Since the children had spent the entire day burning spiderwebs in the Forbidden Forest, Pomona did not get the chance to gather them until evening.
She knew they were exhausted, but she had promised Severus she would clear out a week, so she had no choice but to move some of the schedule forward.
"Today, we're learning the Wall Trapping Spell." Pomona flicked her wand, making chalk write automatically across the blackboard: "This is a curse. I hope you won't abuse it after learning it."
The children looked listless, as though they found nothing frightening or novel about a "curse."
"Let's go outside," Pomona said, then left the large tent.
Having grown used to teaching in the greenhouses, she suddenly found herself unable to adapt to Minerva's style of making students sit still and obey discipline.
Everyone arrived at the Quidditch pitch, where the outer section of the maze had already begun to take shape.
She stopped before a hedge. "Who wants to be my 'partner'?"
Everyone looked at Neville, so Neville had no choice but to "volunteer" himself.
A flash of blue light sent Neville flying into the hedge. The branches came alive and bound his hands and feet.
"This is the effect of the curse," Pomona said. Then she used Diffindo to destroy the hedge, freeing Neville again. "Your future job will be to cast this spell on walls made of these hedges."
"Isn't that too dangerous?" Jones asked.
"If this competition weren't dangerous, it would not have been canceled back then. Besides, it only traps the contestants. They can send out a distress signal or wait until the match ends for someone to rescue them, just as I did a moment ago," Pomona said. "You can practice for a while first."
Colinwater raised her hand.
"What is