(The Power Rankings reset today—let's push for the top this week. Thanks for all the support! Here's an extra chapter as a thank-you for your love.)
Seeing that additional line, Theodore's heart skipped.
So Jade Tripod's Slaying-Immortal Sword wasn't even finished yet?
If it were completed, it might reach the level of one of the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords?
No wonder, in the legends, Jade Tripod so rarely used it—he probably didn't want to damage the unfinished restrictions.
No wonder, too, that when the Chan Sect broke the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation, Yuanshi Tianzun had picked him as one of the four to seize the swords.
Guang Chengzi and Chijingzi needed no explanation.
The former was a powerhouse surpassing the Twelve Golden Immortals, comparable to the Southern Pole Immortal; a casual wooden sword of his had nearly killed the Nine-Tailed Fox.
The latter was a famed sword immortal, a founder of later sects, a master of sword-forging and swordsmanship, known for a sword that broke all laws.
And alongside them had stood Jade Tripod Daoist.
Clearly, that was the reward for forging a Slaying-Immortal Sword—Yuanshi Tianzun handing him the chance to return sword to sword-ancestor.
Thinking that, Theodore's desire to deepen his bond with Professor Sprout grew even stronger.
Facing her question about how he'd raised the Cabbage, he considered his answer. Even with Blessing of Agriculture, he couldn't just claim he was better at Herbology than a lifetime specialist.
He certainly couldn't mention spiritual qi. To convince her, he needed something believable.
After a moment, he said:
"Honestly, Professor, I didn't do very much. I just saw how lively the Biting Cabbages were, so I… played a game with them."
"I hold my hand out, and they try to bite. We compete on who's faster."
"I win every time. They have a lot of fun, but they also get frustrated. Somehow, they started growing better."
"So I think… maybe this kind of game keeps them happy, and that helps their growth."
Sprout stared.
Playing a dangerous game like that with Biting Cabbages?
No Herbologist in history had ever thought like this—for obvious reasons. Who would take the risk? One mistake and you might be missing a hand.
But the results were right in front of her. The more she thought about it, the more sense it made: biting was a Biting Cabbage's nature.
If you constantly suppressed that nature, of course it wouldn't thrive.
Maybe the real key was to follow their instincts.
Her eyes lit with excitement.
"That's… a very fresh perspective, Theodore. I genuinely hadn't considered it."
"For this, ten—no, twenty points to Gryffindor!"
"And I want to study this further. I could even publish a paper on it. If you're willing to help, shall we co-author it?"
Theodore certainly wasn't going to refuse and agreed on the spot.
At the same time, the system text flowed on.
[ A casual remark about raising spirit-beasts unexpectedly gives Jade Tripod Daoist fresh insight. He is overjoyed. ]
[ Jade Tripod Daoist now sees you in a new light, and invites you to research the Dao of spirit-beast cultivation alongside him. ]
[ Your relationship with Jade Tripod Daoist has reached "casual acquaintance". ]
[ You have obtained the talent——Profound Way of Medicine! ]
Watching Professor Sprout walk away, Theodore felt genuinely pleased.
He'd probably just discovered the perfect way to get closer to her.
If he used spiritual qi to cultivate all kinds of herbs and plants, someone like Sprout—who had dedicated her life to Herbology—would be ecstatic.
And that wouldn't just deepen their relationship; it would also let him use her rare plants to cultivate true spirit herbs.
Once he had more pill recipes, those herbs would be invaluable.
Over the next few days, Theodore's life became very structured.
Aside from classes, he went to the Restricted Section to clean cursed books, gradually building rapport with Madam Pince to eventually earn the Ten Thousand Beasts Gold Core recipe.
The rest of his free time he poured into designing the gauntlet—while quietly harvesting materials for his alchemy.
Before long, he'd built up a small stockpile of plant-type "demon" ingredients and flesh-type "demon" ingredients.
Only mineral-type demons were still missing.
