Chapter Sixteen Spiky Prickly Plant
“All students, please gather in the Great Hall immediately. All students, please gather in the Great Hall immediately.”
Professor McGonagall’s voice echoed through the castle magically magnified. Poppy set down her wand, Sirius closed his book, Lily looked up from her paper, quill held in her hand, and James’s house of cards exploded.
“What do you think happened?” Remus asked.
They had all huddled up in the common room when the world had turned into a blur of grey and mist as the rain continued to pour relentlessly downward. The rhythmic patter and fogged up windows covered in droplets that each left a glistening trail as they raced down the glass. Contrasted with the soft glow of the flickering fire and laugher that filled the common room full of people gathered on cushions or cuddled under blankets, their quite chatter mingled with the sound of the crackling fire and occasional claps of thunder and flashes of lightning had brought on a that feeling of excited anticipation that only a storm could bring and now the teachers were calling them to gather after a meeting that had lasted most of the day. Were they about to find out what it had all been about? The air was filled with nervous excitement as people made their guesses.
“What if they found the Chamber of Secrets?” someone whispered.
“You don’t think it’s more dementors, do you?” Sophie Bell asked Penelope Kingsley.
“Everyone follow me!” Molly Prewett said, running down the staircase of the girls’ dormitory. “Single file, please, first-years in front!” she called. “Arthur, make sure no one’s left in the common room before you leave and check the boys’ dormitory,” she instructed. “This way!”
They all followed her out of the portrait hole, their footfalls echoing on the stone steps like a small army. They had not walked all together in such a large group since their arrival and there was a finality to it that scared Poppy a little. They arrived after the Ravenclaws and took their usual seats around the long table. The door swung open and Poppy looked back and saw Alfie, Gideon, and Oliver hurry inside, Arthur Weasley following behind them. The Hufflepuffs came in next and then finally the Slytherins, looking disgruntled and annoyed; they slumped in their chairs, the prefects not bothering to keep them in line.
“Now that we’re all gathered,” Dumbledore said from the raised podium. “I would like to take the opportunity to inform you all of some updated rules we have agreed on as a staff for updated security given recent events. No student is permitted to wander the corridors alone. Each student must be accompanied by at least one fellow student or teacher at all times. No student is permitted to open any windows or lock dormitory doors. We warn you that from this day forward all mail entering and exiting the castle will be searched and reviewed by a member of staff. Violation of any of these rules will result in harsh punishment and possible expulsion. We therefore ask that you all be vigilant in following them and encourage your fellow students to do likewise. We thank you for your cooperation and can only hope that soon the additional rules will no longer be necessary.”
He sat down and the room filled with the hum of whispers as students discussed the new restrictions. The tables filled with steaming soup and fresh baked rolls and Poppy took the ladle and poured some in her bowl.
“Did you notice?” James said, looking at the staff table.
“Notice what?” Lily asked, looking scared as she held a warm roll in her hands.
“He said ‘recent events.’ We know about the dementors but that was weeks ago. What else do you think happened?”
Lily paced the hallway, once, twice, three times, carefully watching to make sure no one spotted her in the corridor alone. It was getting harder to escape her friends. She had bolted in the chaos of the Great Hall, but they would come after her as soon as they realized she was gone. Only they wouldn’t be able to find her, and Lily knew she would be in for another lecture when she got back to the common room. The oak door materialized and Lily pushed it open and closed it behind her. Safely inside, the door vanished, leaving only a smooth wall in its place so no one else could get in.
“I meant after you ate!” Regulus laughed, closing the book he had been reading, The Many Layered Mind, and hopping off a wooden countertop. He had asked her to meet him after dinner.
“You didn’t eat,” she pointed out.
“Do you really want to look like me?” he asked, then looked over and a smooth round table with a single chair and a steaming plate of food appeared in the center of the room. Lily looked at it and the table stretched and another chair appeared along with an identical plate of food. Regulus needed to eat too. He smiled and sat down. Lily took the seat beside him as he took a bite of a turkey leg.
“I thought you didn’t like dead birds?” she said, remembering what he had said a few weeks ago at Slughorn’s party.
