The first holiday in October. Hermione, who had come to Leo's study room as usual, was upset.
"Really! Ron just won't listen!"
"Calm down, Hermione. What happened?"
According to Hermione, Crookshanks was persistently targeting Ron's pet rat Scabbers, which seemed to be causing frequent fights since the start of the new term. Not only that, but for some reason, there were complaints and verbal abuse about Leo, and even claims that Hermione should stay away from Leo because she was a Gryffindor.
And today, Scabbers had finally gone missing and Ron had decided that Crookshanks had eaten him and tried to attack with magic, so Hermione had blown Ron away in return and apparently lost points.
"I do think it's bad that Crookshanks was targeting Scabbers. But this child is smart, so there must be a reason! And it's really the worst to curse and decide that he ate it! I lost points, but I don't regret it!"
"Hmm... Has Crookshanks ever targeted other rats?"
"Hmm... I don't think so. But why?"
"Crookshanks has kneazle blood in him, so he might have sensed something from Scabbers. I can't tell what it is without seeing it directly."
(But still, all this fuss over a rat and a cat. Even Hermione doesn't regret losing points...)
"Hermione, are pets really that good?"
"Well... Not everyone would say so, but having one can be good in many ways. If you give love, they'll become attached to you, and they'll give you a healing that magic doesn't have. In this child's case, he's smart so he sometimes finds the quill pen I was looking for. Why don't you try keeping a pet too, Leo?"
"Indeed, I wouldn't understand unless I tried keeping one. But the ones allowed at Hogwarts are owls, cats, rats, frogs... None of them seem right... That's it. I'll create something under the guise of magical research."
"Is that okay? I thought the creation of new magical creatures was prohibited by law."
"I'll get permission from the Ministry of Magic under the pretext of creating a useful magical creature. Well, if I can't get permission, I'll give up. After all, I'm getting along well with the Ministry of Magic. So Hermione, could you give me some blood or hair?"
"Um... What are you going to use it for?"
"Hm? I thought I'd use part of a human to create a pet. I could use part of myself too, but then it wouldn't feel like a pet. If Hermione doesn't like it, I'll just get someone else's."
Hermione felt like she saw Leo's screw loose for the first time in a long time. But now she feels positive about such things. And she doesn't feel bad about having part of herself used for Leo's pet. It's much better than having another person used.
(I feel like I'm getting pretty weird too... But it's not like I hate it and I love it so it can't be helped.)
Hermione plucked a strand of hair and handed it to Leo.
Neither Hermione nor Leo could have imagined the impact this one strand would have later on.
A few days later.
Leo was standing in front of a cultivation tank made of about one meter of crystal.
He was able to obtain permission for the creation of new magical creatures from the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts. The Ministry of Magic granted permission under the pretext of "creating a creature that is easy to keep at home and also protects from dark magic".\n
The inside of the cultivation tank is filled with life water obtained from the Philosopher's Stone created by Leo. He introduces synthetic single cells created from a basilisk he obtained last year and a dragon brought in by Hagrid during his first year.\n
By the way, the dragon named Harriet has grown quite large now. At first she was kept quiet with Leo's special collar, but now even without the collar she seems to understand who her master is and has become obedient to simple commands. With the headmaster's permission, she occasionally flies over the Forbidden Forest for exercise. This might also be considered a pet, but Leo's goal had already become more about creating new creatures than keeping pets.
The cells in the life water begin to proliferate. To this he adds hair provided by Hermione and an improved version of an intelligence-enhancing potion used on Cerberus who guarded the Philosopher's Stone. This improved potion not only increases intelligence but also allows specific information or commands to be built into creatures beforehand. The potion is too strong for ordinary magical creatures to use, but there should be no problem with the effect of life water and the vitality of dragons and basilisks. And finally he adds a tiny crystal of Philosopher's Stone.
Now let's look forward to how they grow in this cultivation tank.
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Several days have passed since Leo declared his intention to create a pet. I visit the study room. I have already obtained permission from Leo to enter the study room, so I can come and go freely at any time. Today, I am here simply because I want to see Leo, not because I have any particular business.
"Leo is... not here, huh. That's a shame. Shall we prepare some tea before he returns?"
As I am preparing the tea, Crookshanks, who I brought with me, starts meowing as if he has found something.
"What's wrong? Did you find something?"
When I go over to Crookshanks, there it was. A semi-transparent, single-eyed creature about the size of a soccer ball? It was something I had never seen before, but its shape reminded me of a sea slug I had once seen in a picture book. It was staring at Crookshanks while trembling. Crookshanks was also staring back, but he didn't seem to be on guard, so it probably wasn't dangerous. If it were dangerous, it would have been removed from the laboratory long ago. For now, let's pick up Crookshanks and evacuate him.
The mysterious creature noticed us and slowly approached us while making a "Kuu Kuu" sound. Contrary to what I thought, I didn't feel disgusted at all, instead, I found it endearing.
For now, although I don't know if it understands words, I try talking to it.
"Hello. Who are you? Where did you come from?"
"Kuu? Ma? Ma!"
It feels like I'm dealing with a baby. When I touch it with my hand, it has the temperature of human skin and a trembling texture, but it doesn't feel sticky. Could this be the pet that Leo was trying to create? As I touch and lift it up and do various things, I can somehow tell that it is happy.
"Mama! Mama!"
"Eh? Mama?"
(It seems to have become quite attached to me... And it can talk.)
As we were doing this, Leo returned. He seemed a little surprised when he saw me and this child.
"Kuu. Come here."
At his words, the child called Ku changed its shape into something long and slender like a snake and wrapped itself around Leo's arm.
"You're really curious, aren't you? Let's go back to the culture tank for now. Did you enjoy being outside? Hermione, wait for me."
After a while, Leo came back from the back room.
We talked about the creature we had just seen while drinking tea.
"I might have surprised you. That was a magical creature that I created, its name is Ku. It's still in the middle of growing up. But it's very curious and sometimes jumps out of the culture tank to look around the lab."
"I imagined something more amazing because it's a pet that Leo creates, but it was unexpected. Can that child speak? And it called me Mama."
"Yeah. It can speak and if it grows up well, it should be able to help me out as much as possible, it should also be able to use magic. It called Hermione 'Mama' because she was the first human being other than me that it met, maybe the hair that she gave me before also influenced it."
"I see. So that child is like my alter ego. What kind of creature will it become in the end?"
"Its shape is free-form, so maybe Ku will become whatever shape it likes. My guess is that in about a week or so, it will be able to grow outside of the culture tank."
After that, we spent time talking about magic as usual.
Neither Leo nor I could have imagined what would happen after that week.
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This was the pet creation chapter.
Scabbers (Peter) has escaped.
It's earlier than in the original novel. He's desperately running away because he's caught by Crookshanks → discovered by Leo → and it's over.
The reason Ron is even complaining about Leo is because he hasn't recovered from his heartbreak yet. After a fight, he always hates himself. But he is gradually recovering and growing mentally.
Let me explain about the new character, Ku.
A single-celled magical creature with the characteristics of a dragon and a basilisk, into which human genes have been incorporated to create it.
It's a group organism and its shape is freely transformable. Currently, it's still a baby. It grows quickly with an intelligence-enhancing agent and life water.
The body fluid is life water: dragon blood: basilisk blood = 2:1:1 ratio. It has tiny Philosopher's Stones built into its body.
I plan to add explanations as it grows.
So, stay tuned for the next chapter.