After this term ended, the Weasley twins would be starting school next term.
The teachers had long heard of the twins' "great achievements," but the most famous was how they had once tricked their five-year-old brother into making an Unbreakable Vow. Their father, Arthur Weasley, discovered it in time, then gave one of the twins a severe beating.
That was Arthur Weasley. The fact that they had angered him enough to hit a child showed just how furious he had been.
In short, the situation was this: because of some indescribable smell in the Potions classroom, the Potion-Making Championship contestants had temporarily requisitioned the Herbology greenhouses and would move back once the smell had dissipated.
Herbology also had a Herbology club. Its members had put up a sign in front of them listing a long series of materials that contestants were forbidden to bring into the greenhouse.
The Herbology club's activities had been forced to stop, while Quidditch had also been suspended because of the Doxies. So the Herbology club members had "kindly" placed an Augurey there, claiming it was to keep the Doxies from disturbing the contestants.
The Augureys placed in the dungeon corridor were incredibly noisy. Although they drove away the Doxies, their cries were another kind of "source of pollution," forcing the Hufflepuffs to wear the earmuffs used when repotting Mandrakes.
There had originally been earmuffs in the greenhouse, but they had all been borrowed. Thus, the Potion-Making Championship contestants could only continue practicing while listening to the Augureys' "songs."
Two days passed like this before someone finally remembered they could use the Ear-Shrinking Charm. By then, however, the smell in the Potions classroom had mostly dispersed as well.
Weasel farts were an essential ingredient for making Thunderbrew. Originally, it had been a Dark magic potion requiring