Gillyweed and Your Imagination.

Hello there class and welcome to Herbology!  For this class I wanted to try something a bit different then just your regular questions and answers. What I am looking for here is creativity and imagination. I will not take points off for spelling errors though the more detailed and descriptive you are the more points you will earn for your house. So now I will give you your assignment.


You are a student at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All the Professor love you, even Professor Severus Snape! You have just made the most perfect potion in his class. Your work was superb and was highly better than anyone else's in your year. He has rewarded you with gillyweed from his private ingredient cupboard. What I want you to do is write me a detailed story on what you would use your gillyweed for. What would you do? Where would you go with it? You only have one hour until the effects completly wear off. I want to know what happens from the moment you take it until the effects wear off, so tell me in detail, in no less than 300 words the adventure you would have with it.

Possible points earned is 250

I can not believe it, i was just awarded the gillyweed. Blimey, there is some many things to do with it, so many things i would love to see underwater but where do i start. Later that night, i go to sleep, dreamin and planing fo the next day.
I woke up with an immediate start. I am so excited, i rush my clothing on, grab the gillyweed and head out to the ocean. I have to decided that best to do is to absorb the nature of the world, and hey it might help me out in magical creatures as well. I am on the beach, trying to find an area which is empty so people dont start thinking I am nut, i finally found a place surrounded by high rocks. I slowly walk to it, but definatly very excited about what i am to do. I look around making sure no one looking, i take it the beautiful sun shining on me and i chew the gillyweed. I walk slowly into the water waiting for the effect to take place but needing to be in the water so being a fish means i need water. i check the clock, it 9:35 in the morning. AHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I feel pain,searing thru me, and i put my hand over my neck and feel....gill. i quickly dive in cuz the need for water is outstanding, feeling like i am being choke. Knowing i have an hour to go, i dive deeper and deeper into the water. Seeing the bodies of other human above me, it seems quiet funny being sort of a fish.Know i know what they are thinking. the water feeling so warm and cozy as if i am sleeping in my bed under my fluffy blanket. i swim arounf with my feet and hand moving me around. I see all sort of fishs, little nemo, they are so cute, wonder why they are call clown fish. BLimey! A shark is coming my way, I turn around and see a water bush few feet below, and quickly hide behind looking up at the shark. It a hammerhead shark, blimey, it head does look like a hammer. The shark eating fishs on the way, it seems so real, yet as if i am in a dream watching all these creatures so close. I swim around looking for other cratures. I was able to pet a whale, wow i must say it huge. It soft body felt so cozy like butter, thinking maybe i can bring it as a pet in Hogwart. Yea but then again, Professor dumbledore will not be happy. Maybe they can be use for something, i dont know , i look at my watch and seeing that the time is still 1235. Blimey, i didnt stop time but then i realize i am not reallya fish and the watch broke underwater. Assuming i have a little time left, i look deeper in the water to a darker area. eels swarling around, trying to electrutude me, but i was careful. And the i saw it. Something i only see in pictures. Blimey! it a mermaid. it beautiful looking. It sharp green tail waving at me and the hair of this mermaid flowing ever so lightly in the water. i hear singing. a great beautiful song. i swim closer and i wave at her. she giggled and swam and wave her hand to follow her. What i saw next i can not believe. Hundreds of her-like were all over the place. make shift homes, music are being sung and i feel the warmth of being here. i took her hand and she led me thru the whole complex. and then i realize, it was time to go. i am starting to feel pain again, inmy neck area. i quickly let go and wave bye and hurry up the surface. i swam as hard as i can , my leg acing, my i need to make it. the gills are gone, water gushing in my mouth but i am almost to the surface and then i saw sunlight. i spit out the water i drank almost choking on the salt water, i look around and blimey, i am way far offshore. Panic started to rise and i am lost at what to do.then as if someone heard me a police boat have arrived and said to stay put while they lift me. i allowed them too, i was stilll in dream land. so much has happened an adventure i will not forget.

