Abei's Moment of Glory: Facing Blast-Ended Skrewts?

Harry, Percy, and his friends wrote a letter to Percy, inquiring about Barty Crouch's well-being.

For the next period of time, besides using owls to regularly bring food to Sirius Black, they waited for Percy's reply.

In the Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid finished explaining what Unicorn were all about.

This time he took out some more boxes, and just as everyone was worried that they might contain newly hatched Blast-Ended Skrewt, Hagrid triumphantly opened the boxes.

Inside were many creatures that looked like platypuses, with black fur and flat, shovel-like forepaws.

"This is... Niffler?"

"Excellent eye, Gaius," Hagrid praised. "They can usually be found in mines; Niffler love Winky things..."

At that moment, the box's Niffler seemed to smell something.

Dozens of Niffler jumped out of the box and rushed towards Aaron.

Holy crap!

Aaron instinctively swore.

Before he could react, Abei jumped out of his arms and roared as she charged at him.

The fourth-year students from Slytherin and Gryffindor House were quite amazed. Apart from a few people who knew about the Abei race, to the others it was a story of a cat fighting against dozens of platypuses.

Abei, like a tiger among sheep, swiftly swung its claws and tail, wreaking havoc in all directions, sending black Niffler flying one after another as the white Holy Dragon flung them away.

Two minutes later, only one White Cat stood proudly in the middle of the field, one of its front paws pressing down on a Niffler, while it held another one in its mouth.

"That was amazing! This lesson was totally worth it!" Seamus exclaimed, clapping his hands involuntarily.

The same was true for everyone else, and thunderous applause erupted.

Abei became the most dazzling star of the show, completely reclaiming the limelight stolen by the two Unicorn cubs. If the occasion weren't so inappropriate, it would have had the urge to let out a long howl.

A large hand pressed down on its head and lifted it up.

The two subdued Niffler were overjoyed and quickly ran to Hagrid's side, clearly wondering who here could protect them.

"Hagrid, I'm sorry." Aaron hesitated to say anything, then waved his Wand, and all the Niffler in the room flew into Hagrid's box.

"Uh... it's okay, it's really okay," Hagrid said excitedly.

His favorite animal is the dragon, so seeing Abei fight up close was quite exciting for him.

Furthermore, Abei was quite careful in his actions, and his Niffler were not harmed.

Aaron glared at Abei with an unfriendly expression. "Explain yourself!"

"Don't make things difficult for it. I might know what's going on," Hagrid said with a chuckle. "Niffler love gold coins the most. It must be something in Abei's pocket that attracted them."

Upon hearing this, Aaron's lips twitched slightly.

Abei kept nodding, though it had spent a fortune on the feathers of those Fantastic Beasts, which had caused it a lot of heartache.

Although it was reluctant to part with it that time, it had nothing to say, but this time it absolutely could not tolerate it.

A bunch of platypuses dared to covet its wealth and even brazenly rushed up to snatch it. Did they really think the Holy Dragon had no temper?

"Let's continue with the lesson. Niffler are famous treasure hunters, so you can have a blast today." Hagrid smiled, then pointed to a large patch of newly turned soil. "I've buried some gold coins there, and you can each pick a Niffler."

Whoever's Niffler digs up the most coins will receive a prize.

You need to be careful to remove all your valuables, or the Niffler might steal them if you're not careful.

The students took off their watches and necklaces, emptied their pockets of money, and then stepped forward to receive their Niffler.

These Fantastic Beasts that resemble platypuses are not as dangerous as the Blast-Ended Skrewt, nor are they as wary of humans as Unicorn. On the contrary, they are very docile and affectionate towards humans.

The treasure hunt began quickly. The Niffler dug as fast as the groundhogs, and they dug out gold coins one by one, carrying them to the shrew's hands.

Ron reaped the most rewards; the Niffler he chose dug up several times more gold coins than the others, giving him a rare taste of the joys of being rich.

Aaron got the least. His Niffler would dig a few times in the dirt and then glance back at Abei's pocket, clearly showing that even a good beating couldn't stop its love for gold coins.

When class ended, Hagrid took back all the gold coins and gave Ron a large piece of chocolate as a reward.

"I really want to buy one as a pet," Ron said sincerely.

"I really don't want that," Hagrid said. "The Niffler are unparalleled at finding treasure, and they're also top-notch at destroying houses. I don't want your mother to write me a letter scolding me."

Ron chuckled awkwardly, reluctant to return Niffler.

