An active, character-driven Hogwarts experience set in the early 2000s. Unique items, plots, and features. Non-canon; this isn't Harry Potter's story, it's ours.
Post by Lindsey Bryce on May 2, 2022 0:26:52 GMT 10
Lindsey had left the great hall in a fury, in a weird kind of rage that made her want to kick, scream and just ball up and cry. Strains of her red hair blew about her face as she walked and to be honest, she wasn't sure where she was walking, but by time she did notice, she was standing outside the greenhouse.
How could people be so cruel?! Muggles were defenseless in a sense that they couldn't defend against magic. She wiped her scarf across her eyes, the tears beginning to come to her eyes. NO! She wasn't going to cry! She refused to cry! She was going to get stuff done and she was going to stand strong. Her father was a muggle and no one had a right to attack him. He had done nothing to anyone! He was a man who love history and had grown to love the magical world and admire those within' it.
Walking into the greenhouse, she went to her pots and put her bag down, ready to get started.
Post by Oscar Tinkle on May 2, 2022 10:33:50 GMT 10
Oscar was full of relief by the time that he reached the greenhouse. He had read the letter from his parents on the way and it had been full of reassurances that the Tinkle cousins were okay, no sign of magically attacking gifts around them. His parents had apparently still received the news on their holiday and known him well enough to realise he would worry, so they and his grandparents had spent their Christmas making sure it wasn't for too long. Dear Merlin, he loved his family.
He felt a bit silly for being scared enough to put off reading his post until he was on his own though, now that he knew he had worried over nothing.
Walking into the greenhouse, he was relieved to see that there was only one other person there - someone that he recognised too. It looked like he was getting his wish for a quiet morning!
He approached the pots that he had set up, throwing a concerned glance over at Lindsey as he did. She seemed.. off. Was it politer to ask if she was okay or maybe she was like him and wanted some quiet time to take care of her plants? Sometimes he hated that he did not instinctively know the answer to that.
He decided that he would deal with his own plants before anything else.
After harvesting was complete, nothing of value remained -- including the ordinary clay pots that were cracked and no longer usable. Though the spaces of counter were free again, if not having more seeds and supplies to start over with. Then all that was left was to clean up the workspace. Professor Sprout would appreciate it.
The Fyire plant stem was thick but easy enough to snip with some sheers, yet its response to being threatened was to burst into flames. It didn't harm the plant in any way, and would die down once the Fyire flower was securely picked.
Wearing gloves made of Taffen Hide meant hands were unharmed, though a few hairs slightly singed and hopefully their face wasn't too close to the heat to suffer a similar fate. Without them, the burns would be quite painful yet not as extreme as an actual open flame. Skin would still blister and need immediate medical attention.
The mushroom-like plant was rather unsightly. The main Puris pod was the goal to obtain a viable ingredient, but its musty stink increased with proximity. It was as marshmallow-soft as it looked, making sheers and spells too risky. It tore off easily enough, but released a sour gas when grabbed -- causing blurry vision and light-headedness, which would soon fade. The broken stem oozed stinging sap that needed to be gently cleaned off.
Taffen Hide gloves would protect the skin from contact during picking. Without it, any skin exposed to the plant or its sap would be left with sensitive marks, which would last a few hours. Once picked, its skin-contact risk was subdued.
The Toxyvine plant was the very embodiment of intimidating -- even its leaves had a menacing look about them. Overall, it somewhat resembled a strawberry plant from Hell.
The yellow and green thorns were the most prominent feature, and were sharp as knives. They leaked a dark poison as well, making Taffen Hide gloves a necessity to protect skin while snapping the tough thorns off. Or really, to handle the plant in any way as it was prone to sudden movements.
Without protection, any exposed skin would be bloodied and infected -- a hasty trip to the Hospital Wing would be of dire need.
The Thistle plant was primarily just the flower itself. However, while the long stalk bore visual similarity to its Muggle counterpart -- it was incredibly lively and braced for attack.
Any attempt to grab or snip it was met with the stalk flexing like a needle-covered vine. It could grab and pierce anything that made contact, though was particularly interested in arms. With its ability to squeeze like a python, sheers were useless; once grabbed, anything could be snapped from the pressure.
Taffen Hide gloves were the only chance a gardener had to grab and break off the thistle flower, and live to tell the tale.
--
Compared to most harvestable plants, the Eglower was less forgiving. Its stems were soft though needed a firm hand, yet any attempt to pick it caused the flower to puff sneeze-inducting, stinky pollen into the face.
