Chapter 147. How Can You Betray the Niffler!
"Duncan, how is it—are you hurt at all?"
Tina pulled Duncan into her arms, took both his hands, spun him around once, and only relaxed after confirming there were no injuries on him.
Newt hurried over as well, asking in a rush, "And the magical creatures? Did you get them all back into the case? Everything all right?"
"Creatures, creatures!" Tina let go of Duncan, put her hands on her hips, and shouted, "Duncan just went through something that dangerous, and the moment you come over you don't even ask about him—you only care about those creatures. Are they more important than Duncan?!"
"They are…" Newt answered on reflex, then came to his senses and shook his head at lightning speed. "No, no, absolutely not!"
He then pulled Duncan into a side hug and inspected him carefully from head to toe.
Duncan felt a bit odd, with the distinct sense that Newt's look wasn't quite right—rather like checking over a magical creature.
So he pushed Newt's hand away and said, "Grandpa, Grandma, don't worry. I'm very strong; those wizards couldn't hurt me!"
"You mustn't underestimate any Dark wizard!" Tina frowned at that. "They're a bunch of desperadoes. If you take them lightly, even an experienced Auror could come to grief at their hands—might even lose their life—let alone you, a young wizard who hasn't even set foot beyond the school gates! If Newt hadn't pounded his chest and sworn that Silvanus could protect you, I would never have agreed to let you come here."
Professor Kettleburn noticed Tina's words starting to angle toward him and showed a somewhat awkward smile.
He had indeed been a little anxious upon hearing that Newt was being hunted, and made the wrong call by leaving Duncan behind.
But judging by the result, that decision did seem to have been the right one.
Because given the strength Duncan displayed—and with those magical creatures—Duncan hadn't needed his protection at all.
It was Newt who had needed help over there; otherwise they wouldn't have been able to shake off those masked wizards several times.
Of course, none of that could be said to the already-furious Tina, or it would just be pouring oil on the fire and turning the flames onto himself.
"Got it, Grandma," Duncan said with a well-behaved smile, then asked, "Grandpa, I turned those animals into balloons and stuffed them into the case. If I don't let the air out, they'll keep floating and won't be a problem for the moment. But that can't truly solve it. You've been here a while—do you have a way to restore their reason?"
"Not yet, for the time being—but don't worry," Newt said. "I've seen a few behaving normally before. It seems those people have a way to bring them back to their senses. Once we capture a few prisoners, we may learn how to do it."
"All right." Duncan shrugged helplessly.
"Right then, you stay here and look after the creatures. We'll go have a look in the cave."
"Oh—right!" Newt lifted his foot, then put it down again and turned back to ask, "Did you run into a girl named Olivia in the town? I left her a message to find you and bring you into the forest."
"Mm-hm." Duncan nodded and raised the case in his hand. "She's inside right now. Do you need me to let her out?"
"Not for the moment," Newt said. "She's a hard-done-by child. Take care of her."
"Understood." Duncan finished, then remembered something and reminded them, "Olivia said her younger sister was taken by those people—keep an eye out for that."
"Okay," Newt replied, and with the others Disapparated to the cave mouth on the cliff.
"Apparition is so convenient. I've got to think of a way to 'borrow' Dumbledore's phoenix in future!"
Duncan watched them go, muttering under his breath.
Then he found a dry patch, set the case down, and went in through the lid together with Kray and Mori.
After a brief stretch of darkness, what opened up before his eyes was not the workshop but a vast green prairie.
All sizes of animal-balloons floated in mid-air, with Pro springing about on top of them in delight, bouncing to and fro.
The two Erumpents threw back their heads and galloped along the route of Pro's jumps, eyes tracking him and cheering again and again.
Several Acromantulas had woven a large web together and shifted it a few steps from time to time, ever ready to catch Pro if he fell.
Olivia stood not far away with the two unicorns, smiling as she watched, occasionally calling out for those silly spiders to move.
Luckily he hadn't brought that group of house-elves this time; if they got mixed up with Pro, things would absolutely be a mess right now!
Duncan dropped from the air for a short distance, and the grass blades below grew wildly upwards, catching him before turning into a slide to send him down.
This was another exit Newt had designed, used specially for the creatures to come and go from the case.
Catching Duncan in the corner of her eye, Olivia's face lit up with surprise. She stood on tiptoe and shouted, "Duncan, you're back?!"
She started toward him, but the moment her feet moved, the surrounding creatures swarmed in and crowded around Duncan.
Pro picked his moment, leapt straight down from the air, and Duncan, looking up, fumbled frantically for quite a while before barely managing to catch him.
"Aren't you afraid of falling on your head!" Duncan flicked Pro lightly on the forehead.
"I knew you'd catch me." Pro batted Duncan's hand away with his paws and climbed onto his shoulder to sit.
He voiced the question on everyone's mind. "Is everything outside settled?"
"Of course. With me around, how could there be anything I can't handle?"
Kray circled in the air as he spoke with confidence—though his gaze kept sweeping the surroundings, searching for the other thunderbird.
"That's right, Kray performed brilliantly!" Mori had turned back into a Niffler and was sitting on an Erumpent's head. "He single-handedly took out quite a few wizards, and even summoned terrifying lightning. I was scared stiff at the time. Oh, and one very important thing: our dear Kray has found true love!!"
"Mori, shut up—don't talk nonsense!" Kray's eyes went wide at that, even his wings stiffened, and he nearly fell out of the air.
He dove at Mori in a rage. "What do you mean 'found true love'? Rubbish! There's no such thing. Don't listen to him!"
"Really? We've got proof!" Mori laughed, slid nimbly down from Ari's head, and ducked under the Erumpent.
"Mori, you have to die today—even if you beg me now it's no use!" Kray roared savagely. "Ari, Charlie, you two get out of the way—I'm duelling it one-on-one!"
Perched on Duncan's shoulder, Pro wore a look that said he loved watching the commotion.
His round eyes were wide and shining with excitement as he kept egging Mori on to finish the story.
But when he saw Mori and the beasts tumble into a brawl and had no time for him, he turned to Duncan instead and asked, "Is what Mori said true?"
Kray's head snapped round with a swish, dangerous light glinting in his eyes.
"It's asking—you, not me!" Duncan promptly pinched the scruff of Pro's neck and held him up in front.
Pro immediately flailed in the air in a panic. "Duncan, that's not very mate-like of you—how can you betray a Niffler?!"
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