Ten minutes later.
"Oh! Little baby!"
Hagrid carefully stroked the little Chimaera's head with his hands that were bigger than fans, but no matter how gentle his movements were, he couldn't overcome the pressure brought by his massive size.
Covered by Hagrid's palm, the little Chimaera kept hissing, but its attacks couldn't even penetrate the half-giant's skin.
Although the flame at its tail tip carried some Fiendfyre characteristics and couldn't be extinguished by normal means, due to the little beast's young age, this bit of Fiendfyre couldn't cause any harm to people at all.
All in all, this hissing behaviour had no effect other than making the stars in Hagrid's eyes shine brighter.
"Why do you think it appeared here?"
Covering his fingers with a translucent film, Evans pinched the flame on the little Chimaera's tail and asked softly.
Chimaeras' choice of nesting sites was completely different from dragons. They preferred dark caves or swamps and would never come to mountains to nest.
Moreover, logically speaking, even if temporarily leaving the nest, its mother should follow it closely. Chimaeras generally wouldn't let their cubs wander around freely. After all, their cubs were quite fragile, unlike dragon cubs who could possess most of their combat abilities in just half a year.
A cub alone far from its nest with no mother nearby was a very abnormal phenomenon.
"Maybe its mother went hunting and left it here alone?" Hagrid said hesitantly.
After pondering for a moment, Evans shook his head.
"Not likely. If she was leaving to hunt, she should hide the cub in the nest, not bring it along."
"I think it's more likely that something happened to the mother, or she encountered some trouble."
"Then we need to find a way to help it..."
While the two were discussing, the little Chimaera whose tail was being held by Evans lay on the ground feeling wronged, tears glistening in the corners of its eyes.
These human wizards had captured it. Next they would probably go looking for its mother, right?
No way, Mom was already very weak. These human wizards couldn't be allowed to see Mom!
Mom had said that their bodies were full of materials wizards needed, and if caught, wizards would carefully cut them up into mince!
Let them cut it up instead! Mom absolutely couldn't be cut into mince!
But if it were gone, what would happen to Mom's herbs?
And Mom couldn't even leave the nest now. Would she starve?
Sensing the little Chimaera's complex emotions, Evans stroked its head and asked softly:
"Why exactly did you appear here?"
"Roar!"
You humans can't understand what we're saying, so why ask!
"Not necessarily. Did you run out on your own?"
"Roar... woo!"
Hmph, what business is it of yours whether I ran out on my own! If it wasn't to help Mom find that fragrant herb...
Halfway through speaking, the little Chimaera suddenly covered its mouth with a hoof, suddenly realising this human seemed to understand what it was saying.
But it was too late.
"Herbs?"
A flash of understanding crossed Evans's eyes. Stroking the little beast's head, he had already pieced together a rough outline of the situation.
"Can you tell us where your mother is now? We should be able to help you."
Chimaeras were extremely rare magical creatures even in Egypt. Although powerful, their reproduction was incredibly difficult, and their cubs were extremely prone to early death.
Moreover, even if they weren't so rare, he couldn't just watch a magical creature without deep malice toward humans fall into danger.
However, the little Chimaera apparently didn't plan to cooperate obediently.
Seeing the little beast proudly turn its head away with a "not listening, not listening" attitude, Evans chuckled softly.
"Even if you don't tell me, I can guess." He rubbed the little beast's head. "I have a map here. Let me analyse it for you."
"As far as I know, your Chimaera nests are generally built in caves or near swamps. Before coming to this mountain, I looked. There are no caves suitable for your survival at the foot of this mountain, and obviously no other peaks around. If that's the case, your home should be in a swamp."
With that, Evans looked around.
There were quite a few swamps in this dark forest. If using the elimination method, it would indeed take a long time to find.
However, he wouldn't resort to such a crude method as elimination.
"As a cub, climbing this peak wasn't easy for you. There are quite a few dark creatures in this forest. If the nest was far away, various accidents could easily occur on the road. Plus, you don't look particularly tired, so we can deduce that your nest isn't too far from the peak."
Evans drew a circle on the map with his hand, indicating that swamps outside the circle were excluded.
"Generally speaking, mother Chimaeras with cubs will intentionally clear some overly tall or dense trees around when nesting, to prevent small dark creatures from hiding and threatening the cubs."
"Especially areas close to the nest. Not a single tree or weed can remain."
With that, Evans pointed to a swamp not far away.
"So your home should be there."
That was the largest swamp in the area, but compared to other swamplands shrouded in mist, the climate there was obviously much better, and the forest wasn't so dense either. Especially a bare clearing on the side of the swamp, clearly carefully cleared to prevent any small dark creatures from lurking near the cubs.
Looking at the direction Evans was pointing, the little Chimaera's body stiffened, then its eyes began to fill with misty tears.
"Looks like I guessed right?"
"Roar!"
No way! Mom isn't there at all!
Turning its head to the side, the little Chimaera's tone was full of defiance.
"I didn't ask where your mum is. I just pointed out your home's location."
Hearing Evans's words, a flash of grievance crossed the little Chimaera's eyes.
However, since they already knew its home's location, further concealment was useless.
But had that human really said he could help save its mum?
"Roar..."
Can you really save my mum?
"Of course."
Hearing the hope in the little beast's tone, Evans gently stroked its head, then directly picked it up and climbed onto Norbert's back with Hagrid.
Placing the little beast beside him and waiting for Alice to teleport to his shoulder, Evans patted Norbert's back.
"Let's go, Norbert. We're visiting the neighbours!"
"Roar!"
With an excited roar, the young dragon spread its wings and leaped from the cliff, charging toward the direction Evans had pointed.
Looking at the forest flashing by below, Evans's thoughts gradually drifted.
If a dragon could become friends with a nest of Chimaeras, the dark creatures here would probably be in for some luck.
But what did that have to do with him? He wasn't friends with those dark creatures. If he dared venture alone into this forest, he'd definitely be hunted down by a whole bunch of dark creatures.
Thinking of his experiences in the Orleans Forest years ago, then imagining the scene after Norbert and the Chimaeras joined forces, Evans couldn't help feeling satisfied.
Heh, they liked treating him like their personal fountain of youth, did they?
They all had to die!