Chapter 336: The Same Action, Different Outcomes
Newt looked at Kyle, saying nothing.
He wasn't exactly opposed to having an assistant—he simply didn't want to admit he was getting older. After all, it was just an assistant, and he'd had others before, so there was nothing to object to. In fact, if he thought about it, House-elves might be easier to work with: they were diligent, meticulous, and rarely made mistakes.
Newt had quietly accepted this fact when Tina and Dobby discussed wages. Yet, his gaze lingered on Kyle for another reason.
"Dumbledore delivered your suitcase a week ago," Newt finally said, his expression conflicted. "To be honest, I'm starting to regret giving it to you."
Kyle's first year at Hogwarts had been peaceful enough, despite a brief scare involving the Dark Wizard Oren—a problem that had ended almost as quickly as it had begun. But things had changed dramatically in his second year, after Newt had given him the suitcase.
By the end of that year, Kyle's suitcase held a Troll, a Three-Headed Dog, and even a Norwegian Ridgeback, Newt had even helped care for the Troll and Dragon for a while.
That year marked the first time Newt truly grasped the range of magical species in the Forbidden Forest. The forest's inhabitants were astonishingly diverse—even including a rare Three-Headed Dog, of which Newt had only ever encountered two in his entire life, not even in Greece where they were originally from.
Newt thought that surely must be the limit. Norwegian Ridgebacks and Three-Headed Dogs were both classified as 5X-level creatures, among the most dangerous in existence, and he couldn't imagine Hogwarts housing anything more perilous.
Then Kyle's third year came, and with it, news of a Basilisk from Hogwarts' Chamber of Secrets. Kyle had not only found the mythical Chamber but had also managed to bring back a Basilisk over a thousand years old. When Newt read Dumbledore's letter and saw the enormous, dark-green serpent in Kyle's suitcase, he'd been dumbfounded.