Regulus coughed and gagged and a silk napkin appeared at his fingertips. He lifted it to his mouth and spat the remaining turkey into it.
“Don’t remind me,” he said looking nauseated and taking a sip of iced pumpkin juice that appeared at his will. That was the magic of the room. Regulus had explained it to her. It was called the “come and go” room and it could be summoned by walking past the wall three times and wishing for it. Once you were inside it would give you whatever you wished for. Within reason. Lily had tried to wish for one of those mermaid language books to no avail. It seemed like most of the items were summoned from a different part of the castle or brought into temporary existence.
“Remind you of what?” Lily asked.
“Trust me; you don’t want to know,” Regulus said, avoiding his turkey and picking up a roll.
Lily smiled and bit into the crispy golden brown skin of her own roasted turkey leg, expertly seasoned with the perfect blend of herbs and spices by sweet house-elves who knew exactly what they were doing. She chewed, savoring the flavor. He was probably right. She didn’t want this ruined.
It was weird; Regulus had told her he didn’t care about her, that he would let her die—no, that he would kill her if he couldn’t figure out how to save her—but somehow he was the person she felt the most safe with. With everyone else she was always pushing back a panic, wondering if they were in her head secretly reading her thoughts. She didn’t have that fear with Regulus. She knew when he was in her head and somehow him telling her not to trust him had made her feel like he was the only one she could trust.
“You okay?” Regulus asked.
“Yeah,” Lily said.
He watched her, waiting for her to elaborate.
“Actually, I have a question,” Lily said, setting her glass back on the table. “Remember when you said that other students are in my head?”
He bit his lip. “Yeah.”
“Is there a way to know how to tell who?”
“Yes, but it’s kinda complicated. I’ll teach you some of that today but who are you worried about?” he asked.
Lily shrugged. “Anyone really. Like are my friends…?’
Regulus laughed. “No,” he said smiling and taking a drink then setting down his glass. “Well, actually, I don’t know all your friends. But if you're thinking like my brother, James Potter and that Abbington girl. I can guarantee they're not in your heads. Probably not that other kid either, but I have seen him going to see Dumbledore a lot so it’s possible but I doubt it.
“See, legilimency is pretty complicated and strictly regulated. It’s hard to enter someone’s mind without them noticing. You normally have to make eye contact or get them to feel a powerful emotion so it’s hard not to incriminate yourself and then it’s illegal to do it without their consent. You could end up in serious trouble with the ministry of magic. Besides all that, it’s super frowned upon. No one likes the idea of someone looking through their mind. Makes people uncomfortable. My mother is not a coddler.” He laughed. “She used to make us lick Bubotuber pus when she caught us lying, but when she found out my aunt was using legilimency on her kids to make sure they were telling the truth, she was horrified. Normal people don’t use it. Just creeps like Dumbledore.”
“And you,” Lily added.
“And my aunt, but no one knows the recipe for her chicken and broccoli casserole and it wouldn’t be a family dinner without it so we choose to let it slide.” He laughed taking a bite of his salad. He looked thoughtful as he chewed then swallowed. “And it is more common in Slytherin. Slughorn never uses it, but it is more common. Still, we know it’s wrong. Not like Dumbledore; he doesn’t even try to hide it. He’ll just say something to your face that he took from inside your head and act like it’s no big deal and people just let him get away with it because they're crazy and can’t see how creepy it is.”
“So is he the one you're trying to block?” Lily asked. That was their arrangement. That was why he needed her help. He needed to hide something from someone and wanted to teach her legilimency so he could practice and make sure he could do it properly, and in the process he had promised to teach her how to block people out herself. Though he hadn’t told her what he was trying to hide or from whom.
Regulus shook his head. “No. I wish it was just him,” he said, taking another bite.
Lily nodded. That made her feel better somehow. She liked Dumbledore and didn’t want to be helping Regulus hurt him in some way.
“Well, the Slytherins all avoid me,” Lily said.
“So you're good,” Regulus smiled.
“Well, not all of them. I have one friend, the one who helps me in Potions, but I don’t think Severus would use legilimency,” she laughed.
