The Genie of the Magic Lamp, "Cornwall," released a green sprite that had been transformed from a slug.
Originally, it had been a green, spotted slug, but now it had changed into a sea slug known as the "Blue Dragon"—a beautiful creature in blue and white, with tendrils unfurling like wings.Moreover, because it had been transformed from a magical lifeform into a green sprite, it no longer faced the limitation of living only in the ocean. At this moment, it was gracefully flying through the air, its wings spread wide.
"Defensive Aura! Offensive Aura! Curse-type Skills!"
Following Regulus Black's command, the green sprite displayed a ring of Defensive Aura, passing it along to Regulus and the Genie of the Lamp, "Cornwall."Then it shifted into an Offensive Aura, bristling outward like a spiny hedgehog.Finally, under a bleak green light, it was imbued with the properties of a curse.
From the beginning, Regulus Black had never intended for these sprites to have active attack skills—individual transformed green sprites were simply too small, and the magic they could bear was limited.Rather than assigning them offensive roles, it was better to use them as expendable resources.
Although the design included two types of auras and three categories of skills, each green sprite could only withstand one skill at a time.When using Shout Skills or Trap Skills, the sprite itself was consumed as a sacrificial catalyst.
In this way, apart from the wizard's magic and the necromancer skills inherent to his own system, Regulus could now access skills from other classes as well—provided he had a suitable carrier to bear them.
You see, although the "Golden Memory Dragon Egg Secret Realm" was a creation of Regulus Black, containing every class and skill from the Diablo game, he himself couldn't enter it to learn those skills.He could send a unicorn in to learn, but not himself.It was a genuine regret.
However, now that he had successfully crafted the Genie Lamp of the Cornish Pixies, that regret could be offset.Even if it wasn't the direct use of the Seven Great Classes' skills, this workaround was still a good alternative.
Mandrakes were a very commonly used ingredient in potion-making.Within the Hogwarts Castle grounds, there was a large greenhouse dedicated to growing magical herbs, overseen by the Head of Hufflepuff, Professor Sprout.This plump and kindly witch was also the Herbology professor.
Compared to Potions class, although the two subjects were quite similar, their popularity was worlds apart.
Rumor had it that Neville from Gryffindor, after hearing the "beautiful singing" of a Mandrake during Herbology class, was now residing in the infirmary.
Meanwhile, Peeves the Poltergeist had been spreading rumors around the school that Neville had been "mesmerized by the Mandrake's alluring figure," which caused Neville, who had just woken up in the hospital wing, to wish he had simply removed his earmuffs and died from the Mandrake's scream instead.
"Professor Sprout! You've really grown a lot of Mandrakes!For teaching purposes, this seems a bit excessive, doesn't it?"
One morning after breakfast, Regulus Black paid a visit to Professor Sprout.His main goal was to consult her about herb cultivation—after all, the fertile red soil of the Scarlet Manor remained unused, and that was simply wasteful.
Professor Sprout had just finished teaching the younger students how to repot Mandrakes a few days ago, so she was now busy tidying up and fixing the parts the students had botched.
"Oh, you're asking about that!You know, magical herbs have always had a steady market.Besides selling them directly, we can also have Snape brew them into potions for sale.With that income, the Herbology department can be self-sustaining.Most importantly, these herbs are mainly used to create life-saving potions—it's a good deed, and doing good brings joy to the heart and soul!"
Clearly, Professor Sprout was thoroughly enjoying herself.Her passion for Herbology was obvious—and that love extended naturally to cultivating herbs.
Regulus Black was already quite familiar with the situation.After serving as an assistant for a year, there weren't many secrets left about the school's operations.
In truth, the profits Dumbledore earned from selling magical herbs were quite substantial—far more than simply making the Herbology department self-sufficient.
However, just like the revenue he funneled from other Hogwarts projects, all that money went to fund the Order of the Phoenix.
After all, fighting Voldemort took more than just passion—it took a lot of "other things," and many of those could be bought with money.
Still, Regulus wasn't here today to dig into Dumbledore's financial sources.His real purpose was to seek advice on how to cultivate magical herbs in the red soil.
"You mean planting in red soil?If my Devil's Snare were still around, maybe you could even get a new mutated variety out of it!You know, that large Devil's Snare was a carefully cultivated mutant of mine—I had already reduced many of its flaws."
Professor Sprout mentioned the Devil's Snare that had been taken away by Regulus Black, wearing an expression like a mother whose child had been kidnapped.
"What a pity! It was destroyed. Dumbledore said it was destroyed when that person left."
It seemed Dumbledore had informed the four Heads who had set up the barriers that all their arrangements had been destroyed when the Dark Lord departed.Although it was unfortunate that no traces were left behind, the four Heads obviously trusted Dumbledore's word.
However, talking about this matter right in front of Regulus Black was rather awkward—after all, that Devil's Snare was actually still in his possession, now stored in the "Golden Memory Dragon Egg Secret Realm" as material.
If Professor Sprout had been a beautiful young woman, Regulus Black wouldn't have minded opening his arms for a comforting hug.But considering her plump figure, he decided it was best to forget that idea.
"Can Mandrakes continue to grow after maturing?After all, in the wild, plants don't get harvested once they mature—they keep growing.What I mean is, would a Mandrake eventually grow to human size?"
Regulus Black casually posed a hypothetical question, but Professor Sprout turned to him with a confused expression.
"I don't know about that. Usually, Mandrakes are harvested immediately after maturing.As for wild Mandrakes growing to adult size, I've never heard of such a thing—unless you could somehow solve the Mandrakes' premature aging problem."
Professor Sprout seemed to have led the topic to a strange place.Mandrakes had premature aging problems?
"Professor Sprout, I don't quite understand what you mean.Premature aging usually only happens in humans, doesn't it?"
Regulus Black was a little surprised—it was the first time he had ever heard anything like this.
"I know that in the Muggle world, there's a disease like that—children who, from birth, age several times faster than normal.It's not true growth—their bodies stay at the size of infants, but their organs and tissues rapidly age, causing them to die in their early teens.Mandrakes have a similar problem.I've never seen a Mandrake grow to adult size; each one stays the size of an infant.But look at their appearance—do any of them look like young children?All of them have aged faces and wrinkled skin.When we say a Mandrake has matured, it actually means it has aged to the point of death."
Professor Sprout was deeply sympathetic toward those children suffering from premature aging, even though they were Muggles.
"So if we could prevent the Mandrakes from aging, would they be able to grow to adult size?"
Regulus Black pressed further, a sudden idea flashing through his mind.
"I'm not really sure about that," Professor Sprout replied,"but you can certainly try.After all, Herbology is a subject where practice leads to truth."
She stacked the used flowerpots, tidied up the repotted Mandrakes the students had worked on, and then brought over a pot containing a young Mandrake, handing it decisively to Regulus Black.
"I imagine you have some ideas already, don't you?Well then, go ahead and try!Maybe you really will succeed!"
As a Hogwarts graduate who had also spent a year teaching there, Regulus Black suddenly felt like he had gone back to his student days.Professor Sprout had been teaching Herbology just as long as Professor McGonagall had been teaching Transfiguration, meaning she had taught not only Regulus Black, but also Snape and Harry Potter's father.
Though Regulus hadn't particularly liked the subject back then, he had still earned top marks in it.
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