Herbology
This year, the subject of magical and mundane plants and fungi continued to be taught by Professor Wishart. As it was last year, we continued to be educated on the theory of the plants we were working with, as well as get some hands-on experience. Getting the soil from under our fingernails was a small price to pay to skip an entire period of writing notes. Being able to handle the plants, and incorporate our wand use with each lesson, for me at least, makes it one of the best lessons offered at Hogwarts. And I for one don’t think that will ever change. Professor Wishart encourages his students to participate in all activities, teaches us new spells and incorporates different branches of magic within his curriculum, but is also not going to let students cause trouble and make the experience feel unsafe. It’s a great environment, and in writing my article I sought out fifth year Ravenclaw, transferred from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, Tina Dantes.
Hi Tina! Thanks for taking some time out of your O.W.L. preparation. First off, did you find many differences between the way Herbology is taught at Hogwarts compared to Beauxbatons?
Hi! Thanks for interviewing me. Well, the most obvious difference is the type of plants the classes focus on. Classes at Beauxbatons tended to focus more on plants indigenous to France, and Hogwarts focuses more on plants from here in the U.K…. but that's to be expected. The other main difference I saw was classes here are a bit more hands-on. Like for example, I doubt we would've been asked to take acne potions and practice using bubotuber solution on ourselves at Beauxbatons. We probably would've practiced on the professor or a dummy or something like that.
Practicing on the Professors! I honestly couldn’t imagine doing that. We seemed to focus a lot on healing and health-related plants this term, as you mentioned, with dittany and bubotubers. Do you think you will use these plants, or any of the spells we used, in your daily life?
Of course! Especially the dittany! I tend to get a lot of cuts and scrapes, either from quidditch or some of my other hobbies, so knowing how to make essence of dittany and treat them myself will come in handy. I don't know how often I'll use bubotubers, though. I usually just get acne potions from a store, but I'm glad I learned how to make bubotuber solution too, just in case I should ever need it.
Quidditch is a big one for needing little healing potions, for sure. I personally found squeezing the bubotuber pustules to be very satisfying, but I know it’s a bit of a squeamish activity for some. Did you find it more valuable to get that hands on experience of physically harvesting the pus, or would you have preferred being taught a spell or something to get it out without needing to do the activity?
I’m glad we got the hands-on experience! I prefer learning to do thing myself, rather than relying on other people or magic, and… I mean, a spell would be nice, but magic isn’t infallible. Wands can break or get lost. Spells can be performed incorrectly. Any manner of things can happen! It’s important to know how to do things, such as harvesting bubotuber pus, by hand in case you ever find yourself in a situation where you can’t use magic.
That’s a very good point. Plus I think for younger students it gives them the opportunity to jump right in instead of practicing the spell, or waiting for assistance. What are the aspects of Herbology lessons with Professor Wishart that you find both most enjoyable and most challenging?
I enjoy the creativity that goes into each lesson. Even if we're working on something mundane, there's an unexpected twist to make it more interesting, like the hospital-style setting for our dittany lesson, for example. I thought that was a really innovative idea! I guess the biggest challenge for me is the uncertainty of plant care. Like all living creatures, each one is different, so you can never be 100% sure how a plant is going to react to you. You can follow the directions exactly and still have things go wrong, and the constant “what if…?” is a bit nerve-wracking.
I can certainly relate with the uncertainty with the plants. And finally, out of any plant, magical or mundane, what is your favourite and why?
Oh, wow! That’s hard. I like most kinds of plants, but I’m particularly fond of color-changing roses. Maybe it’s the artist in me, but I've always been drawn to things bright and colorful, and I think it's fascinating how they're able to change colors.
Hi Tina! Thanks for taking some time out of your O.W.L. preparation. First off, did you find many differences between the way Herbology is taught at Hogwarts compared to Beauxbatons?
