At the entrance of the library, Kael and Hermione stared at each other, the situation more than a little awkward.
"Sorry…" Hermione said softly.
Just as she slammed the table, Madam Pince happened to finish shelving books and came back.
Like most students who made noise in the library, the two of them were promptly kicked out.
"I don't really mind," Kael shrugged. "I wasn't planning to stay in the library anyway, so it works out… I'm going to find Hagrid. How about you, want to come?"
"No thanks." Hermione thought for a moment and shook her head. "I'm going to go over the Magic Text Books again and make up for all the time I lost before."
"Alright then," said Kael, "But don't forget, don't overuse the Time Turner. Otherwise you'll just end up feeling worse."
"Got it…"
They parted ways at the staircase.
Kael, back on the first floor, went through the entrance hall and made his way across the grounds to Hagrid's hut.
The hut was especially lively today. Besides Conna and her friends, Harry and Ron were there too.
The group was huddled together, chatting excitedly about something.
It wasn't until Kael got closer that he saw there was a nest made of dry grass on the table between them.
Inside the nest lay a creature that looked like a lion cub, except its tail was hooked, just like a scorpion's.
"A Manticore?" Kael exclaimed in surprise.
"I knew you'd recognize it right away," Hagrid said happily. "A few days back, deep in the Forbidden Forest, I found a Manticore in labor. I'm guessing she just arrived recently from somewhere else.
After all, there's never been anything like this in the Forbidden Forest before."
Hagrid was grinning from ear to ear, unable to help himself from poking at the little creature in the nest—even when it bit his finger, he didn't seem to care.
"See how happy it is," Hagrid said with a look of pure delight.
For Hagrid, finding a Manticore in the Forbidden Forest was like stumbling on buried treasure; he'd been so excited he hadn't slept for days, standing watch in the depths of the forest day and night.
The last time he'd been this thrilled was when he became Professor of Care of Magical Creatures.
"So Hagrid, are you planning to bring it to class?" Kael asked.
"Of course not…" Hagrid shook his head vigorously. "A Manticore is a 5X level Fantastic Beast—Professor Dumbledore would never allow it in front of students, not even as a cub."
Kael nodded.
Manticores definitely weren't suited for classroom demonstrations. Even though this one was still small and, at worst, would just bite hard enough to draw some blood, the real problem was there was a full-grown one still out in the Forbidden Forest.
If someone got careless and really pissed it off, and it used a Great Summoning Technique, then things would get real interesting.
Especially with the Slytherins around—they hardly ever listened to Hagrid. Half the trouble in Care of Magical Creatures came from them, and the rest was related to them anyway.
Faced with an angry adult Manticore, even Hagrid wouldn't be able to keep everyone safe.
"I just wanted you all to get a look at it this time…" Hagrid continued, "After all, it's a rare chance. You won't get to see a 5X Fantastic Beast cub anywhere else."
At that, Kael raised his eyebrows.
Well, that's not quite true. He'd not only seen them, he'd delivered them.
The little Nundu cubs in Newt's Box all treated him with utmost respect—they were this close to calling him 'Uncle'.
And back in Romania, he'd watched a nest of Hungarian Horntails hatch from their eggs.
Not that he ever mentioned any of this.
"Hagrid, can I touch it?" Ron asked eagerly, "Please, just once?"
"No, Ron." Hagrid said sternly. "I just told you, you can only stand there—it's fine if you want to get closer, but you absolutely cannot touch it. This is for your own safety."
"Alright." Ron pouted, feeling a pang of disappointment.
This was a 5X Fantastic Beast! If he could touch one, he'd have something to boast about for ages.
After the whole Black breaking into Gryffindor dorm incident, Ron was the center of attention for days—he'd never gotten more attention than Harry before in his life.
And he really enjoyed that feeling.
But now everyone cared more about the gossip around Professor Lupin, and no one wanted to hear his stories of adventure anymore.
"But Hagrid…" Conna asked curiously, "Didn't you say in your letter you wanted us to help pick which Magical Creature to show in class?"
"Oh, that was just to give you a little surprise. Actually, I've already chosen the Magical Creatures for class."
Hagrid smiled, "Fire Crabs and Air-Winged Birds—both of them are babies. If you want to see, they're in the hut.
Just make sure you close the door when you go in—Manticores' scent scares them."
No one moved… All eyes stayed on the small creature in the nest.
Fire Crabs and Air-Winged Birds could wait—there was no rush.
Just then, Kael suddenly felt someone poking his shoulder. He turned to see it was Hagrid, who jerked his chin, signaling Kael to come over.
Kael had no idea what was going on, but followed him to the open space on the other side of the hut.
"What's up?" Kael asked.
"Oh, it's like this…" Hagrid said awkwardly, "The other day I overheard some Slytherins saying you were selling Fire Dragon teeth. You still got any?"
"Sure do." Kael nodded; he had plenty of those.
"Can I buy some from you?" Hagrid said quietly, taking out a cloth bag and putting it in Kael's hand. "Professor Dumbledore gave me a special professor's salary—see how much this'll get me."
The bag was heavy, probably holding a few hundred Galleons.
Hagrid didn't have much to spend on food or board, maybe just a few pints of Honey Wine at Three Broomsticks or the Hog's Head Pub. The rest of his money just sat here.
"No problem… Just wait a minute." Kael ran into Hagrid's hut and shut the door.
When he came back out, he had another bag in his hand.
"Two Fire Dragon teeth from each breed, and matching Dragon Scales."
Kael handed everything to Hagrid, including the original Galleon bag.
"You got it wrong," Hagrid said. "These Galleons are for you."
"Come on, Hagrid," Kael laughed, waving it off. "I'm not taking your money."
"No way!" Hagrid shook his head and insisted, "I heard them say you brought all this back from Romania. If you won't accept payment, then I won't take the stuff!"
With that, Hagrid gritted his teeth and pushed everything back to Kael.
...