The Pacifist Necromancer of Hogwarts

Before leaving, Mr. Linde briefly introduced the plants in the greenhouse that attracted their attention to the students studying the nameplates. The agave leaves pointed like swords at the gloomy glass roof above, the aloe vera swollen with juice, the brown-green ferns lying on the ground almost like dry leaves, tall and knotty, holding up Cactus sticks with twisted spiny arms, mistletoe cactus with slender branches hanging from the trees, and their red relatives...

Anthony also curiously asked what the tree in the corner of the greenhouse was. Most of his knowledge of plants comes from two ways: playing with friends in the street park and helping the kind-hearted neighbor wife take care of the garden. And if there was a list of gardening plants, the elegant lady who said I'm going to faint from time to time would definitely check words like cactus and drought off the list immediately.

Cactus, Mr. Linde said, is also a plant in the Cactaceae family. Yes, in addition to the common little guys with thorns, he waved his hand at the tall cactus stick, there are also other plants in the Cactaceae family. Plants... he pointed to the long hanging mistletoe cactus, and trees.

That tree stood quietly in the corner of the greenhouse, looking completely different from its other cousins ​​in the same family. To be fair, though, its relatives also look quite different. If it hadn't been for Mr. Linde's introduction, Anthony would never have imagined that they would be divided together.

…

I think you all have noticed our ground, Mr Lind added.

The floor of the entire greenhouse is covered with tawny sandstone, which makes anyone who steps into this greenhouse in an arid region on a rainy day involuntarily relax.

“In the summer, the sandstone in the house absorbs heat during the day and releases it at night,” Mr. Linde said. “Of course, it may not be the weather today, but you should be able to imagine a day with clear skies. Don’t underestimate this. A little bit of heat...and plants benefit from it on very cold nights. Also, just like in the wild, a little shade helps plants reduce the rate of water loss and also allows our campus to save water when operating greenhouses.

The students listened with great curiosity as he introduced how the botanical garden allows all plants to live comfortably by adjusting the soil quality, greenhouse structure, and plant arrangement.

For the magic greenhouse, humidity and temperature are just a matter of a few spells, and all nutrients can be solved by applying fertilizer. As far as Anthony knows, Professor Sprout herself is a fanatical advocate of dragon dung fertilizer, but she has her own set of theoretical experience on the length of retting, the supplementary materials added, and the time of fertilization for different herbs.

Moreover, although she is a herbalist with traditional education, she insists that pure water such as springs should not be used to irrigate plants (artificial water is too pure and will lose many things that natural water has, which are very important for plant growth. ”), and it is not difficult to deduce from her words in the afternoon tea chat that more and more people in the wizarding world are doing this (“Of course, dragon dung can solve these problems...”).

Therefore, while Muggles are looking for ways to save water, almost every student who can get an E in the Charms O.W.Ls exam - or even some A's - is a mobile water station, as long as they are given a suitable small wooden stick.

It's really difficult. The student who suspected that the crab claw plant could breathe fire sighed, and followed the others in line behind Mr. Linde, leading him to the next stop.

Yes, and it's amazing. Anthony stood at the end of the line and heard the students beside him whispering, They can come up with so many solutions without using magic... I mean, are we really all human beings? ?”

Anthony pushed his shoulder to remind him to keep up with the classmates in front. He said: Yes, we just used different tools. If you had not entered Hogwarts, you might be explaining the design principles of the greenhouse to us now.

The student was startled and turned his head to find the professor standing behind him. He shrank his neck, made a face at his friend, and followed the team.

…

The ground was still wet. The dark clouds in the sky finally dispersed. Depending on the preference of the wind, the sun fell from time to time in the green and clean botanical garden, making the puddles sparkle. The air is humid, and there is a hint of rain, but at this moment, humid water vapor permeates the botanical garden, the smell of earth floats, the benches beside the road are empty, and the trash cans are stained with water and leaves.

There was no one on the road. The washed leaves are new. In fact, the whole world seemed new.

Only now do the students realize that this botanical garden really is a big garden. Urged by heavy rain, they passed by for the first time without noticing the carefully designed winding path or the daffodils hanging their heads on both sides of the path.

This journey was quite pleasant. Although the nameplates stood next to the flowers and plants in various areas, few people bothered to look at them. Students used their conjured rain boots to crush puddles or pick up fallen leaves swirling in the pond. Water droplets slid down the leaves, hitting their Muggle clothes and yellow and black rain boots, and finally penetrated into the garden path paved with pebbles.

After the storm passed, the birds in the woods began to sing again. The clear and melodious chirping trembled in the humid air, and the sound of water flowing from the drainage sewer came from far away.

At the students' request, Mr. Linde allowed them to roam freely outside for half an hour, but he proposed that everyone eat lunch first. After his reminder, people realized that they were hungry.

He took them to the lawn where they could rest freely, next to the restaurant of the botanical garden. Anthony shook out the waterproof picnic sheets and spread them out on the benches and grass. But he soon discovered that this was unnecessary: ​​the students had their own picnic blankets. They put their raincoats under their bodies and sat directly on the roadside, enjoying sandwiches, pumpkin pie or apple pie, regardless of getting their trouser legs wet.

Anthony even saw one student take out pumpkin juice and vanilla ice cream from his backpack, and the ice cream was served in a beautiful glass cup.

Mr. Linde apparently saw it too.

Magical life, he said with a smile, admiringly, my daughter will be jealous.

Anthony half-seriously said, I get jealous sometimes.

