Visiting Hagrid

As the first rays of dawn emerge from the darkness, a brand new day begins.

The date is June 29th, five days after the end of the Goblet of Fire, with three days left before Hogwarts' holiday.

Gryffindor Common Room.

"Harry, stop being so gloomy," Hermione said. "Today's Defense Against the Dark Arts has been canceled. How about we go visit Hagrid?"

Hermione tried her best to lighten the somber atmosphere among the trio.

Since the end of the Goblet of Fire, Harry has become a complete laughingstock at Hogwarts —overestimating his abilities by participating in the Triwizard Tournament against the rules, exposing his private parts in front of the audience outside the maze, and attempting to impersonate the Champion to win the Goblet of Fire only to be injured by the shockwave...

This kind of experience would be tragic enough for any underage wizard.

As a result, in the past five days, because he had said that Voldemort had been resurrected, coupled with Rita Skeeter's relentless smear campaign against him, rumors about him have been spreading throughout Hogwarts, and he has been regarded as a monster that people avoid at all costs.

Sirius Black hasn't returned since Dumbledore gave his instructions that day, and no one knows where he's gone. Harry misses his godfather day and night, but all speculation is useless until he gets concrete news. He doesn't know what's happening outside Hogwarts, and can only get bits and pieces of information from Ron.

All of this plunged Harry into an endless gloom.

He believed many people felt that dark shadow looming over them, which was why people whispered about him in private; clearly, they saw Harry as the source of all this fear and unease.

So he chose to run away.

When he didn't have classes, he would hide in his dorm room and common room, seeing almost no one except for a few roommates and Hermione.

"Alright," Harry hesitated for a moment before finally agreeing to Hermione.

The three of them went to Hagrid's Hut. It was a bright and sunny day. As soon as they approached, Fang jumped out of the open door, barking happily and wagging its tail.

"Thank you very much for your hospitality, Hagrid-- "

The three of them saw a tall, familiar figure in the distance, seeing off two other figures, one tall and one short.

"Hello, Madame Maxime." Harry was the first to greet the headmistress of Beauxbatons, and Madame Maxime smiled gently.

"Hello," she said, glancing down at Phoebe standing beside her, who was staring intently at Harry. "Hagrid treated us to afternoon tea, and we're just heading back..."

"You must be the famous Savior, Mr. Harry Potter?" Phoebe said softly.

Harry was stunned. He had never interacted with Phoebe before and had no idea what she meant by saying that. He could only nod Dazed.

"Your performance in the game was quite brilliant." Phoebe smiled, and her smile, as radiant as a blooming flower, instantly captivated Harry and Ron, leaving them mesmerized and utterly mesmerized.

"Yeah, oh--I mean, it's alright," Harry snapped out of his daze, scratching his head awkwardly. Looking at Ron, who was practically drooling, he slapped the latter on the shoulder to snap him back to reality.

"Alright, we should go now, Phoebe." Maxime turned halfway around, gesturing slightly to Hagrid, and tugged at Phoebe's sleeve.

Phoebe withdrew her gaze from Harry, gave Harry a meaningful look, and said, "We'll meet again, Harry Potter."

Phoebe walked away. Her voice and her long, cloud-like hair faded into the sunlight, and Hagrid still watched Madame Maxime's departing figure from afar.

"When did you make up with her?" Ron asked curiously.

"What are you talking about?" Hagrid said cheerfully, taking a few more cups from the cupboard. He brewed some tea, brought out a plate of Rock Cakes and distributed them to everyone, then leaned back in his chair and scrutinized Harry with his dark eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked gruffly.

"That's good," Harry said.

"No, you're not good," Hagrid said. "You're definitely not good. But you will be."

Harry didn't say anything.

"I knew he'd come back," Hagrid said, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked up at him in surprise. "I've known all these years, Harry. I knew he was there, waiting for his chance. It was bound to happen. Well, now it's happened, and we have to accept it. We have to fight. We can stop him from gaining power and ruling the world. That's Dumbledore's plan. Dumbledore, he's a truly remarkable man. As long as he's around, I'm not too worried."

But is that really the case?

Harry strongly suspected that Hagrid was unaware of the whole story.

Voldemort's resurrection was just one of the things that concerned him.

Was Skylar Malfoy's appearance at Little Hangleton Cemetery truly due to an accidental teleportation by the Goblet of Fire?

Who exactly kidnapped Hermione from the heavily guarded Hogwarts?

How exactly did Skylar manage to bring the unconscious Hermione back to Hogwarts unharmed?

Behind all of this, there are too many questions that he finds hard to let go of.

Hagrid also told them mysteriously, "Dumbledore found me some work to do this summer." He puffed out his chest proudly. Hagrid firmly believed that he was Dumbledore's most trusted person, as Dumbledore always entrusted him with such important tasks, whether it was delivering the Sorcerer's Stone or picking up Harry.

What kind of work?

"That's confidential, you might find out later," Hagrid said. "Olympe —that's what you call Madame Maxime —might work with me. I think she will; it seems I've convinced her."

Hagrid failed to offer Harry any comfort today. By the time they left the hunting lodge, it was already dark, and Harry's mood, like the deep night, was unfathomably dark.

"Harry, you don't need to worry about anything," Ron said. "Dumbledore will take care of everything. I believe Voldemort won't be able to harm a single hair on your head."

"Yes, protect me, and then keep all his plans for protecting me a secret from me," Harry said sullenly. "What is he afraid I'll find out? I was the one who faced Voldemort, I watched Voldemort rise from the dead, and I'm the one Voldemort most wanted to take!"

"More than these things," Hermione, who had been silent until now, spoke thoughtfully, "I'm more concerned about what exactly the task Dumbledore gave Hagrid? Why did he go with Beauxbatons' men? And what did Phoebe mean by what she just said?"

"Who knows!" Ron said nonchalantly. "Didn't Phoebe say she'd meet us again? We'll find out then, won't we?"

"I have a feeling things aren't that simple..." Hermione said thoughtfully, unable to form a coherent thought. "I have this feeling, like there's an invisible net surrounding us all..."

"The Mysterious Man has resurrected... Skylar is there... Hagrid has a mission... Maxime... Phoebe..." Hermione shook her head, trying to dispel the chaotic feelings in her mind. "I feel that what Phoebe said must be related to the mission Dumbledore gave Hagrid, and I've heard that the Phoebe family is a prestigious family in the France wizarding world. So, it's possible... something big is about to happen in the wizarding world..."

"Isn't that obvious?" Ron rolled his eyes. "Isn't the resurrection of the Mysterious Man a huge deal?"

"That's not what I meant..." Hermione paused for a moment before saying gravely, "As long as Dumbledore is alive, the Mysterious Man will still have someone to fear, preventing him from acting recklessly—I mean, if I'm not mistaken, the forces in France will also get involved, and the wizarding world may be about to undergo a massive upheaval that no one can imagine..."