Before Newt could fully understand the meaning of Elena's words, Luna's voice sounded in his ears again.
"Killing such a cute creature just to use its skin to make an anti-theft wallet?! This is too cruel. If it were me, I would never use such a wallet... It's too cruel
It’s terrible.”
Luna Lovegood felt as if she had been pricked by a needle, her eyes filled with disbelief.
As a little witch who had just turned eleven years old, it was really hard for her to imagine how cruel a person would be to capture and kill these shy and timid deformed lizards for the sake of her own safety.
Peel off, peel off.
"Unfortunately, as far as I know, the Shapeshifting Lizard Wallet is quite popular in the wizarding world."
Newt Scamander sighed and shook his palms slightly.
The deformed lizard that had finished eating the "snacks" was stunned for a moment, stretched out its tongue and licked Newt's palm to make sure nothing was missed, then quickly crawled back and quickly disappeared from everyone's sight.
among.
"For the Ministry of Magic, the deformed lizard is just a three-star ordinary creature. It has no unique potion value, nor does it have intelligence or ability that is worthy of people's attention... In other words, even if it one day
It is really extinct. In the eyes of many wizards, it is just a missing material that is convenient for making anti-theft wallets."
Newt adopted these shape-shifting lizards, not least because of the ambiguous attitude of the British Ministry of Magic.
As a magical creature that once existed all over Britain and Ireland, with the wanton hunting of wizards over the years and the rapid development of industrial cities in the non-magical world, living shape-shifting lizards are increasingly being found in the wild.
But regarding this point, officials from the Ministry of Magic always say - "Deformed lizards have the ability to shrink their bodies at will. Finding them can only mean that they are hiding quietly, but it does not mean that they are on the verge of extinction."
reasons for refusing to list it as one of the protected species prohibited from hunting.
"But Mr. Scamander...well, I mean Senior Newt."
Hannah Abbott raised her hand, glanced at the expression on Newt's face, and asked with confusion on her face.
"Why don't you promote the magical community's protection of them? This shouldn't be difficult for you. After all, you have done so many great things before, and everyone recognizes your authority in the field of magical animals."
"You will gradually learn that authority is not always effective."
Looking at the deformed lizard disappearing deep into the bushes, Newt subconsciously recalled his recent visit to the Ministry of Magic.
"Well, let me tell you a little story. I have a good friend who really likes shape-shifting lizards, so not long ago, he made a special trip to the Ministry of Magic to ask the Ministry of Magic to include shape-shifting lizards in the protection of magical animals.
sequence……"
………
A few months ago, the British Ministry of Magic.
Perhaps because he was tired of Newt's frequent revision proposals for the "Protection of Magical Creatures Act", Cornelius Fudge transferred the control of related matters to his most trusted subordinate a year ago, leaving her to handle the responsibility.
Newt.
A woman who, in Newt's opinion, is quite annoying, with a bureaucratic air all over her body.
Senior Undersecretary of Magic - Dolores Jane Umbridge.
"Mr. Scamander, could you ask people not to use gold Galleons?"
"No, ma'am, but..."
"So Mr. Scamander, can you stop the theft from happening?"
"Sorry, I can't do this, but..."
"If the shape-shifting lizard disappeared from the world, would it make it impossible to brew an important potion, or would the number of thefts in the world suddenly double? As far as I know, it doesn't seem to happen.
Too useful."
"Ms. Umbridge, please listen to me explain, this is not for research purposes..."
"Ahem, ahem, it's the Deputy Minister." Umbridge cleared her throat and sweetly corrected her.
"Well, Deputy Minister Umbridge, this is a very rare magical animal. In a sense, it is actually similar to a bird and snake. It can freely enlarge and reduce its size, and it is keen.
Insight…”
"Unfortunately, dear Mr. Scamander, this is not a magical beasts class."
Before Newt Scamander could finish speaking, Umbridge interrupted softly.
"What you must understand is that the Ministry of Magic has limited manpower and material resources. Just maintaining social stability has taken up most of our energy. Compared to letting Aurors spend their energy hunting down wizards who catch lizards in the wild
I think maybe we should focus more on wizards, rather than protecting insignificant little animals..."
"But they are now on the verge of extinction. Recently, people have found less and less deformed lizards in the wild. If this continues, it may not be long before this wonderful creature will disappear completely."
"Perhaps they are just hiding temporarily? Just like weeds, they will spread again if you are not careful."
Dolores Umbridge's pale, fat cheeks twitched, and she forced out a formulaic, indifferent smile.
