Hogwarts 1991

Chapter 598 Cultivation-
This-this-this! !
"This... is the seed of the World Tree!" Harry exclaimed.

Hagrid, Sirius Black, Ron, and Hermione... first look at the golden egg that has turned into a golden basket,

(Green lights leak out of those gaps)

He stared at the World Tree sapling on the McGuffin's head again,

Finally shifting his gaze to the top of Harry's head——

"Hagrid! Could Harry become a MacGuffin too?" Hermione asked.

"Indeed, this is not a joke! I can't imagine the warriors carrying... such a thing, participating in the 'Top Ten Tournament' in front of wizards all over the world!" Sirius questioned Hagrid in a serious tone.

Only Ron felt amused, he lowered his head and sneered.

McGuffin retorted dissatisfiedly, "...what does it mean to be reduced to... like me, Hermione! Please explain clearly!"

"What's wrong with me!...Let me tell you...Cultivating World Tree seedlings can improve the accuracy of casting spells, improve one's ability to control magic power, and even improve one's own talent to a certain extent...It can shield, delay, and resist the influence of certain black magic on you."

"Ordinary people, I mean you... who haven't got the World Tree seedlings..."

Seeing McGuffin being so unconvinced and forcibly refuting, the rest of the people looked at each other and laughed.

Even Sirius laughed.

After Hagrid laughed for a long time, he panted heavily to answer Hermione's question just now.

"I don't know about this matter! But... I still can't tell you how to open this golden egg!"

Seeing Harry's puzzled gaze, Hagrid added, "Not all warriors will have a friend with a World Tree seedling, who can know what's inside in advance."

"You have to take out that seed to successfully crack the secret of the golden egg..."

The rest of the people looked at each other, and Black even took the golden egg in his hand, and drilled two fingers through the gap in the golden basket, trying to snap out the seeds of the world tree.

Apparently Dumbledore had anticipated this, the size of the seed just got stuck and couldn't fit through those gaps.

Harry flicked his wand, trying to break it apart, but to no avail.

This golden egg, it hasn't changed at all.

"That's not the case. We have to follow the clues left by Professor Dumbledore to solve the puzzle." Hermione interrupted everyone's useless work and advised everyone to think of a way.

She got up and poked her hair with the tip of her wand (her hair had gone back to its shaggy look after no treatment),

Hermione took small steps back and forth in the little space left in Hagrid's cabin.

She muttered, "World Tree... What do the seeds of the World Tree need? Is it some kind of mysterious and cherished spell?"

"No, it shouldn't be... that's not the case... In this case, it will be very difficult for the warriors to solve this mystery..."

"Professor Sprout once said in class that no matter what kind of seeds, most of them need..."

Hermione's eyes became brighter and brighter. She suddenly stopped circling, turned her head to McGuffin and asked, "Albert, how did you cultivate the World Tree seed! How did you make it germinate!"

"what?"

McGuffin subconsciously looked at the system's description of the World Tree before answering Hermione,
"...The World Tree seedlings will absorb magic power. In the beginning, I had to get up early every morning before dawn to provide magic power to promote its growth."

McGuffin answered uncertainly.

Hermione immediately had an expression of enlightenment on her face, then turned around and stared at the world tree seed inside the 'golden egg', and said, "I know what to do now!"

"Harry, you should let this world tree seed hatch and germinate... maybe this way you can break the shell of this golden egg."

She was absolutely sure.

But the rest looked skeptical.

Harry and the others looked at Hagrid's expression together.

Hagrid is obviously not a person who can hide things. Hermione's answer made him look surprised and nodded unconsciously. Then he realized something and immediately stopped his head.

It's a pity that everyone has understood by this time.

This outrageous method is actually true.

"This is too much!" Ron exclaimed,

"Could it be possible that Harry, like McGuffin, has a golden egg on his head, constantly providing magic power? I haven't seen other warriors behave like this..."

"Don't listen to Hermione, Harry! You'll be thought crazy..."

Gan!
'——why involve me! '

McGuffin thought dissatisfiedly, and refuted Ron's statement.

