Mimbulus mimbletonia was a plant that originated in the ancient East and looked like a gray cactus. Instead of spines, however, it grew boils resembling diseased internal organs-and their function was somewhat similar: whenever Mimbulus mimbletonia came under attack, it sprayed foul, fishy-smelling liquid from its boils to defend itself.
Quite a few wizards knew about Mimbulus mimbletonia, but very few had ever seen one. A greeting widely circulated among herbologists and apothecaries went, "My friend, your damned store of knowledge is like the Mimbulus mimbletonia that even Hogwarts' greenhouses don't have-so scarce I can't stop laughing!"
One year's Hogwarts students had even organized a nighttime outing because of this greeting. The theme, naturally, was a comprehensive search of the school greenhouses-
The story ended with the students finding nothing and adding further compelling evidence to the rumor. All three houses other than Slytherin House lost a hundred points each on the same day. According to students who personally witnessed the sand in three hourglasses dropping simultaneously that year, it had been the most boring House Cup competition in recent years.
In fact, the students could never have found Mimbulus mimbletonia in the greenhouses. In her second month after officially taking up her post as Hogwarts' Herbology professor, Pomona Sprout had experienced an incident in which "the plants in the rare plant display area all suddenly died for unknown reasons." This revelation had prompted her to immediately spend a great deal of money and effort establishing a private greenhouse in her office-and that was not open to students.
"Poppy, I'm here-oh, she looks like she's dying!" Professor Sprout hurried into the Hospital Wing's emergency ward carrying the potted Mimbulus mimbletonia. She glanced at the woman in the bed, who had lost so much weight that she almost failed to recognize