Harvesting Wood Successfully

After eating the woodlouse, the Bowtruckle fiddled with its long antennae and prepared to get to work.

Watching its movements, Luan suddenly felt as though this little creature could understand what he was saying.

"Can I really communicate with Magical Creatures?"

Remembering how Ron had said a few days ago that perhaps he could understand Magical Creatures, Luan could not help but grow suspicious.

"Did Ron really get it right?"

Luan shook his head and cast the absurd thought aside. He had encountered too few Magical Creatures to jump to conclusions so soon.

While Luan was thinking, the Bowtruckle had already slowly climbed onto a thin twig.

It was the thinnest of the three branches. Though he did not know why the Bowtruckle had chosen it, Luan did not question it. Once he received its approval, he used the small knife in his hand to cut the twig off.

Using the same method, Luan gathered three suitable branches and saplings in total.

Besides the first willow branch, the others came from a grapevine and a holly sapling.

He placed the saplings in the basket, covered them with wet burlap, and quickly headed back the way he had come.

This was when the tender branches were at their most fragile. He had to plant them as soon as possible.

Halfway there, an enormous black shadow suddenly flashed across the sky above the Forbidden Forest.

Luan had never seen such a huge black bat before.

He instinctively reached for the fireworks Hagrid had given him, but the shadow swiftly vanished into the depths of the Forbidden Forest.

"No wonder Dumbledore doesn't allow anyone into the Forbidden Forest. A bat that big could probably drain a person dry."

Knowing that some bats drank blood, Luan kept a tight grip on the fireworks. Only after the bat had been gone for quite some time did he start sprinting down the path.

By the time he returned to Hagrid's hut, Bouncing's cheerful cries could already be heard, along with Harry and Ron's voices.

"Oh, welcome back, Luan. How did the gathering go?"

Seeing Luan at the door, Hagrid rose from his large chair and came outside.

"Very smoothly. I gathered three branches."

At the sound of Luan's voice, Bouncing rushed out and leaped straight onto him.

Harry and Ron also came over curiously. Hagrid had already told them that Luan was gathering magical saplings that could grow into trees used for Wand Making.

"Is this it? It doesn't look like anything special!" Ron asked curiously as he stared at the saplings in the basket.

"You can't tell right now, of course."

Hagrid took the basket and headed outside. "More precisely, if you don't plant it yourself, you might never discover what is magical about it for your whole life."

Luan very much agreed with Hagrid and followed him outside.

In the vegetable patch behind the hut, Hagrid had already prepared several transparent jars and a pile of damp soil. They were just what the saplings needed to grow.

"All right, this will do for now. As long as you transplant them into flowerpots tomorrow, they should survive."

Hagrid washed his hands in the wooden bucket beside him and looked at his handiwork with satisfaction.

All three saplings had been transplanted into the jars. Next, they could soak up the sunlight freely.

"Thank you very much, Hagrid," Luan said sincerely.

"Oh, it's nothing. Professor McGonagall told me to do it."

As he spoke, Hagrid wrapped his enormous arm around Luan, Harry, and Ron and led them back into the hut.

"It's rarely this lively around here. How about some afternoon tea?"

Hagrid's afternoon tea was all made by hand: a rock cake bigger than Luan's head, a huge cup of bright red hot tea, and several wild fruits picked from the Forbidden Forest.

This rough style of eating made Luan feel as if he had returned to Xilin.

Hagrid was so enthusiastic that the Young Wizards simply could not refuse.

After taking a bite of the rock cake, Luan felt that its name was absolutely fitting. It was far too hard.

Fortunately, Luan had a way of dealing with tough food.

He first squeezed several wild fruits into the red tea, then tore the rock cake into small pieces and added them to the tea as well. Only after the rock cake had fully absorbed the liquid did he begin eating it with a spoon.

After soaking, the rock cake became soft, and he could even taste the distinctive fragrance of the grains inside.

With wild fruits added to the tea, its bitter taste was diluted, and it carried a faint fruity aroma.

"Wow, I never thought rock cakes could be eaten like this. What if we add some other ingredients too?"

Seeing that Hagrid also liked this Xilin-style food, Luan suggested adding crushed dried nuts like hazelnuts. That would make it even more fragrant.

"Little Luan, burp, does this... soaked rock cake have a name?"

After finishing five whole rock cakes, Hagrid let out a satisfied burp.

"Probably not."

This way of eating had originally been food Luan ate while working on the farm. It probably had not appeared in this world yet.

"I think something this delicious shouldn't go without a name. How about we give it one?"

Harry and Ron strongly agreed. They also thought the softened rock cakes tasted better.

Luan had never intended to make a name for himself in this world's culinary scene, so the final name changed from "Luan's Soaked Cakes" to "Hagrid's Rock Cakes."

While everyone chatted, Bouncing had already made friends with Fang.

Luan was discussing the huge black bat he had encountered on the way back with Hagrid when Harry pulled out a small scrap of paper from the table.

It was a clipping from The Daily Prophet, and its contents concerned the Gringotts robbery.

"Hagrid, we were there on the day Gringotts was robbed. Maybe we even saw that person."

Luan noticed that Hagrid's gaze shifted evasively as he stammered that they definitely had not.

Though Luan did not know why Hagrid was hiding something about the matter, it happened to suit his own thoughts, so he cooperated with Hagrid and changed the subject.

Harry truly had a spirit that refused to give up. Holding the clipping in his hand, he read it over again carefully.

When the sun set, the three of them said goodbye to Hagrid.

Luan picked up the sleeping Bouncing from Fang's head, while Harry and Ron helped him carry the saplings.

After entering the school gates, Luan parted ways with the two of them. He had to borrow some flowerpots from Professor Sprout now, or the saplings might not make it through the night.

"Three saplings! And they're even different species. Very good. I think that as long as they can last seven days, they'll definitely survive."

After inspecting them, Professor Sprout readily allowed Luan to take three flowerpots and promised that she would give him the mysterious reward once the saplings survived.

Luan did not know what the mysterious reward was, but he knew very well that it would not be easy to obtain.

Based on his experience at York's farm, Luan knew that the willow was the easiest of the three saplings to keep alive.

As long as it was planted from cuttings in spring or autumn and made it through the cold winter, it would survive. It was highly adaptable.

The holly, meanwhile, had been planted as a sapling. It needed frequent watering, but water must not be allowed to accumulate.

Finally, there was the grapevine. It also needed to be grown from cuttings, requiring frequent watering while also preventing the roots from rotting. On top of that, it had requirements for the soil.

Luan moved the three saplings onto the windowsill in the dormitory. For the next week, he would devote himself to caring for them.

Bouncing was also very interested in the saplings and kept circling the flowerpots.

After arranging all the flowerpots, Seamus and Neville, who was wrapped in bandages, returned from outside. They excitedly discussed the Flying Class they would have next week.