Thursday, May the 1st, 1895 — An Unused Greenhouse

The springtime air often served as a reminder, to those unfortunate enough, that pollen and the airborne dandruff of plantlife would soon clog the air. Friends and classmates with allergies always stood out in these times, struggling to make it through a class without a sneeze or sniffle. Millie couldn't help but feel bad for them, yet without any way to really empathize. She didn't suffer the health or allergy conditions that plagued others, never knowing what it was like not to take breathing for granted.

Until this year.

It had started shortly after her birthday, when Jimmy Fletcher had nearly made her faint from demonstrating a kindness for once. That must have been it, the young witch reasoned as she took to the hallways, keeping her books as far from her chest now. The shock of Mr. Fletcher's uncharacteristic compassion, in his own way, must have thrown her utterly out of balance. There was only one other reason why she might have suffered the spells of breathlessness since, coming on as an overwhelming sense of drowning despite being firmly on dry land, and it was one that she hadn't want to acknowledge.

With the OWLs looming in the future, Millie had no choice. She was not the sort to be resigned to her fate, not more than she would grumble about in earshot of her friends and Ben. It simply took the fifth year far too long to do something about it, and with much more embarrassment than ever expected. Millie was a Potts, by Merlin's beard, there was no reason she should ever need stoop to this level. But as she stepped forth into the arranged meeting place —not the library, no that would be too public to expose her pale green thumb— and found her tutor there waiting for her, reality tried to drown her once more.

"I need to thank you, Miss Grace," Millie began, letting her books clatter a little too noisily onto the workbench. She would need to thank Professor Skeeter as well for allowing them to take refuge in the unused greenhouse. Here she could breathe a little easier, something her reddened face and tightly-wound chest would be just as grateful for. There was no good excuse for why the youngest Potts girl had neglected to take advantage of her family's expertise while on breaks, or plan ahead at all, leaving her flustered and desperate for this last-ditch tutoring session instead. She was simply at wit's end and needed to buckle down or risk everything.

"I didn't know who to turn to for help. It's really rather embarrassing, as I suppose you might have guessed, everyone turns to me to know everything about Herbology." Millie let her breath out with a wry sort of sigh, pulling the pair of work gloves from between her books so they would stack more cleanly. "And I don't suppose the OWL examiners will buy any of the usual excuses, either."

The Garden Club president would be in the same mess as she was in a few weeks, facing the examiners with far too much on the line. For Millie herself, it was more than she could handle losing. Just a little help, she had decided, was all that would be needed to eke out the right grade to avoid disappointing her father, herself, and anyone who heard the name Potts.

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Antelope Grace

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   Antelope Grace

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Antelope had been in the greenhouse a little while after coming to check on Strigoi, the last and still unhomed specimen from her vampiric vegetation study. The plant snapped at little flies that the Hufflepuff was leading to it with her wand while she read the book she and Miss Potts were studying for their OWLS. There was a slightly off smell in this greenhouse, unused and poorly ventilated for a little while, but it wasn't intolerable so the girl had mostly forgotten about it.

She heard the door open and Millie walked through with her books in her arms before placing them on the table causing Antelope's plant to react as if it was slightly surprised. Genie smiled sweetly at Millie, "But I haven't done anything yet Miss Potts." She put her tongue between her teeth in playful jest then put her wand gently down on the table next to her books. Millie was right, there was a certain reputation that had been built up by the family members that had gone through before her. Antelope would admit she was surprised that Potts had asked for help on herbology so she guessed she was guilty of the same.

She shrugged "You shouldn't be embarrassed, this is school, we aren't supposed to know everything, otherwise what would be the point?" She giggled and leaned over the book in her hands. She wasn't as worried about the examiners as the Ravenclaw seemed to be. Antelope was almost pathologically friendly and had a reputation for being so, so she hoped she could set Millie at ease somehow. She enjoyed studying with other people and she enjoyed helping those who had found a sticky point in their study. The girl liked to think that if she was struggling there would be plenty of people willing to reciprocate the favour.

"Where do you want to start?" she asked sweetly.

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Millie Potts

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   Millie Potts

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Her name is pronounced similarly to Penelope

With her books set on the table, and her mind set for the work ahead, the young witch thought it was plain to see the enormity of Miss Grace's concessions already. They might have discouraged anyone else, and she was too intimidated of being discouraged to ask another. What passed between Herbology's star student and the torchbearer of her family's legacy was more than enough for Millie Potts to already be expressing her gratitude.

