Chapter Text
Chapter Nineteen: Herbology
Elsa sighed. It was the afternoon, and the Ravenclaws now had Herbology. Normally she would be excited, but there was just one minuscule, seemingly inconsequential problem that threatened to cast a shadow over her anticipation.
They shared Herbology with the Slytherins.
“I see your little pet isn’t with you today,” a voice sneered. “Don’t have your bodyguard with you anymore, do you?”
“What do you want Draco,” Elsa groaned, turning to the boy. Just two sentances in, and she already wanted to leave the conversation. Briefly, Elsa wondered if life sentances in Arendelle could be replaced with subjecting the guilty to spend a day or two with Draco. She was sure that the prisoners would rather take the prison sentance.
Draco smirked. “What? Not going to complain about my attitude again?” he taunted. Crabbe and Goyle snickered behind him.
Elsa clenched her fists and took a few calming breaths, pushing her anger down. Conceal, she reminded herself. You have to conceal. She couldn’t let Draco’s nasty comments get to her. He wasn’t worth it. Showing him anger would only make the situation worse.
Draco opened his mouth to say another thing, but just then, a squat witch with short, grey, wavy hair entered the greenhouse, saving Elsa from hearing whatever insult he was going to throw, as well as sparing himself from the fate of an ice statue.
“Good morning class,” the witch greeted with a huge smile on her face. She wore a patched and battered hat, and Elsa noticed how her clothes and fingernails were covered with layers of dirt.
“I’m Professor Sprout, your Herbology teacher and the head of Hufflepuff. Let’s get started, shall we?”
Professor Sprout gave them a short introduction to Herbology, going through a few plants that are commonly used in the wizarding world. Elsa listened intently, her curiosity piqued. She never had a huge interest in gardening, but who wouldn’t want to learn more about all the fascinating plants?
“This is a pot of Artemisia absinthium, more commonly known as wormwood. Can anybody guess where the scientific name of wormwood comes from?”
Elsa raised her hand eagerly. The professor gave her a warm smile. “Go on,” she said, pointing her wand at her.
“Artemisia is derived from Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt, while absinthium may come from the word apsinthion, which is Greek for wormwood or undrinkable,” Elsa says, standing up straighter.
“A very good and knowledgeable answer,” Professor Sprout said with a clap. “Five points to Ravenclaw.”
The other Ravenclaw first years clapped enthusiastically for Elsa, making her blush. The professor went through a few more plants before gesturing to the assortment of plants around the greenhouse.
“I want you to go around and study each plant carefully. Pay attention to the colour of the leaves, smells and more. But please be careful around them. Some of the plants are rather hostile.”
“So how did you know the meaning of the name?” Padma asked Elsa. They were looking at a particular flower with petals that seemed to change colour under the light. It was beautiful.
“The name’s Greek, a language that I know,” Elsa explained while stroking the petals, captivated by their beauty.
Her parents had encouraged her and Anna to learn more languages apart from English and Norwegian since it would be useful for diplomacy when they got older. Elsa had chosen French, as she had been interested in French culture and art at that time, as well as Greek, mainly because she loved Greek mythology. That was also how she learned a little bit of Latin, since the Roman versions of the Greek myths also intrigued her. Meanwhile, Anna had chosen French and German.
Her friends nodded in understanding. “What other languages do you speak?” asked Lisa curiously.
Elsa cocked her head to the side, thinking. “English, obviously, as well as French and a tiny bit of Latin. I also know Norwegian, the official language of Arendelle,” she answered. “What about you two?”
As expected, Padma spoke Hindi, and Lisa Manderin. It made sense, since they were Indian and part Chinese respectively. Lisa also spoke Cantonese, a Chinese dialect.
Before the girls could continue their conversation, Draco and his lackeys approached them with matching sneers on their faces. It made Elsa want to freeze him on the spot, but she knew that she couldn’t let her intrusive thoughts win, however much she wanted to.
“How’s Little Miss Know-it-all doing?” Draco taunted. “Playing with the dirt, Lovelace?”
