If the Ball-Escape Bird could hybridize with an owl

Chapter 57 If the Ball-Escape Bird could hybridize with an owl...

"The Bird of Prey?"

Having only been in the wizarding world for a few weeks, Harry asked in a Muggle voice, "What's that?"

"It's a rather interesting bird."

Hagrid chuckled and explained, "Their wings are very small, they can't fly, and they're quite chubby, so they're not very fast... But they have a peculiar ability: when they encounter danger, they suddenly disappear from the world and then reappear after the danger has passed. No one can find them during that time, and no one knows where they go..."

"That's great."

Harry sighed with envy, then couldn't help but think how wonderful it would be if he had that ability—to disappear from the Dursleys' house, to disappear from Potions class, to disappear from that room with the three-headed dog, and then live a free and safe life...

"The Ball Runner is actually the Dodo." Seeing that Hagrid didn't continue, Avada explained some Muggle knowledge: "They were originally from Africa, but they were chased around by a group of Muggles who hunted indiscriminately. Some of the unskilled ones that disappeared were actually hunted by Muggles... Later, it wasn't until wizards helped them migrate that they were able to settle in other parts of the world."

"That's right. Even now, Muggles still think they've driven the Ball Runner to extinction—but there's an advantage to that, namely that they've learned their lesson and are a little gentler with other animals, but only a little..."

Hagrid grumbled as he beckoned to the four of them, "Come with me, you'll see when we get there."

……

The term "Forbidden Forest" is quite misleading, leading many newcomers to Hogwarts to believe that the so-called "Forbidden Forest" is just a small grove within Hogwarts or the school's woodland—but that is not the case.

This forest is the largest magical ecosystem in all of Britain, and its scale, unknown aspects, and biodiversity are among the best in the world. So rather than saying that the Forbidden Forest is Hogwarts's forest, it's more accurate to say that Hogwarts was built on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

For this very reason, Hogwarts' control over the Forbidden Forest is limited to the area closest to the school's edge, ensuring the school's safety and incidentally obtaining some magical materials. As for what lies deeper within the Forbidden Forest—such as centaurs, swarms of eight-eyed spiders, various strange or dangerous magical creatures, and even rumored dragons—Hogwarts has left them to their own devices, allowing them to develop naturally.

Therefore, it is quite normal for a group of magical creatures to occasionally migrate from the Forbidden Forest to Hogwarts, and the school is happy to accept this—as long as the creatures are not too dangerous, it is considered to generate revenue for the school.

As a magical creature with a danger level of only XX and strange abilities, the school naturally welcomes the Ball-Escape Bird to settle in.

"Heavens, a living dodo..."

Despite having known about the existence of these magical creatures from books, Avada couldn't help but sigh when he saw a large flock of lively dodos in person. He had lived as a Muggle for decades.

Perhaps somewhere on another planet, a large flock of dodos live quietly, just like the coelacanth, waiting to be discovered and protected by humans?

Let's hope so, but at least in this world, they are living well.

"They look pretty much like ordinary ostriches...no wonder ordinary people dare to hunt them so recklessly."

Harry was standing in front of a ball-eating bird, watching it use its huge beak to pluck a berry from a bush, then suddenly lift its head and let it slide down its beak into its stomach. He tried to touch the ball-eating bird's feathers, but the bird just shook itself and went back to looking for food.

"They're not usually afraid of people, and besides, I've been spending some time with them. Actually, they were a little nervous at first..."

Hagrid chuckled and squatted down, taking out a bag of what appeared to be dried berries and scattering them on the ground. This immediately attracted a large flock of ball-escape birds, who scrambled to eat them: "They won't easily reveal their ability to disappear unless they encounter real danger."

Avada was quite disappointed upon hearing this: if the Ball Birds could demonstrate their abilities in front of him, it might have given him some inspiration regarding spatial manipulation. But now, he could only settle for second best and try to deduce the principles of their abilities from their very structure.

You can't exactly pull out your wand and use it on the escape birds to force them to disappear, can you?

"Is it possible for this kind of bird to be domesticated? Like an owl?" he asked, still somewhat unwilling to give up. "And then have it use its ability to disappear to deliver messages—wouldn't that be much faster than an owl?"

