Tick-tock, tick-tock---
The sun has long since risen high in the sky, and the constant warmth causes the whitewashed earth to shine with a sparkling light.
The sunlight reflected into the cabin made the dim little wooden house bright and shining. The large ice drops melting from the eaves formed a clear small puddle on the ground.
"....When I returned to the castle the next day and heard about this, and then saw that forbidden forest with my own eyes, you three can imagine how shocked I was!"
The strong fire dried the water in the teapot, and Hagrid quickly stood up, holding the hot handle and pushing the door out. The sound of snapping and crackling immediately sounded outside, and soon he came back in with a teapot full of shattered ice. When he found that the three people inside were still with their stiff expressions and slightly open mouths, Hagrid couldn't help but laugh.
"You seem to like this story very much?"
"Like?"
Ron suddenly jumped up with a loud noise, his ears turning red as he excitedly shouted at Harry, "Why did no one ever tell us... well, okay, maybe Bill and Charlie did, but I forgot. Don't look at me like that, Hermione. I was only six years old then. You would have forgotten too... in any case,"
Ron looked at Harry again, gasping and yelling,
"Can you believe it, Harry? He was in fifth year then, just like Percy today. If someone had told me Percy could have had a go with Professor Dumbledore, I'd probably have laughed all the way until graduation!"
Harry grinned, understanding what Ron meant.
"Has anyone ever done it, Hagrid?"
Harry's voice was too loud, almost overly so, as if he himself had fought with Dumbledore. Though he knew he would never be on the opposite side of that esteemed headmaster,
"Don't even think about it, Harry!"
Hagrid burst into laughter.
"No wizard, no matter how young, could... well, there might have been one, but he didn't, anyway. Not just the school, not even among underage wizards in all of Britain's magical community. You can't find many who could match up against the greatest headmaster in Hogwarts' history!"
Hagrid's voice was full of pride, but you have to admit that he spoke the truth.
"Quiet down!"
Hermione, also filled with emotion, loudly quieted down the overexcited Harry and Ron. Of course, she had to admit that she was excited too; she had never expected that the handsome, gentlemanly young wizard she met at the hospital wing last night had such an impressive 'record'!
"And then what, Hagrid, your story isn't over yet!"
Hermione tightly gripped Harry's Invisibility Cloak, glaring at Hagrid with her amber cat-like eyes "How did they handle it... I mean, Mr. Amortha Blaine?"
Harry and Ron also immediately stopped talking and looked at Hagrid expectantly, waiting for him to answer their questions.
"Later... let me think,"
Hagrid rummaged with his sausage-like fingers through his thick beard.
"They seemed to have kept him in detention for the whole term, deducting him two hundred points from the Slytherin house. However, Professor Dumbledore soon added another four hundred points, almost securing Slytherin's cup that year."
"Added four hundred points!"
Harry exclaimed, "Added four hundred points!" Last year, they had saved the Sorcerer's Stone from Ch Chamberlain and Voldemort, which was almost the greatest honor he had brought to the school since he started. However, Dumbledore had only given them one hundred and seventy points for it, with only a mere sixty points credited to him personally!
"How did Dumbledore think of that?"
Although there's no comparison, Harry still felt a bit uneasy.
"This is a no-brainer, Harry!"
Hermione raised her eyebrows, and a confident smile spread across her lips as if she had already seen through everything.
"They kept him in detention for a whole term and deducted points because Mr. Blaine broke the school rules by sneaking into the Forbidden Forest at night and using very powerful magic to attack his fellow students... well, although there was a reason for his actions, he was given four hundred points back because he saved a small wizard from the Gryffindor team as well as Bill."
"Save?"
Ron's face was full of confusion, "Weren't they overpowered by Mr. Blaine?"
"Stop being silly, Ron,"
Ron's slow-wittedness was not surprising, and Hermione didn't hesitate to explain, "Just think about it, Ron. If Mr. Blaine hadn't gone to the Forbidden Forest that night, who would have encountered that mysterious black wizard?"
