[Name: Wika]
[Species: Mountain Ash Tree]
[Level: 3]
[Trait: Guardian]
Although Wika had not yet mastered language beyond basic knowledge, its ability to execute commands was quite perfect.
In Bart's words, Wika was its loyal buddy.
Of course, according to the Wisdom Tree's more proper judgment, theirs was a relationship between leader or chief and guardian. A guardian would unconditionally follow the leader's orders, bound by something more fundamental than friendship or duty.
This hierarchical bond was indeed apparent in practice. If Bart ordered Wika to stick its head into the ground, Wika would comply without question.
"Oh, what's that?"
A familiar voice, rich with curiosity and tinged with wonder, suddenly rang out across the clearing.
Adrian turned from observing the trees as a smile appeared on his lips as he recognized the approaching figure. "Good morning, Professor Sprout. Is there something I can help you with?"
But Professor Sprout's attention was completely captivated by the extraordinary scene in front of her: Bart who was stretching its bark-covered limbs with movements that were smooth and natural, and Wika, who was inexplicably planted upside down in the ground like some bizarre botanical experiment gone wonderfully wrong.
She snapped back to attention, her face flushed with the excitement of discovering something completely new in her decades of botanical experience.
"I came to provide some fertilizer for the Whomping Willow," She explained, gesturing vaguely toward the tree in the distance. "It always seems rather lethargic during winter months, you understand... But what are these two? I've never seen trees like this before in all my years... they're just like people!"
The wonder in her voice was clear.
"Bart! Wika!"
Adrian waved at the two trees.
Bart immediately responded with enthusiasm, shaking its branches in what might have been excitement before trotting over on its thick, root-like legs.
Wika was a second slower in responding, perhaps due to its more recent achievement of mobility. It had just pulled itself painstakingly out of the ground with a sound like tearing cloth, and its crown still had several large clumps of dirt clinging to the smaller branches, giving it a disheveled, funny appearance.
"This is Bart, a beech tree, and that's Wika, a mountain ash," Adrian introduced them with a gesture. "I found them in the Forbidden Forest during one of my regular patrols, and then they underwent a small transformation under somewhat unique circumstances."
He deliberately kept the explanation vague.
Professor Sprout approached slowly, her eyes examining the two trees with careful attention. She walked around them in a complete circle, occasionally reaching out as if to touch their bark before thinking better of it and withdrawing her hand. Finally, she nodded as if confirming a hypothesis.
"I've never discovered such magical plants in all my years exploring the Forbidden Forest," She said with a mixture of envy and delight.
As she spoke, she waved her wand in a motion, and a small leather pouch flew from her waist. It landed on the ground with a soft thump and immediately began to expand, transforming into a half-person-tall burlap sack that bulged with its contents.
Professor Sprout patted the bulging sack with gentle affection and said with pride,
"This is my special fertilizer. I've been perfecting the formula for years. The supplementary ingredients are a balanced mixture of unicorn hair for magical enhancement, moonstone powder for promoting healthy growth under winter conditions, and essence of bubble pod for nutrient absorption. Big fellow, would you like some?"
She sent this last question toward Bart with an encouraging smile.
Adrian wasn't quite clear on the precise alchemical processes by which these three seemingly dissimilar ingredients were combined and transmuted into effective fertilizer.
But as soon as the fertilizer bag was opened, releasing a rich, earthy scent, Bart's eyes never left it. it leaned forward unconsciously, its entire posture radiating desire. Clearly the specially created fertilizer held an extreme, almost magnetic attraction for Bart.
"Professor Sprout is a friend," Adrian reminded Bart gently, recognizing the tree's eagerness.
Only after receiving Adrian's permission did Bart slowly step forward, moving with caution. It extended several of its roots into the fertilizer bag.
Within moments, Bart's rough facial features transformed, displaying an expression of pure contentment. It's entire body seemed to relax, its branches were drooping slightly in what could only be described as blissful satisfaction.
Perhaps feeling a bit self-conscious about accepting treats from a stranger, or maybe experiencing some instinctive social awkwardness...
