Snape always awoke before dawn and this morning was no exception. He
dressed as quietly as he could to avoid waking Winslow and crept out of the
room. The common room was deserted as was usual this time of morning so
Snape was able to leave without incident.
Keeping a close eye out for others, Snape snuck out of the castle and down the path to the greenhouse. He was mostly there when he heard voices not far away. Snape leapt behind a nearby rosebush and waited. Mr. Filch and his monster of a cat passed by, mumbling about how Hogwarts would be such a better place if not for all those messy students. When they were gone, Snape peeked around the bush and continued his trek to the greenhouse.
The door was ajar when he arrived, and once inside he found Mariah already there, perched on a stool, surrounded by a map, a scroll, and a stack of books. She looked up and smiled when he approached.
"Good morning, Severus! How lucky you came early, because we'll have LOTS of planning to do." She began unraveling the scroll, "Our project will be SO much fun!"
Snape moved beside her stool to look over her shoulder at what this famous project would actually entail. He began reading aloud.
"Fourth Year Term Herbology Project Mr. S. Snape and Ms. M. Grougher Due in class on 18 December"
"I think the Professor enchanted the scrolls to bind to whoever selected them, " hypothesized Mariah, " to keep people from swapping projects."
He continued reading.
"Beyond the Quidditch fields south of the Castle lies a valley in which many magical plant species have grown for millennia. One such species, the Graminis Socialis, it actually not native to the region but since its transplant nearly two hundred years ago has adapted itself to live in harmony with the other plant and animal species that reside there. Until recently, Graminis Socialis has thrived here. Now however, its flowers are blue and wilted, and its leaves turn yellow.
Ms. Grougher and Mr. Snape, it is your task to heal the ailing Graminis Socialis and help it flourish again. You may use any magical or non- magical means to do so. If you require research materials that cannot be found on campus, please speak with myself or Madame Pince as necessary."
"How charming," drawled Snape, seeing that Mariah awaited his reaction to their assignment. "We get to play nursemaid to a bunch of weeds." Privately, he thought it sounded interesting because probably would require substantial potion work, but it would not do to express such sentiments in present company.
Mariah raised her eyebrows at this comment, "If that's the way you view it, I can procure one of Madame Altrix's aprons for you, then you'll be right in costume."
Snape couldn't help but snicker at this, but then followed up with a glare so that Mariah would know she was skating on thin ice, so to speak. This triggered nothing less than another laughing spell from the dratted HufflePuff; heavens, did she find EVERYTHING funny?
"Oh come now, Severus, it was funny and you know it."
"Never mind that, let's just get back to the assignment so we can get to breakfast on time." Not that Snape ever ate breakfast, but she probably didn't know that. "The problem is threefold: we must learn everything we can about " he looked back at the scroll " Graminis Socialis, determine what is wrong, and then brew a potion to cure it."
"Of course, " said Mariah, who was flipping through the pages of the topmost book in her pile, " I've gotten a few books from the library that should help us with at least that first item. Here in Grasmeister's Magical Fruits and Herbs I found a picture and a good general description of it. When we go out to the field we should have no trouble recognizing it, it will look just like this." Mariah pointed to a picture of a flowering plant with bright fuschia flowers and velvety foliage.
"Not quite," corrected Snape. Mariah looked up inquisitively at him, and he continued, "the flowers are turning blue and the leaves yellow. So it won't look JUST like that," Mariah's eyes began to narrow, " but close enough for us to recognize I'm sure." It wasn't necessary to pick a fight just then.
"Right. So when can we go, Severus? We should probably plan that now to avoid having to talk to each other in public." Mariah's voice held no hint of sarcasm. She must finally realize that we need to keep this under wraps, he thought.
"I have no engagements planned this evening, if we go soon after supper it should still be light out. But we should not go together. I will meet you outside the southern stands of the Quidditch field and we can go from there."
"Fine then. Why don't you take this book with you so you can read up on the Graminis before class?" He took the book from her outstretched hand with a nod. Mariah began packing up the rest of her belongings and looked toward the door. "Do you want to leave first or shall I?"
"You can go first, I'm going to skip breakfast anyway."
With a quick "see you in potions, Severus," she scurried off.
Snape sat down and began reading the chapter in Grasmeister's that Mariah had pointed out earlier. Graminis Socialis requires twelve hours of sunlight per day and just enough water to keep the soil moist. it has two flowering seasons, one in the spring and one in the fall, with orange flowers in the spring and fuschia in the fall. these differences result from two different bee species performing the pollination. its seeds are used in making Gramony, a potent liqueur. all in all, it sounds like a pretty average plant, he thought.
Ten minutes had passed since the HufflePuff had left the greenhouse. Snape stood, holding the book, and walked outside. The sun was now up, but the fields were devoid of students, for everyone was now at breakfast. He strolled back to the Slytherin dorm pondering over the taste of Gramony, a liqueur with which he was unfamiliar.
