#141 - Sprout's Doubt

Professor Sprout had borrowed Growth Potion from Moon two weeks ago. At the time, she only said she wanted to use it on a Christmas cactus, but Moon knew the real reason was definitely not that.

In the month or so since joining the Herbology Club, Moon had gained a lot of knowledge about magical plants.

He had also heard from older students that Devil's Snare and Christmas cactus looked very similar.

And ordinary Christmas cactus simply couldn't absorb the effects of Growth Potion, so the plant that really needed this potion was very likely Devil's Snare.

Moreover, Sprout's borrowing of the potion happened after Moon defeated the troll.

It was also on that night that Moon overheard Professor Snape and Headmaster Dumbledore talking.

Although it was only snippets, Moon knew they were discussing strengthening the defenses of some object.

And in the magical world, Devil's Snare was often used by wizards to guard important places and objects.

After connecting all of these things, Moon had already guessed the general idea.

"Mr. Scarlett, I knew such an excuse wouldn't fool you."

When Moon mentioned the plant that needed Growth Potion, Sprout was visibly surprised.

But she immediately thought of Moon's experience of defeating the troll that night, and knew that this young wizard might have already guessed the truth.

"Professor, I've just experienced a little more than others, and then I was able to deduce these things."

"Don't be modest, Mr. Scarlett. I think you're the only student who could have guessed this, but remember, keep it a secret!"

"I will."

"Wait, Professor, what are you talking about? Weren't we talking about the spores of the Sleeping Death Fungus?"

Cedric had been listening to Sprout and Moon's cryptic conversation ever since he carried the Sleeping Death Fungus to the podium.

He didn't understand what was happening until they said to keep it a secret.

"Diggory, this matter is temporarily confidential to the students, but I might be able to try to deal with your Sleeping Death Fungus."

After Sprout finished speaking to Cedric, she turned to look at Moon.

"However, this matter must be approved by Headmaster Dumbledore, after all, those defenses are all his arrangements."

"Oh, okay."

Moon originally thought that strengthening the Devil's Snare defense only required Professor Sprout's approval, but now it seemed that this matter was not so simple.

Cedric became more and more confused, especially now that Dumbledore was involved.

"Professor, I'm starting to think you're more like Moon's Head of House than mine."

Hearing Cedric's somewhat sour remark, Sprout struck an innocent pose.

"Actually, I've always thought the Sorting Hat made a mistake. Moon should belong to Hufflepuff, shouldn't he?"

"I think so too!"

Moon just smiled and didn't say anything to Sprout and Cedric's teasing.

The Sorting Hat had actually given Moon a Hufflepuff option at the time, but Moon hadn't chosen it.

After Cedric moved the Sleeping Death Fungus away, Moon asked about his plant research problem.

"You think the heat in dragon dung fertilizer is too high, and you want to replace it with this conch creature?"

What Moon took out was naturally the Flame Shell.

Ever since this large conch was salvaged, Moon had been considering whether it could serve as the main ingredient in a new dragon dung fertilizer.

"That's right, this is a marine shellfish creature. It reproduces very quickly, and its shell also has some properties of dragon scales."

"Dragon scales?"

After hearing Moon's statement, Professor Sprout habitually put on dragon hide gloves before picking up the giant conch that she could only hold with both hands.

"The shell is indeed very strong, as if it has been tempered. Are there still such creatures in the sea?"

Professor Sprout picked up the giant conch and carefully examined it back and forth.

"There should be. The sailors in my hometown caught it near an underwater volcano."

"Oh, no wonder. Wizards rarely reach the deep sea, so there might be strange marine magical creatures somewhere."

Professor Sprout's words reminded Moon.

As far as Moon knew, both worlds had oceans that were much larger than land.

And most of the wizards' research on magic was on various creatures on land, while there was very little on those in the sea.

"Professor, there should be many kinds of creatures in the ocean, right? Why do we rarely learn about them?"

In Moon's view, he now had a ship and would be living on the islands for a long time.

If he could learn about processing marine magical materials at Hogwarts,

Then he would be able to obtain more magical materials on the Vena Islands, thereby enhancing his own magical strength.

"The sea, that mysterious area, wizards have indeed explored very little.

The main reason is that we are not adapted to activities in the sea, and there are relatively few corresponding spells. Also, I think we are already busy enough with things on land."

Professor Sprout's point of view made Moon unable to refute, especially the last point.

The workload of Hogwarts professors is relatively heavy in the entire British magical world.

But Moon was completely different. Apart from being a little busy at Hogwarts, he had a lot of time on the Vena Islands.

Considering all the current conditions, exploring the ocean was completely feasible for Moon.

The only thing he needed to do was to learn some spells that would allow Moon to move in the sea.

Of course, this might not be possible in the short term, after all, ocean exploration was a completely new field for any wizard.

After adding this idea to his future plans, Moon looked at the Flame Shell in Sprout's hand again.

"Professor, do you think this conch meat can be used to make dragon dung fertilizer?"

"It should be possible. When I chose dragon dung in the first place, besides discovering that this thing is very beneficial for plant absorption,

I also valued the fact that it contains a lot of magical energy, but dragon dung also has a fatal flaw."

After Professor Sprout finished speaking, she walked to the side of the classroom and brought up a bucket of dragon dung fertilizer.

"The magical energy contained in it has a very high temperature. It can originally create a warm and comfortable growing environment for plants, but long-term use will inevitably produce the opposite result due to the high temperature."

Professor Sprout finished speaking and picked up the Flame Shell again.

"And if this large conch lives in an underwater volcano, then it is far more suitable than dragon dung. Of course,

This requires me to study it further."

Seeing that Professor Sprout was willing to try to research it, Moon readily agreed to provide this large conch for free.

In Moon's view, Sprout's research was far more beneficial than harmful to him.

As the Herbology Professor of Hogwarts, and a Herbology master in the British and even European magical world,

Once Sprout's research is successful, then more wizards will definitely know about it.

And the raw materials for configuring this new version of fertilizer are currently only known to be available from Moon.

This will find Moon a stable income for his life in the British magical world.

In addition, if the new version of fertilizer can be successful, Moon can also try to use it on crops.

This might solve Moon's long-standing problem of food shortage.