Chapter 2
Herbology
The beginning of Hazel's first day had gone rather well, contrary to her belief after their breakfast in the Great Hall. She had received an Hogwarts Owl from her mother. She had never known her mother to use an Owl before, she was surprised she would even entertain the idea but Hazel supposed that Dumbledore must have contacted her that night and rather than leave the Owl with no mail, she had taken advantage over the situation.
Dear Hazel,
Congratulations on joining Gryffindor! I hadn't wanted to tell you what house I had joined in fear that it would have affected your choice during the sorting, (Albus had told me what happened). I was a Gryffindor as well. It feels like a long time ago and you would probably laugh at the fact that I of all people had been placed in that house but they were the best years of my life. I hope they will be for you as well.
Take care using your magic and don't get angry if you can't do any spells straight away. It takes a lot of practice and patience. I also hope you are making a lot of friends and I can't wait to hear about them at Christmas, (I do hope you will come back for the holidays).
Lots of Love,
Mum
P.S. Don't worry about the hat. I've spoken to Albus and we've agreed that it must have just been in way over it's head.
Hazel couldn't believe it, her mother had been a Gryffindor. The most paranoid person she had ever known had been in a house known for its bravery. As much as she loved her mother, it seemed strangely bizarre. She explained this to both Lily and Remus, whom she sat next to at lunch. They both agreed that perhaps, there was more to her mother's fear than meets the eye. Regardless however, her mother had been proud of her and that was what mattered.
'What about your parent's Remus? Are they proud?'
'Well, my father was a little surprised. He was a Hufflepuff. My uncle Cecil however, the Professor for Herbology, was a Gryffindor. Perhaps I have the same traits as him.'
'Do Hogwarts houses usually run in the family then?'
'Almost all the time.' Said a bitter voice. The three turned to see Sirius listening in to their conversation, his fork mindlessly stabbing his scrambled egg. 'That's why you heard my cousin call me a traitor. They hadn't expected it.'
'So how did you join Gryffindor, Sirius?' Lily asked curiously.
'I hate my families values. They believe that muggles and muggleborn shouldn't be able to use magic. They're prejudiced and they have sticks so far up their arse that they'd be choking on the splinters.' Hazel frowned. He continued. 'I guess the hat noticed just how different I am compared to them and thats why he chose this house for me. Probably helped that I begged him to put me in here because this is my parents most hated house and the house I knew James would be in.' James, who had broken his conversation with Peter, gave him a high-five. Hazel looked back down at her letter and frowned, contemplating.
'Sirius, Have you heard from them since you were sorted?' Sirius nodded and picked up the letter that was next to his plate and halfheartedly threw the paper at her. Both Remus and Lily leaned in so they could read together and they were all terribly surprised at how short it was.
Sirius,
You've disgraced the family name.
Don't come for Christmas.
There was no name.
'It's my father's writing.' Sirius answered their questioning gazes towards the paper. 'He's probably trying to find the paperwork to disown me as we speak.'
'Are you going to be okay?' Hazel asked. Sirius shrugged.
'Well they can try as much as they'd like. The Ministry of Magic won't allow them to abandon me whilst I'm underage. Something about being part of the sacred twenty-eight stops them from ceasing their responsibilities as my parents. As soon as Hogwarts is over though, I'm out of there.'
'Like you'd ever leave the comforts of our family.' A silky voice retorted. The group looked up to notice the young girl that had called Sirius a traitor yesterday, had arrived at their table. She had the look of pure malice on her face as she looked down at him from across the table. She hovered directly behind Hazel.
'Let me guess Bellatrix, you're the reason my parents already know that I'm in Gryffindor?' Sirius asked with a bored tone, his eyes indicated to the paper that was still in Hazel's hands. Hazel reread the letter and could feel her blood start to boil. She could understand why he wouldn't want anything to do with his family if they all behaved this way.
'Of course!' Bellatrix had cried incredulously. 'The family should know of your blood traitor antics.' She glanced over at James, who had been glaring at her. 'You're even associating with blood traitors now. I would have thought better of someone from my family.'
