Over the next few days, Lynn fully experienced what it meant to scour the earth, and what it meant to play hide-and-seek.
On the first day, he caught a Swooping Evil in the clouds. The thing was hiding inside the clouds, and he had to chase several of them before he could pluck it out.
On the second day, he caught a Runespoor beneath Central Park. It had three heads, each more stubborn than the last, and it took him ages to drag it out.
On the third day, he tracked down a Nundu in the suburbs of New Jersey. That thing was incredibly fast; he chased it all the way from New York to New Jersey, running so much his legs felt like they were turning to jelly.
On the fourth day, he fished a Kelpie out of the Hudson River. After soaking in the water for an entire afternoon, he felt like his skin was starting to prune.
There were also Hippogriffs, Kappas, Pygmy Puffs, Quintapeds... all in all, there were far more than seven or eight creatures.
Newt had lost at least twice as many magical creatures as he had claimed.
Lynn cursed as he searched, and then continued searching after he was done cursing.
He had searched for so many days, traveled to so many places, and caught so many creatures. But that obscurial Newt mentioned—he really hadn't seen it.
Not only had he not seen it, but even the compass Newt gave him failed to detect the obscurial's location.
The needle remained motionless, pointing lifelessly in one direction as if it were broken.
"Could that thing have dissipated after escaping Newt's trunk?"
Walking the streets of New York, Lynn couldn't help but wonder.
He turned the compass over and over, inspecting it several times; given his skill in Alchemy, he was certain it wasn't broken.
But just in case, Lynn resorted to the authoritative repair method—giving it a good smack.
Still no reaction.
Left with no choice, he could only bite the bullet and keep searching.
Ding-dong—
A notification sound rang out.
Lynn pulled out his Magic Phone and saw it was from Edgar.
Edgar: "I've finished learning the advanced management experience of MACUSA and I'm heading back home. Want to come along?"
Lynn: "..."
Edgar: "What's that supposed to mean?"
Lynn: "Nothing. You go ahead. I'm still missing one thing."
Edgar: "Then stay safe."
Just as Lynn was about to wonder when this kid had become so concerned for him, a second message popped up.
Edgar: "What I mean is, make sure everyone else stays safe. I don't want to have to bail you out of prison."
Lynn stared at the screen, his lip twitching slightly.
Lynn: [Get lost.jpg]
The other side replied with a middle finger emoji.
The conversation ended there.
Lynn put away his Magic Phone and continued wandering the streets of New York.
...
On the other side, after messaging Lynn, Edgar also put away his phone and walked back to his parents.
"Lynn said he's not coming back with us; he still has things to do."
Edward nodded, his tone carrying a hint of sentimentality. "It's normal to be busy. With such great achievements at such a young age—being an Alchemy Competition champion and the youngest recipient of the Order of Merlin, First Class—anyone would be busy."
Edgar curled his lip, thinking to himself that his father had no idea how much trouble Lynn could cause.
If he were to reveal all of Lynn's 'glorious' deeds, his father probably wouldn't be saying 'such great achievements at such a young age'—he'd be saying 'such a massive criminal record at such a young age.'
"Mom," he changed the subject, "are we going back via the Floo Network or a Portkey?"
A flash of awkwardness crossed Anna's face, and she gestured with her eyes for her husband to take the question.
Edward cleared his throat. "This time, we are taking a Muggle airplane back home."
Edgar froze for a moment. "An airplane?"
"Yes."
"Why?" It wasn't that he was against it; he just felt it was a long way around.
Edward glanced at him, his gaze carrying the look of someone with experience. "There's still some budget left over from the Ministry."
Edgar waited for the rest.
"As for this budget application..." Edward chose his words carefully, "the amount approved is one thing, the actual amount spent is another, and the amount reported as spent is yet another. In short, there can be a surplus, but not too much. You can save money, but you can't make it too obvious."
Edgar looked at his father's meaningful expression, then at his mother's 'don't ask' face, and suddenly felt that the Ministry of Magic's ledgers might be far more complicated than he had imagined.
