"Oh, by the way, there's one more thing," Professor McGonagall suddenly realized something, her expression shifted from stern disapproval to concern. She adjusted her glasses with one finger and asked, "Where's Hagrid?"
Her tone carried a trace of worry beneath its composure. She had clearly entrusted Morris to Hagrid's care, given him specific instructions to keep the boy safe and supervised during their expedition into the forest to identify the Thestral.
But now only Morris had returned alone.
This was obviously rather odd, very unusual, and potentially concerning.
"If you're looking for Hagrid, he's still in the Forbidden Forest," Morris said, keeping his voice low and his expression appropriately serious.
He had no intention of mentioning Bane or the confrontation—that would only complicate matters unnecessarily and might get Hagrid in trouble for failing to protect him.
"We didn't find the specific Thestral from last night," He continued lying smoothly, "but instead we encountered a wild beast attack while we were searching. Hagrid stayed behind to deal with the aftermath. Neither of us was injured though, so please don't worry, Professor."
"A wild beast?" Professor McGonagall was momentarily stunned, her eyebrows rose slightly. Then her expression turned to one of understanding. "I see."
She figured that the two must have encountered some danger which was why Hagrid had Morris ride the Thestral back first while he stayed to handle the situation. In an emergency situation, such behavior was understandable, even commendable.
As Hogwarts' Deputy Headmistress, she naturally knew the varied and often dangerous conditions within the Forbidden Forest closely. She'd dealt with enough incidents over the years to have a complete understanding of what lurked beneath those dark trees.
In the Forbidden Forest, being attacked by wild beasts was perfectly normal, almost routine. It was one of the many reasons the forest was forbidden to students in the first place.
However, she wasn't particularly worried about Hagrid's wellbeing, because he had more than sufficient experience handling similar incidents. Moreover, the boy in front of her didn't look frightened or traumatized. They must have only encountered ordinary wild beasts.
As for whether they'd actually found that specific Thestral they'd gone looking for, she no longer particularly cared. The assignment seemed irrelevant compared to student safety.
Though thinking about it more carefully now, with the clarity of hindsight, even with Hagrid's supervision, letting a first-year student enter the Forbidden Forest on his second day at Hogwarts was still somewhat reckless.
"May I go now, Professor?" Morris asked politely.
"Yes, you may," Professor McGonagall nodded, already turning to leave. Then she suddenly paused mid-turn. "Oh, wait, that wooden box you're holding—it was conjured with Transfiguration, wasn't it?"
Her tone showed interest rather than suspicion.
"Yes, Professor," Morris responded frankly, seeing no reason to lie about something so obvious. "I made it in the forest."
"What's inside?" Professor McGonagall asked curiously.
"A small insect," Morris answered truthfully, though he downplayed the specifics. "I caught it in the Forbidden Forest while we were walking. I've never seen anything quite like it in the Muggle world, so I'm quite interested. Perhaps I'll keep it as a pet."
'Keeping an Acromantula as a pet... that should be fine, right?'
Morris thought with hidden uncertainty.
After all, students here kept toads as pets, didn't they?
In his view, there was no difference between spiders and toads, except for the number of legs.
"I see," Professor McGonagall said slowly, pursing her lips thoughtfully.
She withdrew her curious gaze after observing Morris's innocent expression for a moment. Since the boy was being so frank and open about it, showing no signs of deception or guilty conscience, she wouldn't pay it much more attention. The box probably didn't contain any contraband or immediately dangerous.
What pets students kept was their own freedom and responsibility. She had no particular need or desire to interfere in such personal matters, as long as the creatures weren't actively dangerous to the students.
Compared to the box's contents, she found herself more concerned with and impressed by Morris's apparent level of Transfiguration skill.
Creating a functional container with air holes on the spot, in a forest setting without references or preparation, that demonstrated remarkable control and visualization ability for a first-year only a day or two in school.
"Well then, goodbye, Professor McGonagall," Morris said respectfully, bowing slightly in a gesture of courtesy.
Professor McGonagall nodded in response. She watched in silence as Morris turned and disappeared around the stone corner while holding his box.
