#mohoutokoro
Cherry blossom viewing at night.
The warmth came too early that year, far too early. Tank tops and sundresses might be an enjoyable surprise in mid-February, but they are out of the rhythm of things. Denizens of the mid-Atlantic know better than to pack away the closed-toed shoes and wool coats before April, no matter how many pops of color are starting to find their way into the natural world.
Many plants are hardy things. A daffodil will wilt and pop back up a dozen times. A crocus hardly minds a little coating of ice. Bright-burning forsythia defies a freeze.
But other blossoms are more delicate.
So they made a project of it, the visiting students from Mahoutokoro and the Herbology-specializing upper house students from RPI.
Warming charms, long-practiced in the greenhouses and fields surrounding the Randolph-Poythress Institute – but miniaturized, a specialty of many Mahoutokoro students. A charm nestled inside each foolish bud, staving off the sudden freeze that followed the suspicious false spring. A charm that could hold for weeks, until warmer weather arrived to stay.
It took most of a week and an extended field trip, but working in pairs (under the watchful eyes of the DSO), a herd of fifteen-to-seventeen year olds saved the cherry blossoms of Washington, DC, preserving their beauty from getting nipped in the bud.
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