Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts.

Chapter 168 The Giant Clan in the Valley

After two days of hiking, on the third day after entering the forest, Severus finally sensed the presence of magic.

Furthermore, compared to the places we had passed through before, this place showed significantly less sign of human activity; only a wizard could have achieved such an effect by casting a Muggle banishment spell over this large area.

As they ventured deeper into the mountains, the common wild animals that were once everywhere became increasingly rare, replaced by magical creatures that were only recorded in wizard encyclopedias!
"It's Mangosteen."

Lupin spoke after seeing a fungus with eyes and a slightly greenish surface.

As if startled by his voice, the little creature that had been resting stretched out countless thin limbs and hurriedly crawled away.

Draco also spotted an animal he had never seen before.

It looked like a plump pink mushroom, but when Draco went around the big tree blocking his way, he found that there was more than one of these strange creatures, but a whole bunch of them, covering an area almost the size of a basketball court!
He felt a chill.

"what are these?"

Severus glanced in his direction and spoke.

"It's the Hokrap. Originally, this little pest was only found in the Scandinavian Peninsula, but now it has spread to most parts of Europe. They have strong tentacles that hide deep underground, feed on earthworms, and reproduce very quickly. Some wizards' gardens in Northern Europe have been severely affected by them, but just one pint of chameleon venom is enough to wipe them out."

They bypassed the Hokrap group, but after taking only a couple of steps, Harry suddenly felt an itch on his head.

He reached out to scratch, but instead touched a furry creature on his head.

This startled him, and he let out a cry of surprise, drawing the attention of Severus and the others!

Upon seeing the thing above Harry's head, Severus and Lupin both looked relieved.

"Relax! Dudley, don't be afraid, it's not a vicious animal."

“It likes you a lot, you can try lifting it off your head.”

Even after hearing what Severus and Lupin said, Harry was still very nervous. His whole body was tense, and he stood there stiffly as if he had been petrified. Then, he slowly took the hairy, soft, ball-like creature off his head with both hands.

It was indeed a small, round ball, plump and covered in soft, creamy-yellow fur, with a pair of harmless black eyes staring back at him.

"Tch, it's just a fluffy thing," Draco said dismissively.

He seemed quite familiar with such creatures.

Harry had never heard the name before, but after seeing the fluffy little ball in person, he was no longer afraid of it at all. Instead, he was amazed and lifted it high in the air.

"Pu Rongrong? Is that what it's called?"

"Yes, that's the name the wizard gave it. It's a magical animal that's harmless and can eat anything, especially dried boogers. It's a very popular pet in many wizarding households."

Harry was initially quite curious and fond of the little pom-pom in his hand, but after hearing Severus say that it liked to eat boogers, he became somewhat disgusted.

He held it in both hands and carefully placed the fluffy thing on the ground. Under its expectant little eyes, Harry waved his hand.

"I don't have any boogers for you to eat."

“You definitely have it,” Draco scoffed. “Otherwise, why would it specifically target you!”

Harry ignored his accusations, but the fluffy creature he had put down seemed to have a special connection with him, quickly sticking back to him and rolling around to block his way.

The fluffy ball blinked its big, dark eyes, still looking at Harry expectantly.

This left Harry somewhat at a loss, and he could only turn to look at Severus and Lupin.

Lupin suggested.

"Actually, it's very clean and not as difficult to care for as you might think. Plus, it likes you so much. If you can accept that, why not keep it for now?"

After hesitating for a few seconds, Harry picked up Puffy again from the ground. It looked very happy, its little black eyes blinking, and it rolled around a few times in Harry's hand.

"They like to be tossed around in people's hands, and they are magical creatures, not so easily hurt, so you don't have to be so careful."

Guided by Lupin, Harry tried to tossing the fluffy thing up and then catching it again. It looked very happy, bouncing around in Harry's hand as if it wanted to do it again.

Now, Harry really thought having such a little pet wasn't so bad!

Severus, on the other hand, kept looking around after the fluffy creature appeared, and Lupin only noticed his odd behavior when Harry started to accept his new pet and show it off to Draco.

"Is there anything wrong?"

Severus shrugged.

"There's nothing wrong with it, but wild pufferfish usually live together in groups to survive, but this one didn't have any companions with it."

"Perhaps it was one that accidentally got separated from the group during migration?" Lupin guessed. "This kind of thing is not uncommon. The larger the magical animal group, the more likely this situation is to occur."

"you're right."

Severus spoke as if he didn't care about the matter, but in reality, he still stretched out his wand and tapped it on the fluffy creature. No one knew what he did.

After this brief hiccup, they continued on their planned route.

As they ventured deeper, they encountered more and more magical creatures, including some that would be considered dangerous to ordinary wizards.

However, both Lupin and Severus could easily deal with them.

However, when they encounter dangerous magical creatures that live in groups and usually move in packs, Harry and Draco will always keep their distance to protect themselves and avoid getting into trouble.

Finally, on the evening of the fourth day, Severus and his three companions arrived at the entrance to the valley surrounded by several small hills.

The trees here are noticeably sparser than in other places, and some trees even bear the marks of being broken by humans. The surroundings are extremely open, and there is a fast-flowing stream that branches off from a small river in the forest and runs into the valley!

