Chapter 9: Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There

The rest of the first week seemed quite uneventful, the only 'interesting' thing after the whole Luna debacle is that Flitwick practically cracked down on the Ravenclaw common room, interrogated every single one of the students there, which eventually leads to a lot of third years, and a couple of sixth and seventh years to be given detention for the rest of the year.

Sucks to be them, honestly.

While I didn't really talk to Luna that much, we often sit together when we have dinner, she certainly looks livelier than before.

After that, the next best thing is probably flying lessons, which is not really thrilling. I am afraid of heights, like most people do, the feeling flying around in a single broomstick is not pleasant, sure, it has some safety spells around it, but it's not visible, so my mind still thought about it as an extremely dangerous thing to do.

As for studies, I continued to learn the first section of the Keeper's Mastery book, while also continuing to learn the charms and jinxes for Professor Flitwick's charm, adding some spells to my arsenal. I focused on learning the spells that have a mastery subsection in the Mastery book, such as the Shrinking charm, the Slowing Charm, the Freezing Charm, The Seize-and-Pull Charm and many more.

Finally, on Sunday during the first weekend, Professor McGonagall called me to her office.

Obviously, during the weekend, her classroom is awfully quiet, only her and her alone were sitting on her desk, writing away, grading students' papers without any bias.

"You call for me, professor?" I asked, and her gaze turned towards me.

"Yes, come sit." she said.

I followed her wishes, so I sit, on the chair in front of her desk.

She placed her quill on the desk, and put her hands on the table. "You haven't told me about your electives, Mr. Ashworth."

Oh shit, I forgot.

"Oh, sorry Professor. I was a bit overwhelmed this week." I chuckled nervously, giving the field guide to her. "I choose Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures."

I choose Ancient Runes, because, well, I'm studying Ancient Magic, might as well learn the other Ancient subjects in case something comes up. As for Care of Magical Creatures… I literally have a vivarium full of rare creatures, and I don't know how to take care of it.

"Ancient Runes?" McGonagall frowned. "Are you sure? It's a notoriously difficult subject. While I admire your curiosity on learning, you already have many assignments to do."

"I thought about it, professor, but yes, I would like to take that subject. It looks interesting."

"Everybody says that at the beginning of the term." she said, shaking her head as she added the schedule to my field guide. "Very well, Mr. Ashworth, but you must take care of yourself, or finish one of the assignments as soon as possible to free your time. For the textbooks, you could go to Hogsmeade in November for a cheaper price, so in the meantime, I suggest you borrow one from your classmates."

"I'll keep that in mind, professor. Thank you."

======

The weekend passes by like how long the majority of men last in bed—quick. Instead of Charms, I was meant to help Professor Sprout's fourth-year herbology class at the greenhouse.

When I entered the sun-lit room, it was now filled with a dirt-filled pot that held no plants. Professor Sprout was putting seeds towards it, using her wand to do it simultaneously. Once she saw me entering the room, she dropped her wand and grabbed a book near her.

"Good morning, Ashworth," she remarked as she approached me. She then handed me the book she was holding. "Here, go to page 15."

"What is this, Professor? What are we up to today?" I inquired.

"It's a herbology spellbook," she explained. "Today, we're going to study about the Herbivicus charm. You don't have to learn the charm right away; simply read the theories briefly to grasp what I'll discuss later."

She went over to the pots and placed one in front of me. "This is for practice. It's a rose seed."

"All right, great. Thank you, professor."

I read the book that was given to me as the professor continued to set up the pots for the students. The charm was described in the book as follows: "The Herbivicus Charm, also known as the Herbivicus Spell or Gardening Charm, was a charm used to induce plants to grow rapidly and flowers to bloom. Herbivicus Duo was a more powerful variant of this charm."

I kept reading about the spell's theory and how to perform it; it appeared to be a simple spell, so I took out my wand and pointed it at the rose seed in the soil. As the page indicated, I flicked my wand and whispered the incantation.

"Herbivicus."

A crackling ball of emerald-green energy emerged at the tip of my wand in an instant, and a twisting jet of dazzling green light shot away from it. The energy penetrated the ground and the seed, and the seed quickly expanded into a tall and thick green spiky stem. The plant continued to grow until it was almost as tall as I was, and a magnificent red rose emerged from the tip of the stem.

I took a step back from the pot, taken aback by the sheer size of the rose. But what the hell, it's the wizarding world; nothing could be normal here.

