The Meeting of Two "Experts"

Have you found the answer?

On the path leading out of the school, Hermione asked with a hint of schadenfreude.

Sean gave her a disapproving look. "Judging my time and place of death routinely, the manner of death is probably the 10th or 10th one, right? Oh, I almost forgot, she also 'whipped' Miss Granger, who gave up this elective course—are you satisfied with this answer, Miss Granger?"

Hermione haughtily raised her nose. "I don't care about Professor Trelawney's slander against me, anyway, I'll never go to that useless Divination Classroom again."

The first class in the morning was Divination. Hermione, who got an "A" last semester, had already given up on Professor Trelawney's Divination, while Sean, who got an "E", Sean over and decided to continue the course.

Trelawney does have talent, even if it's not immediately apparent in her regular teaching...

Desperate, Sean vaguely revealed his dream, and then Professor Trelawney, just like last year, Sean a mystical Prophecy, involving the manner of death, the time, and the burial place...

Having heard all this, Hermione mocked Sean with an expression that said, "I knew this would happen."

Sean had no choice but to accept his fate. Professor Trelawney had suffered a lot in the previous incident caused by Max Dawson, and she no longer had the charlatan's demeanor in class—let alone any real Prophecy or dream interpretation.

The two discussed Sean's dream and the unreliable Professor Trelawney on the pebbly path before heading towards Hagrid's Hut.

Due to restrictions imposed by the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts cancelled all outdoor activities, including outdoor classes, last school year, but they are now finally open again.

Hagrid, who is currently a teaching assistant for the Care of Magical Creatures, excitedly informed them early in the morning that there was a big surprise for everyone during the first outdoor Care of Magical Creatures.

However, Hermione and Sean are both pessimistic about this – Hagrid is more of an assistant than a teaching assistant, and Newt has never let him teach a grade level class alone.

Sean fully understands this.

"Oh, it's been so long since I've walked this road. It feels strangely familiar." After crossing the three-way intersection, Hermione sighed.

Sean nodded. "To be honest, I can hardly remember what the Owlery looks like anymore, but hopefully Hagrid won't cause any big trouble on the first day of the new semester."

"No, Professor Scamander will oversee the entire course—wait, isn't that the professor and Hagrid?" Hermione pointed into the distance.

Upon hearing this, Sean looked over and saw two figures, one tall and one short, waving at them beside Hagrid's Hut. It was Newt and Hagrid.

"Professor Scamander, and Professor Hagrid ~" After walking over, Sean blinked and shook hands with the two.

"It's so nice to see you. Oh, thank you, Sean, and you, Hermione." Hagrid's huge hand almost covered half of Sean's arm, then shook it vigorously. He loved hearing people call him Professor.

Newt smiled at the two of them, "Good morning, you two. Hagrid notified us this morning, and sure enough, you two are the first to arrive."

"I don't have class in the first period, so I'll come over with Sean. Harry and the others should be here soon," Hermione said, peeking behind the two of them and asking somewhat nervously, "Professor, what Magical Creatures are we having today?"

Upon hearing this, Hagrid immediately became excited. "Oh, unimaginable Magical Creatures! Believe me, children, you have never seen such creatures before!"

Newt looked slightly troubled.

Hermione and Sean exchanged a glance, both seeing the helplessness in each other's eyes.

"Sean, you've come at the right time. You come too, Hermione." Newt walked toward the back of Hagrid's Hut, gesturing for the others to follow. "Sean, use your abilities to check the situation."

Sean raised an eyebrow. It didn't seem like Professor Scamander knew much about the "new animals" Hagrid was talking about.

Hagrid, speaking from the back, continued, "You will be amazed, and Professor Scamander has confirmed that those creatures are not dangerous at all when handled properly, just like Bowtruckle!"

Newt sighed, "Hagrid, Bowtruckle can poke people in the eye too—hey, Pickett, I wasn't talking about you, buddy, you shouldn't have bitten me."

A Treant climbed onto Newt's shoulder, first sticking its tongue out at its "pad-man," and then excitedly waving at Sean.