--
Stems of the berry plant were strong, but simple to deal with. A charm or some nearby sheers would help snip the ingredient free, even as the plant's leaves tried to make it harder to spot the berries, but sometimes a hands-on approach worked just as fine too.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on May 5, 2022 2:10:58 GMT 10
Heading over from Hagrid's hut, MJ carried her pot and it's soil very carefully. The idea of spilling even a bit would have displeased her. She was determined to make a good impression with her Herbology professor and felt showing she had been cautious with her pot was an important step. She stopped outside the student greenhouse and peeked inside. Already there was a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin busy with their own pots.
"Do you think we're allowed to just go inside or should we wait here for the professor to show up?" She asked her companion that morning, who happened to be her roommate, Misuk. They had both had the same idea of how to spend their morning so it made sense for them to walk together to the greenhouses. Both of them getting a pot from Hagrid had been a lot easier than she had expected but she appreciated it.
Now they just needed to talk with Professor Sprout. "Well, here goes nothing." She says to her friend, opening the door for them both and heading into the greenhouse.
"Excuse me." She addresses both students (and the Professor if she was there), "Is Professor Sprout here this morning?"
Misuk equally took care of their pot, even if they didn't think about it as much as MJ did, probably. The greenhouses came in sight, and they stopped for a moment in front of them. "I think we'll be okay going inside," they guessed, their fingers slightly freezing even with the gloves on, "And ... I think they'd rather not lose students to frostbite."
Which might also be themself preferring the warmer greenhouse over standing outside. Gladly, MJ seemed to agree here, and they stepped inside. Misuk was surprised that they weren't the only early birds, and greeted them with a little bow, "Good morning." While MJ was asking, they took a look around.
There were quite a lot of plants - how unexpected - and Misuk didn't recognise even half of them, which itched oddly. They did try not to just ask the questions immediately, given that they weren't sure if the students knew the answer ... or also if the Professor would then be too annoyed to help them grow their own plants.
Post by Lindsey Bryce on May 5, 2022 6:45:40 GMT 10
Lindsey glared at the pots for a moment, glancing up when she heard someone else walking in the greenhouse. She knew the boy as Oscar, he was in her year and they had classes together. He seemed happy and she clearly wasn't very happy at the moment. She normally would have smiled and said hello, but not this morning. No, this morning she was too upset to say anything to anyone. As she reached for her gloves, she looked up to see two younger students, what seemed to be first years and let out a sigh when one asked about the professor.
"I dinna ken where she is this mornin', but I'm sure she is 'round here somewhere," Lindsey said in her thick, Scottish accent before she focused on the first plant she needed to deal with. Which happened to be the Fyire plant, which required sheers that she grabbed from their normal place.
Lindsey took her time getting to the flower, though hissed slightly when the plant burst into flames and turned her head way to prevent her face from getting blistered. It was still hot and once she grabbed the flower with the gloves, she snipped the flower and caught it with her hand. It was cooling down already when she put the flower into her bag and deposed of the plant. Her skin was still warm and she looked over herself quickly, seeing a burnt area of her robe.
'Well, that's just great,' she thought to herself as she removed the robe, leaving just her shirt and jeans. The next one she went to was the Puris Pod, which smelt foul. Putting the sheers aside, she took in a deep breathe and went after the pod, grabbing it and giving a good pull, which caused the sour gas to release. It was awful and she stumbled back a little, her eyes watering and head a little light. That was awful and she really wish she could find herself something to prevent that. Once she had it, she used the gloves to remove any sap and put the pod away.
Once she felt herself come back to normal and she could see clearly, she looked at the Toxyvine and glared at it. She disliked this plant for some reason, maybe because it resembled something so innocent... Strawberries, one of her favorite berries... This was certainly not what she liked or wanted to deal with. She put herself to work, grabbing the first vine she could and holding it firmly while she broke off the thorns. Her long sleeve shirt was something she was grateful for while she did her work and managed to snap of plenty of thorns. The thorns that did snag her only got her sleeves and not her skin. Still, she stepped away when she was done and gave herself a once over.
Now, it was the Thistle plant's turn and she looked at it for a long while before she took the chance. It was fast, moved and snapping it's vines. It was trying to wrap around her arms like snakes. Lindsey did her best to grab, but had to take a breathe when she was unsuccessful the first time. She was panting, pulling in the air and letting it out slowly before she went in again. This time, she was little more successful at grabbing it and managed to pull the flower off the stalk. It took some force and she glared at it for a moment before tossing it into her bag. She was tired now and she already didn't want to do anything else... But, she had one more.
The Eglower was an easy one for her at this point. All she needed was a firm hand and to stay away from the pollen, which she had been hit with several times. She made a grab for it and turned her head as the puff of pollen was sent her way. She was holding her breath, trying to stay as calm as possible while she twisted the flower. It took a firm twist, but she had it off and put into her bag.
