HP: The Boy who Planted

Char cast several pruning spells in succession, carefully trimming away some side branches of the goldfish plant. On his system panel, the silver luster flowing across the words of the pruning spell became visibly richer with each successful cast. Char felt a surge of emotion—after improving his magical perception, the efficiency of spell advancement had increased dramatically.

It had taken a lot of effort to push the Fluorescent Spell to bronze level, but now, with the Pruning Spell, progress toward silver was much smoother. "If this trend continues," Char thought, "by midnight tonight or early tomorrow morning at the latest, the Pruning Spell will reach Silver level."

His eyes shone with anticipation. He didn't know what qualitative change the Pruning Spell would undergo after the upgrade, but judging by the improvements in the Soil Loosening Spell and the Fluorescent Spell, he was confident the silver-level Pruning Spell would not disappoint.

Refocusing, Char poured his attention into the Pruning Spell, losing track of time as he practiced. Before he knew it, night had fallen, and the time mentioned in the duel letter was drawing closer.

…

Meanwhile, in the Slytherin common room, it was already late, but the first-year snakes were wide awake. They gathered around Malfoy, who had somehow acquired a spyglass—a magical alchemical item often used for spying. Rumor had it that many Daily Prophet reporters were loyal customers of Lookingglass.

At that moment, three images flickered across the mirror in front of Malfoy: the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room, and the house cup hourglass. The little snakes held their breath.

"Malfoy, do you really think they'll fall for it?" one whispered. "It's almost time for the duel, but there's no movement yet."

Malfoy tried to look calm, but his tightly clenched hands betrayed his nerves. "Shut up! Don't distract me!"

The others wondered if the people on the other side of the endoscope could hear them. Just then, there was movement from Gryffindor. Harry and Ron crept out from under the Fat Lady's portrait, Ron giving Harry advice: "If he tries to cast a spell, dodge. I can't remember how to block anything." Harry nodded, though it was unclear if he was listening.

At that moment, Hermione appeared, wearing pink pajamas and looking both sleepy and angry. "I can't believe you're doing this," she scolded. "Harry, Ron! I told you this was probably a trap set by Malfoy and the Slytherins. There won't really be a duel! You'll lose points for Gryffindor!"

Harry could hardly believe someone could be so nosy. Ron curled his lip. "Hermione, how do you know it's a trap?"

Hermione replied, "When I was with Char, I saw him get the challenge letter too. Char said it must be a trap—Malfoy's not that bold."

Ron raised his eyebrows. "So that's just Char's speculation. Maybe he's afraid to duel, so he said that."

Hermione was furious. "RON WEASLEY!"

Harry tried to smooth things over. "Alright, Hermione. Let's just go and see. If Malfoy shows, we'll give him a good beating. If not, we'll leave right away."

Hermione sighed, feeling depressed. But things got worse—she didn't want to get involved, but the Fat Lady's portrait had gone to visit neighbors, so she couldn't get back into Gryffindor Tower. Gritting her teeth, Hermione followed Harry and Ron to the trophy room, just as in the original story.

All of this was seen by Malfoy and the little snakes. They couldn't hear what Hermione said, but it didn't matter—the three Gryffindors had walked right into their trap.

"That's good. Gryffindor will never catch up with our score again," Malfoy said, pleased. He glanced at the Hufflepuff entrance in the mirror—still no movement. He gritted his teeth. "Why hasn't Char Sprout set off yet? Didn't he get the challenge letter? Or is he just too cowardly to duel? I'll spread the news and mock him tomorrow."

Malfoy and the others regretted that Char hadn't fallen for their trick, but trapping Harry and his friends was still a victory. "The three of them will lose fifty points for Gryffindor. Just wait until the others see the hourglass tomorrow—Harry Potter will be blamed for sure!"

They stared at the house cup hourglass in the mirror, not wanting to miss a thing. Time ticked by. The night grew darker, and the little snakes' eyelids drooped. Still, there was no movement in the hourglass.

Suddenly, Malfoy's eyes widened. "It's moving! There's movement!" The little snakes snapped awake, staring at the mirror. But what happened next stunned them—the sound came from Slytherin's hourglass. Slytherin had lost ten points!

They looked at each other in disbelief. "What's going on?!"

Moments later, the Slytherin common room door burst open. A furious Severus Snape strode in, his anger palpable. Seeing the little snakes clustered around the mirror, he exploded.

"You idiots! I told you to practice the Luminescence Charm, but you're trying to be clever again, aren't you? Sending a challenge letter, tipping off the castle caretaker, hoping he'd catch them and deduct points so you wouldn't have to practice? Idiots! A bunch of idiots!!"

Malfoy tried to defend himself, "Professor, it's just bad luck. If it worked, Slytherin would be ahead. We're just following the Slytherin tradition—winning by any means necessary…"

Snape laughed coldly. "While I was working hard brewing potions, you wanted to slack off and came up with this? You think Slytherin tradition is about justifying any means? Listen carefully! Slytherin means doing whatever it takes to strengthen yourself, weaken the enemy, and win. The first is the most basic. If you can't handle practicing spells, how can you do whatever it takes? If you keep this up, you'll be left behind by the badgers in Hufflepuff. You'll bring shame to Slytherin!"

He took a deep breath. "You like staying up late? Fine! Don't sleep tonight—practice the Luminescence Spell. No one stops until I say so!"

The little snakes paled, but under Snape's glare, they could only obey, their hearts groaning in protest. No sleep all night—who could bear it?

Meanwhile, in the Hufflepuff common room, Char felt refreshed after staying up all night. On his system panel, the last trace of bronze faded from the Pruning Spell, replaced by a dazzling silver glow.

"Silver-level Pruning Spell. It's done!"