'I'm amazed you still class me as family. I don't when it comes to you.' Bellatrix's eyes darkened.
'Only by blood do I class you as family. You are neither wanted nor liked, however I won't allow you to tarnish our name.'
'It looks as though he doesn't need to. There's usually one bad egg in the family. But it looks like Sirius was the only good egg in a pack of rotten ones.' Lily spoke up, and had said contemplatively.
'I don't know a single family with the name Evans. You must be a mudblood.' With this, in a flash both James and Sirius stood up from their seat, fury in both their eyes. However both Hazel and Lily looked confused. They had never heard of the term 'mudblood' before. Hazel noticed that Remus suddenly stood next to her and shielded them both from Bellatrix, and she had noticed that he had stiffened. He clearly wasn't used to being on the offensive side.
'How dare you!' Cried Sirius. James had reached for his wand and pointed at her menacingly. The great hall had gone deathly silent and had caught the teachers attention from across the hall..
'Like you could do anything to me, Sirius. All you could do is send sparks at me.' She turned to Remus and her face contorted into a nasty grin. 'Look at the state of you. What happened to your face? You look as though you came out the gutter.'
Hazel may not have understood the phrase mudblood, but she understood what Bellatrix had just said to Remus. Since Bellatrix had been two feet away from her it had been easy for her to retaliate. In a flash she stood, and before any of them had a chance to stop her…
Smack!
A red handprint formed on Bellatrix's face.
Hazel's handprint.
'Miss Daniels!' McGonagall's voice had rung and felt a wash of dread. It wasn't long before McGonagall had ran over and placed a firm hand on her shoulder. 'Never would I have expected that behavior from you, especially on your first day of school!'
Sirius: 'It's not Hazel's fault, Professor. My cousin was the one that encouraged it by insulting us.' McGonagall's grip on Hazel's shoulder tightened ever so slightly.
'Nevertheless! If our house had points Mr. Black, I would deduct them!' Bellatrix smirked to herself and turned to go back to her table. Fortunately, Professor McGonagall had noticed and turned to her, fire still in her eyes. 'Not so fast Miss Black. If you hadn't of made comments to members of this table, Miss Daniels wouldn't have resorted to violence. Both of you will receive detention.' Bellatrix hadn't expected this, because she turned so quickly on the spot that Hazel was sure she could have developed whiplash.
'I have head girl duties to do tonight, Professor!' Her eyes had gone wide; the menacing look had disappeared to a look of horror.
'Which makes this punishment even more important Miss Black, as Head Girl you should not be starting fights with students. Especially with first years! Perhaps I should talk to Mr. Slughorn and tell him that this position does not suit you.' At this, Sirius coughed to stifle his laughter. The idea of his cousin losing what she felt was her entitlement filed him with joy.
With an irritated huff and a loathsome look towards her cousin and the group, Bellatrix left the great hall whilst making sure to slam it the doors on her way out.
There was a pause before McGonagall's grip on Hazel's shoulder was released and she sighed and her fury had gone but her irritation was still evident.
'Miss Daniels- Hazel.' She corrected. Clearly wanting to indicate her disappointment in her goddaughter. It had worked; the mention of her first name had caused Hazel to wince. McGonagall continued. 'I'm going to have to notify your mother about this behavior. She had asked me to keep an eye on you.'
Hazel couldn't help but feel her face grow slightly warm. How would her mother react, knowing that in less than twenty-four hours, she had already attacked another student and got herself a detention? It was something she was desperate not to find out.
'Please don't tell her, Auntie M.' Her voice was small, and it had caught McGonagall's attention. There was a pause, most certainly from strained, reluctance on McGonagall's part, before she answered.
'I'm sorry Miss Daniels.' She had gone back to using Hazel's fake last name. 'But it's within your best interest. Perhaps this'll stop further attacks in the future.' Clearly Hazel's face must have been giving looks of horror because McGonagall sighed. 'Your mother is a kind witch Hazel, I'm sure she'll let you off this time.' However, Hazel wasn't too sure. She knew her mother was paranoid about her attending Hogwarts, even though she had been thrilled that her daughter had received her letter. Suddenly, Hazel remembered what the sorting hat had told her yesterday.
