Ripples Gradually Settle

Bright magic candles emitted light, dispelling the fog in the Greenhouse. Magical runes engraved on the walls and dome radiated a reassuring warmth. Most of these runes contained connotations of the sun, warmth, and nurturing life, and they were linked together to maintain the temperature and humidity in the Greenhouse.

Loren stood on the edge of the Mandrake planting platform, his earmuffs covering his ears completely to block out all outside sounds. The tranquil environment gradually calmed his slightly agitated mind.

Mandrake, also known as datura or spirea, is said to have originated in the Mediterranean region and is found all over the world. It is highly poisonous, and the sound emitted by its human-shaped root is deadly.

But it is not only destructive and violent; mature Mandrake can be used to concoct potions that can awaken petrified people from their slumber. The Magic Power of Mandrake doesn't stop there; its leaves possess miraculous effects. The first step in the Animagus training process is to hold Mandrake in one's mouth for a month.

There are many speculations in the fields of Transfiguration and Herbology. The mainstream view in Transfiguration is that Mandrake has the function of breaking through form limitations, breaking petrification and modifying human form.

The mainstream view in the Herbology is that the essence of Mandrake and the essence of human beings are similar and interconnected, and some clues can be seen from its human-shaped root.

Its growth process is also difficult to separate from the human growth process: infancy, childhood, youth, and old age. There may be profound truths hidden within this, but so far no one has made a breakthrough in this area. Philosophers have offered many opinions, but they are largely of little practical value.

I wonder if the transformation between life and death is reflected in the withering and sprouting of the Mandrake, both of which possess incredible Magic Power. Perhaps the principles behind the Resurrection Potion, and even the crafting of the Sorcerer's Stone, could be applied here...

Loren suddenly shook his head, slowly gathering his wandering thoughts and focusing them on the Mandrake in front of him.

During the Easter Holiday, the fastest-growing Mandrake had completely passed their adolescence; the dense pimples on their human-shaped roots had healed, leaving behind mottled freckles. They were constantly Grawp and cursing, and couldn't wait to find a larger habitat.

Professor Sprout needs some students with excellent Herbology grades who have finished their holiday assignments early to help transplant and repot the Mandrake. Professor McGonagall went directly to Hermione, asking her to collect some single Mandrake leaves for the Animagus class.

And so Loren, Hermione, Neville, and Rolf were recruited.

After burying a Mandrake in the soil and confirming that the soil was loose enough, I lifted the watering can and watered it a few times. The watering can contained diluted Professor Sprout's special nutrient solution, which smelled indescribable, like meat broth and fermented cheese simmered together for a month, with moldy socks added at the end.

Fortunately, Mandrake absorbs nutrients quickly, so you only need to endure the half-minute of watering.

In the passageway between the planting platforms, Hermione walked from one end to the other, checking the condition of each Mandrake as she went back and forth, finding those with human-shaped roots that had passed puberty, marking them, and leaving them for the next person to transplant.

The girl wore an earthy yellow gardener's uniform, the slightly oversized garment cinched at her slender waist with a belt, giving her a neat and spirited air. The earmuffs on her head were tightly fastened, making her head appear even smaller, and her serious, earnest face only added to her cuteness.

After finishing watering, Loren put down the watering can and felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Hermione wrinkling her little nose and furrowing her brows tightly because of the smell.

Despite the overwhelming smell, Hermione endured it, pulled Loren close, brushed the hair around his ears, and then waved her hand in front of his eyes.

Loren stood obediently in place, letting Hermione examine him thoroughly before letting him go.

She would pass by Loren every now and then to make sure there were no gaps in his earmuffs and that he was focused so that the Mandrake wouldn't take the opportunity to bite him...

Ever since that day when she left the Headmaster's office, it's been like this. She follows him to meals, to do homework, and to review. Except for going to the toilet and sleeping, Hermione is almost always by his side. Even Professor Flitwick's teaching invitation has been temporarily postponed.

The little Witch always suspected that Loren was putting on a brave face and pretending to be strong to deal with her, but who knew how she was secretly crying behind her back.

Loren was both amused and exasperated. He had explained many times, but Hermione was convinced he was just being stubborn. After a few repetitions, he simply let Hermione be; after all, it felt nice to be cared for.

