Etta listened to the story.. which seemed interesting enough. It was weird how she'd never really read about the whomping Willow having a cousin before. She stared at the tree in disbelief as it swayed gently.. it was actually crying, huh. As for the professor's question, she literally had no idea. She chewed on her lower lip in thought for a moment or two.. but burst into a fit of giggles at Zoryn's answer. Obviously kicking wasn't the answer but the younger girl was adorable nonetheless.

She raised a hand to answer. "I'm not sure if talking would help, professor? Maybe.. there's a spell or something? But.. I do have a proper question. Um. Does its tears have any medicinal properties?" You know, just curious. Her eyes drifted back towards the tree again. It looked rather beautiful, really.

"I'm doing good," Olly answered with a smile. "Glad to be in my favorite class." Of course he would have to say that, even if it wasn't his absolute favorite class. Still, it was pretty close to the truth so he didn't feel bad. While Professor Myers greeted the rest of the students Olly's focus shifted to his climbing mission. He had just spotted a branch he thought might be useful and was reaching his arms to grab it when suddenly the lesson was starting. Oh. Maybe he should climb later, then? Probably.

It took a lot of focusing to follow the story and understand what was happening. He did know who Apollo was. Greek God of...well a lot of stuff, actually. The sun, for one. Hence his chariot that he drove. So far so good. Then he started thinking about if he was this Phaethon guy. Driving Apollo's chariot would be fun, except running into the sun and setting fire to the earth was not so fur. Nor was getting struck by a thunderbolt. He imagined if that happened to him his sister would cry too. And her tears would turn into this tree? That was pretty cool.

Olly thought about the question for a moment before answering. "Well when it rains I imagine raindrops can fall down the trunk and that might look like tears."

Lacrimoneous cousin? What on earth was Professor Myers babbling about now? Also, where were all the tables in Greenhouse Three? At least Willow trees were pretty and even Skylar, was able to appreciate that. But not for long as the Professor started the lesson and launched into a STORY about the HISTORY of HERBOLOGY or ... what?!

The fourth year was doing her best to take down notes of everything but well it took everything she had to just focus on the story and try to comprehend what Myers was saying. She would be needing to confer with Isa later to make sense of this origin and history stuff, if it was even important for exam purposes?

Wait, what? The weeping willow cried? Like were the tears similar to human tears or ...? And that question Etta had about medicinal properties, yes, she was curious about that too. Or for like potions? She hadn't come across 'weeping willow tears' as a potions ingredient yet, but that didn't mean it wasn't to come. As far how to get the tree to weep, Skylar's first thought was to tell it a story about its origins ... but that probably wasn't even close. Actually what Etta said made sense; a spell. "I agree with Etta. Maybe a spell. Or maybe, pulling on its leaves and branches?" Pulling on her hair always made her close to tears.

If Katy's brother died in a fiery chariot accident, she'd do more than cry over it. And she certainly wouldn't turn into a tree. She'd march up to that bully Zeus and give him what-for. AND THERE. Not that it would help, but it seemed more useful than crying.

But THESE trees did cry... and now she wanted some tears. For science.

"Maybe they do it spontaneously? Or is it actually sap running over, so you look for bark damage?" That sounded like a real thing to her.

He only had time to offer Althea a smile before Myers was.... talking again.

Merlin, that man could speak. Students couldn't get their questions in edgewise.

Of course, Nicholas didn't really mind. No curiosity was tickling his brain about that ridiculously spontaneous myth detailed by his Head of House, and he certainly had no guesses to how a tree cried. But if he had to put his faith into an answer, it would be Katherine Toussaint's.

Intelligent, wasn't she? Shame that brain didn't keep her from yelling.

A weeping Willow?

Okay, that was interesting but creepy at the same time. Imagine when you're sneaking out at night and you passed this tree but suddenly it's weeping... Way to scare the young students, huh? Ava just nodded while listening to Myers' story about this.. magical tree. And what makes the tree crying? Well... There were many possibilities. The Gryffindor was sure that if someone did a bad thing on the tree (like cutting the branch, picking the leaves and etc.) would make it crying. But someone had mentioned that so... She needed another possible answer. "Professor, perhaps bad weather like thunderstorm makes the tree weeping more?" She said as she raised her hand. That could be possible especially if it didn't like bad weather.

