#382 - Thunderbird (asking for monthly ticket recommendation)

Besides the Griffin, another magical creature in a giant iron cage nearby was also very eye-catching. Inside was an adult Australian Opaleye.

Its body was covered with pearl-like scales, shimmering and colorful. Its eyes, originally quite beautiful, lacked pupils. However, this white dragon was now covered in scars, and its mouth was tightly bound with magical iron chains. It was curled up, glaring fiercely at the surrounding crowd.

However, among these imprisoned magical creatures, the most striking was the creature in the last giant iron cage: a Thunderbird!

This Thunderbird had three sets of wings of varying sizes. Its beak and eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, and its body was covered in golden, silk-like feathers, giving it a noble aura.

However, this Thunderbird was also covered in wounds, with many feathers falling from its back and wings. This scene, combined with its graceful body, was heartbreaking.

"Another Thunderbird? And a prime adult one at that. Could it be..." Moody, standing beside Anduin, couldn't hide the shock in his eyes, muttering to himself.

"Another? What do you mean?" Anduin, hearing Moody's mutterings, couldn't help but glance at him curiously. Had Moody seen other Thunderbirds before?

"This..." Moody, noticing Anduin's confusion, cautiously looked around before saying, "Actually, before the last seizure of smuggling operations, we had already discovered several smuggling traces within the UK. However, we could only find a few clues left behind during transportation and couldn't directly find them."

"But more than half a year ago, shortly before we sought you out to purchase alchemical equipment, we finally caught the tail of a smuggler. The Ministry of Magic tracked and blocked them, but these smugglers seemed to know they had been exposed in advance. They suddenly changed their route and eventually lost all the Aurors we sent to follow them. However, although that operation failed, we confirmed that the cargo they were transporting was Thunderbirds."

"I see." Anduin recalled the few golden bird feathers they had taken out when testing the 'Tracking Spectacles' during his demonstration for the Ministry of Magic. They were indeed very similar to the feathers of the Thunderbird in front of him. He guessed they had valued his product so much at the time because they lacked tracking methods.

Then, Anduin turned his head again to look at the Thunderbird in front of him. He had always felt something different about it, a kind of inexplicable closeness, as if it were a long-lost relative.

At the same time, after the tarpaulin was uncovered, the Thunderbird also immediately locked its gaze on Anduin, revealing a look of doubt, until it looked at Anduin's waist, confirming that its inexplicable feeling was not wrong.

Immediately afterward, the Thunderbird's gaze towards Anduin suddenly changed, and it excitedly cried out. The Thunderbird struggled to stand up in its cage, but due to the restraints of the iron cage and the aggravation of its injuries, it couldn't help but burst out in a painful cry.

This feeling of pain seemed to make the Thunderbird even more uneasy and agitated. It struggled and twisted even more violently, constantly emitting mournful cries, and then even used its severely injured body to slam against the cage, triggering bursts of electricity.

"What's going on? Why is this Thunderbird suddenly going berserk? Quickly find a way to stabilize it, otherwise, it will be troublesome if it breaks free of the cage or awakens those two Nundu," Bianca said, startled by the Thunderbird's sudden rampage. She knew that all these magical creatures were crammed together, and it would be a disaster if the Thunderbird's loss of control caused a chain reaction.

"Wait!"

Just as the surrounding Aurors were preparing to target the out-of-control Thunderbird, a deep voice suddenly rang out. When everyone curiously looked for the source of the voice, they found that it was Newt who had stopped them.

If someone else had done this, these Aurors would definitely ignore them, and even hold them accountable for causing trouble, but the one who spoke was Newt, a legendary wizard, and a well-known magizoologist, so everyone slowed down their actions, preparing to listen to Mr. Scamander's opinion.

"It's just calling out to its companions. The reason it went out of control later was because of emotional excitement and the stimulation of its wounds. Its condition is very poor. If you directly suppress it with violence, it may be life-threatening."

Newt looked around at everyone with a serious expression. As a scholar who loved magical creatures, he couldn't be happy when he saw these poor little creatures in front of him.

Then, Newt turned his head and looked at Anduin, who had a hesitant expression. "Anduin, although I don't know why, it seems to be calling out to you. You can go forward and see if you can calm it down."

Me? Anduin pointed uncertainly at his nose, but Newt, as one of the few magical creature scholars who was very familiar with Thunderbirds, nodded to him with certainty.

Faced with Newt's indication, Anduin couldn't refuse, and had to walk forward in full view of everyone, to the cage holding the Thunderbird.

When the surrounding people saw that Mr. Scamander had actually asked Anduin to come forward, they were immediately incredulous. After all, in the eyes of most Aurors or Ministry of Magic employees, Anduin was just an equipment supplier. These people didn't even know why he was here.

Then, a group of Aurors looked at Bianca and Amelia with some suspicion, asking them for instructions. Was it really okay to let an underage wizard approach a high-risk magical creature?

The two Directors of the Ministry of Magic were the highest leaders on the scene, but these two knew Anduin's special nature, and with their understanding of the young man's strength, they also knew that there would be no safety issues, so they both shook their heads at everyone, they were willing to trust Newt's judgment.

At this time, the Thunderbird in the cage stopped slamming against the cage after discovering Anduin's approach, and instead lowered its head and stared at Anduin, while constantly crying out loudly.

At this time, Anduin finally confirmed that his feeling before was not wrong, this Thunderbird had a kind of inexplicable connection with him. Then, Anduin carefully recalled that there were only two things on him that were related to the Thunderbird, one was the wand with a Thunderbird heartstring, and the other was the 【Wild Thunder】 he had mastered, which came from the original runes of the Thunderbird.