Hi! Thanks for interviewing me. Well, the most obvious difference is the type of plants the classes focus on. Classes at Beauxbatons tended to focus more on plants indigenous to France, and Hogwarts focuses more on plants from here in the U.K…. but that's to be expected. The other main difference I saw was classes here are a bit more hands-on. Like for example, I doubt we would've been asked to take acne potions and practice using bubotuber solution on ourselves at Beauxbatons. We probably would've practiced on the professor or a dummy or something like that.
Practicing on the Professors! I honestly couldn’t imagine doing that. We seemed to focus a lot on healing and health-related plants this term, as you mentioned, with dittany and bubotubers. Do you think you will use these plants, or any of the spells we used, in your daily life?
Of course! Especially the dittany! I tend to get a lot of cuts and scrapes, either from quidditch or some of my other hobbies, so knowing how to make essence of dittany and treat them myself will come in handy. I don't know how often I'll use bubotubers, though. I usually just get acne potions from a store, but I'm glad I learned how to make bubotuber solution too, just in case I should ever need it.
Quidditch is a big one for needing little healing potions, for sure. I personally found squeezing the bubotuber pustules to be very satisfying, but I know it’s a bit of a squeamish activity for some. Did you find it more valuable to get that hands on experience of physically harvesting the pus, or would you have preferred being taught a spell or something to get it out without needing to do the activity?
I’m glad we got the hands-on experience! I prefer learning to do thing myself, rather than relying on other people or magic, and… I mean, a spell would be nice, but magic isn’t infallible. Wands can break or get lost. Spells can be performed incorrectly. Any manner of things can happen! It’s important to know how to do things, such as harvesting bubotuber pus, by hand in case you ever find yourself in a situation where you can’t use magic.
That’s a very good point. Plus I think for younger students it gives them the opportunity to jump right in instead of practicing the spell, or waiting for assistance. What are the aspects of Herbology lessons with Professor Wishart that you find both most enjoyable and most challenging?
I enjoy the creativity that goes into each lesson. Even if we're working on something mundane, there's an unexpected twist to make it more interesting, like the hospital-style setting for our dittany lesson, for example. I thought that was a really innovative idea! I guess the biggest challenge for me is the uncertainty of plant care. Like all living creatures, each one is different, so you can never be 100% sure how a plant is going to react to you. You can follow the directions exactly and still have things go wrong, and the constant “what if…?” is a bit nerve-wracking.
I can certainly relate with the uncertainty with the plants. And finally, out of any plant, magical or mundane, what is your favourite and why?
Oh, wow! That’s hard. I like most kinds of plants, but I’m particularly fond of color-changing roses. Maybe it’s the artist in me, but I've always been drawn to things bright and colorful, and I think it's fascinating how they're able to change colors.
History of Magic
First things first (I’m the realest), Professor O’Hara is long winded. She talks a lot even for a Professor. I was only listening to half of what she was saying, as the other half of me was more interested in the sealed up cardboard boxes scattered around the room. The boxes filled up the room, making for a (not) nice and cozy atmosphere. No one tried to open the boxes (right in front of O’Hara ? not even a first year Hufflepuff would be dumb enough), which pleased the HoM professor for some reason. She was glowing with pride as she started up the lesson asking us what we knew about Sasquatch. Personally, I knew as little as I possibly could. I’m highkey not a fan. More than half the class had something to say. Kaira Parker mentioned their ape-like appearance and the more well-known name of bigfoot. Stasya Dalgaard-longname brought up that sasquatches, or sasquatch (i don’t make the plural rules) were cryptids usually seen up in North America (thank god) along with a lot of other stuff. Fantina Dantes noted the extraordinary case of the sasquatch rebellion forcing MACUSA to leave DC for NYC (arguably the most interesting thing I’d heard the whole lesson). But it was Miss Zoryn Spinnet bringing the actual facts when she said Sasquatch were meant to be studied in Care of Magical Creatures (they do sound like soup, Kowalski).