"Don't misunderstand," Bart said quickly, scratching the back of its head. "Bart doesn't need this... not really. But Wika does. Wika is still young and growing."
Wika: "?"
Adrian decided to let Bart maintain whatever lie it needed to preserve its dignity.
Seeing that Bart had accepted her gift, Sprout breathed a sigh of relief. Her shoulders relaxed from their tense position, though she couldn't entirely hide her amazement that the creature could actually speak clear sentences and even possessed enough self-awareness to feel embarrassment.
"This fertilizer is newly developed, I've only just finalized the formula this winter," She explained with professional pride. "I bet you've never seen anything quite like it. It was originally prepared specifically for the Whomping Willow, you see.
That tree needs considerable extra nourishment during the cold months to ensure healthy development and maintain its... enthusiastic temperament. Now it seems I'll need to prepare significantly larger batches if I'm to keep all three of you properly fed."
Her tone was already calculating quantities and ingredient ratios, the habitual mindset of an experienced Herbology professor.
"Thank you for your generosity, Professor Sprout," Adrian said with genuine appreciation.
Sprout soon left with a cheerful wave, her robes swishing around her boots as she headed back toward the castle. She still had several classes to teach that morning: second-year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, if Adrian recalled the schedule correctly.
Adrian watched her retreating figure for a moment before turning his attention back to his two tree companions.
He needed to continue the testing of Bart and Wika's developing abilities, at the very least determining the maximum distance Bart could now travel from the Forbidden Forest's borders without experiencing the weakening effects that had previously constrained his movements.
So, Adrian led Bart and Wika westward across the snow-filled grounds.
After passing Hagrid's hut where smoke was rising lazily from its chimney that indicated Hagrid was home and probably brewing his notoriously strong tea and traversing a large area of open ground, they eventually arrived at the Quidditch pitch.
The massive stadium was empty and deserted in the winter light. This term, due to the focus on the Triwizard Tournament, there were no scheduled Quidditch matches and naturally no team training sessions either. The pitch that normally rang with the shouts of players and the roar of crowds now sat in unusual silence, so the area was quite deserted.
Just as Adrian was reflecting on this unusual quiet, he spotted two strange figures on the pitch, dark silhouettes moving at extremely high speed through the cold air, their movements creating visible disturbances in the morning mist.
The inflight figures seemed to notice Adrian's sudden appearance at the edge of the field and gradually approached him.
When they were close enough for identification:
"Harry? Krum?"
Adrian raised his eyebrows in mild surprise, his expression showing genuine interest in this unexpected pairing. "Now that's a rare combination indeed."
Harry and Krum simultaneously jumped down from their broomsticks, and both were riding Firebolts.
Harry wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of one hand, his face slightly flushed from intense exercise despite the cold morning air. His dark hair stuck up at even more chaotic angles, dampened by sweat. "Good morning, Professor Westeros. I was practicing flying techniques with Krum...."
"And the result?" Adrian asked with genuine curiosity, his eyes moving between the two young men with interest.
Harry sighed heavily, though his expression held more admiration than disappointment. "He's very good... All right, I'll be honest: I was completely outmatched in every drill. It wasn't even particularly close."
The admission was delivered with self-deprecating humor, lacking any trace of hurt pride or resentment.
This outcome was entirely normal and expected, Adrian thought.
Although Harry was quite skilled at Quidditch for his age and experience level, demonstrating natural talent that had earned him a position as Gryffindor's youngest Seeker in a century, compared to an internationally recognized professional player who had competed in the World Cup, he still fell considerably short.
The gap between talented amateur and seasoned professional was considerable, perhaps unbridgeable without years of dedicated practice.
Adrian looked toward the composed Krum and nodded in acknowledgment. of the unspoken compliment to his skills.
Krum returned the gesture with a slight smile, his usually serious face softening somewhat. "Hello, Professor Westeros. It's good to see you again."
In fact, Krum generally wouldn't accept casual invitations from others for leisure and entertaining activities, much less agreeing to fly broomsticks in what he secretly considered rather dull practice for someone of his skill level.