'I knew i was good at making potions but why would Snape give me an award. Its not like him to do something like that. Oh well, i guess i should put this to goog use', Stephy thought as she left class for the day.
It was a studyhall period for Stephy and instead of staying inside she decided to go outside and enjoy the nice weather. Once she made it outside the first thing she saw was the Great Lake. 'I wonder whats down there', she thought to herself. Without thinking about what dangers lurked below the water Stephy stuffed her mouth with the gillyweed that she was awarded and headed to the lake.
Once she was at the lake she swallowed the plant and quickly got into the water. She didnt want to drown in the open air. As soon as she was in the water she noticed that her hands and feet becamed webbed and she also grew gills. 'Cool' she thought 'Now to explore'. After a few min.of swimming around she came to the middle of the lake and saw..... mermaids. She swam around them, them not paying any attention to her as she went by, and saw that they had pet like fish and clams. Stephy swam on some more seeing there unique culture and was amazed by it all.
Then all of the sudden the main mermaid came up to Stephy and said: "What are you doing here human, you should not be here"
Stephy opened her mouth to say:"I just wanted to take a looka round" but only bubbles formed but the mermaid knew what she said.
"Well," he continued"If your using gillyweed then you only have a few min. before it wears of so get out of here and tell no one of this place" he shouted to Stephy pointing to the surface.
Stephy looked at her watch and saw that he was right. She quickly pushed herself up trying to get to the surface while the plants effects started to wear off. Just a few feet from the surface the effects wore off but luckily she was close enough to make it out before she drowned. As she flouted on the surface of the lake she came to the conclusion that she would never do that agian and with that she swam to the edge of the lake.

June had always loved the Black Lake. She had always wanted to swim underwater and not have to come up for air. When she had been rewarded the Gillyweed, she had been so surprised. Since when have I been good enough for Professor Snape? she'd wondered. But June wasn't stupid. She wasn't going to waste a perfectly good chance to make her dream come true.
So now June was standing at the edge of the black lake, but her mission was a little different from what it had been in her daydreams. At the last Quidditch game between gryffindor and Slytherin, she had lost control of her broom and it had flown and "drowned" in the Black Lake. Now, June wanted to get it back. She swallowed the Gillyweed and grimaced at its strange texture. June almost threw up as the Gillyweed went down her throat; it felt so slimy and so strange. When she'd swallowed it, the Gillyweed began to work its magic: June started having trouble breathing and the air seemed unpleasently cold. Suddenly realizing was wrong, June jumped into the Black Lake and berated herself for being so stupid not to do that in the first place.

Underwater, June felt gills along the edge of her neck and found that her hands and feet now seemed to be webbed. "Cool,"she said/mouthed. Not wanting to waste time, June swam down and pulled out her wand. Point me, she mouthed and as her wand spun north and down, June took in the sights of life underwater. It was amazing! So many different and beautiful sea creatures... all in one place! June was in complete awe of the place, but then her wand tingled, telling her it was time to go find her broom. As she continued to swim downwards, the water got murkier and murkier. But then she found it! Her beloved Firebolt. Quickly picking it up, June swam towards the surface, because by her watch, she only had 10 more minutes before the Gillyweed ran out. Suddenly, a horde of grindylows started pulling at her broom. Frustrated and angry, June mouthed "My broom, mine!" and cast relashio at those miserable grindylows. THey let go of her broom, but not June's time was REALLY running out. She kicked with all her might towards the surface of the water and got out just as an hour was up. She smiled as she got out of the lake: mission accomplished.

I was stunned. Never had I believed Professor Snape would reward me, even if I was a good student. I was shocked as well because I was a Gryffindor…


I went back to my common room and pondered over what I could do with my gillyweed. So many choices…..

The Lake!

I rushed back out of my common room and headed down to the lake. It was cold and the wind hit my face like little hammers.

I took a look at the gillyweed and then stuffed it into my mouth. It tasted horrible. I wanted to puke, but I knew that I would not get to have fun with the plant thing.

I chewed it down and started to go deeper into the lake. I felt my feet turning into fins and my hands turning webbed. I felt gills appearing on my neck and suddenly, I could breathe under the deep, dark water.

I started to swim deeper into the Black Lake. I wanted to study some of the more bottom life of this cool lake.