"Hermione means to follow the clues given by Professor Dumbledore and think step by step..."

"We need to treat this golden egg like a normal plant, bury it in the soil, water it, fertilize it... or add some of its own magical stimulation... that's the right way to solve this puzzle!"

"Really? Hagrid!"

"Eh... um!..." Hagrid was very sure of what McGuffin said.

I had no choice but to nod, revealing the 'answer'.

"Well, that's right, this is Professor Sprout's proposal. How should I put it... Anyway, this is related to the Hufflepuff tradition and the World Tree. In short, when the competition starts, you will know the usefulness of this thing..."

"However, I still didn't expect that the things inside were actually the seeds of the World Tree...At the beginning, Professor Sprout just told me to put the golden eggs in the soil and cultivate them for a week, and then I could understand the secret..."

Hagrid's words startled McGuffin.

He also said it casually, but he didn't expect it to be true.

Confused, Harry got some soil from Hagrid, a large, oddly shaped flower pot, and...a small bag of dragon dung.

(According to Hagrid, these dragon feces... were cleaned out from the [Secret Library of the Endless Labyrinth] by Donald Eastfork and some students who violated the school rules. They are so fresh!)

Then, McGuffin and the others bid farewell to Sirius Black and Hagrid, and went back to the auditorium for lunch.

When it was time for dinner in the afternoon, the four of them sneaked up and brought a flower pot to the window of the fourth-grade male dormitory.

Harry put the golden egg in the flower pot, and then mixed a little bit of the black soil of rotten plants unique to the Forbidden Forest... with magically dried dragon dung, and slowly sprinkled it on it.

Until the golden egg is completely covered.

Then--

"Clear water is like a spring!"

Hermione pointed her wand at the flower pot, and a stream of water rushed there.

After this series of things are done,
The three views of the few of them were completely reshaped by destruction.

They looked at each other absently, hoping that the other would say something to encourage morale.

Even McGuffin didn't know what he... was doing here.

——The Pea and the Giant?

Is it possible that the next day... a giant plant will grow straight into the sky?

Even with Hagrid's confirmation, this almost joke-like puzzle-solving method still makes people unconsciously suspicious.

"Uh!" After a moment of silence, Harry said, "McGuffin, do you have any useful experience in nurturing that World Tree seedling?"

As soon as the words fell, Harry shut up, and he obviously realized that he had said the wrong thing.

McGuffin opened his mouth wide in surprise, and after closing his mouth for a long time, he could only stammer, "Every... Every once in a while... water it regularly, that's right, water it! Let it bask in the sun, use a magic wand to gently infuse this thing with magic power when you get up in the morning... and..."

"Maybe you need to fertilize it..."

McGuffin's sleepwalking answer made Harry blush even more.

He didn't dare to imagine the scene where he kept a bag of dragon dung and was discovered by Filch or Malfoy.

Just imagining such a scene, Harry couldn't even lift his head.

He felt anxious in his heart, and felt that he had to be careful in the next week and quietly cultivate this thing.

Harry knew why the other warriors who got the golden eggs didn't move.

The way to solve this puzzle is that no one will reveal it out loud.

Because if the way to solve the puzzle is leaked, most of the warriors' names... will be notorious.

So, for a whole week afterwards...Harry stayed alone in the dormitory, carefully avoiding everyone's eyes, and carefully nurturing the golden egg in the flower pot.

Try not to let others find out.

Of course, it's not that no one noticed... The golden egg that was thrown around in Harry's hand disappeared, and there was another large, weird-looking flower pot in the dormitory.

Whenever people asked about it, it was McGuffin and Ron who laughed for Harry, tried to change the subject, and got rid of it.

Finally, after almost a week,

a deserted afternoon,

Harry put on dragon leather gloves bitterly and carelessly, crushing the dried dragon dung manure bit by bit, and sprinkled it on the flower pots that hadn't changed at all.

The flower pot finally started to move.

"McGuffin, Ron!"

Harry called out to the two of them in a low voice.

