September 2, 1894 - Hogwarts Grounds on the edge of the Forbidden Forest

It was an interesting combination to be in, excited, nervous, and nostalgic, Bells was finding. She'd found disorienting to sit at her former professor's desk in the castle rather than in the tables that circled the room in a semicircle. So she'd sent notice to each student in her class that today's lesson - her first lesson - would take place outside. Besides, where better classroom would they find to Mother Nature and the Goddess than sitting on her grass in the shadow of gently swaying trees.

She met her students outside the doors to the Great Hall with a wide beam before leading them toward a grassy quiet area near the forest. When at last they arrived at the perfect spot only five minutes later Bells turned to them with a grin. "Sit, sit." She encouraged, herding them into a small circle in the grass. She settled in between the girl who appeared to be the oldest of her students and one of the younger girls.

Looking about at the faces assembled Bells found herself grinning. "I hope you all have enjoyed your summers." She said fondly. "I'm Professor Woods." Goddess did that sound weird to utter, Bells didn't allow herself to dwell on it before she was off and running. "Now, before we turn our attention to our work I'd like to get to know each of you. I'd like us to go around the circle and give me your name and one thing you love most about nature. I'll start." Even though she remained sitting she seemed to exude energy as if she were in motion even while still. "'My name is Belladonna Woods." She began, the corners of her eyes crinkling as grinned around at the students. "And I absolutely adore the sound of a brook tumbling over stone." She looked at the student next to her with silent encouragement.

Open to Millie Potts, Cordelia Best, Lucy Tatting, Katherine Arundell, Maxwell Beck, Chuntao Chang & any others taking OWL level Earth Magic

  

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Care of magical creatures, herbology, and earth magic. These were the classes in which Cordelia felt most at home, where her background felt an asset, rather than a disadvantage. Even muggle studies, which should have been a Victorian equivalent of a slam dunk, still left her feeling rather othered, her non-theoretical understanding of muggles often at odds with her classmates' less tangible one. The Ravenclaw wished dearly to make a good impression on the new instructor—to keep her happy place happy.

As she took a seat on the grass—not grumbling as some of her classmates did about getting dirty—Cora felt grounded, felt ready.

Until the aptly called Professor Woods actually opened her mouth to speak.

Oh, the tone was tranquil enough—a soft summer breeze, if Cora was inclined to be poetic about it, but any inclination towards poetry all but evaporated as the fifth year found herself placed on the spot.

"Cordelia Best," she answered, eyes cast downward, after what seemed like a lifetime. Her fingers inclined with the green stalks as she said the only thing to come to mind. "I like... grass, I suppose."

Vibes: a less enthusiastic this

  

Lucy hadn't felt any particular inclination to any of the offered electives when she'd set about picking hers for this year, so she had inevitably decided on the subjects she thought she knew the least about. Presumably she had the most to learn in those, so it would at least always be interesting.

She settled down on the grass, a bit gingerly. At least it hadn't rained recently enough for it to be muddy, she thought. "I'm Lucy Tatting," she said when it was her turn to speak. "And I like... flowers best, I think."

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Bells gave the older girl an encouraging smile as she waited patiently for her answer. Crocus would have tutted at such a reply, Bells mother was, after all, not a patient woman, nor much for company. As one could suppose for her isolation in the woods. Those who sought her out typically knew precisely what they wanted and one look from Crocus typically had them saying it forthwith.

"Ah. Yes. Grass. But what about it?" Bells inquired before the next student could begin. Her own slender (notably gloveless) fingers brushing the lush grass beneath them. "The texture? The color? The way it holds the moisture of an early morning's dew preserving a coolness in the shade?" Bells eyes glimmered eagerly, kindness in her every word. She wanted to understand what drew these students to the Earth, to help that love and passion extend. For it was only then that the Goddess allowed Earth Magic to work to its fullest potential. (Cordelia Best)

When the next young lady spoke, Bells nodded at her answer, her patient smile becoming somewhat more fixed. She had not expected such vague notions, such broad sweeps of a brush when it came to such reasons. "Flowers are very beautiful." Bells admitted, the girl seemed younger than Miss Best and so she wondered if it were safe to prod in the same way, perhaps not, she reasoned, and so she encouraged her in a different way, "Do you have a favorite flower?" (Lucy Tatting)

ooc: Please continue to pile on, as I will assume Bells does not move to the next student until the conclusion of these questions. Once this is done, she does have a bit of lecturing to do, so this will be a bit different than any lessons I've hosted previously with Ellsworth Ruskin's Charms class.

