Hogwarts: What are the four great masters doing?

But the next moment, a muffled exclamation caught Ryan's attention.

He turned his head and saw an old wizard walking towards him.

He was wearing a brown and green dragon hide robe with quite a few pockets.

Even in the scorching summer heat, he actually wore a scarf—and to Ryan's surprise, the scarf was a Hufflepuff scarf.

Ryan vaguely saw that there seemed to be a pocket watch hanging under his scarf.

He was thin and energetic, with gray hair that was as messy as a bird's nest.

"I'm afraid you'll have to come down quickly..."

He spoke in a soft and halting voice - which made him look a little strange.

Ryan could only vaguely make out that he seemed to be communicating with the Bowtruckle.

At this moment, the Bowtruckle waved his hand at Ryan's feet, as if to refute something.

Ryan obviously couldn't understand or see anything, but the wizard was different.

"He smells good? That won't do... It's not polite... The environment is not suitable..."

he muttered.

But then, he seemed to react and looked at Ryan.

"Oh, sorry - Pickett means no harm... just likes you, I mean... uh, you can put it..."

He said with a bit of a stutter.

"of course."

Ryan smiled and nodded.

Then he held out his hand, his ring and index fingers extended.

Then the Bowtruckle's branches came up smoothly - it continued to sniff Ryan's skin, and the branches and leaves on its head drooped as if intoxicated by oxygen.

Ryan touched its head and handed it to the old wizard.

"Oh..."

At this moment, the old wizard opened his eyes wide.

He is very old, at least in his seventies or eighties.

But Ryan found that his eyes were clear and bright, like a newborn baby's.

"The action you just took...seems to be in line with..."

The old wizard took the Bowtruckle and said in surprise, "I've never seen one before."

As he spoke, he even imitated Ryan's previous movements with his hands - which made his behavior seem even more bizarre.

"Oh... that's what one of my elders taught me - that movement really does mimic the caressing of a tree branch, and it relaxes the Bowtruckle."

Ryan explained with a smile.

While the old wizard in front of him was still surprised, Ryan continued speaking.

"And... you better put it back quickly, or the other little things in your scarf will come out too."

He said so, and the old wizard was stunned.

"Oh!"

Then he exclaimed.

At this moment, a round and fat creature poked its head out from the pocket watch in his scarf.

It has a duck-like beak, a mole-like body, and two small round eyes.

At this moment, it was using its short arms to try to pull itself out of the pocket watch.

Ryan recognized it as a Niffler.

"Oh, you better be careful... don't..."

The old wizard hurriedly pressed down Sniff's mouth, his hand moved slightly, and then Sniff seemed to be very comfortable and made a 'chirp' sound, which was then pressed back by him.

Then he quickly closed the cover of his pocket watch and quietly looked around to see if anyone noticed - his movements were quite skillful, obviously he was a habitual criminal.

After making sure that no one else around seemed to notice the abnormality here, he breathed a sigh of relief and put the tree-guarding bowtruckle, which seemed to be called Pickett, into the pocket of his shirt.

"Oh, sorry...it...they...they were very well-behaved."

He explained to Ryan somewhat awkwardly and flusteredly: "It's just that today... um... the Ministry of Magic took away my suitcase, and Anfeier is not very adaptable to unfamiliar environments, so I have to carry it with me-"

He said so, and Ryan nodded.

"Your suitcase is certainly renowned, Mr. Scamander."

He pointed this out sharply.

That's right.

He had almost guessed the other party's identity at this moment - the Hufflepuff scarf, the dress and speaking style, and the iconic Bowtruckle and Niffler... It was not difficult to guess.

Newt Scamander - perhaps the greatest master of magical creatures of our time.

At the same time, he is also a wizard with a legendary experience... His achievements in magic may not have reached the level of a legendary wizard, but his experience is definitely enough.

This old wizard was very active during the time of the first Dark Lord Grindelwald.

He once assisted the International Confederation of Wizards in identifying and capturing Grindelwald, who was hiding in the Ministry of Magic in the United States.

