"Since you've agreed, then let's make an [Unbreakable Vow]. That way, you won't have to worry about me going back on my word." Leonard held out his hand.
Harris Raymons had no choice but to reach out as well.
Their hands clasped. Golden magic turned into chains that wound around both their arms before fading away into nothing.
Even so, both of them could still feel the invisible restraint, ensuring that neither of them, whether intentionally or unintentionally, would be able to reveal the contents of their agreement.
"All right, now that we've sworn an oath, I guess that makes us half on the same side." Harris Raymons asked curiously, "So what did you find in the Chamber of Secrets?"
"What does that have to do with you?" Leonard rolled his eyes. "Right now, you should be more concerned about your own pose."
"My pose? What pose?" Harris Raymons froze for a moment. Then he suddenly felt his whole body tightening as a wave of magic slowly flowed back into him, as if it were about to freeze him solid again.
"The pose you were in when the Basilisk's eyes petrified you, obviously." Leonard spoke as he helped Harris Raymons arrange his body back into position.
The Mandrake he had used had been hastily ripened with accelerated growth, so its medicinal effect was only temporary.
By now, the time was just about up.
"You really don't leave a single loose end." Harris Raymons felt the petrifying magic surging back over him and clicked his tongue helplessly. Then he quickly corrected his expression to avoid leaving anything suspicious behind.
If Leonard William wasn't a Parselmouth, then how exactly had he entered the Chamber of Secrets?
That thought flashed through Harris Raymons's mind just before he lost consciousness.
This young wizard, who was clearly only twelve years old, was even more troublesome than he had imagined.
The potion's effect fully vanished. Under Leonard's adjustments, Harris Raymons returned to exactly how he had looked before, then froze solid once more.
Leonard checked him over, erased any traces he had left behind, and left the Hospital Wing.
Now everything was foolproof.
He was once again nothing more than an ordinary genius student.
The next day, everything was normal. The students had no idea what had happened the previous day, and the disturbance caused by Voldemort had not disrupted order in the castle at all.
As for the injured students...
At Hogwarts, students getting hurt was practically routine. So hardly anyone paid much attention.
That said, the matter itself did not pass so lightly.
Harry and Hermione, of course, were fine. They had barely been injured at all. The reason they had passed out was Leonard's Stunning Spell.
Afterward, the two of them reported to the school that they had been attacked by Ron Weasley.
The school did not react very strongly. After all, according to Leonard's account, Ron Weasley had already been under Voldemort's control at the time. And besides, Ron Weasley still had not woken up.
Ron Weasley did not have the same luck his sister Ginny Weasley had in the original story.
Voldemort had devoured most of his soul, and unlike in the original story, there had been no destruction of the Horcrux to reclaim what had been taken. As a result, he remained asleep, and even Madam Pomfrey could do nothing for him.
When they received the news, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley rushed over. They did not make a scene. Although they were heartbroken, once they heard that Voldemort had lured and controlled their youngest son, they both expressed understanding.
But no matter how reasonable they were, Ron Weasley still needed more specialized treatment.
He took a year's leave from school. During that year, he would stay at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, with Hogwarts covering all medical expenses in full.
Ron Weasley's leave of absence did not affect anyone else. After all, even Draco Malfoy's death the previous year had not changed any of the important events scheduled for the following month.
And those "important events" were, naturally, the Quidditch matches.
The next month or so passed in another peaceful Quidditch season, with the four houses once again throwing themselves into the intense and exciting rotation of Quidditch matches.
The Gryffindors were lucky. Their Seeker had not suffered any serious injury, so their matches were not delayed at all.
This year, Gryffindor seemed to be holding its breath and refusing to lose. Harry Potter, flying on his Nimbus 2000, was unstoppable.
He won several matches in a row.
Even Cedric Diggory, who was flying Leonard's Nimbus 2000, was no match for him.
Still, that did not have much to do with Leonard. His own schedule was packed, basically rotating between the dormitory, classrooms, greenhouse, and Chamber of Secrets every single day.
Since he had only just obtained the Chamber, it naturally required extra attention. Every day, Leonard made time to go in and look after those Devil's Snare seeds.
And by "look after," he mostly meant casting ancient magic once a day to make it rain.
This ancient spell could promote healthy plant growth without shortening the plants' lifespan. It was extremely useful. Unfortunately, its consumption was too great. Otherwise, Leonard would definitely have used it several times a day to speed up their growth.
After two months of care since the term began, Leonard's Botanical Garden in the Forbidden Forest had fully gotten on track. And with the ancient magic statues Dumbledore had set up, it could run well even without much direct attention from Leonard.
During that process, Leonard gained a total of three enhancement points. After getting the enhancement that allowed multiple attacks to stack damage, he unlocked yet another enhancement node.
This was also the final enhancement node in the combat branch, called [Lush].
The name of this enhancement node was plain enough, but its effect was fully worthy of being the final node in the combat branch.
Once activated, all plants across a large area centered on Leonard received enormous enhancements, including powerful self-healing, increased strength, increased magic, increased magic resistance, gigantification, and more.
No matter what kind of plant it was used with, the result could create a shocking scene like "the descent of the world of trees," making it Leonard's second trump card besides ancient magic.
With the combat branch fully completed, Leonard naturally turned his attention to the other two branches.
In the end, he chose the growth branch, which increased plant lifespan and vitality. [Root Enhancement] was the first enhancement in that branch.
The growth branch allowed Leonard's plants to live longer, which made modifying them far easier.
And speaking of modification, Leonard had also fed a large amount of Basilisk material to his plants.
The Basilisk's materials were rich in magic associated with instant death and petrification. Unfortunately, without the eyes, none of Leonard's plants gained the ability of instant death. They only acquired slight petrifying properties.
For example, the paralysis effect of the Bitter Thorn's venom had turned into a stronger petrification effect, and the Venomous Tentacula could now fire spikes with a faint petrifying effect.
The most interesting case was the Chomping Cabbage. It had actually grown eyes, and anyone who made eye contact with them would end up as if they had been hit by Petrificus Totalus.