"Did you really succeed with my method?" Adrian looked at Ruskin with a hint of doubt.
"Are you underestimating me?" Ruskin seemed somewhat annoyed. "I'm the most outstanding magical creature breeder today, and besides, this was your own method. You must have tried it yourself, haven't you?"
Adrian nodded, but he still had some doubts.
The most outstanding magical creature breeder?
He had never heard of her.
But seeing Ruskin's confident demeanor, Adrian didn't contradict her.
Besides, the little creature peering out from the box before him didn't seem to resist Ruskin's caresses at all.
"May I approach it too?" Adrian asked curiously.
"Of course," Ruskin replied, then gestured for Adrian to come forward and pet the thunderbird. "It's been well-trained by me. As long as you don't harbor ill intentions toward it, there won't be any problems."
"Then you have nothing to worry about," Adrian responded confidently.
Release malice?
That was the thing he was least skilled at.
He gently extended his hand, slowly approaching the thunderbird.
As expected, the thunderbird showed no resistance to Adrian's touch; in fact, it seemed to enjoy it.
"Would you like to come with me?" Adrian said.
The thunderbird, as if understanding Adrian's words, called out twice.
"You have good compatibility with it," Ruskin nodded, saying somewhat reluctantly: "I think you must have some talent in protecting magical creatures. However, compared to me, you're still quite lacking. If it were me..."
Adrian ignored Ruskin's subsequent words, continuing to observe the thunderbird before him.
"Since it has such compatibility with me," Adrian finally spoke, "how much would it cost if I wanted to buy this thunderbird?"
Hearing Adrian's question, Ruskin's face broke into a faint smile.
"If you really want this thunderbird," she looked at Adrian, her tone casual, "it's free."
Adrian was stunned for a moment, then stepped back a few paces. "What are your intentions toward me?"
Seeing Adrian's reaction, Ruskin snorted impatiently, "I have no ulterior motives toward you. Thunderbirds are extremely precious, you should know..."
"Ten thousand Galleons," Adrian thought for a moment, naming a price.
"This isn't about Galleons... Wait! How much did you say?" Ruskin seemed somewhat shocked.
"Ten thousand Galleons," Adrian repeated.
"No, no, no," Ruskin quickly shook her head, as if trying to shake the number from her mind. "I won't accept Galleons, and I won't charge you for the other magical creatures on your list either."
"Then what do you need?" Adrian asked, puzzled.
Ruskin smiled slightly, "Actually, I hope to become a sponsor for Hogwarts' Care of Magical Creatures class."
"Become a sponsor for Hogwarts' Care of Magical Creatures class?" Adrian was even more confused. "Forgive me for saying so, but even if you did that, you wouldn't get any benefit from it."
Ruskin chuckled lightly, seemingly unconcerned by Adrian's confusion. "You don't need to worry about that. You just need to mention during class that those magical creatures all came from me."
Adrian pondered briefly and quickly understood Ruskin's intention.
She didn't need Galleons; rather, she hoped to enhance her reputation in the field of magical creatures by establishing a connection with Hogwarts.
Providing magical creatures needed for Hogwarts' education was indeed a good selling point.
Through this approach, she could indirectly attract more customers to her shop.
"Alright, I agree," Adrian considered briefly before accepting Ruskin's deal.
This didn't seem like a difficult task for him.
And besides... Who doesn't like getting things for free?
"But you must prepare all the magical creatures I need," Adrian finally said.
"Of course," Ruskin nodded with satisfaction. "That's the most basic requirement. Thank you for your trust, Mr. Westeros."
After bidding farewell to Ruskin, Adrian brought the thunderbird back with him in the carrying case.
The space inside the case wasn't large, clearly just a temporary shelter.
Fortunately, the young thunderbird in Adrian's possession had a very gentle temperament, even contradicting its highly sensitive nature, and showed no displeasure about this.
Obviously, it had been well-trained by Ruskin.
But even so, he couldn't keep the thunderbird in such a confined space all day. So, Adrian's first action upon returning to Hogwarts was to bring the thunderbird into his plantation.
Then, Adrian began rummaging through his warehouse.
"I remember it should be here... Ah, found it."
A moment later, a small jar appeared in his hand.
Inside the jar was a small, dried-up twig.
[Name: Twig]
[Type: Elm]
[Level: 2]
[Property: Thunderstorm Summoning]
This elm twig was left from a mutated elm tree that Adrian had previously grown.
As the information from the Tree of Wisdom showed, that elm tree's property was Thunderstorm Summoning.
It could summon small thunderstorms in its location.
And thunderbirds could be considered children of storms; when they flew, they brought powerful storms and lightning.
Storms and lightning would never cause them any harm. Therefore, this type of elm tree that could summon thunderstorms was highly compatible with thunderbirds.
In fact, Adrian had raised an elderly thunderbird a long time ago, though it eventually left.
At that time, he still had a large mutated elm tree, but unfortunately, while the tree could summon thunderstorms, it couldn't avoid lightning.
Then, one afternoon after the old thunderbird left, that elm tree was struck by lightning from the very thunderstorm it had created.
In the end, only the small piece in Adrian's hand remained.
Thinking about this, Adrian couldn't help feeling some regret.
After all, plants that could influence the weather were rare.
And now, he had another opportunity to cultivate such an elm tree.
Cultivating such an elm tree was quite simple: he just needed to find a suitable elm tree, then create a growth potion with the "Thunderstorm Summoning" property, which would give the elm tree a chance to acquire the "Thunderstorm Summoning" property.
If it didn't work, he would try again several times.
It should be noted that his blood was a main component of the growth potion.
If he used too much blood, he would become anemic.
Besides that, finding a suitable elm tree would still require some time and effort.
So, Adrian sought out Lupin, who was feeding the torches in Greenhouse Number Two.
"What? You want me to help you find some good-looking elm trees?" Lupin asked with confusion after hearing Adrian's request. "What are you planning to do?"
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