Dude where's my mandrake?

[Lucas Woodlock]

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As he taught the older students Lucas hadn't seen much of James since classes started which was a shame because he reckoned he'd get away with murder in his cousins class. The Gryffindor decided to head down to the greenhouses to pay the man a visit and see if he had any news on his kids and what ever else he would try and report to him. For giggles he was bringing Aaron with him. Aaron had become his partner in crime pretty much since they met at Obsidian harbour, along with Zar he was one of his best friends at the school.

They ventured down across the grounds and to the Greenhouse where he expected to find James hard at work doing whatever Herbology professors did when they weren't teaching, but it was empty. "Dude it's empty what now?" He asked turning to his friend.

 

[Aaron Walden]

Aaron couldn't believe that Lucas had a cousin at the school, and he was a Professor nonetheless! Aaron now realised why Lucas had this incredible attitude on him that rubbed off completely on himself. He was thrilled when Lucas asked him to accompany him to the greenhouses to seek out his cousin. Aaron didn't know what his fellow Gryffindor was up to and what plans he had up his sleeve but he was more than happy to go along with whatever Lucas had planned for them.

He put on his robes and followed Lucas out of the Gryffindor Common Room and down to the Greenhouses, down to where his cousin would be. Aaron was quite excited to meet Lucas' cousin, he hoped that the protection he seemed to give Lucas would stretch to him too. That way, the two young Gryffindor boys would feel completely untouchable and free to do whatever they wanted. Probably just a dream but a nice one nonetheless. They reached the greenhouses but it seemed like they were all empty, he turned to look at his friend for an explanation but he looked just as confused as Aaron felt. Nevertheless, they walked in and took a look around. Aaron shrugged his shoulders as his best friend asked him question "I don't know... D'ya wanna wait?" he suggested.

 

[Lucas Woodlock]

James should have been expecting Lucas so the fact he wasn't in the Greenhouse was surprising, though the fact they were able to enter at all must have meant he was nearby and hadn't bothered to lock up. As he entered the Greenhouse he looked around at Aaron, thrilled his best friend had agreed to come along with him, especially now they were unsupervised in an open Greenhouse. "James?" Lucas called, he knew the greenhouse was empty but if he was asked at any point if he at least tried to locate his cousin he could say yes and he wouldn't be lying.

"Looks like no ones home, I'm sure he won't be long, we can just have a poke around in the meantime?" He suggested to his friend. How much trouble could they really get into in a greenhouse anyway. Surely there wouldn't be anything dangerous left out where students could touch them. "Hey look at this one over here, I think its moving," He said walking over to one of the plant pots near the window. It looked like leaves sticking out of a plant pot but the pot was shaking slightly, was it alive? Was it trying to get out. Lucas's curiosity was peaked and hopefully Aaron's was too.

 

[Aaron Walden]

Aaron followed Lucas into the unlocked greenhouse and guessed that his cousin must be around somewhere. No Professor would leave their stuff unlocked if they weren't around or at least, if they were intending to come back soon. Nevertheless, he followed Lucas' lead and entered the greenhouse after his friend and was met with a wave of heat and the smell of sticky flowers. Maddie loved Herbology and everything to do with plants, Aaron... not so much. He nodded in response to his best friend's question "yeah" he shrugged "looking around couldn't hurt could it?". He went over to where Lucas was and stared at the moving leaves. "What the heck is that?" Aaron asked his friend "what does your cousin work with?" Lucas' cousin had a lot of strange things in this greenhouse, each plant as unbelievable as the next. "Whatever it is, it seems like it doesn't like being in that small pot" he said, his eyes twinkling.

 

[Lucas Woodlock]

Lucas watched as his friend Aaron walked into the Greenhouse behind him and took a look around. "Yeah I mean, how much trouble could we get into in a greenhouse right?" He grinned at his friend. He knew Aaron wasn't as adventurous as he was but the two just seemed to click and for some reason Aaron was willing to follow him on his crazy adventures. He appreciated that. "Looking no. But I wouldn't touch anything, you never know," He shrugged his shoulders as he continued to look around. Lucas didn't get much chance to have a proper look around during Herbology so he wasn't really sure what was in the Greenhouse.

He heard Aaron ask a question about something he saw, Lucas wandered over to him to take a look at whatever it was he had seen. "Merlin's beard what is that?" He exclaimed examining the pot. He grinned at what Aaron said and turned to his friend. "It doesn't does it, we should let it out, I reckon we could get a good grip on those leaves," He said still inspecting the plant. "What do you think?" He asked trying to judge where his friends mind was at.

 

[Aaron Walden]

"Exactly" Aaron responded to his best friends question. "No trouble at all" he said smirking as Lucas came wandering over to where he was. "It's a strange thing. I mean the least we could do would be to help it out" Aaron suggested. The plant was moving so much that it was bound to get out itself anyway, Aaron thought. He looked around to make sure that there was definitely no one around and then nodded to his friend. "Lets do it" and with that Aaron grabbed some of the plants leaves and motioned to Lucas to do the same "together, on the count of three" he said "one... two..."

 

[Lucas Woodlock]

Lucas was excited, more excited than he dare admit even to his best friend. He was glad to see that Aaron was on the same page as he was. Lucas drew closer to the plant, he watched it wriggle in its plot, he looked over at his best friend who suggested that they should pull it out of the pot. Lucas grinned to show that he was in and followed Aaron's lead by grabbing hold of the plant leaves. "Ok, on your lead buddy," He nodded as Aaron counted down from three. When he got to one they both pulled at the leaves and pulled the plant out of the pot. Before Lucas could get a proper look at what he had just pulled out, there was an ear piercing scream and everything around him seemed to be getting blurry, and before he knew everything went black and he hit the floor with a thud.

 

[Aaron Walden]

Aaron was so glad that Lucas and himself were on the same page, it was like they could read each others minds sometimes and more often than not their thoughts were full of ideas on how to cause mischief. This encounter was no different, it was as if this situation was made up especially for them. A deserted and empty greenhouse full of strange and unusual plants. How could the two young Gryffindors keep away from such perfect conditions for trouble?

Once he had counted down from three to one, Aaron grabbed the leaves of the plant as hard as he could and drew it up out of the pot at the same time as Lucas. Before he had time to even try and see what it was that they had pulled out of the pot, Aaron felt himself going very lightheaded and he swayed on the spot letting go of whatever the thing was that they had just grabbed a hold of. Before he knew it he had collapsed on the floor, right next to his best friend, and everything had faded to black.

 

[James Woodlock]

James knew that leaving one of the Greenhouses unlocked while he popped over to the garden was risky, but he knew he would be less than ten minutes and no student would expect the Greenhouse to be open. It was well known that they were kept magically locked so it would be foolish to try an open them. Once James had everything that he needed from the garden he put them in his bag, pulled off his gloves and made his way back to the Greenhouse he was working in. His stomach dropped when he reached the door and found that it was pushed open. James sighed and walked through the open door.

He walked into the Greenhouse to find his cousin Lucas passed out on the floor along with another Gryffindor and a baby mandrake face down on the floor which was muffling its cry. James grabbed a pair of earmuffs and put them on so he could place the mandrake back in its pot and replanted it. "Dammit Lucas," He grumbled and pulled out his wand. This would be tough to explain to the nurse and to Professor Kingsley, as the boys head of house she would have to be notified and their inevitable punishment would be in her hands. James levitated the two boys and began the journey up to the Hospital wing.