James made his way to the indicated spot, trying not to draw more attention. The greenhouse was arranged with long worktables, with each station equipped with a terracotta pot, gardening tools, and various supplies. His classmates were his fellow Ravenclaws and, unfortunately, the Slytherins.
On each pot sat a flower unlike any James had seen in the Muggle world. The Dancing Daisies were exactly what their name suggested: white and yellow daisies that moved rhythmically, swaying and twirling as if to unheard music. Some moved in slow, graceful waltz patterns. Others bounced energetically.
"Now then," Professor Sprout continued cheerfully, "Dancing Daisies are wonderful plants for beginners because they're hardy, easy to care for, and they let you know immediately if something's wrong. A happy daisy dances. An unhappy one droops or stops moving entirely."
She demonstrated proper care techniques with infectious enthusiasm.
How to repot the plant without damaging its roots.
How to trim dead or loose leaves without harming the healthy ones.
How to recognize the right soil moisture, the proper amount of sunlight, signs of disease or pest damage.
"Your daisy should dance smoothly," Sprout explained, gently touching the leaves of her demonstration plant. "If it's jerky or sluggish, it might be getting too much or too little water. If it stops dancing entirely, something's seriously wrong and you need to address it immediately."
She gestured to a separate table where several other varieties of Dancing Daisies were displayed in their own pots.
"These are some of my own cultivars," she said proudly. "I've been breeding different magical plants for years. This one here not only dances but changes color based on the time of day. This one sings as well as dances, though it's a bit off-key. This variety here dances in formation with other nearby daisies, creating quite a beautiful show when you have several of them together."
The Ravenclaws leaned forward with interest. Even some of the Slytherins looked intrigued despite themselves.
James noticed that the Slytherins seemed generally withdrawn during the practical portion. Many of them looked uncomfortable getting their hands dirty, literally. They handled the soil with obvious distaste, grimacing when they had to actually dig into the pots.
Draco Malfoy was particularly entertaining to watch. He had a perpetual sneer on his face that looked exactly like a child imitating an adult he'd observed closely. Probably his father, James guessed. Lucius Malfoy's signature expression, borrowed by a boy too young to make it look natural.
But despite the sneer and the affected disinterest, James could see the interest in Draco's eyes. The way he leaned forward slightly when Sprout demonstrated the singing daisy. The careful attention he paid to the repotting instructions. The small smile he tried to hide when his own daisy began dancing more vigorously after he fixed its soil.
Draco found the lesson fun. He just couldn't admit it, trapped by whatever image he thought he needed to project.
"Excellent work, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Sprout said, noticing his successfully repotted plant. "Your daisy looks very happy indeed. Five points to Slytherin."
Draco's sneer intensified, but his shoulders straightened with pride.
The class continued pleasantly. Herbology, James decided, was going to be one of his favorite subjects. Not because the material was particularly challenging, but because Professor Sprout's genuine enthusiasm was infectious. She clearly loved her plants, and that love made the lesson engaging despite the subject not being of much interest to him.
He further enjoyed the class because the class had something that couldn't be found in books. While all the established species of magical flora can be found in books but the experiments and herbologists' own creations can only be seen if they give you a chance to. Creating new species of plants and animals is easier with magic compared to the Muggle methods; therefore, you're always likely to be surprised by a herbalist or a magizoologist's collection.
The experiment-breeding law was so rarely implemented that even Hagrid was experimenting in a school full of children and was allowed to do so by the professors. Although the full extent of the law will be brought down if someone were to get killed or maimed by the newly created creatures.
When class ended, James had several hours free before dinner. Instead of returning to his practice classroom, he decided to explore the library more thoroughly. He'd only scratched the surface of what was available, and his curiosity demanded satisfaction.
The library was vast, even more so than his first impression suggested. The front section, closest to the entrance, held the most commonly used texts. These were the books students consulted regularly: current textbooks, popular reference materials, and recent publications. The books here were relatively new, written in modern English, and organized well according to the system Madam Pince employed.
But as James ventured deeper, past the main reading areas and into the stacks that stretched back into shadows, the character of the collection changed dramatically.
The further he went, the older the books became. Modern English gave way to Early Modern English from the Renaissance period. Then, Middle English from the medieval era. Finally, in the very deepest sections, he found shelves of texts in Old English, the language barely recognizable to modern readers.
And the languages diversified. Entire sections are dedicated to books in Gaelic, the ancient Celtic language of Scotland and Ireland. Pictish texts, from the mysterious people who'd lived in Scotland before the Scots themselves. Norse works, brought by Viking raiders and settlers. Cumbric writings, the Brittonic language once spoken in northern England. And Latin, of course, the lingua franca of medieval scholarship, filling dozens upon dozens of shelves.
James found smaller collections in other languages, too. Sanskrit texts on magical theory from India. Arabic works on alchemy and astrology from the Islamic Golden Age. Archaic Chinese manuscripts on chi manipulation and magical philosophy. These were fewer in number than the European language texts, which made sense given Hogwarts' location and student population.
The library, James realized, was not just a repository of magical knowledge. It was a historical archive, preserving centuries of magical scholarship and practice.