Hermione was extremely pleased after receiving Professor Sprout's praise. For the first time since arriving at Hogwarts, she finally felt all the books she had spent the last two days memorising were paying off.
She shot Lucien a rather smug look, clearly proud of herself.
After finishing the basic explanations, Professor Sprout clapped her hands to gather everyone's attention again.
"Next, I'm going to teach you how to handle Leaping Toadstool Roots," she announced. "And if you don't want your hands itching for several days after being splashed with the sap, make sure you put your gloves on properly."
The students hurriedly followed her instructions. Once everyone was prepared, Professor Sprout handed each student a small squirming root.
"Well done, little wizards. Now, gently hold the base of the root. Be careful — Leaping Toadstool Roots are extremely sensitive. If you grip too hard, they'll jump straight out of your hands."
Lucien had handled these plants countless times while farming achievements in the past, so dealing with them was effortless for him. The wriggling roots behaved obediently in his grasp.
Hermione's situation, however, was completely different.
Although she had memorised plenty of information from books, this was her first real contact with magical plants. No matter how detailed the descriptions were on paper, they could never compare to handling the real thing.
The moment she grabbed the root, the plant suddenly twitched violently in her palm.
"Ah!"
Hermione gave a startled cry and nearly flung the root across the greenhouse.
A warm hand gently covered the back of hers before she could lose control completely.
"Don't panic. Relax."
Lucien's calm voice sounded beside her ear. Somehow, his tone carried a strange soothing effect that immediately eased her nervousness.
"That's right," he said softly. "Treat it gently, like you would a frightened little animal."
Hermione's breathing slowly steadied.
"Now place it into the flowerpot carefully and cover it with soil."
Feeling his warm breath so close behind her made Hermione's cheeks gradually turn pink. Her hands trembled slightly as she carefully lowered the root into the flowerpot.
Only after she finished covering it with soil did she finally let out a relieved breath.
"Thank you, Lucien."
"Do we really need to be that polite with each other?"
Hermione stared blankly at him. Her bright eyes seemed to reflect only his figure for a brief moment. After several seconds, she finally snapped out of it, her face and neck flushing crimson.
Then she suddenly lowered her head, looking a little upset.
"Lucien… am I stupid?"
"Because of what just happened?"
Hermione didn't argue. Her silence alone was enough of an answer.
Lucien placed his hands lightly on her shoulders and looked directly into her eyes.
"Hermione, everyone has things they're bad at. Just because someone has weaknesses doesn't erase their strengths."
His voice remained calm and steady.
"You're intelligent, knowledgeable, and incredibly hardworking. When you encounter a problem, the first thing you should think about is how to solve it — not whether you're inadequate."
He gave her a reassuring smile.
"Besides, this is your first Herbology lesson. Having no practical experience is perfectly normal."
The encouragement worked almost immediately.
The disappointment on Hermione's face vanished, replaced by a bright smile once more.
"I didn't expect Mr Grindelwald to be so good at comforting people."
"Finish planting your root first," Lucien replied dryly. "Otherwise Professor Sprout really will scold you."
"Hmph. She definitely won't!"
After Herbology ended, Hermione and Parvati both invited Lucien to visit the library with them. He politely declined both offers.
Tonight's detention was still hanging over his head, and before that happened, he wanted to speak with Hagrid first.
The Forbidden Forest contained far too many dangerous magical creatures.
Werewolves.
Hippogriffs.
And most importantly, Aragog — the enormous Acromantula Hagrid secretly kept hidden inside the forest.
That thing was practically as dangerous as a dragon.
Given Hagrid's carefree personality, Lucien genuinely worried that one careless sentence might result in him being sent to patrol the forest alone tonight.
By the time he arrived at Hagrid's hut, the groundskeeper was standing outside beside an enormous pile of giant pumpkins. Hagrid was stirring something inside a massive wooden barrel.
To Lucien, the barrel looked more like an oversized bathtub than a bucket.
The moment Hagrid noticed him approaching, his entire face lit up.
"Lucien! Yeh came!"
He quickly set the barrel aside and waved enthusiastically.
"Come in, come in! Professor McGonagall already told me about yer detention tonight. Don't worry — I'll take good care o' yeh."
"That's reassuring to hear."
Lucien followed Hagrid into the hut.
The moment he stepped inside, however, his eyes widened slightly.
The furniture itself wasn't impressive, but the materials scattered around the room absolutely were.
A blanket woven from unicorn hair.
A chair crafted from holly wood.
Broken Bowtruckle branches piled casually in the corner.
Several polished unicorn horns stacked beside the fireplace.
To ordinary wizards, those things were all valuable magical materials. Yet inside Hagrid's hut, they were treated like random clutter.
This wasn't a groundskeeper's cabin.
It was practically a treasure vault.
Seeing Lucien staring around the room strangely, Hagrid scratched his beard awkwardly.
"Sorry 'bout the mess. Don't usually have visitors, so things get a bit untidy."
"You misunderstand," Lucien replied quickly. "I'm just surprised you've collected so many magical creature materials."
