Herbology Class
I am here only as a substitute, and so most everything you'll learn here is at the risk of fading away when the permanent teacher comes. Partially due to that, I will treat my lessons as stand-alones, though they might prove useful in later years, with possibly completely unrelated studies.
Anyway, here is lesson 1, which will not involve growing herbs but rather cutting them in a way which will make them easily enchanted as components for magic of all sorts, from potions, thru transfigurations, to runes. This time we'll cut and study only one type of magic-bearing herb: the Black Ivy. It is virtually unknown here in Britain but lies dormant in masses in the Rockies of Alaska; where exactly I'm not allowed to reveal by law of wizards.
Now, the Black Ivy, as you can see in the row to your left in this greenhouse, does not look like an ivy at all. It doesn't stick to fences, trees and the like; rather, it sticks to living material and chokes it until death. Thus, no one should touch any of these except on my permission, which will be given during lessons and after rendering those herbs dormant. These already are dormant, and therefore you should start cutting them at the very instant I finish with this explanation. Use the blades here, *pointing to my 2 o'clock, which is the class's 9*, to cut the Black Ivies and nothing else, as they (the blades) were specifically enchanted not to harm humans and will make you less prone to physical damage due to fights. If I detect any attempt to resort to such actions, then your house points will go significantly down - you've been warned. Gloves are is the shelf just behind me.
Cut your Black Ivy in the following way *leaning above the nearest Ivy*: Grip it tightly 2 cm above the earth around it, and working very slowly and cautiously, cut it just above the upper part of your hand with the edge of the blade. Now, remember that chips of your body are always falling off, and further, there probably are some on the exteriors of your gloves, you must never touch the cut part with anything but your blade. The enchantments on the blades make them sticky enough to hold the cut plants without the need for balance, *Repeats everything mentioned after that last action*.
Just before you begin, know that you are to keep the blades until next class and hold your Ivy only with them.
In your rooms, you are to close the herbs in empty potion bottles and cut them to around 50 roughly-identical pieces each (bottles required only for safe storage). Take one with your blade and study its texture, color (yes, it does vary between tints and shades of green and yellow), and whether there is any movement on the surface (this indicates digestion of remains of living material).
For homework, describe your findings from the piece of Black Ivy you've examined, for up to ten points (depending on my whim ). My CNA (Crystal Network Array, aka e-mail) address is profvinerine@hotmail.com; send everything there. If no homework is done then no points will be awarded or taken.
Prof. Geran Vinerine
To become a teacher, contact the headmistress with your name, house affiliation (if any), and the position you want. You will then be sent the official application.
Thank you,
Professor Cassity
