The first name to be called was, of course, the Slytherin girl who had been the first to be sorted and to choose an egg.
Professor McGonagall had conjured a small table and three seats from God knows where for the three of them.
Well, the third seat was empty because Hagrid seemed too tense to sit.
Magnus didn't blame him.
His Deino was one of those dangerous Pokémon that weren't supposed to find their way into the school. He found himself wondering whether he shouldn't inform someone—maybe McGonagall or even the Headmaster…
I mean, it's true that he had promised to keep it a secret—or rather, he had been practically coerced to—but he could swear that even for all his love of terrifying beasts, Hagrid wasn't a match for a poorly trained Deino.
The hatchling was barely two days old, and it had probably maimed several of the half-giant's fingers. What would happen when it was a month old? Worse yet, what would happen if it accidentally broke free from wherever it was being hidden?
Then again, coerced or not, he had made the promise. It was not his place to betray him… Besides, good training could probably make the Deino somewhat tame. But who would give that training? Certainly not Hagrid, seeing as he didn't even know the first thing about his hatchling.
Magnus could try helping, but… well, he liked his limbs intact. And besides, there was already a lot on his plate without adding a murderous Deino to it.
On the plus side, somebody was likely to find out soon enough.
He pushed his way to the front as Pansy approached the table where Mrs. Winston was already waiting for her.
Magnus caught a glimpse of the hatchling in her hands.
"Just hold it securely outwards," Mrs. Winston said, leaving her seat and looking at the students gathered around them. She then turned to the Slytherin girl and gave her Pokémon a casual look.
"Fox-like, with red-brown fur, mask-like markings on the eyes, and a large bushy tail with a creamy tip."
'Nickit,' Magnus concluded, seconds before the lady confirmed his guess.
"I would say Ms. Parkinson's hatchling is probably a Nickit."
Magnus smiled satisfactorily.
The moment he had seen those mask-like marks and the paws that seemed to have cushioning pads, he had known it. His guess had been sealed, however, by the signature bushy tail with that creamy tip.
Nickits were little thieving menaces, no matter what sort of training they got. They especially employed the use of the tip of their tails to erase their steps during escapes.
If Pansy wasn't careful, she would go down as the most notorious and accomplished thief Hogwarts had ever seen, mostly because all the things her Nickit stole would end up in her trunk without her knowledge.
"Take note of how I said 'probably,' not 'certainly,'" Mrs. Winston went on. "The only way to establish a Pokémon's identity with certainty is through the use of a genealogy spell."
She turned back to Pansy as the students pushed each other back, trying to get a proper look.
Mrs. Winston pointed her wand towards the hatchling in Pansy's hands. "Geneo Revelio," she said.
An astonished "wow" escaped several lips as a bright, large bubble encircled the hatchling. Magnus's eyes almost popped out as he watched several images of similar-looking hatchlings—some a bit older, others quite large, but all unmistakably Nickits—revolve around the globe-like bubble.
The lady studied the fleeting images with intense focus, occasionally using her wand to replay some scenes until she appeared satisfied.
She stood upright and consulted the list of names that McGonagall had provided for her. Then, she looked at the hovering book next to her before speaking with clear authority.
"Identity is confirmed. Ms. Pansy Parkinson of Hogwarts, year of admission 1991, owns a Nickit Pokémon."
They watched as the hovering quill came to life and danced across the open book as the lady spoke. Magnus guessed that what she had said was now an official record that the quill had transcribed.
When the quill came to a stop, she turned back to them.
"I'm sure you might have figured out from what you saw how the genealogy spell works," she said, glancing at the still-fleeting images inside the transparent bubble.
"This spell is traceable and linked to this book, so every genealogy spell cast, regardless of location, will be automatically recorded here," she explained, beaming at the look of awe on their faces. "We also work with the Ministry of Magic from countries in Europe, America, Africa, Asia, and many other regions in order to synchronize our data. That means when this spell is cast, it will be universal in all our partner ministries' records and will also display what is available in those records."
When she finished that lengthy explanation, she flicked her wand, and the bubble popped, revealing the clueless Pokémon inside.
Magnus guessed that the hatchling might not have seen what they had—otherwise, it wouldn't have stayed that calm.
He was, however, astounded by the brilliance of that spell.
Of course, he had always known—since watching the Quidditch World Cup scenes in the movie—that their Ministry of Magic wasn't the only one.
I mean, magical communities were spread all over the world, and so were Pokémon. This kind of collaboration was probably the reason the Ministry had so much information already. He did, however, wonder how they hadn't yet figured out instances of evolutionary changes… or type variances.
After that demonstration, the indexing went on a lot faster now that she wasn't explaining concepts to them. The only talk was when she was analyzing a Pokémon's features or dictating the confirmed identity for the record.
Magnus watched the next three instances of the bubble before quickly becoming more intrigued with the other students' Pokémon.
Knowing that he was the last one on the list, he began to move among the group of students, observing their hatchlings.
He had seen his fellow Ravenclaws' last night.
Michael Coner had a Hoothoot. He had felt quite disappointed at seeing the owl-like Pokémon, and Magnus had tried to reassure him that it was not as useless as he called it, but then, there wasn't much he could say without sounding crazy or exaggerative.
There were several bird-like Pokémon among the girls—one eagle-like and the other raven-like—but he didn't know their Pokémon identities. He would, however, find out when their turn came.
Goldstein had a dog-like pup, which he also didn't know, but he was certain it wasn't a Rockruff.
The first group he stopped at were the Gryffindors. Not only were they a bit friendlier, but he was already familiar with most of them.
He had to hold back laughter when he saw the tiny coin-like spot on Ron's hatchling's head.
"Dude, you are lucky you're not in Ravenclaw," he said, looking at the Pokémon.
Ron looked at him, confused. "Why?"
"Well… you have a Meowth," he said, although he had a feeling Ron already knew this.
A Meowth had been one of the first Pokémon he had encountered upon arriving in Diagon Alley, So It must not be that rare.
"Yeah… I know that. But why Ravenclaw, though?"
Well, What he didn't know was that Meowths were another thieving lot—especially when it came to shiny things.
At this rate, Hogwarts would soon become a den of thieves.
"that will probably lose you a lot of points."
Ron shared a look with Harry before turning back to him.
"That's funny. I mean, Percy said the same thing when he saw it… and what's that?" he asked, pointing at Magnus's Zorua.
Magnus was about to answer when he saw Harry's Pokémon.
His smile grew even bigger.
"You know it?" Harry asked when he caught the look on his face.
"Of course, I do… You mean you don't?" Magnus asked excitedly, but then he recalled—Harry had spent all his life before now with Muggles.
He gave the hatchling a good look before deciding he was certain.
"Blimey… I think it's a Kantonian—" He stopped, realizing there were no such Pokémon regions here.
"I mean… it's a Vulpix."