Today we will be studying Fenugreek and Lotus plants. They are very useful plants and have been use for centuries.

We will start with the Fenugreek.

Alfie pointed over to the table in front on the left side of the room.

This plant has one quality that means a great deal to me. Many Muggles suffer from Diabetics also know as high blood sugar.

If a person is found to have it at the early stages then they can take Fenugreek powder and place it in a 00 capsile taking 1 threee times a day to reduce their blood sugar and help the body to use the sugar slowly an this way their sugar out put will be reduce, causing less liver and kidney trouble and will at least make these part work right and better longer.

Are there any questions?

Alfie waved her wand and the homework appeared on the black board.
Oh by the way your homework will be to find or make a picture of Fenugreek and Lotus plants along with all the information you can find on these 2 plants.

Dalejin

::Dalejin had been sitting in the back of the classroom like he always did during lessons and jotted down the information that the professor gave and made a couple of his own assumptions. When she was finished with the lesson he found a new open place and then raised his hand.::"Professor can you please tell me what else the two herbs can be used for? Either in potions or by themselves and also where they are most commonly found? Such as in country, terrain location. Something along those lines."::Dalejin waited for the teacher to respond.::

Dream hurriedly walked into the class. She was relieved to see that she wasn't the first or last to arrive. She grinned at Dalejin and sat down next to him, leaving room on the other side of her for someone else to sit down. "Hi!" she said to Dalejin before starting to read the board. Immediately her hand shot up in the air. She waited for Dalejin to finish asking his question before saying her own. "What exactly is a "00 capsule"? And what does Lotus do? I mean you just told us what Fenugreek is for, but why would we use Lotus plants?" she asked curiously.

Emma strolled into the classroom, her hair tied back into a pony tail, she took a seat in the front, said "Hello!" to some of her friends, and began taking notes. She wrote down her homework, nd began flipping through her book to find more information on the two herbs. Raising her hand, she waiting for the teacher to call upon her, her mind thinking of the question: Professor, what are the herbs most commonly used for..and do they have a preparation process or any special growing requirements?

Mark strolled into the third herbology lesson of the term and took up a seat next to Emma. (as well as bring one of his good friends she was also a Ravenclaw, therefore excellent for copying from in lessons!) "Hey Em" he said as he sat. He listened as the professor explained about one of the plants and took notes from the information she gave.
Mark had a question of his own but it seemed that everybody else in the class had one too so he decided to sit back and wait for Alfie to answer their questions first.

Drusha arrived in class and took a seat, grinning at Mark, who she remembered from the trip on the Hogwarts Express. She was very excited to be in class and write down the notes Alfie had prepared.

"Hmmm... lotus and Fenugreek powder..." she muttered to herslef while nibbling on the end of her quill. She had an aunt who used Fenugreek powder, but Drusha had not rememebered it being for blood sugar. If she could just remember what her auntie used it for!

She had a question or tow of her own, but was curios to find out what the answers to the questions that had already asked would be.

Alfie looked around the room and saw that 4 students had questions.

Dalejin asked his question as Alfie pointed to him and said, "yes?"

After here his question she replied, "well I will cover the Lotus plant after all the students arrive and I have answered all your question so far. Firstly Lotus is commonly found in Japan but can but grown in ponds that have a greenhouse around them. Lotus can also be found in Egypt as for Fenugreek they can grow in most places in the summer but need to be brought inside if you wish them to grow all year round."

Looking around she continued, "both or these plants can be used alone or in a potion and I mainly try to talk about the medicinal uses, if you wish to learn more there is a page in the herbology book in the library just take a look and there is where you will find the minamum information for your homework. If you use just that you will get a passing grade, your points will be 75%. If you choose to get more then just that you can have a grade for that paper of 100%, it is all up to you. I hope thta answers your question mister Dalejin."

Alfie that listened to Dreams Question. "Oh I am sorry but 00 capsule are the size of the gel type container you can put the herb in to make it easier to swollow. You could just make a tea but that makes it harder to take."

