Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 393 Blasttail and Niffler
Thankfully, the scenario Harry feared didn't happen.

There were no Hungarian bees in the fenced-off enclosure; in fact, there was nothing there at all—it was just an ordinary open space.

Next to it was a large cardboard box filled with many furry black creatures with long noses and flat, webbed front paws, which were quite peculiar.

“These are Nifflers,” Hagrid said. “They’re usually found in mines. They like shiny things… So before this lesson begins, I must remind you to keep a close eye on your jewelry and coins, lest they steal them… Be careful, Miss Brown.”

A sniffling spotted the glittering butterfly hair clip on Lavender Brown's head. While Hagrid was speaking, it had already unknowingly circled behind everyone, one of its front paws hanging on the hem of Lavender's school uniform.

Lavender was startled and cried out, taking two steps back... but that was all.

Perhaps it was because Sniffle didn't look scary; she was more surprised that she hadn't sensed the little guy's movements at all.

If Hagrid hadn't reminded her, Niffler probably would have climbed all the way up to her head.

“It’s a very useful little treasure hunter, but it can sometimes cause some headaches,” Hagrid said. “But today you can all have a lot of fun. I’ve hidden a lot of things in this area. Each of you pick a Niffler and see who finds the most.”

Everyone was already impatient. As soon as Hagrid finished speaking, they swarmed to the box and began to seriously select the Nifflers they thought were the most motivated.

Xilun dawdled at the back, waiting until everyone else had finished choosing before taking the last one.

In the later stages, he simply let the Niffler do as it pleased, while he quietly returned to Hagrid's cabin and opened another box.

Because of the previous experience, this time the blasting snail grew much faster than before, reaching five feet in length in just a few months, and its shell turned a grayish-white color with sharp spikes.

As luck would have it, just as he opened the box, he saw a blasting snail suddenly flick its tail and blast off the neck of one of its kind next to it.

The disgusting slime splattered everywhere, but luckily Xilun reacted quickly and blocked it with a lid.

"Clang." A fist found a grayish-white carapace that fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

In the spirit of not wasting anything, Xilun picked it up and rubbed the remaining slime off on the ground.

"Sirlen, what are you doing here?" Hagrid's voice came from behind.

"Let me take a look." Xiren turned around, but forgot that he was still holding a shell in his hand.

"If I said I found it, would you believe me?"

“Of course I would believe it,” Hagrid said, as he walked over and poured a lot of something that looked like Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans into the box.

However, Xilun knew that it definitely wasn't candy.

“I made it myself, and I really like fried snails,” Hagrid said. “Actually, they’ve started to develop a sense of territory now, and they’ll attack each other. They’ll only be quiet for a while when they’re full.”

"I originally planned to send them into the Forbidden Forest after this class."

They've started attacking each other?

Xilun's eyes lit up. This was truly good news, and the size and color of these blasting-tailed snails perfectly met the requirements for making the core.

"Hagrid, can I come see them often?"

“Hmm…” Hagrid didn’t answer immediately, and after a few seconds he said helplessly, “Listen to me, Siron, your tone is too obvious. You just want their shells.”

“That’s just the main reason,” Celen said. “I really like these little cuties now.” “Forget it,” Hagrid shook his head and said, “Your most important thing right now is to prepare well for the last event of the Triwizard Tournament. I’ll send what you need to the castle. But one thing, I’ll only pick up the shells of the dead Blasttails.”

“That’s enough.” Xiren nodded happily.

There were about a dozen blasting snails in the box. Given their ferocity, even if they were placed in the larger Forbidden Forest, about half of them would die.

What's more, there's still the first batch of blasting snails there; they're much bigger and more irritable than these in front of us.

"Alright, now hurry back to class." Hagrid urged impatiently, "I went to great lengths to come up with such an interesting class, it would be a real shame to miss it."

Siren was driven back to the paddock by Hagrid, still holding that grayish-white shell in his hand.

Hagrid was right, this lesson was indeed very interesting.

What he hid in the paddock was actually a hundred goblin coins, the kind that the Irish team's mascot threw down during their celebration at the Quidditch World Cup.

It looks exactly like a Galleon, but it disappears after a few hours.

However, the others were unaware of this, and everyone became excited when the first gold coin was found by the Niffler and handed to the classmate who had released it.

Everyone was so engrossed in finding the gold coins that no one noticed that Xilun had left for a while.

Apart from the Niffler that Siron chose.

Upon seeing him return, the little guy rushed over immediately, rummaging through the pockets on his stomach with both hands.

One by one, gold coins fell out and clattered onto Xilun's legs.

This surprised Xiren somewhat; he hadn't expected the Niffler to be so... well-behaved.

Shouldn't they be trying their best to hide those shiny gold coins? Or is this just how most Nifflers are?

Xiren looked at the gold coins on his leg, and at the Sniffler who couldn't wait to jump into the paddock again.

These amazing creatures are not uncommon, and there are quite a few of them. It's actually quite normal to have a few outliers.

Incidentally, Nifflers aren't really suitable for making cane cores, which may be related to their natural preference for shiny things.

This fondness has become an instinct for the Niffler. Just as a wand made from unicorn tail hair naturally repels dark magic, wands made from Niffler fur are extremely unstable and are often affected by other factors.

When the class ended, Ron was the winner, and he received about thirty gold coins. Hagrid gave him a large piece of Honeydukes chocolate as a reward.

“Hagrid, can I buy one as a pet?” Ron asked, his face flushed.

Having just returned from Hogsmeade, he had no shortage of candy, but he lacked a good helper to search for gold coins in the dirt.

“Your mother won’t be happy,” Hagrid shook his head. “They’ll destroy the house, and most of the time, people don’t drop gold coins on the ground.”

……

(End of this chapter)