Herbology: Lesson 1

“And here we are,” The Armonia counselor sighed proudly, mostly to herself albeit she was looking out to the class. She was thrilled to return and ready to meet new faces, taking them and diving headfirst into the curriculum. She couldn’t teach every student, but a fair amount would learn that herbology didn’t deal with fools who treated the material as a joke. The study was her passion and love, and those taking her class as a joke were only joking themselves.

“I won’t explain what herbology is, because those born and raised as wizards are familiar with the general idea,” She nodded, “And those born and raised with non-magic folk are familiar with botany, the muggle version.”

“Just a few things. For your own sake, be prepared for class- some of these plants can cause casualties and injuries-” Her lighthearted air dropped for a moment and she looked directly down the class in her greenhouse, “I’m not kidding.”

Continuing, “Also, you are granted by me permission to swear, with no reduction of house points or other consequence,” Her eyes had a playful, knowing look in them, “The plants can be nasty little sh*ts.”

She gestured towards the table at the front of the class, long and aged, and engulfed in a slowly pulsing, thick vine.

"So, we're going to dive right into this. We'll start with this beauty, Devil's Snare. Now, this one here is old and not massive, but don't doubt its strength. It loves the damp and the dark, and those trapped in its grip should relax in order to be released.

"Approach it, and if you near it enough it will likely latch on to your arm- it can act quickly. So remain relaxed and it might slink away, but if it doesn't, you'll need a spell-"

She wrote, 'Incendio' on the board.

"You'll need that to force it to draw back. You must know that to get yourself out of the tricky ones. Work together, if you'd like, to spot if one of you gets into a tricky situation," She remembered a few instance where students had gotten both of their hands caught up and then, incidentally in their struggle, their legs as well.

///OOC: So basically, the plant will latch on instantly, but roll the die to see if your character can successfully escape with their reaction. They may relax, but it may not respond as they'd hoped.

1 or 2- The snare grips on more tightly and also begins to entangle other limbs. Incendio necessary.
3 or 4- The snare grips on more tightly. Incendio necessary.
5 or 6- The snare does not budge but does not advance.
7 or 8- The snare draws back/loosens. If following another move toward defeating it, the snare draws back entirely.
9 or 10- The snare drops its grip.

Incendio:
1-3- Unsuccessful lil spark
4-6- Irritates the Snare but with no effect
7-10- Yeeet. Success.

Aight so this lesson is a lil weird, but I figure, just have fun with it. Throw old quaffles in the snare. Throw other students in the snare. Befriend the snare. Become the snare. It's free reign, just have fun ///

August didn't like the sound of the lesson. "Devil's snare, for the first class?" He murmured under his breath, knowing that the plant was used for end of the year exams, and such. He thought Hooper was a little out of her mind crazy, but he liked her attitude and enthusiasm.

He began to slowly approach the plant, but he knew that speed would have no effect on the snare. It lashed out at him, grapping onto his left arm. He responded with a high-pitched yelp, muttering the words, "F*ckin' hell," under his breath.

August Kach carried out 1 launched of one Dice 10 :

9

Somehow, the snare dropped it's grip. August couldn't believe how lucky he had gotten, as he sauntered back to his seat. "And that's how you do that!"

Ana's eyes widened. She instantly regretted coming to class today.

Slowly, but surely, she approached the plant. She couldn't believe she was deathly afraid of a plant.

"A DEADLY plant," She reminded herself.

"Hey there," She said calmly as it latched onto her arm. "Good little snare."

Anastasiya Viktorovna carried out 1 launched of one Dice 10 :

8

The snare loosened it's grip, but was still attached to her arm. She stood still for what seemed like ten more minutes, and eventually the snare seemed to grow bored and it released her from it's grip.

"Yes!" She laughed. Apparently sometimes being boring was very useful.

Plants were rather magnificent. Ronja considered them to be fascinating. As a child, she would watch her mother tending to her garden at the manor, and she would teach her all about what she knew. One year, Ronja was even granted a Venus flytrap to care for. Soon enough, Ronja had a small garden of her own started back at home. This, however - this was different. Devil's Snare wasn't like the typical plants that Ronja was around. It was far more lethal than petunias, for sure.

She cautiously approached it, a crease forming between her brows as she watched it quickly seize her forearm, and she suppressed a gasp. Ronja briefly closed her eyes and thought to herself, skynda på! She exhaled deeply and closed her eyes.

Ronja Solberg carried out 1 launched of one Dice 10 :

6

Ronja stiffened a bit as the Snare remained on her. She had to admit, as incredible as it was, she very much wanted it to let go of her. Preferably, as soon as possible. She looked around for a moment at the other students' success, and swallowed roughly, gripping her wand and directing it at the Devil's Snare.

"Incendio," she said, hoping that she would have her arm free soon. At least, before anyone saw her struggling.

Ronja Solberg carried out 1 launched of one Dice 10 :

3

"Dum växt!" She huffed, glaring at the Snare. She sighed, and tried to remain calm. For a moment, she wished to be back home with her mother in the gardens, but she knew that this was something that she needed to do. Even more, she wanted to learn all she could here. She took a deep breath, and once more tried the spell.

"Incendio," she spoke, with a look of determination.

Ronja Solberg carried out 1 launched of one Dice 10 :

6

A feeling oddly out of place for Elsie in such a situation, she was seeing some students have no problem and others struggle, and she felt curious.

She approached it, mesmerized, and all those times when she was younger when she found it hard to believe that plants were living things came back to her and she laughed a bit, cut off sharply when it grasped onto her.

Lisette Lach-Leon carried out 1 launched of one Dice 10 :

8

Her reaction of stiffness seemed to work for her, because it put some space between her skin and its own. She knew why they responded to stillness: they thought their victim was dead, of course. She was surprised a plant so menacing couldn't detect her still-pulsing veins.

She barely moved, trying to hold in her breath so it would let go entirely.

Lisette Lach-Leon carried out 1 launched of one Dice 10 :

10

She blinked as the arm-like plant slipped off her, retracting back and getting lost in the bigger mass. She took three large steps back with her eyes still trained on it, almost as if she was moving through water or stuck in slow motion. Then, a safe distance away, she released all the breath she'd held, and a little dizziness came over her eyes, a little red in her cheeks, but she caught her breath and returned to her seat, thankful it hadn't gone as bad as it could've.

She liked herbology, and a positive outlook flowed swiftly through her thought-stream as she sat back down, amidst some other students who were relishing in relief.