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STRAINING, HARVESTING, AND PICKLING MURTLAP TENTACLES
The late January sun shines through the windows as you make your way to the spare classroom that Healer Reed found for the term’s second seminar. The man was considerate enough to place warming charms within the room, both for the comfort of the participants...and the creature that they will be working on. As you step inside the classroom, you will find rows of tables, each filled with the following items: A cauldron, Bunsen burners, safety goggles, dish clothes, aprons, scissors and tongs. Between the cauldron and the tray of tools, is a clear glass box filled with heavy mist. The top lid of the box is locked and sealed by a charm.
You will find the Healer up front with his sleeves rolled up, checking and re-checking his supplies for today’s seminar.
Come on in, choose your workstation, and make your presence known. The seminar will start in a few minutes!
OOC:Welcome to the second Healer’s Health and Wellness Program! Post your charries joining Healer Reed and we will start in approximately 12-24 Hours from this post. Please read our RULES, before posting. Thank you! (P.S: So sorry for the very late announcement!)
The second seminar is now on-going. Please do not post your character arriving late, unless you want points deducted from your student. You’re more than welcome to jump in the discussion and activities anytime, just post them as if they were there all along
"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.
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!
Snow Miser | Munchy | Molly Hooper | T | Hey, you | Phantom | Mrs. Chris Evans | Brat Pack | Tristalen
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!
Jedi Master•General Iroh•Java Junkie• King ♛ Stefan •Mycroft Holmes•Dragon Lord•Druid Boy
SPOILER!!: We're not giving up on him though ;)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Felixir
"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.
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?"
__________________
"It didn't go quite as planned." | The Underground Studio Translation: I may have caused irreversible damage on a monumental scale.
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?"
Maybe crying, maybe just a little, but actually trying not to for once even though he really wanted to, because he did seem to end up crying an awful lot of the time, didn't he, actually? Even though he was happy much more often than he was sad. But... well... some things were just... worthy of tears, weren't they?
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.
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!
Jedi Master•General Iroh•Java Junkie• King ♛ Stefan •Mycroft Holmes•Dragon Lord•Druid Boy
Quote:
Originally Posted by Felixir
Maybe crying, maybe just a little, but actually trying not to for once even though he really wanted to, because he did seem to end up crying an awful lot of the time, didn't he, actually? Even though he was happy much more often than he was sad. But... well... some things were just... worthy of tears, weren't they?
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.
People had commented that his handwriting was awful. Well, most Healers both in the muggle and wizarding world have sloppy handwriting, however, he'd used magic to 'write' the instructions...so what was wrong? Perhaps, he missed a very important information while reviewing Abraham's medical record?
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?
__________________
"It didn't go quite as planned." | The Underground Studio Translation: I may have caused irreversible damage on a monumental scale.
Ama!Nabs IS NAMED MINHO & Is SO Black Panther Right Now
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.
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."
People had commented that his handwriting was awful. Well, most Healers both in the muggle and wizarding world have sloppy handwriting, however, he'd used magic to 'write' the instructions...so what was wrong? Perhaps, he missed a very important information while reviewing Abraham's medical record?
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?
There was just a tad more sniffling, just a little bit more tear-shedding, but mostly Abey was focusing on wiping his eyes dry and getting a grip so that he could relaaaaaax. Which was actually quite easy actually because the offer from the healer managed to perk him up almost instantly.
"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."
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!
Jedi Master•General Iroh•Java Junkie• King ♛ Stefan •Mycroft Holmes•Dragon Lord•Druid Boy
Quote:
Originally Posted by Felixir
There was just a tad more sniffling, just a little bit more tear-shedding, but mostly Abey was focusing on wiping his eyes dry and getting a grip so that he could relaaaaaax. Which was actually quite easy actually because the offer from the healer managed to perk him up almost instantly.
"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."
As a former Ravenclaw, River found it very easy to help and teach his peers whenever they get lost and confused with the lesson. The man thought that what he will be doing next wasn’t a far cry from what he have been doing since he was a child. But before he could say anything to the young Gryffindor, he made a mental note about Abraham’s condition, and decided to review his medical records before calling it a day.
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.
__________________
"It didn't go quite as planned." | The Underground Studio Translation: I may have caused irreversible damage on a monumental scale.
lives in a hobbit hole || Ern and Touz's Nuzzle || roflysst || looking at a seed packet
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stefan
In all honesty, River appreciated the follow-up question from Charlotte, and he too did not miss the confused look on her face. He did it again, didn't he? Over-thinking things was one of his weaknesses, and his answers could lead to more confusion. He really should've considered the fact that he wasn't talking to a fellow Healer, but rather a learning student. The Healer tilted his head to the side to listen to the Gryffindor, his pleasant grin ever present while doing so. "It's good to know what this creature can do to a person, but I think it would also help if one knew what to do in case they attack. This witch or wizard must be capable of tending the bite, and to know how not to agitate it when one comes across it." Did...that make sense? Knowing the facts were never meant to stay in textbooks, rather it has to be further questioned, tested, and constantly proved.
