"Leo, the method you used to make that mechanical dog—is it alchemy?"
Hagrid and the four young wizards sat around the dining table, enjoying their meal together.
Hermione suddenly asked Leo, who swallowed his bite of beef before responding, "I used some alchemical techniques."
Hermione nodded thoughtfully, but her brow furrowed with confusion. "But I remember alchemy courses are only offered as an elective for sixth-year students. I've only seen very few alchemy books in the library, and most are just introductory overviews. Leo, you wouldn't have magic books on this subject at home either, would you?"
Hermione of course remembered that Leo, like herself, also came from a Muggle family. So what puzzled her most wasn't that Leo knew alchemy, but where he'd learnt it.
Leo found Hermione's reaction and curiosity perfectly natural. This girl's nickname was Miss Know-It-All—also a dedicated academic overachiever. Her intense interest in knowledge acquisition was completely understandable.
His alchemy knowledge came mainly from the Restricted Section of the library, the Potter family grimoire, and analysis of the transformation pocket watch. None of these were appropriate to share with Hermione.
The transformation pocket watch involved the system—that was obviously off-limits. The grimoire belonged to Harry's family, obtained through their tutoring exchange arrangement, and was not his to share freely. As for Restricted Section books, those were specifically approved by Dumbledore.
Hermione was studious and brilliant, but encountering advanced alchemy in the first year was still premature—building a solid foundation in basic subjects was more important at this stage.
"Headmaster Dumbledore recommended several books to me, which included alchemy-related content," Leo explained carefully.
Hearing this, Hermione understood Leo's meaning immediately. Those books were headmaster-approved materials that couldn't be casually lent to others; otherwise, Leo would have already offered to share them.
The young witch sighed with evident disappointment and dejectedly stabbed at a piece of potato from the beef stew. "Leo, you're really amazing. You've only just started school, and the headmaster is already personally lending you advanced books."
"Whether it's Charms, Potions, Transfiguration or even Herbology, you excel at everything. Even the food you cook is absolutely delicious."
Leo set down his utensils and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Cooking is also a kind of knowledge, isn't it?"
"Exactly! Leo, your cooking is incredibly delicious!" Ron's cheeks were swollen like a chipmunk's, stuffed with food. One hand gave Leo an enthusiastic thumbs up while the other rapidly speared more dishes and crammed them into his mouth.
A piece of roast beef, a portion of herb-roasted chicken, a fillet of pan-seared fish...
Seeing Ron's exaggerated scarfing, Hermione shot him slightly disgusted looks, though she privately agreed his assessment was entirely accurate. Hermione quickly stabbed another piece of potato—any slower and Ron and Harry would devour everything. She had to admit, in this particular dish, the potatoes had absorbed the most flavour and were exceptionally good.
Hagrid mainly tackled his own questionable cooking, occasionally sampling some of Leo's fare. Although his own dishes didn't seem particularly popular, seeing several young wizards eating so happily still pleased him enormously.
"Leo, these cooking methods aren't local style, are they?" Hagrid observed.
"They're international cuisine techniques. The taste seems acceptable enough."
Seeing the trio devouring the food so enthusiastically, Leo thought perhaps these flavours might have an audience at Hogwarts after all. How about finding an opportunity to chat with those house-elves and asking if some of these dishes could be added to the dining hall menu? That way he could easily enjoy familiar flavours anytime without special preparation.
After finishing dinner, Leo walked to the mechanical dog and began adjusting some operational mechanisms. He'd discovered several small flaws during earlier observation that needed correction.
While disassembling and reassembling the mechanical dog's intricate components, Leo fine-tuned and reshaped them with precise wand movements, testing repeatedly until satisfied.
At first, Hagrid and the others gathered around to observe with genuine curiosity. But after glimpsing those bewilderingly complex mechanical structures—gears, springs, enchanted joints—the initial excitement quickly faded.
Hagrid went to clear the dishes with clattering sounds, Harry retreated to recite potion knowledge under his breath, Hermione found a comfortable corner to read her latest book.
Only Ron still crouched beside Leo, watching him disassemble and reassemble that mechanical dog with rapt fascination, his eyes slightly bright as he tracked those spinning gears and precision bearings.
Leo paid little mind, assuming this kid was simply interested in mechanical assembly work—his father did work with enchanted objects, after all.
While repairing the mechanical dog, Leo mentally reviewed his upcoming plans. The Transfiguration knowledge in the Chimaera Manual was extensive enough to study for considerable time—at least through animate-to-animate transformation, he wouldn't need additional resources. After that came the current highest art of Transfiguration: Animagus transformation.
By then he'd definitely need to ask Professor McGonagall for guidance, preferably to help supervise his transformation attempts for safety. But Professor McGonagall should agree readily enough, as long as he continued demonstrating advanced Transfiguration mastery and proficiently grasped other complex techniques.
Another expedition to the Forbidden Forest to record the final magical creature species would allow him to repay the pet growth loan completely. Ideally, he could locate another unicorn. Even if he couldn't record complete population information, sending the data to Newt would add considerable credibility to his research credentials.
Then there was creating an Undetectable Extension Charm container capable of safely housing living creatures. Newt's last letter had essentially filled in the final technical gaps—he could attempt this project now with reasonable confidence.
Leo closed the mechanical dog's outer casing with a satisfying click, completing the final adjustments and calibrations.
Then he remembered he could visit Quirrell this week for their first tutoring session. He'd already read through half of "Identification of Dark Magic" and would try finishing it before the appointment, at least thoroughly familiarising himself with sections about mind control influences and poisoning curses.
After tutoring, he'd go directly to Dumbledore for their scheduled afternoon tea, giving the old headmaster an opportunity to subtly examine him and rule out any potentially attached Dark Magic methods or influences.
Leo collected his scattered thoughts and restarted the mechanical dog, watching it bound off energetically to play with Fang in increasingly elaborate games of chase.
Leaving the warm hut, Leo carefully fertilised the Carnivorous Cabbages and removed some troublesome pests like Doxies that had been bothering the young plants.
Looking at the nearly empty bag of Mooncalf dung—the most effective fertiliser he'd found—Leo nodded to himself. Perfect timing. When venturing to the Forbidden Forest tonight, he'd specifically search for Mooncalves to collect more of their valuable droppings.
Once he successfully created an Undetectable Extension container that could safely house living creatures, he'd raise some Mooncalves permanently. That way the fertiliser source would be reliably stable without needing to specifically hunt for the shy creatures every few days.
He should also ask about properly raising these magical creatures when writing his next letter to Newt—the expert would have invaluable advice about their care and habitat requirements.
Perhaps he could also establish some cultivation fields inside the Undetectable Extension container—though he wasn't certain what kind of enchantments should replicate necessary factors like adequate sunlight for plant growth. He'd ask Newt about this technical challenge in the letter too.
Just as Leo was preparing to depart for the Forbidden Forest, a hesitant voice sounded behind him.
"Leo, can I learn from you how to make that kind of mechanical animal?"