With his wand moving like a sword blade, the incantation of Sectumsempra was spoken aloud.
Ciel immediately felt the magic within his body become unprecedentedly sharp. This magical power surged toward his wand.
Unlike before, when his magical strength was too low and Sectumsempra would ultimately dissipate into nothingness, this time was different. Ciel's magical strength had already exceeded the threshold for casting Sectumsempra.
A formless, intangible, but devastatingly sharp magical power immediately surged forth from his wand tip. Though there were no spectacular light effects, it was like an invisible sword slashing through the air, yet even more heart-stopping.
Even Ciel himself, after sensing the sharp edge of Sectumsempra cutting through the air, felt goosebumps rise all over his body. He sensed the threat. Though not fatal, Ciel could confirm that if he were to take a hit from such a Sectumsempra spell, he would probably not escape torn skin and spurting blood.
You must know that in the original story, Hagrid, this half-giant, could twist and break steel with his bare hands. Steel-forged hunting rifles were like putty in his hands. Ciel's physical strength, benefiting from abilities like Legendary Life and Legendary Power, was not only no worse than Hagrid's but even surpassed it.
That Sectumsempra could make him feel the threat of injury showed its devastating power. Using it against some large magical creatures like trolls, for instance, would probably be effective. As for wizards, that went without saying. Sectumsempra ignored protective magic, caused unstoppable bleeding when it hit, and couldn't be healed. These characteristics were enough to give any wizard a hard time!
Ciel took a deep breath. Only after a long moment did he gradually calm his excited emotions. Now he finally had a magic spell that could be called a killer weapon. Although due to Sectumsempra's nature as dark magic, he couldn't use it casually in public, but it was enough to greatly enhance Ciel's sense of security.
If Quirrell dared to target Ciel again, Sectumsempra would be enough to make him suffer greatly!
At this moment, Ciel also felt a surge of emotion. "This harvest has absolutely been a leap forward in my magical abilities compared to before. Silver Tier rewards are truly powerful."
His eyes also revealed fervent heat. "If I could cultivate even more Devil's Snare, the strength of Sectumsempra, including the strength of my other magic, couldn't it continue to increase? The current thirteen water tanks are still not quite enough."
For a moment, Ciel even felt the impulse to try large-scale cultivation of Devil's Snare in the Black Lake. If this could succeed, harvesting hundreds of Silver Tier reward orbs at once might not be impossible.
But after a moment, Ciel still suppressed this expansionist urge. "Calm down, calm down. I can't let the huge harvest go to my head and fantasize about reaching the sky in one step. Cultivating Devil's Snare in laboratory water tanks is indeed no longer difficult for me. But the Black Lake is an open ecosystem. Rashly introducing new plants has too many variables."
"Not only could it cause the original ecosystem in the Black Lake to collapse, making many precious aquatic herbs from the Black Lake disappear, but even the Devil's Snare itself might die completely due to environmental interference."
Therefore, although the idea of planting Devil's Snare in the Black Lake was very tempting, after weighing the pros and cons, Ciel still decisively abandoned this aggressive idea where the risks might even exceed the benefits. His herbology wasn't yet at such a profound level. It was better to proceed steadily and obtain stable benefits.
"Aunt said I should be able to get new experimental plots after Christmas. The water tank quota should also increase considerably. That should be enough for now."
Next, the now-calm Ciel didn't immerse himself in the joy of his rapidly advancing abilities. Instead, he carefully removed the mature Devil's Snare from the water tanks. Then in the emptied water tanks, he planted a new batch of Devil's Snare. After that, he devoted himself to various daily tasks in the greenhouse.
Although today's harvest was great, these daily tasks couldn't be neglected. Neglecting them for one day would affect the plants' growth. And if he could slack off once today for this reason, in a few days, he might slack off again for new reasons. As these instances accumulated, everything would eventually be reflected in the condition of the soil and plants.
This was a lesson he'd learned from his previous life. All academic pursuits, especially those related to the land, you could be not very clever, but you absolutely couldn't be lazy or slack off. Like rowing upstream, not advancing means falling behind!
In the following days, as Christmas drew closer and closer, the festive atmosphere in the castle grew stronger. Various small bells were hung up in the common room. Hagrid also brought in several large Christmas trees. Teachers and students hung them full of various Christmas decorations. Everyone was discussing where to go during the Christmas holidays. Even the professors, regarding students' absent-mindedness, were more tolerant than usual.
Only Ciel still remained like a tightly wound spring. His daily actions were extremely regular. In others' eyes, he was simply like an ascetic monk. But Ciel was extraordinarily satisfied with these monotonous days where he could see slight progress each day.
