26 May 2022, 05:32
Struggling Tendrils
October 26th - Period 4
Magic was confusing. In Herbology they had just started learning the Fire Making spell. Why they were learning it in Herbology, she was not quite sure. Yes, they were learning it as a defense against certain magical and aggressive plants that could cause them harm, which she understood. But the Fire Making spell was a charm - so should they not learn it in Charms class? Although, Mireia did figure there were a lot of spells out there and probably more than one Charms class could teach well enough in one year. So she did appreciate that.
What confused her more though was the fact that while the Fire Making spell was a charm - it was also a conjuring spell. It was conjuring fire after all. But conjuring, to her understanding, was a type of Transfiguration. So why was this not a transfiguration spell then?
Charms and transfiguration spells were very different. Charms required much less precision and care than transfiguration did. Although perhaps conjuring spells did not require as much perfection as other transfiguration spells. She wouldn't know, they had not learned about conjuring yet.
Either way, a new spell was always exciting, and this was a spell with fire! A spell she could surely use for the duelling club that she was planning on joining next year. But also a spell that really could be of use, just in daily life. From lighting the stove or fireplace or candle. Or even as a secondary light source to Lumos.
Either way the Herbology class today started not with the Fire Making spell, Incendio, but rather with the Devil's Snare, a dangerous magical plant.
They did not have assigned seats in Herbology class, mainly because they did not have seats. Most students often stood next to a friend, but often, depending on when students arrived, they would simply take the more open spot when available.
Mireia was nearly late for class this day, not for any particular reason, it just seemed to take her longer to get to the greenhouses than usually. She was moving a little slower today, she supposed. So when she arrived most spots were taken, so she grabbed the spot closest to the door as she walked in.
The bell soon chimed it's way across campus to signal class had begun and within an instant the greenhouse table that stretched in front of them all changed from a blank space to one with numerous potted viny plants. Mireia recognized these as small Devil's Snare plants, as they had learned about them in the past few classes in preparation for today's class.
After a moment Professor Irons walked in and addressed the class, explaining that they would be practicing a spell today.
The class had been learning about Devil's Snares along with one of the defences against them, the Fire Making charm, as the plants did not appreciate flame or light of any kind.
With his words, shutters on the walls of the greenhouse slid magically down and blocked nearly all the light in the building. Thankfully, some light still existed so the student could see. With the darkness the plants in front of them, previously still and shrunken in on themselves, began to move their tendrils out and about., Reaching for the students.
Professor Irons went on to reveal that they would be working in pairs today, with the student standing next to them. One of the students in the pair will allow themselves, such as their arm, to be trapped within the Devil's Snare, while the other would use the Fire Making spell to free the partner. Then they were allowed to switch back and forth as much as they wanted until the end of class.
And the class was off, erupting in chatter as formed their pairs with their neighbors and argued about who had to be trapped first. Mireia winced inwardly, she did not stand beside any of her fellow classmates with whom she normally works with, and instead stood by strangers whose faces she recognized, but names she could not recall.
She grimaced and looked to her side, only to see that neighbor had already chosen the student on their opposite side as a partner. She turned, then, to the other side hoping this neighbor was able and willing to partner up with her.
"Hey," She started meekly, "need a partner?"
Last edited by Mireia Sangre-Tenebri on 30 May 2022, 18:12, edited 1 time in total.
26 May 2022, 16:08
Struggling Tendrils
Dear @Mireia Sangre-Tenebri,
xxxxxxxxHerbology, to put it simply, was not Maggie's strongest subject. She had issues with distinguishing between certain plants (to be fair, all of them looked the exact same and how could Maggie be expected to know?), a lot of the lessons didn't make sense, and her natural inclination towards jumping right in and taking subjects without much thought or planning just got in the way. This was not the subject to get hasty in. Which was doubly unfortunate, since Maggie liked to try and get things out of the way as fast as humanely possible.
Herbology required you to handle everything with care and make sure that you were completely safe and protected in all aspects from every single thing that could possibly go wrong. Ever. Maggie didn't like putting on the dragon-hide gloves that were required to protect her from harmful substances that magical plants seemed to be teeming with, and she wasn't a huge fan of all the safety precautions that took valuable time away from her day. The ones she considered unnecessary and ridiculous.
