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

The thought of attempting the Guardian Tree again surfaced in Ciel's mind, and he felt quite moved by the idea.

After all, the Guardian Tree was considered a necessary milestone for herbologists. Moreover, it could provide Defense Against the Dark Arts insights and dark magic resistance—abilities that were extremely practical. Even the Guardian Tree itself was a rather precious herb that possessed the power to resist dark magic.

The earlier Ciel could cultivate it, the greater its usefulness would be for him.

However, Ciel wasn't in a rush to act. His Magical Perception Enhancement, which had only recently advanced to Silver Tier, would probably still find completing Guardian Tree seed processing quite challenging.

Underwater Enhancement's boost to magical perception was the deciding factor in this process. But Ciel couldn't very well operate underwater the entire time, could he? During processing, Guardian Tree seeds also couldn't come into contact with any liquids other than specific potion components. Otherwise, the possibility of successful cultivation would be minimal.

Ciel remained submerged below the water surface, his thoughts seeming even swifter than usual.

"Being fully below the water surface is a sufficient condition for Underwater Enhancement to take effect. But this isn't necessarily a necessary condition. Perhaps I can find a method that doesn't interfere with processing Guardian Tree seeds while still allowing Underwater Enhancement to take effect."

Then Ciel began experimenting with the conditions for Underwater Enhancement to activate. He first slowly extended one hand above the water surface. Underwater Enhancement was still in effect.

Ciel's eyes flashed with realization. "This shows that the necessary condition isn't having the entire body below the water surface."

Then he slowly extended his other hand above the water surface, then both legs. At this point, Ciel maintained an almost reclining position in the water. Nearly half of his body parts were exposed above the water surface, but Underwater Enhancement was still taking effect.

Ciel's thoughts kept turning. "Earlier, when I gradually sank into the water bit by bit, Underwater Enhancement never took effect. It wasn't until my head also submerged that this ability activated. And now, so many parts of my body have left the water surface, but my head remains soaked in water. Underwater Enhancement continues to maintain..."

A flash of insight struck his mind. Ciel grasped the key.

After another round of experiments, he finally determined the effective range of the Underwater Enhancement ability.

"This ability determines whether I'm in water based on my head. As long as the head has contact with water—even without complete submersion—I can gain the enhancement effect of Underwater Enhancement."

This made his eyes light up with possibility. If so, then using this ability to help cultivate the Guardian Tree seemed much simpler.

"For example... I could do this."

Ciel found a transparent water tank filled with water and placed it over his head like a helmet. This way, the Underwater Enhancement effect could be maintained continuously. Although it looked somewhat ridiculous, Ciel didn't care about such things. Functionality was what mattered.

Besides, this was just a relatively simple application for now. Ciel was even thinking that when he learned mental magic like Occlumency or Legilimency in the future, he could try to see if he could use hypnosis or certain spells for self-deception. When needed, he could directly deceive his senses into believing his head was submerged in water. This might also "trick" the Underwater Enhancement effect into activating.

If this really worked, the applications for the Underwater Enhancement ability would be far broader!

After fantasizing for a moment, the thoughts in Ciel's mind gradually converged. These were all future considerations. What he needed to do now was conduct the third Guardian Tree seed processing procedure.

Ciel's mood slowly calmed, his attention entering a state of high concentration. He took out a new set of Guardian Tree materials.

With the experience of two previous failures, Ciel was even more skilled this time. His wand lightly tapped, accompanied by cheerful, smooth magic flowing into the Guardian Tree seed. Ciel immediately felt something he hadn't experienced in the previous two attempts.

He could sense that within the Guardian Tree seed, a weak but rather sacred magic was being activated. The entire seed began awakening from slumber. If Ciel had been completely blind to this process before, then now, although still somewhat unclear, he could already observe the general outline.

When the sacred magic in the Guardian Tree seed gradually reached its peak, Ciel immediately placed it into the potion. At this moment, he vaguely sensed that the Guardian Tree seed seemed to have a heartbeat. Magic was pulsating. Even the entire seed had a feeling of breathing.

After sensing this, Ciel suddenly understood why this step required lightly tapping the test tube with the wand, why a spell needed to be cast. This was actually to help the Guardian Tree seed absorb nutrients from the potion, to help it "revive its heartbeat" and "breathe."

Naturally, this had to follow the frequency of the Guardian Tree seed's own magical "heartbeat" and "breathing." Only then could it achieve twice the result with half the effort.

After sensing this, Ciel immediately felt enlightened about this step. His spirit was highly concentrated. It was as if he could hear the sound of the Guardian Tree seed's magical pulsations.

Thump.

Thump.

Then, during another magical pulsation, Ciel lightly tapped the test tube for the first time with his wand. Magic flowed in accordingly, vibrating the potion and resonating with the Guardian Tree seed's own magical pulsations. The sacred magic within immediately rose dramatically. The Guardian Tree seed also conveyed a feeling of joy and comfort.

However, at this point, the potion's magic, the Guardian Tree seed's magic, and Ciel's magic intertwined together. The complexity increased dramatically. Ciel was like facing a tangled mess.

In the second cultivation attempt, this was where he had to start relying on luck. But this time, Ciel's eyes burned with intensity as he carefully sensed the trajectory of the magic. Although somewhat complex, he could already sort it out clearly!

Thump.

When the Guardian Tree seed's magic pulsated again, Ciel's wand struck down once more. A surge of magical turbulence. Under his tense observation, the sacred magic in the Guardian Tree seed became chaotic for a moment. But after a brief period, it stabilized and continued to increase.

Ciel took a deep breath. Only one final strike and spellcasting remained!

This time, he wore the transparent water tank on his head. Bubbles began rising before his eyes, but Ciel's senses were unprecedentedly sharp. Underwater Enhancement was in effect. Magical perception was further enhanced.

On Ciel's system panel, the Magical Perception Enhancement text showed silver luster more brilliant than ever before. However, compared to the increasingly noisy magical interference, completely controlling the Guardian Tree seed's condition still wasn't easy.

Ciel estimated that probably Gold-Tier Magical Perception Enhancement would be needed to handle this third strike with ease. But now, he had a forty percent chance of success. That was enough!

With his mind set, Ciel steadily struck the third blow with his wand. Simultaneously, his wand traced concentric circles as he recited the final spell underwater.

"Protego—Arboris!"

The next moment, the sacred magic in the Guardian Tree seed began continuously declining. The potion's color also changed from its previous clear green to clear and transparent.

Ciel's heart sank slightly. Had it failed?

But the next second, Ciel saw fine white new roots extending from below the Guardian Tree seed. A line of notification also appeared on the system panel.

[Successfully completed Guardian Tree seed processing]

Then a reward orb appeared above the Guardian Tree seed, glowing with the promise of the magical abilities to come.

(End of Chapter)

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