Harry's heart skipped a beat when he heard the words, "grew up in the Muggle World and doesn't understand the wizarding world."
The Sorting Hat had once considered placing him in Slytherin.
If it hadn't been for Hagrid, Ron, and Draco Malfoy's display, would he have as well?
Thinking of Fred and George's attitude toward Slytherin,
how would a worse version of them have treated him?
Hagrid looked at Harry, who had lowered his head and seemed perfectly calm.
He mistakenly assumed that Harry was no longer dwelling on it.
Then he said lightly, "Actually, you don't need to think so badly of your dad. After fifth year, he stopped pulling pranks. Like Lupin, he became a genuinely good student. That was why your mum only started dating him in seventh year."
"What about Snape? How did he and Mum break up?"
Harry asked sadly.
"Ah? Well..." Hagrid truly did not know how to answer that.
It had been a huge incident.
He had even been nearby at the time.
Later, he had asked people around him about the details.
Back then, James was still the sort of outrageous student who deliberately messed up his hair because he thought he looked cool after getting off a Flying Broomstick, showed off with a Golden Snitch all day, and hexed anyone in the corridor who displeased him.
After the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam, beneath the beech tree by the lake,
James, traitor Sirius, hero Peter, and Lupin had once again made Snape their entertainment.
Mostly the first two. That disgusting traitor must have been the one egging it on.
James used Scourgify to fill Snape's mouth with pink bubbles.
He could barely breathe.
Lily appeared, and James took the opportunity to ask her out.
Snape seized the chance to fight back.
James got angry and dangled Snape upside down in midair.
Lily drew her wand and prepared to attack James.
James put Snape down.
Snape called Lily a Mudblood and said he did not need her help.
Lily left in anger.
Snape was hung upside down again.
His underwear was pulled off.
After that incident, Lily never spoke to Snape again.
James, whom Lily had insulted by saying he was just as hateful as Snape, began to turn over a new leaf.
Hagrid truly did not know how to tell Harry this story.
And there was no way to avoid mentioning Sirius, either.
"Was it because of my dad too?" Seeing Hagrid's silence, Harry thought he had his answer.
The gathering ended on an unhappy note.
Harry also failed to notice the little slip of paper tucked beneath the teapot cosy—a clipping from the Daily Prophet.
It was the report about the Gringotts break-in.
Still, he had escaped the fate of having his pockets stuffed with heavy Rock Cakes that could chip his teeth.
On the way back to the castle,
Harry spoke gravely about his childhood.
About the days when Dudley's gang bullied him. He felt that he had been Snape.
For the first time, Basil felt that Harry had the makings of a protagonist.
He disliked Dudley's old sweater, so it kept shrinking until it could only fit a hand puppet.
He had been chased by Dudley's group, only to suddenly Apparate onto a rooftop chimney.
His hair would not grow longer, and his aunt, who hated his bird's nest hair, would drag him off for haircuts. Yet every time, even if it was shaved completely bald, it would grow back overnight.
Compared with Harry, Basil's ability to make mushrooms larger and tastier seemed rather pathetic.
Also, Harry actually knew Mrs. Figg, the witness from the fifth film, very well.
The Dursley family often left him at Mrs. Figg's house.
As a result, he hated cabbage and cats.
But Harry said he had never felt that same sense of disgust around other cats.
Basil did not pay much attention to that, however.
He focused entirely on Mrs. Figg, a cat-loving Squib who was also Harry's neighbor.
Could she be one of Dumbledore's people?
She and Filch both had "Figg" in their names.
They both liked cats.
Could they be married?
Then he heard Harry say that it had been the Dursley family who sent him off to school.
They had mocked him constantly, talking about how they had treated him when he was little and so on.
Everyone else was indignant.
Granger even began reciting legal statutes.
She clearly pointed out that it was illegal.
She could ask her father to contact people in the community, sue them, and revoke their right to raise Harry.