After the other party escaped from prison, he helped Dumbledore thwart Grindelwald's conspiracy in Bhutan.

"I heard Nicol talk about it—is this the Niffler and the Bowtruckle?"

Ryan said curiously.

That's right.

During the Easter holidays, in Nicolas Flamel's alchemy workshop.

Ryan also talked to Nicolas Flamel about Newt - he is also one of Nicolas Flamel's few friends among contemporary wizards. It is said that they once saved Paris together.

Nicolas Flamel also mentioned that Newt had a Niffler and a Bowtruckle, oh, and a Crooked Wing.

"They played a significant role in defeating Grindelwald... The details are a bit long, and some things are inconvenient to disclose... I can only tell you that the Niffler once helped Albus a lot, which may have directly changed history."

Nicolas Flamel's words at the time were mysterious.

"Nico?"

When Newt Scamander heard the name of his old friend, he was also stunned.

"Yes - I'm Lion Elias. Perhaps Headmaster Dumbledore and Nico have mentioned me to you?"

"Oh... sure, sure."

Then, Newt seemed to relax.

From Ryan's point of view, this was very similar to the behavior pattern of magical animals - he was sure that Ryan was one of them, so he was no longer nervous or vigilant.

"It...Picket is the Bowtruckle you mentioned. It's very old. You should be able to see the gray-white color on its branches."

"And Amphitheater, she's not the Niffler... Alfie is her mother, who died more than ten years ago..."

Speaking of this, Newt said with some nostalgia and regret.

"Oh, sorry."

Ryan wasn't surprised after hearing this - the Niffler's lifespan was indeed much shorter than that of the Bowtruckle.

After they understood each other's identities, communication between them naturally became much smoother.

"Is this your first time at the Ministry?"

Newt said this during the chat.

"Yeah, this place is very new to me—especially the statue below..."

Ryan also smiled and nodded, while chatting about the 'Magic Brothers Fountain' in the Ministry of Magic.

Newt then told him some interesting stories.

"Every Ministry of Magic has similar sculptures, but the content of the sculptures varies, and they may not be as famous as the British ones... They were all created by a master sculptor in ancient times, and all the sculptures in the Ministry of Magic are replicas that were remade later."

"There's a similar sculpture on the third floor of the French Ministry of Magic called 'Love and Eternity' - it includes Veela and Sylphs, while the American Ministry of Magic's 'Thunder Without a Sound' sculpture is located in a corner of the fourth floor and includes statues of Thunderbirds and Invisible Beasts..."

He had obviously traveled to many different places, and at least was familiar with the Ministries of Magic in many countries.

"So the only thing these sculptures have in common is... they all include a sculpture of a wizard?"

"Yes."

So Ryan concluded with a smile, and Newt nodded happily.

Ryan then asked, "Are you here to attend the 'Magical Beasts New Regulations Meeting' as well? I heard that you and your wife are now living in the United States?"

Ryan said as a matter of course.

"Oh, yeah—Tina and I haven't been back in a few years... ever since Rolf was born..."

Newt nodded—Rolf was his grandson.

When talking about the feeling of returning to his homeland after a long absence, Newt complained a little: "The United States has lifted the ban on my suitcase a long time ago, but I didn't expect it to still be kept here."

He said seriously, "This is inappropriate. I am no longer young and I no longer carry around a lot of magical creatures - they are all old too."

"I mean... they're not actually dangerous. The real danger is those who want them to behave themselves and want the world to be uniform."

He explained this, acting like a child.

Ryan nodded on the surface, but actually he was muttering in his heart.

He had heard from Nico about Newt's suitcase - something even Nicolas Flamel would have admired.

"You'd never guess what's inside... Erumpents, Nundus, Ornithorhynchus, Thunderbirds, Kelpies, and even Obscurus..."

"I bet even Albus would find it difficult to see what's in there."

Based on Nico's description, Ryan had no doubt that the magical creatures in Newt's suitcase could even directly destroy the Ministry of Magic of a small country if released!

So he didn't think the British Ministry of Magic was overreacting... Newt's suitcase was indeed a very dangerous thing.