The afternoon sun shone through the dense canopy of the Forbidden Forest as Adrian knelt beside the unconscious Diricrawl, carefully feeding the strawberry-flavored antidote.
The bird's breathing was shallow but steady, and the foam around its beak had begun to dissipate.
Adrian was just placing the bird in a makeshift carrier created from his outer robes when an unexpected voice, heavy with melancholy and longing, whispered directly into his ear.
"Master... haven't you noticed Bart?"
The voice was so close that Adrian could feel the breath that should have accompanied it, though no breath came.
He spun around instinctively, his hand moving toward his wand before recognition set in.
There, emerging from an ordinary looking beech tree, was a face he knew well, though it appeared drastically changed from their last encounter.
Bart's face had manifested in the rough bark of the tree trunk, but everything about his appearance was different. Strangely though, the originally tall and mighty Bart was now only slightly larger than Hagrid.
The branches that had once spread across a large portion of forest now hung sparsely from a thinner trunk. Several leaves had turned a sickly yellow, clinging to their stems as if too weak to maintain their grip.
"Bart?" Adrian approached with concern and surprise. He reached out tentatively, his palm making contact with the rough, dry bark that felt brittle beneath his touch. "What in Merlin's name happened to you?"
The question, asked with such obvious worry, seemed to unlock a floodgate of emotion within the tree.
"Master hasn't visited Bart in so long," it said pitifully. "Every single day, Bart has been counting, waiting for Master to return to the forest. Finally, when the loneliness became unbearable, Bart could wait no longer. I had to come find you myself."
Seeing Bart growing more aggrieved as it spoke, Adrian was momentarily speechless. Honestly, he had completely forgotten about Bart during this summer vacation.
"Oh, that's my fault," Adrian sincerely apologized, then placed his palm against the trunk to sense Bart's weak magical fluctuations. "How did you end up like this? I remember you used to be much taller."
"The original body couldn't travel this far," Bart said with a distinctly human-like pout (if the twisted bark expression could be called a pout). "So, Bart had to shrink down and make the journey here."
Upon hearing this, Adrian immediately had the Tree of Wisdom analyze Bart's current condition.
[Name: Bart]
[Species: Beech Tree Spirit]
[Level: 3]
[Trait: Great Leader]
[Status: Growing (0%), Severe Malnutrition]
Seeing Bart's condition, Adrian was speechless.
How had this fool managed to make himself malnourished?
Thank goodness he'd discovered it early, or Bart might have withered away completely.
"Stay right here," Adrian commanded, his voice taking on the commanding tone he used in his classroom. "Don't move, don't exert yourself, don't even think too hard until I return."
Adrian immediately ran to the greenhouse and borrowed (stole) plenty of specialized fertilizer from Sprout.
"Here," Adrian panted, dumping the fertilizer bags at Bart's base. "This should help restore your strength."
Bart's root system, which Adrian hadn't even realized was visible, suddenly burst from the earth. Thick, pale roots snaked out like eager tentacles, diving into the piles of magical fertilizer with desperate hunger.
The specialized plant food began disappearing at a rate that was almost alarming to watch, bags that should have lasted months were consumed in minutes, leaving only grayish-white residue that spoke of completely absorbed nutrients.
"Burp—"
The sound that emerged from Bart was so unexpectedly human and satisfied that Adrian couldn't help but smile despite his concern. Two red patches appeared on the tree spirit's bark, giving him the appearance of someone who had just enjoyed an exceptionally good meal.
Adrian had the Tree of Wisdom check Bart's condition again.
This time, the "malnutrition" status had finally disappeared from Bart's condition. However, Bart still maintained his size barely larger than Hagrid. The only change was that the leaves on his branches had become somewhat greener.
"Much better," Adrian murmured with satisfaction. "Now, do you think you can return to your previous size, or—"
"Oh, this form is actually quite convenient," Bart interrupted, his voice now carrying its old cheerful energy. "This way, Bart can move around the forest much more freely. Watch this, Master!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Bart slowly pulled himself up from the ground.
At the same time, his root system twisted into leg-like shapes, his main trunk began transforming, the upper branches split into arm-like structures, and clearer facial features emerged on the bark surface.
In moments, a three-meter-tall treant stood before Adrian.
The sight was both awe-inspiring and slightly comical, particularly when Bart began testing his new mobility by taking several experimental steps around the clearing.
"Master, look!" Bart exclaimed with the excitement of a child showing off a new trick. "Bart can move wherever he wishes now!"
To demonstrate his point and perhaps overcome by enthusiasm for his brand-new freedom, Bart rushed toward Adrian with arms spread wide in preparation for what was clearly intended as a celebratory embrace.
The impact was significant. Being hugged by a three-meter-tall tree-person was like being caught between two pieces of moving wood, and Adrian found himself pressed against bark so rough it left scratches on his cheeks. The embrace was enthusiastic, affectionate, and thoroughly uncomfortable.
"Thank you for the... display of affection," Adrian managed, his voice somewhat muffled by Bart's wooden chest, "but you can release me now. I need to breathe occasionally."
Bart immediately let him go, then went on to demonstrate his mobility in the most unexpected way possible, by performing a perfect backflip on the spot.
The sight of a three-meter-tall treant executing aerial acrobatics with such casual ease was so surreal that Adrian found himself temporarily speechless.
Once the initial excitement had subsided, Adrian's instincts took over. He began conducting systematic tests of Bart's capabilities in his new treant form, curious to understand how the transformation had affected his various abilities.
The results were impressive and somewhat surprising.
Despite his reduced size, Bart's defensive capabilities had actually increased substantially.
