Hagrid's Steady Performance!

After returning from the Forbidden Forest, he found time to explain what had happened there to Dumbledore. The old headmaster took it very seriously and ordered Hagrid not to enter the forest again for the time being.

But Hogwarts faced a problem—the school had always cooperated with Ollivander's wand shop. Hogwarts supplied Ollivander with materials, and he offered discounts to newly enrolled young wizards purchasing wands. This year, for various reasons, Hagrid had not yet collected enough Unicorn tail hair.

Thus, the task of going into the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid to gather materials fell to Sagreles. Though he was deeply unwilling, he really had no reason to refuse.

The capable must work harder. He kept consoling himself, just short of casting a Confundus Charm on himself.

While gathering materials with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest, he also kept an eye out for traces of Voldemort, but found nothing. The forest was simply too vast, and Voldemort had most likely been injured by Villis last time, so he would certainly be hiding even deeper.

The final exams had all ended, but the young wizards still had to remain at Hogwarts for another week while waiting for their results.

This period was agony for some young wizards, such as Harry and Ron. Their grades had always been middling. Although Hermione had dragged both of them into revision before the exams, there was simply too much to memorize, and by the end, they had practically given up.

"Ah, brilliant! Finally, I don't have to be crushed beneath textbooks until I can't breathe." Ron lay on the grass, marigold pollen dusting the tip of his nose. "This weather is made for sleeping."

The three of them hid beneath the shade of a tree. Dappled light and shadow spilled across the ground, making them sleepy. Harry suddenly sprang up from the ground—chaotic fragments were churning madly through his mind.

"Hagrid!" He spun around sharply, the hem of his wizard robes sweeping across the other two's faces. "We have to see him right away!"

Hermione hurriedly pushed herself to her feet with a hand on her knee. "Have you gone mad, Harry? We just finished lunch—"

"Didn't you notice?" Harry's breathing was rapid, as though he were afraid. "Hagrid wanted a dragon, and then he just happened to get one. But why would that stranger be carrying a Fire Dragon egg around?"

He spoke as he ran. "How many people have you seen who would dare carry a Fire Dragon egg in their pocket? That violates the Statute of Secrecy! Not to mention..."

He suddenly fell silent, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed air. "Not to mention, getting information out of Hagrid isn't difficult at all! We know that better than anyone, don't we?"

Ron's grin froze on his lips. Looking at the goosebumps rising on the back of Harry's neck, he suddenly realized this was no ordinary impulse.

Sagreles had just returned to the cabin from the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid when the trio came rushing toward them.

"Hello, you three!" Hagrid greeted them. "Did your exams go well?"

"Well? Nothing could have gone worse..." Ron had barely finished speaking when he spotted Sagreles. He immediately stiffened and greeted him awkwardly. "Good afternoon, Professor Greengrass."

"Hello, Mr. Weasley."

The other two young wizards hurriedly greeted him as well.

"Hagrid, we have something urgent..." Harry also glanced at Sagreles.

"Go ahead. Don't mind me." Sagreles held a teacup as he watched Hagrid sort through Unicorn tail hair.

"Do you remember the night you won Norbert, Hagrid?" Harry forcibly suppressed the urgency in his heart and tried to steady his voice. "Did you know Norbert's original owner?"

Hagrid held a strand of Unicorn tail hair without even raising his head. "I never saw his face. That bloke absolutely refused to take off his cloak."

The three children nearly straightened their backs at once, their gazes pinning Hagrid's face like arrows.

"Don't look at me like that. It's perfectly normal..." Hagrid scratched his messy hair. "There are always all sorts of strange people at the Hog's Head. Who knows what he looked like?"

"We were playing Exploding Twenty-One. To be honest, he had good luck at first, and I drank quite a lot because of it. But I won the last round, and Norbert became mine..."

"He was still a bit unwilling at the time. He thought I wasn't capable of taming a Fire Dragon. I told him I wasn't afraid of Werewolves or Giants, and that even a three-headed dog obeyed me perfectly..."

"Was he..." Harry's Adam's apple moved with difficulty. "Exceptionally interested in Fluffy?"

"Yeah..." Hagrid said as though it were only natural. "It was a three-headed dog, after all. Not many people had seen one, and even fewer had raised one. Of course he'd be interested."

"Then did you tell him anything else?"

"Well, I told him not to worry. I'm very good at handling magical creatures. Take Fluffy, for example—play some music, and the little fellow becomes gentler than a kitten..."

Sagreles sighed upon hearing that, while the three young wizards wore identical looks of horror.

"Shouldn't I have told you that?" Hagrid finally realized, but the three young wizards had already turned and run away.

"Goodbye, Professor... goodbye, Hagrid."

The three young wizards shouted without looking back.

"Don't run! Get back here..."

Hagrid's huge palm slammed against the oak door, shaking dust from the walls. "Music? What bloody music? I never said anything..."

"Hagrid, you..." Sagreles thought for a long while but could not find the right words for how he felt.

"What is it, Professor?"

"Ha, nothing." What he really wanted to ask was: Were you raised on Veritaserum or something?

But it did not matter. Not long ago, Sagreles had asked Dumbledore about it, and the old headmaster had told him that the Philosopher's Stone was very safe.

Moreover, Dumbledore had remained at Hogwarts the entire time, while Quirrell, that lackey, was clearly inept at his work. He spent all day hoping someone would notice something unusual about him and rescue him from Voldemort's clutches.

Voldemort himself did not dare step into Hogwarts rashly, so the Philosopher's Stone was indeed safe for the moment.

But he had to hurry. While he had the time, he ought to search the Forbidden Forest thoroughly. With any luck, he might stumble upon a trace of the Dark Lord.

However, that very afternoon, Dumbledore summoned Sagreles to his office. The old headmaster said he needed to make a trip to the Ministry of Magic and instructed Sagreles to suspend his plan to search the Forbidden Forest for now.

Sagreles had no objection. After returning to his office, he obediently picked up the manuscript of The Creeping Darkness and began studying it. He had nothing better to do, after all.

The manuscript The Creeping Darkness was created in the twelfth century beneath a monastery in Venice whose name had since been erased by history. Its author, "Blind Friar Edmund," was in fact a notorious inquisitor from the Muggle world.

During one witch-burning operation, he had accidentally discovered a piece of human skin covered in writing. Edmund spent thirty-nine years in an underground laboratory beneath the monastery before finally completing the manuscript.

During his travels around the world, Sagreles had once seen an incomplete copy of this manuscript, though he had only read the first half at the time.

Though the manuscript's words carried mental corruption, it was not entirely filled with worthless Dark Arts. His Flesh Stripping spell had been created after reading this manuscript, and its purpose went far beyond inflicting pain and torment.

Sagreles had even grasped some of the mysteries of Flesh Magic and Soul Magic from it. Once he fully understood it, he might be able to create an entirely new branch of Soul Magic in a short time.

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