Currently, the magical world could be described as surging with undercurrents.
Following Grindelwald's raid on the French Ministry of Magic, the European magical community had come to fully recognize the threat he posed.
At this very moment, they were networking with one another, preparing to convene an International Conference of Wizards to discuss how to handle the threat brought by Grindelwald's resurgence during the upcoming assembly.
Grindelwald cared nothing for this conference, as the ultimate outcome would inevitably boil down to two possibilities.
Either the French Ministry of Magic would back down, and everyone else would pretend not to notice, acting like ostriches burying their heads in the sand so that the magical world could submerge itself in a false peace for a considerable while longer;
Or the European magical community would unite and declare war on Grindelwald and the forces under his command—though if that happened, the entire Western theater... the entire European and American magical worlds would be plunged into chaos.
Aside from these, it was unlikely that any third possibility would result from the conference's discussions.
Even though Grindelwald didn't quite believe that this bunch, whose sharp edges had long been smoothed away by extended peace, would dare choose to shatter the magical world's stable status quo to declare war on him, the necessary countermeasures still had to be taken.
However, no one knew that besides Grindelwald and the International Confederation of Wizards, two other factions lurking in the shadows were also gradually raising their heads.
Because the magical world had been unstable recently, no one noticed that within Azkaban, situated atop the North Sea, a large group of prisoners had quietly vanished from their cells.
These prisoners were almost entirely die-hard Death Eaters who had once followed Voldemort.
Where they had gone, no one knew.
Regardless of how fiercely undercurrents surged in the outside world, it was hard for them to affect Hogwarts.
In Professor McGonagall's words: even if the sky were to fall, tall people would hold it up, and it had nothing to do with students like them. At an age meant for studying, they should focus on their lessons and ignore all other nonsense.
Therefore, classes still had to go on.
Kyle had little interest in the difficulty of Hogwarts' curriculum, yet he still had to attend.
Because this particular period was the old bat's Potions class.
Other professors were relatively easy to talk to, and if Kyle didn't show up, they wouldn't say much.
However, if the old bat called roll and found him missing, Hufflepuff House would lose at least fifty points in that single lesson.
Kyle was great at earning points, but even he couldn't sustain being deducted points at that rate by the old bat.
In the Potions dungeon on the basement floor of Hogwarts, Kyle sat in a dark back row...
Well, every spot in the Potions classroom was equally gloomy.
Sitting in the corner, Kyle was idly playing with a twig belonging to the Whomping Willow.
To be precise, it could no longer be considered merely a twig of the Whomping Willow, as Kyle had fused it with Devil's Snare once again.
Books described Devil's Snare as a vine-like plant capable of reaching out snake-like tendrils to entangle any living creature that approached, causing injury or death to those caught.
From this description, it wasn't hard to tell that if one wished to perform Secret Technique: Nativity of a World of Trees, this plant was undoubtedly a fine choice.
However, Devil's Snare possessed a fatal flaw: its fear of bright light and fire.
Relying purely on Devil's Snare to cast Nativity of a World of Trees simply wouldn't work.
Due to this weakness, dealing with it wouldn't even require Fiendfyre; just a larger-area Incendio would render the Nativity of a World of Trees—cast with a massive amount of Kyle's magic power—utterly useless.
Therefore, fusing it with the Whomping Willow to make it less fearful of fire was the best choice.
Furthermore, plant cells possessed far greater adaptability than animal cells, so in addition to these two plants, Kyle could continue to integrate even more magical plants into it—
Venomous Tentacula and Mandrakes.
As long as the plant carried the toxic characteristics of the Venomous Tentacula, the might of Nativity of a World of Trees could be elevated by several levels.
As for the Mandrake, Kyle was very curious to know: if he used the immense magic power belonging to an Obscurial to force-grow a sufficiently massive Mandrake, would its cry, which was already lethal, become even more powerful?
Whomping Willow + Devil's Snare + Venomous Tentacula—such a Nativity of a World of Trees was already virtually unassailable.
Pairing that with a fifty-meter-tall Mandrake would make it a dead-on, magical-godly modification of Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees.
After all, the ultimate effect of both was to render people unconscious or even cause death; the only difference was that Advent of a World of Flowering Trees used pollen, whereas he relied on the screeching of a Mandrake.
Same thing, really.
Rummaging through his ninja tool pouch, Kyle quickly located a Mandrake seed.
Currently, Kyle's ninja tool pouch, under the effect of the Undetectable Extension Charm, was nearing the capacity of Doraemon's four-dimensional pocket.
Useful or useless, Kyle shoved everything into the pouch.
Who knew when it might come in handy?
Tossing the seed into the cauldron, Kyle drew his wand and cast an Engorgio-like Refilling Charm toward the cauldron on the table.
The Refilling Charm was typically used to replenish liquids—for instance, the several large barrels of vinegar at the entrance of the Hufflepuff common room had remained unemptied for over a thousand years due to the charm—but modifying it to add other physical substances was also viable.
Take this cauldron right now, which instantly filled with soil.
Under the influence of natural magic, the seed within the soil rapidly sprouted and grew until it finally became a mature Mandrake.
If Professor Sprout, their Head of House, were to witness this skill, well...
His future campus life would basically consist of living in the greenhouses as free labor for Professor Sprout.
Magic power enveloped the entire Mandrake as Kyle began probing his magical energy into its cells to analyze its structure.
This was the very first step in using Transfiguration to modify living organisms.
However, Kyle didn't plan to modify it, but merely wanted to push it beyond its natural growth limits.
Getting a Mandrake to break its growth limits was much more troublesome than the other three plants mentioned earlier because its roots resembled a human baby, and it would wail loudly just like one.
Though it was only relatively more troublesome.
"Engorgio."
Waving his wand once more, Kyle cast an Engorgement Charm.
The Engorgement Charm could cause an object to expand rapidly without restraint; every Halloween, Hagrid would cast this spell on his cultivated pumpkins before turning those carriage-sized pumpkins into individual small booths.
However, this growth could not exceed the object's structural tolerance, or else a violent explosion would occur.
The vitality inside Kyle's body poured into the Mandrake like it cost nothing, forcefully raising its tolerance level and suppressing its tendency to explode.
Yet, when a hairline crack appeared on the cauldron, Kyle knew that trouble was brewing.
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