Harry Potter: Don't Touch the Badger's Plants

Professor Sprout's face had been filled with worry, but after hearing Ciel's comfortable humming, she was completely bewildered.

Wait. Was this right?

How was Ciel's reaction so different from the little badger who had previously cultivated Piranha Algae? She clearly remembered that student had burst into heart-wrenching tears the first time he put his hand into the water tank planted with Piranha Algae.

While Professor Sprout was still trying to process this unexpected turn of events, Ciel had already followed the cultivation requirements with practiced ease, removing those insufficiently robust algae leaves. He then gently guided the remaining algae leaves toward the tank walls, carefully making them adhere.

At this moment, lines of text had appeared before Ciel's eyes.

[You have successfully planted Piranha Algae]

[Reward available—Minor Water Affinity Enhancement (Black Iron Tier)]

Along with this text appearing, weak reward orbs also materialized in the water tank.

However, seeing this scene, Ciel frowned. The reason was simple—the number of reward orbs was far too few.

With this planting density, even if he filled over ten water tanks with Piranha Algae, the number of reward orbs harvested after each maturation would be quite limited. He knew that the cutting spell enhancement provided by cultivating Piranha Algae was extremely weak at Black Iron Tier. To build up this ability would require countless reward orbs.

Relying on the meager number of reward orbs before him, forget reaching Legendary Tier—even reaching Gold Tier would probably take a year!

He needed to increase the planting density.

Ciel turned to Professor Sprout and asked, "Aunt, you just told me that the planting density of Piranha Algae shouldn't exceed a certain value. If the planting density is too high, would it have adverse effects on the Piranha Algae's growth?"

Professor Sprout unconsciously replied, "Huh? That wouldn't be the case. After all, Piranha Algae doesn't like light at all, so it won't be like some aquatic plants that die in masses when too densely packed because they can't get sunlight. As for breathing issues, the water in the tanks is mixed with potions, so even the densest aquatic plants can breathe smoothly in there."

She paused, then continued with growing concern. "So theoretically, no matter how high the density of Piranha Algae in the water tank, it won't cause problems for their growth. The problem is with the person cultivating the Piranha Algae. If the Piranha Algae density is too high, putting your hands in to operate might really be like being attacked by a school of piranhas—your bones could be picked clean!"

Hearing Professor Sprout's answer, Ciel had a moment of realization.

"I see. So even higher density wouldn't matter? Then I'm relieved."

He looked at the sparse Piranha Algae "massaging" his hands in the water tank before him, a strange glint in his eyes. He was just thinking the massage was too sparse and not quite satisfying.

Well, now there was no problem.

The next moment, Ciel directly poured all the remaining Piranha Algae seeds in his hand into this water tank. Then every inch of water in the tank was occupied by densely packed Piranha Algae leaves. This density was more than ten times higher than before!

Correspondingly, the frequency of those sharp spines scraping across Ciel's palms was also more than ten times higher. If it were an ordinary young wizard, they would probably already be torn and bloody by now. But for Ciel, it was so comfortable he kept humming contentedly.

After Ciel had tended to all the Piranha Algae in this water tank and withdrew his hands, he felt a sensation of relaxed muscles and smooth circulation. It was as if his fingers had become more nimble.

So comfortable!

Looking at the densely packed reward orbs in the water tank now, Ciel felt even more pleased. This was the kind of efficiency he needed.

Then Ciel looked at Professor Sprout again. "Aunt, are there more Piranha Algae seeds?"

Only then did Professor Sprout realize what had happened. Ciel had just thrown all the Piranha Algae seeds into one water tank?

Looking at that water tank shrouded in black cloth, she couldn't help but shudder. It was only because Ciel had such a special constitution that he could withdraw his hands unharmed from that water tank. If someone else put their hands in there...

Try it and die?

Thinking of this, Professor Sprout's expression became deadly serious. She immediately waved her wand, creating danger signs to stick on the water tank. After instructing Ciel that he must never let anyone else put their hands in there, Professor Sprout then took out package after package of Piranha Algae seeds and handed them to him.

Ciel worked busily until the early morning of the next day. Only then did he finally fill all thirteen water tanks that Professor Sprout had given him with Piranha Algae.

Looking at the densely packed orbs of light that formed a continuous mass in his vision, Ciel was filled with anticipation. The maturation time for Piranha Algae was about three months. He wondered what level these thirteen water tanks would allow him to build his cutting spell enhancement to by then?

Then Ciel took a deep breath and began considering another crucial matter.

Although the Piranha Algae were planted, the only spell he currently had that was related to cutting spells was the Pruning Charm. The Pruning Charm was excellent for trimming flowers and plants, but it couldn't be used against enemies. Unless he could hit an enemy's wand, there was a possibility of cutting their wand in half. Other than that, the Pruning Charm had almost no use in combat.

So Ciel still needed an actual cutting spell he could use in battle.

Hoping to learn it from Professor Flitwick wasn't very likely. Ciel had already looked through the first-year Charms textbook. The magic that first-years could learn had almost no lethality. After all, first-year young wizards were just beginning to encounter spells, and casually teaching lethal magic could easily lead to accidents. Not to mention lethal magic with cutting effects.

Ciel estimated he'd need to reach at least fifth year to access such magic through official channels. Before then, even if he went to Professor Sprout, she probably wouldn't allow Ciel to encounter such dangerous magic.

Fortunately, Ciel already had a solution for this. If he couldn't learn through official channels, there were unofficial ones.

In the original story, Harry Potter had privately learned a powerful cutting spell—Sectumsempra. When he first used it, he nearly killed Malfoy. As Snape's signature spell, Sectumsempra's power would definitely meet Ciel's requirements.

As for the channel to learn it, Ciel remembered very clearly:

"I need to find a sixth-year old textbook—Advanced Potion-Making. Brown cover, filled with dense notes and self-created spells and potion knowledge. It's stored in a storage cabinet in some Potions classroom at Hogwarts."

His eyes gleamed with determination. "The signature on the title page is—The Half-Blood Prince."

(End of Chapter)

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