A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

"I hope so!" Harry said weakly, but he had little confidence in it.

......

It's the first weekend of May.

The final match of the Quidditch season has officially begun: Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw.

With George and Fred dropping out, Gryffindor had to replace two batters, greatly weakening their team. Fortunately, Harry, the Seeker, was still there, and they managed to make it to the finals.

Logically, Gryffindor's opponent should have been Slytherin, but since most of the members of the investigation team were Slytherins, the students, out of hatred for them, used some pranks on them.

This resulted in four out of the seven players being unable to perform normally, and relying solely on Draco and the other two was simply not enough to turn the tide.

Aaron watched the game casually from the stands, but couldn't help laughing when he saw Harry go easy on Cho Chang while searching for the Golden Snitch.

"What are you laughing at?" Hermione asked, frowning slightly.

"Nothing, I just thought of some interesting things."

“The senior might be laughing at Harry Potter,” Celine interjected. “He is quite interesting, though. Knowing that Gryffindor’s goalkeeper is unreliable, he still has the mood to play games with Ravenclaw’s Seeker.”

"Harry knows what's important, so Gryffindor will definitely win."

And Ron will gradually improve; he will definitely become a qualified goalkeeper.

"Perhaps! But if Harry Potter continues to play like this, even if he wins, the score difference probably won't be that big."

Hermione: ......

Suddenly, a tall figure appeared in front of them. Hagrid looked at Aaron and Hermione somewhat nervously and said, "There are some things I want to talk to you about."

"now?"

“Yes, now.” Hagrid nodded very seriously, “while they’re still playing.”

"This looks important!" Aaron stood up, only then noticing that Hagrid looked much more haggard than when he returned from the giants' village. "What happened to you? Did you fight another troll?"

"It's a little more serious than that."

Don't ask any more questions, just come with me.

"All right!"

“And what about me?” Sirin pointed to herself.

"Of course I'll just watch your match obediently." Hermione's lips curled into a smug smile. "Hagrid didn't invite you."

"Senior, aren't you going to say something for me?" Xilin said, looking aggrieved.

Aaron rolled his eyes. "I don't like causing trouble for others, so... you should just watch the game!"

Celine snorted, glared at Aaron, and then turned and left the audience.

"Sorry," Hagrid said guiltily, "you'd better explain this to your girlfriend later."

Aaron's lips twitched slightly, and he was about to say something when Hermione explained for him, "That's not his girlfriend, at most she's an admirer, the kind you see everywhere in Slytherin, no, in Hogwarts."

"Isn't it a bit inappropriate to say it like that?" Aaron asked with a strange expression.

"What I said wasn't wrong!"

Hagrid led them to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, then took a crossbow from a tree. "Come in quickly, before anyone notices."

The two exchanged a glance and followed closely behind Hagrid.

"Where are you taking us?" Hermione asked.

"You'll find out soon enough."

clatter! clatter! clatter!

A sound of hooves approached, and a group of horsemen galloped past in the distance.

“I’ve never seen centaurs so enraged,” Hagrid said, somewhat angrily. “They’re already dangerous enough. If the Ministry of Magic shrinks their territory any further, they’ll launch a full-scale riot.”

"So...you brought us here because of these centaurs?" Aaron asked in surprise. "I'm sorry, but I don't think we can be of much help."

“No, not centaurs.” Hagrid shook his head dismissively. “They’ll only complicate things.”

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

"It means things are even more complicated than the rioting centaurs." Aaron's lips twitched slightly. "Are you sure we can handle this?"

Hagrid remained noncommittal, his voice trembling with a hint of tears, "I didn't want to trouble you, but Dumbledore is gone, and I could be fired at any time. Before I leave, I have to entrust him to someone else."

"Him?" Aaron was taken aback. "Who are you talking about? A person or some kind of ferocious magical creature?"

Hagrid didn't answer, but just sighed softly and led the way on his own.

They ventured deeper into the forbidden forest, where the trees grew denser and the light gradually dimmed.

"Are we there yet?" Hermione asked as she walked through a thicket of thorns, her arms now covered in scratches.

"We still have to go a little further. You all need to stay close behind me and not fall behind."

Several tens of minutes later, they entered the deepest part of the Forbidden Forest, and Hagrid's speed slowed down.

In the dim light, Hermione could only see a huge dark shadow in front of her, but Aaron, with his extraordinary eyesight, could see the true face of the shadow very clearly.

"Ha! Hagrid, that joke isn't funny at all."

Hagrid nodded, his face showing obvious unease and sadness.

"I know, but I really have no other choice."

Umbridge is constantly trying to get rid of me; she tries to pin anything related to magical creatures on me.

