Scarlet
Scarlet stood casually with her arms folded as she listened to the old woman teaching the class, the sunlight freely pouring through the greenhouse walls turning her grey hair into a more burnished silver.
"Alright you lot, listen closely." Said Professor Benoit briskly, "This is the last day of your first week back and the last day I will give you to remember all you have learned about herbology in the past few years. Today, we will be brushing up on something you all should have learnt in your second or third years: mandrakes. Can anyone tell me what we use mandrakes for?"
Several hands, including Scarlet's rose up. Professor Benoit (or, as Scarlet preferred to call her, grandmère) smiled fondly at her for a few moments before calling on her.
"They're used to cure petrification." Scarlet answered, a hint of pride leaking into her voice.
"Correct, thank you Miss Benoit. Now, can anyone tell me what makes mandrakes so dangerous? Mr Clay?"
"The cry of a grown mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it," Jacin answered, "but the cry of a baby only knocks the listener out for several hours."
"Excellent Mr Clay! Now, let's get to it! Soon, I'll be putting you into partners. I'd like to stress the point that these partnerships are non-negotiable, and I will ignore any complaints. Once you are in your partners, go and grab a pair of earmuffs to protect you from the mandrakes' cries. As Mr Clay has already mentioned, the cry of an adult mandrake will kill you so, just in case you don't put your earmuffs on properly, we will be working with babies. Once your earmuffs are on, good and snug, you and your partner will pick two pots: one with a mandrake inside, and one without."
As she said this, Professor Benoit, gestured to the pots set out on the long table the students were gathered around, about half of which had what looked like leafy saplings growing out of them.
"Once you've picked your pot, wait for me to give you a demonstration of the repotting activity I'll have you perform before doing it yourself. One of you will pull the mandrake out of its pot and shove it into the next. Note, I said shove, not lower. The mandrake won't like being pulled out of its pot, but it also won't like being put into a different one so some force will be required. Once that's done, the other person will have to quickly bury the mandrake in soil. Make sure the mandrake is completely covered so that they will stay nice and warm inside their pot. If there's time, we will repeat the exercise, but you and your partner will have to swap jobs. Everybody clear?"
There was a chorus of yesses, and Professor Benoit nodded with satisfaction before assigning the partners. Scarlet smiled pityingly at Jacin, who wound up partnered up with Thorne. Even Scarlet, who was friends with Thorne, had trouble putting up with him. She could only imagine what it must be like for Jacin, who couldn't even stand Thorne.
"Miss Benoit!"
Scarlet switched her attention back to her grandmother as her name was called.
"You will work with Mr Kesley today."
Scarlet looked at the tall Regolith boy her grandmother was pointing to. Scarlet had seen him before in a few of her other classes but had never talked to him. She didn't even know his name.
He didn't seem to be aware that he'd just been partnered up, he was too busy studying the greenhouse, wide-eyed with a wonder that seemed almost childlike.
Professor Benoit leaned down so she was level with Scarlet's ear and whispered, "Try and be patient with him Scar, I don't think he's studied herbology before in his life. He seems eager to learn though and is a hard worker. I just want you to help him along with this task, alright?"
"Oui Grandmère." Scarlet agreed with a quick nod. Then she went over to meet her new partner.
At first, she just stood next to him, waiting for him to notice her, but he was too busy studying a wiggentree as if it was a strange animal he'd never seen before. The thought made Scarlet smile with amusement.
She reached up and tapped him on the shoulder, jolting him out of his trance and causing him to hastily turn towards her.
The first thing she noticed were his eyes. They were a brilliant, shining green, like emeralds. They almost seemed to glow in the sunlight of the greenhouse.
The second thing she noticed were the scars. They ran across his face in random, pale lines across his olive-toned skin, hinting at past injuries. Judging from how many there were, this guy was either very accident prone (which definitely wouldn't serve him well in the Artemisia greenhouses) or got into a lot of fights. Scarlet found herself leaning towards the latter.
