"What could it be, if it's not a Cheetah, Hagrid, though? It looked pretty much the same as in pictures- other pictures, I mean," Harry said, correcting himself as seamlessly as he could.
Hagrid paused for a minute, scratching his head and beard, then said, "did yeh have somethin' ter compare sizes with, Harry?"
"No," Harry said, "the cat was alone in the- picture," this time barely pausing in his lie.
"Well," Hagrid said, "it coulda bin* a Savannah Kneazle or Serval. Prob'ly Serval, if it was a muggle photo, tho' it's obvious."
"What are those?" Harry asked Hagrid, intrigued, pushing aside his teacup and leaning forward a bit.
"Serval is a kind'a jungle cat what lives in Africa; it's class-e-fied as a wildcat, but it's very tame and much smaller 'n Leopards or even Cheetahs. Sum people, even Muggles, have them as pets. It's a normal animal, no magic in 'em," Hagrid said, his black eyes almost shining in his passion. He then said, "Savannah Kneazles on th' other hand are a crossbreed b'tween Kneazles an' Servals. It's a magical animal, tho' it's not 'xactly very powafull*. Last I heard, Muggles managed to crossbreed Servals an' house cats a few years ago, tho' Savannah Kneazles bin* around fer centuries. Even named 'em Savannah Cats," shaking his head in the end.
Harry smiled at Hagrid's energetic and passionate monologue. He had once noted that Hagrid was like a child and that it contributed to the huge man's charm. While he hadn't changed his mind, Harry now was certain that Hagrid was way more charismatic and intelligent than most gave him credit for. He thanked his lucky stars for the thousandth time that he hadn't been Sorted into Ravenclaw, as that House generally thought of Hagrid as a useless fool. Harry, though, had seen Hagrid's potential usefulness from day one.
Harry snapped out of his thoughts. He remembered what he had come here for, after all. Harry said, "so, how can I tell if what I saw is a Serval or a hybrid?"
Hagrid snorted. He said, "if it had bin a Savannah Kneazle, you woulda knew*, Harry. Their eyes lit-e-rally glow all-most* like a Lumos Charm, even in daylight! Its face would be all blurry-like* in a photo," devolving into thanking Harry for getting back his wand privileges in the end.
The vision Harry had had after ingesting the Animagus Potion containing a Mandrake Leaf that had been sewn into his palate had shown him a cat whose eyes only glowed at night, and with nowhere near the glow Hagrid had described Savannah Kneazles as having. Harry would still need more research to be certain, but Hagrid had likely reduced the time necessary to a quarter or less of what would have been necessary otherwise.
Harry thanked Hagrid for his time as warmly as he could, drained most of the tea that had remained in his cup in a single move and left, possibilities passing through his mind at the speed of light.