Chapter 25: Bones, and a Roommate's Little Secret
By the time Regulus left the small garden, dusk had settled. Castle windows were flickering to life one by one. Dinner was approaching.
He quickened his pace, only to run into someone at the entrance to the greenhouse area.
A Hufflepuff girl — second- or third-year — with light brown hair gathered in a loose bun. She crouched before a row of flowerpots, carefully loosening the soil around a drooping-leafed dittany.
"You'll damage the lateral roots that way," Regulus said, pausing without thinking.
The girl looked up and blinked. "Sorry?"
"The angle of your trowel is too steep." Regulus pointed to the little iron spade in her hand. "Dittany roots spread outward, not straight down. A vertical cut will sever the lateral roots."
She looked down, then comprehension dawned. "No wonder this one never thrived... Thank you."
She adjusted her angle, inserting the trowel at a slant and gently working the surrounding soil loose.
"You're the Slytherin first-year?" she asked as she worked. "It's rare to see a Slytherin who knows this much about Herbology."