I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 339 Summer Vacation - The Giant's Journey

About Hagrid's journey to the giants.

To be honest, Irving didn't have high expectations.

Because giants are just a bunch of low-IQ beasts with strong limbs but simple minds.

They have their own set of social norms, but those norms are not even as important as the relationships established by the young wizards at Hogwarts in the face of humans.

Their simple minds can't comprehend the concepts of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold" or "prepare for a rainy day." Trying to persuade them to join the Order of the Phoenix is ​​simply wishful thinking.

It would be better to learn from Voldemort and use magic to control trolls, or to coerce them with force.

During dinner, Owen told Hermione that he was going to Sicily the next day.

She expressed her concern, and with summer vacation approaching, it was clear that Owen wouldn't be able to return to Hogwarts before the holidays.

He may not be able to return to school until after the summer vacation.

Of course, none of this was Miss Granger's concern.

What she didn't want was for her to be separated from him again.

And it will take a while.

Ever since Owen woke up from his coma, Hermione has felt like she's sick.

My heart felt heavy, completely devoid of the joy of regaining what I had imagined.

But she didn't stop Irving from leaving.

Just like the boy said, childhood is over, and now she has to learn to get used to life without Irving.

As for the search for the giant tribe, Hermione wasn't worried about the potential disasters involved.

From what she learned in her textbooks, she knew that although giants were large and destructive, they were too slow and their attacks were easy to dodge. Besides, Owen and his group were there to negotiate, not to fight.

However, during the insurance period, she still managed to catch Roxie's cat from the Forbidden Forest.

This cat is practically a stray!

Then he took Bakal back from Hagrid and gave him to Owen to take care of. If something went wrong, Sirocco could help him escape, and Bakal could create chaos.

Actually, Hermione wanted to go with them, but Owen refused, saying that she shouldn't travel far before she recovered. Then Owen started nagging her about gaining weight and kept making empty promises about taking her on summer vacation.

If Miss Granger's parents agree

Well—that's really not easy.

They're so prejudiced against him. (Humorous)

Before I knew it, it was the next day.

After breakfast, Irving and his group headed directly to France using the compass that connected to Nick Lemaître's safe house, which was held by Irving.

After the door rang, it opened.

The group then arrived in France.

The room remained exactly the same, without any change.

According to Mrs. Maxime, Nick was in Beauxbatons at this time, conducting his final alchemical research and spending his last moments with his wife.

The Beauxbatons estate was donated by them and held centuries of memories for the couple.

After their deaths, their mortal bodies will be buried in the rose garden of Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

At that time, every young wizard who comes to school will walk past this greatest alchemist.

They will never be alone.

Of course, although it sounds a bit sad, Nick won't die immediately.

He probably has ten or seven or eight years left to live, which is enough for them to fulfill their earthly wishes.

The group did not linger in the safe house; they left immediately.

In order not to alert the magic ministries of various countries.

They cannot go to the Ministry to borrow a Ministry-certified Portkey.

Nowadays, the only way to travel to Italy is by Madame Maxime's flying carriage.

The reason it's so complicated is that wizards cannot apparite across states.

The difficulty of Apparition increases with the increase of physical distance.

Beyond a certain distance, the pipes in the space become chaotic, like a quagmire. If you try to pass through them, you will either be crushed by the turbulent flow of spacetime or be decapitated upon landing.

Being able to Apparate directly from London to the Scottish Highlands already makes him one of the most powerful wizards of his time.

Even Voldemort himself had to fly across the Atlantic Ocean to reach Europe, and then Apparate after reaching a certain distance. (Original setting)

If Apparition had no distance limit, then FiluNet wouldn't exist.

After Apparating away from Paris, the group wandered around the suburbs for a while to hide. Once they were sure that no Aurors were following them, they boarded an invisible flying carriage in a deserted area in the suburbs.

"Phew—that was really tough."

Irving wiped his sweat.

They were clearly going to do something good, but they ended up doing this sneaky and dishonest thing.

Anyone who didn't know better would think they were dark wizards hunting giants!

"You can take a break now."

Mrs. Maxim said calmly.

Each of these Beauxbatons' carriages is imbued with an infinite stretching spell.

It looks like a horse-drawn carriage from the outside, but the interior space is actually as big as a house.

In addition to the public areas, there is a circular space near the carriage entrance, and the carriage itself has six standard rooms.

They are all large rooms with private bathrooms.

"This trip may take us a long time!" Mrs. Maxim said.

Ah—it won't be long.

Irving thought to himself.

Sicily is more than 2,000 kilometers from Paris.

Even if they fly day and night, it would still take them thirty hours.

Some things without horses don't need rest, but things with horses always need rest.

Moreover, they had to avoid some major cities and some wizard trade routes, taking a winding route, with the total voyage exceeding three thousand kilometers.

