Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 353 The Funeral (Part 1)

The headmaster's office door was closed, so Harry had to keep the matter to himself and wait for Dumbledore to return before telling him.

The three of them returned to the common room together and were surprised to find that almost all the seventh-grade students were inside. Looking through the ring of heads, they saw that it was Katie who had returned.

A joyful smile naturally appeared on their faces. They exchanged a few words of congratulations and then quietly slipped away to the side.

"Looks like she came back today," Ron said in a low voice, glancing again at Katie, who was surrounded by the crowd.

"It's about time," Hermione replied casually. "It's been months. I think she would have been back much sooner if things hadn't been so bad outside lately."

“Bad? Absolutely!” Harry said. “The Daily Prophet is full of annoying news, either someone’s dead or the Death Eaters have taken over some place.”

"Absolutely terrible!"

"yes……"

The three of them fell silent for a long time before saying nothing more.

Actually, this kind of atmosphere has been the main theme at Hogwarts lately; the harsh conditions outside have been oppressing everyone for a very long time. From this perspective, Kitty's return is a good thing; at least it will make the little lions a little happier.

Although, it is only for the graduating seventh graders.

"Harry, so you've been here. This is for you."

The next morning in the auditorium, a little girl from a lower grade came up to me, holding a small roll of parchment in her hand.

"For me?" Harry was taken aback, secretly wondering if Dumbledore had returned.

But they had just missed their target.

Completely bewildered, I opened the parchment. Instead of Dumbledore's neat and beautiful handwriting, it was messy, illegible, and covered with clumps of ink.

Three heads peered over, only to find it written on it:

"Dear Harry, Ron, Hermione:"

Aragog died last night.

He is special to me; we have a deep bond. You haven't met him, but if you could, I think you would like him.

I've decided to hold a funeral for him tonight at dusk, his favorite time of day.

Your presence would mean a great deal to me.

Hagrid.

"He's completely insane!" Ron exclaimed excitedly. "The Eight-Eyed Spider! He's even thinking of throwing him a funeral!"

"And they want us to leave the castle tonight." Hermione frowned. "Security is a million times tighter. If we get caught, we'll be in big trouble!"

"We'll be fired!"

"I think if I use an invisibility cloak, it should be fine..."

Before Harry could finish speaking, Ron said, "You're not really going, Harry? That's the Eight-Eyed Spider!"

"I know, but now he's dead, and Hagrid is heartbroken," Harry said. "Hagrid is our friend, and he needs us now."

As he spoke, he waved the parchment in his hand. Upon closer inspection, one could faintly see some tear stains on it.

"This is really not a good decision..." Ron said, shaking his head. He still did not approve of Harry's decision, but he also knew Harry's nature well, and this trip was probably unavoidable.

"We'll see when the time comes..." Harry put down the parchment in his hand. "There's no guarantee I'll have time; my schedule is packed with classes today..."

"Damn it, Potions class too! I wonder if Professor Slughorn will still avoid me; I think it'll be the same as always."

As he spoke, his face showed a great deal of frustration.

There has been absolutely no progress in the months since Dumbledore assigned this task.

"Do you think we'll succeed today?" Harry asked bitterly.

"Maybe, maybe you'll be especially lucky today?" Hermione replied casually.

"Do you think today will be a lucky day?" Harry asked, waving the parchment in his hand. "It's not a good omen."

"Yeah..." Ron answered instinctively, but then froze, his eyes suddenly lighting up as he excitedly exclaimed, "Exactly! Lucky!"

"Harry, you're lucky!"

"Wh...what?"

"Luck! Felix Felicis!" Ron said, pointing at Hermione. "You need luck, which is Felix Felicis!"

"Oh yeah, how could I forget that!" Hermione said, reaching into her pocket and pulling a small bottle from inside, shaking the liquid inside. "I should have remembered, back when you first ran into trouble with Slughorn!"

Hermione was annoyed. She felt she shouldn't have made such a basic mistake. If she had given Harry the Felix Felicis earlier, it certainly wouldn't have taken so long. She hadn't considered the Felix Felicis to be anything special; she had some in her suitcase, and with her current potion-making skills, brewing a batch wouldn't have been too difficult.

Harry frantically caught the Felix Felicis that Hermione tossed to him, and only breathed a sigh of relief after he caught it safely, but then hesitated.

"But... will this really work?"

"Of course! Twelve hours of luck, and everything you do will go smoothly," Hermione nodded.

"Well... alright, but I probably won't need that much, just a small sip will do," Harry said. "I'll see after Potions class. If Slughorn still can't be persuaded this afternoon, I'll use it. It should only take two or three hours."

As the three were talking, Lavender entered with a pair of girls. She was speaking quietly to the two girls, and her expression seemed a little off.

"What's wrong?" After Lavender sat down, Ron hugged her first before asking, "You don't seem very happy?"

"Sigh..." Lavender sighed and gestured towards the two girls with his lip.

"they?"

"The Montgomery sisters, haven't you heard about their brother?" Lavender replied.

Ron was still completely confused, but Hermione spoke up: "Their brother was bitten by a werewolf because their parents refused to help the Death Eaters..."

"That child was only five years old when he died in San Mungo."

"Dead!" Harry exclaimed in surprise. "But I remember werewolves don't kill people, right?"

"You really should read the Daily Prophet more often," Hermione sighed. "Yes, werewolves used to not kill easily; they were just keen on biting others and turning them into werewolves too."

"However, since Voldemort's return, quite a few have died at the hands of werewolves in the past year."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the group all darkened.

"So Harry..." Hermione continued, "you have to do everything in your power to stop Voldemort, and all these terrible things will have to come back to haunt him!"

"I will."

Harry nodded, clutching the bottle of Felix Felicis tightly in his hand, his eyes filled with determination.

(End of this chapter)