After confirming the Potion's effectiveness, Luke returned indoors content and bottled a pot of Shrinking Potion.
Shrinking Potion can not only shrink large monsters, thereby rendering them harmless, but also allow people to shrink their bodies after consumption, thus hiding themselves. It is a very practical Potion.
After successfully making the Shrinking Potion, Luke continued his efforts, subsequently attempting to make other Potions in the following days.
He successfully created Forgetfulness Potion, Soothing Potion, and Sleeping Potion.
At the same time, he used two pots of mature dittany to make Essence of Dittany. After all, Luke never thought he had enough of this Potion, which has miraculous effects on healing wounds.
However, compared to the two pots of early-maturing dittany, the other two pots of poisonous nightshade showed little change. Even though Luke watered them with magic every day, they absorbed it all without resistance, but there was no sign of them transforming into Mandrake.
Luke also had some doubts about whether this poisonous nightshade would eventually turn into Mandrake, but with the idea of not giving up halfway, he continued to water them with magic every day, wanting to see what they would eventually become.
In a blink of an eye, the time came to early spring in the Shire.
It had been almost a year since Luke came to Middle-earth.
One day, Luke was studying the contents of "Curses and Counter-Curses" when he was disturbed by the commotion outside.
Bilbo knocked on Luke's door, standing at the entrance with some hesitation.
Luke shifted his gaze from the curse book, turning his head to look at the door, "Bilbo, what's wrong?"
After a moment of hesitation, Bilbo said hesitantly, "Luke, I suspect Bag End is haunted!"
"Haunted?" Luke was surprised to hear this, trying to find any trace of a joke on Bilbo's face.
Bilbo's expression became more certain, and he nodded, "Yes, it's haunted. These past few days, when I was repairing the garden, I always vaguely heard crying, it sounded like a baby's cry, very strange and frightening!"
"A baby's cry?" Luke was puzzled for a moment, but then suddenly seemed to think of something, and quickly walked out of the room to the front yard.
Bilbo also followed closely, curious.
Luke came to the two pots of poisonous nightshade in the yard and examined them carefully. During these days, besides watering the two pots of poisonous nightshade with magic regularly every day, he hadn't paid much attention to them.
Now, upon closer inspection, aside from the branches and leaves growing a bit taller, he found nothing unusual.
But Luke did not give up checking. He gently pushed aside the soil with his wand, revealing the roots buried in the soil. He saw that the roots were a human-like structure, resembling an ugly-faced baby, complete with limbs and facial features.
Seeing the human-like roots of the poisonous nightshade, Luke was instantly delighted.
His Mandrake cultivation had actually succeeded!
Mandrake has powerful medicinal value. It is a potent restorative, capable of returning people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state, and it is also an essential ingredient in many advanced Potions.
Even in the magic world, it is a very precious and rare Herbology plant, requiring specific magic environments and care to thrive.
During these days, seeing that the poisonous nightshade had not changed for a long time, he had lost some confidence.
He never expected such a surprise now.
Just as Luke was happy.
The Mandrake, pulled out of the soil, was very unhappy. Restless and agitated, it twisted its body, opened its mouth, and let out a sharp, piercing cry.
Luke only felt as if his head had been hit hard by an iron hammer on the back of his head. He instantly had a splitting headache, and the world spun around him, feeling as if he would faint at any moment.
Oh no, I forgot about the Mandrake's cry!
Luke was overjoyed, then saddened. He suppressed the urge to faint and quickly cast a spell on the Mandrake.
"Petrificus Totalus!" The Mandrake's cry stopped instantly.
"Phew!" Luke had just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard a thud behind him.
Turning around, he saw Bilbo's eyes rolled back, unconscious on the ground.
Luke re-covered the Mandrake roots with soil, then quickly helped up the unconscious Bilbo.
Fortunately, the Mandrake was still immature, only in its infancy, so its cry was not fatal; at most, it would cause people to faint for a while.
Luke had a higher tolerance for the Mandrake's cry and did not faint immediately.
But poor Bilbo was affected and suffered.
Luke carried the unconscious Bilbo to his room and waited for him to wake up.
Two hours later, Bilbo finally woke up. He clutched his head, looking a bit dazed, "Hiss, what happened to me?"
"Drink this Potion first, it will alleviate your discomfort," Luke said, offering him a cup of Soothing Potion.
Bilbo knew the miraculous effects of the Potions Luke made, so he didn't refuse and gulped it down.
He immediately frowned, showing a pained expression, "Ugh, a strange taste!"
But the effect was also obvious. Bilbo quickly recovered and also recalled the memory of his unconsciousness.
Bilbo immediately looked fearful and amazed, "Luke, what was that exactly? Why do the roots of the poisonous nightshade look like a person, and why do they emit a cry that makes people faint?"
"I'm so sorry, that you had to suffer. That is a magic plant I cultivated—Mandrake," Luke explained apologetically. "I originally thought the cultivation had failed and didn't pay too much attention, but I didn't expect it had already transformed in the soil. The crying sounds these past few days were from it."
At Luke's apology, the kind hobbit felt a bit embarrassed and quickly waved his hand, "This isn't your fault, besides, I'm fine now, aren't I!"
However, Bilbo still felt some lingering fear about the Mandrake's cry and quickly asked, "Luke, will the Mandrake still make that kind of cry?"
Luke shook his head and reassured him with a smile, "Don't worry, before they mature, Mandrake generally like to sleep in the soil. Unless you pull them out of the soil, they won't make a cry that causes people to faint."
"As for the commotion these past few days, it should be because they need to be re-potted. Once the soil is changed, they will become quiet again," Luke speculated, recalling the contents of his Herbology Class textbook.
Mandrake needs to be repotted regularly. After Luke transplanted them previously, besides watering them with magic regularly, he had forgotten to change their soil.
Now that they had successfully transformed, to ensure they thrived, they needed to be nourished with fertile soil.
In the magic world, Herbology experts typically use dragon dung compost to cultivate Mandrake.
But here in Middle-earth, there is a giant dragon in the Lonely Mountain, but that's not realistic.
So Luke could only choose animal manure compost. For this, Luke endured the stench, first giving the two Mandrake two doses of Petrificus Totalus, then re-potting and changing their soil.
After finishing, Luke felt that he smelled terrible all over.
What was even more despairing was that such tasks would have to be done many more times in the future.
The only consolation was that once the Mandrake fully matured, he could make powerful restoratives, and the Voodoo Dolls he had been yearning for.
Just as Luke was waiting day by day for the Mandrake to mature.
One day, another Wizard arrived in the Shire.