Chapter 11
Chapter 11: The Lethifold And The Swooping Evil
Following Dennis' instructions, Ethan came to their most important and only property: a small brown suitcase that looked no different from the suitcases in the Muggle world.
At Ethan's signal, Dennis and the others opened the suitcase and got into it with Kipling's body. After making sure there were no accidents, Ethan entered.
The area was really large. If football fields were used as the unit of measurement, it was about the size of three football fields. It was a bit shabby, with only a small pond, a few large iron cages, a square house made of stone, and the rest was all muddy ground.
Under Dennis's leadership, several people came to the stone house. After seeing the situation inside, Ethan's expression immediately changed. The house was filled with creatures similar to mice. They were not big, but each mouse had an anemone-like tumor on its back, which gave people a sense of discomfort. There were really a lot of them.
At first glance, Ethan knew what it was. In the book *Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them*, there is a magical animal native to Britain: the Murtlap.
The magic part is: XX
The tumor on the back of the Murtlap is also valuable. After pickling and eating, it can enhance resistance to evil spells and bad luck for a period of time.
The level of magical animals is divided into five categories according to their danger and magical properties:
- X: Boring.
- XX: Harmless or tamable.
- XXX: Competent wizards can manage it.
- XXXX: Dangerous, requires specialized knowledge, and skilled wizards can handle it.
- XXXXX: Known to kill wizards, cannot be domesticated or tamed (Newt Scamander: "You must be joking!")
"Why do you keep so many Murtlaps?" Ethan asked with curiosity. Although the tumor on their back has some value, the price is not high. Because they are plentiful and reproduce quickly, they can be caught in large numbers at their place of origin, and the price remains low.
"These Murtlaps die soon after the tumors on their backs are removed. While they are still alive, they can be used as food for other animals. Some magical animals only eat live food," Dennis explained.
This is a really good idea! Murtlaps have strong reproductive capacity and are omnivorous. After the tumor on their backs is removed, the tumor can be sold, and the rats that can't survive can be used as feed directly, completing the waste utilization.
Leaving the stone house, they entered the Murtlap farm. What Ethan saw was a huge iron cage. No, there was one that was different. It looked like a completely enclosed plastic cage, but it was unknown what material it was made of. There was a pile of black stuff on the ground inside, which looked like randomly discarded garbage.
"What is this?" Ethan found that he didn't recognize this thing.
"This is a Lethifold, but it's not in good condition. We haven't found a suitable buyer, and we don't know the Patronus Charm, so we can only keep it locked up like this. It looks like it's starving to death," Dennis explained in a low voice. They didn't dare to leave Knockturn Alley, so naturally, they didn't dare to do business in those wizard taverns. It's impossible to sell this Lethifold here.
Who would dare to take it if they don't know the Patronus Charm? Forgive Ethan for his lack of knowledge. Magical creatures like Lethifolds didn't appear in the movie, and this black thing on the ground doesn't look like a cloak! But it's starving to death, and Ethan can't do anything about it. He doesn't know the Patronus Charm and really doesn't dare to open the cage.
"This is a Swooping Evil, but this one is not yet an adult," Dennis took the initiative to introduce Ethan to the next cage.
Before the accident, the members of the Fly family were interested in this Swooping Evil, but the price was not agreed upon during the transaction.
This one is not yet an adult, maybe it can be tamed. As for the Ministry of Magic saying that XXXXX level creatures can't be tamed, just ignore it.
"Bring some food for the Swooping Evil," Ethan wanted to feed them himself to see if he could develop some rapport with them.
After receiving Ethan's order, Dennis came to the Murtlap Farm, skillfully summoned a Murtlap with the Summoning Charm, and then used a spell to cut off the tumor on its back. The whole process was done in one go. After dealing with more than ten rats in total, Dennis came to Ethan. He pinched the Murtlap's tail with disgust and threw them one by one into the cage that held the Swooping Evil.
The Swooping Evil, which received the food, grabbed the Murtlap tightly with a pair of claws, and the next moment bit its head and sucked it. Four or five seconds later, the Swooping Evil threw the Murtlap out of the cage, staring at the ones floating around Dennis. It eats really fast, Ethan thought as he continued to feed it.
"The Swooping Evil should be able to shrink into a palm-sized shelled egg, so this cage can't hold it, right?" Faced with Ethan's doubts, Dennis patiently explained:
"It's not the cage that trapped it, but the collar on its neck, which limits its ability to change its magic."
Nodding to show that he understood, Ethan was ready to continue exploring. He didn't know what other surprises awaited him. But Dennis told him that the cages in the back were all empty. There had been some magical animals such as Billywig, Mooncalf, and Fwooper, but they had been sold at a low price recently. Large and rare magical animals are not easy to sell, but there is still a market for smaller and cheaper ones in Knockturn Alley.