The first lesson hadn't gone exactly how Aria had wanted it to go. For one thing only one person participated and it had dampened her mood about teaching. She wanted enthusiasm, for people to show their passion for their major, for her to know they really wanted it. But today she had put her class in a way that they would talk and they would show her that. In front of each desk, there was a scroll, that would only open if a student sat down. She had taken time out of her day to write each and every one of them so they could answer and she could get to know them better.

Name:
Age:
Favorite Potion:
Favorite Poison:
Why did you choose this major?:
Fun Fact about yourself:

She figured that no matter what they wrote, so long as they try she could get a sense of who they were underneath all the broodiness. Smiling to herself she sat on her desk and waited patiently hoping more students would arrive and show more effort.

Code:

[font=Trebuchet MS][b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Favorite Potion:[/b]
[b]Favorite Poison:[/b]
[b]Why did you choose this major?:[/b]
[b]Fun Fact about yourself:[/b][/font]

"Hello professor," Melody greeted nervously as she walked into the classroom. The other students didn't seem to have made it yet so there were plenty of places to sit down. When she sat down she got started on the assignment on the board.

Name: Melody Lovegood
Age: 19
Favorite Potion: I'm not sure. One of the basic healing potions I guess because those are always likely to come in useful at some point. Or maybe felix felicis but then its not good to rely too much on luck.

She was tempted to add Love Potion Number 9 just because it smelled so wonderful. But then she had already rambled on a bit without really answering the question and she wouldn't ever use Love Potion number 9 so maybe it was best to forget about it.

Favorite Poison: cyanide. It can be found in a variety of things like almonds, insecticides, pesticides, etc and it kills quickly. Its also poisonous as a gas.
Why did you choose this major?: a passion for potions and how potions are made.

Melody struggled with the last one. She wasn't sure what about her counted as fun or if it really mattered if she skipped that part. The professor would probably be disappointed if she didn't though and she seemed like a nice lady so she put something down. Well her pets were fun, most of the time.

Fun Fact about yourself: I have a cat and an owl. Their names are Jinxy and Edwin.

Setting her quill down she waited for the others to arrive. She wondered if they were supposed to read this out loud or something.

Cassana stood outside of the the Greenhouse trying to tamp down her excitement to go into class, her fingers wringing together in a nervous manner. She was just a moment away from being on time, she took in a deep breath, clenched her fingers tighter around her backpack straps. Taking a deep breath she stepped in and smiled brightly at her professor.

"Hello, Professor Song," she remembered the name from the syllabus quite clearly as she nodded her head in recognition. Once she grasped the paper she immediately sat down at the first desk.


Name: Cassana Emalia Rose, call me Cassie please
Age: 19

Cass stared at the next question, tapping her pencil onto her desk multiple times. Although her house at Tituba's had taught her a fair amount of known potions she wondered if they were the same in the United Kingdoms she wasn't sure if she should also list the properties and effects of the potion, settled on that being her plan she bent her head down and didn't lose focus to ponder.

Favorite Potion: The Peace Potion - a Potion used to relieve anxiety, to cause ease and relaxation.
Favorite Poison: Arsenic since it is a commonly known poison
Why did you choose this major?: To continue learning about the fascinating subject of brewing so I could hopefully become a Ministry potioneer or put my knowledge to use where it's needed
Fun Fact about yourself: I like reading and I am super clumsy

After a moment she paused, biting her lower lip before scribbling something on the bottom of the page.

P.S: I don't mean to offend you or your teaching tactics, but I hope you also fill out something like this so I can also know you better too!

She resisted the twitching urge to continue to babble about how she isn't meaning to coming off as a bum-kisser, but it was just happening like so.

Ben made his way through the quiet grounds, taking his time. Winter was not his favorite season, by a long shot. While he opted for a muggle coat, a long one that was more body protection than some, he still felt the chill down to his bones. No, summer was more his thing. Whether it was because he was, what some would consider, frighteningly thin, or because he hated to even be bothered by issues of the body, he just didn't like it.

He was glad, then, to see the greenhouse up ahead. While this was one of the classes intended for his major, Ben found that he wasn't overly fond of it. The professor was too happy for his taste, as well as most of the students. While he wanted to become a better potioneer himself, he found that he'd rather spend time in his own studies than surrounded by these bubbly...girls.

Moving into the room quickly, and disgarding his winter attire, he took a seat near the back. A scroll unraveled in front of him and he set to work on it immediately.

