Xenophilius stood in the kitchen, nostrils twitching.
He had just returned home from a three-day business trip, and the moment he stepped inside, he sensed something was off.
His daughter carried a faint, subtle "scent"—one unlike any magical trace he had ever known.
It was cold and thin, like frost on a windowpane on a winter night, or the chill seeping from the stone walls of an ancient cellar.
It clashed with the warm, open, slightly dreamy nature of her magic, yet cunningly wound its way through it.
"Luna, dear," Xenophilius said casually over dinner, his eyes fixed on his daughter from behind his thick lenses. "Have you been having fun playing with Caesar next door lately?"
Luna was chasing a rolling pea around her plate with her fork. At his question, she looked up, her face brightening.
"Mm-hmm! Caesar knows so much.
He knows where in the forest to find the oldest Bowtruckles, and he taught me about several Magical Creatures that aren't mentioned in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
"Oh? Which Magical Creatures did he teach you about?" Xenophilius asked gently, unconsciously fingering his Cork Necklace.
"There's the 'Luminescent Insect,' which glows blue at dawn on the day after a full moon.
"The 'Whisper Bird,' which makes a sound like whispering when the north wind blows.
"And..."
Luna paused, lowering her voice. "The 'Swallow-tailed Dog.' It lives in the east, where sunlight rarely reaches, and has cold fur.
"Caesar said some ancient magical rituals use creatures like them, since they like dark corners."
Xenophilius's fork made a faint scraping sound against his plate.
Swallow-tailed Dogs.
That wasn't something an ordinary child would know about.
They appeared more often in obscure texts concerning ancient sacrifices, Dark Magic ingredients, or the outskirts of habitats belonging to forbidden creatures.