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"Oh? This is the fruit you grew using moonlight and sunlight as fertilizer?"
Professor Chambers pinched the strawberry between his thumb and middle finger, examining it closely.
"Yes, Professor," Charlie nodded.
"As you can see, the scent is much stronger than a normal strawberry, the size is significantly larger, and there's no fasciation."
Yes—the strawberries Fiona had cultivated were each perfectly shaped, exactly like the ones drawn in picture books.
Real strawberries weren't like that at all.
In reality, strawberries were one of the most common fruits and extremely prone to fasciation. They often grew twisted and deformed into strange polyploid shapes.
"Such a beautiful fruit," Professor Chambers murmured in admiration.
"So I'm guessing you came to me hoping I'd use a fragment of the Philosopher's Stone to draw out whatever energy is stored inside it and see what makes it special. Am I right?"
Charlie nodded. "Yes, Professor. That's exactly what we've been doing, isn't it?"
"Of course, of course." Professor Chambers nodded repeatedly. "It's no exaggeration to say, Charlie, that the wild ideas young people come up with can change a lot of things.
Take using moonlight and sunlight as fertilizer—if it were me, I never would've thought of it."
As he spoke, he split the massive strawberry in half and examined the center under magnification.
"Hmm… nothing particularly unusual. From a classification standpoint, it still can't be considered a magical herb.
Of course, I imagine it still falls under the protections of the Magical Secrecy Act, just like swallowtail dogs or owls."
Owls in the wizarding world possessed high intelligence and the ability to recognize routes and people.
As for swallowtail dogs—their tails forked like a swallow's. They had no special abilities themselves, yet they were still classified as magical creatures.
"But—" Charlie looked puzzled. "Professor, why are swallowtail dogs considered magical creatures?"
"Because swallowtail dogs were bred by wizards. They're very different from the dogs Muggles talk about.
People have raised this question before—couldn't a swallowtail dog simply be considered a breed from the Muggle world?
The answer is no, because a breed is not the same as a species.
Muggle dogs have hundreds of breeds, but they all belong to a single species. Swallowtail dogs, however, may look like dogs, but they are not the same species.
That's why they're included among magical creatures in the wizarding world.
You'll learn all this when you take Care of Magical Creatures later.
We have many animals and plants that carry no magic and can't cast any spells, yet they're still classified as magical creatures."
"I think I understand, Professor."
While they were talking, Professor Chambers had already taken out a fragment of the Philosopher's Stone.
He placed the two halves of the strawberry on the tray, then positioned the stone fragment above them.
As the runes on the tray activated, the strawberry visibly began to wither. Wisps of white misty vapor were drawn out of it.
The mist slowly condensed in the air above the strawberry into a single droplet of liquid—another kind of pure dew.
It had no scent. No color. In a wizard's judgment, these were probably the "imperfect" elements that should be removed.
Two minutes later, Professor Chambers looked at the droplet floating above the strawberry. He gave his wand a gentle flick, lifting the pure dew through the air and placing it under the lenses for examination.
"Still nothing particularly special. Just as expected—" Professor Chambers showed no change in expression. He had clearly anticipated this result.
Seeing the slight disappointment on Charlie's face, he smiled and said, "At the very least, this proves you can eat it without worry."
Charlie smiled silently at that.
He had already eaten one. Because Fiona had grown it, he had absolute confidence in it.
At minimum, he could guarantee it wouldn't harm anyone.
He simply couldn't explain the reason for that trust to outsiders.
"Then we'll treat it as a material," Professor Chambers continued. He pointed his wand at the droplet. "Vera Verto."
The next moment, the droplet transformed into a lifelike beetle.
A spark of surprise flashed in the professor's eyes. He quickly said to Charlie, "Note this down—very strong receptivity to Transfiguration."
Charlie nodded rapidly and pulled out his notebook, recording the discovery.
After writing, he looked up again. "Professor, how would you compare its receptivity to other materials? Something like ebony?"