In the weeks that followed, everything seemed remarkably calm, except that Hermione was frequently receiving malicious letters accusing her of toying with other people's feelings, which pushed her tolerance for Rita Skeeter to its limit.

As the Easter holidays were drawing to a close, Harry's owl Hedwig flew back with a reply from Percy.

Harry called Aaron over, and they opened the letter in the Transfiguration Class classroom.

His letter was short, only a few lines long, but he seemed quite impatient.

Mr. Crouch worked so hard that I never met him in person; many instructions were delivered by owl. I would never mistake my boss's handwriting.

I'm extremely busy right now, so please don't bother me unless it's something urgent.

"Hmm..." After reading the letter, Aaron stroked his chin and pondered for a moment. "My intuition tells me that Barty Crouch is probably dead."

"But Percy says there's nothing wrong with his handwriting," Ron said, puzzled. "Maybe he really is seriously ill."

"Perhaps! I still trust my intuition."

"Don't make assumptions without solid evidence," Hermione said seriously. "Mr. Crouch is, after all, the Director of the Ministry of Magic, while we are just a few fourth-year Warlock. No one will believe us for no reason."

Aaron didn't deny it, then looked at Harry and said, "No matter what Crouch's current situation is, we can't control it. You'd better start preparing."

"I understand." Harry nodded, then said dejectedly, "The final event of the Triwizard Tournament hasn't been announced yet, and I don't know how to prepare for it."

"Then we need to find a way to improve our strength. The last project is definitely related to the Champion ' strength."

"Are you so sure?" Ron asked, somewhat doubtfully.

"Do you remember what Hagrid said when he first took out the Blast-Ended Skrewt?" Aaron said meaningfully. "It was for a big project."

The three looked at each other, then, as if struck by a thought, they all swallowed hard.

Hermione frowned, her expression grave. "You mean the Triwizard Tournament Champion might have to face Blast-Ended Skrewt?"

"To correct you, it should be an adult ' Blast-Ended Skrewt."

If all goes well, they should grow to over three meters tall.

Upon hearing this, Harry turned pale; he didn't think he could defeat such a monster.

"Give it back!" Ron forced a smile, his face stiff. "Almost all the Blast-Ended Skrewt are dead. There shouldn't be many left now!"

"I don't deny that. This further proves that the Third Task doesn't only involve the Blast-Ended Skrewt; there may be other dangerous creatures as well. At the very least, we need to ensure that each Champion has one!"

Harry pursed his lips with difficulty and forced a smile, "Any suggestions?"

"Heh!" Aaron's lips twitched, speechless. "I won't go into the offensive spells; you know a few of those too. As for defensive spells..."

"The Iron Armor Charm?" Hermione said without hesitation.

"That's right, you have about two more months to learn this spell."

It provides some degree of protection for life safety.

Harry Potter:...

Time flies by, and before we know it, it's the last week of the month.

That day, Professor Snape told Aaron to go to the Quidditch Pitch at nine o'clock that night, Mr. Bagman would tell the Champion what the Third Task was.

That evening, Aaron set off half an hour early and met Harry and Cedric in the Entrance Hall.

"What do you think it will be?" Cedric asked with interest. "Phoebe said it will be an underground tunnel; she thinks we're looking for treasure."

"Madam Maxime probably told her that." Aaron shook his head with a smile. "We learned about the Niffler in our Care of Magical Creatures a while ago. It seems Madam Maxime has misunderstood something."

"The situation might be a bit more complicated than you think." Harry glanced at Aaron without making it obvious, and seeing that he didn't react, he continued, "If nothing unexpected happens, we might have to deal with the Blast-Ended Skrewt."

"What?" Cedric was immediately taken aback. "Are you kidding me?"

Although he was in seventh grade, he knew a little about Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewt, and Rita Skeeter had written about the creature's ferocity in the newspaper.

"Uncertain, but very likely."

The three crossed the lawn and entered the field area.

As soon as they entered, Harry and Cedric became furious; the Quidditch arena statue had vanished.

The field is no longer flat and smooth, and the goalposts have been completely removed, replaced by a patch of green foliage plants.

These plants form walls, intricately connected, stretching out in all directions in a winding and meandering manner.

"This is interesting," Aaron said half-jokingly. "But I don't really like these kinds of levels; they're too convoluted."

"Especially since there are all sorts of monsters inside," Harry added with a wry smile.

"You've arrived," Ludo Bagman called out from the center of the field, with Krum and Phoebe standing beside him.

The three of them exchanged a glance, walked through the not-so-tall plants, and reached the very center.

"I'm sure you've all guessed what the last item is, right?"