Fleur opened her eyes and found herself in a marvelous place.
Greenery was everywhere. Under her feet, along the stone walls beside her, even hanging in midair, lush vines thrived in every direction.
Those vines were heavy with flourishing grapes. Clusters of purple fruit filled the air with a sweet fragrance.
Leonard stood not far away and said with a smile, "Welcome. This is the first time I've had a guest here."
"Where is this place?" Fleur asked curiously. "And what are these plants?"
Fleur was nowhere near as obsessed with plants, or as knowledgeable about them, as her father, but her instincts told her these plants were dangerous.
And most magical plants became more precious the more dangerous they were.
"This is the Chamber of Secrets beneath Hogwarts. As for these plants... they're my trump card."
Leonard beckoned to her. "Come here. I want to show you something."
Fleur walked over. Leonard snapped his fingers, and the vines at their feet writhed, then "spat out" a human-sized plant.
"Is that the mutated Living Wood Vine I gave you?" Fleur asked. "What's wrong with it?"
It was indeed a Living Wood Vine, but not the one Fleur had given him. That one was still inside the World Tree space, waiting for its time travel.
This one was a duplicate Leonard had created through the World Tree's authority.
"I need your help with something. It may take up quite a bit of your time for a while, so during that period, this will appear in your place and compete in the Triwizard Tournament," Leonard explained.
"It? How is it supposed to replace me?" Fleur asked curiously.
The Living Wood Vine's ability to imitate a human face was something Leonard had enhanced. In nature, Living Wood Vines could only mimic animals.
"Simple. Stand in front of it." Leonard directed Fleur into place, then patted the Living Wood Vine.
The vine writhed and shifted. In the blink of an eye, it had turned into Fleur's exact appearance, even reproducing the limited-edition dress she was wearing.
"This..."
Fleur froze for a moment. Suddenly, her vision blurred. When she came back to herself and saw herself standing there, she felt a strange sensation.
"How does it feel?" Leonard's voice came, though the direction it came from seemed odd.
Fleur looked at Leonard in surprise. "Leonard, when did you go over there?"
"I didn't go over there. You did. Your consciousness has been transferred into that Living Wood Vine."
Leonard snapped his fingers. Fleur felt dizzy again. When she looked ahead, she saw a vacant-eyed version of herself standing there, while Leonard was now beside her.
"I just transferred your consciousness so you can freely control the Living Wood Vine's body. How does it feel?" Leonard asked.
"It's strange. Everything feels very real, but at the same time it's like there's a pane of glass in between, so it doesn't feel fully real," Fleur said, describing the sensation.
Leonard thought for a moment after hearing that. "That's not urgent. I can fix it later. Let me explain what this plant body can do first."
As he spoke, Leonard patted the Living Wood Vine. In an instant, it changed into his appearance.
"The five senses of this body are completely linked to its controller." As Leonard explained, he made the Living Wood Vine perform a series of complicated movements.
"And it comes with powerful magic and tremendous physical strength. You could say this is a body far beyond what an ordinary wizard could use to take on a fire dragon alone."
The surrounding vines cooperated by hurling more than a dozen large boulders into the air. "Leonard" suddenly leapt up, swept the incoming stones away with a whip kick, then used magic to turn them into a swarm of butterflies that scattered into the air.
The butterflies fluttered gracefully, perfect in both detail and realism.
Fleur covered her mouth. That magic was far stronger than her own.
"Leonard" landed, then reverted back into the form of a vine. As Leonard spoke, he suddenly remembered the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. The champions would be facing fire dragons.
If Fleur used this body in the competition, she would not even need to use her Veela talent or her own magic. She could pin a fire dragon to the ground with one hand and beat it senseless.
"Once I've fixed the lack of realism in the sensory feedback, you can use this body to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. It'll guarantee your safety," Leonard said.
But Fleur's attention was clearly not on how absurdly powerful this Living Wood Vine body was.
"What about my real body?" Fleur asked, staring at Leonard with wide eyes.
"Ah, well..." Leonard gave a dry cough. The way Fleur was looking at him made it feel as if he were plotting something improper.
"Your body will stay here for the time being..."
This was bad. Once the words were out of his mouth, it sounded even more suspicious.
No, he could not let himself get led astray by that. He had done nothing wrong. He had no improper intentions. This was all for Fleur's safety.
Leonard was just about to explain when Fleur gave him a shy smile.
She had originally wanted to say that she intended to win the competition through her own ability, but once she realized her body would remain here, she changed her mind.
"It's fine. You can keep my body here for now," she said, then gave him a playful wink.
At that point, there was no point explaining anything anymore.
Leonard rubbed his face, then simply pretended he had heard nothing and beckoned to one side.
Interwoven vines rose up and formed a seat.
"Come here, Fleur." Leonard waved to her. "Sit on it."
Fleur did not hesitate. Full of curiosity, she sat down on the chair made entirely of plants. At once, she felt the seat molding itself to the curves of her body, making her sit even more comfortably.
Suddenly, a small flower bloomed above the chair. As pollen drifted down, Fleur felt her consciousness blur for a moment. When she woke again, she found herself standing beside Leonard, while her own body lay reclining on the plant chair in front of her.
"This chair can help you control that body," Leonard explained. "And don't think using this body in the tournament counts as cheating. The body only provides magical power and physical ability. Experience and spellwork still depend entirely on you. You also need time to get used to it. In your current state, you probably can't even cast a spell."
It was true that magical power could strengthen magic, but skill-based spells were not something brute force could solve. Those required experience.
Too much magical power could actually become a burden instead.
"I'll get used to this body as quickly as I can," Fleur said, struggling to nod while controlling it. Then she looked at her own body reclining on the chair and asked, "Then what role will my real body play here?"
She had not forgotten that Leonard had said he needed her help. So the help she was providing was her own body?
It sounded a little strange, but Fleur did not mind.
"It'll play a very important role." Leonard did not explain further. "You'll see soon enough."