A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 968 Absolutely safe, no negative reviews!

In the many greenhouses of Hogwarts, there are countless magical plants, some dangerous and some precious.

However, regardless of whether it was the Devil's Net that William developed for foot massage;

I still prefer the man-eating blue that lurk in the corner, ambushing students...

None of them can compare to the Man-Beating Willow that stands on the edge of the forbidden forest.

This magical plant has a bad temper and a strong sense of territory.

In other words, in its view, the Forbidden Forest belongs to it!

These foolish wizards at Hogwarts are all at its service!

This is even harder to please than a cat.

The willow tree that was transplanted to help Lupin transform is now over eighty years old, which is about eight years old according to the human life cycle.

His temper was like that of a spoiled child, and he was incredibly irritable.

Seeing the hesitant and timid students, Professor Sprout began his teaching session, asking:

Does anyone know where the willow catkin (also known as the "beating willow") is originally from?

"The Black Forest region," Qiu quickly raised her hand and said.

The Black Forest, also known as the Teutonic Forest.

Located in the mountains of Baden-Württemberg in southwestern Germany, it is a vast primeval forest, comparable to the Forbidden Forest in England.

Last summer, William and Hermione passed through there when they went to Vienna for a meeting.

As for Qiu, I had only heard Cedric mention her.

It's said that the place is full of materials for making wands... He even suggested taking her camping there during the summer vacation.

A lone man and a lone woman... Qiu, of course, refused.

But to be fair, Cedric was completely misled by Newt.

During his honeymoon that year, he took Tina deep into the mountains and forests.

He even shared his dating advice with William and the others...

"Very good, Ravenclaw gets two points." Professor Sprout nodded.

"So what is the biggest challenge in planting willow branches?" she asked, looking around.

Today's task is to plant a batch of *Salix matsudana*, and all of this must be explained in advance.

But no one answered, because the willow tree was not a plant in the curriculum, and no one had prepared for it beforehand.

Professor Sprout was somewhat disappointed, and finally looked at William and asked, "Mr. Stark?"

"In its early stages, the willow tree has not yet taken root in the soil. After it is planted, it can move on its own."

"Yes, Ravenclaw gets five points," Professor Sprout praised.

"The 'hitting willow' can not only attack others, but it can also 'run' around everywhere."

This is similar to the magical plant ginseng from the Far East.

This William is familiar.

There have always been rumors that ginseng can run away.

When a wizard encounters ginseng in the wild but has nothing to dig up, or wants to wait until it grows bigger before digging it up, he will mark it with a red rope.

That red rope wasn't something you just found; it was a specially made magical item with tracking capabilities.

So next time you encounter people from Dongbai digging for ginseng and tying red strings, don't provoke them; they might be hidden sorcerers.

"Now, everyone come to me to get your Whomping Willows," Professor Sprout cheerfully told his students.

"These are saplings cultivated from the branches of the 'Hypericum perforatum' tree that I've collected over the past twenty years."

Willows have a very strong ability to grow.

Generally, you can simply cut off a healthy, sturdy branch, remove the larger leaves, and place it in water to allow it to take root.

The "hitting willow" is also a willow tree and has this characteristic, but it is not as easy to survive as the ordinary willow tree.

Moreover, they don't like the British environment and are considered a failed invasive species compared to crayfish.

Of course, some people will say that crayfish, as an invasive species, is quite a failure.

But the truth is... foodies can't solve any invasive species problem.

Including crayfish.

As a mature commodity, crayfish production aims to maximize economic benefits.

The lobsters on the market are all farmed on a large scale. Wild lobsters, on the other hand, are more expensive to catch.

Therefore, eating more crayfish now can at most contribute to the aquaculture industry, but it cannot solve the problem of biological invasion.

Sprout, a master of herbal medicine, after extensive research, still managed to cultivate many willow seedlings suitable for planting in England using branches.

What William and his team needed was to plant these saplings.

They are natural guardians if Death Eaters invade.

