Difficulties

"The Wiggentree is a magical tree. That's where its bark comes from, which is used to brew potions... As far as I know, the bark is generally used for potions that give magical protection against dark creatures. I didn't know it had such a use," James explained with a frown.

"Why the frown?" asked Sirius, concerned at James' expression.

"If they didn't find the tree in the greenhouses, it would be impossible to find it anywhere else at Hogwarts," replied James.

"Professor Slughorn can't have the bark? From what you said it had hundreds of ingredients," said Lupin, and Sirius nodded repeatedly.

"No. Once you remove the bark from the tree it is best to use it as quickly as possible to brew the potion, as the fresher it is the more powerful its effects will be. So Slughorn won't keep it as a normal ingredient," explained James.

'How does he know so much...?' wondered Toby in his mind in surprise.

"So... should we get another potion?" asked Lupin, holding a hand to his forehead, as it seemed to indicate that he would have to resume his routine of reading potions books.

"We can ask Professor Sprout. Maybe she knows something," suggested Toby.

"That's a good idea. Besides, I don't think she knows about this potion. So she won't be suspicious," said Sirius, agreeing.

Luckily, they didn't have to wait long to have Herbology class. The next day in the second period, they went to the greenhouses.

"Today, we will practice with the spiky bushes. As you should know by now these bushes if they get angry can throw thorns at people near them. Who can tell me the best way to get rid of them?" asked Professor Pomona Sprout.

Sprout saw Lily's hand go up instantly as usual but decided to give someone else the chance since the redhead always raised her hand. On the other hand, although James knew the answer he was too lazy to answer it.

Toby plucked up his courage and shakily raised his hand, "Toby," said Sprout, permitting him to answer.

"B-best to get rid of them from a distance using the charm Incendio," Toby replied, stuttering a little at first.

"Very well. Five points for Gryffindor," said Sprout with a kind smile, and Toby smiled happily, as it was the first points he had earned for his house.

"I hope you have done your homework and practiced the fire charm in case you need it. Let's get to work," added Sprout.

Without further ado, they began the activity. In groups of two students, they had to take care of the spiky bushes. The best way was to treat the bush gently so that it wouldn't detect a threat and shoot its thorns at you, which cause minor damage.

If the bush decides to attack it is best to move away and cast Incendio, as once the bush detects a threat it can't stop attacking, so there is no choice but to get rid of it.

James and Sirius paired up. As Sirius wanted to set fire to anything, he purposely went rough with the bush, and it started throwing thorns at him, which he luckily managed to dodge.

"Incendio!" exclaimed Sirius with a grin as he stepped back and pointed his wand at the bush. From the tip of his wand came a jet of fire that easily disposed of the bush.

"That's not the homework..." said James with a roll of his eyes. They are supposed to treat the bush gently to safely remove its thorns.

"It's no fun to pull out some thorns. Let's get another one," said Sirius as he walked over to a large shelf where there were several spiky bushes.

Professor Sprout could see this behavior in several male students who, instead of performing the task, wanted to use the Incendio charm and watch the poor bush burn.

"People who use the charm Incendio twice will be punished, they must clean the greenhouses. Do your homework seriously!" said Sprout in a loud and somewhat angry tone.

Sirius and several others, who were having fun with fire grimaced in disgust but had no choice but to treat the bush gently and try not to let it attack them.

The class was over, and several students who had used Incendio twice had to stay behind to clean up the entire greenhouse, especially the ashes after burning the bushes.

James, Lupin, Sirius, and Peter went outside and waited patiently for Toby, who would be in charge of asking Professor Sprout about the Wiggentree. Sirius was very nervous, as not finding the tree at Hogwarts meant they wouldn't be able to do the prank, and he had already waited a long time.

'Maybe the smell won't matter...?' thought Sirius, but he quickly put this idea aside, as they would be very conspicuous if they had a putrid smell. Plus it would be very difficult to remove, as we're talking about a hundred dungbombs.

After ten minutes, Toby came out of the greenhouse with a smile, "Are there those trees at Hogwarts?" asked Sirius impatiently as he approached Toby.

"Yes. Yes there are," said Toby quickly a little uncomfortable at having Sirius' face so close to him. At the affirmative Sirius, smiled broadly, "Let him speak," said James as he pulled Sirius towards him and away from Toby.

"The Wiggentree is guarded by the Bowtru..."

"Bowtruckle. A very small magical beast. They eat insects, have long sharp fingers, are green, and look like a stick," helped James to Toby, who was having a hard time saying the name of said creature.

"Yeah, that. The good thing is that there is a Bowtruckle Island at Hogwarts! It's in the middle of the Great Lake. There is the Wiggentree there and the Bowtruckle's that protect it and live there," Toby said with a smile.

"That's great! We just have to go there and take bark off the damn tree, easy," said Sirius with a big grin.

"According to Professor Sprout, they're peaceful creatures, but they might try to gouge your eyes out if someone threatens their tree.... plus they are very agile," said Toby, who disagreed that it would be easy.

"A Incendio will be enough," said Sirius confidently.

"If a Magizoologist heard you, they'd give you a beating," commented James with a slight smile.

"Besides, if we cast an Incendio we can damage the tree bark. I'll take care of the little creatures," added James, who was looking forward to watching the Bowtruckle.

"How do we get to the island? We have to swim many meters, and it's very cold," asked Peter, and everyone was silent in thought. A cold breeze ruffled James' tousled hair as he thought.

"I got it!" said Lupin, and everyone looked at him waiting for him to speak, "We can use the boats we used to get to the castle at the beginning of the year," he added.

"That's right! With those boats we sail on the lake, where will they keep them?" asked Toby.

"Somewhere on the shore, I guess. Or will the gamekeeper guard them. His name was... Hagrid. I think," said Lupin.

"We should borrow them, then we'll give them back," said Sirius. After deciding what to do next they went to lunch, as they had wasted a lot of valuable time.

After finishing their lessons for the day they headed to the lake, in search of the boats. It was very cold near the almost freezing lake, to their bad luck the boats were not on the shore they were able to explore.

"What now?" asked Sirius with a frown.

"We'll visit him," said James.

"Who?" asked Lupin.

"To Hagrid," replied James with a slight smile.