Arms filllllled with cauldron cakes, Beau was going to WORK his way through all of stands to collect the free stuff -- because all these things would have free stuff..........right?

Plants?

Right.

UhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHH

He probably wasn't going to be able to carry one of those away with him, but he could TRY hold it between his knees or something. OR SOMETHING.

"HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII there!" Yeah this boy knew how to be COY and not suspicious at aLL. "You got free stuff?"

Had he brought too many plants? The table, and to be honest, the floor surrounding it, was getting rather full, and Spike stepped back to look at the display. Nah, of course not. How could a Herbology table have too many plants? It wasn't possible.

He grinned, gently running his fingers over the chiming bluebell plant in front of him. Though it looked like identical to the mundane variety, the purple flowers that carpeted woods in the spring, there was a soft tinkling of bells at his touch. His own crossbreed, that he'd started experimenting with way back when he was here at school. Fourteen years or so ago now.

And whilst many things changed in that time…some didn't. His fondness for Herbology had continued to blossom past Hogwarts, and he still played around in the greenhouse, creating crossbreeds, researching new species, and tending to his favourite group of plants - carnivorous ones. Just, he got paid to do it now. And yes, he had managed to sneak a small carnivore (or three) into the Great Hall.

He was about to ask Jimmy a question about one of his flowers, when their first visitor arrived. Spike laughed, grinning. The boy was certainly to the point. “Seeds,” he answered, picking up a packet to show him. “Perfect for pollinators. Just sprinkle on some freshly turned over compost, and you'll have a colourful display by summer.”

Huh...... Seeds......?

Was

that

it?

Beau opened a tiny little space between his fingers for the pack of seeds. "You don't got anything more fun??"" Like things that grew into something cooler than colourful garbage? bLAH BLAH BLAH SEEDS.

"What happens if I eat them?" Without chewing..

How were seeds NOT fun?

No, seriously...he didn't get it. Sure, there was a bit of waiting time involved, but who didn't get excited seeing their first seedlings poking through and developing into full-fledged plants?

...or was it just the type of seeds that was the issue? Because yes, he could agree that colourful flowers weren't the most interesting option out there. "There's a potion ingredient mix too, if that would be more up your alley?" His wife, a very talented potioneer, had helped him assemble that set.

"The seeds, or the flowers?" he asked, tilting his head slightly at the boy's next question. "Nothing will grow and sprout out your ears, if that's what you're wondering. The marigold and nasturtium petals are great for adding flavor and colour to salads though."

Y'know, Jim wasn't completely sure why they wanted a herbology booth here, given they had several greenhouses and a herbology professor on staff who was more than able to advise kids on the best career in the world, but he wasn't complaining.

He was also only half listening to the one kid asking for free stuff. Spike had that well in hand, though Jim woulda said that a whole garden might grow in his guts, just for the laughs.

He tickled one of the petals of the giggling gladiolus flowers arranged on the stand, which sure enough let out a little peal of giggles at the touch.

"Do you wanna know anything about herbology, kid, or are you just trying to get your mitts on some free stuff?" The former Ravenclaw asked.

If it was him back in the day, he'd just be wanting the free stuff too, if he was being honest.

Beau shrugged. "What's the potion thing do?" Because come on...if he could send it to his Mum for her birthday AND get away with seeming like he'd thought of it himself...he was ALL for it. Gifts were difficult when your pocket money was less than a pack of sweets...

AND HE LOVED SWEETS.

"Boring." He didn't eat SALAD.

It was all well and good talking to the guy with the hair only because he could keep his attention on that, but the other guy got in on this and OUTED HIM.

OUT OUT OUT.

"I asked what would happen if I ate them." That was showing an interest, yeah? "Does anywhere else got the free stuff?" Bar food. He was ALL stocked up on that.

After roaming around the job fair for a bit, Emmalyn paused and took a deep breath. Over the sweetness of the treats available, she detected the earthy smell of life. Her eyes scanned towards the back of the room and found plants. Lots of plants. "Oh, pretty" she whispered as she made her way over to the booth.

Upon her arrival, she noticed the Herbology sign. Of course it was Herbology. What other booth would have so many beautiful plants on display? Then she had an idea. Plants needed watered, plants needed to be fed, plants made a mess when they were repotted. She approached the booth attendants with a bright smile. "Good day." She gave a nod to both of the gentlemen. "I'm Emmalyn. Would either of you be in needed of some summer help? I'm looking for a summer job and I'm great at cleaning up and watering plants." Not only was she great at cleaning, she was also happy to sing to the plants or tell them stories. She had heard once that it could help them grow, so she always sang to her plants at home.

