While she might not have answered the first question, Rylee was definitely listening closely to what was being said. There may have been the slightly look over confusion that briefly passed across her face when it was said the dragon-hide gloves might be to much for today's lesson however. This only made her even more curious as to what they would be doing.

Rylee practically wiggled in excitement. Planting her own Rapid Growth Blue Spruce trees! Getting to work with plants was always amazing but getting to plant some trees was really nice. Trees would be around for a very very long time.

Without wasting any more time, the lioness grabbed herself a yardstick, shovel and switched out her own gloves for the ones Professor Sutton had brought. Slipping the gloves on and making sure they fit as they should, Rylee headed out onto the field away from everyone else so she would have more room to work. That didn't mean she wasn't open to having some help though, should anyone want to work with her or near her.

Laying the yard stick down beside her work spot, she got to it. Pressing the shovel into the dirt she began to work on digging a hole. Completely hands on and not worried about getting herself dirty. Now that was what working with plants was all about!

Stella beamed at the fact she gotten the answer right, she was happy to know that she gotten it right. Although she knew some about evergreens, she was excited to know more about them and there healing properties to potions and the world. There was so much you could learn from plants, it was unbelievable. Taking off her gloves she put them in her bag for later use, she was sure she'll need them for later on for sure.


Stella bounced happily at the change of growing her own Rapid Growth Blue Spruce Tree. She was going to leave a mark here at Hogwarts after all, ok... along with other students, but she was happy about it! To know that she planted one of these many trees made her happy, knowing that many years to come, she'll look back and smile at the memory of her planting it. She couldn't wait to get started, she was ready to leave her mark here at Hogwarts that would be here for years and years to come.

Seeing Rylee she smiled happily at her before skipping over towards her friends. "Hiya! Rylee can I join you?" she asked her. "Aren't you excited? We get to plant these trees that will be here many years to come, just to come back here and say that you actually planted one!" she said happily. Slipping her gloves on that Professor Sutton brought, she slipped them on and nodded to herself. Perfect fit!

"What can I do to help? You know me, I'm not afraid of getting dirty." she said shrugging as if it wasn't no big deal. That was all planting something was about, getting your hands dirty and sweating a bit to grow something beautiful. "Ooh... is there another shovel? I'll help you dig!" she said.

Given the fact that he knew very little about your average evergreen tree, Kaiser had remained quiet when the question had been posed to them. Herbology was not exactly a strength of his, he was much more at home in cities and urban landscapes than he was in nature, though admittedly he had felt quite at home for the few weeks he had lived in a foster home in a forest in Germany. Even so, mostly his knowledge of trees was that they were good for climbing, and really, what else did you need to know?

They weren't going to be standing about for very long, it seemed, as after only a few minutes of talking from the professor, they were being sent out to do their task. For once, Kaiser had a good idea of what it was they were supposed to be doing, as he had followed what Professor Sutton had said almost without issue. He went up to grab a yardstick and a shovel, as they had been instructed, then moved on out into the field, seeking a spot that was a good distance away from everyone else, so that he didn't need to worry too much about measuring the distance between himself and any other students.

The professor had said they could use spells to dig, and it was tempting, but Kaiser felt he would manage getting the exact measurements better if he dug by hand. Once he had found himself a space, he got started, digging two holes in the ground that were each roughly a foot deep and wide, and four feet from each other, just to be safe. Once he had two holes dug, he got to work with the yardstick, making sure each hole was as close to exactly one foot deep and in diameter as he could get them.

Okay, so they'd just be planting trees. And they didn't seem like they were dangerous or vicious in any way. That was a good sign, at least. Avalon sighed as she picked up a yardstick and shovel. Measurements...the ultimate stressful task for the perfectionist. She slipped on a pair of gloves from the box and got to work, finding a nice spot of land toward the middle of the field.

Avalon hadn't yet learned the spell that Professor Sutton had mentioned, so she opted for handheld digging. She measured out three feet from her selected spot and used her foot to make an indentation in the soil so she could remember the proper area. Then, she knelt on the soil and began to dig, frequently referring back to her yardstick to make sure that the measurements were correct.

