Luna's Pendant

Skylar's laboratory was located in the Suitcase Space, originally where Mr. Scamander conducted research on Fantastic Beasts. Of course, his research focused on how to breed, care for, and treat Fantastic Beasts, a completely different area from Skylar's. (Read M)

Skylar was neither a fan of Fantastic Beasts nor a nature conservationist. From his perspective, Fantastic Beasts and magical plants were essentially no different from spells, Transfiguration, defensive magic, or Dark Arts —just tools.

Well, Silver Fang might be the only exception.

It represents the kindness hidden deep within Skylar's heart, the innocence Skylar sealed away in the past.

What was originally a laboratory the size of Slytherin Common Room has now been expanded by Skylar with the Undetectable Extension Charm to the size of the Great Hall Hogwarts, at least ten times larger than it was originally.

The laboratory was not gloomy or dark; on the contrary, it was brightly lit.

Instead of torches with flames embedded in the ceiling, Skylar disliked the light produced by flames; he preferred the white light of the LED lights he used in his previous life. So he had the Greengrass Family collect a type of insect called "Glow Bug" from all over Europe, and then asked the Hohenheim Family to provide alchemical containers engraved with sealing spells. He placed the Glow Bug inside these containers, allowing them to float in mid-air.

(Note: The Glow Bug is a character from the Fantastic Beasts movies. It was used by Newt Scamander as a light source and was one of his suitcase pets.)

Skylar's lighting design is more advanced than Muggle LED lights. Even the most advanced LED light can only last for thirty or forty years at most.

Skylar's lamp is eternal because the sealing spell on the container completely seals the life of the Glow Bug. They can never age or die, and can only shine forever inside the container, contributing light to the world.

Besides an operating table for dissections and a long table for various experiments, the laboratory was surrounded by cylindrical, transparent crystal containers, each containing creatures, or rather monsters, that Luna had never seen before.

Luna stared wide-eyed, her already large and bright eyes wide, as if she were a Muggle entering Diagon Alley for the first time, everything looking so new and interesting.

"Ah, what's that?" She pointed to a container containing a dark plant that looked very much like Devil's Snare, but the vines were covered with tiny red spots that looked like blood.

"This is Man-Eating Vine, a variant of the Devil's Snare. It feeds on human flesh and blood, actively entwining and strangling its prey with its vines before secreting a special mucus to digest the corpse," Skylar said with a faint smile. This Man-Eating Vine was difficult to cultivate; he had watered it with human blood for several months before it evolved. He really had to thank... that guy again...

Skylar thought for a moment, then remembered, Hector Fawley, thanking him for his selfless sacrifice of flesh and blood... Well, to preserve the magic within the flesh and blood, Skylar had specially sacrificed it using an ancient ritual magic, and Fawley had thus lost a leg forever.

What a great person!

"Ah, could this be Inferius?" Luna pointed to a small, humanoid creature in another cylindrical container. It resembled Dwarf, somewhat like a human, but ten times uglier, like a Half-blood of a human Nogtail. Luna wasn't averse to Dark Arts; in her view, the human heart was the most terrifying thing in the world. Dark Arts, frankly, was just a tool.

Well, there might be some subtle influence from Skylar, but Skylar can swear that he absolutely did not alter Luna's memories.

"My dear Luna," Skylar smiled, "Have you ever seen such an ugly Inferius?"

"Well, actually, it's because some witch with weird tastes and Nogtail did some... uh, adult things, and produced their offspring."

"Ah!" Luna covered her mouth in disbelief, blinking her big eyes. "How can there be such a person? How disgusting!"

"Isn't that right?" Skylar replied casually, "I was quite surprised when I found out about it."

Yes, Skylar wasn't lying; he was genuinely surprised.

Humans, they really will do anything to survive. After Hector Fawley's other leg was sacrificed for his great research, Lucida Slughorn, who had been watching everything, completely broke down. To survive, to avoid the same fate, she actually chose to... well, you know... with the Nogtail. At that moment, Skylar was truly shocked...

"I've named this creature the Cursed Demon. They are inherently evil, possessing powerful curse energy within them. Once released into a community, they will bring disaster to a radius of one hundred miles," Skylar added gravely. "Therefore, we must be extremely careful and not let it escape this laboratory."

"Alright, Luna, come here," Skylar beckoned to Luna, and the two went to the breeding tank for cultivating Blood-sucking Midge.

"Ah!" Luna exclaimed again, this time not because the thing was ugly, not because it was terrifying, not because it was disgusting, but because—

She recognized this thing, this new species!

"Wrackspurt!" Luna's face was filled with undisguised surprise. "Where did you find the Wrackspurt?"

"I have my own methods," Skylar said, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Luna pressed her face against the transparent surface of the breeding tank, watching intently the Wrackspurt's every move.

She turned her head, her pretty face flushed with excitement, and said in a dreamy tone, "I must tell Dad about this..."

She suddenly fell silent, scrutinizing Skylar with her misty, bulging eyes, and calmly said, "My father has tried for many years, but he has never been able to prove the existence of the Wrackspurt. I think even for you, finding this thing wouldn't be easy, would it?"

