Mysterious Journey
Chapter 666: Hannah's Troubles
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The Cerberus originates from ancient mythology, dating back to ancient Greece and Egypt.
Unlike Sphinxes and Griffins, magical creatures often hired by ancient wizards to guard treasure, the Cerberus has a closer relationship with wizards. From the time of the Egyptian Pharaohs, hounds have been symbols of power.
As the earliest domesticated animals, the bond between dogs and humans is far stronger and more enduring than with any other creature in the world—this is true in the non-magical world, and even more so in the magical world.
In Newt Scamander's eyes, this large dog living at Hogwarts is as trustworthy as Dumbledore.
"Fluffy? That's quite a good name."
Ignoring Dumbledore's hasty departure and the obscure meaning of his encouragement, Newt Scamander's attention was immediately drawn to the magnificent beast the moment Fluffy revealed his true form.
An adult Cerberus has the intelligence of an eleven or twelve-year-old child, and this Hellhound, awakened by magical blood, is clearly more intelligent than its peers—although Newt hadn't encountered many Cerberuses, he could clearly sense its spirituality from the creature's eyes and movements, as well as the gentle heart beneath its fierce exterior.
Under Fluffy's careful control, the ethereal blue flames surrounding it didn't even damage the lawn.
Newt Scamander succeeded in bringing this quasi-god-level magical creature to the room at the entrance of his underground zoo with minimal effort. The whole process went so smoothly it was almost unbelievable.
Dumbledore, Hagrid, and others had already completed the most difficult part of taming, so he, as a temporary caretaker, naturally had an easy time.
Just as Newt finished cleaning up the living space for his big friend, a magical surge rippled through the space outside the house.
Clearly, Tina and those dangerous little girls had returned.
Gently patting the Cerberus, who was purring contentedly with its eyes closed, Newt Scamander felt a sense of relief and a genuine smile appeared on his face. He was quite satisfied with this reward from Dumbledore.
Perhaps that little demon king had boundless potential, but she was still weak now, and she needed time to grow.
With such a gentle and loyal Hellhound, Newt could finally relax and not worry about his animal companions falling into the hands of Eileen, one night, to become a gift of revenge for Grindelwald.
Everything was starting to get better.
…
"Newt, we're back."
Opening the door to the house, Mrs. Scamander's gaze swept across the living room, and she frowned, asking in confusion.
"Hmm? Did we have a visitor while we were out?"
"Professor Dumbledore stopped by."
Newt Scamander quickly explained, fumbling a bit, and continued with a beaming smile.
"The professor brought a rather rare magical creature, and asked me to look after it for a while. It's a very beautiful big fellow, and has a great personality too. You'll definitely like it, Tina."
"Magical creature? As long as you're happy…"
Tina Scamander shrugged indifferently, turning her head to look at the girls behind her.
"Dears, the bathroom upstairs is very spacious, and the hot water, shower gel, and towels are all ready. You must be exhausted after playing Quidditch all afternoon. Go up and take a shower quickly…"
"Eh?! A big bathroom?!"
Eileen's little ahoge stood up excitedly, instantly throwing the matter of Dumbledore's visit to Newt Scamander's house to the back of her mind—anyway, she had come in peace and friendship, and she wasn't afraid even if she was ratted out.
"That's fantastic! Hannah, Luna, let's go get clean...hehehe..."
"Young people are so great..."
Watching the girls disappear at the end of the stairs, Tina sighed, and then looked at her husband with a complex expression:
"Newt, there might be some things you need to prepare for in advance regarding these children..."
"It's alright, Professor Dumbledore told me everything."
Newt Scamander shook his head dismissively, and replied with a smile.
"No matter how talented those children are, or how deep their family backgrounds are, what does it matter? They're just a bunch of fledglings who've only recently come into contact with magic. They're here to live and learn, so we just need to guide them patiently."
"But they took down half of the national team on their first day..."
"Anyone who can be valued by Dumbledore must have something extraordinary about them. It's normal."
Newt took his wife's hand, patted it gently, and his expression was particularly relaxed.
"Tina, we're both almost a hundred years old. Don't let some small things throw you off. Just treat them like some wary little beasts. Don't worry, everything is under control."
"After dinner, I'll take you to see that new friend in the underground zoo. You've never seen anything like it!"
Newt explained easily, quickly calming the unease in his wife's heart.
"Why don't you go up and check on the children first? After all, it's not convenient for me to ask a group of girls if they need any help while they're taking a bath. I'll prepare the order of introductions for later – it's been so many years since I taught, I'm a little rusty."
Tina Scamander looked at the confidence in Newt's eyes, smiled, and didn't insist.
On second thought, she was indeed a little too worried.
Although the exchange process seemed a little shocking to Tina, from the final results, both Eileen and the members of the England Quidditch National Team had pretty good impressions of each other after a few matches.
By the time of departure, the atmosphere of the entire Quidditch pitch was also very good.
Perhaps, this was the tacit understanding and unique way of communication between Quidditch enthusiasts?
And from another perspective, even Newt Scamander could live in harmony with the most dangerous Hungarian Horntails, living near the dragon's nest for several weeks, closely recording their habits, let alone a few little girls.
…
After Mrs. Scamander left, the smile on Newt's face gradually disappeared.
Although, for some unknown reason, Albus Dumbledore didn't reveal more information about Eileen Kaslana during his second visit, he took the opportunity during the conversation to supplement some information about the other two girls.
Hannah Abbott, a Chaser on the Hogwarts Quidditch freshman team, directly shot down the Slytherin team's Keeper in the last game, and in the form of a person and ball, directly through the goal hoop.
