Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 21 Leisurely Saturday Time

Hagrid was too big, and he was dressed like a wild man from the forest.

Seamus and Dean were a little scared, but Loren seemed to know this man, so they let Hagrid do as he pleased, their faces showing utter despair.

Loren walked beside them with a grin, introducing the group: "The one on your right is Seamus Finnigan, my and Harry's roommate, and the one on your left is Dean Thomas, our classmate."

"And this big guy is Hagrid, Harry's friend."

Hagrid carried the two children effortlessly, saying as he walked, "Little ones, don't be like the Weasley brothers. I can't handle this many people."

As he spoke, he tossed the two of them into the air and caught them.

Seamus and Dean screamed in fright, but after a few repetitions, they began to enjoy it, cheering loudly each time they were tossed into the air, "Oh!"

Hagrid laughed and said, "I knew you guys would like it. Toothpaste loved playing like this with me when he was little."

Loren felt like something was off.

Hagrid led the group to the hut and put them down. There, neatly stacked, felled tree trunks were laid out, each as thick as two or three Loren waists.

Hagrid, wielding an axe as large as Loren, began splitting the wood into strips of firewood, and had them help him stack them.

Hagrid cleaved through the air by himself, while Loren and the other two stacked up the pieces, but Hagrid was much faster than them.

The three chatted and gathered firewood. "I heard there are centaurs and unicorns in the Forbidden Forest," Dean said, eager to see for himself.

Hagrid swung his axe and chopped down a tree stump: "They're not people to mess with. You'd better stay away."

"There are many animals here that are dangerous to you. Listen to the principal and professors, it's best not to go near the forbidden forest."

Simo and Dean started asking about the Forbidden Forest, making small, casual remarks.

Loren paddled for a while, then said, "I'm so tired, I need to rest for a bit." He then ran to the side to play with Ya Ya.

Seamus and Dean had been flying around in Hagrid's arms the whole way, and had become much more familiar with him. They were no longer afraid and soon went off to play with Loren.

Hagrid glanced at the boys, chuckled and cursed a few times, but didn't stop them, as long as they didn't continue bombing the forest.

Until the sun dipped low, turning the clouds at the edge of the forest a pale yellow.

Hagrid finished chopping all the firewood, most of it scattered on the ground, which he planned to clean up later. Straightening up, he called out to the muddy children, "Are you having dinner here, or going back to the castle?"

Remembering the rock-skin cakes from last time, Loren quickly replied, "Let's go back to the castle first; the professor will worry if it gets dark!"

Seamus and Dean nodded in agreement; in fact, they thought having dinner in the forest cabin would be wonderful. But Loren patted their hands, and they understood the implication.

Hagrid walked into the house, took out a few small items, and handed one to each of Loren and the other two: "These are the teeth left behind by the children of Aragog. Consider this your reward for today."

This was a valuable item; it could be sold for a considerable amount of Galleons as a potion or alchemy ingredient. However, the three were unaware of its value; after learning that Aragog was an eight-eyed giant spider, they simply thought it was incredibly cool.

The three refused Hagrid's escort and happily ran back to the castle. Loren also forgot to ask why they needed so much firewood in September.

At the Gryffindor long table for dinner, Dean excitedly recounted his day's events, even though it was the third time he had done so.

"Loren first led us to practice crackling, powerful spells at the edge of the Forbidden Forest."

Hermione was very interested in the spell.

"We blew up a tree that was as tall as a two-story building, which alerted the four-meter-tall giant living in the Forbidden Forest!"

"Whoa!" The children around them exclaimed in surprise.

"This giant turned out to be a friend of Harry and Loren, and he invited us to his home deep in the Forbidden Forest."

"Whoa!"

"Before parting, give us the tusks of the eight-eyed giant spider as a gift." Simo took out a necklace of tusks strung together with a rope and wearing it around his neck.

"Whoa!"...

Loren was deep in thought, questioning himself: Was this how I spent my day?

It sounds like it, but something just doesn't feel right.

Harry was consumed by jealousy, viciously cutting the lamb chops in his plate with his knife and fork as if he were slicing someone's flesh: "I knew Hagrid first, I was much closer to Hagrid..."

Thinking about how boring the afternoon had been, Ron went home. Loren and Seamus went out to play without him, and he was all alone in the lounge, with nothing to do.

He went to the library to study, but ended up getting a lecture from Hermione. Thinking about how much fun everyone else was having, he cut his dinner with even more force.

"It's all Malfoy's fault! I could have kept up with them. It's all Malfoy's fault..."

Neville saw Harry, who was emanating a thick black aura, and quietly moved a little to the side.

That night, Loren, Harry, Seamus, and Neville lay on their beds in the dormitory. They all felt that without Ron, the dormitory seemed to lack something, and it became much quieter.

"Let's chat!" Harry still had a lot of questions to ask.

"My eyes can see the Animagus, and I saw that Scabbers was acting strangely. I told Headmaster Dumbledore, and you know what happened next." Loren unleashed a series of attacks at lightning speed.

Seamus and Neville were stunned. Wait, why does your Hogwarts seem different from ours? We haven't even finished exploring the map, and you're already fighting mini-bosses.

Harry was shocked that Loren knew what he was going to ask, and was about to ask, "Why—"

"I can also read minds." Loren interrupted Harry's preparatory move again and delivered a critical hit.

"Really?" Harry thought instinctively.

"Really!" That's it. Loren's combo of right-click, shift, and E left Harry completely bewildered.

After finishing his session, Loren logged off at lightning speed: "Going to sleep! Goodnight everyone!" He then pulled the blanket over himself and ignored the people around him.

Harry's processor was about to overheat; his gut feeling was skeptical, but this was the wizarding world, after all—what if it was real? And he had just answered the question that had been on his mind.

Simo felt that since Loren could teach him the mysterious explosive spell from earlier that day, it wasn't unacceptable that he could read minds.

As for Neville, he believed everything Loren said and was simply shocked.

At this moment, Loren was covered with a blanket, laughing so hard that his whole body was shaking, but he couldn't laugh out loud, and his stomach was a little sore.

Kid! I'll use psychological warfare on you right now, and I'll burn your CPU to a crisp. Will you be able to sleep tonight?!

Moonlight streamed into the room through the window. After an unknown amount of time, Neville fell asleep first, followed by Seamus, while Harry's CPU was still burning.

Seeing the moonlight, Loren thought of Grandpa Bates. Regarding the wolfsbane potion, thanks to his role in exposing Peter Pettigrew, he could directly confess to Dumbledore. Out of respect for Dumbledore, even if he didn't learn how to make it, he'd at least have a high chance of buying it.

He began to plan what he was going to do, selecting several highly practical spells to practice until he achieved the effect he desired, much like "the gates are wide open".

For defense, use the Ironclad Spell to instantly stop the attack; for offense, choose the one that best suits your playstyle.

There's no specific option. Harry used the "Expelliarmus" skill to climb from low-level Gold and Silver ranks to the top of the Chinese server, highlighting a single skill: the Weasley family's secret "Shattered Bones," which, when suited to one's playstyle, can make one invincible.

Mastering the Transfiguration Charm requires hard work. Whether it's Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall, a deep understanding of the Transfiguration Charm can yield unexpected and wonderful uses. Whether or not to learn Animagus depends on the situation. There are also the Patronus Charm and Apparition Charms, which will be extremely useful later on.

And the study of alchemy—those two books are of great importance. Loren is doing his best to learn the vast prerequisite knowledge system, hoping to seize the opportunity presented by the Philosopher's Stone incident and have a good chat with Nicolas Flamel…

(End of this chapter)