Chapter 206

Chapter 206

After all that preparation, it really came down to a single cut.

So much work, all for one final little shudder.

Suer wearily put away the instruments, carefully peeled off his gloves and removed his mask, then threw everything into the fire and watched it burn to ash.

The task had been terribly difficult, chiefly because it had strained his eyes so badly.

“Mission accomplished,” Suer told Ron solemnly.

Ron appeared to breathe a sigh of relief. “That’s it?”

“Yes. Barring any accidents, it’s possible that this was the reason Scabbers has been growing thinner lately.” Suer pointed towards the tiny speck of black matter beneath Scabbers.

“It normally secretes a substance in spring that can cause all sorts of symptoms in a pet.” As Suer explained, he handed Ron another bottle of green potion. It contained concentrated essence of dittany.

“Put one drop of this on Scabbers. The wound will heal at once.”

“Right!” Ron nodded and carefully followed his instructions. Suer then cancelled the Transfiguration, and Scabbers’s four limbs immediately flopped down.

“You can put Scabbers back in your pocket now. The Draught of Living Death will keep the rat asleep until tomorrow afternoon. You’d best find a cage, put Scabbers inside and leave some food. Pets generally go through a brief period of discomfort after this sort of operation. They may race about or scream for no apparent reason.”

“Don’t worry. That’s a good sign, caused by excessive excitement. You’d best not go near Scabbers during that period in case you get bitten. Just leave the rat alone for a while, and everything will settle down.”

“All right.” Ron carefully memorised Suer’s instructions and slipped Scabbers into his pocket. Then he curiously asked what the black substance actually was.

Suer had needed to lower his head and use a magnifying glass simply to find it. The task had not been easy.

“We generally call them ‘LP’, though you could also call them little balls,” Suer said inscrutably.

“L… LP? Little… balls?” Ron looked utterly bewildered but nodded as though he half understood. It certainly sounded like an advanced technical term.

Now that Ron understood what Suer had removed from Scabbers, he asked hopefully, privately worrying whether his pocket money would be enough.

“You’ve gone to so much trouble, Suer. Those two potions can’t have been cheap. How much do I owe you?”

Suer smiled and shook his head, patting Ron on the shoulder. “It’s fine. I only used a few drops. You don’t owe me anything.”

“I can’t do that.” Ron shook his head. “I have to give you something, though I haven’t got much money and need to save some for Hogsmeade at the end of October…”

“There’s really no need. If you truly want to thank me…” Suer’s smile deepened. “Hmm. You’ll be visiting Honeydukes, won’t you? Just bring me back a few sweets.”

“But…” Ron was a simple, innocent boy. He had plenty of faults, but he was decent at heart. Mrs Weasley had raised him rather well.

“No buts. Isn’t Harry at Quidditch practice today? Don’t you want to go and watch?”

“Then… I’ll be off? Thank you so much for today.”

“You’re welcome, Ron. It was nothing. Just pretend this never happened, and don’t tell anyone I know how to treat pets. I don’t want our classmates crowding around me…”

Ron found that slightly odd, but nodded all the same. “All right. I’ll keep it secret.”

The red-haired boy left full of gratitude. Suer stayed behind to restore the hut to its former state, then departed as well. Only the half-empty bottle of strong spirits remained to make Hagrid scratch his head when he returned later.

Why was half my drink gone? When did I drink it?

Why can’t I remember?

I think I forgot to top Hagrid’s bottle up with water… Never mind. Doing that would be inhuman… Back in the dormitory, Suer scratched his head as well, shook himself and used a quill to mark a cross over the location he had visited the night before.

He had secretly cut the map from a library book. Hopefully Madam Pince would not notice.

Tonight, he would search in another direction. Little spiders, where have you gone…? Hurry up and deliver your legs…

Once he had chosen the night’s route, Suer gathered his homework and went to the library. The hours from noon until late afternoon belonged to Hermione and him.

Night quietly descended over the castle, the day consumed like sheet after sheet of parchment filled with writing.

Hermione still held the Mandrake leaf in her mouth, though only a few days of suffering remained. Every day, Suer worried that she would be unable to resist answering a question in class and be forced to start over. Fortunately, he had underestimated Hermione’s willpower. Or perhaps the prospect of becoming an Animagus simply appealed to her more than adding a few points to a House score that had nearly hit bottom.

