Chapter 110: News, Devil, Advancement

With the thunderous sound of owls flapping their wings, letters bearing exquisite gold lettering soon fell into Professor Sprout's eager hands. She only glanced at them briefly before breaking into a radiant smile, turning to Ciel with genuine pride. "The paper on Piranha Algae and Lumos Charms has been accepted for publication. It's scheduled for the front page of the 'Herbology' journal after the Christmas holidays. Congratulations, Ciel. Once the paper is published, your career as a herbologist will officially begin." Hearing Professor Sprout's words, Ciel was momentarily overwhelmed with mixed emotions. Recalling his previous life and the absolute torment he endured just to publish one measly paper to graduate, he never expected that in this magical world, publishing in a top journal would be so effortless. However, Ciel understood perfectly that the paper's lightning-fast acceptance was entirely due to Professor Sprout being the corresponding author. Herbology master, Head of Hufflepuff House, Order of Merlin recipient... these titles would be equivalent to a top Nobel Prize laureate in his previous life. And not just any lone wolf researcher either, but the type with genuine academic influence, backed by an entire scholarly faction commanding respect across the wizarding world! With her prestigious name attached, even if he had submitted a blank sheet of parchment, those top journal reviewers would treat it with the utmost care and consideration. But Ciel had absolutely no academic purist concerns about this arrangement whatsoever. What was wrong with benefiting from his aunt's considerable influence? Besides, the groundbreaking discovery of Piranha Algae was genuinely worthy of a front-page feature anyway. He had simply taken the express lane through the publishing maze. Moreover, in this magical life, Ciel had almost no burning desire to make a name in academic circles. What he truly cared about were those precious experimental plots. These represented solid resources and tangible benefits that could allow him to cultivate one more plant species in Hogwarts' greenhouse, resources that were far too important for his long-term goals! Ciel asked Professor Sprout about this crucial matter. Professor Sprout showed a helpless expression, shaking her head with amused bewilderment. Publishing in top journals used to keep her awake for entire nights with pure excitement. But Ciel showed absolutely no excitement whatsoever about this academic achievement. His mind remained filled only with thoughts of planting more magical specimens. This nephew of hers truly possessed the constitution of a natural herbology workaholic, utterly obsessed with cultivation above all else. Then she said reassuringly, "Don't worry about that. I've already prepared your experimental plot allocation well in advance. Once the paper gets published, you'll be able to secure those plots naturally through the proper channels." Hearing this wonderful news, Ciel finally breathed a deep sigh of relief. His eyes immediately showed intense anticipation for what lay ahead. This way, he only needed to systematically advance his Pruning Charm mastery and wait patiently for the Marguerite harvest to reach completion. Once Christmas holidays finally ended, he could begin mass-cultivating Devil's Snare specimens in the new experimental plots at the Hogwarts greenhouse. Combined with the Guardian Trees already growing, he would simultaneously have two different Silver-tier plants in mass cultivation! Thinking of this incredible future potential, Ciel could barely contain his mounting anticipation. He immediately threw himself back into practicing the Pruning Charm with renewed vigor. Seeing this dedicated display, Professor Sprout's face showed deep satisfaction. She quietly left the greenhouse, allowing him to focus completely. The Sprout family home returned to peaceful silence, so quiet that only the faint sound of a beetle's wings could be heard, gradually fading away into the distance. A moment later, in the woods outside the Sprout family home, a beetle that absolutely shouldn't appear during this winter season suddenly began transforming with magical energy. In the blink of an eye, it became a woman wearing garishly bright green clothes, golden hair accessories that caught the light, and exaggerated stiff curls that defied natural hair behavior. If any wizard working in journalism were present, they would certainly recognize this woman as Rita Skeeter, a reporter who had "risen to fame" in recent years through increasingly sensational stories. She had provided first-hand material for several major news stories that had rocked the wizarding world. In the original timeline, she would interview Harry and others during the Triwizard Tournament, concocting a fabricated love triangle story. After Dumbledore's eventual death, she