5th years: Lesson 4 [Snargaluff Stumps]

[Timothy Linn]

His fourth years had left him minutes ago, which gave Timothy plenty of time to clear the board and write down the plant that his fifth years would be learning about today. Snargaluff Stumps were interesting and he knew that his previous students enjoyed this lesson much like he did. After dusting his hands on the side of his trousers, he took a seat at his desk, waiting for the fifth years to arrive.

[Astrid D'aubigne]

Astrid was the first one to make it to the class, and that weirded her out immensely. She was always either the last one there, or late. "Hello, Professor." she said, before taking a seat. She wondered what they were going to do that day, and her question was answered as soon as she glanced at the board. She couldn't remember ever having learned about Snargaluff Stumps, but they seemed interesting enough.

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[Avery Moretti]

Herbology! Not one of Avery's favourite classes, but she didn't hate it or anything. Making sure she was actually on time today, she walked down across the lawns and slipped into the greenhouse. Seeing only one girl inside, she gave her a little smile and took a seat near the back of the classroom. Snargaluff Stumps? It reminded her of Heffalumps from Winnie the Pooh. Giggling a little bit, she began drawing some Heffalumps on the edges of her note paper, waiting for Holden or Levi to arrive.

[amandalarsen]

This is what Amanda waited for. Her favorite subject to finally start. She'd have to pick on Professor Linn for making them wait. Unless, of course, he had an important schedule beforehand and had to make them wait. No worries. Down the stairs she went and out of the school doors to head down the grounds. The greenhouse looked open and already Avery had entered inside.

She looked at the professor, once making it in, and smiled. Her sapphire orbs looked to the board, and she gave Professor Linn a questioning look. "Snargaluffa what?" She blinked as she hurriedly took a seat up front to face Timothy. "It doesn't sound so nice. First the venomous tentacula, and now a sn-sn-snargaluff stump." Her lips twisted to the side. "Interesting."

[nathanielhaake]

Nathaniel left the Great Hall after a study period where he could read up on some of his assignments and get ready to go to his next class. He looked forward to Herbology because that is one class he could pay attention to. At least there he wouldn't have any troubles that could add to his list. But it's been a week since he's undergone such tragedy.

Upon entering the greenhouse, he smiles to Professor Linn, and pushes past Amanda who stood gawking at the chalkboard over today's lesson. Honestly, she is the one person he could easily talk to these days. And she probably doesn't know the trouble he has been in, but she'd eventually find out sooner or later.

[kaelyn]

Kaelyn walked into the Herbology classroom, pleased to see she was on time, for once. Taking a seat behind a Slytherin boy she'd only ever seen in her classes, she glanced at the board, and frowned. Kaelyn was not profound at Herbology, nosiree, but she was alright at it. And she always read her textbook when she was bored. Which was why she felt a little out of her territory when she'd looked at the board and not recognized the plant written across it.

Now, Kaelyn usually wasn't very comfortable around strangers. She only ever met people if she was introduced to them by a third party or if the other person came up to her. But today - perhaps coming in on time had lifted her spirits - she tapped the Slytherin boy sitting in front of her on the shoulder.

"Excuse me?" She asked in an an odd tone of voice. It was one part nervous, three parts curious, and one part friendly. "Do you have any clue what a Snar-gluff Stump is?"

[Timothy Linn]

A fair amount of his fifth years appeared in class and that would do for now. He could tell that the students were curious about today's plant, which he smiled about. The attempts to say the plant's name was amusing too. Timothy laughed at Amanda's accusations about the plant, and she was on the point. "It is dangerous, kind of. But it's Snargaluff Stumps. You just can't expect every plant to be nice, can you?"

With that point made, Timothy decided not to waste anymore time. "Alright, this will be your last lesson until your finals at the end of this term. So let's begin. Snargaluff stumps are not, in the strictest sense, stumps. That is to say they were never trees that were cut down, leaving stumps behind. They generally grow in any swampy location and are occasionally mistaken for slippery stumps by muggles.

"This is because on rare occasions, an unsuspecting muggle will try sitting on a stump, only to be thrown off into the mud. By the time the muggle gets up and turns around, the stump is motionless again." He glances to Amanda and smiles. "The flesh-eating snargaluff is one of the more dangerous plants around and anything smaller than a goat is considered easy pray for it."

"Its violent tendencies also led to the expression said to anyone appearing rather beat up, 'What kind of stump did you sit on?'." Leaning back on his desk, he crossed his arms, glancing back to his students. "The snargaluff stumps are often cultivated for the pods inside them, but usually only by professionals since the harvesting of pods is rather dangerous.

"The stumps and pods were initially discovered by Mike Snargaluff, a wizard living near the Florida Everglades. He had taken a break from his work as a potions inventor and gone for a walk. When he tried to sit on a stump to watch the alligatores, the stump attacked him with numerous long bramble-like vines. He was so startled that he droppwed his wand right into the hole that had opened in the stump as he tried to get away from it."

[amandalarsen]

Amanda twisted her lips, half tempted to stick her tongue out at the professor. True, she couldn't expect every plant to be nice. Even the pretty ones like them roses. They've got thorns! "Right," she whispered to herself as their lesson began. So this would be their last until the final. Well that was half-exciting. Only because she was there for every lesson, so she was very sure of herself passing her OWLs.

She began taking down notes, some more disturbing than others, but Amanda was curious. Maybe she should take a trip to the Florida Everglades and poke them snargaluffs. Amanda could only imagine what would happen. SNAP! Her twig would split in half. Or many the Snargaluff would chomp at her. Anyway, she finished the last of her notes until Timothy paused for awhile.

[Holden J. Caulfield]

Holden walked into class a bit late. He didn't know there was going to be a class. No one ever told him anything. Holden sighed and found a seat next to Avery. He gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Hello," he said. "What are we learning?"

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[Timothy Linn]

"A fight ensued between wizard and stump that lasted nearly two hours, until the stump was utterly destroyed by a furious Snargaluff, who finally sheathed his muggle machete and retrieved his wand," he smiled thoughtfully while sitting back on his desk. "When he took his wand from the lifeless and now wide open stump, Snargaluff saw four pusling green pods also in the whole."

"He took them right back to his lab for analysis and soon was experimenting with the juice. Also, as he pierced the grapfruit-sized pods, he revealed their green wormy insides. It is best to sqeeze the juice out quickly since it is best when it's fresh. The best method is to puncture it with something sharp. And once you are able to puncture the pod, tubers that wiggle like pale green worms will be released."

It wasn't the most pleasant thing to hear, especially for the queasy type in class, but that was important information for them to know. Collecting the stack of papers on his desk, he distributed them throughout the class. "This is your homework and it will be due before your final on Friday, the twelfth of October. After finals are over, a list will be available of those who have passed the class or failed."

"So it is important to arrive to your final for it will count as an extra attendance to your record." Once the papers were given to all his fifth years, he returned to his desk and leaned against the desk. "Any questions or concerns, see me after class. You're all dismissed."

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Homework: Bubotubers (5th years)

1. What does a Bubotuber look like? Explain in detail. (6 pts)
2. Where do Bubotubers grow? And what are they found with? (4 pts)
3. What Professor from where took a sabbatical to where? (6 pts)
4. What was this professor studying the Bubotuber for? (1 pt)
5. The professor suffered terribly from what? (1 pt)
6. In his attempt to fill a vial of the pus, the professor cleaned up after himself. However, the next day he stumbled upon a new discover. What is it? (2 pts)

((OOC: Make sure to PM me your answers by the 14th of October, Sunday.))