CHAPTER 20- Stink Sap and Centaurs
The next couple weeks of detention went pretty much by the book. They were now running twice around the lake, only having to help each other on the third lap. They had finished all of Filch's chores, which made Filch very easy to get along with.
Cassy's adoption papers came through, she was now a Longbottom and Neville had a little sister. The Twins pulled out their marauders map and showed everyone how it worked, adding another tool to their arsenal.
The special classes were not only Animagus training but they had started dueling. While they were still pretty new at it they were learning how to defend themselves with stunning spells, shield charms and minor curses. Each time they started thinking they were ready for war then Alice would catch them off guard with "Expelliarmus" taking all their wands. They would then have to duel with her to get them back.
How hard she made it for them to get their wands back depended on the size of their ego and how long before it shrank back to normal human size. Once their frustration levels rose to healthy levels she allowed them to win.
They only had a few days of detention left and today they were to take on the ugly task of harvesting Mimbulus Mimbletonia. Professor Sprout held a short class describing the harvesting technique that works best with this nasty plant. It would seem that most of them were not listening. After the first thirty minutes Filch had moved outside as each of them were covered with the green liquid and smelled of rancid manure.
After the first ten had squirted in the wrong direction Ginny had moved back and out of the way. She had reached her limit, this was just a bit over the top and she knew she would never, ever get this smell out of her hair much less her clothes. After almost three weeks of constant dirty smelly tasks she was over it and stormed out of the greenhouse letting Filch she was done with it all. He just smiled and handed her a yellow slip telling her to report to Professor McGonagall, perhaps she might have something else for her to do.
The rest of the kids were not so quick to harvest after that, waiting to see if the Professor would give Ginny a break. If she gave Ginny a break they were all going to quit. All, except Neville, he knew the value of what they were doing and how long it took poor Professor Sprout to handle this job.
Neville tried to talk to them and show them how to do it without getting squirted but they were too frustrated and too angry to listen so he and Luna started harvesting by themselves.
Ginny walked to the Professor's classroom where Minerva was sitting behind her desk working on papers. When Ginny stopped in front of her desk Minerva looked up and asked, "Yes, Ms. Weasley, how can I help you?"
Ginny stood stoic and tall then said, "Professor, we have completed without complaint a lot of nasty work but I just can't deal with that awful stink-sap stuff. I'm willing to do anything else you can assign me Professor but this one is really making me sick."
"That is fine Ms. Weasley," Minerva said. Then piling her papers to the side of her desk top, she reached in her top drawer she pulled out her ruler. She walked around to the front of the desk and said, "Ms. Weasley you will receive ten swats for just being sent to see me. After that it is up to you. I will continue with the swats until you let me know you are ready to go back to your assigned detention. Now please, lower your pants and bend over the desk.
Ginny was in shock and started to say something, but the look on the Professor's face told her it would not do a bit of good. She loosened her pants, pulled them down to her knees and bent over the desk, wishing she was back in the green house harvesting stink sap.
Ginny had no idea that Professor McGonagall could put such strength behind a ruler, it really stung. She had thought that perhaps she could "stubborn it out" and wear the professor down. If she showed her how determined she was then perhaps the professor might show her a bit of mercy. By the end of four swats Ginny was crying and had changed her mind and by the end of eight she was bawling. No sooner had the tenth swat connected with her bum had she yelled out that she would go back to detention.
"I'm so glad we could come to an agreement Ms. Weasley," the professor said as she returned the ruler to the drawer, "You may rise Ms. Weasley" she said handing her a handkerchief. "You may go to the restroom and wash your face then return to your detention." Minerva moved her papers back to the center of her desk, sat in her chair and took up right where she left off, leaving Ginny standing there in shock.
Ginny got the message and started her long walk back to the greenhouse, leaving Minerva smiling to herself. She had been expecting this for sometime and was surprised that it had taken this long. She was sure that the potential revolt had been nipped in the bud and it wouldn't happen again.
In about thirty minutes Ginny returned. Her eyes were red and she quickly asked Neville if he would show her how to harvest the monster plant. Off and on she would reach behind her and rub her bum, not thinking, just reacting. The rest of the kids didn't ask any questions, they didn't need to, they just watched Neville, and finally learned how to process the sap without wearing half of it.
Hermione looked at everyone and said, "Come on, we've made it through bats, filthy bathrooms, poop filled animal stalls, we can do this! Let's organize ourselves and put on the speed."
They all looked at her like she had horns but then they all began to understand that they could just be miserable or turn this into a challenge and have some fun. They were going to have to harvest these plants one way or another so it might as well be entertaining.
Neville divided them into teams according to their skill level and they proceeded to harvest. By the time that Filch released them for dinner they had harvested half the crop. The only problem was that Filch had been so into his book that he lost track of the time and released them right at dinner time. This meant that they had no time for showers.
Oh, they probably could have, if they told the adults why they were late and that they wanted to spare them the smell. But... why not share this lovely smell with everyone. They smiled at the plan and went right to dinner.
By the time dinner arrived on the table the eyes of the adults were watering and the kids were trying very hard not to laugh.
Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat and in his most wise but serious voice, he asked the kids, "Could you not have shown some mercy and taken showers before coming to dinner?"
Harry took the lead this time saying, "Oh Professor we really wanted to but, we remembered that you told us that we WERE REQUIRED TO attend each meal and that we WERE TO BE ON TIME. Mr. Filch released us with just enough time to get here.
Remembering what happened to Ginny today we decided that keeping strictly to the rules would probably be a very healthy and less painful solution. We are sorry for your discomfort but we have worked very hard today."
Minerva cringed at the words, but Albus, and the rest of the adults just sat there flabbergasted. Their own punishments had come back to haunt them and there wasn't anything they could do about it, Harry was right, they had followed the rules.
Severus raised his eye brow, looked at Harry and said, "How Slytherin of you!"
Harry replied, "Thank You!"
Severus then said, "I forgot I have a potion brewing and I need to take care of it, I'll catch a sandwich in my quarters later" and with that he left.
The rest of the adults tried to finish their dinner but the smell was just too awful and soon the kids had the table to themselves. The smell didn't bother them, they had lived with it all afternoon and were used to it, but even Cassy left them holding her nose and telling them that they "stunk".
The kids enjoyed a wonderful dinner with no grow-up questions coming their way. Albus cornered Filch and instructed him that in the future when they smelled that bad he was to release them early enough to take showers before dinner.
The next day Filch made it a point to release them early so that they could shower. This allowed the adults to enjoy their dinner and the students to enjoy their small victory.
Hermione once again informed Minerva that they had finished the task and would need a new one in the morning. Minerva just looked at her thinking that there was no way that they could have harvested all those plants that fast.
She then gave Professor Sprout a look and Pomona understood the look to mean, "check it out". Pomona was shocked also that they said they had finished. It should have, by her reckoning, taken another full day. She had been out of town and just returned so she was not aware of the condition of the product but she sure would check tonight. If they ruined this product because they were not happy with the task she would find a worse one for them like trimming the man-eating snuggle plant.
Pomona floo-called Minerva and told her, "The product is all there Minerva and it looks very good. I don't know how they did it so fast, but they did it."
Minerva answered, "They have to be using magic somehow."
"They can't use magic on this plant Minerva or it will just pucker up and die. Neville knew that and would never have let them use wands on the plants."
"Well, I don't know what they did but I am glad that their detention is almost over, I am running out of productive things for them to do. I am going to have to revert to busy work soon and I hate to do that to them."
"I know what you mean," replied Pomona. "I have other plants that need tending but the kids are much too young to handle them yet, wish I could help. Have a good night!"
The next morning the kids checked the bulletin board to see what nasty duty the Professor had thought up for them to do that afternoon. They were surprised when there was a note attached to the duty list from Professor Sprout thanking them for a wonderful job. The duty list told them they would be spending the afternoon with Hagrid and Professor Lupin in the forbidden forest. That sounded interesting and at least they would be outside.
Hermione thought then snapped her fingers saying, "I remember, they said that Hagrid had to go around to all the bushes and collect up Unicorn hair as it had healing qualities and he uses it to tie bandages on his critters."
But first they had physical training and today Professor Longbottom had promised a new twist to their program. She walked with them around the lake first to show them what had been added. Every couple hundred yards or so was task stop. They were told that they would do their stretches then run around the lake stopping at each stop to do the task that was described on the sign.
One stop had bars where they had to do so many chin ups, then continue on to the next task. The next one was a rope that you had to use to swing across a mud pit. If you missed you were not allowed to use magic to clean up until the end when you were about to go to breakfast.
There was a stop watch punch at the beginning of the obstacle course that they had to punch and one at the end they had to punch. The object was to continually decrease the time it took them to complete the course.
They had to run the course twice for this first week, followed by a free run of one lap around the lake at the end. While it looked like a nice change of pace and perhaps fun, by the time they finished, some carrying two pounds of mud on them, it was not so wonderful.
That morning at breakfast the adults found a group of grumpy kids although no one would say why and Alice was just smiling. She had them again today for dueling and would let them know then that she felt they were doing a fine job, but right now they wanted to be grumpy so she let them.
That afternoon they were happy about Professor Longbottom's compliments but a bit more excited that they were headed toward Hagrid's cabin. On the way they met up with Professors Lupin and Longbottom, and of course Cassy. Lupin was going with them into the forest and Alice had promised Cassy she could show off her new, kids broom to Hagrid.
When Cassy saw Harry she came riding over yelling at the top of her lungs, LOOK, HARRY, LOOK HARRY, MAMA GOT ME A BROOM AND IT REALLY FLYS. With that she just about ran into Harry but he turned in time grabbing her and the broom bringing both to a quick halt.
"Hold up Special One, you need to find the brakes on this thing" said Harry.
"Oh Yeh" said Cassy, "I keep forgetting. Will you go flying with me Harry, will you, will you?"
"I can't this week Cassy but perhaps I can go with you next week, OK?"
"OK," she said, "Mom said you were grounded. What's grounded Harry?"
