After Draco returned to his original position, Professor Sprout's gaze swept over the eager young faces before him, and he said:
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, I think Mr. Malfoy has set a wonderful tone for our lesson today with his actions and words."
"Skillful technique, sufficient patience, and most importantly, respect for plants."
"Now, I hope that each of you will carry this understanding with you as you continue to complete your 'first intimate encounter'."
As soon as the words were spoken, the young wizards picked up their tools and began to practice.
A rustling sound suddenly filled the greenhouse.
There was the soft sound of tweezers hitting a glass slide, the faint tearing sound of a leaf being accidentally snapped, and the low murmur of students discussing something.
Professor Sprout then put his hands behind his back and began to survey the workbenches.
Before the inspection, she went up to Draco and said, " Mr. Malfoy, your skills are superb, and your understanding of herbs far surpasses that of ordinary people."
"Could you please help those students who are struggling?"
Draco nodded slightly. "Yes, Professor, I will do my best."
Having received Draco's reply, Professor Sprout nodded in satisfaction and turned to walk toward the other students' workstations.
Draco, carrying his tools, slowly walked through the greenhouse, his gaze falling on the students who were clumsy and looked troubled.
He quickly walked to Neville's workbench.
At this moment, Neville was covered in sweat, his face was flushed, and the tweezers in his hands were trembling slightly.
With a soft "hiss," he clumsily tore another Dittany leaf, the cut jagged and the juice splattering everywhere.
Neville's face was full of dejection, and there were even a few tears in his eyes. He was clearly on the verge of losing faith.
Draco didn't say anything, but stepped forward and gently tapped a point on his wrist that was overly tense with the tip of tweezers.
"Relax here, imagine the force is flowing, not crashing down. Dittany is delicate; what's needed is skillful application, not brute force."
Neville was startled, and nearly dropped the tweezers from his hand.
He abruptly looked up and saw Draco. A flicker of panic crossed his round face, quickly followed by an instinctive trust in the expert.
He stammered, "Th-thank you... Malfoy..."
" Neville, we're roommates now, just call me Draco. Don't be so formal, feel free to ask me anything," Draco said with a smile.
Neville's eyes lit up instantly upon hearing this, and he was filled with emotion.
He never imagined that someone so highly praised by the professor would be willing to help someone as stupid as him, and even allow him to call him by his first name.
He nodded vigorously. "Okay, okay! De Draco! Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Neville then focused intently on Draco, more so than ever before, his eyes glued to him, afraid of missing a single detail.
"Then, then I'll try again! Please... Draco, please look at me! I promise I won't let you down!"
Draco nodded and stood to the side, watching his movements intently.
Under Draco's guidance, Neville's performance improved noticeably.
His wrists were no longer as stiff and trembling as before, and his movements became slow and steady.
Although still somewhat clumsy, the impatience and panic had disappeared.
Finally, after another attempt, Neville flicked the tweezers in his hand and successfully removed a nearly intact leaf.
Although the cut on the leaf wasn't perfectly smooth, it was much neater.
He carefully placed the leaf on the glass slide and gently pressed it with tweezers. A drop of fairly clear juice slowly spread across the glass slide.
Neville's eyes widened instantly, and he abruptly looked up at Draco, a slightly silly but grateful smile spreading across his face.
He shouted excitedly, "I... I did it! Draco, look! I did it! I really did it!"
Draco, seeing his tearful expression of joy, smiled gently.
"Good job, Neville, you've got it so quickly. Keep it up, you'll do even better."
Neville grinned, revealing an almost silly but incredibly bright smile, completely forgetting his previous nervousness and awkwardness.
He nodded vigorously. "I... I will! Thank you... Draco!"
[Ding--Original storyline added, Fortune Points increased by 20!]
Not far away, Ron watched this scene with disdain on his face.
He said sarcastically, "Look, he's starting to win people over. That coward Longbottom... He's got Longbottom all wrapped around his little finger with just a few small favors."
Unlike Ron's sarcastic remarks, Professor Sprout happened to witness this scene from a short distance away.
A smile of even greater satisfaction and appreciation spread across her face, her eyes sparkling with approval of Draco.
Clearly, Draco not only excelled in his own gameplay but also patiently guided his classmates, which further increased her positive impression of Draco.
Just then, a loud, boisterous voice rang out, shattering the warm atmosphere in front of Neville's workbench.
Seamus, holding his mangled leaf, waved it at Draco and pleaded, " Draco, teach me too!"
"My hands are practically cursed with Dittany; I just can't get a whole leaf off!"
Draco turned around and nodded to Seamus: "Sure. No problem."
He walked up to Seamus's messy workbench and saw Seamus laughing self-deprecatingly, holding a leaf that he had torn almost beyond recognition.
He said helplessly, "I think it probably prefers explosions. Every time I touch it, it turns into this."
Draco didn't laugh; he simply picked up the tweezers, which were still damp with juice, from Seamus's hand and gently wiped them with a clean gauze.
He then pointed out the problem.
