Dui continued on his journey.
After crossing a hill, he saw a small town.
This was Longbottom.
Hobbits in the Southfarthing of the Shire were best at growing pipe-weed.
Longbottom, in particular, was the most representative, being the center for pipe-weed cultivation and trade in the entire Shire.
Moreover, Longbottom pipe-weed was sold far and wide, favored by Dwarves, Rangers, and travelers alike.
For instance, the Grey Wizard Gandalf was a loyal enthusiast of Longbottom pipe-weed, never letting it leave his hand.
The Hobbits of Longbottom were even more leisurely than those in Hobbiton.
In front of the houses they passed, one could always see two or three Hobbits smoking their pipes and basking in the sun.
Even the women had pipes in their mouths, blowing smoke.
When they saw Dui, a stranger who was clearly not a Hobbit, they only looked at him curiously, without any intention of further inquiry or questioning.
Driving his carriage into the small town,
When he arrived at the square in the town center, the Hogwarts Sign-in System reacted.
[Hogwarts Sign-in System: Location Shire - Longbottom, do you wish to sign in?]
"Sign in!"
[Sign-in successful, congratulations on obtaining the first-year Herbology Class textbook, "One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi"!]
Dui was stunned for a moment, not expecting this sign-in to yield a Herbology Class textbook.
This left him somewhat disappointed.
After all, Herbology Class was mainly a course that taught people to recognize and cultivate magical herbs, and it couldn't provide him with a boost in strength.
More importantly, this was Herbology Class knowledge from the Harry Potter magical world, and many of the magical herbs mentioned were unique to it.
Dui was skeptical whether they could be found in Middle-earth.
However, when he opened the Herbology Class textbook, his eyes lit up.
Herbology Class, as a compulsory course at Hogwarts, was the study of magical and ordinary plants and fungi.
Students needed to learn to care for and utilize plants, understanding their magical properties and applications.
It was a discipline closely related to Potions.
Dui originally thought "One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi" was just a popular science book introducing magical plants.
But to his surprise, in addition to introducing magical plants and how to care for them, the book actually contained methods for cultivating ordinary plants into magical plants!
For example, the Bai Xian Elixir commonly used in the magical world was extracted from the White Fresh plant.
It could quickly heal wounds and was a common household Potion.
When Ron experienced a splinching phenomenon during Apparition, Hermione used Bai Xian Elixir to heal him.
The White Fresh plant was not a rare or uncommon plant; it was also common in the Muggle world and used for medicinal purposes.
The reason the Bai Xian Elixir in the magical world had such miraculous healing effects was because Wizards were able to cultivate ordinary White Fresh plants into medicinal materials with magical properties.
Moreover, most magical herbs in the magical world could find corresponding plants in the ordinary world; the only difference between the two was whether they possessed magical properties.
And this step required cultivation based on Herbology Class knowledge.
According to the book, the growth of magical plants had two types: natural and artificial cultivation.
Natural magical plants generally grew in places with rich magical energy, such as the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts.
Artificial cultivation, on the other hand, was divided into several types; the simplest was collecting the feces of magical creatures like Dragons and Mooncalves.
Ordinary plants that absorbed the feces had a high chance of transforming into magical plants.
Secondly, Potion cultivation was fast and had a high transformation rate.
The only limitation was the need to know how to make Potions and to consider the cost of the Potion.
The third type was cultivation by Wizards using magic to irrigate.
However, this method was time-consuming, laborious, and had low yield, so few Wizards would be willing to expend a large amount of magic just to cultivate a few plants.
Therefore, this third cultivation method was basically eliminated by the magical world.
But for Dui now, this third method was actually the most suitable for him.
After all, if he wanted to make Potions in the future, he would inevitably need magical herbs.
Originally, Dui planned to leave Longbottom after signing in, but the appearance of Herbology Class made him change his mind.
Longbottom was not only good at growing pipe-weed, but its pipe-weed trade was also very developed.
Dui came to a pipe-weed shop and specifically bought a large bag of "Longbottom Leaf" pipe-weed, his favorite, for Bilbo.
"Boss, do you know where I can buy living White Fresh plants?" Dui asked the shop owner casually.
"What do you want White Fresh for? No one wants that stuff even as a gift." The boss looked at him strangely, but adhering to the business philosophy of customer first, he still gave some pointers.
"If you really want it, you can go to the shaded valley behind the eastern hills; that plant is everywhere there."
"I understand, thank you for the information."
...
When Dui left Longbottom, his carriage had an extra bag of pipe-weed and two pots of White Fresh.
The White Fresh was still in the state of tender shoots breaking through the soil, and it looked a bit wilted because it had just been transplanted from the mountains.
Next, Dui's destination was Bywater in the Eastfarthing of the Shire.
Bywater was close to the East-West Road, right next to the Brandywine River, and the distance was somewhat far.
So Dui spent his first night camping in the wild.
At midnight, the moon reached its highest point.
Bathed in the moonlight, Dui gently pinched the White Fresh tender shoot and continuously poured magic into the White Fresh.
According to the cultivation method in the Herbology Class textbook, he needed to irrigate the White Fresh with magic every midnight when the moonlight was brightest, until the White Fresh was completely mature, before he could extract and make Bai Xian Elixir.
This was also the only Potion that could be made without a wand and a cauldron.
Having been irrigated by Dui's magic, the White Fresh seemed to have regained some vitality and was no longer wilted.
However, Dui knew that this was just the beginning.
For the next few months, he would need to irrigate the White Fresh with magic every night during the moonlit hours until it completely transformed and matured.
No wonder people in the magical world gave up on this cultivation method; after all, compared to cultivation with magical creature feces and Potion cultivation, this method was too time-consuming and laborious, and the harvest was not great.
For magical families specializing in cultivating magical herbs, the herbs they cultivated were measured by the acre.
If they were to irrigate with magic, even if they drained their magic, they wouldn't be able to cultivate so many herbs.
The carriage traveled all night, finally reaching Bywater at dawn.
Bywater was right next to the Brandywine River, with convenient water transport, and even a dock where one could take a boat to the Xiong Lu Area on the opposite bank.
Dui, having traveled all night, was a bit tired.
After entering the small town, he went directly to the Floating Log Inn to check in.
The inn, as its name suggested, was an inn floating on the water, a landmark building in Bywater.
[Hogwarts Sign-in System: Located Shire - Bywater - Floating Log Inn, do you wish to sign in?]
"Sign in." Dui placed the two pots of White Fresh on the windowsill of the room and said silently.
[Sign-in successful, congratulations on obtaining the first-year Potions textbook, "Magical Draughts and Potions"!]
Dui opened the Potions book, looked at it, and then closed it again.
While not exactly disappointed, he currently had no use for a Potions textbook.
Besides needing ingredients, the most crucial step in Potion making was stirring with a wand to achieve the final product.
This was why, using the same ingredients, a Wizard could create a miraculous Potion, but a Muggle would only produce a black, foul-smelling, putrid, and poisonous unknown liquid.
So if Dui wanted to make Potions, he would first need a wand.
But a wand was also far from what Dui could pursue right now.
He didn't think he could get a wand by simply putting a snake's nerve into a wooden stick.
Otherwise, why would the Ollivander family be able to monopolize the wand-making business in the Britain magical world for a thousand years?