[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-hogwarts-learning-panel":3,"chapter-hogwarts-learning-panel-hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-470":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Hogwarts Learning Panel",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2250708,4210,"Chapter 470: Newt","hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-470",470,"\u003Cp>The fire crackled merrily; the cat on the table curiously buried its whiskers in the glass bottle. The foam of butterbeer was breaking, the snow on the ground was piling up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You look too old.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita raised her butterbeer cup, the pale yellow liquid obscuring Newt’s face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Newt didn’t look at Rita directly, only replied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He seemed to want to say something, but now that the moment had come, the words he’d held for years refused to leave his mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You should have been angry with me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita said, gazing at the hazy white outline of the distant mountains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve never been angry with you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Newt’s tone was harsh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two fell silent, making the black cat think they couldn’t understand each other’s language.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It tilted its head slightly, as if grasping the full story.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old Hufflepuff prefect had once taken the blame for Rita, and was eventually expelled from Hogwarts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But at the time, Rita hadn’t had the courage to tell everyone the truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even years later, Rita still believed Newt should hate her—she had caused him to be expelled from Hogwarts, and left him unable to find a proper job.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If not for Professor Dumbledore, the Transfiguration teacher, opposing the school’s punishment, Newt might not have even kept his wand, like Hagrid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A wizard without a wand faced a fate easily imagined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That explains why the old Hufflepuff prefect’s life had been so destitute.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to him, one reason he wrote “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” was:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Augustus Worm of Obscurus Books commissioned me to write an authoritative manual on fantastic beasts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the time, I was merely a lowly clerk at the Ministry of Magic, so I eagerly seized the opportunity—to increase my weekly two sickles, and to travel the world seeking new magical creatures to pass the holidays.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two sickles a week was certainly insufficient for a wizard trying to survive in the magical world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not to mention the old Hufflepuff prefect had always dreamed of traveling the globe and studying magical creatures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Snow drifted onto the cottage window, melted by the hearth’s heat, and dripped as water into the white flowers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita went to the kitchen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Newt opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, and simply watched the cat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black cat was drinking butterbeer, in a peculiar posture—its mouth wide open, letting the liquid flow from the tilted cup directly into its mouth, unlike a normal cat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Newt couldn’t help but smile, and kept watching the cat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you wish to say something to Miss Rita, then say it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black cat set down its cup.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Newt fell silent; faced with the cat’s question, he felt he had no idea how to begin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your time is running short.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black cat watched the mist grow denser—rising unnoticed along the shore, across the garden, from the hearth’s fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The borderland was driving them out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black cat counted the time, realizing it had stayed longer in the borderland again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It understood this was likely due to the sudden legend that had appeared in the borderland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was strange—how easily a wizard’s soul in the borderland came to love something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a vague rumor, or a cat from legend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black cat gazed at Newt with its emerald slit pupils; Newt felt utterly exposed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He believed he could resist, yet he was always honest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You should tell her.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wh-what?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You don’t even tell the truth to yourself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mr. Scamander…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dear Bastet, please stop making me guess.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I mean, your heart is truly complicated.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“All wizards’ hearts are complicated.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Miss Rita feels guilty.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You are…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black cat understood—the old Hufflepuff prefect was too upright and kind. He willingly bore the consequences of his own choice, never resenting anyone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Rita did not think so.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That meant the old Hufflepuff prefect could only sense there must be some misunderstanding—he simply didn’t know the key.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Rita, of course, had no face to speak of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What struck the black cat even more was that this might be a conversation delayed for a lifetime.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No wonder Mr. Scamander was so persistent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sounds of clattering pots and pans came from the kitchen—Rita was carefully preparing something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black cat gave Newt a look he couldn’t understand; as he stared blankly, the cat darted into the kitchen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dear Bastet, or should I call you, the Black Cat who governs luck and dreams?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita paused her handling of pots and pans, asking it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black cat shook its head, unsure which title it was denying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are you staring at? When did a wicked wizard come to the borderland?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita moved the pots and pans; only then did the black cat notice the place had been damaged—some bowls were broken, some cabinets missing their doors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the first time the black cat had found signs of soul conflict in the borderland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It didn’t understand—what could possibly harm a soul?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Precisely the opposite of what you describe.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black cat leapt onto the table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No one here likes me. Perhaps you never liked me either.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita kept working, opening the battered oven.