The Return to Hogwarts

"Then what do you think I should do?"

Amos asked thoughtfully,

"Don't give it a chance to kill itself, just knock it unconscious?"

"Oh, perhaps we can use a gentler approach."

Newt's brow twitched. Remembering what Albus had told him about the young man's sometimes decisive methods, he quickly said...

"If you're willing to let me in, maybe I can quiet it down."

Amosta slowly landed on a giant tree.

"Of course, no problem, but please hurry. I think the Muggles will soon notice what's going on here, and the Aurors from the Magical Congress will arrive soon too. They've had a lot of trouble tonight, and they might not have the patience to wait for you to tame it."

“I believe I can solve the problem quickly,” Newt said.

Amostella waved the wand he had borrowed from Amelia, and the giant tree beneath his feet suddenly rose higher, revealing a doorway large enough for a person to pass through.

The anxious leopard immediately noticed a gap in the enclosure. It stared intently at the opening, whimpering softly, and crept closer and closer, fearing it might be a trap.

Three cats that had been wandering nearby leaped onto Newt's shoulders and head. The three little creatures sensed the danger emanating from the enclosure and guarded Newt like guardian angels.

"Don't be nervous, Hobby, Millie, Moller, we can handle it, right?"

Sensing their tension, Newt softly offered a word of comfort. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a potion that emitted a pale blue glow, then passed through the doorway created by Amosta.

"Poor little thing, look what you've been through!"

Upon seeing the venomous leopard, Newt immediately noticed the wound on its shoulder, and he sniffed with pity.

"I can help relieve some of the pain, but only if you don't bite my neck, deal?"

The venomous leopard looked at the old wizard who had appeared in its field of vision, a hint of confusion flashing in its dark pupils. It could sense a gentle aura from him and had a faint urge to approach, but its experiences over the past two months had made it restrain itself. It bared its teeth at Newt, warning him not to come any closer.

"The venomous leopard's breath contains a deadly poison gas, which comes from its venom sac. However, this is a double-edged sword. Although it has a very strong resistance to the venom it secretes, it still suffers greatly. I've prepared a potion using the venom of another magical animal, and I believe it will be effective—"

Newt pulled out the cork on his own, tapped the bottle opening with his wand, and then the glowing potion inside quickly evaporated, with a continuous stream of pale blue fluorescent mist emanating from the bottle.

Immediately afterwards, Newt waved his wand again, and a gust of wind suddenly appeared, almost instantly filling every inch of the enclosure with blue smoke.

The thin, bluish smoke billowing below Amosta gave me an urge to cast a bubble-head spell on myself—

But the effect was immediate. The sudden smoke startled the venomous leopard, and it took a few quick steps back. But as the smoke poured into its black nostrils, the ferocity in the venomous leopard's eyes faded almost visibly.

Hiss. Hiss.

The venomous leopard slowly released its attack posture. It crouched on the ground, inhaling deeply. The frequency of the flashing of the thick venom sacs around its neck, which emitted a rhythmic red light like breathing, decreased, and it seemed to have shrunk somewhat.

"Oh, look, it's working."

The old wizard said happily,

"But I'd better do some preparation before I get close to it."

As he spoke, he pulled two vials of potion from his pocket, poured one into his mouth, let out a few burps, and touched a brown mist through his nose and ears. Clearly, this was preparation for countering the poisonous gas carried in the breath of the venomous leopard.

Newt chased the three cats off him, but the three little guys were clearly not happy. They lingered around him and pawed at his trouser leg.

"Oh no, you can't come with me, you can't stand its poisonous fumes—"

Newt shook his head seriously at the three cats and then pointed at Amostella.

"Go to him and wait. If anything happens, he will protect you."

Hobby, who had previously been in contact with Amostella, hesitated for a moment. It turned its head to look at the gray-haired wizard, then met Newt's resolute gaze, and finally let out two low howls to inform Millie and Moller. The three cats then darted up the wooden wall in a flash.

Hobby nimbly climbed onto Amostella's shoulder, while Millie and Moller, after sniffing Amostella's trouser leg, also jumped up without hesitation.

Feeling the heavy pressure on his shoulders and head, Amosta's lips twitched. He suddenly had an urge to kill something, but he restrained himself and looked at Newt below with concern.

This is a world-renowned expert in magizoology, whose knowledge of magical creatures is unparalleled, but he is, after all, not young, and Amosta is a little worried that he might have strained his back.

As it turned out, Amosta's worries were completely useless. Once he started moving, Newt displayed an agility that was completely out of character for someone his age. He bent down and placed his hands on the ground, seemingly mimicking a sac-like leopard. This was a not uncommon way to come into contact with wild magical creatures. The only problem was that you had to know the creature's habits well enough, or you would be walking into its jaws.

Snore, snore. Ang--woo-woo--

Newt crawled forward a few feet on all fours, then suddenly rolled over on the ground, making a strange sound at the venomous leopard and repeatedly shrugging his shoulders as if licking them.

Amosta pursed his lips, his mouth continuing to twitch.

The venomous leopard seemed a bit bewildered as well. The beast stretched its neck, staring at Newt, its massive body swaying involuntarily, its attention gradually focusing entirely on Newt.

Gululu.

