Mandrake Leaf

Restrain the urge to speak.

Replace brushing with Cleaning Charm.

Place the Mandrake leaves against the upper palate and under the base of the tongue.

The areas on either side of the seat should be avoided.

Try to eat foods that don't require chewing, such as thin porridge and meat broth. I'm not sure if pudding counts, so I won't eat pudding for the next month. I'll decide after this month ends.

Hermione compared the notes to the ones she had copied from some unknown book and silently memorized them all.

Loren sat on the steps of the courtyard, occasionally peeking at her notes.

Several young wizards from the Animagus class were also nearby, carefully protecting the leaves of the Mandrake in their hands, quietly waiting in the courtyard for the full moon to emerge from the tent of clouds.

Another group of more cautious students are now stationed at the Astronomy Tower, participating in tonight's stargazing class, mingling with the other young wizards from different grades, and using Telescope to make sure the moon is truly full.

Hermione's delicate white finger stopped on a note, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes. She suddenly turned her head and asked, "Can we use Whizbangs our teeth? Won't it turn the Mandrake into pieces?"

"If you're not sure, it's best not to use this Cleaning Charm. It's always better to be safe than sorry." Loren leaned his head against the pillar next to him, then suddenly thought of something and gave a strange smile. "Why not just stop brushing my teeth? If it only lasts for a month, I shouldn't get cavities."

"Ugh~" Hermione pouted in disgust, "I won't talk to you if you don't brush your teeth."

Hermione, whose parents are both dentists, knows all too well what happens if you don't brush your teeth. Bacteria multiply freely in the warm environment of the mouth, and even if a month isn't enough time for cavities, the taste will definitely be unpleasant.

"Oh!" Loren stared, pointing a finger directly at her and accusing her, "You won't talk to me if I don't brush my teeth, so you only approached me for my fresh breath."

Hermione: "..."

The little Witch rolled her eyes at him, not wanting to pay any more attention to him, and turned her head away to continue reciting her instructions.

Loren wasn't about to give up easily. He pressed closer and grabbed her arm, asking, "Tell me, are you after my lime-orange flavored toothpaste?"

"Be careful not to damage my Mandrake Leaf!"

Hermione slapped him, Loren, not to be outdone, slapped her back. Things took a strange turn, and the two of them started playfully fighting in the courtyard, slapping each other back and forth, waiting for the moonlight.

Hearing the sound from not far away, George glanced suspiciously into the bushes and muttered under his breath, "Are there mosquitoes this early this year? Summer isn't even here yet."

Fred squatted down and examined the Mandrake in his hand, casually replying, "It's already April, it's normal to have mosquitoes."

"Yeah..."

Loren didn't get tired of slapping each other until their hands were red. Mainly because Hermione was stronger than him, he felt he was at a disadvantage; otherwise, he would have played with Hermione until dawn.

Once Hermione calmed down, she remembered to check her Mandrake Leaf. After confirming that everything was alright, she sighed with mixed feelings.

The little Witch's original plan was to carefully protect the Mandrake Leaf for the opening ceremony and spend the next month with utmost caution. But Loren had such Magic Power that she couldn't help but fall into his wicked game.

Hermione had a bad feeling; with this person around, the Mandrake ritual might be very difficult.

The little Witch sat on the steps in a daze, anxiously thinking about how to spend the next month.

Loren, whose wicked sense of humor was satisfied, felt a lighthearted mood. She enjoyed the breeze in the courtyard, looked up at the sky, and occasionally glanced at the papers in her hand. She held a green blade of grass in her hand, her fingers unconsciously stroking the blade.

All the books explain it very clearly: Animagus is a long and arduous project, with study time measured in years, ranging from one or two years to several decades. Even Marauders spent three years on it, and some wizards never heard a second heartbeat in their entire lives.

Of course, compared to those unlucky ones who turned into beasts or grew out of place parts, they were lucky.

It's worth noting that the entire ceremony doesn't last long. Aside from holding Mandrake Leaf in one's mouth, the most time-consuming part is simply waiting for the stormy night with thunder and lightning. The temperate maritime climate of England is not lacking in thunderstorms, so the wait won't be too long.

Most of my time was spent learning about Transfiguration and building a strong mental foundation.

The lesson on human-to-animal Transfiguration was incomplete, and the specifics of rationally confronting animalistic instincts were not mentioned. Although the Transfiguration Club had covered a considerable amount of related material before, Professor McGonagall's teaching pace was clearly insufficient to support the young wizards in initiating the ritual.

Professor McGonagall's purpose may have been many things, such as helping the young wizards understand the difficulty of the ritual and alleviating the impatience born of anticipation...

