Chinese Biting Cabbage

"Shocking! A wizard actually attempted to rob Gringotts—the world's most heavily guarded underground vault!"

The next morning in the Great Hall, Glenn sipped his coffee while reading the Daily Prophet.

He had to admit, the quality of newspapers in the wizarding world these days was truly poor.

That single headline contained three glaring factual errors.

First, it wasn't shocking at all.

Second, when the paper said "attempted," the event had already happened.

Third, where exactly was Gringotts' heavy security?

Folding the newspaper, Glenn checked the time.

There was still about half an hour before the first class began—plenty of time.

Still, he needed to get moving.

From the outside, Hogwarts as a castle always seemed unchanging, but in truth, its one hundred and forty-two staircases shifted in real time. Some were wide and grand, others narrow and cramped, and some led to different destinations depending on the time of day.

So if anyone in Hogwarts entertained the thought of sleeping in and cutting it close to class, the result was usually standing outside the classroom door as punishment.

On this matter, Sebastian had once set a heartfelt example by serving as a "doorkeeper" for over a week straight, appointed by various professors.

Whenever Glenn saw that resolute expression of his standing guard outside, he would spur himself to set out early, again and again.

Though sometimes Sebastian complained that this behavior wasn't very brotherly, at those moments, Glenn would conveniently come down with a case of selective deafness...

Ahem, back to the point.

Slytherin's first class was Herbology, held jointly with Ravenclaw.

The teacher was a short, plump witch named Professor Sprout, who was also the head of Hufflepuff.

She led them to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, learning how to cultivate these strange plants and fungi and understand their uses.

Just like Glenn's stereotypical impression of a Hogwarts Herbology professor, this Professor Sprout was warm, sunny, and taught in a step-by-step manner.

Because of this, in this first lesson for the first-years, Professor Sprout didn't have them do any hands-on work. She simply outlined the year's study plan and a bit of introductory theory from Herbology books.

"Excellent! Mr. Howard," Professor Sprout called out happily during class.

"You summarized the basic traits of White Fresh very clearly and stated its uses. Ten points for Slytherin!"

As the first question of the first class, Professor Sprout had given a reward far above the usual level.

Amid the applause, Glenn lost his status as the one who "brought in the capital."

Slytherin was back on equal footing with the other houses.

After class, Glenn didn't rush to leave but stayed in the greenhouse.

"Mr. Howard?" Professor Sprout noticed Glenn lingering. "Is there something you need?"

"It's like this, Professor. I'm very interested in Herbology."

"Ah, a wonderful thought, Mr. Howard." Professor Sprout beamed and clasped her hands together. No professor disliked hearing a student praise their subject.

"Judging by your performance in the first lesson, if I'm not mistaken, I'd say you have some foundation."

Glenn didn't deny it. He smiled and said, "Yes, before classes officially started, I skimmed through a few Herbology books. But the lively teaching in class made it sink in deeper than the books."

The smile on Professor Sprout's face grew even warmer. If no one else were around, she might have been humming a cheerful tune.

Sensing the right moment, Glenn asked proactively, "Professor, I'd like to ask—are students at Hogwarts allowed to grow magical plants privately?"

"Oh, of course, as long as you submit an application to me." Professor Sprout nodded with a smile.

Faced with a student so interested in Herbology that he was willing to personally cultivate magical plants, she was happy to offer some help.

"If it's not a particularly rare species, the greenhouse has plenty of seeds. Glenn, what kind of magical plant did you want to grow?"

Hearing this, Glenn paused, putting on a thoughtful expression.

"Well... what do you think of Chinese Biting Cabbage?"

In the Slytherin common room, Blaise watched Glenn approach, holding a flowerpot.

"Glenn, is that... a potted plant?"

Setting the pot on the table, Glenn poured himself a glass of water.

"Yeah, Professor Sprout let me grow some magical plants in the dormitory."

"Oh."

Blaise turned his attention back to the letter in his hands.

"What's it for? Cultivating refinement?"

He casually reached out and touched the fuzzy leaves on the plant. "What are you trying to grow?"

"Chinese Biting Cabbage," Glenn said, setting down his glass.

"Oh~ Quite a Hufflepuff style..."

Before he could finish, Blaise yanked his hand back and leaped up from his seat.

"Biting Cabbage?!" He stared incredulously at this classmate he'd only known for a day.

Others might not know, but Blaise's mother kept a few pots at home.

Though it was a plant, it was fiercer than most animals.

If cultivated well, a lion would only be a few bites' worth in front of it—its bite force higher than several crocodiles combined.

"Professor Sprout actually let you grow something like this in the common room?!" he shouted, drawing the attention of everyone nearby.

Glenn didn't answer right away. He just poured the leftover water from his cup into the flowerpot's soil.

Outstanding performance, measured speech, and a humble attitude always left a good impression, especially in a naturally interactive relationship like teacher and student.

So when Professor Sprout heard about his planting goal, she immediately...

Of course, approval was out of the question.

Even if he acted like an unprecedented herbology prodigy in front of her, Professor Sprout wouldn't allow a first-year to privately cultivate a dangerous magical plant like Biting Cabbage on the very first day of school.

It had to be a process. At the very least, he had to prove he had the ability to grow such a plant.

So what Professor Sprout gave him wasn't Chinese Biting Cabbage, but a harmless beginner-level magical plant—White Fresh.

Only after nurturing it well and bringing the results to the Herbology professor would she allow Glenn to move on to more challenging plants.

Learning it wasn't Biting Cabbage, Blaise let out a sigh of relief and sat back down in the armchair.

"If I count that joke, then in just one short morning, you've given me two 'surprises.'"

Glenn picked up the White Fresh from the table, preparing to take it back to his single dormitory.

"The second? What was the first?"

"My dad died."

Blaise snorted coldly, crumpling the letter brought by the owl in his hand.

"To be precise, my fifth rich stepfather died from a Biting Cabbage severing his throat..."