"Hey, Silver! Old buddy—"
He pushed open the door with a feed bucket full of Flobberworms, and unsurprisingly saw his old friend, the entirely silver Hippogriff, happily trotting over. Not to mention that Lupin had taken care of it for quite a while, plus their experience from half a month ago fighting side by side—it was safe to call them comrades.
Moreover, Lupin was carrying its dinner in his hand.
So Silver eagerly rubbed its massive eagle head against Lupin's head before plunging its beak into the round barrel in Lupin's hand.
"Slow down, slow down."
Lupin gently patted Silver's neck to assure it that there was no need to rush, "No one's here to take your food…"
But just as he said this, Lupin suddenly fell silent, as another few Hippogriffs, all of different colors, emerged from the woods where Silver had come from. Unlike the amiable Silver, the leading pure-black Hippogriff scrutinized Lupin, the "uninvited guest," with a piercing gaze.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce."
As the tension mounted, William stepped in, hurriedly disrupting the black Hippogriff's attack stance—
"This is Swiftwing, followed by Bruno, Das, and Buckbeak—"
From front to back, William quickly introduced the names of the Hippogriffs in front of him, then continued, "They were originally part of the Forbidden Forest's herd, and Swiftwing and I got along well enough that it wanted to come along for a holiday with me. Then its crew insisted on seeing the world too. If it weren't for those poachers, we originally planned to see the snow in the Himalayas—"
While William explained, he conjured a comb to help Swiftwing clean the rough feathers on its neck, "Swiftwing, this is Lupin, the new… uh, caretaker. I might have him come feed you in the future—"
"Uh, hello?"
Lupin released the eager-eating Silver, cautiously greeting Swiftwing, but it seemed unimpressed. The orange-yellow eagle eyes remained fixed on Lupin until he finally remembered something—he gave Swiftwing a bow.
"Chirrup—"
Receiving the sign of submission, Swiftwing elegantly returned the gesture, then affectionately rubbed against William's head before leading the beasts behind it leisurely towards the feed buckets following William.
"Silver still can't fully integrate with them, but these nice kids won't bully it, don't worry."
William bent down, refilling Silver's bowl with half a bucket of worms after it had finished eating, gently patting Silver's immaculate feathers—which were his favorite among this flock of Hippogriffs, simply because—they were too cool.
Their flawless appearance and high charisma made them stunning to ride.
Of course, at Hogwarts, just riding a Hippogriff was impressive enough. But outside of Hogwarts?
The Ministry of Magic doesn't allow Wizards to travel long distances on Hippogriffs unless you're covered by a Disillusionment Charm—so, at that point, who are you flaunting to if you're invisible?
After using magic to groom these food-obsessed creatures, William led Lupin out of the suitcase.
Of course, there were other Magical Creatures, because William locked away pets like the Basilisk, Fire Dragon, and Thunderbird to prevent little rascals from climbing out. Just lock it tight to prevent Norbert from sneaking out to burn unsuspecting passersby's hair.
But this was also why Fawkes was heartbroken; as an incarnation of a God in North American Indian mythology, stirring storms, the Thunderbird's size is much larger than its close kin, the Phoenix.
It was supposed to be a grand act at the Starry Sky Circus after the Fire Dragon, but William intercepted before it could be tamed.
Oh, intercepted not the Thunderbird, but the whole circus.
With his research on the Room of Requirement and Ancient Magic's enhancement, even William didn't know the exact size of the space inside the suitcase. He hadn't even reached the end of the hallway, and the surrounding rooms had sizes that didn't match their external appearances. But apart from the Fire Dragon and Thunderbird, William had no pets that required extensive living space, and the Basilisk repeatedly claimed it just needed a thick pipe.
Of course, there was always one exception of many creatures, and it was…
"How did you get out again? Finished your homework?"
William reached behind Lupin's head to snag a small black tail. Kabuda tried to squirm away but to no avail.
Encountering the demon of homework during its escape, it struggled with all its might but couldn't win.
"Eek eek—"
William shook Kabuda in front of him, and it quickly flailed its limbs in protest, only to plop down in William's palm, gesturing indignantly.
"What's this about homework violating the Minor Protection Act? You're already two and a half!"
"Eek eek!"
"Seventeen... that's the human adult age. If we wait until you're seventeen, you'll be old and dead—get back to writing your paper! I'll check tomorrow, and if there's an inch less of parchment, you won't be allowed a holiday this year—"
"Eek eek—"
In a failed protest, Kabuda was mercilessly tossed by William into the "Abi Hell" of homework and essays, while lamenting when Niffler would truly rise up.
"..."
Having witnessed the whole scene, Lupin silently sniffed. No matter how many times he'd seen it, he was still unaccustomed to William forcing a Niffler to write essays.
"What do we do next?"
Seeing William already leaning against the bed, Lupin pulled out a map from his pocket, spreading it on his own bed.
"…what do you mean?"
William looked up, bewildered, at the earnest Lupin, hesitated, and then cautiously asked—was there more to it?
"Uh, I mean site surveillance, planning escape routes, preparatory work like that. I used to… well, I've done this type of work before—and honestly, I'm still not sure exactly what you plan to do with those poachers? Rescue the captured Magical Creatures?"
"..."
After a brief moment of distraction, William deflated back onto the bed, waving his magic wand to roll up the recently opened map. Lupin felt himself moving involuntarily, smoothly slipping under the covers, then—
"Click—"
The lights went out, leaving only a faint glimmer of dawn filtering through the slightly ajar curtains.