Outdoor Studying

[Flora King]

Flora had been sitting on the castle lawns for quite some time now, her cloak cushioning her bare legs against the coldness of the grass. She hadn't bothered wearing tights, opting for long socks instead, but was starting to regret this decision. Her original plan had been to head straight to the library after class, but found it far too busy for her liking. The tables seemed to be filled with giggling and over-excitable first years which didn't create a perfect atmosphere for studying. Flora preferred to revise in complete silence, otherwise finding herself easily distracted by what other people were doing.

She was determined to earn an Outstanding grade in each of her NEWT subjects and had began studying much earlier than she had last year. Flora crossed her legs, adjusting her Transfiguration textbook so it sat comfortably on her lap. She had been engrossed within the book, reading a rather interesting chapter about human transfiguration, when the sound of footsteps made her look up. She initially jumped at the noise, before quickly settling herself down and setting her gaze upon the person. “Hey there.”

[Deleted]

"Hambre hierba, or The Hunger Grass is grass which has had adverse magical strains put on it. Usually found around the ruins of ancient magical ruins, the grass has extraordinary properties including the ability to ease the mind and settle the stomach. To test whether Hunger Grass is present, simply lay a toad on top of it and check after several seconds whether red marks appear on the bottom. If so, it is likely to be hunger Grass."

It had taken several days of hard work in the library but Kat had found an alternative. If she couldn't use Coxak, may as well use Hunger grass. Of course it was a total long shot. Several other books denied that it even existed, but she couldn't just sit back and pretend it may not be out here on the lawns of Hogwarts. If anything had magical strain on it, it was the castle and grounds.

So, borrowing a toad from a first year, Kat hurried down to the lawns. Eventually, she found a decent looking spot right next to someone who looked as if they were reading or studying. Whatever Kat wasn't going to be too long.

She collapsed to the floor and dropped the toad onto the grass creating a barrier with her legs so it didn't hop off. Five seconds later and she picked the toad up and turned it over. There was nothing, until several small red marks appeared on it's legs.

'YES!' she shouted, letting the toad fall to the ground with a disgruntled flop. Kat was elated. Her draught would work now, she knew it would, all she needed was a couple of bagfuls of grass to try it out on. And if it did work... she had plenty of grass out here to use.

Bending over, she pulled out her wand and began to sever the grass and put them into small piles. She was so invested in her work that she had no idea she almost kicked the girl she was sitting in front of, until her foot came into light contact with someone else's shin.

'Oh, I'm sorry.' Kat said turning around 'I didn't mean to... I did it!'