Chapter Ninety-Six: The Weather Spell

Within a tiny suitcase lay a vast world.

Newt took Xiven on a tour that covered nearly every corner of this strange realm, a place shaped by different ecosystems, different landscapes, and different weather. Of course, they were not sightseeing; they were tending to all manner of magical creatures.

“Can the Seamless Stretching Charm and the weather charm really achieve something like this?” After helping Newt work for so long, Xiven felt physically tired, but his mind was still alight with excitement as he asked.

“As long as you can imagine it, you can make it happen,” Newt said softly, wiping the sweat from his face with a quiet smile.

Xiven nodded and turned to look at the only landscape they had not yet visited: a towering formation of stone pillars ringed by desert. Thunderclouds hung over that place, making it a magnificent sight.

“What’s going on there? Why haven’t we seen any creatures?” Xiven asked curiously, pointing at the pillars.

“That’s an Arizona desert environment, recreated for Frank,” Newt replied, a trace of nostalgia in his expression. “Frank is a thunderbird. I rescued him from traders in Egypt ten years ago. When I was in America, he helped me tremendously.”

“Because of what happened back then, America has already protected thunderbirds as a species. He should be living very well in Arizona now.”

If Frank has already returned to his homeland, why keep this place like this? Xiven asked, puzzled.

Newt glanced at him, then headed straight for the pillar field.

“Come with me,” he said.

Xiven followed him to the base of the stone columns and felt the violence of the storm above far more keenly there, the crackle and roar of thunder and lightning relentless and fierce.

Newt drew his wand and pointed it toward the black clouds overhead.

In that instant, a flash of blinding light linked the cloud to the tip of his wand.

Xiven widened his eyes. Newt’s face was washed in blue-white light, and even the surrounding world seemed suddenly bright enough to sting.

Slowly, Newt lowered his wand. The lightning faded with the movement, then dissolved into the air.

“Thunderbirds are very strange magical creatures. They are spirits of lightning, wind, and rain. Wherever they stay, the local environment becomes especially sensitive to lightning, and so thunderstorms are more easily born there, along with powerful lightning storms,” Newt explained as he turned back to Xiven.

“I couldn’t possibly maintain such a vast and powerful storm charm on my own. I’m only able to preserve this place by borrowing from the traces Frank left behind.” He smiled faintly. “Who knows when it might come in handy?”

But Xiven, gazing at the turbulent electricity churning in the sky, was already thinking of something else.

If I can master weather charms, even a lightning strike with only a tenth of that power would still cause enormous damage, he thought with rising excitement. Come to think of it, I’ve never even heard of a spell that can summon lightning in this world!

He looked up at Newt with sudden seriousness.

“Mr. Scamander, I want to learn weather charms from you!”

At Xiven’s words, Newt froze for a moment, then asked uncertainly, “You spent the whole afternoon helping me care for magical creatures and didn’t react much at all, but after only one look at this storm, you want to learn spells from me?”

Xiven gave an awkward smile and said, “It’s not that I dislike magical creatures. It’s just that I may be more interested in studying spells...”

“Well, that’s all right.” Newt waved a hand. “It’s only a simple spell, and you’ve helped me so diligently all this time.”

“Now, let me go see your kitten first.” He smiled, then walked toward the woods.

...

“Kitten, come down!”

Xiven stood beneath the guardian tree and shouted up at the kitten perched among the branches.

The kitten had no intention of paying him any mind. She simply lounged lazily on a branch, watching the bowtruckles scamper and leap about below her.

“She doesn’t seem to want to listen to me,” Xiven said helplessly, looking at Newt.

“Try this,” Newt said, bringing out a little bird toy tied to a stick with a bell attached, and handing it to Xiven.

“Is this... a cat teaser?” Xiven stared at the toy for a moment, stunned.

“Mm... very fitting name!” Newt considered it for a second, then nodded in approval at Xiven’s term. “Go on and try it. I used it on a zouwu ten years ago, and it worked rather well!”

Xiven nodded and held up the cat teaser, giving it a shake.

The jingle of the bell caught the kitten’s attention. Her round eyes widened at once as she looked down toward Xiven.

Xiven shook the teaser again, and the bell rang out with a clear, bright sound.

At once, the kitten lowered herself onto the branch, forelegs stretched forward, adopting a hunting posture. Her gaze followed the little bird on the teaser, moving back and forth with it.

By the third shake, the kitten could restrain herself no longer and sprang from the branch in a single bound.

Xiven hurriedly held out both hands and caught her, gathering her into his arms.

“You really have no sense of proportion at all, jumping down from such a height!” he scolded, tapping her nose with one finger.

“By this kitten’s weight, a fall from that height would do her no real harm,” Newt said, watching Xiven with amusement he could barely hide.

“All right then.” Xiven rubbed the kitten’s head again, then lifted her in both hands and presented her to Newt. “Mr. Scamander, can you tell what breed she is?”

“Accio.”

Newt flicked his wand casually, summoning a desk from the workroom.

Taking the hint, Xiven placed the kitten on the desk, and the two of them bent over to study her.

“From the outside, she looks no different from the most ordinary house cat,” Newt said softly, reaching out to stop the kitten from trying to slip away.

“As for her eyes, zouwu and kneazles both have yellow eyes. Or rather, many kinds of felines have yellow eyes, so there’s nothing especially distinctive there. I wonder what changes might appear when she uses her kneazle abilities.”

“But the shopkeeper and Professor Kettleburn both said this kitten has kneazle blood,” Xiven replied quietly, looking at Newt with a thoughtful frown.

“They probably judged that from the magic within her,” Newt said with a smile. “In most cases, if a cat looks like an ordinary house cat but carries magical power, the magical creature blood in its veins is usually kneazle. So that conclusion isn’t surprising.”

Xiven nodded, only half understanding.

Then Newt reached for the kitten’s paw, only for her to quickly pull it back.

Helpless, Newt found a bottle filled with a pale gray liquid and poured a small bowl for her.

The kitten leaned in to sniff it, then eagerly began lapping at the liquid in the bowl.

“A magizoologist friend who loves keeping cats gave this to me. He said felines love it,” Newt said with a smile to Xiven, then reached out again and took hold of the kitten’s paw.

This time she did not resist, or perhaps she was too busy eating to bother resisting.

And so the claws hidden inside her flesh were pressed out by Newt, the soft pads beneath them squeezed gently into view.

“Interesting,” Newt murmured, tilting his head as he observed her, the corners of his mouth lifting.