Ebony, fir, and mahogany were the best common materials for Transfiguration. Above those, only materials from magical creatures or precious metals performed better.
"No, it's not just on the level of wood. Its receptivity to Transfiguration is only slightly inferior to gold and silver."
Charlie couldn't help showing his surprise as he stared at the droplet.
Professor Chambers didn't explain further. He waved his wand at the droplet again. "Engorgio."
The droplet visibly swelled at high speed. In moments it grew to the size of a billiard ball, then a golf ball, then a tennis ball.
"Remarkable. It also has extremely high receptivity to spells."
Professor Chambers tested many more charms after that. Finally, he even placed a curse on it.
When the curse was applied, the droplet turned dark purple and gave off a sinister aura.
The moment the professor placed his hand on the droplet, a purple curse raced up his finger.
In the blink of an eye, that finger turned black and withered, looking like the hand of a dried corpse.
"Perfect. Absolutely perfect. It's nearly a universal conduit. Most spells placed on it suffer almost no loss in between."
At Professor Chambers' level, he knew exactly what effect a spell should produce when cast with a specific amount of force.
Yet the feedback from this droplet far exceeded the power he had put into it.
"Professor, what's the approximate feedback ratio?" Charlie asked with concern.
"Ratio? What ratio?" Professor Chambers turned to look at him.
"The output versus feedback ratio," Charlie said carefully. "You mentioned that spells flowing through this strawberry pure dew suffer almost no loss. What's the ratio between loss, feedback, and output—"
"Oh, Charlie, that's just a rough way of putting it. It's enough that you understand the concept. Do you want me to give you precise numbers?
That's impossible. We don't even have a proper measuring scale. How could I give you exact data?"
Charlie opened his mouth, then nodded. "Alright, Professor."
"So the current conclusion is that this strawberry pure dew has very high effectiveness for both Transfiguration and general spellwork. Correct?"
"Yes," Professor Chambers nodded. "It has near-perfect receptivity.
I can even say it functions like a universal elixir. Whatever you want to do to it, it accepts without resistance and gives you the best possible feedback."
As he spoke, Professor Chambers took out a drop of Moon Dew and mixed it with the strawberry pure dew.
"Based on our previous conclusions, I can say the Moon Dew will be perfectly absorbed by it."
Charlie stepped closer, watching quietly as the two droplets merged into one larger droplet floating in midair.
Normally, Moon Dew exposed to air would gradually dissipate over time. But five minutes passed, and the Moon Dew in front of them showed no signs of fading.
"Perfect," Charlie murmured softly.
He hadn't been particularly shocked that the strawberry pure dew could handle Transfiguration and various spells.
Those applications didn't matter much to him.
But if it could perfectly fuse with Moon Dew, that changed everything.
After more testing, Charlie finally closed his notebook and said with barely contained excitement, "Professor, I'll take my leave then. I'll organize today's notes and bring them to you tomorrow."
"Very well. Thank you for your hard work," Professor Chambers nodded. "Also, using Moon Dew for planting gave me quite a few new ideas. Thank you, Charlie."
"You're too kind, Professor." Charlie waved goodbye and left the office.
The rest of the way back, he practically ran. Only when he reached the dormitory did he finally slow down.
Inside, Anthony and Hector stared at the panting Charlie in surprise. "What happened? Did something big happen?"
"It's both big and small," Charlie said excitedly.
He hurried to his desk, yanked open a drawer, and pulled out an Easter egg.
"Remember this?"
"Of course. The Easter egg you made," Anthony shrugged. "So you're this excited because you came up with another good idea for Easter eggs?"
"No, not that!" Charlie shook his head.
He peeled off the wrapping paper, revealing the chocolate shell inside. He tapped the top lightly. A crisp layer flaked away, exposing the hardened, clumped chocolate filling that had long since settled at the bottom.
"Look."
Anthony and Hector stared at the chocolate egg, then at each other, both looking completely lost.
"So…?"
