Herbology (Slytherin & Hufflepuff)

[Seth Wright]

Zachary wrinkled his nose as not one, but two Hufflepuffs walked into the green house. Not only was he stuck in this hideous class, but now he had to share a room with those filthy mudbloods. It wasn't fair. They always stuck Slytherin with the bad houses, hoping maybe some sort of friendship or understanding might spring up. Fat chance of that ever happening. His mind wandered to Ingrid. Maybe not that unlikely. She hadn't been so bad, once you got to know her. Still, Zachary seriously doubted that the entire house was like that. After all, not every Slytherin was en evil, Voldemort-supporting git, so Hufflepuff had to be the same. Every house had their oddballs. He snorted. Hufflepuff was the oddball house, so weired people in there must be considered normal for everyone else.

Frowning slightly, Zachary pulled out a sheet of parchment and a quill. He started at the parchment for a good minute or so, face blank. Zachary had never really written a note to friend before, and he had no idea what to write. After all, he had never actually had a real friend before, had he? He bit his lip thoughtfully, tapping the quill into his inkwell. What to write....what to write.....

Dear Pandora,

He scratched it out. Too formal sounding.

Pandora,

Scratch. Not formal enough. He was a Slytherin, after all, and a pure-blood at that.

Pandora Munio,

It would have been good, if he didn't know her. If they weren't friends. He sighed, and wrote,

Pandora,
Meet me in the disappearing room today? Isn't this class ridiculous? So many Hufflepuffs, I'm dying. Well, see you later I guess.
--Zach

He looked it over, the frown quickly becoming a scowl. It sounded horrible, but it would have to do. He didn't know what else to write. How did those girls in his classes write such long notes to one another? It was a mystery to him. Why would people even bother taking the time to write all that sod when they could just say it to each other in person or something? He shook his head. Weird. He crumpled the parchment and stood. How the heck were you supposed to pass these blasted things? He'd just have to hand it to Pandora. It wasn't subtle, but it would have to do. Coughing, Zachary stood slowly and walked past Pandora's table, dropping the note "discreetly" onto the table in front of her.

[Flo Murvac H4]

Horehound, horehound...Flo was sure she had read about it in a book, somewhere. Then Flo remembered. Horehound was used to bless homes and people. In her mind, she slapped her head with the palm of her hand. She only did that in her mind. It would have looked really silly otherwise. Silently, under her breath, Flo had said 'duh' and raised her hand.

She had noticed another Hufflepuff had put her hand up also. Flo thought maybe she should put her hand down. After all, the little girl had her hand up first. Then Flo changed her mind, thinking that the girl might get it wrong, and Flo wanted to get the Hufflepuff house as many points as she could get them She had already won twenty points.

Flo thought and re-thought what she was going to say about the Herb, and its uses. Flo could only remember two of them, and she was pretty sure, there could be more.

[pandora]

Pandora glanced around the room in utter boredom, she certainly didn’t care enough about Herbology to have studied for this and thus she did not have a clue what Horehound was supposed to be used for, only that it stank a bit in here because of the pungent plant. Rowen stood quiet next to her and she was glad to see that his hand had not shot up either to answer the question, at least she wouldn’t feel bad for not being the only one who didn’t study. A shuffle of feet behind her brought Pandora’s head whipping around to see what moron would be silly enough to walk up to her. Zach slid past and without looking directly at her, he slipped a small folded piece of parchment onto her table before moving off to his own seat. Pandora held in the heavy sigh that was trying to escape her. While she was glad it was Zach and not someone else, he had just done something fairly silly.

That was not quite as subtle as she was hoping for in their communications. Pandora was only hoping the teacher hadn’t noticed and she made sure to slowly slide her Herbology book over the note to hide it. She focused her attention on the teacher to make sure if the woman looked at her, she would see a student paying attention and not think she was guilty of anything wrong. Subtlety was key here. She would wait till the class was well underway before she read the note. As soon as the teacher had looked away and focused on the student answering the question she had asked, Pandora shot Zach a look of slight irritation. She would have to talk with him later about his methods of communication with her. Then, Pandora turned back to look at Professor Sprout. Great, she thought bitterly, now I have to pretend to be paying attention and caring about this stupid class.

