Your P.O.V.
You and Newt were going down the halls of Hogwarts. Today is your first Deffence Against the Dark Arts lesson. Yesterday you and Newt talked to gargoyles at the castle. That was interesting. One of them even told you that you were the kindest people It has ever met. It was nice to hear but made you feel pity for the gargoyles.
"It's on third floor, right? Deffence Against the Dark Arts classroom?" Newt asked you while you both were going up the Staircase.
"Yes, classroom 3C."
Newt slightly nodded in response.
When you found and walked in to the classroom you saw that the student's desks where no where to be seen and students stood on the both sides of the room. Newt and you joined them in the corner.
Suddenly you heard the door open and saw a professor coming down the steps of what must have been his office. He was young, had a short beard. There was something about him. He had this vibe. It was welcoming, kind. The Professor had a smile on his face. You tilted your head to look at him. The second your eyes met you imidiatly looked away. Professor slightly chucled but you didn't notice.
"Hello, my fellow first years. Welcome to your first Deffence Against the Dark Arts lesson. I'm Professor Dumbledore. Today, we will be learning the Disarming Charm." He said and leaned against his table.
"It is not known who created the Disarming Charm. Some Wizarding historians claim that it may have been invented by Merlin himself, others claim that it's first widespread use was in Madagascar in the 11th century. Even if any of this is true, the fact remains that it was not very popular until 1379, when Elizabeth Smudgling - the most likely inventor, in the opinion of Miranda Goshawk - used it in a dueling contest in Dartmoor."
"The Disarming Charm lies at the heart of a good dueling technique. It allows the duelist to rebound an opponent's spell in the hope that the rebounded spell will strike the opponent and leave him or her vulnerable to further attack."- Miranda Goshawk
"The incantation of the Disarming Charm is Expelliarmus.
The Disarming Charm causes whatever an opponent is holding at the time - usually a wand - to fly high out of their reach.
The Disarming Charm always appears as a jet of red light, indeed, this is one of the things that makes it recognizable before the effects of the charm are seen. However, the intensity of the light appears to correspond to the strength of the spell as a weak/moderate one creates a small flash of white light whereas a more powerful version manifests as a bright jet of scarlet light. Another notable effect of the charm is that if multiple charms are used on the same target, the target will be disarmed, but at the same time will be blasted backwards."
Professor Dumbledore walked in the middle of the room.
"Now, we will practice this spell. Someone wants to try?"
Silence was the only thing you could hear right now.
"No one? Then I have to choose myself."
Professor Dumbledore looked at the students.
"Come here, miss." He motioned for a girl to join him.
"What is your name?"
"Leta LeStrange."
"Now, miss LeStrange needs a partner."
You got really intrigued by a painting on the wall.
"What about you, miss?" You heard Professor ask snapping you out of your thoughts.
You stared looking around the room waiting for someone to walk out of the crowd but nobody did. You felt Newt tug on your sleeve when you met Professors eyes.
"Come on." He said with a smile.
So many people were looking at you right now. You looked down and walked toward professor Dumbledore and Leta LeStrange.
"What is your name, miss?"
"Y...Y/n Y/l/n, sir."
"Ms. LeStrange and Ms. Y/l/n are going to demonstrate the Disarming Charm now. Remember to slightly wave your wand and say 'Expelliarmus'. Ms. Y/l/n, you go first."
You and Leta stood opposite from each other. Great, you were doing it first. You hated to do things first. Especially, in front of so many people. Professor Dumbledore gave you a small smile. You sighed and raised your wand.
"Expelliarmus." You said and slightly waved your wand.
You expected that nothing will happen because it is your first time but to your surprise Leta's wand flew out of her hand high into the air before Professor catched it.
"Now, it is your turn, Ms. LeStrange." He said while handing Leta her wand.
She nodded and looked at the wand in your hand.
"Expelliarmus." She said but nothing happened.
You heard whispering in the crowd. You guessed that Leta heard it too because her face expression changed.
"Expelliarmus!" She basically shouted and your wand flew out of your hand.
It flew toward Newt and he catched it. Leta is very strong.
"Well done. As for homework, practice the Disarming Charm yourself. Class dismissed."
You sighed with relief that everything was over. You walked over to Newt and he gave you your wand.
"Thank you."
"That was incredible!" He congratulated you with a smile.
"Thank you. We have Herbology now, right?"
"Yes."
Newt handed you your books and you stared making your way to the greenhouse.
Newt's P.O.V.
We arrived at the greenhouse just on time.
"Good afternoon class. Now, compared to the first lesson, this one may not seem as exciting. Today, we'll be exploring everything we know about Artemisia Absinthium, or commonly known now as Wormwood." Professor Sprout explained.
Y/n and I prepared our notebooks to take notes.
"Artemisia Absinthium is a very bitter herb, used in potion-making since ancient times. An infusion of Wormwood is used in the concoction, a mixture of various ingredients or elements, of the Draught of Living Death, Elixir or Induce Euphoria, and the Shrinking Solution. In Elixir to Induce Euphoria, its bitter taste may be the reason that the mixture has to be sweetened before using.
