Chapter 803: A Little Interlude
Chapter 803: A Little Interlude
As the weekend arrived, the atmosphere of exams loomed even heavier over Hogwarts Castle. In addition to the fifth and seventh years, the other grades also began to face their end-of-term exams.
Everyone was making the most of the last two days, frantically reviewing the exam topics that had been mentioned in class.
However, there were always exceptions.
Fred, George, and Lee Jordan seemed lethargic after taking their earlier exams, and they didn't seem too concerned about their Potions exam on Monday. Their attitude suggested that revising was out of the question.
The trio obviously didn't plan on attending Snape's Potions class anymore.
In fact, it would be difficult for them to attend his class next semester as well.
Only students who achieved an 'Outstanding' in their O.W.L.s would be eligible to advance to Snape's advanced Potions class, and the number of students across the four houses who could reach this level could be counted on one hand.
Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were quite pleased at the prospect of not having to see Snape's sour face in class anymore, and they were well aware that they had no chance of achieving an Outstanding grade in their O.W.L.s.
Albert, on the other hand, wasn't worried at all. Having just won the Potions Award, his proficiency in Potions far surpassed that of his peers, and the potion he had to brew for the practical exam was chosen from the Potions textbook, so he had no concerns whatsoever.
As for the written exam, he had looked at past years' papers and memorized the supposed key points, so he didn't think the Potions written exam would cause him any trouble.
Well, to be honest, the O.W.L.s exams were just too easy, which had given him a huge boost in confidence.
"If I were you guys, I'd definitely give Snape a big surprise." Albert sat by the window, sipping butterbeer and chatting casually with the three boys who were playing Wizard Chess.
"Let's not bother. Getting an Outstanding in Potions is practically impossible. If we did manage to get an Outstanding grade, that would be the real surprise."
"Kenneth left us the black market."
George poured himself a butterbeer and sat down across from Albert, casually mentioning what had happened last night after Albert went on his date.
The black market?
The Hogwarts black market wasn't a typical black market; it referred to a list of names of students from the four houses who frequently engaged in black market transactions, along with a few secret passage locations that were often used for private deals.
Everyone knew a few of the people on the list, but no one had as detailed a list as the one Kenneth provided.
"Didn't Kenneth ask you for money?" Albert asked suddenly.
"That guy asked for five galleons, but we only gave him one," Fred said, tossing aside his Wizard Chess pieces and flopping into an armchair. "To be honest, I feel like he ripped us off."
"You know what kind of person he is."
Albert didn't know much about the black market. Usually, if you wanted to buy something on the black market, you'd have to find a fixed contact and ask them for the price; in Gryffindor, that person was Kenneth.
"Actually, you guys can try writing directly on the bulletin board about the items you want to trade. Starting next year, you can also try selling joke items at school to build up some reputation before you leave school and open a shop. Once the O.W.L.s are over, you can put up advertisements." Albert offered them some suggestions. "As for the black market, you can also find a secret passage that Filch doesn't know about and set up a bulletin board there, letting people leave messages about what they want to trade and providing a location for the transactions."
"That's not a bad idea, but finding a secret passage that Filch doesn't know about won't be easy." Lee Jordan glanced at Fred and George, for they were the ones most likely to know the school's secret passages better than Filch himself.
George suggested using the secret passage behind the large mirror on the fifth floor as the black market trading spot, since the passage leading outside from there had already collapsed.
Then, they started discussing the name of their future shop.
Since the four of them were involved, they couldn't use their surnames in the shop name.
Magic Joke Shop?
That was the tentative name for now.
Albert wasn't interested in this topic; his naming sense was quite average, as could be seen from the fact that he had named his fat cat 'Tom'.
A gentle summer breeze blew in through the window, bringing with it a hint of sleepiness. Albert yawned and covered his mouth, turning his head to look out the window. Unintentionally, he caught a glimpse of Hagrid at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and it looked like he was carrying... Buckbeak's suitcase?
"I'm going to find Hagrid. Do you guys want to come?" Albert asked the four boys who were discussing shop names.
"You go by yourself!" George replied.
Well, that was an unexpected response.
The trio's relationship with Hagrid could only be described as average.
Albert turned his gaze back to the window and saw that Hagrid had disappeared.
After leaving the common room, Albert took out his map from his pocket, and sure enough, Hagrid wasn't in his hunting hut. He had a pretty good idea what Hagrid was up to.
"Is he planning to return Buckbeak to the flock of hippogriffs?"
Albert could understand Hagrid's reluctance to keep Buckbeak locked up, but he still thought Hagrid was taking too big of a risk. Hagrid should have at least discussed it with him first.
"These guys, they're all so unreliable!"
Albert grumbled as he walked into the eighth-floor boys' bathroom.
An hour earlier, as Albert had walked out of the boys' bathroom, intending to go to Hagrid's hut, he had suddenly thought of something and slowed down.
