Hagrid Gets Serious
Adults often don't believe what children say.
The reason for this is actually related to the fact that children's speech is generally not very coherent.
Just like in the original timeline, Harry, Ron, Hermione were preparing to ask Professor McGonagall about Dumbledore's whereabouts. At that time, Harry also wanted to tell Professor McGonagall that someone was trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone.
At that time, Harry only said that he thought someone was going to steal the Philosopher's Stone.
He didn't mention why he thought so, the reasons, or the points of concern.
This could certainly be to cover up Hagrid accidentally revealing Fluffy's weakness, but Harry could also say that Fluffy's weakness was known—that he was hypnotized by music, and that he saw Snape being bitten by Three-Headed Dog.
If Harry said that, Professor McGonagall would at least mention that they all knew Snape was bitten, and that Dumbledore's defenses were impenetrable.
Professor McGonagall might even go to investigate herself and try to contact Dumbledore to come back and handle the situation.
Harry himself didn't even understand the original timeline; he just blindly went ahead and tried to figure out the cause and effect.
In fact, even if Harry did nothing, Voldemort would not be able to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone through the Mirror of Erised.
This time, Harry and Draco's words made Hagrid realize the strangeness of the dragon egg's origin and that he had already revealed Fluffy's weakness. However, due to his blind faith in Dumbledore's defenses, Hagrid decided to ask a few more questions before going to find Dumbledore again.
"Harry, do you really think that the wizard who gave me the dragon egg was Quirrell?" Hagrid regained his composure, his face full of doubt.
"Hagrid, do you remember when I knocked Quirrell down twice in Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Harry looked at Hagrid, Hagrid stroked his beard and thought, "Ah, I remember, Harry, you used the Red Spark, right? The spell a young wizard uses to indicate he's in danger in the wild?"
"Yes, Professor Dumbledore once said that my variant of the Red Spark is meant to purify curses," Harry explained. Hagrid immediately became solemn upon hearing Dumbledore.
"Everyone else is fine, but Quirrell collapsed. I strongly suspect Quirrell is under a curse," Harry continued, while Ron's face tightened.
"Come on, are you all out of your minds? How did you even get into Ravenclaw?" Draco said sarcastically after listening attentively.
"Dumbledore is the Greatest White Wizard. He explained the effects of your spell. How could he not know that Professor Quirrell was being coerced by the curse?"
"You're all worrying unnecessarily. In my opinion, all the defenses on the Fourth-Floor Forbidden Area —except for Dumbledore's —are just there to buy time."
"If I were the Dark Wizard controlling Quirrell, I would definitely cause trouble and force Dumbledore to leave the school for a while," Draco said, arms crossed, standing by the fireplace and glancing at the dragon eggs every now and then.
"Truly worthy of being called Malfoy. This kind of thinking is probably only something Slytherin like you would have. Amazing." Ron said with admiration, but it was actually a sarcastic remark about Draco.
Draco was about to retort when Hagrid interrupted him, "Alright, kids. You know enough."
"Just like that Malfoy family kid said, Dumbledore definitely has his own plans. When you get back, don't tell anyone about this, so as not to interrupt Dumbledore's plan to save Quirrell," Hagrid warned. "I'm going to see Professor Dumbledore."
In his view, Quirrell was definitely trustworthy; he had once been a professor of Muggle Studies.
Unlike the Defense Against the Dark Arts course, which is taught by a different professor every year, this position is permanent; as long as you don't make a mistake, you can do it for life.
Such a position can only be held by a wizard Dumbledore trusts and understands.
In Hagrid's eyes, Dumbledore is incapable of making mistakes, and the person he trusts is trustworthy. Dumbledore knows everything but does nothing, which must be to save Quirrell.
If Ryan knew what Hagrid was thinking at this moment, he would be amazed. Although Hagrid was stupid, he was still smart compared to Harry's actions in the original timeline.
Knowing he lacked common sense, he refrained from making decisions on his own regarding matters arranged by Dumbledore.
Since I was careless, Dumbledore still chose me, Dumbledore must have his reasons. I should just lie down and accept it.
"I can't believe it. We were the ones who let Hagrid know about the flaws in the Forbidden Zone's defenses. How did he manage to kick us out?" Ron's ears turned slightly red as he spoke on the way back to Hogwarts Castle.
"Ron, keep your voice down. We promised Hagrid." Harry suddenly stopped, and Malfoy turned around and said, "Come on, this was all Harry's idea. I gave him some hints. Can you tell me what you said, Weasley?"
"You wretched Malfoy, you only understand dark wizards because only Dark Wizard can understand Dark Wizard."
"Harry and I are the Ravenclaw of Wisdom. The only reason we can't think of this is because we're not like you," Ron growled. Harry quickly pulled Ron away. "Shut up, Ron. Draco isn't like that."
"Come on, you're just Ravenclaw who followed Harry around like a shadow, and you're talking to me about Wisdom?"
"How could you not have thought of Dumbledore's idea?" Surprisingly, Malfoy wasn't angry; he calmly retorted sarcastically.
"Harry, Malfoy got to Hagrid before us this time. He must have found out that we were hiding something from him yesterday, and he also found out that what we were hiding from him was related to Hagrid."
"After all, he's so clever—no, so cunning." Ron blushed and continued to find fault with Malfoy.
"Come on, Ron, didn't you notice that Draco's attention was completely focused on the dragon egg?" Harry said helplessly, giving Draco an apologetic look.
At that moment, Hagrid nervously walked toward Dumbledore's office.
This time he was so worried that when Filch started pestering him, he didn't yell back as usual, which left Filch completely bewildered.
Hagrid quickly arrived at the Seventh Floor of Hogwarts. He said to the stone goblin, "Lemon Sherbet." The stone goblin jumped aside, and the wall behind it split in two, revealing a movable spiral staircase.
Hagrid stood on the stairs, ascending higher and higher as they spiraled around, until he finally arrived at the door to Dumbledore's office with its brass door knocker.
Hagrid took a deep breath. For the first time, he appreciated the convenience of Dumbledore's office staircase, which allowed him to avoid climbing and had time to think about what to say.
Before Hagrid could even knock on the door, Dumbledore's voice rang out, "I was wondering when you would come to see me, Rubeus Hagrid."
Hagrid stood there, stunned, unable to come to his senses for a long time.
I'm resuming updates today. Thank you to Taishi Yumi Xu and Yuchi Jinyin for the monthly tickets again. I see your names so often.
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