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Chapter 644: Hagrid's Return
Chapter 644: Hagrid's Return
After leaving the school hospital, Kyle didn't send the letter right away. Instead, he waited until noon before heading to the Owlery with the letter and the recently delivered photos in hand.
Ratton was too distinctive, and Kyle wasn't sure if Lucius would turn it away to avoid any association with him. So, it was better to choose another owl for the task.
Kyle scanned the owls in the Owlery and soon settled on a barn owl with yellowish-brown plumage. He attached the envelope to its leg.
"Then I'll trouble you."
The owl nodded and flapped its wings, taking flight.
Just as Kyle was about to head back to the castle, he turned and found himself staring into a pair of sharp eyes.
"Ah, Ratton...there you are. I couldn't find you earlier..." Kyle muttered dryly, "Actually, well...this isn't a pleasant errand...you didn't need to come personally..."
As soon as Kyle started speaking, the feathers on Ratton's neck stood up, making it look like an oversized Bludger.
It paid no heed to Kyle's explanation and angrily clicked its beak, making a dull clacking sound, before spreading its wings and flying off.
"I should've come when it wasn't around," Kyle said, rubbing his forehead.
Just as he was about to chase after it, he suddenly heard an angry roar.
"Get away... you beast, get away!"
Kyle quickly picked up his pace.
Outside the Owlery, Filch was brandishing a hooked stick vigorously.
Above him were two owls—one was Ratton, angrily hovering in mid-air, dodging Filch's stick while swiping at his head with its large wings.
Ratton's strength was unmatched by ordinary owls, and each swipe sent Filch stumbling backward.
Alongside Ratton was a white snowy owl.
"Hedwig?" Kyle called out.
The white owl immediately flew over and landed on Kyle's shoulder.
It was then that Kyle noticed her feathers were unusually ruffled, with many bent backward, and one of her wings was injured, bent at an odd angle. She also had a letter clasped in her talons.
"Ratton, wait a moment," Kyle called out.
Whether it was because it had had enough or because it heard Kyle's voice, Ratton stopped pestering Filch and flew to perch on a nearby tree.
Enraged, Filch threw the stick he was holding, but the next second, the stick veered and landed in Kyle's hand.
The hook at the end of the stick had a white feather caught in it.
"Filch, are you intercepting students' letters?" Kyle asked coldly.
"This is a normal inspection," Filch huffed, "Give that back to me, or else..."
"Crack!"
In front of Filch, Kyle threw the stick to the ground and crushed it underfoot.
Hedwig let out an excited hoot.
"Inspection? How come I didn't know Hogwarts would inspect students' letters in such a manner?"
Filch was startled by this sudden action and took a couple of steps back.
But soon he mustered his courage and said defiantly, "This is approved by Professor Umbridge. I'm just following her instructions."
"Nonsense," Kyle narrowed his eyes, "Intercepting letters privately is a violation of the Wizarding Law. As a senior undersecretary at the Ministry of Magic, how could Professor Umbridge allow you to do such a thing? Don't you dare slander her."
Filch's face turned pale.
Of course, he knew that what he was doing was illegal, but he was indeed carrying out Umbridge's orders.
However, Kyle had no intention of continuing the conversation or giving him a chance to explain.
"I'll inform the professors about this," Kyle said and left the Owlery with Hedwig, heading back toward the castle.
Along the way, Hedwig let out a soft hoot twice, then flew toward Gryffindor Tower, presumably to deliver the letter to Harry.
Kyle had intended to get a bottle of Owl Treats from the dormitory to send to Harry, but as he reached the castle gate, he suddenly stopped.
Not far away, at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, smoke was billowing from the chimney of a wooden house that had been quiet for a long time.
"Is Hagrid back?"
Kyle immediately changed direction, crossing the frosty grass and quickly arriving at the wooden door. He knocked twice.
A familiar bark echoed from within the house.
