Summer Camp Herbology Workshop Closed

Interaction with Mia Alexander

Yes it wasn't the smartest thinking for Mary to say something like that with the professors so close but it was true and Mary just threw it out there.

Really? I, for one, actually am. Or I'm just obsessed with Professor Wright. Take your pick.

Mary let out a small genuine laugh at that. It was good to know that at least some students at Hogwarts had a sense of humor, most of the ones shes met all were too serious or too snobby. Luckily though, Mia seemed to be one to understand a joke rather than be offended in it.

Are you? Or who is? I'd love to know...
Mia contemplated telling Mia the truth. No Herbology wasn't really her thing and she really only signed up because well she needed to put herself out there somehow. On the other hand she didn't want Mia to take offense in her not really having intrest. No she wasn't the only one who didn't quite know why they signed up but she was the only one of them that was talking about it. She decided on being honest with Mia.

"I know a few of the first years aren't that intriguedby the lesson, honestly myself included, but i cant say that i talk to second years enough to know." "Maybe it'll be fun though, you never know" Mary gave a small smile at the end of it with a shoulder shurg.

She hoped Mia wouldn't think down on her because she has a lack of interest. When a thought crossed Mary's mind, Why did Mia pick a first year,especially me, as her partner?" Maybe she would quiz Mia on it later.

And so the adventure began. The children began to pair off, and Sorrel was almost ready to settle down. The children would be able to find a friend, or maybe even make one. Sorrel, while not really a fan of children, still had a fondness for those who loved her subject, and any who would sign up for her workshop won her favor. Sorrel almost got up to help aid students in getting partners, but she could do anything, there was a loud noise as the aiding professor stalked into the cabin. He was obviously mad over something, but what? She had asked him nicely, and he had seemed willing enough to help out. She had even brought him chocolate just in case, why was he so mad?

He started to take control, fast as lighting, with comments that made Sorrel want to shrink into a shell of herself and hide. Why was Valtome so mean? Could he not, at least, attempt a sense of kindness when around children? A stronger woman would of snapped back at the professor, but Sorrel’s strength did not lie in defending herself, it lay with the plants she took care of.

A small frown adorning her face, along with a blush that was redder than the sun, Sorrel waved the children out of the cabin with the Potions Professor. When even the last of the group was gone, she carefully grabbed her own basket, and shut the door of the cabin, leaving the lovely room.

A few of the pureblood children caught Sorrel’s eye, as her parents had gossiped and forced Sorrel to know quite a bit about pureblood families, and the children who attended Hogwarts as heirs and offspring of those Sorrel had come to hear of from her gossiping parents. Nonetheless, blood status meant nothing to Sorrel. Even at her parent’s urging, the status of blood did not determine the status of children in her class. Only the students that were good in her class would be rewarded for being good in her class, there would be no grade giving based on one’s status. Even so, Sorrel studied a few of the children, before turning her gaze back to the looming forest.

In the back of the group, keeping an eye on the children, the trees of the forest came into view later for Sorrel. The trees were tall, and their dark green canopy blocked out the sun. Even in broad daylight, shadows filled the forest, and wet moss covered the ground the children and professors walked on. Mist filtered in through the treeline, spooling onto the ground, and whisping through the trees.

Faint sunlight shown in through the trees, but the further the group went into the forest, the further away the light seemed. After they reached a clearing, there was hardly any light. Just enough to see and move in, but not enough to blind the eyes, or make it hard to see. One would have to adjust to the faint light to be able to look around the clearing, but once they did, they would see footprints of hooves leading away from the clearing.

The dark green leaves of the tears fell in piles onto the ground, leaning on the trunks of the tall trees that towered above all of their heads. The grass was wet, and even more covered in hoofprints, along with blood splatters.

The edges of the clearing were covered in plants and shrubbery, ripe for the picking. Standing next to the other Professor, Sorrel pointed to the two sides of the clearing, “Go on, find some plants. Remember to stay in your partners, and if you don’t have one, check that someone else is alone, before going off.”