The third thing she noticed was that she was staring.
Clearing her throat, Scarlet stuck out her hand and grinned up at her partner, who up close she could now see was a full head taller than her.
"Hey, I'm Scarlet. Sorry, I don't know your name."
He glanced down at her hand briefly, looking slightly caught off guard, before grasping it firmly.
"Ze'ev, but you can call me Wolf. Everyone else does."
"Well, so long as you're not the Big Bad kind of wolf, we'll get along fine."
He looked a bit confused at this, like he'd never heard a joke before.
Deciding not to comment, Scarlet strode purposefully to her grandmère's desk to pick out a pair of earmuffs, gesturing for Wolf to follow her.
"So, have you done this before?" Scarlet asked him as he picked up a pair.
"No. My old school wasn't big on herbology. I'd never even heard of a mandrake before today."
A small chuckle escaped Scarlet's lips before she could swallow it down and Wolf flushed with embarrassment. Trying desperately to squash the amused grin threatening to spread across her face, she patted him on the arm in what she hoped was a reassuring gesture.
"Don't worry, you'll catch up soon enough. You already know what a mandrake is. By next week, you'll be able to tell the difference between dittany and poison ivy."
Wolf's mouth twitched into something that vaguely resembled a smile. "The funny thing is dittany is probably the one plant I know about."
Scarlet spread her hands. "There you go! Trust me, by the end of the semester you'll practically be an expert in herbology. Just wait."
Flashing Wolf one last grin, she fit the earmuffs over her ears, effectively shutting out all noise, and went to pick out some pots.
During the demonstration, Scarlet found herself more focused on not glancing at her very attentive partner (and not laughing at him when he jumped at the sight of the mandrake once it was pulled free from its pot) than on the actual lesson. She grew mandrakes on the farm with her grandmère anyway, so she didn't really need to watch, and she had never seen a student so fascinated with, well, anything! Not even Winter in care of magical creatures looked this wonderous and fascinated. And with herbology of all subjects? That was even rarer!
When Professor Benoit gestured for the students to begin the task, Scarlet pointed at Wolf and mimed pulling the mandrake out of its pot. Do you want to tug it out first? Wolf shook his head, casting an uneasy glance at the mandrake's leaves protruding from the soil, as if he was expecting the ugly baby plant to jump out of the pot and start screaming any second. Scarlet nodded in understanding before grasping the leaf stems in both hands and tugging sharply upwards. Wolf didn't jump this time (to Scarlet's slight disappointment) and simply dug a hole into the soil of the second pot before nudging it towards Scarlet. She shoved the mandrake almost brutally into the soil and Wolf quickly began filling up the hole, bathing the plant in soil. Only when just the quivering stems could be seen did Scarlet raise her hand to attract the teacher's attention.
Professor Benoit examined the repotted plant from every angle, even sticking her fingers into the soil at the base of the stems to check that it was deep enough. Once her examination was complete, she grinned at both Scarlet and Wolf, giving them two thumbs up before heading back to the front of the class.
Scarlet grinned at her partner, who smiled hesitantly back. She found herself beginning to warm to this boy.
A couple minutes later, Professor Benoit went around tapping the students on the shoulders and miming taking off a pair of earmuffs to signal that everyone had finished the task and they were in no danger of being knocked out. Once everyone could hear again, she addressed the class.
"You all performed admirably, considering you've had several months to forget this technique. There were, of course, a few errors in the process. Many of you didn't pack in the soil around the mandrake snuggly enough which could have led to them catching a cold, and a few of you put the mandrake into its pot lopsided. I trust I don't have to explain all the reasons why that is a bad idea." Professor Benoit glared at the class, as if daring any of the students to contradict her. "Really the only mandrake that was perfectly repotted was Miss Benoit's and Mr Kesley's, so well done to you both! Ten points to Regolith and Gold!"