When she was done, Avalon grabbed the yardstick again to double check. The second hole was 1.3 feet in diameter. No. That just would not do! Pushing the dirt back into the hole to fill it up, she decided to start over on the hole. She wouldn't be satisfied unless the measurements were exact!

Digging a hole seemed easy enough. Austin grabbed a shovel and a yard stick. He headed to an empty spot and started digging his first hole, every so often measuring to make sure it was as correct as possible.
"This seemed right," he muttered to himself. When Austin was done with his first hole, he measured three feet away and made a mark with his shoe. Afterwords, Austin set the yardstick down and grabbed the shovel and began digging his second hole, again, checking every so often to measure.

Although the Ravenclaw had stayed quiet during the question, he had opened up his notebook to scribble in a couple of keywords about the evergreen trees topic. He knew of a cookie named evergreen though but he also knew that that kind of answer was not what the Professor was looking for.

After scribbling down the last few words, Dorian placed his notebook inside of his robe pocket, his non-wand side, and got ready to go out in to the field.

He had chosen not to work by hand and use magic instead. This decision was not made because he was lazy. He ran in the early morning everyday before most people got out of bed, he was not lazy. But he had chosen this method because it helped him perfect his magical abilities. He might have aced his OWL exams last year but that had been achieved with extremely hardwork and effort since he wasn't the greatest when it came to spell work. So whenever he could practice spells, he would use them.

As he found a good place to dig, away from the others in case something went wrong, he took out his acacia wand and pointed it at the ground before him. "Defodio!" he said as he focused on the intensity of the spell. He just wanted to make a hole not destroy the whole field. Luckily, he managed to succeed at the first try and he started to remove the ground and neatly piled it next to him.

He stopped the spell and looked at the 1 foot hole. It looked about right. Smiling to himself, he pointed to the ground yet again a few steps away from the previous hole and used the gouging spell again until he had dug two.

Hanna loved herbology, loved gardening, loved the feeling of soil underneath her fingernails. So, she had chosen to keep her wand in its holster and opted for the shovel which she retrieved along with the yardstick. She was much more of a solo worker, so she chose a spot in the field slightly away from other workers and measured the first hole.

She placed the stick down, indented the soil, flipped the stick, and indented it again to give her the shape needed. It was definitely far enough away from other holes, so she got digging the first hole. Once she felt it was deep enough, she neatened out the hole and placed the yardstick back to measure to ensure the distance. Not quite one foot deep, so she emptied a few more small shovels of soil before it was right. With the first hole complete and good for size, she measured up the second hole, dug it out, measured it, re-dug, and set her shovel to the ground.

Rylee had just gotten started on digging a hole when she heard the voice of a very familiar lioness join her. Lifting her gaze onto the younger girl she smiled warmly. "Of course you can join me, Stella!" The more the merrier. Though she may have wandered off to a more quiet spot on the open field it hadn't at all meant she wanted to be alone. Working alongside others and in groups was something she enjoyed doing. "I'm always excited when I get to work with flowers and plants," she laughed softly. "Getting to leave something behind that will be around for future generations is really nice also." Like the plants she was currently growing on her own in the greenhouse... even if she wasn't completely sure which ones she would be leaving behind as of yet.

"There's lots of shovels over near the professor. We can dig the holes together and measure them all to make sure each one is the perfect size." She knew Stella didn't mind getting dirty at all just as she herself didn't mind it. Working alongside side her friend was going to be really easy to do during this lesson. Rylee started to hum softly to herself as she worked on digging the first hole with Stella. "This looks pretty good, think it's the right size yet?" Kneeling down into the dirt she held the yardstick along the inside of their hole. "If I hold this right here can you just go around the hole and make sure it's the same and nice and even?" Teamwork for the win!