Shit!
Ron took a sharp breath and his eyes widened, understanding the implications.
"Charlie, and everyone on the Gryffindor team at that time!"
Hermione nodded, and in a satisfied tone, said, "I'm glad you finally figured it out, Ron. Including Bill, he saved the lives of eight people. Hmm... a fifty points!"
"So, that means, Hagrid, Dumbledore confirmed that there really was a black wizard who invaded Hogwarts. Did he catch the person?"
Harry was more vigilant than Ron and Hermione. Suddenly, he realized this.
"Yes, he confirmed it."
Mentioning this, Hagrid's smile faded away, and his expression became solemn.
"That night, Bill woke up quickly and explained the misunderstanding. He told Dumbledore that it wasn't Mr. Amortha who released the Killing Curse, but the hidden black wizard... Dumbledore personally checked Brein's wand for every magic released that night and verified this."
Later, Professor Dumbledore carefully examined the battlefield. As you know, Harry, with Professor Dumbledore's level of expertise, he could almost recreate the entire fight. But unfortunately, he searched for a long time and couldn't find that audacious black wizard... And for this reason, I almost didn't sleep in my bed for two months. I was patrolling the Forbidden Forest at night every day."
Hagrid blinked his eyes and said to the three who had realized the seriousness,
"This incident caused a great stir at the time, and the Ministry of Magic also sent elite Aurors into the Forbidden Forest to investigate, but it also ended in vain. To suppress the spread of panic, Dumbledore and Fudge both decided to suppress the spread of this attack as much as possible. That's why most people haven't heard much about it later."
The atmosphere grew solemn, and Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, both guessing that the black wizard might be another follower of Voldemort, like Quirinus Quirrell...
"So I say, Ron, you must have heard of him--"
Hagrid said with a smile.
"Well, you see, Professor Snape freed Amortha Blaine during the second-year Quidditch final. Up until then, he had to go to Snape's office for detention every night, every weekend..."
"Charlie's Gryffindor team was very strong, they had the chance to win the championship. But when Snape brought Amortha Blaine onto the field, oh, well, you can imagine what Prim and Filch would have done. Literally, they would have been proud of themselves if they didn't just hop on their brooms and run away."
"It seems that Slytherin occasionally also has a remarkable individual---"
Ron muttered under his breath.
"There are many famous Slytherin wizards, Ron,"
Hagrid laughed, looking out of the window at the sun, realizing that it was already late and time to prepare lunch.
"The story is finished, my little ones, would you like to have lunch with me?"
"Oh!"
Hermione suddenly came back to her senses, terrified and calling out.
"Damn it, Madam Pomfrey, I completely forgot about time!"
She quickly put on the Invisibility Cloak over herself, only leaving her head showing outside.
"Next time, Hagrid, I have to stay at the hospital wing recently!"
Saying that, she hurriedly ran out. Harry and Ron, obviously preferring the school food, quickly got up to follow Hermione.
"Oh, right."
Disappointed, Hagrid suddenly remembered something. He shouted to Harry's quickly disappearing back, "Oh, right!"
"You three haven't told me why you're asking about Blaine!"
"Mr. Blaine has already returned to the school!"
Harry didn't turn around, only waving his hand at the top of his head, "He is now the investigator of the attacks in the Forbidden Forest!"
Clang! Clatter!
Hagrid, frightened, leaned against the door of the hut. The house shuddered from the impact, and the snow layer on the roof, which had already melted, fell off in a flurry, burying Dudley completely.
"Investigator of the secret chamber... from the Ministry of Magic?"
Hagrid's face turned pale, and he whispered softly against the door frame,
"It's impossible... Dumbledore, oh, no, I have to figure this out!"
After a moment, Hagrid slammed the door shut and, with Dudley's barking in his ears, strode towards the castle without looking back.
"..."
"..."
"..."