Name: Benjamin Watson
Age: 19
Favorite Potion: Dogbreath Potion
Favorite Poison: Love Potion

He knew very well that love potions were not generally considered poisons. But to a man who prized his mind above all else, and the ability to know himself, the idea of someone affecting and altering that mind was more dangerous than any pain inflicted by general poisons. 'Favorite' was not accurate. 'Most loathed', that would be more appropriate. He crossed out the word "Favorite", leaving just "Poison".

Why did you choose this major?: My choice is none of your concern

He didn't see the point in the professor getting to know him through trivial games. The academy had accepted him into the program, so he'd obviously shown the skills required. For her to question it...any joy Ben felt he could get out of this class quickly vanished.

Fun Fact about yourself: I don't appreciate games or questions beyond what are meant for learning purposes.

His quill was placed lightly on his desk. Face neutral, if not a bit dismissive, his hands steepled in front of his mouth, while he let his mind wander. Obviously this class was not going to provide stimulus anytime soon.

Seeing that they had all dropped their quills made her think that they were done. Accio-ing the scrolls she began to read all of them. Miss Lovegood's scroll showed someone that though out the potion, adding the reasoning behind all of her answers. And she liked that, it meant a calculative mind. Moving on to the one of Miss Rose. She smiled slightly reading Miss Rose's scroll and saw that there were many similarities to the seemingly cheery girl. Lastly she looked at the Mr. Watson's scroll and began to read it. Her cheery smile slowly began to dissipate as she read his answers. My my, this boy was definitely going to be tough to teach. No matter, she would try nonetheless. Looking up she grinned brightly.

"Glad to learn a bit more about all of you. As you have guessed today we will be talking about different poisons and nature. In fact while I made it theory based, I want to hear you defend your poison and why it's the most effective way to kill someone" she tilted her head, "You all had different poisons which works great for me. Now who wants to go first?"

Cassana bit her lower lip, she was good at Herbology. Okay scratch that, she was on par with Herbology standards. She knew what she needed for Potions, but besides that she was more than a little lost. Regardless, she was a scholar above all and so she refused to drown where she could swim in knowledge. Tentatively looking around the classroom who thought about how others would apply their knowledge of Herbology to the question posed so she thought about what she wrote down. Arsenic, it was used in a play called Arsenic and Old Lace and it was put into darker colored drinks. Then again, there was an abundance of arsenic poisoning in 2007 from drinking water so she waited her turn to speak before beginning, hesitance in her voice.

"Well I chose arsenic because it's a sneaky poison, it comes more from ground water, unfortunately so it's not grown, but it- ah- uh commonly ailed manly people and if administered in a high enough concentration kill them," she wanted to wince, biting her tongue so she wouldn't blurt anything useless out.

Ben watched the professor carefully. He didn't really spare too much energy by caring what other people thought of him....none, really. But he could tell when she started reading his scroll. The disappointment on her face was one he was very used to, and had learned to live with.

When she said they would be having 'share time', Ben inwardly growned. If they could simply work with the plants on their own, cataloguing and identifying, experimenting and tending to them, he'd be fine. But all this...sharing. It didn't sit well with him.

One of the girls went first. If he was the emotional type, he'd be 'thanking Merlin', or something. As it was, he was perfectly content to wait however long it took to be the last to speak. Unfortunately, the other girl seemed of the same mind. The only thing he hated worse than useless speaking was even more useless wasting of time. They could be learning, or so he hoped. With no end in sight, he sighed.

"My answer for poison was Love Potion," he started, with no preamble. "By definition, poisons are meant to do harm. I can think of no greater harm one person can inflict on another than to alter their mind." They may find him strange, but Ben's demeanor was completely serious. "While the person who used the potion may be wishing for love, they certainly are not demonstrating it, if they have to force the other individual into submission against their will."

He could have gone on, at length. But there really was no point. He'd made his views clear on the matter.

She hadn't expected that they were going to have to argue their answers. The guy's answer surprised her but he had valid points.

"Err, cyanide. It kills quickly and is also poisonous as a gas," she said. She knew she was just repeating what she had already wrote but she hadn't expected to have to explain it again. "Also it can be found in a variety of things. Pesticides, insecticides, almonds, lima beans, cigarette smoke, plastic and others things." Well not the best answer. She had tried at least and hoped that this wouldn't affect her grade too much.