[Professor Pomona Sprout]

After her questioned had been asked she waited a few long moments to let all the students think about their response. As she scanned the room, she noticed one young Slytherin slide a note toward another and she shot the boy a firm look. She did not want to bring attention to the situation, but she really should take a few points off for it. He probably thought he didn't need to take Herbology seriously, but she hoped that her expression would let him know that notes were not to be passed in her class room. She would have to think about the points later.

She looked back up from the Slytherin to see that two Hufflepuffs had their hands in the air. She smiled warmly at then.
"Sita, what do you know about Horehound? And Flo you can add anything you like once she is through."

[Sita Mehadi H7]

Sita smiled brightly as Professor Sprout called on her, glancing to the side at the other Hufflepuff that had been called on as well. She cast her mind back to that fair when she'd seen, and smelt too, since it certainly was easily distinguishable, that ugly, smelly thing. But it had very useful properties, at least her dad had said so and her dad always knew these things.
"Well I've seen the Black Horehound," she said in reply to Professor Sprout's question. "I think it was used for getting rid of wormy parasite things inside people, and animals too, and I'm pretty sure the juice is used inside potions to stop werewolves transforming at the full moon."

Sita shifted her weight restlessly from one foot to the other as she finished speaking, and looked at the other Hufflepuff again, flashing her a quick smile. She then pondered the large pots on the table in front of them, and frowned slightly. They must be going to be working with very big plants, presumably Horehounds, today. She hoped everyone else around her would be very strong to be able to sort them out. But she had always enjoyed potting smaller magical plants at home, even though few of them were as smelly as the Horehound. Sita continued to move her eyes around the greenhouse, admiring the various plants housed here that it would be far beyond her dad to grow in their garden and that she would never be able to attempt to grow in her own little plot, even now that she could grow magical ones because Ingy knew about magic too, listening carefully for the other Hufflepuff - Flo, she was fairly sure Professor Sprout had called her - to add her pearls of wisdom.

[Flo Murvac H4]

Flo listend carefully as the younger Hufflepuff talked about the Horehound plant. She wanted to know what the girl said, so Flo wouldn't repeat it. Sita said that the plant could be used to stop werewolves transforming at the full moon. Wow, Flo thought to herself. I didnt know that!

Flo smiled back at the younger girl. Then looked at the Professor, ready to add something to Sita's answer. Flo's mind pictured the book, as if it was right in frount of her. The book opened, and skipped to a page. On the top, it read "horehound" In black,bold letters. "Well, I've read that Horehound is a herb of protection. Some people make a horehound-flavored candy, to impart blessings to the people who eat it." That was all Flo could say, without repeating Sita. Flo grinned, and waited to see what the Professor would say to both Flo's and Sita's answers.

[rowen]

He heard a voice beside him and he looked over from Pandora to the girl who came up beside him. She immediately introduced herself as Sita, and he eyed her for a moment, his eyes slightly narrowed, not yet responding. She was right, they were in the some house and the same year. While he never gave much attention to his house mates, the girl wore first year robes with a Hufflepuff crest on the front. There was no escaping the idea that he would be facing the next seven years of this 'Sita' girl.

After a long moment he gave her his fakest looking smile, though his eyes stayed narrow and unfriendly. "Over eager aren't you. Better watch our or people are going to think you want to be in this class." The words barely escaped his mouth before he looked back toward Pandora, purposefully not introducing himself.

With his gaze back toward Pandora and the general direction of Professor Sprout. It was then that a note being passed to Pandora. Careful not to speak until Sprout was not looking in his direction, and speaking quiet enough so not to draw any of the Professor's attention, he whispered "Popular now aren't we."

He managed to catch the unhappy glance Sprout sent in the direction of the boy who had passed the note, something that made him smirk slightly, and the thought serves him right crossed his mind, just as Sprout asked everyone about horehound. Sadly an herb he was familiar with.

He didn't bother to raise his hand, instead he let little-miss-over-eager give her answer, and then another one by a girl also dressed in Hufflepuff robes. With a reluctant sigh, he realized they left over a complete aspect to the herb, and he rolled his eyes, not bothering to raise his hand before he said it out loud.
"Horehound is also medicinal, not just magical. Its use in wizard colds. It clears the lungs and the mind."
He never was one to answer questions in class, but he remember taking horehound for this purpose the year before. Besides, he might as well earn his house a few points. Even if he didn't like it, he was suck here.