One evening, when he returned to the Gryffindor common room ready to give Ron his usual chess training, he found several people waiting for him.
Besides Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Neville were all there.
Theodore paused.
"Everyone's here. What's up?"
"Need something?"
They hesitated, clearly having rehearsed this conversation more than once, then Hermione spoke.
"That Fiendfyre the other night," she said quietly, "it proves there's a Dark wizard at Hogwarts."
"Some students wrote home to ask. That scale of Fiendfyre—an ordinary Dark wizard couldn't do it."
Her expression turned grim.
"I also overheard Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall talking. They think a spell like that… can only be cast by You-Know-Who."
At those three words, everyone went a little pale.
Neville stammered:
"So that means… the Dark wizard hiding in Hogwarts isn't just anybody. It really is him."
Harry clenched his fists.
"He got into Hogwarts under Dumbledore's nose. He must be after something. Maybe he's planning a comeback."
"And remember how Gringotts was broken into before term? Now it seems very likely that was him, too."
"And I remember Hagrid taking a small package out of a vault for Dumbledore that day."
"What You-Know-Who wants… is probably that. We can't let him get it."
Hermione nodded, then added:
"And… Theodore, every time something happens, you end up dealing with all of it alone."
"We want to help you. We don't want to just stand there watching, completely useless."
"We know the chances aren't great. But what if we can help? Will you teach us magic properly?"
[ In Jade Void Palace, your fellow young disciples——Nezha, Lei Zhenzi and others——feel themselves being left far behind. ]
[ Having gone through so many trials, they too sense the great tribulation approaching. The tide of calamity is rising; they know they will one day be drawn into it. ]
[ Nezha and the others humbly beg you, the rising star of the third generation of disciples, to help them train their arts. ]
A crooked smile tugged at Theodore's lips.
Dumbledore had given him full control over the gauntlet precisely so he could harden Harry and the others.
He'd already stripped a lot of materials from the place; if he didn't use it properly, he really would feel guilty.
And now they'd taken the initiative and come to him for training?
No reason to be polite about it.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"If I'm going to train you, it's going to be hard."
"Very hard. Very tiring. It'll probably hurt."
"Can you handle that?"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione answered without hesitation, eyes shining.
"Yes!"
Neville was a half-second behind, but still gritted his teeth.
"As long as you don't mind me being slow, I'll do it too."
Theodore nodded, eyes gleaming just a bit too bright.
"Even if that means getting bitten by a dog, or by Biting Cabbages, getting hammered by traps and mechanisms, or running around a maze lost and exhausted…"
"You're all right with that, yeah?"
They nodded on reflex.
"Right, even if we get bitten by a—"
"…Wait."
"Why a dog?"
Theodore smiled.
"Just a figure of speech."
Ron shivered.
"I have a bad feeling about this."
"Is it too late to change my mind?"
Theodore just grinned—and a volley of Stunners hit all four of them.
When Harry and the others woke up, they found themselves in a strange room.
Theodore clapped his hands.
"All right. For… various reasons, how you got here has to remain a secret."
"You've learned quite a lot of magic already. You're real little wizards now. So I'll start you with a simple tutorial level to warm up."
"Don't worry. It's not hard at all."
They relaxed a little.
A tutorial level. That can't be that bad… right?
Then Theodore turned and called happily:
"Fluffy, come here! I brought you some new toys!"
A moment later, Fluffy—now so big he was almost scraping the ceiling—got up. His three heads turned toward Harry and the others, eyes full of excitement.
So Theodore wasn't here to draw his blood this time.
He'd brought toys.
Theodore Ashbourne was the best human in the world.
Harry and the others watched their faces drain of colour.
They'd thought the bulk behind Theodore was part of the back wall.
Who would've guessed it was a three-headed dog?
And Theodore called this a tutorial level?
"Whose tutorial," they howled inwardly, "starts with fighting this?!"
What a scam of a game. We want a refund!!
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