peckenpaugh | KEEP OUT!

There’s something off about the gardens this morning. A feeling, creeping and ominous, slithers up students’ spines as they tromp across the soggy grounds toward Herbology, dark greenhouses looming in the distance. It’s hard to pinpoint just what it is; the quiet, the cold, the post-break drag, the mounting questions about what the fuck happened here in 1989, or maybe it’s the greenhouses themselves.

The greenhouses do look very different today. Every panel of glass is blacked out, patched with dark paper. A quick stroll around the three glass buildings reveals that they’re all locked up tight. On each entrance, in big, bold letters, someone has painted STAY OUT. INFESTATION. In the back of the northmost greenhouse, one of the upper windows is broken, though even this gap has been patched with paper.

Both the sophomore and senior Herbology classes are sent to study hall by Mr. Trullinger, who appears from inside one of the greenhouses to inform students that the class is canceled. That afternoon, the juniors in Herbology find themselves waiting a bit longer than the other two classes.

From the broken window Ms. Treetops can be heard, speaking more heatedly than anyone has ever heard her. It’s hard to understand everything she says, the way her volume rises and falls. “Told you, no fire… ...freezing charms… ...and I’m going to kill it, even if it kills me… ...the muscheron...”

She’s not quite done with her rant when the greenhouse door opens and Mr. Trullinger steps halfway out the door. “Hey guys! Herbology’s cancelled for the day. You can head to the computer lab for study hall. Winter, Ms. Treetops wants you to grab some winter weed killer from her office. She said you’d know which. [HERBOLOGY JUNIOR A], would you mind heading up to the administrative offices and asking Ms. Kwan or Ms. G to come down here? And…” Mr. Trullinger emerges the rest of the way out of the greenhouse and he’s holding a squirming cactus kitten in gloved hands. “She needs to be somewhere else. [HERBOLOGY JUNIOR B] could you take Pepsi for me?”

Zero Sugar Pepsi lets out a little roar of protest.

A quick eyed Laszlo manages to sneak a peek inside the greenhouse as Mr. Trullinger moves, but all they see is leaves. Lots and lots and lots of leaves. So dense, it’s hard to imagine anyone actually fitting in there.

While Mr. Trullinger tells the students they'll be filled in as soon as they have more information, Ms. Treetops doesn't show up for dinner, and the greenhouses remain locked up tight at curfew.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Felicity, not a herbology student, is unaware of this situation for a few hours. But elsewhere on campus, she is bemoaning the death of Vine. "That shit was the best," she'll tell anyone who will listen.

Armani a Herbology student anymore, but that doesn't stop him from darting across campus to sneak a peak after Laszlo posts about it. He circles the greenhouse, trying to find a pane of glass with a sliver of paper curled back.

"Ughh, WHY did I drop Herbology for Astronomy??" he laments to no one in particular. He's missing out on the PLANT DRAMA.