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 Oscar Tinkle on May 27, 2022 4:11:29 GMT 10
Oscar knew that he had herbology later that day, but that was a whole half a day away and he had plants that he was curious about in the meantime. He didn't see any harm in a bit of double herbology for the day, even if it was annoyingly still snowing and it meant going outside for it. He couldn't wait for Spring to arrive and hopefully bring a change in weather.
He walked into the greenhouse and glanced around, half expecting to see other students having beaten him there like the previous day. But no, either people had already come and gone or they were busy with class. Either way, the greenhouse was quiet. It was slightly odd if he was honest. Peaceful, sure, but not what he had been growing used to for the space. He was finding that there was something kind of nice about quietly working with plants alongside others.
Making his way over to where he had left his pots, Oscar hoped that they had done okay over the night. He set his bag down against the leg of the workbench, before he turned his eyes to the three pots he had set up on his last visit.
Post by Arthur Hocking on May 27, 2022 21:11:56 GMT 10
With a hat on his head, Arthur entered the Greenhouse. He waved at Oscar to make sure the other boy knew he was there, but his own plant was farther away from Oscar's plants than he thought. So there was probably no easy way to be having a conversation, unless Arthur or Oscar yelled across the Greenhouse.
Well, that was okay. Maybe it wouldn't take too long to harvest the plants, anyways. He approached station 01 where he'd left his plant and started his attempt to harvest it. Mystery plant indeed. It certainly wasn't any moonurk or sunurk berry.
Amelia had left class and headed towards the greenhouse. She wanted to do a few things today and one of them was get to the gardens. She walked in a quickly saw two younger Hufflepuffs. Well, this would make the Professor happy to see if she came in. Amelia just went to her area and pulled her hair from her face with a piece of ribbon from her bag. It was important to keep that from her face. She found herself all her needed supplies, ranging from gloves to sheers.
After harvesting was complete, nothing of value remained -- including ordinary clay pots that were cracked and no longer usable. Spaces of the counter were free again, unless 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.
Stems of the berry plants were strong, but simple to deal with. A charm or some nearby sheers would help snip the ingredients 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.
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.
The flowers of the mystery plant smelled of burnt toothpaste and a hint of citrus. The leaves were so coarse they resulted in a temporary rash if touched by bare skin. The brightly blue spores got their glow by absorbing light -- such as candles, the wand-lighting charm, or other nearby plants.
Flowers are to be picked, which releases a dark mist that induces extreme sound sensitivity and to exhale bubbles through the nose. The more bubbles released, the quicker sound sensitivity fades.
Post by Oscar Tinkle on May 29, 2022 0:53:21 GMT 10
Oscar waved when he saw Arthur enter the greenhouse, happy that he had decided to join him. It was just a shame that they were so far away, pretty much the opposite ends of the greenhouse in fact.
Turning back to his plants, he found that they looked just like he remembered them from his previous plantings and so he felt like he had a good idea of what to expect. First though, he needed some sheers.
Sheers quickly collected, he was soon back at his station and focused on his berry plants. He briefly debated with himself on which ones to deal with first before he decided to focus on the pretty blue ones. His borrowed sheers held in one hand, he used the other to gently brush away the darker tipped leaves, uncovering the berries that they were trying to hide from him.
He made quick work of relieving the first plant of its berries and so soon turned his attention to the familiar red-tipped leaves of his second plant to repeat the process of harvesting berries.
Two down, one to go.
"You again," he grumbled, narrowing his eyes at the innocently droopy looking plant that had sent him sneezing last time. He pointed his sheers at it and said, "You better behave." as if he was warning it off with the sharp gardening equipment. He stared it down for a moment longer before he huffed and put the sheers down.
He took a moment to lift his scarf up so that it covered the bottom half of his face, hoping that a barrier would help to prevent any sneezing fits this time.
As he held the twisted off flowers in one hand and sneezed into the arm of the other, he decided that more drastic measures than a knitted scarf would be needed next time. Maybe good old dodging would work?
His mind busy plotting over how to best the Eglower plant next time, he safely stored his prizes away in his bag and then automatically went about cleaning up his station. He'd been well trained enough for that.
The bench cleared of broken pot and as free of stray soil as it would get in a greenhouse, Oscar pulled three clay pots from his bag and set them up back in a row in spots 48, 49, and 50. He hummed a mindless tune as he went about filling them each with soil and then turned to his little seed bag to decide what to plant.
It didn't take him long to decide to go with one of each again, enjoying getting to deal with three different plants even if he thought that the Eglower was a pain in his behind. Decision made he buried yellow seeds, blue seeds, and then finally pink seeds in his pots one after the other.
He dusted off his hands in an attempt to free them of dirt before he pulled out his wand, wanting to avoid completely coating it in dirt. He could just imagine his Nonna's frown and lecture if he turned up with a dirt covered wand that was not being cared for properly.
"Aquamenti," he said, focusing on the familiar thought of a spray of water as he directed it over each of his pots to get the soil nice and damp.