"Hey, Pickett, long time no see, how have you been?" Sean waved with a smile, then magically produced a few turkeys.

Pickett's little black eyes lit up, and amidst Newt's cry of pain, it climbed onto Newt's head, then tightened Newt's curly hair, launching itself like a pebble from a slingshot.

With a "whoosh," Pickett landed steadily in Sean's palm and then happily began to enjoy his meal.

"Ouch—buddy, we really need to have a serious talk when we get back, you traitor." Newt said to Pickett, rubbing his scalp.

After once again receiving a mouthful of drool dripping with the juices of a mud bug, Newt slapped his forehead in exasperation. "Good heavens, Tina said I've lost a lot of hair when I went home last time—"

Sean suppressed a laugh, "Professor, I'll talk to it."

"Thank you, Sean, but I'm afraid the more you talk, the more it will bounce next time—oh, we're here."

As they spoke, they had already reached the back of Hagrid's Hut, next to a huge pumpkin patch, where several wooden crates, each over a meter tall and two meters wide, were placed.

Upon hearing the sound of someone approaching, an explosion immediately erupted from the wooden crate.

Sean's lips tightened; he seemed to know what was inside...

Newt stopped in front of the wooden crate. "Hagrid, you introduce it."

"Oh, of course, of course, it's my duty and my honor." Hagrid rubbed his hands together as he walked to the wooden crates and opened one of them.

Hermione immediately covered her mouth.

A monster that was six and a half feet long and nearly a meter tall appeared before them.

The creature looked like a deformed, shell-less lobster, covered in a layer of grayish-white, shiny, armor-like material, somewhere between a giant scorpion and an elongated crab.

Many spiky, messy feet protruded from the bottom of the creature, and because it looked so bizarre, Sean and Hermione couldn't even find its head.

"Bang—" Sensing that the box had been opened, a burst of intense flame erupted from the monster's tail, accompanied by a violent explosion.

"Oh, look at this cute little guy—" Hagrid said excitedly, "It was just about to move, so it exploded from its tail to propel itself a short distance. Of course, it's currently bound by the magic inside the box—by the way, this guy is called the Blast-Ended Skrewt! Isn't it interesting?"

Sean shrugged. "Thanks for telling me how it's moving. Now I finally know which way its head is facing."

Hermione took a step back, disgusted and horrified. "Hagrid! You did this?!"

Hagrid proudly raised his head. "Of course, of course it's me, oh, not entirely, haha."

Newt sighed and looked at Sean: "I failed."

"Huh?" Sean was taken aback, then realized what he meant.

He then opened his eyes wide in horror. "Hagrid and West met up?!"

Newt West, the grandson of Newt's former assistant Bunty, is also named Newt — Newt "renowned" expert in the "breeding" of Magical Creatures.

Newt has been trying his best to prevent West and Hagrid from meeting, Sean also firmly believes that the two guys shouldn't be allowed to get together.

It appears to have failed...

Hagrid shook his head. "Professor, West didn't do anything bad this time."

Newt swept his stern gaze over Hagrid, who immediately lowered his head like a child who had done something wrong.

"Doing nothing wrong means you got him Manticore with a danger level of xxxxx?" Newt rubbed his temples. "He was in charge of sourcing them, and you were in charge of crossbreeding them, right?"

Hagrid stammered, "But a new species has indeed been born, Professor..."

As he spoke, he pointed to the Blast-Ended Skrewt that was loudly banging against the wooden crate. "They've grown up too. At first, it was only three inches long!"

"Thank you for feeding them so diligently. Also, thank you for reminding me that the first batch of 'Blast-Ended Skrewt' started with a total of eighty, but now only five remain. The rest have all died from cannibalism."

Hagrid fell silent.

Sean walked over to Newt and advised, "Professor, don't get angry. Have you studied the habits of this Blast-Ended Skrewt?"

When the habits of the Blast-Ended Skrewt were mentioned, Newt's expression became less serious, and his tone returned to its usual style. "We've pretty much studied its main habits. It has many characteristics of Manticore, such as being highly aggressive and having a bad temper. Moreover, unless it's a male and a female, cannibalism is very common."

