Mandrakes for Medicine Finished

Hjørdis sighed softly to herself as she finished preparing the greenhouse. Supplies were running short. They had been making a lot of potions recently. She had no idea how many extra hours she had spent just brewing potions. It was actually rather relaxing getting back into potion brewing, and being able to use that skill once again. She loved potions and alchemy during her school years. She almost became a potions master - likely would have if her father had not insisted she followed the family line. 

Taking a pair of gloves out of her bag, as well as her own magenta coloured earmuffs, Hjørdis put them to the side. She would sit there, watching over the students whilst collecting her own mandrakes. She was not a believer of making the students do all of the work. But their help was essential. It meant she would not have to be sitting here all night doing them. If they could help, things would go much faster. Even if each first year only pulled one mandrake, that would be replenish their supplies greatly and allow the head of Slytherin more time to do her other tasks.

As such, volunteers were requested to help speed the process up. They would, of course, be rewarded for their hard work, effort and time. At the door, there was a table of earmuffs that they could use. There was only one pair available for each student. She would allow them to take these with them, after they had completed the task. Students were asked to bring their own gloves, the ones that they would normally use for Herbology anyway.

Luckily all volunteers had already their herbology lesson mandrakes. This ought to be relatively simple for her. She would not have to teach, at the very least. Being safe around the mandrakes was very important but she really was not in the mood to teach children something they really should know. As the volunteers were entered the room, they would be instructed to take a pair of earmuffs and pick any empty spot. There were at least twenty tables set up, each sitting multiple students. So there would be plenty of spaces for students and even opportunities to pair up.

Hjørdis was pretty much there if anyone had any pressing questions but she would happily just work in silence. To be fair to her though, she actually enjoyed silence. It was a nice relief to the usual chaos that happened here.

OOC: You don't have to interact with Jensen, just assume she's there and working. If you want to though, please feel free to! You can make as many posts as you wish - though they must be over 200 words each. Please put a [THREAD LEFT] comment at the end of your post when you're leaving the thread so it's easier to track.

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*open for interactions
though i can't guarantee you'll get anything out of calanthe other than grunts and sneers

When Calanthe received the letter from her mother, she had half a mind to throw the thing away without opening it.

What sense does it make, anyways? It’ll just be more of the same.

More nonchalant updates about her life without her husband, sharing tidbits of teasers for Calanthe’s favorite shows and refusing to acknowledge the giant elephant in the room. The young witch was far beyond tired of it. She decided to let the letter simmer for a couple of days. Maybe after she cooled down, her thoughts would be different.

The piece of paper sat in Calanthe’s trunk for almost four days before an owl delivered her another letter during breakfast. Despite her mother’s desperate tries to contact Calanthe, she never sent more than one letter per week. The occurrence intrigued Calanthe, but she still tossed it into the trunk along with the previous one as well as the hoards of opened letters that had not seen a reply.

When a third letter came the day after, Calanthe was sure that her mother was at her wits end. That, or something was terribly wrong. Giving in, Calanthe opened the letter and what she found made her grab a quill, ink and parchment to respond for the first time since she started receiving letters.

The first unopened letter detailed an illness spreading around the world at a rapid pace, but her mother assured that it had not reached the United Kingdom yet. The second letter seemed rushed and the handwriting had a striking resemblance to her mother’s notes after a long day of surgeries. It informed Calanthe of the worsening conditions. The third letter was written in a tone that Calanthe had not seen on the other letters; it demanded a response. Not long after, Hogwarts had announced the cancellation of the Blossom Ball and revealed its plans to assist the muggle community.

For the entire term, Calanthe had done the bare minimum. She refused to keep up in classes, refrained from making friends and of course, stayed far away from any sort of extracurricular activity that involved socializing. But this was a different monster. Both her parents worked as hospitals and were probably risking infection everyday to do their job. Sure, Calanthe was less than thrilled with them right now, but she could not stay away this time. Her wildly beating heart prevented it.

Understanding nothing of mandrakes because of the previously stated refusal to pay attention in class, Calanthe reluctantly made her way to the library to read up on the subject. The content was so fascinating that the effort she spent forcing herself to not be fascinated was exhausting. Unsure if she could remember all the details, Calanthe decided on checking a book out of the library and made her way down to the Greenhouses.

