Lesson Three - Dransuls
 

With the surprising beginning of winter—Hogwarts had awoken to over a metre of snow on morning—and the terror caused by the attacks on the students, Herbology classes had been cancelled for nearly two weeks. In that space of time, Professor Phoenix had been working alone in the greenhouses, trying to save what she could from the cold. On top of that, of course, she was also occupied with duties concerning the secret brewing of the Draught of Ephemera, and so it was only today that the greenhouses were back in working condition.

Professor Phoenix was wearing a thick yellow woollen cloak with dark gloves as she fiddled with the key to open the greenhouses. Outside, the castle and grounds looked like a stupendous construction of sugar and icing; the paths were slippery with ice and her breath rose in front of her nose in white vapour. Finally, she managed to turn the key in the frozen lock and the door swung open.

Inside the greenhouses, it was warm and Professor Phoenix ushered the students in so they could close the door quickly and not lose the heat.

Sarah entered the greenhouse quickly, gray and blue scarf wrapped tightly around her neck to keep her warm. She still didn't feel safe, but she figured that life had to go on around school, no matter what happened. She did not want to focus on the rumors about certain students who had died. She shook her head to as to clear the thought from her mind. The greenhouses were nice and warm, so she removed her scarf and glove and shoved them in her bag. Being on of the first students to arrive, she figured it might be a bit until the lesson got around to starting.

"Hello Professor. Lovely weather we are having." she said smiling. She really didn't like the cold much at all, unless she wanted to play outside in the snow, the cold didn't really bring anything good.

Ally entered the Greenhouse and shivered. Condensation flowed out of her mouth as she breathed, and her cheeks, ears and nose were rosy.

Kali walked in, her hands buried deep in her pockets. Seeing that the greenhouse was nicer, she took off her scarf and gloves, stuck them in her bag. She then took a seat. She still felt worried about the recent attacks, but seeing that a professor was with them made her feel a bit better.


"Hello Professor," she said looking around the greenhouse.

Nadia entered the greenhouse and waited, slightly nervous to be facing the very same professor she had to.... Mmh, don't think about it, Nadia, just don't. She had been this close at deciding not coming and so... It would have been worst, she never missed a class. It was already late to care, oh so late...


ooc- *looks around wildly* How! We students are not supposed to get anyhere near the grounds, outside, and now we are in the Greenhouse???? :dizzy: Is this class happening before the attacks in Mr Shrine's hut then? :mellow: Or we are just being escorted to the Greenhouse by Professor Phoenix?

-SHauna walked into the greenhouse wrapping her scark more tightly along with her cloak-

Once she had become reacquainted to the warmth, Professor Phoenix slipped off her cloak and hung it up on one of the hooks next to the door, stuffing the gloves into the pockets. She smiled at the students before disappearing in the back of the greenhouses for several minutes.



OOC: Yes, Nadia, think yourself escorted to the class. :strawberr I thought a new class would be appropriate after quite a long pause.

Okey dokey!
 

Nadia took parchment and ink and her Quicknotes Quill, then stuffed her head inside her bag until finding her dronhide globes, at the very bottom of it (big bag, ya know).

When looking around she noticed the professor was not with them and frowned surprised. How peculiar. Lately all it took for a person to disappear from Nadia's gaze being exactly in front on her nose was blinking.

When Professor Phoenix returned with several cages of what appeared to be dried leaves from the autumn, several students looked at her questioningly with raised eyebrows, whereas some others seemed to be perfectly aware of what was going on.



"Good morning, everybody," Professor Phoenix greeted the class, stacking the cages of rustling bundles of leaves on her desk up front. "I am very sorry for the delay since our last class, but I don't think it will harm us. We should have no problem in completing the curriculum. Now, without further ado, who can tell me what I have here in these cages?"

Shannon raises her hand. "Dransuls?"

"It moves and eats raw meat, for one." Nadia blabbed. "Not many can move and indeed, like most, is carnivorous. Eats fresh mouse, but not long enough to eat anything else. It's not considered a dark plant, as the devil snare, and as far as I can see can move under daylight. Guess that's the main difference from the common carnivorous plants."

Notices something elses and adds, "Oh! Of course! It's it not stuck into the ground but moves without fixed roots! How didn't I notice?"

