https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-526-Sirius-Black-s-Defense-Against-the-Dark-Arts-Class/13461442/
Chapter 527: Hagrid's Experience
Chapter 527: Hagrid's Experience
Felix stood at the castle gates, the sky almost completely dark. From this angle, he could see the lights in Hagrid's Hut below. At that moment, the sound of footsteps and voices came from behind.
"I should have guessed it. Neville said his parents returned a week ago and took him to Diagon Alley to buy supplies... I mean, since they and Hagrid went to the same place, there's no reason Hagrid should be so much slower." Harry said.
"They had different missions", Sirius Black explained as they appeared at the castle gates. "The Longbottoms repelled the Death Eaters who came to support them, barely avenging their past grievances. Once the task was done, they returned. As for Hagrid... hey, Felix." He greeted Felix.
Felix nodded at Sirius Black, not surprised by Harry and the others' arrival. "Given your relationship with Hagrid... it's good to see him. Otherwise, it might be months before you see him again."
"What happened to Hagrid?" Harry asked urgently.
"He'll be spending most of his time in the Forbidden Forest from now on. Today is an exception. He needs to tend to his injuries", Felix replied briefly. "Let's go, the sooner we go, the sooner we return."
The five of them walked down the marble stairs, Harry's mind filled with questions. Ron poked his ribs. "Look over there." Harry followed his gaze, and the warm, yellow light from Hagrid's Hut lifted his spirits.
They crossed the open field and approached Hagrid's Hut. Before they got close, Fang's barking echoed through the air.
Sirius Black called out from the doorway, "Hagrid, we're here!"
There was a commotion inside, and after a moment, the door opened. Hagrid stepped out, his appearance shocking everyone. His face was dirty, and his head was an odd shape, like a squashed pumpkin. His left eye was swollen to a slit, with dried blood around it. If not for the blood still trickling from his nose, it would have been hard to find it. The exposed skin on his hands and face was bruised and scarred.
Hagrid carefully closed the door with his less injured hand, leading one to suspect that his bones were broken.
"Are you... are you okay, Hagrid?" Hermione asked softly.
Hagrid struggled to open his eyes, seemingly recognizing Hermione's shape. He smiled weakly. "Ah, I'm glad to see you all. I was planning to show up later—right now, I don't have the time, and I can't exactly show my face like this." He pointed to his face, trying to smile, which only pulled at his wounds.
"Dumbledore told me, and I didn't quite believe it", Felix examined Hagrid from head to toe. "But it looks like it's true... how did your trip with Olympe go?"
Hagrid's face turned red with embarrassment. He waved his uninjured arm. "Not well, I'd say. We barely met the minimum expectations. The giants chose to stay neutral. In fact, they have more pressing issues... they're divided."
"Divided?" Felix asked, surprised.
"Hard to believe, isn't it? There aren't many of them left, yet they keep fighting each other..." Hagrid led them deeper into the Forbidden Forest, recounting his story. "At the start of the holidays, Olympe and I set out to persuade the giants."
"Madame Maxime?" Harry asked.
"Yes, she's a strong woman, not afraid of hardship. That's rare, you know. She's an elegant, well-dressed lady. When Dumbledore told me she would join us, I was a bit worried... but I was wrong. Whether it was climbing rocks or sleeping in caves, she never complained. And she always had useful things. She said you lent them to her?" Hagrid looked at Felix.
"If you mean the Space Capsule, yes, that's correct. This product is currently single-use. If you want to carry other items, you need to prepare them in advance", Felix explained.
"That's it", Hagrid said, stepping on a dry branch. "We arrived at the location without any major issues. After a few days of wandering in the mountains, we finally found the giants' cave."
"Did you use magic?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, no", Hagrid muttered. "It's fine on the way, but you can't use it near the giants' tribe. Giants dislike magic and wizards. There are deeper reasons, too. Dumbledore was worried that the Dark Lord had also sent envoys, so we had to be very careful... in any case, we made contact with the giants. Using Dumbledore's methods, we successfully delivered the gifts. This part was the most tedious, requiring a lot of patience to dispel the giants' suspicions. It worked, and we stayed in the tribe for longer periods."
At this point, Hagrid suddenly smiled.
