Harry's Questions

Potions class continued, and Professor Snape was just as nasty to the other Gryffindor students.

The students worked in pairs to brew a simple potion for treating boils. They had to weigh Dried Nettles, crush Snake Fangs, and boil Horned Slugs.

At this step, Snape specifically praised Malfoy. The blond boy had indeed handled it perfectly.

The most dangerous step was adding Porcupine Quills. The book said that making a mistake here would cause serious trouble. Before long, everyone found out what that serious trouble was.

Neville and Seamus were paired together, and they added the Porcupine Quills before taking the cauldron off the fire.

A cloud of acidic green smoke suddenly erupted from the cauldron. Then the cauldron twisted and shriveled into a lump, and the potion inside spilled everywhere, flowing across the flagstones with a corrosive hiss.

"Ah!"

The people nearby quickly climbed onto their stools, and the others followed suit. A few who had reacted too slowly had large holes burned through their shoes.

No one was hurt except Neville. Potion splashed onto his arms and thighs, corroding through his clothes and touching his skin, where red, swollen boils rapidly appeared.

Neville could not bear the pain. He crouched on the floor, howling continuously, wanting to cover his wounds with his hands, but the slightest touch brought even sharper pain, squeezing pus from the boils.

Loren, Ron, and the others felt awful watching, but there was nothing they could do.

Snape walked over. His eyes fixed viciously on Neville, and he looked furious.

He flicked his wand and cleared away the potion on the floor. Then he turned his wand and quickly cast several Healing Spells on Neville, making his cries somewhat quieter.

Snape pulled a small black bottle from his robes, poured out a drop of white, tree-sap-like liquid, mixed it into the boil-curing potion, and applied it to Neville's wounds.

The red, swollen boils quickly subsided, leaving only a few red marks. Neville could not help touching one, then shuddered from the pain again.

After Snape finished and saw this, he finally snapped, "You idiot. I suppose you added the Porcupine Quills before taking the cauldron off the fire, didn't you?"

Neville cried after being scolded, sniffling miserably.

"Take him to the Hospital Wing. I've only treated him temporarily. He still needs the doctor to treat him properly."

Snape seemed unable to stand the sight any longer and gave the order to Seamus beside him.

Seamus helped Neville up and headed for the Hospital Wing.

Hermione was still shaken, but also angry. She bit her lip and said bitterly, "That was terrifying. There aren't any safety measures at all in these practical lessons!"

Loren's only impression of Potions class from the movies had been the part where Snape picked on Harry. The sudden accident afterward had frightened him too. Still, Loren comforted Hermione. "It was only an accident this time. Everyone will be more careful from now on."

The surrounding students gradually climbed down from their stools and sat back down. Some praised Professor Snape as worthy of being a Potions master.

Harry had not yet recovered from the string of shocks when Snape started causing trouble again. "Potter, why didn't you tell him not to add the Porcupine Quills? Did you think his mistake would make you look good? Gryffindor loses another five points."

Harry felt rather downcast. He did not know about the grudges between the previous generation and could not understand why Snape hated him so much.

An hour later, Potions class finally ended.

After lunch, the three of them went to meet Hagrid. They crossed the fields as the sunlight generously poured over them, warm against their skin, freeing their moods from Potions class.

"Ahh~"

Loren had spent the past few years in the Wilderness, and such a scene made him feel even more at ease. He ran a few steps across the grass, then stopped to tug at unknown wild plants and flowers. Harry and Ron were infected by his enthusiasm, running and stopping along with him.

At five minutes to three, they reached the cabin at the Edge of the Forbidden Forest. A crossbow and a pair of rubber boots stood outside the front door. Loren felt especially close to this sort of cabin, so he stepped forward first and knocked.

The door opened a crack, revealing a huge bearded face. Hagrid froze briefly when he saw Loren, then spotted Harry behind him and broke into a delighted smile.

"Oh, come in, quickly. Look at me—I've been so busy I forgot all about our appointment." Hagrid tugged his hound farther back and welcomed the three inside.

The cabin had only one room. Hams and pheasants hung from the ceiling, a copper kettle boiled over the fire, and a large bed stood in the corner, covered with a patchwork quilt made of rags. The place was even more run-down than Loren's home.

"Sit down, quickly! Don't be shy." Hagrid had them sit, then released the hound he had been holding. The dog immediately pounced on Ron, who was nearly frightened to tears, but it only licked his ears.

Hagrid laughed at the sight. "Forgot to introduce you. This is my friend Fang." The dog was clearly not as vicious as it looked.

Harry and Loren could not help laughing at Ron's bedraggled state. Harry introduced them, "This is Ron and Loren, my friends."

Hagrid glanced at Ron and said with a chuckle, "Another Weasley boy. Your two brothers gave me plenty of trouble. I spent half my life trying to drive them out of the Forbidden Forest."

As he spoke, Hagrid brought out Rock Cakes for the three of them.

The cakes clunked against the plate with a series of bang bang bang sounds, and the three of them stiffened.

"Have a taste. Fang loves them!"

Harry and Ron each picked one up and gathered their courage to take a bite.

"Crack!"

Their expressions became pained. The cakes had nearly knocked their teeth out. But seeing Hagrid's enthusiasm, they still pretended they were delicious and slowly ground away at them with their teeth.

Listening to the grinding sounds, Loren roughly understood why Fang liked them. Dogs liked chew sticks, didn't they?

Loren held a cake in his hand but had no intention of torturing himself. Pinching the cake between his fingers, he began complaining about Hogwarts' Staircases.

Once the topic shifted, Harry also started talking about his classes over the past few days, bitterly complaining about Professor Snape's favoritism and constant harassment.

Hagrid hemmed and hawed for a while, wanting to argue with Harry, but in the end he only said, "Snape's a professor. He wouldn't target you."

The words sounded unconvincing even to himself.

"Ahem."

Hagrid turned to Ron. "How's your brother Charlie? Like me, he's got a way with animals."

The change of topic was far too forced, and Harry felt that Hagrid simply did not want to talk about the professor.

Ron's brother Charlie worked with dragons after graduating, so Ron shared what little he knew.

Loren picked up a copy of The Daily Prophet from the table and began reading.

Harry immediately spotted the report about the illegal break-in at Gringotts. Gringotts claimed that the intruder had found nothing. The owner of the vault had already removed everything from it beforehand, so nothing had been stolen.

The end of the report read: A Goblin spokesperson for Gringotts stated this afternoon that the contents of the vault were confidential and that the public would do well not to interfere in the matter.

After reading it, Loren knew that Dumbledore, that old man, had set a trap for Voldemort. But he had a whole stomachful of complaints he wanted to direct at Gringotts' bandit-like statement.

The Goblins at Gringotts were all thugs, weren't they? Someone broke into the place where they stored their clients' belongings and got back out again, then they said nothing was lost and warned all their customers to mind their own business. Incredible.

Harry remembered that day. It had been one of the most unforgettable days of his life. "Hagrid! We were at Gringotts on the day it was broken into too!"

"Huh? I don't remember very well." Hagrid's eyes darted everywhere, and he did not answer directly.

Harry quietly remembered this. That small package Hagrid had taken from Vault 713 that day—could it have been the intruder's target?

Time passed without them noticing. One Rock Cake still had not been finished after an entire afternoon of tea, though Loren fed it to Fang when the others were not paying attention.

On the way back, Harry's head was full of questions: What was in that package Hagrid had taken? Where was it now? Why did Hagrid avoid talking about Snape?