If you are not partnered up, feel free to take a basket on your own.
From now on, you are expected to post your actions at the end of every post.
Only three actions are allowed per posting round, talking is not one of them
After Professor Valtome posts, a round is over. When I post, the next round begins.

INTERACTION!
Mary Brown

Following the Herbology professor, Mia paid minimal attention to the girl beside her. She was blabbering-something about how she didn't really like Herbology that much. Which was okay. Not everyone did.

Maybe it'll be fun though, you never know.

The girl gave a small shoulder shrug, and Mia looked on with a neutral expression. She didn't really know what to say-the girl wasn't really sparking any conversation, just blabbering, and Mia was starting to get actually bored. Maybe actually talking to the first year was a mistake.

The canopy of trees started getting thicker, and Mia looked up, mystified. She didn't particularly like nature, but she had to admit that the not-so-Forbidden Forest was interesting enough. Especially when the mist began to seep through the trees.

The group finally came to a stop, in the middle of a clearing with almost no light. It wasn't an obvious choice, save for the abundance of shrubs around the edges, and some hoof prints in the middle, some splattered with...was that water?

Go on, find some plants. Remember to stay in your partners, and if you don’t have one, check that someone else is alone, before going off.

Grabbing the basket tighter in her hand, Mia took Mary's hand and dragged her to the edge of the clearing harshly, following the hoofprints. She didn't give the younger girl much choice-she was curious. Very curious.

The light was so faint she couldn't really see where they were leading, so she bent down, trying to study them closer. There was some dark liquid near them, and Mia let go of the younger girl's hand to stick her fingers in the liquid. Was it blood? That was weird.

Shaking her head, Mia looked closer at her hand, where the blood was staining her fingers. It was so red in the dark, and so watery that Mia doubted that it was actually blood. But it must have been. What else could it be?

INERACTION
Mia Alexander

Mary could sense that the girl didn't quite care what she was saying as she was sending bored stares her way,so Mary decided that silence would be better than her talking for no reason.

The silence between her and the second year meant that Mary had time to loose herself in the beauty of the forest. She had never been in the forbidden forest before and it surprised her at how amazed she seemed to be at the place. Trees hung over them hiding any light trying to barge through and many wonderous plants lined the forest ground. Mary tried to take everything in , almost forgetting the people around her. She.as she said before. didn't have quite the interest in learning about the plants but she couldn't help but admire how they looked.

The group of students came to a stop in a small dimmly lit area of the forest.

Go on, find some plants. Remember to stay in your partners, and if you don’t have one, check that someone else is alone, before going off.

Mary was about to tell Mia about an area full of plants to pick when Mia gripped her hand and dragged her off to the edge of the dim clearing. The older girl let go of Mary's wrist as she bent down to inspect something Mary though was a little upset at the harshness of Mia. Cradling her wrist Mary spoke a little offendly "Hey whats the de-" Mary stopped when she notcied that Mia had stuck her fingers into some type of liquid. What is that? Mary thought to herself. What could that possibly be?

"what-what is that?" Mary asked quizically. "Its not-do you think..." Mary drifted off.

Mary didn't want to think it was blood but the liquid seemed a very dark red and really what other liquid would come to someones head when they saw that?. Mary stared at the other girl waiting to see what she said. She didn't quite know what to think.

Actions!
Observe Forest, Discover blood with Mia

Interaction with Alaska Remillae and either Mia Alexander or Mary Brown

Amanda turned to her partner, Alaska. “Professor Valtome isn’t very soft spoken, huh?” Amanda commented as they followed the Potions and Herbology professors outside. As the group walked into the forest, Amanda couldn’t help but shiver. It wasn’t cold outside, in fact it was considerably hot, but something about the forest gave off an eerie aura to Amanda. The trees were tall and dark, their forbidding stature seemingly warning them to stay away. Even though there was plenty of sunlight, the forest was still as dark and gloomy as ever. Who knows what kind of spooks hide in here, Amanda thought to herself. But they were in broad daylight so there was no need to be afraid. Amanda took a deep breath. She wasn’t a very courageous individual. I’m here to harvest plants and learn more about Herbology, not freak out, Amanda reminded herself. Besides the fact that the forest didn’t seem too friendly, Amanda was rather enjoying herself, even though she wasn’t particularly fond of Herbology. It was a fun alternative to staying indoors all day. She also liked the fact that she had gotten to chat with Alaska some more. Making new friends is what she was here to do, after all. Amanda noticed two girls away from the group looking intently at something. “Come over here real quick, she said to Alaska as she began walking towards the two girls. She stood a little ways away from them and peered over them. Her eyes widened. Is that blood? she thought, her mind racing with the possibilities of what could’ve happened there. She tapped on one of the girls shoulder. “Um excuse me?” she asked timidly. “Is that blood that you two are looking at?

