#19 - Morning Gardening

Oscar thought that it was weird that he had not planted anything for a whole day. It was for that reason that, even though he knew he had other things to be doing, he found himself making the trip to the Student Greenhouse straight after breakfast.

It was a comfort that at least it would not take that much time for him to plant some seeds.

He paused midstep when he reached the greenhouse and saw that there was only one other person there, mainly when he realised just who it was. But he carried on after only a slight pause, his steps only slightly hesitant.

Ashworth had seemed okay in their last Herbology class when they had briefly spoken, so maybe she was not quite as terrifying as he had built up in his head. Maybe? Hopefully.

He offered a polite wave in greeting as he walked towards his usual workspace. He liked the spot too much and was too relieved to find it still empty to pass it up, even if it meant working right by the person that he was still telling himself he was not wary of.

It took a matter of seconds for him to have his pots out and filling the space, so it was soon too late to change his mind without making it weird. No matter, he could easily lose himself in his seeds and making sure they had everything that they needed to grow.

Oscar started by filling each of his pots with soil and then poking little holes in the centre of each one. Blue seeds then went in the first two pots, which got pushed back into slots 46 and 47. Red seeds went in the next pot to claim spot 48, with his new purple seeds following in slot 49. He was especially excited for those last two since he had not grown them before.

Four pots down, he turned to his final special pot and buried his mystery seeds in the soil, then pushed the pot to claim slot 50. He thought that, since his last lot of mystery seeds had not destroyed the greenhouse, then there was no harm in planting some more.

After he had made sure that all of his seeds were well covered in soil, he brushed his hands off and pulled out his wand.

"Aquamenti," he said with a wave of his wand, and watched happily as a generous amount of water splashed over each pot to wet the soil.

"There we go," he whispered to the pots, patting the side of the last one in his line. Was he a little embarrassed that he might be heard? Sure, but that was not going to stop him from talking to his plants-to-be. "Grow nice and big, okay?"

All finished, Oscar shot his pots one last glance and then made a hasty retreat from the greenhouse. He was not running away. He just had other things to do.

[exit]

It was back to the Greenhouse for Janet, who had returned with her pot of dirt. She had come so late in the afternoon prior, that she had been unable to gain the permission she sought. After all, being able to use the greenhouse had advantages! Janet knew she could learn all about the art of Herbology from a book, which she had read a few, however by doing things by hand, she could learn a great deal more.

The trek to the Greenhouse, hauling the rather impressive pot, was a little hard. Janet had to remember that she could do this without issue though, she had done this before when leaving Hagrid's. When she arrived, she was pleased to see two familiar faces, one was Thorne Perry, a young man in her year. The other was an older Hufflepuff that she had seen in the common room.

Placing the pot down, she searched for the Professor in hopes to ask for permission.

Reena wasn‘t surprised to find her Monurk Berries had grown into viable ingredients yet took a second to inspect her pot where she had planted the Ancient Seed.

As Reena walked around her workbench to fetch a pair of sheers for her berries, she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye.
She slightly turned her head and unsurprisingly it was another student.

Reena returned the wave with a small smile and a nod in greeting. It was nice knowing Tinkle was mature and good-natured enough not to hold a grugde or any hurt feelings towards her after their duel had gone a little out of hand.

Oscar was one of the good ones, wasn’t he?
She had half a mind to ask him about his progress with the Founding Artefacts.

But she couldn’t very well do that without giving away that she had impersonated a Hufflepuff student and infiltrated his Common Room.
Although - now that she was Reena, and not in a place she wasn’t allowed to be, it would be his word against hers and she’d simply deny it to any professor asking.
What were they going to do, give her truth serum?

Then again, it had been rather deceptive of her and he might think less of her for it. She was not certain of the reason but the thought caused her upset.

Before she made a decision on the matter however, she cut the Monurk Berries loose and put them away safely.
While she tidied up the remains she heard Tinkle talk to his seeds, which she found oddly endearing and she felt prompted to tend to the Ancient Sapling in a similar manner, minus the talking.

By the time she was done, Oscar had already finished up and gone in a hurry and she had missed her chance to talk to him.

Reena did not mind too much however and instead hurried out herself, greeting the professor on her way and turning a sharp corner as she headed towards the dungeons.

[exit]

'I only grant access to those willing to put the work in,' Sprout said, though retained her warmth. '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?' 

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