"So you did." Jim agreed easily. The kid looked vaguely familiar though Jimmy wasn't completely sure why. Maybe one of his parents had gone to school with him or something. He didn't bother to ask though. He shrugged off the question about other booths having free stuff though. "No idea about the other booths, sorry. Maybe you can go snag some free stuff for us though, since we're stuck here." He said, with an easygoing grin.

Aaaand.... he'd just let Spike keep up that expert kid-fielding he was doing. Pro at that, ol' Spikey was.



Well that was just sweet wasn't it?

"Hello Emmalyn, I'm James Wilkes. You like herbology then?" He tickled the gladiolus petals to make it giggle again. There were several flowers around, actually, many of them out of their mundane season, though none of them were mundane. They were, in fact, Jim's contribution to the plants at the booth - there were enough that he could give some away but he wouldn't to just any kid who asked, only to those who had some kind of interest in herbology and bothered to entertain him with questions. He also had a very small flesh-eating bonsai tree. Each of the tiny leaves had a teeny tiny mouth, though they were hard to see given they were all closed currently, and the bonsai itself was safely out of easy reach of any grabby hands.

"You know, there's a bunch of different areas within the field of herbology itself, and some plants aren't the safest to volunteer yourself to tend to without finding a bit out about what you might be doing first. You say you want a summer job but are you looking for just any old summer job, or are you interested in plants in particular?" He asked cheerfully.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wilkes." She flashed him another bright smile and giggled at the gladiolus. "I like your pretty plant." Her hand started to reach out to touch it, then she quickly put it back to her side. "I do like Herbology, but" she leaned in closer and lowered her voice "I'm only a first year and I don't know very much about magical plants." She didn't want him to feel embarrassed for possibly thinking she was older. She did just turn twelve a few weeks ago, and he probably thought she was a second or third year. Especially since she had pulled her hair back into a very respectable bun for the job fair.

"My father is a pastry chef, and I always help him and my mother in the garden. We have all kinds of berries and herbs growing year round in our tiny greenhouse." Sure, none of those were magical plants, but she had been able to keep them alive. "What would I need to learn before working with magical plants? I know I want to someday have a restaurant, like my father's bakery, and grow my own fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Are there a lot of magical plants you can eat?"

Emma ALREADY knew what SHE wanted to be when SHE was a grown up like all the people in the great hall running booths, SO, she wasn't here to get any tips or whatever on this. Her papa was an auror and ABEY had SO MANY QUIDDITCH players in his family AND he had the BEST BROOM EVER. So. She wasn't here for that. In truth, she almost didn't even COME because more kids here meant that there was more space to fly on the pitch, or ride the banisters down the stair cases OR EVEN follow Slyvie around and watch her do super awesome amazing stuff like she always did.

It was her MAMA that had wrote and told her that JIMMY was gonna be at school. THAT WAS THE BEST THING EVER CAUSE EMMA LOVED JIMMY.

The second year BOUND her way into the hall and weeeeeaved through lots of students to find Jimmy, a HUGE excited grin plastered on her face. He got HUUUUUGS without hesitation and his table got ALL the eager looks. "HI. Isn't is SO cool that we're here TOGETHER??? Can I play with your plants?" GASP. "Can I HAVE one for my dorm???"

With her belly full from having just eaten a fair bit at the refreshments area, little Rylee headed straight towards the Herbology booth. All the different flowers and plants tumbling from the pots that were scattered about had caught her eye right away.

"Whoa!" she giggled as she drew closer and closer. So much to look at! Bouncing on her heels she looked at the two adults tending the booth. She had a question and an important one at that! "Excuse me... but which flowers or plants would be best for making a flower crown? Like this one?" she pointed to said flower crown that was sat on her head. "Only real flowers. Pretty ones. That's possible, right? To use real live flowers... without killing them because I don't want them to die..." She wanted nice pretty colorful flowers that would last FOREVER! Was there a spell or something for that?!

Katy Toussaint didn't really need a job fair. She knew what she wanted to do and she knew how she was going to get there. She'd been accepted to university, so she might drop by the WU booth and see if they had any swag for her walls, but she didn't need anyone to tell her how to get the ideal career path.

Or whatever.

Nope, Katy was here to say hello to her Uncle Jimmy. Not her favorite uncle, since he was generally too sunny and pleasant to strike her Toussaint heart just so, but in the top five, at least. "Uncle JIMMY," Katy waved at him,and at his flowers, since they were so very pretty. "What do you have for me today? Something rare, I hope?"

