janus ~ hermione granger

viii

"welcome to greenhouse three, second years. today, we will be re-potting mandrakes. now, who here can tell me the properties of a mandrake? yes, miss granger?"

"mandrake, or mandragora, is used to return those who have been transfigured to their original state. it's also quite dangerous. the mandrake's cry is fatal to anyone who hears it," hermoine answered confidently.

"stop staring at her," draco jokingly whispered to the girl next to him.

"im not," the boy hummed in response. "maybe i find her nerdiness cute, alright? that's it," draco smirked.

"excellent. ten points to gryffindor. now, mr malfoy and ms taylor, if you two are done with your conversation, i would like to continue," sprout said, receiving a military salute from maddy and a thumbs down from draco. "as our mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet. however, they will knock you out for several hours. that is why i have provided each of you with a pair of earmuffs."

professor sprout proceeded to pass around a box of dirty earmuffs, everyone grabbing one for safety precautions.

she then showed the students what to do, and everyone winced as the baby mandrake screeched.

neville, unfortunately, passed out, causing some students to laugh.

"i guess longbottom has neglected his earmuffs," the teacher sighed.

"no ma'am, he just fainted," seamus replied.

sprout sighed and had someone take him to the hospital wing.

draco started tickling his mandrake as everyone pulled theirs out. it then proceeded to bite the boy, causing maddy to break out into giggles. after a few seconds, she calmed down and looked up, seeing a few people staring so draco glared at them.

and it was in that moment, that hermoine was sure she had just heard the most perfect noise ever.

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"i believe that for our first year of lessons, you should master the spells we teach you here at hogwarts. simple to powerful, and we'll do it in that order. are you more of a visual learner?" professor mcgonagall asked, receiving a nod in response. "okay, then i'll demonstrate the spells, and if they're any i am not particularly good at yet, we'll just get dumbledore."

the older lady then unlocked a door, and held it open for maddy. the room was quite simple and large. there wasn't much decoration. it was probably some room that nobody really used.

they spent the next two hours doing all sorts of spells over and over again until maddy mastered them.

"okay, your year should be learning this spell sometime soon, so i'll just explain it to you so you can get a head start. expectro patronum helps keep you safe from dementors. you'll learn about them soon. it's a physical manifestation of one's most positive feelings."

professor mcgonagall then proceeded to show maddy the spell, a tabby cat appearing.

"your turn, and it's alright if you can't get it first try, it's not a simple spell."

maddy nodded and lifted her wand.

"expectro patronum," she repeated the spell three times.

she thought about draco.

"it's alright if you can't get it, honey, let's try some other stronger spells. we'll come back to this.

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