After another round of questions, and a lot of words I wouldn’t repeat even with a wand to my head, we got to the Main Squeeze. We were to re-enact the violent, messy, heartbreaking rebellion of the Sasquatch against Irene Kneedander (she deserved it) and the MACUSA headquarters. No one wanted to play Irene (obviously) but eventually Nettie did, and with a lot more energy than necessary she set those playing MACUSA members upon the very unfocused team of Sasquatch. Patrick Dooley (nice jawline), Indigo and Fantina followed her example soon after, but it didn’t last long. All rebellions have to come to an end, and this one did with a sizzle rather than a boom. Maybe next time Professor O’Hara will pick something a little less bonkers to play out. Next Big Lesson was set on a Monday. A very nice Monday. It was sunny, and bright and no one in their right mind wanted to be cooped up learning about History, but there we were. Watching and waiting while O’Hara readied herself for the lesson in the usual way (meditation for those clever enough to skip out), the classroom was bare-bones and it would have been alright if the majority of us weren’t dying for a distraction. Dying, perhaps is in bad taste here (quick note, Dopple got swallowed up not too long before this).
A quick and usual meet and greet occurred and then O’Hara asked us to bring out our quills and parchment and start taking notes. Was that excitement buzzing in the air? No. No, it was not. Goblin + Human relations was on the Professor’s mind and so, naturally she passed it on to us. What did we know? If you asked me, it was nothing at all- but Nettie, Hanna, Anna Meriweather, and Fantina all had answers the Professor happily gobbled up. That pun wasn’t intentional, shut up. Fantina (who seems way too into History of Magic for her own good), had brought up the Goblin Rebellion and boy, oh boy was I not happy to hear she was right. Professor O’Hara was practically glowing as she began to earnestly speak on the topic of Clause Three of the Code of Wand Use (real talk, who writes this stuff up?) before revealing we’d be debating. One side was meant to be defending the Wand Ban on Elves, Hags, Vampires and Goblins while the other side (which I eagerly jumped to) was going to tear the law down. In the spirit of full disclosure I used this time to catch up on some Potions reading. Not to say I wasn’t listening as Nettie concisely battled Hanna’s lengthier (but not as compelling) argument for the repeal of the ban. Valencia Philips, and Viv Awning both chimed in (quietly) with their own back and forth but this wasn’t so much of a debate as it was a general airing out of opinions. I walked out feeling uniquely glad to have been there, but not with a changed mind. We’ll see you around O’Hara, or not.
After another round of questions, and a lot of words I wouldn’t repeat even with a wand to my head, we got to the Main Squeeze. We were to re-enact the violent, messy, heartbreaking rebellion of the Sasquatch against Irene Kneedander (she deserved it) and the MACUSA headquarters. No one wanted to play Irene (obviously) but eventually Nettie did, and with a lot more energy than necessary she set those playing MACUSA members upon the very unfocused team of Sasquatch. Patrick Dooley (nice jawline), Indigo and Fantina followed her example soon after, but it didn’t last long. All rebellions have to come to an end, and this one did with a sizzle rather than a boom. Maybe next time Professor O’Hara will pick something a little less bonkers to play out. Next Big Lesson was set on a Monday. A very nice Monday. It was sunny, and bright and no one in their right mind wanted to be cooped up learning about History, but there we were. Watching and waiting while O’Hara readied herself for the lesson in the usual way (meditation for those clever enough to skip out), the classroom was bare-bones and it would have been alright if the majority of us weren’t dying for a distraction. Dying, perhaps is in bad taste here (quick note, Dopple got swallowed up not too long before this).