Expecting to be one of the last ones there, Calanthe was surprised to find herself as the first person in the Greenhouse with the exception of the white-haired Head of Slytherin whose name she did not know. Clearly present as some sort of supervisor, Calanthe debated asking her for assistance with the Mandrake collection. However, she chose not to in fear of getting yelled at for not listening during the lesson.

Fear? No, I’m not afraid. Getting yelled at will only take up too much of my time… yes, that’s it.

Setting up in a far corner, hopefully away from the other students who decided to show up, Calanthe opened up the book to the marked page and was immediately reminded by the text that earmuffs were essential for this endeavor. Quickly scurrying back to the table by the door, she picked up a pair and walked back to the table with her head down, hoping the other person in the room did not notice. She was already back at her spot when she reminded herself to not worry about those sorts of things.

Putting on the earmuffs and pressing on them tightly, Calanthe skimmed over the words on the page again before tugging on her dragon-hide gloves. Grabbing onto the stem, the young witch was about to pull when she realized she hadn’t any idea of where to put the mandrakes when they were removed from their pots. Releasing the stem and stepping back, Calanthe grabbed her fingers to stop them from shaking. When she calmed down, she waved over the Head of Slytherin and called out from across the classroom.

“Excuse me…uhm…miss. Where do I put the mandrakes after I pull them out of the pot? Are we just re-potting them or...?"

Word Count: 763/400

She had always had a suspicion being good at Herbology would come in useful. It had an inherent practicality that other disciplines lacked. This appeared incredibly clear once a terrible pandemic had begun to ravage the muggle world. Ruthie had spent the days worrying about the muggle side of her family, and every owl from home she opened with trepidation as the pandemic showed no signs of slowly. It would only be a matter of time before it reached the furtherest most reaches of Scotland. And she was thrilled when the school finally decided to jump in and do something to help. She had even volunteered to help with the second year task. As for the first year task, she agreed with Lark they'd meet down by the greenhouses to take on the work.

Following her classes, she swung her satchel over her shoulder and immediately started down the path towards the greenhouses. It was off to walking the the garden path yet again to help someone, but she had hope this time would be much more successful than the attempt to intercept Shauna. She had expected to see more students coming along this way, but perhaps she was just early. Exceptionally she was to be fair.

Still, she turned into the greenhouses to find Professor Jensen and one other student she didn't know amongst about twenty tables lined with the supplies they might need. The muggle situation was serious and was glad to see Hogwarts was taking it seriously. She could only hope it would be enough. Taking one of the earmuffs from where Professor Jensen had left a stack, she moved towards the the tables to find a good spot for her and Lark. The earmuffs she had taken were clearly used with scratches--they had looked better when she first picked them up--but at least they were blue, which beyond being her house color, was one of her favorites. Blue would always remind her of the sea.

As a she settled into a corner seat near one of the greenhouse windows, she reached into her satchel to pull out her dragon hide gloves. They were pretty standard as any other student's, but would get the job done. In front of her was a wide pot with soil and the mandrake sprout popping out just over the edge. She recalled doing this before and it hadn't exactly been pleasant, but now it was necessary. Snapping the earmuff flaps over her ears, she glanced briefly up to look for Lark. But not seeing her, she wanted to settle into the task. Gasping the mandrake root, she winced before she pulled on it hard to pull it out of the pot.

WC: 450 | Mentioning @Lark Flaer | Open to Interactions

Open to Interactions!

COVID-19 was something that Piérre had never heard of.

Well, correction, he would have heard of it if he still lived with his Muggle parents. Alas, it was only because Mathilda was a witch and that she had very little interest in actually sharing with her adopted charges that the Muggle world was in extreme disarray that Piérre hadn't heard about the pandemic until just a day earlier when people started sharing rumors of an underground wizarding event in which those from the wizarding world would be secretively disseminating the antidote to the biological danger.

Of course, the second the boy had heard of it, he had been more than excited. This was his first chance to put his magical knowledge to the test! It had always been in his interest to return to the Muggle world and help others, and even with the Trace that was still going to be on him for at least 6 years, Piérre wanted to make it his priority to be a sort of... he didn't even know, a renegade of sorts? A vigilante? Yeah, vigilante sounded more like it.