Once again Alfie looked at her class and noticed that Emma had her hand up, when Alfie nodded to her Emma begain to speak.

"Good question, but I beleave that I have answered some of your question, Fenugreek in our world is mainly used for bringing money to the user. As for Lotus it is used for protection, good luck and to break love spells, but we can get into that a little later."

Ooc: like wenesday if you all don't mind. Sorry for spelling Diabetes wrong but I don't spell as well as I would like to, also I don't have
Diabetes but my husband does and his is type 2. Fenugreek worked well for the first 6 monthes and the we added cinnomon to it and that worked for a year then he had to use perscription drugs which we sometimes can not afford so he falls back on to the herbs to make it through and it works well enough to keep his blood glucose around 200 so you see Emma I do know what I'm talking about even though I may not sound like it and it's okay to be picky for I did not make myself clear enough.

Bic:

"So have I answered your question if so are there any more?"

Mari had made it into the room unnoticed just before Alfie began explaining things to the students. She took a seat next to Emma, giving her a hello look before setting down her things and reading what was on the board.
"So um," Mari raised her hand, "if you don't mind me asking, what are we going to do in this class today? Just jot down information?"

Christiaan arrived in class, making his way to the seat in the very back of the room. "Lotus and Fenugreek Plants...I think I've heard of those before." He thought to himself as he jotted down notes on his parchment. Herbology was one of his favorite classes, and before term started, his mother had told him that she would disinherit him if he didn't make perfect scores on his herbology exams. The thought scared him, so he took even more extensive notes.

OOC:I can't really do the homework because my computer hardly runs, much less makes pictures. It really sucks...It can't even upload pictures. Do you have some kind of alternate homework, perhaps?

Finally remembering what her aunt used Fenugreek for, Drusha raised her hand.

"My auntie drinks fenugreek tea after dinner and says it helps her digestion. Is that true? My mum always says my auntie makes that sort of thing up all the time."

Emilie walked into the classroom feeling strangely excited. She didn't know why she was so excited, she just was. As she entered she glanced up at the board and saw that the homework looked easy enough. She glanced around the room hoping she wasn't late, and took a seat at an empty desk in the back of the room.

Olivia sat walked into the green house and sighed
"Why do I have to come to Herbology? I hate this class..." she looked up at the homework. "Boring, killing all the magical creatures who inhabit these grounds just because they eat some plants..." she growled, sitting at a table

Dream nodded at the professor to show her understanding of what she had just said. There was just one other question that she had and it was about the homework. She waited until Professor Alfie had stopped talking before raising her hand and asking when homework would be due by. She then quickly jotted down all of the information and waited for the lesson to continue.

Cara walked into class, only just making it. Cara looked around the room, hoping that there was someone to sit with, and smiled. She didn't like herbology much, but she still went out of her way to come here, and that should be enugh for Alfie. Cara walked to the back of the class and sat down beside Emilie. Setting her bags on the table, she took out parchment and a quill. Looking up at the board, she quickly began to write stuff down. looking at Emilie, she whispered "hi." then went back to her frantic scribbling.

Ooc: I know that some people are like me and don't know how to get pics to show up in a PM or any other way so for those of us like that I will allow a detailed discription of the plants.

Bic:

Alfie saw some hands up and nodded to Mari. Alfie listened to the question carefully. "No miss Mari, we will be working with the plants by learning how to dry them and how to make tea for medicinal perposes."

Then Alfie noticed a new girl named Drusha raise her hand, " yes miss Drusha." After Drusha asked her question Alfie stated, " Well not all herbs work the same way for everyone your auntie may very well be telling the truth on how it helps her. Herbs are strange things at times I myself have found the spearment helps me when my stomack is upset."