“She’s certainly capable of doing this, but he…” Aaron pointed at the dark figure, “You can’t control him, are you sure we can?”

“He’s already learned some of the rules,” Hagrid said anxiously. “And I can’t abandon him; he only has me left.”

Aaron sighed helplessly, "Even if you say that..."

"Please," Hagrid said, his voice choked with emotion. "Just talk to him whenever you have a spare moment, so he doesn't feel lonely."

"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

"You'd better be prepared." Aaron took out his wand and flicked it slightly.

A white light shot out from the tip of the wand and stopped above the shadow.

Under the white light, Hermione finally saw what the shadowy figure was, and her face turned pale. She took several steps back, but luckily Aaron was there to support her, otherwise she would have fallen to the ground.

On a barren piece of land, many tree trunks and branches formed a huge fence, and inside the fence was a giant about sixteen feet tall.

The giant lay motionless on the ground, seemingly asleep, emitting a very rhythmic rumbling breathing sound.

Chapter 488 Giants and Half-Giants, Half-Brothers

"Hagrid, who is this?" Hermione's face was pale, but she already knew the answer in her heart.

“Obviously, a giant.” Aaron looked at Hagrid with a strange expression. “We can barely accept you raising giants, three-headed dogs, eight-eyed spiders, or even fire dragons, but this is really a bit excessive.”

May I ask, did Dumbledore know about this before he left?

"He probably doesn't know," Hagrid said evasively, his eyes darting around. "It took me several months to bring him back."

"Why?" Hermione was almost in tears. "I remember you said they didn't want to come."

“Yes, he didn’t want to come, but I had to bring him,” Hagrid said dejectedly. “He’s too small, and the other giants bully him.”

"Small?" Hermione laughed in exasperation. "You're just a tiny little thing next to him. We're probably only slightly bigger than bugs next to him."

“Having compassion is good, but having excessive compassion is wrong.” Aaron slapped his forehead speechlessly. “You are a half-giant, and he is a giant. Although you are both giants, there are still big differences between you.”

You have no relation to him, yet he has left you bruised and battered..."

“He’s my brother,” Hagrid said suddenly, tears streaming down his face and into his thick beard.

"What did you say?" Aaron looked at Hagrid in surprise, then at the sleeping giant, as if he understood something. "Half-brothers?"

Hagrid nodded, his voice choked with emotion, while Hermione's mouth dropped open involuntarily.

"Now you understand?"

My mother is gone; now it's just my brother and me, relying on each other for survival.

“I completely understand how you feel, but…” Aaron paused, then said embarrassedly, “Perhaps it would be better to leave him with the giants.”

"No way." Hagrid's attitude was very firm. "Giants are all not very bright, they fight every now and then, and he is the smallest of them all. He will only be bullied if he stays there."

Moreover, the Dark Lord has already formed an alliance with the giants. If I don't bring him back, perhaps... perhaps..."

“No need to say anything more,” Aaron interrupted. “I have to admit that your concerns are very valid; it’s not impossible for brothers to kill each other.”

“But he’s dangerous, very dangerous.” Hermione pointed to a thick rope around the giant’s waist, the other end of which was tied to a towering tree. “So dangerous that you have to tie him up.”

"He had no one to teach him when he was young, and my mother didn't like him because he was short, so he was a little mentally challenged."

Giants are very powerful, so clashes are inevitable, but he has made great progress during this time.

"You've kept him like a magical creature?" Aaron asked meaningfully. "I mean, you've tamed him."

"He's different from magical creatures, like the difference between friends and family."

“Okay! Okay!” Hermione looked at him worriedly. “What do you want us to do?”

“Take good care of him while I’m not around.”

"That's a bit much to ask of people," Aaron said somewhat embarrassedly. "It's not that I'm being a spoilsport, it's just really difficult."

Reaching the depths of the Forbidden Forest is dangerous enough; we simply don't have the time or resources to care for a giant's daily needs.

“We don’t have that much energy,” Hermione added. “We have our OWLs exams coming up soon.”

“It’s not as complicated as you think,” Hagrid said hastily. “He can get food on his own; there’s no shortage of food in the Forbidden Forest.”

I just hope you can take some time each week to talk to him.

He can take care of himself, but he needs friends.

“Yeah!” Aaron said sarcastically, “But communicating with him could put our lives in danger at any time. One slap from him and we might be gone.”

"But you two definitely won't have any problems, right?" Hagrid looked at the two of them expectantly, and for some reason, they couldn't bear to refuse him when they met his sincere and teary eyes.

"Phew!" Aaron took a deep breath, inwardly marveling at his own compassion, and turned to Hermione. "What do you think?"