That was why he was now with a few other first years, having collected a pair of green earmuffs, Pleeease? which looked very nice with his black jacket, for just a little fun and hands on experience with some notorious mandrake roots. Initially, he had tried to sneak into the group that was actually going to go to London (after all, he had purchased some floo powder when he had bought Figaro, who by now was in his pouncing and teething stage. Piérre had had to leave the kitten behind, and he was eager to keep the little one a secret for as long as possible.), but he had been found and turned away towards the Herbology gardens again.

Oh well. Piérre traipsed over to the first root and tested it, feeling the movement of the creature, or rather, the baby-like child, that was beneath the soil. With a shrug, Piérre snapped on his earmuffs, making sure to cover the center of his ear which lead to his eardrum instead of the extra point that tapered to the ends of his elvin ears. While the ears were especially good at picking up noises, when it came to mandrakes, they were too good, and sometimes Piérre had to cover his ears, even with the earmuffs in use. It was a bit of a shame. Piérre had wanted to actually brew the antidote or distribute it rather than just get the raw ingredients, but then again, if he and other first years or students weren't willing to collect ingredients, who would do it?

With a deep breath, Piérre grinned like a madman, and with a final tug with no fear of what could come of it, Piérre yanked the first Mandrake root out of the ground.

And the noise was STUPENDUS.

It was a wailing that even behind the protective earmuffs sounded like a completely obnoxious baby that was testing thee full capacities of its lungs for the first time. It was something that caused Piérre to jump and drop the plant and then reach down to pick it up.

"OKAY, I GOT THE PLANT!!! WHAT DO I DO NOW!?!?!" The young Britalian attempted to shout over the wailing of the plant, and probably didn't do the sounds a justice.

569 words

Grace just read a letter from her father, it said something about a virus in the muggle world, called Covid-19. Grace felt like crying, what would happen to her family? She stayed in her bed, hands covering her face, she shaked, tears not coming out of her eyes though. Grace took a book, she already read that one, she checked her stack on her side table, there was a stack on the floor too, she finished all those. Grace put the book back and Grace looked outside the Ravenclaw tower window, bored without anything to do, she already read the letter so many times she memorized it. As she looked at the beautiful blue sky her eyes trailed down to the greenhouses, she noticed the head of Slytherin, Professer Jensen and some students were doing something, she tried to check what they were doing, it looked like they were pulling something out of something. Grace smiled and turned, she walked a bit fast, tripping over her stack of books on the ground, Grace groaned and put the stack on her side table, Grace checked her leg, just a bruise and a bleeding cut, she wiped it with a tissue, threw the tissue out, and slipped socks and shoes on, she left the dorm, closing the door quickly but quietly. Grace walked down the dorm stairs and left the common room, walking down stairs outside of the dorm, Grace skipped once she was outside, the wind blew on her face, making her long blonde hair whip behind her, Grace ignored it and walked to the greenhouses, when she got there she noticed the kids and Professer Jensen were harvesting Mandrakes, probably for that virus that’s going around. “Hi, can I help?” Grace asked, she guessed she could because another kid was joining. Grace went and got a pair of purple earmuffs, and got her protective gloves from her bag, she slipped them on, put her bag away, and started, she remembered doing this in Herbology, so the noise would probably be less painful the second time, right? Grace pulled a root out, and she was wrong, the baby Mandrake’s piercing scream was brutally loud, but Grace smiled and turned to Professer Jensen “WHERE DO I PUT THE MADNRAKE AFTER!?” Grace screamed, the noise of this Mandrake + the other Mandrakes + the earmuffs made it impossible to hear her own voice.

Word Count: 403

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Current word count:
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Ever since the terrible news of the pandemic started, Breana's monthly mailing to and from her parents had become weekly. Her first priority every morning is to get her hands on the closest muggle newspaper she could find. The once chipper and bright little girl became more quiet, her expression having a constant furrowed look on her. All she could think about are her parents, especially her father. Since their town went into lockdown, the family bookshop had the unfortunate turn of having lower profits. Some of the more loyal customers still try to buy through delivery, but it became harder to deliver books as the quarantine started becoming more serious, and more dire. Her parents even resorted into visiting food bank lately. Breana couldn't help but feel guilty that she's living so lavishly in Hogwarts. This gave her all the more reason to help out here with the mandrakes.