Now that she had harvested, she pulled out three new pots and her two advance pots, filling them with soil and pulled out her bag of seeds. She picked the Purple, Light Green, Dark Green, Brown and Pale Seeds. She put them each into the dirt and took a step back, removing her wand and pointing.
"Aquamenti," she said firmly, causing a steady stream of water to come from her wand. She moved it back and forth for a moment and then broke concentration, putting her wand away. She put her pots in the same five places and began cleaning up. She chose to stick around, wanting to ask the professor her own question.
Post by Oscar Tinkle on May 6, 2022 0:04:50 GMT 10
Oscar looked up from his inspection of his berry plant to offer the first years a smile. He had been hoping to be out of there before it got too busy, but apparently he had underestimated the eagerness of first years. Oh well, that would be no excuse to be rude to them though.
He spotted the pots that they carried and figured that they must have just been to Hagrid's. He hoped he was alright after having left breakfast in such a rush. If he was still giving pots out then that must mean that he was, right?
"If you wait a bit, then I'm sure she'll show up soon," he told the first years - Ravenclaws? Yeah, Ravenclaws. "Professor Sprout is good like that."
With that said he turned his attention back to his berry plant. Well, he was pretty sure it was a berry plant, if only he could spot them... Oscar hummed to himself as he brushed the leaves aside in the hopes of spotting the berries and there they were. The plant did indeed have berries growing on it! Now, how to get them off?
He looked away from the plant, letting the leaves fall back where they wanted, to look around the greenhouse for something that might help. Sheers! They would do the job.
Oscar moved to pick up some spare sheers, then went back to his plants to finally claim his berries. Humming to himself again, he once more went about uncovering the berries so that this time he could use the sheers to harvest them.
He smiled when he finally held his prize in his hand. That was not too hard, it definitely reminded him of gardening with his Nanna. Putting his berries away in his bag, he turned his attention to his second plant. This one was an.. Eglower? At least he thought that was the name. He hoped it was as easy to deal with as the berry plant had been.
Two minutes later, as he could not stop sneezing, he thought that had been a naïve wish. Finally though, he managed to get a firm enough hold of the flower to twist it off.
Seeing as he was no longer under attack, Oscar thunked his head down on the workbench with a miserable sniffle. That had not gone as he expected, but he had managed it eventually! ...He definitely looked like an idiot next to Lindsey who had apparently been battling fire attacks though.
Stood up straight once more after a brief moment of self pity for being such an embarrassment, Oscar set about cleaning up his workspace as if nothing had happened. He disposed of his broken clay pot and brushed up as much loose soil as he could. He did not want to leave the place as a disaster zone for Professor Sprout to stumble over later.
With the space as clean as he was going to get it, he turned his attention to his one remaining pot and refilled the soil before he pulled some yellow seeds from his bag to bury under a layer of the soil.
Making sure that the seeds were equally covered with the dirt, he pulled his wand out and waved it over the pot.
"Aquamenti," he said, smiling in relief as water spurted from the end to dampen the soil. With that done he pushed his pot back into the same spot, 50, as before. He figured that was a good enough place to work, so why not keep it.
Oscar gave his little station another brush down, apparently he could not keep it clean even while only planting a seed, and then figured that he was done for now. He couldn't help but frown at his one pot though, wondering if he should look into owl ordering some more. Yeah, that might be a good idea.
"Good luck with your pots," he told the first years as he headed for the door, hoping for their sake that Professor Sprout did turn up soon. "Bye," he said with a look at Lindsey to include her too. With that, he made his escape to head back to the castle.
Last Edit: May 6, 2022 0:24:29 GMT 10 by Oscar Tinkle
Professor Sprout gave Oscar a friendly smile as she passed by, headed into the greenhouse.
'Busy day, I see?' She chuckled, spotting Lindsey and a group of eager-looking first years. 'Anything I can help you all with?' Sprout wondered, setting down a sack of fresh soil as the supply always got low during the colder season.
She gave the area a glance, nodding in approval to the clean workspaces. Busy, but not careless or in too much of a rush to respect the space. Not that she doubted her students, but it was always nice to have that faith rewarded.
Post by Lindsey Bryce on May 6, 2022 0:38:44 GMT 10
Lindsey gave a quick wave to Oscar as he left. She had been too busy with her own plants to see how he fared. When the professor arrived, she smiled at the woman and looked at the first years before taking a step forward.
