There's a deadly Snake downstairs! (rewrite)

Pixie Pandemonium

The next morning, the news that Ron Weasley had driven a flying car to Hogwarts and had managed to crash it into the ancient Whomping Willow reached them.

"STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHERAND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE -"

The yelling shocked everyone.

"Looks like Weasleys got a howler," Draco whispered gleefully to his friends.

"Serves him right," Pansy said, buttering her toast.

"- LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU COULD HAVE DIED -"

Harriet's eardrums started to hurt and her hands began to shake. She placed them out of sight under the table and focused on the food in front of her taking the time to mentally list everything.

"-ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED - YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME."

"Serves him right." Blaise stated matter of factly.

The gang left the table together, and made for the greenhouses, where the magical plants were kept. They had herbology with the Hufflepuffs.

As they neared the greenhouses they saw the rest of the class standing outside, waiting for Professor Sprout. The gang had only just joined them when she came striding into view across the lawn, accompanied by Gilderoy Lockhart.

Professor Sprout was a squat little witch who wore a patched hat over her flyaway hair; there was usually a large amount of earth on her clothes and her fingernails would have made Aunt Petunia faint. Gilderoy Lockhart, however, was immaculate in sweeping robes of turquoise, his golden hair shining under a perfectly positioned turquoise hat with gold trimming.

"He looks ridiculous, doesn't he?" Pansy whispered to Harriet, who nodded in agreement.

"Oh, hello there!" Lockhart called, beaming around at the assembled students. "Just been showing Professor Sprout the right way to doctor a Whomping Willow! But I don't want you running away with the idea that I'm better at Herbology than she is! I just happen to have met several of these exotic plants on my travels . . ."

"Greenhouse three today, chaps!" said Professor Sprout, who was looking distinctly disgruntled, not at all her usual cheerful self.

There was a murmur of interest. They had only ever worked in greenhouse one before - greenhouse three housed far more interesting and dangerous plants. Professor Sprout took a large key from her belt and unlocked the door. Harriet caught a whiff of damp earth and fertilizer mingling with the heavy perfume of some giant, umbrella- sized flowers dangling from the ceiling. She wondered if they were poisonous.

Professor Sprout was standing behind a trestle bench in the cen ter of the greenhouse. About forty pairs of different-colored ear muffs were lying on the bench. When Harriet had taken her place between Draco and Pansy, she said, "We'll be repotting Man drakes today. Now, who can tell me the properties of the Man drake?" To nobody's surprise, Sierra's hand was first into the air. Hufflepuff or not, no one could deny that she was the absolute best at Herbology, closely followed by Neville Longbottom.

"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative," said Sierra, sounding as though she had swallowed the textbook. "It is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state."

"Excellent. Ten points to Hufflepuff ," said Professor Sprout. "The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?"