After successfully planting the Guardian Tree, Ciel fell into a deep sleep. He didn't know how much time had passed. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in a hospital bed. Bright sunlight shone in through the window.
"Is it dawn? Did I sleep until morning?"
At this moment, Professor Sprout's tired voice sounded. "Ciel. Are you finally awake? You've been sleeping for almost three days."
Ciel was stunned. "Three days!" His eyes widened. In all his years, he had never slept so long at once. Moreover, with his legendary vitality, he could go several days and nights without sleep without any issue. He only needed a short rest to recover his energy. Although planting the Guardian Tree had been mentally draining this time, how could he have slept for a full three days?
Professor Sprout was being mysterious about it. She didn't immediately answer Ciel's question. Instead, she asked him to carefully feel his current state.
"How do you feel? Is it any better than usual?"
Ciel felt it. A look of shock suddenly appeared in his eyes. The reason was simple. The feeling in his body at this moment was unprecedentedly comfortable and light. His whole person felt refreshed.
When Ciel's gaze fell on the system panel, his pupils shook violently. Originally, his Magical Perception Enhancement ability would only show a hint of golden light within the silver luster after receiving the boost from Underwater Enhancement. But now, he clearly wasn't in the Underwater Enhancement state. Yet the text was already almost half-covered in gold.
Had his magical perception improved? This increase was even comparable to the rewards from harvesting a round of Goldfish Vines before!
Seeing Ciel's expression, Professor Sprout smiled. "You feel it? Do you feel that your perception of magic has improved?"
She finally revealed the answer. "This time you passed out. Severus suggested that we brew a potion for you to let you sleep for a few more days. But this would be very beneficial for your body, especially your magical perception."
At this point, Professor Sprout sighed with some emotion. "Severus really went all out this time. He used a lot of his precious collection."
Hearing this, Ciel was also shocked. A potion that could enhance magical perception was equivalent to indirectly increasing a part of one's magical talent. Its preciousness could be imagined. Even though he had treated Snape's three-headed dog wound, this time he still owed him a big favor.
His gaze fell on Professor Sprout's tired face and bloodshot eyes. "Aunt, how many days haven't you slept?"
Professor Sprout was stunned for a moment. She smiled and shook her head. "I'm not tired. When I was farming before, it was common to go three days and three nights without sleep. I can do that for taking care of plants, let alone taking care of you, Ciel."
Ciel's heart was filled with complex emotions. He said softly, "Aunt, you should go rest. I feel great now. I just fell asleep because I was tired for a moment. If you wear yourself out, I don't know how I'd face you."
Professor Sprout's eyes reddened slightly. After repeatedly telling Ciel to call her name immediately if he still felt unwell, she dragged her tired, heavy steps towards the door. Just as she was about to leave the ward, she seemed to remember something and said to Ciel, "By the way, Ciel. While you were asleep, your friends tried to visit you several times, but I turned them away. There were Neville, Harry, and the others."
Professor Sprout gave Ciel a meaningful wink. "And... Hannah, Susan, Hermione, they all came. I didn't expect it. Seeing you soaked in the greenhouse every day, you still have good relationships with girls? How about it? Do you like any of them? You can tell me. During Herbology class, I can arrange for you to be together. You know, you have at least three Herbology classes every week!"
Ciel was at a loss for words. Professor Sprout's expression made it seem like she couldn't wait for him to get married and have children.
"Aunt, I'm only eleven."
Professor Sprout didn't think much of it. "Starting to date at eleven, to accumulate some experience, is a good thing. By the way, I can also hold an inter-house social in the name of the Head of House. How about starting with Ravenclaw? Ravenclaw has quite a few beauties. There's a little witch named Cho Chang in the second year, she's gorgeous, and she's only one year older than you. Aunt can work with Professor Flitwick behind the scenes to set you up for a dance..."
Seeing Professor Sprout getting more and more outrageous, Ciel's cheeks twitched. Cho Chang? Harry's first love in the original story? She seemed quite pretty. Harry was a connoisseur of beautiful faces. The ones he was obsessed with, whether Cho Chang or Ginny, were first-class beauties. They were indeed very attractive.
But right now, Ciel just wanted to plant a few more trees.
Fortunately, at this moment, a crisp voice sounded with confusion. "Professor? Is Ciel awake? What are you talking about? What behind-the-scenes operation? What dancing?"
Hermione's figure appeared at the door.
Professor Sprout, contrary to her usual calm and gentle demeanor, winked at Ciel, blew a whistle, and mouthed, "You guys chat." Then she left, humming happily.
Hermione looked completely baffled. But this time, the know-it-all didn't get to the bottom of the matter. Instead, she looked at Ciel with a happy expression.
"When I heard you passed out, I was so worried. I mean, for so many days, I couldn't go to the Potions classroom to complain to you. You've helped me so much, Ciel."
Ciel waved his hand and asked Hermione, "So how are things for you in Gryffindor now? I guess it's much better, right?"
Speaking of this, Hermione also showed joy. "Finally, I have some friends. I'm no longer a wandering ghost outside the whole house. Actually, I also had problems before, always misunderstanding that Harry and Ron weren't trying. But it turns out they've been staying up late for many days to cram for various subjects. Although their grades haven't improved much, at least they are willing to work hard, which proves I was too prejudiced against them before. Now our relationship is quite good."
