Rubeus Hagrid

Several towering trees concealed them well, keeping them hidden from anyone looking out from the castle.

"You're not planning to plant those fungi here, are you?"

"Of course not."

With a thought from Brook, the flowerpot in his arms suddenly vanished.

Hermione stared wide-eyed, her face full of question marks.

Brook placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder.

"Come on, I'll take you somewhere."

"Oh. Okay."

Then Hermione's vision blurred.

The surrounding trees vanished, replaced by a vast, empty space with nothing before them but a barren mountain.

"Where is this?"

Hermione's eyes were filled with curiosity.

"One of my ancestors was a wizard. This was his only relic, and I only recently figured out how to use it."

"One of your ancestors was actually a wizard?" Hermione was astonished.

"There was one, that's all."

"This place is amazing. You can even see the sun."

Only then did Brook notice that the stars from last night had disappeared, replaced by a blazing red sun.

It seemed this space followed the same cycle of day and night as the outside world.

"Alright, put down the flowerpots. We'll plant them here."

"Okay."

Brook pointed at an open patch of ground some distance away.

"I need a twenty-square-meter greenhouse, with a constant temperature between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius and humidity maintained between 85 and 95 percent."

As his words fell, a greenhouse appeared out of thin air.

Brook felt a wave of exhaustion, though it was far better than last night.

"Th-This is unbelievable."

Hermione's mouth hung wide enough to fit an ear of corn.

"This is one of the space's built-in functions. I can alter it however I want."

"How amazing!"

Following the transplanting method Professor Sprout had just taught him, Brook planted the fungi one by one.

Though he had only planted a few fungi, he felt an unusual sense of fulfillment.

It was as if something in his bloodline was slowly awakening.

He suddenly wanted to grow more plants.

Not for food.

He simply liked the feeling of planting things.

Brook looked over his work with satisfaction.

Hermione had helped as well. Both of them were now filthy, covered in dirt.

"Alright, let's head back and guard the tower!"

Brook placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder.

In the blink of an eye, the two of them reappeared in the Forbidden Forest.

They were about to return to the castle.

Then a thunderous shout rang out.

"Little wizards, entering the Forbidden Forest is forbidden!"

Hermione's heart seemed to skip a beat, and her little face instantly scrunched up.

We're done for.

Brook frowned slightly and looked in the direction of the voice.

A giant over three meters tall was striding toward them.

So it was Hagrid.

Thank goodness!

Once Hagrid approached, Brook explained.

"We didn't enter the Forbidden Forest. We were only talking here."

"Talking?"

Hagrid looked at them suspiciously, then noticed that while they had dirt on them, there were no scratches from branches on their clothes.

A knowing, aunt-like smile suddenly appeared on his face.

"Magical creatures can show up even at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. You still need to 'be careful.'"

"Are you Hagrid?" Hermione asked cautiously.

"You know me?" Hagrid looked delighted.

"I heard Potter call you that," Hermione explained.

"Rubeus Hagrid, Key Keeper of Hogwarts. I usually patrol the Forbidden Forest to keep little wizards from going inside."

"We really weren't planning to enter it."

Hermione explained again, a trace of helplessness in her tone.

Hagrid nodded his huge head, looking as though he believed them.

Brook introduced himself and Hermione to Hagrid.

"You're Gryffindor students, then."

"Hagrid, can we visit your hut?" Brook suddenly suggested.

"Really? You'd be willing to come to my hut?"

Hagrid looked extremely happy, with even a hint of nervous anticipation.

"Of course, if you don't mind."

"Welcome, you're very welcome. You can come anytime," Hagrid said warmly.

Hermione wanted nothing more than to hurry back to the castle and wash up, but since Brook had already said it, she could only follow along.

Hagrid's hut was not far away, and he happily led them there.

"Woof!"

As soon as they reached the hut, a huge black dog charged toward them, its wet tongue hanging out.

If that huge black dog stood up, it would probably be as tall as Hermione.

Hagrid reacted quickly and grabbed the black dog by the collar.

"This is Fang. He doesn't bite."

As he explained, he fastened Fang's leash to a wooden stake.

Brook and Hermione did not react much.

It was just a bigger dog. Those were still fairly common.

"Come in. The place is a little small."

Hagrid pushed open the door and warmly invited them inside.

Hagrid's hut was indeed rather cramped, especially for someone as large as him.

There was very little furniture inside.

The bed was merely wooden planks propped up on stones.

The bedding was covered in colorful patches.

It had a somewhat jungle-like feel.

As he chatted with Hagrid, Brook gradually realized that Hagrid's heart was incredibly pure.

Though "pure" was not quite the right word for Hagrid.

He was more like a child living in an ivory tower, with no guard against the outside world.

His happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy were all plainly written across his face.

Brook did not even need to deliberately pry for information.

He only had to casually bring something up, and Hagrid would spill everything he knew with a rush.

It was as if Brook were an old friend he had known for years.

Yet unlike most people, Hagrid had his own unique views on many things.

He had the air of someone who was sober while everyone else was drunk.

Take Hogwarts sorting young wizards into Houses based on their traits, for instance.

Hagrid made no comment about Slytherin.

Because for Slytherin, bloodline came first, and personality came second.

As for the sorting methods of the other three Houses,

he had always thought using the Sorting Hat was complete nonsense.

Hagrid mentioned someone, but for some reason, he did not reveal that person's name.

"I'm telling you, that person graduated from Gryffindor. Gryffindor is supposed to value courage, right? But what happened? He betrayed his friends and got them killed! What kind of courage is that?"

Hagrid's face was filled with fury.

"He was rotten from birth! He should've been sorted into Slytherin, just like the others in his family!"

"And I know plenty of people from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. They've got extraordinary courage too, not inferior to Gryffindors in the slightest."

Brook listened quietly.

Hermione, meanwhile, fell into thought.

The Sorting Hat had initially wanted to place her in Ravenclaw, but it had also believed she was very brave.

In the end, the Sorting Hat had hesitated for quite a while before placing her in Gryffindor.

(Rubeus Hagrid was one of Little Author's favorite characters, so he would get more scenes.)