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Chapter 268: An Unexpected Encounter with Newt
Chapter 268: An Unexpected Encounter with Newt
The door of the phone booth swung open, and Felix walked into the gilded lobby, making his way to the reception desk.
"Hello, could you tell me where Conference Room Two is?"
A middle-aged witch with blonde hair glanced at his chest badge indifferently. Behind her, a notice board was plastered with various signs, but most were covered by an exaggerated wanted poster. "Felix Hep... Oh, Mr. Heap, Mr. Cedric has mentioned you. Please follow me—"
"Excuse me, ma'am, I haven't registered my wand yet."
The witch replied warmly, "That's not a necessary step, dear. I heard you're a Muggle Studies expert? I have a book at home called 'Simple Spells to Fool Muggles,' but I haven't really read it. It's hard to tell the good ones from the bad... Little Tim always makes a mess of the house."
She led Felix to the elevator area and glanced at the floor display. "We're going to the fourth floor—oh, be careful!" As she spoke, a flock of paper airplanes flew into the elevator through the gaps in the golden railing. She explained, "These are used by the Ministry to pass messages—"
Once inside the elevator, the paper airplanes circled slowly under the ceiling. They were a light purple color, with the "Ministry of Magic" stamp on their wings.
"Previously, we used owls for communication. You can imagine the air quality here... and the droppings problem. Tables and chairs were always a mess. Since we started using these little things, the cleaning workload has been reduced by a third."
"Forgive me, but I don't know your name?" Felix had to interrupt her.
"Ella Difina. Where was I? Oh, right—" She began recounting how her five-year-old son had used a bag of flour to draw the emblems of the entire Quidditch league. "He'll lead the national team to victory", she said proudly.
"Ms. Difina, I heard that L.C.A. Comic Book Publisher recently released a new set of comic strips that are very popular."
"Really? I haven't paid much attention. What are they called?"
"Called—"
The elevator stopped, and two wizards stepped in. One was a red-faced wizard with a short brown beard, wearing a black wizard robe. The other was an elderly man with white hair and a beard, dressed in a tweed gray windcloak and a brown vest.
The elderly man tilted his head slightly. "Amos, your procedures have serious issues. And you keep beating around the bush. I can see that Tina has taught me a lot."
The wizard in the black robe, Amos, said uneasily, "I know you're very concerned about the Hippogriff's living conditions, but this matter doesn't involve you, does it? You're not even its owner."
"I can't just ignore it because it has an owner. I'm just fighting for its legal rights."
"But you've retired, Mr. Scamander."
"Technically, I just don't go out much... but I haven't stopped working. If you knew how much I do every day, you wouldn't think that."
"Your book, 'Magical Creatures Where to Find Them,' is already on its 52nd edition. Why not complete one more?"
The elderly man looked at the side of the other's face. "I do have that plan, but—let's get back on topic. I was asked by friends—three caring young ones among them—to review the Ministry of Magic's procedures. I assume you didn't hire me as a consultant to keep quiet."
"Of course, many of the Ministry's magical creature protection zones rely on your advice."
The elevator stopped on the fourth floor, and the two wizards stepped out—
"Mr. Heap, we've arrived", said Ella Difina from the reception. Felix bowed slightly. "Thank you. Is this the floor? I can find it myself."
He took a few steps and turned back. "By the way, the book is called 'Adventures of Little Wizard Mick.' It's available in many bookstores."
Felix followed the two wizards and watched as they stopped in front of a spacious office door. He looked up and saw the sign: "Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."
A wizard in a black robe entered the office, leaving the elderly man outside. Felix approached and said, "Mr. Newt Scamander?"
The elderly man turned his head, his gaze sliding over Felix. "You are..."
"Felix Heap, Professor of Ancient Runes at Hogwarts", Felix introduced himself. "We just met in the elevator."
Newt's gaze settled on him. "Yes, yes, that's right... Mr. Heap, I've heard your name. Little Rolf mentioned you."
Felix said, "I was very interested in your research during my school days. I even collected some clippings, but unfortunately, there wasn't much to find."
"I did publish a few articles in my early years, but they weren't taken seriously back then", Newt said. "That was a long time ago."
"For a while during my studies, I was obsessed with how to handle them, of course, ensuring I wouldn't get hurt", Felix explained.
Newt's eyes lit up. "That's the essence of my research—rescuing, nurturing, protecting... I also teach other wizards to understand them rather than fear them."
"So, Potter and the others eventually found you?" Felix asked. "I overheard a bit in the elevator. I assume you were discussing the Hippogriff attack on students at Hogwarts."
"Potter? Harry Potter?"
"Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and of course, at the center of it all, Rubeus Hagrid and Buckbeak."
Newt nodded. "That's right. They wrote to me, telling me a Hippogriff was being treated unfairly and asking me to step in. To be honest, I've been away from the Ministry of Magic for many years. Things are quite different now—no, very different."
He tilted his head, adopting a disappointed posture. "Tina advised me to focus on my writing, but some things, once seen, can't be ignored—when a Niffler's horn starts to glow, it's time to act—do you understand what I mean?"
A Niffler is a large, formidable creature resembling a rhinoceros. Their long, sharp horns store a lethal liquid that causes anything it touches to explode.
"We can't stand by and let injustice happen right in front of us", Felix said, understanding the metaphor.
"Exactly, you summed it up well—oh, wait, I need to deal with a small issue—" Newt quickly reached into his robes and pulled out a silver pocket watch. The watch suddenly expanded and contracted, looking as if it might explode at any moment.
"Mr. Scamander—" Felix's eyes widened as he cast a human-form armoring charm on himself.
"Don't worry, it's not a bad thing—" Newt hastily reassured him. The silver pocket watch's lid suddenly popped open, and a pink, duck-like snout emerged. In the next second, a palm-sized Niffler crawled out, nimbly climbing onto Newt.
Two more Nifflers appeared shortly after. One immediately began grooming its black, soft fur on the smooth lid of the watch, while the other seemed to have taken a liking to the silver chain.
Felix curiously observed them. These creatures, a mix of mole and platypus, were black and furry with an extraordinary obsession for shiny objects.
"Hey! Wally, Sally, Thorp, behave", Newt whispered. He swiftly caught the Niffler standing on his shoulder, which was struggling to pull a silver button, and stuffed it back into the watch. The other two Nifflers were also tossed in, and he quickly closed the lid.
Newt looked around; no one had noticed. He slipped the watch back into his pocket and winked at Felix. "Technically, I shouldn't bring my magical creatures here... but they were born not long ago, and I couldn't bear to leave them."
(End of Chapter)
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