Thunderbird: Is this dinner for today?

Newt helps transfer Nagini into Lucien's suitcase.

I also took the opportunity to visit Lucien's ever-expanding Box World once again.

As they passed through a grove of trees, Newt's gaze was suddenly drawn to one of the trees.

There was a hole in the trunk of the tree, and a faint golden light was emanating from the opening.

Newt smirked, turned, and walked in that direction.

He bent down and looked into the tree hole.

As expected.

A Niffler with rare white-gold Niffler is nestled in a tree hole, its two little paws holding a sapphire the size of a pigeon egg, intently "playing" with it.

The gemstone rolled back and forth between its claws, rubbing until it gleamed.

Jinji.

Newt waved to it.

Jinji glanced at him with her black bean-like eyes, then—continued to lower her head and examine her sapphire.

Newt touched his nose, a little embarrassed.

He then took out a Galleon from his pocket, waved it at Jinji, and it made a crisp sound.

Jinji paused for a moment.

It looked up at the lone Galleon on Newt's fingertip, then turned to look at its collection in the tree hollow—emeralds, gold, jade, diamonds...

However, Jinji silently stuffed the sapphire in her bosom into her belly pocket, quickly climbed out of the tree hole, and onto Newt's hand.

Newt chuckled.

He weighed Jinji in his hand and laughed:

"Your weight is within the normal range."

Newt found it amusing to see Lucien's slightly embarrassed expression.

Previously, Lucien had spoiled the little guy too much, causing Jinji to become overweight and round like a little ball of fur.

I've finally lost weight.

Newt put Jinji back in the tree hollow and continued on his way.

Along the way, Lucien took excellent care of every Magical Creatures he saw—they were plump, healthy, with glossy fur, and full of energy.

Newt nodded to himself.

Taking care of Magical Creatures is no easy task.

The first step is to understand their habits, which requires a sufficient knowledge base.

Each Magical Creatures has different eating habits, activity patterns, likes, and dislikes.

Without knowing these things, it's impossible to take good care of Magical Creatures, let alone communicate with them effectively.

Newt has absolutely no worries about Lucien in this regard.

Another very important point is that the wizard needs to be "good at fighting".

Magical Creatures don't need spells or wands to launch attacks, and their abilities are incredibly diverse—some breathe fire, some generate electricity, some spit poison, and some simply charge at you physically...

For a wizard to protect them while ensuring their own safety, extremely quick reflexes and superb magical skills are indispensable.

In terms of magical combat skills alone, Newt could easily be Auror.

The requirements are even higher for raising extremely dangerous Magical Creatures like Fire Dragon.

No matter how handsome or fair-skinned those Fire Dragon keepers were before they started, after a year or two they all became dark-skinned and muscular, and their spellcasting skills were also "passively" improved rapidly.

If you're not strong enough, not fast enough, not a master of the Protego, and not proficient in Apparition, you really won't be able to handle those grumpy lizards who can spit fireballs when they're in a good mood and breathe dragon's breath when they're in a bad mood.

As for Lucien's magical combat abilities...

Newt couldn't help but recall the encounter with the poachers at the Thunderbird habitat.

The battle lasted less than a few minutes.

Only Lucien was left standing there.

Newt snapped out of his thoughts and continued walking.

Now that Nagini is in Lucien's hands, he can continue writing and tidying up the latest edition of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," which has been delayed for a long time.

Lucien contributed to the updates on several Magical Creatures —his observation records, behavioral analyses, and care tips were more detailed Newt's own months of observation.

Newt intends to dedicate a special section of his acknowledgments to the book.

This also paves the way for Lucien's future in the realm of Magical Creatures.

As they walked, the two arrived at the territory where the Thunderbird Aether resided.

This is an open rocky area, with a simulated high altitude above.

After several months, Newt noticed that Aether had grown even stronger, her feathers were incredibly glossy, gleaming like metal in the sunlight.

However, Newt's gaze was quickly drawn to the scene around Aether.

Several little angels with pure white wings are using special brushes and combs to groom Aether's feathers.

Some were preening their wings, some were grooming their tail feathers, and some were perched on Aether's head, carefully arranging the longest crest feather.

A small creature stood before Aether.

Bat-like pointed ears, tennis ball-sized eyes --

House-elf?

Newt squinted to make out.

Just then, Aether also looked up and saw Lucien and the other person.

They also saw the iron cage behind Lucien, which was being pulled by magic and floating in mid-air—and the large green snake coiled up inside the cage.

Aether's eyes lit up instantly.

It hopped and skipped over—a posture completely out of character for its enormous size—and let out a cheerful cry at Lucien:

"Oh, boss! Is this dinner?"

Lucien, who understood what Aether meant, was taken aback at first, and then an embarrassment crept onto his forehead.