A quick and usual meet and greet occurred and then O’Hara asked us to bring out our quills and parchment and start taking notes. Was that excitement buzzing in the air? No. No, it was not. Goblin + Human relations was on the Professor’s mind and so, naturally she passed it on to us. What did we know? If you asked me, it was nothing at all- but Nettie, Hanna, Anna Meriweather, and Fantina all had answers the Professor happily gobbled up. That pun wasn’t intentional, shut up. Fantina (who seems way too into History of Magic for her own good), had brought up the Goblin Rebellion and boy, oh boy was I not happy to hear she was right. Professor O’Hara was practically glowing as she began to earnestly speak on the topic of Clause Three of the Code of Wand Use (real talk, who writes this stuff up?) before revealing we’d be debating. One side was meant to be defending the Wand Ban on Elves, Hags, Vampires and Goblins while the other side (which I eagerly jumped to) was going to tear the law down. In the spirit of full disclosure I used this time to catch up on some Potions reading. Not to say I wasn’t listening as Nettie concisely battled Hanna’s lengthier (but not as compelling) argument for the repeal of the ban. Valencia Philips, and Viv Awning both chimed in (quietly) with their own back and forth but this wasn’t so much of a debate as it was a general airing out of opinions. I walked out feeling uniquely glad to have been there, but not with a changed mind. We’ll see you around O’Hara, or not.
Muggle Studies
There have been many a day when a student wondered why on earth they should decide to take Muggle Studies. Maybe to see how wizardkind viewed the world they came from, maybe to laugh at whatever outdated contraption was being discussed in class. What we decidedly did not suspect we came here for was to be taught how to play sports.
Some of us were thrilled, but not everyone can be a qudditch star, or indeed any other type of athlete. Some of us, like Lucas Dakest, were inclined to groan, because wasn’t one lesson where physical exercise was mandatory enough? And to think that we weren’t allowed to practice spectating.
The cricket lesson (no, not the insect, Zoryn), however, hit it clean out of the park, as one might say. A guest speaker, Mr Aditya Atreyu- Rehman was invited to co-teach the lesson, and despite not being Professor Stewart’s boyfriend, as some of us had thought but only one was brave enough to suggest, was a good deal of fun.
Yorkers were bowled (by Professor Noble too! ), Abra Botros was cute holding a bat, Max Carden strategically acquired a stomachache at a very good time and got out of the whole ordeal, and Professor Stewart’s team lost tragically by two points to the beautiful cricket coach’s. Overall a good day.
For the less athletically inclined of us, however, basketball was hit or miss. Largely miss, and that was if one could even catch hold of the ball. The lesson did start with dribbling, of course, but if you lagged behind or failed to master that, you were done for. After that it was all strategy and real game play. Passing the ball, blocking your opponent. Not ideal for people who could hardly walk down a corridor without tripping over something or other.
A real game was played and it was the bee’s knees! Admittedly, Professor Stewart could use a couple strategy workshops herself if she thought that Nettie Gladin (we love her, but she’s TINY) would be a good shooting guard. She did well enough, though, blocking what could have been a game changing series of events. Team Something won over The Other Team but nobody really cares about those technicalities. What we do care about is that everyone left Professor Stewarts' lessons this term on a Runner’s High, full of endorphins. And in a school as dangerous as Hogwarts? Merlin knows we need all the endorphins we can get.
Some of us were thrilled, but not everyone can be a qudditch star, or indeed any other type of athlete. Some of us, like Lucas Dakest, were inclined to groan, because wasn’t one lesson where physical exercise was mandatory enough? And to think that we weren’t allowed to practice spectating.
The cricket lesson (no, not the insect, Zoryn), however, hit it clean out of the park, as one might say. A guest speaker, Mr Aditya Atreyu- Rehman was invited to co-teach the lesson, and despite not being Professor Stewart’s boyfriend, as some of us had thought but only one was brave enough to suggest, was a good deal of fun.
Yorkers were bowled (by Professor Noble too! ), Abra Botros was cute holding a bat, Max Carden strategically acquired a stomachache at a very good time and got out of the whole ordeal, and Professor Stewart’s team lost tragically by two points to the beautiful cricket coach’s. Overall a good day.
For the less athletically inclined of us, however, basketball was hit or miss. Largely miss, and that was if one could even catch hold of the ball. The lesson did start with dribbling, of course, but if you lagged behind or failed to master that, you were done for. After that it was all strategy and real game play. Passing the ball, blocking your opponent. Not ideal for people who could hardly walk down a corridor without tripping over something or other.
