Hagrid's Trail

Ben Nevis Mountainside.

Loren stretched and crawled out of the tent. They had stayed up all night the night before and set up camp to sleep as soon as the moon rose last night. Hermione was also a little tired, so she slept soundly in his arms.

She just woke up earlier than him and got up earlier.

Outside the tent, a table made of Transfiguration stone was set with hot milk, bread, and fried bacon. It wasn't a lavish breakfast, but considering we were camping in the wild, being able to eat hot food was already quite good.

Hermione stood on the open ground nearby, wearing a denim jacket and jeans. The fabric fit her figure beautifully, and a clear water sphere summoned by the "Aguamenti" floated in front of her. She simply wiped herself with a damp towel.

When he slowly sauntered over to her and reached out to put his arm around her waist, Hermione casually stuffed a wrung-out towel into his hand:

"You have your own toothpaste and toothbrush. Hurry up and wash up. After breakfast, we'll set off to catch up with Hagrid."

"Oh."

Loren squeezed the damp towel and grinned.

You know, she used to wake up earlier than me and would always wait for me to wake up before we got up together.

Since leaving 12 Grimmauld Place, due to various special circumstances, they have been forced to have close contact for several nights in a row. Before, the little Witch was preoccupied with the Giant tribe and Hagrid's safety, so she didn't realize it. But as she learned more about the Giant tribe and the Death Eater were put into jars by them, Hermione seemed a little shy.

Shyness is good; shy little girls are the most interesting.

Her cheeks are flushed, and she will look away in a fluster if you accidentally make eye contact with her.

He loved seeing Hermione blush...

While washing up and brushing his teeth, Loren struck up a conversation with Hermione: "Hmm... this morning in the tent, I think I saw you writing something in your notebook..."

"When I was documenting the situation of the Giant tribe, I felt that the House-elf and the giants had similar circumstances."

"Minister Granger is wise."

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "You were clearly awake a long time ago, why did you still want to stay in bed in the tent?"

"Not sleeping in? How can you eat Minister Granger's breakfast if you don't sleep in?" Loren put away his toothpaste and toothbrush, unfolded the towel in his hand, and happily wiped his face.

"..."

Hermione's eyelids twitched a few times, her cheeks flushed, and she turned her head away, unable to bear the sight.

A few minutes later, the two sat at a stone table and chairs to enjoy breakfast.

The milk and bread were readily available from the pendant, and the bacon was fried to a slightly charred state. Loren didn't know what Hermione had used to fry it, but he wasn't interested in finding out; having something to eat was enough. He ate while praising it:

"This milk is heated just right, not too hot or too cold... This bread is good too, it tastes just like bread... This bacon is good too, I like it a little bit crispy."

"Shut up."

"Oh."

Loren was silent for a few seconds, until he swallowed the bread in his mouth and the conversation he had just had, before speaking again, "Remember to remind me to feed the hamster in the jar after you finish breakfast. If the two Death Eater didn't die in the duel but starved to death in the glass bottle, they will definitely come back as ghosts to haunt us."

"When did you turn into a hamster?" Hermione seized on the blind spot.

"Yesterday afternoon, I felt the Ermine were too big, so I turned them into hamsters."

Hermione nodded. "How much food should we feed it, the amount for a hamster, or the amount for an adult?"

"Just throw in a few breadcrumbs. Wormtail Peter has lived as a mouse for so many years. If he ate the equivalent of an adult's food every day, Mrs. Weasley would have noticed something was wrong long ago."

"..."

Hermione glanced at him.

I suspect you're speaking ill of Mrs. Weasley, but I have no proof.

After having breakfast, the two tossed some bread into the jar for the hamsters, without even checking whether they ate it, before storing it in their Storage Scale.

Half an hour later, the two crossed the dense forest and chased after Hagrid in the direction he had left.

Loren was not slow; Levitation Charm enveloped his body as he floated and probed.

Finding Hagrid and Grawp's direction was easy; after all, footprints larger than a person were rare in the woods, and the trail stretched out almost uninterrupted.

This is already halfway up the mountain, and the temperature is much higher than at the top. The soil and climate are very suitable for plant growth. The forest is lush with trees, and there are many signs of animal activity, the most conspicuous of which are the giant footprints.