Muggles use Wormwood leaves for many things, including medicine and as a way to discourage fleas. Wormwood is purported to have a wide range of uses including: antipyretic (febrifuge), anthelmintic, stomachic, tonic, hallucinogenic, and culinary. It is also believed to enhance psychic abilities in some religions (such as Wicca). Artemisia Absinthium is traditionally used by muggles medicinally in Europe, and is believed to stimulate the appetite and relieve indigestion.
Wormwood's scientific name, Artemisia Absinthium, is derived from that of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, and protector of the forest and children in Greek Mythology."
Thank Merlin that Y/n doesn't know my whole name. Newton Artemis Fido Scamander.
"Absinthium also comes from the Ancient Greek. The word 'wormwood' comes from Middle English 'wormwode' or 'wormode'. The form 'wormwood" is attributable to its traditional use as a vermifuge, an anthelmintic medicine.
Wormwood has strong association with the Moon and lunar deities, like Artemis, whom the genus of Wormwood plants is named after and who is said to possess powers that are also granted by Wormwood.
Artemisia Absinthium, also known as Absinthe, Absinthium, Absinthe Woodworm, or Wormwood is a species of Artemisia, native to temperate regions of Eurasia and Northern Africa and widely naturalised in Canada and the Northern United States. It is grown as an ornamental plant and is used as an ingredient in the Spirit Absinthe as well as some other alcoholic drinks.
Artemisia Absinthium is a herbaceous, perennial plant with fibrous roots. The stems are straight, growing to 2 feet 7 inches - 3 feet 11 inches, or sometimes even larger, tall, grooved, branched, and silver-green. The leaves are spirally arranged, greenish-grey above and white bellow, covered with silky silvery-white trichomes, and bearing minute oil-producing glands; the basal leaves are up to 25 cm long, with the calling leaves smaller, 5-10 cm long, less divided, and with short petioles; the uppermost leaves can be both simple and sessile (without a petiole). It's flowers are pale yellow, tubular, and clustered in spherical bent-down heads (capitula), which are in turn clustered in leafy and branched panicles. Flowering is from early summer to early autumn; pollination is anemophilous. The fruit is a small achene; seed dispersal is by gravity. It grows naturally on uncultivated, arid ground, on rocky slopes, and at the edge of footpaths and fields.
The plant can easily be cultivated in dry soil. It should be planted under bright exposure in fertile, mid-weight soil. It prefers soil rich in nitrogen. It can be propagated by ripened cuttings taken in Spring or Autumn in temperate climates, or by seeds in nursery beds. Artemisia Absinthium also self-seeds generously. It is naturalised in some areas away from its native range, including much of North America and Kashmir Valley of India.
Artemisia Absinthium Oil can be poisonous. Artemisia Absinthium contains thujone, a GABAA receptor antagonist that can cause epileptic-like convulsions and kidney failure when ingested in large amounts.
Now, a lot of words were thrown into that explanation, so let's go over some vocabulary. It will do you well to memorize this so you can accurately describe plants in your essays."
•Achene: A type of simply dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate and indehiscent.
•Anemophilous: wild-pollinated.
•Arid: Having little or no rain; too dry or barren to support vegetation.
•Axil: The upper angle between a leaf stalk or branch and the stem or trunk from from which it is growing.
•Basal Leaves: Leaves that grow from the lowest part from the stem.
•Bracts: A modified leaf or scale, typically small, with a flower or flower cluster in its axil. Bracts are sometimes larger and more brightly coloured than the true flower, as in a poinsettia.
•Carpitulum (plural: Capitula): a compact head of a structure, in particular a dence, flat cluster of small flowers or florets, as in plants of the daisy family.
•Carpel: the female reproductive organ of a flower, consisting of an ovary, a stigma, and usually a style.
•Cauline Leaves: Of, having, or growing on a stem. Used especially of leaves arising from the upper part of the stem.
•Expidermis: the outer layer of cells covering an organism.
•Herbaceous: of, denting, or relating to herbs (in the botanical sense).
•Indehiscent: (of a pod or fruit) not splitting open to release the seeds when ripe.
•Indigenous: originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native.
•Inflorescence: the complete flower head of a plant including stems, stalks, bracts, and flowers.
•Monocarpellate: Consisting of a single carpel.
•Naturalized: establish so that it lives wild in a region where it is not Indigenous.
•Panicle: A loose, branching luster of flowers, as in oats.
•Peduncle: The stalk bearing a flower or fruit, or the main stalk of an Inflorescence.
•Perennial: lasting or existing for a long or apparently infinite time; enduring or continually recurring.
•Petiole: The stalk that joins a leaf to a steam; leafstalk.
•Propagate: breed specimens of by natural process from the parent stock.
•Sessile: attached directly by its base without a stalk or peduncle.
•Trichomes: A small hair or other outgrowth from the epidermis of a plant, typically unicellular and glandular.
Well, that was a lot of words.
"It will be best to practise using those words naturally in your vocabulary. It may seem challenging at first, but eventually it will get easier to describe as you become more fluent in the botany language. For homework, pick a plant that you can observe. Use this new vocabulary to describe this plant in the fullest you can manage. Have a nice day."
Since, it is only September and the sun is shining, Y/n and I decided to go and look for plants that we can describe. Also, taking a nice walk around the grounds of Hogwarts.