Chapter 456: Fate's Favor
Chapter 456: Fate’s Favor
"Sorry, Dad."
The young wolf Cullen said in a childish voice, "I... I and Morris were really curious about Hogwarts, so we just wanted to get a closer look... I swear we only wanted to see it with our own eyes!"
"But on the way, Morris suddenly pushed me away. He was grabbed by that giant lizard... I found him in the cave, and we barely managed to escape, only to be surrounded by those poisonous spiders..."
"Then, a wizard suddenly appeared... It was a student, but he had a bird that looked like a phoenix. All the spiders were scared away. He took Morris with him..."
As he spoke, his voice grew softer and softer. His round head and triangular ears drooped, showing his shame and dejection.
The man was silent for a while, looking in the direction of Hogwarts, and said, "Didn’t I tell you not to wander beyond our hunting grounds?"
"Yes, Dad", Cullen said softly, lowering his head.
"Didn’t I repeatedly warn you...?" The man glared at him and growled, "The most dangerous part of the Forbidden Forest is near Hogwarts. You must never go near that castle?"
"Sorry", Cullen said, hanging his head. "We... We were just too curious. We thought it would be fine to just take a peek from a distance..."
"Fine?" The man roared. "Because of your irresponsible guess, your brother’s life is in danger, and you tell me it should be ‘fine’?"
The young wolf almost flattened himself on the ground, burying his face in his paws, his small body trembling uncontrollably.
The white wolf suddenly stepped in front of him, using her paw to nudge the young wolf to her side. She glanced at the man, her eyes filled with warning and dissatisfaction.
The man met her gaze, his jaw muscles twitching, then he looked away.
"Vera, take the children back", he said.
"Whine~?" The white wolf growled low in her throat.
"I’ll stay here", the man said, his eyes fierce. "If that wizard brat doesn’t bring Morris back, I’ll find a way to rescue him myself."
The white wolf hesitated but then looked at her children and nodded. The wolves, big and small, turned and left.
After running a distance, one of the girls in the pack spoke up, "So, Cullen, did you see the school?"
"No", Cullen said dejectedly. "Only Morris was taken. I... I hid in the bushes and didn’t come out."
"Hehe, chicken."
"Shut up, Ivy. If it were you, I don’t believe you wouldn’t be scared."
"I wouldn’t be scared!"
"Keep it down, or you’ll attract the centaurs!"
"Ha, chicken Lance!"
"I’m just being cautious! Centaurs, dragons, giant spiders, mermaids, hippogriffs, thestrals, and basilisks—rumor has it there was even a basilisk in the past. The lake has a giant squid that’s been alive for over a thousand years... Why is this school so dangerous? Don’t the wizards living in the castle fear these creatures?"
"Maybe they have special methods. Maybe they can protect themselves from dangerous creatures... Wizards have lived here for over a thousand years. The Forbidden Forest is like their home, so they’re not afraid."
"Do you think... there’s any magic school in the world that would accept wolves like us as students? We may not have magic, but we’re smart and can speak!"
"Dream on! Even in your dreams, there’s no such thing!"
The children’s voices gradually faded as they moved away. The man’s pointed ears, covered in brownish-yellow fur, trembled slightly.
Hearing the children’s hopeful words, he lowered his eyes and silently counted the weapons he carried.
Then, he slung his backpack over his shoulder, pushed aside the leaves and bushes, and headed toward Hogwarts. His only intact pair of pants was torn in several places by the trees, leaving greenish-gray strips of fabric on the sharp thorns.
...
Madam Pomfrey was treating a student’s injuries in the hospital wing when Wade, familiar with the place, found an empty room and treated the young wolf’s wounds first.
While wizards had various magical spells and potions, not all injuries could be healed instantly. Otherwise, Moody wouldn’t be covered in scars, and Professor Kettleburn wouldn’t have lost three and a half limbs.
