Chapter 16. Herbology

Once it was curfew, we wrapped up our studying and went to sleep for the next day of classes. “Lucas! Breakfast time!!” I awoke to Val yelling at me, and nudging me to get up so he could eat. I sighed and sat up as Val coiled up my arm. I did my morning routine, enjoying the fact that each room had their own personal bathrooms to shower in, ‘A part of me was worried I may have to use communal bathing.’

After getting dressed, and checking the schedule along with my map, I left my room. Sitting down in my seat in the great hall, food appeared before my eyes. I dug in before noticing Pansy take the seat beside me. “Good Morning.” “Morning.” We both gave short greetings, and ate our food in mostly silence. Until Draco came to eat next to us. “I heard we have Herbology today.” He started talking while watching my expression, wanting to see how I would react.

I nodded, knowing that we had that too, and placed down my fork before talking. “Indeed. An interesting field of study. Very useful for potion making.” Pansy added on to my small explanation. “I have already done some reading on magical plants. A small hobby of mine.” That part caught my attention. I never imagined that Pansy would have an interest in something similar to mine. ‘I did notice she understood plant ingredients for potions much easier than my understanding of creature ingredients.’ A smile grew on my face without my knowledge as Draco and Pansy talked about what the class might entail.

Making it to the herbology class, all the Slytherin students sat on one end while the Gryffindor sat on the other side. Unfortunately for me, I took the spot between the classes with Pansy on one side of me, and the untamable brown haired girl on the other side of me. The only reason for this was trying to find gardening gloves and an apron took me longer than I anticipated. The only open spots for Pansy and I just happened to be near Hermione. She frowned at my arrival, but didn’t say a word to take away from the class which was starting.

An older lady that told us to get our own apparel was now waving her wand at the front of the class moving potted plants onto each of our tables as she spoke. “Now! Welcome to Herbology! My name is Professor Sprout!” We all said our welcomes to her as the plants landed on our tables. One look at the plants we would be learning about made my stomach turn. It had healthy green leaves near the soil, however the plant itself protruded up revealing its hideous form. The rest of the plant was brown, and covered in yellowish boils akin to acne.

Pansy let out a small chuckle while retightening her dragon leather gloves. “Too much for you?” She asked snarkily, causing Hermione to snap her head angrily at us, thinking we were talking about her. However her rage was soon quelled when she saw my slightly queasy expression. I coughed and shook my head with a frown. “Of course not. I’m just unsure of what we need to do with these.”

It was then that Sprout yelled what we were doing, and made my stomach twist in disgust. “Today, we will be collecting the pus from these Bubotubers.” I sighed while biting my lower lip, all while Pansy kept holding her stomach, snickering at my reactions. “I’m sorry. The what?” One of the students asked with his hand raised, his face unsure of whether he heard correctly. “Pus! Mr. Finnigan! Pus! It’s extremely valuable so don’t waste it! Does very well in stopping even the worst acne when used properly!” Sprout yelled while pointing at the plant, showcasing the correct way to extract the pus.

It was then, I had the connection of one of the ingredients of the potions my mother gave me to drink before entering school. As well as a few vials inside my trunk. I felt a chill of revulsion of what I had drank, but felt a sense of necessary evil considering my clear skin since then. We all then took glass vials as we began to follow the instructions. I looked over at Pansy seeing her hands quickly moving from boil to boil, collecting everything needed on the plant. I then looked over at Hermione moving a little slower, however her determined look proved she would complete it just the same. I let out a sigh, before moving the vial underneath one of the top boils on the plant.

I try to forget the images I saw next. Growing up in a good home, I didn’t know how blessed I was for not having to deal with something so repulsing until now. After we were done, we were told to remove our aprons and gloves before washing our hands. I washed mine extra thoroughly, as did Malfoy. We both glanced at each other, instantly understanding each other's plight with a nod.

Since I took the longest washing my hands, the sinks were left unattended for a bit, allowing Val to get a quick drink of water. “This water tastes good!” I nodded with a small smile as I turned off the tap. Feeling much better, my mood was then soured from the vial that I had to keep for my own personal use. Mrs. Sprout told us that we would keep these, even if we didn’t want to, because apparently people that got rid of them always came back after others had much clearer skin, and she didn’t like to waste resources and time. I had to agree with her thoughts, but it still made me ill.

As Hermione walked to her next class, she grinned thinking of Lucas's queasy expression from earlier. In fact, his clear disgust was what helped her work harder and move faster than him. In doing that, she noticed when he glanced over at her, she saw his expression darken in inferiority. Just as she wanted. ‘You think that you are above everyone because you are a ‘pureblood’, well I’ll show you that I am better than you starting here.’ Hermione nodded ever so slightly as she made a declaration to herself she would hold true to.

After shaking off a small shiver I continued to talk to Pansy about potion making together after we got some ingredients from professor Snape while on our way to our next class. “Have you made potions before?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. I shook my head at her. “No, but my father spends hours of his free time making and testing potions. I have a good understanding on how to mix ingredients.” ‘As well as the only magical beast books father left behind after his culling were ones that talked about parts of them being used as ingredients.’

Pansy nodded in thought, before finally agreeing. “Very well. However, we'll use your ingredients first.” She smiled at me coyly, making me scoff. “Of course, also in my room so-” I then had a thought, a memory of something. ‘No, It’s not tonight. I have one more day.’ I noticed Pansy looking at me, waiting for me to continue, and explain myself. I shook my head to erase my unnecessary thoughts. “Sorry, I just remembered that I have something tomorrow. I can help you with studies tonight, however tomorrow I’ll be busy.”

Pansy squinted at me while humming. “Please explain further.” I squinted my eyes in thought, my father and mother both told me to never talk about my magical problems. I knew I was clear from Dumbledore since they told him, the headmaster. However, if I told Pansy, then I would also get thrown out of school. “It’s nothing important. Just helping out the school grounds for Dumbledore for some house points.” I lied without batting an eye, something that I had gotten very good at.

“That wasn’t it, we got a special room to sleep in. I wonder if it has a pool I can use!” Val interrupted, making me grateful that Pansy couldn’t understand Parseltongue. I sighed while glancing at my sleeve. Pansy snickered, imagining what Val said that caused my reaction, but by this time we were almost to our next class. It wasn’t anything special, much like the history class before, this class was just as boring. Nothing about it used magic in the slightest.

After it was over with, it was time for lunch. Quickly eating all that I had on my plate, I got up with some extra food and left the great hall.