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Harry Potter: The Last Scion of Sprout - 254
🕑 Added 2025-09-21 15:52:35 +0000 UTCChapter 254: Bottleneck, Duel, and Storm!
In Ciel's sight, this Patronus tree seed wrapped entirely in silver like a work of art displayed a scene he'd never witnessed before.
Diamond-level pure light, Epic-level purple radiance, and Legendary-level brilliance were actually intertwined together?
"What... what's going on?"
He showed a stunned expression, then looked at the text in the reward information.
[Affected by mythical-level magic, Patronus tree seed has undergone unknown mutation.]
[This Patronus tree seed's final reward level and reward content.]
[Will ultimately be determined by the degree of fulfilling ??? conditions.]
After seeing this text, he pondered for a moment. It seemed his Patronus Charm had indeed brought tremendous changes to the Patronus tree seed. Almost a complete transformation.
From the current reward information, he could barely extract any useful content. The only thing he understood was the meaning of this three-coloured brilliance intertwining:
"So the Patronus tree seed needs to meet certain special conditions to mature. If unable to meet them, it'd likely be Diamond-level reward. Meeting them to a certain degree could elevate the reward to an Epic level. Even more so, it might reach Legendary level!"
His eyes burst with burning intensity.
Legendary-level rewards. He'd fantasised about these before. He never expected there might actually be such a possibility now?
But soon, the fervour in his eyes faded. After all, no matter how much he wanted to quickly fulfil these conditions, currently he didn't even know what the conditions themselves were. Elevating the reward level was even more out of the question.
"Fortunately, after watering it with so much Sacred Tree Potion, this seed seems to have entered a stable state. Even without continued potion watering, or direct exposure to air, there's no change."
This made him breathe slightly easier. This meant finding the conditions needed to elevate this Patronus tree seed's reward level wasn't urgent. There was still some time.
"Then I'll search slowly. At worst, it's still a Diamond-level seed. Already an unexpected joy."
Then he carefully placed this Patronus tree seed in a bottle and stored it close to his body.
As for the remaining Patronus tree seeds, after thinking for a moment, he chose not to use the same method to catalyse them. After all, one seed consumed so many resources.
If dozens of seeds all underwent this mutation, it'd probably require tens of thousands of bottles of Sacred Tree Potion. The magical world's production capacity might be completely paralysed.
Moreover, subsequent cultivation conditions were still unclear. He didn't know if there'd be more conditions to fulfil later.
Having this one seed for testing was enough. The rest should be processed using traditional Patronus tree seed methods to steadily gain returns. Diversified investment was most prudent.
Therefore, he soaked all remaining Patronus tree seeds in Sacred Tree Potion. Nearly three hundred bottles of remaining Sacred Tree Potion were sufficient for subsequent consumption.
After patiently completing these tasks, he finally exhaled softly.
"With this, planting affairs in the greenhouse are all on track. What I need to do next is make more preparations before the storm arrives and I perform the Demeter ritual magic again."
Though he already had Snape's Thunderbird Potion, and his own vitality and recovery ability were incomparable to before, plus the lightning rod the trolls were building would greatly help his plan, he was potentially facing a mythical-level being.
The opponent was prepared. No amount of preparation would be excessive.
To deal with the being in the Delia Island temple, undoubtedly ancient weather magic was the most cost-effective choice. He looked at his system panel.
The text for ancient weather magic flickered with Silver radiance. Though this mastery wasn't high, looking at the current magical world, almost all ancient magic had been lost without trace.
Even Charms masters like Professor Flitwick only knew the principles but didn't know any specific ancient magic. Ancient magic users like him might not exceed five in number.
Plus ancient magic required enduring natural will to truly unleash its power. Given this process's danger, he suspected his ancient magic level might already dominate the magical world!
However, he also knew his ancient magic mastery was largely supported by extremely concentrated natural will remaining in his body. His own mastery of runic script, the foundation of ancient magic, couldn't keep up.
He'd only completed basic configurations for three runes, V, P, M, to drive ancient weather magic, barely reaching the minimum threshold for casting ancient weather magic.
With two or three days remaining, if he could advance further with those three runes involved in ancient weather magic, constructing a few more magical nodes, perhaps his ancient weather magic would improve considerably.
So he pulled out that thick "Introduction to Ancient Runes", hungrily seeking subsequent directions.
