held no more excess liquid. Well, she hoped they didn't but even if they did, it was useless because OOPS, there went the water, back into the cauldron. She made sure it was all properly drained; even if they were adding water later on, maybe not draining properly at this stage in the process would affect the quality of the pickling. And she couldn't have that. Now to add the proper pickling stuff. She adjusted the goggles around her head and read the instructions once more. Right, those were very precise quantities, weren't they? The Slytherin pulled the mason jar with the tentacles closer to the edge of the workstation, and therefore closer to her, and got her measuring cup. Half a cup of Sal Ammoniac was measured then added to the jar, nose wrinkling at the smell; another half a cup, this time of Sulfer Vive, was poured from the measuring cup into the mason jar. The spirit vinegar was very carefully added into a titled mason jar, even if Daisy didn't particularly wanted to do it like that. Look, if she was forced to handle and SMELL vinegar, she should be allowed to make bubbles. Apparently, it was bad for the pickling, though so ... SIGH. Some sacrifices had to be made, apparently. She scourgified the measuring cup, then, because the instructions said to add water to the solution. Water mixed with the rest of the stuff she had measured there probably wasn't what Healer Reed had in mind. Soon enough, the water reached the top of the jar and Daisy quickly screwed it shut, tightly. ALL DONE!! The seal seemed pretty tight, its hold on the jar strong so the fifteen-year-old reached for the labels. There, she wrote with her self-inking quill... Quote:
... and placed her jar proudly on the middle of her workstation. WOOOHOOO. Strained, Harvested, Pickled ...TENTACLES!! |
#3 Though he rarely backed down from challenges, he was afraid of ruining all his hard work with his clumsy, untrained hands by adding extra ingredients to the murtlap essence. And so the Gryffindor boy chose to forego the sal ammoniac and the sulfure vive. After adjusting the goggles back on, Levi continued to keep a close eye on the essence and when it looked like all the excess of water had come out, he poured it in the cauldron. When he was done, the boy used scourgify to clean the measure cup and used it to add the right amount of vinegar. Then he topped the solution with the distilled water, and proceeded to close the lid shut as tightly as he could. Quote:
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Main post, 1 of 1 lol Char harvested two more tentacles, trying to spread the harvest sites out so that less baldness was happening, and then she put them aside, and just in time too since they were moving on. Char was pleased to be moving on, she got bored too easily otherwise. Nooooot that she though the next part sounded all that exciting. She carefully restored the lid to the murtlap's glass box, and looked up at the instructions on the board. Big sigh over here. This was just like potions except at least the potions they got to make did cool things sometimes. Not even any cool spells in this one either. Oh well. Char looked at the clock and took a deep breath. Almost over and then she could go stretch her legs and maybe talk to her bestie about certain things. Did they have to write this stuff down? Ohhh please noooo. Too much tedious stuff would mean her mind would wander in a big way. But he didn't say they had to so that was good. She skimmed the instructions a couple times, gaze catching at the bit about kitchen grade version. Why would anyone want a less potent version? Char didn't get that bit. If it was her she'd just want the really strong one in case of emergencies. Charlotte emptied the harvested five tentacles into her new clean jar and peered at them. Seemed like an awful lot of jar for not much tentacle. Would he combine them later on? Before she started on the actual steps and whatnot, Char decided to measure out all her ingredients. It was always a good thing for her to do, because she got distracted too easily sometimes, so if they were already measured out it made things easier. So it was 450 ml of Spirit Vinegar, ½ cup of sea salt, ¼ cup of Sal Ammoniac, ¼ cup of Sulfur Vive, 20 ml of Distilled Water, 10 Murtlap Tentacles--- wait. She only had five tentacles. Did that mean she needed to halve the rest of the ingredients? Charlotte thought about it and decided that was the thing to do, because she didn't want to hurry and try and harvest more and make mistakes or run out of time. So back to measuring. Half. 225mls of spirit vinegar. Which was apparently what people called it. She thought everyone called it white vinegar but then Char didn't know much about kitchen things, honestly. 