Work Text:
It was hot in the greenhouse.
It was always hot in the greenhouse, and humid, but because there had been absolutely no rain for the last week and the sun was actively trying to toast them all, it was almost unbearable. Even professor Longbottom, who was always all about safety and wearing every possible piece of protective gear, had taken off his robe and was lecturing just in his shirt at the moment. Not that anyone was protesting, least of all the fourth-years from Ravenclaw who stood nearest to the professor. The heat certainly had its advantages.
“The second-years have successfully replanted all the mandrakes,” began the professor and pointed at the flowerpots on the bench behind him. “But as you know there’s been an accident during a lecture in Care of Magical Creatures…”
Most of the students made a face at that statement. It was no secret that creatures that most people would consider interesting and those that Hagrid found interesting were something completely different. And when the creatures escaped… None of the students at the scene could tell what exactly happened, but three were taken to the hospital wing with light injuries, one went hysterical and another one was found two hours later in a bathroom stall on the third floor. They had been trying to get him to come out for ten minutes before he opened the door, white-faced and shaking. The most important part was that an unknown number of Hagrid’s ‘oh, they eat everything, if it’s interesting’ was loose somewhere on the school grounds.
“Anyway, we don’t want to lose any of our mandrakes and Hagrid’s, well, the creatures have proved to be resistant to most of the usual protective charms. That’s why we’re replanting them to these new specially protected pots. You know what to do, get the earmuffs.”
The students hurried to fight for the few decent-looking earmuffs and the professor wiped sweat from his forehead. The whole situation seemed uncomfortably familiar – the memories of Blast-Ended Skrewts came to mind quite often.
When he made sure that no one could hear anything, the professor waved his arms to catch their attention. He was holding a pot with one hand and was about to put on his own earmuffs when there was a scream and it most certainly wasn’t a mandrake.
The students, naturally, didn’t hear anything, but the startled look on their classmate’s face was enough to send some of them into a run and the rest followed their lead. There was an unspoken law for the last few days that if you see someone run, it’s almost always because of Hagrid’s pets and you should run faster than the others and get the hell out of there.
Professor Longbottom didn’t waste any time and grabbed one of the new pots from the workbench. There was no use trying to hex the thing, it was time for drastic actions.
“Got you!” he shouted triumphantly when he managed to cover the creature with the pot, even though he managed to knock down a box with tools and a student in the process. He was just about to look for something to put on the pot when there was a crash from behind him and a sound of shattering clay. And a scream, this time definitely not human.
“Is he dead?” asked a voice from above him.
“No, I think he just lost consciousness,” said another voice, this time somewhere to the left.
“Do you think he needs CPR? My mum’s a nurse.”
“Right, go try it on a figurine.”
“What’s a CPR?”
“Oh Merlin, really? It should be compulsory…”
Something touched his chest and there was a giggle.
“Hands off, Ellis!” snarled a familiar voice and Neville opened his eyes to find a pair of arms over his heart. A head of the matron appeared above him, her face disapproving.
“Hannah, dear, what a surprise. And there is a good explanation, I’m sure there is…”