would also write the infamous "The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore." However, at this particular moment in time, Rita Skeeter was only moderately famous, still far from reaching the controversial level she would achieve in a few years. But now, flames of pure excitement burned brightly in her calculating eyes. Rita Skeeter muttered to herself with barely contained glee, "This is absolutely huge news! I originally came here just out of professional duty, hearing through my sources that the Sprout family had welcomed back a new heir and wanting to see if there was any juicy material worth investigating. I didn't expect to stumble upon such explosively scandalous content! Who would have thought that Professor Sprout, the Head of Hufflepuff universally known for her honesty and integrity, would help her nephew engage in such blatantly academically unethical behavior? An eleven-year-old wizard, with her shameless assistance, can directly publish in a top herbology journal without earning it! A complete academic scandal of the highest order. Countless people will absolutely love this kind of story that strips away the glamorous facade of these so-called celebrities. Tomorrow's front page headline of the Daily Prophet seems to be decided already." Then Rita Skeeter departed excitedly, her mind already spinning with possibilities. Though she had only heard a small snippet of conversation between Professor Sprout and Ciel, fabricating elaborate stories from minimal facts was always her greatest specialty. This small fragment would be more than enough for her to concoct countless dark rumors and scandals behind the scenes. As for truth or falsehood... "Hmph, readers absolutely love stories of fallen angels crashing to earth. They love seeing famous people far above them end up in utterly miserable situations. Truth? If news reporting were as truthful and objective as it claims to be, all newspapers from the Muggle world to the magical world would probably go bankrupt within a month!" Meanwhile, neither Professor Sprout nor Ciel had any idea about the massive news story Rita Skeeter was eagerly preparing to unleash. To start cultivating Devil's Snare as early as possible after the Christmas holidays ended, Ciel had even suspended his combat practice sessions entirely. Now he remained single-mindedly focused on one crucial thing: practicing the Pruning Charm until he achieved mastery. And his chosen practice target was none other than Devil's Snare itself. This was something Ciel had thought of during a moment of pure inspiration. Devil's Snare possessed such incredibly high resistance to the Pruning Charm that it bordered on the absurd. Without using his Underwater Enhancement ability, he could at most leave a trace that would heal instantly. The higher Devil's Snare's resistance to the Pruning Charm proved to be, the greater the trimming difficulty became. Conversely, using it to practice the Pruning Charm would be exponentially more effective. Could there possibly be a more suitable practice target in existence? As for whether this intensive practice would affect the quality of this Devil's Snare root's future mature cultivation... "Just avoid targeting those crucial magical nodes, right? There are still plenty of other areas for me to practice on safely." Ciel stared at the lively Devil's Snare specimen before him, his face absolutely full of determined fervor. He found a blank spot completely devoid of magical nodes and cast a Pruning Charm directly on it. Just like during his previous testing sessions, only a faint white mark appeared. The Devil's Snare root showed absolutely no reaction whatsoever to this pathetic attempt. It even seemed genuinely intelligent, with its magical aura emanating waves of faint mockery. As if saying, That's it? Didn't you eat breakfast? Sensing the condescending emotions emanating from Devil's Snare, Ciel merely smiled slightly. Completely unconcerned by this plant's attitude. His focused gaze fell on the system panel, staring intently at the Pruning Charm text display. His current Pruning Charm mastery wasn't terribly far from Platinum tier status. The qualitative change from Gold to Platinum tier might exceed all his previous advancements combined into one massive leap. Therefore, this particular advancement would prove particularly difficult to achieve. Previously, Ciel had spent several entire days carefully pruning all the Marguerites with meticulous attention. During individual trimming sessions, he couldn't feel any subtle changes in the Pruning Charm progression at all. As if absolutely nothing had happened despite his efforts. Only through massive repetition over extended periods did he manage to accumulate some meaningful progress. But now, after casting the Pruning Charm on Devil's Snare just once, Ciel clearly saw the platinum luster on the Pruning Charm