Dumbledore: Can This Really Be Drunk?

The little Fairy in the courtyard are gone, but the rose bushes and the Magic Fountain are still there. It's foreseeable that this will be the little wizards' dating spot until the roses wither.

As they passed the reindeer statue, they saw an unexpected person sitting on the stone bench.

"Headmaster Dumbledore!" Harry exclaimed in surprise.

"Good morning, Harry, Ron, Loren, and Hermione." Dumbledore, holding a piece of parchment in his hand, looked down at them with a smile and said cheerfully, "You're going to see Hagrid, aren't you?"

"Oh, yes." Harry nodded blankly, not understanding why the headmaster knew about this.

"That's wonderful. Please pass this letter on to him for me." Dumbledore's eyes gleamed with a deep blue light as he approached, dragging his beige robes, and handed the letter to Harry.

Before the others could speak, Dumbledore waved his hand dismissively and walked into the Castle, leaving behind a languid voice:

"Goodbye, darling. The dance last night was wonderful. Please forgive this old man for being out of energy. I need to go back and catch up on my sleep."

Loren watched his retreating figure and blinked.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he always felt that the old man was avoiding having too much contact with him.

When did it start?

It seems to have started after it was revealed that Moody was a person in disguise...

Hermione didn't want to peek at other people's mail, but the letter was openly displayed, and she couldn't help but glance at it a few times. Then her face gradually darkened, and she whispered:

"You lot, come and take a look at this letter!"

The four of them gathered around and read the letter that the principal had asked them to deliver.

Although it was written on letter paper, the wording was more like a press release, and the writer was an old acquaintance of theirs— Rita Skeeter.

"... Rubeus Hagrid admitted that he was expelled from Hogwarts in his third year and had been working as the school's Gamekeeper ever since, a job Dumbledore had arranged for him. Last year, Hagrid somehow managed to use his mysterious influence on the headmaster to beat out many more qualified candidates and secure himself the position of Professor of Care of Magical Creatures."

"Hagrid is a large, menacing man who abuses his newly acquired power by summoning a series of terrifying animals to frighten the students under his care. In a series of classes that can only be described as extremely horrific, Hagrid has caused injuries to several students, while Dumbledore's attitude toward this is ambiguous."

"According to investigations, Hagrid is breeding an animal he has named the Blast-Ended Skrewts, which is Sphinx and Fire Crabs, and is extremely dangerous..."

"Hagrid is not a Pure-blood wizard, nor even a Pure-blood human, as he always pretends to be! We can exclusively reveal that his mother is the giant Fridwulfa, whose whereabouts are unknown."

As always, she uses a few facts to stir emotions, and her writing style is more skillful, drawing readers into her thoughts more subtly, giving it a more Muggle media feel.

Loren's gaze slowly swept across the letter, and the face of the reporter, Rita Skeeter, appeared in his mind. They had a brief meeting in New York during the summer vacation, and she had also appeared at the Goblet of Fire Triwizard Tournament. She had even conducted an interview with the Champion when they were testing their wands before the start of the First Task.

While the reporting on Harry is still somewhat biased, it's much better than before. I never expected her to prepare such a big news story right after Christmas...

Hermione read the text aloud, and after a long description of giants, Rita concluded. "Hagrid, as the son of the giant Fridwulfa, seems to have inherited the giants' cruel nature, casting a dangerous shadow over Harry Potter and his classmates."

Harry and Ron stared in disbelief, their mouths agape.

"How did she find out?" Harry asked in a low voice.

"She must have turned into Beetle and eavesdropped in the flower bushes last night! That despicable reporter!" Hermione glared angrily at the stone statue, the letter trembling in her hand.

Loren silently turned the letter over and found nothing more. The letter only contained a press release. "Don't worry too much. If Skeeter wants to publish it, we've already seen the news in the Daily Prophet this morning."

"Then what is this?"

"These are her correspondence with Dumbledore. Whether the headmaster intercepted them or Skeeter wrote them to him voluntarily, it has nothing to do with us." Loren folded the letter and put it into the pocket of his robe. "Let's go see Hagrid first."

Hermione sighed softly, "Hagrid would be devastated to see this."

With the soft rustling of footsteps, the four figures gradually disappeared into the rose garden. Passing through the Magic Fountain in the center of the courtyard, they followed the winding path and entered a world of pure white snow.

