#233 - Hogg the Unspellable

"Master, take a look! Is the meat cooked? Should we keep grilling it?" Hogg asked excitedly, tongue lolling out, breath steaming, eyes fixed on the stone barbecue grill.

"Don't rush. These cuts of meat are quite large, so they won't cook through so easily. And look, the fat seeping out still has blood in it, which means it needs a little longer," Antonin said, glancing at Hogg with some helplessness before returning his attention to the meat.

After several months, Hogg's physical and mental condition had greatly improved.

Antonin discovered that while Hogg possessed intelligence comparable to humans, his nature was closer to that of a wolfhound, or rather, a husky. The fellow remained in a state of high excitement most of the time. Although he didn't destroy the house consciously, many of the wooden structures inside and outside the cottage bore his teeth marks, causing Antonin and Hagrid a lot of trouble.

This book is first published on the entire network by 𝕥𝕨𝕜𝕒𝕟.𝕔𝕠𝕞

However, Hogg did have one advantage: he could easily communicate with small or magical animals. After discovering this, he became a treasure to Hagrid and Professor Kettleburn for a while. With his help, treating magical creatures became much easier.

And after a period of treatment and recuperation, the rescued magical creatures gradually recovered their health.

Like now, a Kneazle, two Diricaws, and three Knarls surrounded him, also staring intently at Antonin's barbecue.

Other magical creatures were either released back into the wild after recovery or placed in Professor Kettleburn's breeding grounds near the Forbidden Forest, which made Hagrid very happy. He visited his two little darlings, the Flitterby Bush-babies and the Blast-Ended Skrewts, at the Fourth Enclosure almost every day.

These less dangerous little creatures were initially cared for by Antonin and Kiki, along with Hogg, who was familiar with animal languages. As they got to know each other, everyone became acquainted. So, when they recovered and were released from their cages, these little guys were unwilling to leave.

The little creatures took a long time to recover, mainly because they had suffered so much under the werewolves. Not only were they malnourished, but they also had various infections. To care for them, Antonin didn't return to Diagon Alley for Christmas this year, spending all his time at Hogwarts.

Charles, Vivian, and the others naturally welcomed these little magical creatures. Because of them, their daily training was more diligent and punctual, mainly because they wanted to have time to pet the cats and dogs after training.

Now Hogg was considered the boss of this group of one cat, two Diricaws, and three Knarls, leading them up and down every day. And Kiki was like a mother, always following behind, cleaning up after them.

Today, an old Re'em had suffered frostbite, so Antonin, Hagrid, and Professor Kettleburn decided to butcher it.

They were currently cooking barbecue by the oven outside the cottage, and whenever Antonin cooked himself, Hogg and his gang of little brothers would gather around, not treating themselves as outsiders at all.

"By the way, Hogg, how's the spell practice I've been teaching you these days? Still can't cast any spells?" Antonin asked, rotating the sizzling large piece of barbecue on the skewer, as if chatting about everyday matters.

"Yeah, Master, I can't even cast the simplest Lumos or Levitation Charm. It doesn't work even if I hold the wand in my mouth or with my paws. It seems I don't have any talent for casting spells," Hogg said casually, still staring at the barbecue, tongue lolling out.

He didn't seem to care much about his ability to cast spells. Since childhood, his parents had tried to teach him spells, but it was ineffective. Just learning to speak had already taken up a lot of his energy.

But it was different for Antonin, because he knew that Hogg had magic in his body. After measurement, he found that Hogg's magic value was not low, about 200 marks. Although it was less than most wizards of the same age, it was more than Vivian, which also showed how weak Vivian really was, not even as good as a dog.

Having magic but not being able to cast spells was a research topic worth studying for Antonin. However, after a long period of research, he couldn't find the answer. The magic was fine, the magic sensitivity was there, the mental strength and willpower were not weak, and he could speak and chant spells, so why couldn't he cast spells?

In the end, Professor Kettleburn gave him specific guidance on this matter. Different creatures have different physiological structures, and the nature of magic in their bodies and the way they express magic will also be different. Chanting spells is a method that human wizards have found through long-term self-experimentation. Many humanoid magical creatures have similar spellcasting effects to human wizards, but there are also certain deviations. Making Hogg imitate wizards to cast spells is a bit of a stretch.

However, Antonin was still unwilling to give up on this, so he would occasionally let Hogg try it out. Wouldn't it be a waste not to use the magic in his body?

"It's okay, Hogg. I've been thinking about other ways recently. Even if you can't cast spells, it doesn't matter. Not being able to cast spells doesn't mean you can't use magic," Antonin said with a meaningful smile.

"Uh, Master, although I don't understand what you mean, but, you should sprinkle cumin on it quickly, otherwise the meat will burn," Hogg said, staring straight at the large piece of barbecue that was constantly emitting fragrance, drooling all over the place.

"Come to the Forbidden Forest with Kiki later. I've made a piece of equipment for each of you as a gift, which will also confirm some of my previous ideas," Antonin said to himself without responding to Hogg. This silly dog only has meat in his eyes at mealtimes, and he was already used to it.

"Master, does Kiki have one too?" Kiki, who was helping to make a fire, looked up in surprise.

The little elf Kiki's mental outlook was very different from when they first met. Now she was still wearing the military uniform Antonin gave her, and her figure was much stronger, which was all thanks to eating with Antonin and Hogg during this time.

But the main change was mental. Now she had shed a lot of her timid and humble temperament and become much bolder. In addition, Antonin had arranged basic physical training for her, which was not as intense as Charles's, but it also helped to temper her will and strengthen her physique.