Ashes to Ashes

Ashes to Ashes

"Ah!"

A scream came from the Second Greenhouse. Professor Sprout, who was preparing materials for the next lesson in the nearby Third Greenhouse, was startled.

Professor Sprout hurried to the Second Greenhouse and saw Charles standing helplessly in front of a flowerpot, looking so anxious he was almost on the verge of tears.

She hurried over, but was startled as well when she saw the shoots in the flowerpot.

In the Second Greenhouse, from the magical plants Charles had propagated by cuttings, to the Chinese Mandrake that had just sprouted and grown two leaves, to the other teaching materials Professor Sprout had planted herself, every plant had "tunnels" eaten through the middle of its leaves and tender stems.

"It's a Wood-boring Fly!" Professor Sprout's voice trembled slightly.

These Wood-boring Flies were only the size of a pinprick. They laid their eggs in soil, on leaves, and on branches. After hatching, the larvae burrowed into the roots and gnawed at the tender parts beneath leaves and bark, leaving hollow passages behind. Finally, they pupated, emerged as adults, and reproduced.

They were extremely difficult to detect before an outbreak, could infect a large area at once, were hard to eradicate with pesticides, and caused tremendous damage.

Professor Sprout patted Charles on the shoulder and said sadly, "Charles, I'm afraid there's no way to save them. They have to be burned before the larvae pupate. The soil, compost, and flowerpots in the greenhouse all need to be burned as well, or the infestation will spread to the other greenhouses."

"These insects shouldn't still be active in the wild during this season. They probably came in with the Dragon Dung compost."

Charles quietly stared at the flowerpot before him. Two shoots, each half the length of a finger, had grown from the branches stuck into the soil. Now, the tender green shoots were covered in gray "tunnels."

In the end, he nodded.

After obtaining Charles's consent, Professor Sprout temporarily changed the content of the Herbology lessons for the other year groups. She had the students learn about this serious infestation, then made them carry all the plants, soil, compost, and flowerpots from the greenhouse outside to the open ground and burn them.

In the biting northern wind, the flames rose higher and higher, twisting their bodies ceaselessly. Before long, they gradually weakened, their ashes scattering on the wind and leaving behind a field of charcoal.

Charles watched quietly from the side from beginning to end. His face showed no expression, as though he were a wooden puppet.

Professor Sprout turned off the heating spell in the Second Greenhouse and opened all the doors and windows, letting the cold air outside pour in. The temperature plummeted from over twenty degrees Celsius to below freezing, and the adult flies hiding in the corners would soon freeze to death.

Winter nights fell quickly. By the time Herbology ended and Professor Sprout had finished tidying the Second Greenhouse and was ready to leave, darkness had already descended. As she prepared to return to the castle for dinner, she found Charles still standing beside the fire like a wooden post.

She sighed helplessly and pulled Charles toward the castle, saying as they walked, "It's all right. Planting them again next spring will be just as good."

Charles did not answer. Like a marionette, he followed the professor back to the castle.

As soon as they entered the doors, a group of Slytherin students happened to be heading to the dining hall for dinner. They passed in front of them, chatting and laughing.

When Malfoy saw Charles looking as though he had lost his soul, a brilliant smile spread across his face, and he even raised an eyebrow provocatively.

But he quickly stopped smiling. When Charles's gaze turned toward him, it made him feel as though he had fallen into an icy abyss, and he shuddered involuntarily.

That evening, Charles remained distracted. At dinner, he ate whatever was placed in front of him. He finished an entire plate of roast potatoes, then reached a little farther and, under Dean Thomas's horrified gaze, ate an entire basin of steak.

Fortunately, Charles left the dining hall after he was full. Dean breathed a sigh of relief and said to Lavender Brown, who was sitting beside him, "That nearly scared me to death. I was afraid that after Charles finished the steak, he'd stretch his hands out a little farther and grab me to eat me."

Lavender said doubtfully, "I don't know what's wrong with him. I've never seen him like this before."

Harry and Hermione exchanged bewildered looks as well. They had known Charles for so many years, but this was the first time they had ever seen him like this.

Even Voldemort could not stand to watch Charles carry on this way. He went over and smacked him on the back of the head. "It's only a few dead plants. Do you really have to be this upset?"

Professor Sprout had mentioned the Second Greenhouse during dinner, so Voldemort understood what had happened.

"You don't understand," Charles said slowly. "That flourishing vitality, that realm where all things competed to thrive—it's still right before my eyes. Yet in the space of a single night, it all turned to ashes. You don't understand."

Voldemort really wanted to smack him again. Damn it, if I don't understand something like this, then who does?

Back then, he had been so mighty and imposing, yet one spell had wiped it all out. His body had turned to ash, his soul had become smoke, and now he was only a piece of scalp. He had never seen himself become this despondent.

Voldemort was furious. He had originally thought the boy was talented and wanted to cultivate him into the next generation of his subordinates. He had not expected Charles's mental resilience to be so poor. He fell apart at the slightest setback. Clearly, Voldemort had misjudged him.

Still, the boy might be salvageable. So Voldemort smacked him on the back of the head again and said, "Is your skull filled with Dragon Dung?"

"Why don't you think about it? The Dragon Dung compost was bought for every greenhouse. Why is it that only the greenhouse where you grow things has an infestation?"

"Why don't you think about it? If it wasn't a problem with the compost, the lake is frozen over from the cold. Would pests have entered the greenhouse by themselves?"

As the saying went, when there were difficulties, one had to rise to meet them; when there were no difficulties, one had to create them. Whether the infestation in the Second Greenhouse had been accidental or deliberate, they could create an enemy first. Perhaps they would happen to be right.

Charles frowned and asked, "Are you saying someone put the insects in the Second Greenhouse?"

Voldemort said irritably, "I don't know. If you want to find out, investigate it yourself."

Charles's eyes narrowed slightly, and he said murderously, "If I find out who did this, I'll use his skull as a bowl!"

This time, it was Voldemort's turn for his face to twitch. He had only wanted to take the opportunity to teach Charles the Cruciatus Curse and drag him completely into the darkness. Instead, the boy had turned out to be even more ruthless than he was.

After today's detention ended, Charles left the office and went straight to the laboratory to find Eleanor.

As soon as he entered, he smelled a delicious fragrance.

"You're here?" Eleanor asked in surprise. "The pudding was just finished. I saw you were in a bad mood, so I made it for you."

Charles thought, So potion-making equipment can be used to make pudding too.

Seeing that he still looked gloomy, Eleanor went over and gently pinched his cheek, then pulled him toward the room in the back. At the same time, she asked, "What happened to you today? Did something happen? You can tell me about it."

Charles gave her a rough account of what had happened that afternoon, then asked Eleanor, "Could you give me some Truth Serum?"