Jonas snorted at Zoryn's answer. Is that right? He shook his head. What ever you say Zoryn.

When Professor Myers started the lesson, Isa shifted her attention from her communication with the tree back to the lesson. Greek mythology was cool. Penelope and dad were more into the mythology stuff, but Isa knew about the plants myths, like Narcissus. She had a whole book that dad had given her about Greek myths about plants. Even though she wasn't as much of a mythology nerd as her older sister, she knew the Phaethon myth. Ah, Phaethon, another Greek mythology figure whose fate was brought about by his hubris. "Hubris. Bad idea to offend the gods." In Greek mythology excessive hubris always got people killed, like Phaethon and Icarus. Isa was no Ravenclaw like Penny, but she had the same appreciation for Greek mythology as the rest of her family. Her parents, especially dad, liked Greek mythology. Penelope's name came from Greek mythology.

Of course weeping willow trees had magical properties. There was a reason that they had so many associations with magic, even is the magical properties were a recent discovery. Mum specialized in researching magical properties of mundane plants, so the idea that seemingly mundane plants could have magical properties was nothing new to Isa. She would have to owl mum later to tell her all about what they were learning in herbology. Perhaps this was even a magical variety of weeping willow. It reminded Isa of the willow tree in the garden at home. "Is this one a mundane weeping willow or a magical variety? Or something in between?" There were a lot of willow species in existence, and they all crossbred easily, so it was reasonable that this might be some sort of combination of magical and mundane willow species, a new species in its own right.

Oooh, what could you do to a tree to make it cry? "Maybe it weeps under certain conditions that are stressful to the tree, like extreme heat or dehydration?" Then again, it seemed like a waste of water to cry when you were dehydrated. "What substance are the tears made from and how does the tree produce them?" She was curious about this. Today's lesson was of special interest to Isa. Trees were amazing! With willows especially there was so much potential for new species and studying magical properties of the tree. The gears were turning in Isa's head with all sorts of thoughts about what sort of magical properties the willow tree might have. "Do all species of willows have magical properties?" There were a lot of species of willow trees. Maybe only certain species had magical properties?

The first year shot Zoryn a smile and promptly poked the older girl back. She also sent Stasya a huge smile when she came in, really hoping that her best friend was okay today. A few lessons had gotten to Stasya recently and Emmeline hoped this wouldn't be another bad one. Admittedly, most of those same lessons had gotten to her too, so it wasn't just Stasya.

The potentially Dark wizard professor immediately launched into a super sad story about the pretty tree's beginnings. That definitely counted against him in Emmeline's investigation. Normal professors weren't so happy when they told super sad stories, nope. AND he wanted ideas on how to make the tree even sadder! Well, she would not be helping with an evil plan like that! Emmeline made a stern, disapproving face as she stared at the professor suspiciously.

Except, then Zoryn's answer made her burst into a fit of giggles and she couldn't really recapture her dark looks after that. She still didn't want to offer up any ideas on how to make the pretty tree sad, though.

Two things had had the second year petrified with terror since her stepped into the greenhouse. The first being that he had no idea what lacrimoneous meant and the other being the tree itself. While he had just recently admitted in his Infant Creature journal that he WAS warming up to the idea of plants and trees, he was still long ways off from accepting. Being comfortable around them was still, well, it was a long ways off. It also did not help that when Dark Lord Myers spoke the Hufflepuff COMPLETELY misheard the name of the tree.

WEAVING WILLOW.

DEATH WAS UPON THEM ALL!

It was one of mum's favorite flesh eaters - although mum favored them in general - and Derf could just feel the secretion forming in his trousers as his bright blues STARED at it while the professor spoke. The myth went entirely in one ear and out the other, the Hufflepuff retaining a b s o l u t e l y nothing. Could he cast Incendio? He suddenly forgot if he COULD and was suddenly wishing he were by Dora because she was like really REALLY good with fire magic. Alas, however, as he was currently opposite of where the older Gryffindor was.

