Year 1: Star Gazer
Chapter 5: January 2016
Too soon, the Christmas holidays were over. Though Louis had felt a twinge of sadness when he'd left the castle, it was nothing compared to what he felt leaving his family yet again.
"You'll be home for Easter," his mother assured him as he tarried on the platform. "That's not so far away, is it?"
"I guess not," Louis agreed.
Once he was back at Hogwarts though, Louis found it easy to forget missing his parents. He had so much to do, after all. There were classes and studying, not to mention astronomy club. There was so much more to do at Hogwarts than he'd originally thought.
One day, Louis was sitting with Justin in herbology, diligently taking notes based on Professor Longbottom's lecture on spiky bushes. Ever since the beginning of January they'd been learning about spiky bushes, and Louis wondered when they would move on to their next topic. Surprisingly though, Professor Longbottom had something else up his sleeve.
"So far this course has been largely theoretical," Professor Longbottom said after finishing his final thoughts on Spiky Bushes. "Which makes sense, because you all need to know the basics before we can move forward. However, now that we've reached the second term, it's time to actually start working with some of the plants we're going to be talking about. So next class, come prepared to deal with some real live spiky bushes."
Louis swallowed nervously at this prospect. Real live spiky bushes? In the greenhouse? This was going to be a disaster. Sure they all knew the theory, but did that mean he'd be able to dodge the spikes that would likely be shooting out of dozens of spiky bushes around the room? How did Professor Longbottom expect this to end, if not with the whole first year class crammed into the hospital wing while Madam Eldridge removed spikes from them all?
"This is going to be a disaster," Louis muttered to Justin as they gathered up their things after class and began to head up to the seventh floor for an astronomy club meeting. "Are spiky bushes really the best plant to be our first to work with? There's got to be a less dangerous one we could have learned about instead."
"I looked ahead in the textbook and bouncing bulbs are next," Justin commented. "Don't see why we couldn't have started there. They seemed harmless enough."
"It's like Professor Longbottom is trying to get us all injured," Louis said.
"Maybe that's his plan," Justin posited. "Maybe he wants to instill the fear of herbology into us all right from the beginning."
"Or maybe he's weeding out the herbology prodigies from the failures," Louis suggested.
"Either way, I'm going to be prepared," Justin declared. "I'm going to wear as many layers as I can tomorrow. If the spikes can't reach my skin, they can't hurt me."
"You'd have to wear a lot of layers to keep the spikes from spiking you," Louis said. "They're pretty long, and according to Professor Longbottom, the bush ejects them with a great deal of force."
"Even if I have to wear fifteen sweaters, I'm going to be ready," Justin declared.
True to his word, the following day, Justin donned all fifteen of his sweaters under his robes. Louis had to stifle a laugh as he took in his friend's appearance.
"You look ridiculous," Louis said. "Aren't you sweating under there? And the greenhouses will be worse, it's so warm down there."
"I'll be fine," Justin assured Louis, a bead of sweat already dripping down his face. "Come on, we don't want to be late."
Herbology was only their second class of the day, and Louis could help but laugh at Justin as he tried to take notes in history of magic that morning with so many layers of fabric impeding his writing ability. At least it wasn't a particularly important lecture, and soon they were heading down to the greenhouses anyway.
"What are you wearing?" a voice demanded as Louis and Justin approached the doors to the greenhouse. Louis looked around and identified the owner of the voice as David Flint – the Slytherin who really didn't seem to like Louis.
"Clothes," Justin replied, as though this were obvious.
"Don't play dumb with me," Flint said, stepping closer and obstructing Louis and Justin's path so they couldn't get into the classroom. "I can see that much."
"Justin's just trying to protect himself from the spiky bushes," Louis explained, trying to peek over Flint's shoulder in the hopes of catching his Professor's eye. Flint made him nervous and Louis didn't like that he had him and Justin cornered, alone.
"I hadn't thought of that," Flint said, glancing inside the classroom at the spiky bushes lining the wall. "You make a good point though, those spiky bushes can be tricky. What's your name?"
"Spinnet," Justin replied. "Justin Spinnet."
"Alright Spinnet, you're going to give me your clothes," Flint declared.
"What?" Justin frowned. "No way!"
Suddenly, Flint had grabbed Justin by the front of his robes and shoved him against the wall. Louis wanted to help, but he didn't see how he could. Flint was strong – there was no way Louis could pull him away.
"What'd you say to me?" Flint asked dangerously.
"Well I only meant…" Justin muttered, his voice starting to tremble. "These sweaters are mine. Don't you have any of your own?"
"Of course I do," Flint said. "But they're all the way in the dungeons and class is about to start. Come on, hand them over, I don't want to get spiked."
"But then what about me?" Justin asked.
Flint shrugged. "That's hardly my concern."
Looking down at the ground, Justin reluctantly began to remove his topmost sweater. Louis frowned. This wasn't right. Flint shouldn't be able to take things from people just because he was stronger and scarier than them.