Patrick wasn’t too sure who would want a slower partner so grabbing the gloves she provided, the yardstick and decided he’d dig a few holes by hand. He needed some cardio. With not playing quidditch he was starting to feel as if he was rounder than he had been pre ankle break. He set out far enough away that he could still be near by them but far enough away that he could enjoy the labor.

He started digging enjoying the fact that he was working up a bit of a sweat which was kind of appreciated at this point. Grabbing the yardstick from beside the hole he started digging he checked to see if he was a foot deep. Nope, just six inches so far. He let his hands shovel more dirt out, deep breath in, deep breath out. He was enjoying this so far. He wondered just how rapidly these evergreens grew.

Holly saw that nod… and after a split-second, gave the Professor a small smile. She was tired, but that didn’t mean that she was rude. Her Mama wouldn’t like if she was rude just because she was tired. That definitely wasn’t how manners worked.

Waiting patiently for the class to start, the brunette twirled her hair around her finger, swaying slightly as she hummed a song in head. A song that she couldn’t remember the words too, andwith only had the tiniest bit of the tune to work with… well, she was never going to figure out what she had stuck in her head at this rate. Sighing, she pulled her attention away from the repeating music in her head and focused on the Professor.

And then, with a grin on her face, she pushed her hand into the air. ”Holly.” She paused for a second or two… Y’know cause it was fun. ”Holly, is a type of evergreen.” Hehe. Just like she was ever-happy. Holly was a constant type of thing. She liked that about herself.


Blue Spruce…. Were the leaves blue? She’d be disappointed if they weren’t. It sounded misleading if they weren’t going to be blue… and she had always liked that Evergreen’s seemed fairly obvious for what they were. If they weren’t blue, she’d need to find out why they were called blue in the first place… but she’d need to wait and see…. See what the leaves looked like. She hoped that they were blue though.

Moving into the muddy field, she looked around pondering where she would be best to plant them. Away from anything tall so that it would get sunlight… but in general it wouldn’t matter. The soil would help it grow… right? Though, it was a magical plant so she doubted that anything she could do it would actually hinder it. Magic liked to override personal capabilities like that.

Dragging her shovel in one hand and one of the yardsticks in the other, Holly moved up the field to stand in an area where noone else was. ……… Yeah, this would be fine. Yup. Nibbling on her lip, she made a slight indent where she wanted to dig her first hole, marking a general mark the hole so that whomever used the next spot over knew where to measure from. …. Especially if the Professor was so specific about the trees being planted at least three feet away from another tree…. For the roots?? Maybe???

Eh. She’d tried. Not her fault if the next person didn’t pay attention to the line…

… She needed to mark out three feet herself now…

So she put the stick on the floor and used the edge of that to then mark out her foot wide hole for the second tree…. Picking the shovel up again, she worked to dig the first hole, piling the earth at the side so that it would be easy to use when they got to that part of the lesson. Digdigdig. When she thought she had got the right size of hole, she used the stick to check and then dug a little deeper still because it wasn’t deep enough. Not quite right yet… though it didn’t take long to make it right.

Once the first was done, she repeated the process on the hole that she had roughly marked off and found that the second hole was easier to dig. Easier to guestimate the dimensions of, since she’d already dug one hole. Though when she measured it, it was deep enough but not quite wide enough -- so she widened it and then stood up with a slight huff.

This would have been easier last year when she’d been shorter. She thought as she stretched her back slightly.

Eniola loved learning, but she wasn't too terribly fond of getting dirt underneath her nails. Having the chance to use a spell, relieved Eni a lot because she definitely was not in the mood for anything else. Although the spell hadn't been taught yet, she had read ahead a little bit.

Walking to find a spot with enough room for herself - although it seemed to be filling up quickly - she concentrated on the size of the whole she wanted to make and the action of lifting the dirt out of the ground. She kept thinking of the charm in her head, knowing it was a long shot, Defodio. Defodio. Defodio. When she felt confident enough she said it as confident as she could be, "Defodio."

