Harry in the Newspaper

After being splashed with Itch-Cure Potion and then sprayed with Snape's venom, Neville had been trembling all the way until mealtime.

"I'm telling you, Buddy," Ron began comforting Neville. "It's really not such a big deal. You can't be good at every subject, after all."

"You're right, Weasley." Draco's grating voice came from Slytherin's Long Table behind them. "Maybe this fatty should use his head to think more instead of that fat arse of his."

"Shut up, Malfoy." Ron put an arm around Neville's shoulders, keeping him from looking at Draco.

Seeing Draco about to speak again, Slytherin's Prefect Gemma Phally spoke up. "Mr. Malfoy?"

"Miss Phally," Draco replied.

"Keep your mouth shut," Gemma said succinctly.

It was not that she felt sorry for Neville being bullied. She simply did not want the professors to catch Draco verbally attacking a classmate and deduct points from Slytherin.

After being warned by the Prefect, Draco obediently shut his mouth. Yet his gaze kept darting toward Ron and Neville's backs, and no one knew what he was thinking.

That afternoon, Harry dragged the others from his dormitory, along with Hermione, to visit Hagrid's Hut.

Seeing so many young wizards, all of them Gryffindors, Hagrid was delighted.

"Shoo, shoo." Hagrid noticed Neville's trembling legs and began chasing away the large dog beside him. "Hang on, I'll tie Fang up first. He's always so enthusiastic."

Once Fang had been tied up, Hagrid ushered everyone inside and had them sit down.

Harry had brought plenty of Muggle snacks, along with several large bottles of Coke—the 2.5-liter kind.

"Ooh, Coke." Hagrid grabbed a huge bottle of Coke, making it look like an ordinary person holding a vial of oral medicine. "Have to admit, Muggles can be pretty impressive in some ways."

"This is Ron, Seamus, and Neville. This is Hermione," Harry introduced them to Hagrid.

"Hello, hello." Hagrid happily shook hands with them one by one. When he got to Ron, he grinned. "Another little brother from the Weasley family, eh? I know your two brothers, Fred and George, right? Honestly, I can never tell those two apart, but driving them out of the Forbidden Forest has taken half my life's strength."

He took a large plate from the cupboard, filled with small cakes whose surfaces looked extremely rough and hard.

"Try these. Rock Cakes I baked myself," Hagrid said, picking one up from the plate and biting into it with a loud crunch.

Harry's eyelid twitched. From that sound alone, it did not seem like anything friendly.

He picked up a Rock Cake and tried bending it slightly with his hands, but it would not budge in the slightest.

So he picked up Hagrid's kettle, poured some water into a bowl, and placed the Rock Cake inside, intending to soften it before eating it.

When he looked up, Harry found his friends staring at him as though he were some kind of weirdo.

Neville still had a Rock Cake clamped between his teeth. It looked as though he had not managed to bite any off.

Harry shrugged, pulled out his wand and conjured a fork, then used it to push the softened Rock Cake into his mouth.

It had to be admitted that softened Rock Cakes were genuinely delicious. They had a rich milky aroma and tasted a lot like soufflé.

"Mmm, pretty good," he praised, while also saving Hagrid some face. "Sorry, Hagrid. My gums have been a little inflamed lately, so I can only eat it after soaking it."

"It's all right, Harry," Hagrid said with a cheerful smile.

They went on to tell Hagrid about amusing things that had happened in class recently. Hagrid always laughed heartily after hearing them. Perhaps it reminded him of the happy days when he had attended school himself.

"Professor Sprout's cakes are actually quite tasty," Hagrid began giving his frank opinions on the professors. "As for Professor McGonagall, she's certainly strict, but she's also a very good person—well, all the professors at Hogwarts are good people."

Ron understood that statement differently.

"Except Snape," he quickly added.

"Right." Neville agreed with Ron almost immediately, while Seamus nodded repeatedly in agreement.

"How can you say that?" Hagrid shook his head. "You'll understand once you get to know him. Professor Snape is also a... a..."

He suddenly got stuck.

"I think he's always targeting Harry." Ron did not wait for Hagrid to find the right word. "You haven't seen the way Snape looks at him. It's like he wants to eat him alive."

"No, I think it's complicated." Hermione offered a different opinion. "Anyway... I can't really explain that feeling."

"Yes, of course he's complicated." Hagrid smiled at them.

"Why?" Harry hurriedly pressed. "Hagrid, you've been at Hogwarts for so long, and you were friends with my parents. You must know why, right? I think Professor Snape must have known my parents. Maybe he was even friends with them..."

To his surprise, Hagrid sucked in a sharp breath upon hearing that.

"Merlin's fattest lace underwear... Why would you think that?"

Noticing Hagrid's astonishment, Harry hurriedly asked, "What is it, Hagrid? Was I wrong?"

"Mm..." Hagrid said vaguely. "I wouldn't say you were wrong. It would be more accurate to say that your parents did indeed have a deep connection with Professor Snape."

"No wonder..." Harry said in realization. "No wonder he asked that question."

"A question?" Ron asked, confused. "What does that have to do with him questioning you? Buddy, I think he's just targeting you."

Harry explained Victorian Flower Language, and everyone's expressions turned as if they had seen a ghost. Ron in particular had his mouth hanging wide open.

"But why didn't he just say it directly?" Hermione felt as if she had caught onto something, yet it seemed just beyond her grasp. No matter how hard she tried, she could not seize the key point.

"That does fit Professor Snape's personality," Hagrid said with a chuckle. He quickly changed the subject again. "How's your brother Charlie?"

He was asking Ron. "I like him a lot—you know, he's got a way with animals."

Ron's attention was indeed led away by Hagrid. He began talking with Hagrid about Charlie raising dragons in Romania.

Harry, meanwhile, was drawn to the newspaper lying beneath something on the table. Part of it had been cut out, though not completely removed.

The clipped section contained a report related to the illegal break-in at Gringotts, but Harry's attention was caught by another article.

It was not a current-events report, but rather an old matter brought up again, something like a trivia column.

It contained a chronology of major events: on this day a hundred years ago, the Goblin Rebellion had been suppressed.

Hermione was also drawn to it. She picked up the newspaper in disbelief and said in surprise, "Oh, Harry, your name is actually in here!"