[Professor Pomona Sprout]

She listened happily to Sita's answer, nodding in agreement to what she was saying.
"Yes, yes, very good Sita! 10 points for Hufflepuff!"
She then turned toward the Flo, who she said could add anything she wished after Sita said her answer. Flo made a very good point with it being candy.
"Yes, very good Flo! Horehound is one of the main ingredients in blessing and protection candy! 10 points for Hufflepuff!"
After another quick glance around the room she was was getting ready to start her topic on replanting Horehound when another voice chimed in. She looked dover to see that it was another First year Hufflepuff, who was making a very good point about Horehounds uses in healing. She was disappointed that he didn't raise his hand, but at least he was making a good point and had not interrupted either of the other girls.
"Yes, good point Rowen. Another 10 points for Hufflepuff!"

She smiled and nodded happily at how many students had heard of Horehound before. Please, she continued on with her lecture.
"Now, I keep a full supply of Horehound right here, because as you can guess, its very important to both Professor Snape and Madam Pomfrey. Now, I am currently down to just the plans that you see before you, so we are going to seed and re-pot them. Then they will grow well all winter long and we will have a flourishing supply in the spring. Now, Horehound likes dry, rougher soil, so if you would each get out a pot from below the center table, and then using the bags of coarse spoil behind you fill them up about three-quarters of the way."

[aubree]

Aubree listened as the different students received house points. She scowled at them. Aubree would not be pleased if Gryffindor or Hufflepuff won the house cup. It's not, like they deserved it. They were just a stupid bunch of mudbloods that thought they were worthy. Well, they weren't and the sooner they realized that the better. Aubree listened to the professor's instructions and her explanations. She scowled at her. Professor Sprout was the Herebology professor. Aubree didn't understand why someone would want that stupid subject. She then took her time as she grabbed a pot and placed it in front of her. Aubree then reached for the bag of soil behind her and filled her pot three-quarters of the way as instructed. She then brushed the dirt off her hands and looked at the filth on her clothes. Gross, it will take me hours to clean up. She thought. Aubree started brushing off pieces of dirt on her robes. What would her parents think if they saw her in that state? She shuttered at that thought. They were very keen on keeping a nice appearance. They would hate to think their daughter looked like a filthy muggle.

[Flo Murvac H4]

Yes! Flo now was really happy. that was 30 points to wards Hufflepuff. Even if 10 of the points were blurted out loud. But now it was time for the physical work to be done. Dirt. Dirt, soil, whatever you called it, it was still dirt. Not that Flo had anything against it, but she had a brand new coat of bubbly blue nail polish on. Flo frowned, and walked to get a pot to put the soil in. then she grabbed a bag of the soil and heaved it up to the table.

Flo tipped the soil into the pot. but the bag fell a bit, so the pot was more filled than supposed to be. Flo sighed and cupped her hands and dug into the soil, putting it back into the bag. The pot was now full three-quarters of the pot.

Flo looked at her nails and groaned. Her bubbly blue nails, were now, chipped and dirty. Flo wiped some of the dirt away, and waited for the rest of the professor's instructions.

[pandora]

Pandora had made of point of ignoring Rowen’s snide comment about her popularity, simply offering him a sly smile before turning back to the teacher. Pandora filed away the information about horehound for future use and gave Rowen an amused smile when the boy lost his patience and answered without raising his hand. Really, the boy had a lot to learn concerning manners but this particular teacher didn’t deserve respect anyway so Pandora didn’t make a big deal of it. After the Professor finished explaining the uses for horehound, she had the nerve to tell them all to grab pots and fill them with dirt. Pandora looked incredulously at the dingy, well used pots stacked in random teetering piles beneath the table. Several were cracked along the rim; most were just covered in a thin layer of stain from the dirt placed in them over the years.

Pandora sneered at the little terracotta towers of pots, stacked on top of each other and leaning precariously to one side or the other. She looked over at Rowen with a facial expression that obviously said “She’s got to be kidding.” Seeing the other students dive beneath the tables to fetch their own pot, Pandora came to the unpleasant realization that, no, the teacher was quite serious about this little project. As she leaned over, to scan through the pots for the least filthy one, Pandora glanced up at Rowen from the corner of her eye and whispered very quietly, “You’d think they would at least have the house elves fill these before we got to class.” She finally settled on a small pot without any cracks in it that was apparently from a newer batch. Pandora picked up the pot between two fingers, frowning at it and almost dropped the thing when a small black spider rushed out over her gloved hand. She quickly flicked it off with a scowl and set her dingy little pot on the table in front of her.