Somehow it worked...a little. It wasn't as deep as she wanted, but it was pretty good for a first try. Eni did it another time with a bit more success and was satisfied with her first hole. Moving on to her second hole to dig she used the spell again, "Defodio." and again, "Defodio." and again, "Defodio." before she was satisfied that the whole was deep enough and wide enough per the guidelines. She took a step back and looked around to see everyone else's progress to compare.

Stella smiled and clapped happily. "Yay! Ok let's get to work!" she said. Stella noticed that they were a bit more in a quiet area, she was glad they could talk more and they weren't around the madness. Ok....it wasn't like she didn't like people, she just didn't like a crowd of people in one place. She nodded and smiled. "Anytime I get to plant something I'm happy, some find it annoying and stuff, but I think it's calming." she said shrugging. [B]"Yeah it is, me and Oceanus was going to plant something together, just don't know what yet but it's going to be amazing. " She was sure of it, they were going to leave their mark in the Student Oasis.


Nodding Stella went to go get a shovel before quickly returning to help her friend out. Working with Rylee was going to be fun, not only was she her friend but she loved plants and Herbology just like her! Humming along with Rylee as she digged she looked around seeing others following their lead, although she seen some people use magic to dig their hole, she wasn't going to judge but that took the fun out of planting something she thought. Stella looked at the hole biting her lip. "Looks like we got a winner, maybe needs to be even a bit." she said. After all Rylee was a bit taller then her so maybe that was why. "Of course!" she nodding at her as she went around making sure the hole was the same as well as nice and even.

"Exactly!" Rylee exclaimed in complete agreement with her friend. "Not only is it calming but it's fun. There's so much to learn when working with plants and flowers." Not to mention there's a ton to create as well. The fifth year smiled. "Don't stress it. You'll find the perfect thing to plant when the time is right that will suit the both of you." The very best things in life always took time to accomplish.

Turns out she had been right about knowing that working with Stella would workout great. No time was wasted as the younger Gryffindor began helping her dig their first hole. Rylee smiled warmly nodding her head slightly while Stella quickly went about fixing their hold so it was a perfect circle. "Nice work! It looks great!" She held her hand out for a high-five.

"Let's keep going and get the next one done." Rylee got to her feet and grabbed her shovel moving over a few feet and getting started on digging once again. Only the sound of her shoveling up dirt could be heard for the moment... and her humming. This time she lifted her head to catch her partners eye and see if she was humming too.

Rapid Growth Bruce Spruce tree?

Lucas...... was curious. And confused. But mostly curious, for once. Planting their own trees sounded great, and a little exciting, but he didn't know what these trees were or what made them bruce spruce. What was Bruce Spruce?! He didn't know.

Something he did know was that using a charm to dig a hole was very much out of his abilities so, a shovel it was! Grabbing one of the shovels, he started looking around for an empty spot, maybe one that wasn't as close to everyone else's. The problem? There were a lot of people scattered around close to the spot and running between the two holes was probably not a good idea.

Running wasn't a good idea.

Making his mind up, the third year shouldered his shovel and yardstick and wandered over to an empty spot way other there. It was...... a little further than he would've liked but it would be enough. And maybe, just maybe, people wouldn't see him messing up so it would be okay. He could place the yardstick down here and start shovelling with his back towards the group. Accidentally. Yeah.

The digging? Tiring. It was really making him realise how much he didn't use his nonexistent biceps. The first few indents were okay, maybe even giving the young boy a false sense of confidence about this task. But after that? No. The confidence vanished more and more the deeper he dug the hole. But stopping wasn't an option, either. The only time he did stop was when he measured the depth and diameter of the hole.

The worst part? He had to do this again.

When the hole was as close to one foot in both depth and diameter as he could get it - it wasn't perfect but it would do - Lucas begrudgingly moved onto the next one. One that, as he measured with his yardstick, was three feet apart from the first one. This digging process was....... slower. Much slower. This time, Lucas didn't stop because he was measuring the size of the hole, he stopped because he was tired. His muscles were starting to scream in pain and they weren't even done yet! Herbology was tiring and required exercise and he wasn't liking that part at all.