Tired from all the constant worry, she wanted to be greatly prepared once she heard about this plan with the mandrakes. She pulled an all-nighter, studying the best and most efficient ways one would extract a mandrake root. Unfortunately, this also gave her the side effects of having bags under her eyes the following day, but that's just another small sacrifice for the greater good. Breana headed into the first greenhouse, mandatory (and green) earmuffs on her head, determined to help as much a possible.

She saw the head of the Slytherin house, Professor Jensen, watching over the small number of students already doing the work. On the back of her mind, Breana wondered if Professor Jensen had met her mother, since she seemed to be around her age, or even younger. She made a mental note to ask her about her Slytherin days another time, since now is not the time for idle chit-chat.

She glanced over at the other students, some already taken out the first of their mandrakes. Thankfully, the ear shattering cries have been dumb down by the earmuffs, but the sound is still as grating as grinding tin foil against one's teeth. Breana shuddered, moving towards a pot with a mandrake's leaves still sprouting out on it. She pulled her sleeves back, and in one swift movement, pulled the mandrake out from its pot.Due to her lack of sleep, the poor girl's brain is at a standstill, not knowing what should be the following move afterwards. She looked at the others, hoping someone or anyone can help her out with her sleep-deprived brain.

Hjørdis sighed. She loved potions but there was a few moments that she disliked. Mandrakes were one of them. They were so noisy. It was a pain. It had not even been two minutes of peace and quiet before she was being summoned by the children, still trying to deal with the screams from the mandrakes. Thank god she had her earmuffs on, to help muffle out a bunch of the noise. 

She pulled out another mandrake, throwing it into a box nearby. There were already four inside there. She approached a young gryffindor [CALANTHE] and quickly lip read what the girl was saying - mostly cos she could not hear it. "No no, don't re-pot them," She replied quickly, before the girl went and undid all of her hardwork. They needed the ingredients. Re-potting would just be a waste, "You can put them... in here." She paused for a moment to grab an empty box from nearby. Bringing her the box, she left it on the table for her so the girl could deposit the mandrakes in it easily. With that, she went to return to her seat. 

Before she got to her seat, she managed to hear a boy [PIERRE] screaming through all of the noise. "Wh-" This was followed by another student [GRACE]. Oh my god, why was everyone screaming? Hjørdis was not enjoying this. Raising her hand to catch everyone's attention, she brought a finger to her lips to indicate them all to be quiet for a moment. She then raised the hand as though to say 'stop'. 

She remained like this for another minute or two. Within time,  the room fell silent. Every mandrake had that been pulled quietened down. "There." She stated, pulling off her earmuffs to indicate that the others could do the same. "Now, everyone grab a box from over there. There's plenty of them but you can also share. Once you've pulled the mandrake out, just toss it into the box." She instructed, pointing towards a pile of boxes at the corner of the room. It was a plant, not a baby. They did not need to worry about hurting the plant. 

"Mandrakes will quieten down after some time. You don't need to yell." She continued, trying to prevent more children screaming at her, "Additionally, I am pretty apt at lipreading. You can just speak normally and I should be able to understand you." She added as an afterthought. It was not hard, unless they were speaking in a different language. It was very odd having them shouting. Her own parents never shouted at her. Having children less than half her age screaming at her was certainly not something she enjoyed. "Now, you can continue," She instructed, moving back to her own table and grabbing another pot. She replaced her own earmuffs before anything else.

OOC: Please make sure you've done Herbology Year 1 Lesson 1. This is the prerequisite for this errand. You will not get rewards unless you've done this. Thank you!

Interacting with everyone.

Pericles' perception of this situation was presently a mystery. The lad had not spoken to anyone in person about the epidemic, save a small portrait of his parents. He had done his best not to ruminate over it, staying busy with his studies, avoiding inserting himself in conversations concerning the morbid virus. It was perfectly probable to assume his primary method of coping with it was to take the flight route. Yet when he heard he could help, even in this small capacity, the Ravenclaw could not resist doing something.

