Pushing open the greenhouse door, Shawn felt his heartbeat quicken. What if Professor Sprout wasn't there? What if the professor had already finished processing the venomous snake fangs? What if—
The moment the thought flashed through his mind, Shawn cast it aside, because he saw the plump professor working diligently.
"Professor Sprout." Shawn jogged over, his voice showing emotion.
"Welcome, Mr. Green." Professor Sprout greeted Shawn kindly. "Come with me. Today we have special materials to process."
Shawn's jog turned into a run, as if Professor Sprout would disappear in a moment of distraction. The plump witch made an "oh" sound and pushed aside the vines above Shawn's head.
Professor Sprout walked briskly ahead, leading Shawn through the familiar Bubotuber pod area. "The dear Bubotuber pods are about to mature. When the pink pods get a bit bigger, the shiny beans will jump down. We need to harvest them before they jump, or the greenhouse will bloom full of pod flowers." The professor pinched a pod and spoke with the joy of harvest. "Mr. Green, will you come harvest them?"
Shawn gave a firm "Yes," and the two wizards, one large and one small, arrived at the oak table. Various snake fangs were laid out on it.
"Every year at this time I help process some materials... Ah, look at these snake fangs. They're really solid. Mr. Green, do you know their differences?" Professor Sprout waved her wand, and several snake fangs hung before Shawn. They were sharp and keen, gleaming coldly, and indeed seemed to have some differences.
"Venomous snake fangs have a hollow canal inside." After carefully observing the fangs for a while, Shawn said.
"Completely correct." Professor Sprout was somewhat surprised. "Keen observation." After she finished speaking, a mortar and pestle flew into Shawn's hands. "Try grinding it, Mr. Green."
Shawn didn't hesitate. Grinding wasn't a troublesome task, especially since the pestle in his hand seemed to possess some kind of magic. Shawn guessed it was something like a Crushing Curse, making his progress very fast. Professor Sprout watched Shawn grind seriously, then waved her wand. Ten mortars and pestles on the table all moved.
"For a Wideye Potion, we need to grind it finer, but for the Cure for Boils, this size is about right." As Professor Sprout's voice fell, Shawn stopped grinding. He had already completed processing ten portions of materials.
Shouldn't be too slow, Shawn thought, then saw ten mortars moving together. Well, wizards were just too comprehensive.
Shawn didn't mind much. Instead, he seriously noted the grinding state of the snake fangs and carefully observed the differences between venomous and non-venomous snake fang powder. Unfortunately, he couldn't find any.
"Oh, Mr. Green." Professor Sprout saw his eyes almost pressed against the powder and laughed so hard her hat tilted. She waved her wand again, and the powder was loaded into different colored glass bottles. The venomous snake fang bottle was pale red, while the non-venomous was white.
Shawn suddenly understood.
"The angle of the sunflower tells me you should go, Mr. Green." Professor Sprout tapped her five fingers back and forth, making a goodbye gesture.
Shawn realized an hour and a half had passed. He quickly said goodbye to the professor, only asking quietly, "Professor, can I come this afternoon?"
"Of course. The greenhouse welcomes every child who loves nature."
So Shawn pushed open the greenhouse door. In the afternoon, Ravenclaw would have their first Transfiguration class together with Gryffindor. He didn't want to be turned into a pocket watch or something, so he quickened his pace.
Incidentally, he opened the panel:
[Herbology Recognition: Locked (59/90)]
[Apprentice-level Herbology Recognition can unlock Apprentice-level title in Herbology domain.]
Processing snake fangs indeed couldn't count as herbology. Shawn continued reading.
[Levitation Charm: Apprentice Level (4/300)]
[Scouring Charm: Apprentice Level (70/300)]
[Lumos: Entry Level (19/900)]
Lumos had reached Entry level. Shawn lit his wand—it was much brighter than at Apprentice level, and moreover, casting was faster and easier. As for being as bright as in the classroom before, he'd need to build up emotion, though success wasn't guaranteed. Actually, Shawn had tried in the classroom but could never produce such bright light again.
The Transfiguration classroom was on the castle's second floor, not far from Professor McGonagall's office. Entering the classroom, what came into view was a not-too-long brown wooden desk with a chair from the Plantagenet dynasty period behind it. An antique. Hogwarts was really rich, Shawn thought.
Then he saw the conflicted Michael, sitting beside a black-haired girl. He was currently struggling with whether to sit with Shawn. Shawn shook his head and sat down beside Hermione. Next to her was a cage containing a squeaking rat. Even though the desks were for two people, the seat beside her was always empty.
"Shawn, did you see the tabby cat on the desk? She's really cute." Shawn looked up. A silver-gray tabby cat sat elegantly on the desk.
"Yes." Shawn nodded.
As they spoke, they heard a creaking sound from behind. It was Harry and Ron, frantically pushing open the door and bursting into the classroom. By now, they were already three minutes late. Hermione looked back, then shook her head with pursed lips.
"We made it. If we had been late, Professor McGonagall's expression would definitely be scary." Ron said with relief.
Seeing they hadn't taken their seats yet, Shawn knew they couldn't escape. The tabby cat leaped and transformed into a tall witch. She wore dark green robes and tilted her head, gazing at Ron. His eyes widened, his lips pressed tight, silently screaming, 'Harry, do you think we can survive?'
"That was really brilliant," Ron said, hoping to smooth things over.
"Thank you for your assessment, Mr. Weasley. Perhaps I should transform you and Mr. Potter into a pocket watch. That way at least one of you might be on time?"
"We got lost."
"Perhaps I should turn you into a map, then. Surely you don't need a map to find your seats?"
Low laughter immediately rang through the classroom. "Two points from Gryffindor." Professor McGonagall added.
Shawn saw Hermione glance at Harry and Ron again, speechless. Gryffindor lived up to its reputation, Shawn thought.
"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall said sternly. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. I'm warning you now."
After Professor McGonagall finished speaking, she waved her wand. The desk before her transformed into a pig that walked around the classroom, then transformed back. The young wizards watched with shining eyes, eager to start learning immediately.