Never, had I appreciated the lake as much as I did then. As I looked around, I saw the beauty inside. From the outside, standing by a tree, it was a dark, scary, weird place that most of us were not glad to have to go into. From the inside however, it was colorful, and exciting place that you would be eager to explore.

I looked around at the grydilow and saw some mermaids, but I hid from them, because I was not exactly sure what they would do to me. I made some mental notes on both the specie’s behavior and tried to force into my brain the fact that I need to write it down when I got the chance.

I tried to understand the mermish conversation I was eavesdropping on. I failed horribly. I ended up thinking that they were talking about muggle pizza. Later, however, I had someone else translate it, and learned they were recalling the events from Harry Potter’s fourth year at Hogwarts. Wow, I was stupid.


I knew that I needed to get back to the top of the lake when I started having a little more trouble swimming in the deep part of the Lake. I swam, working very hard, to get to the surface.

My face broke the surface just as the gills disappeared and I needed to use my lungs again.

I dragged my wet heavy body out of the water and up toward the castle.

I went to my common room and then wrote down the information I had found out.

Then, I sought out Professor Snape.


“Thanks, Professor! I learned a lot!”

“What do you mean?” he asked me.

“The gillyweed you gave me!” I said rushed.

“Miss, Rebecca….That was for your next assignment,” Professor Snape stated.

My mouth fell wide open.

Conor Was Exstactic! The Look On Malfoys Face When He Had Been Awarded Gillyweed! Unfortunatly Conor Was ONLY Good At Potions And Thought Snape Was Being Stupid So He Sold It On Ebay For 5 Galleons!

I'll trust this class was marked at the time and the professor just
forgot to post the points. If anyone feels wronged, ask the new
professor to be marked.

“I can’t believe she won the gillyweed,” Violet heard as she walked down the hallway to pick up said gillyweed. She didn’t get why it was that unexpected- she had practiced the potion for countless hours before the big day was up. Of course, no one else liked to think that Violet, who was known for exploding cauldrons and missing eyebrows after a bad incident, could actually make a decent potion; and not even decent, but the best since she was being rewarded for it. The only joy she got from the tedious task was watching Granger glare at her. Of course, stephy patted her on the back. Even though she was a Ravenclaw, Stephy was still one of her good friends.

“You deserve it, remember that,” Stephy mumbled to her as she left the Great Hall ten minutes ago. She knew Stephy may be a bit upset, since she wanted to win the gillyweed herself to investigate if there really was a giant squid under the Black Lake; Violet, on the other hand, wanted to see the mermaids. She had heard tails that they were beautiful and flawless. She had never seen one up close, but then again, neither had most students at Hogwarts either.

Violet soon found herself outside Snape’s door, a sinking feeling in her stomach. Well, Snape was rewarding her- she shouldn’t feel so sick to her stomach. “It’s okay,” she said softly as she knocked on the door. Before her hand even made it back to her side, the door was opened and the gillyweed was shoved into her hand. “Congratulations on your potion, now go,” Snape said to her. There was not a hint of emotion and Violet nodded, placing the gillyweed in her pocket. She still had two hours before sunset and she was desperate to use her gillyweed as quickly as possible. “How long does it last?” she asked him. “An hour,” was all she caught as the door slammed shut.

A smile broke out on her face. This was it, her only chance. If she was going to see mermaids, she would have to do it quickly. She ran towards the Black Lake, passing by some of her friends and even the headmaster, Rai. She knew she would pay for almost making him fall over, but right now, all she wanted was the freedom to see the mermaids. Soon, she found herself outside the Black Lake and panting heavily.

It was at that moment that she realized…she didn’t know what to do with the gillyweed. Tears started to sting her eyes as she realized she may not get to see the mermaids either. Of course, she couldn’t let the Gryffindors see her, so she blinked back the tears and pulled the gillyweed from her pocket. “What do I do with you?” she mumbled, turning the gillyweed over in her hands. She vaguely remembered students whispering about what they would do if they got the gillyweed, but she couldn’t remember what was said to do with it. She brought her hand up to her nose and took a sniff, grimacing at the smell. “That’s horrid,” she said, moving it away from her smell senses.

