The Price of Freedom

West is not intellectually challenged, but his thought process is clearly different from that of ordinary people, so Sean simply changed the subject.

Instead of removing the Petrification Charm, he asked directly.

"What are you doing in Hogsmeade? Why do you let your Niffler steal things?"

"Huh?" West's eyes lit up. "You don't know why I'm here? Great! You weren't sent by Newt to arrest me!"

Sean: "... Answer my question first."

West, who could only move his neck and above, eagerly stretched his head forward, his face full of anticipation. "As long as you're not one of Newt's gang, that's easy! I didn't release the Niffler; it slipped out on its own."

Sean said coldly, "Don't give me that nonsense. You've been following me since the pub. It's normal for a person to lose their Niffler, come to me for its return, and ask for compensation."

West replied matter-of-factly, "But I'm not a normal person, am I?"

"I see, but you haven't answered my question yet," Sean said without changing his expression.

He knows a lot of weird people, so what difference would one more make?

West gave a warm smile, "Help me break the Petrification Charm first, friend. Now that you've revealed your true form, it proves you're not an enemy— Grey is being so kind to you, I think I know who you are!"

Sean merely glanced at him indifferently and said nothing.

West seemed to be a very outgoing person. He had completely lost his previous desperate demeanor and instead spoke to Sean very enthusiastically, "Sean Wallerup, right? I know you! I graduated a year before you enrolled, and I'm also Ravenclaw! Someone told me about that Serpensortia!"

Sean narrowed his eyes; the other party knew quite a lot...

West continued speaking loudly, "It's impossible for Serpensortia and become Occamy Summoning Charm. I asked my junior, and I know that Occamy. Naja, right? I'm the one who sent that child to Newt! She's so sensitive, yet so obedient. I knew it then. You're a lot like Newt! No, you're even Newt —uh, smell good? That's what the Magical Creatures would say about you?"

"And there's Newmontgard Day! I have friends there too. They told me you're Dragon Speaker, but I know you must have attracted that Fire Dragon with your own special qualities, right?"

"Oh, and also, during the Forbidden Forest riots two years ago, you became friends with the Hebridean Black Dragon, right? Oh! And the Grindylow! Merlin's beard, those two aren't exactly easy to talk to! When I heard about it from Hagrid, I knew you must be something special, and to be honest, I've wanted to meet you for a long time! By the way, what's with your Swooping Evil? Is it an evolved species from the wild or the product of some kind of magical accident..."

Sean interrupted the other man's rambling, "You and Hagrid are very close?"

"Uh," West's face stiffened, then he stammered, "It's alright, it's alright. I knew him back in school, but we were only casual acquaintances. There was absolutely no improper transaction between us..."

After saying this, he frowned and stood there stunned.

"Um, no, I meant..."

West stammered, but Sean didn't press him further.

In the dimly Shrieking Shack, the two stared at each other, and as time passed, West's expression gradually became awkward.

"Uh, aren't you curious and want to ask more questions?" West chuckled awkwardly.

Sean raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you just stalling for time? Just watch your show—but if you're waiting for your Bowtruckle to unbutton your suitcase, you might be disappointed."

He took out a tree branch from his pocket, with another branch tied to it—no, it was also tied with a dark brown Bowtruckle, making it look like two branches tied together.

Sean poured a Fairy Egg out of his ring like a candy cane and fed it to the Bowtruckle, who, though bound, didn't seem to want to resist much.

Like its master, the Bowtruckle, whose only function was its head, shrugged at West, then plunged headfirst into the Fairy Egg and happily began sucking up its juices.

Sean stuck the lollipop-shaped Bowtruckle into the floor, then nodded approvingly. "Its skin color is rare, and it's quite clever—it started tracking me the moment I caught you, though its tracking technique still needs improvement."

West's face froze completely, and after a long while, he managed a forced smile, "Heh... heh... I didn't mean that. Grey just crawled out of the suitcase, why would I open it again..."