The blood drained from Regulus’s face. His fork froze on the way to his mouth and he looked at her, white faced and horrified.
“Snape? He’s the one who helps you in Potions?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Lily said, feeling uncomfortable.
Regulus’s eyes went wide. “Trust me,” he whispered. “He is not your friend. Stay away from Severus Snape.”
Alright!” James cheered, giving Lily a high five as she landed on the grass. She grinned back at him, unable to hide how pleased she was, her hair pulled back in a high ponytail. It was good to see her happy. They were all worried about Lily. Since Dumbledore's announcement about the change in rules she had been acting odd. She was easily frightened and spoke up less. What was worse was she refused to follow the rules Dumbledore had put in place. Without warning she would vanish in a corridor or disappear into a crowd then not come back for hours. She wouldn't tell them where she went and it was terrifying. They would split up in pairs to search for her every time, fearing that she had been taken by Slytherin’s monster but too afraid to tell a teacher in case she was expelled. But lately Lily seemed much more like her old self. It was good to see her happy again.
This was her first time playing Quidditch. She had played Keeper and had even managed to block a few goals. It helped that Teddy and Gregory, the two Ravenclaws who regularly played Chasers, both had the flu and their replacements were subpar. Still, James was very proud of Lily’s progress. She was the only beginner flier who had progressed enough in the class to be allowed to move up and play Quidditch with the more experienced flyers. Professor Flitwick was amazed by her fast progress, especially considering her disastrous first attempt.
Sirius and Remus landed on either side of Lily. “I can’t wait to play on a real team,” Sirius grumbled, looking resentfully at Oliver; nervous and uncoordinated he had dropped the Quaffle everytime Sirius had passed it to him.
“Maybe next year,” Remus said sympathetically, patting Sirius on the back and looking amused.
They returned their brooms to the shed and started walking to the greenhouses for Herbology. James’s mind went to the house-elves as he trudged through the thick grass that remained stubbornly green despite the white coating of frost that covered it. He pulled out the rumpled parchment his father had given him. The parchment paper seemed to be magically durable which was lucky because James brought it with him everywhere so any ordinary paper would have been ruined by now. The parchment had changed since he had tickled the pear and found the kitchens. The riddle was gone and in its place were tiny illustrations of each of the house-elves with their names written below, identical to the pictures and boards that hung on the wall of the kitchens. The pictures had been black and white at first but turned colored as each house elf was helped. Most of them were colored now. As it turned out, many house-elves did want to breathe fire, or sample Honeydukes chocolate, or even tell the future, and the plants had been a big hit. They had been delighted by their gifts and James had been delighted to watch his parchment turn colored as each house elf accepted the gifts.
There were also special requests. James smiled, remembering how he had bought a pet mouse for Curry. Keeping a mouse in a kitchen was probably against some kind of health code, but James could not find it in himself to tell Curry no. Not after James had noticed that Curry's picture remained dark on the parchment even after he had accepted some Jelly Slugs and one of Poppy's plants. James had cornered him while he was stirring the soup for lunch and asked if there was anything else that he wanted. The elf had looked up at him with watery eyes and confessed that he missed the mice that lived in his old master’s mansion. James had learned that before coming to Hogwarts Curry had worked for a cruel master who never spoke to him and his only friends had been the tiny mice in the shed that he used to bring scraps of food. His master had died without leaving a will and the Ministry had sent Curry to Hogwarts. Curry explained that though he loved working at the school—his life had improved much since leaving the cruel man’s mansion—he missed his mice and wished he could have something to care for again. James had gone to a store in Hogsmeade and selected the cleanest-looking mouse he could find at The Charmed Critters Corner. The joy in Curry’s eyes when James had presented the tiny rodent to him had erased all of James’s previous worries about health hazards.
