The Greatest Prank

Ch 12

All in all, Hogsmeade was actually boring once you got over the fact you could go to the village and escape...shudder...homework for a few hours. Compared to China, America, hell, even London, it was nothing more than a quaint village with little going for it. The closest thing to a hot spot was the Three Broomsticks, and that was because of the possibility of alcohol.

Naturally this meant Harry had to literally keep a firm hand on the modified baby leash he had Flitwick charm up and put on the warlock, along with remove Richard's arms until they got back. It wouldn't stop him, but it would limit the amount of damage he could readily do.

Harry had already pushed his luck by spelling the entire student population from saying anything. The teachers wouldn't readily care unless they had to, as first year had so quickly proved...plus the fact they hadn't bothered to bring up the fact that Richard was there to the Ministry last year.

So long as Harry kept up the appearance that he was keeping Richard to a minimum casualty, the teachers would overlook certain facts.

Like the fact Harry was obviously emulating Richard far too much to be healthy (just without the curse) or that perhaps there was a reason he was able to handle Richard's brand of morbid insanity so easily. Richard moped until they reached the store, where he perked up in eagerness.

He had heard good things about this place, specifically that they could fill almost any order for rare plants...for a price. The irony was that while potions, animals, and spells were heavily restricted, plants rarely were. If you were able to harvest the plant, then you could keep it. Only a rare few exceptions were even on the very short list...and that was because the herbologists got together to make one of an endangered list of plants.

If you were lucky to find them in the wilds, you were only allowed just enough to try and cultivate one plant, usually by harvesting a single seed or bulb.

Ironically, for all the evil deeds and mass murder sprees, Richard was widely regarded as one of the best herbologists/botanists in the world, and had successfully brought back several previously considered extinct species.

Considering he generally left said flora in the ground around the Overlord's tower to grow unsupervised, it wasn't that surprising. At most he came by every week after tea to do a little weeding. Once he was assured it would survive if left unattended, he generally forgot about it until he stumbled across a random entry in the Herbology magazine or Gardening subscription he had that month reminded him of the plant.

It was ironic, but Richard got most of his actual income from selling cuttings or seeds of those plants to fellow green thumbs. While those who relied primarily on their wands hated and feared him, he was a welcomed face in the annual herbology conventions.

Probably why the only people in the castle who didn't immediately fear Richard on sight outside of Harry, Luna or the twins were Professor Sprout and Neville.

While Harry was Richard's apprentice in magic, Neville was his apprentice as a fellow green thumb. Neville flourished under Richard's expert guidance, because gardening was the only nondestructive and people-friendly activity he consistently did.

Harry often wondered why none of the governments thought to simply bribe Richard with rare or unusually deadly flora to avoid causing such a mess.

Then again...wizards and logic. Two things that, strangely, rarely went hand in hand.

Purchases in hand (for Harry anyway, who was levitating the entire thing back to the castle with Richard's leash in his other hand) he walked back and nodded to Filch. Filch thought a little better of him for getting rid of the nuisance known as Myrtle, who he used to mop after at least thrice a week.