“Hagrid!
Open the door!
Hagrid!” Harry’s panicked voice rang from outside the hut.
When Hagrid pulled open the door, he found Harry and Hermione standing on the step with Ron supported between them.
Ron’s face was pale, and his features twisted painfully each time his stomach convulsed.
“What happened to him?” Hagrid asked in alarm.
Harry and Hermione hurried Ron inside and lowered him into a chair.
Once Harry explained that Ron had been vomiting slugs after a curse backfired, Hagrid’s concern eased slightly.
“Better out than in,” he said cheerfully, still glowing with excitement after becoming a Druid.
He placed a large copper basin in front of Ron.
“Go on, lad.
Spit them into this.” “I don’t think there’s anything we can do except wait for the curse to wear off,” Hermione said worriedly.
Ron leaned over the basin, breathing through his mouth as another wave of nausea struck him.
“The Slug-Vomiting Charm?” Leon rose from the old table in the corner of the hut.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been so distracted that they had not noticed him earlier.
“Professor Cromwell!” Harry greeted him immediately.
Hermione sat down awkwardly, clearly remembering everything she had said about his teaching methods before their first lesson.
Leon acknowledged them with a smile before walking over to Ron.
He adjusted his enchanted glasses and studied the curse carefully.
“Ugh—” Ron gagged, and another large living slug dropped from his mouth into the copper basin with a wet slap.
The creature immediately began crawling over the others.
A stream of magical information flashed across Leon’s lenses.
Fascinating.
Faerûn possessed many spells that seemed designed as pranks.
[Tasha’s Hideous Laughter], for example, overwhelmed the target’s mind and made everything appear unbearably funny until they collapsed in uncontrollable laughter.
Ron’s curse worked on an entirely different principle.
Even Conjuration magic rarely created fully living organisms inside another person’s body.
Yet Ron’s throat, stomach, and internal organs appeared completely unharmed.
The slugs simply came into existence and were expelled as though reality had accepted the command without questioning the physical process.
The creatures in the basin showed no sign of vanishing after the magic separated from them.
They remained active, healthy, and undeniably real.
Had the spell created matter from nothing merely because the caster intended for the victim to vomit slugs?
A trace of excitement appeared in Leon’s eyes.
This world’s conceptual magic was illogical, but its potential was frightening.
If he could combine the direct, reality-defining nature of wizarding spells with his precisely constructed arcane models, he might eventually create original magic beyond even the ninth circle.
“Professor?” Harry asked nervously after noticing Leon staring at the basin.
“Is Ron going to be all right?” “He’ll be fine.
Miss Granger’s assessment was correct.
The safest solution is to wait until the spell exhausts itself.” Leon pointed toward Ron’s wand, which had been wrapped in Spellotape.
“Did the damage to your wand cause the curse to rebound?” “Yes, Professor,” Ron answered weakly.
“It broke when the car hit the Whomping Willow.” Wands were considered a wizard’s most important possession in this world.
Leon’s research had shown that most were equivalent to Uncommon magical items, while a few exceptional examples, including Harry’s wand, approached Rare quality.
Once the wood and magical core were damaged, even Garrick Ollivander might struggle to restore the original bond.
Leon, however, possessed extensive knowledge of Transmutation magic.
He accepted the wand and pulled two shrunken natural magnets from his pocket.
After returning them to their original size, he placed the broken wand and both magnets on Hagrid’s table.
Leon drew his ebony wand and aimed at the fracture.
“[Mending].” The Spellotape peeled away on its own.
The magnets dissolved into magical particles, and the broken wood began to shift as if it had come alive.
Splintered fibers extended across the gap, reconnecting and sealing until the wand appeared whole again.
Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Hagrid stared in amazement.
Leon picked up the restored wand and tossed it back to Ron.
“Next time you intend to curse someone, inspect your weapon first.” “Th-thank you, Professor!” Ron caught the wand with both hands before abruptly leaning over the basin and vomiting another slug.
Hagrid had already begun making tea for the students.
Fang wandered excitedly around Harry, drooling over his robes while the boy scratched behind the dog’s ears.
“What are you doing here with Hagrid, Professor?” Harry asked.
“We were discussing magical creatures.” “Professor Cromwell knows an incredible amount about them,” Hagrid added as he settled into a chair.
He looked toward Ron.
“Who were you trying to curse?” “Malfoy insulted Hermione,” Harry explained.
“It must’ve been terrible, because everyone nearby became angry.” “It was terrible,” Ron said hoarsely.
“He called her a Mudblood.” The memory made him furious enough that another slug immediately landed in the basin.
“He said that?” Hagrid roared, turning toward Hermione.
“Yes, but I didn’t know what the word meant,” she admitted.
“I could tell it was insulting.” “It’s one of the worst things he could call a Muggle-born,” Ron explained between ragged breaths.
