"G...Good afternoon, Professor Flitwick, Mr. Kettleburn, and...and Professor Godric," Professor Quirrell stammered, his voice trembling slightly as his eyes darted nervously around the room.
Professor Flitwick responded with a friendly smile. "Professor Quirrell, I didn't expect to see you here. Would you care to sit and join us? We were just discussing some fascinating things."
Quirrell quickly waved his hands in refusal. "Oh, n...no, thank you. I...I have something urgent to do. I...I need to return to the school."
He forced a nervous smile and turned, walking hastily toward the door.
Professor Flitwick watched his retreating figure, brow furrowed. "Quirrell wasn't always like this. He used to be a brilliant student, especially in theoretical subjects."
Kettleburn nodded in agreement, his expression solemn. "Yes, people change. I heard he became this way after returning from the Dark Forest. He was never quite the same after that."
Meanwhile, Professor Godric wasn't paying attention to their conversation. He had a strange feeling, as though someone was watching him. The sensation was unsettling, and he subconsciously tightened his grip on the butterbeer in his hand.
He glanced toward the door.
Sure enough, after Quirrell left, another person in a black robe with a concealed face followed him out. It had to be Professor Snape. Godric was all too familiar with that cold, calculating gaze.
"What's wrong, Godric?" Professor Flitwick asked, noticing his unusual behavior.
Godric snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head. "It's nothing, Professor."
The Three Broomsticks was unusually lively today, with many students and faculty present, filling the room with chatter.
For the next week, Godric devoted his time to training the Biting Cabbages, in addition to teaching and preparing his lessons. It wasn't easy—these plants weren't intelligent. Understandably, they didn't have brains, but their instincts were wild and unpredictable.
While the Biting Cabbages responded well to commands like "attack" and "stop," the real challenge was guiding their aggression. If not given clear instructions, they would attack anything in sight—shoes, birds, and even each other. It made training them particularly difficult.
Godric designed training dummies in two colors: red to signify targets to attack, and green to signal safe targets to protect. Unfortunately, no matter how many times he tried, the results were always the same. Whether it was a red or green dummy, all of them ended up shredded to pieces.
In the end, Godric decided to try something more extreme: mutation. He thought of granting the Biting Cabbages intelligence like the Devil's Snare, which had a certain level of cunning.
So, Godric borrowed some vines from the Devil's Snare and brewed a large batch of specialized Growth Potion.
Thursday afternoon, by the Black Lake.
"The last one," Godric muttered as he crouched down on the grass.
He held a glowing bottle of potion and carefully poured it into the mouth of one of the Biting Cabbages. The plant opened its enormous mouth, filled with sharp fangs, and gulped down the potion greedily.
Seeing that the plant still seemed hungry, Godric casually tossed the empty bottle into its mouth.
"Professor, are you sure this potion will make them smarter?" Archer, who had been quietly watching from the side, asked.
Archer's glasses reflected the sunlight as he looked curiously at Godric.
Godric shrugged. "Who knows? It's worth a try."
Once all the Biting Cabbages had drunk the potion, they fell into a deep sleep, snoring softly as they collapsed in place.
"Now, we wait," Godric said, wiping sweat from his brow. He sat down next to a nearby tree and glanced at Archer. "By the way, how's your Biting Cabbage doing?"
"I keep it on my dormitory windowsill. It loves the sunlight—it just lies there motionless every day," Archer replied, sitting down next to him. "Except for the first day when it tore Plant Poison's robe."
Godric chuckled. "Seems like your Biting Cabbage is already smarter than these ones here."
Archer shrugged. "Well, I've been taking care of it. It's become rather attached to me."
"Anything else happen?" Godric asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Plant Poison was furious. He almost tossed the cabbage out the window. But Godric helped him fix his robe in the common room," Archer replied, a faint smile on his face.
Godric nodded. It was clear that Archer had put more effort into his plant, and it had responded well. It had almost become his "beloved child."
"I'd suggest spending more time with it," Godric said. "The more it gets used to you, the more it will listen."
"Alright, Professor." Archer nodded thoughtfully. He had already been doing just that, and it seemed to be working—his cabbage had grown much more affectionate.
They sat together for a while, and Archer began to talk about some of the recent events at school.
"Slytherin students are the worst," Archer complained. "Malfoy bullies everyone."
"Malfoy?" Godric said, recalling the pale-haired boy with a cold demeanor.
"Yeah, just this morning, he snatched Plant Poison's Memory Ball," Archer said, irritation creeping into his voice. "It's so frustrating, but thankfully, Professor McGonagall stopped him."
A Memory Ball was a strange invention. When you held it, it turned red to alert you that you had forgotten something. However, it never told you what you had forgotten, which made it a rather ineffective tool.
"That sounds like a troublesome student," Godric remarked. "But you know, each house has its own unique culture. Slytherins can be arrogant, but not all of them are like Malfoy. The key is learning how to deal with them without letting their actions affect you."
"I just want to punch him," Archer said with a deep frown, clearly frustrated.
"..."
Godric paused, surprised by Archer's bluntness. He smiled wryly. "Ah, classic Gryffindor. You always prefer direct solutions."
"What did you say?" Archer asked, looking confused.
Godric ruffled Archer's hair affectionately, causing his glasses to slip askew. "That's one way to deal with it, but you should think about the consequences first."
"Well, Professor McGonagall might deduct points from Gryffindor or give me detention," Archer mused. "But I doubt Malfoy can beat me in a fight."
Godric smiled wryly. "That's not the point, Archer."
After their conversation, Archer had to leave for his Flying class.
Godric remained by the lake, watching over the sleeping Biting Cabbages. The plants had fallen completely still, and he hoped the mutation would work.
As he sat there, he couldn't help but feel a strange excitement. If the mutation took hold, it would be a huge breakthrough in magical botany—granting intelligence to plants had never been attempted to this extent before.
For now, though, all he could do was wait and observe.