As soon as he stepped into this area, Lupin, with his extensive experience as a wanderer, narrowed his eyes slightly. "This place is very suitable for some humanoid magical creature races to live in."

Severus did not answer him, but simply pointed to a huge creature by the stream not far away.

"Look there, and you'll know the answer."

Lupin and Harry all followed Severus's finger and looked in that direction. Sure enough, they saw a giant with dull, rough skin, like granite, under a big tree by the creek!

It looked extremely strange; its body leaned against the big tree like a small hill, and its small, bald head, like a coconut, grew on its massive body, giving people a strong sense of incongruity.

And on that small head grew a pair of ears as big as palm fans, making it look even uglier.

Upon seeing the monster, both Harry and Draco instinctively held their breath!
Although they were still quite far away, they could already feel the oppressive presence of this creature.

Severus, however, looked at it with great interest, and then turned to Lupin to ask him a question.

Have you ever learned Trollish?

Lu Ping shrugged.

"He can say a few words. The most famous expert in troll language in Britain should be old Barty Crouch, whom you saved. His erudition is recognized throughout the wizarding world. It's a pity he's not very good at teaching his son."

"Because of his son's situation, even though the Ministry of Magic, considering his contributions to the wizarding world over the years, did not imprison Crouch in Azkaban, they still sent him to Tristan Wizarding Prison to retire."

Severus led the way toward the sleeping giant.

"We can't get his help; we can only try on our own first."

Harry had already placed the fluffy creature on his shoulder, where it had become its new habitat.

Upon seeing Severus and Lupin move forward, the two boys exchanged a scrutinizing glance, as if trying to see fear on each other's faces.

Clearly, they were both disappointed.

So the two of them snorted together and quickly followed behind the adult.

The giant sleeping in the shade under the tree seemed stupid, but as soon as Severus and his companions approached it, before they were even twenty meters away, it alertly twitched its fan-like ears, opened its previously closed eyes, and looked in the direction where Severus and his companions were!

"Wow! Gurgle!"

It opened its mouth wide and let out an unintelligible roar, then grabbed a wooden stick that was bigger than Harry and Draco combined and got up from the ground.

Severus took out his wand but did not immediately use it. Instead, he let Lupin continue forward and try to say some strange, incoherent words.

“Guluwawuhaludongwu.”

Lupin stammered, clearly not very fluent in the language, but his expression was quite sincere, and he was earnestly trying to communicate with the giant in front of him.

However, his friendly communication not only failed to work, but the giant seemed to be provoked. He roared and raised the wooden club in his hand, about to smash it down on Lupin!
Draco instinctively closed his eyes, while Harry involuntarily tried to move forward and push Lupin away.

However, the wooden stick did not fall as the giant intended.

Before anyone knew it, Severus had already raised his wand and cast a disarming spell on the troll's weapon!

Given the troll's thick hide and dragon-like magic resistance, even with Severus's powerful spells, he couldn't completely disarm it like an ordinary wizard.

However, causing it trouble is enough to buy Lupin time.

The wooden club in the troll's hand seemed to be out of its control, failing to strike as it intended. It looked even angrier. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lupin slipped away from the behemoth and drew his own wand.

"Transformation or Mud Swamp!" Lupin reacted quickly, and the moment he drew his wand, he began communicating with Severus.

"Transformation".

As Severus finished speaking, he had already thrown a potion far away toward the troll's location, while simultaneously waving his wand, with Lupin following closely behind.

The potion bottle shattered beside the giant, and the light blue potion spilled onto the ground. The next second, the originally supple and delicate grass began to change its shape at an extremely fast speed. It began to grow wildly, like vines soaring into the sky!
The Transfiguration spell used by Severus and Lupin arrived as promised, and the vines instantly transformed from their original soft grass-green color into a metallic silver-white!

After the giant finally regained control of the club in its hand, it discovered that it had been trapped in a huge steel cage.

It furiously grabbed the iron bars of the cage, but even with the immense strength of this creature, it was unable to break through the prison.

This enraged the giant even more. It began to roar at the sky and struggled desperately in its cage, causing the ground to tremble.

Seeing this commotion, Lu Ping's face turned pale.

He was calling for his companions!

The ground began to shake more and more violently, and the valley through which the stream flowed clearly emitted a sound like ten thousand horses galloping.

But the creatures that rushed out were certainly not horses, but dozens of giants with grass skirts around their waists and big clubs in their hands!
These are all forest monsters, and their numbers, even if not the highest in Europe, certainly exceed those of most other monster groups.

They grunted and charged toward Severus and his companions.

Seeing this, Harry nervously reached into his bag and gripped his wand, while Draco's face turned even paler, and he instinctively took two steps back.

Severus's expression remained unchanged; he even put his wand away.

Because among the giants, he saw a short, stout figure.

He was a wizard in a long robe, with messy brown hair that looked like it hadn't been styled in a long time. He held a wand in his hand, and although he looked a bit chubby, he was surprisingly agile.

He hurriedly ran to the front of the giant, with a smaller giant beside him, which was smaller than the other giants. However, this smaller giant was clearly more intelligent than its kin!

"Wait! Wait! I told you to wait! Lulu! You stop them!"

(End of this chapter)