After Wade finished treating the wounds, he noticed Madam Pomfrey standing behind him for some time and quickly greeted her.
"Good technique", Madam Pomfrey said approvingly, stepping forward to take over the young wolf’s injuries. She asked casually, "I didn’t expect you to bring a wolf back... What caused these injuries?"
"Norberta", Wade said.
Madam Pomfrey nodded. "Of course, I should have thought of it sooner... who else could it be?"
She performed some routine checks with her wand, then paused.
"Step back, Wade! This wolf seems quite unusual."
As she spoke, Madam Pomfrey pointed her wand at the pup, and a blue-white light enveloped the wolf completely.
A moment later, the light faded. The pup remained unchanged, but even in sleep, it furrowed its brow, as if in discomfort.
"He's not an Animagus, Madam", Wade said.
Madam Pomfrey frowned. "But the magical energy around him is extraordinary, far beyond what a normal wolf would have."
"He's the offspring of a werewolf", Wade explained. "He says his father was a werewolf—this child can even speak."
"No wonder. Are they from the family in the Forbidden Forest?" Madam Pomfrey asked, understanding dawning on her face.
"You all know?" Wade asked, surprised.
"Of course", Madam Pomfrey smiled. "After spending so much time at the school, you learn a few secrets."
"What happened?" Wade asked, his gray eyes filled with curiosity.
An old woman like Madam Pomfrey, with a wealth of true history, found it almost impossible to resist the "I want to hear a story" look in her junior's eyes. As she tended to the wounds, she began to explain:
"Many years ago, two werewolves mated in wolf form during a full moon. They had a litter of true wolf pups, very intelligent and beautiful. Although they had the appearance of wolves, they had human hearts. With Dumbledore's permission, they were secretly placed in the Forbidden Forest to live."
"Two werewolves?" Wade asked, puzzled. "But the child only mentioned his father being a werewolf."
"That was a long time ago. This little one is likely the third generation. His mother found another werewolf to mate with", Madam Pomfrey sighed sympathetically. "I must say, that was a poor choice... poor child."
"Poor?" Wade repeated.
"The mother wolf should have mated with a regular wolf", Madam Pomfrey said. "The more human blood in their lineage, the more intelligent they become... but being bound by their wolf bodies, the smarter they are, the more they suffer..."
Wade fell silent.
Madam Pomfrey quickly finished tending to the wounds and said to Wade, "Norberta's claws and teeth are toxic. This little one needs to stay here overnight. In the morning, take him back to the Forbidden Forest."
"I understand, Madam", Wade said, glancing at the sleeping pup. "I'll come back in the morning."
...
The eagle-shaped door knocker made a pleasant, gentle sound: "I never speak, yet I can answer all questions; I never move, yet I can take you anywhere; I never think, yet I can give you wisdom. What am I?"
"A book", Wade said.
"Correct." The door opened.
Wade entered the Ravenclaw common room and immediately saw Michael and a few other students who had been to the Forbidden Forest surrounded by a group of eager listeners, who were asking about their evening "adventure" with repeated curiosity.
"Was she really sixty feet tall?" a girl asked, both curious and afraid.
"More than that, I think she might have been even taller", Michael said earnestly. "I was looking up from the ground, you know, which isn't the most accurate way to estimate."
"Weren't you afraid? Such a massive creature, I would have been terrified", a younger boy with glasses asked timidly.
"Actually, I was quite scared at first", Michael admitted. "But when Norberta lowered her head so I could touch her neck, I felt a strange sense of connection. Can you imagine that feeling?"
A chorus of envious sighs rose from around the fireplace.
"I wish I could have touched a dragon... too bad I'm not one of Professor Hagrid's favorite students", someone said regretfully.
"Actually, when we left, Professor Hagrid gave us an essay to write."
Michael put on a secretive look and lowered his voice. "If anyone writes a passionate essay about their love for dragons, maybe Professor will take them along next time we visit the Forbidden Forest..."