After confirming that all the Mandrake of the right age had been transplanted, Neville and Rolf left, while Loren and Hermione stayed behind to pick Mandrake Leaf needed for the Animagus class.

Since the earmuffs couldn't be removed, the two could only communicate through gestures and guesswork.

Loren pointed to the right-hand platform, then to himself, meaning he should pick the Mandrake leaves on the right.

Hermione nodded, waving her fingers to indicate 40 portions, half for each of them.

With perfect understanding and no misunderstandings, the two began to take action.

At the very edge of the planting platform, a pot of Mandrake, whose acne had not yet healed and had not been repotted, lazily swayed its leaves, completely unaware of the danger that was about to befall it.

Loren seized the opportunity and slashed with his scissors, and a single-leaf Mandrake fell into his hand, which was then put into the cloth bag hanging on his belt.

Part of the humanoid root's face was exposed above the ground, staring blankly at Loren. Even though it was just a Mandrake, Loren could still see a sense of grievance on its face.

The Mandrake puckered its little mouth and immediately started squeaking and squeaking.

But Loren had already turned and cut off a plant without looking back.

These Mandrake are so arrogant, each one is very particular about their hairstyle. Whether they're going through puberty or have already passed it, one snip and they'll cry out in despair.

"...17, 18, 19."

Loren counted; after walking through the right-hand nursery, he was still missing a leaf. He glanced around and saw that the first plant he'd started with was exhausted from crying, listlessly resting in its hole.

I tiptoed over without attracting its attention. Seizing the opportunity, I snatched a single leaf and cut it again.

Mandrake cried even harder and louder this time, but Loren, wearing earmuffs, was like a deaf man and couldn't hear anything.

"All done!"

Loren nodded in satisfaction and turned to meet Hermione.

After changing into their everyday clothes and quickly washing themselves, the two walked out of the Greenhouse together.

Hermione carried a bag of Mandrake in her right hand, more than Professor McGonagall had specified, leaving some extra. In her left hand was the Greenhouse key, which she planned to give to Professor McGonagall along with the mandrakes so she wouldn't have to return them to Professor Sprout.

Walking side by side on the path back to the Castle, Hermione recounted her experiences at the Ministry of Magic that day, about the Time Room in the Department of Mysteries, and about the power of time.

"Time-Turner?" Loren looked at Hermione curiously, then casually took the bag of Mandrake. Although it was hard to say who was stronger, he still had to show his gentlemanly manners.

Hermione nodded. "An hourglass that looks very delicate. Headmaster Dumbledore said it was a tool to resolve class time conflicts."

"So don't worry about filling up your course list, the professors have already arranged everything!" Hermione said with a big smile, already looking forward to a fulfilling academic year ahead. "The course selection period hasn't ended yet, Loren, let's fill up our course lists together! We won't miss a single one!"

"Hiss... that sounds terrifying."

Loren was quite interested in the Time-Turner, but he only felt resistance to a full schedule of classes. Choosing a full schedule was out of the question; he'd just borrow Hermione's Time-Turner to study it later.

"Why would I take a full course? I'm learning Ancient Rune on my own, and I'm not interested in Muggle Studies. Besides, is it because of time conflicts that I don't take a full course?" Loren muttered to himself, shaking his head firmly. "It's because I'm lazy."

Hermione slapped him in exasperation, and knowing she couldn't persuade him, Hermione immediately started talking about Dumbledore and Mad-Eye Moody entering the Hall of Prophecy.

"We parted ways in the Time Room. Mr. Weasley took me to see a trial, well... it was quite complicated, I can't explain it right now, but the important thing is the Hall of Prophecy."

"There seems to be something in there that's related to Voldemort, and Dumbledore is very interested in it." Hermione lowered her voice. "I think that's the main reason Dumbledore went to the Ministry of Magic. And we sneaked in. Mr. Weasley helped us cover our identities, and Mr. Moody led us past the wand registration checkpoint."

"Could it be just to help you conceal your whereabouts? With Dumbledore's magical skills, he could easily storm in. Even if he were to infiltrate, he could do so without alerting anyone."

Loren made a sarcastic remark about the little Witch, then fell into deep reminiscence and contemplation.

What else could be in the Hall of Prophecy? Prophecy Orb, of course.