Still, as Professor Irons spoke, Maggie listened. Sort of. She was really just sizing up the plant they were to be working with today--Devil's Snare--and looking around the classroom at other students. Was anyone else as bored as she? Was anybody actually looking forward to the activity?
Partners always made it better, though, and she noticeably perked up when the professor explained that they would be working in pairs. As horrible as it sounded, Maggie loved partner work. Not because it was more fun to work with a partner (though that might have been part of it), but because, if you had a smart partner, all that work could be disregarded in favor of letting your little companion finish it up.
As she was addressed, Maggie turned to the other girl, right, and furrowed her brows. She'd seen the Ravenclaw around, though they'd never really interacted. "Oh, yeah, sure," she blinked, "Could the snare wrap around my arm first? Do you think it could slowly creep up and choke me?"
With that, Maggie snaked her hands up to her neck, circling them around the pale column and feigning being choked out.
I really value when people use violence for me, it's actually one of my love languages.
29 May 2022, 01:08
Struggling Tendrils
Oh, she thought she might have to fight for the chance to practice the spell first. Who wants to be caught in a Devil's Snare when you could cast magic? Although, Mireia was not much of a fighter and probably would have folded immediately. Not that it really mattered who went first of course.
Mireia raised her eyes in amused surprise at the act that the girl put on before her. She willingly and gladly gave herself to the snare and went on to put on some theatrics. That's interesting, she thought. Although she wasn't sure what else to think about it just yet.
"Uh, yeah" Mireia chuckled, "I can try the spell first if you want. Hopefully I'll get you free before the snare makes it to your neck though." She stated a little nervously, both at the task ahead and the girls strange demeanor.
With that she took out her wand and tried to recall the incantation and wand movement. She hoped she could get it rather quickly as the girl seemed way too eager to get herself strangled.
"What's your name again?" She asked her now partner. She felt a little bad, she was sure that had come up in class before, but names were not her strong suit, unfortunately.
A few classmates had already started, she saw some sparks flying around the classroom. But for the most part the Devil's Snare plants were in control and their vines were snaking and crawling around the classroom. Several kids were totally caught up in them already and needed some outside help to get free, only to have to get caught up all over again so their partner had a chance to get the spell off.
"Ready whenever you are I suppose. I'll try to get it quick for ya." She said, a little nervously again, but this time nervous about her skill in the spell. She had put it off successfully before, but it was not a constant success. In fact it was a bit rare on her attempts. Even though Charms were a bit each for her, this one seemed to bit slightly more complicated as it was also a conjure.
Mireia raised her eyes in amused surprise at the act that the girl put on before her. She willingly and gladly gave herself to the snare and went on to put on some theatrics. That's interesting, she thought. Although she wasn't sure what else to think about it just yet.
"Uh, yeah" Mireia chuckled, "I can try the spell first if you want. Hopefully I'll get you free before the snare makes it to your neck though." She stated a little nervously, both at the task ahead and the girls strange demeanor.
With that she took out her wand and tried to recall the incantation and wand movement. She hoped she could get it rather quickly as the girl seemed way too eager to get herself strangled.
"What's your name again?" She asked her now partner. She felt a little bad, she was sure that had come up in class before, but names were not her strong suit, unfortunately.
A few classmates had already started, she saw some sparks flying around the classroom. But for the most part the Devil's Snare plants were in control and their vines were snaking and crawling around the classroom. Several kids were totally caught up in them already and needed some outside help to get free, only to have to get caught up all over again so their partner had a chance to get the spell off.
"Ready whenever you are I suppose. I'll try to get it quick for ya." She said, a little nervously again, but this time nervous about her skill in the spell. She had put it off successfully before, but it was not a constant success. In fact it was a bit rare on her attempts. Even though Charms were a bit each for her, this one seemed to bit slightly more complicated as it was also a conjure.
13 Jun 2022, 08:03
Struggling Tendrils
Dear @Mireia Sangre-Tenebri,
xxxxxxxxOh, goodie! A new partner for Herbology class! Hopefully, Mireia was good at Herbology. It would be pretty awesome if she was, like, a total whiz when it came to this sort of stuff. Maggie sure wasn’t, so, like, if Mireia decided that she was a mega genius, that would be great.
