It was a true miracle Gus didn’t trip over his own two feet while rushing out the door of his office, the wailing still ringing in his ears. He half apologized to a student as he nearly ran them over, finangling his way around them as he pushed open the door leading to the outside, nearly cursing at how cold it was for April. Gus was a warm weather person; he’d sit outside all day even dripping in sweat. During the winter he’d rather be bundled up next to the fire with a hot cup of Irish tea.

Instead Gus made his way down to the greenhouse where he hoped Mason was currently at. It had been some foul joke to put a screeching mandrake in his office, and Gus, unknowingly, had stumbled into the room carrying his latest batch of essays, when the piercing screech of a young mandrake shook him to his core. A prank, he supposed, by a student who was still trying to prove his worth as a professor. He had to do a much better job at remembering to actually lock the door to his office when he wasn’t in it.

Proven at his time in Hogwarts Gus neither had a green thumb or good enough herbology grades to know how to deal with the baby mandrake on his floor - even as he’d run out the door and closed the door behind him, he could still hear its wails. He could only hope it wouldn’t cause harm to a student.

Panting, Gus pushed open the door as he barged into the greenhouse, thankful he wasn’t interrupting one of his classes. Taking a quick glance around, he could only notice all kinds of pots and plants, although he knew he couldn’t name a single thing. He took a minute to regain his ability to breathe, leaning against the glass windows. He was thankful for a beat of silence before he finally spoke

“Skeeter, I know you’re probably busy, but…” Gus always needed something from the elder professor: advice, a shoulder to lean on, someone to listen to his lame joke at meals. He mustered up an embarrassed laugh as he rubbed the back of his head. “How fast do you think we could move a mandrake from, let’s say, a certain professor’s office to here?”

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