Chapter 43. Thunderstorm Summoning
"You really pulled it off? Using my method?" Adrian Wesson looked at Roskin with a faint hint of doubt.
"Are you underestimating me?" Roskin sounded a little annoyed. "I'm the best Magizoologist of our time. Besides, this was your own method. You must have tried it yourself, haven't you?"
Adrian nodded, though unease lingered.
The best Magizoologist of our time?
How had he never heard of her?
Still, with Roskin's confidence, Adrian didn't argue.
What's more, the little fellow poking its head out of the case in front of them didn't reject Roskin's touch at all.
"May I approach it as well?" Adrian asked, curious.
"Of course," Roskin replied, gesturing for Adrian to come closer and stroke the Thunderbird. "I've trained it well. As long as you don't harbour ill intent toward it, there won't be any problem."
"Then you don't need to worry," Adrian said, confident.
Show ill intent?
That was the thing he was worst at.
He slowly reached out his hand and moved it towards the Thunderbird.
As expected, the Thunderbird didn't resist Adrian's touch—in fact, it seemed to enjoy it.
"Would you like to come with me?" Adrian asked.
The Thunderbird gave two soft cries, as if it understood.
"You're highly compatible with it," Roskin said with a reluctant nod. "I suppose you have some talent for protecting magical creatures. Still, compared with me, there's quite a gap. If it were me…"
Adrian ignored the rest, keeping his eyes on the bird.
"Since it has such affinity with me," he said at last, "how much would it cost if I wanted to buy this Thunderbird?"
Hearing the question, Roskin's lips curved into a faint smile.
"If you truly want this Thunderbird," she said lightly, "it's free."
Adrian froze, then took a couple of steps back. "What are you after?"
Roskin snorted at his reaction. "I'm not after anything from you. Thunderbirds are exceedingly rare, you know…"
"Ten thousand Galleons," Adrian said after a moment, naming a price.
"This isn't a matter of Galleons… Wait! How much did you offer?" Roskin looked startled.
"Ten thousand Galleons," Adrian repeated.
"No, no, no." Roskin quickly shook her head, as if trying to shake the number loose. "I won't take Galleons. I won't take money for the other magical creatures on your list, either."
"Then what do you want?" Adrian asked, puzzled.
Roskin smiled. "I'd like to become a sponsor of the Care of Magical Creatures course at Hogwarts."
"A sponsor of Hogwarts' Care of Magical Creatures course?" Adrian looked even more puzzled. "With respect, even if you do that, you won't get any real benefit."
Roskin chuckled, unbothered. "That's none of your concern. All you need to do in class is say that those creatures came through me."
Adrian thought for a moment and quickly understood.
She didn't need Galleons—she wanted to raise her standing in the field of magical creatures by associating with Hogwarts.
Supplying Hogwarts with study creatures made a compelling selling point.
That way, she could indirectly draw more customers to her shop.
"All right, I agree," Adrian said after brief consideration, accepting the deal.
It didn't seem difficult for him.
And…
Who doesn't like getting things for free?
"But you do need to prepare all the creatures I asked for," Adrian added.
"Of course," Roskin said, satisfied. "That's the bare minimum. Thank you for your trust, Mr Wesson."
…
After parting from Roskin, Adrian took the Thunderbird back along with the suitcase.
The space inside the case wasn't large—clearly only a temporary dwelling.
Fortunately, the young Thunderbird in Adrian's care had a gentle temperament—quite the opposite of its highly sensitive nature—and it showed no displeasure.
Clearly, Roskin had trained it very well.
Even so, the Thunderbird couldn't stay in a cramped space all day.
So the first thing Adrian did upon returning to Hogwarts was bring the Thunderbird into his plantation.
Then he began rummaging in the storeroom.
"I remember I put it here… ah, found it."
A moment later, a small jar was in his hand.
Inside was a short, dried section of branch.
[Name: Branch]
[Species: Elm]
[Grade: 2]
[Trait: Thunderstorm Summoning]
…
This length of elm branch had come from a mutated elm Adrian had grown in the past.
As the Tree of Wisdom's information indicated, that elm's trait was Thunderstorm Summoning—
—to call up small thunderstorms at its location.
And a Thunderbird could be called a child of the storm: when they flew, they brought powerful winds and lightning.
Storms and lightning would never harm them.
Therefore, an elm that could summon thunderstorms paired extremely well with a Thunderbird.
In fact, long ago Adrian had kept an elderly Thunderbird, though it had eventually gone its own way.
Back then, he'd also had a very large mutated elm. Unfortunately, although it could summon thunderstorms, it couldn't avoid lightning.
One afternoon after the old Thunderbird left, the elm was struck by lightning from a storm Adrian himself had conjured.
All that remained was the small section now in his hand.
The memory left him with a pang of regret.
Plants that could influence the weather were rare.
Now he had a chance to cultivate such an elm again.
Doing so was simple enough: find a suitable elm, brew a Growth Potion imbued with the "Thunderstorm Summoning" trait, and there would be a chance for the elm to acquire it.
If it failed, he would just try again.
He did have to note that his blood was the main component of the Growth Potion.
Too much, and he'd grow anaemic.
Beyond that, finding a suitable elm would still take time and effort.
So Adrian sought out Lupin, who was in Greenhouse Two feeding the Torches.
"What? You want me to help you find some elms that look good?" Lupin sounded puzzled by Adrian's request. "What are you going to do with them?"
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