The students, wearing dragon-skin gloves, lined up to take each of the small seedlings.

The seedlings were only half a meter tall, and when they felt someone touch them, they began to dance wildly.

William's willow branch was also struggling violently, but with a slight twist of his fingers, the branch twisted into an astonishingly full arc.

He used his Spiritual Finger to probe deep into the dense foliage, touching a slightly raised area.

That spot immediately hardened, forming a bump, while the willow branch softened and finally went limp in William's hand.

All willows have a weakness, which is a certain spot on their trunk that is their sensitive point.

However, in young *Syzygium buxifolium*, the joint protrusions haven't grown out yet, making it difficult to pinpoint their exact location.

Fortunately, William was protected by a Bowtruckle, a magical creature that guards trees and can find them very accurately.

William would call this move a forbidden spell with the same power as the Thousand Years of Death – The Morgan Era!

Other students weren't so lucky.

They used their willow branches to attack each other and even beat up their own little wizard.

There was even a 'beating willow' that ran over to the old 'beating willow,' seemingly urging it to roll away quickly.

It seems it has its eye on that auspicious location.

So the even more irritable Willow lashed out with a tail whip attack, sending it flying.

Is the "Strike Willow" always this brave?

Didn't you know they knew martial arts?!

……

……

After class, the students hurriedly headed towards Hagrid's hut without even having time to wash up.

Since the giants came to England during the summer holidays, Hagrid has also returned with them.

So, Professor Glapland left the school again... She really was the most pitiful tool.

But most of the students who continued to choose this course did so because of her.

She didn't continue attending classes, and everyone felt cheated.

In front of Hagrid's cabin, there are several large vats.

Hufflepuff's Oris glanced at it and immediately screamed.

It turned out that those buckets were filled with animals about a foot long, slimy and white, constantly wriggling their bodies.

It looked like a huge vat of giant maggots; the scene was truly shocking.

"What is this?" Qiu asked with a look of disgust.

"Giant grubs," Hagrid explained.

"What will they become when they grow up?" Brad asked, looking terrified.

"It will become a docile butterfly that can quickly collect pollen and then produce a kind of butterfly honey."

Honeydukes' butterfly pea flower candy uses this kind of syrup; it's very sweet.

Hager's hardcore approach has clearly backfired.

Especially knowing that the honey came from a type of maggot...

Many students felt nauseous and said they would never go to Honey Duke again.

Another student, with a butterfly honey candy in his mouth, also couldn't help but vomit.

This reminded William of a time in his past life when his roommate bought a case of instant noodles.

He ate seven or eight packs that night, saying it was the best instant noodles in the world.

The next day, rumors suddenly spread throughout the school that it was made from corpse oil from the crematorium.

From then on, William never saw him buy snacks again.

The first lesson in seventh grade about protecting magical creatures was clearly not about feeding giant grubs.

Because they are too low in danger, or, in Hagrid's words... lack challenge.

Hagrid opened the bamboo basket, and several small blue snakes appeared inside.

The snakes had horns on their heads, a gem on their foreheads, and they hissed as they flicked their tongues.

The students all backed away in fear, even more afraid than when they saw the "Hit-and-Beat Willow".

Planting a willow will at most get you whipped a few times, but this thing... you might accidentally get bitten.

In their simple understanding: snakes with triangular heads are all poisonous... so this snake must be poisonous.

In fact... it is indeed poisonous, and highly poisonous at that.

However, Hagrid continued to comfort him:

"Don't be afraid, it's a long-horned water snake."

"Although the longhorn water snake is incredibly venomous, it is relatively tame and gentle."

I asked the guy selling snakes, and he said their shop has never had a bad review from a buyer; it's very safe.

"..."

Hearing Hagrid's words, the students ran even faster.

William couldn't help but sigh, "Is this what teaching a graduating class is like?"

I love it! I love it!

……

……

(Thanks to the generous donor "柳杉非分".)

(End of this chapter)