As the reward light balls flowed into Char's body, a familiar surge of energy washed over him. On the system panel before him, a new line of prompts appeared, refreshing with every pulse of magic:
[You cultivate the goldfish spider plant to maturity]
[You get a reward – a slight increase in magic perception (Black Iron level)]
[...]
That familiar tingling sensation returned, magic threading through Char's veins, responding to his will. Yet this time, the feeling was far less intense than before. Char realized why: his magical perception had grown so much that these small increases felt like drops in a much larger pool. It was like filling a washbasin with water versus filling a giant tank—the same amount made much less of a splash.
And, of course, the number of reward light balls was much lower this time, since the troll had eaten so many of his goldfish spider plants. The improvement in [Magic Perception Enhancement] was naturally less dramatic, and the feeling faded quickly.
Char wasn't surprised, but as he looked at the system panel, a trace of regret flickered in his eyes. The silver luster on [Magic Perception Improved] was richer and brighter than ever, but there wasn't even a hint of gold. He was still some distance from the next breakthrough.
"It seems I overestimated the effect of the Black Iron level rewards," Char thought. "Even if the troll hadn't destroyed nearly a third of my plants, the rewards from this harvest still wouldn't have pushed my [Magic Perception Enhancement] to gold."
He shook his head, a wry smile on his lips. "Still, it's not bad. One more harvest and I should be able to get promoted. But as my magical perception grows, I'll need more and more goldfish spider plants for each improvement. Production is still too low. I need to find a way to increase it."
His mind drifted back to the scene of the goldfish spider plant maturing rapidly after contact with the troll. His eyes narrowed in thought. He'd have to try that experiment—just as soon as the excitement over the troll incident died down. Until then, it was best not to attract Dumbledore's suspicion.
With nothing else to do, and unable to sleep, Char decided to make the most of his quiet night in the infirmary. "Might as well read something interesting," he mused, pulling out a book titled "Succubus Queen and Dragon Maid." The flashy cover was just a disguise—inside, it was actually "Advanced Potion Making" signed by the Half-Blood Prince.
Char turned the pages carefully, reading every word. When he'd first acquired the Half-Blood Prince textbook, his attention had been on the Inverted Bell Spell and the Divine Sword Shadowless Spell. But the book was several hundred pages long, every page filled with notes. The two famous spells were just a tiny part of the treasure within.
Now, with time on his hands, Char began to study the rest of the content. The densely packed small print was daunting. At first, he couldn't understand much at all.
"Verum, sine mendacio, certum et verissimum… Quod est inferius est sicut quod est superius…" The notes jumped from Latin to ancient Egyptian, to runes and other languages. Char felt like an illiterate child, struggling to make sense of it.
Just as he was about to give up, he spotted some familiar English. "The harmony of the magic power of the potion is very similar to what is said in the Emerald Record. Below is as above, and above is as below. Thus the miracle of Taiyi is accomplished. The source of all perfection in the world is here. The Hermetic Collection of Secret Meanings provides an equally brilliant but different interpretation of this…"
Char let out a soft hiss. Even in English, the notes were cryptic, full of classical references and philosophical musing. If he didn't know this was Snape's own textbook, he might have dismissed it as the ramblings of a pretentious schoolboy. But this was the genius who, as the original work confirmed, had mastered more magic than most seventh-years before even finishing school.
Snape must have been in fifth or sixth year when he wrote these notes. By then, his knowledge of spells and potions was already far beyond the curriculum. These pages were the summary of a mature magical system. The Inverted Golden Bell Spell and the Divine Sword Shadowless Spell were just two products of that system. The real treasure was the knowledge itself.
Char's heart pounded. If he could master these principles, he might one day create new spells of his own.
Realistically, though, he knew he didn't have the background yet to fully understand Snape's notes. Maybe he should put the book aside for now—or better yet, ask Hermione for help.
As he flipped to the next page, he found the detailed process of Snape creating his first spell—the Fuchsia Curse. The spell itself took only a page to explain, but the creation process filled dozens. Even for a genius like Snape, inventing a spell was no simple feat.
The notes broke down and analyzed existing spells—Glowing Charm, Loosening Charm, Pruning Charm, even the Levitation Spell Char would soon learn—extracting their essence to use as building blocks for something new.
Char felt as if he were standing before a treasure vault, able to pick up gold with every handful. He realized that, compared to Snape's achievements, his own gold-level Luminescence Charm and Pruning Charm, and silver-level Soil Loosening Charm, were just the beginning. Even Hermione's spellwork likely didn't compare.
Every word in Snape's notes seemed to pulse with magic, drawing Char in. He read and reread, losing track of time. The night passed in a blink.
A cough startled him from his trance. Madam Pomfrey stood by his bed, eyeing the book "Succubus Queen and Dragon Maid" with a bemused expression.
"Ahem. Char, it's understandable for young people to get curious. But staying up all night reading this sort of book isn't good for your health."
Char blinked, then quickly closed the book and stammered a goodbye before hurrying out of the infirmary.
Madam Pomfrey watched him go, shaking her head with a smile. "That boy… The Sprout family might have a lot of branches and leaves in the future. If Pomona knew, she'd probably start matchmaking before he even graduates. Ah, love…"
Her voice softened, a hint of wistfulness in her tone. "A child that young already has hope of falling in love. What about me? Why did I ever choose medicine?"
Meanwhile, Char hurried away, his heart pounding. He glanced at his system panel—and what he saw made his breath catch.
The silver light shimmered like waves, the gold gleamed like rain, and now, for the first time, a brilliant platinum shine sparkled before his eyes.