There absolutely could not be any hanging incidents at Hogwarts tomorrow morning.
"Clap!"
At that moment, Newt Scamander suddenly clapped his hands. "I believe you must be Mr. Ian Prince. Albus has mentioned you in his communications more than once, praising you highly. Now I see why; you speak just like him."
Seeing that Ian didn't refute this, Newt Scamander felt pleased with his accurate judgment.
"Not very big, but quite insightful. For me, such remarks are indeed meaningful." The sorrow on Queenie's face seemed to lighten a bit.
After saying this, she turned to Newt Scamander, her tone carrying a hint of reproach. "See? This is how you comfort someone, not like you, telling me from a biological perspective that my husband won't feel cold in the grave and blaming me for putting treasures in his tomb that would only hasten the decay of his body."
Clearly.
Newt Scamander's emotional intelligence had not improved much over the years. To be fair, managing to get a wife was undoubtedly the greatest miracle that had happened to Newt Scamander.
"Treasure? You shouldn't just leave treasures in a grave; they can breed things that shouldn't be there, just like oil." Ian looked up at the three elderly people in front of him.
"You see, I'm not the only one saying this." Newt Scamander, who had initially looked embarrassed, seemed to find a lifeline and immediately echoed Ian's words.
He, his wife, and his sister-in-law clearly didn't understand what Ian meant.
"Ha!"
Queenie looked indignant.
"Alright, alright, you know Newt is just like that; he doesn't mean to upset you." The other elderly lady, Tina, stepped in as a peacemaker. It was amusing to see this nearly two-hundred-year-old group still bickering.
"Crack~ crack~"
Ian pulled out some sunflower seeds.
"You're watching the show now!" Queenie shot a glare at the young wizard.
"Do you want some?" The young wizard offered his sunflower seeds to the three elderly folks.
"…"
Queenie was momentarily speechless. Her personality had changed quite a bit from her younger days; perhaps it was due to being widowed, or maybe it was a transformation after going through menopause.
"I want some." Tina cheerfully accepted the sunflower seeds from Ian's hand.
"Who are you here to see?"
Ian seized the opportunity to inquire about the trio's reason for coming to Hogwarts. He, of course, was well aware that Newt Scamander's usual residence was extremely far from Hogwarts.
If they were visiting, it wasn't exactly the right time for such a visit.
"We're looking for Mr. Nicolas Flamel," the elderly Tina replied, turning to ask the young wizard about Nicolas Flamel's whereabouts.
"Over there," Ian pointed in the direction of Nicolas Flamel's office.
Upon hearing this, Tina immediately thanked him and turned to her husband beside her.
"Let me rest for a moment. The journey from Dorset has exhausted me," Newt Scamander said, leaning against a nearby stone pillar. He did look somewhat out of breath.
It's no wonder why so many shonen manga never depict the protagonists getting married and having children. Looking at Newt Scamander now, one could understand why.
"It's not the journey that's exhausted you, but that trunk of yours you can't bear to let go of," Queenie remarked, glancing at the leather suitcase her sister was carrying.
She wasn't referring to the weight of the trunk, but the magical creatures inside it causing trouble.
"They're just small creatures. I'm not as energetic as I was in my youth, and I've become much more cautious. My trunk hasn't caused any… major trouble in years," Newt quickly defended himself, glancing at Ian as if trying to salvage his image in front of the younger wizard.
"Like the dragon? The Thunderbird?"
Ian's curiosity was piqued as he looked at Newt's trunk, it was a legend in itself. In its prime, it was said to have contained creatures with legendary strength, almost on par with a Chosen One.
"They're all small, just small…" Newt's evasive reply only confirmed that he wasn't very good at lying.
However, his wife, Tina, wasn't about to let him off the hook.
"You rescued a Occamy on the way here, and it wasn't small at all. You could have handed it over to the Magical Congress's rescue team," Tina said, shaking the trunk in her hand.
"I don't trust them. They wrongfully accused Albus… The Occamy is very obedient. It's already shrunk down to a very small size."
Newt Scamander seemed to have redefined what "small creatures" meant.
"I also love raising small creatures," Ian said, his eyes lighting up at the mention of the Occamy. He was trying to ingratiate himself with Newt, as his current bottleneck with the Extension Charm required Occamy hide.
Of course, Ian wasn't the kind of person who would kill an Occamy for its hide. He had special potions that could accelerate the healing of magical creatures.
"It's clear you've been raising Bowtruckles since you were in school. You must be just as obsessed with magical creatures as I am," Newt said, immediately finding common ground.
He gently removed the Bowtruckle from his lap and handed it back to Ian.
"If a wizard offers a Bowtruckle earthworms, it will be comforted for a long time. Then the wizard can take wood from the tree to make a wand."
"They love earthworms. And it's best if these little creatures have their own territories," Newt added, not forgetting to share some knowledge with Ian.
Ian nodded immediately.
"Exactly, that's right. I've been trying to build my own [Ian's Box], but I've hit a wall with the Extension Charm."
Ian quickly stuffed the Bowtruckle back into his money bag before it could wake up. He looked at Newt with hope in his eyes.
"If you could give me some guidance on building the trunk, I'd be eternally grateful."
Ian considered offering money but thought it might offend the older man.
He was still a bit too worldly. His eyes weren't as clear and pure as Newt's, though, to be fair, he was still quite pure and clear-eyed for a student at Hogwarts.
"Nicolas Flamel contacted me for the same reason, to help collect materials for the Extension Charm," Newt said, pulling out a small cloth bag.
"I gathered a little extra. I hope it helps you."
Newt's generosity caught the young wizard off guard. He directly placed the cloth bag in Ian's hand.
"Exchange of gifts, exchange of gifts," Ian said hurriedly.
He rummaged through his money bag but couldn't find anything related to magical creatures. All he could do was pull out a handful of black sand.
His grasp still wasn't very steady, and some of the sand slipped through his fingers.
"Thank you," Newt said, quickly cupping his hands to catch the sand Ian offered.
"What is it?" Tina asked curiously, leaning in.
"A precious gift from the young wizard," Newt replied, giving his wife a look as if he feared her straightforward nature might hurt Ian's pride.
"Thank you," Tina said, rolling her eyes at her husband. She thought he sometimes deeply misunderstood her. Was she really the kind of person with such low emotional intelligence after all these years?
"I think we should pack it up and make it into a small crystal ball. Black snow would look wonderful. I've seen something like it in Muggle stores."
Tina proved her appreciation for the handful of sand with her words. She pulled out an empty cloth bag, poured the black sand into it, and then attempted to use her wand to collect the sand that had fallen to the ground.
However.
"Huh?"
Tina waved her wand.
But to her surprise, she found herself unable to control the sand.
(To Be Continued…)
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