#10 Morning Gardening

Jamie had taken his time getting to the greenhouse that morning, found a place to just sit and begin writing a letter home. Once he did arrive at the greenhouse, two older students had already arrived and he swallowed in shyness before he found his own plant and put his things on the ground next to his feet. He scrambled to get a few things from his bag and than looked at his plant in mild reservation...

What did he do now?

Lindsey pushed her hair from her face before she started to work on her plants, the first being the Sunurk Berries. With the sheers in her hands, she took her time finding the berries between the leaves and smiled when she did find them. Once the Sunurk Berries were done, she did the same with the Moonurk Berries, though the leaves were a little more stubborn. She had to fight some of the leaves a bit more to find the berries, but once she did, she snipped the berries out and placed them in her bag.

The Eglower Flower was the next of her list of things to take care of. She grumbled at the plant as it fought her and remembered the pollen that was known to make her sneeze. She finally managed to pull the flower free after some fighting and sneezed a few times after getting pollen into her face. She took a moment to herself after a sneezing fit to blow her nose and put the flower away.

The next plant was the Fyire plant and she quickly secured her gloves as she approached the plant. This was not going to be fun, but it was something she had to get done. Lindsey kept her sheers out and ready to snip it, but the flames from the plant was hot. It took some attempts and she felt her skin burning from the heat, but after her hairs were singed, she managed to snip the needed plant and quickly store it away.

Storing the sheers back where they were suppose to go, she put her hands on her hips and glared at the Furpods. This one was going to be a handful, but after pulling her sleeves up, she went in to tackle the plant. After several attempts, she had to back away and take a break. The plant was fast, she had forgotten just how difficult this one could be and after a moment, she went back in and fought the plant once more. Finally, her hands grabbed the twin beans and she gave it a good yank.

"Well, ye wee bugger, I got ye this time," she said as she caught her breathe before she began to process of cleaning her work station. She hadn't been paying attention to anyone else, just doing her work to get everything done. She filled her five pots with dirt before she pulled out five seeds; a pink seed, a blue seed, a yellow seed, a purple seed, and a red seed. Once those were sorted out, she put four of the seeds into regular clay pots and the purple seed into her advanced garden pot before replacing them into the same slots as before, slots 41 to 45. Once they were in the correct slot, she took out her wand and pointed it towards the pots. 

"Aquamenti!" Lindsey said in a firm voice, causing a spray of water to come from the tip of her wand to water the five pots. Once that was done, she finished cleaning up her work station and left the greenhouse to go to the hospital wing to have the burns from the Fyire Plant treated. 

To say that Jamie was nervous would have been an understatement. He witnessed the Gryffindor girl struggle with her Eglower flower and he looked at his own. His heart was pounding in his chest and he was gripping his bag with such a force that his knuckles had turned white. By time he was ready to do anything, the other girls were cleaning up and he gulped back the panic that was building in his chest. He slowly pulled on this gloves, which felt too large for his hands and picked up the sheers.

Suddenly, there was a puff of pollen in his face and he was sneezing and coughing up a storm. He stumbled backwards and he looked at the flower through watery eyes. This was a big mistake, he should just leave and not come back. What was he thinking? How was this even remotely a good idea? He felt his another sneeze coming and turned away from the flower as he sneezed in fits. As they slowly began to drift away, he turned back to the flower and went in for a second try.

He kept his face turned away and held his breathe as he grabbed at the flower and finally managed to remove the flower from the plant. It had taken longer than he had planned, but he had managed it and felt a little bit of pride wash over him before he pulled out the three pots he had brought to continue his kit. Filling them with dirt, he found himself making a huge mess at his feet as he spilt dirt on his shoes and barely managed to get the pots set up on the counter.

With the three pots filled, he put in the three seeds he had; yellow, pink, and blue. He put his gloves back in his bag before he pulled out his wand and fumbled slightly, nearly dropping it in the dirt at his feet. As he caught it and his breathe, he pointed the wand and said the incantation.

"Aquamenti," he said but was disheartened when only a few drops of water came out. He was still a new student, maybe he just needed more practice? "Aquamenti!" He said again, this time with a little more force and managed enough water to get one pot finished. "Aquamenti!" He yelled this time and suddenly he had to grab his wand with both hands to hold it while he watered the last two pots. Breaking the spell caused him to get a little misted with water, but he managed to put his wand away without further incident.

After putting the pots away in slots 1, 2, and 3, he grabbed his things and left. He only made it about five feet out of the greenhouse when he remembered to clean up his mess and he rushed in to clean the dirt from the station and put things away. He ran out the greenhouse before anything else happened, too scared to be there by himself any longer.

Professor Sprout remained absent.

Trix didn't have much choice than to wait in hope that may change, or to come up with another plan. While she pondered, the greenhouse side door opened and Sprout entered clutching a huge pot with a tiny blue plan shoot in the middle. She heavily placed it on a private counter, away from any of the student-use ones, and sorted some jars of mystery soil-like contents - unaware she was sought after.

Attention diverted from the plant shoot, Professor Sprout removed her gardening gloves and nodded at the small Hufflepuff who'd spoken to her.

'Of course.' She smiled warmly at the girl, noticing the pot. She had a fair idea of what this was about, but wasn't going to presume. Some students also used their Herbology Kit as an opener to discuss other things too.

'How can I help you?' Sprout asked, approaching to better hear Trix.

'For that, you'll need access to this greenhouse,' Professor Sprout said. 'And use your own pots or seeds, of course. I have some spare seeds to get you started, but yes I think you'll find the task interesting.'

She checked on a few leafy plants nearby.

'I only grant access to those willing to put the work in, though,' Sprout said. 'Having access to the Student Greenhouse and making use of it in you free time... that's quite a commitment. Are you sure you're up to the task?' 

Trix needed to convince Sprout that she was serious about it and the work involved.