Once he deemed them watered the right amount, he put his wand away once more and then set about once again brushing up loose soil.
Finally done, he looked up to check how his dormmate was doing with his own plant.
Post by Arthur Hocking on May 29, 2022 14:01:20 GMT 10
Arthur put his gloves on. Since he had no idea what the plant was, he thought it was probably the best course of action to avoid doing anything that could be dangerous. At least he had Oscar nearby to help him out if anything went wrong, as well as the red-haired girl who had walked into the Greenhouse as well.
He picked a flower and sneezed when he inhaled the dark mist that came from it. Immediately, he winced. His sneeze sounded much louder than normal. And what was that coming out of his nose? Bubbles? Ugh, gross. Even Oscar's movements sounded like explosions. Arthur exhaled heavily out of his nose, noting that things seemed to quiet down when more bubbles left.
Oh, so that was how it worked! Understanding now, Arthur pulled his robes up to cover his face from the mist. It didn't block everything, but Arthur kept exhaling the bubbles as fast as possible. A few times, a cough overcame him and made him wince again as the sensation of bubbles made him feel gross. He was relieved when he finally managed to pick all of the flowers.
He glanced over at Oscar a few times to see if he was doing any better. He felt some mild envy when he saw that Oscar was, in fact, already done. Or at least it seemed that way. Arthur waved at him again.
Amelia was glad to see that her plants had grown in her absence. She had gathered some sheers, so she went to work with the berries first. As the leaves did their best to shield their precious berries, Amelia just worked harder. After a few moments, she had clipped both the Sunurk and Moonurk berries from their bushes and placed them in her bag to store away later. She cleaned up her space and went ahead to pull out two new pot.
She decided to go ahead and replant the Yellow and Blue seeds first. She had filled the pot with dirt and placed the seeds in the center before she removed her wand.
"Aquamenti," she said firmly, causing a stream to come from her wand and over the two pots. She placed those two pots in slots 61 and 62, walking both down away from her current ones. Once she had done that, returned to her last plant, the Eglower.
After cleaning up the mess from the other two, she went to work. She was well aware of the flower's pollen that puffed and caused sneezing. She tried to stay away, but did end up sneezing a few times in the end. After she got her hand on the stem, she gave a good, firm yank and removed the flower, storying it away. With that plant done, she cleaned up and went down to slots 63, 64, and 65 to prepare her last three pots and plant her last seeds.
She filled up each pot with dirt, planted the Pink, Red, and Purple seeds, placing them in the middle like the last two. Then, she pulled out her wand and pointed.
"Aquamenti," she said in another firm voice, causing the stream of water to appear so she could water her last three seeds. Once those were done, she placed them in the slots she had been standing before and cleaned up her space. She didn't take notice of the two hufflepuffs, to busy with her own work. Once that was done, she left to head for the castle.
Post by Jonathan King on May 30, 2022 6:28:41 GMT 10
With a swift motion Joe undid his scarf upon entering the greenhouse. Compared to the wintery weather it was nice and warm in here and he did not want to get too hot now and be cold later when he went outside again.
“Oh, helloho“, he clicked his tongue as he reached his pots (12 &13) that he had planted before Christmas, now having fully grown berries for him to harvest.
“Did you miss me? I was at Toby’s. There were chickens there, so you were better off here.“ Joe spoke in a soothing voice, imitating the way his mother used to speak to her plants at the old house before they sold it.
Everyone's harvesting had gone well, especially for Oscar who'd also discovered some Mystery Seeds in the process. Meanwhile, Jonathan was just getting started...
After harvesting was complete, nothing of value remained -- including ordinary clay pots that were cracked and no longer usable. Spaces of the counter were free again, unless 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.
Stems of the berry plants were strong, but simple to deal with. A charm or some nearby sheers would help snip the ingredients 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 Oscar Tinkle on May 30, 2022 23:13:36 GMT 10
Oscar wondered what plant Arthur was dealing with, since he did not recognise it and thought it looked like as much of a pain as the Eglower. He would have to ask the other Hufflepuff when they were closer than a greenhouse away.
It didn't seem like he was done though, whatever the plant was that he had been dealing with, so Oscar just waved back when he saw him look over and then decided to pass the time by looking through his bag.
Hearing a little firstie talking to his plants as he did so made him smile to himself. It seemed like some first years had the right idea of dealing with plants.
His poking around in his bag, to see if the half asleep him of that morning had packed everything he needed for the day, uncovered one thing that he did not recognise. A bundle of multi coloured seeds that he swore he had never bought. They had not been there when he picked out his other seeds.
"Huh.." he mumbled, turning the seeds over in his hand. His bag had been by him the whole time so how had they gotten into the covered pocket? Some kind of house elf delivery system?
He shouldn't plant seeds that he had no idea about the origin or use of, right? Not worth the risk because who knew with magically appearing magic seeds. He could ask Professor Sprout? But no, he couldn't see her around.
Still turning the seeds this way and that, he looked them over from every angle as if they might give him a clue.
