In the depths of the dungeons of Hogwarts Castle, wails echoed through the halls, causing unfortunate students who heard them to get goosebumps as they ran as far away from that place as possible.
"Why does Professor Snape want so many flobberworms?" lamented Ron for the eighteenth time in the last hour, his face dejected and spattered with insect mucus.
"It's not that bad; I thought it would be worse," Harry reassured him, continuing to process the ingredients with an only slightly tired expression. "We're also getting a lot more practice compared to the others."
Compared to some of the chores he had to do at the Dursleys' house, this was a pretty relaxing stroll through the park, and he'd only need a long shower when they were done.
"But we've done thirty-six boxes..." muttered Neville, opening and closing his sticky hand covered in white mucus as he held the small knife to clean the flobberworms of unwanted parts.
One should know that except for some occasional moments, five boxes are enough to supply the flobberworm consumption for potions for a whole term for students of all years.
Hermione had a lifeless look as she contemplated all the mucus that had ended up in her long hair, regretting not having thought of using a hairnet or something similar.
How much work would it take to clean her hair?
Wait, why does she feel something squirming in her hair?
The door to the room they were in suddenly opened, and Batman, I mean, Professor Snape, entered like a shadow using a dark cloak with a life of its own, examining the work with a critical eye without touching the processed flobberworms with his hands.
"Not even forty boxes after all this time? Disappointing," he commented flatly, making everyone (except Neville) have a vein bulge on their foreheads. "But it will have to suffice for now," he continued in a lamenting tone.
He had been in his office, and Mr. Weasley's laments were music to his ears.
At least Harry did his work honestly and quietly; perhaps there was hope for the boy.
"Mr. Longbottom, you may leave," Snape pointed out. "The rest of you take three boxes each with your hands and follow me."
Neville felt like the devil had given him a pardon, and before anyone could blink, a residual image of him disappeared before their eyes.
A wave of Snape's wand made all the boxes of flobberworms float orderly, except for the nine assigned, and he indicated they should hurry up.
"Why can Neville leave?" asked Ron angrily as he hurried to take the three boxes in his hands, almost blocking his vision.
Harry said nothing as he imitated him, but his ears were attentive.
Oh, the wood was also covered in mucus...
"Mr. Longbottom's coordination is poor, and if a single one of these boxes falls to the ground, dirtying its contents," Snape gave them a sidelong glance as he started to move, "I would ask you all to stay another night to process a new batch of flobberworms. Of course, if you wish to show your camaraderie, you can call him back."
No one moved to try to catch Neville, avoiding a potential and very probable disaster that would trigger another bout of mucus time.
"Couldn't you levitate the other boxes, Professor?" Hermione couldn't help but ask, feeling something still moving in her hair and her arms heavy.
Physical exercise was not exactly one of her strong points!
"This is a punishment, Miss Granger," Snape responded naturally.
The group of four followed the dungeon passages, climbed stairs to the castle entrance under the amused looks of other students, exited to the outside, and walked towards...
A hut near the forest? It had a small patch of large pumpkins next to it.
"Professor Snape?" Hermione was as puzzled as Harry and Ron, not understanding why they weren't taking the boxes of flobberworms to the potions storage.
Snape ignored the young witch and knocked on the door with his knuckles.
A series of steps was heard from inside, and the door opened, revealing the figure of Barnaby, who was drying his wet hands on a cloth at his waist while his staff floated beside him.
"Uncle..." Barnaby noticed the trio behind Snape and changed his speech, "Professor Snape, welcome. If you're looking for my father, he just went to patrol the forest and won't be back for a couple of hours. The centaurs feel the unicorns are somewhat restless lately."
"I didn't come here to see your father," Snape replied, shaking his head with a subtly kind tone, leaving the three students behind him shocked beyond reason. "Since the students behind me volunteered for the task, I thought we might advance the batch of oil for the castle torches this year."
It was then that Barnaby noticed the boxes full of flobberworms in the hands of Harry and company, as well as those floating silently behind the open door and out of his initial field of vision.
"Alright, I can handle it from here if you prefer," Barnaby nodded, receiving a recognition from Snape at the offer. "As it happens, I finished dealing with the carnivorous slugs this morning; you can take them back, just a moment. Would you like to come in?"
"No, I have a potion on the fire and I'm in a bit of a hurry," Snape declined again. "I'll leave these kids with you."
The lion cubs couldn't help but exchange glances with each other.
He didn't seem to be in such a hurry when he made them parade like pack animals!
"Alright, I'll be right back," Barnaby closed the door, sounds of objects being moved were heard, and in less than a minute, he came out with a box full of dead carnivorous slugs.
Snape left the boxes of flobberworms by the door and, with the same wand movement, made the box of slugs follow him after bidding Barnaby farewell without paying more attention to the trio of students.
"And here I was wondering what punishment Aunt Minerva would give you," Barnaby said with a humorous smile. "Anyway, welcome to my home! It's what I'd like to say, but I think you'd like us to finish this business first so you can wash, right?"
Seeing the three nod frantically, Barnaby closed the hut door and indicated they should follow him to an empty field not far away, a small flat area that was completely leveled. The boxes of flobberworms deposited by Snape sprouted wooden legs and followed the redheaded boy like a squad of soldiers.
"Put everything right there, that's it," Barnaby instructed, while the boxes following him stacked themselves in a neat pile before retracting their legs and returning to normal. "First of all, Scourgify!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione felt a breeze, and all the mucus covering them disappeared without a trace, as if they had never been dirty.
Ron even noticed that the food stains were completely gone!
"Much better," Barnaby nodded, satisfied with the cleanliness. "By the way, by any chance, are any of you afraid of toads?"
The trio shook their heads, finding the question odd.
On the list of pets at Hogwarts, the toad was one of the options; how could they be afraid?
"Fantastic!" Barnaby clapped and pointed to where they were standing. "Stay there and don't say anything later, alright?"
"What are you going to do?" asked Harry.
"Oh, I don't want to spoil the surprise," Barnaby waved and held his staff as he walked a few meters to stand in a completely clear area, looking around to make sure he had enough space.
He planted the staff in the ground, and the trio noticed countless dark symbols starting to spread around them like ink tadpoles, coming to life as multiple circles and lines formed in an unknown order and language.
"Summoning technique!"
A huge burst of smoke made the three first-year students fall on their backsides, leaving them speechless and with their mouths wide open when a seventeen-meter-tall toad, with dark red skin, wearing a blue shirt with a white collar, sporting a scar on his left eye, and smoking a pipe held by one hand while the other rested on what seemed to be a sword sheath, appeared before them.
"Mmm?" The gigantic toad looked up to observe the person standing calmly on his head. "Oh? Barnaby, it's unusual for you to call me earlier than usual."
"Hello, Gamabunta," greeted the redhead while crouching down. "How are Ma and Pa?"
"Pa is fine, but Ma is eager to cook more of those worms of yours," Gamabunta naturally noticed the trio beside him but didn't find them relevant and ignored them. "She keeps thinking of all sorts of delicious recipes."
"Well, it so happens that this year we were able to prepare the flobberworms ahead of time, so, would you mind if we made the usual deal a bit earlier?" Barnaby asked politely.
"No problem," Gamabunta smiled, already having noted the boxes with the enticing aroma. "Where do you want the oil?"
"Just put it right there," Barnaby shook his staff, and a gigantic jar with the word "oil" appeared in front of Gamabunta.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were struggling to understand what was happening before their eyes.
Wait, why are the huge toad's cheeks puffing up?