”Oh, I’m Maggie. You?” Looking around the greenhouse yielded moderate results. It was a little bit freaky, honestly, watching your fellow students be wrapped completely in Devil’s Snare. What if it wrapped around Maggie’s body and slowly squeezed the life out of her, leaving Mireia to sit and watch the light fade from her Slytherin classmate’s eyes? Or something. Something like that. Whatever. Maggie held out her hand, gently coasting her knuckles along the pot that held the snare inside. ”I hope I don’t die,” Maggie wrinkled her nose and glanced over at Mireia, stepping a bit closer to the table and allowing the Devil’s Snare to wind its way slowly up her hand. It wrapped around her fingers, then her palm, then slowly began its course up her wrist and forearm. ”Do you think it could kill me? Because I think this thing’s totally liable to kill me--” the plant had picked up speed and began to worm its way up her arm with a newfound fervor, a new speed, a new energy.
That Devil’s Snare seemed hellbent on Maggie’s face, curling the tip of its tendril around her ear, tugging on a strand of hair. Maggie laughed softly as it stroked her jawline, light touch on sensitive skin. Ah! Death by Devil’s Snare, destined to perish at the hands--no, vines--of a literal homework assignment.
How pathetic was that?
I really value when people use violence for me, it's actually one of my love languages.
16 Jun 2022, 03:24
Struggling Tendrils
"Mireia." She replied, and felt less bad about not knowing the girl's name, despite being in class with her the entirety of the year so far. Maybe she was too attentive of a student, spending too much of her focus on the lessons, and less time on the relationship aspect of school - which was just as important of a part. Or so her parents would preach. Not that she disagreed, really, just that she also really liked the lessons and did not want to miss anything.
Not that she was thinking about being friends with this girl, Maggie. But, not like she was thinking about not being friends with her either. The thought hadn't really crossed her mind yet. she was still mainly confused about the girl's interesting dialogue more than anything else. She hadn't yet decided if she liked it or not. It was certainly interesting though.
The snare plant, or vine, continued to work its grip tighter on the girl. Mireia wished Maggie hadn't rushed into entangling herself with the vines so quickly, she hadn't really been prepared to cast the spell so immediately. Her thoughts were jumbled as she half panicked about the speed of the vine, and half tried to focus on casting the spell she needed.
She worried, too, about the possibility of burning her classmate. She decided to point her wand at the base of the plant, rather than at the tendril that was snaking itself up Maggie's arm and nearer and nearer to her face. She wondered if given the chance, would the vine try to go up into her nose, or down her throat. Mireia had seen some horror movies where viney things did that and it always freaked her out. Seemed like one of the worst ways to go.
She shook her head of her thoughts and tried to concentrate. The fire-making spell. What was the incantation? You won't die, Mireia thought passively in response to the girl's strange remarks. The thought did not manage to make its way out of her mouth as she attempted to cast the spell and simply didn't have the time to respond.
"Incendio!" Mireia exclaimed, her wand pointed at the potted base of the plant on the table, a decent ways away from the skin of the girl, and waved her wand in the correct manner - or as best as she could do. Mireia thought it was one of the more complicated movements so far, drawing the shape of a flame with the tip of her wand in the air.
But the giggle of her partner set her off a bit. Such a strange time to giggle, and the confusion that swept her about Maggie, once again, threw her off and she immediately knew her wand movement was unacceptable. A pitiful spark came from the end of her wand and proceeded to light the general area around her wand ever so slightly. She did notice at least one leaf of the vine that was closest to her wand did seem to flinch in response, but not nearly enough to keep it from snaking its way closer to Maggie's orifices.
Frustrated, she tried one more time. She knew she could do this spell, they had been practicing, this was not the first time they had gone over the fire-making spell, and this would not be the first time she would successfully cast it. She knew she could do it and she needed to power through any distractions.
"Incendio!" She exclaimed once more, a bit louder this time, and accompanied her incantation with the correct flick of her wand.
