In the dead of night, Hogwarts was especially silent. Dotted lights shone inside the castle—those were from the house common rooms.
Some energetic students always clung to their games of Exploding Snap or Wizard Chess until the early morning hours before reluctantly returning to their dormitories.
Outside the castle, a bright full moon hung in the sky.
In the moonlight, two figures—one tall, one short—were sneaking past the Whomping Willow, not making even the slightest sound.
"Kael, it's not too late to turn back now…"
Newt Scamander, walking in front, couldn't help saying, "You're a student, you're not allowed to wander at night. If any of the professors catch us, you'll be expelled."
"Do you even hear yourself…" grumbled Kai from the back, not in the mood.
He had only written Newt a letter to ask how to deal with a Manticore. Who'd have thought he'd show up that very night, and even sneak into Hufflepuff's dormitory with a Disillusionment Charm?
Kai had just been about to go to sleep when suddenly he heard Newt's voice. At first, he thought he was imagining it.
Never expected it to be real.
Kai almost wanted to report those Dementors…letting anyone in, how unprofessional!
"I just came to ask if there's a Manticore in the Forbidden Forest… I didn't ask you to sneak out at night." Newt said, "You're the one who insisted on tagging along. If you get expelled, that's not my fault."
"Anyone would come along for something like this…" Kai muttered, "And it's just a night stroll, even if we're caught, there's no way they'd expel me."
The two of them made their way toward Hagrid's hut.
"Should we go around?" Kai asked. "There's a dog here, a bloodhound. If we go any closer, it'll definitely pick up our scent."
"No need."
Newt took out a small bottle, opened it, and waved it around himself a few times, then handed it to Kai.
"This is Patok Butterfly Flower pollen. It's really good at masking your scent."
Kai took it and, imitating Newt, waved it over himself a few times, then very naturally slipped the bottle into his pocket.
Running off to the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night—he had to collect a tour guide fee, right? And this pollen wasn't bad at all.
Newt waited for ages but never saw Kai return the bottle. He finally turned his head, exasperated: "You…"
"Shh. Keep your voice down. Fang's ears are sharp too," Kai whispered. "If we keep going, we'll hit the path Hagrid often takes into the Forbidden Forest. It's much flatter than the rest."
Seeing the look on Kai's face, Newt realized his pollen was probably gone for good, and just sighed helplessly.
Forget it; even though that was most of it, he still had a little bottle left in his case—enough to get by.
The two tiptoed past Hagrid's wooden hut. It was completely dark inside, and Hagrid's snores could be heard loud and clear.
After entering the Forbidden Forest, they continued on for a while…
Once Hagrid's hut was completely out of sight, Kai finally relaxed and looked curiously at Newt, asking the question that had been bothering him all along: "Why did you come to Hogwarts—for the Manticore?"
"Sort of." Newt replied, "And the Three-Headed Dog…
Actually, ever since Dobby showed up, my work's gotten much easier. Things that used to take all day now only take a few hours.
So I'm planning to update Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. But only having the Basilisk is too monotonous… and just then, I got your letter."
"But…" said Kai, puzzled, "I remember there's already an entry for them in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
"There is, but not much."
Newt smiled, then continued, "Whether it's a Three-Headed Dog or a Manticore, they're both very rare Fantastic Beasts. I only saw them once, about twenty years ago, in Greece.
After that, due to certain special reasons, the Ministry of Magic over there banned me from entering, so my research went on hold.
Now I finally have another chance, so here I am."
Certain special reasons?
Kai understood at once.
No need to ask—Newt must have caused some serious trouble back then. It was nothing new for him.
Newt continued ahead, with Kai trailing after, blurting out, "So where exactly are we going?"
"I have no idea where the Manticore is—Hagrid never told me."
"That's okay, we can look for it." Newt said immediately, "Manticores like nesting by lakes, and there are three lakes in the Forbidden Forest. I happen to know where they all are."
"So we have to search them one by one?" Kai asked. "That could take all night."
"One night should be enough," said Newt. "If we really can't find it, we can always fly our brooms—you brought yours, right?"
Kai nodded.
The problem was, if they flew on brooms, they'd be too conspicuous—easily spotted by other creatures in the Forbidden Forest, like centaurs or wandering Dementors.
With everyone out looking for Sirius Black, if there was a misunderstanding, they'd be in trouble.
"Wait…" Kai thought for a second, then said suddenly, "I remember Hagrid said he ran into the Manticore while he was out looking for Aragog."
"Aragog?"
"An Eight-eyed Giant Spider," Kai explained.
"Oh, then this is easy." Newt clapped his hands, closed his eyes, and sniffed the air carefully.
He walked forward slowly, and soon spotted some white spider silk on a tree branch.
"Eight-eyed Giant Spider silk," said Newt. "It has a very unique sweet scent that helps them attract lots of prey. Look…"
On the web stretched between the branches, there was a big, bulging white cocoon—some greedy creature must've gotten stuck and couldn't escape.
Nearby, a few tiny spiders were crawling off in one direction.
"We're in luck."
Newt said cheerfully, "This prey is too big for them to drag back alone, so they have to return to the nest and call for more spiders.
"Quick, let's follow them…"
So the two of them followed the spiders into a patch of undergrowth, veering off the forest path. Roots and stumps were everywhere. That wasn't a problem for spiders, but it was a different story for Kai and Newt.
They had to tiptoe around obstacles, making as little noise as possible, so as not to alert the spiders ahead.
About twenty minutes later, Kai noticed the ground sloping downward, though the trees were just as dense as ever.
At that moment, Newt, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped and held out a hand to stop Kai.
"This is far enough." He glanced around warily. "There's more and more silk—if we go any farther, we're bound to be noticed."
Kai noticed that less than a foot from Newt was a slender strand of spider silk—so fine it was almost invisible in the moonlight.
Newt slowly stepped back two paces, looked up at the sky, seemingly getting his bearings.
"I think I know where the Manticore is now…"
He turned and plunged into the trees on the left, moving quickly. Kai pushed aside branches and thorns, following closely behind.
In five minutes, the thick woods opened up into a broad clearing. Right in the center, as Newt had said, was a lake—nearly as big as the Quidditch Pitch.
In the moonlight, the still surface of the lake looked like a giant mirror, mysterious and beautiful.
...