Chapter 57. Hermione's Discovery
"Oh?"
Duncan's tone grew excited, and he leaned forward slightly.
"Where did you find it?"
"In the notebook you lent me.
Mr Scamander's notes."
As Hermione spoke, she steadied the book on her knees and flipped back a few pages.
"Mm… I remember it was here… ha, found it.
Duncan, look."
Duncan followed her gaze.
At the spot Hermione's pale finger indicated were several small lines of text describing Newt's experiences at Loch Ness.
"According to the book, Mr Scamander once caught the Kelpie in Loch Ness and invited it to stay in his case for a short time so he could check its condition."
Hermione recalled what she had read and said,
"But when he released the Kelpie back into the lake, that healthy Kelpie suddenly fell ill."
"Black spots grew at the roots of its hair, and it became irritable.
The symptoms didn't match any previous Kelpie illnesses."
"Doesn't that sound very similar to Mori's situation?"
Hearing Hermione's question, Duncan nodded quickly.
Similar?
It was practically a direct description of Mori's symptoms.
"At first, Mr Scamander was puzzled as well," Hermione continued.
"He tried many treatments, but none of them helped much, only easing the Kelpie's pain a little."
"Troubled, Mr Scamander decided to take a silly, but very effective, approach."
"While treating the Kelpie, he thoroughly investigated both the Kelpie's water habitat and the inside of the case."
"In the end he found the cause…"
Hermione broke off here and looked at Duncan.
"Out with it, Hermione—what was the cause?" Duncan asked, baffled.
"I remember you have two Erumpents in your trunk?" Hermione asked in return.
"That's right," Duncan said.
"Is it related to them?
But we checked them—neither has any infectious disease…"
"No, not them themselves, but what they carry."
Hermione shook her head, flipped a few more pages, and pointed.
In the corner was a doodle and a few lines of small text, something that looked like a bored person's casual sketch.
Duncan examined it carefully.
The drawing was a little bug outlined with a quill.
"African Bloodsucking Bug?"
Duncan frowned at the parasite that often lived on Erumpents.
"You can tell just from this?" Hermione lifted her eyes to Duncan.
When she had first seen the sketch, she had had to consult many books to learn the bug's origin.
"Grandad's drawing is simple, but he included the right details," Duncan explained.
"Look at the wings—the patterning is basically unique to the African Bloodsucking Bug.
And its legs are a bit longer than those of its relatives.
Remember those two points and it's easy to identify."
Hermione nodded and, by reflex, memorised what Duncan had just said.
"So the Kelpie's strange illness came from them?" Duncan asked.
"Mm-hmm."
Hermione slid the book closer to Duncan.
"See here—Mr Scamander's record says that when the African Bloodsucking Bug feeds on an Erumpent, it injects a toxin to numb the Erumpent's sensation in that area so it won't notice."
"But if that toxin is injected into a Kelpie, it has the opposite effect and makes the Kelpie restless and irritable."
"So that's it…"
Some of the doubts in Duncan's heart cleared.
No wonder he and Professor Kettleburn had been unable to find the cause.
Kelpies and African Bloodsucking Bugs shared no habitat at all.
Outside of their trunk, they would never cross paths.
So there would naturally be no case on record of a Kelpie falling ill from an African Bloodsucking Bug bite.
Duncan thought for a moment.
When Mori and the others were moved into his trunk, Newt would definitely have cleaned everything, so it was unlikely they were bitten inside.
It must have happened in the secret realm.
When the Erumpents were first put in, they hadn't been bathed, and things had probably gone wrong at that time.
He had to inform Newt of this as soon as possible and have him carefully clean the secret realm once he returned.
If those nasty things were allowed to breed in the secret realm until they were everywhere, that would be very bad indeed.
"Mr Scamander recorded the treatment below.
You can follow it and try—see if you can cure Mori."
Hermione smiled and handed the book back to Duncan.
"Thank you.
You've really helped me a lot!" Duncan said sincerely.
"No need—it's Mr Scamander's credit.
The treatment is his," Hermione said, shaking her head.
"I just happened to borrow this book from you and saw it.
If it were still in your hands, you'd definitely have found the answer yourself."
"I don't pay much attention to these little notes in the corners when I read."
Smiling, Duncan stood up.
He was in a hurry to go back and use the method described to treat Mori.
"I'll take this book with me.
I've got other notes here—do you want them?"
"Of course!" Hermione said in delight.
Although the library had books on magical creatures, they were scattered and far less comprehensive and detailed than those compiled by Newt.
"Then wait here a bit.
I'll be right back."
With that, Duncan hurried back to the dormitory.
Neville was lying on his bed taking a nap.
Pro was curled up in his hair, also sleeping soundly.
After some time together, the two had become very good friends.
As for Neville's former pet, Trevor—ever since he had snuck into the trunk with them on the train, Neville had stopped minding him altogether.
He let Trevor roam freely in the trunk and fend for himself.
Duncan went to the desk, quickly selected a few books he had read, and turned to leave the dormitory.
Neville blinked sleepily and said in confusion, "Did Duncan just come back?
Where is he?
Did I mishear?"
Pro kept his eyes shut and tugged on Neville's hair with his paw, as if expressing displeasure at having his nest moved.
But a moment later Neville's doubt was dispelled.
The dormitory door was pushed open again, and a panting Duncan appeared.
"Duncan, what are you dashing about for?" Neville asked blankly.
"I've found a way to treat Mori," Duncan replied quickly, grabbed the trunk, opened it, and jumped straight in.
"Huh?"
Neville's drowsiness vanished.
Living with Duncan, he knew how worried Duncan had been lately about curing Mori.
Neville hurriedly rolled out of bed, wanting to go into the trunk after him to see if there was anything he could help with.
But just as he lifted his foot, before he could move, a black shadow flashed past his eyes at great speed.
Pro, who had been sleeping just moments ago, had somehow woken up and, in a panic, dived into the trunk as well.
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