"This means you and your little friends in the suitcase haven't reached a complete trust level yet. The magic at the suitcase's entrance and exit can be set with access restrictions—maybe the little guys inside don't want to talk to you? That's why you don't dare let them in and out freely."

"But you're still trying to get it out, which means it's a rare creature, maybe it'll attack indiscriminately? Hmm, you must have been hit quite a few times, so your resistance is stronger than mine? Hmm, these kinds of Magical Creatures are rare... Wait, let me see..."

Sean approached West and examined West earrings closely. They were a string of small, crimson beads that emitted a strange fragrance.

"Tsk tsk, Metella Scent Fruit, native to the Appalachian Mountains. Although the Wampus Cat is carnivorous, this fruit is its favorite food. After eating it, the Wampus Cat becomes like a cat intoxicated with croton, so it will hypnotize all nearby creatures before enjoying it—"

As he listened to Sean's words, West's face grew increasingly grim, and the forced smile on his lips became even more pathetic than a mournful expression.

Sean ignored him and continued, "The hypnotic abilities of Wampus Cat can indeed be partially resisted through long-term practice, just like wizards resist Hypnosis Charm. You only took half an hour to wake up from my Hypnosis Charm, so it seems you're quite experienced. If we're both hypnotized at the same time, you should wake up at least ten minutes earlier than me, and then we'll have to switch places?"

West's face fell completely, and he said with a mournful expression, "I heard Hagrid say you were a pervert, but I never imagined you were this much of a pervert..."

Sean pulled over a rickety chair and sat down casually. He dusted off his collar and said nonchalantly, "Alright, can you tell the truth now?"

West was utterly deflated. He hung his head and said sullenly, "This was originally intended to deal with Newt, but I didn't expect it couldn't even handle you..."

Sean glanced at the other person speechlessly. Of all the things to use against Newt, why use Magical Creatures to deal with Newt...?

"Alright, tell me, what are you doing in Hogsmeade, and why are you worried that Newt will come and get you?"

West sighed dejectedly, and finally honestly explained why he had come.

"It seems Newt has taught you everything. You probably know he used to have an assistant, and my name isn't fake either; it was given to me by my grandmother, her name was Bunty ..."

Sean suddenly realized that Bunty had indeed been Newt's assistant, a very kind witch, and it seemed that she had a crush on her employer, Newt, back then...

Through West's explanation, Sean also understood the guy's background.

Newt Robles West comes from the West family, and the two families have always been close friends due to Newt's friendship with Bunty. From birth, West showed a great interest in Magical Creatures, Newt was naturally happy to teach him a great deal about Magical Creatures. After turning eleven, he also entered Hogwarts to study...

While he didn't intentionally release the Niffler, he kept it a secret because of Newt, and the whole reason behind it was something Sean hadn't expected.

This guy, like Newt, has a deep interest in Magical Creatures, but in a different direction.

Newt's goal was to understand and protect them, while West's research shifted to the breeding of Magical Creatures...

Yes, mating...

Moreover, this guy has quite a bit of experience in the research of Magical Creatures breeding - the Graphorn, which originated from the mountains of Europe, was almost extinct. Newt has been working hard to help the Graphorn restore their population, but he hasn't had a good solution.

Graphorn are naturally irritable and, regardless of gender, are sexually indifferent; they will absolutely not mate if they don't like each other.

Then, West, who was still studying at Hogwarts at the time, got all three of Newt's female Graphorn pregnant in just one summer vacation. Although it sounds strange, it is enough to prove that this guy is really good at it.

However, instead of helping the endangered Magical Creatures as Newt wished, West was more interested in breeding and genetically modifying the offspring of extremely dangerous Magical Creatures.

At the same time, his relationship with Hagrid was indeed unusual. Come to think of it, one was passionate about breeding Magical Creatures, and the other was passionate about crossbreeding Magical Creatures ...

Hearing West say this, even Sean broke out in a cold sweat.

Newt's decision to prevent West and Hagrid from associating was absolutely correct! If those two had been given enough time to investigate, the world would likely face a catastrophe very soon...

