Hogwarts Study Panel

Chapter 151: A Difficult Task
After Bruce saw them off, the group in the greenhouse fell silent for a while. Now they faced a difficult task—who would take the pods from the gnarled vine?

Senior Leon told them not to worry, but it was unclear whether he was referring to Senior Bruce or himself.

Then Sheen and the others saw their seniors take action again.

Before they came in, they saw that Senior Leon's lips were dripping blood, and there were several bloody scratches on half of his face, making him look terrible. He was holding a disgusting, throbbing thing in his hand, about the size of a grapefruit.

It was already this difficult before, now that one person is missing, what are they going to do?

"It's time to take action!"

Senior Leon shouted.

After finishing his rage, Senior Pister glanced worriedly out of the greenhouse. He and Senior Leon took a few deep breaths and then buried themselves in dealing with the stubborn remnant between them.

The remaining roots immediately came to life, with long thorny vines sprouting from the top and swinging back and forth in the air.

One of the hairs got tangled in Leon's arm, and Pister quickly used a pair of scissors to knock it back.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Senior Leon grabbed two vines, tied them together in a knot.

A small hole appeared in the middle of these tentacle-like branches. Senior Leon bravely stuck his arm into the hole, and the opening immediately clamped down on his elbow like a mousetrap.

Pister frantically dragged and twisted the vines, reopening the opening. Leon finally managed to free his arm from inside, clutching a pod that looked like the one he had gotten before.

Instantly, all the thorny vines retreated inside, and the knotted, broken roots lay there quietly, like a lifeless piece of dead wood.

"Ugh, I would never plant these things in my garden."

Leon pushed his protective goggles up to his forehead, wiped the sweat from his face, and said with a smile.

But anyone could see that his smile was somewhat forced.

Senior Pister smiled shyly as well.

And they still have a lot to face!
Outside the door, Justin's eyes were full of seriousness:

"I'm going to help!"

He glanced at the crowd, automatically ignoring Sheehan, and lingered for a few seconds on the timid and trembling Neville, and the thin and weak Harry and Ron.

Of all these people, he was the strongest.

My mother once said: Capable people often need to shoulder more responsibility.

"Can……"

Harry wanted to say something, but didn't know how.

Inside the greenhouse, Senior Leon seemed to sense the restless crowd; he tossed over a pod.
"Don't hold back! Squeeze out the juice quickly, it'll be at its best while it's fresh!"

Neville took the throbbing pod and quickly put it in the bowl to work with it.

"I... will go."

At this moment, Ron spoke up, addressing the crowd with an air of resignation.

"I think the seniors will hold onto the cane, right?" But his joke fell flat again.

Sheehan glanced at Justin, Harry, Ron, and Neville, slightly puzzled.

He took two steps into greenhouse number three.

"Green?"

Seeing him approach, Senior Leon was a little puzzled, but this junior was always trustworthy, so he didn't say much.

"Be careful."

Senior Pister kindly reminded me.

As the two of them caught their breath, Sheen silently waved his wand. He had long wanted to test the limits of his advanced Transfiguration, and now was the perfect opportunity.

Then, his wand drew a huge arc, and a giant snowman stood up in the snowstorm, looking almost as tall as the greenhouse roof.

[You have practiced an advanced Transfiguration spell to expert standards. Proficiency +1000]

"Merlin—"

Senior Leon looked up and could only see the snowman's nostrils.

"Hmm—" Senior Pister poked the snowman's foot. It wanted to kick Senior Pister away, but in the end it trembled and shrank back.

Sheen also nudged Pister, the senior student—controlling a snowman requires a great deal of willpower.

"Oh—sorry!"

Seemingly realizing something, Senior Pister apologized with shame.

"I'll go—what is that thing—!"

As Ron was arguing heatedly, he suddenly heard the snowman roar.

Everyone looked into Greenhouse No. 3, where a snowman was clinging tightly to the vines of the knotted vine, while Senior Leon and Senior Pister were continuously taking vine pods into the holes of these knotted vines.

Sheen stood behind, waving his wand, and the snowman roared in response to his commands.

"It's very simple, isn't it?"

Senior Leon had never thought the plants in Greenhouse No. 3 were so... "docile".
"We lost an insignificant Bruce, but gained a little Green in return..."

He even hummed a little tune happily.

"Stop lying, Leon."

Senior Pister casually held the pods and, unusually, made a quiet joke.

"How do you know I'm lying—Pister..."

Senior Leon seemed a little anxious.

……

Outside the greenhouse.

Justin's expression changed:
"Sheen—!"

He had just run to Sheen's side when a huge roar came from ahead—the snowman had fallen.

Sheen wasn't much better off; he ate a chocolate candy that Justin handed him and felt a little better.

"Where did this snowman come from...?"

Ron was dumbfounded. He looked at Sheen, then at the Yeti, and felt that the difference between them was even greater than the difference between a wizard and a Muggle.

"This is the real... magic."

Harry was stunned, while Neville scratched his head; he wasn't surprised by what Sheen did.

The daunting task seemed to be only for them. Now, when Sheen waves his wand, everyone feels that all problems can be solved.

Just like before.

While everyone was enthusiastically cleaning up the battlefield—heating the vine pods over a flame until they turned bright red, and then squeezing them.

Sheen was sitting on a cushion formed by transfiguration, drinking Justin's honey tea.

The sound of the control panel kept ringing in his ears:
[You handled a difficult plant with the skill of a pro; proficiency +100]

[You handled a difficult plant with the skill of a pro; proficiency +100]

[You handled a difficult plant with the skill of a pro; proficiency +100]

……

Difficult-to-grow plants?

It seems there are differences between different plant treatments, much like the difference between intermediate and advanced Transfiguration.

He opened the panel and discovered that his knowledge of herbs was almost at the "proficient" level:

[Herbal Knowledge: Beginner Level (2700/3000)]

You should know that even if he were a skilled worker, he would only gain 10 proficiency points when processing a white sage, but now he can gain 100 proficiency points by processing a knotted vine.

No wonder it was a plant that appeared in the Battle of Hogwarts; Sheen understood a little better now.

Regarding the knotted vine, the original text describes it as follows:
Peeves flew over Harry and the others, hurling pods of the gnarled vine at the Death Eaters, whose heads were immediately submerged in a maze of fat, caterpillar-like green lumps.

(End of this chapter)