Chapter 540: The Pitiful Pure-Blood
Chapter 540: The Pitiful Pure-Blood
Hagrid's impression of Gilderoy Lockhart was not a favorable one. And now, this fellow had suddenly come to him, claiming that he wanted to teach him how to prevent monsters from getting into the well?
As Lockhart prattled on, Hagrid became distracted and involuntarily glanced at the spot where Albert had just disappeared. He couldn't help but blame the guy who had sneaked away earlier.
Albert must have anticipated this situation, which was why he sneaked away.
Damn it, he actually didn't stay to keep me company.
Hagrid felt annoyed by the incessant chatter. What was it that Lockhart had just said? Harry's autograph?
"Does he need an autograph?" Hagrid felt exasperated and interrupted, "Professor Lockhart, Harry doesn't need to give out autographs. He's already quite famous."
Upon hearing this, Lockhart frowned slightly, but soon continued his rambling, bringing up the incident of Harry arriving at school in a flying car.
Hagrid was left speechless. He simply grabbed the recently slaughtered rooster from the side and began plucking its feathers, casually humoring Lockhart with a few responses.
Lockhart's incessant boasting made Hagrid feel uncomfortable all over. He really couldn't understand if the other man was genuinely clueless or deliberately feigning ignorance, droning on for nearly ten minutes.
How could this man have so much to say? Didn't he ever get thirsty?
"If you need any help, feel free to come to me." Lockhart flashed what he thought was a charming smile at Hagrid. "You know where to find me!"
"No, thank you. I don't need any help at the moment," Hagrid said dryly.
"However, I'm surprised that you don't have a copy of my book." Lockhart was completely unfazed and continued, "Tonight, I'll send over a signed copy. Well, goodbye!"
After Lockhart left, Hagrid immediately closed the wooden door and heaved a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness, he's finally gone.
When Hagrid turned around, he saw Albert sitting in his original spot.
"Where did you hide just now?" Hagrid glared at Albert, his anger evident.
"If Lockhart had seen me, he would have caused even more trouble. It's better if I don't run into him here," Albert said, unfazed by Hagrid's displeased gaze. He casually changed the subject and asked, "By the way, what was that water monster Lockhart mentioned earlier?"
"Water monster is just a general term for creatures that live in the water," Hagrid explained as he took the half-plucked rooster from the table and wiped the table clean with a cloth before setting the teapot and snacks back down.
"What kind of water monster would live in a well?" Albert asked, scratching Yao Yao's ears.
Just then, there was another knock on the door.
Hagrid gave Albert a meaningful look before walking forward to open the door. Seeing that it was Harry, Ron, and Hermione, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"What was Lockhart doing here, Hagrid?" Harry Potter's voice came from outside the door.
"Teaching me how to keep water monsters out of the well, as if I didn't know," Hagrid grumbled. "What's wrong with Ron? He looks like he's sick."
As Harry and Hermione helped Ron across the threshold into the hut, they spotted Albert sitting there, scratching Doghead's head.
"Albert?" Hermione's surprise quickly turned into a smile as she said, "Congratulations on winning the International Wizard Chess Championship.
"Thanks, what happened to Weasley? Was he hit by a jinx?" Albert examined Ron, who was currently spewing slugs, and suggested, "If you guys don't know how to lift the jinx, you'd better take him to see Madam Pomfrey; that way, he won't have to suffer too much."
"Well..." Harry helped Ron sit down in a chair and awkwardly explained to the two of them the reason for Ron's slug-vomiting predicament.
"He's lucky. Sometimes, spell backfires can have some pretty nasty consequences." Albert examined Ron with interest, took out his wand, and tried to lift the jinx, but to no avail, as Ron's mouth began spewing slugs again, which was truly unpleasant to behold.
"Spitting them out is better than swallowing them," Hagrid said, seemingly unconcerned, as he found a large copper basin for Ron.
"Swallow them?" Albert felt a wave of nausea hearing Hagrid's words.
"Is there no other way?" Hermione inquired.
"It didn't work. However, that was to be expected; spell backfires are typically tricky situations." Albert didn't seem too worried about Ron's condition, after all, the one vomiting slugs wasn't him. He couldn't blame his friends for not taking Ron to the school hospital either.
"That broken wand of his needs to be replaced!"