…

When everyone decided to sit down and share a lunch of their own bread crumbs with the ants at the Botanic Garden, Anthony sat down too and took out a tuna mayonnaise sandwich from his bag - increasingly approving of Tonk. From Si's point of view, Coco must be particularly good at kitchen magic, better than other elves, so that she can make the most ordinary food extremely delicious - she happily asked Mr. Linde: Would you like to try it?

Of course I do, Mr. Lynde said, but here's your lunch... He trailed off, staring at the second, third, and fourth sandwich Anthony pulled out.

I was worried that some students forgot to bring lunch. Anthony said easily, But it seems everything is fine now. Please help yourself.

As Mr. Lind carefully selected a bacon cheese sandwich, he pulled out a large bottle from his huge backpack - not the transformed can of the students who brought pumpkin juice, but bought from the supermarket. of the biggest package – shout out, “Anyone want orange juice?”

The nearby students immediately came over: I am Professor Anthony. I happen to be thirsty.

Is there a cup? Anthony asked.

No. said the student.

Okay, Anthony said, pulling out another pile of paper picnic cups from his backpack. The students sat back contentedly with orange juice in their hands. The sight of piles on the table in front of Anthony obviously attracted people's attention. After a while, several students ran over to him asking for orange juice.

Anthony took a cup and raised his eyebrows: Are you an adult, Mr. Toller?

Based on his experience, the residue at the bottom of the cup is definitely butterbeer. For students, this low-alcohol drink is just enough to satisfy their desire for a challenge without being too unpleasant to drink. Not everyone, like Skeleton Cat, appreciates the beauty of white wine from the get-go.

Uh, no, Professor, Toller said nervously, scraping his feet against the ground.

Anthony gave him a warning look and filled up the orange juice for him: Hand it over, don't let me pass by myself. He put the cup back into Toller's hand. The boy's face was flushed, whether due to alcohol or emotion, he didn't know.

After a few minutes, the orange juice in front of Anthony was mostly empty, but there were two and a half bottles of butterbeer in his bag, and there was even an unopened bottle of vodka. The students wanted to pretend it was water, but Anthony pointed to the words on it and asked them if they suspected that they were illiterate.

No, it's me who can't read, professor. This was sent to me by my pen pal in Kodos Doriz. He said pitifully, It's a gift, a souvenir.

Anthony said, Well, I'll give it to your dean.

Oh, no. The other party groaned desperately, like Hercules about to undergo a trial, he raised his neck and drank the orange juice in his hand, and said tragically, Please give me another glass, professor.

…

Mr. Linde was quite impressed with Coco's cooking skills, and after Anthony poured him a glass of orange juice, he couldn't help but ask Anthony if the sandwiches at Hogwarts were always of this quality.

Anthony asked him if he wanted to take the rest of the sandwiches away. Not only for Mr. Linde, but also for Mrs. Linde, Miss Linde, and Mr. Linde Jr. to have a taste of Hogwarts craftsmanship.

Within Hogwarts, he rarely met people like Mr. Lynde who could appreciate a simple food like a sandwich... The house elves' superb skills cultivated the tastes of everyone in the castle. Few - but compared to the average Englishman, Anthony had heard of Boubaston's reputation - only people like Anthony and Mr. Lynde, who had relied on the cold and shriveled convenience stores on the street for decades. Only those who are good with bread can appreciate how amazing and satisfying the combination of perfectly fried bacon, grilled cheese until slightly melted, and bread of just the right thickness is.

I can enjoy such a breakfast to my heart's content. He joked to Mr. Linde. Don't say you are not envious. On the other side of the world in Britain, there is probably the worst management department in the world, but at the same time there are excellent Cook. Our afternoon tea was great, so great that we could talk about everything in peace.”

Mr. Linde was stunned and laughed.

Then I'm really envious, he said. Excuse me, are any of the plants I met fourteen times worth eating? I hope I didn't miss too much.

Anthony thought about it carefully and shook his head: You didn't miss anything. I can't think of any delicious magic plants at all. Except for using magic to cook common ingredients, anything with magic is not delicious.

Such as sticky potions, slippery potions, weird-smelling potions... In fact, except for potions, no one seems to bother eating those things that scream, cry, bite, sting, and spit out venom. , a magical plant that hangs people. Even Professor Sprout's herbal tea only adds a little bit of magical herbs to add flavor, and the main part is leaves that have nothing to do with magic.

Mr. Linde said: Great, can I tell my colleagues this? That they actually have all the ingredients, but they just don't make it delicious enough?

Anthony said, Of course. I'd even like to send over a copy of our afternoon tea, if you'll allow me.

That's great! Lind said enthusiastically. In return, would you like to join our association? We can provide... well, experience in gardening and some relatively fierce bad words?

Anthony said: An irresistible temptation, Mr. Lynde.

Great. Lind said as he carefully wrote the mailing address of the botanical garden on a paper towel and handed it to Anthony. But please don't send owls over. In order to protect the plants, we have evicted some areas. animal.

Including owls? Anthony asked amusingly, imagining that the botanical garden relied on some Muggle technology to keep out the owls sent by the Ministry of Magic to deliver letters notifying them of breach of the Statute of Secrecy.

Mr Lind said: Especially the owls. One of our garden directors is getting a little annoyed by - I'm sorry - your management. He says he'd rather have a fighter jet drop in the garden than look at it again. Down to a bird with garbage tied to its legs.”

Anthony asked curiously: Did the fighter jet fall?

Mr. Linde nodded: Yes, Professor Anthony. It's a pity, but on the other hand, we really don't see many owls anymore, especially the ones with things tied to their legs. Thanks to Professor Kettleburn.

Cactus tree: Pereskia

Mistletoe Cactus: Rhipsalis, here refers to Rhipsalis baccifera

Red relatives: red mistletoe cactus, Pseudorhipsalis ramulosa