Of Blessings and Curses

Chapter 14

My shoulders relax, my jaw loosens, and I exhale slowly, happy to be back in the case, surrounded by magic and those who understand. I shed my dark coat, hands swiftly undoing the buttons as Newt talks, leaving me only in my blue, wide collared sweater and wide, dark brown pants. 

"Heidi, could you take care of Mae?" Newt asks, referring to the young Ukrainian Ironbelly he rescued just after the war. She is now 8 years old, but after being rescued from poachers who wanted to kill it for its long talons, which are a valued potion ingredient, we couldn't let her back into the wild where she would undoubtedly be killed. Although Ironbelly talons are Class-A Nontradeable Goods, poachers are still a major threat, and the Ukrainian government refuses to acknowledge that their dragons are being slaughtered. Besides, after 8 years of being around humans, Mae seems to have more or less stopped despising us. However, there is no doubt in my mind that she would gladly roast us alive and enjoy us for her next meal if given the chance. 

"And the Griffins?" I say, carefully drawing a large and magically preserved grizzly bear towards me for the Ironbelly, "I'll check on the newborn Phoenix and make sure we have all the Knarls as well." 

"Thank you. I'll meet you back here when you're done." Newt coaxes a vial of venom from the Swooping Evil he found in Africa that he as been studying. Nudging the door open with my shoulder, holding a small bag of herbs in one hand and a few packets of mushroom seeds and immobilized crickets in the other, the preserved bear still floating alongside me. 

I make my way towards the mountainous section of the case, seeking out and counting any creatures I see (or almost step on, in the Jobberknoll's case). After almost tripping over Archie, the Crup we bought from a kill-pen a few months after I came to Alnwick, I count all six Augureys in their nests, ears ringing slightly as they remember the time Newt and I decided to relocate the Augureys next to Frank. Since Augureys foretell rain, not death, contrary to once popular belief, they were up all night moaning, waking Newt and I up in the middle of the night. Finally, I make it to the mountainous area of Newt's case. I quickly plant a new patch of mushroom, casting a quick growth charm on the seeds for the Knarl. The four Knarls that have taken up residence in the case are like any other - they look exactly like Hedgehogs except for the fact that they refuse to accept direct offerings of food because they believe that the giver is attempting to lure them into the trap and will, in retaliation, ransack wherever it's living. Considering the fact that a Ukrainian Ironbelly is relatively close, any sort of ransacking near its large territory would be foolish and unthinkably risky. After freeing the crickets from the Immobilizing Hex and hoping the Knarls will find the food for themselves, I move on to the Phoenix family, who have just given birth to a chick who rose from the ashes a few days ago. The newborn chick is just beginning to squawk out a song that, while rather annoying and wavering at the moment, will eventually become incredibly beautiful and majestic. I drop some herbs at the edge of the nest, which the other two Phoenixes take gratefully. I stroke one of the bird's brilliant scarlet head for a few moments, relaxing the case before confronting Mae. 

A few minutes later, I force my mind to give one last tug at the bear floating behind me, hiding myself behind a rock, wand gripped tightly. The bear lands with a slump in the middle of a ginormous boulder. 

"Finite Incantartem," I whisper, lifting the Perservation Charm, careful to aim at the bear and only the bear lest I accidentally lift the Undetectable Extension Charm of the case. I shudder, mind shooting to the consequences of that disastrous calamity. Suddenly, blood begins to ooze from the bear, trickling down the boulder in a slow, grotesque way. Mae's earsplitting and bloodcurdling roar echoes through what is basically her own private mountain range, safe from humans. Wings beat and she lands on the boulder with an even louder thud, all five tonnes of her (for reference, elephants are about 3 tonnes), razor sharp fangs tearing into the bear. As she eats, blood dripping down her shining gray scales, I inspect her body for injuries. I see none on this side. Now for the hard part: moving so that I can see Mae's other side silently and without her seeing me, hopefully. While she isn't exactly aggressive towards us, she isn't exactly friendly either. I cast a silent Muffling and Silencing Charm in order to hopefully mask my footsteps on the rock below.