Closed Never too old to learn

[Nadia Kaster]

Nadia didn’t know why, but plants hated her. They just seemed to die whenever she went anywhere near them. She even bit the bullet and had a cactus on her desk at the office and it still died. Her colleagues had taken to calling her the plant destroyer, becuase she, without fail, murdered each and every plant she was exposed to. Though she supposed it wasn’t technically murder since she wasn’t trying to do it, she just had a black thumb apparently. Always had. She’d sucked at herbology in school for the same reason and had once been asked to leave the class becuase she’d managed to kill a bubotuber. Thankfully she’d never had animals. This was probably why. Sighing, Nadia bit her lip as she looked at the greenhouse, well, it wasn’t a greenhouse, it was a house, apparently with a greenhouse out the back, apparently with a herbologist who actually might be able to tell her what she was doing wrong because she certainly didn’t know. She was probably cursed. She knocked on the door. “Hi, excuse me, anyone home?”​

 

[James Woodlock]

Peace and quiet was a rarity when raising four kids alone but James had managed to carve out time to work in his greenhouse in peace. A day care for magical children was a God send. James has spent most of the morning in relative silence as he had earmuffs firmly pressed over his ears as he tended to his mandrake crop. He had not long taken the earmuffs off when he heard a knock at the door and a voice. "Coming," He said pulling off his gloves and making his way to the door. "What can I do for you?" He asked the woman at the other side of the door.

 

[Nadia Kaster]

“Hi, sorry,” Nadia said, sighing. “This is going to sound, like, really dumb, but I need you to tell me how to be a proper plant mum.” She said, grinning widely. “I… kill plants. Not the sort of thing you want to say to an herbologist upon first meeting, I know, but I don’t do it on purpose, honestly I don’t. I love plants, they just don’t love me.” She told him, shrugging. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say beyond that. “Can you give me a crash course on how not to kill plants?”​

 

[James Woodlock]

James wanted to laugh at the woman's request but he couldn't be rude to a potential customer. He'd had some odd requests over the years but he'd never had someone flat out say they killed every plant they touched. "Uhm, have you tried a cactus? They're quite popular with muggles and are almost impossible to get wrong," They were a go too plant for anyone who wanted the appearance of a somewhat green thumb but lacked the time or patience to actually take care of anything.

 

[Nadia Kaster]

Nadia bit her lip and sighed. “I’ll be honest with you, Mr…” she didn’t know his name. “Well, you see, I do like plants, my place is boring without them, I’ve nothing green it’s all fake and it’s just makes me feel like I’m surrounded by dead things, you know?” She asked, shrugging. “I’m too busy in my life for an animal and I figured plants don’t need me to be with them 24/7 as long as I can look after them, so I tried a cactus at work because I knew them to be hardy plants, but it died and I couldn’t tell you why. I only watered it once a week and I had it near the window like it said, I checked the temperature was consistent and I made sure that the soil I put it in was nutrient rich, but still, nothing and I really just can’t figure it out.”​

 

[James Woodlock]

James was dumbfounded, he had never met anyone who repelled plants so much that she wasn't able to keep a cactus alive, they were practically idiot proof. By the sounds of it she had done everything right, assuming what she was telling him was accurate. Was it possible that this woman naturally repelled plants? Looking at her it seemed unlikely anything would be repelled by her but what other explanation was there. "I don't know how to say this," He said clapping his hands together awkwardly as he tried to find the right words. "But if you can't keep a cactus alive, you might not be suited to owning real plants,"

 

[Nadia Kaster]

Nadia sighed. "Yeah, I had a feeling you might say that," but there had just been a small hope that maybe something in what she said would give her some idea of what to do. "Oh well, it was worth a try, maybe I should buy a venomous tentacular or devil's snare, those take care of themselves." She joked. Of course she wasn't serious, for a start, you couldn't just own either of those plants without some knowledge in how to keep them and two, she had no where she could put them. Her place wasn't that big. "I'm Nadia Kaster by the way, sorry, I probably should have started with that." She said, holding her hand out for him to shake.​

 

[James Woodlock]

James did feel bad, but if the woman's knack for killing plants was accurate then he couldn't in good conscious send her home with something. "Sorry, I've never known anyone who couldn't keep a cactus alive, and I used to teach children," He wanted to laugh, in a way it was quite funny for someone to be so bad with plants she was able kill the most low maintenance plant going but he didn't want to upset the woman. "I'm James Woodlock, maybe you should save the devil's snare for if you ever need to buy a gift for someone you don't like," When she introduced herself he was sure he recognised the name, which was strange as he didn't recognise her. "Nadia Kaster of the Daily Prophet by any chance?"

