Chapter 113: Dark Magic, Silver Level, Hearing

After being stunned for a long while, Ciel's face showed wild joy. He hadn't expected that a sudden inspiration would cause such a mutation in the Devil's Snare root when combined with Sectumsempra. Double Silver-tier rewards, with one reward level even approaching Gold tier. Near Gold level reward orbs could be nearly twice as effective as regular Silver-tier ones. They could significantly shorten the process from Gold to Platinum tier. If he mass-cultivated Devil's Snare, by harvest time, the Binding Control Spell Chain Count Increase ability might directly reach Platinum tier. There was even a slight possibility of Diamond-tier brilliance! Additionally, the Silver-tier Fire-Resistant Skin could allow Ciel's defensive abilities to accumulate at a far faster rate than before. Combined, these two effects multiplied the benefits of planting Devil's Snare for Ciel several times over! This was now the most rewarding plant species Ciel could mass-cultivate. Guardian Trees and Piranha Algae weren't even in the same league as the current Devil's Snare. Ciel took a light breath, his eyes full of satisfaction. At this moment, his gaze shifted, and he noticed another line of text faintly appearing in the Devil's Snare's reward information. [Dark Magic Enhancement (Black Iron Tier)] But this line of text existed somewhere between reality and illusion. It seemed to form only with great difficulty. If Ciel hadn't looked carefully, he might have overlooked it entirely. He made a surprised sound, his expression strange. "There's a third reward... Dark Magic Enhancement? Is it because Devil's Snare itself is an aggressive magical plant, combined with the current mutation caused by Sectumsempra? So this new reward was born?" After a moment, Ciel clenched his fist, his expression excited. Whatever the reason, the Dark Magic Enhancement reward would definitely be useful. Even if he didn't learn other dark magic, Sectumsempra could benefit from this enhancement. If he could stack this reward to a high level and combine it with his existing Cutting Spell Enhancement, Sectumsempra's strength would probably reach levels that would astound even Snape, its creator! The only pity was that this reward formed too reluctantly. It barely reached the edge of Black Iron tier. To stack it to an extremely high level would probably be quite difficult. But regardless, the changes to Devil's Snare left Ciel with only one sentiment: pure profit! Next, Ciel looked at the many nodes on the Devil's Snare root that hadn't been treated with Sectumsempra, his eyes showing anticipation. Strike while the iron is hot. Continue! His wand moved like a slashing sword again. "Sectumsempra!" Another Sectumsempra easily cut through the Devil's Snare root's surface. It also cut open a magical node beneath. Sectumsempra's magic formed a barrier at the cut, identical to before. But unlike before, the Devil's Snare root seemed to have gained experience. Its magic no longer surged against the barrier in waves. Instead, it was slowly accumulating power. This made Ciel show surprise. "Devil's Snare has quite high intelligence?" Then he dripped several drops of potion on it. With nutritional supplements, the magic within the Devil's Snare root immediately began growing. But it never launched an assault on the barrier. Instead, not far from the cut, it kept accumulating, accumulating. Like a reservoir filled to capacity. The next moment, torrential waves surged. The magic emanating from Devil's Snare struck the barrier with unprecedented ferocity. Crack. The barrier shattered! Another magical node was successfully processed! Ciel's gaze became increasingly excited. He used Sectumsempra again and again. The amount of potion in his hand rapidly decreased. But in return, increasingly dense magical auras appeared on the Devil's Snare root. Meanwhile, on the system panel, through repeated cutting of Devil's Snare, the silver brilliance on Sectumsempra became increasingly intense. Silver tier was within reach. At this time, Professor Sprout had already arrived at the location specified in the Ministry letter. As soon as she appeared, reporters from magical newspapers large and small swarmed like sharks smelling blood. Camera flashes immediately lit up, accompanied by excited questioning voices. "Professor Sprout, are the Daily Prophet's reports true?" "Did you really abuse your power and become involved in academic scandal?" "How do you explain the Quidditch team's tactical changes?" "And the precious experimental plot allocations in the greenhouse... your nephew got them upon enrollment and will get more after Christmas holidays. Do you admit to this?" "Has academic unfairness become an unspoken reality