"Gringotts urgently needed to redeploy its security system. Goblin experts were searching all over the world for superior dragons to replace the useless creature currently beneath Gringotts..." Li Mu frowned as he read this.
Replace the guard dragon...? Was there such a passage in the original novel? He could not remember. He cleared his throat and continued reading. "These experts would also venture deep into Muggle society to study the design of Muggle security systems, in order to prevent further illegal break-ins."
Studying Muggle security systems... The goblins really were forward-thinking. After finishing the article, Li Mu imagined a group of short figures with goat-like legs striding boldly in and out of modern places like ordinary banks and prisons. The image was wonderful.
"Let me see." Harry suddenly said, taking the newspaper from Li Mu. His eyes immediately went to the date of the report, then he turned and shouted at Li Mu and Hagrid, "Hey! Wasn't the day of the robbery... the day we went to Gringotts to withdraw money?"
"Just a coincidence." Hagrid hurriedly explained with a broad grin.
Yet Harry frowned. So did Li Mu—what did it mean for emotions to show plainly on one's face? Just look at Hagrid. His smile had frozen on his face as if he had gotten Botox; none of his usual rough boldness remained, only a stiff, forced grin.
This gamekeeper really was an honest man. Whenever he lied, even Ron, with all his bluntness, could tell.
By the time they headed back, the sky had begun to darken, and the warm summer wind howled past them. All five of them had bulging pockets, having been practically force-fed a pile of hard Hagrid-style cake rolls.
Ron and Hermione's cold war had yet to end. Hinata timidly accompanied Hermione at the back of the group, listening to the boys ahead—mainly Li Mu and Harry—talking.
"Hagrid is hiding something from us!" Harry said with certainty. "Otherwise, why would he deliberately cut out and keep that page of the newspaper?"
"It was probably the secret package from Vault 713—that had to be something very important, and someone was after it." Li Mu replied. He knew that even if he did not spell it out, Harry would think of it himself. "Fortunately, we took it out that day, just a little early."
Then Li Mu said, "Still, it was never our business to begin with. It was only natural for Hagrid to keep things from us."
He did not want Harry and the others to get involved with the Philosopher's Stone too early. To him, the Hogwarts teachers' protection of the Philosopher's Stone looked like a Triwizard Tournament. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed intended to give Harry Potter and the others a chance to gain practical experience and build their reputations—from every sign, everything concerning the Philosopher's Stone seemed to have been arranged in advance by Dumbledore. He was waiting for Harry and his friends to jump in, waiting for them to overcome difficulties, and then... be killed by Voldemort, or stop Voldemort and earn glory; become greedy and gain nothing, or remain selfless and righteous and obtain the Philosopher's Stone.
But no matter what, Harry Potter had only just started school. He was clearly not yet capable of dealing with those challenges.
However, Li Mu had worried too much.
"Not that... I mean Snape." Harry shook his head, his bright green pupils narrowing slightly. "Snape is strict and protective of his own, everyone knows that. But out of all four Houses, he obviously targets Gryffindor students more, and among those students, he especially targets us—especially me! Hagrid must be hiding something. Snape must hate me for some reason."
"Well, Snape really does seem to have it out for you, but he had never even met you before. Why would he hate you?" Li Mu shrugged helplessly. Snape and Harry's relationship was like an impossible tangle of threads. "Unless you did something to offend him."
Harry shook his head. He could not guess the real reason. Right now, he only wanted to put these troubling matters aside, but then he heard Ron's sinister voice beside him. Ron said, "Maybe he's a supporter of You-Know-Who? Harry, you're the savior who defeated You-Know-Who, so of course he hates you."
"You mean Snape is one of Voldemort's men?" Li Mu raised an eyebrow.
"Please, don't say his name!" Ron shuddered, his face turning ugly.
Hermione's voice came from behind them. "Impossible. How could you be so stupid? Professor Dumbledore would never be foolish enough to let one of the Dark Lord's followers become a professor."
"Why do you always have to stick your nose into everything?" Ron turned around. Feeling as if his intelligence had been insulted, even his freckles had turned dark red. "No one thinks you're mute if you don't talk!"
Hermione muttered softly, "I just couldn't help it..."
She wanted to say more, but Hinata tugged hard at her sleeve.
"Enough, shut up!" Ron was still furious. Harry put an arm around Ron's shoulders to stop him from saying anything worse, while Li Mu quickly grabbed his arm as well.
Li Mu could not understand why Ron and Hermione's relationship had become so terrible—no, it seemed they had never gotten along at all. Ever since they met on the train, things had been worse than in "history"... They were supposed to be the core "Golden Trio."
Ron gave a sullen "Hmph," shoved Harry and Li Mu's hands away, and stormed off ahead by himself.
"Ron!" Harry called anxiously.
But Ron's figure gradually vanished into the deep night.
(End of Chapter)
Before you continue