Chapter 361: The Wizarding Cottage
At the pace of a normal young wizard, Sean found it nearly impossible to keep up with a Wampus Cat.
Fortunately, he was not always a normal young wizard.
Consequently, high above the forest canopy, a most peculiar sight unfolded. A black cat was perched firmly on the back of a snowy owl, its vivid green eyes narrowed as it scanned the terrain below. Beneath them, a creature resembling a lean, powerful cougar was sprinting through the undergrowth.
However, the woods were too dense. After only a few heartbeats, even Snowy lost the trail. The Wampus Cat vanished into the thickest part of the ancient forest, leaving the two observers behind.
The black cat's whiskers twitched. It reached out a paw and nudged the silver-white tail feathers of the owl. Moments later, from behind a gnarled, ancient oak tree that looked as though it had stood for centuries, stepped a young wizard in snow-dusted robes. The owl remained perched on his shoulder.
Snowy glared at the dense thicket, hooting indignantly. She looked as though she were considering setting the entire forest on fire just to clear her line of sight.
"No," Sean said softly.
Snowy was a remarkably intelligent owl, but she lacked a wizard's strategic patience. Sean always found her fits of pique rather endearing.
They trudged through the snow, the silence broken only by the soft crunch-crunch of their footsteps and the occasional crack of a falling branch. They descended a steep, wooded slope, gradually approaching a narrow riverbank illuminated by the soft, pulsing glow of magical mushrooms.
Sean turned the problem over in his mind.
The good news: Ilvermorny was indeed home to many Wampus Cats.
The bad news: they were incredibly fast and notoriously elusive. Even if Sean located another one, there was no guarantee he could get close. Not every specimen was as comfortable around humans as Master Newt's Delilah.
However, Sean had a trump card: the man currently teaching him spatial magic was the world's leading expert on magical creatures.
He found Master Newt standing by a frozen creek. At his feet, three Kneazles—Hoppy, Milly, and Mauler—were busy leaving dainty, flower-like paw prints in the fresh snow. It was a well-known fact among enthusiasts that Newt had always had a soft spot for Kneazles; they had been his constant companions during his retirement in Dorset.
"Morning, Mr. Scamander," Sean said, crossing a small wooden bridge to reach the old man.
"Morning," Newt replied with his trademark shyness. He was looking toward a cluster of trees. Sean followed his gaze and felt his heart skip a beat.
Lurking in the shadows of the brush, a Wampus Cat was watching them with intense curiosity.
"The Wampus... they are prideful, inquisitive beings," Newt said in a low, storytelling tone. "To win them over, a wizard must be willing to meet their gaze—to look directly into those magic-heavy eyes. They are highly intelligent; they read the soul behind the eyes. Most people they simply avoid. But for a rare few, the Wampus will not refuse an approach. That is how the Cherokee warriors of old were able to harvest their hair for wand cores."
Newt tilted his head slightly, noticing Sean straining to keep his eyes wide and unblinking. A small, amused smile touched the old man's lips.
"Distance is often the first hurdle," Newt whispered.
Sean began to edge forward, moving with excruciating slowness. The large feline tilted its head, its golden eyes fixed unblinkingly on Sean.
[Alert: You have gained the affinity of the magical creature Wampus Cat (Unnamed) at an Expert standard. Proficiency +50]
The system notification chimed in his mind, but Sean didn't let his focus waver. His breathing was as light as the falling snow.
"The Wampus possesses innate powers of hypnosis and Legilimency," Newt added softly from behind. "To lower one's mental defenses before such a creature is no small feat. It requires a wizard to be entirely honest with their inner self..."
Sean reached a point just a few yards from the cat. The creature hesitated for a long moment, its tail twitching rhythmically, before it suddenly turned and bolted into the shadows.
Sean stood there, feeling a sharp pang of disappointment.
"I remember once, while talking to the gnomes in my herb garden, I pushed aside some perilla leaves and found a massive ferret," Newt said, a bashful look on his face. "It didn't run or hide like a normal ferret would. Instead, it lunged and knocked me flat on my back. It was a Jarvey—a particularly foul-tempered, talkative one. It took me two months of patient negotiation before it stopped trampling my garden."
Sean looked up at the snow-covered canopy. He realized that earning the trust of a wild creature was a marathon, not a sprint.
Over the following days, the elusive Wampus Cat became a fixture in the background of Sean's training.
While Sean practiced "severing" patches of earth and shrinking them, the cat would be visible in the distance, chasing crows through the trees. While Sean experimented with shrinking and enlarging a yew tree, the cat was busy testing the thickness of the ice on the creek with a cautious paw. When Sean finally managed to successfully tether a patch of meadow inside his Wizard's Tome, the cat attempted to pounce on Snowy. It was promptly sent scurrying when Snowy transfigured into a massive dragon, and the cat didn't show its face for the rest of the afternoon.
The interior of the Wizard's Tome was growing daily, and Sean's technique was becoming increasingly fluid. After a few more days of practice under Newt's watchful eye, Sean was able to work independently without risk of spatial collapse.
The pale winter sun rose and set, the snow stopped and started, and Sean spent every waking hour immersed in spatial and weather-working charms. By the tail end of the fifth day, his efforts finally bore fruit:
[Alert: You have practiced the Severing Charm (Spatial) at an Adept standard. Proficiency +10]
[Spatial Charms: Entry (70/900)]
[Weather-Working Charms: Apprentice (20/300)]
Although his weather magic was still in its early stages, he now possessed the basic tools to regulate a pocket climate. The perfection of these two disciplines meant Sean finally had the foundation to build the interior of his Tome.
At twilight, Sean walked down to the riverside where he and Newt usually practiced. After a few hours of intense alchemical work, the interior of the Wizard's Tome had taken shape.
Upon "entering" the book, one was met first by a wide expanse of rolling meadow. The lush green grass was dotted with tiny yellow and pink wildflowers, and the air carried the warm, sweet scent of a spring morning. To the left of the field, a stream meandered past a small, sturdy log cabin. The cabin featured bright windows and a chimney emitting a cheerful plume of smoke. Above the door hung a simple wooden sign: THE WIZARDING COTTAGE.
Beyond the cottage lay a dense, healthy woodland of beech and yew trees.
The entire space looked like a living oil painting. Sean stood in the doorway of the cottage, a look of profound satisfaction on his face. The three-hundred-square-meter sanctuary was more than enough to house his first few magical residents.
[End of Chapter 361]
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