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Harry Potter: I Get Stronger by Taking Loans - 57
🕑 Added 2025-10-03 19:04:48 +0000 UTCChapter 57: Qilin Messenger
Knock Knock Knock
Dorset, on a small hillside. Gentle knocking echoed through the quiet night.
"Who is it?" Newt emerged from the bedroom, rubbing his weary eyes. He'd spent the day helping a mother Nundu give birth, and his old bones were thoroughly exhausted. He'd been preparing to rest early when the knocking started.
"Strange, very few people know my address. Which old friend could it be?"
As if sensing Newt's approach, the knocking stopped.
Creak—Newt pushed open the door.
A magnificent, extraordinary creature stood at the doorway, moonlight spilling over its pale golden scales that seemed to shimmer with inner light. Golden mane like burning flame moved without wind, wreathed in glowing mist.
What captivated Newt's gaze were those eyes—like the purest crystal, clear and tranquil, holding an otherworldly wisdom.
Newt, who had expected to find a person, stood completely stunned. Late at night, a magical creature he'd never encountered before had knocked on his door—anyone would be stunned.
"This... this..."
"Excuse me, are you Mr Newt Scamander?"
An ethereal, melodious voice echoed directly in Newt's mind.
Newt jumped in fright and poked his head out to look on both sides of the door, searching for the speaker. But there was no one—only this creature before him, watching quietly with those luminous eyes.
"I have a letter to deliver to Mr Scamander."
The ethereal voice sounded again. Newt asked hesitantly, "I'm Newt Scamander. Are you... communicating with me?"
"That's correct. You may call me Aurelius. I've come to deliver a letter for my master."
A shimmering cloud lifted the satchel around Aurelius's neck, making the letter inside float toward Newt.
Newt took the letter, preparing to return inside to read it. The temperature this season was too harsh for elderly bones.
"Would you like to come in, Aurelius?"
Newt pronounced the name carefully, still marvelling at this unprecedented experience.
"Thank you for the invitation."
Aurelius followed Newt into the house with impossibly light, soundless steps. When it had used telepathy to communicate just now, it deliberately created that ethereal sound effect. This was what Master had reminded it—when communicating with outsiders, maintain this dignified voice. Master said sounding childish would make people underestimate it and think it was easy to deceive.
Newt found a chair and sat down, beginning to read the letter. He really couldn't imagine which old friend might own this never-before-seen magical creature.
Dear Mr Newt Scamander,
I am Leonardo Grafton. Thank you for answering my questions about learning Undetectable Extension Charms...
Reading the opening greeting, Newt remembered immediately. This was that junior student! Because of Dumbledore's letter, he'd provided suggestions about Undetectable Extension Charms.
He hadn't expected a reply so quickly. It seemed this child called Leonardo had quite impressive knowledge in areas like Charms and Alchemy—remarkable even for a senior student.
But what exactly was this messenger creature?
Newt couldn't help looking up at Aurelius, his eyes full of wonder about this unknown species.
"Mr Scamander, is something the matter?"
"Ah, no, forgive me."
This fluent and polite communication made Newt feel almost like he was conversing with a person – the sensation was wonderfully strange. The sensation was strange. Newt was clearly obsessed with magical creatures and loved interacting with them, but this really was a novel experience—the creature's intelligence and manner seemed almost human.
Continuing through the letter's contents, Newt nodded thoughtfully. From the questions, he could see that Leo's understanding of Undetectable Extension Charms had indeed reached an advanced level—what he pursued next was refinement of technical details.
But seeing Leo ask about Erumpents, Newt frowned slightly. Erumpent explosive fluid was extremely dangerous. A student, even a senior, should preferably not handle it unsupervised.
At the letter's end, Leo specifically requested that since his pet was a very special magical creature, he hoped Mr Newt wouldn't mention it to others yet.
On this point, Newt completely agreed. After years of focusing on magical creature research, he knew too well that some wizards coveted rare species, obsessively treating these beings as experimental subjects and material sources. Although through his decades of effort, many wizards had begun protecting magical creatures, extremists still existed.
Newt began writing his reply, answering Leo's questions about Undetectable Extension Charms, but politely declining regarding Erumpent explosive fluid:
I'm very sorry, but exposure to such dangerous materials requires sufficient knowledge and understanding of magical creatures. Of course, if you're truly interested, after you graduate, I'd be happy to discuss this with you...
While Newt was writing, Tina yawned and walked into the living room, rubbing her eyes. Seeing Newt reading and writing letters late at night again, she wondered if Dumbledore had sent another missive.
Just as she was about to look for whether the phoenix Fawkes was around, Tina noticed Aurelius's presence.
"Newt, what's this magnificent creature?"
"Ah, Tina, this is... well, this is the pet of that student who asked me about Undetectable Extension Charms before—Leonardo Grafton."
Tina thought about it and recalled the child mentioned in Dumbledore's letter last time. "I see. Actually, I wanted to ask—what species of magical creature is this?"
Newt put down his pen, looking at Tina, then at Aurelius. He genuinely couldn't identify what kind of magical creature this was. If he had to compare it to something, Newt could only think of Qilins—but the one before him was vastly different from the Qilin he'd rescued decades ago, whether in appearance or those peculiar abilities.
"I don't know either, Tina. However, it says it's called Aurelius."
This answer surprised Tina. After so many years married to Newt, through osmosis she'd become half a magical creature expert herself, and she had no recognition of this species either. And Newt said he didn't recognise this magical creature? This man whose footprints covered the globe, who had observed and recorded countless species, the world's most famous magical creature expert—even he couldn't identify it?
"Then it must be a truly rare species," Tina said thoughtfully. "Wait, you just said 'it says'? Can it speak as well?"
Tina asked this out of genuine curiosity, since she knew some magical creatures could speak human language.
"Good evening, beautiful lady."
When Aurelius's ethereal, transcendent voice sounded directly in Tina's mind, she widened her bright eyes in astonishment.
Unlike the socially anxious Newt, who tended to lower his head when meeting people, Tina was warm and talkative. After her initial shock, she continued enthusiastically, "Aurelius, did I pronounce that correctly?"
"You pronounced it correctly."
"Wonderful. I'm curious—magical creatures and humans have different aesthetics, don't they? Why would you compliment me as beautiful?"
This question made Aurelius immediately recall Master's teachings, remembering the response Master had instructed: "I can sense the nature of living beings. Your heart is very kind, possessing a beautiful soul."
This answer made Tina laugh softly, "How charming. Did your master teach you all this?"
"No, my master taught me honesty and courtesy."
This intrigued Tina even more, especially regarding this child called Leo who would educate a pet this way—clearly someone with remarkable character.
"Thank you for the compliment. Could you give your master a message for me? He's welcome to visit here if he'd like. I'd be very welcoming."
Sensing the lady's genuine happiness, Aurelius again felt from the heart that Master's teaching was remarkably accurate! Though Master taught extensive knowledge—it wanted to demonstrate what it had learnt...
"Tina, that child should be preparing for exams. Let's not disturb him for now," Newt said, continuing his writing.
Glancing at her husband, Tina chuckled knowingly, "Then he can come during vacation or after graduation. Newt, you just don't want to meet strangers, do you?"
