Chapter 63. Newt Made the Papers
Could it be that I've been exposed?
It shouldn't be, right?
Only Neville, Fred, George, Hermione, and Professor Kettleburn know the secret of my case.
Although Professor Kettleburn is unreliable at times, he absolutely keeps his mouth shut.
As for Neville and the others, even more so.
Unless Veritaserum is used, they would never reveal my secret.
Then why did Professor McGonagall suddenly ask me this question?
A jumble of thoughts rose one after another in Duncan's mind.
"Mr Scamander?"
Seeing that Duncan seemed to drift off, Professor McGonagall's tone grew sharp.
"Oh, sorry, Professor."
Duncan put his distractions away.
"What did you just ask? I didn't quite catch it..."
Professor McGonagall's brows knit as she repeated her question.
"How could I, Professor!"
Duncan's expression was solemn and his tone sincere.
"I would never do something so foolish!"
"You truly haven't brought any magical creatures to school?"
Professor McGonagall's gaze examined Duncan.
Duncan met Professor McGonagall's eyes and tried to keep himself steady.
"Professor, you know I've always been a student who observes the school rules and loves studying..."
Professor McGonagall stared at Duncan without speaking.
Duncan's palms slowly broke out in a sweat, and he unobtrusively wiped them on his robes.
Just when he was about to cave under the pressure and confess in hopes of leniency, he saw a smile appear on Professor McGonagall's face.
He promptly swallowed the words that had already risen to his throat.
"Time's almost up.
Go in to class, Duncan," Professor McGonagall said lightly.
That's it? I passed?
Duncan's pounding heart gradually settled.
He nodded and turned to enter the classroom.
Even so, he was still curious as to why Professor McGonagall had suddenly asked him about magical creatures.
So, when he walked into the classroom with Professor McGonagall, he casually asked a question.
Professor McGonagall seemed surprised that Duncan would bring this up.
"You don't know yet?" she said.
"Mm..." Duncan found an excuse.
"I've been focused on my studies lately."
"That's a good thing," Professor McGonagall said with a smile.
Then she pointed her wand at her palm.
A copy of The Daily Prophet appeared out of thin air.
Professor McGonagall handed the paper to Duncan.
"Have a look.
Newt has pulled another big one."
Hearing this, Duncan knew that the worrisome Newt had definitely caused trouble again!
He hurried to take the paper and scanned it quickly, searching for any news about Newt.
When he flipped to the second page, he saw a large, eye-catching headline.
"Magical Creatures Riot on an American Wizarding Street?
Will the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) Ban Newt Scamander from Entry?"
Below the headline, Newt's photograph occupied a large portion of the page's centre.
He was bent over, moving through a chaotic street, most of the houses on both sides collapsed into rubble.
A little further away.
You could see a Sphinx attacking a group of wizards, and a Graphorn ramming buildings...
If they tweaked the filter like the BBC does, the headline could probably be changed to:
"The End of the World Is Here, Unknown Monsters Invade, Humanity's Future in Peril"
But none of this was what Duncan cared about.
By his arrangement, the Bowtruckle would only secretly open the case when Newt was in dangerous straits.
Which meant that, barring the unexpected, Newt was highly likely being hunted down.
Thinking of this, Duncan looked up at Professor McGonagall.
"Professor, my grandad..."
Professor McGonagall seemed to know what Duncan wanted to ask.
"Don't worry," she said.
"Not long after this photo was taken, Newt successfully recalled all the magical creatures and slipped away.
He's probably hiding in some safe house right now!"
"This incident had such a terrible impact that the entire wizarding street was almost destroyed.
Fortunately, there were no major casualties.
Otherwise, the whole Auror Office might have been mobilised to capture him!"
"But he's in a fix now as well.
America certainly won't welcome him, and he'll likely have to pay a hefty fine."
Duncan let out a breath of relief.
So long as Newt wasn't hurt, that was fine.
As for being barred from entering America?
Newt probably couldn't care less.
When he was young, he was often wanted by the various Ministries.
Entry bans were everyday occurrences.
He got used to them long ago.
As for paying fines?
Newt would say, "Find me first, and then we'll talk."
And these penalties would be voluntarily lifted whenever they needed Newt for something.
Otherwise, with the fines Newt had racked up over the years, they could bankrupt his family.
"Go take your seat.
We're starting class," Professor McGonagall said from the lectern.
Duncan nodded and sat in the empty chair beside Neville.
Hannah and the other two immediately turned their heads, asking with concern what had happened.
Duncan didn't answer.
He handed The Daily Prophet to them and went back to his own thoughts.
Who knew what important lead Newt had uncovered for those people to chase him so relentlessly...
And what about Tina?
He had scrutinised the photo in the paper just now, and he hadn't seen any sign of Tina.
Had she separated from Newt to act alone?
Or had something happened?
Worried, Duncan wondered if he should send Sennil flying again to check the specifics.
Meanwhile, at the lectern, Professor McGonagall tapped the desk to quiet everyone and announced the start of class.
The content of this lesson was still the same as the previous ones: use Transfiguration to turn a match into a silver needle.
Many Hufflepuffs believed in steady, solid progress in learning spells.
Progress a little each lesson.
Not too much, of course, but not too little either.
So, except for a few students, everyone was at about the same stage: able to make the match take on the rudimentary shape of a silver needle.
After explaining the day's material, Professor McGonagall let everyone practise freely.
She walked the room at random, constantly correcting errors in people's wand movements or incantations.
When she came to the side of Neville's desk, Professor McGonagall stopped and observed.
Neville tensed at once.
Both hands suddenly went stiff, and even his usually practised wand-waving gesture became distorted.
His spell failed, unsurprisingly.
Something odd sprouted on the match.
Half smooth, half covered in black hair—like the tail of some creature that had been rubbed bald.
"Longbottom, your wrist arc was too large just now.
Gentler, like this..."
With wand in hand, Professor McGonagall both instructed and demonstrated, turning that tail back into a match and then into a silver needle.
"I—I understand, Professor..." Neville nodded repeatedly, praying she would move on quickly.
"Duncan, why aren't you practising?"
Professor McGonagall glanced at Duncan in the corner and lowered the foot she had just lifted.
Seeing that Duncan didn't respond, Neville hurriedly patted Duncan's thigh with his hand.
Duncan snapped out of his thoughts.
Catching sight of Professor McGonagall's displeased face, he jolted and, by reflex, flicked his wand.
The match before him turned into a glittering silver needle in the blink of an eye.
"Excellent, Duncan!"
Professor McGonagall instantly forgave him and said with a smile,
"Mr Duncan Scamander is the first to turn his match into a silver needle—Hufflepuff earns five points!"
Neville had no special reaction to this.
Hannah and Ellie both swivelled to look at Duncan in unison.
Their eyes seemed to ask:
We all agreed to be poor students together—how did you suddenly evolve?
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