Chapter 155: The Powerful Magizoologist

Before them lay a vast forest, dense and luxuriant with a diverse array of trees such as beeches, oaks, and black pines. Even though it was already autumn, a season when all things typically wither, this place still radiated vibrant vitality.

"For some reason, this place feels inexplicably familiar," the ghost of Xiven muttered, looking around the environment and frowning in bewilderment.

He knew quite well that he had never been to Albania before, which made this inexplicable sense of familiarity all the more baffling to him.

"What is it, Strange?" Newt noticed Xiven's expression and asked with concern.

Xiven suppressed the confusion in his heart and gently shook his head.

Aside from Xiven, who was a ghost and therefore unable to touch physical entities, Dumbledore and the others had traveled to Albania using a Portkey.

Thanks to the influence of Theseus, the Head of the Auror Office, and Dumbledore, the universally revered leader of the magical world, the Ministry of Magic had operated with utmost efficiency to approve a direct Portkey to Albania for them.

As for the ghost of Xiven, he had tracked them using the two-way mirror carried by Newt and followed them here by opening a dimensional gateway.

Since both Theseus and Tina were tied down by heavy official duties, they could not accompany the group to Albania to search for Nagini's traces. As for young Xiven, Dumbledore had chased him back to Hogwarts on the grounds that he was too young and the mission involved unknown dangers.

Thus, only Aurelius the person directly involved, Albus and Aberforth as family members of the involved party, Kama as the clue provider, and Newt the magizoologist had traveled to Albania together. As for the ghost of Xiven, he was probably regarded by everyone as a walking portal...

"Yusuf, was this the location you sensed back then?" Dumbledore asked.

Kama looked at the uniform towering trees all around and shook his head somewhat blankly.

"I cannot be certain; after all, it was a few years ago," he said, frowning. "Besides, Britain and Albania are separated by a thousand miles. Sensing an exact location across a thousand miles is simply too far-fetched."

"So, why would Nagini come here?" Xiven asked with some confusion.

"I suspect Nagini wanted to seek out her roots," Aurelius replied softly. "Actually, it's not just me who has been searching for my origins; Nagini is the same. She once told me that she hailed from Indonesia and could not clearly remember her background since childhood."

"Later, she encountered the chaos of war and lived a precarious life amidst endless conflicts. It wasn't until a dozen years ago when she was taken in by that circus owner that she became a tool for the owner to make money, forced to transform into a snake almost every day. Such frequent transformations drastically worsened the symptoms of her blood curse."

"Appearing here might mean she was trying to return to her homeland by land."

"Then she must have met with some accident while passing through Albania," Newt deliberated and analyzed. "Either she was attacked by malicious enemies and fled into this forest, or she suddenly lost control of her Maledictus transformation and had to hide in the forest to avoid drawing attention."

Aurelius nodded with a heavy expression, accepting Newt's analysis.

"Let's not worry so much for now; we should start looking for clues in the forest," Dumbledore said, shaking his head to interrupt them. "Newt, you should be good at this."

Newt nodded slightly, drew his wand from his pocket, and chanted a spell—

"Appare Vestigium!"

He spun around in a circle, and his wand emitted a flurry of golden light particles, illuminating all traces of recent magical activity in the vicinity.

The people present looked dazedly at the various magical creature trails illuminated by the golden light, all of them furrowing their brows.

"Newt, the destruction of the Sneakoscope happened several years ago after all; Tracking Spells cannot detect things from that long ago," Kama walked over to Newt and said with a frown.

"I know, but it can at least show us the activity traces of the surrounding magical creatures, and we can deduce other things from them," Newt smiled.

Following that, Newt lowered his body, practically crawling onto the ground, and stared intently at a winding trail.

"He looks rather practiced at this," Aberforth watched Newt's movements and couldn't help muttering.

"That's just how Newt is. If you need to find anything in the wild, leaving it to Newt is always the right choice," Dumbledore chuckled, explaining to Aberforth and Aurelius. "He has basically spent half his life finding and accompanying those endangered magical creatures."

"I have witnessed Newt's growth and changes," Dumbledore said with a smile. "There is one thing about him that has never changed, and that is Newt's deepest love for life. It has always been so!"

Aurelius's gaze flickered with emotion, and in a daze, he recalled the scene in America when Newt had tried to help him.

Through Dumbledore's words, Newt's act of crawling on the ground no longer seemed comical or ridiculous, but instead embodied an alternative kind of greatness!

"Found it!" Newt suddenly stood up and shouted excitedly.

The people present perked up as well, turning their gazes toward Newt.

Newt didn't care at all about the dirt staining his clothes; he gently waved his wand to filter out the redundant traces within the golden light, leaving only a few trails that either wound forward or extended in a straight line.

"Look, these are the activity tracks of vipers possessing magic within this forest," Newt pointed at these golden marks and told the crowd. "Nagini belongs to the vipers after her Maledictus transformation. If she truly suffered a complete outbreak of her blood curse while passing through here, she should stay together with other vipers."

"Wait, why do you think Nagini would stay with other vipers?" Kama asked, looking puzzled. "And purely from these few tracks, how can you tell they come from vipers?"

The others also nodded slightly, looking at Newt incomprehensibly as they awaited his explanation.

"We all know that once the Maledictus blood curse fully erupts, Nagini will lose her humanity, retaining only animal wildness and instinct," Newt gave Aurelius an apologetic glance and explained in detail. "And snakes are social animals; they instinctively gather with their own kind during hibernation to keep warm and retain moisture."

"It is already late autumn now, which is very close to the time when snakes hibernate."

Hearing Newt's description of snakes, Aurelius suddenly realized that Nagini might lose her humanity completely and become like a real snake. His expression twisted into deep agony.

However, his agonizing state lasted for only a second before he fully recovered, his gaze instead transforming into an even more resolute look.

"So, why can we be certain these tracks come from vipers?" Aurelius took a deep breath, looked at Newt, and asked.

"Because of the way they move," Newt breathed a slight sigh of relief upon seeing the change in Aurelius's gaze, and continued to explain. "Vipers lack a sternum, and their ribs can move freely back and forth, which results in this straight-line extension movement pattern. Of course, they can also slither and wind along like other snakes, but that consumes more stamina."

'Is this what a magizoologist is? Too impressive...' Xiven nodded silently, expressing his admiration for Newt.

"I understand," Aurelius nodded solemnly to Newt as well, then said with determination.

"In that case, let's set off as soon as possible!"

...

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--- Author's Note ---

Just watched a popular science video about vipers by a Tibetan fox channel, and used it right away...