"Not a student who makes things easy," she sighed to herself, shaking her head slowly. A small, wry smile appeared on her. Then she turned decisively and walked toward the Forbidden Forest's edge.
Now she needed to go find Hagrid and remind him to keep a better watch on those Thestrals. At the very least, they couldn't be allowed to carry young wizards into the sky at will anymore.
Since it was already well past noon and rapidly approaching lunchtime, Morris headed straight to the Great Hall after bidding farewell to Professor McGonagall. His stomach was making demands for food after the morning's adventures.
The hall was already bustling with quite a few people when he arrived. Students filled perhaps half the tables; their conversations were creating a pleasant background hum of noise. The enchanted ceiling showed a pleasant blue sky with wisps of white clouds drifting across its surface.
Morris found a random seat at the Ravenclaw table. He set the wooden box containing the unconscious Acromantula on the bench beside him, aligning it against the wall where it wouldn't be easily knocked over, and focused his attention on enjoying his lunch.
Though the midday meal couldn't compare in grandeur or variety to last night's magnificent welcome feast, it was still quite abundant and satisfying.
The golden plates had been filled with: slices of roast beef glistening with juices, fried fish with golden-brown crusts, some kind of savory meat pie with steam still rising from gashes in the crust, and sausages that looked exceptionally vibrant deep brown in color with an appetizing sheen.
Morris picked up one of the sausages and placed it on his plate, examining it briefly before taking an experimental bite. The casing snapped pleasantly, releasing flavorful juices.
Mm, delicious. The cheap goods from the orphanage, those thirty-pence-for-a-large-bag, couldn't compare to this at all.
As expected of Hogwarts' kitchens.
"So, this is where you are, Morris," a cheerful voice came from behind him, startling him slightly mid-chew.
Immediately after the statement, two red-haired figures appeared on both side of him, sliding onto the bench with coordination.
It was that pair of Weasley twins.
"What is it, George? And Fred?" Morris asked while chewing his beef, turning his head to look left and then right at his uninvited lunch companions.
He swallowed before adding with curiosity, "Speaking of which, how am I supposed to tell you two apart? You're completely identical."
In his eyes, the twins looked exactly the same. Even their tone of speaking, their mannerisms, their body language was eerily similar.
"Guess," the Weasley twin no.1 on his left said cheekily.
Morris immediately decided to ignore their game and focused determinedly on dealing with the fried fish on his plate, cutting into the flaky white flesh with his fork.
"Alright, alright," the twin on the right said, abandoning the tired twin trick with a dramatic sigh. "I'm Fred and he's George."
He gestured between them. "Now let's talk business. Were you flying in the sky yesterday evening? During the journey to the castle? Oh, don't rush to deny it—we all saw you waving at us through our carriage window."
Morris recalled the incident—he had indeed encountered their carriage last night while riding the Thestral.
"Oh, indeed," he nodded calmly, seeing no point in denying something they'd witnessed. "I was riding a Thestral at the time. One of the creatures offered me a lift."
"A Thestral?" George repeated with confusion. "What's a Thestral?"
"You don't know about them?" Morris was genuinely surprised. "They're the animals that pull your carriages from Hogsmeade Station to the castle. The ones you rode in last night."
Both twins shook their heads simultaneously in unison.
So, Morris gave them a simple explanation about the existence of Thestrals.
"Only people who've witnessed death can see Thestrals?" Fred was shocked upon hearing this. His voice dropped lower. "I always thought Hogwarts' carriages could fly by themselves! You know, like the boats do with first-years. Just enchanted to move on their own."
"Me too," George chimed in with equal astonishment, clearly unsettled by this new information about invisible creatures they'd been riding with for years.
His roaming gaze suddenly caught sight of the wooden box Morris had placed on the bench beside him. As luck or perhaps misfortune would have it, the box shifted twice at that exact moment.
"What's inside there?" George asked with curiosity, leaning closer to get a better look. His eyes were bright with interest.
"An insect," Morris answered casually while reaching out to press down firmly on the lid. "I caught it in the Forbidden Forest this morning. It's quite special, I've never seen anything like it before."
