Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 387 The tedious process of the resurrection potion and Longbottom's volunteering

After learning about the Ministry of Magic's bizarre actions, Rice was speechless for quite some time.

The people at the Ministry of Magic actually told the Prime Minister about the existence of the wizarding world...

He first wrote to Henry, asking him to stop Minister Burns from doing something so foolish again. He also attached his own suggestion: it was time for the Ministry of Magic to send a few wizards to be stationed in the Muggle government.

To establish oneself in the civil service, one should research Muggle policies in advance, and an acceptance letter from a top university is essential. Although civil servants do not require STEM knowledge, a high level of humanities literacy is required—at least the ability to use complex sentences fluently, which takes time to develop.

After writing his reply to Henry, Rice refocused his energy on his new invention.

The seeds have been planted; only time will tell what kind of flower will bloom.

Speaking of seeds, after the holidays, Rice took the compass grass that Helga had given him to Professor Sprout.

He hoped that the professor, who was quite accomplished in herbalism, could try to revive the precious plant in his hands.

Hmm, let's see if any modern wizards have a solution. If they do, we won't bother Helga.

Professor Sprout didn't have a particularly strong impression of Rice. He always huddled in a corner of the classroom with his familiar classmates, never causing trouble. He wouldn't rush to answer questions like Hermione Granger, but when Professor Sprout called on him, he always gave the correct answer. Also, his grades were excellent, which Professor Sprout believed was due to the positive influence of spending so much time with Daphne.

More importantly, over the course of three years, Professor Sprout never heard of Rais Lint having any conflicts with any Hufflepuff students, which was hardly typical of a Slytherin—a point that also gave Rais a good impression on Professor Sprout.

However, when Rice showed his "collection" to Professor Sprout, she was very impressed with the student.

"Compass grass?" Professor Sprout jumped up from his seat, as if he wanted to pounce on it.

A plant that was thought to be extinct in the first century AD, which the Romans searched extensively but found only one of, and which was eventually presented to Emperor Nero, appeared before her. How awe-inspiring that must have been!

As early as ancient Roman times, compass grass was an extremely important ingredient in potions. Dozens of potion recipes used it as a main or auxiliary ingredient, and it could be used to treat coughs, hernias, lethargy, and even give beef and mutton a unique flavor. Combining it with modern potion recipes would undoubtedly create countless amazing effects.

The reappearance of this item is of great significance to herbalism and potion-making.

Professor Sprout carefully examined the specimens brought by Rice and finally determined that they perfectly matched the ancient Roman descriptions of the compass plant.

"Where did you get this?" Professor Sprout asked impatiently after confirming that the specimen in front of him was indeed a compass plant.

Judging from the condition of the specimen, it seems to have retained a trace of activity, and its medicinal properties show no signs of decline. This is definitely not a relic from ancient Rome, but rather a product from modern times.

So, is it possible that the compass plant really escaped the Romans' search and multiplied in some hidden corner until now?

"Professor White gave it to me."

Upon hearing the source, Sprout's heart sank.

Professor White? That ancient relic from hundreds of years ago? Sprout's hopes were instantly dashed: probably only Merlin knew where Professor White had obtained this compass plant. With the passage of time, the origin of that compass plant was likely long since lost to history.

"Professor, do you think there's any hope of saving this specimen?" Rice asked with a glimmer of hope.

In a world with magic, nothing is impossible, such as bringing a withered specimen back to life. Of course, Muggles can also use the power of science to perform magical feats.

Looking at the compass grass lying quietly in the box, Sprout suddenly remembered an obscure prescription that could indeed revive dead plants, but it was extremely complicated and time-consuming.

I wonder if Rice has the patience?

"I do have a formula that's very effective for this situation." Without hesitation, Professor Sprout wrote down on the parchment a herbal remedy she had collected from South America during her travels abroad.

"However, this formula is very complicated, and few people have the patience to stick to it." Before handing over the prescription, Professor Sprout gave Rice a heads-up.

Rice didn't care about the so-called tediousness—as a potion master, what complicated potion hadn't he made? He could easily make time-consuming potions like Polyjuice Potion, so why would he be afraid of complicated prescriptions?

However, upon seeing the "recipe" handed to him, Rice's first reaction was: Professor, are you kidding me? Is this a recipe that a human could write?!

Professor Sprout's prescription is for preparing a nutrient solution for a resurrection water. This resurrection water requires the cultivation of seven specific herbs: sunflower, moon grass, stigmata, hawk's beak, wind palm, swamp bulb, and fire-breathing agave.

These seven herbs each have unique properties and require cultivation in different environments, as well as specific times for watering and fertilization each day. Adding to the complexity is the very short window of opportunity after harvesting; they must be processed immediately after picking. The extracts from the seven herbs are mixed together, then the blood of the person who cultivated the plants is added to complete the resurrection water. This water must be used within fifteen minutes of preparation, otherwise it will lose its potency. To revive the dead plants, this resurrection water must be applied every four days, for a total of thirteen applications, to bring the plants back to life.

Rice did a quick calculation and found that, not counting the time spent cultivating the herbs, it would take fifty-two days just to water them with the resurrection water.

This is causing such a delay!

If that's how it's done, then I shouldn't do anything else; I should just grow "vegetables" every day.

"Hmm, I'll go back and study it carefully." Rice said politely, put away Professor Sprout's formula, and left her office.

Although the compass grass was precious, was it really worth it for him to do this? Rice hesitated; he was unwilling from the bottom of his heart to do such repetitive and heavy physical labor.

"Huh? I can make a puppet and have it plant and harvest herbs for me!" A flash of inspiration struck Rice, making him suddenly realize the solution.

What era are we living in? Still growing herbs by hand?

