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Post by Amancio Calzadilla on Jun 6, 2010 0:57:00 GMT -5
Professor Amancio Calzadilla wiped his hands on his dirty trousers as his eyes scanned his first class. To his right were a series of potted plants—one for each pair of students—with vines that twisted up the wooden stake stuck in the middle.
“First off,” Amancio said, “Welcome to Herbology. I’m Professor Calzadilla.” He gestured to the plants beside him. “These will be the focus of our lesson today. They are called Alihotsy. You will be re-planting them into these planters,” he gestured to his left, where a long row of wooden planters filled nearly halfway with soil lay. He saw that a couple of his students looked tentative and quickly added, “This is not very difficult, so don’t worry. You will group yourselves by two. Can I have a volunteer?”
A Ravenclaw raised her hand eagerly, and Amancio chose her to come to the front of the class with him. “One of you will steady the plant like this,” he said. He positioned her hands accordingly on the Alihotsy so that she was holding it against the wooden shaft. “The other will gently remove the plant from its pot.” Amancio dug his fingers into the cool dirt, pressing until he found the bottom of the plastic container, and pulled. A roughly cylindrical mass of roots and dirt was now held in his hands. “The two of you will then—cooperatively—transfer the Alihotsy very carefully to the planter.” Slowly he walked the girl over to the planter and knelt down. “Okay,” he said to the Ravenclaw, “Now gently let go of the plant, and if you will, make a hole in the dirt.” She obeyed, and he held the dirt with one large hand and supported the stick with the other until she had made a sufficient hole. “One of you will dig a hole in this soil to fit the plant while the other supports it. Then, you simply place the plant,” Amancio did so, “And cover it.” He scooped the dirt that his student had just dug up back around and over the plant. “It’s very simple.”
Amancio stood, turned to the Ravenclaw and smiled. “Thank you; you can go back to your seat. Ten points for Ravenclaw.” He clapped his dirty hands together. “Before you get started, I have a few comments. One, you must be very gentle. Alihotsy are delicate, and if you pull at them or drop them, they will tear. Two, the leaves will induce hysteria if eaten, so please don’t experiment or dare your classmates. Also, once you are finished, please wash your hands in the sink in the back as a safety precaution. Now, everyone choose a partner and you may begin.”
Amancio relaxed but did not find a comfortable seat. It pleased him to look over his students as they worked; it helped him to understand better how they worked and how he could teach them more properly.
Note: With three students, I do not expect you to actually pair up. If you wish, simply write in another minor character for this lesson. You don't have to pretend to know them; it's just another set of hands.
Also, if you are curious about the grading scale, see the Sign Up sheet.
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Post by Samantha Jordan on Jun 6, 2010 4:44:10 GMT -5
Loving the fact that this class was more of an outdoors thing, even though it was being held in a greenhouse, Samantha was grinning from ear to ear as she listened intently to the professor as he explained the activity.
After he left them to their own devices, she paired up with a nearby Gryffindor who seemed to be lost in thought. They picked an Alihotsy pot near the middle of the row and brought it back to their workspace, then Samantha grabbed an empty pot from the other side of the greenhouse. Just as she reached the table again, she noticed her partner was holding the plant a little tighter than was necessary.
"You should loosen your grip. You're choking it!!!! Let me handle the plant; you dig the hole in the other pot," she said in a harsher tone than she meant to use, but she couldn't let a plant die on her first day!!!! Her dad had taught her how to garden when she was younger, so this almost came naturally to her.
Samantha gently placed her hand around the vines and the wooden stake, and used her other hand to find the bottom of the soil. Here, give me your hand," she asked her partner, who didn't seem like she wanted to be there. Samantha then proceeded to guide the girl's hand to the spot underneath the soil so she could help her lift it out. When they had succeeded in re-planting the Alihotsy, Samantha nurturingly re-piled the soil on top of it.
When she looked up, she noticed the girl she had (barely) worked with was already at the sink in the back, so she gave the plant one last loving look then followed her partner back to the sink to wash her hands. The girl left quickly as Samantha finished drying her hands with one of the few cleaner cloth rags left next to the sink. Then she, too, left the greenhouse.
~*~*~ Grade: RP: 10; what do you think of Amancio? Of your surroundings? Also, you were a little lacking in details. Assignment: 25
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Post by Eirwyn Lyla Hall on Jun 6, 2010 16:48:26 GMT -5
Eirwyn couldn't wipe the smile off her face. Professor Calzadilla was so dreamy! She sighed wistfully; what she'd give to be older and to have a chance with him.
She giggled quietly. It seemed, though, that he was entirely unaware of his admirers and his critics. It's kind of cute, she thought, that he has no idea.
