A Leisurely Saturday

Hagrid was far too large, and he dressed like a wild man from the woods.

Seamus and Dean were a little scared, but Loren seemed to know the man, so they let Hagrid handle them however he pleased, their faces full of despair.

Loren walked alongside them with a grin, introducing everyone. "In your right hand is Seamus Finnigan, Harry's and my roommate. In your left is Dean Thomas, our classmate."

"And this big guy is Hagrid, Harry's friend."

Hagrid carried the two boys effortlessly as he walked. "You little ones, don't go copying those Weasley brothers. I can't handle so many of you causing trouble."

As he spoke, he tossed them into the air and caught them again.

Seamus and Dean screamed in fright, but after several rounds, they started enjoying it. Every time they were thrown into the air, they cheered loudly. "Oh!"

Hagrid laughed. "I knew you'd like it. Fang loved playing like this with me when he was little too."

Loren felt like something was off.

Hagrid brought them to the side of his hut and set them down. Neatly stacked there were freshly chopped logs, each as thick as two or three Lorens at the waist.

Hagrid picked up an axe as large as Loren and began splitting the logs into strips of firewood, telling them to help stack it.

Hagrid chopped alone while Loren and the other two stacked the wood, but Hagrid was much faster than all three of them.

The three chatted as they gathered firewood. "I heard there are Centaurs and unicorns in the Forbidden Forest." Dean really wanted to see them.

Hagrid swung his axe and split a stump apart. "They're not creatures you want to mess with. You'd best stay far away."

"There are plenty of animals here that are dangerous to you. Listen to the Headmaster and the professors. It's best not to go near the Forbidden Forest."

Seamus and Dean began asking scattered questions about the Forbidden Forest.

After slacking off for a while, Loren simply gave up. "I'm exhausted. I'm taking a break." Then he ran off to play with Fang.

After flying through the air in Hagrid's hands all the way there, Seamus and Dean had become much more familiar with him. They were no longer afraid, and before long, they followed Loren off to play.

Hagrid looked at the boys and laughingly scolded them a few times, but he did not stop them. As long as they did not blow up the forest again, it was fine.

The sun gradually sank low, dyeing the clouds at the edge of the forest a goose-yellow.

Hagrid finished splitting all the wood. More than half of it was scattered across the ground, and he planned to tidy it up slowly later. Straightening up, he called to the mud-covered little devils, "Are you having dinner here, or heading back to the Castle?"

Remembering the Rock Cakes from last time, Loren answered first. "Let's go back to the Castle first. The professors will worry if it gets dark!"

Seamus and Dean nodded in agreement. They actually thought dinner in the forest hut would be great, but Loren patted their hands, and they understood the hint.

Hagrid went into the hut and brought out several small objects, handing one to each of Loren's group. "Teeth shed by Aragog's children. Consider them your payment for today."

They were valuable items. Sold as potion or Alchemy materials, they could fetch quite a few Galleons. But the three boys did not know their worth. Once they learned that Aragog was an Acromantula, they only thought the teeth were unbelievably cool.

The three declined Hagrid's offer to escort them and happily raced back to the Castle. Loren also forgot to ask why Hagrid needed so much firewood when it was only September.

At the Gryffindor table during dinner, Dean excitedly recounted their adventure that day, even though it was already the third time.

"First, Loren took us to practice Explosion Charms by the edge of the Forbidden Forest. It's an incredibly powerful spell."

Hermione was very interested in the spell.

"We blew over a tree as tall as a two-story building and disturbed a four-meter-tall Giant living in the Forbidden Forest!"

"Whoa!" Their friends around them obligingly gasped.

"It turned out that the Giant was Harry's and Loren's friend. He invited us to visit his home deep in the Forbidden Forest."

"Whoa!"

"Before we left, he gave us Acromantula teeth as presents." Seamus pulled out the tooth necklace he wore around his neck on a string.

"Whoa!"...

