Hagrid, the Number One Person in the Wizarding World

After feeding Baruk, it was time to feed themselves, so the group went to the Great Hall for dinner.

Even when confined, one must eat first; without an empty stomach, how can one have the strength to be confined?

Dinner wasn't long, and by the time we left the Great Hall, it was already getting dark.

In the late afternoon of mid-February, when the sunlight had dimmed, the Castle's shadow stretched diagonally across the lawn, extending all the way to the dark edge of the Forbidden Forest.

The sun was stuck behind the western hillside, only half a ring of orange-red remaining, while the clouds hung down, burned into a dark red.

A breeze blew from the direction of Black Lake, carrying moisture and coolness. The six people came out of the Castle gate and walked along the lawn towards the Forbidden Forest.

Avery walked at the front, taking long strides, talking fast, and radiating excitement.

Going to the Forbidden Forest was fun enough, but with Regulus coming along, it was even more fun.

He kept talking about the Forbidden Forest, the gamekeeper, and how he was going to be locked up with Potter and his gang tonight—it was bound to be a good show.

Alex walked beside him, nodding occasionally. His steps were fairly steady, but you could tell he was a little nervous, though he didn't show it on his face.

Hermes followed at the very back, looking as listless as ever, with his hands in his pockets, his eyelids half-closed, and his shoulders slumped as he walked.

But his gaze was a little more focused than when he was in the Dormitory. The name "Forbidden Forest" had some effect on him, at least it was more interesting than attending classes.

Lina and Samuel walked ahead of Hermes.

Lina looked around, her excitement mingled with nervousness.

He would sometimes step closer to Avery to listen to his ramblings, and other times slow down to tug at Samuel's sleeve, muttering about whether the things described in the book actually existed in the Forbidden Forest.

Samuel walked with his head down, saying little, more nervous than excited, but not to the point of fear.

Lina tiptoed towards the Forbidden Forest again, then turned back to urge Samuel to hurry. Samuel shuffled his heels on the ground a couple of times, quickening his pace. The legend of the Forbidden Forest had been circulating at Hogwarts for centuries—weren 'Werewolf, Quintaped, man-eating trees—and new students were warned on their first day of school not to go in. Breaking the school rules meant confinement, and the very act of confinement involved entering the Forbidden Forest, which itself exuded a forbidden allure.

Regulus walked in the middle, ignoring all the questions Avery asked. The guy didn't need his answers anyway; he was just too excited to keep talking.

In the distance, Hagrid's Hut emerged from the shadows of the trees at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

A crooked wooden house, low and sloping, with a stone chimney emitting wisps of white smoke. Next to it is a small vegetable garden, surrounded by a fence, but it's empty this season, no seeds planted.

The four Gryffindor had already arrived in the open space in front of the Cabin.

James's loud voice could be heard across the entire open space. Sirius was squatting next to the vegetable patch, teasing the dog with a stick in his hand.

Lupin stood watching from the side, Peter huddled a few steps behind Hagrid, glancing towards the Forbidden Forest every now and then.

Regulus reached out and gently waved his hand in front of him.

The Improved Disillusionment Charm spread silently, a cool, watery film descending from above, washing over the shoulders and arms, completely smoothing out the figure in the twilight, even swallowing the slightest breeze stirred up by the movement.

Avery glanced at the figure beside him and saw it had disappeared. He turned his head and looked back. Alex noticed as well, raised an eyebrow, then lowered it, and continued walking forward.

These two had witnessed Regulus's Disillusionment Charm before; during the Astronomy Tower incident, they had also experienced it firsthand.

Hermes had never met him, but he knew him.

Seeing Regulus vanish into thin air, his eyelids only lifted for a moment before drooping again. He pulled his hand out of his pocket, changed his posture, and put it back in. Lina and Samuel were truly stunned, staring at that empty space, unable to come to their senses for a long time.

Lina opened her mouth, turned to look at Samuel, and was about to ask what kind of curse it was, how could a living person just disappear like that.

Samuel grabbed her arm; Potter others had already spotted them from the other side of the Cabin.

Lina quickly masked her confusion and walked forward as if nothing had happened.

The five men walked to the open space next to the Cabin and stopped a few meters away from Hagrid and Potter.

Avery suppressed his excitement, slightly raised his chin, and leaned back, his posture completely different from when he was on the street. He suddenly became poised and reserved.

Alex took two steps forward to Avery's side, with Hermes standing behind him, glancing at Potter before looking away. Lina's chin peeked out from under her scarf, her expression indifferent. Samuel stood beside her, his upper body slightly straightened, making him appear taller than usual.

It was quite lively in front of Hagrid's Hut.

Potter and his gang surrounded Hagrid, chattering away; the noise could be heard from afar.

James Potter stood in the center, tilting his head back as he spoke to Hagrid, gesturing wildly, his black hair standing on end, radiating boundless energy. "I heard there are Unicorn, is that true? Anything else? What's the most powerful one?"

James bombarded him with questions, his excitement palpable, his eyes gleaming as if he were about to burst into the Forbidden Forest.

His grin stretched from ear to ear. "My father said Manticore inside, and almost no wizard can defeat them, is that true?"

Hagrid's beard twitched, and his voice, rough yet warm, carried a natural affinity for Gryffindor.

"What nonsense are you talking about? There's no such thing in the Forbidden Forest." He waved his hand, scratched his messy beard, and grinned.

"You should be careful with the Acromantula, don't wander in there recklessly, those big guys are not to be trifled with."

He wore a thick leather vest with several patches, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing his two thick forearms.

It's covered in tiny old scars, mostly from years of dealing with all sorts of things in the Forbidden Forest.

