Spotted By Grindelwald And Went To Hogwarts - Chapter 363: “New Companions”
It was Ravenclaw’s diadem.
Even though he had never seen it before, Sean immediately recognized what the “Messenger” was.
The eyes are covered with golden yellow feathers, a pair of huge wings, and two lion-like eagle-like creatures. Grindelwald had the Thunderbirds deliver with the diadem.
The Thunderbird before him was not yet fully grown, with the diadem and a small piece of parchment hanging on its chest.
The eyes of Sean and Thunderbird met. He could see the hesitation and panic in its eyes. Obviously, Grindelwald didn’t have much patience when dealing with magical animals.
Sean sighed, smiled, and slowly stretched out his hand while looking steadily at Thunderbird. The anxious Thunderbird shook its heads on the spot, with tiny electric lights flickering back and forth on their feathers from their tails.
The Thunderbird is a magical animal sensitive to supernatural energies that can cause wind and thunder to rise when it flaps its wings. There was once a wizard who tried to study this creature, but after being shocked a dozen times, that person brought back one piece of news: Thunderbird can easily hurt someone.
However, Sean learned something from Newt’s notes. Because of its sensitivity to supernatural energies, it was easier for Thunderbird to discern a wizard’s true intentions. It is said that this kind of creature can judge good or bad from their magic fluctuations.
But these are fine for Sean, whether it is his affinity for magical animals, his attitude towards them, or the experience he has gained from getting along with them. He was born to handle magical animals.
Under Sean’s gentle and reassuring eyes, the Thunderbird slowly lowered its guard, and after hesitating for a while, it gently leaned its head over.
“How did you get here?” Sean patted the Thunderbird’s golden beak, and the static electricity brought a tingling sensation.
The Thunderbird immediately rubbed against Sean, and the grievance was in its slightly piercing chirping. Sean understood the Thunderbird’s meaning smoothly, but what it was trying to say to him made him dumbfounded.
Grindelwald used Thunderbirds to mix potions into the rainwater in Bhutan, and his method of getting a Thunderbird is way different than Sean would have thought. Grindelwald directly found the largest magical animal smuggler in North America and didn’t even pay for it. After a long conversation, the smuggler willingly gave up his life for Grindelwald.
At that time, the smuggler happened to have a batch of Thunderbirds in his hands. He packaged them and sent them to Grindelwald. In addition to the four adult Thunderbirds, this little Thunderbird and a batch of eggs were also sent there.
Although, that was almost one-tenth of the Thunderbird population in North America.
While comforting the Thunderbird in front of him, he sighed in his heart.
Grindelwald was a pragmatist. The Thunderbird and Thunderbird eggs were useless to him, but he still brought them. This was for Sean. After comforting the Thunderbird for a while, this Thunderbird completely trusts Sean; it is even willing to let Sean touch his feathers, which are regarded as treasures.
Sean tried to touch it and was surprised that the feathers on the Thunderbird’s chest were surprisingly soft. Not only did they not carry any static electricity, but they even gave people a strange sense of emotion, as if they’re more sensitive towards the things they’ve seen in the world.
“Could this be a manifestation of Thunderbird’s extreme sensitivity to supernatural energy?” Sean wondered.
However, he didn’t try to pull out a feather to study it. The Thunderbird was very fond of its feathers.
The Thunderbird keenly discovered Sean’s thoughts. Like a child who is willing to share treasures with a good friend, he expressed straightforwardly that when he grows up a little, it can give Sean a few of its feathers.
Sean couldn’t help but sigh. Dealing with magical animals is much better than dealing with wizards.
When the Thunderbird stood up, it also revealed what was under it. It was a bird’s nest made of rock mixed with dark brown bark, and seven golden eggs the size of Hagrid’s fist were placed inside.
Sean was a little surprised. He originally thought there were only two or three eggs.
After asking the Thunderbird, he found out that there was only one egg inside: its younger brother or sister; the other eggs were from different mothers, and he was asked to take care of them normally.
Creatures like Thunderbirds are not social animals, but they will try their best to protect their own kind. Because of this characteristic, when they see their same kind or their eggs are caught by wizards, they will attack the wizard and rescue them.
Because of this trait, magical animal smugglers in North America rarely dare to catch Thunderbirds. After all, a single Thunderbird is very difficult to deal with. But for a powerful wizarding group, they can capture multiple Thunderbirds.
They will ride around the entire area on broomsticks with the stolen Thunderbird eggs in their arms to attract the Thunderbirds who are used to protecting their kind. After that, most of the Thunderbirds in the area will be captured and smuggled to all corners of the world.
Under the Thunderbird’s watchful eyes, Sean gently picked up an egg. It was very heavy, and the eggshell carried a slight static electricity. When he got closer, he could smell the special smell of ionized air.
“You wanted to care for them until they are born, right?” Sean looked at Thunderbird.
Although the Thunderbird was still underage, it still nodded with some expectation in his eyes.
Sean responded, “Do you want me to take care of them too?”
Thunderbird chirped happily.
“Let’s go to my ring first. The area there is quite big, and there are cliffs where these bird eggs can be placed. Oh, I’ll put the weather that suits your liking later.” Sean put the Thunderbird in the ring.
