Discovering the Secret of the Trees

In the end, Luan suggested that Hagrid replace the crushed dried salted fish with milk and butter candy.

This delicacy, made from milk, tea, sugar, crushed dried fruit, and soaked flatbread, dominated the tables at Xilin's harvest festival.

The latest version of "Hagrid's Rock Cakes" merely replaced the flatbread with Rock cakes.

After just one bite, Hagrid completely fell in love with the flavor.

"This is far too delicious!"

Hagrid praised the food in his hand, then turned to look at Luan.

"Snape—of course it's him. Even Dumbledore trusts him greatly."

As Luan enjoyed the final version of "Hagrid's Rock Cakes," he shared how he had received the Potion Reward.

To his surprise, Hagrid was also full of praise for Snape.

"Alright, tell me about your saplings. They must have changed quite a lot by now!"

"When I came over, they were still growing wildly. The tallest had already passed five feet. Crunch~"

Luan took a bite of the dried fruit mixed with creamy flavor, making crunching sounds as he chewed.

"Five feet a day... so in another day or two, they'll probably be fully grown."

Hagrid set down his large spoon, spent a while counting on the fingers of his left hand, then leaned slightly closer to Luan.

"Gulp~ I think I need to tell you a secret." After swallowing the food in his mouth, Hagrid's expression turned serious.

"Ollivanders always comes to the Forbidden Forest at night when he collects wood."

After finishing a generous afternoon tea, Luan and Bouncing left the cabin. On their way back, they took a detour to check on the saplings outside the Greenhouse.

The holly tree clearly had tremendous late-stage growth. It had now overtaken the first two trees and stood a full six feet tall.

"Chirp?"

"That's right. We'll have to keep watch here at night."

After Hagrid said that Ollivanders gathered wood suitable for Wand Making at night, Luan decided to follow his example.

That family possessed over two thousand years of Wandmaking experience. There had to be a reason they chose to work at night.

It also happened to be Friday. Over the next few days, the castle's restrictions would not be as strict as usual, and Filch needed to enjoy his weekend too, so Luan planned to sneak out that night.

Fortunately, Luan had experience living on his own. While everyone was fooling around in the Common Room that evening, he packed up everything he needed and headed to the Greenhouse.

When he reached the entrance, he discovered that the Greenhouse normally used for First Year classes had not been locked.

"Did Professor Sprout forget?"

Luan pushed open the door and entered. All the plants inside had been cleared away, yet a small burning stove sat in the middle of the Greenhouse.

"Chirp~"

Bouncing leaped from Luan's pocket, hopped onto the edge of the stove, and enjoyed the warmth.

Seeing a stove in the place it least belonged, Luan smiled and sat beside it. His gaze, however, remained fixed on the three saplings outside.

On Saturday morning, Luan had just fallen asleep in his chair.

Cedric suddenly arrived and gently nudged him.

"Wake up. Go back and sleep. I'll keep watch here during the day."

After watching the saplings all night, Luan's head felt muddled. He mumbled his thanks to Cedric, stuffed Bouncing back into his pocket, and staggered sleepily toward the dormitory.

After watching Luan leave, Cedric carried the nearly extinguished stove outside.

On Saturday afternoon, Luan dripped another three drops of potion onto the three saplings, which had already grown into Great Trees, then waited through another sleepless night.

He did the same on Sunday afternoon. By then, the tallest holly tree had exceeded twenty feet, while the grapevine had climbed across an entire wall of the Greenhouse's glass.

As for the willow, whose vitality was the strongest, its crown had expanded to five or six meters, and birds had begun building nests in its branches.

Luan had found in the library that plants revealed their magical traits once they reached maturity.

Now that all three plants had matured, tonight was the time for him to observe them closely.

Worried that he might miss the magical changes in the three plants, Luan made a special trip to the Forbidden Forest that afternoon and spent ten pill bugs to hire a Bowtruckle.

This green Magical Creature froze slightly when it saw the three Great Trees.

The Bowtruckle could sense that the three trees carried the exact same scent as the trees its own family guarded. Yet these saplings had grown so large without being discovered by others of its kind, which surprised it somewhat.

The Bowtruckle jumped straight from Luan's arms onto the willow tree. After choosing a comfortable spot, it lay prone there without moving.

"It's really amazing, isn't it?"

As though he had received some guidance, Cedric arrived at the Greenhouse when Luan returned.

"Yeah."

Luan had seen the Bowtruckle's abilities before. Since this little creature was willing to stay on the willow, it meant that the tree would most likely awaken a magical trait.

"Actually, after I graduate, I want to work in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the Ministry of Magic. My father works there. When I was little, he told me all kinds of things about Magical Creatures every day."

As Luan and Cedric chatted, night gradually fell, and a silver-disc moon slowly climbed to the center of the sky.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but Luan noticed that the previously still willow branches began to sway without any wind when the moon reached its highest point.

At the same time, the Bowtruckle let out a long cry.

"Eee~~~"

Amid the slightly piercing cry, the willow branches swayed more violently. The dancing branches even flung out glowing green specks from time to time.

"Eee~~~"

The Bowtruckle cried even louder.

When it finished its third cry, the glowing specks that had been drifting outward slowly gathered back around the willow, then all converged where it lay prone.

Seeing this magical sight, Luan and Cedric hurried over.

They watched as the glowing specks slowly seeped into the bark after approaching the willow, then vanished without a trace.

"Where did they all go?" Cedric asked.

But Luan had already taken out a pill bug and a small knife, reaching toward the trunk.

Perhaps it had been too absorbed in what was happening. When the Bowtruckle saw Luan's hand reaching over, it instinctively wanted to attack.

But after seeing the food, it immediately withdrew its sharp foreclaws, lightly hopped onto Luan's hand, and began enjoying the treat.

Luan had already made a light cut in the willow with his knife. Beneath the originally hard bark, a layer of green luminous film appeared.

Both pairs of eyes stared at the opening. Luan discovered that the luminous film was still slowly seeping downward, until it finally disappeared completely into the trunk.

"They've all hidden away. What do we do?"

After the glow seeped into the trunk, the entire willow no longer showed anything unusual. It looked exactly like an ordinary willow tree.

"It's alright. I found them."

Luan smiled, peeled back a layer of bark, scraped off a little trunk tissue with his knife, then held it up to the moonlight.

The vanished glow reappeared under the moonlight, though it had now completely fused with the tree.

"So that's how it is. The Bowtruckle left this Magical Power inside the tree. That's why wood can be used to make wands."

Luan strongly agreed with Cedric's explanation. After tonight's experience, he finally knew how to search for Magical Trees that could be used for Wand Making.

But the changes that night did not end there. After finishing two pill bugs, the Bowtruckle jumped from Luan onto the grapevine.

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