On Saturday night, Suer took a different route and encountered no centaurs. Instead, he found the colony of Bowtruckles that had moved away overnight, taking their trees with them. He recognised them because one of the Bowtruckles that had given him a twig was distinctive, with a black ring-shaped mark around one arm.
“Chirp, chirp!”

The Bowtruckle with the distinctive mark swiftly swung down from its tree as Suer passed. It spread both “arms” and blocked his path.

What was this? A robbery?

He had never heard of Bowtruckles waylaying travellers.

“Chirp, chirp! Chirp-chirp-chirp!” Receiving no response, the Bowtruckle released a frantic stream of piercing cries.

Suer did not understand a word. Since he could not speak in his Animagus form, he had no choice but to turn human again.

That gave the Bowtruckle quite a fright. It leapt back into the tree and peered from behind a leaf. The other Bowtruckles had already hidden after witnessing a phenomenon beyond their understanding, and now peeped out to watch in secret.

So it hadn’t recognised me. Suer breathed a sigh of relief. If anyone could identify him, what would be the point of learning to become an Animagus?

Then why had this Bowtruckle stopped him?

Suer tentatively stepped forwards.

As expected, the urgent cries sounded again. The Bowtruckle appeared to recognise Suer as the human who had brought it tribute not long ago and was no longer afraid. It sprang from the tree, crouched on Suer’s shoulder and tugged hard at his hair.

“Ow!” Suer yelped and retreated several steps.

Only then did the Bowtruckle stop. Clinging to Suer’s earring, it swung down, executed a forward somersault and landed steadily on the ground.

Beautiful. Full marks!

“Why won’t you let me pass?” Suer crouched down. Bowtruckles could understand human speech; they were highly intelligent little beings.

“Chirp…” The Bowtruckle shook its head, spread its twig-like arms again and began to gesture.

It grew ever more frantic, motions increasingly forceful. Only after a long while did Suer roughly understand.

“Are you saying there’s danger ahead?” he asked tentatively.

Apparently, he was right. The Bowtruckle nodded vigorously, then assumed an expression of relief that seemed to say, You finally understand.

“Chirp-chirp-chirp…” came another long string of sounds.

“All right, I won’t go that way. Thank you.” The creature made Suer laugh. If the Bowtruckle was determined to stop him, he would not continue.

He was curious about what lay ahead, but curiosity killed badgers. The Forbidden Forest was too mysterious, and its legends were beyond counting.

Just as Suer prepared to turn away, thundering footsteps sounded from deep in the woods ahead, accompanied by the crack and crunch of branches and leaves being crushed.

The Bowtruckle jumped straight into the air, pattered to Suer’s side and pulled several times towards its tree, crying out with renewed urgency.

Suer needed no explanation to know that something was approaching. He immediately assumed his Animagus form, scooped the kind-hearted Bowtruckle onto his head with one paw and scrambled up the Wiggentree. Concealed beneath its luxuriant leaves, he peered outside.

Before long, an astonishingly large monster emerged from the undergrowth. It looked like several animals joined together, with a lion’s head, a goat’s body and a dragon’s tail. Its bared, savage fangs and blazing red eyes made it plain that this was not a friendly creature.

Suer held his breath in terror as it slowly paced into view, sniffed beneath his tree and circled several times.

It suddenly raised its head and looked into the branches. Suer quickly withdrew his gaze rather than meet its eyes and quietly pressed deeper into cover.

Perhaps it had not found him. Or perhaps it had, but decided that climbing the tree to catch him would cost more effort than he was worth. Either way, it gave up. Nose twitching, it departed in another direction amid another series of cracking branches.

The monster’s footsteps gradually faded.

Although the unfamiliar creature had gone, Suer still dared not climb down.

The Forbidden Forest was this dangerous at night? He had been careless. If the Bowtruckle had not stopped him, perhaps the castle would have one student fewer by morning.

Suer was not so arrogant as to believe that half a year of sparring with Snape made him capable of fighting a creature that had grown so enormous in the Forbidden Forest. Of the two combat spells he had truly mastered, the Patronus Charm was useless against such a beast, while the Sectumsempra Snape had taught him might not even pierce its hide…

The magical resistance of magical creatures was far stronger than he had imagined.

He only wondered how many stars this creature carried as a danger rating. Judging by its appearance, the number could not be low.

In the end, he owed everything to this Bowtruckle.

It had saved his life!