“It means someone has dirty or inferior blood because their parents aren’t magical.
Malfoy thinks pure-blood families are better than everyone else.” Hermione’s eyes reddened.
“You shouldn’t allow a meaningless insult to trouble you, Miss Granger.” Leon walked toward her.
Behind his silver-framed glasses, his dark eyes seemed to look directly through her discomfort.
“My parents were Muggles as well.” Hermione’s head snapped up.
Harry and Ron stared at Leon in equal surprise.
Strictly speaking, his parents belonged to another world, but they had possessed no magic.
“You’re Muggle-born too?” Hermione asked.
“Of course.” Leon gave a small shrug.
“That has not prevented me from becoming your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.” He leaned forward slightly, his expression growing serious.
“Listen carefully, Hermione.
Blood is simply biological inheritance.
It does not decide your worth, your future, or the limits of your power.
Some people take pride in so-called pure blood because they have nothing more meaningful to be proud of.” Leon rested a hand gently on her head.
“Your greatest strength is your mind.
As I mentioned during class, your Intelligence is exceptionally high.” “That’s right!” Hagrid declared.
“They haven’t invented a spell our Hermione can’t learn yet!” Hermione looked down, visibly embarrassed by the praise.
“Thank you, Professor.
I also wanted to apologize.
During your first lesson, I called your teaching nonsense.” “There’s nothing to forgive.
Intelligent students sometimes have the most difficulty accepting ideas that contradict what they already know.” Leon adjusted his glasses and glanced toward Hagrid.
“Practical results are often the best argument.
Hagrid, would you demonstrate the spell I taught you?” “Of course!” Hagrid leaped from his chair with surprising speed.
His bearded face carried a level of confidence Harry had never seen before.
“Watch closely, all of you.” He moved to the center of the hut and accepted a sprig of mistletoe from Leon.
“Hagrid?” Hermione asked, confused.
“What are you doing?” Hagrid closed his eyes and concentrated.
“Forest, animals, nature’s gifts…” He tightened his hand around the plant.
“[Goodberry].” A surge of vibrant green magic flowed from Hagrid’s body and gathered around the mistletoe.
The branch shimmered with golden light before dissolving into four fresh berries.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared in astonishment.
“Here, Ron.” Hagrid handed him one of the berries.
“Eat this.
It should settle your stomach.” Ron accepted it uncertainly, then placed the fruit in his mouth.
The moment he bit down, cool magical energy spread through his body.
Color returned to his face, and the exhaustion caused by repeatedly vomiting slugs visibly eased.
“I feel stronger,” Ron said, rubbing his stomach.
“And my stomach feels warm.” “What kind of spell was that?” Hermione jumped to her feet and stared at the remaining berries in Hagrid’s palm.
Her earlier sadness vanished beneath an intense thirst for knowledge.
“How did you cast without a wand?
Was it Transfiguration?
No, that wouldn’t explain the healing effect.” “I’ll answer that, Miss Granger,” Leon said.
He gestured toward Hagrid.
“Hagrid has spent years caring for the Forbidden Forest and possesses a deep connection to its plants and animals.
That bond allows him to draw upon natural magic.” Hermione’s eyes widened.
“Is that Druid magic?” She had clearly read the assigned handbook more carefully than she had admitted.
“Excellent.
It appears you completed the reading after all.” Leon nodded approvingly.
“Hagrid is now a Druid.
The spell he cast was [Goodberry], a first-circle spell that creates nourishing fruit infused with restorative magic.” He allowed the students to study the berries before continuing.
“This is what I meant during our first lesson.
There is more than one path to magic.
Books and formal spellwork are valuable, but they do not represent everything that exists.” Leon looked directly at Hermione.
“If you focus only on the spells already written down, you may learn every tree in front of you and still fail to see the forest.” Hermione opened her mouth, seemingly ready to argue out of habit.
Then she looked at Hagrid’s proud smile and Ron’s rapidly improving condition.
She took a breath and nodded solemnly.
“I understand, Professor.
I’ll reconsider what you’ve been teaching us.” This time, there was no doubt in her expression.
Only respect and a powerful curiosity about everything she had yet to discover.
“Very good.” Leon clapped his hands once.
“That concludes our unexpected tutoring session.
If none of you want to miss lunch, we should return to the castle before the roast chicken and pumpkin juice disappear.” Leon and the three students said goodbye to Hagrid and the reluctant Fang before leaving the warmth of the hut.
They had barely entered the cool stone entrance hall when a stern voice stopped them.
“You have finally returned, Potter and Weasley.” Professor McGonagall approached with a severe expression.
She gave Leon a brief nod before turning her attention back to the two boys.
“You will both report for detention tonight.” [Goal Tracker]