Chapter 6
Plants and Pillows
Hermione woke early the next morning to find an envelope sitting on her trunk. It was labeled 'Ms. Granger, First-year, Ravenclaw'. She got dressed while the other girls still slept, and made her way down the spiraling staircase to the Ravenclaw common room.
A handful of other students were already awake, but none spoke to Hermione as she took a seat near one of the fireplaces, opened the envelope with her name on it, and examined the contents. The first sheet had her class schedule for the fall term.
Monday
-Breakfast (7-8:15)
-1st Period (8:30-9:45): Herbology, Greenhouse 1 - Ravenclaws / Gryffindors
-2nd Period (10-11:15) Charms, Enchanting Building, Room 2 - Ravenclaws / Slytherins
-Lunch (11:30-12:45)
-3rd Period (1-2:15) Potions, Main Castle, Basement, Dungeon - All First-years
-4th Period (2:30-3:30) Study Hall, Library Building, 3rd Floor - All First-years
Tuesday
-Breakfast (7-8:15)
-1st Period (8:30-9:45): History of Magic, Main Castle, 4th Floor, Lecture Hall B - All First-years
-2nd Period (10-11:15) Defense Against the Dark Arts, Main Castle, 4th Floor, Lecture Hall B - All First-years
-Lunch (11:30-12:45)
-3rd Period (1-2:15) Transfiguration, Main Castle, 4th Floor, Lecture Hall B - All First-years
-4th Period (2:30-3:30) Magical Theory, Main Castle, 4th Floor, Lecture Hall B - All First-years
Wednesday
-Breakfast (7-8:15)
-1st Period (8:30-9:45): Herbology, Greenhouse 2 - Ravenclaws / Gryffindors
-2nd Period (10-11:15) Charms, Enchanting Building, Room 2 - Ravenclaws / Slytherins
-Lunch (11:30-12:45)
-3rd Period (1-2:15) Potions, Main Castle Basement, Dungeon - All First-years
-4th Period (2:30-3:30) Study Hall, Library Building, 3rd Floor - All First-years
Thursday
-Breakfast (7-8:15)
-1st Period (8:30-9:45): History of Magic, Main Castle, 4th Floor, Lecture Hall B - All First-years
-2nd Period (10-11:15) Defense Against the Dark Arts, Main Castle, 4th Floor, Lecture Hall B - All First-years
-Lunch (11:30-12:45)
-3rd Period (1-2:15) Transfiguration, Main Castle, 2nd Floor, Practical Classroom 2 - Ravenclaws / Gryffindors
-4th Period (2:30-3:30) Magical Theory, Main Castle, 4th Floor, Lecture Hall B - All First-years
Friday Week 1
-Breakfast (7-8:15)
-Double Period (8:30-11) Herbology, Greenhouse 1 - Ravenclaws / Hufflepuffs
-Lunch (11:30-12:45)
-Double Period (1-3:15) Charms, Enchanting Building, Room 2 - Ravenclaws / Slytherins
Friday Week 2
-Breakfast (7-8:15)
-Double Period (8:30-11) Potions, Main Castle Basement, Dungeon - All First-years
-Lunch (11:30-12:45)
-Double Period (1-3:15) History of Magic, Main Castle, 4th Floor, Lecture Hall B - All First-Years
Friday Week 3
-Breakfast (7-8:15)
-Double Period (8:30-11) Defense Against the Dark Arts, Main Castle, 4th Floor, Lecture Hall B - All First-Years
-Lunch (11:30-12:45)
-Double Period (1-3:15) Transfiguration, Main Castle, 4th Floor, Lecture Hall B - All First-Years
Friday Week 4
-Breakfast (7-8:15)
-Double Period (8:30-11) Magical Theory, Main Castle, 4th Floor, Lecture Hall B - All First-Years
-Lunch (11:30-12:45)
-No afternoon classes
Friday Week 5
If any month includes a fifth Friday, first and second-year students can visit the village of Hogsmeade, so long as they are keeping up with their schoolwork. Until their third year, students will be chaperoned by an adult and will stay together as a group. Students who wander off will lose their Hogsmeade privileges.
The next sheet in the envelope was a map of the school grounds. It was simplistic in design, depicting buildings as simple squares, with lines for hallways, and smaller squares representing individual rooms. Towers, like the one she was in, were marked as circles.
