Dorset.
The Scamander residence.
"Is this really Nagini?" Newt looked at the tiny snake lying unconscious before him.
"Yes. I checked—it really is Nagini. One of my students subdued her, then used Transfiguration to shrink her to her current size," Dumbledore said with a nod.
Newt looked at the dark green scale in his hand—the very one Dumbledore had picked up in the sewers.
Based on his years of research into Magical Creatures, he could fully imagine just how enormous the snake that bore such a large scale must have been.
And yet now, such a massive snake had been reduced to something so tiny by Transfiguration.
"Your student is remarkably capable... I thought you had handled it yourself," Newt said with feeling.
"My student is somewhat special. Let us not discuss that for now. We should think about how to settle her," Dumbledore said, looking at Nagini with concern.
"Nagini is a Maledictus. Although she has completely transformed into a beast... we cannot simply leave her be." Newt raised his head, his gaze resolute.
Dumbledore nodded, then said, "The Transfiguration that shrank her may wear off before long... Are you confident?"
Shrunken as she was, Nagini posed little danger. But once the Transfiguration failed and she returned to her original size, she would become extremely dangerous.
"Let us wake her first and see," Newt said. "I need to see what her temperament is like now before devising a plan... Don't worry. I have plenty of experience dealing with dangerous Magical Creatures."
Suddenly, Nagini on the table stirred.
Newt quickly asked, "Has the Transfiguration worn off?"
Dumbledore took a look and said, "No. The Stun Spell I added afterward has probably just expired."
By then, Nagini on the table had fully awakened.
She raised her head, looking over her own