Mysterious Walker at Hogwarts

"I don't know if you noticed that the little thing that stole something just now doesn't seem to have a tail." Dean asked.

"No, it does, I saw it." Neville retorted naively.

"I mean its tail is very short, not like a mouse's tail at all." Dean quickly changed his words.

"Really? I didn't pay attention." Seamus was a little confused.

"I didn't see clearly either -" Harry noticed that Ron's eyes were a little dissatisfied and said quickly, "I'm sorry, Ron, I'm telling the truth."

"Then do you mind if I use the past retrieval spell again?" Dean asked.

All eyes were on Ron.

"Why are you looking at me? I have no objection!" Ron said angrily.

"Then I cast a spell?" Dean sighed inwardly and had to endure the pain and spent another 4 skill points to upgrade the "Past Retrieval Spell" to the full level.

It is too luxurious to waste precious skill points on this spell, but it has just been proved that the level 3 past retrieval spell cannot allow everyone to see the real target clearly.

"Eddie Mux!" Dean whispered.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Neville's bedside from the beginning. This time everyone could see clearly that it was a small animal covered in black fur and with a long snout - definitely not Scabbers.

The little guy has a natural bag on his belly. After he got Neville's memory ball, he played with it and put it into the bag.

That pocket seemed to have been cast with a traceless extension spell. Memory balls, silver alarm clocks, Galleons... Xiu Xiu stuffed all his trophies into it, but the little guy's figure didn't change at all. It seemed Still as light as a swallow.

After sweeping the dormitory, the little guy got out through the crack in the door.

"What kind of animal is that?" Seamus finally recovered from the shock long after the past retrieval spell ended.

"That seems to be a Niffler." Neville said uncertainly.

"Sniff?" Harry was obviously hearing this creature for the first time.

"Niffler is a magical animal. He likes shiny things, so he likes to take them without asking - so this theft case has nothing to do with Ron." Dean explained and said seriously.

"I'm sorry, Ron, I shouldn't have doubted you and Scabbers." Seamus apologized immediately.

"In that case, most people would think that way...I mean I don't blame you, my attitude is not good either." Ron was also a little embarrassed.

Dean breathed a sigh of relief. The 7 skill points were finally not in vain. But the problem was that the system did not give a prompt that the task was completed. Did the "real murderer" have to be caught?

This is a difficult problem. Dean has stayed in Newt's suitcase of magical creatures for so long without seeing a single Niffler, otherwise he would have thought of it immediately.

It's obviously unrealistic to catch and sniff now. It's better to go to Rolf tomorrow to find a solution.

……

The next morning, the ceiling of the auditorium was as full of dark clouds as the weather outside, just like Dean's mood at the moment.

After a brief discussion last night, everyone went to bed.

Although Seamus tried his best to encourage everyone to catch Niffler immediately, no one else had the courage to violate school rules and wander around the castle late at night.

Dean had a rare insomnia at night, because Ron kept talking in his sleep all night, calling Scabbers' name over and over again.

This reminded Dean that Scabbers had never stayed up late at night, and now he suddenly disappeared. Could it be that he had contacted Voldemort in advance?

This ominous guess has been bothering Dean. When it was dawn, he finally squinted for a while, and ended up having an extremely real nightmare: he was captured by Peter Pettigrew and sacrificed to Voldemort, and was made into a Another Horcrux...

During Dean's breakfast, the sluggish Dean couldn't cheer up, which attracted the attention of several other friends. Seamus, a big mouth, even swore and whispered to others that he saw Dean going out again in the middle of the night. Then he got lost in the complicated roads of the castle and didn't come back until dawn.

"You must be dreaming! I was bothered by your snoring all night last night, that's why I'm so lethargic." Dean retorted.

"Dean, have you noticed whether Scabbers came back in the middle of the night?" Ron asked gloomily.

"No."

"Don't worry, Scabbers might have gone on a trip with Leif - Leif has been missing for several days!" Neville comforted.

At this time, Dean noticed Rolf appearing at the Hufflepuff table, so he picked up an owl nut and threw it on his head. Seeing him looking this way in confusion, he mouthed to him: "Meet you in the hallway after breakfast."

"Dean, why are you in such a hurry to find me? I'm pressed for time." Rolf asked, "My first class is Professor Trelawney's divination class. I have to hurry up to get to the North in time." Divination classroom in the tower."

"Do you know how to catch a Niffler?" Dean asked briefly.

"That can't be explained clearly in a few sentences. How about we make an appointment again?" Rolf looked at the time.

"So how about after dinner?"

"It's a deal," Rolf said before leaving.

Rolf had no hope for the time being, so Dean could only think of another way.

There happened to be a herbal medicine class in the morning, and Dean planned to take some time after class to go to Hagrid to talk. Firstly, there might be some unexpected gains. Secondly, Hagrid had never had a chance to improve his favorability. Dean felt that this was A good opportunity; Thirdly, Hagrid is the focus of the next Quirrell strategy, so there is no harm in paying more attention to it.

"Hi! Harry, I was just wondering when you would think of coming to see me!" Hagrid gave Harry a warm hug as soon as he opened the door. "And you, Ron, Hermione - these What is the position?"

"Dean Thomas, we have met before." Dean rolled his eyes inwardly. He knew that Hagrid must have forgotten about him. Fortunately, he brought the Iron Triangle with him, otherwise he might have been rejected.

"Oh, oh, oh, I remembered, that Quidditch match was all thanks to you." Hagrid patted his head and suddenly realized.

"I have something to ask you, do you mind?" Dean asked.

"Of course, of course. Please come in." Hagrid said and let them into the hut.

"Hagrid, I'm sorry it took us so long to see you after school started." Harry said apologetically. If Dean hadn't reminded him today, he still wouldn't have thought of Hagrid. It was really inappropriate.

"It's understandable that we've all been busy since term started - yesterday's Quidditch match was so exciting!" Hagrid laughed.

"Mr. Hagrid, I would like to ask you, do you know anything about the Niffler?" Dean knew that Hagrid could easily take the topic astray, so he had to take the initiative in the conversation.

"Sniff...why do you ask this?" Hagrid immediately became alert.