1/4 cup measured of the sea salt..... 1/8 cup of... Sal Ammoniac, and 1/8 cup of Sulfur Vive. For these Char was glad of the goggles. They seemed... fume-y. 10 mls of Distilled water, and then she arranged all the measured things around her workspace. Okay. Ready to go! She added her sea salt, the 1/4 cup instead of 1/2 cup of sea salt for her half amount of tentacles, and then peered into the jar again. You could see the salt drying them out. Kind of horrifying because it made Char think about her precious snail friends and.... well. Murder most foul. But the excess water came out soon enough, and Char drained it out.... uhh. Wait. Cauldron? She was making stuff in the jar though right? Right. Maybe it was just how the instructions were. But now onto the second step. 1/8 cup of Sal Ammoniac, 1/8 cup of Sulfur Vive. Those first. And then more carefully, the 225mls of vinegar. Char picked the jar up and very carefully tipped it to one side. Mostly there were no bubbles. Mostly. A fewww bubbles, but pretty good for her first (and probably only ever) try. Char put the jar back down and then added the water in on top. Oh. But it didn't reach all the way to the top. Did her jar need to be smaller then? Or.... did she just add more water? Charlotte decided not to mess with the water amounts, but she could shrink the jar without any ill-effects. That was right up her alley. She took her wand out of its holster and quickly did that in slow increments until the size ratio matched the volume. The lid and ring too. That was better! Hopefully the healer wouldn't mind what she'd done, it seemed necessary, otherwise the ratios would be different to the instructions right? Maybe? Oh well! Who knew. Perhaps she was completely wrong all together. Didn't matter though because at least she was almost done. And maybe he'd at least see her logic trying to figure out what to do. Now how did this lid and screw on ring thing even work? Char eyed the pieces speculatively. This wasn't something she'd come across. She looked around the room to figure that out and then placed the lid on top of the jar before screwing the ring on as tightly as she could. LITTLE TIGHTER. She made a face as she put some elbow grease into it. But that was as tight as it would go so now it was time to see if the seal had worked. She held the edge of it, the mouth bit and it seemed okay to her. Nothing felt loose or was falling off or anything. Last thing was to label. Char labeled it 'murtlap essence, half volume', added her name, and then in small writing, an explanation as to why she'd halved the ingredients. At least if she was wrong, hopefully she wouldn't be marked down because she'd tried to figure it out. .... hopefully they'd be back to yeti next time. Charlotte cleaned off and packed away the equipment, yawned and stripped her gloves off. Freedom couldn't come soon enough. |
SPOILER!!: Abester! River quietly watched the youngest Botros child do his job, and was quite pleased with the trust that the kid has placed on him. See, the murtlap didn't even mind their presence as it happily chewed on its treats. Were those...two shrimp tails in its mouth now? "Poor chap must be hungry too." River replied as the man gently dumped the rest of the shrimps inside its tank, and gently placed the lid back as soon as Abey was done harvesting his tentacles. "Well done Master Botros. And you harvested good tentacles too, I must say," he said inspecting the squishy murtlap parts in his collection tray. The Healer man quickly summoned a parchment and his muggle pen from his pocket and took the liberty of labelling each of the ingredients that were now in front of the boy. "Now, Master Botros...you are ready to pickle your tentacles. The first thing that must be done is to put the harvested tentacles inside the jar and add the salt. Wait for the excess water to appear and drain it in your cauldron." River instructed the boy as detailed and slowly as he can so as not to confuse him. He also gestured his finger towards the ingredients and tentacles to make the instruction visual. It was...sort of a test as well, so River could make his initial diagnosis. Was Abey dyslexic? Will pictures and signs be more manageable for him? "Don't worry about which ingredient to put next, just follow the labels here," he said gesturing to his last minute labelling for Abey, "And then cap the jar with the lid and ring." he continued showing the metal objects. Quote:
OOC: Last 40 minutes to get your replies in! I wasn't able to get online earlier because I'm sick with high fever. So sorry again for the very late announcement! >< ... As soon as Abey was finished with his task, River turned and made a quick inspection on the others, and clapped his hands to get their attention. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Please leave your jars in here as I will check them one by one. You may, however, take your essences with you. Should come in handy. Thank you for coming, and enjoy the rest of your day." he said, tucking his hands behind him and smiled at the students who met his eyes. As the students turned and headed out the door, River can't help but grin to himself...in a mischievous manner. He's known to prank his Castelobruxo students, so he thought that putting a very mild laughing jinx at the threshold will do for now. Those who were brave enough to eat the pickled Murtlap tentacles was obviously spared, the rest...well, they were bound to laugh and giggle in the next 15 minutes. Oops? Hehehehe. The door to the classroom was closed and locked as soon as the last student showed himself out. OOC: Thank you, everyone, for coming! If you're up for it, you may react/RP your characters giggling and laughing uncontrollably for the next 15 minutes if they haven't taken the pickled Murtlap tentacle. Check out your house points table for your incentive points. See you around! ^^ |
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