When Juniper and Delia arrived at the outdoor party,
there were a great number of witches and wizards standing about, eating little
hors d’oeuvres and laughing at one another’s jokes.

“Now, you schmooze a little, Junie. I… I need to go…
find the Minister and thank him for inviting us.” She gave a nervous grin that
Juniper knew meant mischief, but she vanished before Juniper could say
anything.

Juniper could feel her heart rate skyrocket. What
she wouldn’t give for some Rat Root tonic about now! As if it weren’t bad
enough that she was hideously awkward at parties, she was beginning to notice
people staring at her. How in the name of Merlin’s beard had she allowed Delia
to talk her into coming to a Ministry party dressed in a filthy apron, heavy
boots, dragon-hide gloves, and plain work robes?

She stood awkwardly near a witch dressed in lovely,
but simple dress robes, her thick brown hair pulled into a messy bun. The witch
watched her curiously, eyeing up her unusual outfit.

“I saw you come in with Delia Copperburn,” said the
woman, as if trying to make the situation less awkward. “Are you a potioneer,
as well?”

“Err… no. I’m, well…. I work with plants. You see,
I’m…”

“A Herbologist? That sounds fascinating.”

“Yes. I was… errr… repotting Mandrakes, and we were
almost late. I didn’t have time to change.”

“You know, I haven’t studied Herbology since
graduating Hogwarts! Have you been working on anything interesting?”

“Well… errr…”

A wizard with red hair joined the witch, a plate
full of hors d’oeuvres in his hand. He raised an eyebrow at Juniper, his eyes
darting back and forth between the pair of them.

“I’ve been doing some research on invasive, alien
species.”

“Oh, that does sound interesting,” said the witch.

The wizard stared at her incredulously. “Yeah.
Fascinating.” The witch shot him a nasty look before nodding for her to
continue.

“Well… ummm… you see, if a plant is being cultivated
outside of its native land, it can cause a lot of problems for the ecosystem.
It adapts to its new environment, and can start to outcompete native plants.
They can throttle the natural resources of an ecosystem, and even drive native
plants to extinction.”

The witch nodded. “Oh, yes. We dealt with similar
problems when I used to work in the Department for the Regulation and Control
of Magical Creatures. We…”

The wizard cleared his throat. “Hey, I have an idea.
Let’s go get some punch!”

The witch sighed. “I’m sorry. My husband is being
terribly rude.”

Juniper shook her head, “No, no, it’s fine! I mean,
I understand! I completely understand! Go… uhh... go get some punch, if you
want.”

The couple walked away, and Juniper breathed a sigh
of almost-relief. Still, as the couple walked away, she could hear the wizard
muttering something under his breath about something being “duller than a
Flobberworm.”

Suddenly, Delia appeared next to her friend. “Ah! I
see you were having a nice conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.”

“Well… sort of. I mean, Mrs. Weasley seemed sort of
interested, but…”

“Don’t let it get you down. What were you talking
about?”

“Alien plant species and how they invade
ecosystems.”

“Oh.”

Juniper flinched. It was the same sort of “oh” that
Delia had said when Juniper had told her that she was caring for her roses. It
was clear that Juniper had answered the question “wrong,” and that Delia was
disappointed.

“Look, Delia, Herbology isn’t all excitement. It’s
interesting, sure, but it’s not how you seem to think it is. I’m not an action
hero; I’m a researcher!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know that. We’ve been over this,
Junie. But you know what? This is the Gardener’s Effect at work. Look, why
don’t you go get some hors d’oeuvres and chat with some people, alright?”

“Delia, you know I’m no good at this!”

“Relax. You’ll do fine.”

Juniper sighed as she walked toward the refreshment
table. She had thought that she would stick out like a sore thumb in her work
clothes, but to her surprise, no one seemed to notice her. It was as if they
simply couldn’t process her existence, like Muggles in front of a building with
protective enchantments. It was clear to Juniper that Herbology was, as far as
these people were concerned, nothing more than the quickest way to become
invisible. The second they realized that she lived such a boring life, they
didn’t even want to see her, and her very clothes gave her away as, well, what
other way there to put it?

Not quite a witch.

Even Mrs. Weasley had most likely been pretending to
be interested, to be polite.

Oh,
well. May as well just enjoy the free food as long as I’m here.

But just as Juniper approached the refreshment
table, she heard a blood-curdling scream.