"Brilliant!" I could hear Professor Sprout exclaim. "Professor Flitwick told me you're a quick learner of spells; I assumed he was bragging, but evidently my assumption is untrue as I see it right now."

"That's a big rose, Professor." I mentioned.

"Yes, it's a species bred for the thorns," the professor explained. "The thorns are used for love potions. We have one other species in stock here at the moment, bred for decoration, which is to be used later this year."

I turned to face the thorns. Perhaps I could take a couple? Sell it to students?

"I know what you're thinking, Mr. Ashworth. Sprout warned; she probably thought it wrong. "Don't bother; love potions are not real love. It's a vain attempt to win over affection. If you want to win someone over, I suggest you give her the whole rose instead of just the thorns."

Talk about a romantic Professor Sprout...

As the bell rang throughout the corridors of Hogwarts, the fourth-year students of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff entered the room, positioning themselves in front of their own desks that had yet to be occupied. The once-semi-quiet room turned noisy once again, which made the living plants inside the greenhouse, who could "hear", shake and become annoyed at the disappearance of the silence.

"Alright, settle down everyone," she said to the class, walking towards the front, near the board. "We won't be needing gloves or spades for today, so take your wands out."

"We'll be doing magic?" questioned a boy with an Irish accent.

"That's right, Mr. Finnigan." She nodded as she dropped one of the pots that she had set up on top of her desk. "In front of you, there should be a pot that has a single seed planted in it; your task is to make it grow fully by the end of the lesson. Now, who can tell me what charm could make a plant grow rapidly?"

A bushy-haired girl quickly raised her hand, exceptionally faster than the others, as if she were a pro at raising her hand.

"Miss Granger?"

"It's the Herbivicus charm, professor," she answered confidently.

"Good, ten points for Gryffindor." Sprout nodded. "Right, I will demonstrate it to you."

The professor then took out her wand, pointed it at the pot in front of her, and cast the spell.

"Herbivicus."

In an instant, the plant grows at a rapid rate, and the flower blooms in front of the students, making some gasp in surprise.

"Mr. Ashworth right here will give you the instructions on how to do the charm." Professor Sprout said.

I will?

"The parchments for the instructions are there," she said, pointing to a chest in the far corner of the room.

Oh, I thought I had to literally explain it to the others...

So, as the fourth-year students tried to do the spells without the instructions and only by eyeing Professor Sprout's movement, I walked up to the chest, took the stacks of parchments from it, and walked up to the desks of the students, distributing them slowly.

A lot of the students just gave me confused looks, as I know I'm not supposed to be here in their eyes, but they should've guessed that I'm here as an assistant, seeing that the professor is telling me what to do here and there.

But, I noticed that some of the interactions were quite unique, to put it mildly. Some girls, specifically a girl with dirty blonde hair, were smiling rather coquettishly at me, "shyly" thanking me for the parchments.

There is nothing like a pleasant ego boost for me.

As I was done distributing the paper, I went back to Professor Sprout, asking what I should do next.

"Well, I was planning on having you participate in the lesson," she shrugged. "But you actually did it before the class even started, so you should just go around and help the others if they need it."

"Well alright."

As the professor told me to do, I walked around the greenhouse, looking at the students' works. I asked if they wanted some help, and, surprisingly—or, if I want to be a bit narcissistic here, unsurprisingly—a lot of girls want my help. So, of course, like a good assistant, I helped them learn how to use the charm, guiding their hands to follow the wand movement as instructed.

It was an easy spell, but a lot of people seem to have trouble with it for some reason. I have no idea why, though; I noticed that these students are quite impatient, which promptly might be the cause of the "trouble".

When I finished assisting the female students, I quickly made my way through the greenhouse, asking other students if they needed my assistance, but then I noticed a redheaded boy, seemingly impatient to cast the spell, trying so hard to cast it, despite the fact that the hand movement is slightly incorrect.

"You need help?" I asked. "Seems like you're having a bit of trouble."

"This bloody spell is confusing," he muttered.

"No, your wand movement is a bit off." I continued. "It's not like the Levitation charm wand movement, where it has a sharp movement at the end; in this spell, the curve must be smooth, so you have to be a bit patient."

The redheaded boy looked at me with confusion, as did the green-eyed boy beside him. Both of them then turned towards each other, and the redhead boy answered me.

"Care to give us an example again?" he said.

"Well, I can't use it on yours, can't I?" I hummed, looking around for a free pot.

"Here, use mine," a bushy-haired girl offered. "I'll take a spare one later."