If there were seeds that were not to be planted then surely there would be posters around the greenhouse with that warning. Unless everyone knew about the super dangerous seeds and he was just stupid.
He really wanted to know what the seeds grew.
With a groan and hoping for the best, he placed the seeds to the side on the counter and went back to his bag to pull out his advanced garden pot. He still had some normal clay pots but figured that the stronger pot might be a better idea for the task ahead.
Having placed the pot in spot 47, Oscar quickly went about the familiar routine of filling it with soil and then burying the mystery seeds in the dirt. The whole time he had a dreadful feeling like he was going to be responsible for blowing up the student greenhouse because he had not done a good enough of reading his Herbology textbooks.
"Aquamenti," he said after once more dusting his hands to use his wand, causing it to sprinkle water over the soil to match his others.
With that done he stared down at the normal looking pot of soil before he sighed and said, "Please don't destroy the greenhouse." and then went about cleaning up his space for the millionth time that day.
Once again finished, he looked across the greenhouse to see if Arthur was done yet too.
Post by Arthur Hocking on May 31, 2022 1:10:58 GMT 10
Arthur cleaned up his workspace and headed over to where Oscar was standing, since he didn't have any more seeds to plant. He nodded at Oscar's workspace in admiration. Clearly they were both used to gardening, something Arthur liked doing anyways. They would be well-prepared for the Herbology class that would be coming later in the day.
"Wrapping up?" Arthur asked, not wanting to be rude. He'd heard the younger first year talking to his plants and was glad that there wasn't total silence in the greenhouse. He liked just a little bit of noise to be there whenever he was talking so that he wasn't the one to break any silence.
"I was thinking of grabbing some honey so I could make pumpkin juice." Arthur said, "Do you wanna come with me?" Arthur enjoyed having company, but if Oscar had plans of his own Arthur certainly wouldn't object.
Post by Oscar Tinkle on May 31, 2022 8:45:14 GMT 10
Oscar nodded when Arthur asked if he was done, having just been fastening his bag ready to place over his shoulder. "Yeah, just about done." he said, guessing that the other was too since he had come over.
He glanced over his pots to reassure himself that he was telling the truth there and his plants-to-be would be okay, while he thought over Arthur's offer (they were and he was). He had been thinking of testing the fireplace while others were in class, but company would be nice for a bit longer and he could always do that later on.
"Sure," he nodded, "sounds fun." Well, kind of fun. Okay, he was more worried than thinking it would be fun. Arthur was planning to what.. climb a tree, in the snow, to raid a beehive? Honestly, Oscar hadn't even realised that raiding beehives was something that was encouraged. Was that a potions thing? It sounded like a potions thing. It was no wonder he hadn't realised it was a thing that people did then to be honest.
"Lead the way," he said with a gesture towards the doorway, only to grimace at the sight of dirt stubbornly clinging to his hand. He could hear Nonna's voice in his head again. He would definitely have to scrub them before lunch.
Post by Lindsey Bryce on May 31, 2022 21:40:40 GMT 10
Canceled. Her internship for today was canceled and she kicked at the ground as she walked towards the greenhouse. Well, she could at least get a few thing done at the school. She had left the hospital wing disappointed, but she would deal with it later.
As she entered the greenhouse, she put her things down and went to her area. She prepared her station, putting on her gloves, grabbing some sheers just in case and looking at the pots.
After harvesting was complete, nothing of value remained -- including ordinary clay pots that were cracked and no longer usable. Spaces of the counter were free again, unless 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.
Stems of the berry plants were strong, but simple to deal with. A charm or some nearby sheers would help snip the ingredients 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.
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.
Despite the coral and kelp-like appearance of the mystery plant, it was unlikely found by large bodies of water. It had a dehydrating effect by fast-absorbing water even from its own pot or nearby watering cans.
There was a wonderfully refreshing scent, as if by drawing in water it also purified the air around it. There was nothing to harvest, only to study the plant before it absorbed so much water it explodes like a balloon of drool-like liquid. It was disgusting, but rejuvenated the skin.
The vines of the mystery plant are highly combative and difficult to damage. They move constantly, and will wrap painfully tight to anything that gets near or tries to pick the flower's cotton-like pollen.
Once collected, the plant begins to wither. The pollen is damp and smells sweetly herbal -- inhaling it soothes anxiety, cures headaches, or heightens focus.
Things had grown very quiet as they neared the greenhouse, but she kept her pace with her brother and entered it after him. There was another girl there, she had braid red-hair and she wondered why her parents made her get her own hair cut. She felt herself wonder if there was a reason. Elizabeth didn't have cut hair, but she did normally wear it up away from her face.
"Do we need to find the professor?" Charlotte asked as she watched the other girl, who was clearly a Slytherin. "Oh, isn't she a Slytherin with you?" Charlotte asked him when she realized the color on her robes. She also had five plants before her, two looking very advanced and a little scary.
She also noticed Jonathan from her house there. He also had plants and seemed to be working with them currently as well.
Last Edit: May 31, 2022 23:44:43 GMT 10 by Deleted
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