Her worries were only a little deflated by her classmate's cheerful jibe, humor would do little to settle her nerves. A good book might have a chance, or perhaps a quiet moment alone with Ben, neither of which Millie had found the privilege of enjoying in the last week. It was a wonder there was anything left of her necklace to soothe the fingers that ran along its tarnished surface, but at least that one solace remained in place to bring the young witch this far today. "I can't say for certain where I need to start, except..."

Even in the deserted greenhouse, she hesitated to say the basics. Things that Papa had tried to teach her, and Millie had shared his wish that, once at Hogwarts, she would learn the notions that seem to come to the rest of her family so easily. Or to her father and all her cousins, that is. She couldn't recall the last time a plant had ever not looked pristine under their most idle care, when it might take the whole of her concentration not to have her potted charges wither.

She took a breath, pulling in the pollen and aromas of soil and greenery in with her. "it can be difficult to know what a plant needs. I know what to do, by the book and such. And at home, Papa was very clever with his plants, so when the book doesn't help there are other techniques I can try. However...I'm worried about questions on plants I've never had time to observe before that very moment. If I'm asked what it needs, such as a spell or change of soil, I'm afraid I've never quite gotten the knack to just know right away."

By now, it wasn't the humid air or the oppressive nature of revisions that had Millie feeling light-headed and needing to take the seat across from Miss Grace, but they certainly didn't help the awkward matter of confessing to a peer. If Antelope couldn't help, her cause was truly hopeless after all.

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   Antelope Grace

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Antelope listened carefully to her peer as she explained the root of her problem. Gently nodding her head along and fiddling with one of the fronds from her plant.

"Ok... so you know what they should need. But if I follow you. You are worried you would not be able to respond properly to a plant that you are presented with with no advance preparation. Hmmm." she looked at Strigoi as if there was information passing between them for a few thoughts.

"Well, good news for a start, thats called intuition, you cant teach that, so they cant examine it... I think. But this might help."

She pulled out a roll of paper and unfurled it, placing a stone on the corners. It was titled "Plant care map" and it was a very Hufflepuff looking document bubbles with small writing in them leading to a web of colourful crayon lines that looked like you could easily get lost in. Some lines were faded or redrawn with different routes and some of the bubbles had writing in that looked like it belonged to a younger child. If Millie liked to make assumptions she might be able deduce that Antelope had been working on this document, editing it and updating it for a few years. The hufflepuff cast her eyes over it proudly and placed her finger on the middle and largest bubble, coloured in yellow. "If you start here, and just follow the questions it should then tell you what a plant needs at a given time." she furrowed her brow a little bit as she once again spotted a part of it she wanted to update, but there would be time for that later. "Have a little look and tell me what you think?" it might not be of any interest to Millie, but it might help her form paths in her own mind how she would answer the question she posed.

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Millie Potts

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   Millie Potts

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Her name is pronounced similarly to Penelope

Millie didn't let herself interject to help guide Miss Grace's response. Professor Skeeter was helpful enough, but he wanted his students to put in the work to helping themselves. Having reached the end of her own capacity, the young witch needed a creative hand, an approach so novel she hadn't considered it before. That, or another six months of practice with Herbology alone; if only such a thing were possible.

The parchment that Antelope set between them was creative, indeed. Some of it brought a rise to her eyebrows, outlined in crayon as a child might, until later entries done in ink with a more dutiful hand allayed her caution. What seemed like mockery to begin with, the notion that the young witch might need the utter basics renewed in her mind, gave way instead to the thoughtfulness of a peer sharing the kind of help she needed. "You made this?" Millie asked, though the answer was plain as the daylight filtering through unwashed windows. Antelope was right, intuition was her foremost problem. She wouldn't have expected the other girl to struggle with it as well. "It's incredible, and rather...thorough."

Just the type of thoroughness Millie would have expected from Herbology's star student. The colorful web was not so difficult to follow, and she mimicked the other girl's touch once it was clear that her fingers were a welcome addition. From wilting leaves there were several lines, one leading to dry soil as Millie knew well. Another led to overwatered, which she had run afoul of more than once. Between the cause and solutions, her fingers lingered, wishing for more to illustrate the particularities that often eluded her own deductive reasoning.

"It all makes sense..." the young witch began, still hesitant to lay out her shortcomings to one of her peers. In for a knut, in for a galleon. Taking her fingers from the page to touch at her throat instead, she decided. "...on paper. And I could memorize this, if you'd be willing to lend it to me for a few days. Perhaps that will be enough, for OWLs that is."

Her lips drew a thin line across her face, clouded with consternation. Words came to her more easily when writing. "I think...I just...My trouble is with the moment before the questions begin. The noticing part, and what's worth taking note of."