So while the man talked some more and probably asked the class something,
Derf went through his enchanted suitcase until he found the helmet he had taken off one of the suits of armour earlier and quickly slipped it on his head.
At least now his head would be safe, right?

Could he please drop Herbology now?

He also edged his way closer to Althea - who he had been close to already - because she had TOTALLY saved and protected him during last class. Hello older Hufflepuff lady. You now had a Derf attached to you. Hi.

Vivian was definitely here all along, and right in front where she usually was. She swayed along with the tree behind Professor Myers. It was... a weeping willow tree. Hmm, the name sounded a bit interesting yet sad all on its own. Obviously, it was probably because the tree looked like it was crying?

But WHY would a tree cry? It had... feelings, apparently? The blonde blinked and paused for a while to think of a possible reason.

The tree wasn't human, so she dismissed all emotional-related possibilities in that case. It was magical, as Professor Myers mentioned, but that was a rather realistic answer to it. Vivian felt imaginative right now... so... hmm. This got her brain racking for answers. Aha! She raised her hand. "Maybe cos it absorbed too much water and it was just too heavy for the tree to deal with, so the tree cried them out," the Slytherin said, nodding along. Well, she had to be honest. It DID sound sort of true. Ahem, anyway.

After getting as acquainted as one could with the tree, Olivia retreated to grab her bag and find a seat for the remainder of the lesson. She couldn't stay standing, after all.... Hm. A seat towards the front, she thought. Closer to the tree since it was a terribly fascinating thing. This Weeping Willow. She, of course, saw Althea's small wave...returning it with a smile...and the one from her little Stasya love. The younger Gryffindor seemed just as interested in the peculiar tree as everyone else...

Finally settling in with her Herbology notebook, the blonde began manually jotting down information as Professor Paul started the lesson. She even copied down the contributions from her peers, liking Katy's answer best.

....But..."Do you think the tree is sensory? Like...do you think it could sense the emotions in the living things around them." There were other magical plants that were able to respond to witches and wizards, so Olivia didn't think it was too far-fetched. Also, all stories had some modicum of truth to them, didn't they?

Unsure if the Professor was pulling his leg or not, Mason raised an eyebrow when he was told that Lacrimoneous was a real word. If …IF it was a word than cool, he learned something new today. Mason nodded his head before he moved over to the small group nearby and sat next to Dora.

The Ravenclaw shrugged his shoulders when the Gryffindor asked how he had been. To be honest, he was exhausted. Even with his time schedule plan for studying for his N.E.W.Ts which were creeping up too fast now, he was still nervous about failure. “I'm good” he said and before he could ask her how she had been, his words were lost in his mind and failed to come out of his mouth when she leaned into him.

It had been briefly. Most people wouldn’t have even noticed it and even Mason did not flinch away. His jaw however, did clench , an unconcious sign that told he was uncomfortable. Luckily, Professor Myers decided to start the lesson right then.

Taking out his notebook from his still not fixed bag…he’d take care of that later… Mason was ready to take notes. So the tree was called the Weeping Willow. A much better name that Lacrimoneous Tree. When he was done taking notes about the history of the tree and why it cried actual tears, Mason thought about HOW they could make the tree cry.

Hearing Zoryn’s answer , the Ravenclaw let out a small snort. “Don’t kick trees, you might hurt yourself” he said. “No, we cut them and make them in to paper, that would make it cry, right Professor?” he finished, turning to look at him.

Kitty listened to the story of the Weeping Willow with an expression of polite curiosity. She'd heard plenty of Greek stories before and almost all of them seemed to end tragically. In her humble opinion, the gods weren't really all that likeable and many times even worse than the monsters. Like Medusa, for example...