A real game was played and it was the bee’s knees! Admittedly, Professor Stewart could use a couple strategy workshops herself if she thought that Nettie Gladin (we love her, but she’s TINY) would be a good shooting guard. She did well enough, though, blocking what could have been a game changing series of events. Team Something won over The Other Team but nobody really cares about those technicalities. What we do care about is that everyone left Professor Stewarts' lessons this term on a Runner’s High, full of endorphins. And in a school as dangerous as Hogwarts? Merlin knows we need all the endorphins we can get.
Potions
Colorful balloons, frustrating riddles, funny voices.
Despite the fact that certain potions ingredients kept disappearing throughout the term, returning Potions professor Ignatius Noble still managed to make this past term quite the eventful one. And educational, that too, of course. Speaking of disappearing, however, one of the lessons started off as rather confusing, what with the arriving students finding themselves confronted with...a brick wall instead of a door. Immediately speculations started circling among the students. While some such as Ravenclaw Malachi Mitsue assumed that perhaps they would have to know a password to get in, others (one second year Mark Gunter to be exact) simply walked past his colleagues and straight into the wall. Ouch. Remember, not every brick wall is the entrance to a train platform! Leading by example (or not), Slytherin Prefect Maxton Carden meanwhile decided that no door meant no Potions lesson, and turned right around to head back to his dorm.
It was just in that moment, however, that a piece of parchment magically appeared on the wall with a question on ethics in Potions brewing. Every student had to tap the correct answer with their wand to be allowed to proceed onto the next room. It soon became clear that this lesson would be focusing on addressing certain issues that had arisen throughout the beginning of this term, specifically surrounding the moral implications of using the Polyjuice Potion (perhaps one of the Maxton Cardens would like to elaborate on this), or what to do when you notice someone slipping a potion into someone else’s drink (this author is absolutely appalled at the mere THOUGHT of someone doing this). The feeling of being stuck inside a Matryoshka doll, with one answered riddle just leading to yet another closed-off, dimly lit room, appeared to have an effect on some of the younger students; Cordelia Winklebleck even sat down on the floor at some point and simply yelled, “NO MORE!”. A sentiment most of the present students could relate to. Eventually, after what felt like hours and hours of questions, the last set finally led the students back to the actual Potions classroom. Surprise! It had in fact not been eaten by a very hungry caterpi- I mean, mutant.
If you’ve had the chance to get to know Professor Noble over the past years, you probably know that he’s a rather by-the-book, straightforward man. Not exactly someone you would expect to joke around to entertain his students. So it might come as a surprise to you to hear that this past year, the very same Professor Noble inhaled helium through a balloon and spoke in a funny voice. Yes, that actually happened. Ask your peers if you don’t believe me. During a lesson on interpersonal communication and the manipulation of one’s voice, the Potions professor decided to demonstrate the effects helium has on the human vocal cords; effectively making him sound like a squeaky mouse for a few minutes. Yes, it was as hilarious as you are currently imagining. Unfortunately, these effects are only short-lived, however, which was why the rest of the lesson was spent on brewing the so-called Volubilis Potion which can not only manipulate your voice but also restore it, for instance after being hit by a silencing spell. The most memorable part of the lesson remained to be when Professor Noble inhaled the helium, though.
Who said Potions couldn’t be fun?
Despite the fact that certain potions ingredients kept disappearing throughout the term, returning Potions professor Ignatius Noble still managed to make this past term quite the eventful one. And educational, that too, of course. Speaking of disappearing, however, one of the lessons started off as rather confusing, what with the arriving students finding themselves confronted with...a brick wall instead of a door. Immediately speculations started circling among the students. While some such as Ravenclaw Malachi Mitsue assumed that perhaps they would have to know a password to get in, others (one second year Mark Gunter to be exact) simply walked past his colleagues and straight into the wall. Ouch. Remember, not every brick wall is the entrance to a train platform! Leading by example (or not), Slytherin Prefect Maxton Carden meanwhile decided that no door meant no Potions lesson, and turned right around to head back to his dorm.
