"How do my pumpkin pasties taste?" Hagrid asked warmly, his large, bearded face lighting up with expectation. "If you like them, take some more back with you and share them with your roommates. I had a particularly good harvest this year. Even after supplying most of the pumpkins to the school canteen, I've still got enough left to last me a month or two. So don't hold back—help yourself."
Sitting inside the cozy yet cluttered hut, Ryze could only smile politely. The pumpkin pasties were indeed delicious, rich with flavor and generously filled, but they were undeniably heavy. Most of his roommates preferred lighter, more refined foods, and he doubted they would appreciate Hagrid's rustic cooking as much as he did.
"They're great," Ryze replied honestly, "but my roommates tend to prefer lighter flavors. I'll just take a few for now."
In the end, he picked up four pumpkin pasties—more out of courtesy than necessity. He planned to eat two himself and perhaps pass the remaining ones to Harry later. Hagrid watched this with a hint of disappointment, but he quickly nodded in understanding.
"Ah, young wizards these days," Hagrid chuckled. "Always going for lighter meals. No worries—I'll try making a milder batch next time."
Then, as though something had just occurred to him, Hagrid suddenly stood up and motioned for Ryze to follow him. "Come on, I've got something to show you."
Curious, Ryze followed him out the back of the hut. Beyond the familiar pumpkin patch, which had already been harvested, a new area of land had been cleared. The soil looked freshly turned, and shallow trenches suggested preparation for planting something entirely different.
Ryze raised an eyebrow. "Hagrid, are you planning to plant something else before winter sets in?"
Hagrid laughed heartily, clearly pleased. "That's right! Didn't you mention before how Hogwarts meals are mostly potatoes and bread, and how much you missed eating rice? Well, take a look at this—my very own paddy field!"
With that, he proudly pulled out a small bag from his coat pocket and opened it to reveal a handful of rice seeds.
For a moment, Ryze froze. Then his eyes lit up with unmistakable excitement.
They had indeed talked about this before, but at the time, Hagrid had explained that the climate and conditions around Hogwarts weren't suitable for growing ordinary rice. He had even mentioned that the earliest opportunity to obtain proper seeds would be during the next Easter holidays, when he could travel to East Asia.
Yet now, standing here and looking at freshly prepared fields and a bag of seeds, it was obvious that Hagrid had somehow solved the problem ahead of schedule.
"You mean… you actually got magic rice seeds?" Ryze asked, stepping closer to examine them.
The seeds looked ordinary at first glance, but there was a faint, almost imperceptible aura about them—something that hinted at their magical properties.
Then another thought struck him.
"Wait… magic rice seeds aren't cheap in Britain, are they?" Ryze said, frowning slightly. "I was the one who brought this up, so I should pay for them. It wouldn't be right otherwise."
Hagrid waved his hand dismissively, clearly unconcerned. "Oh, don't worry about that. I didn't spend much at all. Got these just yesterday at Hogsmeade."
Ryze blinked. "At Hogsmeade?"
"Yep," Hagrid said casually. "I was having a drink at the pub—treated someone to a glass of Madam Rosmerta's mead—and we got to chatting. Turns out, they had exactly what I needed, so I asked for some seeds, and they just gave me a bag!"
For a moment, Ryze said nothing.
The situation felt… oddly familiar.
Hagrid had a well-documented habit of acquiring unusual, and often dangerous, things from casual conversations in pubs. The three-headed dog Fluffy, for instance, had been bought from a mysterious Greek man. The dragon Norbert had been handed over under equally questionable circumstances. Even the Acromantula from Hagrid's school days likely had a similarly dubious origin.
And now, apparently, magic rice seeds had joined that list.
Ryze couldn't help but wonder whether it was the pub that was magical—or Hagrid himself.
Still, caution was necessary.
"Hagrid," Ryze said carefully, "who exactly did you get these from?"
Hagrid scratched his beard thoughtfully before answering. "Oh, no need to worry. They're a Potions professor from the Institute of Magic. They're here to discuss postponing the Potions Tournament with Hogwarts. Dumbledore and Professor Snape met them just yesterday."