She hated to admit it, but Katherine's answer on why the trees cried made perfect sense. But now that she's said it, there was no way she was just going to repeat it. Instead she repeated Vivian's answer. "I think maybe it cries after a heavy rain, like maybe the tears are excess water that the tree is depositing in the form of tears. Like Vivian said. I mean, if the tree doesn't make noises when it cries, too." Did it do that? Yikes that would be creepy!

Oh, and she had a question for Paul. "I'm just curious Professor," she said, raising her hand again. "Do you believe that story about the Apollo and Zeus?" The Greek gods seemed to weird for anyone today to believe in, but who was she to judge? Muggles thought magic was too weird to be real, so maybe there were things that the wizarding community didn't know about. But if the Greek gods were real, they were terrible tyrants - Kitty thought privately.

The retelling of a Greek myth was told in what one would expect Myers to tell a story. Drama! Exclamations! More dramatics!

It was pretty great.

Maybe in another life the man had been a really good History of Magic professor? Or perhaps some sort of story-teller, either by performing said stories or writing them.

Anyway.

"I'd imagine that given its lacrimoneous disposition--" Levi saw no problem with borrowing from from Myers' dictionary for the remainder of the class. He smiled, continuing, "--making it cry isn't actually that hard." He let go of the leaf he'd been examining, and chose to finally sit down near the tree's base. "Especially if it's related to the Whomping Willow. That one's branches--er, limbs, function like arms and should be treated as such when damaged." It had felt like they might has well be arms, really, back in the second challenge. Even if the whole thing had just been a dream, ultimately. "So, perhaps it's the same for the Weeping Willow? Any damage, however small, might make it shed a tear or ten." Levi shrugged. Then caught himself.
"NOT that I'm suggesting we beat up the tree, of course. It's just one way it might be done--" As if he'd dare to do that. There were too many Hufflepuffs and potential tree huggers around for that. "--if one is desperate enough." Nailed it.

….if Paul had been drinking tea, he would have spit it out in enormous, belly-consuming laughter that was now emitting from his mouth. “She gives that much, eh? Which Professor Stewart is it? Who do I need to talk to? Herbology homework should be the MOST important to you, clearly.” He teased.

As for kicking it, he just snorted and shook his head. “We will not be harming trees in class todsay, Zoryn.”



Sad stories. D’awww. “Well, I just told a sad story, and the tree didn’t start crying, did it?” he smiled, though. “But good guess, Noelle.”



A SPELL. “Yes, Etta,good thinking there. Since...you know, trees don’t communicate the same way we do,” he said gently. “And as for that...well, the tears are still a NEW discovery. So any medicinal purposes are still unknown. I will, however, go over its known use in a little bit.”



So, Oliver was one of the ones who didn’t think the tree was magical? Paul applauded the creative answer. “Well, that was before we knew it could produce its own tears. When it rains, its swaying and the raindrops does make it look like it’s crying.”



Heh. Another one that wanted to hurt the tree? Paul laughed softly. “A lot of you really want to harm the tree to make it cry! Goodness me!” he teased slightly. “I don’t think it would appreciate that, no, but it won’t make it cry.”



“Umm. They...need a little push to actually cry. I think. Like I said, not everything is known thus far.” Was his reply to the suave Slytherin.



Nicholas was quiet. Paul gave the boy a smile but quickly moved his eyes over him so he could call on someone with their hands raised. He would like to know what was going on in the badger’s head. He had...smart eyes.



“Do you mean..the water would make it LOOK like it was weeping or….that it would actually weep from the bad weather?” Either way, that wasn’t the answer he was looking for, he was just curious.



Yes, Jonas. Paul thought it was funny, too! Heh.



“Well, your line of thinking isn’t illogical, m’dear. But there is something very specific we can do to produce its tears,” he smiled gently at her, though. “No...not all. Some willows are just..mundane, regular willows.”



…..Emmeline was silent, and he saw that face he was giving her. “What is..that for, m’dear?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. Merlin, what had he done to offend her?



Derf was wearing a helmet, being generally...odd. What was new? Paul merely smiled and glazed by, since he didn’t have his hand raised, no idea that the boy had misheard him. At least the boy wasn’t crying? Right now?



