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

After what felt like an eternity, Malfoy returned to the common room in a daze, his face pale as parchment. The serpents who had been waiting anxiously were nodding off in their chairs, but they immediately perked up when they saw their leader's return.

"Malfoy, what took you so long?" one student asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

Several Slytherins exchanged knowing looks, their expressions brightening with anticipation.

"You must have had a long heart-to-heart with Professor Snape, right?"

"What did he tell you about his master plan?"

"Worthy of the Malfoy family name..."

But their praise died in their throats when Malfoy delivered his earth-shattering news.

"Professor Snape gave Ciel Sprout House Points."

The words hit the common room like a Silencing Charm. Every conversation stopped mid-sentence, every breath caught in stunned throats. Then came the explosion of disbelief.

"What?!"

"That's impossible!"

"Malfoy, you must have misheard!"

Malfoy's jaw clenched, his hands balling into fists. "I was standing right there—how could I mishear something like that? Professor Snape actually awarded Hufflepuff one point. If you don't believe me, check the House Cup hourglasses tomorrow morning. We record the scores every day, don't we?"

His voice carried the weight of absolute certainty. "Go see for yourselves first thing tomorrow. You'll find that Hufflepuff gained exactly one point."

The finality in his tone forced even the most skeptical serpents to accept the impossible truth. Malfoy wouldn't lie about something this devastating to their cause.

A surreal sense of betrayal washed over the room. They had been preparing for war against Hufflepuff, ready to defend Slytherin's honor in the House Cup to their dying breath. But their own Head of House had switched sides?

"No..." one student whispered, desperately grasping for an alternative explanation. "It must be that Ciel Sprout used honeyed words to manipulate Professor Snape. That's why he awarded Hufflepuff points."

"Cunning little badger," another spat with venom. "He's actually infiltrated our House leadership!"

The more they discussed it, the angrier they became. This betrayal couldn't stand—but what could they do against their own Head of House?

"Forget revenge for now," Malfoy declared, his strategic mind already working. "The urgent matter is driving that Sprout family bastard away from Professor Snape's side. We need to eliminate his influence completely."

After intense discussion, a plan began to crystallize with military precision.

"Tomorrow Hufflepuff has Quidditch training—we confirmed this weeks ago," one student noted. "Ciel will definitely participate, which means even if he wants to visit Professor Snape's office, it'll be very late."

"Exactly," Malfoy's eyes gleamed with calculated malice. "We just need to complete all his work before then. What use would he be to Professor Snape if we've already handled everything?"

"Brilliant! We'll prove to Professor Snape that we can completely replace Ciel."

The serpents felt their confidence returning. This was a battle they could win.

"Ciel Sprout is just one person—how much work can he possibly handle?"

"How could he compare to our entire year working together?"

"Even if we exhaust ourselves, we'll outlast him."

After finalizing the details of their sabotage operation, exhaustion finally caught up with the conspirators. Some students simply collapsed onto the common room tables, too tired to make it to their dormitories. The rest, including Malfoy, remained awake just long enough to savor tomorrow's anticipated victory.

"No matter how silver his tongue," Malfoy muttered as sleep claimed him, "tomorrow we kick him out of the Potions classroom for good."

Meanwhile, in the depths of the castle, Ciel remained blissfully unaware of the serpents' plotting. He had already transported the potion materials to the Potions classroom, his movements efficient and purposeful.

Glancing at the ancient clock on the wall, Ciel nodded with satisfaction. "Only 2 AM. Still plenty of time."

His gaze shifted to the Magical Perception Enhancement ability on his system panel. The bronze coloring had almost completely faded, with silver radiance poised to engulf it entirely.

Based on past experience, when an ability reached this critical threshold, advancement was virtually guaranteed within three to five days of focused effort. But sometimes, with intense concentration and a sustained push, he could achieve a breakthrough in a single session.

The advancement of Magical Perception Enhancement to Silver Tier was crucial for multiple reasons. Not only would it allow him to verify the Frequency Charm's effect on Piranha Algae, but his Lumos Charm—currently stuck between Silver and Gold Tiers—could finally break through. Every magical ability he possessed would benefit tremendously from this perception upgrade.

Therefore, Ciel abandoned his usual search for the Half-Blood Prince's textbook tonight. He would focus every ounce of energy on pushing Magical Perception Enhancement to Silver Tier.

Taking a deep breath, Ciel placed the two large basins of flobberworms and porcupine quills on the work table. His thoughts gradually stilled, like the surface of a mountain lake at dawn.

His concentration reached unprecedented depths. Even during his most focused previous sessions, part of his mind had always wandered to thoughts of the textbook search. But tonight was different—his attention became laser-focused, truly single-minded.

In this heightened state, Ciel experienced something extraordinary. Every fiber of his being was attuned to sensing the magical aura within the materials. The subtle, normally obscure magical signatures seemed amplified, allowing him to perceive them with startling clarity.

He forgot everything else. Time, space, his physical body—even the goal of advancing his ability faded from conscious thought. Ciel existed only in the present moment, processing materials with meditative focus.

One flobberworm after another passed through his hands with fluid grace. Each touch was brief but precise—following the flow of magic, applying gentle pressure, extracting viscous, crystal-clear mucus. Every movement carried an elegance reminiscent of Snape's earlier demonstration.

On his system panel, Magical Perception Enhancement pulsed with increasing silver radiance, advancing toward Silver Tier at unprecedented speed.

Ciel maintained this transcendent state until a surprised voice shattered his concentration.

"Ciel?!"

The wonderful flow state vanished instantly, leaving him momentarily disoriented. Shock flooded through him as he realized the wall clock now read 6:30 AM. Four and a half hours had passed in what felt like a single heartbeat.

"Flow state?" The term surfaced from his previous life's memories. He had experienced this once before during intense exam preparation—that same extreme focus where time seemed to stop. In such states, efficiency skyrocketed while both physical and mental performance peaked. Unfortunately, triggering flow state was notoriously difficult.

"I never expected that clearing my mind while processing materials would accidentally induce flow state," he mused with wonder.

Turning toward the voice that had awakened him, Ciel found Hermione's concerned face studying him with obvious worry.

"Ciel, please don't tell me you've been here all night processing flobberworms and porcupine quills?" Her gaze swept over the impressive quantity of completed work. "This amount is incredible!"

She took a sharp breath, indignation flaring in her eyes. "Professor Snape has gone too far. How is this any different from corporal punishment? How are you feeling? Do you need me to request sick leave for you? You should return to your dormitory immediately and rest."

Ciel waved his hands dismissively, a genuine smile spreading across his features.

"Thank you for your concern, Hermione, but this truly has nothing to do with Professor Snape. I did this completely voluntarily. When I have insomnia, I find that work helps me relax. Work makes me happy, actually."

His gaze drifted to the system panel, and his smile widened with pure satisfaction. "As for how I feel right now..."

"I feel absolutely fantastic. Never felt better in my life."

On the panel, Magical Perception Enhancement blazed with brilliant silver luster, finally achieving the breakthrough he had worked so hard to attain.

At the same time, a magnificent golden radiance began to illuminate another section of the panel, promising even greater transformations to come.

(End of Chapter)

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