Puzzling Tentacula PV Detention

Mikey shifted in his boots, scratching the base of his neck while he eyed the looming tentacula. Their tendrils quivered slowly, but there was something in the way they all looked at him that was crawling under his skin. He ducked forward towards Nyx, speaking in a low tone. "Okay… this is certainly a trap, isn't it? Heap of dirt, munchies, and plenty of plants ready to snap our heads off if we make one wrong move." His grin was sincere, but nerves were peeking through.

He leaned down beside the heaps, following Ruckus's messy writing on one finger. "Right. clay is with dawn, that's easy. Midnight is peat loam. Bramble is trapped in peat loam, so perhaps he is the midnight one? He doesn't eat flobberworm purée, so… fertilizer, perhaps? What do you make of it?" He looked up at Nyx, one brow raised in expectation.

He jumped ahead to the next line, grumbling. "Fang's steak-everything, but he gets grumpy if it's midnight. Since the wood ash one gets watered at twilight, maybe that's him? Steak for dinner, twilight-y? Kinda works." He glanced back at her again, waving in general. "You thinking this, or am I already lost?"

Mikey leaned back on his heels, gesturing towards the last two soils. "That leaves sandstone or clay for Noodle and Wink. Noodle doesn't eat beetle jelly, so perhaps flobberworm food? He'd fit clay at dawn then." Wink would get sandstone and beetle jelly, mid day watered 'cause the directions indicated he gets watered before fertilizer one." He blew out, tapping on the side of his head. "It all. kind of makes sense. But I don't want to make the first move without getting your breakdown. What do you think? He smiled at Nyx hastily, as if attempting to conceal how unsure he was. "No pressure, but just in case I'm mistaken, I'll go offer myself up as tribute and you can make your getaway while plants strangling me."

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I walked in to the greenhouse with Mikey.
I wasn't unhappy about the detention, if one could believe it.
Rather, I was very happy. We were told to wear clothes for gardening, so I wore some that I thought were fit for the task.
A t-shirt, ripped up black jeans, and my fav gothic baseball cap that said "Support Your Local Cemetery."
I was ready for this. What I hadn't expected however, was that we were going to be dealing with Venomous Tentacula.
That was certainly unexpected. Mikey looked scared out of his mind when he saw them, and I nearly laughed outright at his obvious discomfort.
Professor Weems left us to our own devices soon after he explained what we were supposed to be doing.
Mikey said that this was probably a trap, and I couldn't help but to agree.

Mikey bent over the instructions, saying them aloud and wondering whether one thing went with another. He looked at me, looking for my advice after he said something about flobberworm pureè.
I just shrugged and looked at the plants behind us.
They were surprisingly docile for Venomous Tentacula.
That was most likely the reason why the Professor felt like he could leave us with them alone.

Mikey waved his hand around in general, asking me if I was getting this or if it was just him. He clearly looked discomforted at being next to plants that could possibly bite your head off.
I smiled. Widely. I think that just unnerved him even more though.
He asked me what my thoughts were. He had a sort of hasty smile on. Then he said, no pressure, but just in case I'm mistaken, I'll go offer myself up as tribute and you can make your getaway while plants strangling me.
I did indeed laughed outright at that. He was exaggerating about this. I couldn't help but feel at peace though. This was my area now.

I spoke, startling him a bit.
"Alright. Let's calm down and think. What did the instructions say?
It said:
Bramble sulks in peat loam and only perks up after dawn.
Fang only calms with some steak, but gets twitchy if watered at midnight.
The tentacula rooted in wood ash is watered at dusk.
Noodle refuses beetle jelly and prefers either clay or peat loam.
Wink is watered earlier in the day than the tentacula that eats fertilizer.
The tentacula in coarse sandstone eats beetle jelly.
The tentacula watered at midnight sits in peat loam.
Bramble won’t touch flobberworm purée. Also, Wink is never placed in wood ash.
Fang won’t tolerate clay.
The tentacula watered at dawn is potted in clay.
Now, what I think is that you're going in the right direction.

Here."
I took a piece of paper and re-wrote the whole thing.

"Fang only calms with some steak, but gets twitchy if watered at midnight.
The tentacula rooted in wood ash is watered at dusk.
Fang won’t tolerate clay.

Noodle refuses beetle jelly and prefers either clay or peat loam.
The tentacula watered at midnight sits in peat loam.

Wink is watered earlier in the day than the tentacula that eats fertilizer.
The tentacula watered at dawn is potted in clay.
Also, Wink is never placed in wood ash.


Bramble won’t touch flobberworm purée.
The tentacula in coarse sandstone eats beetle jelly.
Bramble sulks in peat loam and only perks up after dawn.

That makes sense?"

I asked him.

