Chapter 151: A Difficult Task
After Bruce had successfully dispatched himself, a heavy silence fell over Greenhouse Three. They were now faced with a daunting task: who was going to wrestle the pods from the Snargaluff?
Leon told everyone not to worry, though whether he was reassuring them about Bruce's fate or his own ability to handle the plant was unclear.
Sean and the others watched as the older Hufflepuffs went back to work. Even before Bruce's departure, the task had been brutal; Leon's lip was bleeding, and angry red scratches marred half his face. He held a pulsating, disgusting green pod the size of a grapefruit.
It had been difficult enough with three of them. Now, down a man, how would they manage?
"Here we go!" Leon shouted.
Pister cast a worried glance towards the greenhouse exit where Bruce had disappeared, then took a deep breath. Together, he and Leon plunged their arms back into the gnarled, writhing stump.
The stump sprang to life. Long, thorny vines whipped out from the top, thrashing wildly through the air. One wrapped itself around Leon's arm, but Pister quickly batted it away with a pair of shears. Seizing the opportunity, Leon grabbed two vines and knotted them together.
A small opening appeared in the midst of the tentacle-like branches. Leon bravely thrust his arm into the hole, which instantly clamped down on his elbow like a trap. Pister pulled and twisted at the vines with all his might, forcing the hole open again. Leon yanked his arm free, clutching another pulsating pod.
Instantly, the thorny vines retracted. The gnarled stump lay still once more, looking like a piece of dead wood.
"Cough… I am definitely not planting these in my garden," Leon said, pushing his protective goggles up onto his forehead and wiping sweat from his face. He forced a smile, but the strain was evident.
Pister offered a shy, supportive smile in return.
They still had a lot of work ahead of them.
Outside the door, Justin's expression was grim. "I'll go help!"
He scanned the group, automatically skipping over Sean, and pausing on Neville, who was trembling slightly, and the scrawny figures of Harry and Ron. He was the sturdiest among them. As his mother always said: Those with ability often have to bear more responsibility.
"But..." Harry started to object but didn't know what to say.
Inside the greenhouse, Leon seemed to sense their restlessness. He tossed a pod towards them. "Don't be shy! Squeeze the juice out quickly – best quality while it's fresh!"
Neville caught the throbbing pod and hurriedly placed it in a bowl to begin processing.
"I'll... go," Ron said suddenly, adopting a look of grim determination. "I assume the older students will handle the vines, right?" His attempt at a joke fell flat.
Sean looked at Justin, Harry, Ron, and Neville, a slight frown creasing his brow. Without a word, he stepped into Greenhouse Three.
"Green?" Leon looked puzzled as Sean approached, but he trusted the first-year implicitly and didn't argue.
"Be careful," Pister warned gently.
While the two older boys caught their breath, Sean silently raised his wand. He had been wanting to test the limits of his Advanced Transfiguration, and this was the perfect opportunity.
With a sweeping arc of his wand, the snow outside began to swirl and coalesce. A massive snowman rose from the drift, towering almost as high as the greenhouse roof.
[You have practiced an Advanced Transfiguration to the Expert standard. Proficiency +1000]
"Merlin's beard—" Leon looked up, staring into the snowman's gigantic nostrils.
"Um..." Pister poked the snowman's foot. The construct twitched as if to kick him, then shrank back slightly. Sean nudged Pister gently; controlling the snowman required immense concentration.
"Oh—sorry!" Pister apologized, realizing his mistake.
"I'll go—what is that?!" Ron was in the middle of a heated argument about who should help when a roar cut him off.
Everyone looked towards Greenhouse Three. A giant snowman was wrestling the Snargaluff's vines into submission, while Leon and Pister efficiently harvested pods from the exposed opening. Behind them stood Sean, wand raised, the snowman responding to his commands with deep, rumbling growls.
"Easy, isn't it?" Leon laughed, a hysterical edge to his voice. "Lose one useless Bruce, gain a little Green..." He even started humming a tune.
"Don't lie, Leon," Pister murmured, effortlessly collecting pods.
"How do you know I'm lying, Pister..." Leon retorted, sounding a little desperate.
Outside.
Justin's face fell. "Sean!"
He rushed to Sean's side just as a thunderous crash echoed from the greenhouse – the snowman had collapsed.
Sean swayed, exhausted. He accepted a piece of chocolate from Justin and felt the colour slowly return to his cheeks.
"Where did that snowman come from..." Ron stared, dumbfounded. He looked from Sean to the pile of snow. The gap between them felt wider than the gulf between wizards and Muggles.
"That's real... magic," Harry breathed.
Only Neville scratched his head, unfazed. Nothing Sean did surprised him anymore.
The difficult task was no longer difficult. Now, when Sean waved his wand, everyone felt like any problem could be solved. Just like always.
As the group enthusiastically processed the harvest—heating the pods over flames until they turned bright red, then squeezing them—Sean sat on a transfigured cushion, sipping Justin's honey tea.
The Panel chimed repeatedly in his mind:
[You have participated in the processing of a Difficult Plant to the Adept standard. Proficiency +100]
[You have participated in the processing of a Difficult Plant to the Adept standard. Proficiency +100]
[You have participated in the processing of a Difficult Plant to the Adept standard. Proficiency +100]
...
Difficult Plant?
It seemed plant processing also had tiers of difficulty, much like Intermediate and Advanced Transfiguration.
He checked his stats and realized his Herbology Knowledge was nearing Adept level:
[Herbology Knowledge: Novice (2700/3000)]
Processing a Dittany plant to the Adept standard only yielded 10 proficiency points, but participating in processing a single Snargaluff granted 100.
Sean began to understand why this plant had featured in the Battle of Hogwarts. He recalled the passage: Peeves zoomed over them, dropping Snargaluff pods onto the Death Eaters, whose heads were instantly engulfed in wriggling green tubers like fat worms.
(End of Chapter)
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