Eirwyn tied her hair back; it was too hot in the greenhouse to leave it down, and besides, it would probably end up falling into the dirt since it was so long. Although she wasn't entirely averse to getting a little dirty, she also didn't enjoy feeling filthy, and she still had classes to attend later that day.
Eirwyn paired up with a chatty Gryffindor boy who kept going on and on and on about quidditch and how exciting it was going to be and did you know that first-years can be captain this year? Eirwyn simply was not interested, but she didn't want to be rude; at least there wasn't an awkward silence like she observed with most of the other students.
Eirwyn volunteered to hold the plant securely. Digging into the soil meant that she'd probably be scraping dirt from beneath her fingernails for days, and that certainly did not sound appealing in the least. Mister Chatter-box did not pause in his rambling as he thrust his hands in to grip the plant and pull it out. Eirwyn gasped; the sudden movement had almost caused her to topple over. Her partner's babble ceased as he stared at her in confusion.
"How about we just get plant the Alihotsy first," she suggested a little more tersely than she would have liked. She wanted to apologize, but frankly, she was the tiniest bit off-put at having nearly been thrown to the ground.
Her fellow Gryffindor agreed enthusiastically and practically dragged her to the planters. Eirwyn picked a nice spot next to the one that Professor Calzadilla had planted, smiling a little. The pair carefully exchanged hands so that Eirwyn was holding the Alihotsy, and she watched him dig a hole.
"Alright, that looks good," she commented. She lowered the plant into its hollow and leaned back to let her partner cover it with the planter soil, in the meantime admiring their handiwork. When he also sat back, she said, "I think it's good."
"It's a little crooked."
She giggled. "A little" was an understatement. However they'd managed it, somehow it was lopsided and about thirty degrees too far left. She tilted her head as she thought decidedly, But at least we didn't drop it.
~*~*~ Grade: RP: 20 Assignment: 15
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Post by Dastan Cross on Jun 6, 2010 22:08:04 GMT -5
Dastan made his way out to the greenhouses, feeling a little more hopeful that this class would be worth his time, unlike Divination. He still couldn't get the smell of the incense out of his robes. As he took his place in the greenhouse and examined the plants around him, he felt strangely content. There was something pleasant about not having to do anything that forced you to overtax yourself, and Herbology was the perfect lesson for getting back to the roots of that. All you had to do was take care of a bunch of plants, right? As he saw the Alihotsy and the professor explained that it wasn't difficult, he felt himself relax even more. Plants didn't need meaningless chit-chat or anything like that; all they had to do was re-plant them and they were done. It was comforting to know that he'd have a class like this, where he could just sort of relax and take his mind off of other random things going on in his life, like his latest nemesis and his string of useless classes. And then one word shattered his tranquil mood. Partners. Ugh. Grumpy now, Dastan looked around for who he thought would be the least annoying partner and moved towards them. Even though that person was being approached by someone else, he stepped in, cutting off the other kid with a curt, "You're my partner," to the one he had chosen. "But--" the other kid, a Slytherin girl, began, shooting a glance at the Hufflepuff that had been about to ask her to partner up with her. Dastan glared and the other Slytherin rolled her eyes, accepting her fate. She apologized to the Hufflepuff, then followed Dastan back to the pot they would be working on. "You don't have to be so rude, you know. Just because we're Slytherins doesn't mean we have to make everyone hate us," she said grumpily. Dastan, surprised, glanced at her in the middle of sticking his hands into the potting soil of the original planter for the Alihotsy plant. "What are you talking about?" "You. Shooting glares at everyone. Making demands of people. I get the whole 'loner' thing, but this is a bit ridiculous. You know, if you were a real Slytherin, you'd know that making friends helps achieve ambitions much quicker."Dastan opened his mouth to retort, but then shut it again. He couldn't believe it, but the girl was right. True, he didn't have to be all buddy-buddy (that wasn't in his nature), but he had been especially rude lately. He glanced briefly at Astin, who he knew was also taking this class (unfortunately) and decided that he couldn't, and wouldn't, make amends with him. He was a nobody and definitely wasn't useful in achieving his means. But then, he glanced at some of the others. He recognized a few of them as members of upstanding pure-blooded families that would be useful allies, if not friends. Then he glanced at the professor. Teachers would definitely be good allies, he decided, then cracked a smirk at the other girl. "You're pretty clever, you know that?" he said. The girl shrugged. "I'm a Slytherin, aren't I? As clever as a Ravenclaw, but as cunning as a snake. It's in my nature.""What's your name?" he asked, suddenly. The girl laughed. "My name? None of your business. But I'm finished potting the plant. You lose." She picked up the re-potted plant and shoved it at Dastan's chest. He quickly wrapped his arms around it and watched as the girl stalked off to wash her hands. He glanced down at the pot. It was perfectly planted. The girl had completely finished everything without him even noticing. Thoroughly embarrassed, Dastan turned to hand in the plant. ~*~*~ RP: 25 Good job! (: Assignment: 15-- next time don't let your partner do all the work.
