Chapter 173: The Shrinking Wand Tree
Chapter 173: The Shrinking Wand Tree
The July breeze swept through the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts, the green leaves swaying to form a gentle lullaby. Felix felt as if his brain was being caressed by a pair of gentle hands, and his entire body relaxed.
He passed the Whomping Willow and walked briskly to Hagrid's hut. "Fang", the black hound wagged his tail energetically, barking happily.
Hagrid pushed open the door, his large hand resting on the frame, a red sauce stain on his lips. "Felix? Uh, I'm eating... come in, it's a bit messy..."
He wiped his mouth hurriedly, his face turning red.
...
In the evening, in his office, the blank photo on the workbench flickered. Felix looked at the old man who suddenly appeared in the photo and greeted him softly, "Hello, Nearly Headless Nick Flamel."
...
Late July.
Felix looked at himself in the mirror. Under the blue casual suit, he wore a light-colored plaid vest, and over it, a dark double-breasted overcoat, loosely open.
He gently touched his chest, where the coat shimmered with a crystalline magical glow.
"The Dragonhide and Basilisk-skin Coat is very comfortable, and the Basilisk-skin Vest is also great." The sunlight streaming through the window illuminated his tousled black hair, complementing the glow on his clothes.
...
Late July.
Felix flipped through the data on young wizards learning magic, trying to draw some useful conclusions.
"Knock, knock!"
Professor Mcgonagall handed him the course selection list. When he saw the densely packed names, he froze.
"Minerva, is there some mistake?"
Professor Mcgonagall chuckled and slapped the list into his hand. "You should be happy, Felix. The students like you."
...
One day in August.
Felix excitedly counted the Runic Symbols in the Mind Chamber, three times over, finally confirming an exact number.
"Thirteen hundred."
Over the course of a year, he had used Hogwarts' vast Library to increase the number of Ancient Runes by nearly a thousand. And in the foreseeable future, this rate of progress would only accelerate.
As he mastered more Runic Scripts, his understanding of Ancient Magic deepened. Often, he would have sudden flashes of insight.
The most obvious example was his significant progress in studying the incomplete Ancient Magic Flitwick had given him. Hagrid could vouch for it—
Under Hagrid's wide-eyed gaze, the branches of a Wand Tree shook violently, shrinking rapidly from a height of about fifty feet to thirty, then ten, then three feet. A brown pit was left behind, and hundreds of Bowtruckles fell to the ground, baring their teeth at the two men.
Without a leader to charge forward, these little creatures hopped onto the adjacent Wand Tree, grumbling in discontent.
"Where's the tree? That big tree?" Hagrid gestured in the air, drawing the shape of the tree.
Felix extended his hand, "Wand Tree, come." A one-foot-high sapling flew out of the ugly pit and landed in his palm.
Hagrid took it, the thing barely the size of his hand. "This, this is the same tree?"
"Yes, one of my spells has improved, allowing me to do things I couldn't before." Felix was quite satisfied with the spell's effect.
The Wand Tree has Magic, but it still couldn't resist his spell.
'Next time we communicate, Filius will be in for a big surprise.'
Hagrid looked at Felix, then at the small sapling in his hand, and remained silent. After a while, a sudden idea popped into his head. "Felix, if you use this spell on Fluffy, will it also shrink? Could I keep it in the yard then?"
"Cough, cough!" Felix coughed twice, somewhat awkwardly. "Hagrid, this spell hasn't been tested on magical creatures yet, and we don't know the specific effects, especially on something as large as a three-headed dog. If something goes wrong..." He didn't finish, but he was worried about irreversible consequences.
Hagrid sounded a bit disappointed. "No, I see. Fluffy has always been so lonely, and I thought it could keep Fang company."
"There will be an opportunity, Hagrid. I'll need more time to perfect it."
Hagrid said with interest, "Do you need any help? I can provide some less important magical creatures, like Billywigs, Chameleon Lizards, Horned Slugs, Flobberworms, Grindylows, and the like. They should be useful for you, right?"
Felix's eyes lit up.
"That would be great. I think what this spell needs most right now is practical data."
"However, Hagrid, I need to warn you that the spell has a limited duration. Even if I extend its effect as much as possible, it will only last a few hours."
Hagrid smacked his lips. "That's fine. At least I can hug it. Poor Fluffy, ever since it grew bigger than my house, I can't let it put its paws on my shoulders anymore."
The two squatted down to observe the small Wand Tree. Green Magic lines flowed across its surface. About half an hour later, it grew from one foot to two feet, but just ten minutes after that, it reached two meters.
And its growth rate was getting faster.
"Hagrid, move back, I need to put it back in the hole."
Hagrid took two steps back, and Felix tossed the sapling back into the hole, using magic to position it correctly. Then, he watched as the Wand Tree rapidly expanded. It was a magical sight—
Just like what Felix had read in books: when an inexperienced Wizard performs Animagus Restoration, the process is often very slow, and it's easy for one part of the body to restore before the rest, creating a bizarre scene.
The same was true for this Wand Tree. Its restoration process was far from beautiful. A branch suddenly extended, then the trunk expanded outward like one of Hagrid's giant pumpkins. It then contracted, but the overall height increased by a foot...
After half a minute, the poor Wand Tree finally returned to its original size, though it looked rather pitiful. Its branches drooped, and half of its roots were exposed. Felix used magic to carefully bury each root back into the soil. Finally, he poured a bucket of nutrient solution, and the Wand Tree seemed to improve slightly.
Felix examined it closely. After a while, he turned to Hagrid. "Do you think it's a bit crooked?"
"Is it?" Hagrid didn't notice.
"Look here, I remember it was straight, but now there's a bulge after it restored."
"Uh", Hagrid thought about how Fluffy's back had a large lump after its restoration, and he shook his head.
Felix gave him a sidelong glance. "You didn't notice? From my angle, it's quite obvious..."
...
In the evening, Felix received a copy of the Evening Prophet. The headline for the night was—
"The Boussard Hotel Conference Concludes, Marking the Dawn of a New Era"
(End of Chapter)
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