"Yes Professor, I was hopin' ye might need some help with anythin'?" she asked her her highland accent, trying to sound as chipper as she could. With everything that had happened back home, it was tough, but she needed something to keep her mind off that. "I was hopin' to earn maybe a lotus flower or Jippi seeds to use in some potions." She wanted to earn those items, not just ask for them. By working for the professor, she was sure she could earn them.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on May 6, 2022 1:00:37 GMT 10
MJ watched as the older students took care of their plants, in awe with how easy they made everything look. But she was wise to that now - their skill came with practice and experience. She just had to be patient and know that some day, she would be the fourth year the first years would be admiring. But until then, she was allowed to vibrate with excitement at the idea, right?
Professor Sprout appeared, as if by magic, and MJ smiled stepping forward. But the Slytherin girl beat her to it. MJ waited her turn, however, knowing that an extra few minutes wasn't going to hurt. Her granny had always told her that. She listened with fascination as the girl spoke of different seeds and wondered what kind of plants they would make. She was going to investigate in her Herbology book later!
"Professor, my friend and I are hoping to learn to grow our own plants." She nodded to Misuk, next to her (and no doubt daydreaming once more). "I used to help my Granny in our garden back home, so I know a little about taking care of mundane plants but I'd love to learn more about magical plants too." Once more she looked at the Slytherin girl, in awe of her skills.
"Is it possible for us to do that? We went to see Mister Hagrid and he was kind enough to give us a pot and some soil to try." Of course, she had no seeds but she was hopeful that Professor Sprout would help with that.
She had an ulterior motive too, she knew that Herbology and Potions went hand in hand nicely. If she could grow her own potion ingredients too... Well, that was a bonus, wasn't it?
'I do believe I have those, yes.' Professor Sprout nodded to Lindsey, then retrieved a sealed envelope from a pocket under her apron. 'I'll tell you what, if you deliver this order to the Owlery for me then I'd be more than happy to give you one of those ingredients. Deal?'
She handed the envelope out to Lindsey, which was all ready to go. Sprout then turned to the first years, smiling at their request.
'I only grant access to those willing to put the work in,' she told them. 'Having access to the Student Greenhouse and making use of it in you free time... that's quite a commitment. Are you sure you're both up to the task?'
They each needed to convince her they were serious about it and the work involved.
Misuk committed the plants the Slytherin upper year talked about to their memory, patiently waiting their turn with pots still carefully held in their hands. There was another moment where they tried to figure out if their database memory had anything to offer, but it came up empty.
Just in time for them to snap out and check back into reality as MJ was talking. They also had taken care of a few plants at home, but they hadn't been anything exciting and frankly, it seemed like their parents also meddled with them so they never really learned it properly. Now, however ...
"We are," Misuk replied, maybe a bit too quickly, and then took a step back. "We would both need some more guidance, Professor Sprout, but we will put in effort, for sure. We're very eager to learn," they then added a bit more wordy.
"Can we prove it to you somehow?" they then asked, always working better with a task at hand.
Post by MJ Birdwhistle on May 6, 2022 7:43:52 GMT 10
MJ nodded, letting Misuk take the lead this time. She was glad her friend was paying attention and smiled in encouragement as they spoke up to their professor. MJ didn't stay silent and was quick to add her own piece afterwards.
"We'd be willing to do whatever it takes to prove how serious we are about this. Do you need us to move some pots or plants? Or help clean? I don't mind mucking in, my Granny and Great Aunt keep a hobby farm at home, so I'm used to helping out with chores there. I'm sure Misuk feels the same as well." And MJ felt that doing something Professor Sprout asked of them was the least they could do for use of the greenhouse.
She knew this was a serious privilege and MJ was more than happy to prove they weren't going to mess around.
Right now, she just hoped Professor Sprout would say yes.
Post by Lindsey Bryce on May 6, 2022 9:24:33 GMT 10
Lindsey nodded to the professor and took the envelope from her. She smiled and figured it would be a good time to send a letter to her own parents. Well, maybe... She wasn't sure if she could write it out. She was still having a hard time comprehending how such a thing could have happened. She didn't stick around long after getting the letter, going straight to the Owlery.
Professor Sprout smiled at their earnest eagerness. 'As a matter of fact, yes, there is a way you can each prove yourselves and show you're willing to put the work in.'
She aimed her wand at a plant on the nearest counter, and water sprouted from the tip like a hose.
'The Water-Making Charm,' she explained. 'Watering cans also do the job, but this spell is how it's done here. If you'd each like to grow your own plants and use this greenhouse, you'll need to know this spell.'
She made a gesture, teaching them the wand motion. She took her time, making sure each got a fair chance to see the demonstration.
'Concentrate carefully,' Sprout said. 'Consider the need for water, and say the incantation: aquamenti.' She moved aside to give them easy access to the plant. It would take a few attempts, but she was confident they could do it.
Free-RP is allowed; success and progress are determined by you.
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