The air in the newly dedicated Magical Flora Research Conservatory smelled of clean earth and the delicate, honeyed scent of Moonblossom Vine, a smell Sue had worked three years to perfect. Her new greenhouse was her sanctuary—pristine glass stretching overhead, gleaming copper pipes delivering perfectly charmed water, and freshly labeled trays of sensitive seedlings waiting for their final placement. It was this immaculate perfection that made the sudden, frantic clatter and metallic THWANG from the eastern wall so terrifying. A rogue ventilation grate exploded inward, spitting out a small, dark blur that landed with a sound like a sack of rocks dropped onto damp peat moss. Before Sue could fully register the small creature frantically digging toward the shining silver pressure gauge on the wall, the main door burst open, and a tall, rumpled man in a slightly singed coat charged through the sudden, billowing mist from a burst water line.

"Niffler! Drop the valuables!"

he shouted, seeing only the creature and the chaos. Instinct overriding logic, I leveled my wand, my voice trembling but firm

"Stop right there! I don't know what you are, but you will leave this property now!"