#3 - Oh Honey!

This tree was a bit older looking than some of the others around it but the hive was clearly buzzing with activity. MJ walked around quietly, angling her head so she could check the best possible way to climb the tree.

Luckily, unlike some, it had lower branches that would make scaling it an easier task.

Which was good, considering she was going to have to deal with being as quick as possible to avoid fighting some bees. MJ nodded to herself and made sure her satchel was secure before she attempted the climb.

Going up was pretty straight forward. MJ reached for branches, pulled herself up or used some knots as footholds to give herself a boost. She sat on a branch, catching her breath and looked around.

The view from up here was pretty nice. In one direction was just more trees but off to the side she could see a bit of the path. MJ smiled to herself before going back to her task.

She climbed the rest of the way to the hive and positioned herself as close as possible without being in too much danger -- she hoped. The buzzing was a lot louder here and MJ didn't really want to get stung.

Taking out the first jar, MJ filled it with honey to the brim and tried not to get any on her hands or clothes. The sap she had gathered in the morning had been very sticky and unforgiving. She had to beg an older student in the common room to use a cleaning spell on her satchel.

The first jar was put into her satchel and MJ took out the second but paused. She watched the hive warily and saw it was vibrating slightly. Was this a sign for her to move on? MJ bit her lip and risked filling her second jar.

As soon as it was full she didn't stick around.

Jars were safely stowed and the satchel was on her back again. MJ didn't look at the hive as she focused on going back down the way she came. The buzzing did seem louder and angrier and she didn't want to know what was coming next.

When it was safe enough to do so, she jumped the rest of the way and landed cat-like on all fours. Only then did she risk looking over her shoulder but hurried back towards the Forest Path.

Stumbling onto it again, MJ panted and made sure nothing had followed her. She checked on her honey to make sure no accidents had occurred and sighed with relief. She didn't want to face collecting honey again any time soon so having two jars was nice.

There were other ingredients she could collect along the Forest Path so MJ recalled what she wanted for her potions. Gakhood seemed like a good ingredient to search for next.

She knew she had to look out for large, black leaves and so she did that as she walked along.