Hatching a Swooping Evil

"Yes, Professor, I'm sure it was this one, just without those blood-red lines," Sean said with certainty.

Newt nodded in surprise. He seemed very interested in the egg Sean had described.

"Mr. Wallop, could you tell me where you saw that egg?"

"The Forbidden Forest. I saw something furry carrying the egg as it ran past," Sean said without changing expression.

"The Forbidden Forest... something furry..."

Newt rested his chin on his hand at his desk, so deep in thought that he did not notice the Bowtruckle hopping from Sean onto his cuff. After thinking for quite a while, Newt suddenly straightened up just before the Bowtruckle could pull off one of his cuff buttons.

He smiled at Sean. "Wallop... oh, Mr. Wallop, thank you for telling me. I think it might have been a mutated Swooping Evil egg, though there's no telling what was carrying it. This is rather exciting. Perhaps even Swooping Evils that have never mutated have developed new forms. I must go look for it."

Sorry, Professor, but you might be coming back disappointed... Sean glanced at the Bowtruckle dangling from Newt's button and asked curiously, "Sir, I only saw a small amount about Swooping Evils in your book. Are these magical creatures very rare?"

"Yes." Newt nodded, and once the topic turned to magical creatures, he became endlessly talkative. "These adorable little things are extremely rare. Over all these years, I've only seen a few. They're simply too good at hiding themselves. Even if you happen to find a Swooping Evil, its absurdly high Magic Resistance makes it very difficult to catch."

"I see." Sean nodded thoughtfully, then continued, "What would that furry creature do to the unborn little fellow? Um, I mean, would it eat the egg, or...?"

"Good question. If the 'egg thief' is a friendly creature, such as a Demiguise, it will protect the egg and wait for it to hatch safely. If it's a rather greedy fellow, it might swallow it whole, then be forced to spit it back out—or choke to death."

Newt spread his hands. "Swooping Evil eggs are extremely hard. Much harder than Dragon Eggs, anyway."

"Then if someone had a Swooping Evil egg, how would they hatch it? I mean, that stolen egg—without its parents, how would the Swooping Evil inside get out?"

Newt smiled. "You've come to the right person."

He picked up the illustrated book and quickly flipped through a few pages before pointing out a picture to Sean.

In the picture, an egg hung suspended in midair, with a flame constantly burning beneath it.

"A Swooping Evil grows inside its egg for a long time. When it is close to hatching, the egg begins to shake on its own. Unlike with other creatures, the fire isn't meant to raise the temperature. It's meant to strip away the shell and reveal the cocoon inside. The duration depends on the intensity of the flame, but it has to be Magical Flame. I hatched one before—goodness, I've forgotten how many Fire-Making Spells I had to cast. It was roasted for nearly three whole days."

A happy smile appeared on Newt's aged face. Clearly, he cherished that memory.

"Cool..." Sean said admiringly.

Then he put on a curious expression. "Professor Scamander, I heard that Swooping Evils feed on human brains. Is that true?"

Newt's expression became much more serious. "Yes, yes. To be precise, it likes all brains, but compared to other creatures, human brains suit its taste better. Perhaps human brains have more complex and varied flavors? That, I don't know."

"Then the Swooping Evil you raised?"

Newt smiled faintly. "As long as you form a friendship with it, sheep brains will satisfy it. And after a Swooping Evil has eaten its fill, it takes a long time before it gets hungry again."

After talking with Newt for a while longer, Sean finally said goodbye in satisfaction.

The magical creature expert possessed an incredibly broad range of knowledge, and he was exceptionally talkative when it came to magical creatures. Sean had learned a great deal.

"Professor, thank you very much. I learned so much today. My only regret is that I still can't take your course. That's truly upsetting." Sean sighed sincerely. He genuinely wanted to attend Newt's Care of Magical Creatures class.

Newt was not good at social interaction, but he could easily tell that this Young Wizard before him had a strong interest in magical creatures. More importantly, Pickett—the Bowtruckle—had told him that it had a very good feeling about this Young Wizard. It even wanted to go play with him for a couple of days.

Sean watched Newt with a slightly shy smile. This old man seemed to have always held fast to his own way of dealing with the world, and to his attitude toward people and magical creatures alike.

Newt said, "If you'd like, you can come find me on Sunday. Perhaps I can show you some interesting things."

Sean immediately broke into a grin. "Of course, Professor. I'd love to!"

After agreeing on a time, Sean politely placed a hand over his chest in salute and bid Newt farewell, thoroughly satisfied.

Once the office door had closed, Newt held down Pickett, who was still tugging at his cuff button.

"What an interesting little fellow," he said with a smile.

Back in his dormitory, Sean was rather excited. He had finally learned how to hatch a Swooping Evil, but he did not rush out that very night.

According to Professor Scamander, the hatching process could take a long time. Sean had quite a bit of confidence in his Magical Flame, but it might still take a while. He needed to wait for a day off.

At last, a week passed, and the students welcomed another weekend. Early Saturday morning, Sean got out of bed bright and early.

He wolfed down the grilled sausage he had brought back the previous night for breakfast, skirted around Peeves, who was busy playing pranks, and finally arrived on the eighth floor.

Standing before the stone wall once more, Sean closed his eyes.

"I need a spacious, sturdy place to practice the Fire-Making Spell."

After repeating it three times, the bare wooden door of the Room of Requirement appeared before him.

Sean pushed it open and saw an extremely spacious room. There was nothing inside that could catch fire, aside from several dummies placed at the far end.

Sean nodded in satisfaction, then took out the Swooping Evil egg.

The egg was still swaying gently in a steady rhythm. Sean placed a hand on it and felt that faint, barely perceptible connection.

"Time to meet, little fellow."

Sean rubbed his hands together and raised his wand. "Protego Diabolica!"

Blue flames surged upward as Sean carefully moved the Swooping Evil egg closer.