Nyle hadn’t meant to be up quite this early buuuuuuuuuut one of his seedlings had already started drooping and well… that was really that. His dorm room, though perfectly cozy and lovely, just wasn’t going to cut it for his mystery saplings. He’d tried placing them on the windowsill, but with one of his dormmates insisting on keeping the curtains drawn anytime he was in, the little saplings were getting moody. Understandably so since, well, plants needed sun. Or at least the illusion of it. But if the saplings did not perk up here then the next obvious location was the greenhouses ― maybe he would have some real upper body strength by the end of the term simply from carrying potter plants all over the place!

The third year padded softly through the Hufflepuff common room, potted plants bundled carefully in his arms and slung in a sling-like sack across his chest and longer, gangly limbs causing him a bit of difficulty in not tripping over his own two feet. A sprig of something temperamental (still unidentified, but awfully reactive to fluctuations in light) kept tickling his chin as he took long, calculated strides across the space. Finally reaching his destination, Nyle gently shouldered open the door to the indoor garden and smiled as he was greeted by the soft chime of enchanted bluebells and the soothing scent of lavender. Nyle breathed in slowly and let the peace envelope him like a warm embrace.

He passed a planter of forget-me-nots in riotous bloom and made his way to an empty workbench, setting down his collection of mismatched pots. One by one, he angled them toward the charmed light fixtures in the glass wall, already watching some of the saplings perk up like sleepy children recognizing their favorite lullaby.

He paused to check on the Skeleton Flower he’d brought back at the end of last term on his way to setting down the pots, taking a moment to smile and whisper a quick encouragement under his breath to the translucent beauty. "Sorry about the dorm," he whispered down to the little notes of green. "I really didn't mean to cause you distress and ought to have just brought you here right after the feast. You’ve got room. You’ve got light. You’ve got plenty of floral company." One of the nearby ferns swayed gently in response. He didn’t question whether it was the breeze or something more.

Enchanted lighting was starting to thread color through some of the stained glass decorations (including a windchime he had made last term), the colors bening through in a soft rainbow, dappling across the pots and soil and the backs of Nyle’s hands. It was peaceful here, so much that (considering just how early it still was) he was tempted to curl up and take a nap over by the lavender and mint. So, er, upon depositing his potted friends, Nyle removed his outer robe to use as a makeshift blanket and lay down on his back with his arms folded across his chest and eyes closed. Not exactly napping but also not not on the verge of napping.

Floral meditation, maybe.

Maybe it was the excitement over being at a new school, but Rory was finding it impossible to sleep. She also was really curious about the indoor garden in the Hufflepuff common room. Would it be similar to what they had at Beauxbatons? Or completely different? Only one way to find out!

Immediately after stepping inside she was hit with the smell of flowers. It was lovely. Lavender and bluebells among other things. Enjoying the aroma, she made her way along all the plants. Until her foot bumped into something.

Blinking, she looked down. There was a boy lying down on the ground. She had completely missed him, but then again she hadn't expected there to be someone lying on the ground.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Were you taking a nap?" Fortunately she didn't get him hard with her foot, but still she did feel a little bad.

Nyle startled slightly, blinking up at the ceiling of enchanted sunlight and then to the figure who’d bumped him. For a second he thought maybe he’d dreamed her...the way her hair caught the light, all reds and golds like flame-touched poppies or those striking royal azaleas he’d once seen blooming in the wild during a herbology excursion with mum. He scrambled to sit up, cheeks already blooming a shade not unlike the aforementioned flowers.

"Oh! Oh, no, er...we...I mean...er, well, sort of?" he said, brushing a bit of soil off his sleeve, embarrassed but certainly not upset. "I wasn’t properly asleep. Just... ground-adjacent and resting my eyes. That's what dad calls it sometimes." He gave a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck and blinked again so his eyes could properly focus on her. "You’re new, right? I mean, you transferred this term, right? From Beauxbatons? I, um... I didn’t mean to hog the moss patch, if you wanted to sit...some of it’s charmed to stay cool in warm weather, and warm when it’s grey out or otherwise feeling a bit nippy." He gestured beside him but still visibly flustered. "I’m Nyle, by the way. I take plant care a little too seriously, but I swear I’m at least mostly normal. Just don't ask my sister if that is true or not because she likes to embellish and exaggerate my quirks." He looked at her again, then down quickly, fiddling with a nearby trailing vine. "Sorry if I scared you. I know I kind of... blend in."

