After having their clothes measured, Hermione was still indignant over Malfoy's words.
How could he say something so outrageous as if it were perfectly natural?!
Fortunately, the ice cream Hagrid bought for the two children soon distracted them.
After that, they went to the bookshop, the equipment store, the apothecary...
As Harry stood outside the apothecary, trying to stuff a pile of things into his Golden Thread Cloth Bag, Hagrid said, "That only leaves the wand, then we can collect your robes from the robe shop—wait!!"
As he spoke, he suddenly clapped his hands hard.
Clap! It sounded like a thunderclap!
"Honestly, Harry, I still haven't gotten you a birthday present." Hagrid laughed.
"There's no need." Harry hurriedly declined.
"I'll get you an animal! Not a toad—those haven't been fashionable for years. People would laugh at you." Hagrid rambled decisively.
"How about a cat?"
"A cat?!" Harry immediately straightened up, waving his hands again and again, his head shaking like a rattle-drum.
"No, no way!!"
"Why are you so worked up..." Hagrid was rather puzzled. "Well, I don't actually like cats either. They always make me sneeze.
"I'll get you an owl instead. Kids all like owls. It can deliver letters and packages for you."
With that, Hagrid led the way straight toward Eeylops Owl Emporium.
Twenty minutes later, they left the dark Eeylops Owl Emporium, leaving behind the flapping wings and jewel-like gleaming eyes.
At that moment, Harry was carrying a large birdcage. Inside was a beautiful snowy owl, sleeping soundly with its head tucked beneath its wing.
There was no way to stuff that thing into a bag. He could only carry it.
"Thank you, Hagrid."
"You're welcome." Hagrid's voice was hoarse. "The Dursley couple wouldn't give you any presents. It wouldn't do if I didn't give you one either."
Hagrid truly thought so from the bottom of his heart.
Outside the owl shop, Hermione and Chris stood at the entrance.
"Hermione, where did you go just now? I wanted to ask for your opinion." Harry said, then lifted the birdcage. "Look, what do you think of this little fellow?"
"It's beautiful. Harry, this is for you!" Hermione said, handing him a book.
"What's this?" Harry took it and saw gilded English lettering on the cover: "A Young Wizard's Best Companion—Raising and Caring for Owls (Illustrated Edition)."
Well, Harry knew what Hermione had been doing just now.
"Thank you." Harry accepted the gift and thanked her sincerely.
"Then, next comes the wand." Hagrid said, leading the two children toward the wand shop.
Mu En bid the group farewell. Buying a wand would probably take quite a while, so he would take his leave for now.
And that was indeed the case. Harry tried more than a dozen wands before finally finding the one best suited to him.
Holly wood, Phoenix feather, eleven inches long.
It felt very comfortable in his hand.
Hermione also chose for quite some time before finally receiving a wand that suited her.
Ten and three-quarter inches long, Vine wood, with a Dragon heartstring core.
By the time they came out of the wand shop, Mu En had already been waiting outside for quite a while.
After leaving Diagon Alley, Chris treated everyone to a simple meal. Then, after Hagrid gave the two children their train tickets, it was time to part ways.
"Hagrid!" Mu En called out to him, then stepped forward.
"Jones, is there something else?"
"Just call me Mu En." Mu En smiled, then took out a letter. "After you get back, help me give this letter to Dumbledore."
"Oh?" Hagrid looked rather surprised. He accepted the letter from Mu En and solemnly tucked it into his clothes. "All right, I'll deliver it for you."
At dusk, the sky turned purple. Hogwarts Castle was draped in a layer of golden gauze, while the Black Lake glittered beneath the light, and a giant squid stretched lazily.
Today's sunbathing time was about to end, but it would come again tomorrow.
In the teachers' Common Room, only Professor Binns was there. The other professors were either away from the school or busy in their own offices.
The fire in the fireplace was nearly extinguished when a muffled boom suddenly came from within it, followed by an explosion of huge green flames.
A massive figure appeared, then slowly stepped out, using hands the size of fans to brush coal dust from his leather coat.
"Oh, Professor Binns, good evening." Hagrid greeted him warmly.
Only then did Professor Binns slowly turn his head. He raised a transparent hand to adjust his glasses. "You are... Flitwick. Good evening."
?!
Although Professor Binns often mistook Hagrid for someone else—after all, who knew how many centuries he had been teaching at Hogwarts?—this time, wasn't the mistake a little too outrageous?!
Hagrid helplessly walked out of the teachers' Common Room...
Seventh Floor, Headmaster's Office.
Dumbledore toyed with a Philosopher's Stone about the size of a Golden Snitch as he listened to Hagrid recount the day's events.
"Did Harry, or Mu En Jones, show any curiosity about Vault 713?" Dumbledore asked.
Hagrid taking Harry and Mu En to Vault 713 had been entirely within Dumbledore's expectations.
It had been a test!
Hagrid shook his head. "No, they didn't care much about it. Oh, Headmaster. Harry took back the key to his family vault."
"It's fine. It should have belonged to him in the first place." Dumbledore said, then changed the subject. "Hagrid, what kind of person do you think Mr. Jones is?"
"A very good person!" Hagrid said firmly. "He loves Magical Creatures and treats them like friends. And Harry trusts him very much.
"A person like that can't possibly be bad."
Seeing Hagrid speak with such certainty, Dumbledore could not help falling into deep thought.
Sometimes, he trusted people like Hagrid very much.
Dumbledore had personally gone to bring Hagrid to school. At that time, Hagrid had suffered constant bullying. Though he had been stronger than other children his age, that was precisely why he had been excluded and disliked.
Even after coming to Hogwarts, that had not improved.
Especially after Hagrid's father died during his second year, leaving him even more alone and helpless.
Growing up in such an environment, Hagrid might have been carefree by nature and sometimes caused trouble through carelessness.
But Hagrid was undoubtedly keenly sensitive to the malice of others.
Children with imperfect childhoods always had more fragile, sensitive hearts.
And those wounds did not heal simply because they grew older.
Some merely used roughness to conceal them.
"All right, Hagrid. You've worked hard today." Dumbledore rose from his seat. "Go back and rest early. Shall I have the kitchen prepare some dinner for you?"
"No need. I have food back at my hut." Hagrid waved his hand, looking a little embarrassed. With that, he took his leave from the Headmaster's Office.
Dumbledore sat in his soft chair, still recalling the scene of his mental battle with Mu En.
Those spells, that huge and ancient wand...
An exceedingly powerful old-school wizard.
Thud, thud, thud—
Hagrid ran back again. "Oh, right, Headmaster. Mu En also asked me to give this to you."
As he spoke, he handed over a letter.
"Almost forgot." Hagrid said somewhat sheepishly.
Dumbledore looked at the letter in confusion. After taking it, he smiled. "Thank you for your trouble."
After Hagrid left, Dumbledore slowly opened the envelope. Inside was only a sheet of blank paper.
As the letter paper unfolded, lines began to emerge upon it one after another. Yet they did not form words. Instead, they formed...
"This is... a hand?!"
Dumbledore watched the lines twist and dance in confusion.
Then the lines changed abruptly, crossing and spinning, until they finally became—a fist with its middle finger raised!!
Dumbledore stared at that middle finger for a long while before leaning back weakly in his chair with a helpless smile.
However, the paper changed again, as though it had been waiting for Dumbledore to recover.
A line of words slowly appeared beneath the middle finger.
"Your unexpected,
was within my expectations!"
Before you continue