Ashes to Ashes

Chapter 46: Ashes to Ashes

"Ah!"

A scream echoed from the Second Greenhouse, startling Professor Sprout, who was preparing teaching materials for the next class in the nearby Third Greenhouse.

Professor Sprout rushed to the Second Greenhouse and found Charles standing helplessly in front of a flowerpot, on the verge of tears.

She hurried over and was also shocked when she saw the tender shoots in the flowerpot.

In the Second Greenhouse, from the magical plants Charles had propagated by cuttings, to the Chinese Mandrakes that had just sprouted two leaves, and to the other teaching materials Professor Sprout had planted herself, all the plants had "tunnels" eaten through their leaves and tender stems by insects.

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

These Wood-boring Flies were only the size of a pinhead. They laid their eggs on the soil, leaves, and branches. After hatching, the larvae would burrow into the roots, leaves, and bark to gnaw on the tender parts, leaving behind hollow tunnels. Finally, they would pupate and emerge as adults to reproduce.

Before an outbreak, they were extremely stealthy, infecting a large area at once, making them difficult to eradicate with potions and extremely harmful.

Professor Sprout patted Charles's shoulder and said to him with some sadness, "Charles, I'm afraid they can't be saved. They must be burned before the larvae pupate. The soil, compost, and flowerpots in the greenhouse also need to be burned, otherwise, they will spread to other greenhouses."

"These insects are not active in the wild at this season. They likely came with the Dragon Dung compost."

Charles quietly looked at the flowerpot in front of him. The branches inserted into the soil had grown buds half a finger long, but now the tender green buds were covered in gray "tunnels."

Finally, he nodded.

After getting Charles's consent, Professor Sprout temporarily changed the content of the upcoming Herbology classes for other grades, allowing the students to learn about this serious pest infestation. Then, she had them move all the plants, soil, compost, and flowerpots from the greenhouse to an open area outside for burning.

In the biting north wind, the flames grew higher, twisting and turning before gradually weakening. The ashes scattered in the wind, leaving only charcoal on the ground.

Charles watched silently from the side the entire time, his face expressionless, like a wooden doll.

Professor Sprout turned off the heating spell in the Second Greenhouse and opened all the doors and windows to let in the cold air. The temperature dropped from over twenty degrees Celsius to below freezing. The adult insects hiding in the corners would soon freeze to death.

Winter days grew dark quickly. Herbology class ended, and as Professor Sprout finished tidying up the Second Greenhouse and was about to leave, it had already gotten dark. As she prepared to return to the castle for dinner, she noticed Charles still standing by the bonfire like a post.

She sighed helplessly, took Charles's arm, and walked towards the castle, saying as they walked, "It's okay, planting again next spring will be the same."

Charles didn't answer, following the professor back to the castle like a puppet.

As they entered the main gate, a group of Slytherin students, also heading to the Great Hall for dinner, passed them, chatting and laughing.

Malfoy saw Charles's dazed appearance and a bright smile spread across his face. He provocatively raised an eyebrow.

But his smile quickly faded. When Charles's gaze fell upon him, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar and shivered involuntarily.

That night, Charles was completely absent-minded. During dinner, he ate whatever he reached for. He finished a plate of roasted potatoes and then, stretching his hand further, ate a whole steak in front of a horrified Dean Thomas.

Fortunately, Charles left the Great Hall after he had eaten his fill. Dean breathed a sigh of relief and said to Lavender Brown sitting beside him, "That really scared me. I was afraid Charles would reach a little further after eating the steak and grab me to eat too."

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

Over there, Harry and Hermione exchanged glances. They had known Charles for so many years, and this was the first time they had seen him like this.

Charles's state was so bad that even Voldemort couldn't stand it. He walked over and slapped the back of his head, saying, "It's just a few dead plants, do you need to be this sad?"

Professor Sprout had mentioned the incident in the Second Greenhouse during dinner, so Voldemort understood the situation.

"You don't understand," Charles said slowly. "That state of vibrant life, of all things flourishing, is still before my eyes. In just one night, it has all turned to ashes. You don't understand."

Voldemort really wanted to slap him again. Damn it, if I don't understand this, who else does?

Back then, I was so majestic and powerful, but after one spell, it was all gone. My body turned to ashes, my soul became smoke, and now I'm just a piece of scalp, and I didn't get this depressed.

Voldemort was furious. He had initially thought this boy had good talent and wanted to groom him into a new subordinate. He hadn't expected his psychological resilience to be so poor, collapsing at the slightest setback. He had truly misjudged him.

However, this child could still be saved. So, Voldemort slapped the back of his head again and said, "Is your skull filled with Dragon Dung?"

"Why don't you think about it? Dragon Dung compost was bought for every greenhouse, but only the one where you grow things had a pest infestation?"

"Why don't you think about it? If it wasn't a compost problem, and it's so cold now that the lake is freezing over, would pests just enter the greenhouse on their own?"

As the saying goes, charge forward when there are difficulties, and create difficulties when there are none. Whether the pest infestation in the Second Greenhouse was accidental or deliberate, let's create an enemy first. What if it works?

Charles frowned and asked him, "Are you saying someone put 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 menacingly, "If I find out who did it, I'll use their skull as a bowl!"

This time, Voldemort's skin twitched. He had only intended to use the opportunity to teach him the Cruciatus Curse and completely pull him into his service. This kid, on the other hand, was even more ruthless than him.

After his detention ended for the day, Charles left the office and went directly to the laboratory to find Eleanor.

As soon as he entered, he smelled a fragrant aroma.

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

Charles thought to himself, So, the equipment for making potions can also be used to make pudding.

Seeing that he still looked gloomy, Eleanor went over, gently pinched his cheek, and pulled him towards the back room, asking, "What's wrong with you today? Did something happen? You can tell me about it."

Charles roughly recounted what had happened that afternoon and then asked Eleanor, "Can you give me some Truth Serum?"