The following 1 user Likes Belladonna Woods's post:1 user Likes Belladonna Woods's post
   Basil Foxwood

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Tao enrolled in Earth Magic, hoping it would teach him skills that could aid him in caring for magical creatures. He wasn't sure how accurate that would be, but it didn't hurt to see what the curriculum was like for a year. It helped that Max was taking it with him, so the two of them sat down next to each other once they were herded outside; his friend probably wouldn't take this class too seriously, but maybe Max would surprise him.

Tao was thankful when Professor Bells started at the other end of the circle for introductions because he had no idea how to answer her question. Grass. He agreed with grass, but he wasn't sure why he liked it when their professor asked the question to his classmate. Good thing it wasn't him answering it. He placed his hands in his lap and quietly waited for his turn once the questions were answered.

"Hi, I'm Tao Chang, and I like the breeze because it's cooling." At least when it wasn't winter time and the wind was too cold for his liking. Tao folded his hands in his lap.

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As each person in the circle spoke, Kitty felt increasingly nervous. What had seemed a fairly straightforward thing when Professor Woods announced it appeared to be a much bigger thing as the teacher peppered for specific pieces of information from answer. Not to mention that Professor Woods had started on the far side from Kitty and now all the good answers were already taken. She frowned, trying to think of something that would be specific enough that the professor might move on quickly.

Kitty turned to the professor sitting beside her when at last her turn came, "I like the feel of moss growing on bark." She was confident that it was an answer which would appease the teacher, and it was a true statement (not that everyone needed to know she loved to climb trees and found the texture of moist moss on a forest trees' trunk much preferable to the woolen gowns she was forced into in the winter), but she was rather more concerned about her peers' reactions and as such her cheeks flushed and she made sure not to look at anyone besides the professor.

  

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Having engaged the first two ladies in conversation she listened and nodded and questioned here and there until a young man spoke. "It is quite delightful, is it not? Almost a playful thing, a breeze." She fairly glowed with pride at this almost specific answer. (Chuntao Chang)

When at last the circle made its way back to her she found herself faced by the young lady on her side. It was specific enough that despite the youth of her looks Bells decided to pry a bit further. "On trees? Is it the texture?" She could practically envision the damp side of a tree, moss growing. It was the perfect ingredient in spells to help one find their way. (Katherine Arundell)

When at last she had ceased probing her minds she looked around the circle. "It is a pleasure to meet you all." She grinned at them. "Everything you have mentioned has a purpose in the study of earth magic. For instance, grass," She nodded at Miss Cordelia Best, "Can be used to increase protection charms. A favorable breeze, say from the south, can help even the most hesitant of spells grow." She addressed this to Mr. Chang. "Moss can be used to help guide one." She turned to the young girl by her side. "And flowers, they have so many numerous uses, each one as different and unique as the bloom itself. Queen Anne's Lace for instance, can be used in a hex, where as lavender can be used to help heal." She addressed this to Miss Lucy Tatting

"Everything around us," Bells gestured expansively around them, "Has its own magic. It's not a magic of wand work and incantations, but rather from the Earth itself. It's a very simple, raw magic, and entirely unlike that which you have been taught up to now. The Earth is that which all things flow from, magic included. And Earth Magic, touches on that most basic magic. The magic of the most distant of our ancestors." Passion suffused Bells' voice as it often did when she tried to explain the very importance of a magic so often overlooked in their society.

"Now, I know you certainly didn't sign up for this course to listen to me lecture." She laughed, "I shall give you five minutes to search for an item of nature around us, keeping just to the edges of the woods mind you, and then bring it back to us. Off you go now." Bells waved them on their way and watched contently as the students began their search.

