Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 140 The Snake Monster Appears Again

After Dumbledore left the school, everything at Hogwarts seemed unchanged. Everyone still went to get out of class every day and prepared for the upcoming exams.

At first, Sirius felt something was off, thinking the timing of the letter was too coincidental, but he soon realized that Dumbledore's departure from the school also seemed strange.

So after breakfast, Xilun put the matter out of his mind and acted as if nothing had happened.

That evening, Celen went to the Forbidden Forest and found Hagrid, telling him that Professor Kettleburn was retiring.

When he arrived, Hagrid was packing up his mole-skin coat; it was getting hotter and he no longer needed to wear it.

"Of course I know Professor Kettleburn. We often go to the Three Brooms for drinks together, and he even gave me a very interesting book for Christmas."

Hagrid, holding a clothes brush, dusted off the pebbles on his coat and said to Siren, "Speaking of which, I even took his class."

He stopped what he was doing, seemingly lost in memories.

"That was my first time taking a class on protecting magical creatures. Professor Kettleburn told us that the Hungarian hornet has the best bite force among the dragons, but the Peruvian venomous fang dragon is the most dangerous."

"I really enjoyed his class, but I was expelled not long afterward."

Hagrid paused for a moment, then continued to dust off his coat, taking the contents out of his pockets and placing them aside.

“You’ve taken all his classes…” Siron asked incredulously, “Professor Kettleburn taught at Hogwarts for that long?”

Hagrid was probably expelled fifty years ago, which means he's been at Hogwarts for at least fifty years, longer than Professor McGonagall's teaching tenure.

"It should be more than sixty years ago," Hagrid thought for a moment.

“I remember someone mentioning when we were drinking before that before Professor Dumbledore became the principal, Professor Kettleburn was placed on probation sixty-two times for illegally keeping dangerous magical creatures, averaging twice a year.”

Xilun didn't bother to calculate the time; his attention was focused on the sixty-two times he had reserved the item for review.

Normally, a Hogwarts professor would be dismissed after three probationary periods... How strong must Professor Kettleburn's professional abilities be to remain teaching at the school after undergoing sixty-two "probationary periods"?

Moreover, these sixty-two times were not his limit, but rather the limit of Principal Armando Dippert, who served as principal for exactly thirty-one years.

“If you ask me, Professor Kettleburn really should retire…” Hagrid hung his coat on a hook on the roof. “Lately, every time I go out for a drink with him, he seems to be missing something, even his prosthetic leg has been replaced several times.”

"He's finding it increasingly difficult to deal with those little guys in the Forbidden Forest now."

“I don’t think those in the Forbidden Forest are little guys,” Siron muttered under his breath before continuing, “Who do you think can take over as professor of the Conservation of Magical Creatures class after Professor Kettleburn retires?”

“I don’t know,” Hagrid said. “Dumbledore will definitely arrange for someone to do it.”

"Has he not come looking for you?"

"What does he want with me?" Hagrid turned his head in confusion. "What happened at the castle this time?"

“No.” Celen shook his head. “I mean, don’t you want to be the professor? The new professor of the Conservation of Magical Creatures class.”

A loud crash echoed from inside the house, and Hagrid's copper kettle slipped from his hand, spilling water all over the floor.

Several seconds passed before he hurriedly bent down and picked up the copper kettle.

"Don't joke around, Sirius. Why would Dumbledore make me a professor?" he said with a smile, not taking it seriously at all.

"So Headmaster Dumbledore really didn't come to see you?"

“Of course not,” Hagrid said. “What’s wrong with you today?”

“It’s nothing,” Celen said. “I just think you’d be a good fit for that position.”

“Thank you, Celen.” Hagrid brought over the rock bread. “This is the best compliment I’ve ever heard. But is it appropriate for you to come to me at this time?”

"If I remember correctly, you should have your exams coming up soon."

"It's just a second-year exam, it's not important."

“No, Siron, you’re wrong,” Hagrid said seriously. “All exams are important, because they’re related to your jobs after graduation.”

Although Celen felt that his job after graduation might not have much to do with his exam scores, he nodded in agreement seeing Hagrid's serious expression.

"Okay, I'll do my best on the exam."

Hagrid was one of the few students expelled from Hogwarts, which is why he was particularly concerned about things like exams.

After chatting for a while longer, Hagrid decided to send Xiren back.

Curfew will start any later, and if we go back then, we'll easily get caught by Filch, which would be a real problem.

“I can get back by myself.” Celen looked at Hagrid walking beside him. “It’s such a short distance, how could I possibly get lost?”

