Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 83 The First Day of the New Year

January 1, 1992, a cabin on the edge of the forbidden forest.

A warm, moist touch on his face woke Rupert Hagrid from his sleep. He opened his eyes to find a large black dog looking at him expectantly.

"Okay, Yaya, I'll go make you something to eat right away."

He put his hunting dog on the ground and took the mole-skin coat from the bedside and put it on.

He looked out the window; the snow reflected the sunlight through the window onto the wooden roof, making it bright and clear.

The giant stretched every bone in his body with all his might, feeling the soreness emanating from his muscles.

"Ah~" Rubeus Hagrid exclaimed comfortably.

His body was so large that a single yawn almost filled the entire space of the cabin.

He pushed open the door, and the cold wind that rushed in made him shiver.

He pulled a large bundle from the pile of firewood. There was no need to start a new fire; there was still some embers left over from last night in the stove. The flames gradually licked and entwined around the firewood, and the wooden house became warm and cozy again.

Throw a bunch of chopped frozen meat into the pot, add some salt haphazardly, and soon the aroma of the broth will fill the air.

Ya Ya's drool dripped onto the ground as it happily darted around.

A pot of meat soup was divided into two portions. One portion was poured into Ya Ya's food bowl, and Ya Ya hurriedly bit off a piece of meat bone, yelping from the heat. Hagrid let out a loud laugh.

Rubeus Hagrid ate the broth and took bites of the rock bread that was baking by the stove. The giant’s teeth easily broke the hard bread with a crisp sound.

After breakfast, I took Ya Ya for a walk around the forest.

The inspection process was nothing more than repeating the same steps, deepening the footprints he had made in the snow.

In winter, most of the animals in the forest stay in their homes, waiting for spring to arrive. He didn't encounter any friends to greet.

Rubeus Hagrid returned to the front of the cabin and sat down, gazing at the clouds in the sky with his eyes slightly narrowed.

The giant's thoughts wandered aimlessly. If the clouds in the sky lost their magic, they would fall as snow. He too had almost lost his magic, but thankfully Dumbledore was there.

Harry must be having a great time; that flying motorcycle is really easy to ride.

Rubeus Hagrid actually had a lot to do, such as going into the forest to pick some fruits that only come in winter, or preparing firewood for next winter, since he already had enough this year.

Go for a stroll in the castle, chat with the professors, even if he doesn't understand what they're saying most of the time, you can still amuse them by telling them interesting stories about the animals in the forest.

The professors at Hogwarts are very patient, but stories lose their appeal after being told too many times.

As he watched the gentle sun climb from the second branch of the pine tree next to the cabin to the top of the tree, Rupert Hagrid decided to do something.

"Let's go, Toothpick, let's go outside the forest. Those two Weasley brats might try to sneak into the Forbidden Forest, we'd better keep an eye on them." The giant's rough and powerful voice echoed through the forest.

"Woof woof woof!" Toothy circled around Rubeus Hagrid's trouser leg.

His dog, like him, is always full of energy.

Suddenly, Ya Ya stopped spinning and started barking outside.

"Hagrid! Hagrid!" came the Weasley boy's voice.

Hagrid looked over and saw Harry's two friends, the Weasley twins, and a Hufflepuff boy—the five of them wading through the snow toward the cabin.

His mouth involuntarily creased into a grin as he thought to himself, "I knew it. They really did try to break in. They're two rascals."

Hagrid didn't go to meet them; he walked briskly back into the cabin, relit the fire, and baked a few rock cakes.

As they stepped outside, the giant's voice rang with delight: "What brings you here?"

Happy New Year, Hagrid! We've come to visit you!

"Let me introduce you to a new friend, this is Rolf Scamander."

"The grandson of the famous Newt."

The twins' alternating tone and cheerful mood always conveyed a joyful emotion to others, making the empty, cold winter forest come alive.

Hagrid led the young wizards into the house, and the wooden cabin, which could hold a giant, suddenly became crowded.

In the rising steam from the pot, the young wizards' teeth gnawed on the rock-skin cakes, making a sickeningly loud sound.

Hagrid watched this scene with a broad smile, his heart suddenly feeling as if it were filled with something, a sense of fulfillment.

……

Rolf tried several times, but the pain in his gums forced him to give up on the rock bread. He turned to the tall, bearded man in front of him and said, "Hagrid, my grandfather mentioned you."

"Mr. Scamander, oh, he actually remembers me! He was traveling around here and gave me an egg of an eight-eyed giant spider."

