"Newt Scamander?"
Cordelia stared at the old man before her, her face filled with shock.
"The master of Magizoology? Recipient of the Order of Merlin, Second Class? The man who drafted the 1965 Ban on Experimental Breeding for werewolves? The one who supposedly helped Dumbledore defeat Grindelwald? That living legend?"
"Er, people exaggerated that."
At those last few words, the old man became visibly uncomfortable and quickly averted his eyes.
"If you mean the author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, then yes, that's me." He still looked rather embarrassed. "But in reality, I'm just a clumsy infiltrator who recently underestimated an Anti-Magic Bag Sealing Charm."
Gavin stood beside them, studying this legend from their textbooks—
He really did bear some resemblance to the actor Eddie Redmayne, except that he had no freckles.
To Cordelia, however, this dust-covered old man who couldn't meet her eyes looked far too much like a frail scholar who couldn't hurt a fly.
She struggled to connect this awkward old gentleman with the legendary hero who could hold his own against Dark Wizards on the battlefield.
Cordelia suddenly recalled Newt's diagnosis of the Longhorn Dragon hatchling.
"'Wing Membrane Support and Reset Method'!" she blurted out, excitement creeping into her voice. "You said the dislocated shoulder had to be pushed back from a specific direction, and that we must never pull on the wingtip—that's a first-aid technique mentioned in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!"
Gavin found her reaction rather amusing.
He hadn't expected to see her fangirling one day.
Cordelia really did have a soft spot for fantastic beasts.
He wasn't sure when it had started.
She had thumbed through her fantastic beasts textbook until its pages were worn, and the dragon chapter was stuffed with her own notes on their habits.