Inside Hagrid's hut, Lucien was alone, flipping through an Alchemy book. Hagrid had just left with Fang to gather materials in the Forbidden Forest.
The book in Lucien's hands was an introduction to Alchemy. Once he got a solid grasp of the basics, analyzing that Transfiguration pocket watch would be much easier.
"Matter conversion, magical stabilization…" Lucien muttered. No wonder Alchemy was an elective only offered to sixth-years at Hogwarts. It was a complex subject, weaving together Transfiguration, Potions, and even Muggle chemistry.
Thankfully, Transfiguration was a breeze for him, and his talents in Potions and Alchemy were at A and A+ levels. Alchemy's focus on magical stabilization tied closely to semi-permanent Conjuration in Transfiguration, so studying one helped with the other.
The pocket watch loan task—mastering semi-permanent Conjuration or crafting an alchemical mechanical creature—was essentially two sides of the same coin. Progress in Alchemy would boost his Transfiguration skills, and vice versa.
Oh, and there was the Undetectable Extension Charm. Lucien recalled Newt Scamander's letter, which mentioned that crafting an object with an Extension Charm capable of housing creatures required a foundation in both Transfiguration and Alchemy.
That was just for the basic version, not even the multi-spatial kind. Something like Newt's suitcase—a near-complete mini-world with mountains, water, and space for countless magical creatures with wildly different habitats—was far beyond his current reach.
Still, he could start small, crafting simpler containers to hold creatures separately. They'd be useful for observing magical creatures and setting up portable experiment platforms for Potions and Alchemy.
Having a setup like that would make practicing anywhere, anytime, so much easier.
Lost in study, time flew by, and soon it was evening. Lucien set the book down and rubbed his stiff neck.
"Time to stretch my legs," he said to himself. "Might as well fertilize the Biting Cabbages. Still got some Mooncalf dung left."
He'd found that Mooncalf dung worked even better than his homemade potion fertilizer. The cabbages were thriving, growing at an impressive rate. The downside? Mooncalf dung was scarce. He had to track down those elusive creatures, and their output depended entirely on their whims.
Once he mastered the Extension Charm, he'd raise some Mooncalves himself. Problem solved.
Lucien was about to grab a small hoe when a shout interrupted him. "Hagrid! Hagrid!"
That sounded like Ron and Hermione.
Bang, bang, bang! The door rattled under frantic knocking.
With a wave of his wand, Lucien flung the door open. Sure enough, there stood Hermione, Ron, and Harry.
Lucien's eyes landed on Harry, who looked off—pale as a ghost, lips drained of color, clutching his left hand tightly.
Frowning, Lucien said, "Hagrid's not here. What's going on? Why are you lot running around at night?"
The trio exchanged nervous glances, growing even more anxious. Harry's face twisted in obvious pain.
"What happened?" Lucien pressed.
Harry shot him a guilty look, and Lucien instantly recognized it. He'd seen that exact expression not long ago—when Harry had gotten Draco Malfoy's bones broken.
Oh no, did this kid douse someone else with a potion? Lucien thought. He'd only taught Harry three potions recently: a burn salve, beast-repelling powder, and a cold remedy. None of those should've caused trouble.
And Harry looked like he was the one who'd taken a beating. Why come to Hagrid instead of the Hospital Wing? Were they looking for the half-giant to back them up in a fight?
Wait. Beast-repelling powder. Could it be…?
Lucien pointed his wand, and Harry's hand lifted involuntarily, his sleeve sliding back. A jagged wound stretched from his palm to his elbow, deep enough to show bone, blood dripping onto the floor.
It looked like a dog bite.
"Why didn't you go to the Hospital Wing?" Lucien asked.
The trio stammered, avoiding the question. Lucien could guess why.
It was probably straight out of the original story: the trio had been sneaking around, maybe checking out James Potter's Quidditch glory days as a Seeker, then got caught dodging Filch and stumbled across that three-headed dog.
Instead of running and screaming like they were supposed to, Harry—likely emboldened by his last potion success—tried to repeat the trick.
He probably tossed a handful of beast-repelling powder at the creature.
Problem was, that potion worked by using a pungent smell to drive off regular animals. A three-headed dog wasn't some ordinary beast—it was a magical creature! All that powder would've done was enrage it.
And why skip the Hospital Wing? Classic kid logic: scrape your knee, but don't tell the grown-ups.
They'd come running to their friend Hagrid for help instead.
Lucien sighed, exasperated. He'd taught Harry potion-making to help him, not to get him into more trouble.
"Wait here," he said.
He stepped outside to the garden, out of sight. "Luster," he called softly.
With a shimmer, the young qilin Apparated in front of him. Lucien pulled out a small vial, held it to Luster's mouth, and tilted its head gently.
He'd read that qilin saliva had potent healing properties. The books described native qilins, but Luster was a mythical beast—its saliva was bound to be even more effective.
Lucien hadn't had a chance to test it since Luster awoke, but thanks to Harry's mishap, now was as good a time as any.
After collecting a vial of qilin saliva, Lucien sent Luster back to the Forbidden Forest and returned to the hut.
With a flick of his wand, he applied the saliva evenly to Harry's wound. Almost instantly, new flesh began to grow, the torn tissue knitting together at a visible pace. In less than a minute, the gruesome wound was gone, not even leaving a scar.
Harry touched his arm in disbelief, as if the pain had been a dream. Hermione and Ron stared, wide-eyed, from Harry's arm to the vial in Lucien's hand.
"Lucien, what is that stuff? It's incredible!" Hermione asked.
"Spit," Lucien said casually.
"Spit? From what?" Ron pressed.
"Fang's," Lucien replied, deadpan, ignoring their shocked expressions.
"Now, spill it. What happened?"
Hermione finally explained, and it was pretty much as Lucien had guessed. When she got to the part where Harry declared, "Don't worry, I'll protect you! Watch my beast-repelling powder!" Lucien couldn't help but laugh—half amused, half exasperated.
Clearly, he hadn't taught Harry well enough. The kid hadn't internalized the lesson. Starting tomorrow, it was time for some serious remedial training!