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Chapter 277: The Valley Herb Plantation and Strange Flowers
🕑 Added 2025-01-24 18:55:04 +0000 UTCIn the valley.
Ino looked at the scenery before him with satisfaction.
But soon, he noticed something unusual in the distance.
In a clearing beyond the magical plants, many peculiar and even bizarre plants had suddenly sprung up.
...
Without delay, Ino quickly walked to the other side of the valley.
As he got closer, he felt as though he was entering a real fairy-tale garden.
The plants here were no longer green in the traditional sense but were the crystallization of children's endless imagination and creativity.
It seemed as if he had stepped into a magical land, where what met his eyes were leaves shimmering with brilliant luster.
Upon closer inspection, these leaves appeared to be cut from multicolored candy wrappers. Just being near these leaves, one could smell a tempting sweetness—the scent of candy.
Amidst the cluster of these candy wrapper leaves were flower buds as pure as crystal balls, transparent and flawless, glistening and clear.
With just a glance, they instilled a sense of delight.
These colorful crystal glass flowers were truly like magical flowers from a fairy tale, filled with mystery and fantasy.
As if feeling observed, these flowers gently swayed their delicate branches, as if greeting him.
Moving gently.
At the center of these dreamy flowers stood a five-foot-tall, vividly red tulip.
This prominent feature had caught Ino's attention early on.
A few minutes later, when he arrived beside the tulip, a warm and comfortable feeling arose within him.
Standing nearly five feet tall, the tulip's slender stem stood gracefully, like an elegant dancer, showcasing beauty in a unique way.
Its leaves were smooth and textured like silk.
As his gaze moved upward, Ino saw the tulip's bud standing proudly at the top.
As bright as a ruby, it exuded passion and vitality, and the yet-to-bloom bud seemed to possess an unrefined primal beauty.
"Creation and passion, pure as fire..."
Ino quietly gazed at the red tulip, which gave him a unique feeling.
A very distinct feeling, so much so that even standing close by, he felt an urge to hum softly.
...
Half an hour later.
A thick piece of linen was held in the hand of an ice giant, and behind it hid a timid goblin.
"It's not your fault..."
Ino waved his hand, dismissing the comedic duo of Tom and Jerry.
The moment he saw the linen, he actually already knew the origin of that fantasy garden.
That piece of cloth was used back in the Kingdom of Rohan to wrap the stones that the children had collected.
Out of respect for the children's efforts, he hadn't discarded them but had kept them in that simple little house.
When he left, not wanting to disappoint the children, he chose to pack them in a bottomless extending handbag and take them along.
However, he never expected that this unintentional act would bring such an unexpected harvest.
In fact, the colorful candy wrapper leaves and the pure crystal flowers were easy to understand.
But the vividly red tulip puzzled him; it shouldn't have come from the children.
Although this judgment had no basis, it was just a feeling, a feeling that seemed to linger in his heart like a faint entanglement.
"Can't figure it out..."
Ino raised his hand to rub his brow, then waved his wand.
In the valley, the windows of the white marble two-story house seemed to be opened by invisible hands.
A luxurious crown adorned with blue gems flew out from inside—Ravenclaw's diadem.
The diadem gently landed on his head, bringing a cool sensation.
Under this cool feeling, the useless thoughts in his mind seemed to drift away like dandelions in the wind, all blown into the distance.
Middle Earth, Rohan, the capital, the little house...
All known information was precisely linked together at this moment.
Scenes from the past flashed by quickly... and then the image froze.
In the image.
An elderly man in a white robe appeared in the little house.
On the morning before his booth, Gandalf had suddenly visited.
...
Unlike the tranquil days in the valley.
In Hogsmeade.
Sirius Black seemed somewhat agitated at the moment. Just half a semester, and everything had become unfamiliar to him.
Clearly, everything was fine during last year's Christmas holidays.
But in the summer vacation after half a semester, Harry seemed to be imprisoned, confined to this small ice prison before him.
Even more ridiculous was that for the remaining time, Harry had to live with that Snivellus.
"Professor Dumbledore, can't this be changed? I can pay for the best teacher for Harry, no matter the cost..."
Sirius made one last attempt at persuasion, unwilling to give up.
"That's enough, Sirius." Dumbledore interrupted his recounting; he had heard similar content no less than five times.
"The reason I asked Severus to help is that I haven't met anyone in all of Europe more proficient in Occlumency than him."
"But..." Sirius opened his mouth, but no words of rebuttal came out.
Since Dumbledore had said so, what could he do? He couldn't very well hire a fraud to teach Harry.
"It's okay, Sirius." Harry comforted him at the right moment, "Professor Snape isn't that bad, besides Ino will occasionally keep me company."
Seeing that Harry had no objections, Sirius sighed again.
"If that Snivellus dares to bully you, tell me when you get back, and I'll hang him up myself."
Harry just nodded slightly to this comfort but gave no verbal response.
As a victim of the Levicorpus spell, Harry knew very well what it felt like to be hung up in public.
In Lockhart's Duelling Club, he and Ron were hung up by Malfoy, and the feeling of humiliation almost made him faint.
Countless people pointing fingers, countless people criticizing.
And that was just half the torment, as Ron bore the other half of the humiliation. The most important thing was that they were still wearing underwears.
Thus, thinking about Snape's experience, Harry felt genuine guilt.
Being hung up in the hallway, in front of the girl he liked, with only a robe on...
Putting himself in Snape's shoes, Harry felt that if he were humiliated like that, it would be a never-ending grudge.
...
Time quietly passed.
Before noon, Ino left the valley and returned to the bedroom on the second floor.
At this moment, the floor below was quiet, and it seemed that the others had also left.
This made him feel at ease, and he marveled at the generosity of Middle Earth.
After putting on Ravenclaw's diadem and thinking for a while, he understood what the red tulip symbolized.
Some good deeds, a soft song, a collection of stories, had brought him one of the Three Elven Rings—the Ring of Fire, Narya.
This generosity was indeed a bit surprising.
