"Right on time..."
Newt wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked, "Weren't you with the Romanian Ministry of Magic? How did you end up here."
"Things have been taken care of."
Chris stepped forward, and with Kael, used the Scouring Charm to pull the Romanian Longhorn out of the swamp.
"Honestly, the past few days have been incredibly boring. I had to accompany them to various events and work meetings.
And it's not over yet. When I get back to the Ministry of Magic, I have to write at least five reports... If I'd known, I wouldn't have come."
"Working for the Ministry of Magic, you have to go through these things."
Newt said with a smile, "Tina and Theseus were like this initially, always having endless reports after missions."
"Yeah..."
Chris sighed and then, with Newt, checked on the Romanian Longhorn.
"Exhausted, and a few bones are broken," Newt found a bottle of Magic Potion from the box and poured it into the dragon's mouth, "but thankfully, not life-threatening and no severe external injuries. It should heal in a few weeks."
Once the Fire Dragon's injuries were tended to, he took out something akin to a conch, tapping it several times with his Wand.
Soon, several Dragon Tamers flew over on brooms.
They first expressed their thanks to Newt, Kael, and Chris, then placed the Fire Dragon in a specially-made black cage and flew away with it.
At the very edge of the reserve, there's a desolate Valley, remote enough to house these severely injured Fire Dragons,
afterwards, Chris stayed behind.
With his addition, Kael had nothing much to do and started focusing on gathering equipment.
He even learned a neat Charm from Chris, a type of cleaning charm, which gathers light objects around together.
It certainly made collecting Dragon Blood much easier.
Once this hectic battle concluded, the trio headed back to the camp.
Kael planned to return to the tent to tally up his haul, while Chris decided to visit the nearby wizard gathering.
"I heard that when Dragon Tamers here get paid, the first thing they do is buy a pair of Anti-Curse Gloves from John Senior."
Outside the tent, Chris said, "I've already found out the shop's location; it's right in the center of the gathering place.
If these Anti-Curse Gloves are really that good, they can make a great gift for your mom."
"What about mine..." Kael suddenly looked up, "Is it gloves too?"
"What 'yours'?" Chris blinked in confusion.
"The gift, obviously."
"What gift..." Chris was momentarily confused, but quickly caught on, "Oh, if you also want one..."
He extended a hand, "One pair of gloves, fifty Galleons, I can buy them for you."
"Money?" Kael thought he misheard.
Family, and yet treated differently.
"What else." Chris responded as if it were obvious, "I've already given you your birthday gift, and don't think I don't know, you've collected quite a few treasures these days.
Just from Dragon Blood alone, measured by pints, not to mention those teeth, scales, claws and so on...
Your haul these past days exceeds my two-month salary."
"But I picked those up bit by bit... I only get four hours of sleep a day, it's hard work," Kael muttered, "and I planned to keep those for myself, never thought of selling."
"Don't talk too much."
Chris glanced at him, "Want my help or not? If not, I'll leave.
But seriously, the Anti-Curse Gloves here are really good, several notches higher than elsewhere, and sixty Galleons isn't exactly expensive."
"Sixty Galleons?" Kael raised his head, "Did you say fifty Galleons earlier?"
"Ordinary ones are fifty Galleons." Chris replied calmly, "But since you're here, you should buy the better ones, it's just ten Galleons more."
Kael gave him a suspicious look, but Chris's expression remained unchanged, only urging him to decide quickly, warning that the shop might close soon.
Under his urging, Kael thought for a moment and decided to buy a pair.
Rare visit, ought to take some souvenirs home.
"How about I go with you?"
"No need." Chris shook his head, "That place is quite chaotic, with unidentified wizards often lurking, not suitable for underage wizards like you.
I'll get them for you; you stay here with Mr. Scamander."
"Well... alright then." Kael took out a small bag from his pocket.
It's the thirty Galleons Professor Rockneil gave him earlier.
He added thirty more Galleons into it, handing it over.
Chris pursed his lips.
Sixty Galleons isn't a small sum, but he hadn't expected Kael to hand it over so calmly, like it was sixty Sickles.
Just how much money has this kid made at school...
Nonetheless, Chris said nothing and, after pocketing the money, left the tent.
Kael continued tallying the items on the table.
As usual, the Dragon Blood was split fifty-fifty, everything else was his share.
Initially, Kael felt a bit guilty, so when dividing the Dragon Blood, he deliberately gave Newt a little extra.
But Newt shook his head with a smile, taking the smaller bottle.
By evening, Chris returned, tossing Kael a pair of black-gray gloves.
The gloves were made of Dragon Skin, feeling hard and rough on the outside, yet wearing them didn't hinder movement at all and could automatically adjust size according to the palm.
Just for this feature, they were markedly better than his previous Dragon Skin Gloves.
Those standard gloves were a tad too big for him, and would slip off if not careful, making usage somewhat tricky and inconvenient.
As for the anti-curse effect... Kael hadn't tried it, but since Chris bought them, it must be reliable.
At night, a campfire lit up the grounds.
Chris emerged from the tent with Fire Dragon Brandy he got from the bar, sitting among a few acquaintances, grilling meat, drinking, and chatting.
Though accidents were unlikely, just to be safe, none dared drink too much, each having just a small cup, less than a mouthful in total.
"This isn't authentic!"
Charlie pursed his lips, "You must've bought one of Brown Senior's cheap knock-offs for wizard tourists."
"Fake?" Chris took another sip, it tasted quite fine to him.
"That old dog is cunning, and his brewing skill is excellent, even we sometimes get fooled."
Charlie didn't explain further and simply chuckled, "Pass me the bottle later, I'll help you swap for two genuine ones.
Truly authentic Fire Dragon Brandy can make you spit fire on the first sip."
Chris looked at the cup in his hand with surprise; he hadn't known that.
While they chatted, Kael found Professor Rockneil in the crowd and adhered to their prior arrangement, selling the selected subpar goods to him.
Due to Chris substituting for Kael's work earlier, his extra free time led to a significantly larger haul than before.
Two bags, totaling fifty-three Galleons.
Combine that with the previous thirty Galleons, the cost for Anti-Curse Gloves got covered, with some leftover.