"It's alright, Jack," Tom said gently. "We will do things your way."
With Tom's agreement, they followed Jack to his home. En route, Tom casually mentioned his interest in seeing the magic beans. Jack readily handed over the bean without a word.
"...?"
Huh? Holding the bean, Tom received no system notification. He didn't even need to check to know that the magic bean wasn't his quest item.
No matter. He could plant the beans at Jack's house. Everyone knew that Jack's magic beans connected to the giant's castle, but it was uncertain if planting them elsewhere would yield the same result. This was why he was going to Jack's—planting the beans at the original location was the safest bet.
...
Arriving at Jack's humble abode, Tom and his group were introduced to Jack's mother—a common woman worn down by life. She seemed startled by the sudden arrival of strangers. Jack recounted the whole story, holding nothing back. As expected, when she heard that "Jack traded the cow for five beans," Jack's mother nearly fainted in anger. However, Jack quickly explained how he had met Tom and his friends.
Jack's mother calmed considerably, and seeing the small bag of gold coins, she was much more enthusiastic. That evening, she even brought out her treasured bread to treat her guests. Truthfully, the bread was dry, hard, and tasteless, but Tom and his friends ate a little to show their appreciation. Even the most stubborn person could understand such a gesture.
After dinner, they went outside to plant the five magic beans. Cassandra stared at the ground for half a minute. "Teacher, why haven't they sprouted yet?" She was curious about the magical elements in this Muggle tale. How could these beans grow to the clouds overnight? It's neither scientific nor magical. The magic I know can't make beans grow that fast, and even magical plants don't grow this quickly.
"Who knows?" Tom ruffled Cassandra's blonde hair, then went inside. He sensed the magic beans frantically absorbing all the energy around them but decided to let his rebellious student figure it out herself.
"…"
Watching Tom's retreating figure, and glancing at the still soil, Cassandra decided not to linger. If these beans could grow to the sky overnight, they should at least have sprouted by now. But it seems the magic beans only grow explosively in a short period.
...
Late that night, inside Jack's guest room, Tom and the others remained awake—they didn't require much sleep, at least for now. Hermione watched the view outside the window, ready to capture the moment the magic bean sprouted.
"!" Her eyes widened suddenly. "It's here!" She called to the others to look.
"What is it?"
"The magic bean! It's sprouted!"
Everyone gathered around the window, watching the green vine emerge from the soil.
Boom…
The slowly sprouting vine suddenly began to grow wildly until it disappeared into the clouds.
"…"
Even Harry and the others realized it was time. They quickly and quietly slipped out of the room.
Outside, by the moonlight, they observed the towering vine. Its diameter easily exceeded ten meters.
"Just how high is that?" Harry strained his neck, trying to see beyond the green vines. Seeing nothing, he turned excitedly to Tom. "Sir, what do we do? Climb up?"
Tom gave Harry a speechless look and reminded him, "We're wizards. We can fly."
Climb? How could Tom Riddle find something so lame acceptable?
...
"Whoosh!~"
Harry, riding his rocket crossbow, flew upwards, skimming the green vines. Malfoy and the others followed. Malfoy was incredibly envious of Harry's crossbow. Hermione, however, was more interested in studying the green vines as she slowly ascended.
Surprisingly, Tom didn't fly ahead; instead, he lingered behind.
Because Cassandra's magical abilities had reached the basic B-rank (adult wizard) level, she possessed the fundamental requirements to learn the Flight Charm. Tom decided to seize this opportunity to teach his apprentice.
He didn't expect Cassandra to learn so quickly. The Flight Charm—the one Tom used to fly around as a black mist—was a very advanced spell encompassing Polymorph and several other spells, including the Levitation Charm. It demanded a high level of talent; even an Auror might not be able to learn it. Furthermore, self-study could easily lead to mistakes, causing her to transform into black mist and be unable to revert, simply dissipating—gone forever.
Tom had no such worries. My apprentice isn't one of those troll half-bloods. Her talent is considerable, and after my years of tutelage, Cassandra hasn't fallen behind in any area. Under his supervision, attempting to learn the Flight Charm was feasible. Even if Cassandra accidentally kills herself during the training, I can simply 'resurrect' her and solve the problem.
...
On the ground, Tom carefully explained the key points of the Flight Charm to Cassandra. He wasn't in a hurry to catch up with Harry and the others. Following the vines, he already knew the location of the giant's castle on the other side; he could Apparate there in a moment.
Meanwhile, Nagini was demonstrating. That's right, Nagini knew the Flight Charm—Tom had taught her. Moreover, it's worth mentioning that Nagini, a former "Blood-Bind Curse" victim who had lived for nearly a hundred years, possessed S-rank magical power, comparable to an elite Auror. The only thing she lacked compared to those veterans was experience and proficiency in magic.
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