6th and 7th years - Lesson 2 [Whomping Willow]

[Timothy Linn]

The morning went fine with classes, and Timothy had a couple hours in between for lunch and catching up with some of his notes for the last lesson of the day. It was around one-thirty in the afternoon, he last checked, as he made his way to the greenhouse. Unlocking the door and opening it, he left it open for the cool air to sift in again since the rising hot sun often kept the greenhouse very warm and moist inside.

He cleared the board of last class's notes and wrote down the sixth and seventh years lesson today. Whomping Willow. It's a shame that the school grounds didn't have one where they could go to. But he wouldn't want to endanger his students. Taking a seat down at his desk, he waited for his students to appear.

[[OOC: You have 24 hours to arrive.]]

[Jodi Peterson]

Jodi walked into Herbology, just after lunch. She smiled, seeing her was the first into class today. "Hey Professor," she said as the took a seat in the front row. "How are you today Professor?" she asked, taking her quill and notebook out of her bag and placing them onto the table. She looked to her board for the day's topic. This was something Jodi knew alot about. She knew she was going to enjoyed today's lesson.

[americaneagle14]

Monica hadn't been having a very good day so far, and going to her least favorite class couldn't make her day any better. She'd never liked the slimy and vicious animal-like plants that she had to encounter in the greenhouses. But, she would stick the class out. Monica entered the greenhouse reluctantly, looking straight to the board for today's subject. Whomping Willow. Brilliant, a violent tree. She'd found them intriguing. Better yet, they had nothing to juice or anything of the sort! Hopefully... She took a seat in the middle of one of the long tables, choosing to stay silent as the other student in the class was talking to the professor.

[Natalia Burana]

^{Herbology. Not necessarily one of Natalia's favorite classes, but that didn't stop her from excelling in the subject. Her pet peeve was to get dirty. It was just something she disliked to no end. After each lesson, she felt in need of a bath, even if she'd taken one only an hour or so prior. She entered the greenhouses, and she was glad to see that she was actually early for this lesson, since she'd been late to the last one. She found herself a seat and got out her parchment and quill, prepared to take notes. Whomping Willow. This was a familiar topic. Her parents told her that Hogwarts once had a tree of the sort, and it caused plenty of drama for the school in the past. She was oddly excited about this tree. If only they could see one up close.}

[marklobo]

Mark walked in, not early, but well on time. He had a large grin on his face. Looking over at the board, he saw the topic. Whomping Willow. Hmmm... on the one hand, it seemed like a very interesting plant. On the other, it did mean that this would almost certainly not be a practical, which were Mark's favourite type of lesson. Ah well. Can't do Snargaluffs every week.

He sat down just behind Jodi, and got his stuff out, whistling in a cheery manner as he did so.

[Jodi Peterson]

Jodi heard the all too familuar whistle of Mark behind her. She smiled, knowing that Mark had seated himself right behind her. She picked up her quill and wrote Whomping Willow on the top of her notebook. She turned around for just a second and said "Hey Mark," she said quickly, before turning her attention back to the front of the class.

[Forbid Jaganshi]

Ah-ha! Fifth to arrive! Mentally she cheered for her usually late self. It wasn't every day she actually showed up on time after all. Or fifth for that matter. At least it was more believable then showing up first. A miracle to behold is what that would be. She couldn't remember the last time... no... wait. Magical Medicine... Oh, but that didn't count. Not many showed up there anyhow. It was herself and Jodi. That was about it... Pfft. Just a tad strange though. Sure medicine was a tad bit iffy, and now that she thought about it; would be the death of her. She was deathly afraid of hospitals after all... Heh.

Missy miss Jaganshi headed off to the back of the classroom, as to be expected of her, and plopped down in one of the empty seats. Fun-ness and all that junk.

[Shayne Kain]

Shayne walked casually into the classroom or whatever they called it. He much preferred the old Alchemy Classroom since it was much more like a classroom in a college setting. Shayne looked around for people he knew, and of course he saw atleast one. He then made his way slowly over to Monica. It too a couple miniutes since he looked around then over to what they were to be learning about in this chapter of Herbology. Shayne then looked over to Monica, "hello." He said giving her acknowledgement.

[americaneagle14]

The fact that they wouldn't be squeezing something, or anything of the sort, had made Monica's mood a bit better. She decided to dig inside her messenger bag, which she had put down on the table, looking for her quick quotes quill and a notebook. She was rather disorganized as of late. She grabbed a hold of her quill from the bottom of her bag, but looked around at the sudden voice.

She gave him a short smile in greeting, then began digging around in her bag again for at least a clean sheaf of paper. "'Lo, Shayne." Finding what she needed, she put a piece of paper down on the table, setting her quill straight up on its tip. "How're you?" she said absently, deciding to make a little conversation before class started.

[Landon Tilbrook]

Landon made his way to his class. He walked in taking a seat. He was getting bored of coming and didn't know how longer he would last doing this but sighed. He sat down and got himself organised. He leaned back in his chair and looked around not reconising anyone. He had been here so long and still didn't know everyone. H sighed and tapped his pencial on his desk waiting for class to begin.

[Timothy Linn]

"Hello Jodi. I'm very well, thank you for asking." He smiled as she went to take a seat at one of the open tables. Watching as more students began to fill in the tables of his last class for the day, he waited a little longer until he felt it was time to begin the lesson. At least this was a good amount of numbers compared to his last class with the fifth years.

