Barnaby Lee is Houndmaster for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in the Ministry of Magic and former Hogwarts student from Slytherin. He normally is in charge of the care of the Pest Division's pack of albino bloodhounds, but today he is in the Forbidden Forest for another work-related reason. He finds a grove where he’s accidentally ensnared by a plant with vines. His girlfriend and coworker Riley, who was also in his classes at Hogwarts, finds him. They have only recently started dating. The vines tighten the more he struggles, and nothing she tries can free him. While she’s trying to help him, she gets ensnared, too. He apologizes for this, but she tries to keep positive about their situation and jokes about a new adventure together. The vines have bound them both, but they’re close together. He can entwine some of her fingers with his, which brings them both a small comfort. They discover that the vines loosen slightly when he confesses something he’s never said out loud before. He confesses that he doesn’t like being known as the strongest because it also means he’s the dumbest. And he hates how everyone teases him for his stupidity because they think he doesn’t get it. But trust him, he gets it! She tries to tell him that he isn’t stupid, and he freezes, realizing that she’s the only one who hasn’t made fun of him for being stupid. She promises that she has never thought that. She thinks he’s strong because she’s seen it, and that has nothing to do with his smartness. And the truth-telling gets to her, too, when she lets it slip that she thinks he’s handsome. He’s the most handsome man she’s ever seen, and she cannot believe he wants to spend time with her, let alone date her. After Riley admits she thinks he's handsome, the vines loosen just enough for him to shift closer, or maybe the vines bring them together, and she realizes the enchanted vines only tighten from physical struggle and from hiding one's true desires. Emboldened, he confesses that he's liked her, fancied her, for years, but didn’t want to say anything in case it risked their friendship.