Qilin

Pickett jumped onto a tree branch, then used the students' heads as springboards to speed toward his target.

"Oh, my hair!"

Oh, mine!

After a minor disturbance, the Bowtruckle finally calmed down.

Everyone else turned their attention to the suddenly excited Treant, who was Pickett to a student, climbing up and down on him, and occasionally rummaging through the bag in his robe.

Sean smiled and picked Pickett up in his hand, "I'm here to teach, Pickett. You should cooperate with Professor Scamander's lecture."

Pickett's sharp fingers sprouted green shoots, and after rummaging through Sean's pocket to make sure there were no worms inside, he regretfully put them away.

It stuck its tongue out at Sean, making a sharp yet amusing sound.

"I miss you, but you don't love me anymore."

Then, to the students' astonishment, it stepped over one head after another and returned to Newt's hands.

Pickett climbed onto Newt's palm, adjusting the position of Newt's fingers as he did so, and then stood there motionless.

It was made to look as if it hadn't been moved at all.

Sean couldn't help but laugh. This little guy had been with Newt for so long that he was no longer afraid of people, and his brain was much sharper than before.

Sean's rudimentary "Beast Speaker" ability was already sufficient to understand its general meaning.

Newt shook his head helplessly and looked at the students. "This is another characteristic of Bowtruckle. This Magical Creatures protects trees is usually peaceful and extremely shy, but if you can build a good relationship with it, it can be clingy and mischievous."

Pickett seemed unhappy with Newt's comment about it being 'naughty', and turned to spit at Newt.

The students burst into laughter.

Newt laughed heartily, "Classmates, remember, although Bowtruckle are generally gentle Magical Creatures, each one has a different personality, just like us wizards. By the way, Bowtruckle sap—oh, oh, Pickett, stop spitting, there are a lot of people, you need to be polite."

It took Newt two chubby little bumpkins to calm Pickett down. He let the little guy climb onto his shoulders and then led the students into the woods.

"Come on, kids, for your first lesson, I think it would be more engaging to get up close to these adorable creatures."

As they entered, humps of varying sizes began to peek out from the trees.

Keeping a slightly further away, Newt asked, "Can anyone tell me the tricks of dealing with Bowtruckle?"

Hermione and Sean both raised their hands at the same time.

"Mr. Wallop."

Sean moved a little closer to a tree. "Bowtruckle are extremely small, and as far as I know, this is a very large habitat in the Forbidden Forest. They usually use their body color to hide among the trees and don't easily show themselves. The fact that they've all come out today means that Professor Scamander must be quite familiar with these little guys."

It may also be related to its Magical Creature Affinity.

He continued, "Although gentle in nature, if the tree it inhabits is threatened, it will leap down and pounce on any lumberjack or tree repairman who tries to destroy its home, gouging their eyes with its long, sharp fingers. If a wizard offers a burrowing beetle to Bowtruckle, it will receive prolonged comfort so that he or she can take wood from the tree to make a wand—by the way, Fairy Egg are also a favorite food of Bowtruckle, but they shouldn't be fed too much, or they'll vomit—no, vomit tree sap."

"Of course, there is another requirement when dealing with Bowtruckle, or rather, this applies to all Magical Creatures —that is sincerity."

Sean slowly reached out his hand. On the tree next to him, a dark green Bowtruckle looked him over for a moment, hesitated for a second, and then gently jumped into his palm.

"Show your kindness sincerely; Magical Creatures are often more perceptive than humans." He smiled and held out his finger, which the Bowtruckle grabbed and began to play with Sean.

Newt clapped his hands, tossed a dung beetle to Sean, and waited until the Bowtruckle began to happily enjoy its meal before continuing, "Mr. Wallop is right. When dealing with Magical Creatures, it is very helpful to take action based on their characteristics and habits, and a sincere heart is also essential. Twenty points for Ravenclaw."

Then, Hagrid brought over a large iron barrel, which was full of mudskippers.

"Come on, everyone take two soft-shelled turtles and try feeding the little guys here."