Then there had been Beans, the enthusiastic house elf who had always wanted to ride a broomstick. That one had been more complicated, as house-elves weren’t able to leave the castle, so they’d had to sneak a broomstick to the kitchens. Sirius had not been willing to risk his Comet being spotted and confiscated just for a house elf to have a joy ride so Remus had suggested they borrow one from one of the older Gryffindors. Not wanting to explain what they needed the broom for, they had skipped Defense Against the Dark Arts and grabbed the first one they had found in the fourth year dormitories. Soot had lost his mind when he walked into the kitchen and found Beans zooming around the high ceiling. He had forced James, Remus, and Sirius out and swore to report them to Professor Dumbledore if he ever spotted a flying broomstick in his kitchen again. Most unluckily, Fabian had spotted them carrying the broom back to the common room, and as it turned out it had belonged to him. He had only laughed when they told him about the house-elves but had suggested that next time they borrow Weasley’s, as his was an older model so if they could break it enough that it actually needed to be replaced it would do the whole team some good.
James had gone to the kitchen nearly everyday since discovering it. Still. He sighed and looked at the still colorless pictures: Bash, Rue, Ginger, Socks, Nutty, and Soot. It wasn’t just that he wanted the next clue. It bothered him that the house-elves didn’t trust him with their wish. That there was something that they wanted that they knew he could help them with but they weren’t comfortable telling him what it was. He thought of little Rue, the elf he had talked to. She never said much but had made him a new pair of mittens after he had walked in wearing his old ones and she had noticed a small rip near his pinky. How she tried to hide her smile each time she saw him wearing the ones she had made. Or Bash, who looked ancient, covered in so many wrinkles you could barely see his eyes, but still never stopped working, not even to chat. Even Soot, who always sighed and complained when he saw James come in but also always had a snack waiting for him and a list of tasks for him to do. James felt like he should have proven himself by now. He wanted to help them but he just didn’t know how.
James followed his friends into Greenhouse Two. As they stepped through the threshold of the wooden door, a wave of comforting warmth enveloped them, thawing the chill from the crisp and biting air with a humid warmth and the smell of wet dirt and verdant foliage. The comfort of the greenhouse made the cold walk almost worth it but Professor Sprout was not waiting for them inside. They had Herbology with the Hufflepuffs who also were gathered in a cluster looking confused.
“Is she sick?” Davey Gudgeon asked, hopefully earning him a glare from Hufflepuff student Bridget Miller.
James honestly couldn’t blame him. He liked Professor Sprout. She was one of his favorite teachers, a super nice plump woman, who was always kind, but her can-do attitude and willingness to get her hands dirty went a little far ine his opinion. She wasn’t afraid to let them handle sometimes very hazardous plants as long as they wore their protective gear. He usually enjoyed Herbology but the last few weeks they had each been growing a spiky, prickly plant. They were horrible little bushes that had been cute until they grew great yellow thorns that they shot at anyone who tried to approach them with the watering can. James still had not forgotten the stabbing pain in his hand from when he’d neglected to wear his dragonhide gloves. James still was not sure why they were growing them as they were just a dangerous weed and served no real purpose he knew of. He tentatively lifted the corner of the protective tarp, afraid to see how big they had grown, but the spiky plants weren’t there. Just fresh dirt.
“They're gone,” he said, lifting the tarp further so everyone could see. Sofia Bell screamed and the entire class jumped back fearfully, then looked confused when no yellow thorns came shooting out.
Moments later the door swung open and Professor Sprout walked in, smiling widely as she pulled off her gloves and dusted her hands on her muddied skirts.
“We’re in Greenhouse Six today, chaps,” she said.
They all looked back at her, stunned. They had never used Greenhouse Six but knew it was normally used by the sixth and seventh years and had a lot of dangerous plants. Only yesterday Arthur Weasley had come into the common room cursing and nursing a wound from a venomous tentacula.
“What are we going to be doing?” Tommy asked nervously.
Professor Sprout's smile widened. “What you have been asking to do for weeks,” she said.
The class only looked more confused. “What’s that?” Davey asked.
“Well, I know some of you have been confused why we have been growing the spiky, prickly plant.” Professor Sprout said. Her eyes lingered on Sirius who had complained loudly about the assignment and begged to be allowed to burn the horrible bushes every lesson. Sirius didn’t even look embarrassed being called out, he just bobbed his head up and down, confirming that he still thought it was a misguided decision. Professor Sprout only looked amused.