Loren was deep in thought. He was beginning to doubt himself. Had his day really gone like that?

It sounded like it had, but why did everything feel so wrong?

Harry was green with jealousy. He viciously carved up his lamb chop with his Dinner Knife and fork, as if he were cutting someone's flesh. "I knew Hagrid first. I'm clearly closer to Hagrid..."

Thinking of his boring afternoon, Harry felt even worse. Ron had gone home, and Loren and Seamus had gone out to play without him. He had been alone in the common room, unable to find anything to do.

He had gone to the library intending to study, only for Hermione to lecture him. Thinking of how much fun everyone else had had, he cut even harder with his Dinner Knife.

"It's all Malfoy's fault. I could've kept up with them too. It's all Malfoy's fault..."

Seeing the dense black aura seemingly rising from Harry, Neville quietly shifted a little farther away.

That night, Loren, Harry, Seamus, and Neville lay in their dormitory beds. They all felt that without Ron, something was missing from the room. It was much quieter.

"Let's chat!" Harry still had a bellyful of questions.

"My eyes can see Animagi. I noticed something was wrong with Scabbers and told Headmaster Dumbledore. You know what happened after that." Loren immediately unleashed a lightning-fast combo.

Seamus and Neville were left dizzy by the impact. Wait, what? Why did Loren's Hogwarts seem different from their Hogwarts? They had not even finished opening up the map, while he was already fighting a mini-boss.

Harry was shocked that Loren knew what he wanted to ask, and he was about to say it aloud. "Why—"

"I can read minds too." Loren cut off Harry's wind-up again and landed a critical hit.

Seriously? Harry thought instinctively.

"Seriously!" That did it. Loren's full right-click, Shift, and E combo completely stunned Harry.

Having finished his combo, Loren logged off at lightning speed. "Time for bed! Good night, everyone!" With that, he pulled his little blanket over himself and ignored the others.

Harry's processor was nearly overheating. Instinctively, he did not quite believe it, but this was the wizarding world. What if it really was true? Besides, Loren had just answered the question in his head.

Seamus thought Loren might be able to teach him the mysterious Explosion Charm from earlier that day, so mind-reading did not seem impossible to accept.

As for Neville, he believed whatever Loren said. He was simply shocked.

Under his blanket, Loren was shaking with laughter. He could not laugh out loud, and his stomach was starting to ache.

Elementary school kids! One little psychological trick, and I've got your CPU smoking. Let's see if you can sleep tonight!

Moonlight shone through the window into the room. After an unknown amount of time, Neville fell asleep first, then Seamus. Harry's CPU was still burning.

Seeing the moonlight made Loren think of Grandpa Bates. As for the Wolfsbane Potion, with the credit for exposing Peter this time, he could confess directly to Dumbledore. Out of respect for Dumbledore, even if Grandpa Bates could not learn how to make it, there was a good chance he would at least get an opportunity to buy it.

He began planning what he needed to do. For spells, he needed to pick several highly practical ones and focus on practicing them until, like Colloportus, they could nearly achieve whatever he envisioned.

For defense, there were the Shield Charm and Finite Incantatem. For offense, he needed to choose what suited him best.

There was no fixed answer to that. Harry had climbed from low-ranked Gold and Silver matches all the way to first place on the national server with Expelliarmus alone. It was all about mastering one specialty. The Weasley family's Sectumsempra, passed down to daughters but not sons, could be unstoppable if it suited the user.

He needed to work hard at Transfiguration. Whether it was Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall, both had developed Transfiguration to the point where it had unexpected uses. He would decide later whether to learn Animagus transformation. There were also the Patronus Charm and Apparition; these spells would play huge roles later on.

And then there was the study of Alchemy. Those two books had an extraordinary origin. Loren would do his best to learn the vast body of prerequisite knowledge and seize the opportunity presented by the Sorcerer's Stone incident. It would be best if he could have a proper conversation with Nicolas Flamel...