With Sean's demonstration, the other students immediately became enthusiastic. They crowded forward to receive their 'snacks,' and even the students who were afraid of bugs looked at the black bugs in their companions' hands with a mixture of curiosity and worry.

"Come on, one by one, come forward," Newt called out.

"Yes, that's right. Look into the Bowtruckle's eyes and don't show any concern for its sharp fingers. As long as you don't do anything reckless, it will definitely not hurt you."

"Yes, first open your hands, use a simple gesture to express your goodwill, and slowly hand it over..."

"Great, now that it has accepted your first gift, you can try letting it climb onto your palm."

Newt's teaching skills far surpassed those of the clumsy Hagrid and the grumpy Professor Kettleburn. He taught with great organization, always had a smile on his face, and could answer students' questions promptly and in detail.

Soon, everyone understood why Professor Scamander had been in office for less than two years, had quickly won the students' affection.

However, some observant students noticed that although the Bowtruckle in their palms were very gentle, they would occasionally turn their heads to look at their companions, and then look in the same direction together.

That's the direction Sean is heading.

By this time, Sean's ears were filled with the murmurs of the Bowtruckle.

"This country bumpkin smells so good!" Bowtruckle.

"There are so many big oafs today, but there's someone over there who's even more delicious than a country bumpkin." -Bowtruckle B.

"Isn't the local stuff a bit better?" Bowtruckle C retorted.

"Neither of us is superior, neither of us is superior," said the Bowtruckle D.

Lying comfortably in Sean's arms, the Bowtruckle E sunbathed with its legs crossed, basking in the sun. "Awesome..."

"I want to try it too..."

"I want to try it too..."

"I want to try it too..."

The group of Bowtruckle were somewhat envious of their companions.

"This stuff smells so good... Oh? I'll try it too?" -Bowtruckle A.

Newt is leading a timid girl toward a Bowtruckle.

"Yes, slowly extend your hand, palm flat... Don't worry, come on, try it, it's very simple. This one has a much stronger temper than my Pickett —oh, Pickett prickly!"

Suddenly, gasps of surprise rang out from the crowd.

Newt quickly turned around and saw Sean jumping around in the crowd.

Most of the Bowtruckle in the forest seemed to have conspired to jump onto Sean, hanging on Sean like tree branches.

Some were swinging on Sean's robes and earlobes, some were lying in larger areas sunbathing, and some even climbed into Sean's clothes, only to be startled and come out to hug Sean for comfort— Dave was still living in the inner pocket.

Newt also has a basic ability to communicate with Magical Creatures, heard the Bowtruckle exclaim, "It smells so good..."

"I was so scared! There was a huge worm inside!... Can I eat it?"

Sean, who was being pinched by the Bowtruckle, was hopping around in pain. "Hey, buddy, stop grabbing my ear, my fingers, they're too sharp... Little guy, you can't crawl there!... You! Stop licking me! It tickles, hahahahaha—"

Newt: "..."

He rubbed his forehead in exasperation. Sure enough, just as he had expected, Sean had run into some trouble in the end.

However, after the somewhat amusing little incident, only Sean was thoroughly exhausted.

He moved away from the woods, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Sometimes, too much enthusiasm can be overwhelming..."

Newt smiled and shook his head, "Looks like I have to discuss things with the Magical Creatures I'm going to teach before each class."

"You absolutely must do this!"

After chatting and laughing for a while, when no one was around, Sean changed the subject to the Magical Creatures he had seen at Selma's place.

"Magical Creatures you've never seen before?" Newt asked, intrigued.

Sean kept going to his office; the other party had basically read all of his illustrated notes, and even the unpublished new edition of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" had been read.

After that, the other party even had Magical Creatures they had never seen before?

Sean nodded and described in detail what he saw to Newt: "I couldn't see the head clearly, but it had a body similar to a deer, and a tail like an Eastern dragon. Oh, and the scales on its body didn't seem to be a uniform color."

Newt rested his chin on his hand and pondered, "From the ancient East?"

"Right."

"There are indeed many unique Magical Creatures there, quite a few of which I have never learned about in detail. However, based on your description, I only remember one creature looking like this... Hmm, did you see it in a photo? Are there bamboos in that forest area?"