He was starting to wonder whether the better approach would have been to feed the boy's imagination, and say that the seeds would explode in his stomach, or grow out his nostrils, or something. Because there were totally seeds that did that kind of thing...just not in that particular flower mix.

Ho hum.

"It's a mix that allows you to grow you own potions ingredients," Spike said with an easy smile, and ignoring the boring comment. "Lots of the standard ingredients...aconite, dittany, asphodel, lovage...and some fun ones like the leaping toadstool. Planting up a trough would make a perfect present for a potions fanatic." His curls rustled as he spoke, his tarantula familiar stretching and coming out to explore the familiar smells of old.

As for free stuff? Spike chuckled at Jimmy's response. "I heard the Healing booth is giving out fake blood." Maybe? Who knew.

Wow, and Jimmy was popular, as both a Gryffindor AND a Slytherin approached him directly. He couldn't get too jealous of the attention though, as a young girl was soon asking him about flower crowns. Spike grinned. Now that something he certainly had experience with. His daughter LOVED a pretty pink flower crown.

"Any you li-" he started answering, before realising the rest of her question. She wasn't just asking about making a crown, nor preserving one, but actually keeping it alive. Was it possible? "It is," he replied after a moment's thought. It wasn't actually something he'd considered doing. His daughter always wanted to choose fresh flowers from his garden, and he never complained, since it was basically a free dead-heading service. "But for best results, you'll want something small and hardy on a sturdy base...succulents would be a good choice, but if you want flowers...maybe one of the Gypsophilia family. And you'll need to keep it well fed with a potion full of nourishment."

He stroked his chin. Could he make the basis of one with the flowers he had on the table in front of him? Quite possibly...

"Have you thought about just preserving the flowers as they are?"

Rylee listened very closely. If anyone would really know the answers to this question it would be this man here... or Professor Myers but he had been ill during their lesson and she had forgotten to ask him. The smile on her face widened when he confirmed it was possible. "Small and hardy on a sturdy base..." she repeated softly nodding her head. She was definitely making mental notes of what he was telling her. "A potion? I'm not the best at brewing potions yet.. is it something I can buy?" Or perhaps her big sister could brew it so her. "Is it an easy potion to make?" Would she need to make her way over to the Potions booth too?

"Preserving the flowers?" The ginger child tilted her head slightly to the side. "Preserve them...how?" What exactly did this man mean? Was it easy to do? Could she do it herself? Tons of questions quickly filled her mind but she wanted to hear what he had to say first.

Even though they had been told it was okay to wear casual clothes to the job fair, Isa had opted to wear her full school uniform because she was trying to look more professional to make a good impression on all of the representatives at the job fair. Herbology was first on Isa’s list of tables to check out at the job fair event. This was her top priority to see, as she knew she wanted to pursue an advanced degree and a career in herbology. Later she would go check out the Wizarding University table to find out more about specific herbology programs offered at the various campuses, but now was her time to talk to real herbologists and find out what sort of work they did!

Isa made a beeline for the herbology table as soon as she entered the Great Hall. The fifth year Hufflepuff had even brought along one of her own crossbreeds to show them. This one was one of her color changing chrysanthemums that changed color in response to environmental conditions. Perhaps not as exciting to watch as the fireball spitting snapdragons, but those weren’t exactly the safest to be casually carrying around, so Isa just had the chrysanthemums which did nothing more than change color here with her. It was pretty when the colors changed. Approaching one of the herbology representatives (Spike) and making direct eye contact, Isa smiled and extended her free hand for a handshake and introduced herself. ”Hi, I’m Isa Wright. Pleased to meet you.”

Introductions aside, Isa had all sorts of questions to ask about working towards a career in herbology. ”What path did you take to become a herbologist, and what sort of work do you do now as a herbologist? I want to study herbology in university and hopefully become a herbologist. I’m just a fifth year now, but in the future I would love to be involved in research creating new crossbreeds and studying their potential uses.” She had already started with creating her own cross breeds, but there was a lot more to learn. ”Do you have any recommendations for universities with good herbology research programs? And do you know of any schools or other organizations that offer summer herbology programs for students my age that I could be able to participate in now?” It would be amazing to get to work with herbologists on exciting projects over the summer or travel abroad to study the flora of another part of the world! Hopefully there would be something available to her age group. Isa still had a lot more questions to ask either way. Herbology was absolutely her biggest passion!

