The Biting Vine is a kind of vine with a sense for its surroundings; it squeaks.
Right now it was clinging to Neville's seedling tray, letting out faint squeaks. Maybe he'd over-fertilized, because the vines suddenly started writhing uncomfortably inside the box, sending Neville into a panic as he scrambled for Sean's notes—though they all helped in the greenhouses, only Sean wrote everything down in painstaking detail.
In any field, Green's Notes were the gold standard for first-years.
"Whatever you can think of, it's in there. Whatever you couldn't think of, it's in there too. If you still don't get it, you didn't read carefully enough."
That line had been making the rounds from the Gryffindor table lately. Somehow, even Slytherin hadn't offered a rebuttal.
"Puierus! (Quieting Charm!)"
While Neville flailed, Sean snapped his wand into motion. The Biting Vine could no longer make much noise—only a soft squeak—reminding Neville he'd used too much fertilizer.
[You practiced the Quieting Charm once at an Adept standard. Proficiency +10]
[Quieting Charm: Beginner (700/900)]
Thinking back to how loud the Biting Vines had been in the greenhouse, Sean roughly estimated that a Beginner-level Quieting Charm cut sound by about 80%. Quite a bit stronger than Apprentice-level, and for things that weren't too loud to begin with, you could make them practically silent.
Of course, the effect of a spell at the same proficiency isn't identical every time. Magic is will-driven; a spell's strength follows the caster's state. Facing Harry's ever-stronger Expelliarmus, Tom would surely have a lot to say.
The classroom settled back to normal. Hermione coached Neville on a charm, and before long Neville would help Hermione tidy the greenery on the desk. With more plants around, Neville hung little tags on each one with the names Sean, Hermione, and Justin, plus growth timelines—though he was the one doing most of the tending.
Sean, once he started practicing, would go for hours—until the Hogwarts bells rang.
[You practiced the Quieting Charm once at an Adept standard. Proficiency +10]
[You practiced the Quieting Charm once at an Adept standard. Proficiency +10]
…
[Quieting Charm: Adept (10/3000)]
Satisfied, Sean lowered his wand and read Professor Flitwick's notebook a while longer.
The Great Hall.
The vaulted "sky" was a smudged gray, as if rain would fall any minute, but inside it was warm and dry.
The four who came from class had gotten used to sitting at the very end of the Ravenclaw table. There stood a huge fireplace, faced in big, rough blocks the color of honey; centuries of smoke had lacquered the stone with a deep, oiled ebony sheen.
Sometimes the Fat Friar would float through here on his way to the Gryffindor table.
It wasn't as noisy as Gryffindor, lacked Slytherin's chest-thumping and flattery, and wasn't prone to Hufflepuff's occasional "food uprisings."
In short, Ravenclaws kept a polite distance.
That wasn't why the four sat there, though—it was simply because there was more pudding here—and that would draw one particular Green.
But today, even the Ravenclaw table buzzed.
The notice board was mobbed. It read:
[At the end of October, on the weekend before Halloween, third-years and above may visit Hogsmeade. Remember: parent/guardian signature required.]
"First weekend in Hogsmeade!" Fred turned to high-five George, pointing at the fresh notice tacked to the battered board. "End of October. Halloween Eve."
"Brilliant!" George said. "I've got to hit Zonko's—my Stink Pellets are almost gone."
"Third-years—" came a small, deflated voice. A kid collapsed into the nearest chair, all joy snuffed out.
A friend tried to console him: "We'll go when we're third-years. Also… what's Hogsmeade?"
"Oh! You don't know? Only wizarding village in all of Britain—no Muggles. The pub there was the HQ during the Goblin Rebellion of 1612! And the Shrieking Shack—most haunted house in the country—"
There were also the "not jealous at all" types:
"They make Hogsmeade sound epic, but honestly? It's not that great." A Gryffindor said this very solemnly. "My brother says the sweet shop is decent, but Zonko's is dangerous. The Shrieking Shack is worth a look. Other than that, truth be told, we're not missing much."
Nearly everyone in the Hall was talking Hogsmeade at top volume—even Justin and Hermione traded a comment or two.
Sean paid it no mind. He was still reviewing everything about the Disillusionment Charm when a spark of insight seemed to hit; his quill flashed across his notebook.
He didn't know that three students in black-and-yellow scarves were watching from across the room.
"Out with it, Bruce—what's the plan?" Leon had probably guessed, but with Bruce brimming with grand designs, he let him say it.
"Oh—Leon, obviously it's…" Bruce slung an arm around the necks of Leon and Pister, whispering like it was some earth-shaking plot.
…
In the classroom.
"Disillusionment!" Sean's wand traced a big arc through the air and tapped his body.
[You practiced the Disillusionment Charm once at an Apprentice standard. Proficiency +1]
A strange, cold sensation flowed from the tap point over his whole body.
He felt, as in the staffroom, wrapped in an invisible film that rendered him transparent. But the transparency wasn't complete. At Apprentice level, Disillusionment didn't make you fully invisible; there were still tiny, almost imperceptible ripples in the light.
Compared to Professor Flitwick's casting—where not only color blended with the background, but outline and even shadow vanished—the difference was huge.
Back then it was like wearing an Invisibility Cloak.
Still, Disillusionment is a utility-class spell; Sean figured Adept would be enough for real use.
What he hadn't expected: using Disillusionment really did feel like Harry with the Cloak—if you felt like you were out after hours, it tended to work. Of course, you still needed the correct incantation and wandwork; emotion only reinforces intent.
In the classroom, the Biting Vine had stopped twisting and now swayed quietly in the draft from the window.
Sean revised his planner again—he'd need to rethink which three spells to grind up to Expert next.