A few breaks - to check the size of the hole and to catch his breath back - later, and he had two very rough looking holes that looked somewhat similar. It was okay for now. As much as he wanted to, he...... had a funny feeling Sutton might not like it if he flopped to the ground so, instead, he did the next best thing: streeeeeeeetch!

The smell of freshly turned earth was thick in the air as her hard-working student toiled away at digging their holes. Rylee and Stella were working well together and their seemingly cheery chatter made her smile. Kassie noticed that far more students had chosen to use the shovels over a spell to dig their holes, the method she would have chosen as well. There was something about digging by hand that made her feel more at one with the plants. She had no objections to those that chose magic and knew very well that the tree they would be planting wouldn’t care one bit.

She glanced across the field and it appeared that everyone was wrapping up their work on the holes. “Class! May I have your attention, please?” Her small frame was in no way indicative of her booming voice, which she only used in full force if necessary. The field was large enough to warrant the volume. Once she felt they all were listening, she continued in a far lower volume, but still loud enough that the farthest students would be able to hear.

“It’s time to continue with the lesson. I bet you are all curious about what we will be planting today. The Rapid Growth Blue Spruce is a very special tree. Created specifically for the purpose of Christmas trees and decoration. The tree itself is not magical in any way. No, it is simply a charm that has been placed on the seed to speed up the growth.” She took a few steps to her left and picked up one of the seeds. “Now, I must make it clear that once this charm has been placed on the blue spruce seed, it can no longer be used for magical purposes. This is especially important to note since the spruce is a known wand wood.” Kassie placed the seed back on the pile.

“Before we start planting our seeds, I do have a few more questions for you. What are some advantages of a rapid growth tree? What are some possible problems that could arise with growing rapid growth trees?”


OOC: Time for question 2! Name a possible advantage, problem, or both with growing a rapid growth tree. If you are just joining us, please feel free to jump in and catch up. The lesson will continue in about 24 hours.

Stella nodded at her, she couldn't agree more with her fellow lioness friend. She knew that it was calming and fun, but some didn't feel the same way as they did. "There's so much we can learn about plants trees and flowers, pity others don't think like we do." she said sighing. The world was speaking and crying out to them, only if they listened. She smiled. "When we do, it'll be amazing and perfect for us!" she said smiling thinking about the thought of it.

Working with Rylee was fun and easy, not was she working with one of her good friends, but she was working with someone who loved trees plants and flowers more then she did so it made it easier and fun. Of course she wasted no time, she wanted to plant as many trees as she could, the more the better! "Thanks, but we did it together, team work for the win!" she said giggling as she said that. High-fiving her back she smiled happily down at their work.

"Ooh… okay, like I said the more trees the better!" Taking her shovel she followed her fellow lioness friend over towards their next spot. Digging her shovel into the hole Rylee made, she hummed along with her friend. The only sounds that were made was their shovels and their shovels as they worked.

Hearing Professor Sutton she stopped and looked up at her. Hearing her question she raised her hand. "Root & leaf enhancement can be one of the benefits, but grown too quickly it can make the roots grow too quickly I suppose. Balance between the tree’s crown and root system is important for maintaining healthy trees." she said hoping that was right.

Heaving air back into her lungs, Holly had stretched this way and that, helping her back to work out any of the kinks that she had inflicted on herself with being so scrunched up over the earth. … she really needed to work on her ability to do that gouging spell so she wouldn’t have to dig if she didn’t want too. Mentally, she added it to the list of things she needed to work on this year as she waited for the Professor to continue to the class.

She’d been twirling her hair between her fingers when Professor Sutton had called the class back to attention. Tilting her head a little to the side, Holly nibbled on her bottom lip as she listened. … So the magic to grow the tree so quickly, eradicated the actual magical properties of the Spruce??? That seemed weird.

Shrugging slightly to herself she put her hand in the air. ”Professor, an advantage would be the ability to keep magical spruce trees in the ground instead of cutting them down for a months worth of Christmas decorating… before burning them … That must have been a huge waste of potential wand material… but would their core be compromised and less stable with growing rapidly?” She saw it all the time… Gymnasts who had a major growth spurt had to relearn to restabilize their core if it had pushed away from where they were used too.

