"If I had the choice, I'd rather not have this ability," Queenie said helplessly.
"This is an incredible gift, Queenie… If you use it well, you'll be better than anyone at protecting your family!" Wade said with a smile.
"Like the best kind of spyglass? Ah… sometimes I really do feel like I'm just a spyglass," Queenie said self-mockingly, having once again read a thought.
"Uh… sorry, I didn't mean to think that…" Wade apologized.
"No.. I'm sorry for readin—"
"Hey! Alright! If you two keep apologizing back and forth, it'll be daylight soon," Jacob cut in.
He looked at his wife. "Your ability isn't such a big deal. You just have to remember to stay quiet at the right time. If someone doesn't have bad intentions, then you don't need to say it out loud. That way you don't have to worry about offending anyone."
"Mm… I'll keep that in mind."
"Aha, I don't believe you didn't already know what I was going to say before I even said it!"
"Isn't that called putting what I learn into practice, darling?"
And just like that, Wade was force-fed a mouthful of dog food.
He couldn't help but wonder if he had come at the wrong time…
Fortunately, Newt promptly shifted the topic.
"You said in your last letter that you were coming to visit. I thought you'd be here a week ago," Newt said.
"I ran into some unfortunate trouble… it was about a friend of mine. Oh, he's the one who came with me to America last time, you met him too. When I went to visit him, I happened to get caught up in it."
Wade then explained everything that had happened at Tom's house.
"The Gaunt family, huh… I've heard of them. No wonder Tom can speak Parseltongue," Newt nodded. "So, the Gaunt name will vanish from the wizarding world then."
"Better that a family like that disappear. To think they brought Dark wizards for revenge over a ring, killing so many people!" Tina, who hated evil with a passion, was already indignant.
She had originally been an Auror with the American Magical Congress, but her strong-willed nature had made promotions difficult for her…
And when Grindelwald completely took over the American Magical Congress, she had simply quit outright and come to Britain earlier than she had in the original story.
"The Gaunt family wasn't entirely made of villains…" Wade shrugged. "It's just that the good ones all died young."
He thought of the Senior's dear friend, Ominis Gaunt.
He could be called the black sheep of the Gaunt family, and his upbringing was truly pitiful.
Perhaps because his parents were close relatives, he had been born blind, and from childhood had been abused by his family…
So, unlike the rest of the Gaunts, he was kind-hearted and loathed Dark Magic.
And he was probably one of the few Gaunts who had ever attended Hogwarts.
The Senior's life-saving cloak had even been crafted by him…
Even now, whenever she occasionally mentioned that dear friend, she often sighed with regret that she hadn't listened to Ominis's advice back then.
After chatting for a while longer, the group once again shifted the topic back to Nagini.
"Your Transfiguration seems to let her stay clear-minded, but… does she have to remain like this for the rest of her life? Is there no way Dumbledore could… change her back into a human?" Newt asked sorrowfully.
"In fact, that's one of the reasons I came to visit you this time," Wade said seriously.
"My Transfiguration… because of some of my special talents, it also affects the beast soul within her. That influence includes a weakening effect… If I were to maintain the spell over the long term, it might erase the power of the beast soul inside her. At a certain point, her human soul could completely gain the upper hand, and perhaps then she could return to human form. Only… I can't be sure whether maintaining Transfiguration on her long-term would have negative effects on her body…"
Newt had already heard a bit about the reasons behind Nagini's clarity from Dumbledore.
So he understood very well what Wade was concerned about.
Since his Transfiguration could damage the beast soul within Nagini, would it also end up harming her body?
Damaging the beast soul was not a problem—in fact, it was necessary. Only if her human soul gained the upper hand could Nagini retain even the most basic level of clarity.
But… even if the soul itself wasn't the issue, the body still was!
Because both souls were sharing the same body!
"I understand. I'll examine her now and then create a detailed observation plan. If her body is affected… that would be troublesome," Newt frowned. "In that case, even if Nagini returned to human form, she might become frail and sickly…"
"That's not too big of a problem. I have a kind of nutritional potion made for magical creatures…"
"The one you mentioned in your last letter?" Newt asked excitedly. "Is it really that incredible?"
"Yes… it really is that incredible. People say it's a lie when someone claims their cat can do backflips, but my cat… well, aside from not being able to speak, it seems to be able to do everything else… Though its case was an accident, after many repeated trials, it's been proven that my nutritional potion really does work."
"Good! If your nutritional potion is effective, then we only need to nourish her body specifically! By the way, your potion can't nourish the soul, can it? What if it also strengthened the beast soul…"
"Nourish the soul? My potions aren't that advanced… My cat got smarter not because of its soul. I suspect the potion nourished its brain, which promoted some wonderful evolution, making it smarter… The strength of its soul actually didn't change at all."
"Alright then, we can design a few sets of comparative experiments…"
The two of them—one big, one small—leaned over the table and began scribbling intently across a piece of parchment.
Queenie smiled at Jacob and said, "See, I told you Wade's thoughts are very pure…"
Jacob sighed. "Maybe that's why they can be the best of friends… You know, whenever I help Newt feed his pets, I always mess things up… Even though Newt never says anything, I still feel really embarrassed."
"Don't worry, dear. Newt is also a very pure person. I've never heard even a trace of blame toward you in his thoughts."
"Really?" Jacob asked in surprise.
"Of course!"
"Why do I feel like you're just humoring me? You know exactly what I want to hear…"
"On this, I really didn't lie. In fact, when you make a mistake and Newt shows you the correct way, that's when he's happiest. Mm… it's like a big brother showing off his best skills to his best friend…"
"Wow! That really is Newt's personality!" Jacob cheered up immediately.
But Tina wasn't quite so pleased. She gave Newt's shoulder another knock. "Newt! It's one thing if you don't plan on sleeping tonight, but are you really going to make Wade stay up with you? He's only eleven! He's still growing and needs plenty of rest!"
At her words, Newt couldn't help scratching his head again, giving a shy, apologetic smile. "Sorry, Wade… I overlooked that."
"Uh… it's fine, actually I stay up late often too. With Refreshing Potions, it's no problem…" Wade hadn't even finished speaking when he noticed the look in Tina's eyes didn't seem right.
Wade suddenly realized—dragging someone else's husband into research in the middle of the night was interfering with their "real business," wasn't it?
So he quickly changed his words: "Uh, but… getting enough sleep keeps your mind clearer than any potion. I think it'd be better if we continued our research tomorrow!"
Hearing that, Tina finally nodded in satisfaction. "Newt, you heard him, right? I may not understand much about your research, but this concerns Nagini's future. How can you face it with an exhausted mind? What if something went wrong…"
"I understand!"
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