Huh? There's a magic school here.

On January 9th, the weather was still a bit cold.

Since it was the first day of class, the young wizards had so much fun chatting last night that many of them stayed up very late, so many of them were still half asleep when they woke up.

Upon arriving at the Great Hall, the cool breeze blowing in from the main entrance instantly invigorated them. The young wizards quickly stepped inside; although the doors were open, it was still much warmer than outside.

"It's so cold, Beretta! Why did you drag me out of bed so early!" Erlinda complained softly.

“Don’t be silly, Erlinda! We have herbalism class in the morning! You’re not trying to be late, are you?!” Beretta said with a helpless expression.

"Are we going to farm? But I've never even grown flowers before!"

"Have you gone crazy from the Christmas holidays?! When have you ever seen a wizard farming? Okay, even if we are farming, we're growing magical plants, so how can it be the same?"

"What's different? I don't see any difference!"

Beretta was defeated by Erlinda's fallacies, but she really couldn't refute them.

The two quickly finished breakfast and went to the greenhouse outside the castle to wait for class. Because they arrived early, they saw Professor Sprout placing flowerpots on the table in the greenhouse.

So the two of them offered to help the professor move the flower pots. Professor Sprout was very happy to see that the two of them were willing to help and gave each of them an extra five points.

Soon, it was time for class, and the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students arrived at the greenhouse one after another.

"Alright children, welcome to your first herbalism class. I'm glad that no one is late in this cold weather, and some of you even arrived early to help with some of the chores."

I know you study magic for powerful spells, potions to cure all diseases, or to satisfy your boundless curiosity. But herbalism is different; it can even be tedious and boring.

Just like how no one in the Muggle world likes farming, considering it something only lower-class people do. That's because these people can't understand the joy of planting seeds in spring and reaping the harvest in autumn.

Growing magical plants is a way of life—a simple yet fulfilling one! Each magical plant is a life, and you need to take meticulous care of them. Light, water, fertilizer, and even a good mood are all essential conditions for the growth of magical plants!

Take lighting as an example; there are many types of lighting, such as sunlight, moonlight, starlight, and flame light, and different plants require different types. For instance, the lantern plant needs moonlight. The reason it emits a soft glow at night is because it absorbs enough moonlight before flowering. If the moon appears for less than half a month during the three months of planting, then that batch of lantern plants is unusable.

For example, sunflowers require plenty of sunlight. Once mature, they produce a large amount of solar crystals, which can be used medicinally or to subdue dark creatures like the Shadow Corpse.

Then there's stardew, a super delicious ingredient. However, its growing conditions are extremely demanding, making it very difficult to cultivate. As a result, stardew's price has always remained high.

Stardew requires a month of starlight from the North Star on nights with the North Star present. During this month, there must be no rain, and the temperature must be around 15°C with a temperature difference of only 1 degree Celsius. These conditions are typically found in the Siberian wilderness. Stardew flowers usually bloom within about two hours. The best time to harvest stardew is during these two hours of blooming.

By the way, Stardew costs ten Galleons per gram, and at that price, it's still a rare find.

Alright, enough chit-chat. Now let's talk about what we need to do today. As you know, today is the first day of our herbalism course. Many of the potions you were supposed to practice with haven't even been planted yet, and these magical plants take a long time to grow.

Therefore, the real potion learning will be next semester, but don't worry, we will do some preliminary preparations and grow some interesting little things this semester.

For example, after class, each student can receive a pot of sunflowers. The sunflowers need a small amount of water, about 500 ml, each week, and plenty of sunlight. The growth period is about one month, and each sunflower will produce ten to twenty sun crystals.

The first pot of sunflowers is a gift for each of you, and the sun crystals are also yours. Okay, everyone, now help me fertilize the soil in the flowerpots. This is for planting mandrakes! It's one of your practice magic plants for next semester.

Planting this requires care; they need to mix a little cow manure into each layer of soil. Not by mixing cow manure into the soil, but by adding some cow manure on top of each layer of soil.

Everyone, come here and collect your soil and cow manure. Then return to your positions and fertilize your flowerpots. The cow manure smells a bit, so please bring your nose plugs.

The little wizards obediently put on their nose plugs and lined up to receive soil and cow dung. They worked for over an hour before they filled the flowerpots! When they took off their gloves and nose plugs, they felt like they were covered in the smell of cow dung.

"Very good, add one point to all the young wizards. You've all worked hard today. Does anyone have any questions?"

"Professor, why are we just fertilizing the soil instead of planting the seeds directly?"

"Ah, that's a good question. Does anyone know the answer?" Professor Sprout scanned the group of young wizards, hoping someone would know the answer, but the young wizards all shook their heads, indicating they didn't know.

"Okay, since nobody knows, I'll explain. This is because mandrakes need a lot of nutrients when they sprout, and the fertilization we just did is to ensure that the soil has sufficient nutrients when we plant them later."

In other words, we're cultivating the soil to meet the conditions for planting. Do you understand now?

"Oh, I see." A group of young wizards nodded as if they understood.

"Professor Sprout, I would like to know what kind of potion the Sun Crystal is used to make, and how it is made."

"Sun Crystals are generally used to make healing potions. They are effective against physical damage from dark creatures. Of course, because they absorb a lot of sunlight, you can also use them to keep warm. Sun Crystals can generally last for about six months before they become ineffective."

As for how to make potions, I'm sorry, that's beyond the scope of Potions class. Does anyone else have any questions?

"Professor, I'd like to ask how we get sunflower seeds? Can we come back for more after we've planted this pot?" The question came from Erlinda, but this foodie's voice was loud, making everyone curiously wait for Professor Sprout's answer.

"Good question. The seeds I'm giving you are harvest-type seeds, specially cultivated for harvesting Sun Crystals. If you need more Sunflower seeds, you can exchange them with Sun Crystals; five Sun Crystals for one seed. Okay, if everyone has no more questions, get out of class is over. Remember to take a pot of Sunflowers with you!"