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

"Hiss..."

Seeing the scene on the system panel, Ciel couldn't help but gasp in amazement. This improvement could only be described as terrifyingly tremendous.

The Soil-Loosening Charm, which had originally been some distance from Gold Tier, was now brilliantly golden on the system panel. The golden radiance had almost completely occupied the text. Just a little more, and the Soil-Loosening Charm could completely advance to Gold Tier!

If Ciel had to practice this himself, it would probably take nearly a month to achieve such results. Moreover, the improvement of the Soil-Loosening Charm was just the tip of the iceberg.

The changes in the Lumos Charm were even more astonishing. The Lumos Charm, which had already been improving at Gold Tier for some time, now had brilliant golden light with a trace of weak platinum radiance emerging. It had clearly reached the threshold for advancing to Platinum Tier!

Although the effort required from this step to actual advancement might be more than all previous efforts combined, this speed had far exceeded Ciel's expectations. At this rate, when the next Lumos Shroom harvest came, the Lumos Charm would definitely advance to Platinum Tier, becoming Ciel's first Platinum-Tier spell!

Besides this, the Pruning Charm text also showed weak platinum light emerging. However, since Ciel hadn't yet found magical plants that could provide Pruning Charm insight rewards, this spell's advancement would definitely be much slower than the Lumos Charm.

Fortunately, there was still Sectumsempra as an "accelerator." Its progress would definitely be much faster than other spells.

Speaking of Sectumsempra, although Ciel's magical strength still didn't support him actually using this dark magic, on the system panel, the originally Black Iron Tier Sectumsempra had quietly become semi-solid [Sectumsempra (Bronze Tier)]!

The changes in Levicorpus were even more significant. Perhaps because the content Ciel had read was precisely the analysis of how to create Levicorpus, his mastery had soared overnight from Black Iron Tier to Silver Tier. Even because Levicorpus' creation was closely related to the Levitation Charm, he had gained an additional [Levitation Charm (Bronze Tier)]!

Looking at the panel that had changed dramatically compared to before, Ciel's feelings were truly indescribable.

"If I had to do this myself, it would probably take at least two months of hard practice. But now, by absorbing some of Snape's magical insights from his notes, I've made such tremendous progress. If I could fully digest all of Snape's notes, ten years might be an exaggeration, but saving me five years should be possible."

He sighed with a mixture of satisfaction and longing. "Unfortunately, this is all I can understand currently. To continue excavating this treasure trove, I need to improve my knowledge level."

At the same time, his smile carried some envy. He felt the same reverence for academic masters as in his previous life.

"There was a saying in my previous life. The greatest significance of mediocre scholars' lifelong achievements might just be to save a genius an afternoon. Conversely, a genius's afternoon work might be something ordinary people couldn't accomplish in a lifetime. This saying seems equally applicable in the magical world."

Fortunately, Ciel had never harbored expectations of being a peerless genius, whether in his previous life or this one. Being able to obtain Snape's notes and avoid many detours already delighted him greatly. Where would he find the mind to be jealous or resentful?

Carefully securing the Half-Blood Prince's textbook close to his body, Ciel headed toward today's Charms class. Regarding the knowledge insights gained from the Half-Blood Prince's notes, he still had some areas he hadn't fully grasped.

Reflected on the system panel, although the mastery ratings of various spells had advanced and shone brilliantly, looking closely, they still seemed somewhat illusory and hazy. Based on Ciel's experience, this indicated that although mastery had improved, the foundation wasn't solid enough. Not stable enough.

However, this wasn't a major problem. With a little consolidation to fully digest the post-advancement insights, that illusory, hazy state would naturally disappear.

And looking at the magical world, what better way to answer questions and resolve doubts than consulting a Charms master?

"Hogwarts' faculty strength is truly unmatched. Absolutely luxurious. It's just that professors usually have to consider every student's progress, so they only teach the most basic content. They also have to spend most of their time on review, making the teaching effect seem ordinary."

His eyes showed growing excitement. "But if they really let loose and imparted their lifelong learning, Voldemort back then was a good example. He could even extract information about creating multiple Horcruxes from Professor Slughorn!"

Ciel's eyes showed anticipation. He could hardly wait to see Professor Flitwick and ask him questions in class.

However, while walking through the corridors, Ciel suddenly felt something was off. Why did all the students he passed, regardless of grade level, look at him strangely? Many showed fear and a look like they were seeing something alien.

Ciel frowned with growing confusion.

Just then, he encountered the first-year little badgers, who were red-faced with anger. Hannah Abbott, who had dressed as a rabbit just yesterday, looked like she wanted to bite someone today. However, upon seeing Ciel, the little badgers tried hard to appear normal.

Ciel saw through this immediately. "What exactly happened?"

He asked with confusion and curiosity. He roughly knew that yesterday's troll incident couldn't be hidden. But why were many young wizards looking at him so strangely? As if they were worried he might eat them alive?

After Ciel's inquiry, the little badgers exchanged glances. All looked worried. After a long while, Hannah carefully said, "Ciel, I'll tell you, but please don't get too angry or too sad. They're definitely spreading rumors. And even if it were true, we wouldn't care at all. You'll always be our good friend."

This made Ciel even more confused.

Then Hannah finally spoke with obvious reluctance. "There's a rumor. Don't know where it came from. Saying, saying you're part giant."

Hearing this, Ciel finally had a moment of realization. No wonder the young wizards were looking at him strangely. Some looked at him like he was an alien. So they thought he was part giant?

Speaking of which, giant mixed-bloods were indeed unwelcome in the magical world. Various rumors abounded. Discrimination was inevitable. Just look at Hagrid's past treatment.

When Tom Riddle opened the Chamber of Secrets and killed Myrtle, framing Hagrid for it, if it had been any other pure-blood or even Muggle-born, they might not have been expelled. But precisely because Hagrid was a half-giant, he was unceremoniously kicked out of Hogwarts.

In the original story, during the Triwizard Tournament, even Madame Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbatons, didn't dare admit her half-giant identity. This showed how serious the magical world's discrimination against half-giants was.

Being touched by this rumor and looked at with strange eyes was reasonable. As for where this rumor came from? Ciel shook his head. He knew without thinking.

Then Ciel waved his hand slightly. Not far away, Malfoy, who was snickering with Crabbe and Goyle, suddenly cried out in surprise. He was pulled by an inexplicable force and fell flat on his back.

Ciel walked over and looked down at Malfoy with cold determination.

"Let's talk. I'm part giant... you spread this rumor, didn't you?"

Malfoy, still not recovered, instinctively said, "How did you know?"

Ciel sneered with dark amusement. "Of course, no one knows a son better than his father."

[Chapter Complete]

***

Want more? Check out my Patreon for:

✓ Advanced chapters of all my stories

✓ Exclusive novels & fanfics

✓ Early access content www.patreon.com/meowthtl

💪 Community Goal: 500 Power Stones unlocks a bonus chapter!

Thanks for reading and supporting the story!