McGuffin and the others leaned over.

The two immediately saw a golden seedling, which can also be said to be some kind of golden braid as thick as a thumb... broke through the cover of the soil layer, and drilled out directly.

It's slow, though, and a little bit backwards, with the intention of retracting.

"Magic! Harry, your magic!" McGuffin reminded.

Harry quickly took out his wand, and lightly tapped on the sapling.

Infuse magic.

Soon, within a second or two... A golden vine ran along the rock wall of the window sill and pulled out from the flower pot.

In an instant, he grew taller than a few of them.

Then a golden-green light ball hung on the golden vine just like that.

That is the seed of the world tree!
An oval-shaped seed that is as clear as emerald and emits a slight golden-green fluorescence.

It was exactly the same as what McGuffin had been exposed to.

The ball of light slowly fell from the sky above the vines and fell into Harry's hands.

With a crackling sound full of vitality,
The seeds of the world tree split almost instantly, and began to take root and sprout.

Harry's face turned green.

Is it really what Ron said... the same as McGuffin? ?

Harry's mind immediately pictured: a frustrating scene—

All the warriors have a touch of 'green grass' on their heads, competing for the title of the number one warrior in front of wizards all over the world... the scene.

This scene, thinking about it, makes people feel desperate.

However, fortunately, things did not develop according to Harry's imagination... the worst possibility.

This seedling of the World Tree, with a golden-green shimmer, floated in Harry's palm like a ball of light.

Illusory yet real, absorbing his magical power a little bit.

Harry flipped his palm, and the seedling of the World Tree slowly turned into shimmering dots and disappeared into the air.

At the same time, on the back of his hand, a golden-green sapling pattern began to appear, and then this pattern slowly disappeared.

It's just that when Harry summoned the magic power in his heart to call out to this seedling, the golden-green shimmer bloomed again in his hands.

"What are you doing! What on earth does this mean!"

On the contrary, McGuffin was immediately resentful when he saw this scene.

This is so special!

Feelings are treated specially!

Ron looked at Harry, then at the top of McGuffin's head, held back a smile, and patted McGuffin's shoulder with a 'serious' face, everything was beyond words.

After Harry breathed a sigh of relief, he looked at the extremely magnificent golden vine in the flowerpot again.

He has a headache!
——How to deal with this thing!

At this time, Hermione, who was letting the wind outside, walked in quickly, and urged,
"Okay, it's getting late, we have to eat late..."

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw... that tall vine with a shining golden light growing out of the flowerpot.

That thing is like a miracle that has been carefully woven.

"What's going on? Did it succeed?" Hermione asked anxiously immediately.

She looked at the plant with flooded eyes, very curious.

Several people looked at each other, McGuffin was obviously not in the mood to explain anything.

Ron could only shrug at Harry,

"You explain..."

……

"Harry, you said that the seed of the world tree... what use is it in the next game?" Ron asked curiously.

"Keep your voice down!" Harry said nervously. "I don't want to attract the attention of... the crazy witch Trelawney!"

In the divination class, McGuffin, Harry, and Ron carefully hid in the back of the classroom, in the corner where most people noticed.

They sat at a small table.

Since Professor Trelawney repented and didn't leave this Hogwarts school after Christmas, the class has returned to its previous appearance.

She seemed to think that by doing this, she could go back to the past, as if nothing had changed.

Although I don't know what kind of conditions Dumbledore gave Trelawney and kept her in Hogwarts.

But Trelawney was more exaggerated than before, and less concerned about the subject.

According to Hermione's words, this guy who pretended to be a ghost, pretended to be fooling others all the time, finally drove himself crazy.

Whether she was mad or not, McGuffin did not know.

But every time Harry took her class, he was almost driven crazy.

Every time in the divination class, this guy would scare Harry several times with an extremely exaggerated tone, and most of the time he even brought McGuffin along with him.

The tragic ending of the two of them is comparable to the various "fancy" death methods of the NPC protagonists in soul games.

It's not-

Trelawney came toward them again.

(End of this chapter)