A Story of Ancestors

September 6, 1991, Friday, 3 PM.

This is a small cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Pumpkins and lentils are planted in a field behind the cabin.

There is a stone archway and a pair of rubber boots in front of the door.

Inside lives Hagrid, Hogwarts' reclusive millionaire, master of magical creature hybridization, and half-giant wizard, along with his timid, big dog, Fang.

Harry knocked on the door.

Along with Ron, they listened curiously to the barking inside and Hagrid's voice.

Hermione followed closely beside Basil, curiously observing the Forbidden Forest next to them.

Basil's mind wandered, returning to the three-headed dog he had tried to use to craft a Summoning Card not long ago.

The price of 5,000 Gems made him hesitate.

He only had 16,865.477 Gems at the moment.

Harry, Ron, Draco, Hagrid, and Neville's Echoes, which hadn't been crafted yet, each cost 5,000.

Not to mention, the components for recycling from another world cost 30,000.

Although, considering the cross-world fee for dying in another world was only 100 Gems, this wasn't a one-way ticket, and might even be a permanent passage.

But he wasn't exactly wealthy right now.

With a creak, the door opened.

Hagrid opened the door a crack, revealing his bushy beard-covered face.

"Hold on," he said. "Back up, Fang."

Seeing that there were four people, he took a large step back and opened the door completely.

He held a black hound, which was wagging its tail and was half Ron's size, in his arms.

The small cabin had only one room.

Hams and pheasants hung from the ceiling, water was boiling in a copper kettle over the hearth, and a pink floral umbrella leaned against the wall.

A large bed was in the corner, with bedding made of patchwork scraps on it.

It didn't look luxurious at all, not matching Hagrid's reclusive millionaire status.

But that was only at first glance.

As Basil observed further, he noticed that the bedding faintly revealed a mattress made from the fur of an unknown creature.

And the threads at the seams emitted a silver light, as white as pearls.

This was clearly Unicorn Tail Hair.

10 Galleons a strand!

That's 50 British pounds, which was about 400 yuan according to the 1991 exchange rate!

And at that time, China's average salary was only 195 yuan!

"That's Unicorn Tail Hair, isn't it!" Basil pointed out without reservation.

Hagrid, who was busy pouring boiling water into a large teapot and placing rock cakes onto a plate, looked up.

"Oh, it's unicorn hair," he said casually. "Pulled from its tail, it got snagged on a branch in the forest..."

"Blast-ended Skrewts!" Ron turned his head, stiffly, as if his neck were stuck.

His hands, which were trying to fend off Fang licking his ear, also reached forward, becoming outstretched like a beckoning gesture.

"Ha-grid—Do you know how much that's worth!"

A single strand of Unicorn Tail Hair was four to five feet long, and only one strand was needed to make a wand.

Ron, touching his own wand made of Unicorn Tail Hair from his brother Charlie, felt very conflicted.

"I use it to tie bandages when the animals get hurt," Hagrid said, shrugging. "It's really useful... really strong, and it's also good for sewing, you see."

"Can I take some?" Basil coughed. "I want to practice my weaving skills, maybe make a glove with them, it should be quite light and thin."

Hagrid nodded casually, pushing aside the hams and pheasants hanging from the ceiling. A long, smooth, and shiny bundle of white hair appeared in everyone's sight.

He casually pulled off a piece and handed it to Basil.

"Is this enough?"

"Yes, yes," Basil gently stroked the meat-scented tail hair, as if caressing a lover's skin.

This was all money!

No matter where you were, women's money was the easiest to earn.

And the main ingredient for the Beauty Potion was Unicorn Tail Hair.

It was also sold in potion ingredient shops for 10 Galleons a bag.

But what was sold there was mane hair, which was not as effective as tail hair, and might not even be as long as tail hair when added up.

Ron occasionally looked at Basil, who was wrapped around his wrist with white fur, with envy.

The subsequent developments seemed to be much the same as in the movie.