Now, with his qualitative magical perception improvement and Transfiguration's rapid progress, the ancient runic knowledge that once seemed incomprehensibly profound, shrouded in thick fog, suddenly revealed a corner of its veil.
Immediately, seemingly infinite magical knowledge unfolded before him. It was truly all-encompassing.
All magic he'd mastered so far, including magic he'd created himself, and Transfiguration, seemed encompassed within runes. He saw a familiar line of text on the frontispiece, Professor Flitwick's handwriting:
"Give me one rune, and I shall decode the entire world with countless nodes."
He'd seen this line before, but only now, truly beginning to touch runic mysteries rather than being a temporary worker, could he appreciate its aptness.
Professor Flitwick's words weren't flattery but genuine sentiment. Everything was runes. Understanding runes basically meant understanding the world!
Then he banished distracting thoughts from his mind, seizing every minute and second, immersing himself in the magical world revealed by runes.
On his system panel, Occlumency flickered brighter than usual. This time, he entered a flow state far deeper than any previous time, almost like legendary enlightenment!
In this state, when his preset alarm rang, he was startled awake in bewilderment. His eyes were full of surprise.
"The alarm rang? I clearly set it for two full days."
Then, after eliminating the possibility of someone in the empty library playing pranks, he realized: "Two days have already passed?"
He stared in disbelief. He felt like only a moment had passed, like he'd just started reading.
Only after a long while did he shake his head, recovering from this subtle feeling of temporal displacement.
"No wonder legendary scholars researching runes are more reclusive than any other discipline. It's even said some scholars starved to death while researching, completely unaware. Runic mysteries are truly wondrous."
Then he looked at his system panel, showing some joy. This runic comprehension session seemed to bring considerable improvement to his magical mastery.
Almost every magic showed significant growth. Even those already at Diamond level shone noticeably brighter.
Especially the numerous insights gained from the Philosopher's Stone destruction ritual were digested considerably during these two days of runic comprehension. The Transfiguration text's Silver radiance even began showing faint golden light!
"Unfortunately, that state I experienced after mastering Occlumency to enter flow states, I've only experienced it once after so long. Compared to that state, even flow state seems insignificant."
"If I could maintain that state constantly, my magical mastery improvement would be frighteningly fast."
But soon he smiled wryly and shook his head. Experiencing it once and gaining benefits from runes was already an unexpected joy.
As for constantly maintaining that state? What fantasy was that?
Then he looked at ancient weather magic on his system panel. But compared to other magic showing remarkable progress, ancient weather magic's Silver radiance had only brightened imperceptibly.
This turned his previous joy into a soft sigh. The reason for no improvement was simple.
He still only mastered those three basic runic configurations capable of driving ancient weather magic. Not that he couldn't master more magical nodes, but he was completely confused about which nodes to construct next to enrich these runic configurations.
After all, what he'd gained from harvesting the Elbert tree was merely Iron-level ancient weather magic insight. The runic configurations he could comprehend from it were truly only the most basic.
This was equivalent to his reference materials for ancient weather magic ending here. To continue expanding and deepening, he needed either genius-level brilliance to directly deduce and complete subsequent "textbook" content himself, or find alternative approaches.
He didn't even think about it, directly abandoning the former and choosing the latter. What joke? Self-deduce subsequent runic configurations for ancient weather magic?
He didn't think he was that brilliant. With his magical aptitude, it's better not to fantasise about achievements only geniuses could accomplish. Relying on the planting system suited him better.
"If I could plant more Diamond-level Elbert trees, then after maturation and harvest, I might be able to accumulate ancient weather magic's continuation."
But this path also made him frown slightly. His previously planted Elbert tree had indeed matured, but Elbert trees were plants with rare seeds. This was one reason for their current rarity.
Waiting for this Elbert tree to produce seeds would probably take quite some time. Several years or even decades weren't impossible. He didn't have that much time to wait.
"What other ways could I obtain Elbert trees?"
After pondering, his eyes suddenly brightened, thinking of his current Elbert tree's source. It was gifted by Professor Flitwick in Levitation Charm class. Professor Flitwick said it was a memento he'd obtained by chance.
Could Professor Flitwick provide clues for him to obtain more Elbert trees?
Then he looked at the sky outside. Overcast clouds hung heavy overhead, the oppressive air even more stifling than before.
Obviously, a thunderstorm larger than the previous one would arrive shortly. But before that, he still had time to ask Professor Flitwick about this.