Action: follow Professor Valtome and Professor Wright outside and discover the blood

As he left the building, following the terrifying professor at a safe distance, Kaegen reflected on the facts he knew about the man. He moved smoothly. It was a different kind of grace than the one Kaegen possesed, the potions professor having a more elegant grace that showed off his beauty, Kaegen possessing a more savage grace, a grace that reminded some of the curling smoke and mists. The grace marked the man as a predator, someone who was clearly towards the top of the food chain. Someone not to be trifled with.

His language was difficult to understand, it was tricky and long and marked the man as someone of considerable intelligence, which in turn translated into cunning. A cunning predator was a dangerous predator. In addition to that, he was clearly the herbology professor’s superior. She shrank back from him, her body language screamed inferiority. If he was better than his fellow professors he was clearly far better than the little ravenclaw prefect.

In addition to that, he didn’t smell right. Not like everyone else. He smelled less than human, in a way Kaegen couldn’t quite grasp. But none of the other students were looking at him and sniffing strangely, so he couldn’t be sure if he was imagining things or not. For all he knew this was just a trick of the wind.

All the factors combined to form a truly threatening image. One that reminded Kaegen just how weak he was, just how easy it would be for the potions professor to snuff out the little candle that represented the ravenclaw’s life. He was scared of the professor, and that fear led him to keep his distance.

But then he smelled something, something wonderful. He had smelled it before and had decided to avoid it, only to find his feet walking in that direction anyway. It smelled like blood, and it made his mouth salivate. The boy’s mouth started to hurt a little bit, and his pupils started to grow, spreading and darkening little by little as he approached the splatters. He turned to look back at the herbology professor, tired expression gone from his face, eyes fully opened and clearly larger and darker than they should have been.

He didn’t waste much time looking at the professor, because seconds later the head smoothly turned back in the direction of the blood. There were so many other students there, he hated going into large crowds. The chance that someone was going to stab you in the back was absurdly high. But there was no helping it, the blood was there, and he wanted to get to the blood. It was a craving, an urge that was bubbling up higher and higher.

Self preservation and fear of the possibility of knives in the back kept him at bay, and he instead chose to stare at the potions professor with too large eyes. If he couldn’t get at the blood he would at least keep an eye on the most dangerous person in the area. Survival was a giant part of who the ravenclaw was, it made up most of his psyche, sharing the majority of his brain with curiosity. And today, curiosity had lost.

ACTION: Follow Professor Valtome, Smell the blood but stay back

Ami caught up with her easily. She wasn’t exactly surprised to be completely fair. The girl towered over her. She wasn’t exaggerating, Ami must of been at least half a foot taller than herself. Quickening her pace, the Hufflepuff shouted from next to her - right next to her ear as well, and practically deafening her. "Professor Valtome! What exactly are we doing today?" how could this girl be so confident? Never I’m her dizziest daydream would she even think of talking to a professor like the man Ami had just called out too. She assumed it must be her American side coming through. Most Americans she had met were very confident.

Excitement washed over her as the group was lead into the forest. It gave off an eerie feeling, as if it knew something she didn’t and was prepared to do whatever it needed to keep its secrets hidden inside. Even so, it was gorgeous. It felt good to finally be inside the forest. She had been itching to come inside since she had first stepped foot on the castle grounds - and she didn’t know how much longer she could of held back. Hopefully this would satisfy her rebellious need for adventure.

