After breakfast, Kyle received his course schedule for the semester. Due to the traditionally good relationship between the Lions and the Badgers, the vast majority of Hufflepuff's classes were still shared with Gryffindor.
Their first lesson of the day was Herbology with Professor Sprout. It seemed the "troublemaking duo" was in for a rough morning. They were facing two consecutive ordeals: first, Mrs. Weasley's Howler, and now, a confrontation with Professor Sprout, who was still in a towering rage over the destruction of the Whomping Willow.
Walking along the path outside the castle toward the greenhouses, Kyle could see the Whomping Willow in the distance, now reduced to nothing more than a jagged stump. Although a Hover Charm had mitigated some of the gravity affecting the Centurion tank, its fifty-ton mass remained unchanged. Unless a plant possessed the hardness of Wood Release, nothing in the wizarding world could withstand such an impact.
According to Cedric, the Whomping Willow was beyond saving. When he had gone to assist Professor Sprout the previous night, she had already "abandoned treatment." Instead, she had collected many of the willow's branches, evidently planning to cultivate a new one. Under the guise of helping, Cedric had also "looted the corpse," picking up quite a few branches himself. Such a magical plant was, after all, top-tier raw material for crafting wand shafts.
As they reached the greenhouses, Kyle saw Professor Sprout approaching across the lawn, her face grim. Walking beside her was that "gaudy peacock," Gilderoy Lockhart.
"Oh, hello there!" Lockhart called out to the students, beaming. He had intended to boast about his own expertise in Herbology, but upon catching Professor Sprout's nearly murderous glare, he wisely shut his mouth. He grabbed Harry, pulling him aside for what he called a "man-to-man talk."
Professor Sprout ignored the two of them entirely, saying coldly, "Greenhouse Three today."
She led the young wizards to the door of Greenhouse Three, took a large key from her belt, and unlocked it. A potent stench of dragon dung wafted out, made even more sickening by the floral scents mixed within it.
Kyle expressionlessly cast the Bubble-Head Charm on himself and the two girls beside him. Ever since he had started using dungbombs as substitutes for grenades, his proficiency with the Bubble-Head Charm had skyrocketed. His improved version didn't require a large, silly-looking bubble to enclose the entire head—which usually made one look like a "Celestial Dragon" from One Piece. Instead, his version formed a thin film of air over the nostrils to filter the air, appearing completely normal to an outside observer. Otherwise, the three of them standing in Herbology with giant bubbles on their heads would have been far too conspicuous.
Professor Sprout walked behind a trestle table in the center of the greenhouse. She took a deep breath of the air, which was thick with the "aroma" of fresh dragon dung. No matter how foul her mood, she couldn't take it out on the students forever. She tried her best to make her tone kind again.
"We'll be repotting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?"
Hermione, the resident genius, was the first to raise her hand. Right beside her, Hannah—another member of the "top-tier student trio"—also raised hers. Because of the mess the troublemaking duo had caused, Professor Sprout currently had a very poor impression of Gryffindor, so she chose Hannah to answer.
"The Mandrake is a powerful restorative," Hannah said. "It is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state."
"And," she added, "one must be careful when tending to them, as the Mandrake's cry is fatal to anyone who hears it."
A smile finally appeared on Professor Sprout's face. "Excellent. Ten points to Hufflepuff."
The lesson proceeded with the task of repotting the Mandrakes. Professor Sprout instructed them to put on earmuffs, but Kyle didn't bother. He couldn't be sure if the earmuffs had been cleaned before class; if not, who knew how many people had worn them before him? A simple Muffliato or a silencing spell could achieve the same effect, so why wear them?
After ensuring everyone had their earmuffs on, Professor Sprout pulled a Mandrake out of its pot. Instead of roots, a hideously ugly baby emerged from the soil, with leaves growing directly out of its head. Its skin was a pale green and covered in mottled spots. The little creature began to scream at the top of its lungs—a piercing, magical sound that even earmuffs struggled to fully block out. Only when Professor Sprout stuffed it into a new pot did the greenhouse return to silence.
After demonstrating the method, she had them fill the pots with dragon dung compost before starting the repotting themselves. While they worked, a curly-haired Hufflepuff boy stood next to Kyle.
"I'm Justin Finch-Fletchley. Can we be friends? I really admire Professor Dumbledore," he said cheerfully, extending a hand toward Kyle.
Kyle looked at the hand with sheer disgust; Justin had accidentally gotten dragon dung on it while working. Do you just not want that hand anymore? Kyle decided right then that if Justin dared to thrust that "filthy paw" any closer, he would treat him to a Sectumsempra.
Kyle's blatant distaste did nothing to dampen Justin's spirits. After being rebuffed, Justin moved on to chat with Harry and Ron. However, based on his social skills, he clearly had significant room for improvement. Kyle caught snippets of the conversation—words like "flying tank" and "second place in the Quidditch Cup." Looking at Harry and Ron's faces, it was clear Justin was hitting every single sore spot.
"I was down for Eton, you know, but I'm ever so glad I came here instead..."
Once the heavy composting work began, there was little chance for further conversation, as they had to put their earmuffs back on.
Many of the young wizards ran into trouble while repotting. The Mandrakes were unwilling to be pulled from the soil and even more unwilling to go back in. Of course, in the face of absolute power, the Mandrake's resistance was futile.
Kyle didn't care if he damaged the roots. He channeled Monster Strength, grabbed the Mandrake by the head, and yanked it out of the soil in one go before roughly shoving it into the new pot. The entire process took less than five seconds; the Mandrake in his hand didn't even have time to let out a cry. Then again, it was entirely possible Kyle had simply punched it unconscious, which is why it stayed silent.
Seeing Kyle's technique, Hannah blinked in surprise. Once she realized what he was doing, she began using her own Monster Strength to follow suit. The surrounding students watched the two of them in a daze, wondering why they were finding the task so incredibly easy.
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