Early morning.
The sparse sunlight fell on the calm Black Lake, then reflected off the water, the ripples of light filtering through the windows of the Gryffindor Tower and onto the walls.
Birdsong could be heard coming from outside.
Harry woke up, but didn't open his eyes; instead, he reached for his glasses.
He groggily opened his eyes after putting them on.
"Ron, you're already up?" Harry, somewhat surprised.
Ron, who usually wakes up later than me, got up early today and was already dressed and ready to go out.
"I have an important job."
Ron turned his head and raised an eyebrow at Harry with a hint of smugness.
"Harry," Ron called Harry, mimicking Lockhart, "I'm not one to do nothing."
"Don't talk like that, Ron," Harry said, frowning.
He now feels disgusted by anything associated with Lockhart's name.
"Okay." Ron shrugged.
"Silan has given me an important task. It's no exaggeration to say that if I don't complete this task, Silan's herbs will be in serious trouble. This is an extremely important mission."
Ron was spouting nonsense with a straight face, making collecting dragon dung sound as important as saving the Wizarding World.
"It seems Silan values you a lot." Harry threw back the covers and jumped out of bed.
"Of course," Ron puffed out his chest, somewhat proudly, "I'm his blood cousin."
Harry yawned, muttering to himself, "That's not what you said before."
"Alright, Harry, I have to go."
After saying goodbye to him, Ron made his way to the Room of Requirement.
Neville had already prepared the necessary tools for him.
"I never expected you to take this job; you're so brave."
Neville handed Ron the Dragonhide Gloves, looking at him with admiration.
Is this job difficult?
"No, it's not difficult, it's just the smell of dragon dung..."
"It can't smell as bad as Dungbomb, can it?" Ron put on his protective suit, gloves, and mask. "Don't worry, Neville."
Seeing Ron's confident demeanor, Neville gave him a look of admiration.
Well done, Weasley!
Norbert found a large pit far from his lair and used it as a toilet.
Over time, both the quantity and the smell have become quite terrifying.
Before Ron even got close, he could smell a strong, highly aggressive odor.
It had a pungent smell; whether you breathed it through your nose or mouth, after a while you could feel a burning pain in your lungs.
It felt like being poked and prodded by a branch covered in countless sharp thorns.
"Ugh... this smell... is even more disgusting than Dungbomb!"
Before even reaching the dragon dung pit, Ron already sensed that something was amiss.
He pinched his nose, clenched his teeth, and only managed to inhale air little by little through the gaps between his teeth.
Even so, when he actually got to the latrine, his throat and lungs still felt a burning pain.
Countless dung dung piled up together, the stench almost materializing into giant hands that relentlessly choked Ron's neck.
This almost suffocated him.
Ron hurriedly stuffed a few snake plant leaves that Neville had prepared for him into his mask to filter the air.
Snake plants have excellent air-purifying properties. It's just a pity there aren't many, so he has to use them sparingly.
Ron stood at the edge of the cesspool, breathing slowly for a minute, before he mentally prepared himself and reluctantly began picking up dragon dung.
After picking them up for only a short while, he felt as if his lungs were on fire.
But Ron didn't give up.
How can this little difficulty compare to Galleon's?
"This is not dragon dung."
"This is Galleon, this is Galleon... I'm picking up Galleon!"
Ron picked them up while simultaneously hypnotizing himself.
Over time, even dragon dung seemed "cute" to him.
If Colin were here, he could probably take a picture of a world-famous painting with his camera.
The beautiful sunlight, like a gentle tailor, draped the Forest, mountains, and vegetation in a golden veil.
Everything was so beautiful, so gentle.
Amidst this beauty and gentleness, Ron is excitedly collecting dragon dung...
Silan, on the other hand, had just come out of the Hogwarts Kitchens.
He just asked the House-elf for some jerky, planning to make some special treats for the Cat Leopard.
George and Fred were waiting for him outside the kitchen.
As soon as they saw him come out, they each took out a packet of catnip from their robes.
"To be honest, Silan, I really don't understand why you need these things," George asked, somewhat puzzled.
Silan had previously asked them to buy some catnip.
But it's just an ordinary plant; it's neither valuable nor can it be used to make Potions.
What does Silan want with it?
"Used as a seasoning to make some mysterious little snacks."
Silan winked at them and gave a mysterious smile.
George and Fred exchanged a glance, instinctively realizing that this was going to be very interesting.
They immediately perked up and said in unison, "Count us in too!"
"Okay." Silan didn't refuse.
With catnip and jerky in hand, Silan returned to the Room of Requirement with them.
He wasn't even sure if this stuff would work on Cat Leopard.
But Cat Leopard is still a cat, so give it a try.
To enhance the effect, Silan decided to process the catnip first, making it more potent.
Otherwise, the Cat Leopard might not be able to enjoy themselves.
George and Fred watched in a daze as Silan processed the catnip using the same methods he used for Potions.
The two tilted their heads and whispered to each other.
"Isn't this a bit too much?"
"It's just a few ordinary plant leaves, is it really necessary to go to such lengths?"
"However..." George stared at Silan's handling of the Potions and slowly began, "Don't you think Silan's technique is a bit too practiced?"
Fred muttered, "I already knew that."
"I dare say, even those third and fourth-year students who got O's in Potions can't compare to him."
"No wonder Snape paid so much attention to him," George remarked.
Silan used the methods Snape had taught him to chop the catnip into small pieces, grind it into powder, and eventually even used a crucible.
After extraction and purification, Silan obtained a small packet of pure catnip powder.
He dared to say that the effect was more than ten times better than the previous leaves.
Silan took out the jerky and carefully sprinkled the freshly extracted catnip essence onto it.
"Didn't you think it wasn't strong enough? This time, I'll make sure your brain flies off the line!"
Silan thought wickedly.
"It's ready, let's go." Silan put away the secret-recipe jerky sprinkled with mysterious powder and called to George and Fred.
"Where to?" they both asked in unison.
"Forbidden Forest, go find the Cat Leopard."