Chapter 676: Angel Vine
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"Cheers!"
Inside the pocket world, everyone raised their glasses in celebration.
Daphne had taken first place in this round, and not just first place, but an outright solo victory. The gap in points had shrunk dramatically as a result.
Fleur and Kamio were there as well. Ariana would have joined the gathering too, if her identity hadn’t still been a secret.
The half-Veela and the little fox both wore genuine smiles as they congratulated Daphne on her win.
There might be some frustration immediately after a loss, but once some time had passed, winning and losing no longer seemed all that important.
Besides, Daphne really had performed well this round. She’d also been ridiculously lucky, somehow stumbling her way to the final victory.
Of course, neither girl knew that Daphne had deliberately played dumb and set them up. And Tom certainly wasn’t going to tell them.
"Just one more round left, and it’ll all be over." Daphne set down her glass of orange juice and sighed with a touch of emotion.
This had probably been the hardest she’d worked since starting school.
Sure, she didn’t have to take exams, and sometimes she could even get away with skipping homework. But everyone around her had such high expectations, hoping she’d do well in the tournament.
Even someone as carefree as Daphne couldn’t help feeling the pressure.
As the thought crossed her mind, she secretly glanced at Astoria, who was busy wrapping stuffed pancakes for Tom.
Other people merely had expectations. Her little sister, on the other hand, applied pressure directly and relentlessly.
Every time Daphne wanted to slack off and sneak away, Astoria would somehow appear right in front of her and force her to learn more spells in preparation for the next round.
From last year until now, Daphne had developed a genuine fear of her younger sister.
The whole situation felt completely backwards.
She had even complained to Tom.
Unfortunately, her credibility with him was nowhere near Astoria’s. Every single time, Tom ended up lecturing her instead.
Eventually, Daphne gave up. This rotten little sister was simply her natural enemy.
Now there was only one round left. Which meant freedom was finally within reach.
The young lady’s eyes curved into happy crescents. And as soon as she got excited, another terrible idea popped into her head.
"What do you guys think? Should I ask Professor Sprout for some seeds and use them in the final round?"
The room fell silent. Everyone turned to look at Tom.
The last round was scheduled for June 24.
By then, exams would already be over. In previous years, students would have been on summer vacation by that point.
With two full months of preparation time, nobody had any idea what surprises the organizers were planning for the champions.
"Tom, that wouldn’t break the rules, would it?" Daphne asked hopefully, staring at him with pleading eyes.
Tom shook his head. "The final round allows only your own wand. No outside items can be borrowed or brought in."
"So you can give up on that idea. Instead, spend the time learning more magic. You’ll probably need it."
Astoria’s eyes immediately lit up, "No problem. I’ll keep a close eye on my sister."
The light vanished completely from Daphne’s eyes.
Seeing her crushed expression, the girls couldn’t help laughing.
Daphne was undeniably powerful, but she spent an impressive amount of time looking for shortcuts. Every round of the competition, she somehow managed to come up with a new scheme or stir up some kind of trouble.
That said, now that plant seeds had been brought up, it was impossible not to talk about Professor Sprout’s jaw-dropping performance.
Hermione in particular was shocked to realize that mastery of Herbology could be turned into such terrifying combat power.
In the past, she would have rushed straight to the library, digging through every book she could find to identify the exact plant Sprout had used. But now, Hermione had learned an important lesson: Trying to do too many things at once only left you mastering none of them.
She still hadn’t fully understood the communication magic runes. If she started diverting her attention to Herbology as well, she’d only slow herself down and end up accomplishing neither.
...
As everyone discussed the topic, Tom finally provided the answer.
"The plant is called Angel Vine. You could think of it as a variant of Devil’s Snare."
"Devil’s Snare?" Hermione immediately perked up. "Its characteristics were..."
Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "It prefers darkness, hates light, instinctively wraps around anything it touches, and grows extremely fast in the right environment."
"Exactly." Tom nodded. "Angel Vine is the complete opposite. It loves sunlight, isn’t afraid of high temperatures, and when exposed to intense heat, it actually grows even faster while becoming tougher."
"That’s why it was such an effective choice against a dragon. But the seeds Professor Sprout used definitely weren’t ordinary Angel Vine seeds. They must have been specially engineered. Their growth rate and toughness far exceeded what a normal Angel Vine could achieve."
Tom’s own knowledge of Herbology wasn’t particularly deep. Most of what he knew came from the centaurs.
While he could roughly understand Sprout’s methods, if someone asked him to develop seeds like hers, it would likely take him three to five years to produce any results.
The Heads of House at Hogwarts really weren’t people to underestimate.
You never knew what bizarre and astonishing things they might pull out next.
...
..
The celebration eventually came to an end.
As Tom lay in bed, he found himself unable to sleep.
He was suffering.
He’d been taken advantage of... Twice.
If he didn’t get even, Snape would definitely push his luck even further in the future.
As for Professor Sprout... Tom placed that entire debt squarely on Snape’s shoulders.
If Snape hadn’t set such a terrible example, an honest person like Professor Sprout never would have thought of using the assessment to collect dragon blood.
The longer he put off revenge, the longer he’d stay irritated.
If he couldn’t come up with a proper way to strike back, there was no way he was getting any sleep tonight.
Fortunately, when it came to messing with people, Tom Riddle was a grandmaster among grandmasters. It didn’t take him long to think of something.
...
The next day was Monday, and classes resumed.
The students were still buzzing about yesterday’s competition.
Professor Sprout was surrounded by a crowd of Hufflepuffs, along with a handful of students from other houses, all eager to ask questions about Angel Vine.
She had practically become Hogwarts’ biggest celebrity overnight.
After breakfast, Tom glanced toward Snape at the staff table. Then he quietly said something to Daphne, left the Great Hall ahead of schedule, and slipped into Snape’s office unnoticed.
There, he added a little something to the Potions Master’s favorite teapot.
Before long, rumors spread throughout Hogwarts.
Professor Snape had fallen ill.
A severe fever had left him bedridden, and he was completely unable to teach his classes.
.
.
.
T/N:
As you can probably tell, we’ve caught up to the raw on Pat.
And since the raws have been updating pretty slowly lately, I’m going to reduce the number of advanced Chapters so I can post new Chapters here more frequently.
Hope you’re enjoying the story!
