Shine a Little Light // Pomona & Lucinda // Flashback
“Alright, everyone. Your homework is to research the correct way to harvest the leaves off of a Venemous Tentacula. I’d like a foot of parchment on the subject, please. Whoever doesn’t submit the homework will have to spread dung on the mandrakes after next class.” Pomona winked at the students as a series of groans echoed throughout the glass building. She waved to dismiss the class, turning back to Professor Beery.
“Well, that was my first time teaching the full N.E.W.T. level class. How’d I do?” She talked in a hushed voice, quiet enough so the students wouldn’t overhear her as they left.
“Oh, Madam Sprout, you are doing a phenomenal job. The anecdotes of your travels through Romania were quite nice, seemed to keep the interest of the students very well!” A warm blush colored Pomona’s cheeks as she shook her head. She hadn’t felt that confident, watching the students in front of her look longingly out the windows, attempting to judge the time based on where the sun was streaking in the dingy windows. She did need to have them cleaned soon.
“I have to go prepare Greenhouse 10 for the second years, could you take care of the clean-up here?” Pomona nodded, smiling as the jovial man gathered his things and headed off into the next greenhouse.
Pomona turned to clean up the tools, watching the students who had lingered in the greenhouse. A Ravenclaw boy was comparing notes with his friend, a girl in Gryffindor who seemed to adore the more colorful, beautiful plants but shied away from the more dangerous varieties. Another Hufflepuff boy was furiously rubbing at his robes trying to get a stain of bubotuber puss out of his clothes.
And then there was the small group of girls, chatter corner, as Pomona had taken to calling them in her head. They seemed to arrive and leave together to every class, whispering through the whole period unless called out for talking. She didn’t know exactly how they had decided upon Herbology as a class they wanted to continue after their O.W.L.s. It wasn’t a glamorous sort of subject, that Pomona knew well. And with the climate of things now, there were certainly more applicable subjects for their future. Perhaps they had figured the class an easy pass, which Herbology was, if you paid attention in class.
There was one girl in the group, however, that held great promise. Lucinda had a natural eye for caring for the plants, one that Pomona recognized in many of her coworkers through the years. She had that natural instinct you needed when caring for plants, knowing how much water was too much, when the plant got too riled up after you had been harvesting or pruning. And her essays were among the best in the class, so she seemed to show a genuine interest.
But in class, she seemed so cold and apathetic to the work. It baffled Pomona, if she were honest. How could someone show such natural talent, such genuine interest in her papers, and not care about a subject? She had wanted to get a word with her for a while, but had never managed to get Lucinda alone. Seeing an opportunity, she seized it, strolling confidently over to the girls.
“I noticed you all didn’t care to pay much attention during class today. Especially you, Miss Talkalot. That is highly disrespectful, to myself and Professor Beery, and quite frankly I’m tired of tolerating it.” Pomona put her hands on her hips, attempting her best to be authoritative. “I will give you two options, and you are free to pick whichever you wish. You can either help me clean up the greenhouse, or I can take 40 points from Slytherin. While you decide, the rest of you lot can be on your way.”
Pomona turned away from the girls, grinning to herself. Perhaps the amount of points had been a bit drastic, but it wasn’t like there was really a guideline for how many points a professor could take from a certain house. Besides, she was certain Lucinda wouldn’t want to be the one who lost her house that many points, so she would stick around to clean up. That would give Pomona the opportunity to finally talk to the girl alone.