Your will is like your fathers. You want power to be recognized by your parents.
She suddenly had an idea. An idea that could easily backfire but desperate times had called for desperate measures.
'If you tell my mother, she'll worry I'm like my Slytherin father!' There was a pause. McGonagall's eyes had widened like saucers, a mix of shock, horror and what seemed like fear appeared on her face. Clearly the mention of her father was not what she had expected.
'What did you say-?' Hazel cut her off, realizing she had the opportunity to change McGonagall's mind.
'He was in Slytherin right? She'll worry I'm just as bad as him.' McGonagall flinched slightly at those words. 'If you care about my mother, please don't tell her.'
McGonagall stared at her, completely unsure about what to say. It was as though she had been stupefied. Once Hazel had decided that her silence had become a little too long for her liking she looked up at her godmother.
'…Auntie M?' She asked in almost a whisper. It had worked; McGonagall broke out of her stupor and straightened herself.
'Very well, Hazel.' She almost sighed in relief at McGonagall's words but stopped herself, but before she could thank her, McGonagall continued. 'However, if I find out you've attacked any more students, I will not hesitate to owl her.' And with that, McGonagall turned on her heel and left towards the professors' table to finish her breakfast. In a relief, Hazel fell back into her seat, emotionally exhausted. However, this didn't stop both James and Sirius hounding on her.
'How did you manage to get away with that?' James asked, flabbergasted.
'You have family in Slytherin too?' Sirius asked, sounding slightly hopeful. Perhaps he liked the idea that he wasn't the only person being rebellious towards their family. Hazel offhandedly shrugged; she avoided giving them eye contact and reached out for a chocolate muffin on the table.
'I don't know, I just used intuition. The sorting hat seemed to think I do but then it freaked out and went on the fritz. It could have just been playing up.' Hazel took a bite of her muffin, noticing in the corner of her eye that Lupin looked lost in thought. Before she could ask him however, he spoke up.
'Possibly, but the Professor's reaction implies that maybe it's true.' Hazel shrugged.
'I don't know. Nor do I care, he's dead as far as I'm told.' She took another bite of her muffin. Savoring the chocolate chips in her mouth. Remus looked slightly uncomfortable. 'Are you okay?' She asked, quickly swallowing her mouthful of food and looking concerned.
'I'm so sorry.' Remus started, he looked as though he wanted to punch himself. 'First I break your nose yesterday and now I'm the reason you've got detention.' Hazel placed the remaining of her muffin on the table, giving Remus her full attention.
'What are you talking about? I was the one that hit her, not you.' Remus shook his head, and he looked wounded.
'It was because I was unable to defend myself.' Hazel shook her head so vigorously that she could feel a slight twinge of a headache forming.
'It's not that at all, Remus. I didn't even give you an opportunity to respond before I slapped her.' She patted his back gently. 'Besides, we're friends… right? That's what we do for each other. I couldn't really defend Lily back there because I don't even know what a mudblood is. If I knew, I probably would have hit her back then so don't think too much about it.' At these words, Lily beamed at her.
It wasn't long before McGonagall had reappeared at the Gryffindor table and started to distribute their timetables. Everyone in the group opened their scrolls in sync and just before Hazel could fully digest their weekly schedule both Sirius and James groaned.
'Oh man, I wanted to start with something good but we have Herbologyfirst with the Hufflepuff house.' James said with a slight tone of disgust. 'Remus, any idea what your uncle is like?' Remus shrugged whilst keeping his eyes on his scroll, studying his own timetable.
'Hazel, I'll meet you there.' Lily said abruptly. Both Hazel and Remus blinked and turned to face her. Lily's attention was on someone by the doors of the Great Hall. Hazel noticed that Severus had been standing there on his own, looking slightly uncomfortable with his attention towards their location, and then Hazel understood.
'No problem Lily, I hope things go okay.' Lily smiled gratefully and left the table to greet her best friend.
