My New Passion

10.

Harry Potter, Hogwarts

Harry hummed, as he walked with his friends towards Herbology. "I heard we're studying and repotting baby Mandrakes today." Neville hummed, as he put on the gloves that was prepared. "This'll be fun, don't you think, Nev?" The tall boy nodded, smiling happily. It's funny how I never really gave him any attention in the past life. He's a sweet friend. Harry thought, before Professor Sprout walked in with a wide smile.

"Right class! To your right, you can see mufflers, which you will wear after my short explanation. Now, can someone tell me what exactly are Mandrakes?" Neville's hand shot up faster than Hermione's, which made Harry smile while the class was surprised. "Right, Mr. Longbottom!" Neville smiled. "Mandrakes, or their Latin name 'Mandragora', is commonly used to revert those who are petrified back to their normal state. Their roots are used in the Mandrake Restorative Drought. A fully grown Mandrake's cries can be fatal to anyone who hears it, but it only makes you black out when they are very young, like right now." Neville said, as Professor Sprout clapped happily. "Great job, Mr. Longbottom! 10 points to Gryffindor!" Harry patted Neville's back, as he smiled. "Great work, Nev."

"Right, put on your muffs! I'll take off the silencing spell. Make sure it's secured! Or not you'll faint, like Mr. Longbottom had explained." Professor Sprout warned, before Harry put on the muffs, muffling everything around him. After making sure everyone had secured their mufflers, Professor Sprout lifted the spell. A shrill collection of cries immediately rang out, causing the class to grip their mufflers close to their ears. Harry wasn't excused of this torture, as he groaned. "Quickly class! I've shown you how to repot something yesterday!" Harry quickly pull out his mandrake from the pot, transferring it to another one and pouring dirt and fertiliser onto it.

Its cries were muffled into the pot, before quieting down. Harry sighed in relief, but the rest of the class, sparing Neville, Hermione and Draco, didn't have the same speed as he did. Ron was struggling, since his Mandrake was a little bigger than the rest of the class. Seeing this, Neville had lend a hand, and Hermione and Draco went to help the other students too. Before Harry could move to help the others, one of the boys fell beside him. "Professor Sprout! Dean has fainted!" Harry said, as he recognised his past roommate. "Ah, that's a pity. Mr. Potter, could you help carry him to Madam Pomfrey's?" Harry nods, carrying the boy on his back before carefully navigating his way to Madam Pomfrey's. "Ah, our first victim. Come, lay him down over there, Harry."

Harry laid him down onto the bed, before casting a quick cleansing charm on himself and Dean. "Thank you. Now, how long has he been down?" Harry hummed, pulling off his mufflers. "Not long, I came here as soon as he fainted in class." Madam Pomfrey let out a breath of relief, before dripping a few drops of the Drought. "He'll wake up soon. You can return to your dorms." Harry heard the bell, before nodding and walked out of the room.

As he walked, he noticed a trail of spiders crawling out through the window, making him frown worriedly. She's close to you... Tom's voice rang through his head, making him wince. I noticed. Should I follow her? Harry could hear the Horcrux scoff. Obviously! What if she petrifies someone, or worst! Harry shudders at the possibility of someone dying again after 50 years, so he quickly walked through the empty hallways, listening for whispers hungry for blood and chaos. He hoped that no one would actually die.

Hungry... He heard a soft hiss, making him turn around and quickly run down a hallway, where the hisses got louder. I SMELL BLOOD! TIME TO FEAST! Harry's eyes widened as he started to panic. Wait! No! Harry hissed in a panic, but then he tripped over something hard and fell onto a wet spot on the floor. "Ugh..." Harry glanced down, before sighing in relief as it was just water from Myrtle's flooded bathroom again. Then he realised where he was and turned around, before groaning as he had tripped over Mrs Norris's paralysed body. "I guess since Ginny isn't the one who had the diary, you aren't hung onto a torch this time." Harry hummed, before picking up the cat carefully. He hid the cat using an invisibility spell and dashed to Madam Pomfrey's before anyone else could see him.

"Madam Pomfrey!" Harry looked around the clinic, as Madam Pomfrey jumped. "Mr. Potter! I thought I asked you to go back to your dorms?" Harry glanced at the other sleeping patients, before lifting the invisibility spell from Mrs Norris. Madam Pomfrey froze, before pulling him to a bed and closing the curtains. "Where did you find her?" Harry sighed. "Luckily, in front of the girl's bathroom on the second floor. I was following the sounds of the basilisk before tripping over her." Madam Pomfrey took her from his arms and laid her on the bed, sighing in relief as she could hear a faint heartbeat.

"Thank Merlin she's not dead. I guess the front of the bathroom was flooded?" Harry nodded, smiling a little. "It seems like this Basilisk is out of practice. All she is doing is petrifying the victims." Madam Pomfrey nods. "We're lucky that's the only thing it's doing."

Harry can't help but agree, before he was asked to go back to his dorms.