Stopping somewhere within the forest, the Herbology professor addressed them. ”Go on, find some plants. Remember to stay in your partners, and if you don’t have one, check that someone else is alone, before going off.” Looking around, she saw a gathering of girls off to the edge of the group. Making up her mind, she grabbed Amis wrist and pulled her over to the girls. As she got closer she recognised only one of the girls - Mia Alexander, the Slytherin that she had spoken to at the bonfire a few nights ago who was also, incidentally, in her cabin.

Ignoring the other few girls, she addressed Mia. ”Mia? Hi, could me and Ami join you? And, of course, the others?” She questioned, only now acknowledging the rest of the small group. Glancing down at the ground, her breath stopped short as she caught sight of something that looked oddly like blood. It couldn’t be, could it? Snapping her head back up, she looked around into the depths of the forest for some sort of clue that told her that it had to be fake. But for all she knew, it could just be real. After all, who was she to judge what was real or fake within the forest?

”Is that, blood?” She whispered, in a hushed voice. It was like she was afraid of the forest overhearing her. She shouldn’t be. It was just a forest, right? Only a magical forest in the grounds of a school that trained underaged witches and wizards that would do anything to stay out of trouble. The feeling of excitement had vanished, instead replaced with fear. What was she to know of the secrets this forest kept hidden, unknown to outsiders? There could very well be an acromantula in here, maybe even a few lethifolds. And it had to be given that there was a boggart or two inside the length of the forest.

She only knew one thing for sure about this forest - that it was to be treated with great caution. One wrong move in here could see it sending out a herd of Quintapeds at you. She was surprised at how she had just basically referred to the forest as alive. It took her a few seconds to realise that it indeed was alive in its own strange way. But, of course, she was not one to make decisions like this. After all, she was just some second year who did not know what she was talking about. Who was she to judge what was wrong and what was right, or the going ons within the forest. She was just a child, was she not? It was not her place to voice opinions such as this, or to make decisions such as those. Biting her tongue, she came to the conclusion that she was to shut up and say nothing about the matter at hand.

ACTIONS: Follow the professors to the Forbidden Forest. Drag Ami over to the group described. Look around.

Professor Valtome was quite the character - Max's eyes followed the man with his brows raised in amusement at the tirade the half-elf directed at poor Professor Wright. He wondered if it was an elf thing to be so concerned about looks or just a Valtome thing... Either way, he had to respect the no-nonsense attitude. They needed someone like that to keep the students in line because Merlin knew a bunch of Hogwarts students could totally destroy what should be a nice trip in a matter of moments. At this point, he wouldn't be surprised if they ended up burning down the whole of the Forbidden Forest just to try to create some light.

"Yeah, let's go," he answered Dorothy with a dip of his head, following Valtome but making sure to keep pace with his partner. This was the first time he'd be entering the Forbidden Forest and he was curious as to whether or not it was as foreboding as people made it out to be. The childish part of his brain half expected the trees to be alive, glaring down on them with malice like something out of a Tolkien novel. He'd read for a fact that there had been big spiders out here too - hopefully the professors didn't let them get snatched up by Shelob or something.

Continuing on, his nervousness increased as the dappled light became more shadowy, casting the forest in an eerie gloom that put one in mind of dusk rather than morning or midday. Was it that the leaves were snatching the light up before it hit the ground or was something more sinister at play? At one point in time Voldemort himself had prowled this place and there were who knew how many other creatures with the power to seriously injure someone here. Why did the adults of Hogwarts insist on courting danger with every event?

"I hope you know some offensive spells, because I have no doubt something will go wrong," Max sighed to Dorothy, shifting the basket in his arm as everyone filtered into the clearing to take in the sights. After his eyes adjusted, his unease grew to a nauseous ache in the back of his throat at the sight of blood. It still somewhat bothered him after the lock-in, and with the centaur hoof-prints nearby... Hopefully it had simply been a fight between the proud creatures. But it was concerning that they'd been this close to the edge of the forest when historically they stayed far from the school, only coming near when something bad was going on. Did it have something to do with the masked figure that had been caught, or was it just a war between centaur factions? He dearly hoped they wouldn't have to find out - other kids could follow the blood trail if they wanted, but it seemed much safer to stay near professors who could protect them.