This had caught the attention of James, who had been sitting opposite Sirius. He made a scoff and mumbled something incoherently, which had made Sirius laugh.
X
Once both Hazel and Remus had arrived at the entrance of greenhouse one, followed closely by James, Sirius and their friend, Peter. They noticed group had formed and the door was shut.
'What's happening?' Hazel asked Lily, she had been standing at the back of the group seemingly irritated.
'Professor Lupin has decided that we will not be in the greenhouses today. He's decided that in this weather, we should go on a little trip.' Hazel could understand her irritation; it was pelting with rain outside in the grounds and their cloaks done little to keep them dry. Lily continued. 'But Professor Lupin has just gone to get his coat!' And sure enough, Professor Lupin returned with his thick muggle coat. It looked rather strange on him, with his thin frame it made him look a little like a balloon. This didn't seem to escape both Sirius and James' eyes because they both tried to hold their laughter.
'Ah! Hello Gryffindor, and Hufflepuff. I'm Professor Lupin, nice to meet you all.' The group went quiet as they observed him. He continued. 'And you've all read my little note on the greenhouse. Fantastic.' He clapped his hands together.
'Can't you greet us inside?' Asked a rather grumpy Hufflepuff.
'Mr. Wiser, I believe?' Professor Lupin asked. The boy nodded. 'When it comes to Herbology, you have to understand that whatever the weather, magical plants will withstand it. Whether it's hot or cold, dry or wet.'
There was a groan from the group and already many had decided that they hated the class. Professor Lupin seemingly ignored this as he cast a charm to already confirm securely lock the greenhouses.
'Right. Follow me please.' He turned and headed towards the grounds. The class slowly followed.
It was a rather short walk, but it had felt incredibly long. The rain had seemingly got heavier and the clouds had turned darker. Shivering, the first years followed Professor Lupin as he walked along the outskirts of the forbidden forest. Both Lily and Remus by Hazel's side and the three boys; James, Sirius and Peter, close behind them.
Professor Lupin looked incredibly excited as he used his wand to charm an umbrella above him. A couple of the Hufflepuff students had almost latched onto him as they tried to hover under to keep themselves dry. They tried to do so inconspicuously but Hazel had a sneaking impression that Professor Lupin was aware, as he frequently looked over his shoulder to smile at them.
As they approached a bricked but Professor Lupin paused and turned to the group. His eyes scanned as though to count the class to memorize everyone's faces.
'Now, the forbidden forest is in fact forbidden however I've been given permission by Professor Dumbledore for us to enter the outskirts. You must all stick together and please, no wandering off.' He turned on his heel and walked into the threshold.
Lily reached out and grabbed hold of Hazel's hard in nervousness. She clearly didn't like the idea of going into the forest after hearing Dumbledore's warning the night before and Professor Lupin's need to acquire permission for a lesson. However, both James and Sirius looked positively thrilled.
'So the forbidden forest isn't really forbidden! It's just when it suits them!' Remus frowned and turned to the couple behind him.
'I don't think that's the case James.' Both James and Sirius raised their eyebrows, their grin never wavering. Peter looked pale and it seemed as though going into the forest would be his idea of a nightmare.
'Nah! James is right, Remus! Look, if it really was forbidden, we wouldn't be going in right now!' Lily looked mortified.
'Sirius! Don't you dare think about going in the forest without permission! I will tell someone!' She turned to Hazel, her eyes wide and pleading. 'You'll back me up here, right Hazel?' The boys turned to her, whilst Lily looked expectant. Hazel sighed. She really didn't care what the boys got up to. She barely knew them and if they wanted to get expelled before the first week was over, who was she to stop them.
'Yeah, please don't tell us if you plan to go in. I would have to hate to tell on you.' It must have sounded very unconvincing. Lily tutted whilst Sirius barked out a laugh. Both he and James grinned and put their arms over each other's shoulders.
'Like we'd tell you, if we planned to go in. We'd just do it, right James.'
'Right Sirius.'