In any case, it will take them three or four days to reach Catania in Sicily.

Hmm—it's been a long journey.

Lying on his bed, Owen began idly flipping through some information about Sicily that Miss Granger had spent an hour finding for him in the library.

There's also a Muggle travel guide.

Open the manual.

As a well-known tourist destination, this book naturally provides a clear introduction to Sicily.

The island is the largest island in the Mediterranean and is home to millions of Muggles.

Owen didn't know how the giants hid on such a densely populated island, but according to the information he had, it was indeed the case.

Irving didn't know much about the island. His only impression was from a movie called "Malèna," which told him it was a beautiful place with a warm climate.

As for the rest—sorry, he's not a walking encyclopedia; he doesn't know everything.

As for the introduction to the magic aspect—Owen simply glanced at the book's publication date and then tossed it aside.

1876 years.

Hey!

A book from over a hundred years ago has absolutely no reference value.

Turning his head, Irving began to gaze idly at the scenery outside the window.

There wasn't much scenery to speak of; it was all clouds, and he couldn't see anything else besides them.

Riding in a flying carriage is definitely not a pleasant experience. Although Beauxbatons' carriage is exquisitely crafted and looks like a queen's luxurious carriage, in reality, even if she made a carriage out of a whole piece of mithril, it would still be a carriage. The biggest problem is that it is slow—too slow!

Although the chariot-pulling steed is already a magical creature with a fairly fast flight speed in the magical world, it is still a living being after all, and its fastest speed is only 70 miles per hour (about 115 kilometers per hour). This is certainly very fast. From a biological point of view, this speed is practically leading the entire biosphere.

But—if they took a Muggle plane, they could have dinner at the hotel in one afternoon!!!

A speed of 115 kilometers per hour was torture for Irving, especially with Sirius Black, Hagrid, and Mrs. Maxim traveling with him.

He'd rather have Justin sitting next to him right now!

At least he still has some fun.

It won't be that boring.

They spent two days in a row in the carriage.

Of course, they will find a place to land at night.

These days weren't exactly easy; Irving felt like something was missing, something strange, which made him a little uneasy.

Then he started making two-way mirror calls to Miss Granger every day.

With a familiar voice ringing in his ears, he finally got through those boring few days.

"It seems Dumbledore values ​​the giants quite a bit!"

The public area at the entrance to the carriage.

Three adult wizards were sitting and discussing something.

As he watched Irving approach, his tone suddenly changed, and he began to speak in a strange, off-key voice.

It was as if he were Dumbledore's precious darling, someone he couldn't bear to use.

"It's all because you're useless! Otherwise, why would you have called me here!" Irving retorted directly.

I don't want to be embarrassed at all.

His voice drew the attention of Mrs. Maxim, who couldn't understand why Owen was in the group.

Although I have some understanding of this young wizard's abilities.

But that's still not the reason he's able to get involved in this kind of thing.

What was Dumbledore thinking?

Is it to train him? To broaden his horizons?

That makes sense, if he was Dumbledore's favorite student.

Hmm—then I should bring Furong with me.

On the other side, Hagrid was also watching Owen. Well—to be precise, the dragon coiled around Owen's head had been completely captured by Bakal; his mind and body had become like a dragon.

As the only wizard who knew why Dumbledore sent Owen along, he couldn't explain it to Sirius. Was he supposed to say, "Dumbledore thinks you're too reckless?"

"But they do seem to value it quite a bit." Owen grinned and chuckled, then found a place to sit down.

It's important? Of course it's important!

He was already plotting how to wipe out the entire family; how could he not take it seriously?

Irving was holding the cat, his fingers constantly twitching against it. This wild cat was so energetic that it didn't seem like a cat at all, but more like a husky.

At that moment, he noticed a beautiful metal box next to him.

It must have been a gift from Dumbledore to the giant.

A ball of ancient celestial fire.

Who knows what the giants will do with this eternal flame? Maybe—they'll put it in the stove so they'll never need to light a fire again?

If you were to use this thing to boil water, wouldn't it be a perpetual motion machine?

"So, what exactly is the situation with the giant tribes? What form does their civilization take?" Owen suddenly asked, expressing his great curiosity about these ancient creatures.

According to records in the history of magic, giants appeared almost at the same time as wizards. Their long history is unknown to modern wizards, and of course, arrogant wizards would not bother to learn about the history of another race.

"They have their own leader, a giant king," Sirius explained. "But I heard that the giant leader died a few years ago, and the giants are currently embroiled in a civil war. I wonder if they've elected a new king yet?"

"King? Chief?" Owen clicked his tongue. This civilization wasn't low-level, after all, it was already in the feudal era, wasn't it?

"We must deliver the gift to the Giant King." At this moment, Lady Maxim, who had been silent all along, spoke up. Her face was calm as still water, revealing no emotion whatsoever. "Only in this way can we gain the support of the giants to the greatest extent possible."