"West did do one good thing, actually. The breed that Hagrid bred, according to my judgment, would have continued to grow until its body couldn't take it anymore, and it wouldn't just be the tail, but the whole body would explode—"

"West and Hagrid have been secretly researching breeding for a long time. The current Blast-Ended Skrewt is now at its maximum size of ten feet. When it reaches that size, it will be a truly adult Magical Creatures —yes, it won't explode as it grows. At least it will be a normal Magical Creatures."

Newt said a lot, but to summarize, the Blast-Ended Skrewt originally had a major flaw. However, Hagrid and West were truly a match made in heaven. The two of them secretly researched Newt for a long time, and the newly bred Blast-Ended Skrewt finally did not have that natural flaw—they had truly bred a completely new Magical Creatures.

Of course, the danger level is ridiculously high. Newt came to Hogwarts early to observe the Blast-Ended Skrewt. According to him, it's at least xxxx—the larger the Blast-Ended Skrewt, the more irritable it is, and its grayish-white armor has the effect of deflecting spells, while its sharp spikes carry a paralyzing toxin.

In the end, Newt was also very helpless. It wasn't that he didn't approve of breeding Magical Creatures, but West and Hagrid's breeding behavior, which could be described as a "time bomb," made him very angry—just looking at Hagrid, it was clear that he had been scolded a lot during this period.

Fortunately, the initial collaboration between the two "Magical Creatures experts" did not result in any inexplicable monsters.

"Sean, I need your help with something," Newt said.

"Of course, Professor."

"I've tried to communicate with this creature called the Blast-Ended Skrewt,' but I've always failed. I need your help."

Upon hearing this, Sean looked at the enormous monster again. It was covered in spikes and strange legs, with only its soft belly firmly pressed against the ground.

He possesses the [Beast Speaker] skill, which allows him to communicate with Magical Creatures to a basic degree, but having stood there for so long, Sean has never heard the Blast-Ended Skrewt make any animal sounds other than the explosions.

"I'll give it a try..."

Sean walked over to the wooden crate and examined it.

This Blast-Ended Skrewt was a whole size bigger Sean. Under Newt's magical restrictions, it attacked even when Sean was very close, but its tail kept making crackling and exploding sounds.

After looking around carefully, Sean looked up.

He is now facing a serious problem.

Where are the eyes of this Blast-Ended Skrewt?

Sean's sky-high Magical Creature Affinity provides a bonus to intimacy when facing all animals, but if you want to tame a Magical Creatures quickly, making eye contact with it is the best way.

"Hagrid, where are the head and eyes of this thing?"

Hagrid proudly puffed out his chest. "Its brain should be in the very center, firmly protected by armor, flesh, and some other tissues. The Blast-Ended Skrewt doesn't have eyes either. Based on my speculation, it has sensory organs on its legs, and those are enough."

Sean: "..."

He turned to Newt and said, "Professor, I did my best."

Newt: "..."

"Thank you for your help. It seems the only way to find out about this creature's intelligence and some hidden characteristics is through observation day after day..."

The two Magical Creatures geniuses, one old and one young, sighed and walked outside. This was the first time the two of them had felt so powerless when facing Magical Creatures.

Hagrid scratched his head and glanced at Hermione, who had retreated to the pumpkin patch. "Hermione, what's wrong with them? Aren't Blast-Ended Skrewt cute?"

Hermione's eyes widened. "Hagrid... a terrifying monster that is six and a half feet long and three feet tall. We don't usually call him 'Hagrid' or describe him as cute."

"Oh, you haven't tried it yet. Once you have, I believe you'll love it!"

"This love is too heavy..."

As it turns out, the other students shared Hermione's opinion.

In the Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid brought over a hundred newly bred six-inch-long Blast-Ended Skrewt. None of the students could accept the creature's bizarre and disgusting appearance, nor its ever-present stench of rotten fish and shrimp.

Hagrid was greatly disappointed, Sean thought for a moment and asked him for a few small Blast-Ended Skrewt.

Let's keep it in the ring... Anyway, no other creatures are afraid of this thing... Perfect for studying it...