Rylee smiled over at Stella. "It is kind of sad that not everyone feels the same way we do about plants and flowers and trees... but everyone's completely different and that's what keeps things interesting." No two people were alike, just like no two flowers or trees were alike. "Don't forget to let me know what you plant when you decide. I'd love to see it if I'm still here." Since she was two years ahead of her friend.

"Team work makes the time pass by quicker, too." She laughed as they high-fived one another on a task well done. Right now she was in her element and there wasn't anything that could get her down.

As they moved on to digging the next hole, there was just the sound of their shovels meeting dirt and the two of them humming. It was a wonderful calming sort of silence that went along with their work. Their silence was only broken with Professor Sutton called everyone's attention. Pausing her digging, Rylee raised her hand just after Stella finished speaking. "An advantage would be that the tree could be used for a certain purpose much sooner. Like you mentioned earlier these particular trees could be used for Christmas trees. I sometimes use a rapid growth charm on the flowers I grow if I want to use them to make flower crowns for special occasions."

Hanna had just put her shovel down when Professor Sutton called attention, which was what Hanna did. She was going to look forward to watching the Rapid Growth Blue Spruce grow, and perhaps they would even be used to decorate Hogwarts during Christmas. One good thing about winter.

Hanna thought about what rapid growth meant. There were many obvious advantages, but what about disadvantages? Hanna raised her hand and said "One disadvantage might be if there's a mutation in the structure of the tree, there's no way for the tree to control it. It could end up with some significant defects, and if it was something like extra long branches it might be dangerous." Branches could fall onto people, that sort of thing. "And advantages are fast growth. People like things now, and this just gives them something quickly." Such as planting trees and having fully grown trees in a very short time. Christmas, decorations, or medicinal use.

Lucas was still stretching when the Professor decided to move on with the lesson. He had to admit, he was happy to get an explanation about the trees from her. It helped with the confusion about the trees but there was a fresh wave of curiousness that he wasn't able to wash away as easily.

But something he understood very well? They were growing CHRISTMAS trees. Which meant that maybe, just maybe, they could decorate it as well.

Before he could think ahead about how he was going to decorate the tree and if Sutton had tinsel in one of those boxes - did she?? - she had asked a question that he should...... probably...... concentrate on first. Yeah? Yeah. Some advantages were, of course, that they would grow up faster. You don't have to worry about caring for the plant everyday because you forget and that was exactly how his plant died.

But a disadvantage? Hmm. Something he'd mentioned earlier came back to him and he soon found himself raising his hand for answering, and not stretching. "Well, does it need a lot of nutrients at once to make the rapid part work? Because, I mean, the plant uses up a lot of nutrients during its growth, right? But it's using all of that in one go. Which meaaaaaans that you need even more fertilisers?" Did he know what he was saying? Not really?

Pause.

"Professor? Does the spell work only for this type of tree or can it be used for any tree? Or any plant?"

She clapped her hands together "Now it's time to plant!" With a quick flick of her wand, the tops of all the wooden boxes lifted, revealing all types of Christmas decorations, and a box of house colored decorations for each of the houses. The tensile and colored balls sparkled in the sun. Just to the left of the decorations was a cauldron filled with a bubbling lilac-colored liquid fertilizer and a pile of small droppers beside it. Next to the cauldron was a wooden barrel filled with water and enough watering cans for the class.

Kassie reached over and picked up the container of seeds and gently held it in both of her hands. "What you will need to do first is come over and fill a watering can. Take it to your prepared holes and pour exactly one-half liter of water in each. That will give you a nice moist base for your seed. Next, come and get a dropper and fill it just enough for two drops of fertilizer, one for each hole." She pointed to each of the items needed to make sure everyone saw where they were.

