Chapter 13 — Herbology and a Mishap
"Right then, let us begin our first Herbology lesson!"
I watched with a faint smile as our somewhat dishevelled but thoroughly agreeable professor addressed us. Professor Sprout stood between us and the greenhouse, speaking with evident enthusiasm about her subject and what we would be doing in it.
We would not simply be memorising what plants looked like -- we would be studying cultivation methods common to different plant families, techniques for dealing with weeds, plant care, and repotting. All of it grounded primarily in practical work.
And all of that was to be covered in the first two years. From third year onwards she would be running an additional elective -- as would the other professors. Attendance at the elective would be compulsory for anyone intending to sit N.E.W.T. Herbology after fifth year, since that was where much of the material needed for sixth and seventh year would be covered.
"Mr Black..."
The professor focused her gaze on me.
"Yes, Professor?"
I stepped forward slightly, moving just clear of the group. Though I had been standing in the front row already, so it was hardly necessary.
"Headmaster Dumbledore has passed on a request that I arrange an early examination for you, covering the first-year curriculum..."
"Ha! Loser! Second day of school and he's already sitting exams!"
"Mr Weasley, I would strongly advise you to be quiet..."
Sprout fixed the offender with a very stern look. I had rather suspected Weasley would be incapable of silence. It was a pity we had been given a number of shared lessons, but there was nothing to be done about it. Dumbledore believed in the mythical friendship of the Houses.
Yes...
Friendship...
With Gryffindors... Individually they were tolerable enough, but get them together and it was a pack of jackals. Penny had already told me quite a lot during last night's celebration. There were worthy individuals among them -- Percy, the twins, for all their cunning and fondness for occasionally brutal pranks, Wood, and perhaps another five or so she had named. But beyond that...
"He'll be expelled from Hogwarts anyway!"
Weasley said it with absolute confidence.
"Mr Weasley, I asked you to be quiet. Minus five points from Gryffindor."
"I..."
"Mr Weasley..."
Weasley finally shut his mouth. Merlin Almighty, the boy was insufferable. I simply could not bear it -- though I was not about to challenge him to a duel. I was not the canonical Draco Malfoy, who would pick fights with oblivious idiots.
"...at last. Now, Mr Black -- how would you assess your own knowledge of my subject?"
"Well... I believe I could manage the first and second years. There was nothing particularly difficult there, so..."
I gave a few mild shrugs as I said it.
"First and second year, you say?"
The professor opened the greenhouse door thoughtfully and ushered us inside. It was not a typical greenhouse -- it had been combined with a classroom, with numerous tables arranged throughout, so everyone took a seat. The professor went to her own desk and began rummaging through it.
"Ah... here we are..."
She gave a satisfied nod, then levitated two scrolls of parchment to a separate table.
"...Mr Black, please sit at that table."
I did as she asked.
"Thank you. The examination papers are on the desk in front of you. Each one contains twenty questions. You need only answer any three from each paper. We shall consider this the theoretical portion, and if your grasp of the theory satisfies me, we will look at the practical side this evening."
"May I begin?"
"Of course, of course."
She gave an encouraging nod.
The theoretical examination was, in some ways, considerably simpler than the examination Flitwick had put me through, yet Herbology was also the subject I knew least well. Even so, I managed to answer all fifteen questions from the first-year paper and all seventeen from the second -- in roughly forty minutes. And we had a double lesson with Professor Sprout.
"Professor, he's just sitting there staring into space! He's obviously run out of things to write!"
Weasley's voice cut across Sprout mid-sentence.
"Mr Weasley, minus five points from Gryffindor for calling out. If you believe I failed to notice that Mr Black had finished writing, you are very much mistaken. I simply consider it somewhat inappropriate to interrupt the lesson on that account. Do you disagree?"
She fixed Weasley with a thoroughly displeased look.
"I..."
"You -- and now kindly be quiet, unless you would like me to cast Silencio on you every time you set foot in my greenhouses."
Weasley snapped his mouth shut, and I allowed myself a small smile at the corner of my lips that went entirely unnoticed. The lesson continued in a relatively calm atmosphere -- save for Weasley simmering in his seat and shooting murderous looks in my direction. For all the good it did him.
"Lesson's over. Mr Black, please stay behind."
I gave a nod of understanding and remained where I was. Daphne soon appeared near the greenhouse door but did not step outside. Professor Sprout made no remark about this, simply walked over to me and picked up the parchment I had been writing on, reading through my answers carefully.
"Hmm..."
The thoughtful sounds continued throughout her reading, until she looked up at me.
"On the whole, quite sound. Answers of this quality at a theory examination would normally receive an Acceptable. In a few places you were rather sparing with your explanations, though that is not something I deduct marks for. You have passed the theory. As I understand it, you are free this afternoon?"
"Yes, Professor."
"Good. Come to me directly after lunch and we will conduct your practical examination."
"Thank you."
I gave the professor a brief bow.
"No need for that..."
She waved off my thanks.
"...I am carrying out the Headmaster's request. And he is quite right -- if your knowledge is sufficiently developed, there is no point in keeping you in my lessons."
"Thank you."
I gave another brief bow.
"Off you go..."
