Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 118 The Earthworm and the Tree-Protecting Hunchback

The next day, the Christmas holiday began.

Following the attack on Lockhart, an unusually large number of people chose to go home for Christmas this year, leaving the once bustling castle deserted.

The silence was as thick as the snow on the ground, enveloping the entire castle.

However, the remaining people did not feel that there was anything wrong with this at all; on the contrary, they enjoyed this rare tranquility.

On the first day of the holiday, the professors went to Hogsmeade together, supposedly to investigate the details of Lockhart's attack.

Harry and Ron were playing chess in the common room when Sirius decided to go for a walk. However, after leaving the common room, he subconsciously walked to the entrance of the library on the second floor.

A few seconds later, Siren realized that he was not in a position to read more complex Transfiguration books until he had fully digested everything he had already read.

Hagrid is right; you can't just keep reading all the time. You need to give yourself a break every now and then.

Let's go see Hagrid then.

Siren quickly made a decision and left the castle for Hagrid's cabin.

The ground outside was covered with a thick layer of snow, making it difficult to walk. When Xiren arrived at the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid was just about to go out.

"I've heard about it." As soon as Hagrid saw Siren, he gave him an encouraging smile.

"Believe me, Dumbledore would never expel a student without cause based on just a few words written by someone unknown."

“I almost forgot about it if you hadn’t mentioned it.” Xiren smiled. “Very few people have ever mentioned it to me, and I hadn’t paid much attention to it.”

"That's good."

"Where are you going?" Xiren asked.

“Go visit Lu Wei,” Hagrid said, picking up a large metal bucket from the side, which contained large chunks of raw, bloody meat.

"Tomorrow is Christmas, and I've prepared its favorite moose meat."

Upon hearing Lu Wei's name, Xiren instinctively wanted to go back, but after thinking about it, she changed her mind.

"Can I come with you?"

He wanted to try to ease the tension with Cerberus; after all, with Hagrid around, there was no need to worry about safety.

However, Hagrid rejected him.

“That won’t do. Lu Wei lives deep in the Forbidden Forest, and students are not allowed to go there.”

“But school’s already on holiday,” Celen said. “Besides, I went to the Forbidden Forest when I was in first grade.”

“That’s different.” Hagrid shook his head. “That time it was a punishment of solitary confinement.”

“But I don’t think it was punishment. It was a wonderful experience that I still remember vividly.” Xiren glanced in the direction of the Forbidden Forest, as if he could still see the scene when the unicorn spirit stood in front of him.

"And with you by my side, I definitely won't encounter any danger, right?"

“Of course, as long as you’re with me, no creature in the Forbidden Forest will harm you,” Hagrid said. “Alright, I can take you to the Forbidden Forest, but you must promise me you won’t run away like last time, and you must stay close to me.”

Siren suddenly disappeared for a while when she was in the Forbidden Forest last time, which terrified Hagrid.

Fortunately, he reappeared later and miraculously led them to the dying unicorn.

Hagrid couldn't understand how Celen knew the unicorn's location so precisely.

“Of course, I promise I’ll go with you this time,” Xiren said. “But could you take me to a place with a lot of Bowtruckles?”

"You like the Bowtruckle?"

“I mainly want to find the trees they live in,” Celen explained. “I wanted to make a few wands during the holidays, but because of the Animagus transformation, I’ve been in the library all year and haven’t bought any wands at all.”

"If we buy it now, the owl will have to fly back and forth for many days."

"Why do we need to buy it? Can't we find the staff you want in this vast Forbidden Forest?" Hagrid said, somewhat displeased.

The Forbidden Forest is full of trees, more than magical creatures. And he is the game keeper at Hogwarts. Why would Siron have to spend money to buy wood?

We can't waste so many Gallon.

“Follow me, we’ll be passing by a few places where Bowtruckles live. I’ve seen those little guys several times.” Hagrid picked up the iron bucket and strode into the woods.

Xilun was about to follow, but then he remembered something.

"Wait a minute, Hagrid, just wait a few minutes."

Xilun ran into the pumpkin patch not far away, forcefully lifted up several large rocks, and grabbed a few gray insects from under the rocks.

After doing all this, he hurriedly caught up with Haig.

"Okay, let's go."

The forbidden forest is much more welcoming during the day than at night, with beams of light filtering through the leaves to form bright pillars.

Hagrid walked beside Siren, in a spot where he could just catch a glimpse of him out of the corner of his eye. "You should have told me sooner," he said, pushing aside a bush. "When I'm collecting unicorn tail hairs, I can also gather some branches for you, so you won't have to make a special trip."

“I’m afraid it’s a little different from what you think, Hagrid,” Siren sighed. “Choosing the staff shaft is much more complicated than choosing the staff core.”