"Kyle...how did you know I was back?" Hagrid's voice sounded pleased.
"I saw the smoke..." Kyle said, "Someone must have been using the fireplace."
"I should've figured." Hagrid chuckled, "Come in...move aside, Fang, don't block the way..."
Hagrid opened the door a little wider, and as soon as Kyle squeezed inside, he quickly shut the door again.
The room had a strong musty smell, but Kyle ignored it and stared at Hagrid intently.
There were dark red bloodstains in his hair, his eyes were swollen shut, his chin was still bleeding, and he was missing a couple of teeth. It looked like someone had given him a brutal beating, the kind where he was pinned to the ground and pummeled.
"I'm fine..." Hagrid said, his hand covering his eyes, "I could use a drink...oh, the tea's gone moldy. How about some water in this blasted weather?"
"It was the giants, then." Kyle stated abruptly.
Hagrid's hand froze, "What?"
"I'm saying," Kyle asserted, "The injuries on your face were inflicted by giants, weren't they?"
"No, it wasn't..." Hagrid denied weakly, his voice small.
"Then what was it?" Kyle's voice remained calm, "There are no magic marks on you, indicating that it wasn't a wizard, and a regular wizard couldn't possibly beat you up like this with their fists."
"It...it was a Hungarian Horntail..." Hagrid's eyes shifted uneasily, "I went to Romania..."
"Sorry, forgive my ignorance..." Kyle raised an eyebrow, "But as far as I know, no Hungarian Horntail enjoys hand-to-hand combat. They usually prefer to use their flames."
Kyle surveyed him up and down, "But there are no burn marks on you from flames."
"Oh, I must've been mistaken, it was a Chimaera..."
"The Chimaera's most powerful weapons are its fangs and claws."
"I..."
"Hagrid, are you testing my knowledge of magical creatures?"
"Bang!"
A copper kettle was placed heavily on the stove.
"I know your Care of Magical Creatures class is one of the best in the school." Hagrid grumbled resignedly, "But right now, I really wish you weren't so smart."
"So you admit it, then?" Kyle said with a smile.
"This isn't something a kid your age should be poking into." Hagrid fixed him with a stern gaze from his uninjured eye, "Don't ask, Kyle. This matter is top-secret, and I won't talk about it."
"Alright then." Kyle said readily.
This took Hagrid by surprise. He had just come up with a plausible excuse, but it seemed he wouldn't need it after all.
He suddenly remembered that Kyle, unlike Harry and the others, didn't have a habit of prying into everything...
"It's a good thing there were two of them." Hagrid thought thankfully.
On some critical matters, he felt he could hoodwink Harry, but it would be absolutely impossible with Kyle.
If Kyle were like Harry, always wanting to get to the bottom of things, then Dumbledore's top-secret task for him would have been a complete failure...
Additionally, some information he didn't want others to know about, such as what he had hidden in the Forbidden Forest, would likely be exposed...
"I just want to know which side the giants are on." Kyle continued, "Is that why you went to contact them, as Dumbledore's messenger?"
Hagrid's smile gradually faded, and his expression turned solemn.
"They were originally on our side." He said, "But Gogo, the giant's leader...you know about him, right?"
Kyle nodded.
"The Gogo we contacted had his head cut off on the third day by another giant called Gogmagog, using a fairy-forged sword."
"A fairy sword?" Kyle said, "That definitely wasn't from you, was it?"
"It was from a Death Eater." Hagrid's voice grew somber, "Macnair, a madman, just like Gogmagog, who loves killing. They got along swimmingly."
"So, are we going to be facing all the giants now?"
"Perhaps not all of them..." Hagrid said, "In any case, something happened in between, and the giants started fighting among themselves. Olim and I managed to convince six or seven giants...if they refuse to submit to Gogmagog's rule...they might come over to our side."
"How many giants are there in total?" Kyle asked.
"Hmm...about seventy or eighty."
...
(End of Chapter)
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