Inside Hagrid's hut, Leo looked at the metal ring in front of him, which he had transformed from a discarded cup.
"The solidified transformation should be complete."
After studying the papers and books Professor McGonagall had given him, he attempted his first semi-permanent solidified transformation, and unexpectedly, the process went exceptionally smoothly.
Well, the highest-level Transfiguration talent was indeed extraordinary. With previous research as reference, his learning speed could be this fast.
Since the solidified transformation was complete, he could try creating and assembling the mechanical animal's form. He still needed adhesive—he'd go borrow some blood from the three-headed dog tomorrow night.
He wondered if Harry still remembered which room the three-headed dog was in. Well, he could also ask Hermione—that girl had a good memory and was more reliable than Harry and Ron in the early stages.
Looking at the metal ring, for his first solidified transformation, he hadn't infused too much magical power. It should revert to its original form in about ten minutes. He'd test it once more to see if there were any flaws.
"Hagrid, could you help me with something?"
Hagrid set Fang down, "Of course, no problem."
Leo handed the metal ring to Hagrid, "Could you inject some magical power into it? You don't need to cast spells, just pure magical power injection."
Hagrid nodded and pulled out a small pink umbrella from his coat, pointing it at the metal ring.
Leo's mouth twitched—the umbrella probably concealed Hagrid's wand. This disguise was quite unique. A three or four-metre-tall half-giant holding a pink umbrella shorter than his forearm—the visual was quite interesting.
Taking the metal ring back from Hagrid, Leo carefully examined it. No problems—it was still very stable.
"By the way, Hagrid, could I borrow Fang? I want to take him for a walk in the Forbidden Forest."
"Oh, that's fine, but don't go too deep—it's dangerous in there, and Fang is timid and prone to running around."
Leo nodded, lightly waving his wand. The metal ring floated toward Fang's head, expanding to fit around his neck before shrinking appropriately.
Casting Transfiguration again, the metal ring's exterior sprouted a circle of spikes while extending a thin chain to Leo's hand.
"Very beautiful magic. This collar suits Fang, the little cutie, quite well."
Hagrid was delighted, feeling his dog had gained new accessories.
Leo looked at the sturdy, black Fang, now sporting a spike-covered collar—a perfect image of a guard dog. His intention was simply to create a spiked collar to protect Fang's neck from other beasts' bites. If Hagrid thought it was cute, so be it.
In a half-giant's eyes, all animals were cute—whether Fang, three-headed dogs, or even the Acromantulas deep in the Forbidden Forest.
Speaking of which, he should look for Acromantulas when going to the Forbidden Forest. Not only could he collect venom to make explosive potions, but they were also a species of magical creature he could record.
Bidding farewell to Hagrid, Leo led Fang into the Forbidden Forest. When they reached a slightly deeper area, Fang began looking around nervously.
If not for seeing his tucked tail and slightly trembling hind legs, Leo might have thought he was dutifully observing the environment.
"Aurelius."
As soon as Leo called, the little Qilin's figure appeared before him.
"Woof! Whine—"
Facing the suddenly appearing Qilin, Fang instinctively barked once, but immediately whimpered and hid behind Leo.
Leo looked back at the trembling Fang—he couldn't really hide the dog's sturdy frame anyway. Rubbing the dog's head, he smiled helplessly.
He hadn't expected the dog to be this timid—even afraid of a Qilin that could make animals naturally approach it?
After some comforting, Fang finally stopped constantly hiding behind Leo. Just as he was about to guide Fang to interact with Aurelius, Leo suddenly glimpsed a white figure charging toward them like lightning.
When the white shadow stopped twenty or thirty metres away, Leo could finally see its form clearly.
A pure white steed covered in complex silver patterns, with a spiral horn growing from its forehead. A unicorn!
This was rare—they ran extremely fast, and their horns, hair, and blood all had strong magical effects. Well, they were also Voldemort's favourite source of sustenance.
