“What are you doing here?” As soon as Charlen stepped into Severus Snape’s gloomy dungeon, the greasy-haired, hook-nosed man immediately grimaced with distaste, as if Charlen’s very presence here was an personal affront.
Yet his eyes betrayed him, lingering honestly on the box of Pokémon materials in Charlen’s hands.
“No welcome for your most talented student?” Charlen didn’t particularly like Snape, but he didn’t hate him either.
Snape wasn’t exactly a good person, but during his years at Hogwarts, he certainly hadn’t done anything evil.
Perhaps Snape’s redemption was entirely because of Lily.
If Lily hadn’t been the one who died back then, he might still be blindly following Voldemort.
But regardless, redemption was redemption.
Without him, Harry in the original story probably wouldn’t have been able to defeat Voldemort.
“Hmph.
With your level in Potions, you are a far cry from being my most talented student.” Snape’s dark gaze remained fixed on Charlen as he spoke coldly, “Now, put the things down, and—get out!” Charlen’s performance in classes other than Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts was indeed excellent, but he merely followed the standard curriculum.
It was only in Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts that he had already mastered all the seventh-year spells by his second year.
Consequently, though his grades in Potions were good, they paled in comparison to those three subjects.
Snape had always held a grudge over this, believing that Charlen’s failure to devote all his energy to Potions was a grave mistake.
But to Charlen, this was perfectly normal.
As a transmigrator who had the chance to touch real magic, his energy would naturally be focused on spells and magic itself.
As for Potions, it was already quite an achievement that Charlen hadn’t let it slip.
“You don’t have to tell me twice; I don’t want to linger here either.
But you really should be a bit politer to the supplier providing your potion ingredients.
And don’t forget my share of Galleons once the potions are finished.” Charlen didn’t really care about Snape’s tone; truth be told, he had long since grown used to it.
Snape was currently his cash cow.
Once it was confirmed that Pokémon materials like fur could indeed be used in potion-making, he would make a fortune.
Selling raw materials was profitable, but it could never compare to the margins on finished, processed products.
It would be a waste not to make use of a Potions Master like Snape.
Just as Charlen was about to walk out the door of Snape’s office, he heard the man speak in a slow drawl.
“Charlen Gold, whatever your purpose is, I will be watching you!
Don’t even think of trying any tricks!” Charlen felt a bit helpless.
Snape clearly saw his return to Hogwarts as some dark conspiracy, but in reality, he had only returned to obtain the Pokémon Breeding Center rewarded by the system.
Plus, Dumbledore had generously thrown in a nature reserve.
If he hadn’t come back, how could he have gotten such a sweet deal?
But he also knew that the combination of his talent and his former house indeed didn’t inspire much confidence.
Everyone was worried he would become the second Voldemort.
But they were overthinking it.
Charlen had absolutely no desire to become that noseless socket-face.
The only reason the Sorting Hat had placed him in Slytherin back then was because it saw his talent and his ambition at the time—to become the strongest wizard in the world.
And indeed, Charlen had not let his talent and ambition go to waste.
At only seventeen years old, his raw magical power was probably second only to Dumbledore, Voldemort, and Gellert Grindelwald.
Furthermore, Charlen’s actual combat ability was even stronger.
With his sheer magic resistance, wizards with insufficient magic could hardly even scratch him.
But by now, Charlen had long since abandoned that ambition.
Or rather, it wasn’t so much abandoned as he felt it was only a matter of time anyway, so he didn’t care as much anymore.
If he were to be sorted again today, the Sorting Hat would probably put him in Hufflepuff.
Besides, the wizarding world wasn’t about fighting and killing; it was all about worldly wisdom and relationships.
No matter how strong he was, he couldn’t just slaughter the entire wizarding world, could he?
He wasn’t some fifth-year student.
In short, even if one wanted to unite the wizarding world, ruling with high pressure like that socket-face was out of the question.
Charlen’s current plan was to change the world through Pokémon.
First, he had to engrave the existence of Pokémon into the minds of everyone in the world.
He planned to tackle this from several angles.
On the Muggle side, starting a company was a natural choice, while in the wizarding world, educating young witches and wizards was only one piece of the puzzle.
After all, Hogwarts had a very small student body, practically negligible in the grand scheme of the entire wizarding world.
Conversely, if his partnership with Snape yielded any breakthroughs in Potions, then Pokémon—the source of these potion ingredients—would become incredibly valuable.
Of course, opening Pokémon Breeding Centers in other countries was also highly necessary, but Charlen was currently spread too thin.
His plan was to wait until sixth- or seventh-year students who excelled in this field graduated, and then hire them to run branches in other countries.
After leaving Snape’s office, Charlen took a recently hatched Oddish to find Professor Pomona Sprout, the Head of Hufflepuff House.
A few days ago, she had asked Charlen if she could have a Pokémon to help her care for her plants.
Initially, Charlen had planned to send her a Bulbasaur, but the population of starter Pokémon was still far too small.
Every single one was incredibly precious, so he could only give them away once their numbers had grown through natural breeding.
Fortunately, among the first-generation Pokémon Charlen had unlocked, there was the ultimate breeder of the Pokémon world, the universal mate Ditto.
Although there weren’t many, they would make a monumental contribution to expanding the Pokémon population!
“Professor Sprout, I’ve brought an Oddish over.” Upon seeing Charlen, Sprout happily invited him to sit and brewed him a cup of tea before finally examining the Oddish cradled in his arms.
The Oddish seemed a bit shy, immediately shrinking back into Charlen’s embrace when it felt Sprout’s gaze.
“It looks very much like a magical plant,” Sprout said in surprise.
“That’s a feature of Grass-type Pokémon.
Many of them possess plant-like characteristics, with the key difference being that they can think.” Charlen stroked the leaves on Oddish’s head to comfort it, then proceeded to explain Oddish’s traits to Sprout.
“Oddish, also known as the nocturnal walker, is a Pokémon that grows by bathing in moonlight.
During the day, it buries itself in the cool ground to avoid the sun.
It absorbs nutrients from the soil with its entire body, hiding quietly deep underground.
It is said that the more fertile the soil, the glossier its leaves become.
It awakens when bathed in moonlight, and at night, it walks around scattering seeds.
Using its two roots, it can walk up to 300 meters, finding fertile soil to bury itself in again.” “So it doesn’t like sunlight?” “Not at its current stage.
Also, Oddish is a bit like a Mandrake; if you forcibly yank it out of the ground, it will let out a terrifying shriek, though it isn’t dangerous at all.” “In that case, perhaps its medicinal properties are quite similar to Mandrake.
You know, Mandrake also has some mystical reactions to moonlight,” Sprout said.
Charlen nodded.
The Animagus process in Transfiguration required the power of Mandrake and moonlight.
He suddenly wondered: if one used Pokémon materials to undergo the Animagus transformation, would they be able to turn into a Pokémon?
The pupa of the Death’s-head Hawk-moth could also be replaced by a Shedinja.
Of course, Charlen wouldn’t be foolish enough to try it.
If he wanted to turn into a Pokémon, he only needed one skill—Transform—to get it done.
There was no need to take unnecessary risks.
Attempting an Animagus transformation rashly was extremely dangerous.