at Hogwarts?" This flock of vultures and their cacophonous noise made Professor Sprout frown deeply. But before she could speak, a figure like an angry lioness parted the reporters. Professor McGonagall walked coldly to Professor Sprout's side, her eyes full of indignation. "Pomona, these are shameful rumors and slander. I can't imagine the filth they're throwing at you. These reporters don't care about truth at all... they only care about manufacturing big news." Professor Sprout shook her head. "I'm afraid it's more than that. Minerva, there must be forces behind this fanning the flames. Smearing me is just their first step. They're targeting Dumbledore." Professor McGonagall showed worry. "We all think so. And if that's truly the case, they probably won't be reasonable. The upcoming so-called hearing will be very unfair. Dumbledore is trying to find a way..." Before Professor McGonagall could finish, a sickeningly sweet voice rang out. "Sorry, professors. Before the hearing begins, I'm afraid I can't let you keep reminiscing. You understand, it's not that we're afraid you'll conspire together or fabricate evidence, or find some big shot to help... you wouldn't do that, right? Tee-hee, so this is just routine procedure." Then a short, fat figure with a large chin appeared before them. She wore a pink outfit, a velvet hair accessory, and lace decorations all over. She looked like a toad wearing a skirt. Just looking at her gave one a feeling of disgust and discomfort. But she seemed completely unaware of this. She even extended her fat, short hand, trying to shake hands with the two professors. After both Professor Sprout and Professor McGonagall only gave her disgusted looks, she withdrew her hand and giggled again. "Well, let's consider ourselves acquainted. Let me introduce myself... I'm Dolores Umbridge. Senior Ministry Investigator, and also head of the newly established Hogwarts Academic Unfairness Investigation Team." Then Umbridge looked at Professor Sprout. "Professor, please come with me. Before all parties arrive for the hearing, I'm afraid you'll need to wait in the restroom for a while." As she said this, her small, black eyes stared directly at Professor Sprout. She appeared to be smiling. In reality, she looked like a starving hyena, unable to wait to feast. Thick malice emanated without concealment. "Sectumsempra!" With Sectumsempra's sharpness, another magical node on the Devil's Snare root was cut open. Ciel's face showed satisfaction. But immediately after, looking at the test bottle with only a few drops remaining, Ciel sighed again. Using Sectumsempra to cultivate Devil's Snare certainly yielded rich rewards. But the potion consumption compared to using ordinary Pruning Charms was a tenfold increase. The potion Professor Sprout left for Ciel should theoretically have been enough for him to process all the second-level nodes once. But now, having processed less than ten first-level nodes, the potion was already depleted. This gave Ciel a headache. "Ten first-level nodes, over two hundred second and third-level nodes total. This is just the most basic condition for entering the next cultivation stage. To make the Devil's Snare's quality good after maturation and get the most complete rewards, the more nodes the better. At this rate, potion consumption is truly an enormous number." But when he saw the changes on the system panel, despite the heartache over potion consumption speed, his face still showed a satisfied smile. Under Devil's Snare's tempering, Sectumsempra had only the last trace of bronze luster lingering. The rest had been completely covered by silver brilliance. It was truly just one step away from Silver tier. "Sectumsempra reaching Silver tier will be much earlier than I estimated. Unfortunately, this final bit of progress doesn't seem achievable through simple practice." Ciel roughly understood why. "Sectumsempra is also a type of dark magic. What determines dark magic mastery, besides practice frequency, is more importantly the emotions in one's heart. To use the Killing Curse at a high level, to truly kill someone, the intent must be strong. And Sectumsempra is driven by the pain of loss. Unable to advance probably means the pain in my heart isn't intense enough to immediately cause Sectumsempra's qualitative change." Ciel shook his head. He wasn't in a hurry. Currently, Sectumsempra's power was quite sufficient. As for advancement, it was just a matter of time. Compared to this, he still had many detailed questions about cultivating Devil's Snare that he wanted to ask Professor Sprout. Just then, Ciel suddenly noticed something. Since he began cultivating Devil's Snare, he hadn't heard any activity from Professor Sprout for quite a while. He checked