The White Shadow Appears

That white-furred beast had never left the kitchen.

Xuanling spent ages gesturing to Cedric. The two of them couldn't exactly have a complicated conversation, but between the wing-flapping and the puffed-up feathers, Xuanling got the point across.

The question was, how were they supposed to catch it?

Whatever that thing was, Cedric still hadn't recognized it, and it clearly still had its sights set on Xuanling.

Every feather on Xuanling's body stood on end, turning the crow into a fluffy little ball. It was rather adorable.

Cedric led Xuanling out of the kitchen and headed for his room.

Xuanling was a bundle of nerves the whole way, its head swiveling back and forth, terrified that something would spring from a corner and swallow it whole.

Once inside, Cedric set the trembling Xuanling beside the cage and deliberately left its little door open.

At the sight of that, Xuanling nearly lost its mind. It cawed wildly and reached out with a claw to pull the cage door shut.

Cedric ignored it. After fiddling with something, he placed a button beside the cage and turned toward the windowsill.

A pure-white, furry head silently poked up through a crack in the floorboards.

The Niffler crouched there, its round little eyes darting about. It glanced at Cedric, who was busy doing something by the windowsill, then turned its head and fixed its gaze on Xuanling in the cage.

It crept across the floor toward the cage. Its white fur stood out starkly, yet it made no sound at all, as though it weren't there.

Xuanling could feel danger bearing down on it, but no matter how hard it stared, it couldn't spot the white shape slowly approaching.

The Niffler reached the underside of the table and dropped the pretense. It sprang straight toward the cage, trying to force its way in and carry Xuanling off in its jaws.

Xuanling let out a shriek of sheer panic.

The button beside the cage twisted sharply and swelled in the blink of an eye, becoming a Biting Cabbage.

Biting was in its nature. The instant it sensed a living creature brush past, it snapped at the Niffler's hind leg.

The Niffler was clever and lightning-fast, but it hadn't expected a Biting Cabbage beneath its feet. The thing clamped down hard on its hind leg.

The Niffler's heart sank. It tried to dive into the floor, but the Biting Cabbage refused to let go. Even its ability to pass through all sorts of materials couldn't drag that stubborn cabbage along.

That brief delay was enough to seal the Niffler's fate.

A hand deftly seized it by the scruff of its neck.

"Oh, a... ferret?" Cedric held up the dazzlingly white Niffler. That familiar animal was the first thing that came to mind.

The Eye of Insight promptly revealed what it really was.

[Niffler]

Hunting Level: 12

Special Abilities: Scent Concealment C, Material Traversal B

Ingredient Traits: Tender Meat, Pungent Odor, Mana-Rich E-

Hunting level usually correlated with combat ability, but sometimes it reflected a creature's overall capabilities.

Cedric, for example, had learned every spell a first-year at Hogwarts was expected to know and had a hunting level of 14. But he hadn't learned a single offensive spell; his magic accounted for most of that number.

The level-12 Niffler, on the other hand, had abilities geared entirely toward hiding. That was why it was so easy to subdue.

But when it came to using Fantastic Beasts as ingredients, fighting ability didn't matter. The higher the level, the more enhancement points he would gain from eating one.

"Niffler?" Cedric turned the name over in his mind, but nothing came to him. He went to look it up in a book.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, by Newman Scamander, was on the required reading list for first-years.

Care of Magical Creatures didn't begin until third year, but first-years still had to have the book for supplementary reading.

Cedric found the Niffler entry after only a few pages. The book even included an enlarged close-up of the little creature.

"Hm. A Fantastic Beast that can't be bought or sold. Interesting. How did something like that end up at the Leaky Cauldron?" Cedric's eyes curved into a smile, and an outrageously comical expression spread across his face.

Whoever had lost a creature they weren't allowed to sell certainly wouldn't dare make a fuss.

He didn't know who the owner was, either. Making a big show of looking for them would be a waste of time.

So...

Cedric looked down at the Niffler thrashing desperately in his hand. His grip was stronger than an ordinary adult's, and the little creature was about the size of a common ferret. It had no hope of breaking free.

Noticing Cedric's gaze, the little creature tipped its face up and put on a pitiful expression with uncanny skill.

"Let me go, you idiot!" the Niffler cursed. The words couldn't have been more at odds with its pitiful little face.

Cedric's expression stiffened. He checked the book's description again.

"You can speak human language, but you can't actually speak human language, is that it?" Cedric gave a cold laugh and stared at the creature in his hand.

"What're you looking at, dumbass?" The Niffler kept pushing its luck.

Cedric's smile turned colder still.

He had no idea who owned the little creature, but since it had dared set its sights on his pet, surely there was nothing wrong with him setting his sights on it.

It certainly wasn't because of its filthy mouth.

Whoever its owner was, they were bound to be hiding somewhere, afraid of causing trouble. He might as well take the creature off their hands and spare them the burden.

It was only fair to return the favor.