The sun was sinking and she knew what she had to do. She would have to eat it. That was the only way she could figure it out. The worse that could happen was she would die and then end up with the mermaids. She closed her eyes and started chewing on the gillyweed, her need to vomit being repressed. She forced herself to swallow the gillyweed and felt herself falling forward. ‘Oh no, this is how I end…..’ she thought to herself. She felt her body fighting for oxygen as well as pain in her throat. She couldn’t breathe, yet, she couldn’t move either. And just like that, it was over. She inhaled deeply, water flooding her mouth- but she wasn’t drowning. Instead, she was breathing. It was then she realized she had gills. Gills like a fish, like…like… “a mermaid,” she attempted to say, but only bubbles came out.

The once murky water was crystal clear and she could see everything around her. She could see wands, robes, shoes, underwear, even toys. A smile broke out on her face as she started moving and she realized quickly that her robe was going to hold her back. She removed her robe, along with her shoes and socks. ‘Here goes nothing,’ she thought as she started swimming. She wasn’t a good swimmer, but under gillyweed, she found herself going speeds she had never been before.

She felt free, weightless, and ecstatic. She had never felt so alive as she did with gillyweed allowing her to breathe and see underwater. She now understood why muggles wanted to understand the oceans. The sight was amazing. A turtle passed her and she swam until a school of fish. She knew her time was ticking, but she would never get to do this again. She would never get to see all the amazing beauties the lake had to offer her. The seaweed dancing around her body, hugging her while the jellyfish swam by. With deep sadness, she found herself swimming away, knowing an hour would pass as soon as it started.

Soon, she found herself angry. She didn’t know how long she had been swimming, but her watch was no longer working and she was nowhere near mermaids. She had found a wrecked ship, but no mermaids. She found the giant squid, but no mermaids. She found everything, but no mermaids. Her patience was disappearing and her eyes stung with tears that soon melted into the lake. Her whole journey seemed like a waste until she heard it; a soft singing voice. So soft, she almost missed it.

She found herself turning to find it, but underwater, everything sounded the same. She started swimming towards her left, hoping she was going in the right direction. She passed more seaweed, turtles, jellyfish, everything and anything, until she was at water appeared to be a hill; but she singing was louder, clearer, more beautiful than she could have imagined. It was close to the sound of a siren, and maybe this is where the legend of sirens came from, because she could feel tears stingy her eyes once more. She wanted to be close to them, to see them, to be them. Her dream was coming true and she pushed herself from the hill and down into the valley with the mermaids.
It was long, though, before she was caught. The singing stopped and spears were pointed at her. ‘What do you want!’ she heard in her head. Her eyes were wide. She didn’t read anything about this. These mermaids were not like they were in the book. Where there should have been a body, there was yellow-green flesh. There was no hair, but webbed hair. The pictures around the castle and in the books were false. These mermaids were different, dangerous, deceiving. Her love for mermaids was disappearing fast and she was regretting coming out here. “I’m sorry!” she shouted, but it came out as a stream of bubbles. They were laughing at her as she was pulled towards buildings. They were going to kill her just because she decided to come out and enjoy their presence.  How could she have been so gullible? Stephy had been right, as always, about them. They were not amazing, but dangerous and horrible.

The more she struggled, the more they pulled at her, pulling her down into the depths below. She didn’t want to die, her hour was almost up. She could feel her gills starting to fade and her vision was being clouded by the murky waters. Water was becoming distasteful and her lungs were aching, but she heard it; the screeching from above. Eight lines blurred in her vision, but she had a feeling of what it was. All the mermaids screamed as a line came down and wrapped around her torso. Stephy had been right about one thing- the giant squid was a darling creature. As the gillyweed disappeared, she stopped being scared. The squid was going to help. He was pushing her towards the surface. As her lungs felt like a fire was brewing, she took a deep breath and oxygen flooded her lungs. She was soaking wet, but she didn’t care. She seen the mermaids and she never wanted to again.

That was excellent! I love how the Giant Squid was the saviour. We will talk later about almost making fall though.

violetriddle - 250 HP