"Alright," Anna clapped her hands, "it's time to head to the airport."
---
JFK International Airport.
As Edgar stepped into the terminal, he instinctively looked around.
The place was huge.
"Quite a lot of people," Edgar remarked.
"It is an international airport, after all," Edward said, walking ahead.
Queuing, checking in, and dropping off luggage—the whole process made Edgar complain about the hassle.
The seats on the plane were a bit softer than the hard seats in a train compartment, but they were hardly comfortable.
Edgar adjusted his seating position and picked up a magazine tucked into the seatback in front of him, flipping through it; it was full of glossy duty-free advertisements.
At the very back was a route map, with a curved line flying from New York to London, labeled with the flight time and distance.
It would take another seven or eight hours.
Edgar felt that taking this plane wasn't exactly necessary.
But the plane had already taken off, so there was no point thinking about it.
He leaned back against his seat and stared out the window at the clouds for a long while.
It was a vast expanse of white, unchanging; looking at it for too long made his eyes ache.
He withdrew his gaze and looked around—someone in the front row was flipping through a magazine, the middle-aged man across the aisle was already snoring, and a child diagonally behind him was kicking the seat in front, receiving a low-voiced scolding from his mother.
Nothing interesting.
Edgar thought for a moment and pulled an eye mask out of his pocket.
Lynn had given this to him, saying it was a long-distance travel essential.
He had never used it, thinking it looked a bit silly to sleep with one on. But looking at it now, silly or not, as long as he could sleep, it didn't matter.
He put on the eye mask and leaned back against the seat.
In the darkness, the hum of the engines became clearer. The fuselage occasionally hit turbulence, causing the seat to sway gently.
In a daze, the overhead announcement rang out.
"Hello, passengers, this is your captain speaking. This is the final flight of my career. Thank you all for your company over the years, and I wish us all a pleasant journey."
The broadcast cut off with a click.
Edgar listened half-asleep, thinking that this man's words were quite ceremonial.
The surrounding passengers began to whisper among themselves.
"The final flight..." someone in the front row mused. "The captain must be retiring."
"It's not easy to make it to retirement," someone nearby replied.
The conversation in the back was a bit louder; it was a man's voice, tinged with excitement.
"Look, this is my fiancée of ten years."
Edgar thought groggily, ten years—that's a long time.
"I'm going home to marry her this time," the man added, his tone carrying a sense of relief, as if he had been holding it in for a long time and finally got to say it.
Someone nearby offered their congratulations.
The man chuckled twice, his voice full of unmistakable pride.
Edgar turned over irritably, and someone diagonally in front spoke up. Their voice was lowered, but in this quiet space, the hushed tone was exceptionally clear.
"I won the lottery."
A pause.
"I've been buying lottery tickets for so many years, and I finally won once."
Someone nearby let out a soft exclamation of surprise. "How much did you win?"
"Not much," the person said, but the smile in their voice couldn't be suppressed. "Enough."
Edgar thought to himself that if they were smiling while saying 'not much,' it must be quite a lot.
By now, more and more people had started chatting. This time the voices were further away, coming from the middle of the cabin; he couldn't hear clearly, only catching a few stray words.
Then he heard a child's voice.
"Mom! I don't want to go abroad! I want to go to magic school!"
The child's voice continued, growing more urgent. "Ilvermorny! I want to go to Ilvermorny! I want to—"
"What magic school!"
A woman's voice interrupted him, filled with helplessness and impatience.
"That's all a lie!"
Lying in his seat, Edgar's lip beneath the eye mask twitched slightly.
A lie.
He almost couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud.
The child was still arguing, his voice already sounding tearful. "It's not a lie! It's real! You're lying—"
"It's just a scam!"
The woman's voice suddenly rose, as if she were losing her temper. "There's no such thing as a magic school! Those letters are all fake! They're just to trick you! Now settle down!"
---
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