Despite her feelings, Ivan was not so bored as to reveal the truth to these Muggles.
Sometimes, knowing too much will only cause more trouble…
After the riot, the meeting went much more smoothly than Ivan had expected. Shortly after one o'clock, the person he was waiting for arrived at the entrance to the inn.
Rolfe looked around the room and spotted Ivan's napkin on the corner of the table.
"Hello, Mr. Scamander… I'm Ivan Hals." Ivan stood up and extended his right hand to greet him. He looked curiously at the nineteen-year-old wizard, who was different from any other wizard he had ever met in terms of appearance and temperament.
Rolfe was very fit, probably due to his years of living in the mountains and wilderness. His brown hair was unkempt, his skin was tanned a dark brown, and his pants and clothes were stained with clay.
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Harls…" Rolfe shook Ivan's hand and sat down across from him. "I read about you in the European Times. It said you were the most talented wizard in Britain, and that you defeated several Aurors during your exams…"
"You flatter me. I'm not the most gifted. At best, I spend all my time fooling around with the other students," Ivan said in a low-key manner.
Rolfe felt an inexplicable urge to comment, but decided against it. He cleared his throat and asked, "If I may be so bold as to ask, why did you suddenly decide to become my assistant?"
Rolf was puzzled by this. A talented wizard like Ivan should have applied for an Auror or a clerical job at the Ministry of Magic to get promoted after graduation. Why would he dream of coming to France to be his apprentice?
Most importantly, he did not apply for support from the British or the International Confederation of Wizards, but Piers suddenly shoved an underage wizard in his face, much to Rolf's displeasure.
The target Thunderbird was a particularly sensitive magical beast, and one had to be very careful when tracking or capturing it. Bringing along an amateur could be a bad idea.
Ivan, naturally, saw Rolf's concern and immediately explained, "Monsieur Scamander, I have always been interested in all kinds of magical creatures and have learned a lot about them. When I heard that a Thunderbird had appeared in France, I applied to join the operation. Please forgive me for not asking your permission in advance…"
Ivan paused, then reached into his right sleeve with his left hand and pulled out what looked like a black guinea pig with a duck beak.
After being caught by Ivan, this magical creature was not afraid of strangers at all. Instead, it blinked its large black eyes and looked at him innocently.
"Is this the test you were going to give me, Mr Scamander?" Yvonne asked teasingly, pulling on the tail of the "black guinea pig".
Rolf looked at the Niffler in Ivan's hand and suddenly felt very awkward. He sheepishly took the Niffler and angrily flicked his index finger at Ivan's head.
"Ah… yes, I wanted to test your vigilance and see if you were suitable for the profession, Hulse…"
"I guess I passed, then," Ivan said, using this as an excuse to point at the "large black guinea pig with the beak."
"Sniff, Sniff, Known as the Mud Fury, it is a magical creature that burrows the earth and collects treasures. It is partially magical, with a rank of 3X, and is native to Great Britain. It has a gentle nature, and can detect the presence of gold coins or treasures from a distance. It also has an interspatial pouch on its chest, and its black fur is a perfect material for an extended backpack…"
Ivan went on and on about Niffler's habits, habitats, abilities, and even the value of fur and blood.
Under Ivan's "good-natured" gaze, Niffler, who was trying to get away with acting cute, shuddered and clung to Rolf's thumb with all four paws.
Rolfe stuck his nose in his breast pocket, speechless. Now you're scared, why didn't you do it before…
However, the fact that Ivan was able to describe the various characteristics of Niffler in such detail caused Rolf to change his opinion of him slightly. This at least proved that Ivan was not just a layman, but at least an amateur who had done his homework.
There was only one thing Rolf could not understand, and that was why his pet had suddenly gone to Ivan's house. While Sniffing had a habit of collecting treasure, it had been trained over the years to control its natural instincts, and nothing like this had happened in the past two years.
Or was she hiding some sort of treasure that made her ignore his orders?
A few thoughts passed through Rolf's mind, and although he was very curious, he didn't ask any questions. Instead, he earnestly told Ivan the details of the mission.
He arrived in the town three days ago, and after a few days of scouting he had a rough idea of the Thunderbird's range of activity and devised a decoy plan.
"I bought a live lamb from a nearby village, and I'm going to put a special spice on its hide first thing in the morning and put it on a nearby hill. It's supposed to attract the Thunderbird's attention, so all we have to do is wait for it to finish its hunt and follow it to its lair…" Rolfe explained.
"Then why not just give it another powerful anaesthetic and knock it out? Should that save you a lot of trouble?" Yvonne asked, puzzled.
Rolfe shook his head, then turned to look out the window at the dark clouds. "It's not that easy," he said grimly. "You'd have to be a hunted Thunderbird to fall for that…"
"In addition, I suspect that the Thunderbird was most likely injured and violently agitated, which would explain the strange weather over the past week … but it would also mean that it was more cautious than any of its kind."
Ivan nodded. He'd had this doubt before coming here. Normally, the Thunderbird would not have been so irritable. The bad weather in the haunts usually lasted a day or two before disappearing. It was strange that it hadn't stopped all week…