Because of this incident, Newt had initially wanted to send her back to rest.
But the daily task wasn’t finished yet.
How could Kate be willing to leave?
Pretending to be unwell and resting on the spot, she actually spent ten minutes meticulously searching the character attributes interface.
Only then did she spot a line of tiny text at the very bottom of the stacked abilities list:
This buff may produce side effects.
Please use with caution.
How infuriating!
Who can see such tiny text?!
Do you think you’re Tencent?
Having it enabled by default!
After venting internally, Kate maintained a calm facial expression and chose to turn off the buff that was enabled by default.
Although those cute little animals weren’t as affectionate towards her as before, at least her heart wouldn’t suddenly stop again.
“Are you sure you can continue?” Newt was still supporting her with concern.
“You don’t look well. The Thunderbird next…”
“I can!” She immediately straightened her back, her previously frightened, pale little face now showing a hint of determination.
Having come this far, if she didn’t complete the task, wouldn’t today’s efforts be for nothing?
These attribute points were irresistible!
Seeing her so determined, Newt felt another wave of gratification.
Truly a Child of the Shafiq Family, with a temper exactly like that stubborn old fellow he’d met before.
On the path of magic, a certain degree of stubbornness is needed to go far.
Satisfied, he led her through the bamboo forest and past the lake, arriving at a seemingly endless expanse of wilderness.
Walking and observing along the way, the transitions between scenes within this extended space were surprisingly harmonious.
Not at all like in the movies where each space seemed like an independent entity.
Kate guessed that Newt must have deepened his mastery of magic considerably after the time period depicted in the films.
“Here, use this first.” Newt led her to a small cabin in the wilderness, fetched an umbrella from inside, and handed it to her.
Somewhat puzzled, Kate glanced up at the still clear sky, then opened the umbrella without understanding why.
In an instant, thunder rumbled, and the entire sky was shrouded by thick layers of leaden-gray Dark Clouds, as if ready to swallow the whole earth.
What kind of spell was this?
While Kate was still stunned, she heard the pitter-patter of rain start hitting the umbrella above her head.
It was raining.
She was about to urge Newt to quickly take shelter from the rain, but the man in his nineties paid no mind to such trivialities.
Instead, he kept calling out excitedly towards the sky:
“Come! Come down quickly!”
Following his gaze, Kate lifted the edge of the umbrella and finally saw, amidst the flashes of lightning and thunder in the sky, a giant bird circling as it descended.
It landed right in front of Newt.
“Firo, that’s its name. You can call it that too,” Newt said, skillfully stroking its head.
“Years ago, its father Frank was illegally trafficked. I found Frank in Egypt and returned it to its homeland.”
“Later, when I revisited the place to see it, it gave me one of its newly born offspring. That’s Firo.”
Kate felt this story sounded somewhat familiar.
In the *Fantastic Beasts* movie she watched in her previous life, the Thunderbird that appeared was probably Frank.
A strange sense of continuity spread in her heart.
Lost in thought, she moved closer, imitating Newt, and tentatively reached out her hand towards the Thunderbird before her.
“Careful, it’s a bit wary of strangers,” Newt couldn’t help but remind her.
But as Kate’s hand slowly approached, the Thunderbird, which had been somewhat restless upon seeing a stranger, seemed to sense something and remarkably calmed down.
Under Newt’s nervous gaze, her small palm gently touched the wet, downy head.
The Thunderbird shook its head slightly, then nudged her palm firmly, as if acting coy.
The sensation of wet rainwater mixed with warmth transmitted from her palm.
Kate was overjoyed and applied a bit more pressure.
“Firo, let me take care of you today, okay?”
As if understanding her words, Firo happily raised its head and let out a long cry.
Another wave of thunder rumbled across the horizon.
Taking that as its agreement to her request, Kate excitedly turned to look at her teacher, only to find a peculiar expression on the face of this master who had devoted his life to studying magical creatures.
“Wait for me here, Firo.” She rubbed Firo’s neck feathers and walked over, asking puzzledly, “Teacher, what’s wrong?”
Newt looked at her with a very complex expression, yet with an indescribable sense of gratification.
After a long while, he bent down, his green pupils staring at her intently.
“Huh?” Kate was taken aback, not understanding.
“I mean… well, do you have ancestors like, say, Veela?” When it came to such matters, Newt started feeling awkward again.
Oh, this…
Kate frowned, finding it hard to put into words.
Among the original *Harry Potter* characters, besides Fleur having Veela blood, it seemed no one else did, right?
Perhaps in some romance-focused fanfiction, the Malfoy family might have Veela ancestry.
But such ancestry would definitely not appear in her!
The reason?
Look at her pitifully low Charm stat!
Which half-Veela has only 7 points of initial Charm?!
“Teacher, you don’t need to worry about that. I swear on the surname bestowed by my family that I am purely human.”
What started as an unfounded conjecture ended up making his disciple swear so solemnly.
Newt momentarily flustered and hurriedly explained, “I didn’t mean anything else…”
“I know!”
Kate curved her eyes, showing a smile belonging only to a Child.
“Maybe it’s fate that I became your disciple, Teacher. That’s why animals like me so much!”
It was easy to imagine that Newt had mastered the method of quickly gaining animals’ favor through continuous study and practice.
But what about Kate?
In his eyes, she was a Child who couldn’t even use magic, yet she could easily make animals, originally wary of humans, feel close to her.
Naturally, this complex emotion didn’t contain any negative implications.
Newt, who had researched magical creatures his whole life, was merely surprised and curious—curious about how his little disciple managed it.
Given the habitual thinking of Wizards, it wasn’t surprising that bloodline would be the first thing considered.
“Teacher,” Kate suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him forward.
“Firo is still waiting for us.”
And there was still a lot of poop waiting for her to shovel!
Newt was momentarily stunned, then smiled helplessly, letting her pull him towards the Thunderbird not far away.
Perhaps the disciple he accepted, partly due to Dumbledore and old Mr. Shafiq, was truly a destined gift from heaven.