*********************************************************************
Mariah's first class of the day was Defense Against the Dark Arts, which HufflePuff shared with Gryffindor. Professor Conterreo was a shrew-faced prune of a man who was hard of hearing but had helped Professor Dumbledore defeat the evil Grindelwald in the forties. He tended to shout rather than speak, and often banged his walking stick on the table for emphasis. All that said, he certainly knew his subject matter. Today's lesson was the "Dirumpere" curse, not one of the unforgivables, but a curse that effectively rendered one's opponent helpless by causing them to burst into unconsoleable sobbing.
They were also practicing the counter-curse, "Nimius Guardium", which on its own is also a powerful curse that causes the afflicted to laugh uncontrollably, but when cast on one affected by Dirumpere, results in a controlled giggle. The logistics of casting a spell while sobbing being what they are, the Nimius Guardium counter is usually cast by a companion to the afflicted, but for training purposes the students worked in pairs.
This class was a bit of a trial to say the least. Mariah's friend and partner, Darby Blaythus, was having difficulty enunciating the word "Nimius" thanks to a newly acquired lisp resulting from two missing front teeth (courtesy of a bludger to the face). So after hitting Mariah with the Dirumpere, she could do no better than "Nimiuth Guardium" which sadly had no effect on poor Mariah's sobbing. The Professor, busy at the other end of the room criticizing a Gryffindor boy on his pronunciation, was oblivious to Mariah's distress.
In frustration, Darby grabbed the arm of the student to her left, who just happened to be Gryffindor Remus Lupin. "Help me, pleathe!" She begged, motioning toward Mariah, who was now curled up on the floor weeping, "I just can't thay it right!"
Remus quickly aimed his wand and performed the spell perfectly. Mariah stood up, gasping and chuckling lightly, as she struggled to squash the remains of the curse. Poor Darby was apologizing profusely while Mariah thanked Remus for his kind help. "That's one nasty curse, " she said, "even if it IS forgiveable!" Always the demonstrative one, Mariah hugged Lupin enthusiastically in thanks.
He blushed in response, "My pleasure."
Mariah then hugged Darby, who was almost in tears herself, and reassured her that there was no lasting harm done. "We'll just have to wait on that curse until after you grow Madame Altrix helps you grow your teeth back!" The two girls laughed.
And Sirius Black walked up to his partner, Remus, and clapped him on the back. "Nice work, chum." He glanced over at the laughing HufflePuffs and noted to himself that Miss Grougher did have a very nice laugh indeed.
Keeping a close eye out for others, Snape snuck out of the castle and down the path to the greenhouse. He was mostly there when he heard voices not far away. Snape leapt behind a nearby rosebush and waited. Mr. Filch and his monster of a cat passed by, mumbling about how Hogwarts would be such a better place if not for all those messy students. When they were gone, Snape peeked around the bush and continued his trek to the greenhouse.
The door was ajar when he arrived, and once inside he found Mariah already there, perched on a stool, surrounded by a map, a scroll, and a stack of books. She looked up and smiled when he approached.
"Good morning, Severus! How lucky you came early, because we'll have LOTS of planning to do." She began unraveling the scroll, "Our project will be SO much fun!"
Snape moved beside her stool to look over her shoulder at what this famous project would actually entail. He began reading aloud.
"Fourth Year Term Herbology Project Mr. S. Snape and Ms. M. Grougher Due in class on 18 December"
"I think the Professor enchanted the scrolls to bind to whoever selected them, " hypothesized Mariah, " to keep people from swapping projects."
He continued reading.
"Beyond the Quidditch fields south of the Castle lies a valley in which many magical plant species have grown for millennia. One such species, the Graminis Socialis, it actually not native to the region but since its transplant nearly two hundred years ago has adapted itself to live in harmony with the other plant and animal species that reside there. Until recently, Graminis Socialis has thrived here. Now however, its flowers are blue and wilted, and its leaves turn yellow.
Ms. Grougher and Mr. Snape, it is your task to heal the ailing Graminis Socialis and help it flourish again. You may use any magical or non- magical means to do so. If you require research materials that cannot be found on campus, please speak with myself or Madame Pince as necessary."
"How charming," drawled Snape, seeing that Mariah awaited his reaction to their assignment. "We get to play nursemaid to a bunch of weeds." Privately, he thought it sounded interesting because probably would require substantial potion work, but it would not do to express such sentiments in present company.
Mariah raised her eyebrows at this comment, "If that's the way you view it, I can procure one of Madame Altrix's aprons for you, then you'll be right in costume."
Snape couldn't help but snicker at this, but then followed up with a glare so that Mariah would know she was skating on thin ice, so to speak. This triggered nothing less than another laughing spell from the dratted HufflePuff; heavens, did she find EVERYTHING funny?
"Oh come now, Severus, it was funny and you know it."
