Chapter 264. The Chief and the Guard
Adrian Wesson walked with Harry and Luna along the path through the Forbidden Forest.
The snow in the Forbidden Forest had not yet melted; it was still a vast expanse of white.
In such conditions, even Wesson—who treated coming back to the Forbidden Forest like going home—found it difficult to tell directions.
Fortunately, Rai would guide him.
On the way, the two children looked around curiously, while Rai circled overhead on alert.
In fact, Harry's coming along was entirely an accident; Wesson had originally intended to bring only Luna.
Of course, that hardly mattered.
As long as the children were happy.
With his protection, after all, the two of them would not encounter any danger.
As they went deeper and deeper in, Harry could no longer hold back his curiosity and asked, "Where are we going?"
"To meet a friend. We'll be there soon."
Wesson replied ambiguously, keeping a hint of suspense.
Before long, a towering beech tree appeared before them.
Yes, their destination this time was Bart.
At the moment, Bart was sleeping soundly, no different from an ordinary tree.
"This is…"
Harry looked up at the sky-piercing tree and frowned in confusion.
It was impressive, but… had they gone to all this trouble just for a tree?
He glanced at Luna beside him and found that she was restlessly looking all around, as if searching for something—like a wary deer.
At this moment, Wesson stepped forward and knocked on Bart's trunk.
Bart reacted at once, shaking a few times and sending large sheets of snow tumbling down.
"Mm—"
With a low hum, Bart's wrinkled face slowly emerged upon the trunk.
"Good morning, Bart," Wesson brushed the snow from his shoulders. "I hope you've been resting all right."
Bart blinked in a daze. When it saw that the visitor was Wesson, it immediately stretched out its branches in delight, rustling loudly.
"Master!" it boomed. "You've finally come to see Bart. Bart has been waiting a long time."
Harry and Luna were both startled by Bart's booming voice and covered their ears.
Wesson patted Bart's trunk. "Softer, Bart. You frightened the children."
"Oh. All right."
Like a child who had done something wrong, Bart answered obediently, then quieted down, peering curiously at Harry and Luna in front of it.
Harry looked back at it with equal curiosity.
The instant he first saw Bart's face, he had an impression of simple, honest warmth—if he had to compare it to someone, perhaps rather like Hagrid.
Wesson, meanwhile, turned his gaze to Luna. "Do you remember it, Luna?"
Luna nodded lightly.
Wesson had brought her once before; at that time Bart had still been an ordinary tree and had not evolved into what it was now. And now, Bart had been completely reborn.
This time, Wesson had brought Luna in the hope that she could use her ability to see what was different.
"Any special discoveries?" Wesson pressed.
Luna did not answer immediately. She looked around as if trying to catch an invisible wind, and at last her gaze fixed on the empty air.
"What do you see?"
"Little sprites," Luna said with certainty. "Little sprites are also gathering around Bart, just like around you, Professor Wesson. Those sprites are drifting outward."
Wesson raised his brows in surprise when he heard this.
He naturally knew what Luna meant by "little sprites."
They were the heteromorph element.
That is, the thing contained within his magic—the key that induced plants to evolve.
Could it be that the current Bart, like him, had gained the ability to make plants "heteromorph"?
"Can you see where those little sprites are going?" Wesson asked.
Luna narrowed her eyes and looked for a while, then finally pointed to the tree not far away that was closest to Bart. "Most of them went over there."
Wesson strode quickly toward the direction Luna indicated. It was a nondescript mountain pear tree, a little over ten metres tall, utterly unremarkable.
"Eldra, help me look at this tree."
[All right, sir, as you wish.]
[Species: Mountain pear tree]
[Level: 2]
[Trait: Guard]
[Status: Growing (1%)]
As expected, Wesson was slightly surprised—the tree had already acquired its first trait—Guard.
And Bart's trait was "Great Chief."
Chief and Guard—Wesson felt that could hardly be a coincidence.
So Wesson quickly returned to stand before Bart and pointed at that mountain pear tree. "That is—"
"That is Weka—the name I gave it," Bart introduced happily. "It's a fine tree; its jokes are excellent!"
"As I thought." Wesson sighed softly. "You ought to have told me earlier."
"Told you what?" Bart looked blank.
Seeing Bart's innocent face, Wesson could only shake his head helplessly.
It seemed it really understood nothing.
At the same time, Harry wore the same bewildered look at the side, completely at a loss.
He had no idea what Wesson and the others were talking about.
Little sprites… Weka…
These unfamiliar words left him in a fog.
The only thing he knew was that there was a gigantic talking magical tree here—and it seemed quite familiar with Wesson.
"Does Weka speak human language like you do, Bart?" Wesson asked.
"Oh, Weka can't speak," Bart explained. "We plants have our own way of communicating—through our roots and the soil."
Wesson rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Of course he didn't understand how plants communicated; he wasn't a plant, had no roots, and couldn't plant himself in the soil.
But for now it could be confirmed that Weka was probably like Bart, possessing the ability to think independently and communicate.
Next, Wesson examined the other nearby trees.
[Growing (66%)]
[Growing (25%)]
[Growing (89%)]
Sure enough, under the influence of Bart's heteromorph element, each tree nearby had a different growth progress.
It might not be long before they would all, like Weka, acquire new traits.
Bart was quietly changing them.
For the rest of the time, Wesson introduced Harry and Luna to Bart.
Naturally, Bart was overjoyed—just as it had said before, it liked friends.
Though Harry found it strange to chat with a tree, he soon discovered that Bart was far more interesting than he had imagined.
Luna had no objections either. She seemed to have a natural affinity and was especially liked by small animals and plants; Bart was no exception. While talking with Luna, Bart kept grinning.
Unnoticed, time had slipped toward noon. Wesson took Harry and Luna back to the castle.
Along the way, Harry was still rather moved.
Sure enough, in the wizarding world anything that turned up was reasonable. Today he had seen a talking tree—what new thing would be waiting for him tomorrow?
A person who could photosynthesise?
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