A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 269 Avery

Recalling the palm-sized Niffler he had just seen, Felix realized that an adult Niffler is at least a foot long.

Newt glanced at him, then peered into the office. Amos's voice sounded exasperated. "Where are those forms?"

"Can you do me a favor?" Newt asked.

"What?" Felix looked at him in surprise.

"I need to feed them some medicine... These three are a bit weak, not as strong as their brothers."

"It would be my pleasure," Felix said after a moment's thought. He noticed a unique quality in the old man, a blend of earnestness and naivety that he had only ever seen in underage children.

"What should I do?"

"Hold me off—yes," Newt said, turning to the side and taking the silver pocket watch from his pocket, then a thumb-sized glass bottle from his other pocket. He unscrewed the cap and found that the cap was attached to a dropper.

"Just three drops..." Newt stared intently at the pocket watch. "I'm going to open it now, Mr. Hyp."

"Click".

The pocket watch cover popped open, and a small black creature immediately darted out, leaping nimbly into Newt's palm—

"Niffler, come here!" Felix whispered. The Niffler fluttered its flat paws, only to find itself flying back in vain and being scooped up in his hand.

"Thank you—it's you again, Warren. You should be almost better now," Newt said, looking at the little guy. Felix's Niffler turned its head away and meowed softly a few times.

“Hey, you can’t talk like that,” Newt said, then he looked up. “You’re holding her a little uncomfortable, Mr. Hyp. Not gripping, I know you’re not using any force—but you’d better be supporting her.”

Felix changed his gesture.

"Great, open your mouth, Valen. You don't want to get sick, do you?" Newt said to Niffler Valen. Niffler reluctantly opened his mouth, and Newt dripped three drops of clear medicine into it.

He then put the little guy back into the pocket watch, but Warren immediately poked half his head out. "Oh, no, no!" Newt tapped his finger on its pink snout and looked into its bright black eyes. "Call your two little brothers out."

The Niffler remained unmoved. Newt tilted his head. "I stand by, Warren."

It grunted reluctantly twice, its pink snout retreating and disappearing. A jumble of noises came from the pocket watch, as if Newt was explaining to Felix, "Their sibling relationship is complicated."

Soon, another sniffler poked out half of its body—although Felix couldn’t tell the difference between them at all.

"Sarl, here you go—" Newt dripped three more drops of the potion into its mouth, "Now it's Thorpe's turn."

When he finished his task, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Newt noticed Felix's gaze and said to him, "Nifflers are lively creatures, very lively. They're affectionate towards people, but of course, I don't recommend keeping one as a pet; it'll ruin your house—"

"Are they also interested in coins?"

“Yeah, they can easily cause trouble if you’re not careful. You can always find a bunch of shiny things on them,” Newt said. “But it’s fun to be around them. You can have a coin-finding contest to see who can find it faster… They also have a very keen sense of smell and can help you find people or old objects.”

Newt suddenly stuffed his pocket watch into his pocket and pretended to straighten the corners of his clothes. Two seconds later, a young man walked out of the office, wearing an exquisite and bright green wizard's robe with a round badge pinned to his chest.

"Mr. Scamander, I heard from Diggory that you were here."

"I feel like I've seen you somewhere before," Newt said.

“That’s right, because I’ve worked here… for several years,” he said, looking up at the sign on the office door. “I’m Mr. McGonagall’s deputy.”

Newt frowned. "The Dangerous Animals Disposal Committee?"

"We are misunderstood, but someone has to do it." The young man suppressed the arrogance in his eyes. "Mr. Scamander, there's some unrest in the Isher Dragon herd in County Antrim. You'd better go and take a look."

Iserlong is a winged horse with a chestnut mane, and along with the Runehorn, Glaling, and Thestrals, it is generally considered to be one of the four most common types of winged horses.

"Oh...no...this isn't mating season..." Newt said, puzzled.

"Who knows what those beasts are thinking?"

Has their leadership changed?

"I don't think so... so I suggest you go and investigate the reason."

"What about the environment?"

"No, not at all."

Newt asked questions earnestly, and the young man struggled to answer them. His words became increasingly brief, and a fine layer of sweat appeared on his forehead. In the end, even Felix, who was not very familiar with Pegasus, could hear the contradictions in his words.

Newt looked the young man in the eye for the first time. "Perhaps... my knowledge tells me you're lying... you want me to get away from here."

The young man awkwardly looked away, but he immediately realized this and forced himself to meet Newt's gaze. "That's a very serious accusation, Mr. Scamander, for a pureblood..."

"Excuse me," Felix couldn't help but interrupt him, "I've always felt your tone of voice was somewhat familiar. Are you Chesterton?"

Chesterton turned to look at Felix, a hint of impatience in his expression. "And who are you? Can't you see us—we—Felix Heap?"

His voice was distorted with excitement.

"It's me, Chesterton," Felix greeted.

The young man, somewhat bewildered, said, "Oh... hello, I don't know..." After a dozen seconds, he finally calmed down and said, "Long time no see, Mr. Haip."

Felix nodded. "It has been a long time indeed. You were my prefect when I entered school, and many of the things you said were very memorable."

"Really... I... I don't quite remember," Chesterton said.

"By the way, what family are you from again?" Felix asked bluntly.

Chesterton muttered something.

"I didn't hear you..." Felix stared into his eyes.

"Yes—cough, Ever—" Chesterton stammered, "Avery."

"You are the head of the Avery family..."

"—Uncle."

This was not a pleasant conversation, at least not for Chesterton. After only a few words, he tried to leave, saying, "Mr. McNeil should need me..."

Felix stared at his retreating figure, while Newt stood quietly to the side, occasionally casting curious glances his way.

At this moment, Amos finally emerged, a few beads of sweat glistening on his flushed face. "These forms haven't been used for years. I dug them out of the previous department head's filing cabinet; a bunch of parasites made their home there—and who are you?"

"Felix Heap, I work at Hogwarts," Felix said.

"My God," Amos's eyes widened, "you're the professor of Ancient Runes and the head of the Duel Club?"

Felix glanced at him curiously. Was this one of his students' parents? He said, "It's me—"

"During the holidays, Cedric mentioned you, Cedric Diggory, he's my son," Amos said excitedly. "The boy is a bit shy, but he speaks highly of you. He told me you gave him a lot of extra guidance in dueling lessons... and the power of your spells, it's truly amazing..."

"Cedric, he is indeed very good, and he is also very good at ancient runes."

"He's also the captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team! I was talking to his mother the other day about whether Seid should join the Ministry of Magic or the national team after graduation... She told me to ask my son's opinion—haha..." Amos went on and on, just like any parent in the world, until a tall man hurriedly walked over from the other side of the corridor.

"Mr. Heap?" the tall man said. "This is Walsh, the one you've been corresponding with. You've finally arrived—"

"What's wrong? I arrived an hour early."

"Minister Fudge is waiting for you," Walsh Sidric said, pulling Felix's arm. "Sorry, Diggory, I have to take your friend with me."

"No, it's nothing, business is more important," Mr. Amos said.

Felixton stopped in his tracks, and Walsh stumbled. "Oh, wait a minute—I have something to say," he said, looking at Newt. "Mr. Scamander, I've also been following Hagrid's case. We can talk about it another time."

Before Newt could speak, Amos interjected, "Is it the 2 PM speech today? You're the Muggle expert the department was talking about? I'll definitely go see it, Mr. Hyp."

Felix smiled at him, then left with Walsh.

Newt said thoughtfully, "A Muggle expert? He's certainly dressed very comfortably."

(End of this chapter)