Newt stepped lightly into the suitcase and landed in the room inside. Looking around, he was surprised to see that Kyle had arranged the space quite neatly. The furniture and everything else were meticulously organized, far tidier than Newt's own cluttered quarters. In one corner, two large bookshelves stood filled with books bound in parchment, giving the room a scholarly air.
As he approached, Newt immediately sensed traces of the Undetectable Extension Charm on the shelves, meaning there were likely far more books here than met the eye.
"What's all this?" he asked, intrigued.
Kyle's heart skipped a beat. How could he have forgotten about those? Newt might be inclined to overlook a few illegal Magical Creatures, but books copied from the Restricted Section... that was another story.
"It's nothing," Kyle replied, trying to sound casual. "Just some class notes I've taken. I leave them here so I can reference them whenever I need."
"Class notes? You have this many?"
"Oh, and I've also taken loads of notes from reading in the library," Kyle added quickly.
Newt ran his fingers along the volumes. "No wonder you were awarded the Order of Merlin... I can see why."
Though Newt had been a student once, even before his expulsion he'd only cared about knowledge related to Magical Creatures. Excluding that "extracurricular" interest, all his school notes combined probably wouldn't amount to one of these thick books.
"Oh, it's nothing. The Self-Writing Quill did most of the work..." Kyle deflected. "Anyway, let me show you inside."
He opened a small door leading further in, stepping through. Newt nodded and followed him, noticing in amazement that the space beyond was much larger than the one he'd originally handed over to Kyle. And it seemed Kyle had even planted a few rowan trees, now growing vigorously. Newt knew without checking that they were full of Bowtruckles.
Then his eyes fell on something unusual—a dark, three-headed "boulder" resting near the rowans.
"A... Three-Headed Dog?" Newt's eyes widened.
Before he could fully process that, a massive shape whooshed overhead. He looked up, his expression shifting from surprise to stunned bewilderment.
A dragon? And not just any dragon—a rare Norwegian Ridgeback!
Newt suddenly felt a wave of absurdity. It had only been one school year, and this was Hogwarts—where had Kyle even acquired these highly dangerous creatures?
Suppressing his shock, he continued scanning the area. Next to the dragon, a hulking Mountain Troll lounged nearby. But in comparison to the Three-Headed Dog and the Norwegian Ridgeback, the Troll almost seemed ordinary.
"Is this what you meant by... small animals?" Newt asked, giving Kyle a strange look. He wouldn't have been surprised if Kyle had already been expelled.
After all, Newt himself had been expelled for illegally keeping a Jarvey with his friends, and those were only rated XXX.
But Kyle's "pets" were something else entirely—a Dragon and a Three-Headed Dog, both categorized as the most dangerous XXXXX Magical Creatures. Owning even one would be grounds for expulsion many times over.
What's this? The student outdoing the master? Starting with XXXXX-level beasts? Are kids these days really this bold?
Kyle's eyes darted around nervously as he said, "Well... the Three-Headed Dog is only about two years old, and the Dragon's not even a year old yet, so they are still young, technically speaking."
"It has a small brain."
"As I mentioned, they were all smuggled in..." Kyle added quickly, seeing Newt's expression, which seemed to say, 'You're definitely going to get expelled.' Kyle hurriedly explained their origin.
Right, nothing to it... just told him the truth, he thought.
"Is all this related to the Philosopher's Stone?" Newt asked, frowning once he'd pieced together the situation.
Kyle nodded, and Newt continued, "Forget about the dragon for a moment. Since the Three-Headed Dog was originally borrowed by Dumbledore, why didn't you return it to Hagrid so it could stay in the Forbidden Forest?"
"There was a bit of a situation. It seems Fluffy and Norbert... became friends," Kyle said with a shrug. "I did try returning Fluffy, but he nearly escaped from the Forbidden Forest a few times. If Hagrid hadn't found him in time, he might've run straight to the castle to find me. I had no choice but to keep him here—just to avoid giving everyone a fright."
Newt pressed his lips together, momentarily at a loss for words despite his vast knowledge. The student really had surpassed the master.
Ten minutes later, Newt emerged from the suitcase, bringing Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback and the Troll with him. Fluffy, however, was only there on a temporary basis and would eventually need to return to the Forbidden Forest. Although the giant dog protested, rolling around and pleading to be taken along, Kyle couldn't agree. It wasn't that he didn't want to take him, but that he couldn't—Fluffy was Hagrid's prized pet, and taking him away would send Hagrid into a frenzy.
After a struggle, Kyle managed to calm Fluffy down, and he and Newt left the suitcase together.
As they walked back, Newt spoke up, "Kyle, I can watch over them for a while, but you can't keep them forever. You know what I mean."
"Yes, I understand," Kyle replied quietly. "Next year, I'll return the Troll to the Forbidden Forest, and after I graduate, I'll take Norbert back to Norway."
"Are you planning to go alone?" Newt asked.
"Yes," Kyle nodded. "I want to try. I'm the one who brought her here, so I should be the one to take her back."
Newt was silent for a moment, offering no further objections. Kyle was only in his second year, with five more years until graduation—not too long. Besides, the suitcase kept the dragon safely hidden, minimizing any risk of discovery.
Soon after, their conversation shifted to a lighter topic.
"That's a female dragon, isn't it? Why do you call her Norbert?" Newt asked curiously.
"Hagrid named her," Kyle said, smiling. "She seems to like it, so I didn't want to change it."
"Ah, that makes sense... no wonder."
They walked through the castle grounds, eventually reaching the path that led to the school gates, just past the Hogsmeade Platform.
Here, they stopped. Newt, naturally, wasn't leaving by train—it would be too slow. Beyond the school gates, marked by the two winged warthog statues, he could finally Disapparate.
As he stepped across the boundary, Newt turned back and gave Kyle a last set of instructions. "Make sure they don't leave the suitcase while you're at school. And when you come to pick them up, don't forget to bring your Order of Merlin medal. Tina's been eager to see it since she heard the news."
"I will," Kyle replied, smiling.