Chapter 44: Dumbledore Feels Weary

"Oh! My Merlin!"

Hagrid, holding bags and parcels of food, stood blankly on the path. He was coming from the direction of the gamekeeper's hut, getting ready to patrol the school grounds and the edges of the Forbidden Forest.

There were always a few young wizards who liked to wander around this area.

He usually liked to eat something while patrolling the surroundings.

Today, however, was undoubtedly the most shocking day since Hagrid had become the gamekeeper!

He saw a gigantic treant!

Standing beneath the tree monster was a student who not only was unharmed, but also appeared to be exceptionally docile!

"What on earth is this thing?" Hagrid put down the food and tried to approach Chu Yang, but the Whomping Willow mistook him for a threat to Chu Yang. With a backhand swipe, it batted Hagrid—who possessed giant blood—flying away!

Hagrid crashed straight into a nearby bush.

Seeing Hagrid sent flying, Chu Yang halted his output of magic power, angrily grabbed the branches of the Whomping Willow, and chided, "Stop hitting people whenever you feel like it!"

The sudden cessation of magical energy panicked and angered the Whomping Willow, which had only recently gained a rudimentary "intellect." Instinctively, it used its branches to wrap around Chu Yang, compelling him to produce more magic power to sustain itself.

"You only get what I am willing to give you. If I am not willing, you must wait obediently!" In his past life, Chu Yang detested pets that were fed well on ordinary days only to bite the hand of their master at a crucial moment.

A dog that guarded its food from its owner was a dog Chu Yang would beat every single time he saw it, just to make sure it understood who the master was!

Taking advantage of the time Hagrid was stuck in the bushes, Chu Yang ripped apart the branches entangling him, leaped forward, landed right beside the trunk of the Whomping Willow, and delivered a devastating, heavyweight Shark-Skin Palm Strike straight into the wood!

Crack!

The trunk of the Whomping Willow shattered like broken glass, with countless fissures spider-webbing outward from the imprint of Chu Yang's fist.

The terror of death made the newly born "intellect" of the Whomping Willow feel an overwhelming threat. Like a tamed beast, it shivered and cowered flat against the ground to show its surrender.

Only then did Chu Yang spare its life.

He used his magic to help heal the cracks on the surface of its bark—a classic combination of a harsh slap followed by a sweet treat.

"That thing packs a real punch," Hagrid groaned as he crawled out from the bushes.

Given his sturdy physique, taking a blow like that still left him dizzy and seeing stars.

However, his overwhelming curiosity about the Whomping Willow temporarily made him forget all physical discomfort, and he stumbled forward unsteadily.

"Can you calm your pet down? I mean no harm!" Hagrid shouted toward Chu Yang.

"It's fine, come on over!" Chu Yang explained, "This is the school's Whomping Willow, not my pet."

"The Whomping Willow?" Hagrid stared in utter astonishment at the tree, which had swelled to nearly twice its original size, muttering under his breath, "What kind of joke are you playing on me? This thing is supposed to be the Whomping Willow? It's more like a Murdering Willow..."

Hearing Hagrid's less-than-friendly remarks, the Whomping Willow shook its massive trunk to express its displeasure.

"Whoa! Whoa! Calm down! Calm down!"

Hagrid raised his hands high and begged for mercy repeatedly; he had no desire to be batted away a second time.

The next second, the Whomping Willow grew quiet.

"It can understand what I'm saying?" Hagrid blinked in surprise, his face instantly lighting up with rapture. "It's actually communicating with me! This goes beyond the realm of a mere plant—it's an animal! A magical creature!"

As a fanatical enthusiast of magical beasts, Hagrid fell in love with the giant tree on the spot and magnanimously forgave it for just swatting him!

To hit is to cherish, to scold is to love; that was merely "its" way of acting coquettishly toward him, and it hadn't hurt at all!

Hagrid winced as he pressed a hand against his injuries, thinking to himself.

He rushed over to Chu Yang, threw his arms around the tree trunk, and rubbed his face against it cozily.

It was a thoroughly obsessive display of fan behavior that gave Chu Yang the creeps.

The Whomping Willow seemed equally displeased. It shook itself upright and began to vibrate its body, attempting to dislodge Hagrid like a dog ridding itself of fleas.

Hagrid tumbled and scrambled all the way to the ground, looking up with a wince.

He noticed that Chu Yang, tightly shielded by the protective branches, was completely unharmed.

"How can it be so biased?" Hagrid lamented with a heart-wrenching expression as he looked at the Whomping Willow. He was the one who had let bygones be bygones—why hadn't he gotten any perks?

In the glow of the setting sun, several figures were approaching from the distance.

"Mr. Chu Yang, I am glad to see you are safe and sound, but would you care to explain why the Whomping Willow I planted with my own hands has turned into this?" Dumbledore walked slowly forward in his silver robes, with Professor McGonagall following closely behind him.

Chu Yang dropped down from the Whomping Willow, walked up to Dumbledore, and bowed slightly. "I'm not entirely sure of the exact cause, Headmaster Dumbledore, but it seems my magic power has somehow influenced it."

"Magic power?" Dumbledore said with a sudden look of realization, his expression turning complex. "It seems we still lack the necessary understanding of your magic and underestimated its influence on plants, particularly rare magical flora."

"When Professor Sprout told me about your performance at the wand shop, I should have anticipated this. It was my oversight..."

With that, Dumbledore walked toward the Whomping Willow, his starry eyes closely examining the tree's condition.

Professor McGonagall and Chu Yang followed quietly behind him.

The shocks of the day had left the elderly deputy headmistress physically and mentally exhausted.

Professor McGonagall looked as though she had aged several years.

She lacked the energy to lecture Chu Yang right now, but she still offered a word of praise. "In a moment of crisis, you left a chance of escape for your classmates and drew the Whomping Willow away by yourself. Although somewhat reckless, it is a very noble quality. Therefore, Slytherin earns ten points."

Dumbledore suddenly turned around with a smile and added, "And I personally award Slytherin another ten points. You did not disappoint me, Mr. Chu Yang."

Chu Yang shrugged and said, "Thank you for the headmaster's and professor's generosity. I'm sure the Slytherin students will be thrilled."

"Yesterday the Sorting Hat, today the Whomping Willow—you always manage to give me some surprises. However, Mr. Chu Yang, I sincerely hope to hear that you are attending your classes quietly tomorrow. That is the wish of a centenarian."

The headmaster, amiable just a second before, suddenly turned serious and warned, "And another thing: stop letting your classmates sleep on the stone floor. If this keeps up, the beds in the second-floor hospital wing won't be enough!"

"In just two days, the Slytherin patients alone have filled the place to bursting! Are you trying to paralyze the school hospital?"

Chu Yang shrugged and said with an utterly innocent expression, "I can't really control that; it depends on whether they can keep the peace. After all, I wasn't the one picking fights, and you were the one who made me fight back—unless, of course, you arrange a single room for me."

Dumbledore was instantly rendered speechless, a profound sense of exhaustion washing over him.

He felt as though he should never have tried to persuade Chu Yang to join Slytherin in the first place.

He had originally thought Chu Yang's innate talent would gradually alter Slytherin's perceptions of Muggles and reshape their misplaced pride, but he hadn't expected the boy to use his fists instead!

Fighting was a talent too, and a wonderfully simple and violent one at that!

A wizard who resolves problems with his fists instead of a wand...

He practically belonged to the class of melee wizards.