I Have a Friend

Hagrid held the bottle above his head, looking at the ruby-like liquid inside with a puzzled expression, and muttered, "Special rat tonic?"

He only found out today that even pet mice now have tonics, and specially made ones at that.

Hagrid looked at the bottle in his hand again.

He didn't doubt Kyle's words, because it took about half an hour from start to finish to finish brewing. If it took so long to produce one bottle, the quality must be good.

He just didn't quite understand.

After all, mice are the most common and cheapest pets. In Diagon Alley, they cost less than half the price of a toad, and even less than a bag of decent owl food.

In addition, pet mice have the shortest lifespan, generally only seven years... It's worth mentioning that the young wizard also spends seven years at Hogwarts.

Other pets... such as toads or cats can live for more than ten years, and owls even longer.

Therefore, few junior wizards would pay attention to those rats, let alone spend money to customize tonics for them.

"Yes." Kyle put the stove and crucible back into the bag, stood up and said, "This is for the Weasley family' pet mouse. It's been like this for years. Percy would come to me for it every year at the start of the school year."

"I just remembered, that mouse became Ron's pet this year, Percy seems to have forgotten to tell him."

"The Weasley family's rats?"

Hagrid wasn't very familiar with Percy, but he did know Ron, the youngest boy in the Weasley family, who had come with Harry yesterday.

Does he have a pet mouse?

Hagrid thought about it carefully and vaguely remembered that Ron's pockets were indeed bulging when he arrived, but the next second, he wasn't so sure anymore.

His attention was almost entirely on Harry at the time, and he didn't pay much attention to Ron, so it's normal that he can't remember clearly.

Hagrid handed the bottle back to Kyle and asked, "Besides rats, can you brew tonics for other pets?"

"Of course, any of the four types of pets permitted by Hogwarts are acceptable."

"What about the others, like Fantastic Beasts?" Hagrid asked again.

"Fantastic Beasts would work," Kyle thought for a moment and said, "But it depends on the type. Large Fantastic Beasts like Fluffy won't work... Of course, they don't need any supplements either."

"Where's the spider?" Hagrid blurted out.

Kyle looked at him thoughtfully and asked, "What breed?"

"It's an eight-eyed giant... uh," Hagrid paused, then became incoherent, stammering, "No, I mean, just a regular spider, but a little bigger."

"Bigger...?" Kyle raised an eyebrow.

Hagrid nodded firmly. "Yes, bigger!"

Kyle stared intently at Hagrid until Hagrid began to feel guilty, then he drawled, "No..."

Hagrid's face had barely shown a hint of disappointment when Kyle continued, "However... I can try to investigate it."

"What?" Hagrid asked instinctively, still not quite understanding.

"It's about trying a few more times to see if we can concoct a suitable tonic," Kyle said. "I've done this a few times before, and I can try if you need."

Hagrid, realizing what was happening, exclaimed with delight, "That's great... I mean, if it's not too much trouble."

"It's not troublesome, but I can't guarantee how long it will take to get it to you." Kyle shrugged. "It could be as short as a month, or as long as a year."

"That's alright," Hagrid said nonchalantly. "Do you need any help? Just tell me what herbs you need, and I'll go deep into the Forbidden Forest to find them."

Although Professor Sprout moved most of the rare herbs into the greenhouse, the Forbidden Forest was so vast that he could always find them if he ventured a little further.

"I have plenty of herbs here, there's no need to look for more, but..."

Kyle frowned and said, "You need to find me a sample; I need to test the drug's effectiveness."

Hagrid's eyes darted around as he said, "Um... wouldn't it work with... a regular spider?"

"No!"

Kyle shook his head and said, "Different types of herbs will naturally have different effects on them. Sometimes, even a slight mistake can turn a tonic into poison."

Like Belladonna roots... they're a great tonic for Murtlap, but would certainly kill any ordinary rat.

"This..."

Hagrid suddenly hesitated.

He wanted the spider tonic to give to an Acromantula named Aragog.

That was Hagrid's pet from fifty years ago, and it's very old now. He's been thinking about how to make it live a few more years.

Spider tonics are a good option.

The problem is that the Acromantula is not an ordinary Fantastic Beasts, but a dangerous creature of level XXXXX, and it is prohibited to keep it as a pet.

Hagrid certainly wouldn't give it to Kyle.

He might be able to persuade Aragog, or its descendants, not to harm Kyle, but what if someone else finds out?

Kyle will definitely be expelled then, just like he was back then. At the same time, Aragog and his tribe in the Forbidden Forest will not escape the fate of being wiped out.

As if struck by a sudden thought, Hagrid's expression grew increasingly resolute.

But just as he was about to give up on the spider tonic, he heard Kyle say thoughtfully:

"Wait... if it's a poisonous spider, then using only its venom will also work."

This had happened several times already; Hagrid's mood was like a rollercoaster, just dropping to a low point only to soar back up again.

He looked at Kyle and said irritably, "Next time, could you at least finish what you were saying all at once?"

"I didn't want to either," Kyle explained. "Mainly because I don't really like spiders, and my knowledge of them is limited to a book I read a few years ago. It's been so long, and I have to think carefully to remember many things."

Hagrid started to get nervous again.

"And the venom you mentioned earlier..."

"It's true." Kyle stared at Hagrid, then suddenly laughed and said, "Looks like you've got a poisonous spider as a pet."

"It wasn't me, I didn't." Hagrid's voice suddenly rose considerably, and he shook his head repeatedly, saying, "I have a friend, yes... my friend likes poisonous spiders, I was asking on his behalf."

"Oh~~" Kyle exclaimed in realization, "So it's your friend."

No... that's right.

Hagrid's ears turned red, and he turned his head away, quickly changing the subject. "How much spider venom do you need? I'll go... uh, I mean, I mean have him prepare it for you."

"It's hard to say, it depends on how efficient it is." After Kyle for a moment, Kyle said seriously, "But just to be on the safe side, the more the better."