Hearing this, Ryze felt a wave of relief.
At least it wasn't a shady merchant or some suspicious wanderer.
"The Institute of Magic… and the Potions Tournament?" Ryze repeated, his curiosity piqued.
He had heard of the Institute of Magic before. It was one of the eleven major magical schools in the world and the only officially recognized one in Japan—and arguably across all of Asia. The school was said to be located near a volcanic crater, making it both geographically unique and magically significant.
As for the Potions Tournament, that was something he knew little about.
Hagrid, clearly pleased to have an attentive listener, eagerly shared what he had learned.
"From what I heard, the tournament has a long history," he began. "Hundreds of years ago, several magic schools formed something called the Potions Alliance. Ever since then, they've been holding a Potions Tournament every seven years. It's only been interrupted a few times, mostly during major wars."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"This year was supposed to be the 77th tournament, but things didn't go as planned. First, a student from Uagadou had an accident while brewing a potion—ended up corroding half their body. Poor kid couldn't even get out of bed for six months."
Ryze winced slightly at the mental image.
"And that's not all," Hagrid added. "The Institute of Magic had their own problems. Apparently, the herbs they prepared for the tournament got wiped out—first by a volcanic eruption, then by a tsunami. Their entire herb garden was destroyed."
"That's… incredibly unlucky," Ryze murmured.
"Exactly," Hagrid nodded. "And Koldovstoretz had issues too. So when everyone got together to discuss things, they decided this year just wasn't right for holding the tournament. Now they're here at Hogwarts to figure out when to postpone it."
As he spoke, Hagrid absentmindedly weighed the bag of rice seeds in his hand, clearly pleased with his unexpected acquisition.
"Anyway," he continued, "when I heard they were a Potions professor, I thought I'd ask about magic rice seeds. I figured they might be able to send some over later, but turns out they were carrying all sorts of materials with them. We chatted for a while, and I guess they took a liking to me, because they just handed me this bag!"
Ryze nodded slowly, though something still nagged at him.
"There's one thing I'm curious about," he said. "What exactly did you talk about?"
Hagrid blinked, as if surprised by the question. "Talk about? Well, they're a Potions professor, so we talked about potions, of course. Just casual stuff."
Ryze waited.
"And…?" he prompted.
"Oh," Hagrid said, as if recalling the details. "We talked about how Professor Snape doesn't really like teaching Potions and has been trying to switch to Defense Against the Dark Arts for years—but keeps getting turned down."
Ryze's expression stiffened slightly.
"And we also talked about how Hogwarts hasn't had any truly outstanding students in recent years. I mean, Percy and Penelope are quite good, but compared to Percy's older brothers—well, they're not quite at that level."
For a moment, silence hung in the air.
Ryze forced himself to maintain a neutral expression, though internally, he felt a surge of disbelief.
No wonder that professor had been so generous.
From their perspective, Hogwarts must have sounded like a declining institution—lacking exceptional students and led by a Potions professor who wasn't even interested in teaching his own subject.
If anything, giving away a bag of magic rice seeds was probably a small price to pay for such… enlightening information.
Ryze could only imagine how difficult it must have been for that professor to keep a straight face during the conversation. They probably went back and shared the story as a source of amusement.
Taking a deep breath, Ryze cleared his throat.
"Hagrid," he said carefully, "you probably shouldn't talk about these things so openly in the future. If word gets out, it could cause some trouble—especially with the upper-year students."
Hagrid looked slightly puzzled but nodded nonetheless. "Oh… I didn't think it was that serious. But alright, I'll be more careful."
Satisfied, Ryze turned his attention back to the small paddy field.
Despite everything, he couldn't deny his excitement.
These rice seeds had been obtained under rather unusual circumstances—arguably at the expense of Hogwarts' reputation—but they represented something meaningful. A taste of home, a small comfort in an otherwise foreign environment.
In about a month, Hagrid had said, the rice would be ready for harvest.
Ryze smiled faintly at the thought.
When that time came, he would make sure not to waste a single grain.
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