Continuing the Vegetable-Growing Endeavor

Chapter 45: Continuing the Vegetable Farming Enterprise

Relationships tend to deepen after people go through certain experiences together, especially after Ron saved Hermione with the Accio Charm.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lectured you so condescendingly in Charms class."

"It was my fault, I shouldn't have badmouthed you."

Charles watched Hermione and Ron apologize to each other while holding a cup of Pumpkin Juice, a look of relief on his face. It seemed he wouldn't need to lecture the children himself.

Not long after, Eleanor arrived. She checked Hermione over and finally breathed a sigh of relief, "You scared me to death! When I heard you were cornered by a Troll, my heart almost stopped."

As she spoke, she took out a lipstick and put it in Hermione's hand, whispering a few words in her ear.

Charles's mouth twitched when he saw this. The outer casing was lipstick, but inside was a small glass bottle filled with some Exploding Liquid. It could be thrown when necessary, and with Hermione's arm strength, its range was less than the kill radius.

After the commotion subsided, the dormitory fell silent, with only Seamus's snoring.

Charles lay on his bed, contemplating the connection between Voldemort's actions today and the armor on the Troll.

In combat, armor is far more important than weapons. It was fine to hoard weapons in ancient times, but hoarding armor was equivalent to rebellion; there was a reason for this.

Take the armor on the Troll today, for instance. Seamus had roasted the Troll to a crisp, yet the armor was reportedly unharmed. If it were other spells, it might have withstood a few more hits, enough time for it to charge forward and hit a Wizard with its club.

The problem was, Trolls certainly couldn't make their own armor. So, who made it for them, and for what purpose?

Charles had originally planned to write to the old man about it, but he eventually gave up. He figured the old man would read the letter after fighting one round, then fight another round, write another letter, fight yet another round, and only then send it. By then, it would be Christmas.

If the sky were to fall, Dumbledore would catch it. Charles decided not to think about it anymore and went to sleep.

As November arrived, the weather turned cold rapidly.

Charles delivered a batch of arrows, axes, and a mountain-high pile of pumpkins to the Centaur tribe in exchange for some Herbs.

After finishing this, he had other things to attend to. The second Greenhouse was as warm as spring, and the plants he had previously propagated had basically survived and were now sprouting.

Problems also arose. There were insects in the soil of the Greenhouse, and insect eggs were hidden in the bark of the branches. Now, small bugs were crawling onto the tender shoots.

Charles now came to the second Greenhouse whenever he had free time to carefully tend to the plants. He first used the Leg-Locker Curse to make the insects fall off, then used a small shovel to put them into an empty flowerpot. Once collected, they were buried in the Dragon Dung compost pile. The temperature of the compost was enough to kill the insects.

One day, he brought some colorful little flags. He selected a few pots of each type of plant, marked them, and began measuring data.

Professor Sprout appeared behind him at some point. Seeing him busy, she didn't disturb him and started her own work.

A while later, the Professor noticed Charles putting a white crystal into a flowerpot and asked curiously, "Charles, what are you putting in there?"

Charles immediately replied, "Professor, I'm trying to see if Muggle fertilizer can help the plants grow better."

He had some chemical fertilizer for his own garden at home and brought some back to try.

Professor Sprout smiled and said, "Some students have done similar things before."

Charles wasn't surprised. Others could think of what he could. He asked curiously, "How did it turn out?"

Professor Sprout replied, "They grew well, but the medicinal effect wasn't strong enough when used to make Potions."

Charles nodded slightly upon hearing this and quickly understood the principle.

Magical plants also needed nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, just as Wizards needed to eat. However, they required other nutrients that nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium couldn't provide.

The plants in the Greenhouse used Dragon Dung and Mooncalf dung as fertilizer. Dragons and Mooncalves were magical creatures, and their dung carried a certain Magical Power.

Using the dung of magical creatures as fertilizer not only provided ordinary nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to magical plants but also supplied magical nutrients that nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium lacked, allowing the magical plants to possess Magical Power.

Ordinary fertilizer and magical fertilizer were not mutually exclusive. If magical plants were money bags filled with gold coins, ordinary fertilizer could make the bags bigger, and magical fertilizer could put more gold coins inside. Overall, it could generate higher returns.

Charles explained his thoughts to Professor Sprout. After thinking for a moment, she said, "What you said makes sense. I think you can try it. I also have some Chinese Bite-Me Cabbage seeds here, you can plant them here."

"Be careful, it bites when it grows up. You'll need to wear Dragon-hide gloves then, and you can't plant it outside."

After speaking, Professor Sprout placed a small bag on Charles's table.

Charles thanked the Professor, found a bottle, poured the seeds into it, and then soaked them in water at about 30°C.

He prepared over twenty empty flowerpots, using Dragon Dung fertilizer and some chemical fertilizer as base fertilizer. After the seeds had soaked for several hours, he planted one seed in each pot.

Then, it was a matter of waiting. Chinese Bite-Me Cabbage takes 5 to 7 days to germinate. About a month later, during the rosette stage, apply nitrogen and potassium fertilizer once. After the heading stage begins, apply nitrogen and potassium fertilizer again. During this period, water with diluted Dragon Dung fertilizer and Mooncalf dung fertilizer, and remove the old leaves from the bottom.

"Professor," Charles asked again while working, "Can I plant some Mandrakes?"

Professor Sprout's expression became serious. "Mandrake is very dangerous; a mistake can be fatal."

Charles replied, "Mandrake can be used to make antidotes and healing potions. The Centaurs want some, so I want to plant them."

While saying this, he actually just realized that he seemed to have fallen into a bit of a misconception in some aspects.

While a ground-scorching bombardment was satisfying against Acromantulas, air-dropping Mandrakes wouldn't be bad either.

Although spiders don't have ears, they have other ways of sensing sound and should also be affected by Mandrakes.

Moreover, Mandrakes could be reused, and there was no need to worry about side effects like forest fires or leaving traces when using them. They were cheap and environmentally friendly. If not them, then who?

Professor Sprout thought for a moment. Charles had a point. She said, "Mandrake takes a year to mature. It's too late to plant them now. There are some in the adjacent Greenhouse that will mature next spring. I'll talk to the Headmaster, and they should be able to sell them to the Centaurs."

She continued, "You can also plant Mandrake, but your first planting must be under my strict guidance. If anything goes wrong, I will forbid you from touching them again."

Charles immediately thanked her, "Thank you, Professor!"

By the time he finished all his work, it was already dinnertime. The guy reeked of Dragon Dung compost.

Perhaps because the Dragon Dung carried Magical Power, the Cleaning Charm didn't work. He was immediately ostracized by everyone.

Not only his classmates but even Voldemort, who was surrounded by the smell of garlic, couldn't stand him and sent him to detention half an hour early to get rid of him.

When Charles returned to the common room, someone immediately pinched their nose and dragged him out, "Come on, I'll take you to the Prefects' Bathroom."