Scarlet raised her hand for a high-five which, after only a brief hesitation, Wolf gave.
"Unfortunately, we do not have time to repeat the process with switched roles, but I do have a homework assignment for you, a simple question paper on the uses and properties of mandrakes. I'll have to get the sheets from my office. If I notice one thing out of place in this greenhouse, I can personally guarantee that the culprit will be faced with a very nasty punishment."
With a final suspicious glare at the class, Professor Benoit left the greenhouse.
As soon as she was out of sight, a Gold boy stooped over and started mimicking an old lady's voice. "Ooh, look at me, I'm Professor Benoit and everyone in this class sucks at herbology except for my granddaughter."
"Shut up Roland!" Scarlet snarled at the boy, fists bunching at her sides. Roland drew himself up back to his full height and raised an eyebrow at her.
"Or what? Granny's not here to protect you Scarlet."
His comment elicited a few sniggers, but more "are you crazy?" looks. It was hardly a secret that Scarlet could fight. Brutally.
"Please. A pygmy puff could beat you in a fight." Scarlet scoffed with a roll of her eyes.
"A pygmy puff wouldn't be insane enough to try, unlike your grandma."
Scarlet narrowed her eyes at Roland and her hand started to drift to the wand tucked into her waistband. "And what's that supposed to mean?"
Several students started inching away from the redhead, but Roland, oblivious to her rage, snorted. "Your granny may act all tough and strong, but everyone knows she's just a crazy old bat who's getting on in years."
"She's not crazy!"
"Oh yeah? Then how do you explain the student who got turned into a rabbit for stealing her vegetables?"
Scarlet glanced around at her classmates. They all looked supremely uncomfortable with this exchange, but it was the quiet, yet ever so real, mummers of agreement that pushed her over the edge.
Pulling out her wand, Scarlet aimed it at Roland (with some difficulty, due to her shaking hands) and shouted, "Melofors!"
Instantly, a gigantic, perfectly ripe pumpkin materialised around Roland's head. He cried out with shock (though it was a bit hard to hear through the fruit) and started desperately trying to pull it off him. When he finally succeeded, Scarlet noted with no small amount of satisfaction that he was covered in pumpkin innards. She knew from experience that it would be weeks before he got all the seeds out of his hair.
Roland glared at her furiously, but Scarlet just turned up her nose at him.
"Consider that a warning for the next time you insult my grandmère."
Snarling, Roland tugged out his own wand and aimed it at Scarlet, preparing a jinx of his own. But, instead of speaking an incantation, all that came out of his mouth was a pained howl as a flash of white light suddenly struck him full in the face. Roland fell back, still howling, and desperately covered his face with his hands. Students swarmed around him, discussing in confused, panicked voices about what might have happened. Scarlet was curious herself but refrained from joining her peers. As far as she was concerned, Roland had only got what he deserved.
Finally, Jacin managed to pry Roland's hands away long enough to get a look at his face. "He's been hit with a stinging jinx." He said without much emotion, "And a pretty strong one too by the looks of it. "
"His face looks like a balloon…" Scarlet heard Thorne mutter.
"Yeah that's one of the effects. Roland here should also be suffering from some blindness as well as, obviously, excruciating pain."
Kai whistled in sympathy for Roland. "Dang, he was being an idiot but that seems to be a bit much. Not to mention we're not allowed to cast pain-inducing jinxes. Darn it Wolf, I'm gonna have to report this!"
"He's lucky I didn't use a tempest jinx."
Scarlet whirled around to stare at Wolf to find him glaring darkly down at Roland with his wand in one hand. He'd cast that jinx? Wolf looked like he got into his fair share of fights and all but Scarlet still had a hard time imagining the awkward, slightly clueless boy who'd been apprehensive about repotting a baby mandrake casting a painful spell like a stinging jinx on someone, and an even harder time imagining him striking someone with lightning bolts.