"Could it be that because I changed Hagrid's mind, he's planning to send Buckbeak back to the hippogriffs' herd?" Albert paused in his tracks, hesitating for a moment before deciding to secretly follow Hagrid later to see what he was up to.
"So, what should we do now?"
Albert suddenly felt a little down and finally decided to go to the Room of Requirement to read, using it as an opportunity to review for his Potions exam.
There, he met Katrina, who was also reviewing for the Potions exam, and the two chatted casually about the key points of the exam.
Time flew by as they talked, and Albert checked his pocket watch, realizing it was almost time. He cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself and made his way to the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest to wait for Hagrid.
Soon enough, Albert emerged from behind a tree trunk when he saw Hagrid enter the forest with the suitcase.
"What are you doing here?" Hagrid was very surprised.
"You should have discussed this with me first." Albert's tone carried a hint of reproach. "At the very least, I could have given you some advice."
"Sorry, I didn't want to bother you. I know how important the O.W.L.s exams are for you guys." Hagrid looked at Albert, his gaze involuntarily drifting towards the suitcase. "But he's been cooped up in there for too long, and he looks quite down."
Hagrid obviously cared deeply for Buckbeak and felt that the conditions in the suitcase were less than ideal, so he had planned to release Buckbeak without Albert's knowledge.
"Can you find the hippogriffs' herd?" Albert asked.
"Of course." Hagrid patted his chest confidently. "I know the location of every one of their nests in the Forbidden Forest."
"Aren't you afraid someone will follow you?" Albert said in a slightly annoyed tone, pulling a badge from his pocket and tossing it to Hagrid.
He wanted to make sure that this operation was carried out discreetly and thoroughly, not wanting to be implicated in any unforeseen way.
"What's this?" Hagrid glanced at the badge in his palm and asked curiously.
"It's a Blocker. With this, others won't be able to locate you through spells, and owls won't be able to find you either."
"Thanks."
Hagrid smiled and tucked the badge into his pocket. Then, he gestured to Albert, saying, "I guess you're planning to come with me, then."
"How far is it from here?" Albert asked.
"About half an hour's walk." Hagrid gave a rough estimate of the time.
"It shouldn't be within the hunting grounds of those Acromantulas, right?" Albert asked with concern.
"Don't worry, I think those Acromantulas have probably forgotten about you by now." Hagrid understood Albert's wariness of the giant spiders.
"Who knows." Albert pulled out his broomstick from his pocket and sat on it. "I'm not taking any chances with my life."
As he spoke, Albert pulled out another object from his pocket.
"You always seem to have some strange gadgets on you."
Hagrid looked at the watch-like object in Albert's hand and asked curiously, "What's that?"
"It's a Wizard Radar; it can detect the presence of other wizards within a one-kilometer radius." Albert explained nonchalantly, "It works on a similar principle to the Sneakoscope, and it also utilizes the Human Presence Spell. Well, explaining this to you is probably pointless."
Of course, like many of Albert's inventions, this one was also a work in progress.
"So, you're planning to use that to check if anyone is spying on us?" Hagrid guessed the function of the device.
"Yes." Albert raised his wand and gently tapped the suitcase, casting a Disillusionment Charm on it to hide it from view. He didn't want Hagrid to be carrying a conspicuous suitcase and attract unwanted attention, even though the chances of encountering anyone were slim.
Just then, the Wizard Radar reacted, and Albert saw several red dots rapidly approaching their location.
"Hagrid, someone's coming." Albert intended to pull out a piece of Invisibility Cloth from his pouch to cover the two of them, but the red dots on the radar were moving too fast.
"What's going on?" Hagrid asked, concerned.
"I don't know." Albert frowned slightly, feeling that he should have stopped Hagrid from coming along.
Above them, several witches and wizards on broomsticks flew by.
"What is it, Hagrid?" Albert looked up at the sky and then back at Hagrid, who was frowning beside him, once the group had passed.
"Probably poachers." Hagrid's face darkened. It was rare for poachers to venture so boldly into the Forbidden Forest, as it was more dangerous than they imagined.
"Today is really not a good day to be out." Albert muttered, "Are you still planning to release Buckbeak back to his herd?"
Hagrid hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Even if he wanted to do something, he couldn't, as they didn't know how to fly.
"By the way, did you release the hippogriffs in the Forbidden Forest as well?" Albert deliberately changed the subject.
"No, hippogriffs are quite common in Europe. I encountered them when I was working as the gamekeeper here at Hogwarts." Hagrid was successfully distracted by Albert's question. "It's said that hippogriffs came about due to wizards. They are the product of a cross between a griffin and a horse."
In fact, many of the strange creatures in the wizarding world were the result of wizarding experiments, such as the Blast-Ended Skrewts that would appear next semester, which were a cross between Manticores and Fire Crabs.
