Hogwarts…. the name conjured vivid memories in Adrian's mind. He didn't resist the pull of nostalgia; overall, his seven years of student life at Hogwarts had been quite satisfying.
Perhaps being a professor there wouldn't be bad either? And if nothing unexpected happens, Harry would also be going to Hogwarts in the coming term. For the sake of advancing the growth of the Wisdom Tree, accepting a teaching position at Hogwarts would be a good choice.
"I can give it a try, Professor," Adrian said making his decision.
"Excellent!" Professor Kettleburn nodded with satisfaction, "I'll contact Dumbledore. You might receive an official letter from Hogwarts within a few days."
Once Adrian decided to try the teaching position at Hogwarts, Professor Kettleburn's mood improved significantly and he celebrated by ordering and drinking several glasses of honeyed mead, each toast ranging from "To the future of magical creature education!" to the increasingly slurred "May your students lose fewer limbs than mine did!"
"Oh, right," Professor Kettleburn suddenly exclaimed while somewhat clumsily tearing off the bandage on his prosthetic arm, "I almost forgot about this little matter."
Adrian's gaze shifted to Professor Kettleburn's arm—the prosthetic limb was already tattered, covered with scratches of varying depths, and even had several distinct burn marks.
Adrian immediately guessed those burn marks must have been left by dragons, considering Professor Kettleburn's habit of frequently wandering around dragon reserves and natural habitats with minimal protective equipment.
Adrian helplessly held his forehead. " Professor, can't you be more careful? These prosthetics were designed to withstand normal wear and tear, not direct dragon fire or acromantula venom!"
"You should say that to those dragons; they never calm down," Professor Kettleburn replied with a dismissive wave of his hand, his tone telling that dragon temperament was the real problem, not his reckless methods.
He carefully removed the damaged prosthetic arm detaching it from the specialized magical socket embedded in his shoulder, and handed the battered limb to Adrian. "Sorry to impose, little Ed. Is there any possibility of repairing it?"
Adrian accepted the prosthetic limb and examined it carefully.
He still remembered the process of making this prosthetic using a type of self-healing wood which was also a product of his unique "mutation" ability.
But clearly, the prosthetic in his hands had suffered damage far beyond its self-healing capabilities.
Adrian tapped the limb lightly with his knuckles, and instead of the solid sound of healthy wood, he could hear a faint hollow echo from inside.
"It's regrettably beyond repair, Professor," Adrian frowned, "The internal magical matrix is completely destabilized, and the self-healing properties have been overwhelmed by excessive trauma. What exactly did you subject this to?"
"Hmm..." Professor Kettleburn rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his eyes drifting upward as if searching the ceiling for memories. "Probably... well, first it was bitten by a Norwegian Ridgeback during a routine examination—magnificent specimen, its teeth were like daggers!— then later, while attempting to calm an irritable Hungarian Horntail during its mating season, my arm got caught in a direct blast of its flames...
Oh, I completely forgot to mention, that Norwegian Ridgeback that bit me was actually the one hatched from the dragon egg I got from you before!"
Seeing Professor Kettleburn enthusiastically describing these life-threatening encounters, Adrian's temple throbbed with an oncoming headache, and he couldn't help but sigh deeply: "You were using it as a spontaneous armor against dragons, weren't you? Not as a functional limb, but as a literal shield?"
"Haha, well, the prosthetic you crafted is of truly exceptional quality!" Professor Kettleburn laughed heartily, not even attempting to deny the accusation. "Better to sacrifice the arm than my remaining original parts, wouldn't you agree? Madam Pomfrey has forbidden me from losing any more original body parts— she threatened to retire if I showed up missing another finger!"
Adrian shook his head helplessly at the professor's incurable nature and handed the severely damaged prosthetic back to him.
"This particular limb is unfortunately beyond saving, Professor. You'll have to make do with it for a few days, though I wouldn't recommend subjecting it to any further trauma—it could disintegrate completely at any moment. I'll craft you a new one, but the process will take some time."
Professor Kettleburn reattached the prosthetic to his shoulder and experimentally moved his artificial arm: "It's perfectly fine for the time being; I'm quite accustomed to working with just one hand anyway. The students find it quite entertaining when parts fall off during demonstrations. Go ahead and report to Hogwarts for your interview; you can work on the new prosthetic when you have time. No rush at all!"
Adrian didn't fully understand why Professor Kettleburn seemed so unusually eager for him to accept a teaching position at Hogwarts.
But since it was the professor's well-intentioned goodwill motivating the recommendation, Adrian accepted the opportunity.
..............
When Adrian finally returned home after finishing his business in Diagon Alley, it was already completely dark.
Adrian entered the plantation and let the Devil's Snare return to its post.
As a security installation in the plantation, the importance of Devil's Snare couldn't possibly be overstated. Taking it outside was truthfully a risky behavior.
After all, this wasn't truly an independent space that existed separately from the physical world, and Adrian's enchanted box only served as a portal.
Although Adrian's magic was sufficient to hide this vast area, occasionally some strange creatures would still wander in.
For instance, last year, a Graphorn had secretly slipped in—a monster with its head covered in spikes and a humped back.
However, it was still dealt with by the Devil's Snare.
To this day, the Graphorn's horn remained among Adrian's collections.
Adrian walked out of the first greenhouse, crossed a patch of grass, and reached the second greenhouse.
The second greenhouse was special; due to the Undetectable Extension Charm, the space inside was frighteningly large, equivalent to several basketball courts, stretching almost beyond sight.
Most of the plants cultivated within this expanded space were larger species that required considerable room to reach their full potential.
Walking to the center, a tall tree came into view. This was an ebony tree.
Since it was in Adrian's plantation, this ebony was naturally a "mutated" variety.