Well, it has a peculiar shape and appears to be good a camoflage(sp?).

Well actually, that doesn't make it all *that* unusual. I mean, the venus fly-trap does that as well. So does the sparkling sundew. And butterwart and pitcher plants digest insects as well, althogh they don't move to do it.

(Hey Nadia! No fair editing your post to make mine irrelivant! Grr! *L* But since my character is obviously being a bit of a smart alek, I can handle it. *S*)

"Yeah, I know what you mean, I should have been plainer. (ooc-edited my last post). Within the Muggle plants only insects they can eat, NOT meat. I'm not too sure the Snare Devil and the Venomous Tentacula do eat meat or only kills to protect their territory, I'll have to revise my notes, but still the Dransul seems to have a quite particular characteristic which I dare pressume is linked to its liking on food, the enviroment, or the visible characteristic ot actually *transport* and not only *move* to the sides. Dransuls seems not to have any need for roots, or at least not common roots."

Takes breath, "So that's my guess."

Sangetha shook her head at Nadia, amused. Of course, Nadia was an ace student. Very active. Sometimes she also wondered if Nadia had swalloed the book.

Tongue between her teeth she quickly wrote what Nadia said.

Serena remembered seeing the Dransuls before while helping the Professor in the greenhouse, but she sat up in her seat trying to get a closer look at the Dransul in the Professor's hand. Raising her hand she said, "Have Dransuls ever been known to hurt people? I mean, could you be in danger if you were sleeping outside near some of them?"

"Indeed, Nadia," Professor Phoenix smiled. "Five points to Slytherin. I barely need to add much to your explanation, but anyway..." Professor Phoenix said, putting the Dransul back into its cage, "we all know that plants need certain key ingredients for growth. For one, there is light, then there is carbon dioxide as well as water, usually absorbed through the air and soil. And this is the pivotal point: It is very rare—except for plants that grow in water—for a plant to grow without being directly in contact with soil, usually through their roots. The Dransul is mobile and does not depend on this contact to gather water and other minerals for its growth."



Professor Phoenix paused. "So this is the first unusual thing about Dransuls: Their mobility. Then, their liking for raw meat. Eww. Can anybody find something else?

"Oh, and Dransuls are pretty harmless," Professor Phoenix added, looking at Serena. "About as harmless as a bunch of dried up old leaves."

"Well if it moves and acts that way... why would it be considered a 'plant' and not a 'creature'?" Nadia asked, pondering it. "And it seems to have a body too - we can take it as if the leaves were glued together but I'm not seeing any common branch. I might be wrong though..."


(ooc: actualy I edited it because of writing 'meet' instead of 'meat' and as you were right my post wasn't clear enough I meant 'raw meat' as opposed to insects, I tried to clear it out -, still the answer to your question was in the other, following, post =P)

OOC:Where do I get information of Dransuls? This is because I am unable to answer anything. :(

'Do Dransuls have teeth? I mean if they eat raw meat, they should have reaaly strong teeth, right?'

OOC: Double posted. Stupid Computer!

Serena raised her hand "I would assume that these plants must be useful to witches and wizards in some way. Are their leaves, stems or roots :worried: used for potions?"

"Indeed, Nadia, how do we know? There are many unusual aspects concerning Dransuls," Professor Phoenix continued. "Take a moment to look at the colour of the Dransuls' leaves: Indeed, they are not green but look dry and dead. This is due to the time of the year—like all, or let's say most plants, Dransuls start producing young shoots in spring, carry them through the summer and then stop photosynthesis in autumn. They do not lose their leaves until the spring, however. I suspect it is for reasons of camouflage. On any account, this qualifies them as plants, not animals.

"Unfortunately, however, Dransuls are pretty worthless in potions of any kind. Now, back to our first observation: How does the Dransul collect water and minerals then if it is not constantly in contact with soil? Any ideas?"





OOC: MadameMalfoy, nobody knows anything about Dransuls yet =) You're all on your own here
:sheep:

Shannon raises her hand. "Does it absorb rain water through it's skin -- er, leaves? And maybe it burrows in the dirt, and can also absorb minerals the same way."

Serena raised her hand, "Since they can eat, having mouths, would they also drink water from a lake, stream, or even puddle?"