Chapter 533 533: 533: What Can A Tiny Niffler Do?
Chapter 533 533: 533: What Can A Tiny Niffler Do?
Upon arriving in New York, Newt was like a country bumpkin entering a grand city, curious about everything.
For example, right now—on the steps of the city bank, a woman dressed in Puritan attire was delivering an impassioned speech.
Behind her stood a man holding a flag bearing the organization's emblem.
Amid striking yellow and red flames, a pair of hands snapped a wand in two.
Naïve Newt stopped in front of the bank, listening intently to the speech inviting everyone to join the "Second Salem."
The Second Salem was a fanatical anti-witch organization.
Yet Newt, a wizard himself, listened with great interest, his eyes filled with innocent fascination.
He accidentally bumped into a tall woman.
"I'm terribly sorry."
Newt didn't pay much attention, and the tall woman merely glanced at him before continuing to eat her hot dog.
She turned her attention back to the fervent speech of the Second Salem, when a voice came from behind.
"Excuse me, miss, I need to get to the bank."
A somewhat chubby man carrying a case walked past her. As he passed Newt, he tripped over the case Newt had placed on the ground.
"I'm terribly sorry, my case—" Newt said apologetically as he helped him up.
Starting off on the wrong foot, Jacob Kowalski had originally intended to get angry.
But seeing Newt's sincere attitude, he generously let it go.
"It's nothing."
Jacob picked up his case and quickly walked up the bank steps.
The woman delivering the impassioned speech was drawn by the disturbance between the two and shifted her gaze to Newt, calling on him directly.
"You, my friend—why have you come to join us today?"
For someone socially anxious like Newt, being singled out by someone so outgoing was overwhelming.
He didn't dare meet her eyes and stammered, "Uh… I just… happened to be passing by."
But she had no intention of letting him off, continuing, "Are you a seeker, searching for the truth?"
Newt replied awkwardly, "Actually… I'm more of a chaser."
A well-dressed man walked out of the bank. His gaze flicked to a beggar sitting by the steps, and with a flick of his finger, he tossed a coin.
The coin gleamed in the sunlight, striking the steps with a crisp sound.
From the narrow gap of Newt's case, a pair of small claws reached out, struggling to get free.
By the time Newt noticed, the Niffler had already run out.
He hurried after it and rushed into the bank.
Inside, he ran into Jacob again.
…
Inside the case,
John couldn't help but marvel once more at how well-stocked Newt's case was.
The interior was divided into many different areas, with the entrance located in the house at the center.
John tossed the troublesome Niffler aside and snapped a branch from the tree where the Bowtruckles lived.
The Bowtruckles were furious, waving their twig-like arms as they tried to settle the score with him.
John shot them a single glance, and the little green creatures immediately wilted.
"Occamies—their eggshells are also excellent materials. Compared to common silver, these eggshells are purer and carry magical properties."
He walked to the Occamy nest, where several newly hatched ones were inside.
Their silver eggshells were scattered nearby, and John reached out to take them.
Not far away, a pair of eyes watched him, hesitant to step forward and stop him.
"Don't worry, I'll only take a little."
Seemingly noticing the other presence, John chuckled softly. "Even a Demiguise is being raised here. No wonder he's Hagrid's idol."
Picking up a piece of Occamy eggshell, John turned and walked toward a woven nest on a tree that appeared empty.
What had seemed like an empty nest gradually revealed the shape of a small, ape-like Demiguise.
"Your fur is quite a good material."
John spoke casually, as if already familiar, while the Demiguise grew visibly uneasy—it could sense the danger emanating from him.
Demiguises were intelligent magical creatures with gentle temperaments.
After satisfying himself by stroking the Demiguise, John headed toward the central house to look for more materials.
Acting completely at home, he rummaged through Newt's workshop.
He found a bottle of oak sap, something magical creatures sometimes used as an adhesive when building nests.
Newt keeping some on hand didn't surprise John at all.
With all the materials ready, John simply borrowed Newt's workshop to make a wand.
The sneaky Niffler quietly slipped inside.
Noticing everything, John ignored it and focused on cleaning the birch wood in his hand.
The bark needed to be stripped away, and since it was taken from a branch, it had considerable flexibility.
"If you dare touch my things, I'll eat you in one bite."
Glancing at the Niffler inching toward the golden scales peeking out of his satchel, John said flatly, "You wouldn't even be enough to get stuck between my teeth."