“Ahh...I see where you’re going with that….it’s a good guess, dear, but not exactly what ‘m looking for,” he smiled though! Because all answers were GREAT and none were STUPID.

This go round.

JUST KIDDING PAUL WAS NEVER JUDGMENTAL.

Lies.

But, he was generally happy with the way their brains were working thus far. Good thoughts all around.



Hmm. Olivia’s question was intriguing. “Perhaps. They...can definitely...sense emotions….but...I’ll explain in a second.” He grinned.



……..well then. Paul raised an eyebrow. “Well, no, because then the tree would be...dead.” He could give Ravenclaw answers, too, you know, having been one back in the day. But he did chuckle at Mason telling Zoryn she might herself because...kicking trees could very well be harmful to the human man than the tree.



“Well…...it doesn’t make any noises. Thankfully. I think that would frighten me. And again, the weather has no effect on the tree’s...weeping abilities.” BUT KITTY GOT A THUMBS UP FOR GIVING A GOOD ANSWER.

Umm. "Well, I don't really want to get into my beliefs at the moment...but...you can come see my privately anytime and we can discuss." He smiled at her curiosity, though.



Paul was DELIGHTED Levi used his word. Simply DELIGHTED. “Well...damage to the tree...you’re right in--” He was stuttering from excitement, so he SLOOOOOWED down and took a breath. “You’re right to suggest that it functions in similar ways to the Whomping Willow---which I suppose is what made you, Olivia, suggest it might be sensory,” he shot his gaze fleetingly back at Olivia Phillips, “The Whomping Willow can sense danger approacing through feeling in the ground. Why wouldn’t a Weeping Willow be able to sense sadness, I suppose...however, the part about damaging the tree...they have not been proven to weep because of any physical damage….” Did they SEE where he was going with this now?!

“A lot of you seem to be under the impression that these trees don’t weep actual tears, and until recently this was the case according to all Herbologists. It was just some…mundane willow tree with a mythological origin story that may or may not tree, depending on the details,” he paused slightly. “However, this tree...can really cry. It can produce tears...and these tears DO have special properties. But first…” he went to stand in front of them, all of them seated there, under the Willow tree.

“Some of you said a spell might do the trick...and Levi suggested it would react in similar ways to the Whomping Willow...well, the Whomping Willow does its thing when it feels threatened...and aggressive. So THIS tree is...affected by sadness,,” He grinned, despite this lesson literally being about sad trees. “Well, I hope you’re all at least a tiny bit familiar with the cheering charm, GAUDEO...because today, we’ll be learning its counterpart, the sadness charm!” WERE THEY EXCITED?

Paul whipped out his wand. “We’ll be working on extracting the tree’s tears today, and learning a tiny bit more about them. There’s still a LOT to learn..they were discovered in 2067 by a witch named Desserta Hightop.” What a name. Beautiful, really. “In order to procure the tears, we must cast the sadness charm on the tree. It will take quite a few tries before the branches start to drop with the tree’s tears. The spell is simple. It is...MAERORO - that is, MY-RO-RO,” he grinned. “It comes from the Latin...sadness...or something of that sort,” he waved it off like the fluffy information it was. “MAERORO.” He repeated it again. It was silly sounding to him, so of course he liked it. “The wand movement for it is an upside U shape and then a point in the direction you want the spell to go,” Paul demonstrated. AN UPSIDE DOWN U WAS A SAD FACE DID THEY NOTICE???

“Soo….practice the wand movement and SAYING the spell...and then, whenever you are ready, take one of these handy little vials -----” Paul held one up, “But be careful. They’re glass. And do the spell at the tree’s branches...it might take a bit of OOMF on your part to get them to cry, but collect the tears until the tube is about ¾ of the way full.” Were they READY? “You may begin….NOW.”

They had a lot of time to get this done, too. "General chitter chatter allowed!" Paul wanted to eavesdrop on interesting conversations, all right?



