Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and Company.
Harry trudged outside in the snow toward then labyrinth to the North of the school in the predawn darkness. The moon had already set and the first hint of dawn was pinking the eastern sky. In the basket Snape instructed him to bring were the herbs to be laid in the fire that evening.
"Excellent you're here early." Snape said with a half smile. He had his own basket of herbs. "What did you bring?"
"Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Christmas roses and Winter aconite. I was able to find all of it fresh by the green houses. You didn't give me any special instructions on harvesting the herbs so I used my shears." Harry replied.
"For this there is no special harvesting instructions. The herbs are simply symbolic and have no particular meaning. Dried herbs and flowers can also be used. Set your basket there." Snape indicated a spot by the entrance to labyrinth. "Our next task is to collect deadwood from the Forbidden forest. A tree fell over near the edge several years ago I've been collecting my solstice wood from it. We only need enough to start a fire. As there are still branches that can be broken by hand we don't need a saw or an axe."
Snape lead the way to the Forbidden forest. The tree was an old oak with gnarled branches. The log had a huge split running down the center that almost went all the way through. A faint glow near were the roots where had Harry investigating. Using a stick he scraped away some of the bark to reveal silvery cocoons about the size of his thumb. "Professor what are these?"
Snape came over to studied them a moment. "I don't know some sort of parasite no doubt." He collected several of the cocoons into a glass jar he kept in his cloak. "I have Prof. Sprout check it out she would know more about it."
They each had collected a bundle of dead branches. Returning to the labyrinth they began to tie the herbs to the branches with string. Here again the type of string didn't matter. Snape had them walk into the center of the labyrinth carrying their baskets of wood and herbs. Snape explained that the object was to focus ones thoughts on renewal and that the method didn't matter. The labyrinth was just his way of doing that as he liked the order of it.
Exiting the labyrinth they took their baskets back to the school. Harry going to his dorm. A house elf was waiting with his lunch. Since the fire in his dorm room fireplace was to burn out naturally he had to stay there to see that an ashwinder didn't come out of the fire. Snape had taught him the spell to freeze the eggs and had given him a metal box to put the ashwinder in if it did appear.
A small ashwinder did appear from the coals of the fire. Barely a foot long Harry levitated it to the box and waited while the ashwinder laid its eggs. When the ashwinder left the fire the last of the coals went out. Harry was rather surprised at this and decided to learn a bit more about the snakes. It only took a half hour for the ashwinder to lay its eggs then crumble to ash. Four thimble sized eggs glowed pale yellow. Carefully Harry cast the freezing charm on each egg. Once that was done he cleaned out the fireplace and laid his wood and herbs ready to be lit. Then he took a long bath and changed into clean clothing.
Carrying the box with the eggs he headed down to Snape's office. "There was an ashwinder Sir. It only laid four eggs."
Snape looked at the eggs in question. "The remains of the fire that birthed the ashwinder went cold when it left the fireplace?" He asked.
"Yes," Harry replied.
"Excellent. These are some of the rarest of Ashwinder eggs and the deadliest. Magical fires usually don't go out on there own so the potential for these eggs is rare. The type of magical fire dictates the use of the eggs. These eggs will go to Madame Pomfrey's brewing lab for burn ointments." Snape said pleased.
Once the eggs where safely put away. Snape indicated several games on his desk. Since they had to stay up until dawn it was one way to keep them occupied. The house elves brought them a meal around midnight. Around 2 in the morning Harry yawned he was getting sleepy and he knew he had at least 5 hours more to go before dawn.
"You are more then welcome to sleep until its time to light the New Years fire. Children are not expected to stay up all night. Usually those your age stay up until midnight or so then sleep until an hour or so before the fire is lit. Those who are ill or with other infirmities also can sleep."
"Is coffee allowed?" Harry asked. "I'd like to try and stay up all night."
"Yes coffee is allowed. However if I deem you to tired to stay up you will nap on the cot." Snape transfigured a straight backed wooden chair into an army cot with a rough wool blanket and a lumpy pillow.
The coffee helped and Harry made it to dawn and the ritual lighting of the first fire of the year. Snape used flint and steel to start the fire explaining that traditionally magic was not used. He blew gently on the smoldering coal to get it to take. Once it had caught he added the wood and herbs until there was a sweet smelling smoke. "Now with this fire going well we will light all the other fires from it." Snape collected some metal pans with long handles. "When you get to your dorm and the chosen fire place you will lay the coals on the fire. Making sure that it has caught well. The house elves will light rest of the fires. Once it's burning on its own you will eat breakfast then go to bed. No one will expect you until after lunch."
Harry carried the pan with the coals up to his dorm. Prof. McGonagall was waiting for him. She had her own pan. Though hers was empty. She followed him into the dorm and watched him make up the fire. Once it was burning well she took a few coals from his fire for her own.
"It's good that you're learning the old traditions to many are forgetting them these days." She said. "Eat your breakfast then go to bed. I'll have a house elf bring you lunch if you miss it."
Harry slept until just after 2 in the afternoon. Since the day was clear he decided to take his broom and go flying. As he was exiting the castle Prof. Sprout came running up to him. "Good Mr. Potter just the person I want to see. Prof. Snape said you where the one to find the cocoons. I need you to show me where?"
"I was in the Forbidden forest with Prof. Snape." Harry explained.
"So he told me. However he is currently brewing a pesticide for blood moths which is what those cocoons where. I need to see how extensive that infestation is. Come spring if they hatch the forest is grave danger not to mention the green houses." Sprout said clearly flustered at the thought.
"Let me put my broom away Professor and I will be right back." Harry raced up to the dorm put his broom away then came down to show Sprout where the downed oak was. Since there where more shadows in the forest at this time of day Harry saw more things glowing with magic. Prof. Sprout quite cheerfully gave Harry the Latinate names of what he was seeing. None of it was particularly dangerous to either students or the school.
Near the tree there was a unicorn mare heavily pregnant. Sprout stopped and let Harry continue on by himself. The mare nuzzled him for a few minutes then left. "That was a rare sight I'll have to inform Hagrid about it. How close to the that downed oak are we?"
"There," Harry indicated the tree.
"Oh the Twisted oak. I used to take acorns from it to plant in my Grandfather's garden. This was long before you or Professor Snape where students here. Newt Level Herbology classes used to come out here and collect unusual seedlings and plants. When Prof. Dumbledore took over as Headmaster the entire forest became off limits. There was a rumor that the oak had been planted over the grave of Salazar Slytherin that's why it was so twisted. Now where are those blood moth cocoons you found?"
Harry showed her the spot scrapping more of the bark away to reveal the cocoons. "Yesterday morning they glowed now they don't." Harry explained.
"They use magic to stay warm enough in their cocoons at night that is what you saw." Prof. Sprout commented." Appareo cruor matris." There was a tiny flick of Prof. Sprout's wand and a gentle swirl of silver spun out. Where ever it paused for a few seconds a bunch of dots of light was revealed. As they investigated each grouping they found more cocoons. "Not as bad as I thought. However I am going to have to check the greenhouses. Would you be willing to assist me Mr. Potter early tomorrow morning when the cocoons still glow of magic?"
"If you'll teach me the spell you used." Harry said promptly. "It is a class use spell?"
"Appareo is a class use spell much like mobili and is taught in fifth year. I'll have a chat with Prof. Flitwick about you learning it." Prof. Sprout agreed.
Authors Note: Appareo cruor matris means Appear blood moth. Class Use spells are spells that have a command in front of either an object like a tree or shoes.