There were jealous looks from a few people struggling at this and a downright hateful glare from Malfoy and his gang. There were also impressed looks and even a few knowing ones from the few who had seen me, Mike and Terry practicing by the lake. Flitwick wasn't padding his own houses points though as Hermione also earned five points for being the first Gryffindor to pull it off after being spurred on by competitiveness. I didn't brag though or show off by using the modified version I learned earlier but turned to help the others who were struggling with the spell.-
"Your flick is too deep, shorten it a tad. Try to imagine being in a dark room and desiring light." I'd say depending on the person.
This earned me another five points from Flitwick who was pleased to see me aiding the others. Mike and Terry grasped the spell shortly after Hermione as they refreshed their minds with the little "tricks" to spell casting I'd shared before. Hermione also tried to help the others near her but she came across condescending with how aggressively she'd tell them how to improve. -
I knew better than that from working retail though, a softer touch works best with correcting others. By the end of class however you could see the difference in helping efficiency. The majority of those I helped either grasped the spell or were showing signs of almost getting it while only a little improvement came from Hermiones helped group. I wasn't the only one who made that comparison though as my peers and Flitwick also did. The Professor sighed and didn't say anything but my peers had no such troubles.-
"Alex is obviously so much better than Hermione."
"I know right? She's so bossy and didn't even get anyone to improve."
"Alex on the other hand had almost half the class using the spell by the end."
"i'm so jealous! he's so talented!"
These were a few examples of what was said and Hermione definitely heard it if the look on her face said anything. I just shook my head at it all though as Mike, Terry and I headed for the great hall to eat lunch. Honestly I was kinda confused what the fuss was with the homework Flitwick gave us at the end. Basically he wanted a few paragraphs on the light charm and it's uses. -
This wasn't a difficult thing at all to write though admittedly slightly tedious. Most of my peers were blockheaded children, which was fair given their ages, and couldn't imagine uses for the charm beyond simply creating a light. Anyways lunch was a simple affair of showing up and eating before heading to our final class of the day, Herbology. This class was almost purely practical in nature as we had to head directly to the greenhouses for it. Professor Sprout was clearly a smart teacher as the class was specifically on mixing fertilizer and using it on the various plants.-
This was smart because many of these kids came from families where the idea of doing stuff like this was unthinkable. I was of course referring to the majority of the purebloods in this case. By having them get their hands dirty like this the professor was humbling them even if only a little. At the same time this was also useful knowledge to have as certain plants needed different mixtures of fertilizers to flourish. For example predatory plants like the devils snare needed bone meal mixed into their fertilizer.-
The biggest turn off to herbology though had to be the smell. Since most magical fertilizer was made using dragon dung the stench of the dung itself was incredibly strong. I gagged at it personally at first exposure but once I got used to it there wasn't much problem. Unlike charms though I couldn't really show off in herbology without looking like it. Getting ratios for different fertilizers right wasn't exactly hard as it was just a matter of scooping, weighing and then adjusting amount until it was correct. As for identifying magical plants nobody asked so volunteering the information looked bad. -
"That's an itching vine, the leaves are toxic." I warned Terry as he went to poke a bright purple fuzzy vine.
"Good spotting Mr. Drake! five points to Ravenclaw! Now can you tell us what itching vine is used for?" Professor sprout said seeing a teaching opportunity to liven things up.
"It's got several uses depending on what you use from it. The roots are used for blood clotting potions, the stem and juice for antidotes and the leaves for itching powder." I said without hesitation.
"Very good! Another five points to Ravenclaw. Now then for your homework I want each of you to write three inches on the itching vine for our next class." She said pleased as she dismissed us.
"I can't believe I almost touched that thing! Thanks for stopping me." Terry said as we left with a horrified expression.
"It's fine, I'd expect one of you to do the same if you spotted me about to make a mistake like that." I said with a shrug.
"So how'd you even know what it was anyways?" Mike asked curiously.
"When I was in the hospital wing the Professor brought a bunch of plants for me to identify from the textbook, that was one of them. Nasty plants really, it's that "fuzz" on them that gets you. It's actually a bunch of needle like stuff that has a toxin on them so they get under your skin when you touch them." I explained and they both paled.
"Sounds like I really dodged one then." Terry said with a shudder.