He'd accepted Harry's invitation only because he wanted to understand Harry Potter better on a personal level. The young Gryffindor's remarkable performance dealing with the Dragon in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament had left a deep impression on him.
Not just anyone could subdue a dragon single-handedly, even he couldn't do it.
Now, after this morning's informal practice session, it seemed Harry's flying skills were also extraordinary in their own right, not quite at professional level yet, certainly, but definitely catching up to some of the less experienced professional players Krum had encountered in his career.
The boy had raw talent that with proper training and a few more years of development could easily turn into professional-level performance.
Any discerning person could see that Harry Potter would go far in the future, whether in Quidditch or whatever other path he ultimately chose.
If Harry's character were to be as solid as his abilities showed for the future, Krum would be genuinely happy to befriend such an outstanding person.
Oh, there might also be a small contributing factor related to Hermione's friendship with Harry, but that consideration was small. Perhaps not completely insignificant, but certainly not the primary motivation.
At that moment, Bart and Wika finally arrived at the pitch's edge, their slower pace was obvious considering how far they'd fallen behind during the walk.
"Oh, Master, please walk slower next time," Bart called out with something resembling breathlessness, though Adrian wasn't certain whether mutated trees actually needed to breathe. "Bart... Bart can't keep up when you move so fast."
Bart swung its arms in exaggerated fashion as it walked up to Adrian's side. Wika was still some distance away, moving with the uncertain steps of a toddler learning to walk.
"Bart!?"
Harry's face lit up with delight, his green eyes widening with recognition and genuine pleasure.
He hadn't seen Bart in ages, their last meeting had been... well, the last time they'd met.
"Hello there," Bart pondered for a moment, then its eyes lit up with realization.
"Hairy Potter!"
Harry was immediately certain that Bart had gotten his name wrong.
As he opened his mouth to gently correct the pronunciation, Bart reached out and patted his head with one large wooden hand in what was clearly meant as an affectionate greeting.
The pat was considerably less gentle than Bart probably intended. Harry staggered from the impact, his knees nearly buckling under the force of what the tree considered a friendly gesture, and he would have fallen over completely if Krum hadn't caught him with quick reflexes.
"Careful there," Krum said, steadying Harry with a firm grip on his elbow.
"What is that thing?" Krum's expression had shifted to something tense and wary, his dark eyes narrowing as he evaluated the potential threat.
His free hand had moved instinctively toward his wand pocket, and his body language was showing readiness despite the apparently friendly interaction he'd just witnessed.
"Bart is not a thing," Bart replied earnestly.
Krum had the distinct, somewhat uncomfortable feeling that he was talking to a fool or at least to something with the intellectual and emotional complexity of a very young child housed in a body capable of strong physical damage.
"Don't be afraid, Viktor," Harry said quickly, brushing frost from his robes where he'd nearly fallen. "That's Bart, a... well, a beech tree, technically. But he's very friendly once you get to know him."
Adrian hadn't expected the two young men to already be on a comfortable first-name basis.
It seemed Harry and Krum's relationship had grown much closer recently than he'd realized.
"Harry's right, Krum," Adrian said. "Bart and Wika are both native residents of the Forbidden Forest, though indeed unusual ones. Under normal circumstances, they won't attack other people unless they perceive a direct threat to themselves."
"Just call me Viktor, Professor," Krum said with a smile, though his attention remained fixed on the two tree-creatures with fascination that was rapidly overtaking his initial wariness.
He nodded slowly, then approached more closely to curiously examine Bart and Wika.
"We've never had talking and walking trees where I'm from!" He exclaimed in genuine admiration. "Bulgaria has many magical creatures, of course, but nothing quite like this. Very magical indeed!"
"Actually... we didn't used to have them here either," Adrian corrected with mild amusement. "Bart and Wika are very much exceptions to the normal rules of magical botany."
In the time that followed, as the winter sun climbed higher and burned away the morning mist, Krum got along splendidly with the two trees.
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