Monday morning.
It was quiet in the gamekeeper's hut. In the room, a cauldron filled with pale yellow potion sat in the corner, with an open case beside it. The case was pitch black inside, with only faint sounds audible from within.
But if one stuck their head inside the case, they would discover an extremely spacious area within. A sphere emitting warm light hung in the upper part of the space, illuminating the entire area.
However, this space still couldn't compare to Newt's case. Newt's case was like a small world. He could even maintain ecological balance within it. This case could only allow the giant beasts living inside to move around slightly, far from achieving the level of free movement.
Of course, the giant beast currently living here didn't have much energy to move around anyway.
In the centre of the case, Hagrid was supporting the giant beast's head with his fan-like palm, while Evans held a flask in his hand, pouring the liquid inside into the giant beast's mouth.
"Gulp..."
The sound of difficult swallowing rang out. The giant beast opened its eyes slightly, looking gratefully at the two humans before it, then closed its eyes again.
It hadn't fallen back into unconsciousness, but it didn't have the energy to keep its eyes open either.
After waiting two minutes and sensing the potion's effects, Evans spoke:
"Mm, the effect is somewhat better than vitality potions used for humans, but it can only neutralise the curse's effects, not restore it to health."
As expected of Hogwarts' youngest Potions master, the big bat's ability to modify potion effects was no joke. Just mentioning that ordinary vitality potions weren't effective enough, he could produce this enhanced version within a day.
"Can't restore it..." Hagrid's expression looked somewhat dejected.
"Being able to do this much is already very good, considering how strong this curse's effects are," Evans consoled.
A curse that could weaken a Chimaera, one of the most dangerous magical creatures, to this extent would be enough to kill most wizards if it affected humans.
That Snape's potion could prevent this curse from continuing to worsen was far beyond Evans's expectations.
He had originally thought it would at most slow down the weakening process.
After Evans finished administering the potion, the little Chimaera impatiently ran to his side, tugging at his pant leg and calling continuously, asking about its mother's condition.
After briefly describing the giant beast's condition to the little Chimaera, Evans looked at the little creature with worry in its eyes and spoke softly:
"Would you like to go outside for some activity? Play with Alice and the others. Just return to the case each evening."
The space in this case was really too cramped for a Chimaera. With their goat bodies, they naturally loved exercise, and even cubs needed twenty to thirty kilometres of activity daily.
Keeping it in this case all day was truly torturous.
But contrary to Evans's expectations, the little Chimaera decisively refused his invitation.
"Roar..."
It called softly, licked its mother's cheek, then lay down beside the giant beast again, looking like it wouldn't move until its mother woke up.
Seeing the little creature's actions, Evans shook his head.
Since it wanted to stay with its mother, let it remain here.
After checking the mother Chimaera's physical condition with Hagrid, the two left the case and returned to ground level.
Hagrid's mood remained somewhat low. Seeing Hagrid's state, Evans looked somewhat helpless.
Whether due to his giant heritage or not, Hagrid always had inexplicable anxiety when dealing with these dangerous yet massive creatures.
Whether dragons or Chimaeras, to him they were like two adorable little creatures that could be killed by a gust of wind.
However, this Chimaera was indeed quite weak, so Hagrid's worry wasn't unreasonable.
"At least with these potions, it won't be in mortal danger in the short term," Evans said, looking at the potion sealed in the large cauldron nearby. "Feed it once daily. This amount will last a month."
"Dumbledore will be back in two days at most. A month's time is enough for him to contact a curse specialist."
However, curse specialists generally weren't easy people to deal with, so the matter of payment would need careful consideration.
"I know, I'm just a bit worried..." Hagrid shook his head, no longer maintaining that dejected appearance. After chatting with Evans for a bit, he went to prepare food to take to the Forbidden Forest that afternoon.
Besides the cats settled in the Forbidden Forest, there were quite a few other creatures in the woods that depended on Hagrid's feeding. This was one of the gamekeeper's main duties.
Looking up at the sky outside and seeing only half an hour remained until lunch, Evans didn't return to his magical creatures hut but found a chair nearby to sit down and pulled out a book from his pocket.
Last night, he had roughly looked through the contents of those books obtained from the Room of Requirement. Although they mostly contained outdated theories, some things were quite interesting.
Plus, being from ancient times, the books mentioned quite a few magical creatures that had long gone extinct. As educational material for passing time, they were perfect.
But just as Evans opened the book and hadn't read more than a few pages, a strange stench suddenly poured into the room, forcing both him and Hagrid, who was preparing food nearby, to put down their work.
The next second, the hut's door was pushed open. No one was visible outside, but the stench became even more intense. Like hundreds of plates of rotten meat and garbage mixed together. Just smelling it made breathing impossible.
Just as Evans couldn't stand the smell and was about to cast a Bubble-Head Charm on himself, a little black cat suddenly appeared by the door. It reached out to steady itself against the doorframe, with some dark green liquid spots stuck to its fur, emitting an extreme stench that even surpassed a septic tank.
"Save... ugh!"
It seemed about to say something, but just as it began speaking, it was overcome by its own terrible odour and tumbled backward onto the ground.
Evans finally identified the source of that smell. He waved his wand, and a stream of clear water completely enveloped the little black cat, followed by a bubble covering its head.
After doing this, he asked with confusion: "Did you fall into a cesspit?"
Even falling into a cesspit wouldn't produce such an intense odour, would it?
"No, no, meow!" After taking several deep breaths, the little black cat finally recovered from that stench, speaking anxiously:
"Quick! Quick, save Harry, meow!"
"They're about to be killed by that professor, meow!"