Wade shook his head, sidestepped the crowd, and went upstairs.
He knew Michael wasn't trying to trick anyone into doing his homework; he just didn't want to be the only one suffering through the assignment.
Michael hadn't finished speaking when several students let out a dismissive "tch" and dispersed. However, a few stayed behind, ready to take on the extra essay assignment.
...
Wade returned to the dormitory, tidied up briefly, and then spent some time in his wardrobe space.
The initial renovations were complete. A series of white functional rooms were now connected: a bathroom, bedroom, dining room, alchemy lab, potion room, storage room... The rooms were arranged in a way that met almost all of Wade's needs.
Because of this, he rarely visited the Room of Requirement anymore. That room wasn't as convenient as his wardrobe space and was far away, but it was close to Dumbledore's office tower, with a portrait always watching.
Although Wade had no issues with Dumbledore or Banaba, he preferred the feeling of having his own private space.
When he emerged from the wardrobe space, it was already quite late. The communication pea on his desk was glowing faintly.
Wade inserted the communication pea into his ear and gently pressed it.
"Hey, Wade?" His father Ferdinand's voice came through the pea. "Aren't you asleep yet?"
"You too", Wade couldn't help but smile. "Still working on files this late?"
"…Just one more to go, I'll be done soon", Ferdinand said. "Wade, I found the person you were looking for."
Wade was taken aback. "…What?"
"What?" Ferdinand repeated, surprised. "You didn't forget the task you entrusted to me, did you? The lycanthropy, the scientist—remember?"
Wade fell silent for a moment, then recalled the distant request.
A werewolf named Claire had provided Wade with a blood sample, hoping he could help solve the problem of lycanthropy. Wade had anonymously sent the sample to a university laboratory for testing.
Unfortunately, the tests yielded no results, and other events made Wade realize that entrusting such tasks to strangers was quite risky, especially since many Muggles were well-informed about the magical world.
So, Wade stopped purchasing blood samples from Claire and, in his spare time, mentioned to Ferdinand that he hoped to find a specialist and set up a private laboratory to study lycanthropy.
But at the time, it was just a casual remark, more like a Christmas wish.
Setting up a private laboratory would require significant funds, and finding a highly skilled and trustworthy scientist wasn't as easy as picking a cabbage from the field.
Wade had once envied a certain shrunken detective—next door to that guy lived an all-powerful old man who could fulfill any whims; later, a genius girl joined, even creating a rejuvenation potion.
He never expected that Ferdinand would actually look for such a person, and after so long, he had actually found someone.
His father's gentle voice came through the pea. "As you said, this person has deep expertise in genomics, evolutionary biology, and bioinformatics. I don't know much about academic issues, but everyone I asked spoke highly of him. He was once a top scientist in his field."
"…Sounds like you got scammed", Wade frowned. "How could we possibly find such a talent?"
"Because he's sick, Wade."
Ferdinand patiently explained. "A stroke, very severe. I went to see him; he's in a confused state, paralyzed, and can't speak. He's in a nursing home, and no one has visited him in over three months. They say he won't live much longer, and even his children have given up."
"So, if we bring him back, we need to treat him first", Wade sighed, lying on his bed. "But Dad, I don't know if magic can cure someone who's almost dead."
"We can try. If it doesn't work, so be it", Ferdinand said. "Wade, a young, strong, brilliant, loyal, and knowledgeable person—those qualities rarely come together in one person. Even if they do, such a person wouldn't easily be at your disposal."
"I understand, Dad", Wade smiled. "Finding him must have taken a lot of effort… thank you."
"Anything to help", Ferdinand said with a smile. "We were also lucky."
"Luck…."
Wade instinctively turned his head to look.
On his desk sat a small Cthulhu aquarium he had made, with magic fish swimming continuously.
He smiled. "…Indeed."
(End of Chapter)
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