Seeing as the boy didn't seem to be put out by her bumping him, Rory was rather relieved. She decided not to draw attention to his blush. He must have felt rather awkward right now, being found lying down randomly in a garden.

"Well, it is early so I can't really blame you for resting your eyes." Though in the middle of a garden wasn't really the best place to do that. But she didn't think it was necessary to point that out to him. He kept talking, and Rory smiled. The rambling was kind of endearing honestly. "Yes, I am new here. I was at Beauxbatons, but my parents both went to Hogwarts." Though her mother did leave the school after her Sixth Year. "Oh, it's fine. There is plenty of room." So he didn't need to feel bad about that. She manged to find a spot to sit down, and enjoyed the bit of warmth it gave out. "Nice to meet you, Nyle. I'm Aurora, but you can call me Rory." Honestly, she preferred to go by Rory. She snorted. "Being normal is overrated. Quirks are fun." She could definitely be quirky herself. "You didn't scare me at all. Besides, I like scary stuff." So it was all good. Though what he said next made her frown a little. "What makes you say that?"

Nyle pushed himself up onto his elbows, brushing a leaf out of his hair and offering a sheepish sort of smile. "Oh, well, er, I wasn’t, like, napping-napping. I mean, I might’ve been trying to, but mostly I just like being near the plants when the castle’s still quiet. It’s like…" He glanced around the Hufflepuff garden, voice lowering as though not to disturb the stems. "They wake up slower than people. Less pressure that way. I also didn't want to leave them," he explained with a sweeping gesture towards the potted plants he had brought down earlier, "all by themselves right away in case they were uncomfortable being in a new place so soon after being in another series of new places."

At her mention of Beauxbatons, his eyes lit up with interest, but he blinked quickly at the sound of her name. It bloomed in his head like a flash of morning light through dew-dappled petals. "That’s a really beautiful name," he said, before he could stop himself. His mouth opened like he might explain further and maybe say she reminded him of red valerian or flame azaleas and how 'Rory' felt like wild poppies, sun-warm and uncontainable... but the words thankfully tangled and he looked away quickly. Very fascinating bit of grass on his sleeve, you see.

"My mum went to Hogwarts too," he added in a rush, trying to smooth over the warmth in his cheeks and fill the void awkward silences created. "She was also a Hufflepuff and already extremely gifted in Herbology which is probably where I got the interest from and a big part of why I am always drawn to this part of the common room. My dad, though, he didn’t go to Hogwarts. Or… any formal school, really. He learned through apprenticeship and fieldwork and books that didn’t always have indexes."

He gave a small laugh, then shivered slightly when Rory mentioned liking scary stuff. "Oof, oh, um not me," he admitted, scrunching his nose. "I um, er, well...my sister is the one who is interested in those sorts of things even after...well...after some stuff... I prefer plants. They don’t jump out at you. Or, well, most of them don't usually." His expression softened, growing more thoughtful. "I guess I’ve always sort of felt like a sidewalk plant. You know? The kind that grows through a crack in the stone, just… quietly there. Not really noticed. People step right over you.... or on you. Doesn’t mean you’re not trying, though. Doesn’t mean you don’t want to bloom." He picked at a loose thread on his sleeve, another fascinating addition like the grass had been earlier. "Wallflowers get a bad reputation. But some of them smell really nice, if you take the time."

And then, realizing what he’d said, Nyle went quiet and stared very hard at a patch of nearby moss. 'If idiocy were a planet, you’d still be orbiting Uranus, Nyle' he berated himself.

As Nyle talked, Rory nodded. She understood what he was saying. This boy clearly felt a deep connection to plants, and she got it. She loved plants herself. Hence why she had made her way over to check out the indoor garden when she had been unable to sleep. "Well, I'd be happy to help you keep them company." It was nice being here with him and keeping the plants company.

She BEAMED when he complimented her name. "Thanks! I was named after Aurora from Sleeping Beauty." Yes, she was named after a Disney princess. Her middle name was Ariel. It really was a nice name, but it did feel a little... grand for her currently. Maybe one day she'd feel that it suited her more.

Rory decided to ignore his blush. Clearly he was feeling awkward for some reason, and she didn't really want to draw attention to it. "My mom was in Hufflepuff too. My dad was a Gryffindor." She nodded as he explained where he had gotten his gift for Herbology from. "That's really neat. I love plants too. Herbology is definitely one of my favourite classes." And one of her best too, honestly. "I think I'm going to be coming here a lot myself." It was so nice and peaceful and she liked the thought of caring for the different plants. "How come your dad didn't go to school?" Hopefully that was okay to ask. She was curious.

