https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-419-I-m-Doing-This-For-Your-Own-Good/12538719/
Chapter 418: An Unexpected Visitor
Chapter 418: An Unexpected Visitor
Late at night, Hogwarts was enveloped in an eerie quietness, with only a scattering of lights twinkling from the common rooms of the various school houses.
There were always a handful of energetic students who stayed up until the wee hours, reluctantly putting away their Exploding Snap cards or Wizard's Chess sets before heading back to their dormitories.
Outside the castle, a full moon shone brightly.
In the moonlight, two figures, one large and one small, were stealthily making their way past the Whomping Willow without making a sound.
"Kyle, you can still turn back now..." Newt Scamander, who was walking ahead, couldn't help but voice his concern. "You're a student; you shouldn't be out wandering at night. If the professors find out, they could expel you."
"You're one to talk," Kyle muttered from behind.
He had only written a letter to Newt asking about how to deal with a Manticore, and now here he was, sneaking into the Hufflepuff dormitories in the middle of the night using a Disillusionment Charm.
Kyle had been about to go to bed when he suddenly heard Newt's voice, thinking it was his imagination.
But it turned out to be very real.
Kyle considered reporting the Dementors... They were letting anyone in these days!
"I only came to ask if there really is a Manticore in the Forbidden Forest... I didn't ask you to tag along," Newt said. "If you get expelled, it's not my fault."
"Anyone would want to come along when faced with such an opportunity..." Kyle argued, "And it's just a night stroll. Even if we're caught, expulsion is highly unlikely."
The pair made their way to the vicinity of Hagrid's hut.
"Should we take a detour?" Kyle suggested. "There's a dog here with a very keen sense of smell. If we go any further, it will definitely pick up our scent."
"No need."
Newt took out a small bottle, opened it, and waved it over himself a few times before handing it to Kyle.
"This is the pollen of the Patissier Butterfly Bush. It does a great job of masking your scent."
Kyle took the bottle and mimicked Newt's actions, casually pocketing the bottle afterward.
He figured he should at least get some compensation for his midnight excursion into the Forbidden Forest, and this pollen would do nicely.
Newt waited for a while, expecting Kyle to return the bottle, but when he didn't, he turned and said, "You..."
"Shh, keep it down," Kyle whispered. "Fang has very sharp ears, too. From here on, we're on the path Hagrid usually takes into the Forbidden Forest. It's much smoother than the other paths."
Seeing Kyle's attitude, Newt knew he probably wasn't getting his pollen back, and he sighed in resignation.
Oh well, there wasn't much in the bottle anyway, and he had another small vial back in his case. It would suffice.
The two tiptoed past Hagrid's hut, its interior pitch-black except for the loud snoring that could be clearly heard from within.
Once they entered the Forbidden Forest, they continued on for a while...
When Hagrid's hut was finally out of sight, Kyle relaxed and, driven by curiosity, turned to Newt and asked a question that had been bothering him all night. "Why did you come to Hogwarts, just for the Manticore?"
"Something like that," Newt replied. "And the three-headed dog...
To be honest, ever since Dobby arrived, my workload has decreased significantly. Tasks that used to take a whole day can now be completed in just a few hours.
So, I thought I'd take the opportunity to revise my book, 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.' But having only the Serpentine Beast would be rather dull... And then I received your letter."
"But..." Kyle frowned, confused. "I thought there were entries about them in the book already."
"There are, but not many."
Newt smiled and continued, "Both the three-headed dog and the Manticore are rare magical creatures. I've only seen them once before, and that was twenty years ago in Greece.
"Special circumstances?"
Kyle understood immediately.
No need to guess, Newt must have caused quite a stir back then, which wasn't unusual for him.
Newt continued walking ahead, with Kyle following behind. He couldn't help but ask, "Where are we going now?
"I don't know the exact location of the Manticore, Hagrid never told me."
"It's fine, we can look for it." Newt said directly: "Manticores like to build their nests by the lake, and there are three lakes in the Forbidden Forest, and I happen to know where they all are."
"So we're going to look for it one by one?" Kyle asked, "How long will that take?"
"One night should be enough." Newt said, "If worse comes to worst, we can also ride brooms... you have your broom with you, right?"
Kyle nodded.
But the problem was that riding a broom would make them a very obvious target, and they would easily be discovered by other creatures in the Forbidden Forest... like the centaurs, or the roaming Dementors.
Everyone was on the lookout for Sirius Black, and they didn't want to be mistaken for him.
"Wait a moment..." Kyle pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "I remember Hagrid saying that he encountered the Manticore when he was looking for Aragog."
"Aragog?"
"An Acromantula." Kyle explained.
"Oh, that makes things easier." Newt clapped his hands, closing his eyes to sniff the air.
He slowly walked forward, and soon found a strand of white silk on a tree branch.
"Acromantula silk." Newt said, "There's a special sweetness to it that helps them attract enough prey. Look..."
On the web between the branches was a large, white cocoon, most likely some unfortunate creature that had gotten stuck and couldn't escape.
There were also a few tiny spiders crawling in one direction next to it.
"We're in luck."
Newt said happily: "This prey is too big for them to carry, so they can only return to their nest to call for more spiders.
"Quick, follow them..."
So the two followed the spiders into a thicket of trees, now off the beaten path. There were tree roots and stumps everywhere, which was no problem for the spiders, but it was a different story for Kyle and Newt.
They had to carefully maneuver around the obstacles, trying to make as little noise as possible so as not to be heard by the spiders ahead.
After about twenty minutes, Kyle noticed that the ground seemed to be sloping downwards, but the trees were still just as dense.
At this point, Newt, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped and blocked Kyle's path.
"This is far enough." He warily eyed their surroundings, "The spider silk is getting denser, and we'll definitely be discovered if we go any further."
Kyle noticed that less than a foot away from Newt, there was a thin strand of silk, so fine that it was almost invisible in the moonlight.
Newt slowly backed away two steps, then looked up at the sky as if trying to get his bearings.
"I think I know where the Manticore is now..."
He turned and dove into the thicket on the left, moving swiftly. Kyle pushed aside the branches and thorns, closely following behind.
Five minutes later, the once dense thicket opened up into a flat clearing, and the lake that Newt had mentioned earlier was right in the middle of it, as large as a Quidditch pitch.
In the moonlight, the calm lake waters reflected like a giant mirror, mysterious and beautiful.
...
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
