Over the next few days, Kyle adjusted his routine. Rather than spending all day with the Wampus cat, he spent his mornings helping Tina bake cookies and bread at her request.
Sometimes he would assist Newt in caring for the other magical creatures in the suitcase.
His afternoons were devoted to studying with the Wampus cat.
Progress was slow, however, with no visible improvements. Something always seemed to be missing.
A week passed this way.
The following week, Kyle arrived at the lakeside clearing to find Natalie wasn't in her usual waiting spot.
"Am I early?" Kyle muttered.
"No, your training is complete."
At that moment, Tina and Newt approached together, the Wampus cat walking beside them.
"Actually, Natalie hasn't been able to read your thoughts for several days now," Newt explained, "Her recent attacks were purely instinctual."
Kyle furrowed his brow, "Instinctual?"
"Yes." Newt said, "If you don't believe me, let's do a little test."
He took out two apples from his iron bucket, one large and one small, and said to Kyle and Natalie:
"Choose one, both of you at the same time."
The Wampus cat glanced at Kyle, and they both pointed to the larger apple.
Kyle turned his head in confusion. Newt's face suddenly reddened.
"Ahem, that was a coincidence." He said, dumping the entire bucket of apples onto the ground, "Let's try again."
The Wampus cat looked at Kyle again, but this time, they each pointed to different apples. They tried once more, with the same result.
Newt visibly relaxed, taking out his wand to return the apples to the bucket, planning to give them to the Demiguise later.
"Now do you believe it?"
"Yes, I do." Kyle nodded.
If the Wampus cat could still read his thoughts, their choices wouldn't have differed.
Kyle followed them back to the room, "Did you know about this earlier?"
"About a week ago." Tina said, "You're wondering why we didn't tell you until now, aren't you?"
Kyle nodded.
"We wanted to be certain first. Now it seems you've mastered it quite well, and also..." Tina couldn't help but smile, "You've always been so excellent, it was rather entertaining to see you struggle a bit."
"Uh..." Kyle's mouth twitched as he looked helplessly at the ninety-year-old woman.
What a strange sense of humor...
But regardless, learning Occlumency was definitely a good thing.
Afterward, Kyle stayed there for three more days, leaving only a week before school started.
Instead of writing to Chris, Newt personally took Kyle home. Before leaving, he presented Kyle with a suitcase.
"Your birthday present." He said, "I had it prepared earlier, but you were busy learning Occlumency then, so I could only give it to you now. I hope it's not too late."
Kyle excitedly accepted it.
The suitcase was one size smaller than Newt's, but it was new and fashionable, clearly recently made.
"The space inside isn't very large, but it should be enough for you." Newt said with a smile, "Use it well... and don't put just any magical creature in there. I don't want to hear about you getting expelled from Hogwarts."
As everyone knows, Newt was Hogwarts' famous dropout — though he was expelled for taking the blame for someone else.
After the old man left, Kyle immediately hurried home.
✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭
His parents weren't there, leaving the living room empty.
Without pausing, he went straight upstairs to his room, eagerly placed the suitcase on the floor, and jumped in.
Below the suitcase was a small room that contained nothing but a simple shelf. Outside the room stretched a wide grassland, about the size of two Quidditch fields, with a small lake in the middle.
Compared to Newt's, this space was much smaller, but it was perfect for Kyle. At twelve years old and still at Hogwarts, he wouldn't know what to do with anything larger.
Kyle walked around the grassland, envisioning his plans for each area.
"This is a good spot... once I learn the Weather Charm, I can set up some rocks for the Mooncalf's nest, and we can grow Devil's Snare right next to it."
...
"This place is perfect — close to the water source. I can move the Chomping Cabbages here later."
...
"The dittany and other common plants can go anywhere near the Mooncalf."
...
"And those trees in the distance — the Bowtruckles will love it there."
As he walked, Kyle reached the lake in the middle of the grassland. Looking at the sparkling water surface, he instinctively stepped back.
Then he caught himself — what was he afraid of? There were no Wampus cats here.
The lake was crystal clear, revealing several lionfish swimming leisurely at the bottom.
Just as Kyle was about to explore elsewhere, he felt something pawing at his robe pocket. He looked down to find a palm-sized creature in front of him.
It had black fur and a small flat snout like a duck's bill, though it mostly resembled a mole.
"A Niffler...?" Kyle said in surprise. He hadn't expected the suitcase to come with a bonus.
The creature must have been born recently — it wasn't even as big as his hand.
Now it clung to his robe, its tiny paws struggling to hold a gold Galleon as it attempted to stuff the coin into its pouch.
Kyle watched quietly until the Niffler had almost tucked the Galleon into its pouch. Then he reached out and smoothly plucked the coin back.
He scooped up the Niffler along with it. The tiny creature clung to the Galleon stubbornly, refusing to release it even when Kyle gently shook it.
"How did you get in here?" He asked curiously.
If Newt had meant to give him the Niffler, he would have handed it over directly rather than hiding it in the suitcase — this little one must have sneaked in by itself.
The Niffler, perhaps too young to understand Kyle's words, simply tilted its head and continued hugging the Galleon, trying to stuff it into its pouch with movements that looked like tiny pull-ups.
✭✭✭
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