Hagrid poured tea for everyone with a copper kettle and suddenly remembered something. "Oh, by the way, Harry. I heard you're giving out signed photos, but I didn't get one?"
"I'm not giving out signed photos," Harry protested unhappily. "That's just Lockhart spreading rumors."
"Harry, you can go find Lee Jordan and sign your own Wizard Card." Albert suddenly remembered something and continued, "That way, you won't need to sign autographs in the future. I mentioned this to Lockhart before, and he agreed to let me make a custom Wizard Card for him."
"No, that's alright, thanks," Harry refused dryly.
"I suggest you don't refuse. Even Dumbledore is happy to do it." Albert reminded him with good intentions. "In fact, almost all the professors at school have agreed to it."
"Almost?"
"Professor Snape didn't agree, and I haven't been able to convince him yet. To be honest, Professor Snape might have a little misunderstanding about me." Albert had decided to do it secretly later anyway. Since Snape would eventually be out of the picture, there was no way he could make trouble even if he had the photo, so Albert didn't mind whether Snape agreed or not.
"I don't think I have one." Hagrid suddenly said.
"Yes, I made one for you a long time ago. If you're interested, I'll bring a set of cards over next time." Albert said with a smile.
"That would be great!" Hagrid nodded in satisfaction. "But I don't want Lockhart's cards."
"Does Hagrid not like Professor Lockhart?" Hermione looked surprised.
"Actually, no one really likes Professor Lockhart." Albert replied without hesitation. "Haven't you noticed? Almost all the professors at school don't seem too fond of him."
Harry's mouth hung open in shock, and Hermione wore a confused and perplexed expression, while Ron continued to spit slugs into the basin.
"I came to ask Hagrid about Lockhart because, based on his teaching skills, I suspect that most of what Professor Lockhart wrote about in his books might be fictional.
"You shouldn't..."
"If even one word of Lockhart's bragging about exorcising female ghosts is true, I'll eat this teapot," Hagrid chimed in, agreeing with Albert.
"Hagrid, Dumbledore thinks that Lockhart..." Hermione's voice trailed off as she raised her voice in surprise.
"Who was Ron trying to curse just now?" Albert abruptly changed the subject, not wanting to discuss her idol with a fan.
"Malfoy," Ron croaked. "Malfoy called Hermione a 'mudblood'."
"Is that true?" Hagrid looked at Hermione indignantly, seeking confirmation.
"Yes," Hermione nodded. "But I don't know what it means."
"Mudblood refers to Muggle-born wizards like us," Albert explained casually. "It's a derogatory term used to insult those with non-magical parents."
Hagrid stared at Albert, perplexed by his apparent lack of anger.
"Actually," Albert took a sip of his tea and shook his head, "those so-called pure-blood wizards are the pitiful ones."
At that moment, everyone was stunned into silence, even Ron stopped retching.
"So-called pure-bloods are the product of inbreeding," Albert began to enlighten the trio. "After all, there are only a handful of pure-blood wizarding families in Britain, and they're all somewhat related."
"What you may not realize is that inbreeding can lead to a host of issues, such as hereditary diseases, decreased intelligence, schizophrenia, and volatile personalities marked by anger, arrogance, and irrationality." Albert took a sip of his tea, his tone laced with sarcasm. "Now do you understand why most Dark Wizards tend to be more cruel? It's because they're the result of inbreeding, and they had no choice in how they were born. That's why I call them pitiful—imagine being born with an aggressive temperament or burdened with hereditary illnesses."
Hagrid found Albert's words absurd yet strangely convincing. After all, weren't most Death Eaters those so-called pure-blood wizards? And wasn't inbreeding a common practice among them?
"While the offspring of such unions may possess greater magical power than ordinary wizards, raw power isn't everything in the wizarding world," Albert said, gesturing with his hand. "Intelligence and wit are far more valuable. Even if a genius is born, the odds are slim, and they're likely to be plagued by various hereditary issues."
Ron felt an urge to laugh. The image of Malfoy, with his air of superiority, being reduced to a worthless pitiful creature in Albert's words was amusing.
Ron suddenly leaned forward and retched again, spewing more slugs into the basin.
This seemed to snap the others out of their daze, and they exchanged peculiar looks.
(End of Chapter)
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