The Niffler shrank back in fright, its small eyes welling with tears.
Care of Magical Creatures was one of John's electives, and he knew this kind of creature well. Completely unmoved, he ignored the little fellow.
Seeing that its pitiful act gained no sympathy, the Niffler reluctantly withdrew its hand.
Just as it was about to leave, it felt something.
A call from something shiny.
The Niffler climbed up the ladder, using its head to push open a small gap in the closed case.
As a Niffler, it was capable of squeezing through extremely narrow openings.
Through that gap, it slipped out.
John cleaned the birch wood, then crafted the Thunderbird feather into a core and set it inside.
He didn't pay any attention to what the Niffler was doing—after all, no matter how reckless a single Niffler was, it couldn't cause much trouble.
"This kind of birch is often inhabited by Bowtruckles, so it's already been nourished by magic."
John flicked his fingers, summoning the oak sap to fly over.
He evenly coated the prepared birch wand with the thick sap. Because it had long existed alongside magical creatures, the time required for crafting the wand was greatly reduced.
He found a well-lit spot within the different areas and hung up the sap-coated birch wand.
"It should be ready in a few hours. Didn't expect to find creatures like Fire Crabs here too."
After hanging it up, John looked up at the "sun"—in reality, a series of light bulbs containing luminous larvae.
"I could probably make something like this myself… though those magical creatures would need to be tamed first before being placed inside."
Thinking about it, John found the case incredibly convenient.
Not only did it serve as a portable workshop, it could also sustain an entire ecosystem.
With that thought, John returned to the place where he had first woken up.
It was a rocky area designed according to the habits of fire dragons.
Newt probably didn't know what kind of dragon John was, so he had chosen the safest option.
Nearby, the Thunderbird flew back and forth—its habitat was similar to John's.
"Did that Graphorn just…?"
Sitting cross-legged on a rock, John watched a Graphorn in another open plain area.
The rhino-like creature was currently giving off strong mating signals.
Inside Newt's little house, the Niffler that had slipped out was thrown back in again.
"Last warning, you little thief—if it's not yours, don't grab it and refuse to let go!"
Newt's annoyed voice came from above as the Niffler dropped down like a black furball.
The Niffler stood up, waving its claws upward in dissatisfaction, as if declaring it would sneak out again.
Having suffered heavy impact, John's body had yet to recover.
He simply moved behind a rock, closed his eyes, and prepared to rest for a while.
…
"There's no need to worry. It's just that you know too much, so please stand still. It will be over soon."
A disturbance broke out at the city bank, and among those caught up in it—more precisely, the one who caused it—was Newt.
To be exact, Newt searching for the Niffler.
A single Niffler might not do much, but it could rob a bank.
He was currently trying to comfort Jacob, the World War I veteran, whose mind was in complete disarray.
Who could explain to Jacob why one moment he had been in the bank vault, and the next he was outside the bank?
The police quickly arrived at the scene, but none of them noticed the two people in the alley outside.
Except for the tall woman.
The two cases were placed together, and Newt prepared to erase Jacob's memory.
Jacob was a Muggle, and Newt had used magic in front of him.
Jacob stood still obediently, but just as Newt turned to draw his wand and cast the spell, Jacob quickly picked up a case from the ground and struck back.
Caught off guard, Newt was hit squarely by the case.
Faced with someone of unknown origin, Jacob chose not to sit and wait for death.
Stunned—physically.
"Sorry!"
Jacob hurriedly ran off in a panic.
Newt wanted to stop him, but the crowd outside made him hesitate.
Flustered, Jacob pushed his way into the crowd.
The events of the day left his head spinning.
Only after returning to his small, cramped home did he finally sit down in relief.
As for Newt, he wasn't so fortunate—he was captured by the tall woman.
That woman was a member of the American Ministry of Magic, and unfortunately for Newt, he had just committed an illegal act.
He was taken away, escorted to the Magical Congress.
…
Jacob sat at the table, needing a moment to calm himself. The case placed on the bed suddenly let out a click.
He turned his head in confusion and walked over to it.
Staring at the case, he looked completely puzzled.
The case began to shake, then soon fell still again.
He cautiously approached. The moment he got close, something suddenly jumped out—and he grabbed it instinctively.
He struggled with all his strength. The ceiling seemed to be struck and shattered by something.
Then the wall exploded open.
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