The last paper in the envelope contained information on special events, including something called the House Cup. It explained that students could earn points from teachers as part of a competition between the school houses. Teachers gave points for hard work and good behavior, but points could also be taken away from your house for bad behavior, or poor performance in lessons. Whichever house had the most points at the end of the year would win the House Cup. Hermione quickly skimmed the rest of the page which explained details about the inter-house quidditch cup, school dances, trips to Hogsmeade Village, and other things that did not find important at the moment.
A grandfather clock, that sat between two windows on one of the room's curved walls, began chiming the hour. It was still early, only six in the morning. Breakfast wouldn't be served for another hour, but Hermione was wide awake. She returned to her room and packed the books she'd need for the day's classes into her satchel. She also packed a few pens and her notebooks.
As Hermione swung her satchel over her shoulder, one of the other girls pulled back the curtains on her four-poster bed. She wore her dark hair tied back in a messy braid, and squinted across the room at Hermione, looking groggy with sleep.
"Where are you off to?" The girl asked as she grabbed a pair of round glasses off her bedside table and put them on. The lenses were quite thick, magnifying her eyes slightly.
Talking quietly, so as not to wake the others, Hermione said, "I was going to explore the castle a bit before breakfast, maybe see if the library is open. Your surname is Li, right."
Climbing out of bed, the girl stretched, and said, "Yeah, my first name is Susan, but everyone calls me Li. Give me a second to get dressed and I'll join you."
Slightly taken aback, Hermione waited. She was used to spending time by herself, but if Li wanted to join her she wouldn't turn down the company. Once Li had dressed, looked over her schedule, and packed her bag, the two set off.
The sky outside was a steely gray, overcast but still bright. They used Hermione's map to navigate their way across campus. The library building was located near the northern wall. They walked behind the castle's main building, where the Great Hall was located, and arrived at a five-story building made of the same blocks of grey stone as the rest of the castle. English Ivy covered much of the bottom three floors, framing doors and windows with clusters of green, three-pronged leaves.
Unfortunately, a sign on the front door informed them that the library would not open until seven-thirty. Not wanting to wait that long, Hermione and Li agreed to finish exploring the grounds. They wandered past the Enchanting Building, located the greenhouses on the sloping lawn that led down to the edge of the forbidden forest, and then made their way to the entrance hall. Fifteen minutes remained until seven o'clock, so Hermione and Li found a bench tucked between two decorative suits of armor. They set their book bags off to the side and sat down while they waited for breakfast.
"You have any siblings?" Li asked Hermione.
"Nope, I'm an only child," Hermione said, "What about you?"
Li nodded and said, "I've got an older brother, he's twenty-two. My parents didn't have me until they had moved to the U.K."
Without thinking, Hermione asked, "Because of the one-child policy in China?"
Li gave her a startled look, and before she could respond, Hermione hurriedly spoke again, "I'm sorry, that was rude, I shouldn't have assumed. Where did your parents move here from?"
Li waved a hand dismissively and said, "It's fine, you're right. My parents are both originally from China. They had my brother before the policy went into place. Ten years later, when they realized they wanted to have another kid, it was no longer allowed. How did you know about the one-child policy?"
Relieved that Li wasn't offended, Hermione explained, "I read a lot of newspapers to learn what's happening around the world. Plus when I was in grade four, I did a project on China."
Li gave her a quizzical look, then her eyes widened in understanding, "Oh, you're a muggle-born aren't you?"
Hermione's stomach suddenly felt heavy. She felt rigid, unable to move or breathe as if someone had used the freezing charm on her.
"She knows! After only a minute of talking to me, she knows." Hermione thought, her mind racing, "Everyone will find out, will they just mock me? Or will it be worse?"
Li, seeing the look of terror on Hermione's face, reached out and shook her gently while saying, "Woah, Hermione, you alright? What's going on?"
"I just, I… I just," Hermione stammered, her vision beginning to blur as tears formed in her eyes, "I just didn't want anyone to know."
The last word came out as a sob, and Hermione began to cry.
Li patted her back and said, "Hey, it's alright, everything's fine Hermione, just breathe."
After a minute, Hermione wiped her eyes and apologized to Li.
"It's totally okay," Li told Hermione, "But, what were you talking about, what don't you want anyone to know?"
Confused, Hermione looked up at Li, eyes red from crying, and said, "That I'm a muggle-born, obviously."