She made a mental note to never do anything to startle Nyle. She'd feel bad if she scared him. "I don't like things jumping out at me either." Though that didn't stop her from starting Ary for fun from time to time. Rory was picky about the scary stuff she liked, and she hated jump scares. She was curious about what he meant by 'some stuff', but decided not to press it in case he didn't want to talk about it.

As he went on, Rory tried her best not to frown as he talked about himself that way. But she also understood what he was trying to say. "I get it and that makes perfect sense." Oh gosh, he was feeling awkward again. But she didn't think what he had said was dumb at all.

Something… leafy had changed.

Small and modest glimpses of green when first tucked there at the start of term had quickly grown into something much MUCH more over the months. Their stems were impossibly long for their age, curling up the panes like they had somewhere to be. Their leaves shimmered with an almost uncanny vibrance, as though they'd been basking not in the mild light of early winter, but something far stronger...

At first, it had seemed harmless enough. A stray leaf wrapping around a quill left too close to the glass. A missing spool of twine later found suspended from a looped stem. But soon came the snapped stems of other neighboring plants, the overturned vial of powdered peppermint root, the ink-stained leaves of an innocent herbology notebook that someone swore they'd closed. One vine had even curled around a bench leg in the night and dragged it away from its usual resting place, flipping it on its side in the process.

Whatever the cause—enchanted soil? Unseen moonlight?—the plants were no longer just decoration. They had presence. Personality, even.

But of course… it could all just be the usual magic of Hufflepuff House.

Couldn't it?

Xerxes had been walking down from his dormitory when he heard a crash. It sounded like a table being flipped over. He looked around, nothing seemed out of place. The noise had originated over there, by the Indoor Garden.

Xerxes walked over and opened the door, once he saw what was inside his mouth dropped. A plant had over-gown and taken over the whole room. It had wound its way through all the columns and archways. It had even snaked around the coffee table and dragged it toward the center, eventually causing it to flip over (thus the noise).

Xerxes had no idea what to do, but he DID know who would know. He turned right around and ran toward the Dormitories. "Nyle! Nyle?! Where are you Nyle? I really need your help." he screamed. "Something weird is happening in the Indoor Garden......"

It truly must have been a shock to walk into a space so familiar and find it looking quite unlike the calm, curated garden you were used to. And in moments like that, well—it's no surprise the imagination leaps to the most dramatic conclusions.

The Indoor Garden was certainly not overtaken, it had undeniably changed. Specifically the greenery originating from the pots placed upon the enchanted windowsill had grown noticeably—curving out from their usual frame, twisting along the lower half of the nearby wall and curling around the edge of a small end table. A few of the decorative pots near the window had tumbled over in the process, one of which had cracked on the stone floor, likely the source of the earlier crash.

While it wasn’t quite the full-room takeover one might expect from a fairy tale—no slumbering princesses or cursed spinning wheels here—the overgrowth had certainly made an impression. A single wall, particularly the broad windowsill that framed it, had become entirely engulfed in tangled green. Leaves fanned outward in every direction, and vines had crept up and over the stone, spilling slightly onto the floor and stretching their way along the base of the nearby arch.

The warm glow of the enchanted wall behind it could still be seen—if you leaned a little and squinted through the greenery— and some of the growth had even twisted midair in peculiar poses, curling upward with little tendrils splayed as if reaching out for a very enthusiastic high five...or to snatch your homework right out of your hands.

Nyle was curled into his usual corner of the common room, legs tucked unevenly beneath him on an armchair far too small for how much he'd grown, with a textbook on magical horticulture was balanced precariously on one knee while his notes sprawled across a side table beside him in orderly chaos. Professor Cole hadn't specifically asked for this much detail in the assignment buuuuuuut, as always, the third year couldn't quite help himself. The sound of frantic footsteps made his quill halt mid-sentence and he barely had time to register Xerxes' voice before the boy came barreling into view, wide-eyed and loud.


Nyle’s quill dropped and he was already halfway to standing when he asked, "What kind of weird?" But he didn’t exactly wait for an answer before he snapped his notebook closed and grabbed the nearest small pouch from his satchel (the one of several filled with clippings, gloves, and calming salves) just in case. His heart had kicked up with concern and not fear exactly... but that rushing sort of need to act quickly before something gentle was lost. The Indoor Garden had always been a safe space and the thought that something about that sanctity had changed filled him with dread.