Aria was disappointed in the responses that were given. It was as easy as that to explain. The fact that these students thought they could push a point on paper yet be unable to express them verbally meant that they weren't as well rounded as she expected. Also, the poisons written did make her curious as to why, the reason disappointed her, more towards Mr. Watson, who's voice on love was somewhat disheartening. Trying to keep the facade that they did alright seemed to be breaking. They weren't, in fact she was feeling they thought it would be an easy class.

Sighing, she leaned back and shook her head.

"I believe that you had some kind of promise from some of your answers, but it seems to me you half-assed them. You gave me the reasons, weakly at that and you think that's a passing grade?" she shook her head, "I wanted a good example like....I would use...the Cassava root" she said just bringing up a random poison. "The reason I chose this poison is because it's herbal, easy enough to slip into a meal. And historically speaking they are used in meals, only if prepared correctly. Yet if I was to poison someone, I would use it by purposely leaving the traces of cyanide within the roots, and making it edible enough to be ingested only to later poison my target" her eyes shined. "What would work in my benefit would be that they would think it was a mere accident, and wouldn't rule it a homicide, leaving my hands clean...that's what I was expecting."

Walking over she snapped her fingers and a bit scroll unrolled itself behind her listing a few things they needed to get.

"Professor Holmes was kind enough to want me to get these items for him. But I'd rather have you do it as punishment. I was going to cut it early, but seeing as none of you deserve it, go on and find them. They aren't in the greenhouse, I've purposely moved them into the forest." her eyes showed amusement, "Happy hunting. You will leave everything hear and search these."

Plants Needed:

Angel's Trumpet Flower & Roots
Cacao beans

"You will be doing this yourself and get enough for a class of sixty just in case. So...thirty servings, give or take from you each. Now go!"

As the last of the class took her turn at the question, Ben rather easily tuned her out. There may be a slim chance that he was missing out on something, but he doubted it. Soon after, the professor began to speak, and he attempted to focus his attention.

Well. If she'd wanted an instruction of how to actually kill someone, the older witch should have said so. Ben was a bit fond of contemplating the various ways to dispose of those he found annoying. Which usually included anyone he happened to meet on a given day. And while he would have enjoyed a discussion on the matter, the fact that she was admonishing them for not giving her what she did not ask for furthered his boredom.

Not bothering to waste time, Ben packed his things away and left the greenhouse. He'd be returning with his items, so he left his bag, but grabbed an empty bucket that was stacked by the door, along with some pruning sheers. He'd left most of his warm layers on, so there wasn't time needed for putting them all back on.

As the forest wasn't too far away, his long strides took him there quickly. Over the last year of lessons, he'd taken many a trek through these trees, making a personal map of the different plants that could be found here. But with the snow and frigid temperatures, he decided that they were probably being kept up by some sort of charm. A plant like Angel's Trumpet, which thrived in warm climates, was usually not seen in northern Europe on it's best day. Least of all in winter.

Fifteen minutes in, and very planned navigation, Ben came upon a small group of the first plant. This area, a small clearing nestled between a few hills, had always been one of his favorite spots out here. On a long day of bathering samples and bits of various things, he'd usually rest here. Sure enough, he could practically feel the heat radiating off of the area as he drew closer. There was a patch of maybe fourty to fifty flowers, which he started cutting diagonally near the root. If he was doing this, he'd at least do it right.

Next, he moved through the brush towards the river he knew to be not too far off. If the professor was half as smart as the thought she was, she'd have placed the Cacao tree near a water source. Again, it wasn't meant for cold climates, more native to tropical regions. As he came across the trees, and moved about to gather them, he wondered why the witch had even bothered with all of this. Either she'd had this part of the lesson planned all along, which wouldn't have surprised him, or she enjoyed planting search-and-rescue ventures for herself. He sincerely figured the former. Either that, or she was an idiot.

Having gathered a few of the large pods, he figured getting a couple more than needed wouldn't hurt. Only five would fit in the bucket, but it was more than enough. With everything in place, he moved swiftly back to the greenhouses.

The first to return, he moved towards a desk near the front. Laying each item out gently, he organized them in rows. No need to be careless. Once that was finished, he looked back up at the woman. "Professor," he acknowledged.

Cassana felt annoyance biting at her nerves as her professor chastised them. She was usually an understanding student but a tiny grudge began to build at her professor's words. That was until she realized her professor was right; their answers had been half assed. If she'd taken more time considering her answer, she would have come up with something better and more applicable to Herbology. The Moonseed plant was a camouflage plant of sorts and typically hid amongst weeds so it would take some time to find it, but it's lethality levels were high and potent in killing. Cassie felt herself flush a little as she realized that her Professor was right. She wanted to say sorry, but what would that do for her? Nothing. So instead she bit her lower lip and crossed her arms.

