Hogwarts was exceptionally quiet at night, with tiny twinkling lights glowing within the castle, marking the location of the common rooms.
Some energetic students always stayed up until the early hours, reluctantly setting down their Exploding Snap or Wizard Chess and returning to their dormitories.
Outside the castle, a bright full moon hung in the sky.
In the moonlight, two figures, one big, one small, were stealthily passing through the Whomping Willow, not making even the slightest sound.
"Kael, there's still time to turn back..."
Newt Scamander, who was leading the way, couldn't help but say: "You're a student, you can't wander at night. If the professors catch us later, they'll expel you."
"Don't you feel guilty saying that..." muttered Kael, who was trailing behind.
He had merely written a letter to Newt, asking how to deal with a Manticore. Who would have thought that he would turn up that night, sneaking into the Hufflepuff dormitory using the Disillusionment Charm.
Kael had been about to go to sleep when he suddenly heard Newt's voice, thinking it was a hallucination.
To his surprise, it was real.
Kael almost wanted to report those Dementors... letting in just anyone, how irresponsible!
"I just came to ask if there's a Manticore in the Forbidden Forest... I didn't ask you to go on a night adventure." Newt said, "It's your choice to come along, if you get expelled, that's not my concern."
"In this situation, anyone would come along..." Kael said with a pout, "Besides, it's just a night adventure. Even if we're caught, there's no way I'd get expelled."
The two made their way to Hagrid's hut.
"Should we take a detour?" Kael asked, "There's a hunting dog here with a keen nose, it'll definitely catch our scent if we go further."
"No need."
Newt took out a small bottle, shook it over himself a few times, then handed the bottle to Kael.
"This is Patok Butterfly Flower pollen, it's great for masking your scent."
Kael took it, imitated Newt, shook it over himself a few times, then casually slipped the bottle into his pocket.
He figured he should collect some sort of guide fee for wandering into the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night... the pollen would be just fine,
Newt waited for quite some time without seeing Kael return the bottle, eventually turning his head and saying, "You..."
"Shh, keep it down, Fang's ears are sharp too." Kael whispered, "Further ahead is the path Hagrid often takes into the Forbidden Forest, it's much smoother than other places."
Seeing Kael's expression, Newt realized he was unlikely to get the pollen back, and sighed helplessly.
Oh well, though there wasn't much of it, he still had a small bottle in his suitcase, enough for his needs.
The two tiptoed past Hagrid's hut, which was dark, filled with the sound of Hagrid's snores.
After entering the Forbidden Forest, they walked a bit further...
Once Hagrid's hut was completely out of sight, Kael finally relaxed, looked curiously at Newt, and voiced the question that had been puzzling him all along: "Why did you come to Hogwarts, just for the Manticore?"
"Well, sort of." Newt said, "Also for the Three-Headed Dog...
In fact, ever since Dobby came, my work has gotten much easier, tasks that used to take a whole day now only take a few hours to complete.
So I plan to edit "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" again, but having only a Basilisk is too monotonous... and coincidentally, I received your letter."
"But..." Kael puzzled, "I remember "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" already mentions them."
"It does, but not much."
Newt smiled and continued, "Whether it's a Three-Headed Dog or a Manticore, they're very rare fantastic beasts, and I only saw them in Greece twenty years ago.
After that, due to some special reasons, I was banned from entering by the Ministry of Magic there, and had to pause my research on them.
Now that there's this opportunity, I came."
Special reasons?
Kael understood clearly in his heart.
No need to guess, Newt must have caused some considerable trouble back then, not surprising for him.
Newt continued onward, with Kael following closely behind, unable to resist asking: "Where are we headed?
"I don't actually know where the Manticore is, Hagrid never told me."
"No matter, we can search." Newt replied directly: "Manticores like nesting by lakes, and there are three lakes in the Forbidden Forest, I happen to know where they all are."
"So we have to search each one?" Kael asked, "How long will that take?"
"One night should be enough." Newt said, "If necessary, we can ride brooms... you did bring a broom, right?"
Kael nodded.
But the problem is, on a broom, they'd be too noticeable and easily spotted by other creatures in the Forbidden Forest... Centaurs, or roaming Dementors, for instance.
With everyone hunting for Sirius Black, being mistaken for something else would be troublesome.
"Wait a minute..." Kael thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "I remember Hagrid mentioning he ran into the Manticore on his way to see Aragog."
"Aragog?"
"An Eight-eyed Giant Spider." Kael explained.
"Oh, well that's easier then." Newt clapped his hands and, closing his eyes, carefully sniffed the air.
He slowly proceeded, soon finding a strand of white spider silk on a branch.
"Eight-eyed Giant Spider silk." Newt noted, "Has a unique sweet scent, attracting enough prey, see..."
On the web between branches was a round, white cocoon, likely a greedy creature trapped and unable to escape.
Nearby, several small spiders were crawling in a particular direction.
"We're in luck."
Newt said happily, "That prey is too large for them to carry, so they'll return to the nest to fetch more spiders.
"Quick, let's follow them..."
Thus, the two followed the spiders into a cluster of trees, deviating from the forest path, surrounded by tree roots and stumps, manageable for spiders but not as easy for Kael and Newt.
They had to carefully navigate around the obstacles, attempting to make no sound, lest they be discovered by the spiders ahead.
Approximately twenty minutes later, Kael noticed the ground appeared to slope downward, though the trees remained as dense as ever.
At this point, Newt suddenly stopped in front, holding up a hand to halt Kael.
"We've reached far enough." He cautiously surveyed their surroundings, "There's more and more spider silk, if we go further, we'll definitely be spotted."
Kael noted a slender strand of spider silk less than a foot from Newt, so fine it was almost invisible in the moonlight.
Newt took two careful steps back, glanced up at the sky, seeming to orient himself.
"I believe I now know where the Manticore is..."
He turned, dove into the trees on the left, moving swiftly, with Kael pushing through branches and thorns to keep up.
Five minutes later, the dense thicket opened up into a flat clearing, with the lake Newt had mentioned at its center, as large as the Quidditch Pitch.
In the moonlight, the tranquil water was like a vast mirror, mysterious and beautiful.
...