Snape the Spendthrift

The sky was already quite dark after leaving the castle. When Silvan quickened his pace and reached the vicinity of the Forbidden Forest, he saw Hagrid standing in the distance, waving his arms frantically toward the forest.

"Go away, you nasty thing, get out of here!"

He seemed to be driving away some kind of creature.

"Hagrid." Silvan walked over to greet him.

"Silvan?" Hagrid turned his head, looking somewhat surprised. "You shouldn't be out of the castle this late. Go back, quickly."

"I came here specifically to find you this time," Silvan said.

"Find me?"

"Professor Snape wants you to come to his office," Silvan said. "Do you have time now?"

"Ah, of course, I've been waiting for a while," Hagrid said. He didn't seem surprised at all, as if he had known he would have to make this trip.

"You wait here for a moment, we'll go back together," Hagrid instructed Silvan before going inside to put on his moleskin overcoat.

"I thought Professor Snape would send that old bucket of slop Filch to fetch me, why did you come instead?" The voice drifted out from the cabin.

"Maybe I just happened to be in his office," Silvan said. "What were you doing just now?"

"Chasing a cat," Hagrid said as he walked out, taking the oil lamp from the doorway. "We ran into it in the Forbidden Forest. Fang just barked at it and got scratched, and then that thing chased him out and nearly bit off Fang's ear."

As if knowing Hagrid was about to leave, a series of urgent whimpers and the sound of scratching against the floorboards suddenly came from inside the cabin.

Through a crack in the door, Silvan could vaguely see a large black dog. It looked like a giant Newfoundland or perhaps a Neapolitan Mastiff; it was hard to tell through the gap.

"Don't let his looks fool you, he's a coward... calm down Fang, calm down, I'll be back soon." Hagrid comforted him for a long while before finally managing to shut the door.

He checked it carefully one more time, and only when he was certain there were no gaps left did he walk down the stone steps to return to the castle with Silvan.

At this moment, Silvan's expression was somewhat strange, and his eyes were drifting, not daring to meet Hagrid's gaze.

Come to think of it, it had been quite a long time since he had seen his own pet, Tom. And that familiar, vengeful style—could the one who scared Fang so badly that he wouldn't dare go outside be... no, it definitely wasn't Tom.

Silvan shook his head.

No matter how cowardly Fang was, his size was still there. Tom wasn't even as tall as one of Fang's legs when standing up; how could he possibly scare him into not daring to go out?

Impossible. The one chasing and biting Fang had to be a Kneazle living in the Forbidden Forest.

Silvan felt a bit guilty. Seeing Hagrid still grumbling about the culprit who bullied Fang, he quickly changed the subject:

"Hagrid, what does Professor Snape want with you? Does it have to be so late? Wouldn't tomorrow morning work?"

"That nasty cat... oh, Professor Snape said the same thing, but I thought it might be seen by students in the morning, so this time is just right," Hagrid blurted out.

However, distracted by Silvan, Hagrid stopped focusing on the cat and subconsciously lifted his moleskin overcoat to gesture.

"That bone is too long, there's no way to cover it completely, and it's a bit of a pity to break it."

Listening to Hagrid's muttering, Silvan frowned slightly and fell into deep thought.

A bone?

Is it the one behind the desk?

But why would there be bones in Snape's office? And that wooden club behind the door...

Thinking of this, Silvan's footsteps faltered. He felt he had found the truth.

It was the troll Quirrell had let into the castle on Halloween, which was later locked away in the place where Fluffy the three-headed dog was kept!

A dim-witted troll running face-first into a three-headed dog enraged by its injuries—the outcome was predictable. It had likely become a snack.

So, what about the rest of the troll's body? Such a magical creature was quite valuable; the school wouldn't just throw it away, and it was unlikely they would return it to Quirrell.

The answer was obvious... Snape had taken it.

Thinking back carefully, those strange potion ingredients in his office seemed to be parts of a troll.

And troll bones, being too hard to cut or grind, were actually useless for potions, so they were perfect to hand over to Hagrid to dispose of.

Silvan's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

If that was the case, everything made sense... why there was a troll club in Snape's office, and why Hagrid had to go at night.

After all, carrying a pile of bones in broad daylight was quite creepy, and it wouldn't look good if students saw it.

Silvan immediately looked up and said, "Hagrid..."

"What is it?" Hagrid asked.

"No, nothing." Silvan shook his head after a moment of silence. "I mean, we've arrived."

The two had already climbed the stone steps and entered the castle.

"Then you should hurry back to your dormitory." Hagrid didn't think much of it and headed down the stairs toward the dungeons.

Silvan, however, did not return to his dormitory but stayed where he was.

The November night was still quite cold; even the candles burning on the walls on both sides of the entrance hall seemed to have lost their warmth.

Silvan even ran into Filch. Although Filch was very dissatisfied with a young wizard wandering the castle at night, it wasn't curfew time yet, so Filch couldn't do much to Silvan and could only stare at him viciously from the side.

Silvan suddenly missed Tom a little. He wondered where that lawless cat had gone to have fun. Next time, he would have to let it have a good "exchange of feelings" with Mrs Norris.

After standing in a standoff for a few minutes, Hagrid finally came back up the stairs.

He was carrying a huge sack on his back, holding that large wooden club in one hand, and something else in the other, though it was covered by a large bedsheet, making it impossible to tell what it was.

"Silvan, why are you still here?" Hagrid walked over and saw Filch in the corner.

Hagrid had no patience for him.

"Get lost, Silvan hasn't broken any school rules." His tone was not polite at all, as if he were driving away some kind of pest.

"I'll be watching you," he threatened before leaving while grumbling.

"Don't be afraid, that old bucket of slop can't do anything to you," Hagrid said.

Silvan waved his hand, not caring; his gaze remained fixed on Hagrid's hands.

"Hagrid, you aren't carrying troll bones, are you?"

"That's right..." Hagrid stopped halfway, immediately clamping his mouth shut.

"How did you know... no, I mean, this isn't something you should be asking about. Hurry back to your dormitory."

Silvan certainly wasn't going to leave; he hadn't waited here just to hear Hagrid insult Filch.

"Where are you taking them?"

"I can't tell you... fine, I have to dispose of them, stop asking." Hagrid stiffened his face and started walking toward the outside of the castle.

As he turned, the sheet in his hand was blown open by the wind, revealing a piece of white, ghastly bone underneath.

Judging by the length of the sheet, this bone was nearly five feet long, looking like a thick python in the moonlight.

In that instant, Silvan's eyes lit up like two searchlights in the pitch-black night, and drool seemed to be leaking from the corner of his mouth.

Good stuff, such good stuff!

Snape, that spendthrift, that idiot who only knows how to play with cauldrons—he actually wanted to throw away such a treasure?

Slurp...