“Of course you won’t get lost,” Hagrid said, following Siren up the steps to the gate. “But I was just coming to the castle anyway, so we can come together.”

"What brings you to the castle?" Siren asked curiously. "Are you looking for the headmaster?"

“Yes,” Hagrid said. “This afternoon, one of my roosters went missing. It must have been stolen by a vampire. I need the headmaster’s permission to cast a spell around the henhouse.”

"What did you say..." Siren stopped abruptly at the entrance of the auditorium. "Someone killed your rooster?"

“It was stolen, not killed,” Hagrid said. He thought Siron was overreacting; losing a rooster near the Forbidden Forest was perfectly normal. And it wouldn't be difficult to resolve; a simple spell would do the trick. He mistakenly thought Siron was afraid of vampires, so he explained, “Don’t worry, vampires aren’t vampires. They’re just some kind of magical creature that only steals poultry and small livestock; they don’t dare enter the castle.”

"No, Hagrid, I..."

Before Xilun could say anything, he was interrupted by a loud crash.

The sound seemed to be coming from inside the castle walls, and it was intermittent screams mixed in with the noise.

Screams...

Xiren instinctively took out his wand, and with a flick of his wrist, a spellbook immediately appeared on his shoulder.

Hagrid, standing nearby, also took a heavy stick out of his pocket.

"What's going on?" Hagrid asked in surprise. The walls on both sides were still rumbling, dust was everywhere, and the whole castle seemed to be shaking.

"I don't know," Xilun said, though he had a vague guess in his mind.

It couldn't be Harry and his friends...

The thought had barely crossed his mind when he saw two figures rushing towards him.

Because it was nighttime and they were far apart, Xilun couldn't see their faces clearly, only that one had black hair and the other had long hair.

It couldn't be... well, it really is Harry and Hermione.

But it's so late, why aren't they playing games? What are they doing in the lobby?
At the same time, Harry and Hermione saw Siren and Hagrid ahead and ran towards them with all their might.

"Run!" Harry shouted. "Quick, quick, find the headmaster and McGonagall..."

"boom!"

His words were drowned out by a deafening roar, louder than the previous ones, the force of which caused the side wall of the foyer to collapse.

Then, a huge snake, as thick as an oak tree trunk, rushed out from the collapsed wall.

Hagrid immediately shielded the three behind him, but when he looked up, he met a pair of cold, yellow eyes.

Hagrid felt a sudden tightness all over his body, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him, and he couldn't help but shiver.

Fortunately, at that moment, a warm current surged from his right palm, as if he were wearing a thick coat, and the previous cold feeling disappeared.

"What is this thing!" Hagrid stared at the enormous snake, which was at least fifty feet long, and felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.

Are there really such large snakes?

The Neamon snake should be able to grow this big, but it doesn't have three heads.

"How...you're not dead!"

Suddenly, the basilisk spoke, and it was Tom Riddle's voice.

This instantly brought Hagrid to his senses. A fifty-foot-long, talking snake was clearly not a normal thing.

"Who are you?" His expression gradually turned serious. "Wait, I think I've heard your voice before!"

“Ah, Rubeus Hagrid…” the basilisk spoke again. “Filthy, lowly half-giant, no wonder you’re still alive after seeing the basilisk’s eyes.”

"Who are you...you are...oh no, it's been fifty years, you can't be him."

"It's Tom Riddle!" Harry exclaimed, snapping out of his daze at the fact that Hagrid was still alive. "He opened the Chamber of Secrets, and this snake is the monster inside."

"No, no, no, it should be you who opened the secret chamber." The basilisks coiled together, looking down at them.

"I should thank you, you actually helped me..." The basilisk's voice suddenly stopped, just as it saw another person behind Hagrid.

"Ciaron Ollivander!"

The venomous voice seemed to be imbued with bone-chilling hatred, sending chills down one's spine just by listening to it.

"Kill you, kill you!"

Without any hesitation, the basilisk charged forward instantly, opening its mouth to reveal two rows of venomous fangs as sharp as military knives.

"Run!" Hagrid roared, then turned and swung the stick in his hand with all his might.

The basilisk only had eyes for Siren, who was turning and running away, and didn't pay any attention to Hagrid's attack. It even tried to knock Hagrid away.

After all, even Hagrid seemed insignificant in the face of the Basilisk.

But the Basilisk was clearly not the first to think this way. After Cerberus, the Basilisk also witnessed the power of a half-giant.

When Hagrid's club came down, the basilisk's head was immediately knocked off balance and slammed heavily against the wall next to it.

Several sharp teeth, still covered in blood and flesh, were knocked away and embedded in a portrait with a thud.

……

(End of this chapter)