Chapter 190. Damn it, looks like today is the end of this Niffler's life!
"Another good friend? Who is it?"
Duncan ran a circle in his head, and many people popped up, but he couldn't determine exactly which one.
Dumbledore explained, "It is Nicolas Flamel, who asked an owl to deliver something this morning."
"Oh?"
Duncan followed the direction of Dumbledore's finger and looked over.
There was a perfectly ordinary cabinet placed by the wall, which he had not noticed before.
Duncan furrowed his brow and observed carefully for a moment.
Suddenly, inspiration flashed and he hurriedly asked, "Is this a Vanishing Cabinet?"
"Exactly," Dumbledore nodded.
"Nicolas prepared it for you, to make it convenient for you to visit him often in the future."
"Brilliant, I thought Mr Flamel had forgotten about this!"
Duncan walked over to the cabinet in surprise and looked it up and down as he spoke.
"He has been thinking of it all along," Dumbledore said with a smile.
"It's just that his hands and feet are not very nimble now, so it was only finished at this time."
"Mr Flamel has worked really hard..."
Duncan sighed.
"But, Professor, why didn't you tell me directly in the letter?"
"I did not bring my trunk with me."
"How am I supposed to take this big cabinet back now?"
Duncan shrugged helplessly.
The Vanishing Cabinet was about as tall as Dumbledore.
Whether he carried it on his back or sent it back with the Levitation Charm, it would surely become a striking sight admired by all in Hogwarts Castle.
"Oh, sorry, sorry," Dumbledore said in vexation.
"I was only thinking of creating a surprise for you and overlooked this practical problem."
Duncan looked at Dumbledore in complete disbelief.
How could this wise old man make such a mistake?
Dumbledore was certainly hiding something and did not want to tell him.
"However, there is no need to worry," Dumbledore went on as if he had not seen Duncan's expression.
"Fawkes will be back in a little while."
"We can ask him to bring your trunk to the office, and you won't have to make an extra trip."
"In this free time, you can first write Nicolas a reply, tell him you have received the cabinet, and set his mind at ease."
Dumbledore waved his fingers, and parchment, a quill, and a small box of sweets fell in front of Duncan.
"You can also eat a few sweets and have a rest, if you're not afraid of Madam Pomfrey's warnings."
Dumbledore blinked mischievously.
"Alright then..."
Duncan took a piece of chocolate that looked relatively normal from the box and tossed it into his mouth.
An unbearably cloying sweetness rushed straight to his head.
In an instant he felt a bit dazed, his very consciousness seeming to grow somewhat fuzzy.
Duncan grabbed the teapot at his side and drank several cups in a row before he diluted that sickly sweetness and felt a little better.
"What is it, is there something wrong with the chocolate?"
Dumbledore popped one into his mouth and, face full of enjoyment, said, "It tastes quite good."
"This level of sweetness is beyond what most people can accept..."
Duncan flicked the sweet box back toward Dumbledore in distaste, picked up the quill, and began writing on the parchment.
After expressing his greetings to Nicolas and his delight and gratitude, he also inquired whether he could bring his friends to visit Nicolas's home.
While he was writing, Pro's small head poked out from the pocket and his round eyes stared, dreamy, at the shelves around him.
From the moment he entered the Headmaster's office, he had been intoxicated by those glittering things on the shelves.
He looked left and right, reluctant to move his eyes away for even a second.
At this moment he was just like a monkey entering a peach orchard, wishing he could pluck all those sweet and delicious peaches and stuff them into his own pocket.
Especially that golden spoon in the half-ajar drawer — its radiance kept tempting him, affectionately calling his name and beckoning him over.
Tilting his head to look at Duncan, who was writing with full concentration, Pro's eyes turned.
He wiped the saliva at the corner of his mouth and stealthily climbed out of Duncan's pocket.
He slid onto the chair, tightened his belly, moved to the edge without touching Duncan, and then quietly glanced at him again.
Confirming that Duncan was still writing and had not noticed his "escape," Pro happily hugged the smooth chair leg with all four limbs.
Then, using his slippery fur, he whooshed down toward the floor.
Relying on his plump bottom, he landed without a sound, and Pro's body bounced up and down.
"They didn't notice me, did they?"
Pro sneaked a glance upward, dashed into the gap under the desk to hide, and looked for a chance to charge the treasure.
After a couple of minutes, Duncan put down the quill, blew on the parchment, folded the finished letter, and got up to go to the cabinet to send it off.
"Wonderful, bless me, the chance has finally come!"
Pro cheered in a low voice, took a deep breath, his belly swelling and collapsing again.
Then Pro mustered all his strength and bolted toward the big cabinet with the golden spoon, his limbs swinging so fast they almost blurred into afterimages.
Dumbledore, who was reading the newspaper, caught sight of a dark blur flashing across the room.
He froze for a moment, and the corners of his mouth spread into a relaxed smile.
He picked up the wand at his hand and gave it a light tap.
The air directly in front of Pro rippled like the surface of a disturbed lake, spreading layer upon layer of waves, then quickly subsiding, almost imperceptible.
All the more so to Pro, who had his head down and was sprinting madly with only the golden spoon in his mind — he noticed nothing amiss at all.
"Ow — what was that?"
Pro seemed to have run into something soft.
His head sank in and then was sharply bounced out.
Pro rolled twice on the floor to shed the force of the impact, lifted his head, and blankly looked at the empty space that had just blocked him.
"What's going on?"
Pro was a bit at a loss.
He cautiously circled around, changed direction, and approached the cabinet again.
But that direction also seemed to have an invisible, soft wall, and it even seemed to be shrinking inward, wanting to trap him on the spot.
Staring at this eerie scene, Pro's fur suddenly stood on end.
In his mind there surfaced a scary story Kray had once told him.
Every deep night, many unseen, invisible monsters would move about.
They would catch those weak little animals and then eat them.
"Could there be one of those monsters in this room?"
"Duncan and that lot haven't noticed?"
"Well, of course — those things are invisible!"
In an instant Pro felt the room turn grim and chilly, and the back of his head went cold, as if some creature were gently blowing on it.
Pro panicked at once, and that golden spoon was flung completely to the back of his mind.
Right now he only wanted to return to Duncan's warm embrace and escape from that invisible monster.
"Duncan, Duncan, and that old man — hurry and save me, there's a monster that wants to eat me!"
Pro called anxiously toward Duncan by the Vanishing Cabinet and Dumbledore behind the desk.
But Duncan and Dumbledore seemed not to hear a thing.
They kept doing what they were doing, without the slightest reaction.
"No way — could this monster be so terrifying it even blocks out my voice?"
After shouting for ages, Pro suddenly realised a problem.
Feeling the ever-tightening fear, his expression turned sorrowful and he fell into utter despair.
Damn it, looks like today is the end of this Niffler's life!
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