Chapter 111: Chinese Chomping Cabbage!

"This...how is it possible?!" 

Seeing Irina and the Venomous Tentacula getting along harmoniously, Professor Sprout was quite shocked. This was the first time she had seen this dangerous magical plant intentionally touch a young witch, approaching her affectionately rather than attacking.

Even Sprout, the Venomous Tentacula's grower, could only ensure it didn't attack her. She would never dare touch it actively. 

Gently stroking the extended vines, Irina said with pleasant surprise, "Professor, it seems attached to me!"

Irina carefully reached out her other hand to caress the Tentacula. It didn't resist her touch at all, instead extending more vines as if welcoming her.

After a brief shock, Professor Sprout accepted that Irina had a special affinity for magical plants. After all, this was the wizarding world - anything was possible!

"I can scarcely believe it, Miss Lowell! If the Ministry didn't forbid underage wizards from privately growing Tentaculas, I'd gift this one to you!" Sprout said kindly, smiling at the gifted young witch.

Reluctantly releasing the plant, Irina turned her gaze back to Sprout. "It's alright, Professor. Next, let's see the Chinese Chomping Cabbage!"

Assured of Irina's plant affinity, Sprout didn't hesitate further, leading her to the greenhouse housing the Chinese Chomping Cabbages. 

There, Irina saw rows of the strange plants potted in soil.

The Cabbages resembled oddly colored lettuces, but their centers formed sharp teeth-like leaves. If an unlucky wizard got bitten by those leaves, they could be gnawed to death - potentially leaving no intact corpse.

"The Chinese Chomping Cabbage is extremely dangerous. Even with your affinity, you must be very careful!" Sprout warned, keeping her distance from the perilous plants.

Irina nodded solemnly and slowly approached one Cabbage. Sensing her presence, it opened its lettuce-like outer leaves, revealing the sharp inner foliage towards Irina.

Eyes almost closed, teeth gritted, Irina extended her hand. She felt an odd sensation as it touched the Cabbage - to her delight, it welcomed rather than rejected her contact. Though not developing the devoted bond like the Tentacula, Irina sensed reciprocated affinity.

"Professor, may I try lifting it?" she tentatively asked.

Even uprooted, the Chomping Cabbage could survive and autonomously chase enemies to gnaw them to death. Some Herbologists would actually throw them at formidable Dark wizards, letting the Cabbages finish the foes themselves - a key reason most wizards avoided provoking skilled Herbologists.

Seeing the Cabbage's warm reception, Sprout nodded slightly. Carefully, Irina cradled the base and slowly extracted it from the pot. 

The Cabbage didn't resist, instead emanating joy at her intimate actions. Holding it, Irina envisioned future battles - herself under a Disillusionment Charm, flinging the Cabbage to auto-attack foes.

"Alright, time to put it back, Irina," Sprout gently reminded.

Very reluctantly, Irina returned the Cabbage, understanding she couldn't openly acquire such plants currently. The Ministry still held great authority.

Perhaps after Voldemort's return and the Ministry's fall to Death Eaters, when wizarding Britain descended into chaos, Irina could defy laws like the original trio. 

Back in the Slytherin dormitory, while Irina was exploring her plant affinity, Lynn began experimenting with crafting the Alchemical Lens. 

On the very night they returned from Hogsmeade, Lynn had managed to acquire a shed unicorn horn from the wealthy Hagrid, and snuck into the Third Greenhouse under a Disillusionment Charm to collect two Mandrake seedlings.

Though Mandrake seedlings lacked the ability to revive those petrified by curses, Logicial Alchemy didn't consider a material's inherent properties. Instead, it extracted the attributes and symbolic associations carried by ingredients - a highly metaphysical approach.

For instance, someone with excellent learning abilities but poor grades due to laziness. Legal Alchemy wouldn't care about their current performance, only recognizing their high learning attributes to be extracted.

Moreover, even if an ingredient only held symbolic meaning, Legal Alchemy could still extract relevant attributes! For example, peach wood symbolizes exorcism in Chinese culture, so adding it as an ingredient would imbue the alchemical product with genuine exorcism abilities!

Lynn first ground the unicorn horn into powder, then arranged it alongside the other ingredients before him - the Mandrake seedlings, Whomping Willow branch, dried Billywing sting needles, snake fang powder, lizard blood, dragon hide, dragon claw powder, and Doxy antennae. All possessed resistance to curses either inherently or symbolically.

"Begin!" Lynn uttered, as golden magical energy flickered in the dormitory.

The powders and materials merged into the radiant sphere of magic in front of him. Crimson flames then engulfed it, subsuming the ingredients at extreme temperatures to extract their quintessential attributes resisting curses and jinxes.

(end of chapter)