"Uh..." Skylar could only nod blankly. Looking at Luna's unusually serious expression, he wanted to make a joke, but suddenly felt like he'd been hit by a tongue -Engorgement Charm, unable to utter a single word. Seriously though, creating those Wrackspurt was indeed no easy feat. Just think about how much blood Skylar and Sarf had lost to cultivate them, having to take blood-replenishing potions every day to recover. Can you imagine how arduous that was?

Luna bit her lower lip (wow! It's that gesture again!), quickly ran to Skylar, and gave him a light, quick kiss on the Skylar.

!!!

What's going on?

"Luna, I..." Skylar hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.

Luna couldn't help but chuckle at Skylar's expression. She tilted her head, gave a mischievous smile, and said, "Don't get me wrong, I'm just thanking you for everything you've done for me."

"Huh?" Skylar raised an eyebrow in surprise, then smiled. "I had no idea we started expressing our gratitude this way?"

"Hmm... looks like I'm a bit out of touch. I guess I'll have to go ask Morrie..." Skylar said, seemingly to himself.

"Alright," Luna said with a faint smile, a strange light flickering in her eyes, her voice no longer dazed, "No need to ask Morrie, I can tell you the answer now."

The two stared at each other in silence.

An eerie silence fell, as if even the surrounding air had stopped moving.

"I can thank you again..." Luna's voice rang out softly, Skylar suddenly realized that he had overlooked the fact that Luna's voice was actually very pleasant.

Skylar couldn't remember what happened in between; he only knew that his lips were suddenly sealed by two soft lips, and two arms tightly wrapped around his neck, and this time the two never separated again...

Ten minutes later.

Luna lowered her head slightly, unconsciously fiddling with the ends of her golden hair. Skylar coughed lightly to ease the awkward atmosphere; in truth, he had never considered Luna as his target.

Luna held a very special place in his heart. She represented Skylar's own aspirations, a beautiful dream that he could never realize in this lifetime.

She was a free spirit, an unrestrained soul; while Skylar, burdened with the missions of his family, Meredith, the Sleeping Dragon Society, and so on, could only strive forward and never dared to slacken in the slightest.

Skylar liked Luna, but he never thought about having her or possessing her. What he wanted to do was to become Luna's good friend and protect her rare innocence.

Unbeknownst to him, at that very moment, in faraway London, in a secret family Chamber of Secrets called the Scamander, a strangely shaped bird egg suddenly cracked open, and a small green bird with a curved beak flapped its sparsely feathered wings and flew away.

Upon witnessing this scene, the observer rushed to the head of the Scamander family's office as quickly as possible to report this unusual phenomenon, which had not been seen for a long time, to Hermann Scamander, the current head of the House of Scamander.

Half an hour later, the House of Scamander's highest-level personnel summons was officially issued, requiring all important members of the House of Scamander to gather together to discuss a major event affecting the entire family.

Accompanied by Skylar, Luna cautiously began to control the Wrackspurt. Although Luna appeared carefree, Skylar did not dare to underestimate her, staying close to Luna side and observing Luna use of insect manipulation techniques. As the creator of this species, no one knew the power of these Wrackspurt better than him, and no one was more vigilant about the serious consequences that could result from the Wrackspurt going out of control.

These vampire flies are bloodsuckers and extremely aggressive. A single bite can cause mental confusion, irritability, and loss of reason. If a person is bitten too many times, they are highly likely to go insane and become completely mad. If Luna's insect manipulation skills malfunction, Skylar must eliminate them completely before they go berserk.

The scenario Skylar feared did not occur. After Luna's bloodline power awakened, she possessed an unimaginable affinity for these small creatures. She traced lines in the air with her fingers, chanting a mysterious language resembling the buzzing of insects, and the Wrackspurt behaved like a disciplined army, forming various formations in mid-air under her command.

There are trident formations for attack, crescent formations for defense, and serpent formations for assault... In short, they are similar to the ancient military tactics that Skylar saw in the Muggle world, and they are truly unpredictable.

After watching the demonstration of thirty-three different formations by the Wrackspurt, Skylar felt he had seen enough and decided it was time to put them away. He took out a very small pendant box from his pocket and placed it in his outstretched palm. Although the pendant box looked small, its craftsmanship was exquisite. It not only had lifelike carvings but was also inlaid with several precious gemstones, making it more than suitable as a pendant for a beautiful lady.

Skylar softly uttered, "Insects Out of the Box," and the lid of the pendant box suddenly opened.

At Skylar's signal, Luna directed all the Wrackspurt to fly into a very small pendant box. After the last Wrackspurt flew into the box, Skylar softly uttered "Ten Thousand Insects Return to the Box," and the box suddenly slammed shut.

Skylar walked up to Luna, and under Luna's gaze, whose face was as red as an apple, carefully slipped his hand through Luna's snow-white neck and helped her put on the necklace with the pendant box hanging from it.

"This box was specially made for you; it's yours from now on," Skylar smiled gently. "I've given it a name; let's call it—"

"Pandora's Box."