Newt looked at Kael without speaking.
He didn't mind having another assistant, he just didn't want to admit to getting old.
It's just an assistant, after all; it's not like he hasn't had one before. There's nothing to object to.
And come to think of it, house-elves are actually easier to get along with; at least they have simple minds, work with care and dedication, and almost never make mistakes.
Newt had already accepted this fact when Tina and Dobby were discussing wages.
He was looking at Kael for another reason.
"A week ago, Dumbledore sent your box over." Newt said with a complex expression, "Honestly, I regret giving it to you."
Kael was such a good student when he first started; although there was the issue with the dark wizard Oren, that was an internal school problem, and life quickly returned to normal the day it was resolved.
However, everything changed from the second year after I gave the box to Kael.
Before that year ended, I saw a troll, a three-headed dog, a Norwegian Ridgeback in Kael's box… I even helped take care of the troll and the dragon for a while.
That was also the first time I profoundly realized the richness of species in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts… They even had a three-headed dog, a creature so rare that even in Greece it's seldom seen. I've only seen it twice myself.
Originally, Newt thought that was the limit.
After all, both the Norwegian Ridgeback and the three-headed dog are 5X level Fantastic Beasts, it was impossible to find a more dangerous species in the Forbidden Forest.
Then Newt absolutely didn't expect that there was also a Chamber of Secrets in Hogwarts Castle.
Not only did Kael find it, but he also brought back the basilisk that had been there for over a thousand years.
After reading the letter Dumbledore sent him and seeing that gigantic ink-green creature in the box, Newt was utterly stunned.
A thousand-year-old basilisk… Just thinking about it is unbelievable.
Facing Newt's strange gaze, Kael scratched his head awkwardly, "It was just a coincidence. Mr. Salazar Slytherin insisted on giving it to me, and I couldn't refuse."
"Slytherin gave it to you?" Newt blinked in confusion; this wasn't mentioned in the letter Dumbledore sent him.
"But I heard that the Chamber of Secrets was left for the heir of Slytherin."
"Maybe I am…" Kael thought for a moment and said, "After all, my mother graduated from Slytherin."
"..."
Newt silently stared at Kael, as if he were meeting him for the first time.
Goodness, really trying to claim family ties here, huh?
Feeling like the conversation was going nowhere, Newt shook his head and took Kael to a hill when Tina and Dobby were out of the box.
"Dumbledore asked me to find a new home for the basilisk."
Newt waved his wand, and the plants at the bottom of the hill moved aside, revealing a huge cave.
The basilisk lay calmly inside, completely still.
"I know, he doesn't want the basilisk to appear in the castle in any form." Kael stepped forward and touched the scales of the basilisk, "It may have to stay with you until I graduate."
"Even after you graduate, it can."
Newt smiled and said, "I've never interacted with a living basilisk before; this is a great opportunity. Are you sure it won't wake up?"
"No." Kael shook his head, "As long as no one uses Parseltongue to summon it, it can keep sleeping."
Newt took out his wand and lightly tapped the basilisk.
A ball of orange light flickered twice before quickly dissipating.
"Truly extraordinary." Newt said with great interest, "With such a massive body, its energy consumption in sleep is even less than a Bowtruckle… Is it due to the basilisk's own ability, or because of Salazar Slytherin?"
"It should be because of Slytherin." Kael said uncertainly, "The method of putting the basilisk to sleep is something he taught me."
"I think quite the opposite…"
Newt carefully examined the basilisk's scales.
"Thirty years ago, when I was in the Pyramids, I came across a dead basilisk by accident, and I remember it had eight fine lines on its scales.
And the one you brought has ten."
Newt stood up and began pacing as he muttered to himself, "These lines might represent their age, increasing by one every hundred years… If that's the case, then the basilisk I encountered back then was likely eight hundred years old.
It didn't benefit from Salazar Slytherin's help, yet it lived for so long."
After pacing for a few circles, Newt summoned a bottle of an unknown potion and poured it over the basilisk.
The gray potion turned sticky and quickly started to solidify into a thin, snake-skin-like substance.
Newt peeled it off, and Kael noticed that the fine lines from the basilisk's scales were clearly imprinted on it.
Both walked out of the cave, and the surrounding plants gathered again, concealing the entrance.
"I was planning to release a new edition of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' next year, but now it seems that this will happen much sooner."
"Oh, right, here's this for you."
After hesitating for a moment, Newt handed a box over.
It was the box from Dumbledore, Kael's box which, after transferring the basilisk out, Newt had left here, and now it was time to return it to him.
Although this box had already given him two surprises— or rather, shocks— but in his view, it shouldn't be like this from now on.
After all, Hogwarts wouldn't have another Chamber of Secrets from Gryffindor, would it?
Seeing as how there are only so many fantastic beasts that live for hundreds or thousands of years, there aren't any shaped like lions inside… Of course, neither are there eagles or badgers.
And after dealing with the basilisk, Newt's ability to accept has improved significantly; even if Kael brings back another 5X Fantastic Beast… like a Five-Legged Monster or an Eight-eyed Giant Spider or something, he wouldn't be too surprised.
Even an Obscurus… okay, maybe still out of the question.
"I've already fed Norbert for you."
"And I dare say, Dumbledore definitely hasn't opened this to look."
Kael nodded. That's for sure.
Dumbledore is currently entirely focused on other matters, so where would he find the time to deal with a box?
The past month, he'd only shown his face at the year-end feast a week ago, hardly being in school at all otherwise.
As he watched Kael receiving the box, Newt's expression grew a little complex.
Thinking back, when he and his friends were raising a Niffler in the castle, they got expelled for it.
Just look at Kael, raising trolls, raising fire dragons, raising basilisks… any one of which is far more dangerous than a Niffler, right?
Yet not only was he not expelled, but he became the first student to consecutively win the Hogwarts Special Contribution Award for the school for three years in a row.
The contrast is just too stark.
...