It was just in that moment, however, that a piece of parchment magically appeared on the wall with a question on ethics in Potions brewing. Every student had to tap the correct answer with their wand to be allowed to proceed onto the next room. It soon became clear that this lesson would be focusing on addressing certain issues that had arisen throughout the beginning of this term, specifically surrounding the moral implications of using the Polyjuice Potion (perhaps one of the Maxton Cardens would like to elaborate on this), or what to do when you notice someone slipping a potion into someone else’s drink (this author is absolutely appalled at the mere THOUGHT of someone doing this). The feeling of being stuck inside a Matryoshka doll, with one answered riddle just leading to yet another closed-off, dimly lit room, appeared to have an effect on some of the younger students; Cordelia Winklebleck even sat down on the floor at some point and simply yelled, “NO MORE!”. A sentiment most of the present students could relate to. Eventually, after what felt like hours and hours of questions, the last set finally led the students back to the actual Potions classroom. Surprise! It had in fact not been eaten by a very hungry caterpi- I mean, mutant.
If you’ve had the chance to get to know Professor Noble over the past years, you probably know that he’s a rather by-the-book, straightforward man. Not exactly someone you would expect to joke around to entertain his students. So it might come as a surprise to you to hear that this past year, the very same Professor Noble inhaled helium through a balloon and spoke in a funny voice. Yes, that actually happened. Ask your peers if you don’t believe me. During a lesson on interpersonal communication and the manipulation of one’s voice, the Potions professor decided to demonstrate the effects helium has on the human vocal cords; effectively making him sound like a squeaky mouse for a few minutes. Yes, it was as hilarious as you are currently imagining. Unfortunately, these effects are only short-lived, however, which was why the rest of the lesson was spent on brewing the so-called Volubilis Potion which can not only manipulate your voice but also restore it, for instance after being hit by a silencing spell. The most memorable part of the lesson remained to be when Professor Noble inhaled the helium, though.
Who said Potions couldn’t be fun?
Transfiguration
……..I weather the weather, whatever the weather, whether you like it or not.
Whether or not that tongue-twister was any inspiration for one of Professor Darlington’s lessons this term, we shall never know. What we do know, however, is that she clearly disapproves of the game The Floor is Lava. First things first, though. Following in Professor Grimsbane’s footsteps, Joyce Darlington took over teaching Transfiguration this term. Personally, I have not interacted with her enough to make any educated comments on her personality; other than the fact that one might think that frowning was her default facial expression, which in turn went extremely well with comments such as “no funny business!” or “indoor voices, please!”. Talk about strong signature taglines.
A little over a month into term, Professor Darlington transformed the classroom into a clearing out in the grounds with...well, frankly, there wasn’t a whole lot else. After some heartwarming advice to get your eyes checked in case you hadn’t noticed that the classroom didn’t look like a regular classroom (thank you for the concern, professor), the students were then asked to guess what the focus of the lesson would be. While some offered up a handful of legitimate guesses, one Maxton Carden and Zoryn Spinnet thought it was possible that Professor Darlington wanted to play The Floor is Lava with the class. In retrospect, not a particularly likely scenario. After reining in the very small number of students who had in fact played along, Darlington then tried to resume with her lesson on conjuring clouds. Only to be interrupted again a few seconds later when someone set fire to a patch of grass - and while the professor was quick to blame Holly Tamesis, there was no hard evidence for her being at fault. Could have been anyone, really. Maybe even the professor herself. Perhaps she DID want to play The Floor is Lava after all. Whatever. The rest of the lesson was spent conjuring up clouds and making it rain. Not particularly educational, in this author’s honest opinion.
