Chapter 8

The three of them finally made it to Herbology class, Professor Zuckerman, who is temporarily replacing Professor Beery, until Headmaster Dumbledore finds a professor who knows more about Herbology than he does, he has to teach Herbology this term. "Hello students, please, gather around, we are going to be studying Devil's Snare, now these kinds of plants enjoy dark and damp places, for they hate sunlight and fire, but, be warned, just because they enjoy the darkness, if you get tangled up by this very plant, you must relax or it will tangle around you much more rapidly and you will be killed that much quickly. So, you mustn't move around very much when caught by Devil's Snare. Devil's Snare is a magical plant with the ability to constrict or strangle anything in its surrounding environment or something that happens to touch it. Devil's Snare does not seem to be very common, but only certain Herbologists have access to it." Professor Zuckerman exclaimed, Lily lifted her hand once he was done explaining what Devil's Snare was, "Yes, Ms. Snow?" Professor Zuckerman took notice and was curious of what Lily had to ask, then she spoke, "Professor, you spoke about its environment and how it kills its victims, but, what exactly does it look like so we can know it when we see it, and how can we protect ourselves if we are caught amongst this dangerous plant?" "Excellent questions and extremely important ones for that matter. It is composed of a mass of soft, springy tendrils and vines that possess some sense of touch, and resembles the Flitterbloom. This plant uses its creepers and tendrils to ensnare anyone who touches it, binding their arms and legs, and eventually choking them. The harder a person struggles against the Devil's Snare, the faster and more tightly it binds them. If the victim is able to maintain their presence of mind and relaxes, the Snare will relax its grip on them. Struggling or resistance to Devil's Snare will cause the plant to exert a greater force of constriction. Devil's Snare prefers a dark, damp environment. It will stop its movements in the environment in front of bright lights and will recoil away from the heat of fire, so a well-placed fire or light based spell such as the Bluebell Flames, Fire-Making Spell, Wand-Lighting Charm, or Lumos Solem Spell will effectively drive it away from its victims." Lily jotted down this information into her notebook of this vital information on this traitorous plant and hopes that she won't come across it, unless it was in an actual classroom with a professor watching over them in case anything goes array. "Now, students, that about ends our lesson for today, sorry for it being extremely short, but I have another class to teach, good day everyone." He leaves with those parting words and Lily, Fred, and George make their way to the Great Hall once again for dinner. George and Fred can still see deep redness in Lily's eyes and we're deeply concerned about her. "Lily," George began, "I really think that you should rest, your eyes haven't really healed, and you look really exhausted." Lily deeply sighed in utter defeat, knowing full well that he was right. "Yeah, you're right George, I think I'll eat some dinner and then go straight to bed, I'll wake up bright and early to work on my studies." Fred and George both shook their heads, before they spoke in unison, "You will not attend any classes tomorrow and you will get a full day to grieve and recover. We will take notes, carry the school work to you that you need to do for the classes that you missed." "But-!" Lily was immediately cut off by the twins, "No 'buts' Lily, please listen to your big brothers." Fred and George said together. Lily could only look down after that exchange of words and gave a little nod. They hugged her extremely tightly, then Fred spoke up, "We're just worried about you Lily, that's all, we're most certainly not mad at you or anything of the sort, but we just want to look out for you is all. That's what big brothers do, we look after our younger siblings and try to do our best to protect them and be there for them." Lily was happy to have the twins in the roles of her big brothers, especially in times such as this. "I love you both so much." She said with such softness in her voice that Fred and George almost missed on what she said, but luckily, they did hear what Lily said as they smiled and hugged her a little tighter. "We love you so much too, Lily." They said together in unison, not realizing that Lily was on her last bit of strength that she had and full on collapsed into sleep while in their arms. They almost had let her go when she was about to fall over once they started to move out of the embrace, the both of them smiled in hopelessness of what they were going to do with their little sister if she was going to continue to recklessly push herself to the point where she just slips into the darkness, unable to go on the rest of the day. Fred and George gently moved her body where she was able to be carried in George's arms while Fred went a bit ahead to get the doors so George could get Lily safely to the Hospital Wing, that way she could get some rest, and have someone to look after her when the twins were unable to do so.