Hagrid's Hut

Once everything around him had gone quiet, Jerry cautiously poked his head out. He seemed to have overheard something huge. Who exactly had been talking to Quirrell? Jerry had committed the stranger's voice to memory. Judging by the sound, the speaker couldn't be very old and might even be a Hogwarts student. He planned to look for that voice around Hogwarts.

And then there was that bottle of potion. He needed to find some way to investigate what kind of potion it was for Voldemort to place so much importance on it.

"Mr. Green, are you still here?" Before long, a woman's voice rang out in the library again. It was Madam Pince.

Jerry didn't answer right away. He stole a quick glance, confirmed that it was Madam Pince, and replied, "Still here, Madam Pince!"

"Sorry, Professor McGonagall needed me for something, so I stepped out for a while. Have you finished your work? If you have, go back to your dormitory!"

After saying goodbye to Madam Pince, Jerry left the library too.

At noon the next day, at the Gryffindor table.

"Jerry, are you looking for something?" Hermione asked curiously as she watched him.

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Then why have you been looking around all morning?"

Before Jerry could answer, Harry came over to them with Ron and Neville.

"Jerry, Hermione, Hagrid invited us to visit his hut after classes this afternoon," Harry said. "Do you want to come? It's right next to the Forbidden Forest."

Jerry glanced back at Hermione. When she nodded, he said, "Of course. We'll all go together. I hear Hagrid knows a lot about fantastic beasts. I'd like him to take a look at Tom. He's so fat now that I'm worried he might be sick."

Once Jerry agreed, Harry said excitedly, "Brilliant! We'll go together, then..."

"Where are you going? Planning to get up to something?" Before Harry could finish, a hoarse, cold voice sounded behind them.

Jerry didn't even need to look. He knew it was Snape just from his voice. Turning around, he said, "Professor, could you stop sneaking up behind us and suddenly speaking? You'll scare us to death."

Snape glanced at Jerry, then gave a cold snort. "I'll be keeping a very close eye on you. If I catch you up to no good, I'll make sure Dumbledore is informed and have you expelled. Especially you, Jerry Green. Don't think I'll make an exception for you just because you're a Slytherin." With that, he turned and left.

"Phew, he's finally gone. Professor Snape is terrifying," Neville said, letting out a long breath.

The others all nodded at Neville's words. Only Jerry was smiling.

Harry asked him curiously, "Jerry, aren't you afraid of Snape?"

"Why should I be? He's a Hogwarts professor. The worst he'll do is try to scare us with a few words. He won't actually do anything to us. What's there to be afraid of?"

Harry was still a little frightened. "But what if one day we do something wrong..."

"No, no, no, Harry. You can't think like that. You should be thinking, As long as I don't get caught, I haven't done anything wrong. Think about how to avoid getting caught, not what punishment you'll face afterward."

Harry and the others were stunned by Jerry's words. Everyone had always told them that if they did something wrong, they had to accept the punishment. But now Jerry was telling them that it didn't count as wrongdoing if no one found out. Well, that did make a fair bit of sense when they thought about it. They all nodded thoughtfully.

Seeing their reactions, Hermione said to Jerry, "Hey, Jerry, you can't do that. You'll lead them astray."

Jerry didn't think it was a big deal. "Don't worry," he reassured her. "Harry and the others are old enough to understand."

After classes that afternoon, they followed Harry to a little wooden hut at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. A crossbow and a pair of rubber boots stood outside the front door.

"Hagrid, are you in? We're here!"

After a series of thumps and clatters from inside the hut, a shaggy-looking giant over three meters tall opened the door.

"Welcome, welcome! Harry, and Jerry, Hermione, Ron, Neville! Glad you're here. Come on in!"

Once inside, Jerry looked around Hagrid's hut. The interior was very simple and cozy. An enormous wooden bed took up one corner of the room, piled with thick quilts and blankets that looked very comfortable.

In another corner stood an old wooden table covered with all sorts of strange things Hagrid had made himself, including a pipe fashioned from an antler and a windmill made from twigs and bird feathers.

A row of hunting rifles, bows, and arrows hung on the wall, along with a row of rather frightening-looking implements for witchcraft.

"Have a taste. I made these rock cakes at lunchtime today." After inviting them to sit down, Hagrid brought out his homemade cakes to serve them.

Jerry tried to break one apart with his hands. When it wouldn't budge, he quietly put it back and picked up the tea in front of him instead. Then he whispered in Hermione's ear, "You should try Hagrid's special cakes. They're definitely unlike anything you've ever eaten before."

A little skeptical, Hermione picked one up and took a bite. Her first attempt made no impression, so she bit down hard. Her two large front teeth nearly broke, and the pain almost brought tears to her eyes.

Covering her mouth, Hermione saw Jerry grinning and realized she'd been tricked. Angrily, she reached over, pinched his arm, and twisted a full 180 degrees. Jerry sucked in a sharp breath and apologized. It took quite a while of coaxing before she finally let it go.

Harry and the others also picked up the cakes and bit into them, nearly breaking their teeth just as Hermione had.

Just then, a black hunting dog came in. Hagrid introduced him. "This is my hunting dog. I call him Fang. He's a great help out in the Forbidden Forest. Without him, I'd never manage to catch the Weasley twins."

At the mention of the Weasley twins, Ron gave an awkward smile.

They sat together chatting, and Harry soon brought up Snape. He felt that Snape had it in for him and was always giving him trouble.

After Hagrid reassured Harry, Ron brought up the Gringotts break-in. Harry's questions left Hagrid eager to change the subject. Spotting Jerry playing with Fang nearby, he said, "Jerry, where's your pet? Let me have a look and see what kind of bird he is."

At Hagrid's words, Jerry stood up and shouted out the door, "Tom!" A moment later, a plump black bird came hurtling clumsily into Jerry's arms, nearly knocking him over.

Jerry carried Tom over to Hagrid and asked him to work out what kind of bird he was.

Hagrid turned Tom this way and that, examining him several times before shaking his head. "Sorry, Jerry, I don't know what kind of bird he is either. His body looks like a crow's, but his eyes don't. And even a crow with fantastic beast ancestry wouldn't be anywhere near as clever as Tom."