Newt thought for a moment, then followed him inside.
As soon as he entered the box, his gaze fell upon two round eggs nestled on velvet cushions.
Indeed, they were dragon eggs, one Ukrainian Ironbelly, and the other…
“Oh, Romanian Longhorn?”
“Yes.” Kai chuckled, “I was just as surprised when I saw it.”
Newt stepped closer, squinting as he examined the eggs.
“They’re indeed about to hatch, but… something seems odd.”
“What do you mean?”
“Judging by the exterior, these eggs shouldn’t be ready to hatch.” He tapped one lightly, producing a hollow thumping sound.
“See, they’re still quite hard. They need at least a month of flame broiling to meet hatching conditions, but…”
Falling silent, Newt then leaned in to take a deep breath at the seam.
“This slight scent of sulfur, it seems the Fire Dragon purposely cracked the eggshell. What is happening…”
Newt felt baffled, having studied Fire Dragons for decades, he’d never encountered such a ridiculous situation.
“Hmmm… If they’ve been through a Time Turner, would it affect the dragon eggs?”
“A bit, but not to this extent.” Newt shook his head.
“And what if it’s a hundred years?”
“A hundred years?” Newt paused, then exclaimed in surprise, “Albus’s Time Turner was repaired?”
“Not just repaired, but used.” Kai nodded.
“That’s what I wanted to say. Due to certain reasons, I just returned from 1899 yesterday.”
Kai then recounted his recent experiences with brief descriptions.
Upon hearing the news that Arianna hadn’t died, Newt almost cried from happiness.
He was happy for Dumbledore. They had gone through countless adventures together, and Newt knew better than anyone what Dumbledore’s regrets were. Arianna’s death had become a tormenting demon constantly haunting him.
“You did well… very well…” He wiped tears from the corners of his eyes, choking on his words.
“So these two Fire Dragons…”
“Exactly, I bought them back then.” Kai said, “I still have two more, I’ll retrieve them from the Fire Dragon Reserve in a few days.”
As he spoke, Kai naturally handed two pieces of parchment with Magic Contracts to Newt.
Newt’s eyes opened even wider, surprised to find that along with Arianna’s news, Kai had another surprise for him.
“These two contracts… It turns out you are the mysterious donor.”
“What?”
“A friend told me about it,” Newt explained, “They said that the Fire Dragon Reserve was established only due to the donations of a mysterious wizard. The galleons they brought allowed the reserve to take the first and most difficult step.
“They later tried to find the person, a young wizard with an old servant… but never succeeded. It was like the person vanished from the Magic World without a trace.”
“That’s because I returned, so of course, they couldn’t find me.” Kai laughed, “By the way, that so-called old servant is actually Professor Dumbledore.”
“…”
Newt’s expression was odd, silent for a moment before he said softly, “Well, I guess I should’ve seen that coming. I hope Albus doesn’t know about these rumors.”
In a sense, Dumbledore had been Kai’s servant in the Fire Dragon Reserve’s records for nearly a hundred years, something unprecedented in the Magic Realm.
I hope he can handle it.
But knowing Dumbledore, he probably wouldn’t mind, especially knowing his sister is alive.
Newt shook his head and looked at the second piece of parchment.
“This, this is… a Legal Dragon Raising Certificate?”
“Exactly.” Kai said, “Birdman was too enthusiastic and insisted I take this as a token of thanks. I couldn’t refuse, so I accepted it.
“But unfortunately, the contract won’t take effect for a while, so it’s just a decoration for now.”
Newt didn’t believe a word Kai said; he knew Birdman well, and he was always the staunchest opponent of personal dragon raising. It seemed impossible for him to issue such a thing proactively.
Yet the certificate was genuine, signatures and Contract Magic don’t lie, so the truth didn’t seem that important anymore.
“You certainly gained a lot from this trip.” Newt couldn’t help but remark.
“Not bad.” Kai grinned, “But let’s focus on these, are these two dragons alright?”
“Perfectly fine, very healthy.” Newt said, “As for why they’re hatching early, it might be related to the Time Turner, but I’ve never used such a thing, so I dare not conclude.
“Nevertheless, the Time Turner’s effects on dragon eggs… that’s a direction I never thought of before. Can the Time Turner still be used?”
“No, it can’t.” Kai shook his head, “After we returned, the Philosopher’s Stone providing Magic Power broke down, and coupled with overload operation, the shell sustained many damages.”
“Philosopher’s Stone?” Newt twitched slightly.
Despite the enticing new research direction, if the cost is the Philosopher’s Stone… it’s unaffordable.
As for other less luxurious Time Turners, the time is too short, and they’re practically useless.
Newt had never felt this frustrated; he felt like a Niffler standing at the cliff’s edge, with piles of galleons on one side, separated by an impassable chasm, unable to reach them, unbearably agonizing.
“Can I take them?” Newt pointed at the two dragon eggs.
Since experiencing the Time Turner was impossible, he could only observe these eggs carried back by Kai from ninety-eight years ago.
“Of course, no problem.” Kai smiled, that was his initial purpose, after all.