She motioned with her fingers again to the parchment, tapping the lines between the bubbles. "Perhaps if I could observe your method once or twice?"

It was, perhaps, a big ask of a classmate just before exams. Millie hoped the other girl could see through her intentions, she held no ill will toward her classmates or ambitions to push ahead of them. The floral crown could remain firmly on the head of Miss Grace, if so desired, she only wished to glimpse at her prowess in the act.

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   Antelope Grace

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Antelope nodded excitedly as she showed off her masterpiece and helped Miss Potts begin to navigate it. "I did, I started working on it in first year and... I got a bit carried away I guess." thorough was probably an understatement she giggled and shrugged nonchalantly as they chatted.

She paused for a few moments having considered the theory of handing over her work not how actually lending this document to someone would make her feel. She had no reason not to trust Millie so why not. "I can allow you to borrow it. But im trusting you Miss Potts." she squinted her eyes playfully and pointed her finger at the other fifth year. Her fingernails were well kept for someone whose fingers were so green and there was a friendly threat attached to the end of the gesture. Perhaps if the document was to be damaged or go missing then Antelope might introduce Millie to some of her research into necromancy adjacent potions.

As Millie asked for a demonstration Antelope raised an eyebrow and looked around them. There was very little active vegetation in this abandoned space. Mostly winding Hedera. Then she looked across at the vampire next to her. "Ok, an example. This is Strigoi, he is a European Barrow Lily and he has a particular affliction. I know what his problem is because he has had it before because he is a naughty little seedling. She looked at the plant in a way that Millie might look at her cat. "But for practice sake let's say I dont." She placed her fingers in the centre and slowly traced them around. He was wilting a little and the newest growth seemed stunted. She ruled out several things as she saw no reason for them to be the problem. The various pathways gave her two options. Either root weevils or poisoned soil. "What do you think?"

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Millie Potts

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   Millie Potts

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Her name is pronounced similarly to Penelope

Antelope's words carried weight, and in her mind Millie could envision them on a page alone in one of her novels. An extravagance that underscored the meaning of what was being said, the trust that was being offered to her. Her fingers found the necklace at her throat before the young witch offered a solemn promise in return, "I shall treat it as my own child. Or, since I don't have a child, as my own cat."

Houstonia was probably roaming the castle grounds at the moment, reveling in the freedom that his four paws granted him. The parchment had no such freedoms, and Millie would see to it that it didn't gain any under her watch, either. She kept the diagram open for now, only pushed slightly to the side when Miss Grace agreed to help further. It would only serve as her backup, a fallback measure in the worst of cases, though just having it nearby made her already start seeing her options as they were so colorfully laid out on the diagram.

With a plant set before them, Millie took interest most of all at the variety. Antelope was more like Papa, giving names to plants and all the affectations that came with it. A barrow lily was one she hadn't chanced to see in person yet, though she had read its page in her copy of Flesh-Eating Trees of the World several times late at night, when it wouldn't disturb her fellow dormmates. This was a true test of the young witch's abilities, one for which she had to admire the intuition of Miss Grace in selecting this particular plant. "I haven't actually seen one before, not up close."

The young witch leaned into the lily, visually inspecting it as she reached for her gloves. The carnivorous plant's fangs weren't very visible, but they would happily draw blood from fingers that got too close. Its wilting was most apparent, and for that Millie didn't even need a chart, or the class; she had learned to spot a sad state in plants long ago at home. The stunted growth in the youngest leaves was the most alarming, and for that she drew on her herbology knowledge. "The leaves look intact, and no visible infestation," she noted, turning a few over with gloved fingers. She touched the soil and felt it spring back enough to rule out dehydration as well. Not that she would ever suspect Miss Grace of failing to water her plants in the first place. "Unless it's gone deep to the roots..."

Looking up at the other girl, Millie paused for a moment to search for any recognition or admonishment. Then she looked away, a little embarrassed for not trying to evaluate this on her own. Pulling the diagram a bit closer again, her eyes followed the levels of options. They narrowed down to several, and only two supported what conclusions she had drawn so far. "I think I would want to cast a detection charm on the soil, the problem lies within. The plant needs a treatment of some kind, that's all I can really tell so far."

If she had known more about its growth history and what Miss Grace had used in the past, of course, the answer would be simpler. She could probably assume the plant had been de-weeviled already and the soil kept free of toxins, though in a greenhouse such as this there were many chances for cross-contamination. The wealth of unknowns kept her quiet at that point, and but for the gloves on her hands, she would have sought the refuge of her necklace as she waited to see what Antelope would say.

