Lunch was already half over in the Great Hall.
At the Ravenclaw table, a brown-haired boy kept glancing up at the owl windows high above the ceiling. The soup in his spoon had gone cold, but he hadn't noticed.
The classmate beside him gave him a nudge. "Anthony, you've been staring at the ceiling for ten minutes. Is there gold up there?"
"More important than gold," Anthony said without looking away.
Whoosh—
A brown owl swooped in through one of the windows, circled once above the hall, then dove straight toward the Ravenclaw table.
Anthony's eyes lit up. He dropped his spoon and sat up straight.
The owl landed neatly on the table in front of him, a neatly wrapped square package clutched in its talons.
The package wasn't huge, but it was thick. Thick brown paper tied with a neat cross of twine, sealed with a wax stamp.
After setting the package down, the owl tilted its head at Anthony and gave a soft coo, tapping its claws impatiently on the table like it was urging him to open it already.
"Thanks. You've earned it, Belle."
Anthony grabbed a piece of bread from the table, broke it into crumbs, and fed them to the owl.
The bird pecked happily, took a few sips from the nearest goblet, then flapped its wings and flew off through the special owl entrance.
Anthony's full attention was already on the package.
The label read: Anthony Goldstein.
Judging by the shape and thickness, he had a pretty good idea what was inside.
He tore through the wrapping with impatient fingers, layer after layer.
Beneath the brown paper was waterproof wax paper, then soft cloth. He carefully peeled away the final layer—
A book.
The green cover showed a Hippogriff with wings spread wide, looking so lifelike it might leap off the page at any moment. Its feathers shimmered with shifting colors in the light, and its eyes seemed to stare straight at whoever opened the book.
The title gleamed in gold lettering that caught the candlelight perfectly—
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Anthony's face lit up with pure joy. He ran his fingers over the cover, tracing the title, and whispered to himself, "Finally—the fifty-third edition!"
Like so many young wizards, Anthony was a devoted fan of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and idolized its author, Newt Scamander.
But Anthony Goldstein had an extra connection. He and Tina Goldstein—Newt's wife—were distant relatives. Same last name. Growing up hearing stories about them had only made him admire Newt even more.
So Anthony had made his parents promise: the moment Newt released a new edition, they were to owl it straight to him at school.
He flipped the book open and skimmed past the preface.
He already knew most of the old content by heart.
The real treasure was always the new entries—or the old ones that had been heavily updated.
He went straight to the table of contents.
His finger slid down the page and stopped on one line: Acromantula.
One of his favorite magical creatures—deadly venom, massive size, complex social structure. Everything about them fascinated him.
He turned to the right page and began reading eagerly.
"An Acromantula's venom output is directly tied to its feeding cycle. Hunger significantly increases venom concentration…" He muttered the words under his breath. "During breeding season, females release a special pheromone to attract mates. The scent can carry for hundreds of meters…"
Anthony couldn't help but think: To get data this detailed, someone must have observed Acromantulas up close for a long time.
Being able to get that near their nests… Newt really was as brave and brilliant as ever. No wonder he was the greatest magizoologist alive.
He kept reading.
"…Acromantulas have established a large colony within the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts. According to observations, the nest is located deep in the forest near…"
Anthony's eyes froze on the page.
He read the line again, convinced he'd misread it.
"Acromantulas have established a large colony within the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts."
No way. Since when were there Acromantulas living in the Forbidden Forest? And a large colony? Weren't these things extremely dangerous?
Their venom could kill a full-grown elephant in under a minute!
Anthony blinked. So… including him, every Hogwarts student had been living right next door to a huge nest of giant, venomous spiders this whole time?
A chill ran down his spine. He swallowed hard and kept reading, feeling slightly dazed.
Thankfully, Acromantulas rarely left their territory, and Hogwarts' protective boundaries kept them from getting anywhere near the castle.
He finished the entire Acromantula chapter, turning pages much more slowly than usual.
His eyes drifted to the bottom of the page—where a small line of text sat in tiny print:
(Special thanks to Lucien Grafton for providing data on Acromantula venom secretion cycles, breeding-season nesting behavior, and juvenile growth rates, allowing for a far more precise entry.)
Wait. Thanks to who?
Anthony's mouth fell open. Had he just read his own classmate's name?
Lucien Grafton.
Same name, same person? What were the odds?
Suddenly a memory from not long ago flashed through his mind.
Anthony sat bolt upright and flipped frantically back through the pages until he reached the acknowledgments at the very front.
He scanned the lines of thanks, searching for that familiar name.