Li laughed, but when she saw Hermione's eyes again filling with tears in response, she stopped and said, "Hermione, no one cares. Well, some people care, but they're horrible and stupid. Did you meet a blood supremacist or something?"
She thought of Terry's aunt, Patricia Boot, and how she had treated Hermione that day.
"I think so," Hermione said in a quiet voice.
"Well to hell with them. I'm a half-blood, or at least there's muggles in my family tree, same for most of the students," Li explained, "I think there are more adults who care about it for marriage, or whatever, but the only people our age who care, are the ones raised by blood supremacists, and most of those are in Slytherin."
"That makes sense," Hermione said, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her robes, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cry like that, I've just been really worried about what would happen when someone found out."
"Well I can tell you, you're probably not the only muggle-born in our year. And you're definitely not the only muggle-born in the school," Li shrugged and continued, "But if you want to keep it quiet for now, I won't mention it to anyone."
"Really? Thanks, Li, I appreciate that," Hermione said, smiling at the other girl.
Casually, Li said "No big deal, that's what friends are for," then she looked past Hermione and said, "Hey, the doors are open, let's get some food!"
Hermione didn't say anything as they picked up their bags and made their way into the Great Hall. The emotional roller coaster of the last few minutes had left her feeling slightly numb, but she had certainly noticed Li calling her a friend.
They were the first students to arrive for breakfast, though a few others walked into the Great Hall as Hermione and Li sat down at the Ravenclaw table. Already filling the golden dishes were heaps of bacon, eggs, porridge, and hash-browns. There were also plenty of sausages, beans, pastries, fresh fruit, and two types of coleslaw. To drink there was tea or coffee, as well as milk and, what Hermione now recognized as, pumpkin juice.
Hermione ate a bit of everything, except for the coleslaw. She chatted with Li about safe topics, like the enchanted ceiling, or their upcoming lessons. When they'd eaten their fill, the two of them strolled back down to the greenhouses they'd located earlier.
While they waited for the other students to arrive, Hermione asked Li, "Have you tried any spells yet?"
With a sly grin, the shorter girl pulled her wand from the pocket of her robes.
"Aguqmenti!" Li said, pointing her wand towards a nearby tree.
A thin jet of water shot from the end of her wand. It arced through the air to splash onto the ground a few yards from Li.
"I was trying to hit the tree, but oh well," Li said, grinning broadly at Hermione, "What do you think?"
"Amazing," Hermione said enthusiastically, "That's a conjuring spell, right?"
Li looked at her blankly and said, "Conjuring? I don't know, I just saw my brother use it a few years ago, and I wrote it down. He filled up an empty pool one summer so we could go swimming, but I can't seem to get enough water to fill a bucket."
"If it is a conjuring spell then it's no surprise if it's difficult. Our magical theory book mentions conjuring, it says something like, conjuring is an advanced branch of Transfiguration that few have ever truly mastered. Creating material objects out of nothing is one of the most complex forms of magic."
"Did you memorize the entire theory book or something?" Li asked, giving her an incredulous look.
"No," Hermione replied, "Just the parts that were really interesting,"
Li laughed, and said, "I guess it's no surprise you ended up in Ravenclaw."
Other students began to arrive, gathering outside the greenhouses. Hermione saw Neville, Parvati, and a few other Gryffindors, as well as first-Years from the other houses. Oddly, Taylor Goldstein, a fifth-year, also showed up and stood waiting with the rest of them.
At eight-fifteen, a squat woman stepped out of the greenhouse with a large number one above its door. She gave them all a welcoming smile as she approached the timid group of first-years. She had broad hips, mousy brown hair streaked with grey, and she wore bright yellow robes. A small hat was perched atop her head, and Hermione noticed there were a couple of leaves in her hair and smudges of dirt on her robes.
"Good morning first-years!" She called to the assembled students, "I am Professor Sprout. Today, Gryffindors and Ravenclaws will be in greenhouse one, and the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins will be in greenhouse two. On Wednesday, you will switch greenhouses, but your assignment for this week will be the same, regardless of where you start.
She paused to glance around at them all for a moment, then continued, "You should all have a copy of 'One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi'. You will use your textbook to identify as many of the species contained in each greenhouse as you can. Identification is a basic, but important skill for any Herbologist. Misidentifying a plant can lead to disastrous results. Page seventeen of your book contains a guide that you can follow, if you pay attention to detail, this should be an easy lesson."