In short, it's estimated that no one will be able to successfully complete the first step of the ritual. There are too many variables in a month, and even Loren himself isn't sure, so he's decided to relax and take it easy.

About ten minutes later, the bright moonlight broke free from the veil of dark clouds and flowed through the courtyard like a clear stream, creating a serene and serene atmosphere.

Under the moonlight, the Mandrake Leaf in my hand seemed to undergo some kind of magical change, with its veins fully extended and the fine hairs on the back of the leaf standing up.

Loren, who had been holding and turning the leaf, immediately noticed the change. It wasn't rough to the touch anymore, but the texture had become noticeably coarser. The Magic Power contained within the plant had become more active, but it hadn't yet reached an activated state.

A flicker of surprise crossed Loren's eyes. Without thinking much, he casually tossed the leaf into his mouth. It was cool and refreshing, with a fresh, grassy scent. Since no juice had leaked out, it had almost no taste.

Hermione looked at him with bright, curious eyes. "What does it taste like?"

"Chocolate flavor!"

Hermione rolled her eyes silently, slowly put the Mandrake Leaf into her mouth, sipped it, and savored it for a moment. "Mine is strawberry flavored."

Loren's eyes widened. "You're lying!"

"Whispering sound!"

In a corridor on the right side of the courtyard, George and Fred held up Mandrake Leaf to their eyes. Both of them had some knowledge of Potions Master and Alchemy and were trying to analyze something from them.

Hmm, I didn't see anything.

The two exchanged a glance and tacitly abandoned the topic. But instead of beginning the first step of the Animagus Ritual, they looked at each other again and simultaneously put the Mandrake into their respective small boxes and back into their pockets.

George's eyes flickered a few times, and he said quietly, "I remember Professor McGonagall said that as long as you put it in your mouth before midnight, it'll be fine, right?"

Hearing this, Fred nodded, a malicious smile spreading across his face, "Now tickle Percy's armpits, he definitely can't resist."

"They even had to cover their mouths."

"Hehehe..."

Soon, Percy's painful laughter echoed in the courtyard. Pain and laughter seem like contradictory words, but Percy fused them together, even adding anger and sadness to his laughter... in short, it was very complex.

Cedric, one of the onlookers, felt deep sympathy and quickened his pace away from the dangerous area. Who knew if the Twins might turn on someone else?

Saturday.

The moon's waning is getting bigger every day, and the Full Moon is gradually turning into a crescent moon.

The Magic Power contained within the Mandrake pulsed with a mysterious frequency under the moonlight, a pulse that was constantly changing. Loren noticed that the frequency of this pulsating Magic Power was slowly converging with the frequency of the Magic Power flowing within his own body; the two were not about to become exactly the same, but rather about changing towards a harmonious rhythm.

The Animagus class had only about thirty members, a small number, and the commotion it caused gradually subsided after the open Teaching Class. A more important matter became the topic of conversation at the Gryffindor table: the Quidditch Match against Hufflepuff.

"We've been training every night for the past few days. With Nimbus 2001, I can perfect Prenton Cutback. The Hawk's Head Attacking Formation is also well-practiced..." Harry, chewing on chickpeas, couldn't stop talking, his face beaming with a confident smile. "I don't think the Gryffindor Quidditch Team has ever been as confident as they are now in winning the Quidditch Cup!"

"Shh—" Ron looked around nervously, then looked at him with a serious expression, "Don't reveal the tactics!"

Harry swallowed the bean in his mouth and nodded.

Loren, cutting up the Grilled Veal Steak on his plate, turned and interrupted their conversation, "I remember Captain Wood, George, and Fred were all members of the Animagus Teaching Class. Could they still talk loudly on the field with Mandrake in their mouths?"

"Wood didn't start the ritual because he was training for Quidditch, and as for George and Fred— " Harry hesitated when he mentioned the two of them, wondering how to put it.

Ron grinned smugly and continued, "When Percy woke up the next morning, he found that the Mandrake Leaf in his mouth was missing a corner. That day, he chased after the two men like a madman. From the first floor to the Seventh Floor of the Castle, and then from the Seventh Floor back to the first floor, he chased them until George and Fred were out of breath and gave them a good beating."

Harry nodded, sighing with emotion at the scene, "George and Fred couldn't escape even using the Secret Passages they knew, and then their ritual failed. Angelina said their Mandrake Leaf were knocked out."

Ron's smile perfectly embodied brotherly affection, "And also..."

Not only the Weasley family brothers, but in less than a week, more than half of the members of the Animagus class had failed.

