Extra Lessons in Herbology

Chase glared at the plant in front of her with a look akin to someone extremely constipated. The plant waved delicately in a breeze that didn't exist and seemed to hum a soft tune to itself. There didn't seem to be anything particularly interesting about the flower beyond the hum, and it's gentle movements. However, Chase sat there with a sketchpad in front of her and that attempt to look studious.

It was Saturday, and the greenhouses were deserted save the Herbology Professor, who would come and go occasionally but who never gave Chase any mind. She knew there were a few other students in another greenhouse doing about the same thing she was or making up lessons and quizzes they'd missed during the week. Chase, however, wasn't doing a lesson. This was all her own practice, she NEEDED to get good marks in Herbology, and it was all she could do not to panic about her NEWTs.

So Chase sat, glaring at a flower that did nothing wrong and very occasionally glancing down at her sketchpad and making a few jots on the paper, trying to sketch it and take notes on its behaviors.

'I wonder if Devil's Snare would work' Froggy pondered as he often wandered into the Herbology greenhouses and classrooms for inspiration. While plants were not the only ingredients in potions, they were arguably the most used. Gathering his bearings, Froggy peered around the room. A myriad of potted plants, a mess of books scattered about, lots of drawings of non native flowers and of course a scarlett haired young woman looking intensely at a dancing and singing plant.

Froggy's head tilted to the right as he watched the plant moved rhythmically as thoughts burst like air bubbles breaching the surface of a pond in his brain.

"What...IS that?" Froggy asked rudely interrupting her intense focus. "It's amazing. I've never seen anything like it before!"

It didn't take much for him to lower his gaze to the same level as the plant not even looking at his fellow student.

Chase jumped when a boy came up right next to her and was looking at the plant she was trying to detail. She frowned at the plant and then back up at him before sighing heavily and leaning back, her head shaking. "Professor thinks it's a moonflower with a cheering charm.. or a singing charm.. or both." She shook her head before her eyes lowered back to her sketch. "Problem is it seems to be its own species now because the charm doesn't seem to be wearing off. Which is super weird cause Moonflowers usually only bloom.. well.. in the moonlight, but this one is blooming all the time AND singing to itself." She took a deep breath and looked at the boy.

"She asked me to sketch it and keep an eye on the behaviors to jot them down for some extra credit. Sooo...." She trailed off, her eyes locking back onto the weird flower. "It apparently came from the Americas. One day an entire field of the things popped up, which is why she thinks it's just a new species. The problem is they all sort of act a little differently. This is the only one she's got to study, but she told the researchers that she'd have her students look at it, too, and see what we could find. I just don't see much more than a slightly dancing flower, and the hum doesn't seem to have a melody, so I've been TRYING to sketch it, but the stupid thing won't stop moving." She laughed at herself and then looked at the boy.

"Oh, I've seen you around before. I'm Chase Moor, by the way." She smiled at him pleasantly before her attention turned back to the plant.

"I'm called Froggy Four-Eyes, you know on account of my..." he trailed off loosely gesturing to the thick lenses perched on the bridge of his nose. "I know this sort of thing isn't by forté, but hear me out. Okay Okay. You say it looks like a moonflower, but a new species on the basis of the strange things like not blooming in the moonlight, and well..." he motioned with palms raised, "the whole song and dance. The part that got me was the problem that none of them were the same. When have you seen a species of plant where each specimen was unique? You know where you might see that trait?"

Froggy's eyes widened in contemplation along side an agaped smile. "What if this isn't a plant at all. Creatures mimic plants all the time, like uh-uh-uh... the stick bug or-or-or those leaf insects. What if this is a undiscovered creature that is trying to mimic--not well with the whole blooming not under moon light--the moonflower?"

Froggy sat down perplexed. "Have you tried asking it nicely?" He asked in earnest.

Chase looked extremely concerned about his name, her eyes widening at the very casual way in which he introduced himself. "Uh... Froggy... Four-Eyes?" She looked appalled. "That is so rude, though!" She gasped and turned towards him with a very serious expression. "Who's bullying you? I swear I can get a Gryffindor to beat up someone if you need." She said extremely seriously.

Her eyes slowly turned towards the flower again, and she sighed heavily. "You know... we contemplated that, but honestly, it just sits there. It must be so good at acting or absolutely terrified if it's mimicking a plant..." She ran her hand through her hair and sat back on her heels. "That's why we're watching it so closely. There's almost always someone here keeping tabs on what it's doing. I've tried humming back to it, talking to it, leaving the room, and watching from around a corner. I even gave it a little bit of butterbeer instead of water." She scowled and shook her head. "It just doesn't seem to display appropriate traits for plants or creatures! It hums, it dances, and there are so many others... It does have roots as well. We had to re-pot it when it got here cause the one it came in was damaged..." She groaned and then turned back to him.