"Justin doesn't have to give you anything," Louis declared loudly.
Now Flint rounded on Louis, backing him up into a corner and staring him down with an icy look.
"Are you talking back to me?" Flint demanded, grabbing Louis' arm and slamming it painfully into the wall. Louis winced as his elbow began to throb and tried to avoid looking Flint in the eye.
"Are you going to answer me, or just ignore me?" Flint demanded when Louis didn't say anything.
At that moment, Professor Longbottom appeared with Justin right behind him. With Flint distracted by Louis, Justin had been able to slip past him to get their teacher.
"Is everything all right out here boys?" Professor Longbottom asked.
"Of course Professor," Flint said, immediately letting go and taking a step back. "We were just having a small disagreement."
"Well you'd all better get inside, because we're about to start," Professor Longbottom instructed.
Never more happy for a herbology lesson, Louis hurried into the classroom with Justin, taking seats clear across the room from Flint and his buddies.
"Thanks Louis," Justin said as they sat down at their stools. "You know, for standing up to him."
"Thanks for getting Professor Longbottom," Louis added. "You might have saved my life there."
"I wouldn't be surprised," Justin nodded.
They were silenced when Professor Longbottom started the lesson.
"Alright everyone, now I know you're all very excited for our very first practical lesson. Your task will be to extract the liquid that resides in the spikes without inciting the spiky bush to attack you. If it does, I have a potion that I can administer to anyone who is pierced by a spike, so there's no lasting danger to any of you," Professor Longbottom announced.
Under his breath, Louis muttered to Justin. "See? You didn't need those sweaters after all."
"Just because he can fix us up doesn't mean it's not better to not get spiked at all," Justin pointed out.
"Finally," Professor Longbottom continued. "I had intended for this to be a solo project, but have recently decided that it would be beneficial to have you work in teams and try to cooperate with one another. I of course, will be determining the teams."
Louis frowned at that. Why couldn't they work alone? It would be much more efficient, and Louis would learn a lot more without someone else doing half the work anyway.
When Professor Longbottom announced his partner though, Louis knew exactly why he'd decided to have the first years work in pairs. Louis' partner was David Flint.
"Professor?" Louis asked once the herbology instructor had finished calling the pairs and everyone was moving to sit with their partners and to select a spiky bush.
"Louis," Professor Longbottom nodded. "You'd better get started, you only have this one class to get the spiky bush juice out of the spikes, and you know it's only good when it comes from an attached spike. The detached spikes will be useless. It's going to take some time."
"I know," Louis nodded. "I just wanted to ask if maybe I could have a different partner?"
Professor Longbottom shook his head. "I'm sure you realize that my decision to assign partners was due to what I witnessed in the hallway just now?" he asked.
Louis nodded. "But… I can't work with Flint. I just can't. You saw."
"Based on what I saw, I think it's imperative that you do work with Flint, and try to resolve your differences, whatever they might be," Professor Longbottom said.
"We can't," Louis shook his head. "He – "
"You're in herbology class, Louis," Professor Longbottom pointed out. "I'll be watching. It's not as though he can do anything."
Louis nodded. Obviously Professor Longbottom wasn't going to let this go.
"Fine," Louis sighed. "I'll try."
"That's the spirit!" Professor Longbottom said happily. "Now run along and get started."
Dreading the next forty-five minutes of his life, Louis walked over to Flint and took a seat next to him, their plant on the desk in front of them.
"Trying to trade partners?" Flint sneered, referring to Louis' talk with Professor Longbottom.
"No," Louis lied. "Just asking about the best way to go about this assignment."
Flint made a face, indicating that he knew Louis was lying.
"Well I've come to a decision," Flint declared, leaning back in his chair.
"Oh?" Louis asked, afraid of what the decision might be.
"Since you prevented me from receiving protection from the spiky bushes – "
"You mean since I prevented you from stealing someone's sweaters?" Louis interjected.
"Since you made it so that I couldn't be protected in any way," Flint continued. "I've decided that it's only fair that you be the one to work on the spiky bush."
"I think we're both supposed to do the assignment though," Louis frowned. "You know, as a team?"
"Well I'm not really feeling the team spirit, after you came after me in the corridor," Flint said.
"Wait, after I came after you?" Louis cried.
Flint ignored him. "And since I'm now vulnerable to being spiked, I really don't think I should be anywhere near it if it decides to shoot one out."
"But what about me?" Louis demanded. "I'm not protected either."
"Well that was obviously your own choice," Flint shrugged. "I can't be blamed for that."
"Professor Longbottom has potion for people who get spiked," Louis pointed out, hoping to make Flint see that his concerns were unfounded.
"So you should have nothing to worry about," Flint nodded at the plant. "Go ahead. And make sure you get two samples, one for each of us. The first sample you extract will be mine, I think. Just to make sure you don't stop after handing in your own."