"It's lost its effectiveness. The Transfiguration on it faded a long time ago," Charlie said, holding up the egg. Just as he claimed, there was no trace of Transfiguration left.
"But—so what?"
Hector added, "Isn't that to be expected? It's been sitting around forever. You can't expect it to maintain Transfiguration indefinitely."
Anthony suddenly clapped his hands together with a loud smack, realization dawning on his face.
"I get it! Did you suddenly figure out how Chocolate Frogs maintain their Transfiguration?
You did, didn't you? You cracked their biggest trade secret!"
Charlie looked at Anthony. That was an answer he hadn't expected at all.
He quickly shook his head. "You got half of it right. I did solve that problem.
But I think my method is completely different from how the Chocolate Frog company does it."
As he spoke, he rushed over to the windowsill and started picking the remaining five giant strawberries.
"The answer to the problem is right here. These strawberries—grown with Sun Dew and Moon Dew—can hold spells extremely well!"
Hearing Charlie's words, Anthony and Hector immediately grew excited too.
"Really?"
"Of course it's real. Professor Chambers confirmed it through multiple tests," Charlie nodded quickly.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get started!" Hector urged. "Alright, what do we do now? Is there anything we can help with?"
Up until now, Charlie had never asked Anthony or Hector for help when making chocolate.
It wasn't because he was keeping secrets. Making chocolate was simply too easy for him—he had it down to a science.
But today was different.
"Anthony, go to the kitchens right now. Find Saro and have him bring over all the tools needed for making syrup. Also grab some lemons and a few winter-stored apples."
"Why apples too?"
"To set up a control group," Charlie explained briefly.
"Got it." Anthony nodded and hurried out.
"What about me?" Hector pointed at himself. "Is there anything I can do?"
Charlie thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Not yet. The later steps might need more help after the syrup is done."
"Alright. Then I'll go to the kitchens with Anthony for now."
"Sounds good."
Once they left, Charlie got to work setting up his small stove. Anthony and Hector still hadn't returned.
A moment later—
Bang!
Something suddenly appeared on Hector's desk, startling Charlie so badly he jumped. He turned to look and saw his own desk now covered with pots, a stove, spatulas, white sugar, brown sugar, and knives.
On Hector's desk sat lemons, apples, and pears, all piled together.
Charlie picked up Alice, who had been startled, and gently patted her head while laughing. "I told you those two are geniuses."
Of course, according to house-elf rules, they technically weren't supposed to just send things directly into a student's dormitory.
This was clearly the result of Anthony and Hector's request.
He didn't waste any more time. Grabbing the fruits, he headed for the bathroom to wash them.
By the time he finished cleaning everything and returned, Anthony and Hector were back, still breathing hard.
"What happened? Did something big happen?" Charlie asked, looking at the two of them in confusion.
"Shut up," Anthony laughed. "Wasn't that my line earlier?"
Charlie smiled and set all the fruit on the desk, then grabbed a small pot and left the dormitory again.
A short while later he returned with the pot full of water. He locked the dormitory door behind him.
Seeing that Anthony and Hector had caught their breath, Charlie didn't hold back and started giving orders.
"Anthony, help me dice all those apples and pears. Core them and peel them too.
Hector, you handle the ingredients. My desk is already full, so we'll need to move one pot over to your desk."
"No problem." Anthony nodded and quickly cleared space on his desk.
On the other side, Anthony had already set up a cutting board and started working on the fruit with a knife.
"Wait!!" Anthony suddenly raised the knife and shouted, stopping both of them.
"What now?" they asked in unison, turning to look at him standing there like a murderer with the knife raised.
Anthony reached under his desk—he had moved everything underneath earlier—and pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment.
He also grabbed a quill, spread the paper on the floor, bent over, and started writing furiously.
A moment later he held up the parchment and loudly read what he had written.
"Moonlight Club Operation Number One!
Operation Code: 001
Operation Name—"
Charlie and Hector both smiled and finished the last words together.
"[Strawberry Project]"