( miavi | un: henbane )

[chaungen]

I think I'm probably asking too much [ considering it's 1980 and some of the ingredients he uses in his work haven't even been discovered yet. ] but is anyone familiar with herbologists (professional or amateur) that grow or can otherwise obtain plants from South Africa?

In particular, I'm looking for Agathosma Barosma. I've a feeling I'm going to be doing some experimental substitution, though.

[ what follows is a quick sketch of what the plant looks like. for all that he claims he can't draw, he's not bad at this sort of illustration, anyway, mostly thanks to practice.

and of course, for anyone who's spent much time with teddy, his looping, scratchy scrawl is pretty characteristic and unique to him. ]

Comments

un: athrawes

[inclusiveness]

I suppose South Africa is even farther away than Africa in general? I'm afraid I don't know the place by name.

[chaungen]

[ holy wow, how does this person not know where africa i--




oh. ]

You must be displaced?
I'm not sure just how displaced you are, but Africa is a continent far to the south. It's beautiful, I've been twice for my work.

[inclusiveness]

I am indeed. Quite a bit, I'm afraid.
Your Africa sounds lovely. I have traveled extensively across these isles but have never left them.

[chaungen]

By how much, if you don't mind my asking?

Really? Well, maybe you'll get a chance to do some traveling outside of the UK, now.

[inclusiveness]

A mere thousand years, give or take.

Oh, I don't imagine so. There's work to be done at home!

[chaungen]

[ a thousand years? holy shit. ]

You really have had a lot to adjust to, then. How has it been so far for you?

[inclusiveness]

Yes, it has been all rather jarring. But so far I find this future to be a wealth of new information. I am awed by how far civilization, both magical and non, has progressed! The Minister, lovely man, invited me over for tea, which was very kind of him. That there is a Ministry at all is amazing to me; that there are systems in place to ensure the safety and protection of magical people warms my heart.

The most wonderful thing of all is the knowledge that the hard work my friends and I have done in our time has lasted through to this day. To see that I have made a lasting impact on this world is knowledge I am truly grateful for.

un: unanxious

[engorgimpressed]

[The handwriting is familiar, but-- he has to make sure first. Good thing he knows far too much about potions ingredients and history.]

I don't know of any local contacts, unfortunately, but it is possible to have it imported at this time, if you are unable to find anyone with it in stock. It'd be a bit of a wait, of course.

private;
[Beneath that, his own quick sketches of the other main ingredients of the potion Teddy takes, along with suggestions for substitutes for the Agathosma Barosma.]

un: a.black

[medesthai]

[ Andromeda's handwriting hasn't changed since she was a teenager, her looping cursive writing taking up space on paper beautifully, and it probably won't change much as she gets older. ]

I believe Hogwarts has a fair amount of it in its greenhouses. The South African Ministry is generous in its distribution due to its diuretic properties, but because of the import costs, local apothecaries sell the leaves at a slightly less than reasonable cost.

[ It's often insisted that Agathosma Barosma is something of a 'miracle remedy' that has other properties, though there's still research to be done about it. It probably will just be a simple healing herb for about, oh, two to three decades or so, give or take a few years? Something like that, not that Andromeda knows right now. ]

You need it for a potion, I'm guessing.