Hidden behind the Castle pillars, Dumbledore watched them walk away, his smile slowly fading as he shook his head. Why couldn't the older folks understand something that even young children could see clearly?

Rupert Hagrid didn't know if the giantess Fridwulfa had maternal instincts, but his Gamekeeper knew best how to care for small animals and could understand the feelings of abandoned little creatures. Having experienced what it was like to be alone, Rubeus Hagrid didn't want anyone else to experience it.

Fortunately, he wasn't alone; he made a group of good friends...

Dumbledore turned and went upstairs to his office. He smiled at the waiting guest and said, "I'm sorry, Miss Skeeter, the snow outside was too heavy, so I was a little late getting back."

Rita Skeeter, who was sitting at the guest desk, turned around, her right thumb tapping high as she held her coffee. She said in a high-pitched voice, "It's nothing, I'm not bored here. Would you like to try some coffee I made especially for you, Headmaster Dumbledore?"

"My pleasure."

Dumbledore returned to his seat, smiled, took the coffee Rita poured for him, brought it close to his nose to sniff, and exclaimed, "It has a rich aroma, very rich."

"What I learned in New York is that the Muggle way is very complicated, but it's much easier with a wand..." Rita smiled and said, "Also, I saw some interesting things on your bookshelf, like my article from this summer about the International Confederation of Wizards Conference— "

"Cough cough..."

Before Rita could finish speaking, she saw the usually calm and collected old headmaster cough violently, and it took him a while to calm down.

Rita got up as if to do something, but saw him gesture that it wasn't necessary, so she quickly asked, "Headmaster Dumbledore, would you like to go to the Hospital Wing?"

"It's nothing, nothing. I'm sorry to have worried you." Dumbledore wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and casually pushed the coffee away. "Let's get back to business."

"Okay... then." Rita looked at him cautiously, afraid that something might happen to the centenarian. After observing him for a while and finding that there was really no problem, she continued, "I believe that the manuscript just now has proven my sincerity. I came here just to know one answer."

What answer?

"Was your warning at the International Confederation of Wizards Conference true?"

Dumbledore into her eyes. As expected of a Ravenclaw House graduate, so many intelligent politicians and experts thought it was yet another unfunny joke of his, but only this young reporter came to him for confirmation.

"Rita, I have to remind you, if you're looking for the most sensational news, the Dark Lord isn't the right choice. You know why."

"I'm not short of news. I seek answers to avoid danger. I've read in Muggle articles about animals that sensitive Beetle can sense changes in the weather before the rainy season." Rita elegantly picked up her coffee and took a sip.

Dumbledore watched her movements, remaining silent for a moment. "I can continue to provide you with warnings of danger, but while you keep the secret, you also need to do something for me."

"I need to understand the task first, and then judge whether the effort and reward are commensurate."

"There are many intelligent races beyond the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Magic. I need you to go to their hidden settlements... Giants... Vampire ... Curupira ... Fairies... Siren ..."

The delicate silverware on the table emitted warm white steam, drowning out the haggling conversation, until Rita finished a pot of coffee, and the secret deal was finally settled.

"Then let's leave it at that."

Rita said with a smile, then stood up, bowed politely, and left the Headmaster's office with a clattering sound in her bright red high heels.

Once the footsteps had completely disappeared, Dumbledore withdrew his gaze, tapped his fingers on the table, and fell into deep thought.

After an unknown amount of time, Dumbledore blinked, his deep gaze refocusing as he looked at the coffee on his right, glanced at Rita's empty cup, and then at the empty teapot.

The old principal seemed to be deep in thought.

A few seconds later.

"Puff!"

Snow was falling again outside the Castle, and the breath exhaled from the mouth and nose turned into white mist.

The road outside was difficult to walk on. The grounds were covered with thick snow, and the temperature was very low. The cold wind felt like being slapped in the face. Loren was slapped twice and, shivering, threw a Bubble-Head Charm at himself and the little Witch.

It keeps you warm and protects you from the cold.

Ron watched the two walking hand in hand, side by side, and felt a toothache. He couldn't help but call out, "Hey, where's ours?"

"Don't you know the Bubble-Head Charm?" Loren asked, holding Hermione's warm little hand without turning his head.

"Our Bubble-Head Charm isn't as effective as yours!" Harry said matter-of-factly.

