From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

Adams lamented helplessly, "They've ripened in a few days, otherwise I'm afraid I would have planted them in the ground along with them."

"We made it through, didn't we?"

William patted Adams on the shoulder sympathetically; just looking at those documents made it clear how terrifying those mandrakes were.

“Yes, it would be good to leave some seedlings to harvest some seeds. I will suggest to the professor that we should not cultivate so many mandrakes in the next few years unless necessary.” He shook his head in distress. “You know, William, because those guys like to pull themselves out and sing, almost all the plants in the greenhouse area have died. There was my favorite biting cabbage in there!”

……

Your preference isn't much better than mandrake—although that stuff can be used to make Bone Spirit, it really bites!

"I understand, after all, even wizards can't stand its singing."

As they walked, listening to Adams' complaints, the two of them soon arrived outside the greenhouse.

"Professor William?"

Professor Sprout seemed to be in a good mood and greeted William cheerfully, "They'll be fully mature in about half an hour. I'm sure you know how dangerous these little guys are right now, don't you?"

“Of course, Professor Sprout,” William said without reservation, his admiration undiminished. A herbalist who could subdue such a dangerous creature, which was not much less dangerous than a basilisk, was an absolute master. “Because a wizard whose earmuffs were pulled off due to negligence would not be able to be saved even by the best hospitals unless a spell was used in time.”

“Yes, so we can put on the earplugs now, if you’d like to see how they’re harvested.” Professor Sprout was quite pleased.

"of course."

William was naturally interested in seeing these top-quality raw materials he had never seen before. Even if he couldn't prepare them himself, just watching would be satisfying.

William first cast a spell to block his hearing, then put on earplugs, then earmuffs, and finally cast a head-bubbling spell for final isolation. William quickly completed the protective measures under Adams's astonished gaze.

However, this meant that no sound could be heard. William watched Adams gesturing wildly, seemingly trying to express something, and almost couldn't help but burst out laughing.

It took Adams quite a while to carefully complete the protective measures. Then Professor Sprout led the way, gesturing for them to follow. Only then did they approach the greenhouse and carefully open the magically locked door.

'Adams' description wasn't quite accurate—the greenhouse was completely destroyed.'

This was William's first reaction upon seeing the situation inside the greenhouse.

The greenhouse, which should have been lush and full of herbs, looked as if it had been sprayed with herbicide; there was hardly any green to be seen. Although the soil was moist and fertile, all the herbs were withered and drooping, looking like weeds in late autumn.

'These herbs I see would cost more than three thousand gallons on the market…'

William quickly calculated, then couldn't help but feel heartbroken for the herbs in the greenhouse—this situation would certainly not have occurred if it weren't for saving the students.

'The deathly cry of the mandrake, the deathly gaze of the basilisk—what wondrous beings have I faced this past year?'

He was momentarily distracted when he noticed movement in the nearby hay. A mandrake suddenly yanked itself up, then grinned triumphantly, its mouth agape right in front of William.

Without a doubt, if William hadn't taken any precautions, this would have been enough to bring his curse to fruition—doubled, no less.

But now, William stretched out his wand, waved it gently, and scooped the little guy who was singing with his mouth wide open into the air. With his left hand, he grabbed it firmly by the back of its neck. The hand holding the wand didn't stop either; with a wave and a shake, a weed turned into a cork and floated into his hand.

Holding the cork, William stuffed it directly into the mandrake's mouth—the size was just right.

With a flick of the wand, the cork deformed into a light bulb-shaped cork; if he spit it out, he loses.

Another point is that the mandrake was bound tightly with a bandage, and it would never come loose.

Okay, that's perfect, all done.

Adams, who was watching the commotion, gaped wide-eyed, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Professor Sprout was alright; she clapped for William, seemingly quite approving of his handling of the situation.

How did a traditional herbalist handle it?

William looked at Adams—just then Adams spotted a hidden mandrake, grabbed it with his wand, and then swung it down hard in mid-air.

'This is?'

The spell fell like a wooden stick, slamming heavily onto the mandrake's head—the mandrake, which had been trying to open its mouth, was knocked unconscious and didn't even struggle.

As if still not satisfied, Adams cast another spell, and that spell struck again...

Of course, that doesn't mean spells summon sticks, it's just that William thinks they do...

-

"You're done. Don't take off your protective gear. Just leave."

Professor Sprout wrote these words in the air with his wand, then watched William and Adams each carrying a basket of mandrakes as they walked ahead, before finally bringing up the rear and carefully examining the surrounding land.

Professor Sprout only left the greenhouse after confirming that there were no mandrakes near the door that could possibly escape, and after checking his surroundings with magic.

"The remaining numbers match up, the number of each plant is correct, but don't remove the protective gear."

Sprout continued writing with his wand, then began to deal with the stunned mandrakes—he did the same thing, silencing and binding them, just like he would with crabs, only with an extra step.

She carefully examined the mandrakes that William had prepared, nodding in satisfaction as she did so.