  

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The young witch found it refreshing that the new Earth Magic professor's first class took them out of the castle and into the world around it. She had often thought it would improve lessons, even mentioned it once to their former professor, to make tangible connections to the earth. As strange as it was for the bookworm girl to acknowledge, there was only so much that could be derived from a page. Some knowledge, as the potions, creatures and wandwork classes proved, had to come from the doing. Or the being, at least.

Right now, Millie was enjoying being in the very nature they were meant to learn about.

She wasn't quite certain about their new instructor yet. The woman's airy tones and bright ensemble were more comfortable than the rapt sharpness of some of her other professors, indeed. Yet the young witch still had to wonder just how much they were to learn in this class, sitting in a circle in the grass. Here, playing at the edge of the forest but not quite at its footings, Millie could at least feel close to the earth. She would have rather nestled right up against a tree, there, her instinct said, was where real magic could happen.

"Millie Potts," when her turn came, Millie said her name easily enough. Her eyes cast back toward the forest, and then somewhere past one of the members of the circle opposite to her, "I enjoy trees the most, particularly their roots."

A few yards more and they could be sitting between some, she almost mentioned. Yet her lips were closed now, and the young witch didn't feel compelled to open them again. There was something she wasn't ready for in the professor's investigation of their answers, like a secret that might lose power if voiced. Even Cora had the grass to comfort her besides, all Millie had here was her necklace.

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Tao nudged Max so they could go find something together. They often sat together in classes so they could work together, and it seemed like Earth Magic wasn't going to be any different. Max went to go look at something to the right while Tao moved to the left, his feet sweeping over the grass as if it was going to offer him anything interesting. It didn't, of course, but he did grab a giant leaf that was larger than his hand from the ground from one of the trees just ahead before heading back to where he was sitting before.

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Oh their professor wanted more detail. Kitty flushed slightly but then realized that her instructor wasn't judging her, instead she seemed to be.... almost as curious and enthusiastic as Kitty herself was. "The difference in texture." Kitty explained, her chin tilting up slightly as if to ward off any scoffs from her fellow students.

When Professor Woods asked them to collect an item from around them. Kitty stood up, swatting her robes to loosen any stray leaves that may have stuck to it and then wandered to the woods. She gently pried some of the very same moss she had mentioned to the professor away from the damp trunk, the green forming a small square of cushiony material in her hand and then brought it back with her and placed it before the professor where indicated.

  

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The roots! What an insightful answer. Bells looked more closely at Miss Potts. "Is there a particular reason for that?" She asked kindly, her eyes alight with a sudden excitement.

As the students began to troop back to her she smiled at their gatherings, Mr. Chang and Miss Arundell among the first of them to arrive bearing a large leaf and springy moss respectively. Very good, she thought with a nod. Once they were all back she'd show them how each item would help them fashion a posset. A simple charm but a good way to truly begin to understand this type of magic.

  

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The professor's question was a reminder of how new she was to Hogwarts, that she hadn't yet seen Millie, book in hand, sitting under the trees of the Hogwarts grounds. It would have answered the question more easily than opening her mouth, at least. Still, the woman's sudden interest seemed to coax the young witch into willingness, answering easily, "I like to sit between them and imagine I'm closer to home. There's a tree in Hogsmeade that's a favorite of mine, ever since I was little."

Millie found her answer trite once it was out there, too simple and overeager for a girl of fifteen. Her saving grace rested in the trickling absences of the class, as the group filtered off to abide by the professor's request. She did as well, quickly finding herself underneath the nearest tree, whose roots beckoned to her as warmly as always. Had Professor Woods only assigned them a reading instead of collection, then Millie could have nestled herself down and absorbed more from nature than she could ever retrieve for a show and tell exhibit.

Though it was too early for autumn's falling detritus around the grounds, Millie leaned over to pick up what trees easily cast down from the skittering of animals or the winds blowing through its branches. A twig, still a bright, cheery shade of brown, yet with only the yellowing stems of its leaves attached. She plucked them off while making her way back, to present the bare stick to the class for her natural item.

