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

Hearing Ciel's words that seemed to carry killing intent, Malfoy and the serpents showed terrified expressions. They suddenly remembered Ciel's monstrous strength. Less than a month ago, Malfoy had his teeth knocked out by a cup Ciel casually threw. And in this mere month, they hadn't learned any combat magic yet.

"You... you calm down!" Malfoy stammered, backing away frantically.

"Don't come over!"

"Attacking fellow students will result in point deductions!"

"My father is a school governor..."

"If you're going to hit someone, don't hit the face!"

Malfoy kept retreating, his face pale as parchment, positioning everyone in front of him as human shields.

Ciel sneered with cold amusement. "Relax. I won't beat you up. Since this is a workplace matter, let's solve it with workplace rules."

The next moment, Ciel took out the Potions classroom key and locked the door with a decisive click.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle suddenly had a terrible sense of déjà vu. This moment was just like that nightmare on the Hogwarts Express when they had been locked in a compartment and thoroughly beaten by Ciel. What would happen this time?

Then they heard Ciel say with chilling calm, "The classroom door is now locked. It's also late at night. From now until dawn, no one will come to open the door. So anyone who wants to get out needs to get the key from my hands."

His voice carried the weight of absolute authority. "You have two choices: either defeat me and take the key, or work so hard that I'm convinced and I'll voluntarily hand it over."

The serpents were stunned. After exchanging nervous glances, they began whispering among themselves.

One student suggested desperately, "There are so many of us. Crabbe and Goyle are strong... they could go first and hold Ciel down. Then we all rush him together. Could Ciel really defeat all of us?"

But Crabbe and Goyle weren't falling for that trap again. They stared back defiantly and asked, "Why don't you go first? If you want to charge him, you do it. I'm not going anywhere near him."

After several minutes of heated discussion, none of the serpents was willing to be the first to face Ciel's wrath. The physical confrontation plan crumbled before it began.

"Then let's compete!" Malfoy declared, trying to salvage his dignity. "I don't believe that with so many of us, we can't outwork just one person. Ten against one... the advantage is ours!"

Malfoy regained some composure and looked at Ciel with forced bravado. "So you're saying, as long as we process flobberworms faster, better, and more than you, you'll be convinced and hand over the key? You won't interfere with us anymore?"

"Fine, then we accept this competition."

The serpents, who had originally felt disgusted and pained by processing flobberworms, now seemed energized by their house pride. Defending Slytherin's honor was their sacred duty! This strong sense of mission made them temporarily forget their drowsiness and the itching on their hands as they quickly began processing the worms.

Ciel also picked up a basket of flobberworms and began working with fluid, practiced movements. After Magical Perception Enhancement had advanced to Silver Tier, he had much clearer perception of the magical aura within each flobberworm.

Not only was he faster and more dexterous, but the quality of the mucus he extracted was obviously superior to before. However, Ciel vaguely sensed that the mucus from each flobberworm had slightly different magical properties. When mixed together, there was an extremely subtle sense of discord.

This was something he had never noticed before. But thinking back to when Snape had demonstrated the process, the mucus from several flobberworms had seemed as uniform as if it came from a single specimen. The consistency had been unimaginably precise.

Although Ciel didn't know what effect slightly inconsistent mucus would have as a thickening agent, he suddenly understood why Potions masters could truly be called masters. They had polished every detail to absolute perfection!

Thinking this way, Aunt Sprout, as a Herbology master, must also have achieved perfection in every detail.

Ciel's expression became intensely focused. He deliberately slowed his speed, carefully sensing the magical aura emanating from each flobberworm in his hands. He detected those subtle variations, trying to make each stream of mucus maintain identical magical properties.

This process made Ciel's speed decrease noticeably. The level of concentration required was incomparable to his previous casual approach. But Ciel's eyes showed delighted surprise as he discovered that using this method, the effect of training his magical perception was dramatically better than before.

On the system panel, the Magical Perception Enhancement text flickered with silver light, gradually becoming more intense bit by bit at an imperceptible pace.

Ciel's heart stirred with anticipation. By the end of this month, just before Halloween, the new batch of Goldfish Vines should all mature. If he could maintain this kind of incremental training improvement and then harvest a wave of Goldfish Vine rewards, perhaps he could make Magical Perception Enhancement approach Gold Tier.

Combined with enhanced underwater abilities, he could venture even deeper into magical research. By then, conducting the next stage of Guardian Tree cultivation should be entirely feasible.

Thinking of this promising future, Ciel felt genuine joy. He treated each flobberworm processing with even greater seriousness and precision.

