"Frozen Ashwinder eggs are very valuable and can be used to make love potions. If ingested whole, they can also treat fever," Newt handed the box full of Ashwinder eggs to Snape. Snape stored the box in his chest and prepared to return to Hogwarts Castle.
As he approached Tom, he stopped in his tracks. Luna, who was huddled next to Tom, trembled. She realized she had gotten carried away by the excitement of witnessing the Ashwinder eggs being laid and forgot that she shouldn't be there...
"Ten points deducted from Ravenclaw, you know why," Snape muttered before walking away.
Seeing Snape's figure departing, Hermione patted Luna on the shoulder and said, "The result isn't so bad; we only lost ten points, and you weren't punished."
For Hermione, witnessing the birth, egg-laying, and death of the Ashwinders was precious, but it couldn't become an excuse to skip classes. If they skipped class for the Ashwinders, would they also skip if Professor Scamander brought a dragon egg next time? And what if he brought a pregnant three-headed dog the time after that?
Skipping class was like a crack in a dam; if it wasn't repaired in time, it would only grow bigger. Excuses would only multiply, and they shouldn't have allowed that gap to open in the first place.
Luna nodded as if she agreed with Hermione.
After Snape's departure, Professor Scamander's class also came to an end.
Tom looked at the marks left by the Ashwinders and was filled with doubts. He didn't understand where the Ashwinders came from. And what was their method of reproduction?
"Professor Scamander..." Tom stopped Newt, who was about to leave, and asked his question.
"How do Ashwinders come into being?" Newt paused. "When magical fire burns out of control for a long time, they are created."
Since Tom raised the question, Hermione frowned. It wasn't because Tom's question was too complicated but because it was too basic, as if he hadn't been paying attention in class. It was like the professor had just explained atomic structure, and he was asking about the distribution of electrons in the outer orbit of the nucleus.
Tom didn't care that the question he had just asked was very basic; he continued to inquire without pause, "Aren't they oviparous?"
That was what he wondered: if Ashwinders were born out of nowhere from magical fire, why would they lay eggs?
In the non-magical world, there were also insects with a "short" lifespan, but it was actually just a human illusion. What people saw was only the final adult stage of these insects; they had actually been living in darkness, underground, for several years, emerging only to reproduce.
Tom suspected that Ashwinders, with a lifespan of only one hour, were also like this. What wizards saw was only the final stage of Ashwinders' lives. But this didn't make sense because, according to Tom, Ashwinder eggs didn't produce offspring. So what was the purpose of this behavior? Did they appear out of thin air?
"Ashwinder eggs cannot hatch into young Ashwinders," Newt understood what Tom was getting at.
"As for research on Ashwinders, it's currently an enigma. We don't know how they reproduce, nor have we witnessed the entire life cycle of Ashwinders. We only know that when magical fire burns, it attracts Ashwinders to reproduce, but the eggs they leave behind only cause fires, they serve no other purpose." Newt shrugged, indicating that Tom had left him perplexed. There are no answers in the magical world to this question.
"There are two theories. Some believe that Ashwinders aren't real magical creatures; they are more like elemental creatures, 'souls' formed by uncontrolled fire, composed purely of fire elements. The egg-laying process is only to enrich the fire elements, so their eggs can start fires."
"The other theory is that Ashwinders don't belong to this world; they have a strong attraction to 'fire' and are drawn to magical fire. Their reproduction requires a specific substance we don't have here. Therefore, Ashwinders attracted to magical fire cannot leave real offspring."
"Both theories have some logic to them, and we can't make a decision. That's also the beauty of magical zoology," said Newt as he left with his suitcase; he had to return to the castle to rest properly.
Newt didn't have definitive answers, but he shared everything he knew with Tom.
"So, what do you think? Which of the theories do you believe is true?" Hermione pondered as they returned to the castle. Tom's question had given her a new perspective, and Hermione couldn't help but think deeply about it.
"I think we need to conduct an experiment," Tom said seriously.
When faced with theories, the best way to test them was through experiments rather than relying on mere speculations. It's like when Aristotle wondered whether two iron balls of different weights would fall to the ground at the same time. By intuition, he thought they wouldn't fall simultaneously. Galileo conducted an experiment and proved they would fall at the same time.
"We can try to communicate with the Ashwinders. If they are elemental creatures that act on instinct, then we shouldn't be able to communicate with them. As for the speculation that Ashwinders come from another world, that's difficult to verify... but it doesn't mean there aren't ways to do it."
"Oh, how can that be proven?" Hermione was intrigued by Tom's words. The idea of another world was elusive, unless they found that other world, they couldn't prove it at all.
"If we have two theories, A and B, and it turns out that proving theory B is difficult, then we can prove that theory A is correct," explained Tom while making a circular gesture with his hand. "We can ignite magical fires of the same scale in the same location. If we get a significant difference in the number of resulting Ashwinders despite having the same magical fire, that would indicate that Ashwinders are not elemental creatures but come from some unknown place, what you call another world."
"But if we get the same amount, it could also mean they are elemental creatures from another world," Hermione pointed out, finding a small flaw in Tom's theory.
Tom: ...
She was really good at debating...
"Then we can simply bring the Crystal Ball and ask the Ashwinders directly!" Tom had a sudden idea, finding a way to shortcut as if he were cheating.
"Great idea!" Hermione's eyes lit up. She wanted to find an Ashwinder immediately to ask about its origin.
Hermione was filled with a thirst for knowledge.
"But we'll leave it for next time... Haven't you seen how exhausted Professor Scamander is? It's hard to artificially raise an Ashwinder," Tom poured cold water on Hermione's expectations.
"Ugh..." Hermione sighed. She knew it probably wasn't the right time to investigate Ashwinders.
As the two entered the castle, a figure stopped in front of them.