She was curious to learn what Woods intended for them to do with these things, hoping that it was not to draw a sketching of them. Anything would be more encouraging than that to start off a new year with a new teacher.

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The brown haired teen sat for a few minutes watching the new earth studies professor, Belladonna Woods, she liked earth studies, the experts always had this very, non-academic approach. She wasn't sure if that was the right word, but it made the classes quite relaxing, particularly when the subject matter came so naturally to her. "I'm Antelope Grace" she said, raising her hand in welcome to the classmates that she already knew and the professor she wanted to get to know. "My favourite thing about nature is watching the little battles all the flora go through without us even noticing." she thought about tree fighting for life, various fungi fighting over the detritus. She smiled and shrugged lightly as she stretched her feet out through the long grass.

Once dismissed She watched with interest as the others  went to find things before following one of the other girls. Millie Potts wandered around a little before selecting a stick and turning with it. "That's a pretty colour" she said as she wandered past to find her own quarry. Jynx knew what she was looking for, then she spotted it, nestled in the damp earth in between some roots was a small crop of mushrooms, and she saw the one she liked. Antelope knelt down and pushed her fingers into the dirt just below the long white stalk before pulling the whole thing intact out of the ground and gently carrying it back for the attention of the group.

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Her name is pronounced similarly to Penelope

There was a way tree roots felt when one sat between them, as if the very tree itself was lifting above the ground to embrace you. Bells remembered plenty of years of her youth, and even her adult life, nestled in the safety of the roots, feeling as if the tree itself were trying to bring her comfort. In some ways she found such an embrace from a tree more comforting than that of her own mother. When the girl mentioned this Bells began to brighten but she found her smile having to freeze in place at the disappointment. Perhaps it was what the girl was getting at, this shared sentiment, but a reminder of home, while true, was not exactly a good way to remind one of how connected they were to nature. No it was entirely a different thing and while true, not quite what Bells had expected with the promise of such a response.

Miss Grace's answer was somewhat different than those of the others and Bells found her brow furrowing slightly as she gave the comment some thought. What a wonderful and astute observation, Bells was grateful for such an answer, she hardly needed to dig further with more questions to realize the girl fully understood the subject. And yet for the sake of the rest of the class Bells needed to pry a little more, to help Miss Grace's classmates to understand the nature of such things. "That is very insightful. What types of battles do flora go through? Perhaps you might elaborate a little bit?" Bells smiles encouragingly at the Hufflepuff girl.

As the last of the students returned with their items Bells eyes seemed to twinkle with excitement. "'Very well done." She told them, although as they were not first and second years she hardly thought they'd appreciate such praise for a simple task. "Now," She pulled her wand from the pocket of her skirt and flourished it before her. The items lifted into the air in the middle so the class might see them more clearly than they would from their nestled home among the grass. "Each of these items can be used in the construction of a popet. Can any of you tell me what popet is?" Bells gave them a moment and then continued.

"Popets were first made by the witches and wizards of the British Isles." She explained, her voice carrying the passion of her topic with it as if it were the petals of a flower dancing in the wind beneath a brightly shining sun, "This magic made its way to the continent where they have specialized it further. Popets can be used for many things, but the charms they are imbued with help not only with earth magic, but in any manner of endeavors. The most important part is what they are build with.[b]" Bells beamed at the circle of students around her. "[b]For instance Miss Potts has brought a twig with the life blood of a tree, where as Mr. Chang has contributed the leaf of a tree -the very way a tree is able to sustain itself. Miss Arundell brought moss, which protects roots even as it strives to grow itself, and Miss Grace has brought us a mushroom. What different types of charms could be drawn into a popet with such items?" Bells queried her class. She had no idea if they would know, but simply getting them thinking of magic in such a different way was an integral part of her job. Earth magic was unlike the other magics taught her at Hogwarts and that meant it couldn't be thought of in the same manner as the others. It was not as simple as learning the proper incantation and wand movements or following the steps of a potion. It was more instinctual, tying together wand work, knowledge, and creativity, in such a way that nature itself wished to help the magic bloom not for the sake of the magic but for the sake of nature. And that itself was a beautiful thing.

  

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