"The tweezers need to be clean, otherwise any residual sap will affect the next operation and may irritate the Dittany. It's not that you're strong, it's that you're applying force incorrectly. You're always using the strength of your arm to push and pull, which easily tears the leaves."
As he spoke, he made a flicking motion with his wrist.
"Like this, don't push or pull with your arms, think of 'flicking' with your wrist, like flicking dust off a robe."
"Oh! Like this?" Seamus's eyes lit up, and he immediately began to imitate it exaggeratedly.
His wrist trembled so violently it was like he was throwing a dart, almost poking Dean next to him, which drew snickers from the surrounding students.
Even Hermione, who had been keeping a tense expression and focused on her work, subtly curved her lips into a smile.
Seeing this, Draco quickly reached out and gently grasped Seamus's wrist. "Stop. The movement is too big, it's not a 'flick,' it's a 'spring.' Slow down, feel the power in your wrist."
He led Seamus through the movements twice, explaining them patiently as he went.
"See, that's it. Gently lift your wrist, then quickly spring it back. The power is only in your wrist; keep your arm stable."
"Now try to get a feel for it by practicing in the air." Draco released his grip, gesturing for Seamus to practice on his own.
For once, Seamus became completely focused. He gestured repeatedly in the air, muttering to himself, "Flick dust... flick dust... wrist movement, arm still..."
After a moment, Draco watched as Seamus's movements became increasingly precise, nodded, and said, "Good. Select a leaf, focusing only on the point where the petiole touches the tip of the tweezers. Relax your wrist and flick."
Seamus took a deep breath, carefully picked up the tweezers, and placed the tips against the base of the petiole of a Dittany leaf.
He steadied himself and flicked his wrist with a slight, precise arc.
"Despair."
With a soft click, a whole leaf was successfully removed.
The cut was neat and smooth, and the whole plant of Dittany hardly moved.
" Merlin's beard! I did it!" Seamus jumped up, holding the leaf high in his hand, his excited voice echoing throughout the greenhouse.
He then looked excitedly at Draco: " Draco! Did you see that?! It's intact! Not rotten! I really did it!"
He then turned excitedly to Dean beside him, before looking at Draco with renewed admiration. "You're a genius! The 'flicking dust' analogy is brilliant! I got it right away!"
[Ding--Original storyline added, Fortune Points increased by 20!]
Seeing Seamus dancing with joy, Draco also revealed a genuine smile.
He thought to himself: This Fortune Points is quite easy to increase. It helps my classmates, wins people's hearts, and increases my Fortune Points. It's a win-win situation.
After his initial excitement subsided, Seamus immediately began enthusiastically "teaching" his secrets to the students around him.
He held up the leaf in his hand and shouted, "Hey, did you all hear that?"
" Draco said that when picking leaves, you should do it like flicking dust! Use the strength of your wrist to flick it gently, and you can pick the whole leaf!"
Ron stood not far away, watching this scene, his expression growing even uglier, and his displeasure intensifying.
"That idiot Finnigan, bought off by such a small trick! He's so naive!" Ron's tone was full of jealousy and dissatisfaction.
The other students were utterly shocked.
Seamus and Neville, when they were actually doing it, were either slow and clumsy or absolutely terrible.
Now that they had actually succeeded under Draco's guidance, a strong desire arose in their hearts for them to receive Draco's instruction as well.
Dean looked enviously at the intact leaf in Seamus's hand, then said to Draco, "Alright, Draco, now it's my turn."
Draco nodded at him.
"I think my problem might be... I can never find the right spot to take the leaves; I always end up too close to the main vein."
As Dean spoke, many students who had previously encountered difficulties gathered around, seeking Draco's help.
They looked at Draco's gentle smile and listened to his patient explanation.
The initial prejudices and barriers in the hearts of the Gryffindor freshmen gradually dissipated.
At this moment, they realized that Draco wasn't so difficult to get along with, and that he was truly different from the Pure-blood families Slytherin family.
He lacked the arrogance and harshness of those people; instead, he possessed a convincing gentleness and strength.
Draco patiently instructed Dean on how to accurately locate the point slightly above the intersection of the lateral veins and how to control the strength of his wrist.
Under Draco's guidance, Dean also successfully picked a whole leaf and squeezed out the clear juice.
Draco then helped several other students, who, under Draco guidance, successfully completed the operation.
The greenhouse was filled with cheers and expressions of gratitude, and everyone looked at Draco with admiration and kindness.
With no one needing Draco's guidance anymore, the atmosphere in the greenhouse became increasingly harmonious.
Draco slowly walked to Hermione's workbench, stopped, and maintained a polite distance from Hermione, not wanting to disturb her.
Hermione's movements froze for a moment.
Her tweezers paused slightly, but she didn't look up, remaining focused on the Dittany plant in front of her.
Draco, hearing her slightly rapid breathing, smiled faintly and called softly, " Hermione."
Hermione's eyelashes trembled slightly.
My heart skipped a beat in that instant.