In addition to natural wear and tear, there was also damage caused by George and Fred, which was accidentally swallowed while eating or sleeping, or accidentally spat out while brushing teeth and rinsing mouth.

They would always loudly tell hilarious jokes in front of the Teaching Class, and when they laughed so hard they couldn't stand up straight, Mandrake Leaf would fall to the ground. They would hide in corners and suddenly rush out to make faces at the students, scaring some of them so much that they would bite the leaves.

They even made a deal with Peeves to team up and cause trouble.

Neville, standing nearby, silently wrote down these cases, reminding himself to stay away from the evil Twins for the next month.

Loren listened with amusement, using his tongue to part the Mandrake Leaf in his mouth, preparing to put the delicious steak on his fork into his mouth.

Hermione held his arm, her little face full of seriousness as she reminded him, "Don't eat food that requires chewing, it might damage the leaves."

Loren glanced at the Fruit Oatmeal in her bowl. Even the fruit was all fruit like Banana Mango, which didn't require chewing; there wasn't even an apple. The meat on her plate was stewed until very tender, and Thin-cut Bacon that practically fell apart with a touch, requiring almost no chewing.

Loren paused for a moment. "Is this really not the new patient meal that Madam Pomfrey asked you to experiment with?"

"Don't talk nonsense." Hermione swallowed a spoonful of banana oatmeal.

Looking at the almost bland food, Loren couldn't help but ask, "You've been eating like this for almost a week now, don't you get tired of it? Doesn't your mouth crave something else to chew on?"

The veal steak on the fork kept waving in front of Hermione's eyes. The grilled protein released a rich aroma, and the warm smell seemed to be under some kind of magic, with a strange attraction that drew her gaze and made her mind wander.

Hermione felt a tickle in her gums, and saliva kept secreting from under her tongue.

How could I not crave it? One or two meals wouldn't be so bad, but the problem is that it's been like this for several days already.

The little Witch swallowed hard, stubbornly saying, "No, not at all, for Animagh—"

Seizing the opportunity, Loren quickly stuffed the steak into her mouth while she opened her mouth to speak, and pulled out the fork while she instinctively closed her teeth.

The savory flavor, along with the steak's juices, permeates the tongue, and the wonderful taste awakens memories of food, prompting more saliva production, making the steak taste even richer and more delicious in the mouth.

"Ugh—" Hermione didn't know how to swallow and didn't dare to chew. She looked at Loren pitifully and made a "slurping" sound.

Loren put away his mischievous smile and sincerely suggested, "It's okay. Move the leaf to the left side of your mouth and chew it with your right teeth."

Hermione shielded her mouth with one hand, carefully performing a series of delicate steps, until five minutes later, when she slowly and laboriously ate the piece of beef. Fortunately, the Mandrake Leaf was undamaged.

Faced with the girl's angry glare, Loren slowly continued cutting his steak and calmly asked, "Is it good?"

Hermione's sharp gaze faltered, a hint of panic creeping in.

"Would you like another one?"

"No! Go away!" Hermione buried her head in her oatmeal.

But with her cravings piqued, the bland, unchewable liquid food seemed even more tasteless, and Hermione didn't know how much longer she could endure it.

The Quidditch Pitch was packed with people, and Professor McGonagall sat next to Lee Jordan.

In the front row of the Slytherin stands, the soon-to-retire Professor of Care of Magical Creatures Kettleburn, remarked with a touch of melancholy. "This is probably one of the last Quidditch Match I'll see at Hogwarts. Time flies! Don't you think so, Severus?"

Snape's eyes revealed a hint of helplessness. "You should talk to Professor McGonagall about this."

The other faculty and staff were either seated in the faculty and staff section or in front of the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff audience seats. Snape knew perfectly well why Professor Kettleburn had specifically dragged him here.

Professor Kettleburn chuckled, "Severus, just give me some of the Basilisk Materials. I don't need too much, half a box of each kind will do. I promise I will never use them for dangerous hybridization experiments, and I have never even considered using Basilisk and blood to breed Cockatrice."

Upon hearing this, and seeing Professor Kettleburn with only one arm and one leg remaining, Snape's eyelids twitched violently, unable to believe a word.

Snape held the old professor, who had taught at Hogwarts for decades, in high regard. In order for him to continue to enjoy his old arms and legs, Snape advised, "It's not that I'm unwilling to give them to you, but these things are needed to open up some Potions markets on the African continent. There are many wizards there who worship snake totems, Basilisk are good trading material."

"Sigh, fine..."

Professor Kettleburn sighed with regret and began to concentrate on watching the game.