Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo

[Holly Scrimgeour]

Word Count: 356 | Tag: @'Calla Potts'/@'Demelza McGonagall' | Date: November 03, 1887
November brought with it a whole different air than November. October seemed to be the month everyone was finally adjusting to school life, while November was when everyone finally decided they were settled in. The next month would bring Christmas holidays and leave all of their first years to finish their first half of their first school year! Admittedly, the winter weather did make some things more difficult for the students — namely venturing out into the cold air for midnight Astronomy classes and going outdoors for Flying lessons. Holly had already decided that she liked neither of those classes, but was still set on getting a passing grade.

So far, her favorite classes had proved to be Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts, if only because she was good at them! She also enjoyed Charms and Transfiguration and Herbology, but she was definitely less passionate about them than the two former. There were some students she assumed were good at certain subjects — specifically Miss Potts, whose family owned a florist shop. That meant she had to be good at plants, right?

Her suspicions were seemingly confirmed when the Slytherin wandered into the greenhouses to do some studying after class had concluded for the afternoon.

"Oh, Miss Pippy Potts!" said the Slytherin in an uncharacteristically chirpy, happy tone. "I'm so glad you're here. You're the perfect person to help with the sketches for Herbology. I assume that's what you're doing here, is it not?" she asked, somewhat rambling with her request. Holly, while not naturally friendly, could be especially nice when she wanted something from someone — or when she simply was excited about something!

"I already have the sketch on Niffler's Fancy done, but I still need to draw the Wormwood and the - er - Germander," she explained, almost finding herself flushing over the mention of the name of her betrothed. What sort of a mother would name her son after a plant? Er - well, her mother had named her after a tree, but it was a pretty name! Not at all something weird and unusual as Germander! She was surprised someone hadn't yet nicknamed him 'Germy'.

  

[Calla Potts]

Calla had grown quite fond of finally living in the castle on the hill rather than just stare in its general direction while her sisters went off each year. No, she was here, it was finally her turn. She was the last, though - at least for a while.  Maybe one day, another little girl would come in, wide-eyed and ready, but that all depended on if Cousin Edmund was ever married and if he ever had children - else the long line of Potts that had come to grow and flourish in Hogwarts ended the day she graduated. A sad thought but one she had never had cross her mind and one of which she could do nothing about.

She had settled in quite well and fairly quick to the castle and her yellow colored spreads. She hadn't come to school expecting to be in Hufflepuff but now that she had been in the house for two months, she could not imagine being anywhere else. Having her quidditch practices had helped tremendously - they gave her a chance to shake off all her extra energy, which in turn meant she could actually sit to finish her homework later at night.

Today though, she hadn't had practice right after school but rather it was later in the evening, another team had already claimed the pitch. Having nothing better to do with herself, Calla had wondered off to the greenhouses after classes, not bothering to stop by her dorm, and rather stay in her robes, her bag bouncing around against her side making a flop noise each time it landed on her thigh, though muffled by the thick fabric of her robes. Another thing she had found she preferred were robes over the more confining muggle fashion.

She had plans to work on a patch of flowers left by one of the last years graduates or maybe just someone who hadn’t come back that she had adopted from her care after noting the wilting. Someone had clearly been watering them for them to still be alive, but they hadn’t received the full care they needed. She hadn’t really asked if she could take over them, but they were just flowers, and no one had seemed to care yet, so she now merrily assumed they were hers.

Calla set right to work, humming to herself as she started to weed – there were more than normal, she hadn’t taken much time yet with them the past week – but it didn’t take long for someone else to come into the greenhouse and she was for once, content to remain silent, until she looked up and noticed the new occupant right next to her, and she frowned in confusion. She didn’t mind someone talking to her, she would be hypocritical if she faulted someone for that, but what had the girl called her? She couldn’t be too sure she was talking to her if it wasn’t for the ‘Potts’ and none of her sisters being here either – not that she had a sister named ‘Pippy’.

“Miss Scrimgeour, hello! I do believe you have my name wro-,” she started to protest, though she was cut off as the other girl launched back into speech. Sketches? What was she going on about? Oh, was she talking about the Herbology assignment? “Oh those, no, I finished those in class earlier today.” They had been pretty easy – all were fairly common plants, she hadn’t even needed to look them up to draw them. So why did Miss Scrimgeour need help for such a basic thing?

“What part do you need help with?” Calla pipped, setting down her spade and turning around, leaning against the table with her body weight. “Finding them?”

word count: 627

  

[Holly Scrimgeour]

Word Count: 283 | Tag: @'Calla Potts' | Date: November 03, 1887
Pippy Potts greeted her without any disdain in her voice, making her feel slightly more confident that she was about to receive some help. She had some difficulties with some of the other students, simply because they thought her to be evil! How silly was that? Holly Scrimgeour being evil? It was stupid! She might've been a little judgmental and a little bratty, but evil was definitely a long-shot. She might've done well convincing Miss Claire de Luna that she was evil after she'd lost her temper around her, but no one else should've been given a reason to think she crawled straight out of hell.

