It wasn’t an older student she could trick into doing most of the work for her, but Brooklyn still acknowledged when Hady came over to her. It still meant her wait plan had worked, even if she was nowhere nearer to actually wanting to deal with the stupid snargaluff. She knew they worked well with Hady, so partners it was and she gave her dormmate a nod to answer the question. Now the more important part was figuring out how two tiny second years were going to conquer the snargaluff. Now she was stuck, she’d deal with it. She wasn’t going to abandon Hady to be eaten by a plant, even if there were others she might not care about.

“Who wants to do what first?,” she asked after a moment. It seemed like everyone had to do both parts of the activity, so she’d worry about being eaten later. So far it hadn’t seemed like anyone had been, but then most of the class was bigger or had bigger partners…Maybe they could get Professor Millard to wrestle with the vines while they just took turns getting the stupid pods. She knew he could manage that. He’d shown them before announcing the activity. She just preferred not touching scary vines that wanted to hit her. Unless she could hit them back.

There hadn’t needed to be too much conversation. They might have both only been second years, but they’d shared a dorm for two years now, so that meant Brooklyn knew Hady understood her, and the other way around. It was an easy agreement, even if it meant she was going to actually have to do some of the work. And it wasn’t Transfiguration either, which she was almost always willing to do the work in. She could manage to focus on the stupid snargaluff if she had to. Although she was still hoping they’d end up with a smaller one, maybe even a baby snargaluff. Anything to make it easier.

No such luck. Everyone else must’ve taken the smaller plants, which annoyed her a little. Of course the other students would leave a big scary plant for second years to deal with, but she’d show them. The fact Professor Millard had gone on to explain what they’d be doing with the pods after they’d found them hardly gained any acknowledgment from the tiny redhead, pulling on her gloves as Hady had agreed to wrestle the vines first. “Okay,” she replied, taking a breath as she eyed the vines being held back. They could stay all knotted up forever for all she cared.

Stepping forward, she cringed as she stuck a hand into the plant, followed by her other as she didn’t immediately find a pod. “Ew,” she said quietly, feeling around and trying not to get icky plant goop on her robes. The gloves were doomed. She’d probably have to burn them and owl her parents for a new pair, unless she could get by for the remainder of the school term without gloves. Finally, though, she felt a lump and yanked, falling backward slightly as her hands came loose, along with a slimy pod she dumped unceremoniously on the table once she was clear of the vines. Okay, one pod down. But now it was her turn with the vines, so she silently went back to nudge Hady out of the way and grasp the knotted vines herself. Now it was her turn to get a pod.