Newt rolled another circle closer to the succubus, and a granite-colored stone egg rolled out of his pocket, rolling to the succubus's feet. Upon seeing the egg, the succubus's dark eyes lit up. Even Amostella, who had become nervous thinking Newt had made a mistake, could see that the succubus seemed to really like the egg.

The venomous leopard let out a friendly growl at Newt, who was on all fours. Then, it crouched down again, using its strong forelimbs to move the stone egg to its front, playing with it with its paws and occasionally licking the hard stone egg with its long, thick tongue.

Seeing this, Newt's wrinkles smoothed out considerably. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief and approached the venomous leopard with even more vigor, using that strange gait.

Chapter 900 Expert

2024-05-05

What happens next is relatively simple.

Newt slowly approached the savage leopard, nuzzling his cheek against its foreleg. The savage hesitated for a few seconds, then lowered its head, which was almost half the size of Newt's body, and rubbed against his cheek, nearly sending Newt flying.

The two sides seem to have established a basic level of trust.

The leopard continued to fiddle with the stone egg Newt had given it, and taking advantage of this opportunity, Newt secretly poured the potion he was holding in his other hand into his mouth. Then, he slowly approached the leopard's injured shoulder, and finally, with his lips close to the gaping flesh, he gently sprayed the potion onto the wound.

This startled the succubus, which was happily playing with the stone egg, but then it narrowed its eyes, stretched its neck, and let out a satisfied howl. Clearly, Newt's potion made it feel very comfortable.

It turned its head and nudged Newt with its head again, then hugged the stone egg tightly with its two front paws, yawned, rested its head on its paws, and slowly closed its eyes.

Wow

A gentle breeze swept by, and the leaves rustled in the wind, creating a soothing and pleasant sound.

Amosta blinked, speechless as he looked at the venomous leopard that had fallen into a deep sleep.

Damn it, if he had this kind of ability back then, he probably would have built a super high-rise building over the orphanage.

Snapped!

Amosta, accompanied by three cat-like creatures, Apparated to the ground, waved his hand to disperse the fire net, and restored everything to normal.

Newt pulled out a whole bunch of bottles and jars to treat the venomous leopard's wounds. Under his care, the venomous leopard's shoulder wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. Amosta instinctively wanted to get closer to observe and learn.

But when he got close enough, the sleeping venomous leopard suddenly snorted impatiently, as if it were about to wake up.

“Oh, don’t come any closer, Mr. Blaine, just stay there—”

Newt quickly waved his hand at Amosta and said seriously,

"This frail little guy doesn't like you very much."

This venomous leopard was neither weak nor small—Amosta thought to himself, but he still followed the advice of the professionals and stayed at a certain distance.

What is that stone egg?

But Amosta was indeed curious about this knowledge that he did not know.

"The egg of the Titia Gold-Eating Beast".

Newt focused on healing the leopard's wounds, but also answered Amosta's question.

"The saccharin leopard is a proud solitary creature, Mr. Blaine, which means that in their early years they don't have many playmates, and of course, not many animals can withstand their antics. So, saccharin leopard mothers usually find Titia gold-eating beast eggs for their cubs to play with, which are the hardest-shelled known magical creatures."

Furthermore, the eggs of the Gold Eater emit a scent that wizards cannot detect, but this scent is very peculiar and can relieve the nervous tension caused by the Poison Leopard's own toxins.

Of course, these eggs are hard to find. Muggles and wizards are searching everywhere for gold mines, and gold-eating beasts live off these.

Amosta pondered for a moment, then raised an eyebrow.

"But I didn't see any mention of this in 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'."

Yes, there are.

Newt tilted his head and said,

"This point was included before the 17th edition of *Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them*, but I later realized I shouldn't have included it—it would have been a disaster for the Titia and the Naga. Wizards and goblins would capture Titia to find gold mines for them, and wizards would use Titia eggs to seduce Naga. So, after consulting with Tina, I removed this point when revising the 18th edition. Phew!"

Finally, Newt finished treating the succubus's injuries. He gently patted the sleeping succubus's head and slowly retreated.

"It will probably need two days of rest to recover."

A hint of fatigue appeared between Newt's brows. After all, he was a centenarian, and the 'awkward dance' he had just performed was quite strenuous for him.

"So--"

Three cats leaped from Amostella's shoulder and scalp, returning to Newt's body. Newt tugged at Hobby's nose and said seriously,

“I want you to keep this a secret, understand? Don’t tell Tina about today. Ever since I twisted my back, she hasn’t allowed me to have any contact with strange magical creatures. Oh, I can’t convince her that they’re not dangerous at all, that they just don’t know how to deal with wizards, and that it wouldn’t be a problem if we were a little friendlier. Especially you, Hobby, I know you love to tattle.”

Seeing the old wizard in front of him speaking to the cat so earnestly, Amosta understood a little. During a casual chat with Dumbledore after a meal, Dumbledore had described Newt as "a very pure wizard."

"So, I guess I don't need to bother with introducing myself, right?"

Newt extended his hand to Amosta.

“Hobby told me that you know I sent it to sneak into the Blind Pig’s Bar to gather information. Oh, I can explain that I had a misunderstanding with the owner of the Blind Pig’s Bar about half a century ago, and since then, Tina and I haven’t been allowed in there. But you know, if you want to find out anything here, Narrak is the best choice.”

Amostella smiled slightly at him, and he shook hands with Newt.