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Mikey leaned forward over the sheet of paper Nyx had written out, eyes scanning the freshly drawn lines. Whistling softly, slowly, he replied, "Okay… that is considerably neater than the chicken scratch I was reading. Guess I freaked and started ranting like a lunatic in front of a firing squad." Grinning at her, half embarrassed, half impressed, he replied, "Got the whole thing actually written out instead of flying around my head like loose hummingbirds"

He drew a finger down the scrawled notes she'd written, lips tracing in soundless movement for a moment as he assembled the pieces. "So dawn clay that must be Noodle, yes? Since he'll eat clay and definitely not beetle jelly. Bramble's peat loom but returns after dawn, so he's the midnight one." Steak's for Fang, but not midnight, so wood ash at dusk fits there. That leaves sandstone for Wink, and since sandstone's the one with beetle jelly… boom. All things just work out.

He lounged back, his eyes wincing at her wide smile. "Either we're absolute geniuses or we've just booked us the most over-the-top greenhouse funeral Hogwarts has ever seen." His smile grew even broader, though a hum of nerves thrummed underneath it. He tipped his head to the tentacula as if walking down stage.

"Okay then. Midnight peat loom for Bramble, clay dawn for Noodle, wood ash dusk for Fang, sandstone noon for Wink. Let's take a chance before I start second guessing." He shot Nyx a rapid side-eye. "Thanks, You make this enjoyable rather than terror-inducing. I mean… still terror-inducing, but less 'roots-strangled' and more. puzzle you know." He gestured to the first shovel-full of dirt theatrically. "Want to do the honors?"

@Mikey Forville & @Nyx Blackheart

Ruckus peeked at the detentionees through a nearby patch of flitterbloom. At first it seemed like Mr. Forville was getting somewhere, but when he combined his wits with Miss Blackheart's, it seemed the intelligence of the two halved, rather than doubled. The flying professor let out a long sigh. This trip to the greenhouse would be more drawn out than he originally thought.

First, they gave Fang steak and put him in wood ash, setting his timer to dusk. This was the correct one. Unfortunately, unlike the plant's name alluded, Fang was the gentlest of the quartet and was unlikely to lash out. The tentacula purred contentedly in his pot, chewing his steak. If the students wanted, they could reach out and pet him, and he would lean into their hand like a contented cat.

Bramble was given beetle jelly—which he happily and zealously accepted. However, his mood instantly changed when he was added to a peat loam pot. He started to sulk dramatically. In fact, the tentacula, known to be particularly melodramtic, keeled over as if dead within his pot. When his timer was set to midnight, he sneakily moved it to noon from while continuing to play dead. If approached by one of the students, perhaps in concern for his wellbeing, Bramble would spit a sticky sap unto their robes.

Noodle and Wink were far feistier. Noodle was put in clay, given flobberworms, and her timer set to dawn. She slapped the flobberworms onto the floor, leaving a horrific mess, and she then broke the pot of clay. Two of her long arms were crossed in a defiant position—it should be obvious to the students that she would not entertain being approached. Wink disliked being placed in sandstone and given fertilizer. She nearly growled while watching the students set her timer noon. When a student got close, she would shower them in an angry explosion of shedded, sharp leaves.

Mikey almost panicked as Bramble keeled over dramatically, half his brain yelling We killed it, the other half realizing it was faking or joking. “Oh come on,” he muttered, taking half a step back as a glob of something like sticky sap splattered his sleeve. “Perfect. I think he’s mocking us.” He shot Nyx a grin that landed somewhere between apology and panic. “You know, for plants that can’t talk, they’re surprisingly expressive.” He got down beside the parchment, eyes darting between the scribbled clues and the four restless tentacula. “Alright... clearly Bramble isn’t peat loam, so that throws off everything.”

He traced each clue with his finger. "Clay is dawn, that doesn't change.". Fang's steak and wood ash are doing so we know that's the correct one." He indicated the material Fang was purring in his pot. "So now, peat loam is the one that gets watered at midnight so Bramble can't be peat loam. That works, because he detests flobberworm purée but did enjoy beetle jelly." His eyes shifted to the sandstone note. "And sandstone contains beetle jelly, is that correct? And then Bramble's sandstone and noon I believe.

He looked toward Noodle, who had smashed her clay pot and refused flobberworms. “She refuses beetle jelly and prefers clay or peat loam. so maybe peat loam instead of clay. If Bramble took sandstone, Noodle can have peat loam at midnight it fits the clue perfectly doesn't it.” Then there was Wink, prickly and glaring. “That leaves clay for dawn, which makes sense since Wink is watered earlier than fertilizer, and fertilizer hasn’t been used yet.” He turned to Nyx with a cautious grin. “So fertilizer must go with Bramble at noon. Wink gets dawn, clay, and flobberworm purée. Bramble gets sandstone, fertilizer, noon. Noodle gets peat loam, steak, and midnight right. Wait, n, that can't be right." Mikey was getting increasingly frustrated.

Finally, it clicked. “Okay... hear me out.” He said as he pointed at each plant in turn
“Fang: Wood ash, steak, dusk.” Then “Bramble: Coarse sandstone, fertilizer, noon.” after that
“Noodle: Peat loam, flobberworm purée, midnight.” and last “Wink: Clay, beetle jelly, dawn.”
He exhaled slowly, looking up at the plants with a hopeful grin. “Alright, everyone happy now? Please don’t eat us.”