“Though they don’t have many magical uses they are fairly common in wizarding gardens, so it is important for you to understand how to recognize and avoid them,” she explained then lifted the bucket of protective gear and handed it to Anna who grabbed some goggles and dragonhide gloves then passed the bucket on to Daphne. “So today we will finish with the spiky prickly plant. I have hidden your bushes in strategic locations in Greenhouse Six. Your job will be to locate the plants and either avoid or destroy them to make it safely to the other side,” she instructed.
“We get to burn the bushes?” James confirmed hopefully.
Professor Sprout laughed. “Each and every one.”
“Brilliant!” he cheered.
Sirius shook his head grimly as he snapped on his dragonhide gloves as if headed to war. “Finally,” he muttered.
James grabbed his own gloves and goggles and followed Professor Sprout to Greenhouse Six. She held the door open for them. “If you make it though before class ends you are free to leave.”
James stepped inside and couldn’t help staring. It was like stepping into another world, a vibrant oasis hidden away from the harshness of the outside chill. Sunlight filtered through the glass ceiling, casting a soft glow upon the lush greenery that thrived within. Where Greenhouse Two had only small potted plants, Greenhouse Six was full of everything. There were Aquafleurs in the stream that ran down the length of the room, purifying flowers with deep blue lily-like petals, mingled with pink and purple Floating Coralline—James even spotted a Siren’s Veil with emerald green leaves and flowing tendrils that looked like the hair of a mermaid. A bunch of trees stretched towards the ceiling and an assortment of brightly colored plants scattered everywhere among them. James noticed several prickly plants, their sharp yellow spikes even larger than they were last class.
“Alright,” James said, turning around to face his classmates who all looked a little nervous as the door swung closed. “Who’s confident making fire?” he asked. Flickwick had only taught them the fire-making charm yesterday and he knew not everyone had mastered it. He knew Poppy hadn’t. A few people tentatively raised their hands. “Okay,” James said, trying to remember how everyone had done in class. He had not really been paying attention. “Why don’t we form a line? Me and Sirius can go first,” he said, patting his friend on the back and volunteering him. He wanted to put Lupin and Lily next—he didn’t trust Alfie’s confidently raised hand and pompous expression—but that would single Poppy out and he didn’t want to do that. He scanned the raised hands and decided he trusted Sofia Bell most of the group.
“Maybe Bell and Lupin next?” he suggested. Sofia Bell blushed scarlet and Remus nodded, pulling out his wand. “Then everybody else if you're confident in the spell comes up to the front and if you're not you can go last. Sound good?”
Everyone nodded, falling into line.
“Ready?” Sirius said, holding out his wand and looking eager.
“Of course,” James grinned, pulling out his own wand. They walked forward to where two plants were visible ahead. James pointed his wand towards a spiky prickly plant beside a cluster of Bouncing Bulbs and Sirius pointed his wand at one partly hidden behind some Dittany leaves.
“Incendio!” they both shouted at once.
Spikes shot out from the plants as they burst into flames, landing in the greenery and triggering other unseen plants to shoot so thorns came at them from all angles. James’s hands shot up instinctively to guard his face and he felt the thorns sink into his dragonhide gloves. A few punctured through his robes. The boys ran back to the front of the greenhouse.
“Okay,” James laughed, removing his goggles and looking at the class. “New plan,” he said. The class stared back at him, looking frightened and ready to hear it, but James didn’t have one. Sirius cursed as he pulled off his dragonhide gloves and began removing the yellow thorns from his robes. James looked back at the door of the greenhouse. They had to get across but he didn’t want to go back out there. They needed a way to trigger the plants without anyone getting hurt. “Any ideas?” he asked.
Lily Evans grabbed a pot containing a purple Bouncing Bulb and swung it back, then chucked it as far as she could so it smashed on the ground. Once the pot smashed the purple bulb shot out and started bouncing through the greenhouse. Sure enough the movement activated the spiky bushes and the thorns shot out all around it.
“Brilliant!” James cheered, then looked back at the shattered pot on the ground. “Are we supposed to damage the other plants?” he asked.
Lily shrugged, grinning.
“Better than us,” Alfie said, nodding approvingly.