Thankfully, this time, the spell works, and a glorious stream of fire shot out of the tip of her wand and went straight for the Devil's Snare embedded into the soft potting soil before her. She and Maggie's faces both lit up with the light and the snare reacted appropriately to the heat and light that was suddenly present.
Maggie was safe, for now.
Not that she was thinking about being friends with this girl, Maggie. But, not like she was thinking about not being friends with her either. The thought hadn't really crossed her mind yet. she was still mainly confused about the girl's interesting dialogue more than anything else. She hadn't yet decided if she liked it or not. It was certainly interesting though.
The snare plant, or vine, continued to work its grip tighter on the girl. Mireia wished Maggie hadn't rushed into entangling herself with the vines so quickly, she hadn't really been prepared to cast the spell so immediately. Her thoughts were jumbled as she half panicked about the speed of the vine, and half tried to focus on casting the spell she needed.
She worried, too, about the possibility of burning her classmate. She decided to point her wand at the base of the plant, rather than at the tendril that was snaking itself up Maggie's arm and nearer and nearer to her face. She wondered if given the chance, would the vine try to go up into her nose, or down her throat. Mireia had seen some horror movies where viney things did that and it always freaked her out. Seemed like one of the worst ways to go.
She shook her head of her thoughts and tried to concentrate. The fire-making spell. What was the incantation? You won't die, Mireia thought passively in response to the girl's strange remarks. The thought did not manage to make its way out of her mouth as she attempted to cast the spell and simply didn't have the time to respond.
"Incendio!" Mireia exclaimed, her wand pointed at the potted base of the plant on the table, a decent ways away from the skin of the girl, and waved her wand in the correct manner - or as best as she could do. Mireia thought it was one of the more complicated movements so far, drawing the shape of a flame with the tip of her wand in the air.
But the giggle of her partner set her off a bit. Such a strange time to giggle, and the confusion that swept her about Maggie, once again, threw her off and she immediately knew her wand movement was unacceptable. A pitiful spark came from the end of her wand and proceeded to light the general area around her wand ever so slightly. She did notice at least one leaf of the vine that was closest to her wand did seem to flinch in response, but not nearly enough to keep it from snaking its way closer to Maggie's orifices.
Frustrated, she tried one more time. She knew she could do this spell, they had been practicing, this was not the first time they had gone over the fire-making spell, and this would not be the first time she would successfully cast it. She knew she could do it and she needed to power through any distractions.
"Incendio!" She exclaimed once more, a bit louder this time, and accompanied her incantation with the correct flick of her wand.
Thankfully, this time, the spell works, and a glorious stream of fire shot out of the tip of her wand and went straight for the Devil's Snare embedded into the soft potting soil before her. She and Maggie's faces both lit up with the light and the snare reacted appropriately to the heat and light that was suddenly present.
Maggie was safe, for now.
10 Jul 2022, 21:44
Struggling Tendrils
Dear @Mireia Sangre-Tenebri,
xxxxxxxxMaybe the fact that Maggie was laughing like hell at the tendrils that were snaking their way up her face, but they truly did tickle. The tendrils were rubbing softly against the light dusting of hair that covered her skin, causing Maggie's sensitive nerve endings to fire up with excitement. It simply tickled, that was all. The idea that if Mireia failed at the spell Maggie might totally die, Devil's Snare wrapped around her neck, was kinda scary. A smarter student would acknowledge that Professor Irons would save any student who was on the verge of death by plants no hesitation, but Maggie wasn't... really a smart student. Which was fine.
For now, she'd keep on giggling about the death trap that was encircling her neck.
Or for, like, forty five seconds.
The spell had worked, and the firelight lit up Maggie's face in both light and warmth. She sighed as the snare retracted, slinking back into its pot, safe to strangle another day. Its most recent victim was safe from its clutches. How unfortunate.
"Oh, nice work!" She grinned, clapping her hands together and leaning against the table, palm pressed hard into the edge. Luckily, Maggie had come out on the other side unscathed. Now it was Mireia's turn, Mireia's turn to get rescued by the best spell caster in Hogwarts. No, in Scotland. In the entire United Kingdom. "Guess it's my turn, right? Wanna get yourself tangled up and go from there?"
I really value when people use violence for me, it's actually one of my love languages.