”Its the Indoor Garden. It’s been taken over by some plants in pots. They have grown exponentially in the last few hours, covering the walls and archways. They even knocked over a bench. I could be mistaken…..but aren’t those the plants you were carrying during the Start of Term Feast?” Xerxes frantically said to Nyle as they walked over and then into the Indoor Garden.

“See for yourself. But be careful. These don’t seem like ordinary plants.” Xerxes warned his friend. He then pointed out difference features of the strange scene, like the school textbook that had been completely covered and the spilled Peppermint root.

“I know you are really good at Herbology so I came to get you as soon as I saw all this. What do you think it means?” he asked the third Hufflepuff with the green thumb.

Nyle didn’t run but he DID hurry with purpose, notebook still clutched in one hand and his satchel bouncing lightly at his side. Xerxes’ words had conjured quite the mental image on the way over — taken over, exponentially, not ordinary — and while he was used to a bit of dramatic flair seeing as this WAS Hogwarts and literally the stones themselves could ooze ancient magic, it had still stirred up a quiet panic in his chest. He slowed just past the archway, steps falling silent as his gaze swept over the Indoor Garden.

Oh.

Okay, it wasn’t… devastation. Not exactly. No carnivorous vines dragging people into the walls or wild thorns snaking toward the ceiling. But the change was noticeable and in a way that prickled warmly down his spine. The plants had clearly grown and their leaves gleamed with that slightly-too-vibrant sheen again, the kind that always made him feel like they were listening, like they KNEW when he was near. Vines had curled up along the stone and spilled just slightly across the archway’s base. One pot had cracked. A bench sat overturned nearby like it had been nudged out of the way firmly but not necessarily maliciously.

Nyle stepped forward slowly, kneeling beside the window. His brow furrowed. "…Okay, yeah...I think some of...most of...this growth is coming from the pots I set here...," he murmured, reaching out to brush a finger across a shimmer-edged leaf with clear infatuation. "I DID was prep the soil with that lunar compost mix." A pause. "Oh. And I might’ve given them a diluted stimulant infusion that included some dittany for root encouragement...but I never thought they'd grow like this in jus a few months!" He picked his brain to recall when he had last spent time in here with Aurora and he supposed it had been over a week ago ― which was pretty embarrassing because he really needed to come in her more often to check the PH balance of soil.

He turned to Xerxes, the corners of his mouth twitching faintly upward, somewhere between apologetic and amused. "I don’t think it’s dangerous. Just… curious..." His eyes flicked to the overturned bench with a quiet wince. "Though the bench probably has a different opinion." He stood and dusted his palms on his jumper. "I’ll trim them back, gently...maybe move them to a less sunlit spot too...if I can manage to untangle them from the stone. Though I'd feel awful doing so...they seem to happy where they are and clearly they are thriving..." He paused and turned towards his younger housemate, tone much more sincere. "Looks to me like it is just plants being plants...but, you know… I get it. When you’re a first year, everything feels huge...like the castle’s watching you and every weird creak means something’s about to explode...and sometimes it actually does." The blonde offered a small sheepish smile while ruffling his hair with his other hand. "I....er....I once thought my trunk was haunted or had been possessed by something that was trying to lure me into it because I heard my name echo from it over and over again...wore the same underwear and socks for the good part of a week because I was too scared to open it. Turns out it was just an enchanted photo of mum and dad I had in a frame and forgotten I'd tucked it in there." He nudged Xerxes gently with his elbow. "So you’re not wrong for being worried. You noticed something strange and did the right thing."

He looked over at the cracked pot, then the trail of spilled peppermint root and the half-buried quill tangled under a vine. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a tendril in the air, arched delicately forward, shaped almost unmistakably like it wanted something. Nyle blinked. Very slowly, he lifted his hand and gave it a cautious high five.

Xerxes sighed with relief when Nyle assured him that there was nothing to worry about. Perhaps he had just read too much about Devil's Snare, or maybe it was simply the adjustment period that came with being a First Year, but the (seemingly) sudden explosion of the plant life all over the Indoor Garden had worried him. "Well I am certainly glad that they're not dangerous. And I'm sorry for momentarily worrying you. I guess I'm just not used to plants being so......voracious." Xerxes said to Nyle.