When Adrian cast a moderately powered Blasting Curse (carefully controlled to avoid serious damage) it barely left a scorch mark on Bart's bark skin. Its natural resistance to physical and magical attacks had concentrated along with his essence, creating what was equal to natural armor.
However, some weaknesses remained unchanged. When Adrian produced even a small flame from his wand tip, Bart immediately ran thirty feet away.
Fire, it seemed, remained the eternal nemesis of tree-folks, regardless of their magical enhancements.
But regardless, Bart's combat ability was now formidable.
Finally, when Adrian invited Bart to visit Hogwarts castle, Bart was in a dilemma.
"That's not possible, Master. Bart cannot leave this forest," Bart said helplessly. "Once I leave, Bart will become an ordinary tree and lose all magical power."
Adrian nodded thoughtfully. This limitation made sense from a magical perspective, perhaps Bart's power was intrinsically linked to the forest itself.
His "Great Leader" trait seemed specifically designed to influence and command the plant life within the Forbidden Forest's boundaries.
Adrian remembered trying to extend Bart's influence to a potted plant from Professor Sprout's greenhouse, only to discover that Bart's "mutation factor" had no effect on plants from outside.
"It's alright," Adrian consoled. "I'll visit you regularly from now."
Bart's entire form seemed to brighten at this promise, his leaves rustling with contentment. "Bart would like that very much, Master. The forest can be lonely sometimes, even with all the other plants to talk to. They're not very good talkers, most of them only think about soil nutrients and sunlight."
With a final, much gentler embrace, Bart began to go into the deeper parts of the forest and Adrian watched until the wooden figure disappeared among the trees.
As he made his way back toward the castle, with the recovering Diricrawl in his arms, Adrian couldn't help but smile. Bart's transformation opened up interesting possibilities and perhaps in the future, Bart would bring him even more surprises.
September 5th
Four days had passed since the beginning of the new Hogwarts term, and the castle had settled into its familiar tempos. The first-years had grown from being completely lost to being only occasionally confused about the castle's geography, while the older students had fallen back into their traditional patterns of study, socializing, and the house competitions that defined much of Hogwarts life.
The early September evening carried a hint of autumn's approach as Adrian made his way toward the Great Hall for dinner.
The corridors were filled with the usual pre-meal chatter—students discussing their classes, comparing homework assignments, and speculating endlessly about the upcoming Triwizard Tournament.
However, as Adrian pushed open the heavy oak doors that led into the Great Hall, he was struck immediately by an atmosphere that was noticeably wrong.
The usual noise of hundreds of young voices had been replaced by an uncomfortable silence.
Conversations continued, but they were conducted in hushed, urgent whispers that created an undercurrent of tension rather than the normal cheerful noise. Students glanced around nervously, as if expecting something at any moment.
The effect was most noticeable at the Slytherin table, where the young snakes sat in sullen anger. Their composure had been replaced by an air of collective indignation, as if their house honor had been publicly challenged.
Several of the older students appeared to be engaging in heated, whispered discussions.
Near the entrance to the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall stood showing signs of stress.
Adrian approached her with growing curiosity and concern. "Professor McGonagall," he said quietly, ensuring his voice wouldn't be heard to the nearby students. "I couldn't help but notice the rather... quiet atmosphere this evening. Has something happened?"
McGonagall turned toward him with visible relief, as if his arrival represented potential salvation from a diplomatic nightmare.
"Ah, Professor Westeros," She said, her Scottish accent thickened by stress. "I'm afraid you've arrived just after quite the spectacle. Professor Moody and Professor Snape had what could generously be described as a heated disagreement, right here in front of the entire student body."
Adrian's eyebrows rose slightly. "I see. That would certainly explain the current mood."
"'Heated disagreement' is putting it mildly," McGonagall continued, her voice dropping to an even lower whisper. "They came very close to drawing wands on each other. Two grown men, both professors at Hogwarts, nearly coming to blows like first-years having a spat over Quidditch teams."
Adrian could understand the students' tension—seeing their professors on the verge of violence would be deeply unsettling, particularly for the younger years who looked to the faculty for stability and guidance.
The Slytherin students' particular anger likely stemmed from seeing their Head of House publicly humiliated or threatened.
"That's... unfortunate," Adrian said tactfully, though privately he wasn't entirely surprised.
Mad-Eye Moody's legendary paranoia and deep-seated hatred of Dark wizards would naturally put him at odds with Snape, whose past as a Death Eater was an open secret among the faculty. The real surprise was that they had managed to avoid a confrontation for this long.
"Unfortunate?" McGonagall's voice rose slightly before she caught herself and lowered it again. "It was completely inappropriate! The behavior was utterly unprofessional, and the damage to the school's reputation could be considerable if word of this gets out beyond these walls."
Adrian nodded sympathetically, though he suspected that controlling the spread of such juicy gossip among teenagers would be nearly impossible.
By tomorrow morning, every student in the castle would know the details, and by the weekend, their families would be hearing inflated versions through owl post.
"There must be something that can be done to prevent future incidents," He said carefully.
McGonagall's expression suddenly brightened with an almost predatory gleam of hope. "Actually, Professor Westeros, that's exactly what I was hoping you might say. You seem to have developed quite a rapport with Professor Moody, I've noticed you two having friendly conversations during meals."
Adrian felt a sinking sensation in his stomach as he realized where this conversation was heading. "You want me to..."
"Talk to him," McGonagall finished firmly. "Make him understand that regardless of his personal feelings about Professor Snape, this kind of behavior cannot continue within Hogwarts around these children. At the very least, convince him to keep their conflicts private."
"...Me?" Adrian hesitantly pointed to himself, thinking this sort of thing should be handled by the headmaster or deputy headmaster.
Professor McGonagall nodded with a knowing smile.
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