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The remaining seven quickly settled on the types of magic they wanted to learn—ranging from ancient magic to rune magic, from specific counter-curses to advanced Disillusionment Charms, and finally to Fiendfyre control.
Sagres swiftly completed the instruction using Memory Siphon and Mechanical Mind.
At that moment, Swift, who had been quietly listening, slowly began to speak:
"Gringotts has discovered a new magical ruin on the seabed near Delia Island.
It's worth noting that several Wizard eyewitnesses have claimed to have seen… a Quintaped on that island."
"A Quintaped?!"
"Is the information reliable?!"
Everyone instantly perked up.
[IMG]
Quintapeds were extremely rare, and none of them had ever seen one in person.
Records of wizards surviving an encounter with a Quintaped were nearly nonexistent, so research on the creature was scarce—limited almost entirely to ancient legends and confidential archives of the Ministry of Magic.
"Highly credible," Swift said with a firm nod. "Three Muggles died because of it."
"Muggles?" Sagres's brows immediately furrowed.
"Isn't Delia Island protected by a powerful Muggle-Repelling Charm from the Ministry of Magic? How did they end up there?"
"The exact reason isn't clear yet," Swift explained, "but I heard from some familiar curse-breakers at Gringotts that a parchment map was found on the Muggles' fishing boat—along with a lot of professional fishing gear... It seems they followed the map there to fish."
"A map?" Sagres fell silent for a moment.
"But as far as I know, Delia Island is also protected by an Unplottable Charm. It shouldn't appear on any map at all."
The others frowned at this, expressions turning grim.
Only Kestrel and Robin looked confused—the name Quintaped clearly unfamiliar. The two exchanged puzzled glances.
"Quintaped? What's that? A five-legged troll?" Kestrel couldn't help but ask.
Swift glanced at them and explained clearly, "Quintapeds originated from a blood feud between two wizarding families in Scotland—the MacBoons and the MacLeavys.
The patriarch of the MacLeavy family used magic to transform the entire MacBoon family into five-legged monsters.
The transformed MacBoons massacred the MacLeavy family, but their intelligence regressed, and they were unable to return to human form. Their descendants have remained Quintapeds ever since."
"This thing… is it very dangerous?" Robin asked, swallowing hard.
"Extremely dangerous," Swift said firmly.
"It's officially classified as a Class 5X magical creature by the Ministry of Magic's Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and is a high-priority monitoring target.
Though they're incredibly rare, every sighting has ended in bloodshed."
"Does the Ministry of Magic know about this?" Thunderbird asked in a low voice.
"As of now, it appears no official report has been filed," Swift said thoughtfully. "But even if they were aware, the Ministry would most likely avoid direct involvement.
As long as no one else stumbles upon Delia Island, they'll probably handle it passively."
"Of course, unless it comes out on its own," he added.
"Could there be more fishermen like those three Muggles who end up finding... Delia Island?" Stork asked with concern.
"Unlikely," Swift reasoned. "Those three found it because they had that parchment map of unknown origin.
Without that map as a guide, the Muggle-Repelling Charm and the island's natural concealment should be enough to keep others away."
Sagres had been listening silently, and now he spoke slowly:
"Swift, the magical ruin you mentioned earlier… does Gringotts have any detailed information about it? Its age, its nature?"
"Gringotts hasn't carried out any real development yet," Swift replied, shaking his head.
"Delia Island itself is very sensitive. With the newly discovered ruin and the rumors of a Quintaped, the Ministry of Magic's surveillance of the area is now very strict.
Why? Are you interested in that ruin?"
He had keenly picked up on the key point of Sagres's question.
Sagres tapped his fingertips lightly on the wooden table. "I just feel… Gringotts was responsible for so many Muggle deaths due to a so-called 'development accident,' but in the end, it was brushed off—no proper investigation, no accountability.
That makes me... want to do something."
"So, should we...?" Ms. Snowy Owl's eyes lit up with an inquiring look.
"No," Sagres shook his head firmly, reigning in his emotions immediately.
"Let's let things unfold naturally for now.
The ruin is there, and the Quintaped is there.
The Ministry of Magic and Gringotts will take action sooner or later.
We'll wait and see."
...
"Are the three of you still at Hogwarts lately?" Ms. Snowy Owl asked, her gaze sweeping over Kestrel, Nightingale, and Robin, the question seemingly casual.
Kestrel and Nightingale both nodded.
"I'll be heading back to Beauxbatons tomorrow," Nightingale added.
"Oh…" Ms. Snowy Owl responded, her fingers unconsciously tracing the rim of her teacup, seeming hesitant to speak.
"Is there a problem?" Sagres caught her hesitation immediately and pressed calmly.
"Ah, no, no," Ms. Snowy Owl quickly waved her hands, trying to brush it off. "It's just… I heard a rumor from the merchant guild that Professor Kettleburn from Hogwarts will be joining our Magical Creatures Merchant Guild as a special consultant after he retires next year."
"So?" Sagres remained unmoved, waiting for her to continue.
"Well, you see..." Ms. Snowy Owl chose her words carefully, her eyes darting slightly. "Professor Kettleburn has always been the Care of Magical Creatures professor at Hogwarts, hasn't he?
If he doesn't teach next year and someone new takes over… there's a good chance the textbooks will change, right?
I was wondering… if the guild might have a chance to secure the supply contract for the new textbooks..."
Her voice grew softer and softer, tinged with the usual calculating guilt of a merchant.
Sagres looked at her evasive expression, remained silent for a moment, then suddenly asked a question that made everyone instantly perk up:
"So, Snowy Owl… why exactly were you placed on the British Ministry of Magic's prohibited entry blacklist back then?"
That question landed like a silent spell, instantly freezing the entire safe house. Even Dobby, who was wiping the walls with a rag in the corner, perked up his ears.
Everyone's eyes turned toward Ms. Snowy Owl, their gazes filled with open scrutiny.
Her cheeks flushed rapidly with embarrassment.
She let out two dry chuckles, eyes darting around. "It's nothing serious... cough... it's just that... a few years ago, the British Ministry of Magic's Department of Education was planning to procure a batch of The Invisible Book of Invisibility as textbooks for Hogwarts, right?
And those books... well, you all know... they're invisible, right? So... that..."
Sagres immediately recalled the infamous textbook incident that had caused an uproar at Hogwarts back then, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
"You didn't..." Kestrel's eyes widened, filled with disbelief. "You took the order... but in the end, you didn't give the Ministry anything?!"
That was beyond outrageous—she found it hard to even process.
"Of course not!" Ms. Snowy Owl quickly raised her voice in protest.
"I'm a legitimate businesswoman! How could I deliver nothing! It's just... it's just..."
Her tone weakened again, her voice dropping to a whisper, barely audible over the flickering candlelight: "...a little less than the quantity agreed upon in the order..."
"Specifically?" Nightingale asked.
Sagres's voice carried a calm, all-knowing tone as he answered for her, "Over a thousand books were missing.
And at the time, the Ministry of Magic didn't even realize it right away. Most importantly, that batch of books was urgently needed by Hogwarts students that year."
He recalled the chaos from that time. "Ha! Because of your 'little bit' of a shortage, the book shot up to over a hundred Galleons per copy on the second-hand market!
For the entire term, half the school went mad trying to find a book they could actually see."
"Aa.. Ha.. ha..." Ms. Snowy Owl let out an extremely dry, embarrassed laugh, wishing she could disappear into the floor.
"Yes… yes… but I was punished afterward. I was fined a large sum of money… um, a very large sum..."
She added in a tiny voice, drawing a sheepish line under that rather inglorious chapter of her past—at least, from her point of view.