Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 307 Leaked News (Part Two)

Hagrid's hut was still the same as before, piled with all sorts of clutter. After Harry and his two friends went in, they sat down at the table as usual. Although Hagrid still looked angry, he still poured each of them a cup of tea and placed a plate of rock cakes on the table.

If you ignore his hands, which seem to want to mash potatoes into a paste, he's actually no different from before.

"We really wanted to take your class," Hermione said quietly, taking a sip of tea.

"snort!"

"It's true! It's just that our class schedules are too full."

"Yeah, everyone's busy," Hagrid replied casually, still vigorously crushing the potato in his hands.

Hermione glanced at Harry and Ron, only to see two faces filled with embarrassment. She glared at the two good-for-nothings, about to speak again, when she heard a strange noise coming from the corner of the wall.

The three of them peeked out at the sound, only to be startled. The contents of the metal bucket were even more disgusting than slugs; they were white, slimy, wriggling in a ball, and the inside of the bucket was covered with green slime.

At first glance, it looks a bit like snot from a cold.

"What is this?" Harry asked, suppressing the urge to vomit.

"Giant grubs," Hagrid said, putting down the potatoes he was holding and walking over the bucket of nauseating stuff. "I'm going to feed them to Aragog."

"Aragog?" The three looked at each other in confusion, counting the pet names they had heard from Hagrid over the years, but Aragog was not among them.

"Oh, I forgot, none of you have ever seen it, and I've never told you about it," Hagrid said. "It was my pet when I was still at Hogwarts, but I put it in the Forbidden Forest for some reason."

"Hagrid..." Hermione had a bad feeling and asked tentatively, "What is Aragog? I mean, what kind of magical creature is it?"

"An eight-eyed spider," Hagrid said. "A very cute little guy..."

Before he could finish speaking, Hagrid suddenly burst into tears, which flowed uncontrollably.

"W-what's wrong, Hagrid?" Hermione asked softly.

"It...it's dying..." Hagrid sobbed, wiping away tears, but they didn't lessen at all. "It's been sick all summer, and it hasn't gotten better...I don't know what I'll do if it...it dies...we've been together for so many years..."

Hermione gently patted Hagrid's back as he told her about Aragog. Although Hagrid's voice was trembling with sobs and his words were broken, he finally understood what Aragog was like.

A giant eight-eyed spider has bred a large colony in the Forbidden Forest. It can talk, and is even less popular with the centaurs than Grop.

"Hagrid, is there anything we can do?" Hermione asked softly, ignoring Ron who was shaking his head and waving at her.

"That's all, Hermione." Hagrid pulled a large handkerchief from his pocket, blew his nose, folded it, and put it back in his pocket. "Its time is almost up, and its children are behaving strangely lately, a bit out of control..."

"I think now, it's unsafe for anyone to approach their territory except me..." Hagrid wiped away another tear, sniffled, and looked up. "But thank you anyway, Hermione, this is so important to me..."

"No...it's nothing, we weren't able to help at all..." Hermione's expression was a little unnatural; she finally remembered what kind of creature the eight-eyed spider was.

Actually, I should have thought of that long ago. According to Hagrid's aesthetic sense, it could never be a docile or normal thing.

The atmosphere eased slightly, and Hagrid completely forgot about Harry and the others not choosing his class. He washed his face, refilled their tea, and said, "Actually, I knew a long time ago that it would be difficult for you to choose my class again. You're all so busy, even with the Time-Turner..."

"At the end of last semester at the Ministry of Magic, all the Time-Turners were gone," Hermione said.

"I know, it's just... I'm just worried about Aragog..." Hagrid scratched his head and sat down at the table, picking up a piece of rock bread and easily taking a big bite, crunching away. "But life isn't always full of bad news..."

"Good news?" Harry perked up immediately, putting down the rock cake he was holding. "Hagrid, tell me!"

"Well... actually, I shouldn't be telling you this..." Hagrid said hesitantly. "You have to promise not to tell anyone, and not to do anything foolish. Just stay in school obediently..."

"We know!" Harry said impatiently. "Hagrid, we promise we won't tell anyone else, and we won't do anything foolish. Tell us now!"

Hagrid looked at the excited Harry, and Hermione and Ron beside him, who were nodding their heads frantically. After hesitating for a long time, he finally relented.

"Alright, I'll tell you... Remember Norbert? He's back!"

"Nober!" Harry and his two friends were taken aback. Of course they remembered Nober; he was the first "Hedgehog" pet they had ever seen, and he had caused Ron's hand to swell for quite some time.

"Yes, Norbert, but Charlie renamed it Norbert," Hagrid said happily. "I saw it. It's grown up, a beautiful young lady! A little shy, but it still remembers its 'mother'..."

The three looked at each other, none of them believing that a fire dragon would remember Hagrid after so many years. But considering Hagrid's physique, it was clear that this was another case of "Hagrid's" shyness.

"But I remember it was in Romania, wasn't it? How could it be back? Could it be... Dumbledore...?"

Harry was interrupted by Hagrid before he could finish speaking. He looked at Harry sternly and said, "We shouldn't be talking about these things here..."

"It's alright, this is Hogwarts!" Ron said nonchalantly.

"I know, but it's always better to be careful," Hagrid said seriously. "Haven't the lessons of the past taught you what caution truly means?"

"Alright, alright, let's not talk about that..." Harry's eyes darted around, a look of regret on his face, and he said, "But you have to tell us where it is, we actually want to see it again... right, Hermione, Ron?"

"Ah...ah, yes, that's right!" Ron hesitated for a moment, but immediately understood after Harry's signal.

"Yes, Hagrid, we also want to see Norbert again... no, Norberta," Hermione chimed in.

Hagrid hesitated again, looking somewhat troubled.

"Well... it's not that I don't want you to see Noberta, it's just... it's difficult, you know..." Hagrid stammered. "And, not now, it needs to do Dumbledore a favor..."

"What kind of help?" Harry's eyes lit up, and he asked immediately.

"Busy?" Hagrid was taken aback at first, then realized he had let something slip again. Anger immediately flashed across his face, and he stood up abruptly, gently pushing the three of them away with both hands.

"You cunning brat! Trying to trick me again!"

"Get out of here! Get out of here! You won't hear anything from me today!"

(End of this chapter)