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s not true. I never thought you were wicked.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Said the black cat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re the exception. Everyone else thinks I’m wicked—they’re right. I am evil.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita’s voice was soft.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Miss Lestrange, no one is beyond forgiveness—not even yourself. Even if you are guilty.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Said the black cat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you comforting me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita smiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black cat neither confirmed nor denied—it simply leapt onto Rita’s shoulder and sat with her, watching the snow on the window melt in the warmth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No wonder everyone likes you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black cat raised its tail, puzzled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But you’ll never understand wizards, dear Bastet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unless you’re exactly like me—identical.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita had never imagined speaking of these things to a wizard—but now, perched on her shoulder, was a cat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her gaze grew distant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For years, those memories had haunted her nightmares.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the night of 1901.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the cabin, young Rita lay awake on the lower bunk; her infant brother, Corvus, screamed in his crib.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The light flickered on, then off—young Rita didn’t move, still watching the screaming infant Corvus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Figures ran past the door. Young Rita approached the crying infant Corvus and noticed the door of the opposite cabin was slightly ajar. Inside, infant Credence slept.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Young Rita slipped in quietly and swapped the two infants.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I never meant to hurt him. I just wanted to get rid of him for a moment… just a little while…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black cat opened its pupils, capable of Legilimency, and heard Rita’s mature voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The 1901 ship suddenly began to rock. Young Rita’s mother snatched up infant Credence; in the chaos, she didn’t notice the swap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cabin door burst open again—a young woman with black hair, dressed in a nightgown and life vest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Credence’s mother rushed in, slipped into her own cabin, picked up infant Corvus—and didn’t notice the swap either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Young Rita, Irma, and infant Credence were in one lifeboat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Credence’s mother and Rita’s brother, infant Corvus, were in another lifeboat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A massive wave surged—young Rita helplessly watched the lifeboat carrying Credence’s mother and infant Corvus capsize.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several survivors surfaced on the water, including Credence’s mother, but no infant Corvus…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Credence’s mother removed her life vest and let herself sink into the water…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She did not surface again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Young Rita’s gaze pierced the sea surface, passed the drowned woman, and saw the dark silhouette of a drowned infant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The drowned infant sank through the glowing green seawater and finally hung suspended within the tomb.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita conjured this illusion. It haunted her for life, and now she showed it to the black cat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s not your fault.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Said the black cat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Whose fault is it then?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Asked Rita.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No one is to blame before a disaster.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black cat fell silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I am a monster, dear Bastet. Newt met a monster he could never love.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita seemed unwilling to leave; she placed the dried fish before the black cat and simply watched it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you, but I am not a cat,” said the black cat, nudging the fish away with its paw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, well then, great Lord of Dreams, Bringer of Fortune, Bastet symbolizing War and Family—will you accept my offering?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, very well, great Lord of Dreams, harbinger of fortune, Bastet, symbol of war and family—will you partake of my offering?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the black cat suddenly realized: they were in love.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita and Newt had nurtured love during those hazy, unspoken moments they shared at Hogwarts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita and Newt, in those hazy, subtle moments they shared at Hogwarts, love took root.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black cat began, and Rita involuntarily focused all her attention on it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When she was young, she didn’t understand how contradictory human nature could be—how much sincerity was pretense, how much baseness hid within nobility, and perhaps even virtue could be found in evil.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where one saw evil, another saw virtue.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita fell silent, tilting her head slightly so her cheek brushed against the black cat’s whiskers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’ve learned many wizarding truths. Some know many truths, yet still fail to be good wizards.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita sighed after a long silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You should tell him.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Said the black cat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tell him what?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Asked Rita.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tell him you feel guilty.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Said the black cat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But he should hate me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita seemed dazed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He never hated you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black cat realized they had circled back to the same place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m grateful to you—we all are—but you don’t need to comfort me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita clearly didn’t believe it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This left the black cat momentarily silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mr. Scamander had chosen silence then, and Rita had chosen to flee, paralyzed by her cowardice and guilt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two sixteen-year-old wizards could only leave behind a regret too heavy to speak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bury it with love that never had a chance to grow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bury it along with love that never had a chance to grow.\u003C\u002Fp>",1660,"2026-06-19T10:00:42.198Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","05217c964d4b1e7325af19aa8a1c2a06710f077066ccbbec1f1ee29870af38c3","hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-471","hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-469",526,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fhogwarts-learning-panel-cover.jpg"]