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   Antelope Grace

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Antelope nodded in agreement, she knew Millie enough to not expect her to be reckless with her things and to be as good as her word. She also was aware of her cat, one of the many felines that helped keep the dorms free of invading rodents despite their age and the twisting labyrinth of space between the walls. Antelope thought fondly of her own childhood cat, he would have loved Hogwarts and as a soft sad smile crossed her face her features unconsciously changed to be distinctly more feline in nature. She sighed and then shook her head to clear it, listening to Millie's process.

"Perfect, and there were are at the end. The problem is in the soil and using a detection spell will likely reveal the cause to you, or you can have a little root around in the arm... roots." she gave a little giggle at her accidental pun before touching her wand against the soil and casting a spell. You could not see anything without your magical eyes but there was the sensation of something underneath, something corpulent, greedy and feeding off of the life blood of the stricken plant.

The tip of her alder want was plunged into the soil in a move that might appall want afficionados and she used it to hook out a big juicy weevils, about an inch long, fat at one end and with a hard red and black carapace at the other. It gently undulated as it tried to wriggle back towards the soil. "Ooh look sweetie, its a big one." it wasn't clear if the plant was responding to the voice of the girl or the scent of the insect but to the observer it might be seen as the former and one of the fanged flowers gaped open ready to enact revenge on the interloper. She looked at Millie with a wicked grin before casually dropping the weevil in and watching it snap shut.

"A bit of trivia about this species, it will take approximately ten days for Strogoi to digest that weevil and then a couple of days later the flower will reopen and there will be nothing left but a carapace and a few legs. Interesting, isnt it? Any questions?" she asked playfully with her love of the field on broad display.

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Millie Potts

  

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Her name is pronounced similarly to Penelope

Perfect.

It was a notion that Millie found mildly uncomfortable, as if at any moment the other girl would burst into raucous laughter as the joke was unveiled. As her patter continued, Miss Grace failed to laugh or use a course turn of phrase, leaving the young witch with only an unsettled feeling by herself. She could breathe and nod in return, while her fingers found the necklace at her throat to soothe the worst of her worries.

Herbology really had no right to leave her so wanting, so unnerved by the chance at winding up somehow correct. That was what she hoped for, what a Potts should be. Trying to make herself feel less like an imposter in her own skin, Millie took the breath that had been waiting for her, watching and listening to Miss Grace finish the work as decided. She didn't find this part so difficult, and if asked, Millie could have performed the spell and weevil capture herself.

"You talk to it like I do with my cat," Millie observed, and the small grin that spread across her face was the first mark of relaxation that she allowed herself. They didn't seem to have much in common otherwise, apart from talents with plants, but the more she watched the more Miss Grace's similarities stood out. The young witch couldn't bring herself to treating her plants as a pet, that seemed too much like a quirk or oddity for her comfort. Yet Antelope wore it in a charming enough manner.

Antelope was easy enough to get along with, too, and for that Millie felt grateful for coming to her.

"Only one question," the young witch offered, and this time her face didn't hold a hint of a grin. "Can you Obliviate our last few minutes so I can try again without remembering the answer?"

Even expecting that wasn't the case, Millie couldn't help but wish all her exams had such an option. Or at least her studying for them. She could never be sure whether her answers were real knowledge or just recall from having just finished the same problem earlier. In lieu of that, Millie might simply have to expect that her answers were, at least in this subject matter, perfect. The only real determination on that would come by mail this summer.

Until then Millie had done all she could reasonably attempt to improve her chances of making perfect actually perfect.

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   Antelope Grace

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Antelope giggled, "Maybe.... I find they enjoy it too." it sounded absurd, but to Antelope it made absolutely sense that her plants were listening to, responding to and thriving to the sound of her voice. And even if it was all in her mind, she wouldnt change for anyone.

She turned to face Millie with a twisted mouth and her eyebrow raised high, she instinctively reached for her wand at the request for her to cast something, but she wouldnt be casting that. "Isn't the whole point of this that you remember how to do it?" she puzzled, but did not follow up because it seemed that Millie was joking anyway. She began packing away her stuff. She was about to pack up her mind map but remembered that Millie was taking it and handed the rolled paper to her.

"If you have any questions, you know where to find me. This was fun." she smiled, she got so much joy out of being a positive part of other people's lives.... its probably the reason she was made a hufflepuff prefect (hint hint)

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Millie Potts

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   Millie Potts

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Her name is pronounced similarly to Penelope