And in the following month, it was rumored that she personally beat up four or five drunk adult wizards in the Leaky Cauldron that her family ran, and dumped them all on the cobbled streets of Diagon Alley to sober up.
Compared to Hannah, who was active in the magical world, Luna Lovegood's information was undoubtedly much more mysterious.
As the only daughter of Xenophilius Lovegood, the editor of *The Quibbler*, her information was more reflected in the changes in her father's social status over the past year than in her own strength—with the expansion of the magazine's business, the area centered on the Lovegood family had now formed a wizarding village certified by the Ministry of Magic.
In the magical world, wizarding employees were not just non-combat units.
If Newt hadn't misunderstood the hints given by Albus Dumbledore, the superpowers and authority possessed by these two little girls were most likely extensions of that little demon king Eileen Kaslana's own power.
In other words, they probably had whatever Eileen had... and it might be even stronger.
"Fortunately, an adult Hellhound is equivalent to three or four teams of elite Aurors..."
Newt let out a light breath. As a Magizoologist, his own magical strength might only account for a small portion of his total strength. As long as he had enough magical animal partners to assist him, he was confident in dealing with any difficulties.
Even Gellert Grindelwald, when facing a combination of magical creatures + wizards, had a headache.
…
At the same time, in the bathroom on the second floor of the treehouse.
Unlike other magical families, the decoration style of Newt's house was actually closer to the style of Hufflepuff House. The familiar yellow and black tones of the bedroom and bathroom made the three girls who had just arrived in a strange environment feel less isolated and uncomfortable.
After playing around like they did at school, the three girls sat on the edge of the bathtub, rubbing bubbles on each other.
"Eileen, you're not really going to eat Newt's Niffler, are you?"
Hannah Abbott skillfully swatted away a paw that was secretly reaching out from behind her.
Fortunately, Luna hadn't followed suit. Back at Hogwarts, the subjects she needed to focus on guarding against, besides Eileen, also included the equally unremarkable Hermione Granger. These two would team up to sneak attacks in the bathroom every time.
"Hmm? Niffler? Of course not now."
Eileen retracted her paw, continued to help Hannah smooth the bubbles on her back with an unchanged expression, and asked in confusion.
"But, Hannah, why would you suddenly ask this question?"
"Luna said she heard you muttering just now—stew that Niffler. Did you say that?"
Hannah shrugged and said seriously, "Eileen, I think Mrs. Scamander is very kind to us, and Newt seems nice too. If we catch and stew the Niffler they raise, they will be very sad."
Compared to Luna, who just treated the sentence as a joke, the iron-headed girl, who had once followed Eileen to "rob" Professor Snape's office, was obviously much more concerned. She knew very well the recklessness hidden in the heart of this white-haired ball of fluff.
Although she often couldn't sort out the logic after the event occurred, according to the "Comprehensive Manual for Responding to the White-Haired Ball of Fluff" compiled by Hermione for her, if she discovered some clues and discussed them with Eileen frankly in advance, then with Eileen's character, she probably wouldn't go against their wishes and mess around without fully convincing them.
"Luna? Um... well, I did say that."
Eileen's face stiffened, and she glanced helplessly at Luna Lovegood, who was spaced out.
As a "dice girl" with almost maxed out congenital inspiration, Luna always had a special talent in capturing strange information that neither science nor magic could fully explain... Fortunately, it seemed that there were no Old Gods in this world.
"However, that's not my idea, it's actually a spell."
Eileen thought for a while, her eyes flickered, and she spread her hands and explained seriously.
"Well, it's just a special spell to open the space in my suitcase... Professor Dumbledore gave me this box, and I don't know why it's set to that phrase. If you don't believe me, you can try it after we take a shower."
"A spell to open the suitcase space? Eh?!"
Hannah was slightly stunned, and the subsequent words got stuck in her mouth.
Eileen raised a finger, looked at the dazed iron-headed girl, and said sincerely.
"That's right, it's the same as the password set for the Gringotts vault door, or the entrance password for the various common rooms in our school. Only by chanting the correct spell can we open the space inside the suitcase."
"Um, but..."
Hannah blinked her eyes, thought for a few seconds, and suddenly raised her head again.
"But Eileen, you still haven't answered whether you will eat Mr. Scamander's Niffler, you were changing the subject just now, right! I won't be fooled by you now! You won't eat the Niffler, will you?"
"That's a good question. Speaking of which, I haven't tasted what a Niffler tastes like..."
Eileen licked her lips lightly, and murmured softly like a demon king.
"Th-Then let's not eat the one Mr. Scamander raises, or..."
*Pfft*—
Glancing at Hannah, whose expression instantly solidified and whose eyes were filled with tension, Eileen couldn't help but burst out laughing, shook her head helplessly, and raised her hands covered in bubbles to pinch Hannah's cheeks, and pulled them hard to both sides.
"Do you think I'm a dragon that's been hungry for ten months? There are so many delicious normal foods, why would I try a Niffler that doesn't look very tasty, even if it's for research, it has to be approved by Newt..."
"But haven't you already taken the Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest..."
"That's different, because they are aggressive to humans."
Eileen shook her head and explained softly.
"I have Professor Dumbledore's and the school professors' permission regarding this... For creatures that may pose a threat to students, if it weren't for their certain edible value, then the only result waiting for them would be to disappear completely from the Hogwarts Forbidden Forest unconditionally."
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*Goo ah~* 4000-word chapter! Seeking monthly tickets! Seeking likes!
Slightly adjusted the sequence of plots and paved the way to avoid some little fat chickens from worrying about whether there will be highly poisonous points in the subsequent plots and values. As long as it does not involve life and death issues, Eileen will not eat for the sake of eating.
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