There were three enhancement paths for Mandrakes. Leaving aside medicinal value, the other two both focused on enhancing the characteristics of the Mandrake root.
The one in Leonard's hand enhanced the range of the Mandrake's voice. The other enhanced the duration of its scream, letting it continue emitting a deadly howl even after being destroyed.
But Midgard was not trying to kill the other side, so Leonard had not given her that one.
Looking at the Mandrake in Leonard's hand, Midgard asked in puzzlement, "I thought Mandrakes start screaming the moment they're pulled out of the soil. This one looks pretty quiet. It isn't sick, is it?"
"That's because I'm here, so it stays quiet. The moment it leaves my side, this thing will start shrieking nonstop until it screams itself to death."
A Mandrake's own voice could also harm itself. But its resistance to its own scream was obviously far greater than that of wizards or other living creatures. Before it managed to scream itself to death, everything around it would already have turned into a zone of death.
Because of Leonard's Friend of Nature passive, which had evolved from Friend of Plants, this Mandrake chose to stay silent so it would not harm Leonard.
"Then get me a flowerpot so I can take it with me," Midgard said.
"A flowerpot is too conspicuous. I'll make you a container that's easier to carry."
As he spoke, Leonard used a Transfiguration Spell to create a cylindrical wooden box, then stuffed the enhanced Mandrake and a heap of soil inside.
That way, even if Leonard was not beside it, the Mandrake still would not be able to scream.
Of course, in an environment without sunlight, the Mandrake would not survive for very long either.
"When are you planning to leave?" Leonard asked. "A container like this will probably leave the Mandrake undernourished in about five days."
"We're leaving tomorrow and arriving the same day." Midgard took the container and smiled. "We'll probably end up using it."
"Good. Then there's no need to worry about the Mandrake failing at a crucial moment," Leonard said.
With business taken care of, what followed was naturally some leisure time.
That did not mean everyone loafing around eating, drinking, and having fun. Midgard and Claudia joined Leonard in tidying up the botanical garden.
This sort of peaceful work, setting aside all burdens and leisurely tending magical plants, helped Midgard relax even more.
"You haven't been coming to the botanical garden lately?" Midgard gave up on using magic and instead took a small shovel, helping Claudia clear the weeds around the herb-type plants, the non-active magical plants.
The herbs had clearly gone untended for quite a while. The weeds around them were nearly taller than the herbs themselves.
Midgard looked at the twice-enhanced aconite fruit with some heartache. These were materials for the latest Wolfsbane Potion, the very thing supporting the loyalty of the upper ranks of the werewolf wizard group. If these plants failed to grow properly because of weeds, Midgard would be heartbroken.
"Oh, mainly because of this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts. He's the same Raven organization member who contacted Damocles during the summer holiday. He's been watching me closely, so it hasn't been convenient for me to come to the Forbidden Forest too often." Leonard also did not use magic and simply crouched there honestly, weeding the soil.
Since Midgard was in the mood for it, Leonard was naturally happy to join her.
But the moment Midgard heard the word Raven, she instantly lost interest and nearly jumped up.
"Raven? They've got their eyes on you?"
"Don't get worked up." Leonard soothed her. "He hasn't connected me to you. He only knows that I'm an heir of ancient magic and wants to recruit me."
"Just that?" Midgard crouched back down. "He isn't pretending not to know so you'll let your guard down, is he?"
"For now, he definitely doesn't know, and he has no intention of connecting me with the werewolves either." Leonard shook his head.
Recently, Harris Raymons had been having terrible luck. That included, but was not limited to, teaching accidents and moving staircases suddenly activating while he was on them and nearly shoving him off. All perfectly reasonable accidents, yet strangely inexplicable.
That was probably the effect of Voldemort's curse. In any case, Harris Raymons had recently been speeding up his exploration of the Chamber of Secrets, diving into the sewers every chance he got in an attempt to find the entrance.
That was also why Leonard had so readily agreed to meet Midgard in the botanical garden. Harris Raymons simply had no time to keep watching him.
"As long as nothing's wrong, that's fine." Midgard let out a sigh of relief.
"Actually, even if he did find out, it wouldn't matter that much, would it?" Leonard said. "There's no rule saying people can't be friends with werewolves, right?"
"No. At least not right now." Midgard's expression turned serious. "The werewolves' reputation is getting worse, not better. More and more wizards are wary of the werewolves' sudden rise. If people find out you've been in too much contact with us, you'll definitely end up in trouble."
Leonard glanced at her in surprise. "You've improved a lot. You can even tell that other people are wary of werewolves now."
"Well, obviously. These are real problems showing up right in front of me. Those people were practically insulting me to my face." Midgard rolled her eyes and continued pulling weeds. "You need to be careful. If your connection to us werewolves is ever exposed, it should at least wait until we've secured an important position in the wizarding world."
"All right, then I'll listen to you." Leonard smiled and kept working, but suddenly his brow furrowed and his hands stopped.
At the same time, Claudia seemed to sense something too. She lifted her head and looked around with a puzzled expression.
"What is it?" Seeing both Leonard and Claudia react at the same time, Midgard asked curiously.
"It feels like something's coming," Leonard said.
"Something's approaching? Not a unicorn?" Midgard sniffed the air, but her exceptional sense of smell caught nothing. All she could smell was the fresh fragrance of the plants in the botanical garden.
"It's not a unicorn," Claudia said softly. "It feels different."
"A feeling?" Midgard started doubting herself a little. Her nose was this sharp, yet she had not noticed anything. How had Leonard and Claudia both sensed it?
Leonard could see her frustration and explained, "It's not smell or any other physical sense. It's more like intuition."
"Intuition?" Midgard looked at Leonard, then at Claudia. "Both of you have this intuition?"
"Mm."
Leonard nodded. He had sensed the anomaly through the passive effect of Friend of Nature, while for Claudia, as a unicorn, having this sort of perception was perfectly normal.
After all, his own Friend of Nature passive could be said to have come from a unicorn in the first place.
But that was not the important thing right now.
Leonard's eyes glowed green as he linked with the surrounding plants and spread his vision through them.
Then, all of a sudden, he spotted several black figures.
"They're here!"