"Then we need to practice even more."

Loren kept walking. To prevent Hermione from falling, he changed to a safer position, gently putting his right arm around her shoulder and holding her left hand with his other hand, making it secure and safe.

Hermione remained silent and followed Loren forward.

Harry and Ron stared at each other for a while, and only reluctantly followed a few minutes later.

Passing by the shore of Black Lake, I could see Durmstrang's large ship moored on the lake in the distance, with students in twos and threes standing on the deck, wearing thick leather coats. The ice nearby was broken and floated on the water, making a crisp rustling sound as it collided.

"It's much colder where Durmstrang is. The weather must be warm for them," Hermione said.

Ilvermorny's school bus was parked cleanly at the Edge of the Forbidden Forest, with only a layer of snow on the roof. Beauxbatons ' carriage was parked next to the stables, where the huge Abraxan huddled together to ward off the cold, their wings drooping lazily.

Half an hour later, the group arrived at their destination. Loren broke the Bubble-Head Charm he and the little Witch had cast and saw the Wooden House with its doors and windows tightly shut. "This is not normal. Usually at this time, Hagrid would have already returned from patrolling the forest."

Ron knocked on the door, and a low, guttural Fang came from inside.

"Hagrid, it's us!" Harry pounded on the wooden door harder. "Open the door!"

His response was a muffled sob from Hagrid.

Hermione couldn't hold back any longer and went up to knock on the door. "Hagrid! Hagrid, that's enough! We know you're in there! Stop crying for that woman Maxime, nobody cares that your mother is a giant!"

Hagrid cried even louder.

Loren pushed the group aside, used Unlocking Charm to open the door, Fang pounced on him, biting Loren's trouser leg and pulling him into the room. The group then saw Hagrid sitting at the table.

His face Scabbers spots, and his eyes were red and swollen. He was wiping his eyes and nose in a disheveled state, and asked in a hoarse voice with a hint of crying, "Why are you here?"

"Hagrid, we all know." Hermione took a letter from Loren's pocket and spread it out on the table to show him. "Not only do we know, Rita Skeeter knows too."

Harry and Ron walked over quietly and waited for Hagrid to read the report.

Loren took out his wand and waved it, summoning a whirlwind that brought fresh air into the room. He then took out tea and desserts from his pendant, placed them on the table, and poured tea for everyone. "Have something to drink and talk slowly."

Hagrid had just finished reading the report when two round tears streamed from his dark eyes as he began to sob again, "Now everyone knows, I'm going to be expelled from Hogwarts again!"

"This is what Professor Dumbledore asked us to give you!" Hermione roared, her voice drowning out Hagrid's sobs. "This report won't be published, and besides Maxime, do you think we'd care about such things?"

Hagrid's eyes brightened, then quickly dimmed again. "But they'll find out sooner or later that they care... I shouldn't cause Dumbledore trouble..."

"You want to resign?" Harry grabbed his sleeve anxiously. "It's not about whether they care or not, it's about whether Dumbledore cares or not, it's about whether you care or not! This letter is right in front of you, don't you understand?"

"You wouldn't understand. You're not Half-Giant, not even Olympe— "

"So only Maxime cares! Only you care!"

Loren's stern voice silenced the room for a moment. Hagrid didn't dare to look up at him, while the other three secretly glanced at his face. "Back when Dumbledore wasn't the headmaster, he defied so many people's objections to keep you on as the Gamekeeper, and you're still here today!"

"Last year you became the Professor of Care of Magical Creatures and got into trouble, and Harry humbled himself to Malfoy's request for your sake! So now, are you planning to lock yourself in here and resign from Dumbledore?"

"Just because Maxime didn't like you, are you going to let down all these people who are good to you for someone you've only known for less than two months?"

"I, I'm not..." Hagrid choked up, and many more tears rolled down his cheeks, seeping into his messy beard.

"Then let's see some action!"

Hagrid buried his face in his hands, which were as big as a trash can lid, and cried sadly.

Harry and Ron patted his arms on either side, trying to comfort him.

After a long while, Hagrid finally raised his head, his eyes bloodshot. "You're right, I was so stupid... My old man would be so ashamed to see me like this..."

Smiles returned to their faces.

Hagrid's tears welled up again, and he wiped them away forcefully. "Want to see a picture of my old man? I think I should put it here..."