River pursed his lips as he tried his best not to further enable his Ravenclaw mind. Over-thinking was a bad idea, especially in times when he has medical cases to review and think about. The Healer glanced down at Charlotte's work, and nodded in approval when she decided to pop one tentacle in her mouth. "Well done, Miss Kettleburn."
The murtlap in her glass box didn't look amused though.
"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! ^^
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!
__________________
love is like a letter wrote :: and life is like an envelope
be careful who you give it to :: they might not give it back to you
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.
lives in a hobbit hole || Ern and Touz's Nuzzle || roflysst || looking at a seed packet
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.
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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.
As a former Ravenclaw, River found it very easy to help and teach his peers whenever they get lost and confused with the lesson. The man thought that what he will be doing next wasn’t a far cry from what he have been doing since he was a child. But before he could say anything to the young Gryffindor, he made a mental note about Abraham’s condition, and decided to review his medical records before calling it a day.
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.
This time, Abey was not nearly as stressed out as before, because now he was less worried that he would fall behind and not be able to catch up, because HELP was HERE. Hellooooooo.
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?"
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!
Jedi Master•General Iroh•Java Junkie• King ♛ Stefan •Mycroft Holmes•Dragon Lord•Druid Boy
SPOILER!!: Char!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tegz
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.
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!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oesed
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.
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!
Gotcha!
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.
450 ml of Spirit Vinegar (Distilled White Vinegar in the US)
½ cup of sea salt
¼ cup of Sal Ammoniac
¼ cup of Sulfur Vive
20 ml of Distilled Water
10 Murtlap Tentacles
Note: To make a less potent/kitchen grade Murtlap Essence, simply omit the Sal Ammoniac and Sulfur Vive.
PROCEDURE:
Place the harvested tentacles inside the jar, and add ½ cup of sea salt. The tentacles should release the excess water it carries.
Drain the excess water back in the cauldron and add ½ cup of Sal Ammoniac, ½ cup of Sulfur Vive and 450 ml of the spirit vinegar;
Tip: When adding the vinegar, be careful not to let bubbles form. Try tilting the mason jar to the side, and slowly add the vinegar. Note that the extra air from the bubbles will affect the potency of the essence.
Top the solution with water to seal the preservatives, and have the liquid reach up to the jar’s neck. Put on the metal lid, and screw the band on.
Test if it has a good seal. Hold the jar by its mouth and the band should feel that it has a good hold on to the jar’s mouth/screw.
Label your jars, and stow it away in a cool, dry place.
SPOILER!!: Abester
Quote:
Originally Posted by Felixir
This time, Abey was not nearly as stressed out as before, because now he was less worried that he would fall behind and not be able to catch up, because HELP was HERE. Hellooooooo.
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?"
"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 findperformit. (See OOC Note #1)
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! ^^
__________________
"It didn't go quite as planned." | The Underground Studio Translation: I may have caused irreversible damage on a monumental scale.
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?
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started like a knight in a fairytale_______________________________________________
ended like a moth in flames______________________ ______________________don't you worry I'll be fine _________________________________________________you were good for the plot line
Snow Miser | Munchy | Molly Hooper | T | Hey, you | Phantom | Mrs. Chris Evans | Brat Pack | Tristalen
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.
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.
Snow Miser | Munchy | Molly Hooper | T | Hey, you | Phantom | Mrs. Chris Evans | Brat Pack | Tristalen
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!
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.
Snow Miser | Munchy | Molly Hooper | T | Hey, you | Phantom | Mrs. Chris Evans | Brat Pack | Tristalen
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,.
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.
"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.
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.
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!
Jedi Master•General Iroh•Java Junkie• King ♛ Stefan •Mycroft Holmes•Dragon Lord•Druid Boy
Quote:
Originally Posted by Felixir
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.
As a man who always lived in the present, River took notice at how different Abey was reacting to the one-on-one session they were having, compared to moments ago wherein he was in the early stages of breaking down. The observation was quickly recorded and filed away in his memory as soon as the Gryffindor started talking again.
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.
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"It didn't go quite as planned." | The Underground Studio Translation: I may have caused irreversible damage on a monumental scale.
Snow Miser | Munchy | Molly Hooper | T | Hey, you | Phantom | Mrs. Chris Evans | Brat Pack | Tristalen
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.
SEMINAR 2: Healer's Challenge :: Straining, Harvesting, & Pickling Murtlap Tentacles 
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