Experiment Failed?
## Chapter 129: Failed Experiment?
Potions Class that afternoon was with Hufflepuff. Wade and Theo were still partners, standing in the corner next to Ryan and another Hufflepuff boy.
Michael and Padma were both up front.
Wade saw that Padma was initially unwilling to acknowledge Michael, but after he leaned over and said a few words, and then secretly slipped her something, she went from angry to delighted.
Oh, so that's how it is...
Wade secretly shook his head.
It wasn't strange that Michael liked Padma, but he also liked other pretty girls. They might have made up today, but they'd inevitably argue again soon enough.
Still, matters of the heart were like drinking water—only the person drinking knew if it was hot or cold. Perhaps they were just one of those bickering, happy couples?
Wade didn't dwell on it, instead heading with Theo to the storage cabinet in the back to get the Potions ingredients for class.
Looking at the dark cabinet, he suddenly remembered something. Reaching his hand inside to rummage around, he actually found two tattered copies of Advanced Potion-Making at the very bottom.
"What's this?" Theo asked.
"Looks like old textbooks from previous students."
Wade said, nonchalantly flipping through one.
The margins of one book were densely covered in tiny, messy handwriting, even filling the spaces between lines of text, making the words difficult to decipher.
Wade casually slipped it into his bag and put the other textbook, which had fewer notes, back into the cabinet.
While brewing the Potion, Theo hesitated several times as if he had some reservations.
"After dinner, let's go to the eighth floor of the castle," Wade whispered.
Theo's eyes immediately lit up.
...
When Theo saw the Room of Requirement, he was astonished, even though he came from a Wizarding family. Then, when he saw the Vanishing Cabinet, he was utterly dumbfounded.
"Is this the castle's Vanishing Cabinet?" Theo asked. "I heard it was broken."
"I fixed it," Wade said. "I was supposed to do an experiment with Remus today... oh, Remus Lupin, he's my tutor... but now I have detention with Professor Sprout..."
Theo nodded. "Then leave the experiment to me... How do I contact Mr. Lupin?"
Wade detached the Book of Friends, which he used to contact Remus, from his notebook and gave it to Theo, along with some instructions.
Seeing that it was almost nine o'clock, Wade immediately left. Just as he arrived at the entrance of the second greenhouse, Professor Sprout appeared.
"Herbology is the foundation of Potions. Transfiguration, Divination, and Bio-Alchemy also frequently involve the use of herbs."
"But talented Wizard apprentices often only focus on the healing or poisonous properties of herbs, overlooking their other uses..."
As she opened the greenhouse, Professor Sprout said,
"But those inconspicuous parts are often the very foundation of a plant's life. For example..."
A damp, earthy scent filled the air, and various green plants intertwined, forming a vibrant picture.
Professor Sprout smiled and asked him, "Wade, do you know how plants germinate?"
...
Detention—or rather, the remedial lesson—ended, and Wade left the greenhouse with an indescribable sense of awe.
In his hand was a seed Professor Sprout had given him.
It was just a common dandelion.
Its parent plant had been cultivated alongside many magical plants, so this seed also carried a faint trace of magic.
This magic wouldn't turn it into a true magical plant, nor would it give it special properties; it would only allow it to be slightly stronger during its growth period than other dandelions.
That's how it was supposed to be.
But now, the dandelion seed sprouted and grew in Wade's palm, its leaves unfurling one by one.
Without water or soil, several small yellow flowers quickly bloomed, then withered within seconds, turning into fluffy white seed heads.
A gust of wind blew, and the dandelion seeds drifted away. The withered stem and leaves seemed to turn to dust, leaving only a single seed slowly falling back into Wade's palm.
The same process repeated itself, as if a fast-forward button had been pressed on a video.
Life...
Wade murmured this ordinary yet extraordinary word, a vague sense of enlightenment stirring within him.
Not just Herbology, but even Animagus... and Bio-Alchemy... he had gained some inspiration.
...
There was still some time before Curfew, so Wade went to the Room of Requirement first.
Theo was indeed still there, but he didn't look happy; instead, he seemed troubled.
Hearing the door open, he turned his head and sighed, "Wade, the experiment wasn't successful."
"What happened?" Wade paused, walking over to ask.
He examined it carefully; the magical circuit on the Vanishing Cabinet remained unchanged, without any flaws.
"I don't know what's going on, it works sometimes and not others."
Theo had a piece of parchment in front of him, detailing each item transferred and whether the transfer succeeded or failed.
"We've experimented fifty times in total. Thirty-seven succeeded, thirteen failed. It fails once or twice out of every five attempts, roughly."
Theo's notes were very detailed. Wade saw that the number of failures didn't increase with the magical power of the object; it seemed to be completely random.
"But the good thing is, even when it fails, the transferred item or creature isn't damaged. It's just like it was stuck in the cabinet for a while."
Theo looked at Wade and quietly asked, "Is there still something wrong with it? Maybe we could ask Professor Murray."
Wade shook his head. "I'm certain it's fixed. I even made some improvements to it based on Mr. Scamander's methods… Of course…"
He said with some frustration, "Maybe there's something I haven't discovered, or perhaps they're not very compatible… If I truly can't figure out the problem myself, then I'll have no choice but to ask the professor…"
Perhaps all the magic needs to be restored to its original state?
But Newt's method was definitely better. Wade could tell this with his own magical knowledge, without needing to rely on any Protagonist's Halo.
He observed the Vanishing Cabinet repeatedly, still unable to pinpoint the problem.
Asking Professor Murray was an option, but if possible, Wade didn't want to do that.
It was like a student at a regular school wouldn't go ask their teacher—'Excuse me, what's the coolest way to climb over the wall when I'm skipping class?'
Theo saw Wade deep in thought. Although he didn't understand what Wade could possibly see on the black cabinet, he quietly stayed by his side, pondering tonight's experiment, hoping to find some pattern.
Suddenly, he noticed something.
"Wade," Theo said, "you said you improved this Vanishing Cabinet…"
"Yeah," Wade sighed.
"Then…" Theo hesitated, unsure if his guess was correct, "was the other cabinet improved too?"
Wade suddenly turned to look at him, then forcefully smacked his own forehead.
"How could I be so stupid… Theo, you're a genius!"
He finally knew why it had failed!
-----------
Machine Translation by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
Read ***+ original & fanfic translations in English, Español, Português, Deutsch, Français, or Русский
Or Translate for free at : https:// randomtranslator.com/translate
Join our Discord: https:// discord.com/invite/XXUR9nkjwa
-----------