The Forbidden Forest Is Quite a Good Place

"That's absolutely wonderful. Let's go!"

Neville was rather pleased to see that he had managed to pull Dylan along.

He was even happier when he heard there would actually be something tasty to eat.

Dylan didn't bother packing much. He simply stuffed his books into his bag, stood up, and prepared to go to Hagrid's Hut with Neville.

"Moo~!"

Coal Ball immediately followed them.

"Do you want to come too?" Dylan asked with a smile.

"Moo!" Coal Ball called crisply.

"Then let's go." Dylan curled his lips into a smile and opened his arms toward Coal Ball.

Coal Ball suddenly leaped forward, seeming to turn into a shadow. The next moment, it had jumped into Dylan's arms.

Neville looked at the fluffy Coal Ball with envy.

It would be wonderful to have such a cute pet too.

"Hm? Wait a moment. I seem to have forgotten something again."

Neville stood where he was, blinking.

But just then, Dylan, who had already walked ahead, turned around and looked at him in confusion. "What is it?"

"Huh? N-Nothing." Neville immediately shook his head, then quickly hurried after him.

Along the way, he did his best to find topics to talk about so that Dylan wouldn't be so bored.

Dylan also cooperated, chatting with him the whole way.

By the time the two boys and the cat arrived at Hagrid's Hut,

Hagrid happened to be standing at the door, wandering around for some reason.

His eyes lit up when he saw them arrive.

"Two Young Wizards, how come I haven't seen Harry and the others today?"

Dylan walked closer. "Harry has a match, and Ron went to watch it too."

"What, a match? Oh! I can't go watch it. What a shame!" Hagrid said regretfully.

However, Dylan's bird's-nest hair soon drew all of Hagrid's attention. "Did those ghosts play a prank on you?"

"No."

Hagrid blinked, then lowered his gaze to Coal Ball in Dylan's arms.

"Hey, little fellow, how are you? Are you going to find everyone and play today?"

Coal Ball had run over here the last time it sneaked out, so it naturally knew Hagrid.

It shot into Hagrid's open arms. Its little paws mischievously played with Hagrid's thick beard, making him roar with laughter.

Although Hagrid was enormous, his movements were surprisingly gentle when he was handling Coal Ball.

He lightly scratched Coal Ball's chin, then turned sideways and ushered Dylan and Neville into the hut.

The room was warm, filled with the scents of wood and smoke.

Hagrid let Coal Ball leap around his spacious room as he walked into the kitchen.

He brought out a plate of snacks.

"I just made a batch of Rock Cakes today. They're very fresh. Want to try one?"

Seeing the steaming, enormous cake in front of him, Neville remembered what Dylan had said about the tasty food and immediately nodded.

"Please give me one!"

"Oh, certainly."

Hagrid gave Neville an entire Rock Cake without cutting it.

"I'll pass. I just ate, and it's still a while before afternoon tea." Dylan politely declined with a smile.

"All right." Hagrid nodded, then looked at Neville expectantly.

Neville's eyes sparkled. Without a word, he grabbed the Rock Cake in front of him and, under Dylan's equally expectant gaze, opened his mouth and bit down.

"Crunch—!"

Neville's eyes instantly bulged round.

His mouth hung half open, the muscles in his face twisting slightly from the pain as his expression collapsed.

"Ow..." Neville instinctively covered his mouth and looked at Dylan miserably.

Dylan held back a wicked grin, the corners of his lips lifting as his shoulders shook. At last, he couldn't help but snort with laughter.

"Hahaha! It really is delicious. It's just a little hard to bite through."

"Dylan!" After recovering a little, Neville pretended to be angry and punched Dylan.

Hagrid scratched his head from the side. "Still a bit hard to bite through? Then..."

Fang had already rushed over after reading the situation. He stuck out his tongue and wagged his tail at Neville.

Neville glanced at Hagrid.

"Just give it to him. He loves them." Hagrid nodded.

Only then did Neville stuff the piece of building material—no, the Rock Cake—into Fang's huge mouth.

Dylan also took the opportunity to stop laughing and then told Hagrid why they had come.

"Special Nutrient for the Flame Thorns?"

Hagrid failed to understand at first. "Didn't I already send some to Professor Sprout?"

Dylan explained, "The professor has some, but Neville doesn't. Professor Sprout specifically gave the Flame Thorns to Neville to grow. The previous Special Nutrient has already been used up, and it wouldn't be convenient to ask the professor for more now."

"I see." Hagrid understood.

Flame Thorns were not easy to raise.

The little things were extremely temperamental, and they had to be fertilized with nutrients mixed according to a special ratio.

Otherwise, the Flame Thorns might get upset and burn themselves to ashes out of sheer irritation.

"But Professor Sprout actually gave such a seedling to you to care for. It seems the professor really appreciates you."

Neville grew a little shy. "It's all thanks to Dylan."

Indeed, the reason the professor had agreed to let Neville care for such a difficult Magical Plant

was largely thanks to Dylan's persuasive words when he sought Private Tutoring from Professor Sprout after class.

Besides, Neville himself had considerable talent in Herbology.

After this back and forth, Professor Sprout felt that since she was giving Private Tutoring to one person, tutoring one more would make little difference.

So she agreed to Dylan's request.

As a result, whenever Professor Sprout gave Dylan Private Tutoring, Neville would be called over as well.

He would soon fail to keep up with the pace, staring blankly as the other two exchanged ideas while studying all kinds of Magical Plants.

Although the pace was fast, after so many extracurricular lessons, he had made considerable progress.

"Special Nutrient for Flame Thorns is difficult to prepare and requires quite a few ingredients. Fortunately, the Forbidden Forest has plenty of fertilizer. If we find some and mix it together, we can make something with roughly the same effect. Would that work?"

"Of course!" Neville did not refuse.

Dylan had only come along to accompany Neville, so once the two of them began talking, he stopped interrupting and instead turned his gaze out the window.

The Forbidden Forest's trees were tall, with thick branches and leaves that blocked the view, making it difficult for him to see what was happening inside.

The Forbidden Forest... it's quite a good place.

He pondered this secretly.

Recently, he had also conducted quite a few Potion experiments with Professor Snape.

Almost every time Professor Snape gave him Private Tutoring, the professor provided the materials.

Dylan couldn't very well cram all kinds of Potion experiments into Saturday every time.

If he wanted to try brewing Potions on his own, he naturally needed materials as well.

It was impossible for him to shamelessly ask Professor Snape for materials again.

Besides, the materials in the professor's possession were meant for brewing Advanced Potions. Using them for his own practice would be far too wasteful.

So where could he get the materials?