"But how can we be sure who the Giant King is?"

"Generally speaking, a giant king must have some unique characteristics, such as being one-eyed or having a hundred arms. Giants are a race that reveres strength, and these traits can help them easily gain an advantage."

"Dumbledore instructed us not to rush things, but to take it slow, bringing them something nice every day to make a good impression," Hagrid said. "Giants are simple-minded, and gaining their trust is not an easy task."

"What a nuisance!" Owen leaned back in his chair and suddenly looked up. Baccarat, who was putting a crown on his head, quickly grabbed his hair, almost causing him to fall off.

"This is a great experience. Not every wizard has the chance to come into contact with giants, let alone actually enter a giant tribe. It's a pity that Harry and the others can't come along. This is something you can't learn in school," Hagrid said simply.

"Yeah, right!" Owen said, then suddenly seemed to remember something and turned to Hagrid, "By the way, your mother should still be alive, right? Giants have very long lifespans, she should be in Sicily too."

"No—we shouldn't cause trouble. We have our own mission. We..." Hagrid said stubbornly, his attitude quite firm.

That makes sense. Giants judge a child's health by their height. Legend has it that giants would throw short-born children directly into the sea. Hagrid, though considered huge among wizards, like a small mountain, was still not big enough in the eyes of giants. His mother was definitely not loving towards such a child and probably had the idea of ​​drowning Hagrid long ago, but was stopped by his father.

"Rupert!" Mrs. Maxime interrupted Hagrid, her large, dark, watery eyes fixed on him. "You really want to see your mother. We can tell you care about her a lot."

"But she doesn't care about me, and she doesn't care about my father. She's probably forgotten about us long ago!" Hagrid said sadly. "So many years have passed, and I've come to terms with it. In the end, she abandoned my father and me; there's no denying that."

Hagrid clearly didn't want to talk about his mother, a painful past.

Seeing this, Mrs. Maxim said nothing more.

For a moment, an eerie silence fell over the carriage.

Time passed gradually, the sky darkened, and finally came to a stop over Catania.

Catania, Sicily, the capital of the Catania province.

Of course, their destination was not this Muggle city. After Apparating, they arrived at a small town called Etna.

This is a town with a long history. According to Mrs. Maxim, the town may have been built by Greek wizards and has a history of at least 2,800 years.

The sky was overcast and the mountains in the distance appeared and disappeared amidst the gloomy rain clouds over the Mediterranean Sea; the fragrance of blooming lemon and orange groves filled the air; and the grassy slopes on both sides were covered with tiny wildflowers as white as snowflakes.

This is one of the most beautiful places in the entire Mediterranean region. Not only Muggles come here for vacation, but wizards do too; this tradition has been prevalent for at least two thousand years.

The town of Etna was founded because of this.

Even today, this place still attracts wizards from all over Europe.

As a leisure resort, their sudden appearance here would not arouse the vigilance of the surrounding wizards.

Instead of entering the town, the four set up their tent in a forest.

There was no way around it; the two half-giants were simply too conspicuous in size, and their sudden appearance in the town would definitely cause some unnecessary commotion.

They planned to stay here and search for traces of the giants.

They only know the general location of the giant; they still need to search for it, which will take some time.

Before that, Sirius and Owen were free to move around, and they found a tavern called "Etna".

Etna – There is a volcano on the northeast coast of the island called Etna.

It is the name of the volcano, the town, and the tavern.

The tavern is perched atop layers of rock, with cliffs and the sea on one side and greenery and town on the other.

A tavern is indeed a good place to gather information.

They had just gone in and hadn't said much when they overheard a group of guests talking about giants.

"Has the Ministry of Magic really found a gathering place for giants?"

"There are giants, giant corpses."

"People from the ministry come every day to collect their bodies. I really don't know what happened to them?"

"Yesterday, lol," the wizard said, gesturing with his hand, "we found a body in the southwestern forest yesterday."

His words immediately caused a stir among the wizards present.

It seems this is not a secret; everyone knows about it to some extent.

Sirius and Irving sat on chairs by the bar counter. Sirius ordered a stout and Irving a lemonade.

He held a glass of dark beer, took a sip, and muttered, "I really don't know why Dumbledore would let you out!"

"But I'm warning you, kid, we're here on a mission." His voice grew increasingly serious. "And we've even smuggled ourselves in."

"Anything that might offend the Italian Ministry of Magic should not happen during this period."

"Don't fight! Don't fight! For Merlin's sake, don't fight!!!"

"No problem." Owen smiled, blinking his eyes like a good boy.

Sirius looked completely unconvinced.

But he had no choice but to sigh and walk towards the crowd.

He planned to go to that location to retrieve some intelligence.

And Irving actually started sitting obediently in place, drinking his lemonade.

(End of this chapter)