The Golden Snidget is an extraordinarily beautiful small bird.
Its entire body looks round and fluffy, paired with those ruby-red eyes that make it irresistibly cute.
To Viktor, it resembled a northern long-tailed tit whose feathers had been dyed brilliant gold.
Although the Ministry of Magic classifies the Golden Snidget as a 4X-rated magical creature,
it isn't actually dangerous—in fact, it's completely harmless.
The high rating exists purely for protection.
In the 12th century, Snidget-hunting was an incredibly popular wizarding sport—one of the direct predecessors of Quidditch.
Wizards would race on broomsticks to see who could catch the agile, cunning little bird first. The winner received a sack of 150 Galleons.
Unfortunately, Golden Snidgets are extremely fragile.
Most were crushed to death the moment they were caught.
After nearly a century of protests, the alchemist Bowman Wright—living in Godric's Hollow—invented the Golden Snitch as a replacement.
From then on, the sport of chasing a flying golden ball on broomsticks was incorporated into Quidditch.
The tradition of awarding 150 Galleons to whoever caught the Snidget lived on too—transformed into the 150 points and game-ending catch for the Seeker.
What made the Golden Snidget a viable target for broomstick pursuits was its unparalleled agility and speed among magical creatures.
Those comically short, seemingly mismatched wings are actually incredibly powerful and flexible.
They allow the Snidget to make near-right-angle turns at full speed.
On top of that, Golden Snidgets can intermittently blend into their surroundings to evade capture.
Without regular practice, though, this camouflage ability remains unstable.
The reason Viktor had summoned this breeding pair today
was because the Golden Snidget was his first official target for Animal Transfiguration mastery.
In places where Apparition was impossible, transforming into a Snidget for rapid movement or escape would be an unbeatable advantage.
He set the pair gently on his lap.
Raising his wand, Viktor began tracing Ancient Runes in the air.
"Rune Manifest."
With a final tap, the glowing runes sank into the Snidgets' bodies.
Golden magical energy—matching the brilliant hue of their feathers—rose above them, twisting and coiling.
In moments, it reshaped into a dazzling, eye-wateringly complex sequence of Ancient Runes floating in midair.
This was the spell Viktor had found in the book Grandpa Newt sent:
a modern charm combined with Ancient Runes that could externally manifest a magical creature's innate abilities in runic form.
Compared to the old, brutal method of dissecting creatures to study their bloodlines and magical organs,
this spell was far gentler.
It even helped the creature practice and strengthen its own innate magic.
Of course, the spell wasn't perfect.
It almost never revealed the full, complete structure of an innate ability on the first try.
Most manifestations were fragmentary, incomplete sequences.
Fully mapping even the simplest innate magic often required hundreds or thousands of castings and recordings.
The casting difficulty was high too.
It demanded solid knowledge of Ancient Runes,
advanced spellcasting precision,
and—most importantly—complete trust from the creature being cast on. The animal had to willingly open its magical core.
But for Viktor—now a fully awakened Druid—those requirements were trivial.
He gazed at the floating golden runes, eyes sharp with focus.
Carefully, he drew out his notebook and a special self-recording quill—one that automatically captured magical fluctuations and rune shapes.
He began sketching the flickering sequence.
"First rune cluster…" Viktor murmured, quill gliding smoothly. "A basic variant for 'concealment,' but incomplete—missing the environmental resonance link."
The Snidget pair trembled lightly on his lap, letting out soft, pleased chirps at the flow of magic.
Viktor stroked their downy feathers, feeling the gentle magical feedback loop.
This was one of the gifts of Druidhood—deeper, instinctive communion with magical creatures.
"Take it slow. No rush," he said gently, raising his wand again. "Rune Manifest."
Another casting. Golden energy rose once more, weaving a new pattern in the air.
This time it was different—adding composite runes for "sharp turn" and "acceleration."
Viktor's eyes lit up.
"So that's it… those near-right-angle turns aren't just wing strength. There's a subtle spatial distortion involved…"
He sketched rapidly, quill scratching across the page.
His notebook was already filling: rune diagrams, observation notes, hypotheses scribbled in the margins.
Over the next few hours, Viktor cast again and again—recording every fragmentary sequence that appeared.
The Snidgets seemed to enjoy the process too.
Occasionally a shimmer of light passed over their bodies, and their forms flickered briefly in and out of visibility.
Their innate camouflage magic was being gently exercised and strengthened.
When the sky outside finally darkened, Viktor set his quill down.
He rubbed his tired eyes and looked with satisfaction at the growing collection in his notebook.
"Seventeen distinct rune-phrase fragments so far," he summarized quietly.
"At this rate… two months should be enough to map the full structure of the Snidget's innate magic."
He carefully lifted the pair and returned them to their nest.
They nuzzled his fingers affectionately before slipping back inside.
The three chicks—exhausted from zooming around the room—were already fast asleep, tiny golden puffs curled together.
Viktor settled at his desk again and flipped to a fresh page.
There, he'd already begun sketching a detailed magical circulation diagram of the Golden Snidget.
He marked several key nodes, adding notes beside them:
"Preliminary Golden Snidget Transfiguration outline—focus areas: wing magic conduction, concealment ability, inertia negation during high-speed turns…"
Reflecting on the day's insights and the deeper understanding he'd gained of the Snidget's gifts, Viktor nodded to himself with quiet satisfaction.
These observations weren't just helping him prepare to transform into a Snidget and use its abilities.
They were also deepening his grasp of several related spells tied to the Snidget's natural magic.
Outside, night had fully fallen.
Inside the warm lamplit room, the little nest glowed softly.
And somewhere in the castle corridors, Tom was probably still wreaking glorious havoc.
All things considered… a very productive day.