School: Durmstrang
Theme: For your theme you should look at how wizards and witches use plants as weapons and cures.
Main Prompt: (first line) "This was not a good idea. In fact, it was possibly his worst idea yet."
Additional Prompts: (emotion) fear
Year: 1
Wordcount: 1298
This was not a good idea. In fact, it was possibly his worst idea yet—and that was saying something. Neville Longbottom didn't always have the best ideas.
It all started when he overheard a nurse one day at St Mungo's.
He'd been there to visit his parents, like so many times before. This time was unusual though, because Gran left him alone in the tearoom for a while to go talk to a Healer. Before, Neville had always been told to stay within her sight. It could have meant Gran was starting to trust him more, now that he'd finished his first year at Hogwarts. Instead of believing that, Neville was fearful. What did his Gran want to ask the Healer that she didn't want him to hear?
Rather than obeying, Neville stood and followed after Gran as soon as she was out of view. His heart raced, If he were caught, she would be extremely angry, and Neville hated it when his Gran was angry at him. He wanted to know what Gran had to ask.
When Gran entered a small office in the ward where his parents were staying (he could never remember what it was called), Neville waited just outside the door.
"Is the new treatment working?" he heard Gran ask the young woman inside. "Didn't Healer Willingham say that the essence of hellebore concoctions had been working?"
The young Healer sighed as she said, "I wish I could tell you different, Mrs. Longbottom, but the essence of hellebore stopped working. We took Frank and Alice off that a couple of days ago."
"What happened to make it stop working?" Gran demanded to know, anger and something that Neville could not believe he heard- fear- coloring her tone. Neville could not believe how terrified his Gran sounded.
"We don't know, it could have been several things, we're still letting it run out of their systems. In a day or two, we'll try something else. It's a process of elimination to find something that works. There have been studies about Mandrake Draughts working wonders, that's what I think they were going to try next." The young healer sounded quite sad to tell them that yet another treatment hadn't worked.
Neville's eyes widened as he listened. They were talking about plants! His first year hadn't been a huge success at all, but the one shining light there (aside from the couple of friends he'd made) was Herbology class. The teacher, Professor Sprout, was kind and always patient with him. Whenever he made a mistake, she would show him gently how to correct it.
As soon as he arrived back at school, he was surprised to find that the second years would actually be working with Mandrake this year. He then promptly fainted. As soon as he returned to the greenhouses after being revived by Madam Pomfrey, he found that class had ended for the day, but that Professor Sprout was still bustling around the greenhouse, watering and trimming plants as needed. Hearing the door open, she turned and saw him approaching. "Oh, hello, Mr. Longbottom. Glad to see those Mandrakes didn't affect you too badly. Go on, then, collect your things and I'll see you next lesson."
Passing the plump professor, Neville grabbed his bag. Before he could lose his nerve, he said, "Professor, I wanted to ask if I could help with the Mandrakes this year. You know, during my free periods and lunch and stuff? I won't forget to keep my earmuffs properly on, and I've always really liked plants and Herbology, especially with you, and now…" He stopped himself before he said, and now I think it may be able to help my parents regain their sanity. "... now I have a chance to test my Herbology abilities. Mandrakes are pretty difficult, right? You probably need some help anyway."
Professor Sprout studied him critically before she said, "Mr. Longbottom, if this request had come from anyone else, I would have accused them of either feigning interest in order to steal ingredients to make off-limits potions, or else would have said that it would be too difficult to help alone. But you… I know you have genuine interest, and as for stealing ingredients, well… I have a better idea of your integrity than to think you'd do that. So, my answer is yes. As long as it doesn't affect your other coursework, you may help me with the Mandrakes and other plants whenever you have some free time."
And that's how Neville found himself working closely with the plants in the greenhouses. Taking a particular interest in the Mandrakes, after hearing what the Healer had told his Gran, one day he grew bold enough to start experimenting with different concoctions.
Staring at the labels of two vials, Mandrake Essence and Bicorn Horn Powder, Neville mixed a small amount of the two into a small bowl. He knew that both of these substances were volatile, and that two dangerous substances, when mixed, often had dangerous and catastrophic results. However, he didn't think of that as he mixed them was thinking that if it went well, he could ask the Healers at St. Mungo's to try it on his parents. He'd researched the effects of both ingredients carefully, Mandrakes were a restorative ingredient, bringing people back from grievous injuries and the like. Bicorn horn was used in Polyjuice Potion as an ingredient of change and calm. Neville just knew that, when combined, they would be able to help his parents.
When nothing happened with the mixed ingredients, Neville turned to a nearby plant, a moonflower that was starting to wilt. If all went well, Neville expected the plant to burst into full bloom once again. Instead, when he poured a small amount of concoction onto the soil, the plant decayed even further. Before he knew what was happening, the whole row of plants started to wither and die. Eyes widening in terror, Neville backed up against a wall. He was terrified of what he'd done. How could something intended for something so good have such dire effects?
Just a moment later, Professor Sprout walked into the Greenhouses, and upon seeing Neville staring horrified ahead of him, came over to investigate. "Longbottom, what's- oh." In typical Sprout fashion, however, she didn't get upset or anything. She simply grabbed a different potion and poured it over the affected plants. After a few moments, they all started to come back to life.
"What did I do?" Neville asked quietly, still shocked at the effect of what he had done. "I was trying to come up with…"
With a sigh, Professor Sprout put an arm around his shoulder. "My dear boy, you must be more careful. A small amount of the wrong ingredient can turn a potion into a poison just like that. Promise me you'll be careful and test on something that's not going to possibly die if you use it next time!"
Neville still wasn't convinced everything was okay. "But—what happened? What did I do? What did you do to fix the plants?"
Professor Sprout smiled. "What it seems as though you did is put too much Bicorn horn in that mixture of yours. As for what I did, a simple fertilizer potion that helps plants that are in dire need. As you know, it was necessary." Looking at Neville, she said, "I don't want you to be afraid to try new ideas and mixtures, okay? Just be more careful, and don't jump to testing without someone else present. It can prevent many accidents. Okay?"
Neville let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't angry, and in the end, things had been rectified. All he would have to do next time would be to be much more vigilant.