OOC: Helllllllo all! You have roughly 2 days to practice wand movement, saying the charm, then using it on the tree. One time on the tree will NOT work. It will take at least a few times for the tree to cry. Do this in as many posts you deem necessary to let your creativity flow. I'll be poking in here interacting with you all, answering any questions your guys have, and letting Paul poke his nose in people's conversations. Have fun and make me laugh, it's a dare.

<3

……………right…..he had not thought of that the tree would be dead if they made paper out of it. But...maybe it would cry while it was being taken down? Or was that too sinister? He did hear the chuckle though so the Ravenclaw relaxed a bit.

He picked up his pen again when the Professor continued his information about the tree and he wrote down the key points in case they came up during his NEWT exam. Even the thought of an exam made him panic a bit and he frantically flipped back the pages of his herbology notebook as he had randomly remembered a fact and he wasn’t sure if he had written it down or not. It was only when i found it that he let out a sigh. Merlin’s Beard he was freaking out already. ‘Just…don’t go full on crazy in class where everyone can see you’ he thought to himself.

When the professor took out his wand, Mason’s dark brown eyes gazed from his notebook to the man and looked at the demonstration. My-ro-ro…. Funny incantation name wasn’t it? The Ravenclaw wrote down the incantation and wand movement before closing his notebook and placed it in his bag.

He doubted he would get the wand movement wrong, come on he was a seventh year. Only first years were allowed to get a movement wrong, otherwise it was just sad. The incantation itself was wise to practice first. Even if it was a simple one. Didn’t want to lose points for doing nothing. “Mae-ro-ro….mae-ro-ro.... maeroro”

Mweh that was enough practice.

HOW COME EVERYONE WAS LAUGHING????

The Gryffindor looked around the greenhouse and gave all of those laughing a POINTED LOOK. She was being SO SERIOUS!!! What was so funny about her answer?!? And of course, being the very dramatic Gryffindor that she was… It definitely felt like she was being laughed at. Not with.

Zor crossed her arms and felt herself deflate a little. They had hurt her feelings. “Muggle Studies Professor Stewart,” she mumbled back in response to Professor Myers’ inquiry. The second year was ready to fire back at Mason, who had something to say about her ‘kicking’ idea, ‘cause his idea was even STUPIDER. But then Professor Myers’ shot him down anyways, so Zoryn stayed quiet.

She didn’t feel like doing magic anymore. Could she leave?

“Maeroro,” she tried, knowing class would pass by quicker if she was doing something.

Dora gave professor Myers the STINK EYE. SHE hadn't said acrimonious. Mason had. And well... sure they were easy to confuse... NOT. But as the man was already launching into a poorly relayed Greek myth she made a mental note to correct him later. Rude. Why had it become a THING for professors to call students out in class like that? And it was only embarrassing to THEM when they were wrong. Ha.

But whatever. Moving along.

The mama lion moved closer to Zoryn as people began to laugh at her answer... really guys. If Zoryn was anything like her... and it seemed she absolutely was, she didn't appreciate being laughed at. In any capacity. Sheesh. Eyes landing on those who laughed, Dora gave them ALL am Umbridge sized stink eye. RUDE.

But her protective nature waned as she let her gaze fall on Mason. Was he... sweating? Merlin's pants... what was wrong with him? "Hey, do you two want to work with me on this Charm? " she asked MASON and ZORYN with a smile. Pulling her wand from its holster she first practiced the wand movement without the incantation. Perhaps they could join, right?

Weeping Willows…Greek Myths.

Hmm…Cassie hadn’t been aware of that connection, but it sorta made sense given how many other things had origin stories that came from way back in someone’s mythology somewhere. She listened as Professor Myers told the story, absently jotting down notes for later reference. Poor Phaethon, dying because of curiosity and making a mistake. But then the gods weren’t entirely known for being happy-go-lucky, at least most of the time.