Spike smiled at her excitement, reminded of his own, slightly younger, ginger-haired flower princess at home. Not that Sephi would have any confidence issues with trying to brew a new potion for the first time...instead most likely tackling it with a bit too much zeal. Anyways, back to the visitor in front of him. "Yes, you can buy it. But it's not too difficult to brew - one of the older years would be able to help you out if Professor Myers doesn't already have some." He might well have, as it was pretty commonly used to sustain young tender cuttings amongst other things.

At her next question, the former Ravenclaw gave an encouraging smile. "Mhmm. Kinda like...freeze them in time." It wasn't completely infallible, but it was certainly possible, and one of the ways they stored some of their specimens. "A simple way is to seal them in melted wax after cutting. Dip it in bloom down first, and after a few minutes once it's set, turn it over and do the stem. The wax ensures the air can't get in to spoil the flower." Certainly doable by someone her age, no complicated magic or brewing required. "Normal candle wax works fine, just make sure the wax isn't too hot, or it'll wilt the flowers."

A handshake? Spike took it, giving a crooked grin at the formality. It was pretty chilled and laid back where he worked, so it didn't happen often unless there were university VIPs visiting. "Spike Hutchinson," he introduced in return. "It's good to meet you too, Isa."

It seemed she had all the questions, and Spike let his fanged rose nibble lightly on his fingers as he listened carefully and gathered his thoughts. This particular crossbreed, more familiarly known as Rosie, had been his pride and joy at school, originally conceived as a way to heal his broken teenage-boy heart. She'd taken some training to get to this level of chill though, as several puncture-like scars attested. "I went into an apprenticeship after leaving Hogwarts," Spike said with a smile. "So I didn't go to university, rather went straight into hands on experience as part of a research trip to Madagascar."

As for what he did now? "I study the evolution and ecology of rare and carnivorous species, particularly of Madagascar, but also from other places too. One of the most important parts of that is growing and testing their magical properties in the lab." He could go into more detail if she wanted, but if she was interested in crossbreeds, then maybe she'd rather their conversation headed more in that direction. "Wizarding College, London," he replied with a chuckle at her next question. "Although I'm probably a bit biased, as that's where I work." And had done for well over a decade now - still working with the professor he'd apprenticed for. "Our herbology department certainly has summer programs for students to get involved with, and I'm sure others do too. I had a brochure here somewhere, outlining the projects people had on offer..." He looked momentarily confused, before picking up a few plant pots on the table and finally spotting the leaflets he'd brought.

"Ah, yes...here we go." A few smears of soil, but that was inevitable to a true herbologist, no?

Rylee was listening very closely. More closely than she listened to most things. "Well if it's not that hard to do I think I'll give it a try for myself." She wasn't to bad at brewing potions and doing so herself was much easier than always going out and buying it. Not to mention this man was properly right about Professor Myers having some as well if she really needed it.

Freeze the flowers in time? Like actually freeze them or just preserve them so they wouldn't die? Rylee was only a little bit puzzled until the man continued to explain that she could dip the flowers into melted wax to keep them how they were. "If I use only a quick thin layer of wax I'll still be able to see the detailing and color of the flower?" This was important. "Will I be able to still use these ones on my flower crowns without ruining the wax?" Lots of questions had to be answered. She didn't want to risk harming the flowers.

"Good for you," Spike replied supportively. "Herbology and Potions go hand in hand, so it's good to practice both." Assuming she was interested in herbology for more than just flower crowns, that was.

He saw her puzzled face, and nodded at her question. "Exactly that. Just a thin coating all over. Too fine a featured flower might droop under the weight of the wax, but roses, gerberas, fushia, lilies...they should all work great." So, most of the flowers he assumed she'd want to use on her crown. "You can do leaves too," he added, in case she liked foliage in her designs.

And the next question was a good one too! Admittedly, he'd never tried this himself, but he had a good idea what would work. "If you're careful, yes. You just want to make sure not to crack the wax seal, as that'll let the air in. If you want to bend the stalks, you could try using a hot air charm to lightly melt the wax. Then it should be more bendable, and less likely to crack."

Maybe he could demonstrate, he had some flowers...he just needed a candle. Instinctively he looked up at the ceiling, to the candles he knew that were floating above. Not that he would summon one of those to use, but that was where he looked first all the same. Except the candles looked different to how he remembered them. Red, not white. And dripping. And not evenly spread across the hall, but in some sort of bird shape.

"I didn't know they'd redesigned the candles here," he said, looking confused. He hadn't read the writing yet to realise this wasn't normal.