Harry thought it was some kind of bug and instinctively reached out to scratch his ear a couple of times. But even after his ear turned red, he didn't find anything.
He wanted to ask what a Nargle was, but Luna had already bounded back to Mr. Lovegood.
The young girl looked in surprise at the bump on her father's head and reached out to touch it.
"Ow..." Mr. Lovegood winced in pain.
"Sorry, Dad..." Luna quickly apologized, but soon couldn't help touching it again.
"Did you get hit by a Snorcack? You've seen it already?"
A magical power seemed to be in that sentence, as Mr. Lovegood instantly didn't feel any pain and stood up, patting his conspicuous yellow robe:
"Luna, I haven't seen the Curved-Horned Snoring Beast. But I think it must have found out we were looking for it, so it delivered this little gift."
"You're amazing, Dad." Luna happily twirled around in circles twice.
The conversation left Harry even more bewildered.
Could it be... that bump on the man's head wasn't caused by me hitting him with the goblin?
Harry looked around and soon found the goblin muttering angrily as it walked back nearby.
No doubt about it... the goblin is right here.
But why did he say it was the Curved Horned Beast... and what exactly is that Curved Horned whatever beast?
Harry scratched his hair, suddenly feeling like a clueless Muggle.
And the expressions on Ron and the others' faces were quite similar to his own.
The only exception was Kael, who curiously asked:
"Mr. Lovegood, did you find the Curved-Horned Snoring Beast this time?"
"Just missed it." The man said regretfully, "We only found traces of it passing through the southern valley. It seems it has already moved elsewhere."
"I just found this." Luna also raised the half-piece of leaf in her hand, "The leftover food of the Snorcack... Dad, it must have passed by here when it left."
"You're right, Luna." Mr. Lovegood sighed deeply, "We shouldn't have left."
"Can I take a look at that leaf?" Kael suddenly asked.
"Of course." Luna happily handed the item to Kael, "Are you also interested in the Curved-Horned Snoring Beast?"
"Actually, I'm interested in all Fantastic Beasts."
Kael took the leaf and examined it carefully under the moonlight... but soon, his expression became somewhat peculiar.
This bite mark... if Mr. Lovegood and Luna could find the time to visit the Shabby Residence, they should be able to find what they're looking for.
This leaf was clearly half-bitten by a goblin potato sapling, which was everywhere in the garden in front of the Shabby Residence. If they wanted it, they could buy it by the pound.
"Kael, don't move, there's a Bobblefly by your nose... oh, it's gone again."
"What?" Kael returned the potato sapling to Luna: "What is a Bobblefly..."
"A kind of flying Little Elf." Luna said, "Bobbleflies like to dance around relatively intelligent people, confusing their thoughts and making them forget what they wanted to say. It's quite rare."
"Dad, did you see it just now?"
"I must have missed it while straightening out my clothes." Mr. Lovegood said regretfully.
Kael didn't mind much, after all, they often mentioned bizarre names that were hard to understand. Not even Newt could visit without leaving with a head full of questions.
"Mr. Lovegood..." Kael changed the subject: "Luna should be going to Hogwarts this year, right?"
"Received the acceptance letter just three days ago." He said happily: "It's truly delightful. I've been gathering materials recently to make her a pair of magical glasses as a gift."
"You can see Nargles with it..." Luna said.
Kael pulled his lip into a polite smile.
In truth, he didn't want to engage with any of the Lovegood family's trinkets, as it would make him look silly.
...
After chatting a bit more, Mr. Lovegood hurriedly left with Luna.
On the way back to the Shabby Residence, Harry couldn't resist asking, "Ron, who were those two?"
"The Lovegood family." Ron said, "They live in a chimney-shaped house to the north, with a large wooden windmill at the entrance.
Oh, and Mr. Lovegood is also the editor of 'The Quibbler.'
"The Quibbler?"
"A very odd magazine." Ron explained, "Much of its content is pure nonsense, so basically, no one reads it."
"Oh." Harry nodded, half-understanding, and continued to ask, "By the way, the Nargles... is that what it's called? What on earth is that."
As he spoke, he instinctively touched his ear again.
"Oh, and that Curved Horned Beast... I've never heard of it before, are they also a kind of Fantastic Beast?"
"You shouldn't worry about that."
Ron waved it off casually, "That's Loony Luna, everyone knows there's no such thing as a Nargle in the Magical Realm."
"Loony?"
"Yeah, everyone who knows her calls her that, she and the magazine, they both like spouting nonsense."
Ron said with his hands behind his back, "Actually, not many people are willing to engage with the Lovegood family, only Kael would talk to them.
But I'd wager even Kael couldn't understand their conversations."
Although it seemed impolite, recalling Luna's behavior just now, Harry couldn't help feeling the nickname "Loony" was quite fitting.
"They're such a peculiar family." Harry murmured, "Have they always been like this?"
"They used to be a bit better, we even had meals together, but ever since two years..."
Ron suddenly looked around, lowered his voice and said, "Ever since that explosion two years ago, they've been this way. Mom's invited them over several times, but they've always refused."
"Explosion..."
"It was reportedly because of a magic experiment gone wrong." Ron sighed, whispering, "Kael had warned them many times before to be careful with magic experiments, even I remembered that..."
"Ron!"
At that moment, Ginny came storming over, displeased, "Have you forgotten, Mom doesn't allow us to talk about this to others."
"I remember..." Ron defended, "But this is Harry, not just anyone else."
If it were any other time, upon hearing Harry's name, Ginny would usually blush and run away, but this time she remained standing there, staring at Ron with disapproving eyes.
"Fine, I won't say anything anymore..." Ron mumbled as he turned his head.