---
Hermione's comment caught the boys entirely off guard.
They had naturally assumed this Newt Scamander guy was some young wizard in his twenties or thirties. But now...
"So you're saying 'lovely Freckles' is actually an old man?" Seamus blinked. "Does that mean he might already be... you know?"
Hermione shook her head. "The textbook doesn't mention him passing away, so he should definitely still be alive."
"Well, that settles it then!" Wendis clapped her hands together. "As long as we know who he is, we're good."
She looked back at Modi and patted her chest confidently. "Leave it to us. We'll make sure your present gets mailed to him."
"Oh, thank you, little wizards! Thank you!" Modi's wrinkled face lit up with absolute joy. Still showering them with frantic thanks, he spun around and clumsily scurried back into the depths of the kitchen.
Watching him go, Richie felt a sudden pang of responsibility. He turned to the group. "Since we promised to help Modi deliver this, we absolutely have to follow through."
"Tomorrow, I'll write to the publisher and try to track down Scamander's home address."
Wendis blew a stray wisp of hair out of her face. "Hufflepuffs always keep their word!"
"Gryffindors do too!" Neville quickly chimed in.
Seeing their earnest, determined faces, Richie just shook his head and smiled.
Honestly, looking at Modi's dramatic plea had given Richie a weirdly ominous feeling. He was suddenly reminded of old folklore—like the fable of the monk who broke his promise to a giant river spirit, only to get cursed at the very end of his journey. If they actually forgot to mail this gift and broke old Modi's heart, who knew what kind of chaotic karma would bite them in the ass later.
A moment later, Modi reappeared, cradling a small tin box.
"This is the Christmas present Modi wants to give to Freckles... And this is what the little wizards were looking for."
Richie raised an eyebrow as he took a balled-up, rag-like object from Modi.
He unfurled it. It was roughly the size of his palm. Even though it looked incredibly grimy and smelled faintly of something funky, the actual texture of the fabric was surprisingly high-quality. It felt exactly like... the material of their Hogwarts robes.
"Is... is this seriously what we've been looking for?"
Seamus leaned in to inspect the rag, immediately pinched his nose, and took a massive step back. He looked thoroughly grossed out. "That's literally just a filthy dishcloth, isn't it?"
Hermione stepped closer, the tip of her wand glowing with a soft Lumos.
"Maybe there's a hidden compartment inside it? Or... a concealment charm?"
Hearing that, Richie thoughtfully drew his own wand and tapped the center of the fabric.
"Aparecium!"
The second the spell's light sank into the fabric, the grime and stains rapidly receded, vanishing like a receding tide. Right on cue, just like the parchment before it, dancing letters began to slowly surface on the clean cloth.
"Oh wow, it actually worked!"
The group immediately crowded around to read the glowing text:
> Fragments anchored in space and time, echoing in lingering resonance. When the thirteenth lowered whisper sounds, the secret will have nowhere left to hide.
"The second puzzle piece!"
Seeing the new riddle, everyone finally let out a collective sigh of relief. They had actually found it.
"But what does this one mean?"
"Fragments of space and time... echoing... the thirteenth whisper..."
"This is insanely cryptic!" Neville groaned, aggressively scratching his ear. "Why can't these riddles just be straightforward?"
"Haha, if it was easy, there wouldn't be any challenge!" Wendis planted her hands on her hips, looking incredibly fired up. "The harder the riddle, the better! That's the only way we get a massive sense of accomplishment when we actually solve it!"
"Agreed!"
"Absolutely!"
Surprisingly, Neville and Seamus immediately nodded along, swept up in her hype. The three of them exchanged a look, suddenly feeling a deep, shared sense of camaraderie. Without missing a beat, they huddled together and aggressively started workshopping the new riddle.
Meanwhile, Hermione quietly slipped over to Chengya and carefully started asking probing questions about the working conditions and general treatment of house-elves.
Even though Chengya found it incredibly weird that a young wizard cared so much about them, she answered every question with tears streaming down her face, randomly sobbing out loud. "Oh, little wizards are truly the most wonderful beings in the whole wide world! They actually care about house-elves! Boohoo~"
Seeing the chaotic split of the group, Richie helplessly turned his attention back to Modi.
"Modi, we can definitely help you send this out, but it might take a little bit of time."
Modi stood there, clutching his beloved little iron pot in one hand and the small tin box in the other.
"Oh, lowly old Modi knows that little wizards are the most trustworthy beings of all. How could they ever bear to deceive a poor house-elf who has worked at Hogwarts for so, so long... so long that all his teeth are falling out?"
"A useless house-elf like Modi can only pray that the kind little wizards will help him deliver his gift to Freckles."
Modi dramatically held up the small tin box, staring at Richie with a look of absolute, soul-crushing tragedy.
It was such an exaggerated display of victimhood that Richie's eye actually twitched. Why is he acting like I'm some kind of evil Dark Wizard who's about to scam him?
Richie sighed and took the tin box, surprised to find it was significantly lighter than he expected.
The absolute second Richie's fingers closed around the box, Modi spun around—as if terrified Richie would suddenly change his mind—and sprinted back into the depths of the kitchen without looking back.
Right at that moment, the deep chime of the Hogwarts bells echoed through the walls.
Curfew was imminent.
"Ah, man. Already?" Seamus grumbled.
"It's not that fast. We managed to find two pieces of the puzzle tonight, and we made a new friend!" Neville beamed, completely unable to hide his massive smile. "Right, Wendis?"
Honestly, this was the happiest Neville had ever been in his entire life.
Over the past few days, he had finally mastered basic magic, received genuine praise from a professor, and even helped Seamus practice his spellwork while bonding over their shared favorite book series.
And now, he was actively exploring the castle and going on secret adventures with an amazing group of friends. It was the kind of life he used to literally dream about—the kind he thought he'd never actually have. But now, it was his absolute reality!
"Haha, obviously! Even though I totally crashed your party halfway through," Wendis laughed, casually throwing an arm around Neville's neck in a friendly headlock. "You guys are totally my vibe! We're officially friends now!"
"Hehe!" Neville just offered a goofy, incredibly happy smile.
"Alright, since we're out of time, we need to head back," Richie said, tucking the small tin box under his arm. "We can't afford to be dead tired for class tomorrow."
He looked around at the group, his expression turning serious. "Oh, and remember: do not tell anyone else about this. This is—"
Seamus threw his hand in the air and shouted excitedly, "This is our exclusive secret!"
"Oh, Seamus, keep your voice down! The Hufflepuff common room is literally right next to us!" Neville frantically clamped a hand over Seamus's mouth.
Realizing his mistake, Seamus immediately shrank back, looking sheepish.
Richie smiled and nodded in agreement. "He's right, though. This is strictly our secret."
Hearing that, grins broke out across all of their faces.
"Alright, seriously, let's go." With that, Richie turned to leave the kitchen.
"Hey, Richie! Guys! Grab some snacks before you go! Chengya already packed a batch for us!" Wendis called out.
"Awesome!"
"Honestly, I was starting to get hungry again. Are there any pumpkin pasties?"
As the boys excitedly swarmed around the snacks, Hermione lingered at the back of the group. She cast one last, deeply thoughtful look into the dim, bustling kitchen.
House-elves...