Thistlebloom and the Secrets of Brewer's Botanicals

Chapter Eleven

Mrs. Dumpfry cleared her throat and looked out at the sea of first years. 'Welcome to Athenia. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be your family. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Lunarix, Aetherclaw, Nocturnis, and Veridora. Each house has its history. While you are here, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor.

'How do they sort us into houses?' Lysander asked.

'No idea.' Lucas replied.

Lysander's heart gave a jolt. He looked around and saw that everyone else looked terrified too. No one was talking much except Elara, who was whispering about all the spells she knew.

Mrs. Dumpfry now stepped forward, the mortar cradled in her arms. The students leaned in.

'Thistlebloom, Lysander!' The hall fell silent as Lysander approached. He reached into the mortar and placed the herb in crushing it under the pestle, a swirl of silver mist enveloped him.

'Veridora!' The declaration was met with a burst of applause. Lysander, a smile breaking through his nervousness, made his way to join his new housemates.

'Ringwood, Elara!' called Mrs. Dumpfry next. Elara stepped forward. As she crushed the herb, a burst of silver, wrapped around her.

'Veridora!' The same table cheered once again as Elara moved to take her place among her peers, her eyes meeting Lysander's.

'Mortan, Lucas!' Lucas walked up, his steps hesitant. He picked his herb and crushed it. It released a cloud of silver smoke that spiraled upward.

'Veridora!' The announcement was met with another round of cheers, this time for Lucas, who took his place at the Veridora table with a relieved grin.

The ceremony continued, and the method of using herbs to sort the students into their houses filled the hall with silver, green, blue, and purple.

As the final name was called and the last herb crushed, the hall erupted into a blend of cheers and chatter. The students of Veridora, including Lysander, Elara, and Lucas, shared looks of excitement.

Lysander could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest sat Thaddeus, who caught his eye and gave him the thumbs-up.

In the center of the High Table sat Grimwald.

Mrs. Dumpfry rolled up her scroll and took the mortar away. Lysander looked down at his empty plate. Grimwald had got to his feet. He was beaming at the students.

'Welcome!' he said. Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. First-years should note that the grove is forbidden to all students.' Grimwald's eyes flashed in the direction of the twins. 'Realm Relay trials will be held in the second week of term. I must stress the importance that you stay out of the grove if you wish to avoid a painful death.'

Lysander laughed, but he was one of the few who did.

'He's not serious?' he muttered to Ethan.

'Must be,' said Ethan.

The first years followed Owen through the crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the staircase. Lysander's legs were like lead.

They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and Lysander was wondering how much farther they had to go when they came to a sudden halt.

Lysander looked up and saw that they had stopped in front of a stone wall. The hallway was empty, and he was about to open his mouth to ask what they were doing when Owen stepped forward.

'Listen up,' he said turning to face the sleepy first years. 'You will do well to remember these words as they are the only way to enter your dormitories. It is very important that you say it correctly the first time.'

'And if we don't?' said a girl next to Lysander.

'Let me show you.' Owen faced away from them and back toward the wall. 'Revelio Porta.'

There was a pop, and Lysander watched as a face started to jut out of the wall. It looked much like a dragon with long whiskers that protruded from its face. It let loose a fireball in their direction. 'Aqua Defendo.' Water shot of Owen's wand and the fireball dissipated.

'Oooooooh!' said a student in the back.

'Athenia is full of secret rooms that need certain passwords to enter. Do not go around trying to enter them without knowing the right words or you might end up barbeque.' Owen turned back to face the wall.

'Aperio Janua.'

They watched as the stone shifted and pulled itself outward to form a door. Owen directed the girls through one door and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase, they found their beds. Lysander found his bed almost instantly his moonshifter and the Emberfox at the foot of his bed.

'Great food, isn't it?' Lucus muttered to Lysander.

Lysander was going to ask Lucus if he'd had any peppermint, but he fell asleep almost at once.

Lysander had the strangest dream in which he kept talking to a shadow, telling him he must transfer to Nocturnis at once because it was his destiny. Lysander told the shadow he didn't want to and somewhere off in the far distant darkness of his dream, he could hear a cold cackle echoing.

He rolled over and fell asleep again, and when he woke the next day, he didn't remember the dream at all.

There were a hundred staircases at Athenia: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. It was also hard to remember where anything was because it all seemed to move around a lot.

And then, there were the classes themselves. There was a lot more to magic than Lysander could have imagined.

Beneath the canopy of the Herbology greenhouse, nestled at the edge of the school grounds, students gathered around Professor Thorne. Three times a week, they were immersed in this classroom, learning the art of bizarre plants and the uses of exotic fungi.

'Each leaf, each stem, holds a story and a power,' Professor Thorne would say, her hands demonstrating the proper care for a Whispering Bindweed, or the gentle coaxing needed for a timid Duskthorn Bloom.

Professor Willow, the Potions master, was often seen stirring a cauldron with leaves and roots swirling in it. At the beginning of their lesson, he checked attendance.

Professor Hawthorne, the guardian of plant-based magic and defense. Her presence was commanding yet nurturing. As students settled into their first encounter with her teachings, she addressed them with a tone of seriousness.

'Plant-based magic and its defensive applications are among the most ancient and sacred forms of magic,' she began. 'Here, we will not only brew and concoct; we will learn to commune with the essence of nature itself. Respect, patience, and understanding are key. This is not about harnessing power—it's about becoming one with the earth.'

Then, with a flourish, she transformed a small twig into a blooming flower and back again. The students watched in awe. However, they learned that their journey into plant-based magic would start with much simpler tasks. After jotting down notes each student was handed a seed.

The day's challenge was to coax it into sprouting. By the lesson's end, only Elara had managed to induce a tiny green shoot from her seed; Professor Hawthorne held it up for all to see.