"Never mind that, let's just get back to the assignment so we can get to breakfast on time." Not that Snape ever ate breakfast, but she probably didn't know that. "The problem is threefold: we must learn everything we can about " he looked back at the scroll " Graminis Socialis, determine what is wrong, and then brew a potion to cure it."
"Of course, " said Mariah, who was flipping through the pages of the topmost book in her pile, " I've gotten a few books from the library that should help us with at least that first item. Here in Grasmeister's Magical Fruits and Herbs I found a picture and a good general description of it. When we go out to the field we should have no trouble recognizing it, it will look just like this." Mariah pointed to a picture of a flowering plant with bright fuschia flowers and velvety foliage.
"Not quite," corrected Snape. Mariah looked up inquisitively at him, and he continued, "the flowers are turning blue and the leaves yellow. So it won't look JUST like that," Mariah's eyes began to narrow, " but close enough for us to recognize I'm sure." It wasn't necessary to pick a fight just then.
"Right. So when can we go, Severus? We should probably plan that now to avoid having to talk to each other in public." Mariah's voice held no hint of sarcasm. She must finally realize that we need to keep this under wraps, he thought.
"I have no engagements planned this evening, if we go soon after supper it should still be light out. But we should not go together. I will meet you outside the southern stands of the Quidditch field and we can go from there."
"Fine then. Why don't you take this book with you so you can read up on the Graminis before class?" He took the book from her outstretched hand with a nod. Mariah began packing up the rest of her belongings and looked toward the door. "Do you want to leave first or shall I?"
"You can go first, I'm going to skip breakfast anyway."
With a quick "see you in potions, Severus," she scurried off.
Snape sat down and began reading the chapter in Grasmeister's that Mariah had pointed out earlier. Graminis Socialis requires twelve hours of sunlight per day and just enough water to keep the soil moist. it has two flowering seasons, one in the spring and one in the fall, with orange flowers in the spring and fuschia in the fall. these differences result from two different bee species performing the pollination. its seeds are used in making Gramony, a potent liqueur. all in all, it sounds like a pretty average plant, he thought.
Ten minutes had passed since the HufflePuff had left the greenhouse. Snape stood, holding the book, and walked outside. The sun was now up, but the fields were devoid of students, for everyone was now at breakfast. He strolled back to the Slytherin dorm pondering over the taste of Gramony, a liqueur with which he was unfamiliar.
*********************************************************************
Mariah's first class of the day was Defense Against the Dark Arts, which HufflePuff shared with Gryffindor. Professor Conterreo was a shrew-faced prune of a man who was hard of hearing but had helped Professor Dumbledore defeat the evil Grindelwald in the forties. He tended to shout rather than speak, and often banged his walking stick on the table for emphasis. All that said, he certainly knew his subject matter. Today's lesson was the "Dirumpere" curse, not one of the unforgivables, but a curse that effectively rendered one's opponent helpless by causing them to burst into unconsoleable sobbing.
They were also practicing the counter-curse, "Nimius Guardium", which on its own is also a powerful curse that causes the afflicted to laugh uncontrollably, but when cast on one affected by Dirumpere, results in a controlled giggle. The logistics of casting a spell while sobbing being what they are, the Nimius Guardium counter is usually cast by a companion to the afflicted, but for training purposes the students worked in pairs.
This class was a bit of a trial to say the least. Mariah's friend and partner, Darby Blaythus, was having difficulty enunciating the word "Nimius" thanks to a newly acquired lisp resulting from two missing front teeth (courtesy of a bludger to the face). So after hitting Mariah with the Dirumpere, she could do no better than "Nimiuth Guardium" which sadly had no effect on poor Mariah's sobbing. The Professor, busy at the other end of the room criticizing a Gryffindor boy on his pronunciation, was oblivious to Mariah's distress.
In frustration, Darby grabbed the arm of the student to her left, who just happened to be Gryffindor Remus Lupin. "Help me, pleathe!" She begged, motioning toward Mariah, who was now curled up on the floor weeping, "I just can't thay it right!"
Remus quickly aimed his wand and performed the spell perfectly. Mariah stood up, gasping and chuckling lightly, as she struggled to squash the remains of the curse. Poor Darby was apologizing profusely while Mariah thanked Remus for his kind help. "That's one nasty curse, " she said, "even if it IS forgiveable!" Always the demonstrative one, Mariah hugged Lupin enthusiastically in thanks.
He blushed in response, "My pleasure."
Mariah then hugged Darby, who was almost in tears herself, and reassured her that there was no lasting harm done. "We'll just have to wait on that curse until after you grow Madame Altrix helps you grow your teeth back!" The two girls laughed.
And Sirius Black walked up to his partner, Remus, and clapped him on the back. "Nice work, chum." He glanced over at the laughing HufflePuffs and noted to himself that Miss Grougher did have a very nice laugh indeed.