Newt skillfully stepped into the suitcase and landed in the room.
He looked around and was somewhat surprised to find that Kael had arranged this place quite nicely.
All the furniture was placed in an orderly manner, much tidier than his own messy room.
Moreover, the two large bookshelves in the corner of the room were filled with volumes bound in parchment.
As soon as Newt walked over, he immediately sensed traces of the Undetectable Extension Charm on them. This means there are far more booklets inside than meets the eye.
"What's this..." he asked curiously.
Kael's heart skipped a beat... How did he forget about this?
Newt might keep his illegal Fantastic Beasts a secret, but that's not a given with these things copied from the Restricted Area.
"Nothing much," Kael said, trying to act calm. "Just some notes I took in class, stored here for convenient reference."
"Class notes? So many!"
"Oh, quite a few were taken while reading in the library."
Newt touched the volumes lightly and said, "No wonder you earned the Merlin Medal... I'm not surprised anymore."
Although Newt was expelled, even before his expulsion he was only interested in knowledge related to Fantastic Beasts.
Without this "extracurricular knowledge," all his notes combined wouldn't be as thick as one of these volumes.
"It's nothing, all thanks to the Speedwriting Quill... Let me show you the inside."
Kael opened a small door and stepped out.
Newt nodded and followed him out of the room, then was a bit surprised to find the space much larger than when he had left it to Kael.
And those rowan trees weren't there before either. They were growing very lushly, and without looking, Newt knew they must be full of Bowtruckles.
Wait, what's that...
Newt suddenly noticed that besides the rowan trees, there was a black, three-headed "big rock."
"Three-headed dog?" Newt's eyelids twitched.
Before he could react further, a huge shadow flew just over his head.
Newt looked up, his expression becoming more stunned.
A Fire Dragon? ...and a rare Norwegian Ridgeback!
Newt suddenly felt a sense of absurdity.
This is just one school year, and it happened at Hogwarts. Where did Kael even find these dangerous creatures?
He suppressed his shock and continued to survey the area.
Oh, there's also a Mountain Troll... but compared to the Three-Headed Dog and the Norwegian Ridgeback, it seemed much more inconspicuous.
"These are your so-called... small animals?"
Newt asked with a strange expression; he wouldn't be surprised if Kael were expelled from school.
He himself was expelled for illegally keeping a Magic Mink at Hogwarts, and that was only a 3X-rated creature.
Yet look at what Kael keeps... A Fire Dragon and a Three-Headed Dog, both 5X-rated Fantastic Beasts, and discovering even one could get him expelled ten times over.
What's this, surpassing the master?
Starting off with the most dangerous 5X-level creatures, are kids these days really this bold?
"Uh... The Three-Headed Dog is around two years old, and the Fire Dragon isn't even one year old. So in terms of age, they are indeed still small."
"What about the Troll..."
"It's got a small brain."
"..."
"Like I said before, they were all smuggled..."
Seeing Newt's "You're definitely getting expelled" expression, Kael quickly explained their origins.
There was nothing much to it. Simply telling the truth would do.
...
"Are they all related to the Philosopher's Stone?"
After understanding the story behind it, Newt frowned and said, "But never mind the Fire Dragon, since the Three-Headed Dog was borrowed from Dumbledore, why don't you return it to Hagrid, let it stay in the Forbidden Forest."
"There was a little incident. It seems to have become... friends with Norbert."
Kael shrugged and said, "I did send Fluffy back, but it almost broke out of the Forbidden Forest several times. If Hagrid hadn't discovered it in time, it might have barged right into the castle looking for me.
So to not scare others, I had to keep it here."
Newt smacked his lips, even for someone as knowledgeable as him, he was momentarily at a loss for words.
So it really is surpassing the master...
Ten minutes later, Newt left the suitcase and took the Norwegian Ridgeback Norbert and the Troll with him.
As for Fluffy... it was only staying temporarily and would eventually have to go back to the Forbidden Forest.
Though it was very dissatisfied with this, throwing a tantrum and begging to be taken along, Kael still did not agree.
It's not a matter of wanting to or not; it's that he can't. Fluffy is Hagrid's prized creature, and if it were taken away, Hagrid would undoubtedly go berserk.
Finally managing to calm an aggrieved Fluffy, Kael left the suitcase with Newt.
On the way back, Newt suddenly said, "Kael, I can help you take care of them for a while, but you can't keep them like this forever."
"You know what I mean."
"Yes, I understand." Kael replied softly, "By next year, I'm planning to send the Troll back to the Forbidden Forest. After I graduate, I'll also visit Norway to return Norbert."
"You're planning to go yourself?" Newt asked.
"Yes." Kael nodded, "I want to try. After all, I brought it into the suitcase, so I should be the one to bring it back."
Newt was silent for a moment, then said no more.
Kael is currently in his second year, with five years to go before graduation—a relatively short time—and the suitcase's existence perfectly hides the Fire Dragon, leaving no worry of it being discovered by others.
After that, they switched to a lighter topic.
"It's a female dragon, right? Why call her 'Norbert'?" Newt asked curiously.
"Hagrid named it," Kael said. "I found that it seems to really like the name, so I didn't change it."
"I see, no wonder..."
...
After leaving the castle, the two of them took a path leading near the school's main entrance, not far from which was Hogsmeade Platform.
They stopped there.
Of course, Newt wouldn't take the train away; that would be too slow. It was only after leaving the school's boundary that he could use Disillusionment.
The boundary was marked by the two winged boar statues.
Crossing the gate, Newt turned back for a last reminder, "While at school, be sure not to let them out of the suitcase; it's very important.
Oh, and when you come to pick them up, remember to bring the Merlin Medal. Since Tina heard about it, she's been eager to see it."
"I will," Kael said with a smile,
...