In a much harsher voice, Professor Sprout very loudly called, "You WILL NOT TOUCH any of my plants! Observation is done with eyes not hands. Even in greenhouses one and two, many of the plants are incredibly dangerous if not outright deadly."
"One last thing before we get started," Professor Sprout said, voice cheerful once again, "My teacher's assistant this month will be Taylor Goldstein."
Taylor stepped forward to stand beside Professor Sprout and gave an awkward wave to the group.
Nearby, Hermione heard Anthony Goldstein loudly whisper, "That's my brother!"
Professor Sprout continued, "If I am not in your greenhouse, Taylor is in charge. You will have T.A's like Taylor in most of your practical classes. Today I will be starting in greenhouse two with the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins."
They split into two groups, and Hermione joined the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors as they entered greenhouse one.
The broad leaves, tall stocks, and wandering vines of the many different plants filled more than half of the glass building. The warm, humid air was full of the sharp scent of fertilizer, and the heavy smell of wet soil. Hermione and Li began to wander through the rows of plants. Each pot or planter box had a small sign, but they had been covered up for this lesson. Hermione opened to page seventeen of their book as Li chose a random plant to identify. Question by question, Li and Hermione began to work through the guide to figure out what species sat before them.
"Does it have vines?" Hermione asked, nose in her book.
"Nope, it looks more like a flower," Li answered, examining the pink petals.
"Does it have visible stamens?" Hermione said, following the guide to the next set of questions.
"The little yellow bits? Yeah."
"Purple, blue, or white stem?"
"White, but there are little red spirals too."
"What does it smell like?"
"Ugh, like sweaty socks."
"Okay, I think it's a Pescarlo flower, which is used in love potions," Hermione concluded.
A voice behind her said, "Yep, and the spikey one next to it is a Sugar shrub."
Hermione turned and found Neville Longbottom standing behind her. The patch on his robes now showed the symbol of Gryffindor, a gold lion with a scarlet background.
"Hey Neville," Hermione said with a smile.
"Wait, are you the boy with the toad?" Li asked, the corner of her mouth turning up in a grin.
Hermione gave Li's ankle a gentle kick and said, "Do you want to join us, Neville? We just got started, and I bet you already know more of these species than anyone else."
"I don't know about that," Neville said, looking embarrassed by either Hermione's compliment, or Li's question, "But I'd be happy to work with you."
With Neville's help, they were able to identify over two dozen species before Professor Sprout and Taylor Goldstein traded greenhouses. When Professor Sprout asked Hermione and her group how they were progressing, Hermione showed her the list they had made.
"Wonderful work you three, ten points each to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw!" She said with enthusiasm.
Before the end of the lesson, Li asked Neville if he would be in their group again on Wednesday. It seemed she'd been convinced that he was more than just, "the boy with the toad".
Their next lesson was Charms. As the first-years walked towards the Enchanting Building, Terry came up beside Hermione.
"Hey, what did you think of Herbology?" He asked her, a smudge of dirt on the end of his nose.
Hermione told him, "Not bad, but I'm ready to try some more spells."
"Me too," Terry said, nodding.
Li deliberately cleared her throat, and inquired, "Who's your friend Hermione?"
"Oh, right," Hermione said, realizing they hadn't met, "Um, Li, this is Terry. Terry, this is Li."
For the rest of the walk, the three of them speculated about what they would be doing in their first Charms lesson.
The Enchanting Building was only one story tall, but it had a large footprint. The map showed that it was split into four spacious rooms. The first-years entered through the front door and found themselves in a lobby.
Their teacher was waiting for them, and once the hundred or so students packed inside, he said, "Good morning, I am Professor Flitwick. You might be surprised that you're taller than one of your Professors, but despite my height, I promise there is much I can teach you."
His comments got a smile from many of the students, and a few even chuckled audibly. Hermione understood why. Professor Flitwick was only around three and a half feet tall. A shock of curly white hair sprung from the sides of his head, but the top was completely bald. He had a bulbous nose and spoke in a somewhat high-pitched voice.
"My teacher's assistant this month is Herbert Widely," Flitwick gestured at a tall boy with a short afro," He will supervise you when I am in the other room. Know that he has my permission to confiscate wands from students who are not following instructions."
"Today we will be working on your first real spell. It is a simple one, but not all of you will succeed at it today, and that is alright. Magic is complex and comes in many forms. Some of you will find you have a natural talent for Charms or Transfiguration. Others will find more success in Potions or Herbology. Please head through the doors and into your respective classrooms. Herbert will have the pleasure of demonstrating this week's charm for the Ravenclaws and Slytherins."