"My grandfather felt guilty for a long time after hearing that you were fired because of this."

"Hahaha, it's nothing. Mr. Scamander was also expelled from Hogwarts for his magical creatures..."

Only then did Loren and the others learn that Newt, who was traveling all over the world at the time, met Hagrid when he returned to Hogwarts to reminisce, and gave Hagrid an egg of an eight-eyed spider.

Hagrid hatched Aragog in a cupboard at Hogwarts. Later, because of his involvement in the Chamber of Secrets incident, Hagrid had his wand broken and was expelled from Hogwarts.

Ron stared blankly. "Damn it, Hogwarts actually expels students."

The reason he had casually followed Loren and the others around at night the previous times was simply because the twins were an example; they weren't expelled, and Ron thought Hogwarts wouldn't expel students.

The twins reacted completely differently. "I kept a giant eight-eyed spider as a pet back in my school days!"

"A dangerous creature of XXXXX level!"

George and Fred exchanged a glance and said in unison, "That's so cool."

"What happened to that eight-eyed giant spider after that? Was it executed?" Rolf was concerned about this.

"No, Aragog made his home in the Forbidden Forest and had many children." Hagrid sounded very proud of the eight-eyed spider, like an old father.

Hagrid recounted how the eight-eyed giant spiders had multiplied into a powerful colony in the Forbidden Forest, feared even by centaurs.

Upon hearing the familiar name, Ron recalled the eight-eyed giant spider he had encountered before, muttering that there was such a deep backstory behind it all.

"Practice your magic diligently. These are walking Galleons, and the venom of the Eight-Eyed Giant Spider is very valuable," Loren whispered to Ron.

Ron's expression became conflicted, a mixture of longing for Galon and fear of the spider. Lost in thought, he didn't notice Loren's expectant look.

Rolf and Hagrid exchanged knowledge about magical creatures, and the two seemed to be having a very pleasant conversation.

When the twins talked about things at school, they teased Hagrid about taking the opportunity to kiss Professor McGonagall at the Christmas party, and the laughter made Hagrid blush.

While complaining that his parents didn't take the twins with them when they went to see the dragon, Hagrid sighed, "Honestly, I really wanted to see the dragon with my own eyes."

Time passed quickly as they chatted and laughed. They didn't stay for lunch; instead, they said goodbye to Hagrid and prepared to return to the castle.

Before leaving, Loren asked Hagrid for some unicorn tail hairs. These weren't good enough to make wands, and they weren't even good enough to make potions. Loren had other uses for them.

On the way back through the snow, Rolf remarked, "Hagrid is a pure and lovely man."

Ron muttered, "Keeping an eight-eyed giant spider as a pet isn't exactly cute."

He seemed to have stepped out of the chessboard and become much more lively.

……

Loren didn't want the unicorn's tail hair to sell for money; he planned to conduct his first alchemical experiment.

On the way to Albania, Dumbledore's hat and cuffs looked like Doraemon's pocket, making Loren, who was always carrying bags, drool.

Upon his return, he planned to try making a space storage device.

In the magical world, storage often relies on a classic spell—the Unseen Stretch Charm.

This is a spell that increases the internal dimensions of an object, enhances its capacity, and makes its contents lighter without affecting its external dimensions.

The Unseen Stretch Charm, being a high-level spell, is strictly controlled due to its potential for misuse. The Ministry of Magic has imposed strict regulations on this spell: the Unseen Stretch Charm cannot be used for private purposes, but only for the production of specific items (such as school suitcases and family tents) approved by the relevant Ministry of Magic.

In fact, in the book "One Thousand Cases of Violations of the Secret Law", the Unseen Stretch Spell accounts for the largest proportion of the spells.

Wizards would often casually pull out strange objects from their jacket pockets or knitted hats. Nocturne Isaac, a wizard who had just returned from studying in Africa, poured 86 elephants out of his wallet in front of an entire Muggle customs officer, and was ultimately sentenced to life imprisonment.

Similarly, some people use the Unseen Stretch Charm to steal things. An unnamed wizard once attempted to steal the Statue of Liberty using the Unseen Stretch Charm and almost succeeded, an event that shocked the world.

Ultimately, the U.S. Ministry of Magic collaborated with the Muggle government to promote the event as a grand magic show, and the foolish Muggles actually believed it.

