3 Nov 2019, 19:27
Getting Back to Nature
Heather Ruby was up before dawn, the alarm clock stuffed under her pillow so as not to wake the other girls. It was one of those old fashioned clocks that you had to wind up with a key and had the big bells on top. She had bought it over the summer to help get an early start on classes, what with Hogwarts many, many staircases taking her a while to relearn right after waking up, even after a whole two months back at school. She was not a morning person, but this particular errand sparked her interest enough that she was willing to make an effort to see it through. Yawning and stretching, she quickly got dressed, grabbed her cane, winter cloak, and gardening tools, and headed down to the common room and out of Ravenclaw tower.
She hoped not to miss breakfast as she headed out onto the cold castle grounds. The errand notice had said there would be 24 other students helping out, though she hadn't seen any when she had peeked into the Great Hall. They must have already headed out to the gardens. House points were always well to earn, though she didn't actively go looking for them. Heather did try her best not to lose any house points, however. What had really caught her interest was the promised reward of four chocolate frogs. She had often heard of these special treats but had never been able to get one for herself due to one reason or another. Was it true that they hopped around like real frogs? The famous witch and wizard cards also appealed to her. Heather had several various card collections of her own back home but had yet to meet anyone interested in sharing them with. She also wondered if it would be possible to make her muggle cards move the way wizard pictures did. Would that even be allowed, given the whole secrecy thing about the magical world?
Shaking these distracting thoughts from her mind, Heather forced herself to pay more attention to her travel route, lest she end up walking straight into the lake. It had nearly happened once or twice before when she had been too distracted. Reaching the greenhouses, she noticed several of the other students already harvesting, along with the professor.
She hoped not to miss breakfast as she headed out onto the cold castle grounds. The errand notice had said there would be 24 other students helping out, though she hadn't seen any when she had peeked into the Great Hall. They must have already headed out to the gardens. House points were always well to earn, though she didn't actively go looking for them. Heather did try her best not to lose any house points, however. What had really caught her interest was the promised reward of four chocolate frogs. She had often heard of these special treats but had never been able to get one for herself due to one reason or another. Was it true that they hopped around like real frogs? The famous witch and wizard cards also appealed to her. Heather had several various card collections of her own back home but had yet to meet anyone interested in sharing them with. She also wondered if it would be possible to make her muggle cards move the way wizard pictures did. Would that even be allowed, given the whole secrecy thing about the magical world?
Shaking these distracting thoughts from her mind, Heather forced herself to pay more attention to her travel route, lest she end up walking straight into the lake. It had nearly happened once or twice before when she had been too distracted. Reaching the greenhouses, she noticed several of the other students already harvesting, along with the professor.
387 words
Failed 1st Year at Hogwarts at age 11. Is repeating 1st Year classes.
3 Dec 2019, 06:24
Getting Back to Nature
Heather found the herbs by scent more than sight, but the labels did help once she leaned closer for a better look. She recognized many of the plants from her mother's cooking herb garden back home, though it had been a long while since she had helped tend to that small plot of land. As she searched through the plants, deciding which to pick, she wondered just how many of these plants had magical properties. The other students already seemed to have gathered a majority of the needed plants, so Heather searched for any that seemed untouched so far.
Finding a bunch of catnip in the garden confused her, but it seemed that none of the other students had set to harvesting them yet. She hadn't known it was good for anything but cat toys. These seemed ready to collect, so she got to work. She wasn't sure which part of the herb needed gathering, and so decided it would be best to dig up the whole thing. There was something strangely comforting about the work, about gently digging up the plants with her small spade and gloved hands, about the scent of the other herbs in the garden, and the damp smell of freshly turned earth. The quiet sounds of the morning were also oddly relaxing. There were songs of birds rising with the sun, what few remained that hadn't flown south yet, anyway. There was also the sounds of the other students at work. It was peaceful enough that Heather wondered if getting up this early every morning might be worth it to enjoy this pleasant feeling. The chill in the air didn't seem to bother her as much, focused on the harvest as she was. It reminded her of gardening herbs and flowers with her parents, something Heather had done much less often after going blind, and more so after moving to England from America. She hadn't realized just how much she missed doing that with them. Heather made a mental note to herself to talk with her folks about helping with that small garden again. Maybe they could even expand it.