Another noteworthy lesson this term was on how to revert (inanimate) objects back to their original state, such as transfiguring glass into sand, bread back into wheat, and paper back into wood. Seeing as a number of students were sporting some bright pink fur on their skins at this point, Professor Darlington felt obliged to quash any hopes of this lesson focusing on body transfiguration. Sorry, Captain Dooley. After a few moments of practicing the newly taught spell Prima Forma and discussing more examples of what could be reverted back to their original form (who would rather have cocoa beans than chocolate frogs, Fantine Dantes?), a labyrinth was revealed to be in the adjacent practice room. Unfortunately, it was less fun maize maze and a lot more...Minotaur; with walls made of hard concrete looming over you. Unsurprisingly, the objective was to make it past a handful of obstacles (Professor Darlington apparently had a knack for origami) and to the center of the maze. This exercise ended in rather big disappointment for the professor, however, seeing as nobody reached the center in time, nor did they think to revert the concrete walls back to their original state. Overall, Professor Darlington seemed to be incredibly disappointed in the whole student body, disapproving of both their general behavior and answers in class. Perhaps that is why she decided to leave Hogwarts again after just one year of teaching, consequently making room for yet another new Transfiguration professor.
Goodbye, Professor Darlington.
Whether or not that tongue-twister was any inspiration for one of Professor Darlington’s lessons this term, we shall never know. What we do know, however, is that she clearly disapproves of the game The Floor is Lava. First things first, though. Following in Professor Grimsbane’s footsteps, Joyce Darlington took over teaching Transfiguration this term. Personally, I have not interacted with her enough to make any educated comments on her personality; other than the fact that one might think that frowning was her default facial expression, which in turn went extremely well with comments such as “no funny business!” or “indoor voices, please!”. Talk about strong signature taglines.
A little over a month into term, Professor Darlington transformed the classroom into a clearing out in the grounds with...well, frankly, there wasn’t a whole lot else. After some heartwarming advice to get your eyes checked in case you hadn’t noticed that the classroom didn’t look like a regular classroom (thank you for the concern, professor), the students were then asked to guess what the focus of the lesson would be. While some offered up a handful of legitimate guesses, one Maxton Carden and Zoryn Spinnet thought it was possible that Professor Darlington wanted to play The Floor is Lava with the class. In retrospect, not a particularly likely scenario. After reining in the very small number of students who had in fact played along, Darlington then tried to resume with her lesson on conjuring clouds. Only to be interrupted again a few seconds later when someone set fire to a patch of grass - and while the professor was quick to blame Holly Tamesis, there was no hard evidence for her being at fault. Could have been anyone, really. Maybe even the professor herself. Perhaps she DID want to play The Floor is Lava after all. Whatever. The rest of the lesson was spent conjuring up clouds and making it rain. Not particularly educational, in this author’s honest opinion.
Another noteworthy lesson this term was on how to revert (inanimate) objects back to their original state, such as transfiguring glass into sand, bread back into wheat, and paper back into wood. Seeing as a number of students were sporting some bright pink fur on their skins at this point, Professor Darlington felt obliged to quash any hopes of this lesson focusing on body transfiguration. Sorry, Captain Dooley. After a few moments of practicing the newly taught spell Prima Forma and discussing more examples of what could be reverted back to their original form (who would rather have cocoa beans than chocolate frogs, Fantine Dantes?), a labyrinth was revealed to be in the adjacent practice room. Unfortunately, it was less fun maize maze and a lot more...Minotaur; with walls made of hard concrete looming over you. Unsurprisingly, the objective was to make it past a handful of obstacles (Professor Darlington apparently had a knack for origami) and to the center of the maze. This exercise ended in rather big disappointment for the professor, however, seeing as nobody reached the center in time, nor did they think to revert the concrete walls back to their original state. Overall, Professor Darlington seemed to be incredibly disappointed in the whole student body, disapproving of both their general behavior and answers in class. Perhaps that is why she decided to leave Hogwarts again after just one year of teaching, consequently making room for yet another new Transfiguration professor.
Goodbye, Professor Darlington.