Some individuals with a twisted sense of humor use the Unseen Stretching Charm to participate in competitive eating contests. In one French baguette eating contest, a 45-kilogram woman stuffed nearly three tons of baguette bread into her mouth. The local Aurors couldn't undo the act, and even magic couldn't save her. Ultimately, they mixed the venom of the Winged Demon into rainwater to neutralize the effect of the incident.

There are many similar cases. The International Confederation of Wizards eventually expanded the ban on the Unseen Stretch Charm in the Statute of Secrets, allowing only approved production departments to legally use the spell, including the production of home tents, Hogwarts luggage, and Cabinet vehicles.

As for how many wizards are using it privately, the Ministry of Magic has no way of finding out.

As a high-level spell, the Seamless Stretch Charm has a wide range of effects.

Applying the Unmarkable Stretch Charm to Hogwarts' trunks didn't actually do much good; it only made the interior space slightly larger and lighter so that even an eleven-year-old wizard could drag it.

In the realm of alchemy, the effects achieved by combining the Seamless Stretch Charm with alchemical techniques are even more varied. The limits of capacity expansion differ, and the difference between containing living beings and inanimate objects is significant. Some can fit an entire zoo inside a box, while others can only expand the box a few times its original size.

According to Flamel, alchemical runes allow for greater versatility in applying the Seamless Stretch Charm. Engraving the alchemical rune on the substrate beforehand makes applying the Seamless Stretch Charm much smoother.

Loren spent a whole night understanding and memorizing the basic spatial runes; all that remained was the engraving process.

He is not yet able to directly inscribe alchemical arrays on a carrier using magic; he can only rely on some magical materials, one of which is unicorn tail hair.

As night fell, Loren nestled in his blankets and, for the first time, tapped the scale icon that symbolized the alchemy laboratory.

A silver light shone from Flamel's eyes on the cover, drawing Loren's consciousness into the book.

A sphere gleaming with intense red light was placed into a boiler carved from black stone. Lava-like, flowing patterns emerged from the surface of the black boiler, connecting to form symbols that Loren found somewhat familiar yet incomprehensible.

Various six-pointed stars, scales, the sun, and star charts flowed across the surface of the boiler. Finally, countless red bricks were piled up to form a hemisphere and put on top.

Loren's perspective suddenly zoomed in, revealing another hemispherical space with a boiler emitting a dim light in the center of the room.

Flamel's figure appeared in the air. "Welcome to Flamel's Alchemy Laboratory."

Loren protested, "Why not call it Loren Morgan's Alchemy Lab?"

Flamel glanced at Loren, leaving the meaning to him to figure out: "An alchemy laboratory that any alchemist throughout history has dreamed of. Here, you can conceive of any material that you and Nikolai have ever seen, in unlimited quantities, without end."

Loren understood that this meant there was no cost to trial and error; he could first hone his skills and then achieve success in the real world on his first try.

Compared to the library and dueling room, Flamel seemed to enjoy the alchemy lab environment more, flying freely through the air. "What do you plan to use as the carrier for the magic circle?"

"What would be an easy starting point?" Loren was well aware of his own limitations; it was clearly unrealistic to expect him to start by engraving alchemical arrays on pendants, rings, or bracelets.

"Suits, I suppose. Larger sizes mean more flexibility." Flamel waved his hand, and a pile of small black suitcases appeared out of thin air.

"Also, there's unicorn tail hair."

As the words fell, bundles of neatly tied unicorn tail hairs appeared in the air and disappeared into various boxes.

Loren cursed this guy in his heart, wondering if he was being told he would have to grind many times.

"Use the wand to pull the unicorn's tail hair, unleash the magic contained within, and draw the alchemical circle."

Flamel began his lesson, pointing at a box.

The box took two steps back, took a running start, and jumped into the air, opening in mid-air like a dancer.

The unicorn tail hairs tied up in the box spread out and floated in the air, emitting a faint white light.

The tip of the wand touched the thinner end of the unicorn's tail, and the tail seemed to be magnetically attracted, following the wand's strokes across the box.

The magic wand is like a pen, and the unicorn's tail hair is the ink.

A six-pointed star pattern encircled by two concentric rings is imprinted on the bottom of the suitcase. The six corners form three pairs of symmetrical runes that echo each other, emitting a faint glow. The center remains dim, awaiting a traceless extension spell to awaken the magic circle.

After Flamel finished his demonstration, he emitted four colors of light—red, yellow, blue, and green—which shone on the red brick wall, causing alchemical runes to appear on the surface.

"Loren Morgan, you are now a true alchemy apprentice."

(End of this chapter)