With a sigh, Pandora slipped off her black kid-skin gloves and stuffed them into a pocket of her robes; she was not about to get dirt ground into her new school things. Pandora turned in place to see the bag of dry soil behind her, nothing more than a burlap sack really, one corner of which had been torn open to reveal the thick clumps of dry earth. Pandora looked over once more at Rowen and decided she really had no choice. Sometimes, one simply had to get their hands dirty. She would shower heavily when they got back to the castle and she knew of a cleaning charm she could try practicing. Pandora considered heaving the bag over to the table but opted instead to bring the pot over to the bag. She stood before it like a soldier ready for battle, and with a look of great distaste, Pandora slipped her small pale hand into the soil, feeling its rough granular texture slip between her fingers and scrape at her knuckles as she grabbed a handful. Pandora pulled her hand from the bag, a small river of dust and fine soil pouring from between her fingers as she moved her catch to the pot in her other hand.

The soil fell into the pot with a distinctive tink against the clay bottom. Pandora looked down at her hand, white beneath a thin layer of dust and debris, and it struck her how much it suddenly looked corpse-like. The pale flesh seemed almost lifeless beneath a thin layer of dirt that clung to her skin and Pandora squelched a shudder that tried to rise up her spine. Suddenly, she liked herbology a lot less. Pandora quickly filled the rest of her pot to the three-quarters mark and then placed the pot on the table irritably. She grabbed her scarf from where it lay next to her bag and quickly wiped as much of the dirt as possible from her skin. It would not all come off but she got as much as she could without taking a shower, and then stood staring at the betraying soil that hinted at her own mortality; a look on her face of resentment.

[comix]

Mitch walk out of the great hall and was on his way back to the common room when he remembered he had herbology and ran as fast as he could to get his bag and then ran with ever bit of strength he had to get to herbology.He ran across the lawns to get to herbology and straight into class where he walked to the very end of the huge table a took his seat.

Its a silly class and a waste of time, Mitch was saying under his breath , If he wanted to pot some plants he could help the Gardner at home and it had to be a silly little herb that we were potting. Potting plants was muggle stuff why would a pure blood be potting a stupid plant .Mitch was looking down the table at the rest of the class and he saw at least 8 mudbloods.Mitch started talking to him self again say stuff like how much he hated mudbloods and this stupid class.

He had just started re potting the Horehound , when started to pour in the the soil in to the pot then he patted it down with his right hand when he pulled his hand out of the pot it was coved im mud and he even had mud under his finger nails witch he hated but he carried on pouring the soil in to pot.

[payton]

He nodded at the instructions and turned around to see that there was an opened burlap bag of soil behind him. While he had didn't exactly have much in the lines of a green thumb, he wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty. After all, there were cleaning charms that would take care of any mess after. That said he grabbed his pot and brought it over, to the bag, scooping handfuls into the pot and packing it down lightly until it was three-quarters full just like she had said. He then returned his pot to the table in the center and brushed his hands against each other to knock off a few of the heavier chunks.

[Professor Pomona Sprout]

She looked over the students, watching them as they retrieved the dirt from behind them and filled their pots. She just loved watching the students at work. Herbology wasn't like other classes where one let their want do the work for them. In her class one literally had to get their hands dirty, and their results, while just as gratifying, were not instant.

"Now everyone, once your pot has the correct amount of soil in it, we get to the tricky part. Now many muggles grow horehound, but they have yet to learn how to plant it to just right, getting it to grow at its strongest powers. Now, if everyone, needs to make a deep narrow hole in the very center of their pot, about the width and length of your index finer. Then, pick a a branch on the horehound plants in the center of your table, and find one that on the very end has one of the dark flowers at the end and at least one leaf. Carefully break the step, so that you have the leave and the flower, then, roll it up so that it will fit inside the hole that you made. This is what helps contain its strength. push soil back over to cover the hole and then using the small dippers in the buckets on the table put a circle of water around the plant. Oh yes! I almost forgot! There are enough pots out for students to work in pairs. If you prefer to work alone, you may though, just get one of the extra pots next to the soil bags."

