Harry Potter: Don't Touch the Badger's Plants

As reward orbs surged into his body one by one, Ciel saw lines of notifications refreshing on the system panel before his eyes.

[You have successfully cultivated Goldfish Vines to maturity]

[You gained reward—Minor Magical Perception Enhancement (Black Iron Tier)]

[...]

Ciel once again felt the familiar sensation flowing through his body. Wisps of magical power flowed through his bloodstream, responding to Ciel's call.

However, this time, the intensity of this feeling was far less than before. After all, Ciel's magical perception had already improved considerably compared to before. It was like filling containers with water—filling a basin versus filling a large water tank would naturally have completely different effects on water level.

Moreover, this time many Goldfish Vines had been eaten by the troll. The number of reward orbs harvested was far less than before. Naturally, the changes to Magical Perception Enhancement weren't as significant.

This feeling quickly faded. Although it was as expected, when his gaze fell on the system panel, Ciel still showed regret.

The silver luster on the Magical Perception Enhancement text was much more intense and brilliant than before. However, there wasn't even the faintest trace of golden light. This meant this ability was still some distance from Gold Tier.

"It seems I overestimated the impact of Black Iron Tier rewards. Based on this trend, even if the troll hadn't destroyed nearly a third of the Goldfish Vines on the first floor, the rewards from this harvest still wouldn't have been enough to advance my Magical Perception Enhancement to Gold Tier."

Ciel shook his head slightly. "It's still manageable now—at most one more harvest should allow me to advance. But going forward, as my magical perception gets stronger, I'll probably need more and more Goldfish Vine harvests to produce noticeable effects. The quantity of Goldfish Vines is still too small. I need to increase production."

The scene of Goldfish Vines rapidly maturing after contact with the troll surfaced again in his mind. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. He needed to find an opportunity to test this phenomenon. But he'd wait for the troll incident to blow over a bit before finding a chance. Otherwise, that paranoid old man Dumbledore might get suspicious.

Then, with nothing to do and unable to sleep, Ciel didn't waste this quiet night in the hospital wing.

"Why not read something interesting?"

Ciel pulled out a book titled The Succubus Queen and Dragon Maid. However, the provocative cover title was just a disguise. Opening it revealed the Half-Blood Prince's Advanced Potion-Making inside.

Ciel carefully turned the pages, reading every word seriously without missing anything. When he first obtained the Half-Blood Prince's textbook, Ciel had focused entirely on Levicorpus and Sectumsempra. But this textbook had several hundred pages. Almost every page was filled with the Half-Blood Prince's notes. Sectumsempra and Levicorpus only occupied a small portion of it.

Ciel had only briefly skimmed through the rest of the content. Now he had sufficient leisure to carefully study the other parts.

Ciel carefully read through the densely packed small text. The beginning content was completely incomprehensible to him.

"Verum, sine mendacio, certum et verissimum..."

"Quod est inferius est sicut quod est superius..."

Various languages filled the pages. Latin, ancient Egyptian script, and what seemed to be runic writing... Ciel suddenly felt like an illiterate.

Just as he was getting a headache, he finally saw familiar English.

"The harmony of magical power in potions has much in common with what is said in the Emerald Tablet. That which is below is like that which is above, and that which is above is like that which is below, to accomplish the miracles of the one thing. The source of all perfection in the world is here. On this, the Hermetic school's Corpus Hermeticum offers equally brilliant but differently expressed interpretations..."

Ciel let out a soft hiss. Well, it's full of citations and references. Still incomprehensible.

If he didn't know that Snape's Half-Blood Prince textbook was truly packed with valuable content, someone else might think these were pretentious quotes from a teenager trying to sound deep.

Was this the genius who, according to the original story, knew more magic upon entering school than seventh-year students? When Snape was studying Advanced Potion-Making, he should have been in fifth or sixth year. By then, his level in both spells and potions had probably reached very advanced heights.

The notes left in this textbook were likely a summary of his very mature magical system. This was undoubtedly a huge treasure trove. Levicorpus and Sectumsempra were merely products of this magical system. This knowledge was the real gold mine. Mastering it and creating similar achievements wasn't impossible!

However, Ciel soon shook his head. With his current knowledge accumulation, fully understanding Snape's notes from back then still seemed unrealistic. Maybe he should set it aside for now. Or perhaps study it together with the academic genius Hermione?

At this moment, Ciel unconsciously turned to a page. From this page onward, everything recorded was Snape's complete process of creating his first spell—Levicorpus.

Compared to the single page needed to record Levicorpus's incantation and casting gesture, the creation process was dozens of times more complex. Obviously, even for a genius like Snape, creating a spell he was satisfied with wasn't that simple.

These notes recorded his various concepts, from simple to complex, and his analysis of spells. Lumos Charm, Soil-Loosening Charm, Pruning Charm... Even the Levitation Charm that Ciel would soon learn... One spell after another was dissected and analyzed by Snape in his notes. Taking their essence. Transforming them into nourishment for creating his own spells.

At this moment, Ciel stood before this treasure trove. Casually picking up anything yielded heavy gold. His heart was full of shock.

Ciel had thought his current Gold-Tier Lumos Charm and Pruning Charm, along with his Silver-Tier Soil-Loosening Charm, represented quite good mastery for a first-year student. Even Hermione's level with these spells probably fell far short of his own.

But now, seeing the content about these spells recorded in Snape's notes, Ciel truly understood what genius meant. Every word in this section seemed to have magical power, drawing Ciel in to chew over them repeatedly.

The entire night flew by like it had wings. Gone in the blink of an eye.

When he heard Madam Pomfrey's cough, Ciel awakened in confusion. Madam Pomfrey's expression was somewhat strange as she stared at The Succubus Queen and Dragon Maid that Ciel had been absorbed in.

"Ahem. Ciel, young men having strong urges is understandable. But staying up all night reading this kind of book isn't good for your health."

Ciel was stunned for a moment. He quickly and carefully put the book away. He hurriedly bid farewell to Madam Pomfrey.

Watching Ciel's departing figure, Madam Pomfrey found it amusing.

"This child, such a pretense of propriety. It seems the Sprout family might have quite a few branches in the future. If Pomona knew about this, she'd probably be overjoyed. She might arrange romance for him before he even graduates."

She sighed wistfully. "Tsk, romance... Such a young child already has prospects for romance. What about me? Sigh, was my brain waterlogged back then? Why did I choose to study medicine!"

While Madam Pomfrey was feeling sorry for herself, Ciel quickly distanced himself from the hospital wing. At the same time, his heartbeat accelerated wildly.

His gaze fell on the system panel. What met his eyes was a breathtaking sight: silver light like waves, golden light like rain, and platinum light shining brilliantly!

[Chapter Complete]

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