Welcome to Charming, where swirling petticoats, the language of flowers, and old-fashioned duels are only the beginning of what is lying underneath…
After a magical attempt on her life in 1877, Queen Victoria launched a crusade against magic that, while tidied up by the Ministry of Magic, saw the Wizarding community exiled to Hogsmeade, previously little more than a crossroad near the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In the years that have passed since, Hogsmeade has suffered plagues, fires, and Victorian hypocrisy but is still standing firm.
Thethe year is now 1895. It’s time to join us and immerse yourself in scandal and drama interlaced with magic both light and dark.
With the same account, complete eight different threads where your character interacts with eight different usergroups. At least one must be a non-human, and one a student.
Did You Know?
Braces, or suspenders, were almost universally worn due to the high cut of men's trousers. Belts did not become common until the 1920s. — MJ
Rory had awoken at dawn to prep for his first day of classes. He had each lesson plan neatly scribbled out in his notebook next to a completed list of to-dos to prepare for each one. All that was left now was to set out the various instruments and ensure a tidy presentation before his first group of students inevitably toddled in.
He had the youngest students first this morning and, having shoveled a plate full in the Great Hall before racing off to prepare, Rory now stood with a cup of tea in his hand and a grin the size of his owl on his face. He nodded at the few that greeted him and waited until there was a sizable little crowd before telling them to go stand in front of a baby potted something.
There were all different types of somethings, each in a small terracotta pot lined up on either side of the bench. Once everyone was standing in front of their choice of sprout, Rory put down his teacup and made to introduce himself.
“Welcome all to your first Herbology lesson of the year. I am Professor Carrow and today we shall be learning all about various sproutlings.
Now, each of you has chosen a sprout likely because some attribute of it spoke to you or was interesting. If not, then at least pretend because it will count towards your grade.” Rory flashed them a joking smile and laced his hands behind his back as he began to meander lazily along behind them, down the two sides of the bench. “The impetus of today’s lesson, as we begin to understand the fundamentals of Herbology, is to learn about how different plants and herbs can react to different stimuli. Chapters 1-5 of your texts will aid in your experimentation today, and I recommend each of you read through them before the end of next week. For now, feel free to flip through and try to see what special characteristics your different sproutlings have to offer. By the end of the lesson, I’d like three paragraphs defining an attribute to each of your sprouts. Consider it… a Personality Report, of sorts.” He flashed another grin.
“No wands will be necessary for this activity,” he added. (OOC: But for the second year students, feel free.) “You can try anything from tickling them to moving them in or out of the sunlight. Temperate changes, and even mood-swings can sometimes have rather surprising results on your plants.” Rory paused at the head of the long row of benches. He looked down at the many faces and felt his confidence as professor swell. Maybe this wasn’t so hard after all. “Any questions?”
NOTE: Every student has a different type of sproutling, first come first served! Please claim your sprout with an OOC note in your first post. The list of baby plants you can chose from for your student include:
Anything not on the list might also be acceptable, just please ask Fox first! Nothing dangerous obviously like Fanged Geranium or Devil's Snare. Mandrakes are also not on the list since they don't all have earcovers.
Chiara had known much about plants since she had been knee high, her nonna had ensured that. She preferred using them to caring for them, but both were practical. As such she had taken a spot by the asphodel and was studying the dainty white blooms on it. She knew the uses of the plant, but experimenting on the plant itself? Skeptically Chiara set about her work moving her plant from the shade to the sun and back again giving it a moment to adjust to each change before moving it again and jotting down notes.
Chloe liked Professor Carrow she decided as he explained their task. She had taken up a station next to a flutterby bush and at his suggestion gave the plant a tickle, watching as it seemed to sway and bounce more than normal. Happy with her findings she wrote it down and considered her next experiment.
Charlie would leave the stinksap to the Hufflepuffs, since apparently they were already well verse with it. He looked between the Bubotuber and Nacho and found that they were both quite similar in how ugly they looked, so he parked himself in front of it, reaching out to grab ahold of it so he could move it into the shade. Maybe it'd look better in the dark.
Cassandra immediately moved away from the Stinksap plant, recognizing its potential to splatter her and everyone in her vicinity with sticky, smelly grossness, taking the first plant that seemed visibly harmless — a purple and green plant she'd seen before through the windows of Mum's greenhouse, in fact — though she had no knowledge of plants at her disposal. She began gently tickling its leaves and flowers, all the while taking notes.
The plant that sat in front of him on the desk was going to be a flower, Silas could already tell. He had seen enough of them wandering in Mama's garden, which was okay as long as he kept to the stone paths. It was when he had to wander off of them, like when a toy landed among the planting beds, that the boy found himself in most trouble when it came to the flowers. Especially these little ones that had yet to bloom, disguising themselves as any ordinary plant whose leaves might grow back if he was foolish enough to step on them.
He moved the Puffapod, for that was the name Silas saw in his textbook when he opened it to the right page, as far from him on the tabletop as he could. His first day at Hogwarts had been enough of an ordeal, there was no sense in getting to trouble again on his second.
Pip had chosen a bouncing bulb for himself since they amused him. He didn't know how he might yap about it for three paragraphs but he would find some way to pad his essay. He flipped through his textbook to the page about bouncing bulbs.
None of these plants had much interest to the young Black but he wasn't going to make a fuss. The closest to interesting that had yet to be claimed was the Mimbulus mimbletonia. It was a plant that could produce a stinky fluid called Stinksap when one of its boils were prodded. So he was very careful about handling it because he enjoyed not smelling like rancid manure. He flipped the textbook about to the appropriate page. This was a plant he would not be tickling - at least not in his own direction.