Hagrid took the lead in complaining about Filch and his cat.

Harry and Ron followed up by talking about Snape.

Harry said Snape hated him.

Hagrid avoided Harry's gaze and the topic, confirming Harry's guess as false.

However, Hermione, who had been staring foolishly at Basil, spoke up at this moment.

"I know why."

"Professor Snape said strange things in the Sorting Hat waiting room, and I was curious enough to look into it later."

Hagrid wiped away a cold sweat. "Kid, let's talk about something else."

Harry said, "Continue, I want to know why he hates me so much!"

Ron chimed in, "Me too."

Basil put a hand on Hagrid's shoulder. "This can't be kept secret. If Hermione knows, how can you guarantee Harry won't? Here, at least you're here."

Seeing that Hagrid had calmed down, Hermione looked at Basil with admiration before continuing, "I learned from the portraits that Snape and Harry's mother were a couple once. Harry's father often targeted him with his three friends because of it. Later, for some reason, Snape and Harry's mother fell out. Harry's father took advantage of the situation."

"Three? Was my dad the type of person Dudley is?" Harry said, dazed. "Hagrid, you said I look exactly like my dad, right?"

He suddenly projected Snape onto himself.

A dad who looked like Dudley, and his dad's friends who looked like Piers, Malcolm, and Gordon.

"What was their group called? The James Gang (Dudley's foursome, let's just call them the Dudley Gang)?"

Hagrid quickly explained, "They were called the Marauders. And James wasn't like that at all! They just liked to play pranks on people!"

"Like Fred and George?" A flicker of hope flashed in Harry's eyes.

Hagrid began to stammer, "It was much more excessive. But the school environment back then wasn't like this! The Dark Lord was rampant outside, and Slytherin students were almost all reserve Death Eaters. Conflicts between students were also much more brutal! Everyone liked James and them! They saw them as heroes. Because most of the people they pranked were Slytherin students and those close to Slytherin students."

"Snape was like that, then," Harry's tone became much more relaxed.

Hagrid's eyes darted around.

"Your dad and them thought so. But in my opinion, Snape just grew up in the Muggle world and didn't understand the situation in the wizarding world at the time. He mistakenly chose Slytherin. And in the following years, he maintained a friendship with Lily, who was Muggle-born, so he wasn't a bad person."

He wanted to find some good words, but none could be applied to Snape.

"And Lily, kind-hearted and academically excellent, was liked by all the teachers. In your dad's eyes, Snape was undoubtedly a stain on your mother. Plus, Snape seemed to have been at odds with them on the train, which is why—"

Thinking Snape was always Dumbledore's spy, he didn't mention that Snape was also close to Avery and Mulciber, who later joined the Death Eaters and played horrific pranks with Dark Magic.

Avery and Mulciber had even tried to harm Lily's friend Mary.

Mistakenly believing Sirius to be the traitor, he further believed that Snape and James had always been like this, and it was the despicable Sirius who was causing trouble.

But he couldn't tell Harry these things.

It was too cruel.

Original novel text: ["...thought we were supposed to be friends?" Snape said, "Best friends?" "Yes, Sev, but I don't like the people you hang around with! I'm sorry, but I hate Avery and Mulciber! What do you see in him, Sev? Sneaky! Do you know what he was trying to do to Mary Macdonald that day?" Lily walked over to a pillar and leaned against it, looking up at the sallow, thin face. "It's nothing," Snape said, "just a joke, nothing—" "That's Dark Magic, if you think that's fun—" "How could she marry him?" Harry said sadly. "She hated him!" "No, she didn't hate James," Sirius said. "She started going out with James in seventh year," Lupin said. "Because James wasn't so arrogant anymore," Sirius said. "And because he stopped casting spells on people for fun," Lupin said. "Even Snape?" Harry said. "Well," Lupin said slowly, "Snape was a special case, I mean, he never missed a chance to curse James, so you can't really expect James not to retaliate, can you?"]

This is not my fanfiction.