Despite being forbidden by Newt from associating with Hagrid, West was clearly unwilling to give up. After graduating from Hogwarts, he traveled the world, and whenever he had an inspiration, he would sneak back to find Hagrid...

So Newt's ban was quickly escalated into an arrest warrant. Last year, when Sean was in Newmontgard, West sneaked back and was caught by Newt and then imprisoned for more than three months.

This guy managed to escape, and now he dares to come back...

No wonder they have to do everything in secret; it's all because they're afraid of being caught by Newt!

After explaining everything, West stared intently at Sean: "This is biological research and genetic evolution! And Hagrid and I are definitely not using magic to modify things, but rather making organisms willingly mate!"

"They'll be using aphrodisiacs and confusing potions, right..." Sean said irritably. He no longer doubted West's identity; the Biological Alarm Dave and the Sneakoscope hadn't reacted. It was just that the other man's dream was truly...

West chuckled sheepishly, "Just a little bit of auxiliary technique..."

Then he pleaded with Sean again, "Sean, you're so familiar with Magical Creatures, and you're so familiar with Newt, so you should know that this is a magizoologist's long-cherished wish!"

"So?"

"Hehe, can you please not inform Newt?" West said with a fawning expression.

Sean glanced at him twice but didn't say anything.

West was quick-witted in avoiding Newt, and he immediately said, "I acquired quite a few good things on my travels, such as a horn of Erumpent and a complete set of Sphinx pelts. Wallerup is clearly also quite fond of Magical Creatures, so as his senior, I'm giving them to you free of charge! Supporting my junior's research and studies is what I should do!"

If his body below the neck hadn't been immobilized by the Petrification Charm, he probably would have been pounding his chest right now.

"I can't explain this to Professor Scamander, he's always been very kind to me..." Sean said slowly.

West was taken aback for a moment, then realized what was happening.

Professor Scamander has always been so kind to me, so—I need to pay extra!

A look of pain flashed in his eyes, but he finished with a serious expression and said, "To compensate you for the emotional damage caused by the Niffler stealing your things—I also got hold of a Magical Creature Egg. Don't worry, it's definitely a very rare Magical Creatures; I've never seen one before, but I estimate it's a avian Magical Creatures —actually, I was just planning to show the egg to Hagrid, and then try to have the Hippogriff hatch it while simultaneously hatching another Fwooper egg, to see if the two of them can spark a romance or something after they grow up..."

Sean's brow twitched. What kind of bizarre operation was this? And if these two hatched together, wouldn't that be like half-siblings...?

Magical Creatures, you're getting into orthopedics now?!

Seeing Sean's unfriendly expression, West seemed to have made a huge, difficult decision. He said painfully, "If you let me go, I... I won't go looking for Hagrid..."

Sean raised an eyebrow. He wasn't interested in Unicorn horns. Although they were contraband, he had plenty of Galleons, and the smugglers in Galleon Diagon Alley wouldn't refuse him.

He was quite interested in the Magical Creatures he had never heard of before.

Seeing Sean's hesitation, West raised his head. "I was worried that the box would be confiscated if Newt caught me, so I hid it on my person. Check the hem of my cloak; there's a Transfigured Lizard Skin Bag with Confundus Charm on it. You can inspect the goods first!"

Sean used his wand to lift the other person's stiff cloak, and after a Revelio Charm, he indeed found a bag right next to the inside of the cloak.

Upon opening the bag, a fist-sized Golden Egg with blue patterns on its surface was found inside.

Sean, who had studied with Newt for a long time, couldn't recognize the origin of the egg, but judging from the pattern and the shaking of the shell, it was most likely a bird's egg.

West gave him a fawning smile, "See, Newt probably doesn't have it in his notebook either, right?"

It was indeed an egg he had never seen before... Sean readily accepted it along with the Transfigured Lizard Skin Bag.

Then he winked at the other person.

West's eye twitched.

Do I have to pay more?