"Shall we at least gather up some of the herbs here before going deeper to look for more?" he asked the Hufflepuff girl now, content to let others check out the blood while they picked out some of the choicer plants. It was too dark to make out exactly what kind of plants adorned the sides of the clearing, but he supposed one area was as good as the next. "What do you think? Left or right side?"

ACTIONS:
-Follow Professor Valtome
-Ignore the blood for now
-Suggest gathering plants, leaving place up to Dorothy

Parcel followed the professors into the forest. he let out an audible little sigh of amazement as they started walking underneath the trees. Parcel gazed up at the branches twisting their way above them, creating an umbrella that filtered the light, creating a darker atmosphere then they had leaving the great hall after breakfast.

Parcel had been blinking quite rapidly at the beginning, his eyes not used to the light, but after they had walked for some time, Parcel could feel his eyes slowly adapting to the lack of light in the forest. Just as he felt he could look around without straining his eyes, Parcel noticed they had come to a clearing. He could see lots of hoofprints in the grass and found himself wondering what had made them. He had heard rumors about unicorns in the forest, they would certainly be walking on hooves. Perhaps a horse? But were there wild horses in the forbidden forest?

Before he had time to think any more on it, Parcel saw something that pulled his attention away from the hoofprints. BLOOD! He could see something that clearly looked like blood!
Apparently, Parcel wasn’t the only one that had seen it, for a group of students had already walked over and were examining it.
A smarter man then Parcel would probably have let it be, and instead used this time to find the best plants. But Parcel’s urge to explore all he could was kicking in and there was no way he could see blood and not let it interest him.

Turning his head, Parcel looked behind him for Aurelia, his partner. “I’m just going to check out that over there” Parcel pointed at the group that had gathered around the blood splatter. “But I’ll be quick, we can get right to the picking after that”

Having said what he wanted to do, he started walking towards the group of students. Finding himself a few drops of blood that wasn’t entirely surrounded by others, Parcel crouched down beside it.
He put his index finger in the blood and looked at the stain that now was on his finger. He rubbed his thumb on it, trying to feel its consistency and temperature. He had seen his grandfather do the same on one of his family camping trips, and by doing this Parcel hoped to get an idea of how long ago the blood was spilled.

Parcel also started peering around in the vicinity he was in. Studying the ground around him and the trunks of the closest trees. Parcel hoped he could see something interesting, maybe a plant, or a blood trail if there was any.

Actions:
-Walk up to the bloodstained ground
-Feel the blood with his finger, check for temperature and consistency (is it dried up, sticky, liquid)
- Perception check for the area around him

Interacts with Syrah Steele

The walk into the forest was exciting. Lucy went on high alert, ready for hags and ghosts and other unsavoury characters to swoop down on the unsuspecting group. After all, this was the Forbidden Forest. It wasn't like it was going to be safe -- right? But the further she walked behind the other students and Professor Valtome, the more she relaxed. The plants were plentiful and beautiful, the lighting was otherworldly, and she found her head pivoting from left to right, drinking in the beautiful scenery.

"Wow," she breathed to Syrah, gesturing at the forest. "Who knew it was so beautiful?" By this point, they had reached the clearing and Lucy was totally relaxed. Perhaps bad things only happened in the forest at night. That seemed plausible. She noted the basket in Syrah's hand for the first time and grinned, happy that at least one of them was paying attention. Stuffing plants in her pockets or making a basket out of her sweatshirt did not sound ideal at all.

"Go on, find some plants," Professor Wright instructed, and Lucy didn't need to be told twice. A small cluster of students migrated to one side of the clearing, so Lucy skipped toward the other side. She didn't want to compete for plants. Since she was no longer on alert for danger, she completely missed the centaur tracks and the blood. Instead, she started gathering plants that looked somewhat similar to what they had used or identified in Potions before. There were some pretty white flowers that she couldn't help picking, and she also collected cuttings from a bush with dark green leaves and berries.

Actions:

*Cross the clearing away from the other students
*Collect a white flowered plant
*Collect a plant with dark green leaves and berries