Louis was ready to protest, but suddenly Flint's eyes went dark.
"You don't want to argue with me," Flint said dangerously. "Trust me."
Louis gulped audibly. If the events in the corridor earlier were any indication, Flint could do much more than threaten. Louis' elbow throbbed, as if to confirm this. Professor Longbottom might be watching now, but he wouldn't always be.
"Fine," Louis nodded, turning to the plant.
It was a difficult task. And it was made even more difficult by the fact that he had to do it alone. If Flint could help, even by simply diverting the plant's attention, Louis might have a better chance getting a useable sample.
The first spike to shoot out of the plant, Louis dodged with ease. The second was much more unexpected, hitting him in the shoulder and causing him to cry out with pain.
"Don't be such a baby," Flint ordered, grabbing the spike and pulling it out, only causing Louis' pain to amplify. "You can get the healing potion when you're done."
Gritting his teeth and trying to ignore the pain in his shoulder, Louis set to work again. It was harder now, with one arm screaming in pain when he tried to move it, but eventually he managed to extract the first sample.
"Perfect," Flint said, grabbing the syringe from Louis' hand and ejecting the liquid into a clear vial, stoppering it and writing his name on the label. He started to head towards the front and Louis called after him.
"Hey, we still don't have my sample," he said.
Flint shrugged. "That's hardly my problem."
He dropped off his sample on Professor Longbottom's desk and left.
"Louis, is everything alright?" Professor Longbottom asked, coming over to see why Flint had left. "Are you already finished?"
"No, I only got one sample so far," Louis said.
"Well David really shouldn't have left then," Professor Longbottom said. "I'll have to mark him down for this."
"No," Louis shook his head. "Please don't. He um… just went to get some bandages from the hospital wing. For my shoulder." As much as Louis wished Professor Longbottom would fail Flint, he knew Flint would only blame him for anything going wrong.
"Louis, you should have mentioned you were spiked!" Professor Longbottom cried. "Don't you remember, I have a potion for that."
"Oh, right," Louis nodded, feigning forgetfulness. "I guess it slipped my mind."
Professor Longbottom hurried to get the potion and measured out a dose for Louis. "Just take that, and you'll feel better in no time."
Louis took the medicine offered him, and immediately the pain in his shoulder subsided. He was still bleeding, but he could tell it was healing.
"Thank you," Louis said appreciatively, before getting back to work.
It didn't take long to get the second sample. With Flint gone, Louis could focus and he didn't get as distracted as before, so it was much easier. Once he had his sample, he sighed with relief and dropped it off on Professor Longbottom's desk.
"Excellent job Louis," Professor Longbottom nodded. "You may as well leave. If you run into David, you can tell him not to bother with the bandages. I can see your shoulder is healing up nicely.
Louis nodded. It was true, his shoulder was almost completely healed. The blood that was left was old blood – the wound had basically closed up by now, and certainly hadn't bled since he'd taken the medicine.
As soon as he left the greenhouse, Louis headed for the nearest bathroom to clean up his wound. As he splashed some water on it, he inspected the gash to his robes. Someone would have to mend it. Perhaps the elves would do it when he sent it through the laundry. He'd never needed his clothes to be mended – he'd only been at Hogwarts a short time after all – but it seemed like something they'd do.
"Louis!" Justin cried, hurrying into the bathroom. "Are you all right? I can't believe you had to work with Flint!"
"I'm fine," Louis assured him. "The assignment's done, and my shoulder's healed. Did you get spiked at all?"
Justin nodded. "But my sweaters worked perfectly. It never even grazed my skin. The sweaters are all full of holes now though."
"The elves will probably mend them," Louis said.
"Oh good!" Justin nodded. "Then no harm done."
"You know you still look ridiculous?" Louis asked, gesturing to Justin's attire, laughing.
"Not as bad as you with that gaping wound," Justin pointed to Louis' arm. "You look like you've been to war and back."
"At least we don't have to work with spiky bushes anymore. Bouncing bulbs next class, right?" Louis asked.
Justin nodded. "Professor Longbottom said so after you'd left."
"Good," Louis smiled. "Hopefully we don't have to work with any more dangerous plants this year."
Since it was lunch next, Louis and Justin decided to return to their dorms to change before eating. Louis wanted to put on some robes that weren't bloodstained, and Justin was eager to get out of his mountain of sweaters.
The rest of the month went by smoothly. Louis was thankful that he had no more run-ins with Flint. Though he occasionally caught the Slytherin leering at him across the classroom, he kept his distance, for which Louis was thankful. He could only hope Flint would continue to keep away from him.
"Stop that!" Justin insisted one day in transfiguration.
"Stop what?" Louis asked.
"Stop staring at Flint as if he's about to come over and pummel you to the ground," Justin clarified. "He hasn't even talked to you since the spiky bushes. Whatever happened it's over now."
"I guess you're right," Louis nodded. Only it didn't feel over. Not one bit.