Meanwhile, Malfoy and the others kept stealing glances at Ciel. When they discovered that his speed wasn't overwhelming, their eyes all showed excitement. They had assumed that after working for Professor Snape for so long, Ciel would be dramatically faster at processing materials.

Turns out it was just this level. We can compete! Victory is within reach!

One hour passed. Two hours. Three hours...

The serpents numbly stared at basket after basket of flobberworms. The quantity seemed to have decreased considerably, but whether it was their physical strength or mental energy, they were already at their absolute limits.

The later it got, the slower their movements became and the more scattered their attention grew. Looking at the wall clock again, it was already 2 AM... long past their usual bedtime.

Waves of overwhelming drowsiness crashed over them, making their eyelids heavier and heavier. Their vision became increasingly blurred. Their faces seemed to drift closer and closer to the table surface.

Malfoy suddenly shuddered and forcefully propped himself up, realizing he had nearly collapsed face-first into the pile of flobberworms. His gaze couldn't help but turn toward Ciel.

He discovered that Ciel's movements remained exactly the same as at the beginning. In fact, they seemed even more fluid and efficient. While the serpents' productivity kept declining, Ciel's processed flobberworm count had gradually caught up, with the gap no longer significant.

Malfoy's eyes widened in disbelief. What? It's 2 AM... isn't Ciel sleepy at all?!

What puzzled him even more was that Ciel actually had an enjoying, delighted smile on his face, as if what lay before him wasn't disgusting flobberworms but something genuinely pleasurable.

"Is there something wrong with his brain?" Malfoy wondered desperately. "Is processing flobberworms something that makes people happy?"

Malfoy had no idea that, in Ciel's view, processing each flobberworm was training his magical perception ability. Each one brought him one step closer to cultivating the Guardian Tree. Tedious and incremental, but solid improvement. Looking back suddenly, he might have already crossed mountains and seas. For him, this was genuine happiness.

At this time, Ciel's gaze swept over the serpents, most of whom were nearly collapsed on the table. He suddenly stood up.

Malfoy's heart filled with desperate hope. Was Ciel unable to hold on and about to admit defeat?

The next moment, the harsh sound of chalk scraping against the blackboard echoed through the classroom. The serpents who had been drowsily dozing woke with terrified expressions.

They heard Ciel say with eerie cheerfulness, "It's only 2 AM. How can you sleep at your age? Didn't you say defending Slytherin's glory was your duty? No sleeping... keep working!"

The serpents' faces flushed red with humiliation.

"How outrageous..."

"Too insulting!"

"Who does he think he is? Has he already won?"

"Let's fight him to the end! Keep going! See who gives up first!"

The serpents, briefly awakened by indignation, worked energetically for another period. But when the clock hand passed 3 AM, then 4 AM... looking at Ciel, who remained in high spirits, they felt irrepressible despair.

"No way... how can he be so competitive?"

"Isn't he sleepy at all?"

Some serpents already had tears in their voices. "I don't want to do this anymore! Let me out! I want to sleep!"

Ciel looked at them with a cold smile. "Crying? Does crying mean you don't have to work? Since you chose to compete with me, then no sleeping... compete to the end! Didn't you want to defend Slytherin's glory? How can you just give up like this?"

More and more serpents wailed in defeat:

"Defending Slytherin's glory... whoever wants to defend it can defend it!"

"I'm so sleepy..."

"I'm so tired..."

"I don't want to work anymore!"

Even Malfoy felt crushing regret. He had already suffered so much at Ciel's hands. Why had he provoked him again? So what if Ciel made Professor Snape award points to Hufflepuff? Points... what use were points anyway? Just give them to him! He was exhausted too!

Just as the Slytherins in the classroom were crying, with some begging Ciel to release them, Snape was hurrying toward the Potions classroom. He was still the Head of Slytherin House, after all. He still needed to look after his serpents.

Seeing from afar that the Potions classroom still had lights burning, showing shadowy figures, Snape was quite surprised. "They really lasted until this time?"

Thinking this, Snape's originally dissatisfied mood toward this year's Slytherins became somewhat mollified. Although they were foolish, at least they could push themselves when necessary. That could be considered promising material.

But soon he heard faint crying sounds drifting from the classroom. He tried the door handle... the classroom was locked?

Snape's heart suddenly skipped a beat. "Ciel shouldn't also be in the classroom, right? The door is locked, someone is crying... could it be... they locked Ciel inside for bullying?!"

(End of Chapter)

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