The former territory of the Giant tribe was not easy to find because the giants had almost trampled the surrounding land into solid ground. Occasionally, a few huge footprints could not be identified as to which giant they were. But now they had traveled westward over several mountains and were far away from the Depression and the giants' activity range. The few footprints they had found pointed the way for them.

Hermione estimated the distance.

Hagrid left a few days earlier than them. A Half-Giant and a giant together can't travel much faster, not to mention they used the Levitation Charm to catch up. They should be able to catch up with Hagrid by tomorrow at the latest.

As darkness fell, the journey proved to be longer than they had anticipated, and the two entered the forest.

As the sun sets behind the western mountains, layers of golden clouds pile up like soft silk, straight tree trunks point to the sky, and fallen leaves carpet the forest floor.

Loren parted the intertwined bushes and grass, confirming that Hagrid had stopped and rested in the clearing ahead. Huge footprints covered the clearing, slightly messy, with a pile of burnt firewood in the middle, pitch black, probably from burning a lot of wet firewood with Fire Charm, and some irregular pieces in the ashes.

"Professor Hagrid is hopeless. He's been the Forbidden Forest for over a decade. How could he make such a mistake? Using wet firewood, doesn't he care about the smoke?" Loren looked down and raised an eyebrow, teasingly adding, "There's oil in there. He's been grilling meat here."

"Mr. Morgan, with your extensive experience, I wonder if you've noticed that this pile of ashes is still warm."

Clearly, Miss Granger's observation was more meticulous.

Loren crouched down and reached out to feel the footprints. He looked up at the direction the footprints led and said, "They shouldn't have gone far. Let's go, let's catch up."

Freshly broken branches from the tree are shaving their tips into smooth skewers, which are then mercilessly pierced through two gutted rabbits and placed over a fire to roast quietly. Under the high temperature, the proteins undergo changes, and the rabbit skin, coated with marinade and honey, gradually turns into an enticing golden yellow.

The damp firewood could not burn completely, producing choking white smoke.

But neither of the two brothers, who were waiting by the campfire, could bear to look away. They watched longingly as the flames licked the rabbit meat, the fat melting under the high temperature, soaking in the spices, and releasing the unique and irresistible aroma of roasted meat.

Hagrid brushed oil onto the rabbit skin, then spread a layer of brown sauce, turning the rabbit to ensure even cooking. "It's a pity," he said, "That's all you can find in the forest. Rabbits are too small, with little meat besides the skeleton, and not much fat either. They're dry after roasting, gone in two bites. When we get to Hogwarts, Grawp, I'll roast you a whole lamb—no, I'll have Loren roast you a lamb. The taste... slurp..."

Grawp glared at Hagrid. What was wrong with this guy? He was just grilling meat, talking, but why was he grilling meat while talking, and almost drooling on the roasted rabbit meat?

"When you get to Hogwarts, you'll meet lots of new friends: kind and brave Harry, silly Ron, always-serious Hermione, and Loren, whom I just mentioned—his roast meat is the best!" Hagrid chuckled, seeing the giant staring intently at the rabbit on the fire, clearly not understanding him. "You'll understand later. It's a great place; no one will kick you out of your Cave while you're sleeping, and no one will throw sand at you while you're eating..."

"Barbecue! Barbecue!"

Grawp couldn't understand his rambling, shouting out the only word he knew.

"Grawp, who's always eating, just had lunch half an hour ago, and he still looks like he hasn't eaten enough..."

"Barbecue! Barbecue!"

"Don't rush me, it's baking, it'll be ready soon."

Hagrid estimated that it was about time, so he looked down and leaned closer to examine the two skewers of rabbit meat in the flames. Some parts were charred black, while others still had streaks of bright red blood. It was obvious that the heat had not been controlled properly when turning the meat, resulting in uneven cooking.

If Loren were here, he would probably lament that the two poor rabbits died in vain, and perhaps even accuse himself of ruining his carefully prepared marinade... But it's a big improvement compared to the previous two days.

Hagrid glanced at his younger brother beside him and silently handed him the roasted rabbit.

Grawp eagerly tossed it into his mouth, crunching it into a paste along with the wood skewer, then swallowed it with a satisfied look. After finishing, he licked his lips as if savoring the taste and shouted again, "Roast meat! Roast meat!"

"That's all, you can have both rabbits."

"!!"

Grawp's expression was solemn, his thick eyebrows furrowed together. He glanced at the smoking fire, then at the tiny Hagrid in front of him, and then suddenly, with astonishing speed, he scrambled to his feet and ran through the bushes into the depths of the forest.

