The storm had blown itself out by the following morning, though the ceiling in the Great Hall was still gloomy; heavy clouds of pewter grey swirled overhead. I had just sat down with Lucille and Astoria for breakfast. We had gotten our schedules earlier that morning. Everything was the same from last year. Except Arithmancy was with the raven claws instead of Hufflepuffs. Lucille still wasn't taking divination so therefore we still had one less class together. There was a sudden rustling noise above them, and a hundred owls came soaring through the open windows, carrying the morning mail.
I didn't pay much attention us I doubt any were for me. Plus Styx somewhere in the owlery. The owls circled the tables, looking for the people to whom their letters and packages were addressed. A large tawny owl soared down to Neville Longbottom and deposited a parcel in his lap – Neville almost always forgot to pack something. On the other side of the Slytherin table Draco Malfoy's eagle owl had landed on his shoulder, carrying what looked like his usual supply of sweets and cakes from home. Narcissa seemed to be extra generous this year.
"What first today?" Astoria asked grabbing my schedule from my hand.
"Oo fun. Herbology with Gryffindors." Astoria says with interest.
"Ugh I hate herbology." I say, "It seems pointless."
"You only say that because it's the only class your bad at and have to try at." Lucille says pointed. I give her a dirty look.
"Come on, we better had to the greenhouses before we're late." I say trying to change the subject off my dislike of herbology. We walked down to the greenhouse in silence. Once we enter Professor Sprout begins. She walks up and starts talking about what we would be learning. I mostly tune her out. Professor Sprout starts showing the class the ugliest plants I had ever seen. They looked less like plants than thick black giant slugs, protruding vertically out of the soil. Each was squirming slightly, and had a number of large, shiny swellings upon it, which appeared to be full of liquid.
"Bubotubers," Professor Sprout told them briskly. "They need squeezing. You will collect the pus -"
"The what?" said Seamus Finnigan, sounding revolted. Lucille seemed to be holding back a gag. I was already disliking herbology even more.
"Pus, Finnigan, pus," said Professor Sprout, "and it's extremely valuable, so don't waste it. You will collect the pus, I say, in these bottles. Wear your dragon-hide gloves, it can do funny things to the skin when undiluted, Bubotuber pus." I looked down at my Bubotuber in disgust. Squeezing the Bubotubers was disgusting. As each swelling was popped, a large amount of thick yellowish green liquid burst forth, which smelled strongly of petrol. They caught it in the bottles as Professor Sprout had indicated, and by the end of the lesson had collected several pints.
"This'll keep Madam Pomfrey happy,' said Professor Sprout, stoppering the last bottle with a cork. "An excellent remedy for the more stubborn forms of acne, Bubotuber pus. Should stop students resorting to desperate measures to rid themselves of pimples."
A booming bell echoed from the castle across the wet grounds, signaling the end of the lesson, and the class walked down the sloping lawn towards Hagrid's small wooden cabin, which stood on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. I was ecstatic that herbology was officially over for the day. Hagrid was standing outside his hut, one hand on the collar of his enormous black boarhound, Fang. There were several open wooden crates on the ground at his feet, and Fang was whimpering and straining at his collar, apparently keen to investigate the contents more closely. As they drew nearer, an odd rattling noise reached their ears, punctuated by what sounded like minor explosions.
"What do you think we could be doing?" Lucille whispered next to me. I shrugged. I had started dreading Care of Magical Creatures even though it used to be my favorite. Hagrid taught horribly and only the boring gross creatures. The only good lesson had been hippogriffs and even then there was serious injuries. I was still shocked that he hadn't been sacked yet.