"That's when you're in trouble and your mom won't let you go anywhere or play with certain toys."
"Oh," she said, then thinking she said, "I sure hope I don't get that ground thing, then I couldn't fly, is it catching Harry like being sick?."
"No, laughed Harry, it's not catching but I have a hunch you will earn enough of them all on your own."
When they got to Hagrid's he showed them the hairs they were looking for and gave them a bag to collect with. Hagrid took Ron, Fred, Neville, Draco and Luna with him. Lupin gathered up Hermione, Harry, George, Percy and Ginny and went in the other direction.
They all had instructions to never go so far that you couldn't see Lupin or Hagrid. If you lost sight of them you were to stop and yell until they came to find you. If they saw anything unusual or anything that seemed dangerous they were to yell also.
They were not to walk together as this was a work assignment and not a stroll in the woods.
They had been searching and picking hairs for about two hours when Harry heard a small voice yelling, "help me, help me". It sounded so desperate that Harry didn't even think he just ran in the direction of the voice to see if he could help.
It didn't sound like any of the kids but you never can tell. When someone gets scared they tend to sound different. He finally found the voice. It belonged to a very young male Centaur. He had his hoof caught in the "V" of tree roots and couldn't get it loose. He had a look of fear on his face that was caused by more than having one's hoof caught. When Harry looked around he saw about four pretty good size spiders slowly coming toward the Centaur.
Harry raced over to the Centaur and started working on getting the hoof free and yelled for help right along with him. Harry finally remembered a cutting hex he was taught in class and used it on the branch. It worked, setting the hoof free but it must have been damaged because the young Centaur was limping. That meant they couldn't run so they both continued to yell and Harry turned to battle the spiders.
He was throwing everything he knew at them but nothing wasn't making much of a difference. Then all of a sudden arrows started flying toward the spiders, killing one and sending the rest running. Soon the two youngsters were surrounded by adult Centaurs, all looking a bit upset.
"Osito, what have I told you about going off by yourself?" asked one of the adult Centaurs. Harry figured he was speaking to the young one since he hung his head and answered quietly, "You told us to stay close and not to go off by ourselves."
"You are correct, and when I get you home, you and I will have some time together that you will not enjoy!"
"Yes, Father" the young Centaur answered.
About that time there was a rustling in the branches and Lupin showed up, looking un-happy but relieved. "Harry, where have you been, I've been looking all over for you. I heard a couple yells for help but when I went to where you were supposed to be you were gone. You scared me half to death."
"Greetings Human, my name is Bane and it would seem that we both have the same problem with our young. I was just trying to find out what happened when you arrived. Now, Osito, who is this human that is fighting for you?"
"I'm Harry Sir, Harry Potter. His hoof was caught in a tree root and he couldn't get it out. I heard him yelling for help so I came over to see what I could do. When we finally cut the root to free him then spiders were coming at us. His hoof is hurt so we couldn't run so we just fought as best we could and yelled for help, and that's when you arrived."
"I usually hold all humans with distain but Mr. Harry Potter I am in you're debt for helping my son. If you ever need my help just send a message through Hagrid and we will be there for you!"
Osito turned to Harry and said, "Thanks Harry, I was really scared until you showed up. I know you didn't have to so thanks for being there. Dad, can Harry and I visit again some time?"
Bane looked at his son then at Harry and said, "Yes, but only if there is adult supervision. Hagrid can let me know, or I will let Hagrid know when a visit is opportune and we will work out something. But for the next moon or so you will be restricted to home, going no place." And with that said he assisted his son in walking and the herd all turned and left the area.
By that time Hagrid and all the kids had caught up with them and were watching. "You have really made a friend Harry" said Hagrid. "Bane is the Chief of the herd and Professor Dumbledore has been trying to talk with him about an alliance for a year now with no success. Maybe now things will get better."
"As for right now" said Lupin, "I think we have enough hairs collected for this trip and we need to get out of the forest and back to the castle."
"I wonder how old he is" asked Harry.
"From the looks of it he is probably about the same as you Harry, only in Centaur age. He is pretty young. I'm sure though that he won't be going on any trips out of their encampment again real soon, Bane really looked scared, like any parent would if they thought their young was in trouble" said Hagrid.
Pretty soon everyone noticed that Ron was off by himself and very quiet. "What's wrong Ron," asked Lupin.
"I only have one really, really, really big fear and that's spiders. Did you see how big they were? I don't know what I would do if I had to face them but I guess I had better hit the library and find out."
Lupin looked at Ron, then put his arm around his shoulders. He knew the boy was taking this responsibility of protecting Harry very seriously and he thought that spiders might be one of the things he would have to protect him from. "Why don't you come talk to me tonight, I think I have some information that might help you out then you won't have to spend hours in the library."
Ron smiled then said, "Thanks, that's great."
They were all in the common room waiting for dinner time to roll around when an owl appeared at the window. Neville opened the window and it flew over to Harry. The message read; Harry, see me in my office tonight at seven o'clock. Professor Dumbledore
"I guess I know what this meeting will be all about," said Harry. "I hope that he is happy about Bane's new attitude".