What's more, they couldn't breed like donkeys, so the wizarding world was now faced with an entirely new creature.
"They usually start laying their eggs in mid-July."
"Eggs?"
"Yes, large and fragile eggs that hatch within twenty-four hours," Hagrid explained. "During the egg-laying period, the nests of Hippogriffs become extremely dangerous, and they will attack any creature that ventures too close."
Albert was momentarily at a loss for words—who would've thought they were egg-layers?
"Hippogriffs usually start attempting flight within a week and can fly long distances after a few months. During winter, they typically migrate south with their parents in search of food," Hagrid continued his lecture.
"To be honest, you should be sharing this knowledge with your students. They need to learn about these creatures," Albert suggested.
"That's a brilliant idea! I'll prepare a similar lesson for next semester. I already have a good idea for a trial run during the summer break," Hagrid said earnestly.
Albert couldn't help but silently mourn for the others.
As he followed Hagrid forward, he instinctively glanced at the Wizard Radar in his hand, narrowing his eyes.
When?
He handed the Wizard Radar to Hagrid, who looked at it and then started to turn back, but Albert stopped him.
"I'll scout ahead. You might get lost," Albert said, and then flew forward on his broomstick.
Soon enough, he circled back and quickly located the four male witches trailing behind them at a distance of about a hundred feet in the air.
The four of them were just hovering there, not saying a word, silently tailing Hagrid.
Albert drew out his wand and cast a wide-range Stunning Spell in their direction. As the red light exploded into mist in the air, the four poachers finally reacted, maneuvering their brooms to dodge the spell's area of effect. However, it was too late, and the spell affected them, causing their consciousness to blur. They didn't have time to react before they were struck by the spell and knocked off their brooms.
Of course, due to the nature of the spell, they didn't suffer any fatal injuries from the fall, but they were now fast asleep.
Hagrid stared at them in astonishment. "How did you do that?"
"Of course, it was a sneak attack. They were simply caught off guard," Albert said matter-of-factly.
"What are you going to do now?" Hagrid asked.
"Let's find out their intentions first, then we'll decide," Albert said as he tied them up and woke one of the witches. He then directly performed Legilimens on him.
The witch's memories flashed before Albert's eyes. He saw the four young men meeting at the Hog's Head, hearing rumors of an Acromantula breeding ground in the Forbidden Forest. They had come to take a chance, but instead of finding the giant spiders, they had stumbled upon Hagrid and recognized him, deciding to follow him discreetly, hoping to stumble upon something valuable.
They were just a bunch of luck-seekers venturing into the Forbidden Forest, hoping to strike it rich.
"What are you going to do now?" Hagrid frowned and asked. Every year, there were people like this who ventured into the Forbidden Forest in search of fortune, but very few actually succeeded.
"I'll confiscate their tools and wipe their memories. When they wake up, they'll naturally leave on their own," Albert replied.
In fact, if they hadn't followed him and Hagrid, Albert wouldn't have bothered with them at all.
"Alright, let's do that," Hagrid agreed.
After the four witches woke up, they found themselves inexplicably lying on the ground with their wands missing. They quickly flew away, and Hagrid and Albert watched them leave.
"Do you think they'll come back?" Hagrid asked, looking down at Albert.
"I don't know," Albert said as he handed Hagrid's wand back to him. "Do you want to give it a try?"
"When I was expelled, the Ministry of Magic stripped me of my wizard qualifications and prohibited me from carrying or using a wand," Hagrid said bitterly.
"I can make you an extendable walking stick or an extendable umbrella. That way, you can always carry it with you," Albert comforted him. "You don't have to worry about these issues as long as no one finds out. It's not illegal."
"Can that be done?" Hagrid asked in surprise.
"There are always loopholes in the law," Albert said disdainfully. "Moreover, most laws are meant to constrain ordinary people. I'm sure you've experienced this firsthand after your incident with Lucius Malfoy."
Hagrid was astonished by Albert's words, but he had to admit that they were true. The laws of the Ministry of Magic had been so absurd and laughable when dealing with Lucius Malfoy.
In the end, Hagrid didn't let Albert make him such a thing, and the two of them did not go to the Hippogriff's nest. Instead, they released Buckbeak near the nest.
"Go back and live with your companions," Hagrid said sadly as he stroked Buckbeak's head. He then unlocked the chains binding the Hippogriff and said to Albert, "I shouldn't have brought them into the classroom."
"It's not your fault," Albert comforted him softly. "Let's go back."
"Go on, Buckbeak. I'll come to visit you sometimes," Hagrid waved goodbye to Buckbeak, who was flying away while looking back at them. "I really hate to see him leave."
"Keeping him here won't bring you any benefits. Buckbeak belongs in the wild," Albert said, watching the Hippogriff soar into the distance. "At least you can occasionally come back to visit him."
(End of Chapter)
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