Second Year Classes (Herbology)

The next day I decided to forgo having breakfast. Today we have double herbology and the smells in there can make me feel nauseous. Not my fault I have better senses than most.

I walk into class by myself since I didn't see Hermione in the common room and I didn't want to be late like Ron and Harry. I'm one of the first in the class but a few are already there, this one is a shared class with Slytherin.

I find a face I recognize "Daphne, Good morning." I smile as I sit next to her.

She looks a bit taken aback "Good Morning." I notice a small blush.

'I wonder if she is sick?' I think to myself.

"Not with Draco and his gang today?" I ask with a joking tone.

She shakes her head "I don't really like them much, they are a nasty and cruel bunch. But my father just wants me to be friends with the purebloods. When I mentioned you and Harry he completely forgot the Malfoy family is a thing."

A smug grin adorns my face "Smart man."

From behind me, I hear Hermione's voice "Good Morning Soren."

I turn to see her sitting next to me "Mornin."

She notices Daphne next to me and greets her as well "Good Morning Daphne."

Daphne nods and smiles "Good morning."

I smile at them a little happy that they have started to get along lately. I have 'adopted' Daphne into our friend group so I was worried she wouldn't get along well with the others. But against my thoughts Harry and Hermione have taken to her, while Ron is still iffy.

Hermione looks around before turning back to me "Where are Ron and Harry?"

I shrug "Not a clue."

"Is that okay? Won't they be late without you to get them out of bed?" She asks, a bit concerned.

"Meh, I'm not here to babysit them. But I did try to wake them up but they wanted to sleep more." I say dismissively. Although I did in fact come to Hogwarts to 'babysit' Harry I'm not going to coddle him.

Sure enough Ron and Harry show up less than a minute before class starts. Most of the seats are already taken so they are forced to stand at the ends of the potting tables.

When Professor Sprout walks in the room she brings an air of happiness despite the early morning. It's a bit suffocating honestly. Even the bright yellow shirt under her robes seems to give an air of happiness.

"Alrighty class, open your books to page 54, we will be discussing Mandrakes." Her high pitched voice pierces through the classroom.

The next hour was just discussions about mandrakes that I already knew. It was one of the things I studied extensively in Sid's lab. I noticed that despite seeming ditsy Daphne was incredibly well-read… It seems odd for her to be smart and blond.

Mandrakes have a niche use but are incredibly effective, I am a good example. Once we got to the topic of animagus I began to wonder if I can get an animal form. It would be quite fun to try, I should do it later this year, maybe the end of the school-year.

'I probably won't have one, right?' I ponder to myself.

"That's enough discussion for now, come now class, to the greenhouse. I will be showing you how to re-pot Mandrakes without getting killed horribly." She says with a cheerful smile.

Inside the greenhouse, I stood between Daphne and Ron with Harry and Hermione on the ends. Across from me are two Slytherin girls, whom I don't know, are tagging along with Neville and Seamus.

My eyebrows raise as I see how close he is to the Slytherin girl 'I see, his girlfriend is from the Slytherins. Odd with how stupid he is.'

"Make sure you have your earmuffs on securely." Professor Sprout practically yelled.

Putting mine on I watch as she takes the baby Mandrake out of the pot putting it in the other. The Mandrake gives a ghastly shriek that I've never heard before. I can even hear the screaming Mandrake clearly through the earmuffs.

Once in the pot she quickly moves the soil on top of it patting it down solidly. Only once the soil is firmly down, does the Mandrake quiet down.

'She didn't do anything unique, I don't see the difference from potting a normal plant.' I wonder at the simplicity of the task.

"Alright! Now it's your turn class! Go ahead!" I hear her muffled yell through the earmuffs.

I watch quietly as everyone except Daphne firmly pulls out the Mandrakes causing them to screech loudly. Neville even faints while staring at the Mandrake he pulled out.

The Slytherin girl that was next to him starts giggling at him. "Longbottoms fainted. Professor Sprout!." Seamus yells.

She rolls her eyes "Must have neglected his earmuffs."

He looks at Neville then back at her and shakes his head "Nope, he's just passed out." The two Slytherin girls laugh while one goes down to help Neville.

"Ah… I see. Help him to the infirmary then, off you go." She says shooing him away.

Finally, I look at my still potted Mandrake as I softly grab the stems wiggling it softly as I free it from the dirt. My hand is placed at the top of its head with my palm softly holding the back of its head. Once completely free of the dirt the Mandrake doesn't scream, instead it just stares at me oddly.

I see Hermione out of the corner of my eye, she is staring at me with wide eyes. Daphne is observing my hands and how I pulled out the Mandrake and does the exact same thing. Her Mandrake is the exact same calmly staring at her as she holds it.

"MY GODS! 20 Points to Gryffindor, 20 Points to Slytherin. Marvelous." Professor Sprout yells enthusiastically.

I smirk a bit as I start replanting the Mandrake with Daphne doing the exact same. I look over at Hermione, who is slack-jawed, with a superior look in my eye.

'Hah, bet she didn't know that trick.' I think to myself not daring to say aloud lest I be hit with an non potted Mandrake.

After that, we started watering the Mandrakes as even that had a procedure. Just like last time Daphne follows what I do exactly. I don't know why as there really isn't much variation you can do in watering a plant.

"That's all for today's class. Be sure to take care of your earmuffs, you will need to take care of these Mandrakes all year." She says as she starts to pack up her materials.

I look at Daphne as I take off my earmuff "Quite the follower I see."

Her face turns red as I point out her copying. "I thought you looked like you knew what you were doing."

I give her a smile as I follow Ron and Harry out the door. On the way out I see Draco looking at Daphne with an angry face but he turns away the second I meet his eyes. I stop and stare at him for a second before I keep walking… I wonder if I should punish him.

Pushing the thoughts away I finally walk out to head to lunch. I'm pretty hungry since I didn't eat breakfast. Hermione and Daphne follow behind closely. Although it's frowned upon there is no rule against sitting at other tables. Seamus and the twins are good examples.