Chapter 55: Catastrophe of Magical Creatures
Chapter 55: Catastrophe of Magical Creatures
After Halloween, November arrived, and the chilly weather made the young wizards even more reluctant to get out of bed.
At 8 a.m., Kyle, wrapped in his thick robe, yawned as he made his way to the Great Hall for breakfast.
As the owls swooped into the Hall as usual, Cedric's long-awaited broom finally arrived, and it was indeed a Firebolt 1700, just as he had envisioned.
"Great job, Cedric, great job!" an excited upperclassman from Hufflepuff patted Cedric's shoulder, "You're a Seeker, and with this Firebolt 1700, our gap with Slytherin will be much narrower.
I've seen their Seeker's skills, and to be honest, they're not much better than a Troll riding a flying broomstick."
By the way, Hufflepuff's first Quidditch match is against Slytherin.
They had been a bit worried about the equipment gap, but suddenly, this good news came.
A Firebolt 1700 alone wasn't enough to boost their morale, but with Cedric as the Seeker, it was a different story.
During practice matches, Cedric's fastest time was five minutes to catch the Golden Snitch, just a few seconds away from breaking the Hogwarts record for the fastest Seeker.
A top-notch broomstick paired with a talented Seeker—the Hufflepuff players couldn't imagine how they would lose.
Could Slytherin possibly lead by 150 points in just five minutes?
That's just a joke.
Kyle was also happy, even though he wasn't involved. If the House could bring back a Quidditch Cup, it would be great.
He turned to look at Cedric's brand-new broomstick, only to feel a stinging sensation in his fingers, realizing that an owl had stopped in front of him.
"Sorry, little guy, I didn't notice."
Kyle quickly took out a piece of Mortar Rat Meat Jerky and fed it to the owl before taking the letter from its claws.
"Dear Kyle,
I apologize for taking so long to reply. I've been incredibly busy lately, and I thought I had already responded to you. It wasn't until this morning that I found the unfinished letter in my office. I hope you can forgive me.
We received the Galleons you sent, and I am proud of you, my child. I wasn't as outstanding as you in my first year.
Also, your mother asked me to tell you that she has received your Galleons, but don't even think about the broomstick.
However, she has prepared some other things for you, which will be delivered in a couple of days. I hope you'll like them.
That's all. I wish you a wonderful time at Hogwarts.
—Your father, Chris."
After reading the letter, the light in Kyle's eyes visibly dimmed.
Although he had guessed that Diana wasn't as easy to deceive as Mr. Diggory, Kyle was still disappointed with the outcome.
And it had taken so long to arrive.
He had sent the letter in early September, and it was already November before he received a reply. What was Chris so busy with that he hadn't been to the office for two months?
Was Newt Scamander traveling? As Kyle wondered, Cedric suddenly slapped a copy of the Daily Prophet in front of him.
"Kyle, look, something big has happened. It took them so long to send me the broomstick."
On the front page of the Daily Prophet was a photograph featuring numerous magical creatures, all of them caged.
Beside the photo was a bold headline.
Catastrophe of Magical Creatures
"According to sources, on September 3rd of this year, the Ministry of Magic's Aurors accidentally mishandled a group of magical creature smugglers, resulting in the release of a large number of smuggled magical creatures.
This even includes three creatures defined as XXXXX-rated and highly dangerous magical creatures.
We still don't understand why the Aurors made such a low-level mistake, nor do we understand why the Ministry of Magic is trying to cover it up.
"This is to prevent panic in the wizarding world," Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge said this morning, "We have captured most of the magical creatures, and no witches or wizards have died during this process."
The authenticity of this result is yet to be determined.
However, Chris Jobson, spokesperson for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, said in an interview that with the help of Mr. Newt Scamander, almost all the escaped magical creatures, including the Australian Opaleye and Bagworm Panther, have been successfully captured.
But there is still a Snallygaster that remains at large.
He appealed to everyone that the Snallygaster is highly dangerous, and if they see it, they must run away immediately and launch the Red Alert Charm towards the sky. The Beast Office and the Auror Office will arrive as soon as possible to help."
After reading this, Kyle finally understood what Chris was busy with.
From the photos, it seems that about fifty or sixty magical creatures have been captured, making this one of the largest magical creature smuggling cases in the British magical world in the past thirty years.
But this is not the focus; the focus is on the Bagworm Panther.
Kyle was curious how they managed to capture even the Bagworm Panther.
That thing is not only agile but also exhales toxic gases that can easily destroy a village.
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To put it this way, the Ministry of Magic clearly states in its description that under normal circumstances, it takes more than a hundred skilled witches and wizards working together to subdue a Bagworm Panther.
Although there is some exaggeration, this is enough to illustrate its danger. You should know that it only takes ten witches and wizards to subdue a dragon.
"Fortunately, it's the Snallygaster that got away," Kyle sighed with relief.
He wasn't looking down on the Snallygaster.
Although the Snallygaster is also defined as 5X, it's only because its danger level meets the standard.
The Bagworm Panther is defined as 5X because the Ministry's rating only goes up to 5X.
The two are not in the same league.
Other older students or those with some knowledge of magical creatures, like Cedric and others, nodded in strong agreement after hearing Kyle's words.
As for the other young witches and wizards, they didn't know much about magical creatures and were more concerned about the Snallygaster that had escaped.
The words "highly dangerous" on the newspaper didn't seem like an exaggeration.
"It's good that we're at Hogwarts," someone said with relief, "With Dumbledore here, we're definitely safe from any harm."
His statement quickly gained unanimous agreement from everyone.
Yes, with Dumbledore here, what else do they have to worry about?
The atmosphere at the table became much livelier.
But this situation didn't last long, and soon the hall became quiet again.
Then, a young witch or wizard suddenly stood up, not even finishing their breakfast, and ran straight towards the owlery.
After his reminder, others also reacted and ran towards the owlery or rushed back to their dormitories.
The once bustling Great Hall was soon left with only a few people.
(End of Chapter)
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