A busy morning

Naturally, Brian heard Hagrid's quiet muttering.

He realized that only he could see the words on the title page, and could not help silently grumbling about whoever had left them. Since they had found the time to encourage a successor like him, why couldn't they have left a few more clues?

Asking someone to do something while keeping everything under wraps-Brian roundly condemned such appalling behavior.

Besides that, Brian discovered that although the book did not look particularly large, and its binding used neither metal nor stone, it was remarkably heavy in his hands. He estimated that it weighed nearly ten kilograms. Perhaps this absurd weight was a reminder to its readers not to neglect their exercise.

Brian smiled at the book. "Maybe you should watch your weight."

He tried turning more pages. The page glowing green had piqued his interest, but the book suddenly snapped itself shut.

"What's wrong?" Startled, Brian tried to open it again.

But the book locked itself firmly shut, refusing to let him open it, then hopped into the pocket of his wizarding robes without a word. Brian sagged under its weight. Fortunately, the robes Dumbledore had given him were well made; even the thin pocket could bear the book's weight.

"Are you sulking? Just because I said you were too heavy?" Brian laughed despite himself and reached in to take the book out, but a strange force suddenly pushed his hand away as soon as it entered his pocket. The book clearly did not want him touching it right now.

"I'm sorry. I was wrong." Brian had no choice but to apologize sincerely and reach into his pocket again. This time, the force repelling him was weaker, but the book apparently had not forgiven him yet and still refused to come out.

"You ought to get it a present to apologize," Hagrid said, looking at Brian with mild reproach. "It's been in that chest for so many years. Obviously, it didn't eat itself fat. It must be terribly upset now."

Brian did not doubt the book's intelligence in the slightest. He readily accepted Hagrid's criticism and said thoughtfully, "You're right, Hagrid. Perhaps I should check Flourish and Blotts for something to look after books with. I hope it'll forgive me."

Just then, Mr. Fosco approached with a complicated expression, carrying the chest in one hand and holding an envelope in the other. "Gentlemen, that book wasn't the only thing in the chest. There was also a letter my father left. I'm going to open it with my mother."

"Of course. That's your right, Mr. Fortescue." Brian could tell that Fortescue wanted to go home immediately. "Then Hagrid and I will be off. If there's anything about your father in this book, I'll come straight here to tell you."

"Thank you, Brian, thank you! Oh, take the chest with you. It isn't the right weight to counterbalance the buckets anymore, and I think that book is rather attached to it."

Fortescue was right. As soon as Brian took the chest, the book jumped into it from his pocket and slammed the lid tightly shut, like a sulky puppy refusing to make up with its owner.

"I need to go to Flourish and Blotts right away," Brian said, holding the chest.

"No time to lose!" Hagrid pulled Brian along.

When Brian emerged from Flourish and Blotts, he had acquired a new-model quill, an elegant brush, and a fluffy wand used to play with The Monster Book of Monsters. Its fluff came from a magical creature called a Puffskein.

The quill was a present for Madam Pince, while the brush and fluffy wand were for the book. He still did not know whether they would be any use. The book refused to open the chest, and he could not find any other book-care tools.

At first, the shop assistant told Brian, "Sir, books don't need any special care. They prefer to bear signs of being read. Those are badges of honor, proof of the long years they've spent with you."

"But my book won't let me open it now," Brian said hesitantly. "Perhaps I should find it a friend. Do you have any books that aren't afraid of being bitten by other books? Preferably something with a bit of intelligence?"

"Bitten? Do you mean The Monster Book of Monsters? They bite people, but I don't know whether they're afraid of being bitten."

The shop assistant seemed to recall some unpleasant memories.

"I must say, those books aren't suitable pets. Every employee who's ever worked in a bookshop hates their author."

Hagrid patted the assistant's shoulder in disbelief. "Why? Aren't books that bite fun?"

"Fun...?" Out of professional courtesy, the assistant reluctantly nodded. "I suppose they are, in a way."

"Exactly! I'll take a copy of that Monster Book of Monsters you mentioned," Hagrid said cheerfully.

"...Thank you for your custom." Looking utterly miserable, the assistant put on a pair of thick gloves before going into the storeroom to fetch the book.

