Echo | Harry Potter - George Weasley

Chapter 17: Class Act Catastrophe

It was a beautiful day at Hogwarts. So beautiful, in fact, that it almost made Shaye forget all about what had happened the day before. The mishap at the train station, the flying car, the Whomping Willow, and even Snape and Filch had been set on the backburner. The one thing that still bothered Shaye, however, was the letter; but she had decided that she would only try to worry about it in the evenings when she, Harry, Ron, and Hermione got together to try and figure out what any of it meant.

At that very moment, Shaye had chosen to push the letter from her mind as well. She was in her very first Herbology class of the year and had promised herself that she would maintain her grades despite the sheer amount of unanswered questions weighing heavily on her mind.

"Morning, everyone." Professor Sprout, the head of Hufflepuff house, greeted the class as she entered the greenhouse. 

"Good morning, Professor Sprout," the class chorused. 

"Welcome to greenhouse three, second years." Sprout motioned for everyone to step up to the large wooden table in the middle of the greenhouse. "Gather around, everyone. Today we're going to re-pot Mandrakes. Who here can tell me the properties of the Mandrake root?"

Unsurprisingly, Hermione's hand shot up. 

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is used to return those who have been petrified to their original state," Hermione answered. "It's also quite dangerous. The Mandrake's cry is fatal to anyone who hears it."

Sprout smiled wide. "Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor. Now, as our Mandrakes are still only seedlings, their cries won't kill you yet. But they could knock you out for several hours, which is why I've given each of you a pair of earmuffs for auditory protection. So could you please put them on, right away? Quickly. Flaps tight down, and watch me closely."

Grabbing the pair of earmuffs on the table, Shaye dusted off some dirt before placing them over her ears and making sure that the flaps were, indeed, tight down. Once everyone had made sure their ears were protected, all eyes were on Professor Sprout once more.

"You grasp your Mandrake firmly. You pull it sharply up out of the pot." Sprout instructed, having to shout to be heard over the earmuffs and the shrill, mind-numbing screech of the Mandrake she had just evicted from its pot. "Got it? And now you dunk it down into the other pot and pour a little sprinkling of soil to keep him warm."

As Professor Sprout ended her demonstration, Neville let out an airy moan and collapsed to the ground. 

Sprout sighed. "Longbottom's been neglecting his earmuffs."

Seamus, who had been standing beside Neville, looked down at him. "No, ma'am, he's just fainted." He pointed out the fact that Neville had been wearing his earmuffs after all.

"Yes, well, just leave him there," Sprout said. "Right, on we go. Plenty of pots to go around. Grasp your Mandrake and pull it up."

At once, everyone grabbed onto the top of their Mandrake and pulled it from the soil. The room erupted into shrieks and even with the earmuffs on, the noise was hard to tolerate. The only thing that made it any better was watching Draco's Mandrake bite him on the finger. 

Feeling a headache approaching fast, Shaye worked quickly at stuffing her plant that both looked and sounded like an upset infant into the new pot. As soon as she covered it with fresh soil, it calmed down and stopped screaming. 

Once everyone had successfully re-potted their Mandrake plant and Neville had been sent to the hospital wing, the Herbology class came to an end and Shaye relished in the sound of silence. It was just so peaceful without thirty shrieking plants.