bookbashuk Chapter 220 About Herbs
Chapter 220 About Herbs
Chapter 220 About Herbs
"Uh-huh!"
Yuan Xinluola nodded slightly, then glanced cautiously at Professor Sprout—she felt it was indeed a bit awkward to discuss such matters under these circumstances.
"Professor McGonagall mentioned it to me before." Sprout seemed oblivious to Loila's feelings. She nodded and walked out of the office, leading Loila on a tour of several herbalism classrooms.
As she toured the place, she continued, "Therefore, I had already prepared an empty greenhouse in advance."
Is that so?
Professor Sprout, you're such a kind person! I'll never be able to repay you for this!
Loila followed behind the short, stout Professor Sprout, rubbing her hands together, her blue eyes filled with gratitude.
"How about this one?" Sprout, of course, had no idea what Loila was thinking. She simply led Loila to an empty shed and then casually pushed open the door.
"This greenhouse can grow quite a few herbs. If you use them sparingly, it should be enough for your needs this semester," Professor Sprout said, nodding. "However, it depends on the herbs you choose to grow."
"Many herbs take a long time to grow," she explained. "Therefore, I suggest you plant some herbs that grow quickly."
"Hmm————" Loila nodded with a bit of trouble upon hearing this. It wasn't that she didn't know anything about herbs; as a "high achiever" who graduated early from Durmstrang, her grades in herb class were naturally quite good.
However, what to plant is indeed a problem, because there are quite a few herbs needed for magic array studies, the most expensive of which should be herbs like wolfsbane and aconite, but such herbs have a very long growth cycle.
Those with short growth cycles are mostly very cheap.
Ah—Loila nodded slightly after thinking of something.
"Professor Sprout—" she called the professor's name softly, stammering, "Would the Babo tuber be alright?"
"Barbo tubers?" Professor Sprout pondered for a few seconds, then nodded seriously: "Of course—and they're perfect for you."
"It has a short growth cycle, and you can harvest a lot at once—" she said, looking up to ask, "May I ask what the Babo tubers are used for in magic arrays?"
"Hmm—" Loila pursed her lips somewhat shyly, "They're meant to replace me—to replace my blood—"
That's right, Babo tubers are a fairly common type of magic dye. They look dark and resemble some kind of slug more than a plant, with shiny bumps on their bodies containing a shimmering liquid inside.
These shimmering liquids can be used to draw magic circles. Although they are not as good as dragon blood or Veela blood, they are enough for those wasteful beginners.
Loila couldn't help but puff out her cheeks when she thought about what her students did in class—if she ever saw anyone wasting magic array materials again, she would use the Cruciatus Curse on him!
Having resolved the greenhouse issue, Roy strolled happily through the Hogwarts campus. Even when students who weren't in class occasionally walked by and asked for autographs, she would cheerfully wave them away instead of running away as she had done before.
What a beautiful day!
Professor Sprout said that the tubers grow very quickly and don't require much special care. Roy only needs to check on them occasionally. And—and Professor Sprout also said that first-year students could help with the planting.
After all, they have to take herbal medicine classes, don't they?
I'm so grateful to the first-year students! Not only did they not waste my magic array materials, but they also took charge of creating them!
They're much better than those not-so-cute third-grade students!
However, this happiness disappeared as Loila approached the auditorium, which was bustling with activity. Even though it was class time, it seemed like many students had gathered there.
"I'll bet ten Galleons!"
"I'll bet 11 Galleons!"
What is this... what are they doing?!
Loila stood at the door and heard the bidding inside, not knowing what was happening—was it an auction?
Or what—the black market?
Loila felt a sudden chill run down her spine at the thought of that word. Could someone be auctioning off slaves in the Great Hall of Hogwarts? What?!
Hybrid Veela slaves and the like — Loila had seen plenty of plots like that in Lockhart's books.
Wait, wait, wait—this is Hogwarts, just a school—how could there be something so terrifying here?
"It's probably just a bunch of students playing around," Loila thought with a sigh of relief, but—through the door, she was still a little curious about what the students inside were doing.
Why don't you sneak in and take a look yourself?
But isn't it inappropriate for a professor to do this kind of thing?
Thinking this, Loila lowered her voice and whispered into her sleeve, "Miss Nagini?"
Watching the small snake slowly crawl out of her sleeve, Loila gave a grateful smile. "Thank you so much, Miss Nagini, for helping this busybody see what's going on inside—"
"I'll bet twenty Galleons!"
It's really lively inside! I wonder what they're auctioning off; it's already reached twenty Galleons!
But are all the students at Hogwarts—no, I mean, at all Hogwarts—that rich?
Wow, they actually managed to pull out so many Galleons so easily!
"what?"
As Loila was lost in thought, Miss Nagini crawled out through the crack in the door. Instead of reverting to human form, she answered Loila in hissing Parseltongue.
""
"what?"
Loila's expression was a little strange after hearing Miss Nagini's answer.
What do you mean by "I'll go in and see for myself, and there will be a surprise"?
Loila swallowed hard, unsure of what to do—wasn't it a bit too much to just go in as a professor?
Too flashy?
The thought of being noticed by everyone in the auditorium made her shrink back.
Or...should we pretend a little?
Loila walked to the corridor next to the hall, looked around, and then flicked her wand, turning her hair bright red and adding some freckles to her face.
The robe was transformed into the most common Hogwarts school uniform, and a blue Ravenclaw scarf was also added.
Very good — I've become the most inconspicuous Miss Lola again.
Loila nodded slightly, then gripped her sleeves and walked to the entrance of the auditorium.
She took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself, and then pushed open the door and went inside.
As she stepped into the hall with her boots on, a lively atmosphere immediately enveloped her.
Dozens of students surrounded the platform, excitedly looking at the items on it, shouting and bidding.
Is this really Hogwarts?
As Loila was thinking this, she suddenly felt her sleeve being tugged.
"Excuse me, student!"
"Huh?!" Loila flinched and took a few steps back. The student was a tall, imposing Gryffindor who looked at her thoughtfully and asked, "Are you a member of the Pinecone Party?"
"Today's auction is only open to Pinecone Party members."
"Um?"
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