Meanwhile, after leaving the coast, Alex quickly changed his clothes and headed straight to a dense forest in the south.
There, Shalltear was waiting patiently with a suitcase.
When she saw him arrive, Alex pressed his broomstick and landed beside her.
"Master, you're back! I was so bored here, and it's freezing," Shalltear said as she greeted him.
"Is that a phoenix? Why did you bring a magical creature back with you this trip?"
Alex smiled and lifted the cage to show the phoenix inside.
"You could say it was an unexpected prize," he said.
"I didn't expect the silver wand to bring back a phoenix, but once I found an excuse, I slipped it along. A creature this full of life can't fall into the hands of the club."
In the Wizarding World's classification of magical creatures, phoenixes were rated with a danger level of XXXX, but their life energy was stronger than most XXXXX creatures.
Since elixirs are made by transferring life force, keeping a phoenix near the silver wand would be risky.
Even though they planned to sabotage the smuggling operation, if anything went wrong, it would be a huge problem to manage the phoenix.
"I see," Shalltear nodded, clearly understanding.
She knew a bit about phoenixes herself and asked,
"So, what will you do with the phoenix? Send it back to England for Mr. Scamander to care for, or set it free?"
Alex looked at the magnificent bird inside the cage before turning to Shalltear.
"First, we need to figure out what it means. But before that, let's talk about the suitcase."
He called her over and opened it.
Stepping inside the inner space of the suitcase, Alex arrived at a large park specially designed for raising magical creatures.
As soon as Alex stepped inside, a gust of wind whistled past him, followed by a huge shadow descending, a little Thunderbird named Thor.
The moment Thor landed, he greeted Alex excitedly and stretched out his head, rubbing his large beak affectionately against Alex's cheek.
Unlike the cramped space he'd been in at the Breeding Park, Thor now had plenty of room inside Alex's suitcase, moving freely throughout the inner area.
Whenever they found a quiet spot with no one around, Thor could even surf outside the suitcase. During this time, Thor not only ate and slept well but also made many friends to play with, like the hundreds of Tebo warthogs and Riem cattle that Alex raised.
Although Thor wasn't as skilled in animal languages as Fang, he managed to communicate just enough.
In fact, Alex had entrusted him with the job of looking after the animals in the park.
Over time, Thor's health visibly improved, a clear sign that his good mood was having a positive effect.
"Alright, Thor, stop fooling around," Alex said, gently patting Thor's head and slowly pushing him back.
"I'll play with you later. Right now, I have something to take care of, so please help me."
Thor tilted his head in confusion when he heard the words.
He glanced down at the birdcage in Alex's hand, then looked at Alex with a puzzled expression.
"That's right, I mean it," Alex said, setting the cage on the ground.
"Can you talk to it? I remember your Thunderbird and the Phoenix are distant relatives, so maybe it understands you."
Alex and Thor shared a strong spiritual bond, allowing them to communicate effortlessly.
But Thor had no connection with the Phoenix in front of him.
The Phoenix seemed almost autistic. No matter how much Thor prodded it, it just kept squawking instead of calling out properly.
"Cry," Alex explained, and Thor, who was observing, finally understood what was going on with the Phoenix.
Gaining confidence, Thor shouted back at it.
After fulfilling Alex's request, Thor raised his right paw excitedly, revealing a small ring hanging from the hook of his index finger.
As Thor channeled magic into the ring, a brilliant magical energy burst forth, spreading from the ring and glowing brightly.
The aura quickly expanded from his claws, enveloping Thor almost completely.
In just two seconds, Thor's body, which had been as strong and large as an adult bull, rapidly shrank, until he was about the size of a pug.
This ring, which let Thor change his size at will, was Alex's own [Shrinking Magic Ring].
Fang also had one, but Alex wore it on a chain around his neck.
The ring on Thor was custom-made by Alex, allowing Thor to shrink whenever needed.
This made it much easier for Thor to move around with Alex, especially since carrying a full-sized Thunderbird around all the time was impossible.
Plus, Thor was still a juvenile and would only grow bigger over the next two years.
Once Thor transformed into a little Thunderbird, he lost the fierce, heroic air he'd had before.
Instead, he looked silly and adorable, like a griffin doll.
Thor flapped his wings skillfully to steady himself, clearly familiar with the [Shrinking Magic Ring] and probably having played with it often in private.
"Chirp!"
At that moment, the smaller Thunderbird even changed its voice, happily fluttering around before landing right next to the phoenix.
It chirped at the similarly sized bird in front of it.
The phoenix, which had looked lonely and withdrawn, was clearly surprised by Thor's sudden transformation.
It stared at the little Thunderbird with confusion, and when it finally heard Thor's cry, it took a long moment to come back to itself.
Alex noticed that Thor kept chirping at the phoenix, but the bird didn't respond at first.
He thought maybe they couldn't understand each other's language.
He was about to head back to Germany through the disappearing cabinet to call Fang, who was still watching the surveillance feed, when the phoenix suddenly reacted again.
It seemed like something had snapped it out of its daze.
Though its eyes still held some confusion, it at least recognized that the tiny creature in front of it was a similar kind of bird, speaking a familiar language.
For a while, the little Thunderbird's chirps and the phoenix's jitters filled the air.
Thanks to Thor's translation, Alex finally understood the phoenix's situation.
The bird had been silent and depressed mainly because it was hungry.
Although phoenixes can absorb energy from flames, and thunderbirds draw power from lightning, the energy from fire alone wasn't enough to sustain the phoenix's normal activities.
On top of that, the magical shackles on the phoenix's claws weren't just blocking its magic flow; they were also making its body stiff and dulling its senses.
"I get it," Alex said, nodding as he processed the information.
Then he looked at Thor and said,
"Tell it I'm going to find a way to free it now. It needs to cooperate a little and stay still. After it's released, it can decide if it wants to stay or leave. Understand?"