"Maybe you can see something we're missing?" She gestured to the plant in a way that said, 'have at it.'

Froggy's brow furled in focus.

"What kind of magic have you tried? Or what about different kinds of musical stimuli?"

Froggy abruptly stood up and faced the pot. With all of his self-awareness lacking, he awkwardly tried to match the irregular rhythm and "dance" moves of the plant. He held his arms at his side keeping his elbows pointed downward. He let his hands go limp to mimic the leaves and bounced his body at his knees. This might be the one time that being rhythm challenged was an advantage, although Froggy was doing his best.

"Oh, uh...thanks Chase, but nobody needs to be hit. I kinda like the name. I almost prefer it now." He glanced up at her making eye contact. It was at that exact moment that he was inundated with a wave of perception washed over him. He sat down hard. "Maybe its like the Hydrangea. It could react differently depending on the soil composition, but that would take some time. My mother was really into horticulture and we spent quite a lot of time together in the garden. I know what you're thinking, why aren't I dedicating more time to Herbology? Well, that was my thought when I first came to school, but when I discovered potions..." he paused for what seemed too long. "It just made sense to me. Plus now I can use the plants that I love to make draughts to help people, or y'know poison. Just kidding!" Froggy smiled sincerely.

Chase frowned and pointed towards a clipboard sitting on a desk beside the plant. "Well.. everyone is meant to log what they do with the plant in there just in case something happens..." she sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "They've tried countercharms to cheering charms and singing charms... I know one person played Mozart to the thing." She shook her head and then watched as he stood up and started.. dancing?

Her eyes went back to the plant, and it paused for a moment before slowly getting itself in tune with his moves. She gasped and stood up next to Froggy. "Hey! Did you see that? It wasn't huge, but it stopped its own rhythm and started doing what you are." She laughed and quickly grabbed the clipboard, jotting down that information for the teacher to read over. She listened to him talk as she wrote.

"You know, I'm the same way! Though I focus mostly on Care of Magical Creatures. That's my favorite, but I love Herbology and Potions. They all tend to go hand in hand with each other; the problem is I'm no good at literally every other class." She laughed and shook her head before putting the clipboard down. "Try dancing in a different way! See if it follows you again."

Seeing Chase's excitement, Froggy's confidence returned just as quickly as he lost it. He smiled at Chase, and then to the dancing plant. He then took a step back and gave the plant a practiced formal bow. Holding his hands out, Froggy embraced his invisible partner deftly and gingerly. He lightly closed his eyes, slightly tilted his head to the right and gave a cute nod. Froggy hummed a tune and began an easy box step. After a few turns, he looked to the plant which was loosely aping the movements as best as it could.

"Chase! Do you see this? This is amazing!" Froggy beamed the widest smile. He and the plant both twirled their make-believe partners and dipped them deftly as the song Froggy hummed came to an end. Froggy's bow to the plant was loosely reciprocated. "You know I think I like the little thing! Here give it a shot, see if it'll respond to your movements."

Froggy gestured to Chase to take the make-shift dance floor. I believe your little subject is awaiting its next dance. Froggy gave a small mock bow, as he sat down. He adjusted the robes around his knees, rested an arm on the top of the chair and happily awaited this new discovery.

"Are you seeing this? I don't know anyone who's danced with a plant before! I think it might have been trying to mimic the movements of a tree or some grass in the wind! Does it have eyes? How does it know? Vibrations? Variations in the air? Oh this is terribly exciting!" He said while finishing up his dance. Froggy dipped his imaginary partner with grace and finished up humming his song. Froggy bowed deeply to the little flower. "Thank you little one,

Chase laughed and clapped along with his dancing as the flower tried to mimic it the best it could. It couldn't twirl in the pot particularly well, but it spun on the spot and then spun around to the other side to mimic the movement. She noticed after a moment that it almost seemed as though it had taken on the position of his dance partner instead of just mimicking his movements. Her eyes went wide, and she went to jot it down with her other observations.

"This is incredible. Everyone was so focused on the noises it made, not the movements!" She gasped and ran her eyes down the list of other things people had checked out. "It's got to have a way to know what you're doing, though, because it actually wasn't doing exactly your movements but the opposite of it, like it was dancing WITH you." She set the clipboard down again and went over to stand in front of the plant.

"I'm not great at dancing, but I took ballroom classes once." She put her hands into position and started twirling around the room, her eyes locked on the plant as its leaves moved loosely to match someone holding onto her waist and hand. "No way.." She gasped, still stepping on the spot in a light waltz/box step. Her eyes were glued to the plant as it swayed.

"Man, I cannot wait to tell Juniper about this. She's going to be so stoked!" She gasped and moved back towards the plant, observing it carefully as she stopped dancing, and it went back almost immediately to its usual swaying and humming. "Thank you so much, Froggy!" She gasped and looked up at him with a huge grin.