Chapter 138 - 138. A Chase And Laugh
"GIVE MY MONEY BACK, YOU GIANT RAT!" Magnus gave the Niffler a chase.
He was very fast and was also casting some charms. But Niffler was quick to avoid charms, obviously used to them.
So Magnus had no option but to outrun it and corner it.
He chased him around the house, through the kitchen where a fat old man was cooking food. To the old man\'s shock, out of nowhere, a kid ran by his cooking table.
But Magnus only had the Niffler in his eyes.
"Haha... How far can you run? I have monstrous stamina. I can do this all day." He tried to intimidate it.
"Khekhe..." But the Niffler sounds like he just chuckled.
Now shamed, Magnus had his self-respect on the line. He must catch the oversized rat.
He followed it for a few more minutes and finally was able to corner it in a large room. It was empty for the most part so there was no furniture to hide it.
The Niffler desperately stood in the corner, facing Magnus as if a thief caught red-handed. But, it was so shameless that even now it was squeezing the last remaining coin from Magnus pouch into his invisible pocket.
"Hehaha... Where will you run now? I\'m going to take back my gold and also the interest for the work you made me do. COME HERE, YOU OVERSIZED GREEDY RAT!"
With a full scoop of his hand, Magnus caught the Niffler\'s feet and held it upside-down. And then came the shaking.
One by one, Magnus\' stuff started to fall from the secret pocket of the creatures. But, even after all of Magnus\' stuff, he didn\'t stop.
Soon, gold plated spoons, pendants and whatnot fell from the Niffler.
Magnus was in shock, "Where the hell do you store all this? Are you Doremon or something?"
[A/N: Doremon Manga came out in 1969 and became popular.]
*CLANK*
But then a full shining gold bar fell. Magnus\' eyes sparkled. "Bwahaha... Jackpot..."
He held the Niffler in one hand and started to pick stuff up from the floor. One by one, he took everything.
He looked at the annoyed Niffler, "Heh, now it\'s time to return you to your boss... Where is he?"
Magnus turned around to see where he was. But... his mouth fell open and eyes froze, the Niffler from his hand fell down as well. The whole world seemed to freeze and he felt imbalanced. This was the highest level of humiliation.
[Magnus\' face reaction - Check para comment]
He was in the living room, and there sat everyone. Dumbledore, Ragnar, David... And Newton Artemis Fido Scamander with his wife Porpentina Goldstein and another Goblin in a neat dress.
"GREETINGS, YOUR MAJESTY!" the Goblin was unable to understand the awkwardness of the situation because the bastard would have done the same to the Niffler if it was him.
Then, the awkwardness was broken by Ragnar, whom Magnus felt like cursing.
"PFFT... AHAHAHAHAHAHAH... OH... I CAN\'T BREATHE... BWAHAHAHAHAH... look at his face... Oh oh..." He fell from his seat and started rolling on the floor in laughter. Even Dumbledore made a small snort, meaning he was controlling his laughter. Newt and Tina were just shocked though, as in front of them stood the legendary descendant of Merlin and the future king of Britain.
Magnus\' lips twitched, he wanted to say so much in his defence but knew it would only do more damage. ~Damn my obsession with gold. That Ragnar will now tell everyone at the school... I must shut his mouth at any cost... But first... Damage control.~
Magnus turned to the still-standing Goblin and politely greeted back, "Good evening,"
But, to Magnus\' sorrow, Ragnar started to laugh even more seeing his act, and his laugh was contagious.
"Hahaha... Do you think we\'ll forget everything that just happened? Oh... I need to find a Pensieve. I need to make copies and sell them to the world. This is the descendant of Merlin and Arthur... Ahahaha..." Ragnar nonstop blurted.
Magnus kept his fist tight, ~I need to silence him.~
Meanwhile, Dumbledore for some reason was feeling nervous. ~They must never know of the Pensieve in my office.~
"Oh, Professor Dumbledore has one in his office."
Those words silenced everyone. The atmosphere turned tense. Dumbledore felt like he was being stared down at by two hungry predators. He couldn\'t bring himself to look to his left or right.
He could only look at Newt\'s old face, with a sense of betrayal and sorrow.
"Professor, I have a. Few business propositions for you. I will come to your office later." Magnus spoke.
"Ah, good to see you again, Newt." Dumbledore ignored him and talked to Newton.
~THIS OLD MAN. HEHE... HE WAS TRYING TO HIDE IT FROM ME. NOW WE\'LL SEE WHERE YOU HIDE IT.~ Magnus thought. But, a scary smile leaked on his face.
Dumbledore took a glance and turned back. That was the smile of a greedy capitalist. He knew he needed to hide his treasure now.
But, to his relief, both Newt and Tina immediately stood up. Then stiffly proceed to bow to Magnus.
Magnus stopped acting goofy and scratched his head, "Umm... What are you doing?"
