"Feather powder? What's feather powder?" Seamus asked curiously.
Hermione didn't speak, she just bent down and blew a breath at Jack.
Immediately, a cloud of white dust followed the direction of the blow right into Seamus's face.
"Cough, cough, cough..." Seamus waved a hand, "You're right, this should definitely count as a flaw."
Ever since Hermione received Jack, she would bring him through the castle every day.
Considering it's not spring yet, Hermione didn't dare to take him outdoors since Jack, being a tropical bird, couldn't handle the cold.
Newt also noticed Hermione's new pet. During dinner, he specifically chose to sit at the Gryffindor table.
"I've seen such a parrot before, wizards have kept them before too."
"Yeah, an Aussie one, pretty magical, right, Professor?" Ron said with a smile nearby.
"This is not an Australian bird, it's from Indonesia," Expert in Magical Creatures Newt corrected Ron's mistake, "But that's not a big deal, after all, it's not a Magical Creature we've studied, so I won't deduct points, Mr. Weasley."
"Thank you, Professor Scamander," Ron whispered, "But it was Hermione who told me, she's a Muggle-born wizard and doesn't even know where birds from the Muggle World are from..."
"I don't know everything, Ronald!" Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Aren't you the 'Master of All Things'? It's a title Professor Snape gave you, and I always thought it suited you..."
Before Ron could finish, Hermione elbowed him in the arm.
He exaggeratedly clutched his arm and fell backward.
"Chimera..."
Newt muttered quietly.
"What did you say?" Hermione didn't catch what Newt was saying.
Newt awkwardly glanced aside, associating Hermione with the Chimera, a Magical Creature from Greece known for its bad temper, sporting a lion's head, a goat's body, and a Fire Dragon's tail.
He couldn't help but feel for Mr. Weasley's future life.
"You should feed him some special Nourishing Potion, Miss Granger,"
he said, pulling out a small bottle and handing it to Hermione.
"This is a supplement for parrots, you see... you must have bought it from a Muggle pet store, right? Look at this poor thing... all those stress lines... see, the black edges around the feathers? They're stress lines, usually caused by nutritional imbalance or a too stressful life."
"Poor thing," Hermione said as she reached out and rubbed Jack's head, but Jack didn't even lift his head, focused intently on pecking at the oily seeds in front of him.
"Maybe don't pet him while he's eating?" Ron suggested, "I know many animals are protective of their food, and with such a big beak, it must really hurt if it bites you!"
"Parrots usually aren't protective of their food; they're more likely to guard their nest or their owner," Newt explained to Ron, "But generally, parrots just see their owner as a partner..."
"So it's a male bird?" Ron quickly got wary.
He was guarding his food too.
"No, looks like it's a lovely lady," Newt replied.
Ron relaxed, though he wasn't quite sure why he felt relieved.
"But I still think it looks like something," Ron said, resting his chin in his hand, frowning in thought.
Newt also looked up thoughtfully, "Now that you mention it, I do too..."
"What are you guys talking about?"
Vivi's voice suddenly rang out; she had somehow settled next to Harry without anyone noticing.
"When did she get here?" Ron asked, surprised, "Oh dear, Harry, when did Miss Grindelwald arrive? How did I not notice?"
"Because you were looking at the parrot,"
Vivi chuckled, tapping on the table. A House-Elf quickly brought her a Viennese specialty dinner.
"Oh." Ron nodded, then said, "Miss Grindelwald, do you think this parrot looks familiar?"
"Familiar?" Vivi also looked at the parrot, and almost immediately exclaimed, "Oh! I know, it looks like me... like Assistant Gael, doesn't it? Professor Scamander?"
With Vivi's comment, everyone was enlightened, realizing who the parrot bore a resemblance to.
"So it's Assistant Gael..." Hermione looked down at the parrot, then at Assistant Gael chatting with Dumbledore at the staff table, suppressing her laughter.
Newt was momentarily stunned but then exchanged a look with Harry.
Among everyone present, only the two of them knew Gael's true identity, and that Vivi was indeed Assistant Gael's sister.
The story somehow spread, leading many to come to Hermione hoping to catch a glimpse of the 'mini Gael' lookalike.
Jack acted aloof, often messing around, running back and forth across the table, and making loud squawking noises.
This made the classmates laugh more, still glancing at Gellert, leaving him puzzled about what was so funny.
Eventually, a few students couldn't help it and surrounded Gellert while he was cleaning a Sniff.
"Assistant Gael," a student asked, "do you have feather powder?"
"Feather powder?" Gellert was baffled, "What feather powder do I have?"
"Oh, it's just..."
The student gestured and described for a long time, and Gellert finally understood.
He glared at the student, "Sorry, I don't have dandruff!"
"Oh, do you take Nourishing Potion?" another student asked, "I remember someone saying if parrots don't take supplements, they might become malnourished and develop stress lines..."
Gellert felt a surge of Fiery Fire in his chest.
"I don't take that stuff, and I don't have stress lines either."
Gellert was quite annoyed, but remembering his promise with Al, he maintained his smile.
The students chuckled and left Professor Scamander's tent, leaving a confused Gellert standing there.
"What on earth is going on?"
He turned to Newt.
Newt awkwardly averted his gaze, "Yeah, what's this about, indeed?"
Seeing Newt's reaction, Gellert sensed something was amiss.
During dinner, he stopped Ron who was heading to the Great Hall.
"Mr. Weasley," Gellert tried to be friendly, "I have something to ask you."
"Oh, sure, Assistant Gael," Ron didn't mind this friendly assistant, "What is it?"
"Today some students came to my tent, asking if I had feather powder and if I took Nourishing Potion, you..."
Before Gellert could finish, Ron figured out what was going on.
He couldn't hold it and laughed out loud.
"Oh, it's about that..." Ron laughed for a while until Gellert's expression turned downcast and then explained, "It's Hermione's parrot, Miss Grindelwald said it looks a lot like you..."
"Take me to see it," Gellert squeezed out a very amiable smile, "You know, I love Magical Creatures too."
Ron, suspecting nothing, with the idea of seeing the resemblance personally, led Gellert to the Gryffindor table.
When Gellert saw the white-crested Sunflower Parrot standing in front of Hermione, he had a moment of confusion, then the tuft of white hair atop his head instinctively stood up.
At that moment, Jack also noticed Gellert's raised hair.
Seeing the other with his hair raised, Jack spread his crest.
And spreading that crest made them look even more alike...
(Asking for monthly tickets)
(12,000 words, the last 4,000 words to go. 16,000 monthly tickets in advance, it seems there's no need for an update tomorrow.)