"Yes miss Dream?" Alfie said when she saw Dream's hand up. Hearing Dream ask about homework Alfie stated. "Ooh, yes, homework is best turned in as soon as possible but no later then the end of the next set of potions classes. which will be I beleive will be September 3."

"Oh, for extra credit, just find more information on the herbs then is in the herbology book here at the library and you will get the extra credit, you can earn up to 10 extra point towards your grade depending on how much more information you give. The student with the best homework with extra credit will receive 15 house point. In case of a try the points will be 10 to each house that has turned in the tie papers."

There will be 5 house points taken for not turning in homework, it is not fair to the students that do there work to see others not and get away with in, that is why I have reduced the work load."

Drusha scribbled down extra notes, eager to do her best on the homework. She liked to study, really, and wanted to help her house earn points, especially since she's just a first year. She really wanted to prove herself to her housemates and to the older students. While herbology wasn't her strongest subject, she didn't dislike it at all, and hoped to learn some useful things.

She raised her hand again. "Professor? Are students allowed to grow our own plants? Or do we only work with the ones in the greenhouse?"

OoC: What if we post a link for the picture? Is that ok?

BiC:
"Okay so for the extra credit we just find more Herbs in the Herbology book in the library? Is that all?" Emilie asked as she wrote it down in her notebook.

Emma smiled to some of her friends as they walked in, but made sure she was still paying carful attention to her professor. Hearing what her professor said about homework and extra credit, she jotted it down on a student planner that she had taken out of her bag. Circling the assignment with red pen, she placed the planner back in her bag.

OOC: I am confused is the extra credit just for the two herbs we are studying or any herbs we choose??

"Um, professor?" Olivia asked, raising her hand
"Are we allowed to take the plants with us to, er, study?" she smiled sweetly, looking at the dangerous Manticor Trap (which I just made up, its just a venus fly trap that is the size of an elephant, I needed to make it up, sorry)

Alfie looked around to see if there where any more questions when she saw that Drusha with her hand up. "yes miss Drusha you have another question."

Alfie listened to her and then said. "When we start plants from seeds or seedlings I allow the students to keep the plant but as for the ones we are drying you may only keep 1/10 of the dried herb for the rest is needed for potions and the hospital wing."

Looking around the room again Alfie noticed that Miss Hot had her hand up and so Alfie nodded for her to speak. "Oh no miss Hot for extra credit you must get more informantion from somewhere other then the library, lokk from a family member or another book from anywhere in the worlds you can find it, but it must be on the herbs we are studing right now and the same thing goes for future classes. All extra credit must be on the herbs we are studing for that lesson."

"Olivia, I do not have enough plants for each student to take so if you would like to have a group of 4 or 5 people from this class to study the plant then be my guest, just make sure you sign this paper here. Alfie pointed to the sheet of partchment on her desk. "This way I will know who has the plant, oh and if you loose the plant or damage it the group will be responcible for replacing it. This goes for plants we are studing at this time." Alfie replied when Olivia had finished asking her question.

"Now if you will gather around the the Fenufreek we will lean the differents way's to dry this herb, for tea and powder for meds."

Mari listened intently to everyone's questions and walked closer to the plant as Alfie had asked them to do. She surveyed the peculiar plant and wondered how exactly they would do what they were doing.
"Think we're just gonna take a leave, mush it up and place it in hot water?" She whispered to the closest person to her, not really looking at who it was.

Dru giggled quietly at Mari's question as she shuffled to stand next to her, looking over the fenugreek plant. "I think we'll be doing lots more than that," she whispered, careful not to speak too loudly as the others gathered around.

"One of my brothers keeps a jar of fenugreek seeds in his room at home," Dru said, catching Alfie's eye. "He says it helps him earn money. Is that true, professor?"

"Well Drusha, it is true but Fenugreek works best if it is in a dish and set by a window, jars hinder it's powers."