"Greeting the king..." Tina tried to speak but Magnus interrupted.
"Oh that, don\'t do that. I\'m not a king yet, and my mum taught me well not to make old people strain their backs. It can lead to injury... So sit." He jokingly said, making Tina start laughing.
She chuckled while looking at her husband and said, "I like him, happy to know he\'s not like those obnoxious young lords of Pure-blood families."
"What\'s going on? Why are Gringotts representatives here?" Magnus asked them.
Tina suddenly folded her arms, "We\'re late on payments for this farm. So, they came here to remind us."
"But, how do you not have the money? Magical beasts and where to find them is a world-famous book." Magnus asked in confusion.
Newt averted his gaze in what could be taken as shame.
Tina scoffed, "Huh, he said he wanted to spread the knowledge about magical beasts and made the copyright of the book open for all. Now, the book is present in every magical book shop but he gets not a knut from it."
Magnus laughed after seeing the guilty face of Newt. "Haha... That\'s exactly what I expected Mister Scamander to be like."
He then turned to the Goblin, "Tell the head goblin, Novgor, consider the payment settled."
"NO! I can\'t let you do that. It\'s our responsibility to pay..." Tina wanted to protest.
But Magnus didn\'t allow it. "How can my idol be troubled over such small things? Besides, I know that Mister Scamander played a big role during the world wizarding war. He should\'ve been rewarded with money and Order of Merlin first class. But it seems the Ministry is very cheap when it comes to treating their heroes."
"But I thought your idol was Nicolas Flamel." Ragnar voiced.
Magnus smirked, "Hehe... I\'ve got a hundred idols, Rag. When it comes to alchemy and living a long life, Nicolas is my idol. When it comes to making friends with magical beasts, Mr Scamander is my idol."
Ragnar then turned to Dumbledore, "What about Professor? He\'s a legendary wizard too."
Magnus silently stared at Dumbledore. He seemed to be thinking hard.
~Why such silence?~ Dumbledore wondered.
"YES! Beard... He\'s my idol for beard growing." Magnus claimed.
"It feels like a consolation prize," Dumbledore muttered to himself.
By now, the atmosphere had turned so friendly, the Goblin had also decided to leave now as Magnus had paid off the money.
Newt stutteringly started, "You shouldn\'t have paid them. I was about to sell some precious beast hairs that they shed."
Ragnar\'s eyes shined, "CAN I HAVE THEM? I WILL BUY THEM ALL. JUST NAME THE PRICE."
"Yeah, I think Ragnar will use them to the fullest. He\'s the best potioneer I know. Also, don\'t worry about the payment. Consider it my tuition fee for when I will come to you to learn about magical beasts." Magnus told the couple.
It took them a second to realise what Magnus had said. The descendant of Merlin was going to learn to care for magical beasts? What could be more exciting to Newt than this?
"Y-you are welcome any time, your majesty," Newt said, with happiness in his heart.
"Just call me Magnus. And... Oh, this is David, by the way. The main reason we came here today is for him. We need your help, Mr Scamander." Magnus quickly told Newt everything about David.
As Dumbledore had said, it was very rare for kids to survive for so long while suppressing their magic. It was strange he didn\'t turn into an obscurus yet. Maybe it was due to his calm nature and support of gentle people like Sister Mary.
Dumbledore also tried to convince Newt. "Newt, I know your relationship with your son hasn\'t been great, but David is a very good child. And he needs your help, he has nowhere else to go, no family to care for him."
David also spoke with a heavy heart, "Sir, I will be good, I swear. I will even help you with your work. I just want to learn magic and not turn into this... Obscurus... I want to live, sir."
Well, by now, even if Newt wouldn\'t take him in, Tina would as she was looking emotional. The memories of her past remerged in her mind. She had met another boy like David in the past, and she knew the pain he went through.
Now old, and like a grandma, she walked to David and patted his shoulder, "Don\'t worry, David. We will help you. Newt will help you too."
Newt silently thought about something. His bitter experience with his son refreshed in his mind. His son was disappointed in him, for being so successful and yet not making a fortune off the rare beasts he raises. In the end, his son left them behind to venture out there and make riches.
But, seeing the look on David\'s face, he saw a familiar desperation from long ago. He was unsuccessful back then, but this time he wanted to find a cure to not turn into an obscurus. Maybe there was a beast in his huge living space that could help David.
"I will help you." He announced.
Magnus and Ragnar high-fived. "YES!"
Seeing an opportunity, Magnus decided to ask a very important question to Newt.
"Mr Scamander. I have a very important question to ask. Umm... How do I make a Phoenix cry?" He asked.
"REEEE..." Fawkes protested, thinking Magnus was planning something scheming on him.
[You can see the Niffler, the reaction and Dumbledore\'s face on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]
GIB STONES!
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