Stroking the Qilin's forehead and feeling the warmth of those short horns, Leo sighed: "You've grown up. I can't hold you like before anymore."
Aurelius understood its master's meaning and tilted its head. Large patches of shimmering clouds immediately enveloped the Qilin's body, swirling and shrinking.
In the blink of an eye, a miniaturised Qilin stood in the air on glowing clouds. Aurelius's appearance remained unchanged, but its size had shrunk back to juvenile proportions.
It bounced into Leo's arms and nuzzled his chest affectionately.
"You can freely change your size? Is this a new ability from entering the growth phase?"
"Yes, Master."
Leo was delighted. What a convenient ability to have.
Rubbing the little Qilin's mane, Leo noted it had an especially nice texture, soft and luxurious.
"Aurelius, what other abilities have you developed?"
Aurelius jumped out of Leo's embrace and returned to normal size.
"The main one's purifying fire. These flames have a very high temperature and can burn most common curses or deadly poisons."
"Oh, and if I don't actively extinguish the purifying fire, it can burn for a really, really long time..."
Hearing this description, Leo nodded thoughtfully. The high temperature had already been proven—ordinary soil, stone, and trees were almost instantly destroyed.
The pure power already exceeded many wizards' flame spells. Moreover, it could target most curses and poisons. Was this why it was called "purifying fire"—cleansing the world's corruption?
Not actively extinguishing meant it could burn extensively? How long was "really long"? Aurelius's birth time was still too short. Its mental development only equalled a young child's, making its concept of time quite vague.
Should I teach this little Qilin some knowledge? It probably couldn't learn wizard magic, but basic common sense would be necessary.
While thinking this, Leo examined Aurelius carefully. After all, it was a divine beast—surely naturally intelligent. Learning some knowledge would be easy, right?
Inexplicably, the little Qilin shivered and released a thin layer of flames around its body, but still couldn't dispel some inexplicable chill.
Seeing this reaction, Leo's heart jumped. Such a strong response.
Could it be because Qilins could sense goodwill and malice? But he'd just wanted to teach some knowledge—how could that count as malice?
"Aurelius, what abilities do you have besides purifying fire?"
"Master, there are also the shimmering clouds. Not only can they let me fly, but they can also obscure vision and weaken perception."
The clouds beneath Aurelius's feet rapidly expanded, wrapping around Leo in a semicircle.
Leo carefully assessed the changes. Vision obstruction was definite. After being surrounded by clouds, outside sounds became much quieter, and scents gradually faded.
Besides basic perceptions, he needed to test magical sensing—wizards' most relied-upon detection method.
Leo casually shot out a spell, letting it pass through the clouds. The originally clear magical connection became very blurry after entering the shimmering barrier.
Excellent—it could actually weaken wizards' perception of magical power.
Fighting in an environment filled with these clouds would greatly suppress wizards' sensing abilities.
"Also, Master, my scales and skin have immunity effects against some magic. As for very powerful and dangerous spells, they should provide weakening effects too."
"Want to try it, Master?"
Aurelius eagerly shook its head, seeming like it wanted to play.
"Alright, let's test it."
Leo raised his wand and immediately cast a Full Body-Bind Curse. However, the spell hitting Aurelius's body was like a stone sinking into deep water—the creature remained completely mobile.
Leo raised an eyebrow and cast spell after spell from his wand tip. After several minutes of testing, he'd basically confirmed that most basic magic was completely ineffective against the little Qilin, while advanced spells infused with more magical power could only leave slight marks on those scales.
No wonder the system said a divine beast Qilin in an early growth phase equalled an excellent Auror.
With innate Apparition and extraordinary purifying fire, Qilins far exceeded human wizards.
Now he could feel confident—Aurelius could wander and explore the Forbidden Forest while ensuring its own safety. With malice, perception and Apparition, if it couldn't win, it could always escape.
Usually, based on locations Hagrid provided, Aurelius could preliminarily locate magical creatures' activity ranges and bring him to observe and record them.
Leo looked up at the sky. It'd grown dark, and tonight seemed to be a full moon. Perfect for finding nocturnal magical creatures.
The bright moon hung overhead, casting silver radiance across the forest. In a clearing surrounded only by dense bushes, several pale grey creatures with bulging round eyes ran to the centre of the open space.
They had four slender legs and flat, oversized feet.
Looking up at that brilliant full moon, these creatures suddenly began jumping. Bathed in moonlight, they performed complex and peculiar dances on their hind legs.
During their rhythmic dancing, an orchid fragrance gradually spread. The creatures sniffed appreciatively and seemed to enjoy this scent, dancing even more enthusiastically.
They didn't notice that nearby by the bushes, a pair of concealed dark green eyes was secretly observing.
An equally concealed quill wrote silently on parchment:
Mooncalves.
Smooth skin, mainly pale grey in colour...
Emerge from burrows on full moon nights.
Enjoy dancing in moonlight, with peculiar but somehow captivating movements.
(Purpose of dancing temporarily unknown; requires further observation)
Wearing a protective mask, Leo glanced at the quietly burning sleep-inducing incense at his feet, then at those Mooncalves dancing even more vigorously.
Somewhat uncertainly, he noted: Attracted to orchid fragrance?
Long before the Mooncalves had arrived, Leo had applied a Disillusionment Charm and stealth essential oil. From visual, olfactory, and auditory perspectives, he'd concealed his presence completely.
This was the first magical creature species he'd begun observing and recording systematically. He needed to document their physical characteristics and behavioural data in detail.
The sleep-inducing incense should take effect soon.
Recording information about magical creatures required extensive detail—from appearance to habits, special abilities, effects of materials they produced...
Later, before sunrise, he'd also need to collect their dung. This was natural fertiliser that could make plants grow rapidly and robustly. He wondered how it compared in effectiveness to the fertiliser potion he'd brewed.
On this weekend night, while other students slept peacefully in their dormitories, a certain first-year was already in the Forbidden Forest appreciating the Mooncalves' mesmerising dance under starlight.