Alfie then looked at the class, "we will take the leaves and place some in the sun and others we will place in these dehydrators, the sun will take longer but it well help the leaves to keep more of it's magical properties." Some times you don't have the time to prepare the herbs so you can do it faster by dehydrating them. Now if one is in a very big hurry or it is during there growing season they can be used fresh in a tea ball, or in a potion but in there none growing season you need to have dried leaves and that way you might never run out. To make the tea just submerge the tea ball with Fenugreek in hot water and let seep for 5 minutes. It is hard to grow Fenugreek in the winter monthes so that is why we dry them, the quick drying method is when you have very little time do to all the things in your live, like: your job or all the classes you might be taking and when you are grown and have children, well children do take up a lot of time."

Alfie looked at a very large Fenugreek plant and picked the middle size leaves, she know these where at the peak of drying.

"Be careful not to take more then 10% of any plant. Many people over pick plants and so many of our most useful herbs are near exstintion. It is very important that we care for the plants so they can continue to help us."

Alfie hoped she was getting through to her students, she had seen that most of the places watercress grow had been destroyed and the few places left where being over picked, the number of watercress plants left had made the price go up so high that see had to try to find substitute and it was getting hard to find true cinnimon, not to mention Mandrake was getting harder to find as well.

Alfie had been lucky to get a couple pairs of Mandrake plants 6 years ago and now had over 75 plants but if she was not careful her supply would be gone.

"Ok, class now if you would look over the plants and get some leaves we will start drying them."

Dru wanted to be able to dry some leaves both in the sun, and in the dehydrator. She was curious about just how similar- or different- the tea made from each might be.

Looking over the plant that professor Alfie had chosen her leaves from, she saw the area where the middle sized leaves had been gently plucked from. Nodding as she exmained the neaby leaves, she moved to another plant to find similarly sized leaves. She picked several leaves from a few plants, satisfied that the ones she chose were at least similat to the ones Alfie had taken. She didn't really know what she was looking for, but if she got close to the desired type of leaf, she would be satisifed.

She made her way over to a counter and laid out her selection of leaves and dividing them in half. She then took them in separate hadsful to Alfie. "I'd like to dry these in the sun, please," she showed Alfie the handful of leaves, wondering just where to put them to dry. "And I'd like to dehydrate these."

Alfie examined Drusha's leaves and noticed that Drusha needed to make a small pile for some fresh tea as well.

"You did a good job picking your leaves," as Alfie said this she took 3 leaves from each pile and placed them in a tea ball.

All of the sudden Alfie noticed that there would not be enough leaves for the class so she waved her wand and said, "Herbivacus," within seconds the plants had grown and produced more leaves.

Turning back to Drusha and taking one pile of leaves she motioned for Drusha to follow. there was a window sill on the left side of the room that had been cleared off. "Now take your leaves and place them on one of these paper towels, These are very useful things the muggles came up with when it comes to drying herbs the old fashioned way."

Then Alfie went to the right side of the room with the remainder of Drusha's leaves. Here Alfie had 10 dehidrators set up and a group of battaries.

Looking at the classes Alfie said loudly so all could hear, "you will find on the left paper towels laid out on the window sill please take and place about 10 leaves on the towel and put your name on the towel so we know who's towel is who's, then come over here and place 10 leaves on one of these." Alfie held up a round plastic tray that had lots of very small holes in it. When everyone had done this I will start the dehydrators and we will check on them tomorrow when we start lesson 4. After I start the dehydrators we will take 6 leaves and place them into tea balls, as you will see there are little metal balls with holes in them on my desk that open up when you twist them. That is where you will place the leaves and then close the ball so the leaves do not fall out."

Alfie took the tea ball that had Drusha's leaves in it and handed them to her. "don't let this get mixed up with anyone elses, ok?"

Drusha grinned, taking the tea ball from Alfie. She had never had tea prepared from one- her mother, who only used loose tea, had always scoffed at them as useless contraptions that made afternoon tea a "sterile" experience. Her auntie though, always used a tea ball to brew her fenugreek. Maybe there was something about the plant itself that made this necessary?