I raised my brow at her. Something's going on here...

"Sure," I said. "Thank you, Granger, right?"

The girl just nods, and I put her pot in front of me. I took out my wand and waved it, casting the spell. Once again, in an instant, the giant and beautiful rose sprouts from the soil, blooming majestically. This rose is quite pretty; this should be the prettiest one in this room...

"There, you watched that?"

"How did you do that?" the green-eyed boy asked. "I thought you just started your studies at Hogwarts this year?"

I shrugged. "So?"

"Well, it's a bit odd that you learn quickly." Granger continued. "Logically, you're the same as the first-years; you shouldn't be able to know a lot of spells, and learning a charm takes some time. But here you already know a fourth-year charm, and it's only the second week of class. It's like you already knew it from the start or something."

Oh, I know what's going on... A good point, but a flawed one.

I just chuckled at Granger's words as I gave her pot back to her. "Maybe I'm just talented. And here's your rose, Granger; I'd say this is the prettiest one I've seen here so far."

I instantly regret saying that; she could be taking my words the wrong way. And from her faint blush on her cheeks, I'd say she did…

Oh well, I guess that's a bit of a nice ego boost too.

…I should stop doing this.

"Well, Potter, try it on yours then." I said to the green-eyed boy, moving on to the next topic.

"You know my name?" He was surprised.

"Yeah, you're the one who was staring at Cho often, right?" I said. "And you know, you're the boy who lived."

"I didn't—" The blushing boy was about to protest but couldn't think of anything to say. So, he just pointed his wand at his pot and cast the spell, making the plant grow instantly.

"Good." I nodded. "You should be able to teach your ginger friend here."

"It's Ron Weasley," he grumbled.

"Right." I hummed, and I left the trio to their own devices.

Finally, the rest of the class seems normal, and most of the students have done the charm at the end of the period.

===

After dinner, as promised, I should be going to Moody's office to get some private lessons. I walked through the dimly lit corridors alone, stepping through the stairs quietly, intending to reach the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

When I entered the room, it was dark and unlit. The room has been simply tidied up; the tables and benches have been stacked up against each other, leaving the room rather spacious.

"Professor?" I called, but no one answered.

While the room was dark, I could see Moody's office upstairs was lit because of the lights coming out from between the door frames. This was definitely not a good sign at all, especially since the one I was supposed to meet isn't technically Moody; it's a literal Death Eater.

But, I kept approaching, climbing up the stairs towards the office. I knocked on the door, trying to find a response, to no avail. It was then that I noticed that the door wasn't locked, and after slightly gathering my courage, I slowly opened the door.

I peeked through the slit and saw nothing, but then, suddenly, a bunch of tiny heads dropped from the ceiling, making annoying noises that scared the shite out of me. I almost got knocked down the stairs by the scare, but I held on.

Just as I was about to go back to where I was going, which was to enter the professor's office, my instinct suddenly warned me of something, and I quickly took out my wand in response.

"Protego!"

A blue sphere protected me from all sides, and as it happened, the shield charm shook, magic dust scattered all over, and something had hit the charm. It was a red blob of light that would definitely knock me out.

I turned around and saw that Moody was standing in the middle of the room, his hand holding an invisibility cloak.

"Good," he simply grumbled. "You at least have good instincts."

What was that?!

"Professor?" I questioned, still a bit shocked.

"Mistake number one," he said, ignoring my words. "You didn't cast a detection charm when you entered the room. I saw you cast the detection charm everywhere, but you didn't use it here."

"But we're in your classroom, and I've already collected—"

"It doesn't matter if we're in a classroom or that you have collected all the pages; wizards who have ill intent are everywhere!" the professor screamed. "Remember: CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

I sighed. This guy is really good at acting.

"Come down, Mr. Ashworth," he commanded. "From today onwards, I will teach you how to fight. Not like those flimsy students that only cast weak spells on each other, but—"

As I came down from the stairs, a bolt of green light hit the wall near me, coming out of Moody's wand. I flinched—isn't that the killing curse?

"A real wizard duel." Moody grumbled. "When you're facing dark wizards, mercy is not an option. You have to do whatever means necessary to win."

"Sir, was that the killing curse?" I asked calmly. This guy is fucking insane; he literally could've killed me right there and then!

"It was for demonstration only," he answered roughly. "Come on, I don't have much time; today, you're going to learn about the blasting curse."

And so my private lesson with a Death Eater began.