“It’s just a branch, what’s the trouble?” Hagrid said dismissively. “Oh, we’re here.”

He stopped in front of a huge beech tree.

This tree is the thickest in the area, and despite a heavy snowfall last night, it still maintains its lush and verdant appearance.

Through the shadows of the trees, you can vaguely see a few small green creatures peeking out and looking this way.

Those are Bowtruckles, which usually only appear on trees with magical properties and are the most beloved magical creatures among wand makers.

Seemingly drawn by the scent of pine oil and resin on Xilun, several of the bolder Bowtruckles hopped onto the lowest branch, blinking their bright black eyes and curiously examining him.

“These little creatures like you very much,” Hagrid said softly. “I don’t know how many times I’ve walked this road, but they’ve never come near me on their own.”

“They just like the smell of pine resin on me, which is used to maintain wands. Wand makers all have this smell,” Siron explained.

He stretched out his hand, holding a mud bug he had just caught from under a rock in his palm.

"Come and eat, don't be shy," Xilun said softly.

The humped cactus on the branch was noticeably more restless than before, but it didn't immediately come down to eat the earthworm in Xilun's hand.

Xilun waited patiently, and after about two minutes, a greedy Bowtruckle jumped into Xilun's hands and carried away the earthworm.

Xilun released another burrowing beetle, and this time the burrowing beetles jumped down even faster. By the time the third one came down, a small line had even formed on the branch, with several burrowing beetles craning their necks and eagerly waiting for their turn.

Xilun was somewhat surprised.

Surprisingly, the hunchbacks protecting the trees in the forbidden forest are quite well-behaved.

After all the Bowtruckles had been collected by the locals, Xilun stated his requirements.

"In exchange, could you give me a twig?"

Several hunchbacked trees that had caught the earthworm nodded, turned around, and jumped to the top of a higher tree.

When they returned, they brought with them what Xilun wanted: a branch about thirty inches long with a few tender leaves.

The hunchbacks, together, lifted the huge thing and shakily handed it to Xilun.

"Thank you," Xilun said with satisfaction.

The presence of tender leaves indicates that it was just cut from the tree, and judging from its condition, it should be a thin branch from the top of the tree, which is also the part where the magical reaction is most active.

After a mutually satisfactory transaction, Siron followed Hagrid deeper into the Forbidden Forest.

"Is this necessary?" Hagrid asked curiously. "Does making a wand require a branch that the Bowtruckle breaks off on the spot?"

“Not necessarily, but the Bowtruckle can always help you pick the best branch from a tree,” Celen said. “Of course, if it’s a trunk that’s over a hundred years old, you don’t need to pick; any part will do.”

“For example, brooms taken from the Room of Requirement…” Xiren thought to himself, but he was reluctant to use those.

“If that’s the case, then it’s really difficult for me to help you,” Hagrid said.

Gathering some branches is fine, but if he needs the Bowtruckle's help, he's not sure if he can do it well, since he's never dealt with such a small magical creature before.

I wish these little creatures could grow to ten feet long.

On his way to the depths of the Forbidden Forest, Siron encountered some trees inhabited by hunchbacks, and each time he would use the same method as before, exchanging a burr for a branch.

This insect is very common, mostly hiding in vegetable gardens, under rocks in forests, and on rocks that are difficult for the Bowtruckle to move, which only requires one kick for Siron.

After walking and stopping for nearly two hours, they finally arrived at the place where Lu Wei lived, a huge depression.

At this point, Xilun's morphing lizard skin bag now contained three beech branches, two oak branches, and five fir branches.

Moreover, the closer one gets to the depths of the Forbidden Forest, the more Bowtruckles there are. However, once they reached this point, Siron decided not to trade with them anymore and instinctively moved closer to Hagrid.

The trees here are more lush, and the air seems to be filled with a sense of danger.

Furthermore, since they hadn't seen Cerberus, Celen was still somewhat nervous.

Suddenly, a series of earth-shaking footsteps came from the left. Xilun turned his head sharply and saw a huge creature, at least sixteen feet tall, rushing towards him.

The three heads simultaneously opened their mouths wide, revealing fangs as sharp as daggers.

After so long, Louie's broken teeth had grown back, and they looked much bigger. Its overall size had also increased since last year. When it ran, the ground even seemed to tremble slightly.

In the blink of an eye, Luwei ran up to Siren, but at that moment it also noticed Hagrid, who had put down the iron barrel and started rolling up his sleeves.

This was the first time Xilun had ever seen such clear panic on a dog's face. Louie slammed on the brakes, and its three heads jerked back, carving four deep furrows in the ground.

Finally, after deliberately crashing into a tree, Lou Williams stopped in front of Hagrid and licked his arm with his tongue.

(End of this chapter)