Plants that Caspian might have chosen were swiftly chosen by other students. That was fine by him, he took up the honking daffodil which he personally thought was amusing. The honking noises it made were funny, at least. He wondered if the honking was at all related to the plants 'mood'. Having grown up magical, he knew some magical plants could be moody in a way muggle plants weren't. Well, the way to find out was to read about it so he flipped to the proper page in his textbook.
Of all of the plants here, Alys knew a few of them like wolfsbane and hemlock, but what about the others. She was in a little bit of a daydream as the class picked their selection so missed out on some she liked the appearance of. So instead opted for a strange aquatic plant in a glass bowl of water. It looked like green rat tails and had a little placard saying "gillyweed".
It looked soft and slowly waved in the water line tentacles of some creature buried in the sand beneath. It was almost mesmerising and Alys was excited to find out more.
Poppy had barely been able to eat breakfast that morning. She was nearly vibrating with nervous excitement—it was the first day of classes, and she couldn't wait to use her new quills and crack open her textbooks. Although the class sizes were much larger than she was used to. Irvingly school had been cozy, and she'd known each and every student there. So naturally, she found herself hovering near the back of the group. The majority of the plants had already been claimed by the others. Poppy slid to the open spot that was nearest. After a quick glance at the sproutling, she cracked open her textbook and began to read.
The daisy wouldn't have been Leni's first choice, the Honking Daffodil snatched up so quick before she could get her hands on it, but at least it was pretty to look at (and not the stinksap). She also knew from her days spent in the park with Ms. Greene that even the most ordinary plants were more interesting and useful than they first appeared - if she recalled correctly, Ms. Greene had even said that daisies were used in a variety of potions and common medicines - and it was with this open mindset that Leni flipped open the textbook to the correct page, holding the daisy up to the sun as she studied its delicate stem and petals at various angles.
HPs have been awarded to all most for participation in the assignment! OOC, we used all 10 of the suggested plants! Rory is impressed. For those paying attention, 10 more sproutlings have been added to the list for first posters to earn HPs! If you have already posted once, you are welcome to post again with your observations for the end of class! There may be points— or there may not. Depends! Teehee.
Gia had been upset at the news her Herbology professor had died. It wasn't that she was particularly close to the subject or the teacher, but it seemed a horrible fate to get killed by a greenhouse. Georgianna sincerely hoped this new professor would be spared such a fate, especially if it was during class time.
Gia listened carefully, but didn't make the mad dash for the plants like some of her classmates. She didn't choose her plant when the list appeared on the board. Gia held back momentarily, in no rush to fight for something silly and boring. Her plant would be there, she knew it.
Peeking over several heads (she was loving her new height!), Gia's eyes sparked when they found a small, fuzzy-looking plant. It was, by all means, unremarkable, but to Gia, it was a sign from home. With a delighted squeak she didn't bother to contain, Gia had the small pot in her hands in a second. "Hello, friend. I know you." She whispered to the plant with a giggle.
Clutching the Mallowsweet to her chest, Gia brought her plant and her question to her new professor. "Professor Carrow, do we get to keep them?"
Things seemed to be going well. So far, most of the students had chosen a sproutling and were quietly poking and prodding in experimentation. Every once in awhile Rory would stop over someone’s shoulder and make a small suggestion if they seemed stumped, but overall his first introductory lesson seemed a success!
If he was surprised then when one Ravenclaw puttered up to him with a beam on her face and asked, very politely mind you, if she could keep her Mallowsweet— he tried to keep it from showing. (Unsuccessfully.) His heart melted at the sight and he wondered why he’d never attempted this teaching thing before!
Schooling his features into a beaming, impressed smile of his own, Rory nodded. “If you like,” he agreed. “But it must remain in this greenhouse. At the end of class you may put it on the windowsill there with your name and tend to it whenever you like.” He made gesture towards the back wall.
“That goes for anyone else too,” he said a little louder. “If you find yourself attached to your sproutlings and would like to claim them personally, feel free to set them alongside the back windowsill of the greenhouse with your name. They cannot be removed, but you are welcome to tend to them through the end of the year.”
Perhaps there could be some kind of extra credit or house points associated to the activity. He would have to mull it over.
Thank you Amy for the idea! Any introductory student who would like to keep thier sprout must post thier student setting it aside with thier name in this thread! Extra HPs may be earned through the end of the year if your student has a thread tending to it. How many points depends on if the thread is incomplete or archived and how many posts. Professor discretion.
Based on the sketch in her textbook, it appeared that this was a sneezewort. As it grew, it would even have white flowers, which was rather pretty. Though the book didn't say much about them. All she saw was that they could be used as potion ingredients and also would make you sneeze if you dried them out. Well, this one was well and alive, so she needn't worry about that at least. She began to scribble on her parchment, noting the main characteristics of the sproutling first. Then she gently nudged it into one of the rays of sunlight cast across the worktable.
She looked up as Gia asked whether they were to keep them. Poppy hadn't even thought of that. She'd assumed they were here to be studied like specimens and then returned to wherever Professor Carrow had procured them from. Upon his response, she frowned and tentatively raised her hand. Oh, Merlin, everyone was going to look at her now. Cheeks blazing and voice barely above a whisper, she asked, "W-what will happen to them if—" Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat before she continued, "If we don't?"
Rory had awoken at dawn to prep for his first day of classes. He had each lesson plan neatly scribbled out in his notebook next to a completed list of to-dos to prepare for each one. All that was left now was to set out the various instruments and ensure a tidy presentation before his first group of students inevitably toddled in. 
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