the time. It was already dark. Where was his aunt? Ciel then left the greenhouse and walked toward the living room. On the living room table, a letter Professor Sprout had left came into view. He opened and read the letter's contents. Professor Sprout only mentioned that she had some matters requiring her attention. Time was urgent, so she couldn't say goodbye to Ciel in person. It seemed quite reasonable. But looking at the handwriting, Ciel frowned. He felt something was off about Professor Sprout's tone in the letter. As if she were concealing something unpleasant. Though this was just a feeling, Ciel had been with Professor Sprout for so long. He could sense her emotions. Something must have happened. But Ciel racked his brains and couldn't think of what had occurred during this Christmas holiday in the original story. The original only detailed Harry's night wanderings with the invisibility cloak and looking in the Mirror of Erised. It never mentioned what happened to Professor Sprout. This made Ciel feel uneasy. He called Liss over. His expression was serious. "Liss. Tell me. Do you know what happened?" Liss's eyes wandered. She deflected with other topics. "Tonight's dinner is ready. There's Burgundy beef stew, Liss's specialty. And Wellington steak. Oh right, Liss also learned to make Stargazy Pie, very unique. Young Master has worked so long, he must be hungry..." Before she could finish, Ciel's heart sank. Clearly something had really happened, but Professor Sprout had told Liss not to tell him. He emphasized his tone to Liss. "Liss, what exactly happened? Are you going to hide from or deceive me... your young master? Does this conform to house-elf morality? Do you want to be dismissed?" Upon hearing this, Liss immediately let out a panicked scream. Large tears spilled from her eyes. "Liss doesn't want to deceive Young Master. But Liss also cannot disobey Master's orders. Liss knows, but Liss cannot say, Liss cannot say..." Ciel then softened his tone. "Liss. You don't have to say it out loud. You just need to point with your finger and tell me where I can find out what happened. That way you're neither lying nor disobeying Aunt's orders, right?" Hearing this, Liss finally extended her finger, tremblingly pointing at a drawer. Ciel immediately walked over and opened the drawer. He immediately saw a hidden copy of the Daily Prophet. And a stack of letters. Looking at the Daily Prophet's front page headline and the countless slanders and distortions of Professor Sprout between the lines, Ciel instantly felt an unstoppable rage surge in his chest. Since crossing into this magical world, he had little sense of belonging to most things. But Professor Sprout's care for him had made Ciel truly feel she was like his own family. An elder who would sacrifice everything for him. Other things Ciel didn't care about. But insulting and slandering Professor Sprout... Ciel couldn't tolerate it. Looking at the reporter's name who wrote this report, Ciel's eyes flickered coldly. "Rita Skeeter. This debt, I'll settle with you slowly." Then he quickly opened that stack of letters. Besides some letters from Professor Sprout's friends expressing shock and condolences, pressed at the bottom was a letter from the Ministry requiring Professor Sprout to attend a public hearing. The letter was signed by Cornelius Fudge, Umbridge, and a bunch of other high-ranking Ministry officials. Seeing this letter, how could Ciel not understand? Professor Sprout had completely concealed this from him. Not wanting him involved in such matters. So she had gone to the hearing alone. Ciel wasn't truly an eleven-year-old wizard. From reading the Harry Potter books in his past life, he understood that the magical world wasn't a fairy tale. Dirty politics thrived here too. Especially this Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge... he was a complete political creature. In the original story, it was because he denied Voldemort's return for his own power that Death Eaters quickly regained control of the Ministry. The entire process was so smooth there were almost no obstacles. Fudge was thus mockingly called "the Death Eater who wasn't a Death Eater" by fans. At Death Eater victory banquets, if Fudge didn't take his seat, no one dared touch their utensils. Even Voldemort had to toast Fudge! With such leadership, what kind of people the Ministry officials were could be imagined. To help Fudge throw mud at Dumbledore, they would spare no effort in attacking Professor Sprout. Especially Umbridge, who was in charge of this hearing. The most hypocritical and disgusting villain in the original story. Just reading text descriptions could make one physically ill. Thinking of Professor Sprout silently enduring all