As her teacher prompted them to head into the forest to get cacao beans and angel trumpet, she felt more than just a little relieved that she had the common sense to not wear a skirt to class. Instead she opted for tan khakis and a white off-the-shoulder sweater that had a pug on it with comfortable shoes. She only put her wand in her bag, her notebook and pencils strewed about her desk. She nodded and smiled apologetically at the professor before following the tall surly student's actions and grabbing a bucket and shears, she paused before grabbing the small shovel there too near them. She loved running so she just begun running through the forest with no preamble. Cassie's eyes darted around looking for the beautiful yet dangerous poisonous plant, when she came upon a clearing with a meadow full. She grinned, but then paused. She needed to be careful, the last time she handled Angel's Trumpet she ended up in the Hospice at her Tituba's Academy for Gifted Children because she'd jerked them the wrong way and it poisoned her in turn.

As gently as she could, she begun to dig the dirt around a patch of twenty, opting to just get another ten after and carefully lifted each flower from the ground with the roots in perfect condition. She sighed, but ruefully realized it had been more than five minutes; it rounded off to twenty for her to get all thirty of the Angel's Trumpet, but they were in great condition. Placing them in the bucket, she jogged now through the forest looking for the distinctive cacao tree (it had to be distinctive since it wasn't a common plant to England). After ten minutes of gentle jogging, she found a tree near the end of the river. She grinned but it disappeared as she realized that the beans were far above her head. She sighed and put her bucket down in a place between the roots of the trees and chose to climb up the tree with her shears in one hand. To her luck (for once) the tree was bountiful with enough for her and maybe one other student. She blessed Professor Song for that much at least as she precariously hung off the tree and begun snipping at the beans, catching two before realizing she had no place to put them.

Cassie stabbed the shears into the tree, tucked her sweater into her pants, adjusted them so they were tighter and stuffed the cacao beans down her shirt, chuckling to herself when by the end of the thirty minute venture she looked ridiculous like a plump berry with lumps around her. She grinned though, sweaty and dirty as she slithered down the tree. With her bucket she poured out her Angel's Trumpet and put the cacao beans at the bottom to ensure that the Angel's Trumpet wouldn't be crushed. She then took a gentle pace of running back to the Greenhouse. Once she arrived she, uncaring of her dirty appearance (her sweater was torn in a few paces, her buttocks was covered in mud as were her shoes) she tenderly laid out each of the items, a total of sixty, pride filling her as she realized they were in perfect condition.

"Scourgify," she whispered as she used her wand to clean herself. Murmuring another Reparo to her shirt, she felt satisfied with the class. Afterwards, Cassie grinned Professor Song, not smugly but kindly, her hands folded as she sat on the desk beside hers.

Melody felt annoyed. The professor hadn't made it clear that she wanted then to tell her how they would use the poisons to kill people. Trying to list the assets of their poisons was their best guess when she hadn't told them what to do. She didn't voice her annoyance as she felt it wouldn't help her case any. Still it was unfair.

Melody went into the forest to gather what Professor Song had asked her. It took a few minutes to find the Angel Trumpet flower and she was careful to dig the right amount of flowers out. She didn't want to end put forgetting the roots. The thought of the small path were the flowers were being a nice place to rest briefly crossed her mind before she went off to find the cocoa beans.

She knew that the beans needed to be kept by the water and it didn't take long to find a lake. She looked up at a cocoa bean tree and picked off some of the pods. When she had reentered the classroom she put what she had on the professor's desk and waited for her to say something.

Class closed.

Grades:

Lovegood, Melody: Acceptable. Your choice in poison was nothing creative, yet not incorrect, I cannot penalize you for your opinion, but I can penalize you, like everyone else for not participating enough. Please try to be more talkative in my class. I want to know how you think. You have potential.

Rose, Cassana: Exceeds Expectations. Now, you were not creative, not one bit, and that disappoints me, but the passion you showed collecting the Angel's Trumpets to me makes me see that you have so much more than you show. I gave you the EE not for your work, but for your heart. Now let's see if you can keep showing me that Miss Rose.

Watson, Benjamin: Exceeds Expectations. You are the most arrogant student that I have ever had the displeasure of teaching. Yet as I say this, I also say that you were the most creative in my classroom. In your need to show arrogance, you failed to show me your actual talents Mr. Watson. You got this grade for potential, that is all.