His best friend Helga Hufflepuff is a world-class puppet maker, and all he has to do is say, "Help me, Professor White," and the problem will be solved.

With that thought in mind, Rice strode quickly toward Helga's office.

Outside her office, Rice bumped into someone who was both familiar and unfamiliar.

"Neville? What are you doing here?" Rice asked in surprise.

"It's like this..." Neville pulled a wooden box from his pocket and told Rice what Professor White had done in the Hufflepuff common room.

"Oh? Can I take a look?" Rice suddenly remembered that Helga had specially created this invention to select students with outstanding talents, but she didn't expect that she would leave this invention with Neville.

He tried it out and found that it did indeed require a high degree of sensitivity to magic. However, for Rice, who was proficient in the flow of magic, sending the balls into the corresponding holes was a piece of cake.

For a fleeting moment, Rice really wanted to take this little gadget back to Slytherin and let the students there try it out.

But after a moment's thought, he dismissed the idea. First, dealing with just two students had already exhausted him; second, what if those he looked down upon turned out to be highly talented?

Teaching them knowledge is disgusting to myself, but not teaching them knowledge is suspected of wasting talent, so it's better not to test them—as long as I don't test them, I won't know their talents, and it won't be a waste of talent.

As for mentoring talented students, Rice has lost confidence in this area ever since Daphne became associated with lava.

"So Neville, you're here to return this box?" After returning the box to Neville, Rice asked, being the talkative one.

"Yes," Neville said, a smile spreading across his face. "I can do it now!"

As he spoke, he demonstrated it in front of Rice, and sure enough, within a few seconds, four crisp sounds rang out, and all four beads fell into their corresponding holes.

Rice's eyes widened immediately: Neville's control over magic was remarkably excellent. But that was strange; if Neville had such talent, why didn't Helga take him on as a student?

Could it be...?

Sure enough, after asking him, Neville told Rice that he had mastered the trick after a period of practice, and that it used to take him much longer to get the ball into the correct hole than it does now.

"I was so nervous in the common room that day that I accidentally moved the beads too far," Neville said with an embarrassed chuckle, his round face slightly flushed.

Rice nodded silently, looking at Neville with newfound respect, but also with a touch of regret: Neville's talent in manipulating magic did not meet Helga's requirements for taking on a student—only students who could put the ball back in its place within ten seconds of touching the box for the first time could be considered to meet their requirements. Neville's situation could only be described as having talent.

If Helga didn't have any students yet, everything would be fine. Unfortunately, she had already taken Cedric in, and it would be difficult for her to spare the energy to teach a student with mediocre talent.

Pity.

After burying his sympathy for Neville deep in his heart, Rhys was about to knock on Helga's office door when Neville asked him a question: Why did he come here? Was he here to ask about Defense Against the Dark Arts?

Rice was amused by Neville's words—it was more like Helga was coming to ask him questions.

"I'm here to have Professor White design a doll," Rice said, telling Neville about her recent visit to Professor Sprout.

"Compass Grass? Can I see it?" Neville's interest was immediately piqued. As a young man who loved herbalism, he simply couldn't resist the temptation to see this legendary, extinct plant with his own eyes.

Rice wasn't stingy; he simply took out the box containing the compass grass and handed it to Neville.

Neville carefully opened the box, held his breath, and examined the compass grass inside for a while before revealing a satisfied expression.

"If only I could draw, I could draw it," he said with a touch of emotion.

"You've heard of Compass Grass?" Rice was even more curious about Neville's reaction; it seemed he had heard of Compass Grass before. This was quite unusual, as this herb was only particularly famous among Muggles, and practically no one in the magical world, except for wizards specializing in herbalism, had ever heard of it.

"Hmm, I saw a record of it in a book. It's such a pity that they went extinct. But I didn't expect to see a specimen here..." At this point, Neville suddenly remembered something: Rice seemed to have mentioned that he went to Professor Sprout's office to find a way to resurrect the herb?

"Rice, what did Professor Sprout say?" Thinking of this, Neville became excited and asked in a slightly trembling voice.

"The professor did give me a recipe, but the steps were too complicated, so I'm considering having Professor White design an automaton to help me grow the herbs needed for the recipe."

"Um... may I see the recipe?" Upon learning that Professor Sprout truly possessed a recipe that could revive plants, Neville felt a surge of genuine joy. A few seconds later, curiosity about the recipe overwhelmed him. Driven by his curiosity, he mustered his courage and asked Rice about the recipe's contents.

Rice wasn't about to keep this kind of knowledge a secret. He simply took out the parchment with the recipe written on it and handed it to Neville.

"It is indeed a complicated prescription." After reading through the process recorded in the prescription, Neville also felt that the formula was indeed extremely complicated and cumbersome.

"So we should just have Professor White design an automaton."

"Rice—"

"Um?"

Neville's face turned bright red as he told Rice that he was willing to try to help him grow the herbs needed to make the resurrection water.

Rice looked puzzled: Hadn't he already said he wanted White to design an automaton to grow the medicine?

"But dolls are expensive, aren't they?" Neville rarely expressed his opinion to outsiders; he really wanted to participate in the work of reviving the compass grass.

Rice wanted to tell him that he didn't need the money, but he swallowed the words back down.

"Alright, thank you for your trouble..." He hesitated slightly, unsure if Neville could handle the task. But it didn't matter; letting him try was fine. If he failed, he could always ask Helga to make another doll.

"That's fantastic!" Neville was so excited when Rice agreed that he almost jumped for joy. He repeatedly assured Rice that he would take good care of the herbs and compass grass.

Rice nodded, then pushed open the door to Helga's office.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

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Good night~

The next update will be tomorrow night.

(End of this chapter)