With that the professor turned away, and I headed for the door.
"My lord..."
Daphne held the door open, and I stepped out into the morning air to find Hermione waiting -- and, rather unexpectedly, Harry as well. He had not exactly given the impression of feeling any particular warmth towards me, and we had exchanged barely a handful of words even sharing a room.
"How did it go?"
Hermione looked at me anxiously.
"Theory passed. I come back here after lunch for the practical. Where is everyone?"
"They left..."
Hermione gave a slightly helpless shrug.
"...the boy prefect came -- Robert -- said Penny was busy, and led everyone off to Transfiguration. When I tried to say that you and Daphne were still inside, he just waved me off and said he was thinking through an important project. Then he cast Silencio on me..."
"Er... but then how did you...?"
"The Gryffindor prefect -- Percy, I think -- he shook his head disapprovingly and removed the spell from me as he walked past."
"I see..."
I frowned.
"...that cannot go unaddressed. He clearly neglected his responsibilities."
"Er... so what do we do?"
Harry looked at me with some uncertainty.
"We handle it now."
I turned back to the greenhouse and tapped lightly on the glass, then eased the door open.
"Professor, if I may?"
"Hmm? Mr Black? I thought you had already left with your prefect... the time..."
She glanced at the clock.
"I would very much like to have left as well, but as it happens..."
I then recounted everything Hermione had just told me. The professor's expression grew steadily more disapproving as she listened.
"One moment..."
She gave her wand a short wave, and a Patronus appeared before her. A small mole completed one circuit around its caster and then held still.
"Filius, your prefect is failing in his duties most disgracefully. He did not count his students, and as a result four members of your House have been left standing by the greenhouses. Could you come yourself, or send someone?"
The mole vanished.
"What was that spell?!"
"A Patronus, Miss Granger. The Patronus Charm is generally used either to drive away Dementors, or in certain situations -- such as this one -- to carry messages."
"Oh..."
"You will learn about Dementors in Defence Against the Dark Arts -- not in first year, however. As for the spell itself..."
The professor paused to think.
"...if I am not mistaken, it falls somewhere in the optional curriculum for sixth or seventh year. It can of course be learnt earlier, but not everyone has sufficient magical reserves for it. Now -- that is quite enough questions. Wait in the greenhouse until Professor Flitwick arrives, and I must go and greet the next group."
She nodded us towards the greenhouse and turned to meet a group of older students from Gryffindor and Slytherin.
Flitwick arrived roughly ten minutes into the lesson -- and he did not come alone. Both prefects were with him.
"Pomona, what has happened?"
"Well..."
Professor Sprout nodded in our direction.
"...the prefect mislaid his first-years."
"I did not mislay them! They fell behind on their own!"
Robert immediately launched into his defence.
"Perhaps these two did, in a manner of speaking -- though it would be more accurate to say they remained near the greenhouse after you, Mr Hilliard, refused to listen to the students who were trying to warn you that two first-years were still inside."
"I..."
"You also, as Miss Granger has told us, silenced her with a charm after she ignored your instruction the first time and tried again to bring the matter of Mr Black and Daphne to your attention. Is that correct?"
Sprout raised a hand, stopping the prefect before he could respond -- because Flitwick was already looking at him with considerable fury, and Penny with considerably more. And no wonder. I had made her a promise that could change her life entirely, and here was this... in any case, judging by her expression she was more than ready to scratch his eyes out.
"Before you answer, I should mention that the Silencio was removed from the girl by the Gryffindor prefect, so if necessary we can call upon him to give his account as well. Now -- did you cast Silencio on her?"
"Y-yes..."
He admitted it with evident difficulty.
"Robert, did you even count the students?"
"I..."
Under the prosecutorial weight of Penny's gaze he gave up and shook his head.
"...no. But you said yourself that you had appointed someone to be in charge of the first-years! That should have been his job!"
"And how exactly, do you suppose, was Mr Black -- standing inside the greenhouse -- supposed to report to you that he and Daphne were absent from the group?"
"Well..."
"Mr Hilliard, I am deeply disappointed in you. You are a fine student with an otherwise blameless record, but to make an error like this..."
Flitwick shook his head.
"...one more lapse of this kind and I will have no choice but to remove you from your position. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes."
The boy hung his head, though beneath his brows he was directing thoroughly hostile glances in my direction. Good Lord -- and what exactly was my fault in all this? I was a first-year. I could not reasonably be expected to know the way to the Transfiguration classroom. And no one could prove that in fact I could have found it with no difficulty at all.
"Very good. Now -- Penny, would you please take our first-years to Professor McGonagall and explain the situation."
"Understood."
She gave Flitwick a brief nod.
"This way, little ones."
She said this with an amused look.
"Mind the step, love."
I returned the jibe, and beneath Penny's indignant hiss of protest we fell in behind her. Though I could see perfectly well that she was more pleased than anything that I had not let it pass.
"And you, Mr Hilliard -- to your lesson. You are also suspended from our additional sessions for one month. I trust this will encourage you to take your responsibilities rather more seriously..."
Flitwick continued speaking, but with each step we took his voice grew more and more distant, until it was impossible to make out what else he was saying to the prefect.
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