As they approached a small clearing, Professor Lupin had stopped and beckoned the class to look ten meters in front of them. There were gasps and coos of 'it's so beautiful' coming from a couple of Hufflepuff girls. In front of them was what looked like a giant wisteria tree and Hazel marveled at its beauty in the rain. Instead of its leaves being pink like a muggle would expect, the leaves were a glowing light blue. She noticed that the leaves looked vaguely like large daisy petals as their glows softly flickered with every hit of a pellet of rain, being challenged by the elements. Professor Lupin waited for a few minutes, allowing the class time to register the sight in front of them before he spoke.
'Now, these are called Elven Thistle Trees. They love to live close to the edge of forests, lakes and riverbanks.' Professor Lupin smiled at the amazement from the class, he watched them all slowly walk towards the tree as though in fear that it would lash out at them with a mind of it's own. 'They thrive in the rain and one of the many attributes they have are creating a source of light. If you were ever lost, you would use them to find your way home.'
'However, only pure hearted people can see the light. If you were to use dark magic, your eyes would not be able to register it. The reasons for that are highly unknown but many people have their suspicions.
'They can also be used as a hiding place.' Professor Lupin walked over to the tree trunk and tapped his wand. The thick vines that were twisted around the trunk loosened and the tree trunk made a slit horizontally and suddenly opened up as if split in two. 'Now, you may be thinking, why on earth would you want to use it as a hiding place when many witches and wizards would automatically know that you could be hiding in there.' He paused for dramatic effect, after hearing murmurs of agreement he continued.
'Because once in the tree trunk, no witch or wizard can open it up. Only the person inside the tree can open it.' Professor Lupin noticed Lily's hand fly into the air.
'Yes Ms.…'
'Evans.' Lily replied. 'What if they attacked the tree itself? The person inside wouldn't be safe then.' Professor Lupin smiled.
'Very good question Ms. Evans.' He tapped his finger to his chin thoughtfully. 'It takes a seriously skilled wizard to be able to destroy one of these trees. One that has no purity left in his heart whatsoever. The only known wizard that has been able to destroy one of these trees was Grindlewald, and even he had difficulty.'
There was a moment's silence as the class registered what he had said; then the Hufflepuff student, Gary Cooke raised his hand.
'What about that Voldemort guy?' It seemed as though judging by the silence that had surrounded the group, many of the students wanted to ask that exact question. Professor Lupin looked taken aback before his face frowned. Hazel presumed it was in thought.
'Voldemort is definitely a threat in the wizarding world. He definitely aspires to be the strongest wizard but to say he's stronger than Grindlewald. Well, lets not flatter him.' He frowned in thought, and Hazel had noticed his eyes had darkened. Clearly he wasn't a fan of talking about the wizard. 'I wouldn't trust him though, and I wouldn't recommend any of you trying to meet him either. I hope we all never find out his capabilities.'
There was a pregnant pause.
'What makes it thrive in the rain, Professor?' Squealed Peter; causing the class and even Professor Lupin to jump in shock. It had been the first time Hazel had really heard his voice. It was higher than the average person and it seemed a little out of place for someone who was more on the pudgy side.
'Another excellent question.' Professor Lupin said enthusiastically, breaking out of his reverie. 'Do you notices those tiny blue orbs floating around the tree? Well, they're pixies!'
At this, the little blue orbs halted and turned to their audience, small high pitched giggling was heard and in a split second they charged towards the group, and it was then that Hazel realized their size. There were little pixies varying from the size of a 5 pence coin to the size of a fist.
'Are they baby Cornish pixies?' Asked James, he looked dubious as they started to surround the students. Clearly he wasn't a fan of the creatures and a frown appeared on his face when he noticed they seemed to find Lily's red hair fascinating. Lily giggled as one of the smallest ones grabbed a tiny handful of hair in its hands and placed it on top of its head like a wig. It excitedly jiggled on the spot.
'Are Cornish Pixies a bad thing?' Hazel asked in a whisper to Remus, this caused him to break his attention towards the pixies and blink at Hazel. It took him a moment to register what she had asked.
