Hermione and Hagrid

"George, thank you for walking me out!"

After leaving the gloomy Knockturn Alley and arriving in the bustling, prosperous Diagon Alley, Harry finally breathed a sigh of relief and immediately thanked George.

He felt that if George had not escorted him out just now, those strange and eerie wizards along the way might have eaten him alive.

"Harry! Harry!"

Just then, a little girl with thick, bushy brown hair came running toward them from the street.

"I'm so glad to see you! Why are you covered in dust? And your glasses!"

"I'm glad to see you too, Hermione."

Harry adjusted his glasses, which were covered in cracks, and a happy smile appeared on his face.

"It was an accident."

"All right, I'll fix them for you first. Reparo!"

Hermione pulled out her wand and cast the Repairing Charm on Harry's glasses.

It was as if time had turned back. The glasses, once covered in cracks, returned to pristine condition within seconds.

"Looks like I need to practice this spell properly too."

Harry looked at his brand-new glasses and could not help sighing.

He was not Hermione. Not only had she learned every spell in the First Year textbooks, but she had also taught herself quite a few more. He had not even fully mastered all the basic spells, including the Repairing Charm.

George had the same thought as Harry.

The Repairing Charm could fix far more than small things like glasses. If mastered well enough, repairing a collapsed building would be easy.

In the Marvel Main Universe, he could make quite a lot of money with this magic alone.

"And you are?"

After fixing Harry's glasses, Hermione turned to George, who was standing beside Harry, with a puzzled expression.

"He's a friend I just met, George. This is Hermione Granger."

Harry quickly introduced them.

George also held out his hand with a smile.

"Hello, beautiful Miss Granger."

"Hello, George."

Hearing George call her beautiful, Hermione's impression of him instantly soared. She happily reached out and shook his hand.

Aside from her parents, this was the first time anyone had called her beautiful. Plenty of people had called her clever.

"Harry, since your friend is here, I should head back now. See you at Hogwarts."

After shaking Hermione's hand, George did not linger. He waved and walked into Knockturn Alley.

For a first meeting, getting acquainted was enough. There was no need to get too involved, or it would seem too deliberate. Besides, his time was precious, and he still needed to continue researching and learning magic.

More importantly, he had no intention of stopping Lucius Malfoy from secretly slipping Voldemort's Diary to Ginny.

Voldemort's Diary contained a fragment of Voldemort's soul and could bewitch people's minds. Even with his Psychic Abilities, George was not confident he could resist it, so he had no intention of touching it or claiming it for himself.

There was no need to find a way to stop it, either. With Dumbledore around, it would ultimately become a trial for Harry, and no young wizard would truly be harmed.

He was even hoping to use the matter to see whether he could gain some benefits.

"He seems pretty nice. Why have I never seen him at school before?"

Hermione looked at George's departing back, confusion in her voice.

George did not seem older than her. He was either in her year or one year above her, so she should have seen him before.

Harry smiled at her question.

"Because he's only starting First Year at Hogwarts this year. Of course you haven't seen him."

"So he's younger than us. Then how did you meet?"

Hermione asked curiously as she walked with Harry toward Flourish and Blotts.

Harry began telling her about what had just happened.

Meanwhile, when George returned to the entrance of the shop, he unexpectedly saw a huge figure standing outside and looking around.

Calling him huge was not enough to describe him, because his height had already exceeded the limits of a normal human.

By George's rough estimate, he was about three and a half meters tall. Even if George walked up and reached out, he might not be able to touch the man's waist. He was immensely imposing.

Why is this guy standing outside my shop?

With that build and attire, George guessed his identity at a glance.

He was Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts Keeper of Keys and Gamekeeper, a Master of Magical Creatures who possessed both wizard and giant blood.

Thinking of Hagrid's origins, George could not help giving Hagrid's father, Mr. Hagrid, a mental thumbs-up. The man was truly formidable.

Normal giants were usually seven or eight meters tall. Yet Mr. Hagrid, a male wizard of ordinary height, had actually coupled with a female giant and even produced offspring. One could not help admiring his astonishing talents.

"Sir, may I ask what you need?"

George stepped forward and asked.

Hagrid turned around and looked down at George. Seeing that he was a skinny little wizard, his tone immediately softened.

"I'm looking for a potion that repels Carnivorous Slugs. I heard only this Potions shop carries it, but it seems to be closed."

Though his voice was gentle, because of his enormous size, it sounded to George like an ordinary person shouting.

"The owner of this Potions shop, Mr. Merton, died in a potion-brewing accident some time ago. I'm in charge now. I know the potion you mean and can find it for you."

George took out his key and opened the door, then quickly went to the counter and retrieved a bottle of Potion.

Although Dora could not brew Potions, because he had to introduce products and attract customers, he knew everything about Herbology and the functions of every Potion in the shop.

"Repellent Potion. Besides Carnivorous Slugs, it's also very effective against Cabbage Caterpillars and Heartworm."

"Oh, thank you, little boss."

Hagrid took the Potion in surprise, and a satisfied smile immediately appeared on his face.

"How much?"

"Fourteen Sickles, please."

George smiled and held out his hand.

"That's much cheaper than I expected."

Hagrid reached into the pocket of his enormous moleskin coat, pulled out a handful of silver Sickles, counted out fourteen, and placed them in George's hand.

He had thought such a rare Potion would cost at least close to two Galleons.

"Because I'm about to start school at Hogwarts and I'm in a good mood, I gave you half off."

George put the fourteen silver Sickles into the box on the counter and deliberately spoke in a cheerful tone.

Since he could communicate with animals through his Psychic Abilities and had the potential to become a Master of Magical Creatures, he naturally could not let that potential go to waste.

Building a good relationship with Hagrid and learning more about magical creatures would be a good choice, whether for making money or raising magical creatures to increase his strength.

That was why, after recognizing Hagrid, George had decided to befriend him.

Hagrid was warm, kind, straightforward, and not overly calculating. Building a good relationship with him would not be difficult.

Sure enough, after hearing George's words, Hagrid visibly froze for a moment, and his attitude immediately became much friendlier. He carefully studied George's face and smiled.

"So you're one of this year's new students. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Hogwarts' Gamekeeper. Come find me when you have time after school starts, and I'll make you some Rock cakes."