"After you have watered and dropped the fertilizer, you can come and get two seeds from this container." She held up the container that looked like an old tin coffee can then placed the container on the little table next to her. "Take your seeds back to your holes and place one in each, very gently pushing it into the ground. Grab your shovel or use your hands and cover the seeds with the dirt you dug out to make the hole. They should be well covered, but do not pack down the dirt." She paused a moment to let the first set of instructions sink in.

"Now comes the work. These trees will grow at a rate of about twelve inches every five minutes. You must pay attention to the growth of both trees. Every six inches of growth, they will need one drop of fertilizer and at every 12 inches, they will need one liter of water. You can keep a full watering can next to your area, but the fertilizer must be retrieved fresh from the cauldron each time." She began to wonder if she was giving too many instructions at once and quickly jogged over to the side of Greenhouse 4 and rolled over the board. "Not to worry, the steps will be on the board."

"Now, the most important part. Once your tree has reached between five and seven feet tall, you must come and get one dropper full from the vial next to the seeds. The red liquid. It will stop the trees from growing any taller." She pulled the large vial from under the table and placed it gently next to the seed container.

"Once you have stopped the growth of your tree, you are welcome to decorate however you wish. You can decorate for Christmas, or you can make a house pride tree...let your creative side have some fun. You have two trees to decorate and all of these decorations to choose from."

"If you have any questions, I'll be available, but I have full confidence in you all." She moved to stand behind the seed table. "You may begin." Once she made her announcement, she quickly wrote the steps on the board for all to reference.




OOC: Sorry about the long post. Have your charrie plant, grow, and decorate their tree in as many posts as you like. You are welcome to work with a partner. Catch up posts are always welcome and encouraged if anyone would like to jump in. You have about 72 hours before we start wrapping up.

Now, Archer wasn't really, to use Professor Cornish's wording, an 'eco-warrior' but there were things bothering her about this lesson. Things like why this particular tree here. "You know, there are plenty of trees that are native to Scotland, why bring in one that's not? Sort of flies in the face of Professor Cornish's lesson on disturbing the ecosystem and why," there maaay have been a hint of a chuckle in her voice "you should......not." You know, because they were disturbing the ecosystem by introducing a plant that technically didn't belong, since it wasn't native to the area. "Also, if you are going to go ahead and do that, shouldn't it be with something useful to muggle and magical humans and creatures, like, I don't know, apple or pear trees?" Was she missing that the point of the lesson was the whole process of a fast-growing tree? Not at all. This was just an important issue to bring up, okay?

Okay, okay, it maaaaay have just been Archer being Archer. Still though.

And she had to drag the ol' conversion table out and a piece of scrap parchment, since, you know, part of her education had been in America and she STILL hadn't gotten used to the metric system. Ooops?

Okay so to convert liters to fluid ounces, she had to multiply the amount of liters by 33.814, so .50 times 33.814 was about 16.9 fluid ounces, or about the size of a typical water bottle. And the professor couldn't have just said this why? It would make it much easier on people like her. She jotted the figure down in her notes beside the original measurement, just to help her understand when she was reviewing later. Then she fetched and filled the watering can and added the required amount of water to each of the holes, added the drop of fertilizer to each, fetched a couple of seeds and dropped a seed each into the holes, gently pushing them into the soil as required. Once she had pushed the topsoil back over the holes, it was time for more conversion. Or not, as the professor suddenly switched to the imperial, or 'American' system.....? It was appreciated, don't get her wrong, but odd.

Prepping the field Ellie repeated to herself in her head several times as she grabbed a yardstick and a shovel on her way out on the field. She tok care to spread out from her peers so she had a good piece of field to work with. Grabbing the shovel she started with energy on digging the first hole according to Professor Sutton’s instructions.

When she felt finished with the first hole some 30 or so minutes later Ellie was sweating like a goose. Her whole body felt icky with sweat from head to toe and she also felt parched. It had been so hard to dig in the hard field. Massaging her aching arms she measured the hole to see that it was one foot deep and one foot in diameter, which it was.

