Hogwarts: I'm Truly a Model Wizard

Hogwarts was especially quiet late at night. A few lights twinkled in the castle where common rooms were located, and a few energetic students stretched their evening fun as late as possible, lingering over Exploding Snap or wizard chess before reluctantly heading to bed.

Outside, the full moon cast its glow over the grounds. In the moonlight, two figures—a tall one and a smaller one—crept silently along, skirting the Whomping Willow without making a sound.

"Kyle, it's not too late to turn back…" whispered Newt Scamander, who was leading the way. "You're still a student, after all. If the professors catch you out here, you could be expelled."

"Right, as if this wasn't your idea," Kyle muttered, following behind.

All Kyle had done was send Newt a letter asking for advice on how to handle the Manticore in the Forbidden Forest. Who could've predicted that Newt would show up at Hogwarts in the dead of night, slip into the Hufflepuff dormitory using a Disillusionment Charm, and wake Kyle with a whisper? At first, Kyle had thought he was hearing things. But no—Newt had actually traveled there himself.

Kyle half-jokingly thought he ought to file a complaint against the Dementors—they were letting just anyone stroll onto the grounds these days!

"I only came to confirm if there's really a Manticore here in the Forbidden Forest," Newt said, casting a glance back. "I didn't drag you along on a nighttime adventure. You followed of your own accord, and if you get expelled, it's hardly my fault."

"Anyone in my place would've followed you," Kyle replied with a shrug. "And it's just a night walk. Even if I get caught, they won't expel me for that."

The two of them soon reached Hagrid's hut.

"Do we have to go around?" Kyle asked. "Hagrid's got a hound here with an excellent nose. If we go any closer, it's bound to pick up our scent."

"No need," said Newt, producing a small vial from his pocket. He opened it and waved it over himself a few times, then handed it to Kyle. "This is pollen from the Flutterby Bush. It'll mask your scent perfectly."

Kyle took the vial and mimicked Newt's movements, then tucked it into his pocket. After all, if he was trekking into the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night, he deserved a bit of a "guide fee"… and this pollen would be quite handy.

Newt waited for Kyle to return the vial but, seeing no movement, turned around and raised an eyebrow. "You—"

"Shh!" Kyle whispered back. "Keep your voice down; Fang's got sensitive ears. We're almost to the path Hagrid takes into the forest—it's a lot flatter than the rest."

Newt sighed, resigning himself to the fact that Kyle was keeping the vial. Forget it, he thought, I've got another one in my suitcase.

They tiptoed past Hagrid's hut, which was dark and silent but for the sound of Hagrid's heavy snoring drifting through the window.

Once they were deep enough in the Forbidden Forest to lose sight of Hagrid's hut, Kyle let out a quiet sigh of relief. Finally, he could ask the question that had been bugging him all the way here. "So… why exactly did you come to Hogwarts? Was it really just to see the Manticore?"

"Well, sort of," Newt admitted, "and the Three-Headed Dog, of course. Since Dobby started helping me out, I've been able to finish in hours what used to take me an entire day. So I'm planning to update Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but it would be a bit thin with just the Basilisk. That's when I got your letter."

"But…" Kyle said, frowning, "I thought Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them already covered Manticores and Three-Headed Dogs."

"It does, but they're barely mentioned." Newt smiled and continued, "The Manticore and the Three-Headed Dog are exceptionally rare magical creatures. I only ever encountered one Manticore in Greece, twenty years ago. Unfortunately, I was later banned from the area by the Ministry of Magic there, so my research had to be cut short."

"Banned for… special reasons?" Kyle guessed knowingly. Knowing Newt, it likely meant he'd stirred up some trouble, which wasn't exactly a rare occurrence for him.

Newt carried on through the trees, and Kyle kept pace, curiosity prompting him to ask, "Where exactly are we headed? I don't know where the Manticore is. Hagrid wouldn't say."

"That's alright; we'll track it down ourselves," Newt said calmly. "Manticores tend to nest near water. There are three lakes in the Forbidden Forest, and I know where each of them is."

"So… we're just going to check all three?" Kyle asked, wondering how long this was going to take. "How much time do you think we'll need?"

"One night should be enough," Newt replied confidently. "If it gets late, we could take a broomstick… You do have a broomstick, don't you?"

Kyle nodded. He did, but using a broom in the Forbidden Forest wasn't ideal. They'd be too conspicuous and would easily catch the attention of other creatures, especially the Centaurs or the Dementors patrolling for signs of Sirius Black. The last thing they needed was to be mistaken for an intruder and cause an unnecessary commotion.

"Wait..." Kyle said suddenly, after a moment's thought. "I remember Hagrid mentioning he encountered the Manticore while he was searching for Aragog."

"Aragog?"

"An Acromantula," Kyle explained.

"Oh, that's good," Newt replied, clapping his hands together and taking a deep, appreciative sniff, his eyes closed.

He moved forward slowly and soon spotted a white web of spider silk stretched across a tree branch.

"Acromantula silk," said Newt. "It has a very distinct, sweet scent that draws in enough prey to keep them satisfied."

In the web, a large, swollen white cocoon hung between the branches, likely the resting place of some unlucky creature that had been caught and couldn't escape. Nearby, a few tiny spiders were scuttling in one direction.

"We're in luck," Newt said happily. "This prey is too large for them to carry, so they'll go back to the nest and alert more spiders."

"Quick, follow them..."

The two of them began trailing the spiders into a dense thicket that veered away from the main forest path. The ground was covered in roots and stumps, which posed no problem for the small spiders but were obstacles for Kyle and Newt. They had to tread carefully, maneuvering around the roots and keeping as quiet as possible so as not to alert the spiders up ahead.

After about twenty minutes, Kyle noticed that the ground was sloping downward, though the trees remained thick around them.

Just then, Newt, who was walking in front, stopped abruptly and put a hand out to halt Kyle.

"This is far enough," he said, casting a cautious look around. "There are more spider webs here. If we go any further, we're sure to be noticed."

Kyle saw an elongated spider web just a foot away from where Newt had stopped. It was almost invisible in the moonlight, stretched thin like a thread.

Newt carefully took two steps back, glanced up at the sky, and seemed to be orienting himself.

"I think I know where the Manticore is..."

He turned and slipped through the bushes on the left, moving quickly. Kyle followed close behind, pushing aside branches and thorns as they went.

Five minutes later, the dense thicket gave way to a flat clearing. In the center of the clearing lay the lake Newt had mentioned earlier, about the size of a Quidditch pitch.

In the moonlight, the still lake surface looked like an enormous mirror, mysterious and beautiful.