She was going to be kind to Pippy, she decided, at least until she proved annoying and incapable of doing what Holly had asked of her. It seemed to be going well, though, for instead of denying the Slytherin of the assistance she needed, she prodded deeper and asked more questions about the help she needed.

"Oh, I don't need help finding them," she insisted, her eyes scanning out the plants in the greenhouse. "I just need help drawing them. Well, not drawing them," she said, "but labeling them. What's the most important parts of those plants, do you think?" she asked curiously, pulling out her sketchbook to show the Hufflepuff.

Holly considered herself at least decent with sketching. Her governess had always pressed her to be a good artist, and then her wicked step-mother had come along and forced her to practice when she didn't want Holly bothering her. Holly didn't like Papa's wife, but that was probably because she wasn't her mother and Papa had had a baby boy — a new heir — with Holly's step-mother.

  

[Calla Potts]

Calla had always been one to form her own opinions, and even if she didn't, it was highly unlikely for her to have heard of any of Miss Scrimgeour's misadventures due to the fact Calla simply did not pay attention to the gossip chains. So far, none of her friends had been directly involved and that was the only way she was to know, though she was still a little wary of angering the girl after the Defence Against Dark Art's class where the girl had lost her temper - however, Holly hadn't been the one who attempted to set her on fire personally, so she was willing to give the girl a chance.

The youngest Potts child would like not make Holly's decision an easy one to stick to. She was loud, cheerful, and overly optimistic. Honestly, her nature just seemed the opposite of the Slytherin girl. Still, compared to some of the other students Holly planned to take advantage of, the Hufflepuff did have a backbone and knew her limits and quite frankly, had no issues saying no if it came down to it.

Small hands reached out to take the sketchbook from the other girl. Holly's drawing were neat with the clean precision of someone who had countless lessons while on the other hand, Calla's were messy and only recognizable due to her years of familiarity. Her spare hand ran over the drawings, slowing her hand over a few parts of one of the plant. "I would label any part - at the least - that is used in potions commonly. Petals, roots, leaves, anything like that. Anything that would be used in a poison or an antidote or just a normal potion. I'd mark anything that has multiple uses or if one part counteracts another of the same plant."

  

[Holly Scrimgeour]

Word Count: 247 | Tag: @'Calla Potts' | Date: November 03, 1887
Holly's adventures during her first week of schooling had been rather ... wild to say the least. She'd been stuck up, violent, and entirely frustrated with her new surroundings and unfamiliar schedule. It had led to her taking all her faults to the extreme.

She was still a stubborn, hot-tempered, and somewhat vile girl, but she didn't like to show it. Befriending others and being diplomatic was a skill her governess had been trying to instill in her since she was only six years old, yet Holly still had some way to go when it came to being genuine and believable.

Pippy Potts seemed less than eager — but still completely willing — to assist Holly with her Herbology assignment. She smiled as Pippy took her sketchbook and examined the drawings on it, Holly's face falling into the smile when the other girl had nothing negative to say regarding her drawings. That was good! It meant that she'd gotten a pass from the girl who'd worked with plants, which meant her drawings were pretty and neat and accurate.

Now the only thing left to do was figure out what she should be labeling.

"Alright, so the stems and leaves and petals and roots," she commented, mostly to herself. "Now tell me, Pippy, what are the most useful parts of the - er - Germander plant?" she asked. "I know how to identify the parts, but I'm not as great when it comes to memorizing all the specific parts of so many plants!"

  

[Calla Potts]

While Holly had struggled in her adjustment, Calla had taken to Hogwarts like a fish would water. Socialize and making friends had always been easy for the light haired child, rather she had had trouble keeping her mouth shut - even in class, something her own governess had tried to instill in her only to so far fail. Calla just didn't have it in her nature to be quiet. She had actually tried before - it rarely worked for longer than a few minutes.

Good drawings were a start, she supposed, to be good in herbology, though frankly being able to draw well meant nothing if you couldn't remember the uses and accidentally poisoned someone you had meant to heal. Still, it was a start. Flipping the page the plant that Holly had mentioned, she raked her eyes over the paper, scanning the plant. "Germander is used mostly in food honest - it is in treacle fudge actually. I don't know too much about the medical or potion uses of it beyond what the book. I know mostly about recognizing and caring for plants, honestly. We don't do many potions at home. I do know you are only supposed to use the parts that grow above the ground. The roots can be toxic. It isn't that popular, either.

As far as memorizing the parts, the easiest thing for me is to grow one, nothing makes you learn something faster than being forced to keep it alive - but I suppose you cannot grow everything we learn. Have you just tried sketching them and labeling them over and over? You can try doing it without looking at an old one to quiz yourself. Some of my sisters have done that."