Harry hesitated three times—or perhaps ten—before firmly refusing.
"How much did the movie even change?!" Basil was utterly speechless.
Before this, he had always thought Harry had gone to Diagon Alley on September 1.
Then Hagrid had taken him to the station.
Then suddenly disappeared, leaving Harry alone.
And then the Weasley family had happened to appear.
It had all been Dumbledore's scheme, deliberately leaving Harry isolated and helpless so that he would grow close to the Weasley family.
But completely unlike the movie, Harry had stayed at the Dursley family's house for a month after visiting Diagon Alley.
And it had been the Dursley family who sent him off.
Harry meeting Ron had also been a coincidence.
Hmm, just like Dumbledore was not as hot-tempered as in the movies, perhaps he was not entirely as calculating as he seemed there either?
Yet not long after they left Hagrid's hut,
Dumbledore appeared inside it.
"Hagrid, how did your talk with Harry go?"
Hagrid covered his face. "I messed up! You asked me to show concern for Harry's everyday life. Since he grew up in that kind of family, he might have been bullied."
"But I accidentally let James's story slip."
"Was it Basil Granger?" Dumbledore adjusted his glasses.
This boy had escaped Fenrir's grasp and killed him in return.
He had driven off the Malfoy family's boy without a word or a wand.
He had pointed out the flaws in the Sorting Hat system to Minerva.
Someone like him, after hearing Snape's inexplicable words, would certainly investigate the reason behind them.
"No." Hagrid found the question rather baffling. "It was Hermione."
Dumbledore: ????
Why did he guess wrong every time this boy was involved?
"Not too far off. The other protagonist." Dumbledore coughed. "Then what did Harry think of James?"
Hagrid buried his face in his knees. "Dudley! Someone like Dudley Dursley!"
Dumbledore understood instantly.
He frowned.
James had been arrogant, frequently broken school rules, and bullied others.
But he had been a good boy.
When Sirius's prank had nearly gotten Snape killed, James had stopped it in time and saved Snape's life.
Later, he had completely changed and joined the Order of the Phoenix.
Dumbledore felt immense pressure.
Should he replace the disposable—no, the following year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor with Lupin?
Let Lupin tell Harry about James's good qualities?
Should he let Gilderoy Lockhart off for now?
Dumbledore rubbed his temples and glanced at the little clipping beneath the teapot cosy.
Hmm, he should teach Hagrid to clip news articles, record valuable information, and connect the pieces together.
Then give him the newspapers from the last few issues.
Figg had said that although Harry was nearsighted, he was very observant. He would definitely notice it.
And he could never keep things to himself.
He would not be able to resist asking about it.
In this respect, he should—
He casually asked, "Harry didn't discover the Gringotts incident, did he? After all, that day, just after you left, the Dark Wizard went there."
Hagrid sniffled.
Dumbledore's lips curved upward.
But Hagrid's face blossomed into a confident smile. "No! He had no idea at all! He never asked about it!"
????
Dumbledore was puzzled for a moment, then remembered that in the report that day, the largest section had been occupied by Fenrir's death.
Big-mouthed Ron had probably not seen that report.
So Harry—
Basil Granger again!!!
I'll paste the original text anyway, otherwise it might seem controversial:
"This'll cheer you up, Padfoot," James said quietly. "Look who it is..."
Sirius turned his head. He suddenly became completely still,
like a dog that had caught the scent of a rabbit.
"Excellent," he said softly. "Snivellus."
James and the others had actively gone looking for trouble, and it felt like this had happened more than once.
"Let him go," Lily repeated. She looked at James, her expression brimming with utter disgust. "What has he ever done to you?"
"You think you're so funny," she said coldly, "but you're nothing but an arrogant, rude, weakling-bullying piece of trash, Potter. Let him go."
"If you go out with me, I'll let him go, Evans," James said at once. "Go on... go out with me, and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivellus again."
Before you continue