Herbology Class, Return to Owner

Kyle didn't know if his words would have any effect on Hermione, but at least for now, it seemed that she had taken them to heart.

"You've done a good thing," Hagrid said. "Hermione wanted me to join her before, but I refused."

"I don't think she could get all the House-elf to ask for their wages, but she clearly didn't listen."

"Oh, Hagrid, I didn't notice..." Kyle looked at his haggard appearance and the strong smell of alcohol on him, and couldn't help but say, "How much did you drink?"

"Oh, no," Hagrid explained, "I didn't drink. I just accidentally spilled the whiskey I prepared for the Abraxan."

"I hope so," Kyle said. "School starts soon, don't forget you're a professor, you need to pull yourself together."

To everyone's surprise, Hagrid became even more disheartened after hearing Kyle's words.

"I might not be able to become a professor... My parents won't agree, just like Lupin did. Now I just hope Dumbledore will keep my position as game keeper and not kick me out of Hogwarts."

"Looks like you didn't listen to what we said either." Kyle shook his head. "Let's wait another day. After the Christmas holidays, a new edition of the Daily Prophet should be out. You can take a look then; there should be a surprise."

"I don't want to see it." Hagrid sounded agitated. "I bet the newspapers will still be full of that woman's accusations against me. I really don't want to see those harsh words anymore."

"Trust me, Hagrid, this time is different, there's a surprise." Kyle patted Hagrid's arm before returning to the castle with Kanna and the others.

School starts tomorrow, and they need to return the books they borrowed for homework.

While in the library, Kyle also saw Hermione; she was sitting there with a thick stack of books on the table next to her.

At the very top are two thick volumes... <A History of the Middle Ages> and <House-elf Goblin: Helper or Foe>.

This is a good thing; it proves Hermione really listened.

Kyle didn't disturb her and left after returning the book.

the next day.

Perhaps because so many people stayed on campus for Christmas, even though school had started, no one felt any difference, and the Great Hall was as lively as ever.

The ground was still covered with a thick layer of snow, but the greenhouse was as hot as in June, with a layer of fine water droplets forming on the windows, which then condensed into icicles after falling.

"Put on your Dragonhide Gloves and concentrate. We can't let our guard down during this lesson."

Professor Sprout said, pointing to a long flowerpot on the center table, "Biting Cabbage, I believe you all saw it in first grade, but you didn't learn about it then."

"I must remind you again, Biting Cabbage is a very dangerous plant, extremely dangerous."

As she spoke, she took out a thick wooden stick and gently tapped the pot of the Biting Cabbage.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the previously quiet Biting Cabbage suddenly opened its mouth full of sharp teeth and chewed the wooden stick to pieces like it was eating a biscuit.

Everyone instinctively took a step back, pressing themselves against the greenhouse wall.

For most people, this was the first time they had a direct experience of the dangers of Herbology Class.

Although I've learned about many poisonous plants before, such as Belladonna and Venomous Tentacula, none of them combined can compare to the Biting Cabbage in front of me in terms of visual impact.

Just thinking about the image of the stick being bitten to pieces made some of the more timid people's hands and legs tremble uncontrollably, and they were unwilling to go any closer.

"Don't worry, be bold," Professor Sprout said. "I specifically chose some not-yet-fully-ripe Biting Cabbage. As long as you wear Dragonhide Gloves, you'll be fine... and even if there are any special circumstances, Madam Pomfrey can handle the problem."

"Hurry up, everyone get to the front. We need to change the soil for the Biting Cabbage today, and we can't stay that far away."

Urged on by Professor Sprout, everyone cautiously moved forward a little.

"Look at Kyle, he's not afraid at all." At that moment, Professor Sprout suddenly said, "Oh, that's it, one foot, that's just the right distance, enough to ensure safety and get the soil changing done, very good, Hufflepuff plus five points."

Everyone immediately looked over, but quickly looked away... Well, he's Champion, there's nothing strange about that.

When everyone had gathered around the table, Professor Sprout clapped his hands and began demonstrating how to change the soil in a flowerpot without disturbing the Biting Cabbage.

The students watched very attentively, afraid of missing even the slightest detail.

Next came the actual operation. As usual, they worked in groups of four. Because this task was quite difficult, Professor Sprout said that as long as the four of them worked together, they could complete the soil replacement work once.

Without a doubt, Kyle, Kanna, Mikel, Ryan were the first to finish, and in less than ten minutes.

"Incredible." Professor Sprout walked over, looking at the smooth, fresh soil in the flowerpot and the Biting Cabbage that seemed to be sleeping peacefully, and clicked his tongue in amazement. "To do it so perfectly on the first try, and so quickly... Kyle, you really have the potential to become a marvelous botanist."

"It's nothing, practice makes perfect..." Kyle said, but quickly corrected himself, "Well, I meant I just wrote down all the steps and followed them exactly."

"Of course, that's what I meant too."

Professor Sprout chuckled and said, "But this job isn't just about memorizing the steps; you also need to be calm enough, have a steady hand, and make sure the Biting Cabbage doesn't notice anything amiss throughout. That's quite difficult."

"Maybe I was just lucky," Kyle said with a laugh. "I just happened to run into a slow-moving Biting Cabbage."

Kanna turned her head to the side and covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself from laughing out loud.

Kyle wasn't just lucky; he had a huge Biting Cabbage in his box, almost several hundred heads. Changing the soil for them would be a piece of cake, wouldn't it?

Professor Sprout, however, was unaware of this, and as a reward, she added another ten points to Hufflepuff.

It felt like an entire day had passed when the school bell finally rang, and everyone eagerly took off their scratched Dragonhide Gloves and rushed out of the greenhouse.

Kyle walked at the very back, and while Professor Sprout was maintaining order, he secretly took two seeds out of his pocket and threw them into the flowerpot next to him.

Hmm... The seeds I took in first grade, although it's been a while, have finally been returned to their rightful owner.

"I really hope we don't learn something so dangerous next class."

When Kyle caught up with Kanna, someone was still complaining, "Did you hear that? The sound of that cabbage biting into the glove... Merlin, my hands were all sweaty then."

"I'd like to too, but Professor Sprout said the Biting Cabbage course will last a month," a Gryffindor student sighed.

"Really? When did the professor say that?"

"It was right when get out of class ended, didn't you hear me?"

"No..."

Then came a series of sighs.

Upon returning to the castle, Kyle had just entered the Entrance Hall when he saw a tall figure.

Hagrid was talking to Sirius, and what's even more remarkable is that he was smiling.

Upon noticing Kyle, Hagrid immediately approached him.

"You'd never guess what happened." He unfolded a newspaper, pointed to an article on the front page, and said, "That person... Rita Skeeter, she actually spoke up for me."

"Really?" Kyle glanced at the newspaper subconsciously. It still featured Hagrid's picture, showing him caring for an injured Kneazle.

Is the Half-blood- Giant real or fake? What lies hidden behind his fierce appearance?

"It's unbelievable! I never imagined that the Giant was bandaging the Kneazle's hind legs instead of eating it."

In addition, similar situations have occurred many times before.

"I received a lot of help from Hagrid when I was in school. He was a kind-hearted man and the best gamekeeper," said one person who graduated five years ago.

And similar letters keep coming in.

Even Harry Potter, the Chosen One, once publicly stated, "We don't care if he's Half-blood- Giant or not."

This inevitably raises the question: Is Rubeus Hagrid, this enormous, fierce-looking man, truly a Half-blood- Giant, or is he simply a large-boned individual...?

Kyle stopped watching after that.

It must be admitted that Rita Skeeter is quite capable; although it is a contradictory article, it actually reads quite reasonably well.