display increase by an extremely faint trace. This slight improvement made him suddenly excited beyond measure. He looked at the Devil's Snare before him as if seeing a magical "amplifier" device. The next moment, he licked his lips with anticipation. The hawthorn wand in his hand seemed about to create visible afterimages. One Pruning Charm after another fell on the Devil's Snare root like an endless storm of magical energy. Initially, the Devil's Snare root's magical aura still emanated consistent waves of mockery and obvious disdain. A Pruning Charm of this pathetic intensity wanted to trim it effectively? How long could this determined young wizard possibly persist with such futile efforts? Then one hour passed, two hours, three hours continued relentlessly. Ciel's hand still moved like a precise afterimage. Even his intense gaze maintained exactly the same unwavering focus as before. As if this incredibly tedious, mind-numbingly boring spell repetition was a rewarding experience each time, making him completely immersed and unable to extricate himself from the process. After all, in these few productive hours, Ciel's Pruning Charm progress had exceeded the previous three entire days! This efficiency was simply soaring beyond expectations. The Pruning Charm mastery grew ever closer to that coveted Platinum tier threshold. How could he possibly bear to stop now? But during this extended process, the magic emanating from the Devil's Snare root underwent subtle but noticeable changes. From initial disdain and mockery, it gradually became somewhat bewildered and confused. What exactly was this relentless young wizard doing? He couldn't break through its Pruning Charm resistance at all, so why did he keep repeating the same ineffective action? Wasn't he getting tired? By now, the Devil's Snare root was no longer as lively and energetic as before. Ciel wasn't tired in the slightest. But it certainly was. Even though the wounds from the Pruning Charm remained minimal, the continuous accumulation was steadily consuming its own precious nutrients. Just then, Ciel suddenly stopped the rain-like barrage of Pruning Charms completely. The Devil's Snare root finally got a desperately needed breather. Its magic emanated waves of relief and genuine gratitude. Excellent. The young wizard was finally tired. He must have given up this pointless endeavor. He probably wouldn't be so unreasonably persistent anymore, right? Next, Ciel took out a small glass bottle of specialized potion. This was left specifically by Professor Sprout for this exact purpose. Since cultivating Devil's Snare required cutting open magical nodes to grow new branches successfully, this process demanded abundant nutrients to succeed. This potion was specially prepared and formulated for this precise purpose. Sensing that the Devil's Snare root seemed tired and depleted, Ciel poured out a single drop and dripped it carefully onto the root. In just a moment, the Devil's Snare became completely lively again. All the nutrients consumed earlier had been fully restored. But the very next moment, it heard Ciel say quietly with ominous determination, "Rested well? Then let's continue, shall we?" Then the storm-like barrage of Pruning Charms fell on it again with renewed intensity. The Devil's Snare root immediately began writhing desperately. Its magic emanated powerful waves of pure despair. What? Let me rest, please? What exactly does this relentless young wizard want to accomplish? Which of us is actually called a devil here! But Ciel remained completely deaf to the Devil's Snare root's desperate pleas for mercy. Anyway, just one drop of potion could restore it completely. What was there to pity? Moreover, Devil's Snare had absolutely no labor protection laws governing its treatment. At such a young age, couldn't it endure this little bit of hardship? How long had it been working before complaining of exhaustion? Insufficient consciousness clearly needed more intensive tempering. Time to increase the intensity! Meanwhile, Ciel's eyes reflected the Pruning Charm's growing light on the system panel. That precious hint of platinum color grew increasingly intense with each passing moment. Unknowingly, night and dawn had alternated completely. At the distant horizon, dawn finally broke. Morning sunlight shone brilliantly into the greenhouse. That platinum light, stagnant for so terribly long, suddenly burst forth with brilliance more dazzling than the sun itself. Before Ciel's amazed eyes, the Pruning Charm text on the system panel blurred dramatically. Then [Pruning Charm (Platinum Tier)] advanced! [Chapter Complete] *** Want more? Check out my Patreon for: ✓ Advanced chapters of all my stories ✓ Exclusive novels & fanfics ✓ Early access content [email protected]/meowthtl ???? Community Goal: 500 Power Stones unlocks a bonus chapter! Thanks for reading and supporting the story!