"Grawp! Grawp!"

Hagrid took a few steps with his short legs, but he couldn't keep up with those two long legs that were swinging so fast. He could only follow the footprints on the ground and walk inside.

Fortunately, Grawp returned not long after, with two fat wild boars that had died in a very gruesome manner. Their backs were covered with messy fist marks, bruises, ruptured internal organs, and blood flowing from their seven orifices.

Bang!

The two wild boars piled together were larger and taller than the Half-Giant.

"This..."

Hagrid paused for a moment, then fell silent.

"Barbecue! Big grilled meat!"

Grawp nudged Hagrid, said nothing, and went to gather firewood nearby. After several days of observation, he had discovered that meat roasted on dry wood was more fragrant and delicious, while meat roasted on wet wood had an unpleasant, strange smell.

Hagrid sighed as he looked at the wild boar in front of him, took out his wand and began to process the meat: bleeding it, skinning it, gutting it, and diluting it with the remaining marinade from Loren, then applying it to the surface of the boar meat...

Working until late at night, Grawp ate his half-cooked roast meat with satisfaction and fell into a deep sleep on the open ground.

Just then, the rustling sound of footsteps on the grass drew closer.

Loren and Hermione followed the footprints, and as the moon shone its silvery light, they heard a deep, loud snore coming from behind the bushes ahead. They exchanged a glance and slowed their pace to get closer.

Whoosh!

Loren pushed aside the dense bushes.

Hagrid turned around, and the three of them froze when they looked at each other.

Before him lay a scene of carnage, a weary Half-Giant sitting on the ground, surrounded by entrails, intestines, and bones—a scene resembling a murder and dismemberment crime.

"This..."

Loren stared intently at Hagrid across from him, his expression complex. After a brief silence, he said, "Hagrid, even if you don't like your half-brother, you can't just do this..."

Without giving the flustered Hagrid a chance to explain, Loren launched into a string of nonsensical remarks. "Cruel, I think it's cruel. You could have waited longer, even if it cost some Galleon, some..."

"?"

Hermione glanced at him expressionlessly, too lazy to pay him any attention, and walked out of the bushes. She casually used Whizbangs to gather the mess of entangled organs together and buried them with soil.

Hagrid's eyes widened. He stood up, looking the two of them up and down with curiosity, and asked, "Hermione, Loren, what brings you here? Did you know I was here? You know about Grawp..."

"Dumbledore received your letter requesting help. The rest of the Order of the Phoenix were too busy, so they sent us to pick you up."

"Dumbledore ... Order of the Phoenix ... you..." Hagrid's head was a little fuzzy, but he never dwelled on these things. He unconditionally trusted Dumbledore's arrangements. "Great! It's Merlin's blessing to have met you!"

"Tsk tsk... Hagrid, you still need to practice your grilling skills. Offal can be delicious if it's handled properly..." Loren also recognized that the organs were the remains of some kind of prey. He shook his head and walked forward, looking at the slowly undulating "hills" behind him. "This is your half-brother, the Pure-blood giant Grawp. Is he the one who gave you the injury on your face?"

Hermione glanced at the bruises on his face, then turned to look at "The Hill." The giant's snoring grew clearer as it drew closer; it was a rhythmic rumbling sound, and one could imagine the enormous lungs breathing from the sound alone.

She was fine when she saw Orr and his siblings in the cave in the Giant's Depression, but the thought of Hagrid taking the giant back to Hogwarts made her gasp, "Hagrid, are you really sure? This is even more dangerous than Norbert..."

Hagrid stammered guiltily, "He'll learn eventually. I mean, Grawp. He's much more obedient than when he left the Giant tribe."

Loren looked at the purple circles around his eyes and said in a low voice, "Touch your wound. Did it hurt when you said that?"

"Well..."

It would have been better if he hadn't mentioned it. Hearing Loren say this, Hagrid suddenly remembered that he hadn't applied his medicine that day, and his wounds suddenly throbbed with a dull pain, even bringing tears to his eyes. "Sigh, yes, he doesn't want to leave, but I have to take him back. Loren, Hermione, I can't abandon him! You don't know, the giants are all bullying him, just because he's too small. He doesn't get enough food, he can't fight them, and at night he's always dragged out of his cave to sleep, even thrown into the lake..."