"Gurg—Gurg is the leader of the giants. He's lazy and greedy, but surprisingly, he loves stories. Olympe and I took the opportunity to speak well of Dumbledore. Other giants who understood a bit of English also came to listen. The progress was promising."
The Forbidden Forest grew increasingly dark. Felix tossed a milky white light ball into the distance. The light ball emitted a bright, soft white light, illuminating a large area of the forest. In the darkness, the outlines of various creatures could be faintly seen, and the pairs of glowing eyes were truly terrifying.
This was the true appearance of the Forbidden Forest at night.
"We delivered gifts three times, and an accident happened on the third attempt. We stumbled upon the Death Eaters."
"Death Eaters?" Ron exclaimed.
"It was expected... There were two of them, a man and a woman", Hagrid said. "Like us, they were also treated as honored guests by the giants. The giant chieftain even introduced us to each other foolishly."
"Did you take action?" Sirius asked sensitively.
"Not at the time. Despite our mutual hatred, we agreed not to fight in front of the giants. However—" Hagrid paused, "once we left the giant tribe, we had a private fight. They were no match for us and fled. They disappeared for a few days, and I thought those two Death Eaters had given up. But later, when we were dealing with other giants, we found out they had changed their strategy. They would always deliver gifts to the giant chieftain when we were not around. So, we approached the giant chieftain and openly asked him to side with us... Looking back, it was a bit rushed. After all, forcing the issue isn't a good way to make deals... Later, the Longbottoms appeared, and we learned that the Death Eaters had sent reinforcements. One night, the giant tribe was in chaos, with shouting so loud it was like thunder. After a brief discussion, the four of us decided to go out and observe the situation, sneaking around. If the giants were just having a bonfire party, we would come back and continue sleeping."
His face showed a complex expression.
"The Death Eaters' reinforcements were a witch, supposedly Bellatrix. I didn't see her... She successfully persuaded the second-in-command of the giant tribe to stage a rebellion at night and take over as the new leader. Of course, we couldn't agree to that! So, we joined the fight. By dawn, over a dozen giants were dead, mostly from fighting each other. One of the Death Eaters also died. The original giant chieftain lost an arm and his influence diminished greatly. Only about twenty giants were still willing to follow him, most of whom were his wives and children. The remaining thirty or so giants formed a new, stronger, and more brutal tribe. The giants split into two factions. The original chieftain fled into the depths of the mountains, with the new leader in pursuit... They won't have time for anything else until they settle their conflict... We're here."
Hagrid suddenly stopped.
The surrounding forest was dense, but there was a clearing below them, which seemed quite out of place. The clearing was surrounded by chaotic branches, and several pine trees had been uprooted. They heard a rumbling sound, and in the center of the clearing was a large, round object. The group moved closer, guided by the light from Lumos.
"Whoa!" Ron took two steps back. "Is that a pile of dirt or a person?"
The object, which had been mistaken for a pile of dirt or a rock, was breathing rhythmically. Harry felt as if he was suffocating. The smooth, gray thing suddenly moved, emitting a loud snore. He had thought it was a rock, but now it looked like a massively enlarged version of a big-headed monster.
"My brother, oh—my half-brother", Hagrid said in a low, raspy voice. "I don't think I've ever told you, but I'm a half-giant. My mother left my father after she had me and found another giant. She gave birth to Grawp there."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged uneasy glances. They had known for a while that Hagrid was a half-giant. It was during the fourth-year Yule Ball when Harry and Ron accidentally overheard Hagrid and Madame Maxime's conversation. As Ron put it, Hagrid was a complete fool, his head clouded by love. He thought he was whispering, but it was almost as if he was shouting right into their ears.
"Hagrid, is he injured?" Felix asked.
Only then did they notice that the rough 'rock texture' was actually a series of wounds. Under the soft white light, it was clear that the wounds had already scabbed over.
"Yes, well, on the first day I placed him in the Forbidden Forest, he made a lot of noise, which attracted Fluffy. They had a fierce fight", Hagrid explained. The others—Sirius, Harry, Ron, and Hermione—blinked rapidly, and Felix was speechless. Fluffy was not a human but a massive three-headed dog, a highly dangerous magical creature.