Just as Leo was observing the unicorn and considering whether to record it, the unicorn had already walked over with elegant posture and rhythmic steps.
It walked up to Aurelius, and after a few seconds of eye contact, lowered its head.
Seeing this scene, Leo communicated mentally with the little Qilin.
"Aurelius, what's this situation?"
"Master, this horned horse says it sensed me nearby and thinks I'm powerful, sacred, peaceful, beautiful, kind..."
"Stop, this is called a unicorn, and don't randomly use those adjectives I taught you a few days ago."
"Oh, but it really did describe me that way."
Leo was speechless. It seemed unicorns had quite special perception, actually detecting the little Qilin's presence and specifically coming over.
Raising his hand, Leo naturally wanted to touch the unicorn. The unicorn directly turned its head away, avoiding Leo's hand.
But after glancing at Aurelius, it turned its head back. When Leo's hand was about to touch it, the unicorn moved its head away again.
Watching the unicorn's repetitive behaviour, Leo's hand stopped mid-air. Was this unicorn confused or something?
"Master, it says it prefers women to men."
Aurelius's voice echoed in his mind, making Leo's mouth twitch immediately.
The books were right—unicorns only allowed witches to approach them.
If a male wizard used Polyjuice Potion to become a witch, could he fool a unicorn? If discovered, would he be immediately stabbed to death by an enraged unicorn?
Since it wouldn't let him touch it, Leo didn't record the unicorn's data. Besides, there was only one here—he needed to record data from at least a male and female pair for completeness.
After signalling Aurelius to let the unicorn leave, Leo asked, "Aurelius, based on the locations I gave you, have you found the Acromantulas' habitat?"
Getting an affirmative reply, Leo pressed down on Fang's head and had Aurelius Apparate them nearby.
By a giant rock covered in white spider webs, Leo used his usual combination of Disillusionment Charm and stealth oil, recording the Acromantulas active in the hollow.
Neither Aurelius nor Fang were here—since Fang was too timid, Leo had the Qilin help him walk the dog nearby first.
There were quite a few spiders here, from juveniles to sub-adults to adults. Hagrid had released one Aragog back then and found it a mate—they'd actually reproduced this much. Really prolific.
While Leo was still observing these spiders, an aged, hoarse voice suddenly rang out, "Ah, it's been so long since I've seen such a young wizard."
Leo turned toward where the voice came from and saw a massive Acromantula emerge from a dark cave. Unlike the other spiders, this one was enormous, like an elephant, and greyish-white all over.
Its eight eyes weren't pitch black like other spiders', but also greyish-white.
Aragog—he could actually detect Leo's presence. Losing his sight actually made his other perceptions more acute? Enhanced hearing, smell, or touch? Or some other sensing method?
Disillusionment Charms and stealth oil did have limitations, it seemed. Perhaps he could try developing other magic...
Leo removed his concealment methods. Those spiders of various sizes immediately noticed Leo too, but they didn't attack immediately—they seemed to find him approachable and didn't want to harm him.
But after Aragog made sounds by rubbing his mandibles, these spiders slowly surrounded Leo anyway.
"The feeling about you is very unique—it makes me strangely reluctant to harm you."
That aged voice spoke again.
Leo glanced at the surrounding spiders, then looked calmly at Aragog with an indifferent tone, "Hello there, Aragog."
"You know my name. Are you Hagrid's friend then?"
Aragog paused, then continued, "Well, friends—we can't harm friends."
"But Hagrid's friends don't seem to equal my friends."
Despite having lost his sight, Aragog still stared at Leo with those greyish-white eyes, as if looking at a piece of delicious, tender flesh.
Watching the spider swarm slowly closing in, Leo suddenly smiled—a very relaxed smile.
Electric arcs began sparking from the tip of Leo's wand, crackling the surrounding air. In an instant, Aurelius's figure flashed to Leo's side, golden flames rising up and scorching heat radiating everywhere.
"Thank you for saying that—now I can feel at ease."