“We’re just waiting for Professor Snape to arrive,” she said, gesturing with her wand. “Adams, go and check around to make sure no students come near out of curiosity or for any other reason.”

Professor Sprout then weighed the mandrakes, gave two to William, and wrote in the air, "Two should be enough to prepare the necessary potion, but be careful not to leave them for too long, as mandrakes are very delicate after leaving the soil where they were cultivated."

“There should have been more, but we have to prioritize the students at the school,” she said with an apologetic smile. “That’s all we can offer, Professor William.”

"Thank you, Professor Sprout."

William responded by gesturing with his wand, "I'll take care of everything quickly."

He took the box out of his pocket and then used magic to bind the two guys several more times—if it weren't for control spells like the Sleeping Charm affecting the potency of the medicine, he would have loved to cast seven or eight more spells right now.

"Then I shall take my leave, Professor Sprout. As you know, Professor Snape and I do not quite agree on some issues."

After confirming that everything was in place, William took his leave of Sprout—judging from Professor Sprout's relaxed expression, it was clear that the professor had been troubled by the matter.

There was no other way; even the students at the school knew that Professor Snape coveted William's position. Professor Sprout specifically mentioned Snape's name to Adams to avoid making the situation too awkward...

After all, she wasn't the headmaster or the vice-headmaster, so she couldn't control Snape's sharp tongue...

William didn't complain much—even the precious Hogwarts has to grow mandrakes on-site to use them, and Sprout had put in a lot of effort. They'd already given him this for free, what more could he ask for…

-

"Mandelabra..."

William looked at the two deadly things in the box. He hadn't taken off his protective gear since he came back, and he had deliberately chosen a secluded place.

“There’s no way to save this stuff…it’s practically fighting poison with poison,” he sighed, examining the free gift he’d worked so hard to create. “Unfortunately, this kind of herb loses its effectiveness very quickly after being removed from the soil once it matures…”

William had no qualms about dealing with this thing; it was more venomous than the most poisonous snake. He picked up the silver knife he used for processing potions and killed one with a single stroke.

'For those that have been stored for a while, try that quick-acting antidote—it's more effective than dung beetles, but it's very expensive…'

The materials were complete, and the crucible was of the highest quality, unlike anything I had ever imagined before.

Although the students outside were taking exams, William entered the potion-making state at an unprecedented speed.

A few hours later, the medicine was prepared very easily and without any difficulty.

'This potion is too easy…not challenging at all—or rather, the reason it was previously listed as so difficult wasn't because it was actually hard to brew, but simply because the difficulty lay entirely in finding fresh mandrakes.'

William examined the potion and shook his head, preparing to try something more difficult—there was one left, so he decided to try the so-called Mandela Herb Water, which was the antidote for this.

'It's a bit of a waste, this stuff won't last—but being able to waste it is a kind of happiness too…'

With this in mind, William skillfully gave the second mandrake, who still aspired to be the king of singers, a little peck.

Easy peasy, all done.

'Okay, the next step is not to add the mandrake itself as a raw material, but to use the extract…'

With patience, William performed the operation, which was completely different from the methods he had used before, and his hands became increasingly nimble—although theoretically the difficulty of this potion also lay in the mandrake, he had never even concocted a similar potion before.

……

'Phew, success!'

William wiped the sweat from his brow—it was more difficult than he had imagined, but he had still managed to produce an excellent potion.

Drinking it has no side effects beyond those of the formula itself, which is an excellent standard for a medicine.

Of course, perfection does exist, but let's just dream about it. That would require endless improvements, exhausting the potion, and then constantly innovating. William does have some, but none of them are truly his own.

"Let's test it out; who knows, we might discover something else."

He carefully took out a small amount of the medicine and began to process it according to the testing methods he had learned before.

...

“Quite excellent.”

He nodded. "You can drink it yourself now."

Unless it's some kind of weird or outlandish potion, the maker must be willing to drink their own potion—if they don't trust it themselves, who would dare to use it?

William poured himself a small glass, drank it, and blinked.

Safety.

It is quite safe.

It had no effect on the curse at all—after all, it was a curse left by the Dark Lord, and William hadn't held out much hope in the first place.

“William!”

Suddenly, a shout came from outside the door; it was Adams.

"what happened?"

William, wand in hand, was in high spirits as he prepared to open the door—a perfect potion had been brewed; shouldn't he show it off to his friends?

Adams, you've come at just the right time!

Returning home in glory is like wearing fine clothes in the dark; this time, I'll show you what a professional potion master looks like!

Stop using Felix Felicis as the standard for potion masters! Doing that makes you a complete novice!

"Phew, thank goodness you're here, William. Singed, that idiot Singed!"

"What happened to Singed?"

William glanced at Adams—compared to him, the alchemy professor was much more composed, wasn't he?

"That idiot turned the basilisk's eyes into demonic eyes, and then petrified himself!"

"Magic Eye?"

"Yeah, those are the eyes with all sorts of weird magical effects, usually made from materials from various magical creatures. Didn't you give Singed the basilisk's eyes? He's been busy with that lately!"