'Cornish Pixies are not fun to be around. They're little terrors that like to cause chaos anywhere and everywhere.' Remus noticed her frown and said hurriedly, 'we don't have to worry about them in Hogwarts though I'm sure. I doubt the teachers would want them to stick around.' Hazel nodded and they turned their attention back to his uncle.
'No, not cornish pixies.' Professor Lupin replying excitedly to James' question. 'These are phantom Thistle Fairies. They're born from the tree by its spirit and it's their job to look after it. However…they seem to prefer playing than keeping the tree in good condition.' There was a pause and the group turned; they watched the pixies tug on the petals, giggling amongst themselves. A fellow Gryffindor named Mary McDonald raised her hand. Professor Lupin smiled fondly at her, motioning for her to speak.
'How can they be made from the tree?' Professor Lupin smiled. Meanwhile one of the bigger pixies decided that Hazel's clasp to hold her cloak in place was not necessary and it tried it's hardest to muster the strength to yank it apart. She tried to shoo the pixie away but it dodged her hand and kept fighting with the clasp.
Professor Lupin reached up, he carefully took hold of a branch and lowered it so that the class had a better view, and he was tenderly touching the leaves.
'Do you see those leaves glowing? Well, they create the phantom elven pixies, they are made by the soul of the tree.' The class's eyes were locked onto the leaves. He continued. 'When the tree senses the presence of people or creatures, it makes the pixies as a defense mechanism. However, on days like this when it's pelting down with rain the tree ends up making the pixies so that it can play. Water gives this tree energy; it rejuvenates it and gives the tree excess energy. All those pixies are part of the tree. I'm sure you all know, every plant is a living being and it has it's own personality. This tree…likes to show it off a little more than others. Since this tree is a hiding tree, I presume it gets pretty bored.'
'Is the tree dangerous? Or is it just a hide and seek tree?' Hazel asked. She had given up trying to stop the pixie and in turn the pixie had changed it's interest from undoing the clasp to just sitting on her head and using her hair to hide her face. It wanted to play peak-a-boo.
'Thank you, Miss Daniels! I was waiting for someone to ask!' Professor Lupin announced with glee, it seemed as though her name was the only one, which he remembered from the registrar. 'It is only dangerous to the wizards that have the intent to either harm the wizard hiding in it or the tree itself. The pixies would then stand their ground and trust me, you wouldn't want them to bite you. They may not be true living beings but they have a nasty temper when threatened. I can't particularly say too much on the subject, as not many people have seen the tree be under threat. These trees are incredibly rare, and the Witches or Wizards that come across it either have no idea what the trees purpose is for or, they're incredibly grateful for the opportunity to hide or use the leaves to find their way out of the forest.'
Professor Lupin took out his pocket watch and gasped, this had caught the class's attention.
'Oh blimey! Look at the time! It took longer than I expected to trudge you all up here, you have your next lesson in ten minutes! We've stayed longer than I intended!' The class excluding Remus had groaned, he had breathed a sigh of relief. A couple of pixies had decided that his scars were fascinating and had been trying to run it's hands along them, Remus had been spending his time trying to swat them away from him. 'Come on everyone, it's time for us to leave!' Many of the students seemed relieved, finding it uncomfortable being just slightly in the forest after being told very plainly by Dumbledore that the forest had been banned. Some students however seemed very disappointed, namely James and Sirius.
Just as Hazel was about to leave the forest with Lily by her side, she noticed Professor Lupin backtrack in the corner of her eye and look back towards the tree in wonder. She paused and Lily had carried on walking without her, not noticing that she had stopped. Professor Lupin's eyes had not illuminated by the reflection of the tree's leaves and she had a sneaking suspicion as she noticed his eyes scanned the area for any straggling students, that he was unable to see the light.
I've created my own magical plant in this chapter which has a tie in to the original story. I know it's not on the course syllabus however over time it should always be updated. They wouldn't teach the same things over 50 years+, things change. Plants come and go. Animals come and perhaps become extinct. Theres a reason why this is in the story.
Please enjoy and apologies for the delay, and let me know what you think.
Can anyone think of when the tree may have been used in the HPUniverse?