Brian faintly heard his screams.

Apparently, working in a bookshop was a fairly dangerous occupation in the wizarding world, too.

By the time they reached Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, Hagrid had completely tamed his newly purchased Monster Book of Monsters. Along the way, he had shown Brian how to subdue the book with a single finger as it tried to attack every living creature around it indiscriminately.

"You just run your finger down its spine!" Hagrid said happily.

That tiny gesture dispelled all the Monster Book of Monsters' aggression, leaving it as docile as a little rabbit.

"Would you like to come out and let me stroke your back?" Brian asked the book inside the chest.

The chest rocked a little. The book was probably indicating that it would not be won over so easily.

"Darling, try this one!"

Madam Malkin's eyes lit up the moment she saw Brian, and she eagerly had him try on one set of dress robes or traveling robes after another. Each was more expensive than the last, with the most expensive costing a staggering five hundred Galleons.

"They're too expensive. I can't afford them." Brian tried to stop Madam Malkin with the strongest argument he had.

To his surprise, Madam Malkin clapped her hands delightedly. "Wonderful, darling. If you'll finish trying on these robes and let me take a few photographs, you can choose two from over there at ninety percent off."

Brian glanced in the direction she indicated. The robes there cost around fifty Galleons each, which meant they would be five Galleons after the discount. Faced with an offer like that, he could find no reason to refuse.

Meanwhile, Hagrid suddenly decided to return to Flourish and Blotts to buy another Monster Book of Monsters so the one in his hands would not be lonely, which would take quite some time.

And so Brian agreed to Madam Malkin's terms and obediently followed her series of instructions: putting on glasses, changing hats, tying a bow tie, wearing two pairs of socks, and more. Finally, he forced a smile for the camera and had his eyes dazzled by the flash several times.

In his daze, he heard the Flourish and Blotts assistant's screams again.

Having got what she wanted, Madam Malkin generously decided not to charge Brian, asking him to do something instead:

"I hope you'll pass on a message to the lady who did your makeup. If she doesn't dislike pure-blood supremacists too much, she's welcome to come to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions anytime. The pay is astonishing, you know. Some pure-blood wizards would even do something as foolish as throwing Galleons into the water for the sake of appearances!"

"I'll pass on the message, madam." Holding two practical, plain-colored robes, Brian cast a discreet glance at the wooden chest beside him. The book clearly had little interest in the job.

"That shop assistant was very strange. He made me confirm three times that I really wasn't going to buy another Monster Book of Monsters before he let me leave," Hagrid complained to Brian upon returning from Flourish and Blotts. "Maybe you'd like to have a look at the Magical Menagerie?"

There, Brian met the creature that supplied the fluff for his fluffy wand: a Puffskein. It was practically a warm ball of fur, utterly adorable, but the shop assistant warned him to be very careful of its poisonous tongue.

He also greeted a Transfiguration Rabbit that could turn into hats and glasses. When he turned his head, he spotted a tortoise with gems embedded in its shell angrily putting its head to work, suddenly ramming another tortoise onto its back.

The shop also had ravens, owls, Kneazles... Only when Brian noticed the glossy black rats enjoying their lunch did he realize it was already noon.

"Is it really only noon?" Brian mentally reviewed the pile of things that had happened that morning and spent a moment silently wondering whether time flowed much more slowly in the wizarding world than in the Muggle world.

He and Hagrid enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Leaky Cauldron: steaks, bread, thick tomato soup, and craft beer that tasted best chilled even in winter. He also asked Tom to send Dumbledore a bottle of freshly bottled mead.

As he and Hagrid stepped out of the public Floo Network fireplace in Hogsmeade, something suddenly occurred to him. He should have taken his wand to Mr. Ollivander for a look. He still did not know what it was made of, though it certainly was not wood.

Brian hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Is Mr. Ollivander likely to suddenly disappear?"

Hagrid thought about it. "Not very likely. Ministry of Magic staff patrol Diagon Alley every day."

So Brian decided to put that matter aside. For now, he needed to try to coax the angry book out of its sulk and investigate what was written inside it. He also planned to start learning spells that very day. The shattered drum was still waiting for him in the sack.