It's likely that Dumbledore learned from Snape that Voldemort only knew half of the Prophecy, and guessed that Voldemort might be interested in Prophecy remaining half. Coupled with Wormtail Peter's mysterious escape, which suggested there was someone within the Ministry of Magic who could have Voldemort's spies, Dumbledore worried that the Prophecy Orb might have been taken by an insider and given to Voldemort, so he went to investigate.

Hiding his identity was to avoid alerting Voldemort. It was possible that Voldemort hadn't yet remembered the Prophecy, and if Dumbledore leaked the information, it would only remind Voldemort.

"The Hall of Prophecy ... I think I know what it is." Loren hesitated for a moment, glancing at Hermione hesitantly. "I don't know if I should tell you this; it might disrupt Dumbledore's plans..."

"Then don't say it!" Hermione answered decisively, but then hesitated. "Hidden... I can't say it... This feeling is so familiar."

What is it...?

Hermione quickly remembered, glaring at Loren through gritted teeth. "I remember now! It's the Basilisk! You knew the truth about the Basilisk from the very beginning!"

Once it started, the remaining memories kept popping up, becoming clearer and clearer.

The shame of being transformed into a cat welled up inside her, and the memory of this person enthusiastically playing with her tail made her feel increasingly uneasy.

"You watched me brew Polyjuice Potion, and watched me drink the potion with Cat Hair in it! No wonder you looked so strange back then, you must have known all along!" Hermione's fist hardened.

Loren began to panic. "Slander! Utter slander!"

"The Basilisk matter was Dumbledore ordered to be kept secret, so I can't say. As for the Cat Hair, I was quite surprised too. How could I have known beforehand? I can't Prophecy!"

Loren retorted while subtly creating some distance between them.

"Then why are you running?" Hermione yelled and chased after her.

"I won't run unless you chase me!"

"If you don't run, I won't chase you!"

"I don't believe it!"

"Stop!"

At the Quidditch Pitch, the Gryffindor Quidditch Team is practicing their newly prepared tactics in preparation for a match against Hufflepuff after the Easter Holiday.

Their team now has three high-end brooms, with the fastest, the Nimbus 2001, confirmed for Seeker Harry, and two Nimbus 2000. Wood is experimenting with various options to find the best allocation.

The tricky part was that Ron came up with a wild idea: to give one of the Nimbus 2000 to the goalkeeper. Wood thought it was a clever idea, but apart from the goalkeeper, no one in the team really agreed with it.

From the stands, Ron gazed at the meadow beyond the Greenhouse. On the path beside the meadow, Hermione steadily closed the distance, leaping onto Loren's back...

The scene over there was rather gruesome. Ron remained silent for a moment, then politely looked away. It wasn't that he didn't care about his roommate; it was just that caring wouldn't make a difference.

The key to Scoring isn't the Seeker, so Harry was able to take a break after Speed Training and sit in the stands with Ron, enjoying the gentle breeze.

Harry's attention was on the field, and he didn't see the tragedy that had occurred behind the field. He sighed deeply, "Your father took the Flying Car yesterday, Sirius Black rode the Flying Motorcycle when he left. The Quidditch Pitch is suddenly so quiet, and I'm not used to it."

Ron suspects that Percy tipped him off about his father suddenly showing up at school and driving away in the Flying Car.

The reason Percy was able to keep the secret from his family with them was that George and Fred threatened him with a secret they couldn't tell anyone. It was probably because the Twins were too arrogant, Percy was willing to fight them to the death.

Fortunately, this time it wasn't just his fault; the Weasley family were all involved, and George and Fred were the main culprits, so his mother's Howler probably won't reach him.

Ron shook his head with a tremor in his heart, not wanting to dwell on this question that could easily trigger psychological trauma. He turned around and asked curiously, "Why did Sirius Black suddenly leave? When he said goodbye, he said he wouldn't be able to continue Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"I don't know either." Harry shook his head. "He just said he was going to pay off his debts and find answers to some questions."

"What debt? Someone as rich as him would be in debt?" Ron exclaimed, his mouth agape in surprise. "What debt could the Black family possibly be unable to pay?"

"I pressed him for details, and he said he couldn't let me get involved in those things, and only told me to study hard and cherish the time I spent with my friends."

"Spiritual and eccentric, Dumbledore," Ron muttered.