"What is going on here?"
As one, the class turned to see Professor Benoit holding several sheets of paper gazing around in shock at her class. Roland sat up and Scarlet got a good look at his face for the first time. It took all of her willpower not to grin with satisfaction.
His face had gone all swollen and puffed up, with a huge red welt blooming across the bridge of his nose. His eyes had been reduced to slits that were, at the moment, steadily leaking with tears of pain. Scarlet couldn't imagine a better punishment for the boy who insulted her grandmère.
"Kesley jinxed me!" He whined through his swollen lips.
Professor Benoit shot a glare at Wolf, who's cold expression quickly became docile and he ducked his head. Scarlet got the feeling that if he had a tail, it would be tucked between his legs.
She stepped in front of him and looked her grandmère squarely in the eye. "Roland had been insulting you behind your back."
"Oh yes?" Professor Benoit's voice was like ice as her eyes narrowed down at the jinxed boy, who's face had suddenly gone quite pale.
"I used the melofors jinx on him, and he had been about to jinx me back when Wolf cast the stinging jinx."
Professor Benoit's glare flitted between Roland, swollen and in pain, to Wolf, submissive, to her granddaughter, stubborn and proud. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You three have put me in quite a tricky situation." She groaned, "Students aren't allowed to jinx each other during school hours, and pain-inducing spells such as a stinging jinx are forbidden altogether! But, Miss Benoit, you were punishing a student who was insulting a teacher, which is also forbidden. And Mr Kesley, you were just trying to defend your fellow student, albeit in a slightly brutal manner." Wolf flinched.
"Mr Johnson," Professor Benoit said, looking sternly down at Roland. "since you have been the victim of two jinxes, I'll let you off detention. Same goes for you, Miss Benoit and Mr Kesley, since you were both trying to do the right thing, though telling me about the infractions would have been much more preferable than breaking school rules. But the same doesn't apply to house points. Mr Kesley, since your motives were fair, I'll only deduct fifteen points from Regolith. Mr Johnson, Miss Benoit, for your actions, I'll deduct twenty points from Gold for insulting a teacher and for casting jinxes inside school hours without permission, though with fair motives. Mr Royal, you take Mr Johnson to the hospital wing. The rest of you, off to recess, and remember to pick up your homework sheets!"
The class filed out of the greenhouse with relief, though Scarlet couldn't tell if it was because they had recess now or because of the unhealthy amount of excitement during the last few minutes.
Scarlet tapped Wolf on the shoulder as she passed him. "Hey, thanks for jinxing Roland back there."
Wolf shrugged, though Scarlet couldn't help but notice that his ears turned red. "He deserved worse."
"Maybe, but then you might be facing way worse than losing a couple of house points."
Wolf just shrugged again.
"Of course, it's not like I didn't have the situation completely under control." Scarlet continued with a wry grin. Wolf's mouth quirked up into an amused smirk. "You'd have probably used an unforgivable curse."
"I make no promises."
Wolf chuckled and, for the first time, gave Scarlet a real, proper grin that wasn't embarrassed or nervous, just relaxed and happy. Scarlet decided she quite liked that grin.
A/N: Finally, Wolf speaks! If any of you are wondering why Professor Benoit (a.k.a. Scarlet's grandmother) called Scarlet Miss Benoit instead of just Scarlet, it's because she's a firm believer in treating all her students equally, which means calling them by similar names (ironic considering Roland was accusing her of favouritism ;) ). Also, for any of you who are a bit confused by the tempest jinx and the mention of lightning bolts, that's what the tempest jinx does: strikes people with lightning bolts. I loved writing the interactions between Scarlet and Wolf. I love all the canon pairings in TLC, but Wolflet is definitely my OTP . We've seen through the POVs of all four main gals so, you guessed it, it's the guys' turn in the spotlight! Who's POV will the next chapter be in? Give me your guesses in the reviews! See you all next week!
