Hagrid held the bottle above his head, looking at the ruby-like liquid inside with confusion, muttering, "Special rat tonic?"
He just learned today that even pet rats have tonics now, and they are specially made.
Hagrid looked at the bottle in his hand again.
He didn't doubt Kael's words, because from start to finish, it took more than half an hour to make. For such a long time to produce just one bottle, the quality must be good.
He just didn't quite understand.
After all, rats are the most common and cheapest type of pet. In Diagon Alley, their price is less than half that of a toad, even less expensive than a pack of good owl food.
Additionally, pet rats have the shortest lifespan, generally only seven years... It's worth noting that the time young wizards spend at Hogwarts is also seven years.
Other pets, like toads or cats, can live for more than ten years, and owls even longer.
Therefore, very few young wizards care about those rats, let alone spend money to have tonics customized for them.
"Yes," Kael said, packing the stove and the cauldron back into the bag and standing up, "This is for the Weasley family's pet rat, which has been around for several years now. Percy used to come for it every year at the start of school."
"I just remembered that this year the rat became Ron's pet, and it seems Percy forgot to tell him about this."
"The Weasley family's rat?"
Hagrid wasn't very familiar with Percy, but he did know Ron, the youngest boy in the Weasley family who was here with Harry just yesterday.
But does he have a pet rat?
Hagrid thought about it carefully and vaguely remembered Ron's pocket was indeed bulging when he came, but the next second, he wasn't very sure.
Mainly, his attention was almost entirely on Harry at the time, so he wasn't particularly concerned about Ron, which made it understandable that he couldn't remember.
Hagrid handed the bottle back to Kael and asked, "Besides rats, can you make tonics for other pets too?"
"Of course, the four pets specified by Hogwarts."
"What about others, like Fantastic Beasts?" Hagrid asked again.
"Fantastic Beasts can be done too," Kael thought for a moment and said, "But it depends on which kind. For large Fantastic Beasts like Fluffy, it's not possible... Of course, they don't need tonics anyway."
"Spiders?" Hagrid blurted out.
Kael looked at him thoughtfully and asked, "What kind?"
"Just the eight-eyed gi... uh," Hagrid's voice paused and he suddenly became vague, stammering, "No, I mean, just ordinary spiders, but a bit bigger."
"A bit... bigger?" Kael raised an eyebrow and said.
Hagrid nodded firmly, "Yes, a bit bigger!"
Kael just looked at Hagrid like that, and when Hagrid started to feel guilty, he finally dragged his voice and said, "Couldn't be..."
Hagrid had just shown a bit of disappointment when he heard Kael continue, "However... I can try to study it."
"What?" Hagrid asked instinctively before reacting.
"Just to try a few more times and see if I can make a suitable tonic for them," Kael said, "I've done similar things a few times before. If you need it, I can try."
Realizing what was said, Hagrid exclaimed with delight, "Great... I mean, if it's not too much trouble."
"Although it's not troublesome, I can't guarantee how long it will take," Kael spread his hands and said, "It might be as quick as a month or as slow as a year, which is all possible."
"That's fine," Hagrid replied carelessly, "Do you need any help from me? You can tell me any herbs you need, and I'll go to the depths of the Forbidden Forest to find them."
Although most of the rare herbs had been moved into the greenhouse by Professor Sprout, the Forbidden Forest is so large that if he runs a little farther, he could still find something.
"I have quite a lot of herbs here, no need to find more, but..."
Kael furrowed his brow and said, "You need to bring me a sample so that I can test the efficacy."
Hagrid's gaze drifted, "Uh... can't we use ord... ordinary spiders?"
"No way!"
Kael shook his head and said, "Different species, the effects herbs have on them are naturally different. Sometimes even a slight mistake can turn a tonic into a poison.
Just like Belladonna Root... Murtlap can eat it to supplement greatly, but ordinary rats would die for sure."
"This..."
Hagrid suddenly hesitated.
He wanted the spider tonic for an Eight-eyed Giant Spider named Aragog.
It was a pet Hagrid had raised fifty years ago, and it's very old now. He's been thinking about how to make it live a few more years.
A spider tonic seemed like a good approach.
But the problem is, Eight-eyed Giant Spiders aren't ordinary Fantastic Beasts. They are XXXXX-level dangerous creatures forbidden from being kept.
Hagrid certainly wouldn't give it to Kael.
He might persuade Aragog or its descendants not to harm Kael, but what if someone else discovered this?
If that happened, Kael would surely be expelled, just like he was back in the day. Meanwhile, Aragog and its colony in the Forbidden Forest wouldn't escape being purged.
Hagrid's expression grew increasingly determined as if he'd thought of something.
But just as he was about to give up on the spider tonic, he heard Kael say thoughtfully:
"Wait... if it's a venomous spider, then just using their venom might work too."
For the umpteenth time, Hagrid's emotions shot up like a rollercoaster, just dropped, and quickly soared again.
He looked at Kael and said begrudgingly, "Could you not say it all at once next time?"
"I didn't mean to," Kael explained, "Mainly because I don't really like spiders. My understanding of them is limited to a book I read a few years ago, and it's been so long that I have to think carefully to remember many things."
Hagrid began feeling nervous again.
"About the venom you mentioned..."
"That's true," Kael said, fixing his gaze on Hagrid before suddenly smiling, "Looks like you have a venomous spider."
"It's not me, I don't," Hagrid raised his voice considerably, shaking his head repeatedly, "I have a friend, yes... a friend who likes venomous spiders. I'm just asking for him."
"Oh~~," Kael realized, "So it's your friend's."
"No... that's right."
Hagrid's ears turned red, and he turned his head to the side, quickly changing the topic, "How much spider venom do you need? I'll go... uh, I mean, I'll have him prepare it for you."
"I can't say for sure, it depends on the efficiency," Kael thought for a moment before seriously stating, "But to be on the safe side, the more, the better."