By the time Herbology ended at five, Kevin was thoroughly smeared with dirt, and Blaise was composing poetry out loud due to boredom.
Harry and his room-mates took their plants up to the large table and windowsills in their dormitory. He read a few pages of his Transfiguration textbook while Kevin and Terry played a few hands of some sort of card game. Then the the three of them wandered around the castle before dinner, Terry talking incessantly about a boat trip he'd once been on, until Jan Runcorn accosted them and dragged them off to the fabled tree.
The thing was nothing short of enormous, and it kicked up a storm at their approach. With a few handsigns, Harry activated the distance viewing charm in his spectacles and looked at the wooden marker at the base of the tree. He read: "Whomping Willow."
"Heh." Jan started picking up sticks. "Suits it." She threw them in a brief volley, watching the tree variously swat the sticks out of the air or grab them in near-prehensile limbs and grind them into tiny splinters.
"Race you to the base of the trunk and back?" Terry asked after a while, grinning.
Kevin and Harry exchanged glances. "I'm thinking: no."
"I wasn't serious, you guys," Terry said, then saw the expression on Jan's face. "I wasn't serious!"
She turned to stare at the Whomping Willow, which continued to shake enormous limbs at her.
After a while, the tree's movements slowed, and Terry said, "I think we should go in. It must be close to dinner."
Kevin started and came down from whatever castle in the sky he had been inhabiting. "Oh... yes. Jan, are you coming? Jan?"
She reluctantly turned away from the tree, and sighed.
"Ah, horse puckey. Yeah, yeah."
Kevin glanced at her as they made their way across the grounds. "You okay?"
"I'm fine. Eh, maybe a little bit disappointed."
"Disappointed? In the lethality of the murder tree?" Harry couldn't help asking.
"No... no, not that. I just felt like I could have taken him."
"Could have 'taken'... the murder tree."
"Cor, he was a worthy opponent to be sure, but right at the end there he was beginning to show signs of weakness. Cracks in the armour, if you will."
"What? You can't fight a killer tree. You can't even fight a regular tree! It's a million times heavier than you!"
"And yet, there he was: right on the verge of surrender."
Harry and his room-mates took their plants up to the large table and windowsills in their dormitory. He read a few pages of his Transfiguration textbook while Kevin and Terry played a few hands of some sort of card game. Then the the three of them wandered around the castle before dinner, Terry talking incessantly about a boat trip he'd once been on, until Jan Runcorn accosted them and dragged them off to the fabled tree.
The thing was nothing short of enormous, and it kicked up a storm at their approach. With a few handsigns, Harry activated the distance viewing charm in his spectacles and looked at the wooden marker at the base of the tree. He read: "Whomping Willow."
"Heh." Jan started picking up sticks. "Suits it." She threw them in a brief volley, watching the tree variously swat the sticks out of the air or grab them in near-prehensile limbs and grind them into tiny splinters.
"Race you to the base of the trunk and back?" Terry asked after a while, grinning.
Kevin and Harry exchanged glances. "I'm thinking: no."
"I wasn't serious, you guys," Terry said, then saw the expression on Jan's face. "I wasn't serious!"
She turned to stare at the Whomping Willow, which continued to shake enormous limbs at her.
After a while, the tree's movements slowed, and Terry said, "I think we should go in. It must be close to dinner."
Kevin started and came down from whatever castle in the sky he had been inhabiting. "Oh... yes. Jan, are you coming? Jan?"
She reluctantly turned away from the tree, and sighed.
"Ah, horse puckey. Yeah, yeah."
Kevin glanced at her as they made their way across the grounds. "You okay?"
"I'm fine. Eh, maybe a little bit disappointed."
"Disappointed? In the lethality of the murder tree?" Harry couldn't help asking.
"No... no, not that. I just felt like I could have taken him."
"Could have 'taken'... the murder tree."
"Cor, he was a worthy opponent to be sure, but right at the end there he was beginning to show signs of weakness. Cracks in the armour, if you will."
"What? You can't fight a killer tree. You can't even fight a regular tree! It's a million times heavier than you!"
"And yet, there he was: right on the verge of surrender."