"Is it the Inflation Curse?" Hermione's voice snapped Eisen back to reality. He turned to see her gazing at the giant pumpkins in astonishment. "Hagrid, you did an amazing job!"
"Alright, Hagrid, I've got some things to take care of, so I'll be heading out."
Although Ron occasionally hiccupped and spit out a bit of snot, the trio no longer seemed affected by their earlier conflict. Eisen waved to Hagrid, signaled to Hermione and the others, and then turned to leave.
Lunch was approaching, and since Harry had been dragged to the Quidditch pitch by Wood Della early in the morning, he hadn't had time to eat breakfast. Starving, Harry joined Ron and Hermione in bidding Hagrid farewell as they made their way back to Hogwarts Castle.
After Eisen parted ways with them, instead of returning to his usual routine, he headed for the greenhouse. He wasn't there to study herbology, though; he had business with Professor Pomona Sprout, the Herbology professor.
"Professor Sprout, hello!" With his keen observational abilities, Eisen quickly spotted Pomona Sprout in a corner of the greenhouse.
She was a short, stocky witch with a patched hat perched on her head. Her long-term work with plants had left her clothes permanently stained with dirt. In Eisen's opinion, she was perhaps the most detail-oriented professor at Hogwarts.
"Oh—Professor Eisen!" Sprout smiled upon seeing him. Even though Eisen had kept a low profile during his first year at Hogwarts, she still recognized the young Astronomy professor.
"What brings you here?" Sprout asked, clearly surprised by his visit.
"Could I try repotting a mandrake?" Eisen hesitated slightly but stated his purpose.
This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment request; Eisen had carefully planned this. After obtaining a magical tape recorder from the Weasley twins at last year's end-of-term feast, he had studied it in depth. As the new school year began, he crafted his own version.
Unlike the twins' prank device, which needed a hammer to stop its barking, Eisen's creation retained its original function but with added magical enhancements. His goal today was to record the scream of a mandrake with this device, hoping to create a powerful magical item.
Eisen knew that if his magic tape recorder captured the mandrake's scream, his unique skills might allow him to reproduce its deadly quality. However, understanding the lethal nature of the mature mandrake's scream, he planned to record only the cries of younger seedlings. This way, when used, the sound would merely knock out opponents rather than kill them.
Some might argue that this weakened the weapon, but from Eisen's perspective, it didn't matter much. If necessary, he could always cast an attack spell after the enemy was unconscious. Keeping them alive also provided opportunities for interrogation.
Moreover, by using the screams of young mandrakes, he ensured that no harm would come to his allies if they were caught in the attack.
"However, the students have already repotted the mandrakes during class," Sprout explained, puzzled but polite.
"Uh, this is really important to me. Please, Professor Sprout—" Eisen, feeling a bit embarrassed, pleaded sincerely.
"Well, I'm not sure why you need this, but since you're a professor, I suppose I can make an exception." After a moment's hesitation, Sprout agreed.
She moved a pot of young mandrakes onto the table and placed an empty pot next to it. Then, she explained the process of repotting mandrakes to Eisen.
After that, Sprout donned a pair of thick, pink, fluffy earmuffs and handed Eisen a black pair, signaling him to begin. Eisen first used silent, wandless magic to plug his ears before putting on the earmuffs.
Without further delay, and under Sprout's watchful eye, Eisen pulled out the magic tape recorder he had prepared and placed it beside the mandrake. He pressed the record button just before yanking the mandrake from its pot. The plant immediately let out a loud, piercing scream, like an enraged child.
Of course, Eisen couldn't hear the scream, thanks to his protection. Wasting no time, he swiftly replanted the mandrake in the new pot and stopped the recorder.
"Thank you very much, Professor Sprout. If you ever need assistance, feel free to ask." Eisen removed his earmuffs and unplugged his magical ear protection as he thanked her, slipping the recorder into his pocket.
"It's no problem, but I would suggest leaving the rare plants alone unless absolutely necessary," Sprout remarked, giving him a subtle warning. Although she didn't know what the device Eisen was using was for, she sensed that it might have affected the mandrake.
"Understood. Thanks again, Professor Sprout!" Eisen, slightly embarrassed, waved goodbye and quickly left.
After lunch, Eisen headed to the library. Dumbledore and McGonagall had given him advice on human transfiguration, and while he had made progress, he was still short of developing a new spell involving Apparition.
Knowing that such things couldn't be rushed, Eisen maintained his usual routine—practicing spells, studying alchemy, and delving into human transfiguration at his own pace. This made for a very fulfilling life.
Later, when Eisen went to the Great Hall for dinner, he ran into Harry, Ron, and Hermione again. To his surprise, Hermione was calmly reading a book as usual, seemingly unaffected by Malfoy's earlier comments. However, Harry and Ron were unusually fidgety, their brows furrowed in concern.
Their behavior piqued Eisen's curiosity—what trouble had they gotten into this time?
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