Fred's eyes immediately lit up like lanterns. "The Forbidden Forest? You went into the Forbidden Forest?" His voice carried both excitement and disbelief. "On your second day?"
"Hagrid took me," Morris's expression remained unchanged. "It was because of yesterday's Thestral-riding incident. But it's nothing major—I wasn't punished or anything."
"Cool!" George exclaimed, clearly impressed. But his attention had already returned to the mysterious moving box. He leaned even closer, trying to peer through the small air holes Morris had carved. "But seriously, what kind of insect is inside?"
Morris didn't feel this was something that needed to be concealed from them. The twins had proven themselves to be friendly and interesting, not the type to run tattling to professors.
He opened the box's lid quite openly without hesitation, revealing the unconscious Acromantula inside for the two to observe.
"Merlin's beard!" both twins immediately gasped in unison.
They shrank backward instinctively, nearly falling off the bench in their rush to put distance between themselves and the spider.
"This is an Acromantula," Morris introduced in a bland, straightforward tone, as if he were showing them a particularly interesting beetle rather than a highly dangerous magical creature.
"We know it's an Acromantula!" Fred hissed urgently, his eyes darting around the Great Hall. He automatically lowered his voice. "But how could you bring this thing out of the forest? Into the castle? If a professor sees—"
"I plan to keep it as a pet," Morris stated seriously, closing the lid again to hide the spider.
"..."
The twins were momentarily rendered completely speechless, their mouths dropped slightly open. They exchanged a long look that spoke levels.
Was this the style of all new students nowadays? Or was Morris Black just exceptionally unusual?
Keeping an Acromantula as a pet?
An actual, genuine, wizard-eating Acromantula?
Compare this to their youngest brother Ron, who was terrified of spiders and still occasionally called for their mother when frightened. Well, their brother was practically a waste who could only call for Mummy when scared.
Seeing the two remain silent, their expressions frozen in various stages of shock and concern, Morris showed a puzzled expression. His head tilted slightly. "What's wrong? Is it inappropriate? I was told students can keep pets."
"It's not a question of appropriate or not," Fred sighed heavily, running one hand through his red hair.
He glanced around again to make sure no professors were nearby. "Though in our view this would actually make a great pet, adult Acromantulas can grow as large as a car, Morris. If it's discovered by professors or other students when it reaches that size, you might get expelled!"
His tone was urgent and sounded concerned despite his appreciation for the audacity.
'I see,' Morris nodded thoughtfully, his expression grew more serious.
So, such a large spider currently in his box was only a young. It seemed the animals in the magical world were even more exaggerated in their proportions than he'd initially imagined.
Though he didn't particularly dislike spiders, one bigger than a person was absolutely out of the question. He couldn't realistically handle that.
Morris calmly closed the box lid with a click and spoke in a calm tone, "In that case, I'll find time to kill it."
His voice was as flat and casual as if he were saying he needed to return a book to the library or sharpen his quill.
The twins froze for several seconds, processing this casual statement.
Then George suddenly grabbed Morris's arm.
"Wait! Don't be hasty!" he said quickly. "This is something you don't normally get to see!"
Morris raised an eyebrow, intrigued by their sudden intensity. "What do you want to do with it?"
"Lend us the spider for a few days to play with... uh no, to study," George corrected himself quickly. "We're very interested in this kind of creature. For research purposes."
Fred nodded vigorously in agreement. "We could learn a lot from observing it. And we'd take good care of it, keep it hidden properly. We're good at hiding things."
Morris stroked his chin thoughtfully, considering the proposal from multiple angles.
Lending out the spider temporarily—he didn't particularly care about that. He'd captured it on impulse more than genuine desire to keep it long-term. And if they wanted to study it, conduct experiments, perhaps that served a useful purpose.
"Of course," he smiled slightly, making his decision. "But I have one condition in exchange."
"What condition?" both twins asked simultaneously, leaning forward.
"I want your Ton-Tongue Toffees," Morris said. "A dozen of them. The ones you showed me on the train."
"Deal," Fred said, extending his hand for a shake. "Twelve Ton-Tongue Toffees for temporary custody of one Acromantula. Sounds fair to us."