"I am curious, however. You never told me where you got these unusual plants from. Did you buy them from Noltie's Botanical Novelties in Diagon Ally? Or else bring them home from the Greenhouses here at Hogwarts last year? I am no expert on Magical Plants, but I've never seen anything like them. Have you shown them to our Herbology Professor?" Xerxes asked, walking around the Indoor Garden. Now that Nyle had pronounced the scene safe, he took a closer look at the plant and all the growth it had done. The plants did seem to be a brighter and more vivid green than the other plants in the room. It also seemed to have a knack for winding itself around other objects, like a vine of ivy (except on steroids). With some perspective, provided by Nyle, Xerxes could now appreciate how beautiful the plant was; albeit in a somewhat sinister, almost sentient way.

At first, nothing happened.

Then one of the curling tendrils hovering midair gave the smallest twitch. Slowly it uncurled just a touch more before stretching outward with surprising delicacy toward the boy’s [sweetpinkpixie] raised hand.

Tap.

A high five! One with a green leaf instead of a palm. In the space of a breath, another tendril looped gently around the boy's wrist. Then another. They wound like bracelets and tightened with the kind of mindless affection a clingy child might show. And then they tugged, pulling the boy towards the enchanted window and the pots buried beneath the greenery.

The bench behind them shifted again. Just a smidgen.

Nyle gave a soft laugh at Xerxes’ choice of words. It was a really nice word, you know? One he could imagine Iris using. "They can be, sometimes," he nodded, glancing over the lush green wall of growth with something between fondness and wariness. "Especially the flesh eating varieties...or Bouncing Bulbs...those can particularly be quite spirited when riled up. But these ones aren’t trying to eat anything. Probably just growing a bit faster than expected. I should’ve kept a closer watch, especially if they’re crowding the others…"

He trailed off, crouching near one of the fallen pots and set it upright again. "They were a gift," he chirped, his smile widening as he straightened with a thoughtful hum. "Could be from Noltie's..." He turned to offer Xerxes a more specific explanation, only to become immediately distracted by the plant high-fiving him back! The kind smile usually reserved for children unwrapping the perfect present on Christmas morning spread across Nyle's face immediately and, in his joy, he didn’t notice the extra tendrils curling around his wrist.

And then...

*YOINK*

The tug was sudden (maybe even playful?) but surprisingly strong. One second he was beaming at a leafy gesture of friendship and the next he was pitching forward with a surprised yelp, veeeeeeeery much being reeled in like the world’s happiest fish caught by a houseplant fisherman.

Xerxes couldn't help but think that Nyle was being just a little bit evasive when he had said 'They were a gift'. Xerxes intuition was telling him that there was more to the story here.

"Ahhh thats really cute." Xerxes said, as the plant gave Nyle a high five. Maybe the plant wasn't so bad after all. Then the plant wrapped itself around Nyle's wrist and began to pull him toward itself.

"Ummmmm......you said it was safe so I'm assuming everything is alright." Xerxes told his friend. "But if you need any assistance, just let me know."

Nyle made a soft oof as he was pulled forward and his free-ish hand instinctively catching himself against the tangled vines before he could fully face-plant into the greenery. He blinked once, then let out a small, amused breath akin to a gentle exhale of surprise rather than alarm.

"It’s fine," he assured Xerxes with a laugh as if being dragged by a sentient plant was an everyday occurrence. Which, well, it kind of was if you were in the right places for it. "I think it just… wanted a cuddle?" The vines looped around his arm were not tight enough to hurt but definitely enough to make movement a little awkward. Nyle gave the greenery a gentle pat with his hand, murmured something soothing under his breath, and carefully attempted to wiggled himself loose with a practiced ease. "I wouldn’t let it near your quills, though," he added. "It’s got quite the grip."

Xerxes was a little more at ease, now that Nyle had not been throttled instantly by the plant. Perhaps this could be an ideal opportunity for Xerxes to bond with his friend.

"What else do you suppose it wants? Could we play with it? Or else feed it?" Xerxes asked. "Or else......wait, I have just the thing. I'll be right back."

Xerxes ran from the room but was back faster than a Niffler chasing a golden wrist watch. "Do you think it would like this?" he asked Nyle playfully. He held up a small glass orb with unbelievably bright light shinning from inside it.

"This is a Primal Stone. It contains....if you can believe it......a very small star within it. My dad made it for me. It took some very advanced magic; not to mention some very complex protective charms to keep the miniature star contained. He also put an Unbreakable Charm on the orb, cause of it broke, who knows what could happen."

Xerxes extended the hand containing the Primal Stone towards Nyle. "Do you think they would like it?" he asked meekly.