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Post by Astin Descartes on Jun 7, 2010 16:01:29 GMT -5
Astin listened to Professor Calzadilla with detached disinterest. Although the class didn't seem like a complete pain, and the professor didn't seem a total bore, he was honestly only taking it because he was required to. Frankly, Astin had a problem with anything he was forced into, and Herbology was one of those things.
Nevertheless, once he was told to begin, Astin quickly found a partner in a nearby Ravenclaw boy. He picked up a particularly leafy plant and went ahead, kneeling next to the box.
"Isn't there a lesser chance of dropping it if we begin next to the planter?" the boy asked at Astin's confused look.
"Oh. Well, I supposed that does make sense."
Astin knelt next to him; the ground was a lot cooler and harder than he'd thought it would be. Not really caring how dirty he got, as he was basically finished with his lessons for the day, Astin volunteered to remove the plant from the soil while the Ravenclaw gripped the plant to the wooden staff. Once Astin had pulled it out, he handed the Alihotsy over to his partner and dug a small hole into the new soil, where it would now call home.
Clumsily, the pair coordinated the plant into the hollow, and while the Ravenclaw leaned back, Astin spread the planter soil over to cover the gaps.
"Right. I'm going to go wash my hands now."
Astin quirked his lips as he watched his partner leave. Really, what was eating him?
~*~*~ RP: 15; too short-- expand more Asignment: 25
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Severus Snape
First Year
Slytherin
I can't help but wonder how this will turn out.
Posts: 78
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Post by Severus Snape on Jun 7, 2010 17:31:41 GMT -5
Severus entered the greenhouse with a slightly more confident air about him than before. Transfiguration had been a pain but he had still managed to get the spell correct, which was good for his first day. Potions had been more than excellent, as he had excelled at everything. Herbology shouldn't be too hard, then, seeing as Potions and Herbology were so closely linked...one who was serious about Potions had to be pretty versed in Herbology. And luckily for him, this lesson seemed pretty basic today. All he had to do was be careful.
He rolled his eyes at some of the girls in the class, who were quite obviously infatuated with the professor. Wow... Like that would do them any good. Luckily enough, Lily was there and so he was spared the awkwardness of pairing up with someone he didn't know...at least for now. She held the pot for him as he gingerly displaced the plant and put it in its new planter, using one hand to hold the stake and the other to dig a hole in the dirt. There, that looked nice.
"Yuck, my hands are all dirty...I'm gonna go wash up. I'll wait by the door," Lily said and headed off to the sink. Severus nodded and placed the plant gingerly on the desk, then followed suit, meeting her at the door and walking with her to Defense Against the Dark Arts.~*~*~ RP: 20-- expand next time; you can do a lot more! Assignment: 25
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Post by siriusblack on Jun 8, 2010 8:05:53 GMT -5
It was nice to be outside; the trek down to the greenhouses greeted Sirius with a crisp breeze and a blue sky. His hair ruffled a bit as he entered the classroom, the climate changing instantaneously. It was hot as heck in here, but he guessed that was to be expected. It was a greenhouse, after all. Professor Amancio was using a little Ravenclaw girl to help him demonstrate the proper technique in which to re-plant something called Alihotsy.
Intrigued, he strode over to where some other Gryffindor students were standing and listened. A lot of the girls, he noticed, were staring directly at the professor, and he didn't think it had to do too much with the plants. Sheesh, he thought and rolled his eyes. This movement caught the eye of a blond Gryffindor girl to his left and she instantly scooted closer to him.
"Hi, there, I'm Nancy," she said with a little giggle.
"I'm Sirius," he replied, giving her a little smile, to which she responded with a giggle. He blinked; what was wrong with her?
"That's Nancy Taye," she added as she grabbed a pot with an Alihotsy in it and a fresh one as well from nearby. Sirius made a move to grab the plant, but she reached out and grabbed his wrist. Surprised, he looked up at her.
"Boys can be a little rough sometimes. I'll grab the plant. You steady the shaft. Kay?" Before he could answer, she had shoved the pot into his hands and so he made sure to steady the wooden shaft as instructed while she worked to remove the plant from its current home. She seemed to be struggling, and he was about to offer a hand, when it popped up out of the dirt, sending an array of the stuff at his face. He spluttered and she nearly dropped the thing. "Oops, hehe...sorry," she said, and she sounded it.