He entered the greenhouse with that trademark leather bag slung over a shoulder. Kneeling to the side of the door so as to rifle through its contents, the first-year pulled on his dragonhide gloves first and foremost. Protective gloves had been a mandatory school supply, but earmuffs had not, so he selected a pair provided for the errand. The color hardly mattered in a moment like this. Having heard a mandrake's scream could crack glass, Peri took the precaution to tuck his spectacles away, squinting eyes seeming less expressive or childishly large. Although unsure if this was a true fact, he was disinterested in taking the risk. Next, he took a moment to scan for those he recognized. The Ravenclaw nodded to his housemate Ruthie, though he did not know her well, and made sure to send a mute wave Pierre's way. While he didn't recognize the others already present (Calanthe and Grace), should he happen to catch their eye, the boy would muster up a mere ghost of his usual sweet smile, presenting what fragile happiness he had to offer out. Lastly, he gravitated towards Breana. They had not spoken since meeting in another errand, but her talent show performance made for a conversation topic, and she had seemed so nervous when they were introduced. This encouraged him to interact so that maybe, if the girl had a friend, her "shyness" would "wear off with time".

"Hullo Breana." Pericles spoke with that typical tenor: something calm and even, yet not unfriendly or formal. That smile of his remained lacking, though its attempt was earnest. He drew up to the table at her side, facing a pot of his own, and set his things upon the table while casually stoking a quiet conversation. "Did you know that there is a potent variation of the Wiggenweld potion, made with Mandragora-" he poked the pot "-and Wiggentree bark, which could counter the Draught of Living Death?" Then he paused, wavering, remembering another Ravenclaw he had tried to spout interesting facts at. The boy had misinterpreted an attempt at sharing information as showing off, a memory which made Peri's expression uncharacteristically awkward. Sheepishly, he prattled without waiting for an answer, hoping to correct himself: "That is ah- you probably did, I just find them... really practical." His smile flickered an apologetic shade before dwindling out, and he was gone, walking off in the opposite direction.

Thankfully, rather than simply blurting facts and running away, it seemed he was off to collect one of the boxes Professor Jensen indicated. He could not help cringing as the room filled with tiny shrieks, but brought the container to the table before wrenching out his own little mandrake. Pitying the thing, plant though it may be, the boy made an ungainly attempt at cradling it til it quieted down with the rest. He delicately lowered it into the box before touching the seemingly shell-shocked Breana's arm, indicating she do the same so he could lower the lid.

WC: 592

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Calanthe could only breathe a sigh of relief as the Head of Slytherin deposited a box on her table and walked away without interest in the book or her lack of knowledge on the subject of mandrakes. The girl almost muttered a thank you to the woman before she returned to her spot, but quickly stopped herself.

You don’t want to go around seeming grateful, do you?

Before Calanthe could return her hands to the stem, a shrill scream rang out around the greenhouse. She pressed her palms to the earmuffs for a couple of seconds, not missing the second and third mandrakes going off. After taking a few breaths, she removed her palms to see the Slytherin Head raise her hand. The students quieted and after a few minutes, so did the mandrakes.

Finally imbued with the knowledge that mandrakes quieted down on their own, Calanthe drew the textbook closer once more and skimmed its contents. It was the thing she was most confused about; wherever the mandrakes were stored, wouldn’t they just keep making noise? Thankfully, the Head of Slytherin appeared to read her mind. Of course, Calanthe would have probably known this if she had paid attention during the lesson, but she decided to berate herself later.

Stepping closer to the table and allowing one hand to grasp the base of the stem and the other to grip the edge of the pot, her eyes trailed across the classroom and she was suddenly self-conscious. Was she doing this wrong? Were they all laughing at her bad posture? She met the eyes of another white-haired figure, only this time it was a student. He mustered up a feeble smile and went on his way. Calanthe wished she could give some sort of response to stay away, like a look of contempt or a curl of the lip, but he went on his business before she could.

Releasing her hands once more, the witch shook herself off, bouncing on the balls of her feet. All while, the cries of mandrakes felt like they were piercing her brain and the noise made her want to rush the process. She read the pages of the textbook for a third time then pushed the book out of the line of dirt splatter and returned to her former position.

With one not-necessarily-fluid motion, she twisted and yanked as hard as she could, and the mandrake came straight up. Prepared for the screaming, Calanthe still winced and threw the thing into the cardboard box. Breathing quickly, she peered into the box and eyed the ugly root. It seemed as if she had done it correctly! It took everything in her to force down an excited reaction as she closed down the flaps of the box and moved over to grab another pot.

Total Word Count: 1231/400