The Unicorn leader trotted into the botanical garden as if it knew the way by heart. The moment it saw the tightly bound giant wolf leader, it kicked it right in the face with one hoof.
Then it came over to Leonard and communicated with him through the Ancient Sprout, which finally let Leonard understand what had been going on.
It was not that the unicorns had failed to take Leonard's request seriously. Ever since Leonard had asked them to find the owner of the fur and blood left on the thorns, they had been roaming the Forbidden Forest every day searching for traces of these giant wolves.
But the wolves were too cunning. On top of that, the dark-creature aura on their bodies was something unicorns were especially sensitive to, so every time the unicorns got close, the wolves would sense it and scatter before they could be caught.
The unicorns had had no choice. And since Leonard had not asked about the giant wolves again afterward, the Unicorn leader had never brought it up.
"A dark aura... right, of course. Werewolves fall under Defense Against the Dark Arts, so it's perfectly normal for these giant wolves to carry a dark aura."
Leonard stroked the mane on the Unicorn leader's neck to show it was fine, then let Claudia go off to meet her mother so the two of them could play on their own.
After that, he and Midgard gathered around the giant wolf, intending to interrogate it.
"Oh right. One of my intelligence people has been blending in on the Muggle side, and he got me an interesting little thing, some kind of camera. Want me to take a picture of you?"
As she spoke, Midgard pointed at the giant wolf sprawled on the ground.
"A picture with a wolf this big?"
"Sure, but..." Leonard looked at Midgard, who still had barely any fabric on her, and asked, "Where exactly did you put the camera?"
Surely not in some cleavage pocket dimension.
"I didn't bring it. Wait a second."
Midgard picked up her wand, Apparated away, then returned a moment later in a different set of clothes with a small camera in her hand.
Compared to wizarding cameras, Muggle cameras advanced at a frightening pace. They already had cameras with automatic zoom now.
Meanwhile, the wizarding world was still using those clunky old cameras from the last century that needed blinding magnesium flash powder just to take a picture.
If they had not invented developing potion that made photographs move, Colin Creevey probably would not have enjoyed photography nearly that much.
Leonard, however, was not thinking about the camera at all. What he was wondering was whether it was time for him to learn Apparition.
Before, he had thought there was not much point in learning it while living inside Hogwarts, so he had never asked Midgard to teach him. But thinking about it now, the spell really was convenient. With the help of his imitation Elder Wand, he might even be able to Apparate astonishing distances.
Still lost in thought, Leonard casually followed Midgard's instructions and struck pose after pose while she took a whole series of pictures of him standing over the subdued giant wolf.
Not long after, the giant wolves surrounded by unicorns began to wake up.
And then they were immediately beaten down by the unicorns surrounding them.
So it was you lot who had us running all over the Forbidden Forest for over a year, huh?
Think you're the only ones who know how to fight a guerrilla war?
"Awoo..."
"Aoo... woof!"
Cries rose one after another. Some of the giant wolves were beaten so badly they actually started barking like dogs.
It was truly a heartbreaking scene. Before long, worried by the screams of his subordinates, the giant wolf leader slowly regained consciousness.
The first thing he saw was a big foot planted on his head. Not far away, that werewolf was fiddling with a strange black box and pointing it at him.
"Whine..."
The giant wolf let out a soft whimper. His head was still spinning. He tried to get up and shake off the foot on his head, only to realize he was tightly bound and unable to move.
That helpless situation made him panic, and he started struggling to break free.
"Quit moving around, damn it!"
Leonard nearly lost his footing and kicked the giant wolf angrily.
But instead of calming it down, that only made it struggle harder.
At that moment, two vines with barbs tipped in anesthetic venom extended from the Bitterthorn.
The vines slowly reached toward the giant wolf, swaying like venomous snakes in front of its face.
That finally did the trick.
The giant wolf did not dare move anymore. Its whole body went stiff like a piece of wood.
"You really insist on learning the hard way." Leonard muttered, then kicked it again.
To his surprise, that kick actually got words out of it.
"Wizard, do not humiliate me!"
The giant wolf opened its mouth and spoke human language.
"Oh? You can talk?" Leonard looked at the stubborn-faced giant wolf with interest. "Good. Then let me ask you, why have you come to my botanical garden again and again?"
"I don't understand what botanical garden means. I only know there is something here that I need," the giant wolf leader said. "Let me go. Once I get it, I'll leave with my subordinates, and we will never appear here again."
"That sounds nice, but this botanical garden belongs to me. Every single plant here was planted by my own hands. It all belongs to me, so why should I give anything to you?" Leonard laughed in disbelief.
The giant wolf fell silent for a moment, then said quietly, "I do not understand much about you wizards. I have barely had any contact with your kind. I am only used to hunting in the forest."
"Don't give me that crap." Leonard kicked it again.
"Wizard! Stop kicking my face!"
The giant wolf flew into a rage and snapped at Leonard's foot, only to have its face smacked sideways by a Bitterthorn vine.
"Cut the nonsense." Leonard's tone turned downright bandit-like. "No matter what, you're in my hands now. Recognize your situation."
"What do you want?" The giant wolf leader's voice had a trace of panic in it.
"What do I want?" Leonard gave a dark little laugh. "You've come to my botanical garden again and again and caused me quite a bit of loss. Shouldn't we settle that account?"
"You despicable wizard, you're lying! We never broke in, and your thorns even wounded my men!" the giant wolf leader roared.
"Shut up."
Leonard slapped it hard across the face.
"I told you already, you're in my hands now. Some things aren't up to you. If I say you caused losses, then you caused losses."
Leonard let out a cold laugh, every bit the villain.
"And I'm sure you wouldn't want me to chop you and your men into pieces and sell you off as materials to other wizards, right?"
The giant wolf leader trembled with anger.
"If you want to do something, do it to me. Don't hurt my subordinates!"
"Oh? So you are a decent leader after all?" Leonard slapped it again. "Then be obedient. Start by telling me, what exactly were you looking for in my botanical garden?"