Newt's Conjecture

Sean recounted the whole story in detail, without hiding anything except his Magical Creatures.

Professor McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief, "A wise choice, Wallerup. If you had ventured into the Forbidden Forest, you might have been subjected to some unknown curse that requires certain conditions."

Newt's expression was somewhat strange. He glanced in the direction of the Forbidden Forest and muttered to himself, "Ghostly Horned Serpent? A mutated species or a special ghost created by magic?"

"Professor, do you think there might be a wizard controlling that guy?" Sean asked, which was also his concern.

"That's hard to say, but I'm inclined to believe it's not—based on your description, the other party's behavior seems to resemble the simple thinking of an animal. Forgive my bluntness, Sean, but a wizard capable of taming Horned Serpent wouldn't need to go through all this unnecessary trouble to catch you, and besides..."

Newt looked surprised and puzzled. "Do you know who Isolt Thayer is?"

"A famous wizard?"

"Yes, she's very famous. She founded the Ilvermorny School of Magic in the America..."

The founder of Ilvermorny? Sean's eyes widened.

"Didn't she pass away a long time ago?"

"That's right, she and her husband died a long time ago...and in history, this great witch did have a close friendship with a Horned Serpent —from which one of the schools of Ilvermorny got its name."

"Professor, what do you mean?"

Newt nodded. "Generally speaking, Horned Serpent live for about seventy years. Isolt Thayer's water snake friend wouldn't be alive now."

"There are many different species of Horned Serpent around the world. The most famous and precious one is a species from the America. In addition to its long horns, it has a gem on its forehead, which can give a wand the ability to become invisible and fly."

Sean immediately thought of the gem on the forehead of the Ghostly Horned Serpent; it also had the ability to become invisible!

"Could it be that the Ghostly Horned Serpent is the one that Isolt Thayer once knew?" Sean said incredulously.

"It's possible... However, more investigation is needed. After all, we don't know what that Horned Serpent went through, and I've never heard of a ghost retaining its abilities from its previous life, let alone being able to weave illusions—there are only a handful of Magical Creatures in the world that can weave illusions."

Professor McGonagall had already helped Hagrid into the cabin. She stepped out of the cabin and said to the two people at the door, "We still need to go see Madam Pomfrey. We'd better give Hagrid and Fang a full check-up. Newt, could you please take Wallerup back to the castle and then inform Professor Dumbledore? There have been more and more strange things happening these past two years."

Newt nodded, and then led Sean toward the castle.

On the way, Sean continued to think about the incident. He noticed something: the Horned Serpent said it had only awakened a few days ago.

Normal ghosts return to the real world shortly after their death...

"Don't worry too much, Sean," Newt's voice came through.

Sean turned his head and saw the other person smiling gently.

"Professor, I just feel that it's not a good feeling to be targeted by people or snakes."

Newt smiled and said, "Dumbledore think about this. Of course, I suggest you stay away from the Forbidden Forest for now."

Sean nodded, then asked doubtfully, "If what that Ghostly Horned Serpent said is true, what could Isolt Thayer wish for? She's been dead for so long... and why me?"

Newt thought for a moment and said softly, "I don't know what her wish is... but I do have an idea as to why she came to you. You know, Isolt Thayer has a nickname, Morrigan, because she is naturally very close to nature. This aura may be the key to her being able to befriend the Horned Serpent, which is very similar to you."

"You mean, I have a scent similar to Isolt Thayer?" Sean asked, puzzled.

Newt nodded. "Magical Creatures all like to be close to you—people who love nature and animals always have a similar scent. I think Isolt Thayer must be very popular with Magical Creatures too."

"Moreover, when I was young, I traveled all over the world, and Magical Creatures often came to me for help. In the Far East, I once met a Re'em who had a very close relationship with a wizard. After the wizard died, it always wanted to fulfill his wish—to experience being carried by Magical Creatures. That gentleman would nag about it all the time—"

He smiled wryly, recalling the past. "I gave a bouquet of flowers from that gentleman's grave to a Phoenix, which was to fulfill his wish—haha, and that Re'em even gave me a bunch of its own shed horns as a thank you."

Sean smiled as well, "That gentleman must have a good relationship with Re'em."

Newt nodded and stood in front of the tower. "Alright, that's Dumbledore."

"Thank you, Professor. Um, well, that..." Sean chuckled awkwardly; Dave was still on Newt.

"Oh, I almost forgot—" Newt pulled the blue-green Egg Sac out of his pocket. "It's been taken very well. Looks like you've remembered everything we taught you when we first met."

Sean chuckled as he took the Egg Sac. Sure enough, Newt had already discovered it when he went to inquire about the hatching.

"That Miss Granger is quite clever, but she thought you gave her Occamy —obviously, whether it's Occamy or Swooping Evil, Professor McGonagall would confiscate it, so she came to me. Obviously, I'm not a very good professor," Newt said humorously.

"Oh, I disagree with that. I was even ready to complain to Professor Dumbledore —why can't second-year students take the Care of Magical Creatures?" Sean put Dave away and replied with a smile.

Newt winked at him. "Actually, I was planning to do this in first grade—oh, right, let your little friend change his ways. He kept talking about how delicious my brain was when he was in my pocket, and it was kind of scary."

Oh, right, Professor Scamander can understand the meaning behind the sounds of Magical Creatures... Sean nodded sheepishly.

After saying goodbye to Newt, he returned to the Common Room, where Hermione, who had been waiting at the door, immediately ran over, clutching her chest.

"Sean! Thank goodness you're alright! I was so worried. I went back to the castle and went to see Professor McGonagall. Of course, I guessed that the thing you gave me was Magical Creatures to protect me, right? Was it the Occamy? Professor McGonagall wouldn't let me go with you, so I went to see Professor Scamander. I need him to bring the Occamy over; maybe that can protect you—he shouldn't have confiscated your illegally kept Magical Creatures, right? But I must say, Sean, keeping Magical Creatures above level xx is not allowed at the school! Oh, I almost forgot, what exactly happened in the Forbidden Forest? Is Hagrid alright?"

Hermione's rapid-fire questions were as sharp as ever... Sean chuckled and said, "Don't rush, don't rush, let's take it one step at a time..."