Ever since learning the truth about how she lost her sight at age five, Heather had developed something of an aversion to any obviously magical plant, especially the dangerous ones. She often wondered if this would affect her Herbology grade once they started working with such plants in class. Would she be able to even go near them? Once she and her family had learned about the magical world last year, Grandpa Bob had explained the entire story behind her blindness. How it had been venom from a magical plant that had stolen her sight. How Grandpa Bob had taken her to a magical hospital for treatment, and how they had modified Heather's memory to prevent her from telling anyone about the magical world, as well as to keep her from having nightmares about the attack.
Heather had wondered at the time, what her parents thought of Grandpa Bob after that admission. Would they be upset about the whole thing? But they had been surprisingly forgiving, and even more grateful to Bob for getting exactly the right help to clear out those deadly plants while avoiding a neighborhood-wide panic over the situation. Heather still wasn't sure how she felt about those events even now. She still trusted Bob, loved him as a true grandfather, even though he was just a family friend. But, somewhere in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder if her recent paranoia around magical plants would have happened at all if he had continued to hide the truth from her family.
Heather looked down at the catnip plants in her hands, carefully brushing the soil from the roots. Satisfied with her bundles, she gathered them into her winter cloak, unable to hold them all in her hands along her cane, and not wanting to accidentally crush them. Carrying the plants into the greenhouse, she followed the others' examples as they tied the stems of the herbs together. Once finished, she took them to the professor to be hung from the ceiling and went outside for more catnip.
Today started well, she thought as she worked. Hopefully, the rest of today would be just as good.
Finding a bunch of catnip in the garden confused her, but it seemed that none of the other students had set to harvesting them yet. She hadn't known it was good for anything but cat toys. These seemed ready to collect, so she got to work. She wasn't sure which part of the herb needed gathering, and so decided it would be best to dig up the whole thing. There was something strangely comforting about the work, about gently digging up the plants with her small spade and gloved hands, about the scent of the other herbs in the garden, and the damp smell of freshly turned earth. The quiet sounds of the morning were also oddly relaxing. There were songs of birds rising with the sun, what few remained that hadn't flown south yet, anyway. There was also the sounds of the other students at work. It was peaceful enough that Heather wondered if getting up this early every morning might be worth it to enjoy this pleasant feeling. The chill in the air didn't seem to bother her as much, focused on the harvest as she was. It reminded her of gardening herbs and flowers with her parents, something Heather had done much less often after going blind, and more so after moving to England from America. She hadn't realized just how much she missed doing that with them. Heather made a mental note to herself to talk with her folks about helping with that small garden again. Maybe they could even expand it.
Ever since learning the truth about how she lost her sight at age five, Heather had developed something of an aversion to any obviously magical plant, especially the dangerous ones. She often wondered if this would affect her Herbology grade once they started working with such plants in class. Would she be able to even go near them? Once she and her family had learned about the magical world last year, Grandpa Bob had explained the entire story behind her blindness. How it had been venom from a magical plant that had stolen her sight. How Grandpa Bob had taken her to a magical hospital for treatment, and how they had modified Heather's memory to prevent her from telling anyone about the magical world, as well as to keep her from having nightmares about the attack.
Heather had wondered at the time, what her parents thought of Grandpa Bob after that admission. Would they be upset about the whole thing? But they had been surprisingly forgiving, and even more grateful to Bob for getting exactly the right help to clear out those deadly plants while avoiding a neighborhood-wide panic over the situation. Heather still wasn't sure how she felt about those events even now. She still trusted Bob, loved him as a true grandfather, even though he was just a family friend. But, somewhere in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder if her recent paranoia around magical plants would have happened at all if he had continued to hide the truth from her family.
Heather looked down at the catnip plants in her hands, carefully brushing the soil from the roots. Satisfied with her bundles, she gathered them into her winter cloak, unable to hold them all in her hands along her cane, and not wanting to accidentally crush them. Carrying the plants into the greenhouse, she followed the others' examples as they tied the stems of the herbs together. Once finished, she took them to the professor to be hung from the ceiling and went outside for more catnip.
Today started well, she thought as she worked. Hopefully, the rest of today would be just as good.
717 words
Finished! Total word count: 1,104
Failed 1st Year at Hogwarts at age 11. Is repeating 1st Year classes.