Whomping Willow

With Horatio's deliberate cooperation, young Tom Riddle believed he had bewitched Horatio.

Horatio mainly wanted to study the Basilisk, but Hogwarts's network of pipes was incredibly complex. Unless he tore down the entire Hogwarts, he would never find where it was hiding. Although he really wanted to demolish Hogwarts, he could not beat Old Deng yet and needed to lie low.

He could neither speak Parseltongue nor find the Chamber of Secrets, so cooperating with young Tom and releasing the Basilisk was the best solution.

The most important reason was that when young Tom believed victory was in his grasp, Horatio could jump out and stab him in the back. Young Tom's expression would definitely be spectacular then, Horatio thought wickedly.

"My friend, you can't stand those arrogant fools either, can you?" young Tom wrote in the diary.

"Yes, especially those vermin in Slytherin. They always look down on me just because they were born pure-bloods," Horatio wrote furiously.

"..." Sorry, but I'm one of the vermin you're talking about. Young Tom felt as though someone had struck a sore spot.

"To purge those fools, we must release the pet Slytherin kept in the Chamber of Secrets. But it fears roosters, so we must kill all the school's roosters."

After thinking it over, Horatio agreed to young Tom's plan. Some of the roosters they killed could be made into braised chicken, while the rest could provide flesh-and-blood energy for his monster siege plan.

Horatio thought wickedly, Didn't Dumbledore want to test Harry? Once I catch the Basilisk, won't Harry have nothing left to be tested by? Perfect. I need to raise the difficulty for Dumbledore anyway, so I'll use a Super Beast instead. Trading a Super Beast for a Basilisk is perfectly reasonable.

Horatio drifted off to sleep with beautiful hopes for the future, while Harry tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. It was as though some great disaster was about to strike.

During Transfiguration class the next day, Professor McGonagall showed the young Wizards how to turn beetles into buttons, then had them practice on their own.

Horatio transformed his beetle into a purple monster of the same size, with enormous forelimbs. It kept burrowing holes into the tabletop and darting around.

When Professor McGonagall saw it, she came over and smacked Horatio hard on the head with her ruler. "What are you doing? Did you eat too much and decide to wreck the table?"

Clutching his head, Horatio said aggrievedly, "I was pulling aggro from the defensive tower."

Parvati, who sat beside Horatio, could endure it no longer and slapped the purple monster flat with one palm.

Holding the Niffler's corpse, Horatio looked on the verge of tears. "My Niffler got solo-killed by someone from India."

That afternoon was Professor Sprout's Herbology class. They needed to attend class in Greenhouse Three that day.

Professor Sprout asked, "Today, we'll be repotting Mandrakes. Now, can anyone tell me what properties Mandrakes have?"

Hermione was the first to raise her hand. "Mandrakes are powerful restorative agents used to cure abnormal conditions."

"Very good. Ten points to Gryffindor." Professor Sprout asked again, "What must we be careful about when repotting Mandrakes?"

Harry raised his hand and answered, "A Mandrake's cry is fatal, so we need to wear earmuffs while repotting them."

"Completely correct. Another ten points to Gryffindor," Professor Sprout said happily.

Professor Sprout then had everyone put on earmuffs and demonstrated how to repot Mandrakes before letting the young Wizards do it themselves.

If you can't find it by searching the book's title, try searching for the author instead. It may have simply been renamed!

Harry and Neville expertly repotted the Mandrakes in a way that was almost heartbreaking to watch, then covered them with compost, leaving only the leaves exposed.

Professor Sprout excitedly displayed Harry and Neville's work, praising their skillful and efficient movements before awarding Gryffindor twenty points.

Only Harry and Neville knew why they were so practiced.

As for the culprit, Horatio? He merely tapped a Mandrake's pot lightly. Before Professor Sprout and the young Wizards' stunned eyes, the Mandrake crawled out of the soil on its own, then found itself a comfortable pot and squatted inside.

After covering the Mandrake with compost, Horatio also sprinkled an extra handful of his homemade Jin Ke La over it. The Mandrake happily shook its leaves a few times, asking Horatio to pet it.

Then things completely spiraled out of control. Whether they had been repotted properly or not, every Mandrake crawled out of the soil. Carrying their pots, they all crowded before Horatio, and he covered each one with compost and sprinkled Jin Ke La over them.

After that, Horatio was banned from Herbology class on the grounds that he interfered with the other students' practice.

Horatio said it really was not his fault. His talent had simply been this high since birth. How was he supposed to know that word had spread like wildfire among the Mandrakes that his Jin Ke La was delicious?

After class, Professor Sprout found Horatio outside the greenhouse, boredly counting ants, and invited him to help remove pests from the Whomping Willow.

Horatio gladly agreed. He followed Professor Sprout to a large tree outside the castle. Faced with Horatio's godlike innate talent for Herbology, the Whomping Willow not only did not attack him, but even extended a long willow branch and gently stroked his cheek.

Horatio said, "Stop touching me. Show me where you're uncomfortable, and I'll help you deal with it."

The Whomping Willow swayed its branches as though nodding, then wrapped a willow branch around Horatio's waist and lifted him to a spot on its trunk.

There, a flesh-eating slug was continuously gnawing on the Whomping Willow's trunk. Horatio took out the pesticide he usually used for pest control and sprayed the slug once.

After writhing painfully a few times, the flesh-eating slug fell from the trunk and died.

Using this method, they quickly cleared all the flesh-eating slugs from the Whomping Willow. When he was done, Horatio scattered a ring of Jin Ke La around its roots.

The Whomping Willow comfortably shook its entire body, causing countless leaves to fall. Then it tore off one of its own branches and gave it to Horatio.

Professor Sprout said in surprise, "The Whomping Willow has acknowledged you. You can plant this branch somewhere else, and it will grow into a new Whomping Willow."

Professor Sprout had originally wanted to tell Horatio that she would give him fifty points, but then she remembered what Professor McGonagall had told her privately: if Horatio performed well, do not tell him about the points. Just secretly add them to Gryffindor.

Professor McGonagall: That little brat will definitely find a way to deduct the points again if he learns he earned points for Gryffindor. So I went directly to every professor and told them to add the points secretly. No need to tell the little brat. Does he really think he can outsmart me?

Horatio carried the branch back to his greenhouse. The Quirrell-shaped herb that cared for the Alchemy Golem had already harvested several large baskets of Houttuynia cordata.

Horatio found a flowerpot and planted the Whomping Willow branch inside. Looking at the Biting Cabbage, Venomous Tentacula, Venomous Geranium, Whomping Willow, and other plants in the greenhouse, he felt like he could play Plants vs. Zombies.

Speaking of Plants vs. Zombies, Horatio remembered the book the system had given him, <Plant Cultivation Techniques from a Plant That Didn't Want Its Brain Eaten>. What was the point of giving him a book but no seeds?

[Offer up those baskets of Houttuynia cordata, and I'll apply to headquarters for several bags of seeds from the Plants vs. Zombies world.]

"Not happening. I'm saving them to stew fish soup."

After some haggling, Horatio gave half his Houttuynia cordata to the system, and the system applied to headquarters for several bags of seeds from the Plants vs. Zombies world.

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