"In short, we will seriously consider your proposal - but at this time, oh, you know, we are negotiating with Gringotts Wizarding Bank, saving Hogwarts, and catching the Death Eaters, is the moment
first thing.”
While saying this, Umbridge stood up, put away the manuscript board without writing a word on it, and said sweetly.
"We will have a plenary meeting in a while. Would Mr. Scamander be interested in attending and giving us some suggestions and pointers? After all, we don't know much about the secret weaknesses of the goblins..."
"No, no... I'm not used to facing fairies, they are too, too smart."
Newt Scamander shook his head, picked up his hat and sneered as he prepared to leave. When he reached the door, he suddenly turned around.
"Then...Deputy Minister Umbridge, please be sure to tell Mr. Cornelius Fudge that the protection of the shape-shifting lizards really needs to be put on the agenda, otherwise I worry that it may be too late...Really, they
It’s almost gone.”
"Okay, I know."
………
"Some time ago, my friend went to the Ministry of Magic again."
Newt Scamander looked at the children gathered around to listen to his story and sighed softly.
"It is a pity that the Ministry of Magic still has not agreed to list the lizards as protected magical animals - whether it is establishing a sanctuary for the lizards or issuing a counter-order banning the poaching of the lizards, the cost is too high.
"
For the Ministry of Magic, there is no need to pay attention to this magical animal that is neither dangerous nor valuable.
Over the years, in order to protect the endangered magical animals, Newt Scamander has already exhausted all the favors, resources, and even influence he has accumulated, leaving only an empty one.
of honor.
Not just the British Ministry of Magic, but all the Ministry of Magic around the world are surprisingly consistent on this matter.
"So... the friend you are talking about is yourself, right?"
Elena touched Xiao Luwei lying next to her, couldn't help but rolled her eyes, and revealed it unceremoniously.
"Then Mr. Scamander, haven't you ever thought about directly establishing a large-scale deformed lizard breeding farm, and using methods similar to non-magical animal husbandry, to make deformed lizard skins a stable commodity in the magical world?"
"Raising? Livestock? Sorry, I never thought of it that way."
Newt Scamander frowned and said solemnly.
"I have never regarded them as ordinary livestock. Magical animals are different from ordinary creatures. They can easily sense the emotions of human wizards. You can never tame magical animals like a pig waiting to be slaughtered.
"
"Oh, how touching, Mr. Scamander."
Elena curled her lips disapprovingly, a hint of joking flashed in her eyes.
"Do you think the purpose of the existence of the Fire Dragon Sanctuary is just to protect them from harm? Dragon blood, dragon tendons, fire dragon nerve fibers, dragon claws, dragon scales... these expensive and important magic materials are not created out of thin air.
from."
“But I won’t do that—.”
Newt Scamander took a deep breath and said seriously.
"never!"
Before Elena could continue to speak, New waved his hand in disinterest, straightened up and walked forward.
"That's it. We will talk about this matter later. Now I will take you to visit the underground zoo. We have been delayed here enough, and Tina will be worried."
"You can't keep your head in the sand, Mr. Scamander."
Elena raised her eyebrows slightly, narrowed her eyes, and was about to pursue the victory.
At this moment, Luna Lovegood gently tugged on Elena's sleeve and begged softly.
"Elena, please..."
"Luna, you..."
After taking a look at the pleading look in Luna's eyes, Elena raised her head again and looked at the rickety figure not far away who looked a little lonely. She curled her lips and did not continue to ask - he was an old man after all.
After being together for such a long time, she naturally knew what Luna Lovegood wanted to express.
As a little witch with extraordinary inspiration, Luna can always inadvertently perceive many gray areas in the bright world.
Whether it was the evil contained in the underground vault of Hogwarts, or the "unjust trial" that took place on the Quidditch field, compared to the other two ignorant little girls, the world she was exposed to
It's not as pure as people think.
However, like her father Xenophilius Lovegood, Luna learned early how to make herself inaudible and unable to see those bad things at the right time, just like the death of her mother -
—As long as she closed her eyes and covered her ears, she would eventually be able to make herself forget those associations and speculations, and just pretend that nothing happened.
Even if...
It's just self-deception...
At this point, Luna is actually the same type of person as Newt.
Elena shrugged, sighed helplessly, and patted Luna's hand.
"Well, okay...I understand. I will talk to Mr. Scamander alone later."
The best way to save an endangered species is to carry out large-scale artificial breeding - and the premise of artificial breeding is that the species has enough benefits to be fed back to capital, but capital's pursuit of profit has always been bloody and cruel.