"Good afternoon students. Five points each for arriving on time." His voice rang over all those who were chatting. "Today we'll be learning about the Whomping Willow. It's too bad that the school grounds does not have one anymore, or we would actually take a little field trip to where the willow is located, but the descriptions couldn't hurt." He smiled. "So would anyone like to tell me what exactly is a whomping willow? Preferrably how it reacts."

[Joe Moon(gone)]

Joe was late it wasn't his first time being late to him but it was that normally he would go and catch the next class but then that would mean that he would not have a clue what happen in the last class. When he got there they're three people that Joe knew.

He did here a question that the Professor asked the students. Joe took a seat in the middle row and raised his hand. "The Whomping Willow is a violent tree. If you get close to the tree, then you will be attack by the Whomping Willow," Joe explained.

[Timothy Linn]

"Correct Mister Moon. Five points to Ravenclaw." He smiled as he recorded down on the attendance sheet next to him. "The Whomping Willow is native in the foothills region of western Europe, not far from where the Giants now reside in the mountains. Thousands of years ago, the willows were not much different then Muggle willow trees, with the exception of the curious habit of 'twitching'."

Timothy, with his arms stretched hung low to his sides, had them twitch, sway, and then continue twitching for a demonstration. "Twitching was a very quick, very slight movement intended to shake off insects and other potentially harmful pests. The actualy whomping that occurs today was evolved over several centuries ago, as the tree started to shake off larger nuisances.

"It was sped along in the late seventeenth century when wizards of the time found it highly amusing to cast jinxes on the trees that would set the entire tree twitching. This practice was eventually banned." He cleared his throat. "This following the humiliation of the Minister of Magic, Humphrey Fizzlebee, who became the first wizard ever admitted to St. Mungo's for getting punched in the face by a tree." He grins slyly.

[Jodi Peterson]

God damn it, Jodi thought to herself as Joe won points for his house. That was another 5 points someone from her house would need to make to beat the Ravenclaws at their own game. If only she had answered quick enough. Ok Mister Linn, bring on the points. Jodi would be the first to answer any new questions the Professor shot her way. Being competive was the best word to describe Jodi. Everyone knew it. It was Jodi's last year too. People had learnt not to mess with Jodi.

She was also the first to pick up her quill and take notes into her notepad as the teacher talked. Jodi had never been the smartest girl. But she LOVED to read, and had a good nack for remembering things. Jodi read over the notes again.

"Is it true that you can use the Immobulous Charm to stop the tree from moving?" Jodi asked the Professor, wanting to know.

[Timothy Linn]

"It can, but it is only temporary Jodi. We'll get to that in a moment." He smiled at the willful Hufflepuff as he continued his lecture. "In the last hundred years, it has become popular to transplant whomping willows to make guardians out of them. Initially this had limited success because no one, not even the wizards who were supposed to, could get anywhere near what the trees were guarding."

Timothy waited for a moment while the students jotted down his last several words before pressing on. "A wizard by the name of Frederic Tighe thought he had a solution when he used a petrificus totalus jinx on his tree to stop it whomping,. The downside was he had no way to unfress the trees after since it would be decades still before enervate came along. It was a witch named Laura Hopkins who came up with that solution.

"There is another way to make the whomping willow still, does anyone know what that is?"

[Jodi Peterson]

Jodi took down notes as the Professor talked. "It may just be a myth. But there is a knot somewhere in the tree. Once you press it, the tree freezes," Jodi said in a loud voice. She smiled at herself. Maybe she was being an idiot. She thought it was just a myth. But if it wasn't and see was right, she wouldn't feel like a complete fool.

[Timothy Linn]

"Correct Jodi. Ten points to Hufflepuff." Timothy smiled as she had answered. At least someone was keeping up with the class and staying awake. "Laura Hopkins had been studying the willows as part of her N.E.W.T. in botany and devised that a cutting curse in the lower bark, followed by four direct shots of the stunning jinx into the cut, and sealed in by casting a reparo in the bark would result in a small lump on the side of the tree."

He scrambled around his desk for a pile of papers and held onto them before her finished off the rest of his lecture. "This lump is invisible to anyone who didn't know about it as just another knot. The poking of this knot with minimal force would freeze the tree just for a minute or so, long enough to run by safely. Willows are no longer used much at all these days as there are far better spells for security that are far safer for the owner to open when needed."

With the end of his lecture, Timothy levitated all papers to each of the students' desk; whereas the leftover hovered back ontop his desk in a neat pile. "This is your homework for tonight. It is worth fifthteen points and will be due at the beginning of next class. You're dismissed!"

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Homework worth 15 points

1. How many Dittanies are there? Name them.
2. What is dittany?
3. Where does it grow?
4. What can dittany prevent?
5. When translated, what does Dittany mean? and why?
6. Dittany is highly considered a ________ _______. __________ recommended it for stomach and digestive system diseases, rheymatism, arthritis, and used to regulate menses, to tone and heal.
7. Where does Dittany get it's name from?
8. Where is Gillyweed Primarily found? And who is it a primary food source to?
9. What ability does the gillyweed allow a wizard or witch to have?
10. Who are the three people that had discovered the uses of gillyweed?
11. How long is the gillyweed affective?
12. Where is the Whomping Willow native to?
13. Which Minister f Magic was humiliated by a Whomping Willow and how?
14. Why has it become popular to plant a whomping willow in the past century?
15. Who created the knot on the side of the Whomping Willow and how?

[Jodi Peterson]

Jodi had again won points for her house. That was more like it, she thought smiling. Jodi pulled all of her thing in the desk together, and placed them neatly in her bag. "Thanks for the lesson Professor," Jodi said, and she walked out of class, still with a wide grin on her face.