The Animal Kingdom's Beauty Icon—'Xiao Gang'

The Animal Kingdom's Beauty Icon—'Xiao Gang'

The round-faced boy sitting across from him refused to be outdone and introduced himself. "My name is Neville Longbottom. Just call me Neville. This is my pet, 'Trevor.'"

As he spoke, the chubby boy cupped the toad in both hands and introduced it. Afterward, he nodded vigorously at Bell with the look of one kindred spirit recognizing another, leaving Bell utterly baffled.

Are we even acquainted? And I don't want to know that toad's name at all.

As Bell's gaze shifted toward Neville, 'Trevor' exploded with the fastest speed of its entire toad life, darting into the shadow behind Neville and trembling violently.

'Trevor' had never felt its owner's side to be so safe. It swore it would never plan another escape. To hell with freedom!

It seemed that its near experience of becoming toad paste had left poor 'Trevor' with a psychological shadow it would never shake off. If Neville ever learned what Trevor was thinking, would he thank Bell—or keep a respectful distance from him?

"You can call me Hermione too. Bell, you used magic just now, didn't you? The first spell was Scourgify, right? What was the second spell? Were you born into a wizarding family? Do you know lots of magic? Usually, at home, you..."

(￣△￣;)

Looking at the excited Little Witch before him and listening to her endless stream of questions, Bell felt his head ache.

Azure Heaven! Did Yellow Heaven kill you off? I just wanted some peace and quiet. Is that really so hard!?

Ugh~!

ε=(ο｀*)))

Bell had already lost track of how many times he had sighed today. To deal with the Little Witch's questions, he had no choice but to gather a little more energy—well, by sitting about two centimeters straighter.

"I did use magic just now. The first spell was indeed Scourgify. The second spell is called Whirlwind Sweep; it's quite useful for getting rid of odors. I was born into a wizarding family. I know a fair number of spells, I suppose... Um..."

Bell thought for a moment before asking in resignation, "What was your next question again?"

There was nothing he could do. Bell was completely out of it right now. Under normal circumstances, after hearing something once, there was no way he would forget it anytime soon.

As for now? The fact that he knew she was talking to him was already because the Little Witch was rather cute and reminded him of Shanna. No one should ask too much of him.

Hermione blushed. The moment she finished asking her questions, she realized that her old habit had flared up again in her excitement. Firing off a whole pile of questions in one breath was terribly rude.

But she had not expected Bell to actually answer every single one of them without showing the slightest impatience. Aside from her parents, this was the first time anyone had taken her questions so seriously.

If Bell had known what Hermione was thinking at that moment, he would surely have snorted in disdain.

What were a few questions like these? After all these years, his curiosity-driven little sister had trained his nerves into steel. Even Blue Cat's Three Thousand Whys could no longer stump him.

"Bell, could you demonstrate your magic for me?" Hermione asked expectantly. She desperately wanted to see more magic as soon as possible.

━┳━━┳━

"No! Too much trouble..." Bell slid another two centimeters lower and refused without hesitation.

He did not want to talk right now, much less cast magic. He did not want to do anything at all. He only wanted to quietly be a salted fish.

"I-I'm sorry..."

Seeing the aggrieved Little Witch before him, looking as though she were about to cry, Bell felt as though he were some great villain who had stolen a little girl's lollipop. A tiny bit of guilt arose in his heart.

"Ugh~!"

"Fine, fine. But if you suddenly ask me to perform magic, I don't know what to demonstrate either. Let me think..."

After a moment of silence, Bell took a Fountain Pen from his pocket. Yes, a Fountain Pen. It was already the twentieth century. Bell was not going to use quills like those rigid-minded wizards, was he? How uncool!

Of course, enchanted quills were an exception. Because of their structure, it was easier to cast spells on quills than on Fountain Pens.

A Wand slipped from his sleeve into his hand, and Bell tapped the Fountain Pen with it. The Fountain Pen swiftly transformed into a little owl. For now, let's call it 'Xiao Gang.' After all, even an ugly-to-the-point-of-tears toad had its own name. As the animal kingdom's beauty icon, it would be far too improper for a little owl not to have a name of its own.

Xiao Gang hooted twice, then rose and flew two circles around the compartment. After observing the compartment's surroundings, it finally landed on Hermione's shoulder and rubbed its head against her cheek.

"Hooot~ hooot~"

...

Bell swore that he was absolutely not controlling Xiao Gang to do that. He was a respectable person, truly.

Neville's eyes widened into perfect circles as he stared at Bell in disbelief.

Didn't we agree that we were all bad at using our brains? How did you suddenly become so amazing? You traitor!

Neville felt deceived. This was a vicious lie. His young heart had been deeply wounded, and he could no longer believe in love... Ahem, believe in other people.

Sure enough, everything Grandma had said was true. People outside were treacherous, and an honest person like him could easily be fooled. He had to be doubly careful. Now, only Trevor's damp, cool touch could slightly soothe his wounded heart.

Looking at the little owl perched on her shoulder, Hermione excitedly jumped up from her seat.

"That's amazing! It's absolutely amazing! How did you do it? It was just like Professor McGonagall! Do you know Professor McGonagall? She teaches Transfiguration at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I was born into a Muggle family. When I first received my Acceptance Letter from Hogwarts, Dad and Mom thought it was a prank. Magic simply couldn't exist. Later, Professor McGonagall came to my home to prove that magic was real. She tapped a teacup with her Wand like this, and the teacup turned into a mouse. My whole family was stunned."

Hermione held Xiao Gang up before her eyes and examined it incessantly, even her ears turning red with excitement.

Xiao Gang actually felt just like a real owl! She had always thought that transfigured animals only looked real, like some kind of illusion. She had never expected them to feel genuinely fluffy too. This was wonderful!

Looking at Xiao Gang before her, Hermione quietly grumbled about Professor McGonagall in her heart. They were both women, so why did Professor McGonagall have to transform into a mouse of all things? It had made Hermione too scared to touch it back then.

Σ(°△°|||)︴

...

Suddenly, Hermione seemed to think of something. Her little face rapidly turned from red to white at a visible speed. Even her lips went pale, and cold sweat kept pouring from her forehead.