Out in the greenhouse corridor.
A lady in evening dress tilted her head, curiously eyeing the three passing Hufflepuffs.
"Gingerbread?"
Pister suddenly pulled a few foil-wrapped cookies from his bag.
Bruce immediately put ten meters between them. "Sometimes I think you don't have taste buds, Pister. We've processed powdered galangal for three days—the smell alone makes me queasy, and you can still eat gingerbread?"
"It's fine," Leon said, face unchanged, taking a bite. "Also, that's smell… idiot."
Bruce went blank for a second, then muttered, "So I spent three days handling reeking galangal with two people who can't smell a thing—only I was suffering?!"
Something occurred to him; he got animated, speaking fast: "What spell?"
"Invisible Bubble-Head Charm," Leon said, still bland.
"I knew your heads looked big—Merlin! You two didn't tell me and just watched me suffer!" Bruce exploded—only for Leon and Pister to look at him the same calm way:
"If you hadn't put itching powder in our hats and under—"
"Heh—okay, okay, my fault."
…
"Same old pattern—before week four, the greenhouse empties out again," Bruce said offhandedly. "But why do I feel like someone's coming back?"
He leaned into Leon-with-a-book and Pister-with-a-potted-plant. "Bet on it?"
"No," Leon said, glancing at him.
"Afraid?"
Bruce lifted his nose to the sky. Knowing he wouldn't hear the end of it otherwise, Leon sighed. "What's the bet?"
"I bet after today there'll be one more Ravenclaw helper in the greenhouse."
"Stakes?"
"One errand in Hogsmeade Weekend."
"Deal."
As Bruce "aha'd" and sauntered off, Leon sighed to Pister. "Looks like we've got extra business in Hogsmeade Weekend…"
Pister nodded over his pot, that honest smile sinking deeper.
…
The greenhouse air forever carries the fresh scent of damp earth and plant sap. Sunlight fell through the crystal-glass dome in a bright, gentle halo, evenly bathing every leaf.
Professor Sprout, plump and cheery, was lecturing:
"Ginger is an aromatic rhizome—and a potion ingredient. It's used in Antiswelling Solutions, and often in Mind-Sharpening Droughts and Beautification Potions. Other uses: ginger newt biscuits and gingerbread."
The first-years watched as she displayed ginger roots from each planting rack.
"Ginger newts come from something this odd?" a Slytherin murmured near Sean.
They followed Sprout's lead in processing the ginger, and soon she hustled them to the next plant—wrinkled, pearl-white beans, like oversized mistletoe berries.
"All right—who can tell me what this is?"
Sprout smiled; both Slytherins and Ravenclaws flipped open their books. The main text was Phyllida Spore's One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. Though she died in 1408, her book was still a Hogwarts text as of 1997. Sean recalled her portrait hung in the Headmaster's office.
"Well then…" Seeing several Ravenclaws turn toward one spot, Sprout found Sean in the crowd.
"Jobberknoll seeds. They have many magical properties and are used in potion-making. Note: ingesting the silvery juice squeezed from them erases a person's memory."
The scene felt oddly familiar to Sean.
Herbology ended in a cheerful clatter; the greenhouse was a mess again. Soil scattered into the paths, footprints of varying depth stamped here and there. Sprout watched the students file out. By now a gaggle of Hufflepuffs usually drifted back in. Today—emptiness.
As owls hoo-hooed across the glass, a small wizard had somehow slipped to the hem of the professor's broad robes.
"Professor, may I stay and help?"
Sean, gloves in hand, green eyes shining.
"Of course, my dear Mr. Green. Remember? The greenhouse welcomes every child who loves nature."
Sprout's smile deepened. Some children you can't send away—they belong to the green.
"Come along, child. Let's tidy, then you'll learn to process galangal."
Her energy was as bright as ever.
Cleaning the greenhouse would grind Scouring Charm proficiency; processing galangal would raise Herbology Insight. Sean was all in—also because: galangal powder is an ingredient for the Antiswelling Solution, and tonight he planned to brew a batch.
…
There's no need to prove Hogwarts professors are well off, but if there were a "richest" list, Snape would be a finalist. A glance at rare stores—African tree-snake skin, gillyweed—said enough.
That was part of why Sean pushed so hard at Potions beyond sheer hunger for knowledge: it was the fastest, highest-yield channel he had access to now. Sometimes he wondered if Snape's robes had an Extension Charm sewn in—how else were the Galleons endless?
Good supplies keep learning steady—and Sean was anything but steady. Lately he'd even run out of notebooks. What lasted a whole term for others burned out in under three weeks with him. Mastering herb processing was the prerequisite for better draughts—and wealth. There are so many herbs and potions; the top tier—say, Felix Felicis—fetches hundreds of Galleons, and that's when you can even find it.
His panel kept refreshing:
[You processed one galangal at Apprentice standard. Proficiency +1]
[You processed one galangal at Apprentice standard. Proficiency +1]
…
By sunset, as he left the greenhouse:
[Herbology Insight: Apprentice (59/900)]
[Advance: Novice-level Herbology Insight unlocks the Herbology domain's Novice title]
Processing galangal and the rest had netted a full +33 proficiency.
And in the corridor outside, the path Sean would take now held three slowly emerging figures.