He grabbed down the parchment and the diadem that Thunderbird had brought. Finding a cushion and sitting cross-legged, Sean put the Ravenclaw diadem on his lap and opened the parchment.
“Oh, Sean,”
“As you can see, I don’t have the time to keep pets. I hate magical animals. So, I leave it to you. You can cook eggs or roast them as you like, but remember to tell how it tasted.”
Sean pouted. He still had the time to joke about it.
“Well, the Thunderbird is not the main point, but the Ravenclaw’s diadem is, and you might already guess how I got it.”
Sean knew that the person who took the diadem before Stephanie tried to get it was Grindelwald, and the person who tampered with Stephanie’s memory and left her with memory hints was probably him. It was no wonder that Stephanie had a strange expression that day as if she knew who it was but didn’t want to say it.
“Also, you should be able to feel it, right? You can completely absorb the magic power from Lust. You can gain a lot of things if you do that.”
“If I had the thing in you and mine absorbed her into a power that can be controlled. It would be a very valuable thing for me.”
After reading this, Sean’s eyes flickered, and finally, he rubbed his temples tiredly and helplessly.
This is the usual Grindelwald’s style. In his values, absorbing things like this is more helpful to Sean’s future development. He has never been shy about such things, as if Stephanie is nothing.
In other words, Sean believes that if Grindelwald can find a way to solve everything, even if he sacrifices his own life, Grindelwald will not hesitate.
“But you refused to do so and were even more merciful than Albus. Although I’ve always hated the word ‘merciful’. Well, it’s all your choice. I won’t judge you on that, and by the way, if you don’t absorb Stephanie’s “Lust”, the power in you will not be awakened, and you might miss your chance to gain an uncontrollable power.”
“Also, an unforgettable love can stimulate the power of “Lust”, and she can become a powerful help to you in the future.”
Sean just shook his head.
“Finally, let’s talk about the diadem. I have been researching for a while. Wearing the Ravenclaw’s diadem can stimulate your intelligence and creativity. Whether it is learning, reasoning, or creating spells, you will find yourself that your head is working very smoothly, and a steady stream of inspiration keeps coming.”
“However, the diadem cannot be used all the time. Ravenclaw’s diadem will bring a great mental load to the wearer. When using it, you must pay attention to the time of wearing it and your mental state.”
“You can try to find out yourself, but remember not to do it too much.”
“Think about what I said yesterday, and be careful.”
“Your Professor, Gellert Grindelwald.”
Letting the parchment turn to ashes in his palm, Sean picked up Ravenclaw’s diadem and looked it over carefully. The shape is classic and elegant, and the construction is exquisite and full of details.
After hesitating for a while, Sean decided to try it himself. Taking a deep breath, he placed the Ravenclaw diadem on his head. The moment the crown tightened around Sean’s head, a mysterious feeling surged up.
The biggest change is that Sean’s spell proficiency has grown slightly. He understood some details he hadn’t noticed when practicing those spells. The experience was quickly absorbed, and Sean can now use his own spells more easily and proficiently.
This was just the beginning. Sean felt as if his head had been soaked in ice water; all his thoughts became smoother and clearer. This feeling almost made Sean want to indulge in it, but another feeling came to him immediately before he could enjoy the exhilarating thought.
He felt as if he had been hit hard, his head was greeted with a huge blank feeling like a sudden blood loss, and a huge amount of information was stuffed into his mind at once.
That’s not other information from the outside world but everything in Sean’s own brain. Those details and fragments of knowledge buried in the subconscious mind, those things that he didn’t really care about, that knowledge that he had learned but hadn’t fully understood yet.
It’s like all the files on a computer’s hard drive have been moved, and every smallest detail has been squeezed into the same place. He immediately understood that this was the great and bad thing of the Ravenclaw’s diadem.
Sean integrates all the information immediately and directly chooses the memory about Dumbledore in his mind. This comes from something Grindelwald once said to him before.
On the parchment just now, Grindelwald emphasized it again cryptically.
Grindelwald was telling himself that Dumbledore had hidden some news that he wanted to tell himself but had no way to say clearly in the conversation. Sean’s brain was running fast, and his face was as red as if he had been smoked by hot and humid steam.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes has passed. Sean’s face became increasingly red, and even a deep red nosebleed flowed down. But Sean still hasn’t taken off the diadem. He always feels that he can still see more useful information, and those neglected details may give him some clues.
Another minute passed, Sean was sweating profusely, and his body began to tremble. When his ears rang, he opened his eyes and quickly took off the diadem.
Sean kneeled on the ground, panting violently. The mental load of the diadem is high. But he also found the answer he wanted.
Sean raised his head; his eyes shone slightly. He calmly took a spoonful of the potion that could his mental state, closed his eyes, and sat on the spot to rest. When he opened his eyes again, the pressure brought by that mental load finally disappeared.
“Think carefully about what Professor Dumbledore said to me…” Sean’s mouth finally rose a little.
Not long ago, Sean thought that Dumbledore and Grindelwald’s breakup was Dumbledore’s reminder to himself.
“I wish I could go back to that time.” Dumbledore stood in the shadow in front of Sean with sadness and emotion.