May 1, 1895 - Hogwarts Castle Grounds

"Good morning my dears." Bells greeted the ladies of her NEWT level course with a broad smile. "How are you this morning?" She asked them as they joined her in the Earth Magic garden that Bells and her Earth Magic students tended. It was different than the Herbology gardens and greenhouses, hosting more ordinary plants than magical plants whose purpose was less for potions and more for the magic that Bells felt in her very bones, as if she had roots to the garden as well. She often left notes on her classroom door directing her students out onto the grounds rather than to attend class within the confines of the stone walls, especially as spring had rushed forward to greet them.

Once the girls had answered her and they chatted for a few moments Bells pulled their attention to the lesson she had planned for today.

"I want you to pick some protective herbs and weave them into a wreath." Bells explain, her eyes sparkling. She purposely did not tell them which herbs or why, using it as a moment to test their knowledge. Review of material for their final NEWT exam came in unexpected ways, Bells had determined and this was her gentle approach.

"Once you have I would like you to share it with us and explain why you chose those herbs." She continued. "Go ahead." She shooed them forward in dismissal.

Smiling up at the sun for a moment Bells stepped forward into the garden and ran her fingers over the herbs in a gentle caress, her mind greeting each one by name. It was going to be a beautiful Beltane.

Hesper Gamp and Edelweiss Prewett

  

---

When everyone tells us what we can be
How can we rewrite the stars?

---

Earth Magic was a nice break from her other classes which felt a lot more rigorous and generally academic. Not that Earth Magic was an 'easy' or 'soft' option, but it wasn't quite as pressurized or at least it didn't seem so to her.

Pulling on her gardening gloves, Hesper took in all of the options before her as she tried to decide which herbs she should choose. She decided her wreath was going to consist of nettle, dill, and thistle. Once she'd picked all she'd need, she started to weave. After a lot of fumbling and considerable damage to one of the nettle sprigs, she had to stop and reconsider her approach. She needed the gloves to protect her hands from the thistles and nettles but in doing so she had very poor finger dexterity which she needed for the weaving. She might be able to weave it all together with her wand but that would be quite tricky, if not maybe she could cast some sort of numbing or reinforcement charm on her hands?

---

Outfit | Tag: | Notes:

  

---

It was always interesting to see what her students chose. Hester once again surprised with her choices. Bells said nothing and discreetly watched the girl for a moment before she approached her. "Hester, perhaps a vine spell might be useful?" She suggested. It was a simple charm that Belladonna covered in her OWL classes as her predecessor before her had. The effect was to enchant a small piece of vine to grow around other plants, the magic from the living plant allowed flexibility in a spell and it could be nudged to twine plants together with gentle movements of the hands, it was even more efficient in wandless magic but Bells hadn't taught her students that yet. Wandless magic was something she had learned from her mother not from her schooling.

@"Hester Gamp"

  

---