 

[Nadia Kaster]

Nadia wanted to laugh at the whole situation. She was standing on the door step of a guy she didn't know, possibly interrupting whatever he had planned for the day, and he was giving her the bad news that her one wish in life, to be a plant mum, was doomed from the start. Ah, oh well. "You can laugh, I can tell you want to." She said, a light laugh leaving her as she said it. It was a bit of a silly situation, she had to admit, and she'd been in some crazy situations. "Maybe I'll buy it for my Nephew, he'd adore it." Sam was... well, he was Sam. He found it hard to dislike anything, really. She didn't really have people she specifically disliked... well, none that she would admit to anyway. She raised an eyebrow however when he asked if she was from the Prophet and she grinned. "The one and only. You read?"​

 

[James Woodlock]

With Nadia's blessing James let out a small chuckle, he didn't like disappointing people but not everyone were meant to have plants. "Well I do know a guy," He laughed, he did know how to get a hold of dangerous plants though that had only ever been for academic purposes. "Where else would I read the news? Unless Witch Weekly has started covering political news,"

 

[Nadia Kaster]

Nadia nodded, smiling lightly. As weird as having a conversation on the mans front step might have been, at least it was a nice conversation. "Well, I'll let you know if I ever need to utilise your guy," she said, shaking her head slightly. Of course, Sammy - she really could call him by no other name - would kill her for ever doing something like that, but she certainly would enjoy the look on his face, Ex-Auror or no. They'd moved to Australia, she didn't see him near as often as she liked. She scoffed loudly then, when he mentioned Witch Weekly. "Oh, please, that rag wouldn't know news if you walked up to them and told them James Potter had been found alive and well living in a cave in Switzerland." She said, rolling her eyes. Witch Weekly was something of a sore spot for her, trying to bring gossip into the limelight and passing it off as Gospel. "Almost as bad as that old school magazine back in the day." RHI had certainly been interesting, though it hadn't been what had gotten her into reporting.​

 

[James Woodlock]

Clearly Nadia wasn't a fan of Witch Weekly, then again as a journalist it was no surprise she had high standards when it came to publications. "So not a fan," James laughed. The mention of the old school gossip magazine brought back memories, both fond and not so much, RHI had been the scourge of many peoples lives, luckily James had managed to escape its grasp. "That's harsh on RHI, it was trash but probably had more truth to it than your average witch weekly article don't you think?"

 

[Nadia Kaster]

Nadia rolled her eyes. "Oh no, big fan, big fan." She said, waving her hand at him dismissively. "One reporter can appreciate the... simplicity of another reporters morals, absolutely." Of course, Witch Weekly, being UK based, was less of her problem than other magazines. Wise Werewolf had been interesting for a time. She did wonder what had happened to that. "Perhaps it is a little harsh, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that they blew ninety percent of their gossip out of proportion," as some who was featured in RHI a couple of times and for nothing more than being related to Samual Kaster and Tamalia, it was a nightmare. "They made up more than they told the truth about I assure you." She shook her head. "Anyway, thanks so much for the chat, I'll get out of your hair now and stop occupying your doorstep." She said, sheepishly realising she'd just been standing outside like a complete dill. What a nutcase she must have looked to anyone else around. "Lovely to meet you, James!"​

 

[James Woodlock]

James laughed, "Well not all journalists can be the real deal," James couldn't say he was an avid reader of the various magical publications but he picked the odd issue to keep up with things. "It livened up the great hall whenever it landed on the tables thats for sure," He hadn't expected to have a conversation with her after failing to help her fulfil her goal of being a plant mum. "It was nice to meet you too Nadia, sorry I couldn't be more help, magical plants are tricky you know,"

 

[Nadia Kaster]

It hadn't been a great leap to figure she and James had gone to school together and though she didn't strictly remember him, that didn't mean that they hadn't ever spoken before, after all, it was over twenty years ago and a lot had happened to her personally since then. Him too, probably. "You're not wrong." RHI had been a wonder to behold for a time. She wondered if it was still around. She smiled as he apologised. "Look, don't worry about it, it really was a long shot, I'm clearly just not meant for this kind of responsibility." She said, laughing. It was probably a bit much to expect plants to do what she wanted them to do anyway. "No worries, great chat, I'll leave you to your day." She said, removing herself from his doorstep to get far enough away until she could apparate. Really, why she ever thought anyone would be able to teach her how to look after magical plants, or plants in general was beyond her.​

FIN​