Ciel nodded slightly. As expected. Although the formation of the golden trio in the original story was delayed for various reasons, the power of fate was just that strong. In the end, they still came together.
At this time, Ciel saw two figures peeking in from outside the door. He felt speechless. Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear. He had just thought of the golden trio, and the golden trio had actually gathered.
"Harry, Ron... stop peeking and eavesdropping, why don't you come in?"
After a moment, Harry and Ron walked in with embarrassed smiles. Ciel looked at the golden trio before him. He sighed. He had a bad feeling.
"I guess you three, besides visiting me, have other business, right?"
Speaking of this, the three looked at each other. Then Hermione spoke up. "We do have one more thing that needs your help, Ciel."
Her face was heavy. "At the Quidditch match that day, Harry's broom went out of control. It wasn't a coincidence. Someone was secretly casting an evil spell to kill Harry. And I saw with my own eyes that Snape was staring at Harry and chanting a spell. Ciel, Snape probably deceived Dumbledore. He's a bad person. He might be plotting something terrible that will destroy all of Hogwarts. We hope you can secretly find out what Snape is doing. Of course, your safety is the priority."
Hearing this, Ciel didn't show the shocked expression Hermione and the others expected. Instead, he looked rather speechless. Even a little amused.
Hermione became a little anxious. "Ciel, I'm telling the truth. I saw Snape chanting a spell at Harry with my own eyes!"
Ciel sighed. "I'm not doubting that you're lying. It's just that why do you think Professor Snape chanting a spell at Harry means he wants to harm him? Maybe someone else cast the evil spell, and Professor Snape was trying to save Harry."
This time it was Harry's turn to get a little excited. "Impossible. Snape must be up to something. On the day of the Quidditch match, in the morning, I saw a wound on his leg from a three-headed dog bite. The three-headed dog is guarding something important. Snape must have been bitten when he broke in. Doesn't that prove he's a bad person?"
However, Ciel's reaction still greatly disappointed the trio. "Sorry. It doesn't. Professor Snape is one of the four Heads of House. If there's something in Hogwarts that needs guarding, they would all be involved. It's more likely he was trying to stop the mastermind you mentioned and was accidentally bitten by the three-headed dog. Besides, I already knew about Professor Snape's injury. On the day of the Quidditch match, before it started, I was the one who helped the professor heal the wound."
Upon hearing this, the three were even more dumbfounded. Ron's face immediately flushed red. He became agitated.
"Aha! Ciel, we thought you were a good person. But you're actually on Snape's side! I knew it, how could anyone speak up for that filthy, gloomy, vicious old bat..."
But before he could finish, Ron heard a voice. "Levicorpus!"
Then his whole world turned upside down. The next moment, he found himself hanging from the ceiling. And Ciel was staring at him coldly.
"Ron Weasley. And you, Harry and Hermione. I can't control what baseless speculations you make or the risks you take for them. But never insult Professor Snape in front of me. To me, he is a respectable teacher. And remember one thing. Students of our House never betray or suspect the people we trust. That's not our way."
Then, as Harry and the others were silent like cicadas in winter from Ciel's anger, Ciel finally waved his wand. "Liberacorpus."
Ron, who was hanging upside down, fell heavily to the ground. His face was flushed red, and he was panting heavily. Then he left the ward without looking back, leaving only a resentful complaint.
"I told you he wasn't one of us. We shouldn't have come to him. You wouldn't listen, now do you believe me?"
Disappointment also showed on Harry and Hermione's faces. They never expected Ciel to side with Snape, whom they considered evil. The two also chased after Ron and quickly left.
As for their departure, Ciel's face was calm. The golden trio was indeed the protagonist of the original story. But he didn't need to suck up to them. They were just three immature kids. Staying away from them for now was also good for him, to avoid being dragged into a deeper vortex.
At this time, outside the ward, behind a door pillar, a black robe slowly emerged. It was Snape. He had accidentally overheard the entire conversation between Ciel and Harry's group.
He only sneered at the trio's belief that he wanted to kill Harry. As expected of that Potter's son. Just as stupid.
This wasn't enough to affect him. But Ciel directly breaking with the trio to defend his reputation was something Snape hadn't expected. Frankly, he was already prepared for Ciel to listen to the trio and secretly investigate what he was doing. He just didn't expect Ciel to so decisively use Levicorpus to teach the insolent Ron a lesson. And even said those words.
"Never betray the people you trust."
Snape's expression was dazed. He stood behind the door pillar for a long, long time. In his eyes, there was regret. There was shame. There was heart-wrenching pain.
After a long time, he finally walked into Ciel's ward with heavy steps. Before Ciel could speak, Snape said stiffly, "Since you've recovered, don't be lazy. Go to the Potions classroom. I'm going to test you. I want to see if you remember what I taught you last time."
He reminded him caustically, "In a while, if your Guardian Tree doesn't get watered with Sacred Tree Potion, I'm afraid it will only be able to tickle in front of dark magic."
[Chapter Complete]
***
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