James's eyes lit up even more, and he grabbed Hagrid's arm, hanging up to him. "Acromantula! Where is it? How big is it?" "I can't say," Hagrid looked down at him, raised his arm slightly, then lowered it, his voice laced with indulgent ambiguity. "You bunch of rascals, don't ask around. That thing is dangerous."

"We're not afraid of danger," James jumped down, nudged Lupin with his elbow, and winked. "Remus, right?" Lupin staggered to the side from the bump, but regained his balance. His tone was gentle, but lacked conviction. "I think it's better not to."

"Which area is the most dangerous?" James didn't even wait for him to finish, moving closer to Hagrid with a grin. "The kind of places you absolutely mustn't go." "Why are you asking?" Hagrid's smile faded, a wary glint in his eyes. He said in a muffled voice, "None of you should go to dangerous places!" "Just asking," James chuckled, his words matter-of-fact. "Knowing where the dangers are so we can avoid them."

That made sense, Hagrid, caught in the trap, scratched his face and blurted out, "That old forest to the east, it's full of things, it's not clean, and there's another place to the west."

"Stop asking these questions!" He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence, realizing the kid was trying to trick him, and glared at James: "Stay with me, and don't go anywhere else."

James didn't get the whole sentence, but he wasn't discouraged. He turned to Lupin beside him and winked.

He was adept at this line of conversation. Hagrid couldn't keep secrets. He would say he wouldn't let me ask him this or tell me that, but after a few words, he would blurt it out himself. Last semester, he had gotten Hagrid to reveal that there was a nest of giant spiders deep in the Forbidden Forest, which were huge and had eight eyes.

From then on, that spider nest became a place that several people longed to explore again.

Sirius was squatting beside the vegetable patch, teasing Flossy with a twig.

Flossy was a hound, a large dog, even when lying down, he was half a head taller than Sirius when he was crouching, with his big head resting on his front paws. He was quite timid, though, with his tail tucked between his two hind legs, his round eyes fixed on the tree branch, swaying left and right, wanting to pounce but not daring to, and making gurgling noises in his throat.

Sirius shook the branch to the left, and Flossy's head turned to the left; he shook it to the right, and Frosty's head turned to the right.

Sirius grinned, Flossy's tail tip peeked out from between his hind legs, wagging tentatively a few times.

He held the branch high, Flossy looked up and stared, scratching at the ground with its two front paws, then curled up into a ball and stopped playing. Sirius reached out and rubbed its ears, and it squinted, its hind legs kicking unconsciously, its tail slapping the ground with a soft thud.

He was rubbing vigorously, muttering something to the dog, still with that nonchalant attitude.

Peter huddled to the side, a few steps away from Hagrid, not moving closer. His eyes darted back and forth between the darkness of the Forbidden Forest and Hagrid's large face. He was terrified of this confinement.

Lupin watched James and Hagrid go back and forth with a gentle expression.

James's words veered off course, but he would occasionally chime in, subtly pulling the conversation back on track, as if he were the only one among them who remembered they were there for solitary confinement, not for an adventure.

Regulus stood a few meters away, scrutinizing Hagrid through the Disillusionment Charm.

This was the second time I'd officially met this big guy.

The first time was when the first-year students entered school. Hagrid held up a huge oil lamp at the station to greet the new students, shouting at the top of his lungs, "First-year students, come this way!" He led boatloads of new students down the Black Lake to the Castle gate.

When they arrived at the Castle, Hagrid's massive frame blocked half of the doorway, and his loud voice woke up the Portrait on the stairs.

Hogwarts, the place where dreams begin, was where Hagrid led us in.

But actually, it wasn't just these two times.

He ran into the Forbidden Forest countless times, and most of the time he landed near this Cabin.

He had seen Hagrid's physique several times through the window, but he was always asleep inside, his snoring so loud it could be heard through the walls and made the windows buzz. He had seen him quite a few times, but this was only the second time they had actually met face to face.

The Magic Perception followed the line of sight.

Aside from the heaviness and stagnation brought by his Giant bloodline, Hagrid's Magic Power itself is nothing special.

Crude, sloppy, showing signs of proper training, but hardly skillful, not even worth mentioning among wizards.

That suit of clothing, however, is quite interesting.

Blunt, thick, dense and solid, like Giant, it is born with the property of resisting curses.

The Magic Power barely flows on the skin's surface, as if it's embedded there, capable of deflecting or dissipating external spells from the skin.

A young wizard's spell might not even leave a mark, and even an adult wizard would have to put in some effort.

This skin itself is nothing special; it's purely a physiological characteristic and involves no technical skill whatsoever.

Regulus looked away, a slightly amusing thought popping into his head.

Hagrid, in some ways, is the greatest Wizarding World.

How many people did Voldemort personally frame and harm?

He's the only one.

Tom Riddle, a top student in Slytherin, Voldemort, the Dark Lord, framed Hagrid when he was still a student. He opened the Chamber of Secrets of Secrets, released the Basilisk, and killed Myrtle, pinning all the blame on a big, dim-witted Gryffindor who kept spiders. Hagrid's wand was broken on the spot, he was sent to Azkaban, unable to continue his studies, and expelled from Hogwarts.

But Dumbledore believed him.

At that time, Dumbledore was just a Transfiguration Class professor and hadn't yet become the headmaster, but he managed to save Hagrid, keeping him at Hogwarts as the game keeper, a position he held for decades.

If you look at this story closely, it turns out to be an early exchange between Dumbledore and Voldemort.

One wanted to kill this big, simple-minded guy, while the other wanted to protect him.

The whole argument boils down to this Half-giant's lost his wand and can only look out over the woods.

Two wizards who stood at the pinnacle of the Wizarding World fought for him decades ago.