The Marauders and the House of Black

Chapter Sixteen: Ignorantia est Audax

A/N: Loosely based on: art and headcanon by Tumblr user @ alessiajontrunfio (art shown above), text post by Tumblr user @ mutteringfool, and headcanon by Tumblr user @ prongsyouignoramus

Wednesdays after breakfast, all of the second-year Gryffindors found themselves walking towards Herbology. The walk led them down sloping hills, and the dew dampened the ends of their robes, soaking into their socks. Honestly, none of them minded because the sun was cresting over the trees and washing over their faces. The greenhouse itself was more or less unassuming, but the vines and branches that managed to grow through cracked panels and around the walls gave it a certain charm.

Inside the greenhouse, Professor Sprout was bustling about putting supplies at each workstation. As the students approached the tables, they could finally see what was there. As per usual, Sirius and James paired up at a table with Peter and Remus across from them. Similarly, Lily and Marlene had paired up and they found themselves across from some of the Ravenclaws.

Professor Sprout clapped merrily seeing that everyone had made it to their spots and introduced the lesson. "Good morning, class! Today we will be repotting Mandrakes, which is the wee purply-green plant you have in front of you. When uprooted, the Mandrake will scream. Its scream is fatal to anyone who hears it. As such, we will all be wearing protective earmuffs over our ears."

Just as she had said, there was in fact a pair of fluffy grey earmuffs next to each pot. Many people grabbed them, before Professor Sprout said, "Woah! Wait just a minute, we can't have you tuning me out just yet. Before you pop your earmuffs on, let me explain the entire process. Once you firmly grasp the mandrake near the roots, you can pull it straight up and remove it from the soil. Then you can transfer it into the new empty pots you all have and add fertilizer until their wee mouths are covered. Any questions?"

"What if they fight back?" A Ravenclaw chimed in, sounding nervous.

"They're still quite young, I'm confident any one of you would be able to win that fight," Professor Sprout jested, but quickly reassured, "Nevertheless, I will be monitoring and can rush to any students' aid if needed. Now if there are no further questions, put your earmuffs on and get started!"

After a few moments, a horrible blood-curdling screeching sound could be heard, albeit muffled by the earmuffs. Grimacing, Sirius and James continue on, repotting their mandrakes. Upon moving on to their second one, James held the screaming and kicking plant out to Sirius saying "Come on, give it a little smooch."

Reasonably disgusted, Sirius stumbled back bumping into another student. As he falls, Sirius sees a quick flash of blue indicating Ravenclaw.

"John!" comes the cry of his table partner. It dawns upon Sirius that it was not just any Ravenclaw student he knocked over, but rather Stebbins, his friend.

When he turned around to help Stebbins up, the sight was worse than he feared. The poor boy lay crumpled on the ground with his earmuffs knocked off.

"Oh, dear!" Sprout said as she rushed through the group to help her student.

"Merlin, is he dead?" Sirius said incredulously, recalling Sprout's words from earlier in the lesson.

"Heaven's no, my boy! He's only fainted."

"But you said," Sirius says.

"I said what I said so that you all would be careful, but baby Mandrakes don't possess a powerful enough scream to kill," The professor cut off her own ramblings with a quick shake of the head. "That's beside the point, will someone please accompany Mister Stebbins to the hospital wing?"

"I can!" two voices chimed in at the same time. The voices came from Logan Burbage, the Ravenclaw boy who was partnered with Stebbins during class, and Emmaline Henry, a Ravenclaw girl with a propensity for kissing up to teachers.