Care of Magical Creatures

"When did you get so close to people from Ravenclaw?"

Watching Amon return to his seat in a crouch, carrying two bowls of Four-Fruit Soup, Bernard felt somewhat puzzled.

Uther thought back for a moment.

"Adam seems to be interested in those rather strange Ravenclaws. He was also quite close with that Ravenclaw girl last year."

"You mean Luna? Are my relationships with them really that good…? Maybe just a little better than with ordinary classmates."

Adam thought for a moment.

"Rather than strange, I’d say they possess powerful intuition. That’s what attracts me."

The intuition he meant here was not creative inspiration, but the ability to perceive the Spirituality Dimension. Both Luna and Amon possessed it.

However, from what Adam had observed so far, Amon was better than Luna at balancing the boundary between reality and spirituality. So although he was somewhat unusual as well, at least he did not appear quite as… unconventional as Luna.

Klon froze. "Intuition… so he really can tell fortunes?"

He had always treated that upright Chariot card as a joke and a blessing.

"I can’t guarantee that he definitely can’t, but when he read for me before, it was mostly based on magic tricks."

Those who could perform divination certainly possessed powerful intuition, but those with powerful intuition could not necessarily perform divination.

They did not discuss Adam’s friendships with Ravenclaws for long. After a mysterious opening speech, Professor Trelawney began her lesson. The few who did not think they could learn anything listened while eating their Four-Fruit Soup, and the class passed quite pleasantly.

At lunch, the entire third-year Hufflepuff cohort fell into a state of excitement.

That afternoon, their senior Newt would be teaching them!

"Adam, do you know what Senior Newt will teach us this afternoon?"

As a teaching assistant, Adam had naturally been targeted by his classmates early on. Klon and Eugene in particular had been waiting for Adam to return from Newt’s office and reveal a little in advance.

If they could make thorough preparations before class, they would surely leave a good impression on Senior Newt—no, Professor Scamander.

"Uh…"

Adam, who had indeed learned the afternoon’s lesson content beforehand, pondered for a long while before speaking.

"Since it’s the first class, you’d better not set your expectations too high."

"Ah?"

Klon and Eugene exchanged bewildered looks, unable to understand why Adam would say that.

Could Professor Scamander’s lesson just be reciting from the textbook, making it actually quite boring?

Impossible! Senior Newt was not that kind of person!

Adam offered no further explanation for their confusion. They would find out that afternoon.

Although Adam’s words at noon had been somewhat ambiguous, when Klon and Eugene actually saw Professor Scamander outside the Forbidden Forest, they could not help growing excited.

"Hello, everyone. I’m your new professor this year… Let’s begin class."

The exceedingly dry opening did nothing to dampen everyone’s enthusiasm. Newt sighed in relief and made the same motion he had made during the previous lessons and while preparing this class—he took out a cage covered with cloth, then removed the black covering.

"This is a Scorpiontail cub…"

As Professor Scamander spoke, he reached through the cage bars to tease the little creature inside. When it raised its claws, he swiftly pulled his hand back and smiled faintly at everyone.

"Cute, isn’t it?"

Seeing the bright-red little creature in the cage, the students all nodded. Only a few young wizards who knew a great deal about Scorpiontails wore strange expressions.

The Scorpiontail, fully known as the manticore Scorpiontail, was classified as a beast by the Ministry of Magic, with a danger rating of XXXXX from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures—on the same level as dragons, Acromantulas, and basilisks.

Their cubs were indeed about as large as an adult’s palm, but they were carnivorous and often appeared in groups. Individual Scorpiontails lived alone after reaching adulthood. Their bodies exceeded a hundred meters in length, and their many agile auxiliary limbs, along with several body-length tails capable of spraying fireballs, meant they had absolutely no natural predators.

Even dragons would not include such powerful creatures, whose danger level was not much lower than their own, on their menu!

Setting down the cage, Professor Scamander began explaining Scorpiontails to the class. He went into great detail, even adding one of his own experiences.

"I once saw an adult Scorpiontail in Germany. My family and I nearly lost our lives then. We only escaped thanks to some special means…"

He took a piece of raw meat from Adam and placed it outside the cage. The baby Scorpiontail darted out its claws with astonishing speed, clamped the meat, and dragged it inside. Then it rapidly shredded the meat into strips with its mouthparts and devoured it cleanly.

"As you can see, even as cubs, Scorpiontails are still highly aggressive and dangerous. And there are quite a few magical creatures like this in nature."

As he spoke, Professor Scamander looked solemnly at everyone.

"So, when encountering dangerous magical creatures in the wild, how to protect yourselves becomes an extremely important subject."

"I believe that every student who chose this elective carries love in their heart for these spirits of nature. Perhaps you think Care of Magical Creatures ought to teach you how to care for magical creatures, but as a magical creature expert…"

Calling himself that made Professor Scamander blush with embarrassment, but he continued nonetheless.

"I must warn you all that the prerequisite for protecting magical creatures is having the ability to protect yourselves at the same time. Moreover, blind love without any foundation of professional knowledge cannot protect magical creatures. Instead, it may cause them even greater harm… This comes from my own experience!"

"So, Professor Scamander, are we taking a Charms class today?"

The speaker was a Ravenclaw. Adam remembered that his name was Michael Corner.

Such an impolite remark naturally drew a wave of less-than-friendly stares, but Professor Scamander did not mind at all and simply shook his head.

"Oh! Of course not. That is Professor Flitwick’s job, isn’t it? What I will teach you is how to use knowledge of magical creatures to dispel their hostility toward you and let them feel your goodwill."

Professor Scamander held out his hand, and Adam cooperatively handed him his textbook. Holding Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Professor Scamander said,

"I trust that all of you have read my humble work to some extent."

The young wizards below could not help laughing.

Although he had seen this scene more than once, Professor Scamander still could not help feeling confused. What exactly was so funny about that sentence?

Adam raised a hand and pressed at the corner of his mouth.

There had originally been nothing funny about that line, but their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor from last year had loved saying it too. He wondered how that man was getting along with the Dementors now.

Unlike Lockhart, Newt was genuinely brilliant. Published under the Ministry of Magic’s lead, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was practically the most authoritative popular guide to magical creatures in the Wizarding World—worldwide. It described the habits, habitats, care methods, and other information for a total of seventy-five magical creatures in detail.

Ever since the book’s first edition, the Care of Magical Creatures textbook at Hogwarts had never changed—the latest edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

"I will use the contents of this book to teach you how to begin with their habits and safely approach these adorable magical creatures."

At those words, everyone’s eyes lit up. Then they saw Professor Scamander raise both hands.

"Come on, everyone, imagine with me that you are a Scorpiontail…"