So weeping willows represented the sisters tears and the swaying was the sadness they felt. Cass could see that. But crying real tears…that was an interesting truth. Was it just special weeping willows? Or did one just not notice it, especially muggles, unless you knew to look for the tell-tale signs? Myers sort of answered the questions as he mentioned the magical qualities being a recent development. As for how to make it cry, she was completely clueless. Not that it mattered all that much since her classmates had their ideas, some melding with what the professor went on to inform them.

A sadness charm.

MAERORO.

At least they didn’t need to cast it on themselves. Cassie didn’t feel like being sad. “Maeroro…My-ro-ro…Maeroro…” she practiced saying the word, getting her tongue around the incantation. And then the wand movement with the upside down u and the point towards the tree. Over and over again.

Alright alright alright. Practise time! Jonas smiled and practised the wand movement first. Okay. That was pretty easy. Now for the incantation. He put his wand in his pocket so it wouldn't accidentally cast.
"Maeroro. My-ro-ro."

They were learning a sadness charm? That didn't seem like it could have any other use besides this one right now. Well, it could be used for other purposes but not for any nice ones. Using it on a person would just make them sad and that would be, well, sad. And mean. Was it not mean to use it on this tree? Olly supposed that since it was just a tree it didn't really feel sad. He didn't really understand plant emotions, or if they could even feel emotions. He didn't think they could but he could be wrong?? He decided to stop thinking about it and just start working on the spell.

"Maeroro." He tested the incantation aloud and found that while it did sound kind of funny it was not particularly hard to say. Next he tried the wand movement, which was just an upside down u. Heh, it was a frowny face. Olly scooted close to Noelle and whispered to her. "Seems kind of mean to make the tree sad on purpose, doesn't it?" It seemed like such a... Hufflepuff sort of worry. Still, Olly could shake it.

Rather than listening to any of his classmates' ideas (most of which he found preposterous), Nicholas was thinking about that word. Lacrimoneous. It sounded like a mixture of acrimoneous— angry, rancorous— and lachrymose. So, not only was the willow weeping... but it was also bitter?

No wonder it was a cousin of the big ol' Whomper, then. That thing had far too much rage packed in it.

Grabbing a vial, he immediately headed over to the tree for his incantation practice. Myers had implied it would take a few tries to work, and Nicky was not one to waste energy. "Myyy-rohhh-rohhh." He drew a little rainbow in the air and pointed at the willow. Of course, nothing happened.

What kind of intent was required to cast this sort of charm, anyway? Nicky didn't have the will to make anything cry.

He only knew how to do that inadvertently.

Huh?! She didn't want to harm the tree and didn't think a light pulling on the branches was really the same as kicking it. But she guessed Myers, unless he had long hair in his youth was not understanding the reference of pulling hair and just thought of it as torturing the tree. Eh, she had more eggs on the spell idea anyway, but just wanted to suggest something else.

Uh ... UH ... Desserta Hightop?! Did he make up names? Also, Maeroro? Was that even a real incantation and did her mother know that her maiden name was present in a spell that made trees cry? Seemed rather ironic since her mother had one of the most cheery dispositions she knew.

"Maeroro, maeroro, maeroro ..." Sky repeated, finding the incantation not terribly challenging given her personal connection to it. "Maeroro" she said yet again, this time flourishing her wand in the upside U shape and jabbing it in the direction of the tree's branches.

Oh, wait, she was supposed to collect the tears in one of the vials. Blinking, she quickly grabbed a vial and unstoppered it single-handedly but when she finished she realized the tears had stopped already. Oops, that wasn't a lot of tears at all and she completely wasted them on not being ready! Guess time to try again and this time she would be ready....

Right. Well. That had only been his first try. He had the potential for many more (read: until he got fed up).

"Maeroro." Nicky traced the concave down shape and then pointed his wand at the tree again, his vial unstoppered and ready to go underneath the branch he'd chosen. And, once again, he was rewarded with an encouraging stream of nothingness.

Brow furrowed in agitation, he repeated the incantation. "Maeroro!" Tears. Come ON, tree. He needed them.

.... a single drop rolled off the wood and dripped into his vial. It was not even enough to fill a thousandth, let alone three-fourths, of the container.

Was Myers bloody serious?