this, Ciel felt both anger and intense pain sweep through his heart. "Cornelius Fudge. Dolores Umbridge." He clenched his fists tightly. Veins bulged on his knuckles. On the system panel, the silver brilliance on Sectumsempra's text seemed driven by the pain in Ciel's heart, suddenly blazing. The last trace of bronze luster instantly faded. Replaced by complete silver light. [Sectumsempra (Silver Tier)] advanced! But this time, Ciel had no mind to pay attention to Sectumsempra's advancement. His expression was unprecedentedly grave. All he could think about was how to break this situation. At this time, at the hearing venue, the hearing targeting Professor Sprout and so-called academic unfairness had continued for nearly an hour. Umbridge's initially smug, disgusting smile could no longer hang on her face. Looking at Professor Sprout sitting calmly, disgust flashed in her eyes. Umbridge couldn't understand why the Head of Hufflepuff, who she thought was gentle and seemed afraid of trouble, was actually so difficult to deal with. Professor Sprout hadn't come to let them throw mud at her... she had come prepared. As for their attempts to target Dumbledore, Professor Sprout had deftly deflected them all. This earthy professor was troublesome! In the hearing seats, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Snape, sitting alone in a corner, all looked at Umbridge with disdain. As if looking at a clown. Did they really think Professor Sprout was easy to deal with? Foolish. Behind the scenes, Cornelius Fudge's face also looked grim. He shot Umbridge a vicious look, as if questioning her. Didn't you say you were confident? How is Professor Sprout still not taken down? At this moment, Umbridge's expression also twisted. This hearing was related to whether she could advance. She desperately wanted to advance! Looking at Professor Sprout's calm face, Umbridge took a deep breath, calming the malice churning in her chest. Fortunately, she still had a trump card. Everyone has weaknesses. She had long since found out what this herbology master's weakness was. Then Umbridge said quietly, "Given Professor Sprout's firm denial of academic unfairness charges. Plus, the existing evidence does seem rather insufficient. So I think it's necessary to call the other accused party in this academic unfairness allegation... Hufflepuff first-year student Ciel Sprout. Perhaps this way we can better understand the truth of the matter." Upon hearing this, Professor Sprout's expression instantly turned furious. She stared at Umbridge intently. "You dare?!" Now Umbridge showed that disgusting, hypocritical smile again. She leisurely took out a booklet. While flipping through it, she smiled and said, "To maintain academic fairness at Hogwarts, this is a necessary procedure. Just asking Ciel Sprout to testify in court... why are you so angry, Professor? Or are you afraid some things will be exposed? For instance..." She opened the booklet and read aloud. "We found the entry records for the Hufflepuff greenhouse. Ciel Sprout frequently enters the greenhouse late at night, not leaving until dawn, without returning to his dormitory to sleep in between. There are sixty-two such records, meaning in the few months since school started, this child spent most nights in the greenhouse. Perhaps even without sleep or rest?" "Also, you've repeatedly promoted Ciel in public venues. Hogwarts held Lumos's final tests and Levitation Charm tests. The final prizes and honors all went to Ciel Sprout. But according to what we found, Ciel Sprout's magical talent is only slightly above Hogwarts' admission threshold. Is such performance reasonable? Your explanation is still that same old story... because Ciel works tirelessly, practicing one spell over ten thousand times without getting bored." Umbridge showed a confident expression. "So... I'd like to invite Mr. Ciel Sprout to the hearing. No other meaning. Just want to broaden our horizons." Upon hearing this, Professor Sprout's body immediately trembled. As if she had heard something she found incredible. Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Snape in the audience seats also looked at each other strangely. Their expressions became extremely odd. Umbridge took all this in. Her heart leaped with excitement. As if seeing the scene after this hearing where a headmaster would be disgraced, Dumbledore's reputation damaged, while she could use this fame to rise smoothly. With this reputation, competing for the next Minister of Magic position wasn't impossible! So the next moment, unable to contain herself, Umbridge immediately announced. "Please bring Mr. Ciel Sprout! Let us see what kind of 'talent' he truly possesses." [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!