Hermione eagerly entered the room marked with a number two. Mirrors lined three walls, and a series of cabinets and shelves lined the fourth. The room reminded Hermione of her primary school's gymnasium. A grid of white lines divided the wooden floors into what looked like five-foot squares. Counting the squares along two walls, Hermione determined the room was rectangular, sixty feet wide, and seventy feet long. Out of habit, Hermione calculated the room's area.
"Four thousand two hundred feet squared, or just over three hundred and ninety meters squared," She thought, after running the numbers in her head.
Herbert, their T.A, walked over to open a set of five cabinets. Inside were dozens of lumpy green pillows.
Herbert instructed, "Grab a pillow and spread out. You'll need two squares, one for yourself, one for your pillow. Get used to these, I'd say half your first year of Charms will be performing spells on pillows. They're easy to replace and hard to injure someone with if you send it flying."
They did as instructed, spreading out until they each had a pair of squares. Herbert had retrieved a pillow of his own, and he had pulled his wand out.
He waved it with a flourish, and in a loud voice, said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Disappointment crashed down on Hermione as Herbert's pillow floated gently off the ground. Other students applauded, appearing impressed by the demonstration.
After letting the pillow descend to the floor, Herbert said, "The motion is important. Watch carefully."
He demonstrated the correct arm position and movement, then continued, "Professor Flitwick will switch rooms with me after forty minutes. Until then, keep practicing the incantation and wand motion. I will come around and help you individually."
Hermione glanced around until she spotted Terry. He gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up, seeming pleased. Other than Herbert, Terry was the first one to levitate his pillow. Hermione was next, lazily directing the pillow to move through the air in a circling pattern. Li, who had found two squares near Hermione, managed the spell after a few attempts.
At one point, Hermione overheard Herbert getting frustrated with a student, not shouting, but speaking with an irritated tone, "Stop saying 'I know". If you knew, you would be able to do it. You're not listening to me Draco, use your wrist."
Curious, Hermione looked over to see who was having trouble. She saw the pale, blonde haired boy who had looked so pleased to be sorted into Slytherin. He did not look very pleased now, face screwed up in a furious scowl directed at Herbert.
By the time Flitwick switched rooms with Herbert, half of the Ravenclaws, and a little less than half the Slytherins, had succeeded in levitating their pillows. As he walked through the room, Flitwick gave suggestions to students that were struggling. He complimented Hermione's success but continued before she could ask about trying a different spell.
By the time they were dismissed, Hermione had grown bored. She made her way back to the Great Hall for lunch, feeling somewhat disappointed with her first two lessons. Herbology relied on careful observation and memorization, but that was no challenge to Hermione, and Flitwick had implied that the levitation spell would be their focus again on Wednesday.
Filling her bowl with beef stew, Hermione muttered, "I hope Potions is a challenge, or at least more interesting."
Li heard at least part of what Hermione said, and in response, she reminded Hermione, "At least after Potions, we get to go to the library."
Cheered by this comment, Hermione said, "Oh, that's right. I hope we get to check out books. On the schedule it's just listed as 'study hall', but I doubt we'll have any homework, so maybe they'll let us wander the stacks a bit."
After lunch, Hermione and Li returned to their dormitory to retrieve their cauldrons. While heavy, they were not unmanageable to walk with. But Hermione was relieved when they made it back to the entrance hall and found a staircase that took them down towards the basement. Cool air greeted them as they descended, and with no windows, the only illumination came from torches set in intervals along the walls. In centuries past these lower floors had been actual dungeons, but now they served as additional classrooms.
At the bottom of the stairs was a door to the dungeon, where a few first-years already stood in line, waiting for it to open. Most had set their cauldrons on the floor, and Hermione and Li did the same, taking their place in line behind a pair of Hufflepuff boys.
"Reckon they'll let us keep our cauldrons down here?" One of the boys asked his friend.
Justin Finch-Fletchley, another boy in Hufflepuff who Hermione remembered from the sorting ceremony, shrugged and said, "I've got no idea mate, I'm the muggle-born, you should be the one explaining everything, not asking me questions."
Hermione stared at Justin, amazed that he would admit to being a muggle-born so casually. Right before she leaned forward to begin a conversation with him, the door to the dungeon opened with a squeal of rusted hinges.