"Oh, those?"
Hagrid waved dismissively.
"Picked 'em up while patrollin' the forest. Been sitting around for ages. If yeh want any, just say so and I'll save some fer yeh later."
To ordinary people, these materials were precious.
To Hagrid, they were everyday rubbish.
After inviting Lucien to sit down, Hagrid enthusiastically brought out his signature rock cakes and placed them onto the table. He then poured an enormous mug of strong tea.
"Made these meself," Hagrid said proudly. "Guaranteed yeh'll love 'em!"
Lucien picked one up carefully.
The moment he loosened his grip slightly, the rock cake slipped from his hand and smashed directly onto the plate below.
Crack!
The plate shattered instantly.
The rock cake, however, remained completely unharmed.
It even made a metallic clanging sound as it rolled across the table.
The room fell into complete silence.
Lucien's mouth twitched slightly.
Are you sure people dislike them because of the taste and not because they physically can't chew them?
Under Hagrid's disappointed gaze, Lucien hurriedly shook his head and declined as politely as possible.
While glancing around the room again, he suddenly remembered something important.
"By the way, Hagrid, what do you usually do with all the materials you collect from the Forbidden Forest?"
"Keep some fer meself," Hagrid answered. "Sell the rest in Diagon Alley."
His expression immediately darkened afterward.
"But those shopkeepers are worse than vampires. Except fer a few specialist breeders, they all offer terrible prices."
Hagrid grumbled bitterly, clearly unhappy about the topic.
Lucien's eyes immediately brightened.
"Hagrid, I have a suggestion."
"What is it?"
"If you gather magical creature materials in the future, sell them directly to me instead."
Hagrid blinked in confusion.
"I'll buy everything at full market price."
"What d'yeh think?"
Lucien had always understood something important.
Replacing Diagon Alley couldn't be accomplished with only potion shops and clothing stores. A true commercial network required diverse products and stable supply chains.
Magical creature materials were one of the wizarding world's most profitable trades.
And Hagrid's stockpile was absurdly valuable.
Even if Lucien eventually severed ties with Dumbledore years later, the materials he acquired beforehand would still remain his.
More importantly, he still had several years to develop alternative suppliers.
As Lucien spoke, he carefully observed Hagrid's expression, trying to gauge his reaction.
To his surprise, Hagrid didn't hesitate at all.
Instead, he looked overwhelmingly moved.
"Lucien, yeh're doing me a huge favour!"
The giant nearly crushed him in an enormous hug.
"Yeh've got no idea how badly those people push down prices! Sometimes they offer less than half the proper value!"
Of course they do, Lucien thought silently.
You practically announce that you don't know how to negotiate.
If Hagrid had ever bothered using Hogwarts' reputation to pressure them, no shopkeeper would dare exploit him so openly.
Still, Lucien wisely kept those thoughts to himself.
"Don't worry," he said with a smile. "I won't deliberately lower prices."
"Course yeh wouldn't! We're friends!"
Hagrid suddenly hesitated again.
"But if yeh buy things so expensive… won't yeh lose money?"
"Not really. At worst, I'll just make slightly less profit."
Lucien answered with a perfectly calm expression while shamelessly exploiting Hagrid's honesty.
The truth was that Hagrid's materials were incredibly rare. Even if Lucien doubled the market price, there would still be countless buyers willing to pay for them.
Fortunately, Hagrid wasn't particularly good with business matters. Hearing the words "full market price" alone already made him dizzy with excitement.
"That's good then!"
He finally sighed in relief, clearly convinced Lucien was the one suffering a disadvantage.
After discussing future delivery times and quantities, Hagrid enthusiastically insisted on keeping him for lunch before finally allowing him to leave.
The afternoon passed quietly in the library with Hermione.
As evening approached, Lucien grabbed a quick dinner in the Great Hall before secretly pocketing several fried fish from the table. Then he headed directly toward Filch's office.
The door wasn't locked.
Inside, the office was empty except for a single cat lying lazily across the desk.
"Filch really has no idea how to raise a cat properly," Lucien muttered. "Such beautiful fur, yet he's somehow managed to turn her into a skinny little scarecrow."
He walked forward calmly and placed the fried fish onto the table.
"Hello again, Mrs Norris."
The cat immediately jumped down from the desk and stared at him cautiously for a long moment before slowly sniffing the fish.
Lucien gently cast a cleaning charm, removing the dirt and stains tangled within her fur. Then he carefully stroked her back.
Realising he meant no harm, Mrs Norris gradually relaxed and finally lowered her head to eat.
"Slow down," Lucien said with a chuckle. "Nobody's going to steal it from you."
Whether publicly or privately, Lucien never hesitated to show goodwill toward anyone who wasn't hostile to him.
Even if it was only a cat.
Just as he was peacefully petting Mrs Norris, an angry roar suddenly echoed from outside the office.
"GET AWAY FROM MY MRS NORRIS! WHAT DID YEH DO TO HER?!"
....
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