Magical Bowtruckles

Hagrid's wooden hut stood right at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

From afar, the hut looked tiny, but up close, even the wooden door alone was four or five times Luan's height.

Much of the wood used to build it was already extremely old, and quite a few pieces had sprouted small white mushrooms.

Luan did not mind. He had a similar house at York Farm.

Knock, knock, knock.

He knocked on the half-closed wooden door.

A burst of barking came from inside the hut, followed by Hagrid's voice.

"Back off, Fang. Wait a moment."

Luan stood obediently outside, even preparing to grab a wooden stick beside the door.

From the sound of the barking, Luan could already tell that this dog was probably not small.

After a while, the wooden door opened, revealing a huge head covered in hair.

"Oh, it's you—the boy who keeps a Niffler."

"Hello, Hagrid."

"Squeak, squeak!"

Luan and Bouncing greeted the big man together.

"Bouncing, right? I remember it very well. It's rare to see a Niffler as well-behaved as this one."

As Hagrid spoke, he opened the wooden door. "Come on in."

The moment he entered the hut, Luan spotted the large black dog behind Hagrid. Hagrid had a firm grip on the iron chain around its neck.

"Woof, woof, woof—"

"This is Fang. He looks fierce when he barks, but he's actually terribly timid."

Hagrid explained with a wry smile, worried that Fang's ferocious appearance might scare people.

"Of course. I don't see any fierceness in his eyes."

Luan was not merely flattering him. He had truly seen vicious hunting dogs before.

At Xilin, he had to guard hundreds of acres of Hazelnut Forest by himself. In truth, that was not entirely safe.

Fortunately, the farm had its own guard team, which kept more than a dozen large black dogs. Those dogs were fierce beasts that could fight wolf packs to the death, and every one of them had an exceedingly vicious look in its eyes.

By contrast, when Fang faced Luan, there was more curiosity in his eyes, and even a trace of fear.

"So you could tell too. That's right, Fang is still just a little baby."

Hagrid gently patted Fang's head twice, then turned and rummaged through a cabinet beside his wooden bed.

"Ha, found it." Only when Hagrid turned around did Luan see that he was holding a small jar of dried worms.

"These are Flobberworm treats. Your Bouncing will definitely love them."

Sure enough, the instant Hagrid took out the dried worms, Bouncing, who had been sitting on Luan's shoulder, immediately leaped up.

Luan was quick enough to catch it in midair.

"Wow, you two really are in sync." Hagrid opened the jar as he spoke, pinched out a small dried worm with his thick fingers, and held it out.

"Eat slowly, little one. There's plenty more."

Hagrid's affectionate manner surprised Luan greatly. He had never expected such a burly man to be so kind to small animals.

"Alright, Luan, you came because of what Professor McGonagall mentioned, didn't you?"

Hagrid looked at Luan while feeding Bouncing.

"That's right. I want to find a few saplings near the Forbidden Forest that can be used for Wand Making."

As he spoke, Luan took out Professor Sprout's authorization.

Hagrid accepted it and studied it for quite some time, intermittently reading the contents aloud. The sight reminded Luan of himself when he had read his Hogwarts acceptance letter.

Could Hagrid not read either?

Luan shook his head, dismissing the absurd thought.

"Alright, kid. I don't know what you need those magical saplings for, but you came at just the right time."

Hagrid led Luan outside as he spoke. From a room piled with odds and ends, he took out a shovel and a basket.

"These are tools prepared for students serving detention. Take them and head north. A family of Bowtruckles arrived there just a couple of days ago. I'm sure you'll find something."

Hagrid handed the shovel and basket to Luan, then took a glass jar from his pocket. "These are ground beetles, a Bowtruckle's favorite snack."

Luan had not expected Hagrid to be so thoroughly prepared. This saved him a great deal of trouble.

From the books he had borrowed from the library, Luan knew that wherever Bowtruckles appeared, there were generally magical trees suitable for Wand Making.

Luan had just taken the tools and was about to thank him when Hagrid suddenly slapped his forehead.

"Oh, look at my memory. You need to take this too."

Hagrid went back inside and emerged shortly afterward carrying a long, tube-shaped object.

"This is a Communication Flare. If anything unexpected happens, pull the rope underneath it toward the sky, and Fang and I will come right over."

"Thank you, Hagrid. You've prepared everything so thoroughly. Can I leave Bouncing here with you?"

"Of course. I don't think it wants to leave right now either."

Luan glanced back at Bouncing, who was still diligently chewing on Flobberworm treats, then left the hut with peace of mind.

A messy little path had already been trampled out along the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and Luan followed Hagrid's enormous footprints north.

This direction happened to be opposite Hogwarts Castle. After turning a corner, all he could see were the lush green forest and the grassland behind him.

There were many kinds of trees in the Forbidden Forest. Even though Luan had finished the thick tomes about wands, there were still some trees he did not recognize.

The path was quiet and secluded. Perhaps because this was the edge of the Forbidden Forest, there were no large animals around—at most, he saw a few wild rabbits and birds.

After walking for an unknown length of time, sharp squeaking suddenly came from the woods ahead. Luan knew it was the sound of Bowtruckles.

Following the sound, he saw three Bowtruckles clinging to different branches in a messy patch of woodland.

"No wonder Hagrid said it was a family of Bowtruckles."

As Luan slowly approached, he discovered that there were two adults and one young one. The smallest was clearly still a child.

"Squeak, squeak."

Bowtruckles were not particularly dangerous, but when they saw Luan approaching, they still made a series of threatening noises.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."

As he spoke, Luan took a ground beetle from the glass jar and held it near the mouth of the nearest adult Bowtruckle.

With long, slender limbs and a thin body, green all over and crowned with two leaves, the Bowtruckle cautiously sniffed the ground beetle in Luan's hand.

After confirming it was ordinary food, it took the ground beetle with its long arms.

Crunch, crunch.

After the crisp chewing sounds, the Bowtruckle left the section of branch it had been clinging to.

Luan knew this meant it had agreed to let him cut off a piece of wood, but he did not make a move.

To Luan's eyes, the willow tree guarded by the Bowtruckle looked no different from the ordinary willows beside it. Even if he cut a piece off and took it back, he would not know how to tell them apart.

"I want a thin branch from it so I can plant it when I get back. Can you help me find which branch will grow into the one you were guarding just now?"

The Bowtruckle had probably never met anyone like Luan before.

He did not want the finished product. Instead, he wanted to find a thin branch.

It first looked at the three forks extending from the trunk, then looked toward the glass jar in Luan's hand.

"Alright, sorry to trouble you."

As he spoke, Luan took out another ground beetle.