"It's fine," Sirius replied, a little tensely, blinking to try and clear it from his eyelashes. "Just hurry please." His tone the second time was much nicer; he didn't want to hurt her feelings. It had been an accident and he knew that. It just wasn't too comfortable not being able to see quite clearly what one was doing during class. Or at all really.
He felt her hands brush his and then withdraw quickly as she dumped the plant unceremoniously into its new planter. Shaking his head and placing the newly potted plant on the table, he recovered it with soil and sighed. "Good job, partner," he said to her with a grin. She blushed and looked away. "Uh...y-yeah...you, too," she replied. "Uh...we should go wash our hands now."
Sirius blinked. Hands? Oh, right. Duh. "Right." They walked over to the sink together and began chatting about classes as the water ran over their dirt-encrusted hands. "Boy, that feels better," Nancy said as Sirius turned off the tap. She looked down at her hands and her eyes widened. There was a watch there, and after she tapped it and listened to it a few times, she looked panicked. "Oh! Oh shoot! I'm sorry...I have to go!" she yelled and ran out the door.
"Huh?" was all he had time to say before he was once again alone. Oh, well...maybe I'll see her again later, he thought as he shouldered his bag and headed to Charms, his last class of the day.
~*~*~ RP: 25 Assignment: 25
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Post by Griffin Sosario on Jun 9, 2010 7:55:36 GMT -5
The moment Griffin walked into the greenhouse, he hated the class. He hated gardening and he absolutely detested anything involving dirt. The professor seemed nice enough, but that still would not stop him from not liking the class.
Professor Calzadilla told them to find a partner and begin, Griffin looked around him to find someone without a partner. He noticed a nervous-looking gryffindor girl at the back of the greenhouse without a partner. He walked over to her.
"Hi, you want to be partners?" She said sure and they walked back to find a plant.
"Okay," said Griffin to the girl, "you hold while I pull out the plant."
The girl gripped the stalk with both hands while Griffin dug his hands into the tightly-packed soil. He winced as he felt the dirt slide under his fingernails. He just wanted to get this done.
"Alright," Griffin said as they slowly made their way the the empty pots, "I'll hold it while you dig a hole."
She obeyed, and Griffin carefully placed the plant in the pot, straightened it up, then covered the plant with fresh soil. After finishing the lesson, he practically ran to go wash the filth off of his hands.
~*~*~ RP: 13 Assignment: 20
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Addison Bell
Second Year
Gryffindor
I'm not as quiet as I seem.
Posts: 106
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Post by Addison Bell on Jul 3, 2010 2:43:26 GMT -5
Addison walked into class and suddenly felt rooted to the spot, the proffesor was absolutely gorgeous, her classes so far didn't seem so bad, both of her proffesor's were good looking so she would have something to look at if she got bored, but she doubted that would happen in this class.
Taking in her sorroundings she noticed a few potted plants to one side, she'd never seen them before, but then again, most of the plants she had seen lacked much magic, her mother always liked planting fruits and vegetables. The class had now filled up and the proffesor started talking, she noticed some girls were staring at him as if lost in some fantasy, so at least she wasn't the only one who had noticed his good looks.
After he told them about their assignment, which seemed simple enough, Addison looked around for a partner. Spotting a fellow Gryffindor, she gave her a tiny smile, "Wanna be partners?" The girl didn't seem to happy about that but there was no other choice, everyone else seemed taken, so she just nodded and walked over to Addison. With a sigh Addison reminded herself this was for her grade, "You can hold it and i'll tried to be careful and pull it out." The girl looked at her with a blank stare but actually replied, "Yeah, okay, just don't tear it, you heard what Proffesor Gorgeous Face said."
Slipping her hands under the plant, Addison carefully pulled it out of the dirt, with a handful of roots in her hands, they walked over to the pots. Her partner started digging a hole in the pot for the plant to fit into, Addison now had gotten nervous, she could feel all the soft roots, she really didn't want to mess up. Walking slowly towards the pot, she went to drop in the plant, once it was succesfully in the pot, they covered it with dirt, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Addison looked up at her partner, only to find her staring at her with a smirk on her face, in a sarcastic tone she said, "You tore off a root, good job." Addison looked down in dissapointment, she was so sure she had done everything with care! Then she heard the Gryffindor laugh, "I'm just kidding, that was there before we walked this way. I'm Mellissa by the way." Addison stared at her in suprise, then suddenly burst out laughing. "Wow, you jerk! I thought our grade went down the toilet! I'm Addison. We should probably go wash our hands."
They walked over to the sink and cleaned off their hands. Mellissa patted Addison's shoulder, "Hey, i have to go to Potions, but i'll see you at the common room most likely. Later." Before Addison could reply she walked away, rubbing the grime off her hands, she picked up her things and headed off to finish her Muggle Studies homework.
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