So he immediately stood up hurriedly, heading toward the Ravenclaw Head's office.
Moments later, he felt even more grateful for this approaching storm.
Because Professor Flitwick sat with a heavy suitcase, a small, delicate flying broomstick nearby. Apparently a children's model.
The Professor looked at the sky outside with resentment: "Merlin above, when I arranged summer vacation plans, Muggle weather forecasts said nothing about such a big storm! I planned a broomstick ride across the channel! Now my plans are ruined!"
He breathed a sigh of relief. This storm really helped him greatly. Otherwise, seeing Professor Flitwick again would have to wait until next semester.
"Professor."
He greeted Professor Flitwick, who showed delight: "Ah, Ciel, you're still staying at Hogwarts?"
"Oh right, Pomona received urgent letters on the Hogwarts Express and left immediately after arriving. No matter, child, this storm'll sweep across half of Britain. Your classmates who went home are probably reinforcing ceilings with hammers now."
"Staying at Hogwarts, you've struck gold. Trust me, Hogwarts never fears any storm."
After some pleasant conversation, he got to the point: "Professor, do you remember the Elbert tree you gave me in Levitation Charm class? I'm very interested in this plant. Could you tell me how you originally obtained the Elbert tree?"
When asking this question, he expected Professor Flitwick might ask for details or, given his age, might not remember clearly.
But unexpectedly, mentioning this made Professor Flitwick absolutely radiant: "Of course! That was my highlight moment. Oh, Ciel, have you heard of wizard duelling?"
He paused.
Wizard duelling. He'd seen this in the original story's second book. When Hogwarts repeatedly experienced vicious attacks, to divert students' attention while showing off, Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor Lockhart spearheaded a Duelling Club.
It attracted keen attention from all Hogwarts students. Even Snape unusually participated, having a standard duel with Lockhart.
Recalling this, he nodded: "Yes, Professor. Generally on a long platform, mutually waving wands in ritual, then one-on-one combat."
Professor Flitwick's smile became even brighter: "Have you heard of the Magical World Duelling Championship? Hosted by the magical world's most ancient duelling club, the Moser Club, once every eleven years, the highest sanctuary for all duelling enthusiasts!"
"Incidentally, in my youth, I won that championship. Merlin above, thinking back, I'm amazed at my youthful courage. Let me tell you about my duelling experiences..."
He quickly interrupted Professor Flitwick's reminiscence: "Professor, weren't you going to tell me how you got the Elbert tree?"
Professor Flitwick tapped his head: "Oh right, I was just getting to that. That was part of my championship prize."
Now he looked even more surprised: "Prize?"
Professor Flitwick nodded seriously: "Exactly. The Moser Club's duelling championships have always attracted countless wizards to participate. A major reason is their consistently surprising prizes."
"Not mentioning Galleons, there are goblin-made weapons and armour. Various ancient alchemical items. Rare plants like Elbert trees. Absolutely all treasures!"
Professor Flitwick's expression became more mysterious: "It's said the highest-grade reward is the Moser Club fulfilling the champion's wish. They claim that anything existing in the magical world, anything accomplishable through magic, the Moser Club can fulfil."
"Unfortunately, such high-grade rewards rarely appear. The next duelling championship is still seven or eight years away. Who knows if it'll appear then? Perhaps then you could try, Ciel."
Following Professor Flitwick's account, he showed a thoughtful expression.
The Duelling Championship and the lavish Moser Club behind it. Elbert trees, nearly extinct, actually flowed out from here? This was truly unexpected.
Moreover, his brow tightened slightly. His mental eye conveyed strangeness, as if his sixth sense was warning him. This Duelling Championship and Moser Club weren't that simple. These waters ran very deep.
He agreed mentally: "Able to continuously host such events in the magical world. Even maintaining them for centuries, producing precious rewards. This Moser Club's influence is definitely extraordinary."
"Whether I can obtain Elbert trees from the Moser Club... I'll think of other methods later."
Just then, the originally stagnant, stifling air outside suddenly loosened. Immediately came wailing wind sounds, fierce beyond measure, rustling leaves loudly.
He looked outside. The sky was even more overcast. Thunder rumbled faintly on the horizon.
Professor Flitwick exclaimed: "The storm's coming! Merlin above, this is even bigger than I expected!"
At this moment, he took a deep breath, his eyes flickering with profound depth: "Yes. The storm... finally arrives."
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