For the next hole Ellie took a moment’s rest as she debated her options and decided to use the gouging spell. Her arms we’re aching from all the shovelling and yard sticking and for all she knew there could be more to lift or do later. Taking out her wand Ellie measured upp 3 feet from her first hole and then aimed her wand towards the field as she casted loud and clear ”Defodio!” After pushing away some damp strands of hair out of her face she casted again ”Defodio!” The hole was now after some careful measuring one foot deep. Ellie needed one last spell to increase the hole to the right diameter. "Defodio!" she casted again and then she was finally satisfied with her work.

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Professor Sutton moved on and Ellie decided on offering up an advantage since most of her peers had focused on the problems. Raising her hand she said "If you move into a new home for example without any trees or bushes lining your yard then planting rapid growth trees can quickly give you wind shelter and privacy from nosy neighbours as well as keep out traffic noise and other sounds." Ellie spoke from experience since they had moved three times so far in her life.

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Then it was time to plant! Ellie was positively amazed to hear that these blue spruce trees could grow so super fast. 12 inches every five minutes it was faster then she could ever complete a quiz. She listened to all the instructions first panicking thinking she had to memorize it all but she didn’t. Professor Sutton put it all on the board. Leaving her holes she walked over to fill a watering can with water, so she could get started!

Avalon wasn't too familiar with rapid growth trees. Or much of anything that had to do with herbology, to be perfectly honest. It was the one subject that she didn't have the curiosity or motivation to learn more about, except for the tidbits she gathered from her lessons at Hogwarts. It most likely had something to do with the incident with that Venomous Tentacula from back when she was a kid. However, she was certainly relieved that they weren't working with any predatory plants today. She racked her brain to think of some possible advantages and disadvantages of rapid growth. Tentatively raising her hand, she said, "Would an advantage be that you can speed it through a bad growing season? For example, if you plant a tree in the spring and then learn that the forecast next week will be too cold for plant growth, could you use the charm to make it finish growing before the weather got too bad?"

They would be decorating Christmas trees? Okay, this was officially one of the best herbology lessons she had ever been to. No vicious plants and getting to decorate for the holidays? It was almost a dream come true! Avalon made her way over to the front to fill up a watering can before pouring a half liter into each hole. Then, she gently placed one drop of fertilizer into both. After she put her seeds in, Avalon used a shovel to cover them gently with some soil. She instinctively began to pat down the soil with her gloved hands, but stopped as soon as she remembered what Professor Sutton had said. She used her fingers to loosen the soil a bit. And then it was time to watch it grow.

OOH so she was right about evergreens being a sort of Christmas Tree and Maeve couldn't help but wonder if these rapid growth blue spruce trees would be utilized in the Great Hall in the coming months. But no time to really consider this, as the sixth year set to work on digging a hole.

Okay, sooo Maeve was not cut out for physical labor. She would glad cheer on her friends in a quidditch match, for instance, but actual digging? No thanks. However, at mention of the gouging spell, Maeve internally was jumping for joy because spell versus actual shovel digging, obviously it was a no-brainer as to which she was going to choose. "Defodio," she cast on the spot to make a hole. And cast again. Two holes. Perfect.

Quote:

“Before we start planting our seeds, I do have a few more questions for you. What are some advantages of a rapid growth tree? What are some possible problems that could arise with growing rapid growth trees?”

Huh. Some problems with rapid growth trees. Termites? Pests? Weren't garden pests a thing? She'd imagine that they could affect any tree, rapid growth or not.


And now it was time to plant!! Guess might as well get dirty. Taking one of the watering cans, as instructed, she cast aguamenti to fill up the can. Filling each of her two holes with some water, Maeve then dropped fertilizer in each. One seed in each. And covering some with some dirt. Was this right? It wasn't a lot of instructions and yet it required attention to detail in making sure the order of things was perfect. Attention to detail; something that Maeve definitely felt she lacked. Reading the instructions and simultaneously trying to listen to Professor Sutton to make sure she understood everything, the sixth year waited and watched. Was that it? Was she supposed to water it again? Probably. [/COLOR]