Since the last Fear Demon incident, Hagrid's research focus has shifted somewhat.
His magical creature breeding has now become purely miniaturized, no longer involving complex thought processes.
At first, Hagrid was quite troubled. After all, he had searched for a long time for small magical creatures, and it was only through a newspaper bounty that he found the 'Pestering Mites'.
So, after Roger banned him from researching the Pestering Mites, Hagrid's breeding progress stagnated until a familiar acquaintance appeared.
The Head of Hufflepuff House, Hogwarts Herbology Professor, Ms. Pomona Sprout.
The two were quite familiar with each other, as not all the herbs Ms. Pomona Sprout needed could be grown in the school's greenhouses.
Some special plants required different living environments.
Hagrid was the Keeper of the Forbidden Forest, and some of the medicinal ingredients in the Forbidden Forest required Hagrid's help to maintain. The two, who had professional dealings, had a decent relationship.
The moment he saw Pomona Sprout, Hagrid suddenly realized something.
Magical plants were, in a way, magical creatures too.
After some discussion, Pomona Sprout was not interested in Hagrid's hybrid animal-plant experiments, and was even slightly repulsed. However, Hagrid had helped her a lot before, so she did not refuse Hagrid's invitation to cooperate.
Hagrid reported this matter to Roger as per their agreed-upon weekly reporting schedule. Roger, however, assumed the results would be something akin to a cross between a screeching Mandrake and a Bowtruckle, so he didn't pay much attention.
But Hagrid, who always had his own ideas about magical creature breeding, had no interest in creating such things.
As a master of magical creature biology who had raised dragons, three-headed dogs, and manticore-scorpion-tailed beasts – extremely dangerous species that he enjoyed immensely, and who had the qualifications to become a Hogwarts professor in the future – Hagrid declared:
"If you're going to play, play big!" Hagrid had set his sights on a very tiny magical plant.
Mushrooms.
Although mushrooms could grow very large, up to nearly 10 square kilometers and weighing over 60 million pounds, their essence was that of tiny fungi.
They reproduced through spores and mycelium, possessed extreme resilience, and could be both large and small… Hagrid wanted magical creatures to possess the advantages of fungi and mushrooms.
Through his own means, and with the creature modification technology shared by Roger, he began new magical creature breeding.
The result of this breeding was the green-skinned creature before Roger's eyes.
To be honest, it looked quite similar to the Warhammer 40,000 Orks in Roger's memory, otherwise, he wouldn't have been startled just now.
However, after testing, Roger confirmed that this creature was vastly different from the 40K Orks.
Firstly, it lacked the technological affinity its creator had given it; it couldn't use 'I think' to cobble together powerful war machines from scraps of metal.
Its physique was also not as robust as that of an Ork, only comparable to that of an ordinary adult Muggle.
Although it possessed the trait of reproduction via spores, it required considerable time and nutrients to grow from a spore to its fully developed form.
If judged by the Ministry of Magic's danger level, it would be a 4X, one level below the 5X danger level of dragons and werewolves… This 4X rating was due to its difficulty to completely eradicate; otherwise, it would be even lower.
Of course, this new species still had potential.
For example, if he were to write the alchemical blueprint for a second brain into their DNA, they could absorb materials during growth to automatically condense alchemical organs. Then, figure out how Muggles become wizards, allowing them to link their thoughts to magic and establish 'I think' fields.
Finally, once his modification technology was perfected, he could enhance their reproductive capabilities… Wait?
Hold on, why was he thinking about this?
Not wanting to be a Warhammer Old One, adding a new, troublesome DLC expansion pack for human civilization, Roger suppressed his active thoughts.
The vast majority of humanity had only recently escaped their status as serfs, outcasts, and tenants. They had only enjoyed a few good years, and Roger had no interest in doing something so wicked and infinitely harmful out of a sliver of curiosity.
Roger wasn't like those Paradox Interactive players who, according to legend, would shoot everyone and still miss a few.
…However, the new species developed by Hagrid wasn't entirely useless.
If, one day, humanity ventured into the vastness of space and discovered 'enemies on the other side of the sea,' it might come in handy.
Moreover, humans are a species that finds it difficult to unite without a common enemy. If the universe were too vast and no other life forms were discovered for a long time, after a round of enhancements, they could be deployed in limited numbers across the universe to prevent humanity from becoming too engrossed in infighting.
"Hagrid, what do you plan to name this species?" Roger asked, turning to Hagrid, who was still there poking the green-skinned creature with his finger while writing an observation report.
The Fear Demon incident had been of great importance, so Roger had kept things simple, casually assigning it the name 'Fear Demon' and proceeding with administrative procedures after a round of extermination.
But this time was different.
"I'll name it…" Hagrid pondered for a moment.
A few seconds later, Hagrid slapped his forehead. "Then it shall be 'Green Skin Mushroom Beast'."
Hagrid was a half-giant who greatly loved magical creatures. His expertise in magical creatures, aside from extensive practice in the Forbidden Forest, naturally came from acquiring knowledge from books.
However, reading was a somewhat painful task for him. Even with the support of his love for magical creatures, it could be a headache.
Especially when some magical creatures' names were very awkward and difficult to associate with the creatures themselves.
Therefore, Hagrid, who wouldn't tear down someone's umbrella just because he had been rained on, generally favored concise and clear names for magical creatures.
Either they were named after their habits, like Blast-Ended Skrewts.
Or they were named after their appearance and biological classification, like this Green Skin Mushroom Beast.
His aim was to reduce the difficulty for future generations learning about magical creatures.
Roger had no objections to Hagrid's naming choice and casually jotted it down in the research report.
Anyway, names are just code names, as long as they work.
As long as it wasn't something like "Spiral Flash Super Ring Dance Roar Level 3" like that flashy ninja, Roger could accept it.
"Oh right, Roger, what exactly is this Warhammer 40,000 you mentioned before?" Hagrid, relieved after Roger confirmed the Green Skin Mushroom Beast wasn't a high-risk species requiring extermination, remembered Roger's earlier question.
"Warhammer..." Roger's previous question was just a casual remark, and Hagrid certainly hadn't played Warhammer 40,000.
Now, facing Hagrid's curiosity, Roger stared at the half-giant, who was over three meters tall, and thought about how to explain the game's setting to him in a way Hagrid could understand.
After all, Roger felt Hagrid had some connection to Warhammer, and it might be good to let him understand it in detail.
And in the instant Roger was thinking, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck his mind.
...Connection? Hagrid's two magical creature breeding attempts had both developed creatures similar to Warhammer monster settings. Was that really a coincidence?
Roger suddenly thought of a possibility!
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