“We should probably do a few more before we try to cross,” Sophie said tentatively. The class all muttered in agreement and everyone began smashing pots until the greenhouse was full of Bouncing Bulbs. Sirius, who had his thorn-covered robe slung over his arm, came behind James
“We should probably still burn the plants. Who knows how quickly the thorns grow back,” he said bitterly. James nodded, removing his own prickly robe and pulling out his wand. He wouldn’t say it wasn’t satisfying to make the now defenseless plants burn. He would not miss them and the stinging cuts down his arms and legs kept him from feeling any remorse.
“Wait!” someone screamed as he pointed his wand at another plant. James looked back and saw Lily running towards him. “There's something over there,” she said, placing her hand on his arm.
James looked closer and saw a slither. “I think it’s just a snake,” he said, raising his wand again.
“Don’t,” Lily said, giving him a reproving look. She started heading towards the plant and bent down.
“Careful; it could be poisonous,” James warned, following behind her cautiously. He hated snakes.
“What’s up?” Sirius asked, walking over.
“Hush,” Lily said.
“She’s looking for a snake,” James explained in a whisper.
“Ahh,” Sirius said then made an inhuman hissing noise and the little black and red spotted snake slithered out of the bushes.
James just stared mouth open at Sirius while Lily cooed at the tiny reptile like it was a baby rabbit. “You're a Parselmouth?” he said in disbelief. A Parselmouth was a wizard who could talk to snakes. It was a very rare ability that was highly associated with dark magic. James knew there were horrible spells that could only be cast in Parseltongue; many of the most powerful dark wizards were Parselmouths: Salazar Slytherin for one, as well as Voldemort. James could remember hearing his father warn his friends when Voldemort was first becoming powerful and a lot of people weren’t sure what to make of him. “I would be slow to trust any wizard who talks to snakes.” That warning had stuck in James’s mind. His father had been right about Lord Voldemort and James had assumed he was right about the rest. Now to find out that his best friend was a Parselmouth.
Sirius laughed at the stunned look on James’s face. “Nah, my cousin Cissy just got one of those special dialect books last Christmas. She spent weeks carrying it around trying to teach everyone Parseltongue but—” He made the hissing noise again and the snake scuttered right up to his shoe and he picked it up. “—is all I can remember. It means “come,’” Sirius explained.
James felt relieved. He knew being a Parselmouth didn’t make you evil. Still he was grateful Sirius was not one.
“I remember those books!” Lily said. “At Flourish and Blotts! I spent about an hour looking through the mermaid one. I would have bought it if it wasn’t ten galleons!”
“Yeah, they're crazy expensive,” Sirius said, switching the wriggling snake to his other hand.
“Can I have a turn?” Lily asked, holding out her hands
“Yeah,” Sirius said and passed the snake to her. James watched it move through her fingers; it made him uneasy. The way that it wriggled was so unnatural. Though it was just little it still seemed dangerous, so fast as it twisted around her hand, its scaly body so strong. He had never understood people who liked snakes. They were gross and scary, something you ran from not something you touched on purpose.
“Want a turn?” Lily asked.
“I’m good,” he said, watching its serpentine tongue slither near her fingers. James shuddered.
Lily laughed, lifting the snake to her eye level and talking to it. “Don’t worry; you're beautiful. James is just scared,” she said.
“I’m not scared!” James insisted.
Lily raised her eyebrows like she didn’t believe him.
“Fine, I'll hold it,” James said, but he couldn’t help cringing as he lifted the wriggling body out of her hand. The snake began to twist around his arm and started to slither towards his sleeve. James could think of nothing more awful than that scaly body crawling down his arm. Reflectively he jumped back and shook it off so it slapped to the ground.
“James!” Lily shouted angrily as it slithered away. Sirius, however, was bent over laughing. James didn’t even care; he was just grateful to no longer be touching the horrible creature.
They moved through the greenhouse burning the rest of the spiky bushes. Professor Sprout was not angry they had broken the plant pots. No, she said it was an excellent application of their knowledge and gave them full marks. James dropped his protective goggles and dragonshide gloves into the bucket, feeling very ready for the nice long and boring lecture they could always count on from Professor Bins.