Chapter 127: Mandrakes
Professor Sprout strode over, and when she saw the students gathered, looking like they were about to come to blows, an alarm immediately went off in her head.
"What are you doing? Why aren't you in class yet?"
She sternly asked, her face set.
Pansy immediately tattled, "Professor, Gray used a hex on Draco; he can't speak now!"
Professor Sprout was very surprised. She glanced at Malfoy, then frowned and asked Wade, "Did you do this, Mr. Gray?"
Padma immediately raised her hand and loudly said, "Malfoy insulted a classmate first, Professor! Wade didn't do anything wrong."
Pansy argued, "Michael insulted Draco first! He deserved it!"
Padma immediately retorted, "How did he insult him? All he did was ask Malfoy how to contact his parents!"
"Uh..."
Pansy was speechless.
Professor Sprout had a headache from these two young girls arguing. She pointed at a student at random, "You tell me what happened, Gra—"
No, Wade Gray was involved in this today.
Professor Sprout's finger stiffly changed direction, pointing to Anthony Goldstein beside him.
"...Mr. Goldstein."
Anthony paused, then stepped forward and impartially recounted what had happened:
"...In the end, Gray used a Nonverbal Spell to make Malfoy unable to speak, and that's what happened."
"A Nonverbal Spell?"
Professor Sprout looked at Wade in surprise, her tone softening.
It was already time for class. She simply lifted the spell from Malfoy and said, "Regardless, insulting classmates or using spells on them is wrong. I'm deducting five points from each of you... and three days of detention."
Wade quietly accepted the punishment.
Malfoy, however, looked indignant, but under the Professor's stern gaze, he said nothing.
Beside Wade, Michael looked coldly at Malfoy.
"Today, we're going to the Third Greenhouse."
Professor Sprout led the students to a greenhouse they had never been to before.
She opened the door to reveal hundreds of young Mandrake seedlings inside the greenhouse. Half of them were still in propagation pots, while the other half had already been moved into larger flowerpots.
There was also a long bench in the greenhouse, with over twenty pairs of earmuffs of various colors on it.
"Today, we will be repotting Mandrakes. As you can see, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff have already completed half the work in the first class. I hope your class goes just as smoothly."
Professor Sprout scanned the crowd and asked, "Now, who can tell me what are the characteristics of a Mandrake?"
Several students raised their hands, and Professor Sprout casually picked one to answer.
Wade looked at the green-and-purple seedlings, feeling a little tempted.
Mandrakes were potent restoratives; in the original story, they even restored ghosts who had been petrified by the Basilisk.
At the same time, Mandrakes were essential ingredients for practicing advanced Transfiguration—Animagus.
Repotting Mandrakes was not easy because their roots were ugly babies that would struggle and scream when pulled out, and hearing their cries would cause one to faint for several hours.
If it were a mature Mandrake, its cry could even be fatal.
Wearing earmuffs, Wade dug holes in the large flowerpots beforehand, then quickly pulled out the Mandrake seedlings and stuffed them in. Michael swiftly filled the soil.
The baby with leaves on its head didn't even have time to stretch its arms before it was buried in the soil.
Their efficiency was very high.
After burying the third seedling, Michael looked up and saw that many students were still struggling with their first Mandrake doll.
The light green dolls twisted vigorously in their hands, kicking their limbs wildly, and even punching with tiny fists.
The students were like people holding a wildly jumping rat, afraid to let it get close yet unwilling to let go. Three or four of them together were busy and sweating profusely.
Especially Malfoy's group.
Crabbe and Goyle were always much clumsier than others. For a long time, the two of them couldn't hold down a single seedling and almost had their earmuffs pulled off.
Malfoy cursed angrily, but since everyone was wearing earmuffs, no one could hear what he was saying.
Michael scoffed.
...
To complete all the transplanting, class ended over ten minutes later than usual.
When the students left, exhausted, Professor Sprout asked Malfoy and Wade to stay behind.
"Mr. Malfoy, your detention begins at nine o'clock this evening. Go to the Entrance Hall and find Mr. Filch; he will tell you what to do."
Professor Sprout said.
Malfoy glared at Wade, then turned and left.
"Mr. Gray." Professor Sprout's expression softened as she looked at Wade. "I'm very pleased with your performance in class today."
"Thank you, Professor," Wade said softly.
Professor Sprout smiled and asked gently, "Have you already mastered Nonverbal Spells?"
It wasn't that she was playing favorites, but in the witch's eyes, the Slytherin students had often given Wade malicious looks since last semester.
As for why... did she even need to explain?
Slytherin never needed a reason to target Muggle-born children.
She was certain there had been a direct and serious conflict between the two sides.
All the professors at the school knew that one day last year, several first-year Slytherin students had cried their way to the Hospital Wing.
Since then, the tension between the two sides had eased... but Malfoy still seemed to hold a grudge.
Comparing the two, even without considering house differences, and just looking at their attitudes, the witch unconsciously favored Wade.
"Nonverbal Spells are quite difficult. At the moment, I can only manage a small portion of spells nonverbally."
Wade said modestly, then waved his Wand.
The earmuffs and shovels that students had carelessly left on the shelves flew up and neatly returned to their proper places, and all the dust and fertilizer on the ground vanished.
It was so smooth and natural, there was nothing "barely managed" about it.
"Excessive modesty is arrogance, Mr. Gray."
Professor Sprout chuckled. "That was a beautiful Nonverbal Spell. I'm giving you ten extra points. And... hmm... your detention will also begin at nine tonight, in the Second Greenhouse."
"Understood, Professor," Wade replied.
Both of them understood without needing to say it; this was less detention and more the professor giving him special tutoring.
As they left the greenhouse together, Wade added, "Professor, once these Mandrakes grow up, could I request a leaf?"
"A leaf?" Professor Sprout understood. "You want to practice Animagus?"
"Yes," Wade didn't hide it.
"That's a very advanced form of Transfiguration."
Professor Sprout said with emotion,
"Minerva must be very satisfied with your Transfiguration Class grades, but she probably wouldn't agree to you practicing Animagus at this age, would she?"
"Actually, I have a very excellent private tutor."
Wade smiled and said, "Could I ask the professor to keep it a secret for me for now? The preparation time for Animagus is very long... Before I'm confident of success, I'd rather not let others know."
Some people even prepared for their Animagus for several years, so it wouldn't be surprising for him to start now and only succeed in his sixth or seventh year.
Therefore, Professor Sprout said leniently, "Of course. But you must promise me that the final step of this magic must only be carried out under a teacher's supervision."
"Yes, I won't be reckless," Wade said seriously.
He wanted to master this magic of transforming from a human into an animal, but he didn't want to actually become a mindless animal.
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