Elsa got to her feet, looking him in the eye, giving him a sickingly sweet smile. “Not really, but it appears that I’m talking to some right now.”
Padma and Lisa snickered, while Draco looked positively furious. He spluttered something unintelligible, his face beet red. It was quite a feat to watch.
“What’s that Draco?” Lisa asked with a grin. “I’d think that a boy your age would have learned how to talk by now.”
Draco turned a further shade of red, glaring at the girls. “At least I don’t waste my time on these ugly, useless plants! Honestly! As wizards and witches, you should know bett–”
He never finished his sentence. A giant chomper plant nearby appeared to have heard his insults and punched him hard in the guts.
“Oh dear me! What happened here?” Professor Sprout came bustling over, a worried look on her face. She anxiously examined Draco, who was curled up on the floor, wincing in pain. “Are you quite all right, Mr Malfoy?”
“Draco insulted the plants, and one of them didn’t like it,” Lisa told Professor Sprout, a smug look on her face. Elsa didn’t blame her. If not for all her training in schooling her expressions, she would definitely have a grin on her face right now.
Professor Sprout frowned, shaking her head. “Mr Malfoy, you should have known better than that,” she chastised, hauling him up on his feet. “Off to the infirmary you go now.”
“My father will hear about this!” threatened Draco. He grumbled and cursed, clutching his stomach.
“Yes, yes, I’m sure he will,” said Professor Sprout in a tone that reminded Elsa of someone speaking to a five-year-old. The professor gently led Draco away from the greenhouse, but not before telling the class that they could have an early dismissal.
Elsa sighed, feeling a mix of amusement and relief. Looking around, she saw that they had caused quite a scene just now. It seemed as if every student’s eyes were focused on her and her friends. Most Ravenclaws, and even a few Slytherins, looked like they were trying their best not to laugh. Clearly there were some people in Draco’s own house that weren’t all that pleased with him.
Eventually, someone couldn’t hold it in anymore, and a giggle sounded in the air. Others couldn’t help but join in, and the dam of laughter broke. Most Slytherins, including Crabbe and Goyle, glared at the crowd, but that only made them laugh even harder. Elsa finally caved and joined in on the laughter.
“That was priceless,” Padma chuckled, unable to stop, wiping a stray tear from her eye. “Malfoy so had it coming.”
“We got him good, didn’t we?” said Lisa. “I mean, did you see his face?”
The three girls burst into a new round of giggles and laughter at the memory of the Slytherin’s tomato-red face.
Once the giggling had finally died down, all the students made their way back to the castle. The Ravenclaws had Charms again, where Elsa gleefully recounted what had gone down just now with Hermione. Harry and Ron listened as well, massive grins on their faces when they heard of Draco’s plight.
“Oh, Malfoy’s going to be furious at you!” Ron laughed. He had long since given up on the charms task Professor Flitwick had told them to do, declaring that it was “bloody impossible”, even though all four of the girls had managed to complete it.
Harry nodded next to his friend, waving his wand a few more times before also giving up and putting down his wand.
Elsa shrugged absent-mindedly. “He already is. It’s not like he liked me a lot before,” she said, hiding a chuckle when Hermione glared at Harry and Ron pointedly. The boys gave a grumble, causing Hermione’s glare to intensify. The two begrudgingly picked up their discarded wands again, muttering under their breaths.
“Honestly, you two,” Hermione sighed, exasperated. Ron was about to say something in return, but the bell cut him off.
It was their last class. Well, for the day, at least. They still had Astronomy later at midnight. Remembering Dumbledore’s note requesting her presence at his office, Elsa hurriedly packed up all her books and notes. She said a quick goodbye to her friends before dashing off.
Before she left the classroom, she stopped by Professor Flitwick’s desk, asking for instructions to go to the headmaster’s office. The professor gladly pointed her in the right direction, and it wasn’t long before she was standing in front of a large intimidating gargoyle. Puzzled on what to do next, she decided to just take a leap of faith. The gargoyle was probably magic, right?
“Umm… excuse me?” Elsa asked. “May I see Professor Dumbledore please?”