The class chose its leaves busily and there was a low tone of chatter as they went about their work. Dru placed her leaves to be dried in the sun on a paper towel in the window and wrote her name on it, then placed some leaves in the dehydrator.

Remy: Slytherin's Official Future

Remy opened his eyes and looked around. He stared at nothing in particular for a few seconds then realized where he was, "Herbology nice" he thought to himself as he looked to the board and began writing down the lesson. Soon though he was irratated at all the noise and he hoped the class would be over soon.

"Hi Remy!" Dru called to him after he had some time to jot down notes. She had finished setting out her leaves to dry and started outlining what she wanted to cover in her homework while wiating for the next part of the activity. Her tea ball dangled from the sleeve of her robe, chinking against the counter as she wrote.

Dru was a good student and always put a lot of effort into her homework. She wanted to make sure she covered everything the professor had asked for, and maybe a bit extra just for good measure.

Emma smiled and gathered up her leaves, inspecting every single one to make sure she had done the process correctly. Taking them over, she grabbed a paper towel and a dish. Writing her name on both, she laid her leaves in them and placed them down with the others to dry. Going back to her seat, she gathered her things and looked up at the professor for more instructions.

Mari listened to instructions carefully and freaked out. 10 percent? She could barely understand math as it was. Mari watched other students taking a number of leaves and Mari quickly copied Drusha's actions before showing the teacher her pile.
"Err..." Mari tried to copy what Drusha had said, "I'd like to dry these... And dehydrate these...?"

Alfie had watched as the student came up and put the leaves on the trays and paper towels as she had instructed.

Alfie saw Mari come up and said what she wanted to do with her leaves, and Alfie looked at the piles taking 3 leaves from each pile and handed them to Mari with a tea ball.

"Mari you are to put these leaves in one of the tea balls."

Alfie then said, "take this pile and place them on a paper towel laying them on so as none of them are on top of each other, also please put your name on the towel. Take this pile and put them on this tray and place it in the dehydrater."

Looking around the classroom she saw that just about everyone was done.

"As soon as you all get that done you will find some leaves in liquid on the table to my right. I want each of you to take one along with a piece of cheese cloth you will find on the back table to the left and a small empty bottle on the right. Now then go to your set and set the empty bottle down. Place the cheese cloth over the mouth of the empty jar. Holding the cheese cloth around the jar take and pour the liquid from the other jar with the leaves into the empty jar make sure none of the leaves get into the bottom jar with the cheese cloth."

Alfie then said, "When you are finished you will had Lotus water which I will let you take and keep for your own. for extra cedet write down what you can use this for and turn it in by PM I will add it to your grade in the grade book. You will get 10 extra points for doing this."

Emilie listened to the instructions and then went to look at the leaves that Alfie had picked. After she saw what size they were she went over to another plant and picked a few leaves that she hoped were okay. She walked up to Alfie and said, "I hope these are alright." she said, "I need to dry these and dehydrate these." she said showing the teacher the separate piles of leaves.

Alfie looked at the time and said, "Well class that will be all for today. We will meet in lesson 4 tomorrow to finish up and to start on the next 2 herbs."

She then placed the dishes that had not been placed into the dehydrater where they belonged and started the machine.

"Oh, class these will be done by the time next class begins. See you there."

Dru gathered up her books and dropped them in her satchel, waving to the professor as she left the classroom.

"You had some nice looking leaves there," Dru said to Emilie. "My name's Drusha," she said, smiling at the other girl. "Nice to meet you."

Ooc: Lesson four started monday so if you all would be so kind as to show up there I would greatly appreciate it. This thread will close tomorrow Aug. 16th at around 11:00 P.M.

Bic:

Alfie smiled as she started getting her things together for the next day.

Mari quickly finished meshing up her leaves and do what she had to do. When she was finished she handed them to Alfie as the class ended and disappeared, homework clear in her mind.