[Nokomis Astarra H5]

Trying hard to be a good student and a quidditch wonder, she headed off to herbology in between working out new team plans and running out to the pitch for a quick practice before dinner. It meant that maybe she wasn't as focused as she should be as she listened to Sprout explain the careful instructions for exactly now to plant horehound now that her pot was properly full. It seemed too much to remember, but she tired...first she needed a hole.....carefully, she made one with her index finger, and then she thought again for a moment, wishing they had just been written down so that she could check. She kept thinking of quidditch moves instead of what do to with the horehound stem she was suppose to pick. Finally remembering she picked the horehound and rolled it up like she saw the other students doing, before placing it the dirt and covering it back up, finishing with the circle of water, the only part she really remember well because it made her think of a new quidditch strategy.

[Sadie Rivers H6]

Sadie had been surrounded by people that she barely knew all day, and Herbology had turned out to be no different. Looking around the greenhouse, she noticed one of her two best friends was close to the door, with no one to talk too. Sadie turned to the crowd of people around her and bid her farewells. She really didn't feel like being surrounded by the ones that she didn't know very well.

Sadie quickly grabbed her things and moved down the side of the tables, toward her friend. She was excited to have a good friend in at least one class with her. It was hard trying to make other friends in the other classes, when she was so used to having her best friends around to talk to. Hoping that Professor Sprout wouldn't get mad at her for moving away from the crowd that had surrounded her, she finally settled into a spot just beside her friend. " Hey Nokomis, mind if I join you." She whispered so that she wouldn't get into trouble for talking during class as well.

They were supposed to be replanting Horehound. Sadie wondered if Nokomis would need her to help with anything just yet. She glanced up at Professor Sprout, and listened to the instructions that they had just been given.

[payton]

Listening to Sprout's instructions he nodded again, as they seemed simple enough, even if most muggles were clueless to the entire method. He guessed that his head of house had chose this because it was an easy way for everyone to do well with their first lesson of the year.

He used one of his fingers to form a hole in the soil, and he plucked the leaf and flower like he had been instructed and placed it into the hole before swirling the topsoil in the pot to fill the hole back in. He finished it by sprinkling the water along the surface, and clapped his hands together to knock off the remaining clumps. Not too bad.

[Flo Murvac H4]

Flo did as she was instructed, wondering what she was going to do after class. She could go for a walk, read a book, or get back at her brother. That seemed like a plan. Flo rolled up the stem and placed it into the soil. She placed more soil around then watered it, just as she was told to do. She wondered how she was going to get back at Tim.

[rowen]

He knew that he should be working on filling a pot, but he was instead rather enjoying watching Pandora fill hers, but he was finding it far to entertaining watching her dig her perfectly clean hands into the sandy soil. After a few moments of enjoyment though, Sprout continued with further instructions, and he looked forward to hear her instructions. He decided that it was safest to just make up his own pot, as that way it would leave Pandora a long to play in the dirt a while longer, and he turned around to get his own pot, and filled it three-quarters full with the rough soil she had indicated.

He then, more mindlessly than carefully went through the motions Sprout had described earlier and made his own pot of Horehound, right down to finishing with the little circle of water.

[susanbones]

" Yeah!" Susan jumped up and down around her friend as she announced the big news. Tomorrow was her birthday, and her mother was going to buy her a very special present. " A car! A car! How cool? Of course, I never understood those muggle contraptions, but they must find some way to get from point A to point B." She hugged her friend one more time before giving her adieus. " I've got to go to Herbology dear, and I can't be late."

Looking down at her watch, Susan rushed to the appropriate green house with a flourish. Herbology wasn't her favorite subject, but Sprout was such a nice teacher. Her classes were normally interesting, and it was always good to make nice with the head of house. Opening the green house door, she snuck into a seat in the front just before the beginning of class.

Horehound? Susan had honestly never heard of the plant, but it seemed to be a very important herb. It was dead useful it seemed like, and did help in curing many colds. Digging into her own pot with bare hands, she began to work with the plant with relish. She was able to bed the plant very nicely, and even added the little pool of water with a flourish. Smiling at her work, she waited for Sprout to give her accolades.