With urgent beckoning, Marion had urged the volunteer Hufflepuffs to the Garden. She herself had done her best to avoid being swatted at but was not completely successful in this venture. That was the least of her problems. “Quickly!’’ the ghost said again. “The source of the vines should be easy to locate.” Despite the vast number of plants, leaves, and stems, the vines should be poking out from the offending plant or plants.

Paul followed suit, with his wand out. Find the source of the vines between all this? He looked around before his eyes caught what looked to be the offending vines, before saying, "Professor, I hope you don't take too many points from me for this." Pointing his wand in the direction to perform the right wand movement, "Impendimenta!" Because well, he was sure they weren't going to take the spells lightly, followed by, "Diffindo!"

Hopefully this takes care of it.

So far, so good.

Apollo seemed to be doing fairly well in dodging or Incendio-ing any vines that came his way, because it wasn't long before he reached the Indoor Garden. Now came the tricky part though. Or...maybe it would be simpler than he thought? He could only hope.

He did want to be careful in here though. Fire was a weakness for the vines wreaking havoc, but it was also a weakness for most plants. Everyone who took care of the plants in here, including himself, had worked hard all year, and he did not wish to burn them all down along with the vines.

His eyes tracked the vines, following them back to their source. With Paul aiming his spells in the same direction Apollo was looking, Apollo took that as additional confirmation that he had his target. He aimed his wand carefully at the base of the vines and cast, "Incendio!"

Xerxes hurried into the Room, only slightly delayed from his classmates due to his unfortunate aerial acrobatics and lost wand. But he was here now and wanted to help.

His classmates were very close to the source indeed, but Xerxes had specific knowledge about the source of all this unpleasantness.

"Its those potted plants, right there. Nyle brought them in here and placed them on the workbench. Smash the pots and then burn up their roots!" Xerxes yelled at his classmates. With all the criss-crossing overgrown vines, it must have been hard to see the source precisely. Luckily his classmates Fire-Making Spells had withered enough vines away to make the pots from which the offending plants were growing visible once more.

"Reducto!" Xerxes yelled twice. The pots both smashed to pieces, falling to the floor. The root bundle was now exposed. As he looked at the tangled mass of long, thin roots, Xerxes noticed that they were pulsating; like a heart-beat.

Pausing just a moment to give a disgusted expression, Xerxes took aim at the exposed root bundle. But before he could get another spell off, another vine slapped his hand. But Xerxes had learned his lesson from the last time he had lost his wand because of the vines. This time, although his wrist ached and impulse beckoned him, Xerxes DID NOT drop his wand.

Xerxes could not do this alone. "Aim for the roots! Once the roots are dead, the plant should be defeated for good." he screamed at his classmates.

So. It had come down to this. They had reasoned that the best plan of attack was to seek it at the source. The plants were ready to continue striking back with all their might. Fresh vines shot from the offending plants, those strange and unsuspecting plants brought to the Garden by an innocent Hufflepuff at the very start of the term.

They shot in every direction. One of the first humans some encountered (Paul) succeeded in slowing their process. Struggle as they might, they could not get themselves to cause dart at warp speed at the boy. To add to their predicament, they were further punished by being severed. That was just a small nuisance since they began to regrow.

The next Hufflepuff (Apollo) saw much more success in ridding a handful of vines. There was a tactic tried where they attempted to attack him from various directions but that failed miserably. The blast of fire was huge enough to catch them all and they withered into nothingness. You might want to look sharp though! The danger wasn’t over just yet.

As for the third Hufflepuff (Xerxes), the vines did not allow you to reach them that easily as they put up a determined fight. You would have been dodging vines for days on end. While the pots we successfully smashed, you would not discover pulsating exposed roots as the dirt fell away. In fact, the roots were quite normal looking, which went along with the innocent persona the plants had worn all through the term. The plants did not take lightly to being violated. Quick as lighting, came at Xerxes, smashing into him and knocking him backwards.

It was best you lot work urgently as a team, otherwise there's no hope of defeating the threat.

“Together, my dears!”

Surely by now the students recognized that they needed to attack the plants using Incendio? And that working together was the best way to ensure the plant was gone for good? “As Mr. Cadwallader suggested! Attack the roots!”

Marion simply wanted this ordeal to be over. The toll this was taking on her, the ghostly professor would never wish this sort of thing on anyone. When this was all over, she would need some time alone to better think through an idea she had had during a recent spur of the moment. Only then would she decide if she needed to speak with dear old Wilbur. Not to mention that she would need to have a chat with Nyle. That Hufflepuff had excellent intentions but clearly he needed to vet plants in a more detailed manner before taking ownership of them.