Herbology, Class 1

[Evelyn Turner]

Evelyn raised her hand to answer the professor's question. "Devil's Snare, Professor?" She knew this was a magical plant but her statement came out as a question anyway. Evelyn blushed.

[Andromeda Tonks]

Andi's gaze drifted over to the redhead. The girl seemed a little uncertain, but then a little insecurity wasn't unusual in girls that age. She gave the girl a smile. "Yes, that's right. Five points to Gryffindor. May I have your name, please?"

She looked away from the girl and down at her roster, but somewhere in between, her eyes brushed past Rabastan, who was still sitting in the back of the room. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end.

[Alice Prewett]

Alice beamed at the points awarded as she moved to the rest of the students. She was just grateful she hadn't lost points to her house.

When a question was asked to the rest of the class she was just casting a drying charm on herself and felt much better when the water quickly evaporated off her clothing and hair. She hadn't really heard the question past Andromeda mentioning what the class would be about today. She kept her hand down and waited to see what the answer was to the question she'd missed.

As a fellow Gryffindor answered she figured it must have been about magical plants. She would have to pay more attention but she was glad one of the other Gryffindors had answered it.

[Evelyn Turner]

Evelyn saw the professor glimpse at the back of the room and Evelyn turned to see what she was looking at as she answered. "Evelyn," it was Rabastan looking more the god-like in the back of the room, "Lestra-" Her face turned bright red, more red than her hair. "Turner!" she correct loudly. "Evelyn Turner." Oh Merlin! What was wrong with her? She sunk into her seat, her face growing warmer with every passing millisecond.

[Andromeda Tonks]

Andi felt for the girl. She saw her turn around to the back of the room, and heard the unmistakeable name "Lestrange" start to slip from Evelyn's lips. Then the loud correction, followed by the bright red face... the poor girl. She was obviously one of Rabastan's conquests, or at least, she wanted to be. Knowing what it was like to be under the spell of Rabastan Lestrange, she could really sympathize.

"Very good. Thank you, Evelyn," she replied, and turned away from the mortified student, hoping to allow the girl to return to her silent anonymity. "Hpw about another example of a magical plant. Anyone?"

[Rabastan Lestrange]

Rabastan could have laughed. This was going incredibly well.

When Andromeda caught his eyes again, he gave her a warm, sympathetic smile, as if encouraging her. He couldn't lay anything on too thick yet, but at this rate, he'd have her back sooner than anticipated.

Had Andromeda not been in the room, he might have exploited Evelyn's little slip. Unfortunately, he had to be a one woman guy for a while, and pretended he hadn't her.

[Hallie Monroe]

Hallie raised her hand tenatively. She didn't often volunteer answers in class, because she usually managed to look like an idiot when she did. She would forget what she was going to say, or she would panic and her throat would close up. But this was an easy question, and Professor Black seemed nice enough. "The Whomping Willow, Professor?" she asked, her voice cracking nervously.

[Andromeda Tonks]

Andi looked over at the Ravenclaw girl who had spoken. "Yes, the Whomping Willow is a good example of a magical plant. Obviously, a tree like that would be quite shocking to muggles, and therefore it is a protected plant. That's five points to Ravenclaw for.. what is your name?" She paused to check her roster again.

[Hallie Monroe]

"Oh, um... I'm Hallie Monroe," Hallie said uncomfortably. She wasn't crazy about speaking out in class, and wasn't sure what had possessed her to speak out now. She always felt so awkward whenever she had to speak. After she said her name, she quickly ducked down and hid her face against the desk.

[Andromeda Tonks]

"Very good, Hallie. Thank you," Andi said. "Now then, so far, with the examples we've been given, it seems that some mundane plants can be used in potions, but the two examples of magical plants we've been given are not commonly used in potions or anything else. But one magical plant was mentioned at the very beginning of the class that is very useful in a particular kind of potion. Can anyone remind us which plant that was and what kind of potion it is used to make?"

[Seth Inophen]

Seth thought back to the beginning of class and raised his hand. To his parents' utter horror, Seth was good at Herbology. He really liked the subject and it made him feel a bit brighter than how he was used to. "Mandrakes, Professor?" Seth said. "They can be grown and then used in potions to help those who have been Petrafied." He said. His answers weren't text book, like his friend Bek, who memorised books word for word. Hi answers were mostly just what came to mind and what made sence.

[Andromeda Tonks]

Andi turned to the boy. "Yes, very good. That is exactly right. Five more points for Slytherin. What is your name?"

She felt she was really getting into the flow with the lesson, and she hoped she was reaching her students. She was determined to learn each of their names. And since she had never liked when professors referred to her as Miss Black, she preferred to use their first names.

[Alice Prewett]

Alice listened to the lesson and wondered when they'd get to something new. She had her NEWTs soon and wanted to make sure she was ready for them. She loved her cousin, Andi but surely she was still new to this whole teaching gig and was moving along at a snails pace for a reason. Alice understood but she still wanted to learn something that hadn't been covered in first year. Maybe she was building up to it. Yes of course she was building up to it. Alice nodded to herself and flipped forward in her 7th year book to study while the lesson carried on around her.

[Seth Inophen]

Seth smiled. "Seth," he said politely. He liked this teacher. "Seth Inophen." He looked over at Gage and smiled. Seth wasn't entirely used to getting points. Maybe this was a new leaf he had turned.

[Gage Oliver]

Gage smiled back at Seth. His best friend was different in this class. Herbology was somehow Seth's calling. Gage smirked to himself, finding that ironic since Seth's parents forbade him to even take the class..

[Andromeda Tonks]

Andi smiled at Seth. "Thank you, Seth. Good job." Turning back to the board, she tapped it with her wand, and the following words appeared on the board:

wolfsbane
belladonna
hellebore

"These are three mundane plants that are frequently used in potions. Can anyone tell me what else these three plants have in common?"

She shot a glance over at Alice, noticing that her cousin was looking a little bit bored. But since this was the first class, she felt it was necessary to evaluate what her students knew and what they needed to learn. And since a number of her students were considerably younger than Alice, she needed to cater to them. Hopefully she could find a way to challenge all of her students, and not just the younger ones.

[Gage Oliver]

Gage raised his hand slowly. Herbology wasn't his best subject, and he wasn't 100 percent on the subject, but it was worth a shot!

[Andromeda Tonks]

Andi turned back to face the class. Looking around the room, she saw a few hands, but she pointed to the Ravenclaw boy who had just raised his hand. "Yes? Please give me your name and your answer." Tucking a lock of dark hair behind her ear, she sat on the edge of her desk and looked at the boy, waiting for his answer.

[Gage Oliver]

Gage smiled, glad she picked on him. "Gage Oliver," he said. "And, I think that Wolfsbane, Belladonna, and Helebore are all used in potions that are used as medicines..." Gage was usually quite sure of his answers, it felt strange to be so unsure. "Am I correct?" he asked shyly.

[Seth Inophen]

Seth saw Gage answer, slightly surprised at the boy's quiet and unsure tone. In Seth's point of view, Gage knew everything. He was a very bright boy with a very bright insight on life. To see this shy Gage was new for Seth, and he gave his friend an encouraging wink and smile.