"Knock, knock, knock!"
The dull thud of the heavy wooden door brought the lively conversation inside to a sudden halt.
"Coming!" a rough voice called out, followed by heavy footsteps.
The door creaked open, and Hagrid's massive figure appeared in the doorway, nearly filling the entire frame.
He looked down at the unfamiliar young wizard standing at the door, a look of confusion on his face.
"Hello, Hagrid."
Lynn looked up and greeted him politely. "My name is Lynn, a first-year Hufflepuff.
I just applied for a plot of land from Headmaster Dumbledore and plan to grow some things next to the vegetable patch you look after. I came specifically to visit you."
Hearing this, Hagrid's eyes, as large as copper bells, immediately burst with enthusiastic light!
In his eyes, children who liked Magical Creatures, loved the land, and were close to nature were all good children!
Or rather, he saw almost every child as a good child.
"Oh! Please come in, please come in! It's windy outside!"
Hagrid quickly stepped aside, his massive body warmly inviting Lynn into the house, then turned and walked toward the fireplace.
"Have a seat first; I'll go get something to drink and some snacks I just baked!"
Lynn stepped into the warm little hut; the first things he saw were the roaring fire in the fireplace and various hams and herbs hanging from the rafters.
"Lynn?!" a slightly surprised female voice rang out.
Lynn looked toward the sound and then noticed there were three other guests in the room.
Hermione Granger was standing up from a large wooden bench, her face showing obvious surprise.
"Hermione, what a coincidence to run into you here." Lynn also felt a bit surprised and responded with a smile.
Sitting beside Hermione were two boys.
One had bright red hair and freckles on his face, clearly a member of the Weasley family.
The other boy looked a bit thin and small, wearing a pair of worn-out round glasses, with a faint lightning-shaped scar on his forehead... 'He looks a bit familiar,' Lynn thought. 'Edgar seemed to have mentioned a famous person in Gryffindor; what was his name again?'
Just then, the boy with glasses stood up and reached out a hand, somewhat shyly but friendly. "Hello, my name is Harry Potter."
"Hello, I'm Ron Weasley." The red-haired boy also stood up, looking Lynn over curiously.
"Hello, I'm Lynn, from Hufflepuff." Lynn shook hands with each of them, muttering in his mind, 'Harry Potter? Oh right! The "Boy Who Lived."'
"How do you two know each other?"
Ron couldn't help his curiosity and whispered to Hermione.
He found it hard to imagine someone with Hermione's personality knowing a Hufflepuff.
Hermione explained briefly, "We've met in the library twice. Lynn reads... very fast. We've talked a few times."
Just then, Hagrid returned carrying a massive tray with several mugs and a large plate of rock-like biscuits that looked incredibly hard.
"Come, come! Don't be shy; try some of my freshly made rock cakes! They're best with tea!"
Hagrid enthusiastically thrust a mug and a rock cake into Lynn's hands.
Lynn thanked him, looked at the snack in his hand that was comparable to a brick, took a deep breath, and, with the determination of a hero facing a grim fate, took a bite—(¬▂¬)
"Crack!" a crisp sound rang out.
Lynn felt as if his teeth had bitten into a real stone, making his gums go numb from the shock. The biscuit crumbs spread in his mouth like sand, and the taste... well, it was very substantial.
He struggled to maintain a polite smile, quietly placing the rock cake—which now bore only a single tooth mark—back on the table. He then picked up the massive tea mug with both hands and gulped down several mouthfuls of hot tea to wash away the "sandy feeling" in his mouth.
He noticed that the rock cakes on the plates in front of Harry and Ron were also mostly untouched, with only Hermione nibbling slowly and painfully at the edges, her expression hard to describe...
After chatting with Hagrid in his hut for a while, Lynn stood up to take his leave.
He sauntered back to the Hufflepuff Common Room, calculating the manpower needed to clear the vegetable patch—how could he not let his good brothers participate in such a "good thing"? (＾＾)
As soon as he entered the common room, he saw William nestled in the most comfortable armchair by the fireplace, engrossed in a book titled "History of the Evolution of Magic Theory."
Lynn leaned over and nudged him with his elbow. "Wanna go?"
William gave him an "Are you okay?" look: (¬_¬)ﾉ
"If you don't say where we're going or what we're doing, why would I go with you? To the Black Lake to feed mosquitoes with you?"
"Want to go exercise?" Lynn tried to bluff him in the name of health.
William finally looked up from his book, pushed up his glasses, and wore an expression that said, "I don't believe you for a second."
"You? Actively exercising? Has the sun risen in the west? Speak human."
"Hehe..." Seeing that the bluff had failed, Lynn had to tell the truth.
"Want to go farming? I just got a plot of land approved and plan to grow some food. Any recommendations for what you'd like to eat?"
"Strawberries!"
Before William could answer, Edgar, who had just sat up from his bed, eyes lighting up, shouted first, "Sweet and juicy!"
Lynn immediately followed up, "Want to eat them? Then come plant them together! They're tastier when you grow them yourself!"
He looked intently at William and Ollie, who had just come in from outside.
Ollie didn't say anything, just nodded silently.
Looking at the three pairs of "expectant" eyes, William helplessly closed his massive tome and sighed. "Fine, fine, let's just call it... extracurricular practice."
And so, the Hufflepuff quartet assembled once more, heading for the uncultivated vegetable patch outside the castle...
Arriving at that desolate corner adjacent to Hagrid's giant pumpkin patch, Lynn rolled up his sleeves and began his "magical reclamation."
"First, clear the site! Incendio!"
He pointed his wand, and the dead grass and debris in the area were immediately consumed by a burst of flame, burned clean, leaving only charred earth. The air was filled with the scent of wood ash.
"Hmm, from this tree to that rock, that should be enough."
Lynn gestured to the range. "If it's too big, we won't be able to take care of it; as long as it's enough to eat."
Saying that, he bent down to pick up a thick, sturdy branch from the ground and weighed it in his hand.
"What do you want that for?" Edgar asked curiously.
"Watch closely—turning waste into treasure while practicing a spell." Lynn smiled mysteriously and raised his wand at the branch. "Vera Verto."
Under the gaze of the three, the ordinary branch quickly transformed and elongated—in the blink of an eye, it turned into a quite practical-looking... plow?
"What's this?" Edgar circled around the novel contraption.
"Farming equipment," Lynn said as if it were obvious, patting the plow, "and a chance to practice Transfiguration and the Levitation Charm—killing two birds with one stone."
This sentence left all three of them with puzzled expressions.
"Operate it like this."
Lynn walked to one end of the designated area and inserted the front of the magical plow into the soil.
Then he walked to the other end, raised his wand at the distant plow, and shouted, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Under the effect of the Levitation Charm, the plow was slowly pulled toward him.
Wherever it passed, the earth was easily sliced open, and the moist, dark soil was neatly turned up, forming a straight and deep furrow!
"Look."
Lynn tucked away his wand smugly, pointing at the fresh furrow. "Using the Levitation Charm to control the tool for tilling not only saves effort but also allows for precise practice of magic output and control. Isn't it convenient?"
The three looked at the neat furrow, then at Lynn's relaxed and effortless manner; their eyes lit up, and they all nodded in unison.
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