"…I had to ask Dumbledore for help", Hagrid said, wiping away tears. "Dumbledore is a good man. He helped me find medicine to treat the injuries. I mean, a three-headed dog's teeth are not easy to deal with. Fluffy bit too deep…"
“Oh my goodness,” Hermione said ambiguously.
“Yeah,” Hagrid, mistaking Hermione's tone for agreement, continued, “Grawp can actually heal on his own, but it’s too slow. I can’t just let him bleed out. I plan to teach him some manners before introducing him to people. You three are the first I thought of; it would be a good start…”
“Hagrid, what do you have in mind for his future?” Felix asked softly.
“Well, um, I haven’t really decided, but… keeping him in the Forbidden Forest isn’t a bad idea. There’s plenty of food here, and not many creatures can harm him,” Hagrid stammered. “I was thinking he could be my assistant. Of course—once he improves his temper,” he added quickly, seeing the three young wizards looking pale.
Harry couldn’t imagine the scene Hagrid described with such tenderness. He had always thought that Hagrid, who was twice the height of an average person, was a giant. Anyone who saw Hagrid for the first time would be intimidated by his massive size, like the Dursleys. It took a few encounters to realize Hagrid was a rather friendly person. Now, the thought of Hagrid patrolling the Forbidden Forest with a full-blooded giant, even taller than himself, made Harry’s skin crawl.
“Hagrid, how—how tall is he?” Harry couldn’t help but ask.
“About sixteen feet, I reckon,” Hagrid estimated.
“Good heavens, good heavens,” Hermione stammered.
“So, um, I’ll wake him up, and—introduce you. He’s much better-behaved now, only gave me two punches today—when I tried to convince him to stay,” Hagrid said hopefully, picking up a branch from the ground.
“No—don’t,” Hermione jumped up, clearly frightened. “I mean, I don’t understand… he doesn’t want to stay here?”
Hagrid paused, his expression darkening. “Yeah, he’s always wanted to go back. I brought him out here against his will.”
“But why—didn’t Madame Maxime agree?” Hermione asked sharply.
“She—well, she understood at first,” Hagrid said uneasily. “You didn’t see how Grawp was being bullied. If left alone, he would have been killed by the other giants. He’s—too short.”
“Short?” Hermione repeated, incredulous. “Short?”
“Among giants, yes,” Hagrid explained. “When Grawp went berserk, Olympe would help me subdue him, but after a while, she got tired of it. I have to admit, Grawp isn’t very smart and has a bad temper, making him hard to get along with… After helping me transport Grawp across the channel, she left in a hurry.”
“But things are improving,” Hagrid tried to reassure them, waving the long branch in front of him. “We’ve been back for three days, and he hasn’t thrown a tantrum all day. I think it’s a good sign, indicating he’s getting used to life here. I can try to get closer, like giving him a hug. You know, to make him feel valued and liked, so he won’t always think about going back.”
Hagrid jabbed the branch at the sleeping giant, who roared and stretched out his massive body. A hand as big as an umbrella pressed into the ground, and the part that seemed to be his head moved. He was awake.
Felix looked up, watching the giant rise from the ground. Giants were said to be able to go toe-to-toe with fire dragons, so he was quite curious about these creatures. Grawp had a grayish-white skin, an enormous face with features that looked chiseled from a round stone. The only thing that came to mind for Felix was Mad-Eye Moody’s face.
Grawp rubbed his eyes vigorously and then, with surprising speed, stood up. The group could see him more clearly now, his squat nose, lopsided mouth, yellow teeth, and murky brown-green eyes. They were all too shocked to speak.
Harry had always thought that the seventh-year classroom could do anything, but now he realized what was missing. There were no giants. The History of Magic textbook described giants as completely inhuman, but Harry had always thought these descriptions were exaggerated, given the more realistic examples he had seen.
Hagrid was a half-giant, but he looked like a larger-than-life human. But this creature—this full-blooded giant—was just as the books described, a malformed human-like monster.
Felix’s gaze fell on the giant’s ankle, where a rope was tied, the other end secured to a thick tree in the distance.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione backed away, not feeling much comfort from the wands in their hands. The creature before them—well, Hagrid’s half-brother, Grawp—could crush them with a single finger.
“Roar—”
Grawp’s deafening roar made the rope creak, and the Forbidden Forest fell into a deathly silence, except for the giant before them.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
