Chapter 418: uninvited guest
Chapter 418 Uninvited Guest
Hogwarts seemed particularly quiet late at night, and there were dots of lights in the castle, which was where the college common room was.
Some energetic students always have to wait until the early hours of the morning before reluctantly putting down the crackling cards or wizard chess in their hands and returning to the dormitory.
Outside the castle is a bright moon.
Under the moonlight, two figures, one large and one small, were quietly walking through the Whomping Willow without making even the slightest sound.
“Kyle, it’s not too late to turn back now…”
Newt Scamander, who was walking at the front, couldn't help but said: "You are a student and you cannot go out at night. If you are discovered by the professors later, they will expel you."
“Are you sorry for saying this...” Kyle, who was very far behind, said angrily.
He just wrote a letter to Newt asking how to deal with the Manticore. Who knew that he would come over at night and use the Disguise Charm to get into Hufflepuff's dormitory overnight.
Kyle was getting ready to sleep when he suddenly heard Newt's voice. He thought it was his imagination.
I didn’t expect it to be true.
Kyle wants to report those dementors... It's so unprofessional to put anyone in there!
"I just came to ask you if there is a manticore in the Forbidden Forest... I didn't let you wander around at night." Newt said, "You came here on your own, and being expelled is none of my business. ."
"If someone encounters this kind of thing, anyone would follow me..." Kyle curled his lips and said: "And it's just a night trip. Even if you are caught, you won't be expelled."
The two of them arrived near Hagrid's hut.
“Want to take a detour?” Kyle said, “There is a hound here with a very good nose. He will definitely be able to smell us if we go further.”
"unnecessary."
Newt took out a small bottle, opened it, shook it on himself a few times, and then handed the bottle to Kyle.
“This is the pollen of Patok’s butterfly flower, which can cover its own smell very well.”
Kyle took it, shook it on his body a few times like Newt did, and then put the bottle into his pocket naturally.
He went to the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night, so he had to charge a tour guide fee...it just so happened that the pollen was pretty good.
Newt waited for a long time but didn’t see Kyle returning the bottle. He couldn’t help but turned around and said, “You…”
“Shh, keep your voice down, Yaya’s ears are very good too.” Kyle lowered his voice and said, “Further forward is the road Hagrid often takes to the Forbidden Forest, which is much flatter than other places.”
Looking at Kyle's look, Newt also knew that his pollen would probably never come back, so he could only sigh helplessly.
Forget it, although there is not much, there is still a small bottle in his box, which is enough.
The two walked quietly through Hagrid's wooden house. It was dark inside, and Hagrid's snoring could be clearly heard.
After arriving in the Forbidden Forest, they walked a little further...
After completely losing sight of Hagrid's wooden house, Kyle finally relaxed, looked at Newt curiously, and asked the question he had been struggling with all the way: "Why did you come to Hogwarts, just for the human-headed lion?" A manticore?"
"So," Newt said. "And the three-headed dog...
In fact, since Dobby came, my work has suddenly become much easier. Things that usually took a day to complete can now be completed in a few hours.
So I was going to re-edit "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", but the basilisk alone was too monotonous... Just at this time, I received your letter. "
“But…” Kyle said doubtfully, “I remember there was an introduction to them in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”
“Yes, but not much.”
Newt smiled and continued: "Whether it is a three-headed dog or a manticore, they are rare magical animals. I only saw them once in Greece twenty years ago.
Later, due to some special reasons, I was banned from entering the country by the Ministry of Magic over there, and my research on them could only be suspended.
There just happened to be this opportunity, so I came. "
special reason?
Kyle knew it. It goes without saying that Newt must have gotten into a lot of trouble at the time, which was not unusual for him.
Newt continued to walk forward, Kyle followed him, and couldn't help but ask: "Where are we going?
"I don't know the location of the Manticore. Hagrid never told me."
"It doesn't matter, we can find them." Newt said directly: "Manticores like to build their nests by lakes, and there are three lakes in the Forbidden Forest. I happen to know where they are."
"So we have to look everywhere?" Kyle asked, "How long will it take to find it?"
"One night is enough." Newt said. "If that doesn't work, we can also ride on a broom... you hold the broom."
Kyle nodded.
The problem is that if you ride a broom, the target will be too big and it will be easy to be discovered by other creatures in the Forbidden Forest...such as centaurs or wandering dementors.
Sirius Black is being hunted everywhere now, and it will be troublesome if he is misunderstood.
"Wait..." Kyle thought for a moment and suddenly said: "I remember Hagrid said that he encountered the Manticore when he went to find Aragog."
“Aragog?”
“An Acromantula,” Kyle explained.
“Oh, that’s easy.” Newt clapped his hands and closed his eyes to smell something carefully.
He walked forward slowly, and soon found a piece of white spider silk on a tree branch.
"Acromantula's spider silk." Newt said, "There is a very special sweet smell on it, which can help them attract enough prey. You see..."
There happened to be a large, bulging white cocoon on the spider web between the branches of the tree. It was most likely that some greedy guy had clung to it and couldn't escape.
There are several very small spiders next to them, crawling in one direction.
“We are so lucky.”
Newt said happily: "This prey is too big, they can't move it, so they can only go back to the nest to notify more spiders.
“Quick, keep up with them…”
So, the two followed the spider into a bush, which had deviated from the forest path and was full of tree roots and stumps. This was nothing to the spider, but it was different for Kyle and Newt.
They must carefully circumvent those obstacles and make as little noise as possible to avoid being discovered by the spiders in front of them.
About twenty minutes later, Kyle noticed that the ground seemed to be sloping downward, but the trees were still as dense.
At this time, Newt, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped and stopped Kyle.
“It’s enough to get here.” He glanced at the surroundings warily, “There are more and more spider silks, and you will definitely be discovered if you go further.”
Kyle noticed that less than a foot away from Newt, there was a slender thread, so thin that it was almost invisible in the moonlight.
Newt slowly took two steps back and looked up at the sky, as if trying to figure out the direction.
“I think I know the location of the Manticore…”
He turned around and ducked into the bushes on the left, walking quickly. Kyle pushed aside branches and thorns and followed closely behind.
Five minutes later, the dense trees turned into a flat clearing. The lake Newt mentioned before was in the middle of the clearing, which was as big as a Quidditch pitch.
Under the moonlight, the calm lake water is like a huge mirror, mysterious and beautiful.
…
(End of this chapter)