While practicing spells, Leonard tried again to buy more unusual magical plants from Jigger, but was flatly turned away.
The man clearly took him for a meddlesome brat—someone who had already ruined one Chomping Cabbage and was now looking for new plants to torment.
Leonard couldn't exactly reveal his special ability, or else he would have shown him the lively, obedient Chomping Cabbage he had at hand.
Though he failed to buy anything like that, he did manage to spend two Sickles on a fresh sprig of dittany.
Since dittany wasn't classified as a magical plant, harvesting it didn't grant Experience, so there was no leveling up to be had. But that didn't make it useless. Once processed into potion form, dittany became the famed Essence of Dittany, capable of healing even grotesque, life-threatening wounds.
Leonard remembered from the original story that Hermione Granger once used it to treat Ron Weasley after he was badly splinched while Apparating.
With something like that on hand, even if he was injured while fighting wizards, he wouldn't be completely defenseless.
The book Magical Drafts and Potions contained the recipe. Leonard had looked it over—it wasn't difficult, and the ingredients were simple enough. The base was dittany extract, with wormwood as the only secondary ingredient. So long as the proportions were correct, the potion could be brewed.
Before starting, though, Leonard had one more step: enhancing the dittany itself.
Even without selecting Logistics or Growth talents, the most basic Optimize Growth could still strengthen plants.
He laid his hand on the dittany with practiced ease, letting life force flow into it. The leaves deepened to a vivid green, and tiny pink blossoms bloomed at the tips.
[You used the Talent Skill: Optimize Growth. Target maturity increased and gained beneficial mutation.]
[Dittany: Medicinal Properties Enhanced, Concentrated Sap]
"Concentrated sap?" Leonard murmured, puzzled. He plucked a leaf and watched as thick, emerald sap oozed from the cut edge, releasing a fragrance so refreshing it made his whole body feel lighter.
"This quality could probably be used as Essence of Dittany straight away," he said in awe.
He picked a few more leaves, tossed them into a mortar, ground them into a paste, then mixed them with the extract solution before filtering.
The whole process felt more like a chemistry experiment than potion-making.
Soon enough, he had a small vial of concentrated dittany extract, ready for brewing.
...
Half an hour later, Leonard stared at three small vials of Essence of Dittany in his hand and let out a long sigh.
It had taken all his effort, but he'd managed to brew just three. He carefully decanted them into the crystal vials required by Hogwarts and tucked them away safely.
It looked simple on paper, and the steps weren't hard, but the success rate was abysmally low.
"Simple" here was only the opposite of "complicated," not of "difficult."
Potion-making was more than mixing ingredients—it demanded precise timing, exact stirring motions, even the number and direction of those stirs. A small mistake might just ruin a batch; a big one could blow the cauldron.
Essence of Dittany wasn't especially dangerous, but if you got splashed by the half-finished brew, the strong healing properties would scald you—only to heal the burn immediately afterward.
In the end, just three bottles had turned out, and that only thanks to the high-quality dittany extract he'd enhanced beforehand. Their potency should be remarkable.
But not all of them would be used for healing.
...
The next morning, Leonard had Tom, the barkeep, open the way into Diagon Alley and headed straight for Slug & Jiggers Apothecary.
At the daunting shopfront, he kept his eyes straight ahead and stepped inside.
"Welcome—oh, it's you again?" Jigger, who had been rearranging shelves, looked up at the sound of the bell and sighed. "I told you, I'm not selling you magical plants. Give it up."
"I'm not here for magical plants," Leonard said evenly.
"Oh? Finally giving up? Then what is it—potion ingredients or finished potions? But let me be clear, I don't sell Love Potions to underage wizards," Jigger said, tone suddenly serious.
"I don't think I'm old enough to need Love Potion," Leonard replied just as seriously. "At my age, I can throw myself into a lady's arms without any tricks."
Jigger's mouth twitched. "The way you said that makes me picture some scruffy old man."
"Are you talking about yourself? A scruffy old man?" Leonard shot back, pulling a vial of Essence of Dittany from his pocket and setting it on the counter.
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm still young, I'm not an old man..." Jigger protested, but his eyes flicked instinctively to the vial, and his words faltered as his gaze lingered on it.