Professor Sprout strode over and saw the students gathered tensely together, sounding an alarm in her mind.
"What are you doing? Why aren't you in class yet?"
She asked sternly, with a serious expression on her face.
Pansy immediately complained, "Professor, Gray used an evil spell on Draco, and now he can't speak!"
Professor Sprout was very surprised. She looked at Malfoy, then frowned and asked Vid, "Is this your doing, Mr. Gray?"
Padma immediately raised her hand and said loudly, "It was Malfoy who insulted a classmate first, Professor! Vid didn't do anything wrong."
Pansy argued, "It was Michael who humiliated Draco first! He deserved it!"
Padma retorted immediately, "How did he humiliate him? He just asked Malfoy how he stays in touch with his parents."
"Uh..."
Pansy was suddenly at a loss for words.
Professor Sprout, having a headache from the two girls' quarrel, randomly pointed at a student, "You, tell me what happened, Gr..."
No, Vid Gray is involved today.
Professor Sprout awkwardly redirected her finger to Anthony Goldstein next to her.
"...Mr. Goldstein."
Anthony was stunned for a moment, then stepped forward and recounted the events impartially:
"...In the end, Gray used a nonverbal spell to make Malfoy unable to speak, that's how it went."
"Nonverbal spell?"
Professor Sprout looked at Vid in surprise, her tone softening.
Now that class time had arrived, she straightforwardly released the spell on Malfoy, saying, "Regardless, insulting classmates or using spells on them is wrong. I'm going to deduct five points from everyone... and three days of detention."
Vid quietly accepted the punishment.
Malfoy, however, seemed indignant, but under the professor's severe gaze, he said nothing.
Beside Vid, Michael looked coldly at Malfoy.
"Today in the third greenhouse."
Professor Sprout led the students to a greenhouse they had never visited before.
She opened the door, revealing hundreds of young Mandrake plants inside, half of which were still in nursery pots and the other half had been transferred to large flower pots.
There was also a bench inside the greenhouse with over twenty differently colored earmuffs on it.
"Today we're going to repot the Mandrakes. As you can see, the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs in the first period have already completed half of the work. I hope your class can proceed just as smoothly."
Professor Sprout scanned the crowd and asked, "Now, who can tell me the characteristics of the Mandrake?"
Several students raised their hands, and Professor Sprout casually pointed at one to answer.
Vid was a bit intrigued as he looked at the green and purple seedlings.
Mandrake is a powerful restorative, which, in the original plot, even restored a ghost petrified by a basilisk.
At the same time, Mandrake is also an essential material for practicing advanced Transfiguration techniques, such as becoming an Animagus.
Repotting Mandrakes isn't easy because their roots are ugly babies that struggle and scream when pulled out, and hearing their cries can make a person faint for several hours.
If they're mature Mandrakes, their crying can even be lethal.
Vid, wearing earmuffs, pre-dug a hole in the large flower pot, then quickly pulled out the Mandrake seedling and stuffed it into the pot, and Michael swiftly filled in the soil.
The baby with leaves on its head hadn't had time to stretch its arms before it was already buried in the soil.
Their efficiency was very high.
After burying the third seedling, Michael looked up to see that many students were still struggling with their first Mandrake doll.
The light green doll squirmed vigorously in their hands, kicking with its arms and legs, even using its little fists to hit.
The students, holding what seemed like a jumping rat, didn't dare let it come close, nor could they let go, and three or four of them were breaking into a sweat.
Especially Malfoy's group.
Crabbe and Goyle were considerably more clumsy than others, struggling for ages to contain just one seedling and almost having their earmuffs pulled off.
Malfoy was angrily cursing, but everyone was wearing earmuffs, so no one could hear what he was yelling.
Michael scoffed.
…
To complete all the transplanting, class ended more than ten minutes late.
When the students, exhausted, left, Professor Sprout asked Malfoy and Vid to stay for a moment.
"Mr. Malfoy, your detention starts at nine o'clock this afternoon. Go to the entrance hall and find Mr. Filch; he'll tell you what to do,"
Professor Sprout said.
Malfoy shot Vid a venomous glare and then turned to leave.
"Mr. Gray." Looking at Vid, Professor Sprout's expression softened considerably: "I was very satisfied with your performance in the classroom today."
"Thank you, Professor," Vid replied softly.
Professor Sprout smiled warmly and asked, "Have you already mastered the nonverbal spell?"
It's not that she wanted to treat them differently; it's just that, in this witch's eyes, the Slytherin students had been consistently hostile towards Vid since the previous semester.
As for the reason... does it even need to be said?
Slytherin's prejudice against Muggle-born students never needed a reason.
She was sure that serious, direct conflicts had occurred between them.
All the school professors knew that one day last year, several first-year Slytherin students were crying in the infirmary.
After that, the tension between them eased... but Malfoy seemed to still hold a grudge.
By comparison, even without considering their houses, looking solely at their attitudes, the witch couldn't help but be biased towards Vid.
"The nonverbal spell is quite difficult, and at the moment, I can only barely use it for a small number of spells."
Vid said modestly, then waved his wand.
The earmuffs and spades, carelessly placed by the students on the rack, floated up and settled neatly in their proper places, and the dust and compost on the floor disappeared.
So seamlessly and naturally, there wasn't a hint of "barely" about it.
"Excessive humility is arrogance, Mr. Gray."
Professor Sprout laughed: "A beautiful nonverbal spell. I'm adding ten points for you... and... hmm... your detention will also start at nine tonight, in the second greenhouse."
"Okay, Professor," Vid responded.
The two understood each other; more than detention, it was as if the professor wanted to give him some individual attention.
As they left the greenhouse together, Vid said, "Professor, when these Mandrakes mature, can I apply for a leaf?"
"A leaf?" Professor Sprout understood immediately: "You want to practice becoming an Animagus?"
"Yes." Vid didn't hide it.
"That's quite advanced Transfiguration."
Professor Sprout remarked thoughtfully: "Minerva must be very pleased with your Transfiguration class performance, but she probably wouldn't agree to you practicing Animagus at your current grade level?"
"Actually, I have a very excellent private tutor,"
Vid said with a smile, "Could I ask you to keep this secret for now? The preparation time for Animagus is very long... until I'm confident of success, I don't really want others to know."
Some people can spend years preparing to become Animagi, so it wouldn't be surprising if he only succeeded in his sixth or seventh year after starting now.
Therefore, Professor Sprout generously said, "Of course. But you must promise me that the final step of this magic must be done under a teacher's supervision."
"Yes, I won't take any reckless actions," Vid said earnestly.
He hoped to master the magic of transforming from a person into an animal, but didn't want to really become a naive animal.