Beating Around the Bush Errand Fin.

Solo for The Shovel Revolution! errand

Pericles was particularly fond of meaningful errands. He enjoyed opportunities to learn something new, or to test talents he already possesses, or to change the school in some way for the better. It sounded as though this assignment would accomplish all three in one. While he knew his fair share about basic garden maintenance, he was typically set to the task with a specific assignment. Now they were all just being cut loose with shovels, and frankly, he was low-key giddy about it. In mere moments after hearing what their task would entail, he had the perfect target in mind. He set out with a shovel on his shoulder and objective in mind, striding at a purposeful pace. This nasty little nemesis had plagued Pericles since his first year. When he had just begun his early morn jogging routine, the act was already plenty tedious, and became downright unpalatable when he was ruthlessly attacked. But now, he was faster, more agile, and he had a shovel. He was going to take the bugger out.

On one foggy Scottish morning, a twelve-year-old first-year Pericles had been trotting along the Great Lake when he came across an obstacle: a log. A simple, smooth, fallen log which he could easily leap over. It wasn't at all what he intended to remove today, as he rather enjoyed the extra little leap involved in traversing this path. No, it was what lay on the other side of said tree. He had hopped over it for the first time on that fateful day, when he was snagged by a thorny tendril. It had caught his ankle, flattened him on his face, elicited a bout of sniffles and the thought that jogging was, perhaps, not for him. Still, he had picked himself up and carried on into the next day, then the next, until jogging wasn't so imposing and he had a habit of leaping past the bush. When at last he learned Diffindo, he had gone back to attempt decapitating the damnable thing, yet that wasn't at all the way to get rid of a berry bush like these. They simply regrew, an unswerving hydra. But no longer. He was going to dig it up by the roots.

There was no telling quite how the culprit had wound up on the jogging trail just behind a fallen log. It was likely that a bird had deposited its seeds in passing, and the demonic little plant had grown specifically with the intention of injuring Hogwarts students. He had never seen an actual berry on it. Perhaps its parent bush had the morsels picked one too many times, and now its hateful progeny punished all unsuspecting children. Well, he'd put an end to this dragon, or, so he planned. Little did he know, blackberry roots grew ridiculously deep. This was also an ideal time for its type in Scotland: the cooler conditions coupled with longer daylight hours, combining for ideal berry bush conditions. Pericles considered the barren tendril of plant and thorn with a disdainful frown. He rolled up his sleeves and set to work, though what began as a determined assault would lead into a bout of irritable huffing and yanking on the spindly branch. Breaks were necessary, as was the occasional covert Aguamenti to rinse sweat from his forehead. Dirt stained his favorite boots. By the time he reached deep enough to uproot it entirely, a rather ugly hole had formed alongside the log. Well, no need to leave that open for replanting. Someone was liable to twist an ankle.

After filling it in and patting the earth flat, he would drag the blackberry tendril all the way back to the groundskeeper like a hunter hauling in his kill, dirty and tired but triumphant. It was evil, and had to be disposed of accordingly, or else he was certain it would find a way to wriggle its roots back into the earth like the demon in plant form that it obviously was.