Unlike ordinary ebony, this tree's branches displayed a strange dark purple color, metallic in appearance.
With a thought, the tree's information appeared in Adrian's mind.
[Species: Ebony]
[Level: 3]
[Properties: Regeneration, Lightweight]
[Status: Growing (12%)]
.......
As is well known among wandmakers and magical craftsmen, natural ebony is an exceptionally wear-resistant and heat-resistant wood, valued for its durability and strength. These qualities make it a frequent choice in wand making, particularly for transfiguration-focused wands where stability during complex transformations is essential.
Naturally, these same properties also made ebony quite suitable for crafting prosthetic limbs capable of withstanding considerable stress. The prosthetic limbs that Adrian had previously given to Professor Kettleburn was made using branches from this tree.
The regeneration and lightweight properties were particularly perfect for prosthetic manufacturing—allowing for self-repair of minor damage and ensuring the wearer wouldn't be unnecessarily burdened by excessive weight. These advantages were precisely why Adrian had invested so much time and energy into developing and maintaining this tree.
Unfortunately, one significant drawback of ebony remained even in this mutated form—it grew extremely slowly compared to other magical plants. This particular ebony tree had reached level 3 in its magical development many years ago, but until today, the progress bar had only advanced forward by 12%.
When he finally reached the ebony tree, Adrian paused briefly, his senses detected something subtly different in the atmosphere surrounding the tree. He felt something odd about the ebony's magical aura today.
Adrian experimentally knocked on the trunk with his knuckles. In response to this disturbance, a small, stick-like head with a few delicate leaves sprouting from its top cautiously peered out from between the branches—it was a Bowtruckle.
This particular creature was slightly larger than an ordinary Bowtruckle. Its bark-like skin showed a dark green color that shimmered with an unusual purple ting when it moved, somewhat resembling the color of the ebony tree itself.
It blinked its tiny, beady black eyes warily, cautiously examining Adrian while tightly clutching a small twig in its twig-like hands as if it were a precious treasure.
"When exactly did you sneak your way in here, little one?" Adrian raised a curious eyebrow.
The Bowtruckle called out a couple of times in response, making high-pitched chittering sounds. It seemed displeased that Adrian had disturbed its peaceful rest.
Adrian observed it more carefully and noticed that what it was holding was actually a fallen branch from the ebony tree. Though withered compared to the living branches, the twig still retained faint traces of magical energy.
"This is my tree, you know. I planted it," Adrian chuckled softly, reaching out his hand to take back the branch out of curiosity. The Bowtruckle immediately shrank back in vigilance, and pressed itself against the trunk and clutched the branch even more tightly against its chest.
It even glared at Adrian, clearly having no intention of returning it.
"Fine, have it your way," Adrian shrugged helplessly, not arguing with it further.
It seemed the Bowtruckle before him had already made this tree its home. As long as it didn't damage the ebony, there was no harm in letting it stay.
Adrian turned and left the greenhouse as an idea appeared in his mind. When he returned few minutes later, he had a small crystal jar in his hand.
The jar contained some fairy eggs—a food that Bowtruckles particularly liked.
Returning to his position in front of the ebony tree, Adrian opened the jar with a gentle twist of the lid and shook it lightly, causing the eggs to rustle.
Hearing the noise, the Bowtruckle peeked its head out once more from its hiding place among the branches, staring intently at the jar in Adrian's hand. The leaves on its head trembled slightly with anticipation, and its posture shifted as it weighed whether to overcome its wariness and approach closer to investigate.
"Want some?" Adrian smiled encouragingly and shook the jar again, allowing the enticing aroma of the fairy eggs to waft upward toward the branches. The Bowtruckle immediately nodded.
"Then let's make a deal," Adrian crouched down and tapped the Bowtruckle's small head with his finger in a friendly gesture. "You can stay here, but in exchange, you must help diligently look after this ebony tree and protect it from any harm."
The Bowtruckle tilted its head thoughtfully, as it appeared to seriously consider this proposal.
After a moment, it solemnly nodded, then opened its claws expectantly, clearly indicating it was time for Adrian to fulfill his part of the bargain by giving the fairy eggs.
"Here you go, little guy," Adrian took a handful of fairy eggs from the jar and placed them on the trunk.
The Bowtruckle immediately scrambled down from its position and upon reaching the eggs, it tightly embraced the entire pile with its long arms as if fearing they might somehow escape, and began making excited gurgling sounds of delight as it quickly stuffed them into its mouth and began chewing.
Seeing its satisfied expression, Adrian couldn't help but smile and placed the open jar next to the ebony tree as well.
Then, he turned his attention to the ebony tree before him and took out his wand.
"Sectumsempra."
A flash of silver light darted past, and a side branch of the ebony tree was severed, falling cleanly to the ground.
Adrian bent down to pick up the branch and examined the cutting surface with satisfaction.
"The Sectumsempra Curse is truly excellent for precise pruning work," He sighed appreciatively, "Severus Snape is absolutely a genius."
The Bowtruckle, momentarily distracted from its feast upon seeing Adrian magically sever a branch immediately raised its head in alarm.
"Don't worry, I'm just taking some material. The tree won't be hurt," Adrian reassured it with a wave of his hand. "Look, it's already starting to heal."
With the regeneration property, the cut on the ebony tree quickly grew a layer of tender bark.
The Bowtruckle stared at the healing mark and, after confirming the ebony wasn't injured, finally lowered its guard and continued eating the fairy eggs.
Adrian picked up the severed branch and thoughtfully weighed it in his hand.
"Not bad at all," He said with satisfaction. "Much better quality than the previous branch I harvested! The tree is definitely maturing nicely.
Professor Kettleburn will definitely be pleased with his new limb!"