Sean thought for a moment, then nodded. "It seems there really is bamboo."

"That must be it..." Newt's expression became slightly more serious.

"Professor?"

Newt looked at Sean and said seriously, "Are you sure it's just what you saw in the photos, and not... you actually got your hands on one?"

"Am I that kind of person?" Sean felt deeply wronged.

"Hmm, the descriptions I saw in the library say that eggs can hatch, right?"

"That was an accident, an accident..." Sean chuckled awkwardly.

I was so naive back then. I completely underestimated Newt's knowledge of Magical Creatures and thought I could keep Dave's affair a secret.

Newt chuckled, then his expression turned serious again. "If I'm not mistaken, it should be— the Qilin."

"Qilin?" Sean's eyes widened.

These beings from ancient Eastern mythology are actually living, Magical Creatures?!

Newt glanced at him and continued, "Many legends are not unfounded. Take the Zouwu I mentioned to you, for example. It's a mythical beast from Eastern mythology, but I've seen it with my own eyes. Not only that, but there are many magical and even terrifying Magical Creatures in that land, and the Qilin is a very special one among them."

"Special? Why do you say that?" Sean asked curiously.

Newt shook his head. "I only heard about it from an old wizard when I was traveling in Asia. I don't know exactly what's so special about it. However, the local wizards call the Qilin a divine beast."

Mythical beast? That's a very important title...

"In addition, the Qilin may have another function."

"What?"

Newt let out a long sigh of relief, "You know the International Confederation of Wizards, right?"

"Of course, didn't they say the election for president would be held soon?"

"It's actually related to this election..." Newt smiled. "The president is elected by vote, a method of election that has only been established in the last two hundred years. It is said that in the beginning, the president of the International Confederation of Wizards was not elected by vote, but by Qilin."

"Qilin?" Sean asked in confusion. "How does Qilin select people? If that's the case, wouldn't my participation in the election be the deciding factor?"

Newt laughed, "That's really hard to say... I don't know the specific criteria the Qilin uses to choose people, but I guess it might be similar to the Unicorn. Unicorn love pure women, and the Qilin might also love a certain type of person. And someone with this trait might be suitable to become the president."

"That makes sense..." Sean nodded in realization.

Newt truly lives up to his reputation as a seasoned scholar of Magical Creatures; he learned a great deal from today's visit.

As Sean said goodbye and prepared to return to the crowd, Newt called out to him.

"Sean, are you sure you really didn't bring back a Qilin?"

"Really... I swear, Professor," Sean assured him, sounding rather helpless.

Since the Qilin is so magical, how could he obtain it so easily...?

After a delightful Care of Magical Creatures, the students continued their enthusiastic discussion on the way back to the castle, with many boasting to their friends about their experiences of falling for a Bowtruckle.

Hermione, on the other hand, seemed rather sullen.

Sean asked curiously, "What's wrong? You seem to be getting along quite well with that Bowtruckle."

Hermione kicked a pebble listlessly. "Professor Scamander didn't assign any homework..."

So that's what you were after...

"Why do you think Professor Scamander is so popular? A key reason is that he rarely assigns homework," Sean said.

Hermione puffed out her cheeks in displeasure. "I've prepared so much information! Now I don't need it anymore!"

"It's worth it if you can learn it... But you only study all the time, how about we get a pet?" Sean asked.

This time, Hermione didn't run into the clever Crookshanks in Diagon Alley, which left Sean quite disappointed.

Hermione was clearly tempted, but ultimately shook her head. "Forget it, I don't really like any of them... Buying a pet means taking responsibility for it..."

"Can I pick one? How about Kneazle? I have connections; I can get a breeding license from the Ministry of Magic."

"I know your connections too, aren't they Mr. Potter and Mr. Black?"

"This is only part of it, okay? I've been thinking about getting a breeding license lately, and I've been researching it for a long time."

With that, the two entered the castle, and as soon as they entered the front yard, they heard Fred and George's loud voices.

"Come quick!" The two men waved a newspaper. "Big news!"