"It doesn't seem like that will work."

As Hagrid fell into deep thought, seemingly inspired by something, Ron explained, "A few years ago, Charlie and Professor Kettleburn did this research and found that while the Ball Vanishing Bird can be tamed, it's almost impossible to get it to actively use its disappearance ability. It seems they really only use disappearance as a last resort for survival, rather than in everyday life..."

Baron laughed after hearing Avada's words, "Besides, even if the Ball Birds were willing to deliver the message for you, they can't pinpoint the recipient's location like owls."

"That's right."

Ron nodded, giving Baron a satisfied look—he had felt he'd missed something, and Baron had filled in the gaps.

"Here, take these dried fruits and feed them, so you can get to know them better..."

As they were talking, Hagrid went back to the hut and brought out four small packets of dried fruit, which he handed to Avada and the others. Avada saw that Ron's first action after opening the package was to take a piece and taste it himself, then nod in satisfaction before feeding the bird. So Avada also tried one—it tasted pretty good.

Then he squatted down, poured the dried fruit into his hand and fed it to the ball bird, while observing the magical structure of this magical creature that seemed to be related to space.

"May I take a feather?"

There wasn't enough time for him to figure anything out, so he wanted to get a feather to take back for long-term research. But if he plucked it directly, he was afraid of injuring the bird, and if he cut it off with magic, he was afraid of affecting the integrity of the sample. So he had no choice but to ask Hagrid for help.

"You also think their feathers are beautiful, right? They'd be perfect for making quill pens or bookmarks... just a moment."

Hagrid crouched down and played with a ball bird for a while. Then he saw the ball bird turn its head, pluck a feather from its own body, and hand it to Hagrid.

Here, take it.

After teasing the ball bird for a while longer until it left satisfied, Hagrid handed the feather to Avada.

Avada: ...

Hagrid's affinity for magical creatures is truly remarkable; no wonder he was able to become a Master of Magical Creatures entirely through self-study and be hired as a professor at Hogwarts despite being a dropout... He's just not very good at teaching.

"But the idea you just mentioned is quite interesting. Perhaps I could try crossbreeding the ball bird with an owl to see if I can get a species that can both disappear and pinpoint the recipient's location..."

That would be fantastic.

Ron, who was standing nearby, exclaimed after hearing Hagrid's mutterings, "My Errol is getting too old to fly anymore. If it disappeared too, it would definitely save a lot of energy..."

"Since it's too old to fly, why use it to deliver messages?" Baron asked, puzzled, then realized, "Is it because it refuses to give up its job? I have a few owls like that at home, you could try..."

"There are owls like this?"

Ron interrupted Baron with surprise, then said with some distress, "Errol shouldn't be like that—but we really don't have the spare money to buy an owl right now."

"Even one... I'm sorry."

Baron almost blurted out something rude. He had heard that the Weasleys, one of the Twenty-Eight Holy Families, were not doing well financially due to their large population, but he hadn't expected them to have fallen to this state.

"Who wants this? It's just..."

Although Ron was still young, he had gained some understanding of his family's financial situation through his surroundings. However, being new to Hogwarts, he didn't know many people and couldn't usually explain things to his close friend Harry, who had grown up in Muggle society. Now that he had finally met someone knowledgeable, he naturally couldn't help but pour out his troubles. Harry and Avada, curious, also joined in—both lacked sufficient understanding of the intricacies of how magical society worked.

"My God, didn't they ever think of that...?"

"That's true. I have to admit, most of those guys who love to brag about how pure their bloodline is..."

"It really was Fudge, that guy is just..."

"Yes, yes, and his second-in-command, Umbridge, too..."

Surrounded by a flock of elusive birds, Ron and Baron chatted amiably, while Avada and Harry listened to a great deal of gossip about the Ministry of Magic and the pure-blood families.

"By the way, which house are you from? I don't think I've seen you at the Hufflepuff table before." As they chatted, Ron suddenly realized that he didn't seem to know the background of the person in front of him—but since he was a friend of the "Hufflepuff," he must be from Hufflepuff, right?

"Slytherin, didn't Harry tell you?"

"..."

(End of this chapter)