He had thought such days would continue until Christmas. But on this day, Hagrid's owl delivered a letter. Although the handwriting in the letter was messy and full of spelling errors, it couldn't hide the excitement and joy Hagrid conveyed in the letter.
"Ciel, the thing you asked me to find, I found it. Traces of a troll settlement!"
Seeing this letter, Ciel's eyes suddenly brightened. Earlier, after discovering the powerful promoting effect trolls had on Goldfish Lotus growth, he had asked Hagrid to help him look for traces of troll settlements in the Forbidden Forest.
But the Forbidden Forest was simply too vast. Even the massive size of trolls, compared to the towering trees in the Forbidden Forest, seemed insignificant. Finding them still depended heavily on luck. Moreover, it had been snowing heavily for some time. Many traces had been covered by falling snow, making it even harder to find.
Furthermore, Hagrid, as the gamekeeper, had his duties. The Forbidden Forest contained many precious magical creatures, which was well-known throughout the wizarding world. Precisely because of this, many poachers had their eyes on this treasure trove. There were often poachers who would sneak into the Forbidden Forest, trying to capture those precious magical creatures.
Hagrid had to patrol the Forbidden Forest with his hound Fang every day. Besides protecting the magical creatures, more importantly, he had to ensure that within the area around Hogwarts, no poachers were present. These people were basically all vicious dark wizards. Otherwise, they wouldn't risk their lives in the Forbidden Forest to poach.
If students secretly entered the Forbidden Forest and encountered these poachers, it would definitely be more dangerous than fortunate.
All these factors combined meant that quite a long time had passed, and Hagrid still hadn't found traces of troll settlements. Ciel had already prepared himself. After the Christmas holidays, when the snow stopped a bit and the ice and snow melted, it should be easier to find them.
But Hagrid had truly given him a surprise today. According to his description in the letter, this troll settlement wasn't large but had at least four trolls. Two adults, two juveniles.
And if Ciel could tame them all to help him cultivate Goldfish Lotus, that would mean Ciel's total Goldfish Lotus production could surge dramatically. Over two hundred and fifty pots! This translated to each harvest being equivalent to two Silver Tier reward orbs.
Ciel's progress in advancing Magical Perception Enhancement from Gold Tier to Platinum Tier would be much faster than before. And this, whether for his herbology, potions, or charms, would all have enormous benefits.
Therefore, Ciel didn't hesitate at all. He immediately headed quickly toward Hagrid's hut.
And just after Ciel left the castle, on the corridor where the hospital wing was located, Quirrell, leaning on his crutch, pale-faced, quickly withdrew his gaze. His eyes showed deep hatred.
Ciel's beating last time had left him unable to move normally even now. His already weak body was even worse off.
"Damn it. I must seize the last opportunity before Christmas to get that brat under control. Only then can I take advantage of the castle's weakest defenses during Christmas to obtain the Philosopher's Stone. Otherwise, if this drags on, just replenishing my strength will be a huge problem."
Quirrell's expression was grim. Voldemort was now parasitically attached to his body. Voldemort's life and power also depended on him to maintain. To replenish life in this situation, there were very few methods available. And the costs were all beyond what Quirrell could bear.
Unless absolutely necessary, he still wanted to use Ciel to quickly obtain the Philosopher's Stone, avoiding those methods with severe side effects. Only now he definitely couldn't act on his own.
But fortunately, a few days ago, Quirrell had learned that Hagrid seemed to have been searching for troll settlements recently. And this had only started after Hagrid's contact with Ciel. This gave him an inspiration. Perhaps Hagrid was looking for these trolls for Ciel. Then, he might be able to use this.
The poachers in the Forbidden Forest, besides poaching magical creatures, also frequently engaged in murder and kidnapping. They were all vicious dark wizards. As long as you paid them, they would do anything.
A few days ago, Quirrell had secretly posted a bounty on the black market. A notorious poaching team had accepted the bounty. They said they would capture Ciel and deliver him to the designated location.
As for the troll settlement traces Hagrid had found, this was bait to lure Ciel into the Forbidden Forest. Now it seemed Ciel had taken the bait.
An excited flush appeared on Quirrell's pale cheeks. "I should have thought of this move earlier. Ciel is a half-giant. Using methods for dealing with wizards against him has little effect. But those poachers, their magic has all been modified to target such thick-skinned enemies. Their protective charms are difficult for even giant brute force to break through quickly. And their Stunning Spells, when hit consecutively, can even render dragons unconscious. Ciel, this kind of half-giant who doesn't know any powerful magic and only relies on brute strength, is completely countered by poachers!"
Quirrell took a deep breath and clenched his fists. The hatred in his eyes grew even more intense.
"Once they deliver Ciel to me, I'll make sure this little bastard suffers!"
[Chapter Complete]
***
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