Professor Sprout clearly understood the habits of her own students—Hufflepuffs tended to see plants and immediately wonder what they tasted like.
Usually, for less risky plants, she'd just turn a blind eye. Let the little badgers have a nibble if they wanted—she had been like that herself at their age.
But Sneezewort was different. It was far more dangerous and could easily cause neurological issues.
Sprout had no intention of seeing a room full of students reduced to vacant grins and drooling.
To ensure their safety, she gave extra detailed instructions and even repeated the key warnings.
Only then did she allow the students to begin loosening the soil, fertilizing the Sneezewort, and applying a growth stimulant.
Once harvested, part of these materials would be sent to Professor Snape for use in Potions class.
The rest would be sold to shops in Diagon Alley to help raise funds for the school.
Sprout deliberately paired Wayne with Hannah, making them a team—so he could keep an eye on the house's most notorious foodie.
Watching the girl with the pigtail braids tear up from frustration, Wayne's face twitched slightly.
Wake up, girl.
You really can't eat this one.
Wayne stayed hyper-focused throughout the class, only relaxing when Professor Sprout instructed them to return their tools just before the bell rang. Only then did he take his eyes off Hannah.
Once the rest of the class had left, Wayne stayed behind.
"Is there something you need, Mr. Lawrence?"
"Professor," Wayne asked hopefully, "could I have some Chinese Chomping Cabbage seeds? I want to brew a batch of Ironhide Potion."
Biting Cabbage seeds were also a valid potion ingredient.
And the Ironhide Potion could temporarily make a wizard's body as hard as steel.
Chinese Chomping Cabbage was one of its main components.
"Really?" Sprout eyed him with suspicion. "You can brew Ironhide already? You're not planning to grow them yourself, are you?"
She had good reason to be wary.
Hufflepuff students were known for their gardening skills—many had the "green thumb" talent—and they were always experimenting with odd potted plants in the dormitory.
Back when Sprout was a student herself, one of her roommates had raised a man-eating plant in their room. The girl used to sleep curled up inside its flower bud every night—and every morning, they had to check if she'd made it out alive.
"Professor, how could you even think that?" Wayne shook his head furiously. "I brewed Hate Potion last night. Ironhide's nothing in comparison."
"Even if I wanted to raise Chinese Chomping Cabbage, our dorm doesn't get enough sunlight."
Sprout nodded—Chinese Chomping Cabbage required intense sunlight and high humidity. The Hufflepuff dorms certainly didn't meet those conditions.
Once Wayne promised he wouldn't try growing them himself, Sprout handed him a small bag of seeds.
She trusted the honesty of Hufflepuffs.
As soon as Wayne left the greenhouse, he split the seeds in two.
One half really would be used for brewing the Ironhide Potion.
And the other half? Naturally… for planting.
But he was an honest Hufflepuff, and since he promised the professor he wouldn't grow them—he wouldn't break that promise.
Which is why Wayne planned to ask Hagrid.
If Hagrid planted the Chinese Chomping Cabbage, what did that have to do with Wayne Lawrence?
Inside Hagrid's hut—
After hearing Wayne's request, Hagrid immediately waved his hands in alarm.
"No way! That stuff's dangerous! Why d'you want to grow it?"
"You're growing it," Wayne corrected him. "I'm just giving you the seeds. Then, when it matures, you give some back to me."
The half-giant gave him a blank look.
"...What's the difference?"
"Of course it matters," Wayne explained earnestly. "If I'm not the one doing the planting, then I haven't broken any school rules."
Hagrid was already confused by the logic, but he still stood firm and refused.
So Wayne had to pull out the big guns:
"Hagrid, you don't want to never see Ho-Oh again, do you?"
"Then I won't," Hagrid replied after a moment's hesitation, still holding his ground.
To be honest, his favorite magical creatures were dragons—big, fierce ones. Phoenixes? Not really his thing.
If Wayne had pulled out an actual dragon, Hagrid wouldn't just grow Chinese Chomping Cabbage for him—he'd grow Whomping Willow too.
Wayne thought for a second, then used his ultimate move:
"Hagrid... you don't want me to beat up Fluffy every day, do you?"
The half-giant's eyes widened. "How do you know about Fluffy?!"
"Oh, you mean the three-headed dog on the fourth-floor corridor?" Wayne said casually. "I've chatted with him a couple of times—we really hit it off."
He gave Hagrid a wink. "If you don't help me, and the dog goes missing one day... don't come blaming me."
That finally got to Hagrid.
He knew Wayne had some kind of fatal charm with animals. Even his hunting dog Fang would forget Hagrid existed every time Wayne came around—tail wagging, tongue out, stuck to him like glue.
The idea of Wayne scratching Fluffy under the chin, while the big dog gave him a face of utter bliss and ignored his real owner...
Hagrid whimpered.
"Nooo…"
In the end, he gave in to Wayne's request and planted a patch of Chinese Chomping Cabbage at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
There was no way he could plant it in the regular garden—once the cabbage matured, it'd shred every other plant to pieces with those steel-trap jaws.
Fortunately, Hagrid had a small plot of land within the Forbidden Forest. It wasn't big, but it was perfect for planting a dozen or so seeds.
After burying them, he wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"I still don't get why you're growing these things," he muttered. "They taste awful anyway."
Wayne looked at the freshly turned fertile soil and nodded in satisfaction.
The season wasn't ideal, but that didn't matter—this was the wizarding world. Logic took a backseat to magic.
With the right potion supplements, this batch of Chinese Chomping Cabbage would mature by March next year.
And when they did, Wayne would have himself a mini army of muscle-bound plants.
Without turning back, he responded to Hagrid's confusion:
"I'm a Hufflepuff, right?
Liking farming is perfectly in character."
In the days that followed, Wayne began brewing growth accelerants and regularly snuck over to the edge of the Forbidden Forest in the afternoons to water the patch.
As for Wayne wandering into the Forbidden Forest—Hagrid just turned a blind eye.
At this point, they were both complicit.
Wayne even asked Hagrid for a batch of Mooncalf dung to use as fertilizer. Hagrid readily agreed.
There was a Mooncalf herd in the forest anyway. Collecting a bit of dung was no big deal.
By Friday—
Professor Quirrell entered the classroom just as the bell rang.
No students sat in the first three rows, because no one could stand the overwhelming smell of garlic wafting off him.
Quirrell didn't seem to mind. He silently opened his book and began, stammering as usual:
"Today... t-today we will be l-learning about... the categories of spells."
"S-spells are divided into... spells, curses, jinxes... and... and hexes…"
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