A Tangential Topic

Harry hasn't seen Hagrid for a while since the last time.

Ginny probably also vaguely sensed that he had developed an inexplicable aversion to Hagrid ever since.

Only Ron would think that he didn't have time because he was brewing Potions and spending time with Ginny.

As for Draco —after all, they weren't in the same dorm, and he also had to keep Pansy.

All of this was actually because of that indescribable feeling, that feeling that Ginny and the others couldn't perceive.

When Harry was with Hagrid, especially after he inexplicably gained the ability to give life to a bunch of flames, he felt like he was standing next to a prehistoric beast.

His body, even every single hair, seemed to be shouting at him—Run!

That feeling of life no longer belonging to oneself was something I had never experienced, even when I was with Voldemort.

No, perhaps I couldn't feel it at the time.

Ryan said it was due to his rapid physical growth, the magic in his heart, and the gradual eruption of his primal instincts.

This also raised a question for him at the time, "But at that time, my Potions was not yet ready, and I had not even started."

"This has nothing to do with Potions. Does Riddle's existence really have no effect on you?"

"Two souls with the identity of the main soul make the soul fragments in your body more active than ever before."

"You were already changing before you took that potion; the potion just accelerated that process," Ryan said at the time.

But Harry always felt that Ryan hadn't told the whole story.

Harry inexplicably thought of that moment, the moment he returned to Earth from the Moon.

He always felt as if he had taken a long nap, as had the Phoenix in his chest.

But after he asked Ron and Ginny, they said it was an illusion.

Shaking his head, Harry stood at the door of Hagrid's Hut and knocked.

The door opened immediately, and a wave of heat rushed in, relieving the slight stiffness in Harry and the others' bodies as they walked through the wind and snow.

Fang was lying under the table, its tail wagging from side to side.

Arasped closed its eight eyes, and could be seen from the slight rubbing of its mouthparts that it was dozing.

Hephaestus, as the cabin's heat source, swirls in the fireplace, bringing a ruby-red glow to the room.

Hagrid sat cross-legged on a soft cushion, poking the fire with a pine branch that looked polished.

Harry stood frozen in place. In his eyes, that wasn't Hagrid at all; it was more like a volcano about to erupt.

Moreover, Hagrid didn't move, so what is this door?

"Harry, why aren't you coming in?" Hagrid put down the pine branch and turned to look at Harry. Hephaestus licked the pine branch like it was ice cream.

"Aha! -- I finally got to see how scared you look Harry!"

"Isn't it amazing? Hagrid can now see people without his eyes, and he can also manipulate objects that are not far from him, like doors." Ron patted Harry on the shoulder and grinned.

"Didn't you tell Harry?" Hagrid glanced at Ron and Draco with his small, black beetle-like eyes.

"I thought Ron said that." Draco waved his hand, indicating that it was none of his business.

Ron had already skillfully sat down next to Hagrid and greeted Hephaestus.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about something else." Harry shook his head and went into the hut.

The door slammed shut automatically.

"Harry, you're finally done with your work, right?"

"I know you're the captain of the Quidditch team, and your team plays for the two weeks after Christmas, but how come—" Hagrid said in a slightly reproachful tone.

"You know, I also have Ginny, and we need a little bit of personal time." Harry said something he didn't even believe himself, feeling his cheeks burning.

Fortunately, Hagrid has always been careless and his bad temper usually comes and goes quickly.

"By the way, Hagrid, you mentioned finding a partner for Hephaestus. Have you decided what to use?"

"Wind?"

"Cloud?"

"Lightning?" Ron's eyes darted around as he spoke.

However, the most outrageous thing is that Ron was able to perfectly bypass the place where Arasped was.

"I asked Dumbledore, and he also came to see Hephaestus. He advised me not to use my power anymore."

"Or rather, don't give those objects a complete life."

"He said that if I kept doing this and created too many lives, I would become Squib," Hagrid said with lingering fear.

"Ah!"

"Hagrid, are you alright?"

"Has Hephaestus done anything to you—" Ron, Harry, Draco asked in turn.

"Dumbledore said that Hephaestus was just a life form created from ordinary flames and had no effect on me."

"At most, I have a bigger appetite."

"Thank goodness, otherwise—" Hagrid touched his long, thick, and slightly bent Oak Wood wand, which he was finally no longer hiding under the pink umbrella.

"Is this your wand?" Draco asked, and everyone looked curiously at Hagrid's wand.

"Yes, it was broken once—because I was wrongly accused of killing Myrtle."

"Fortunately, with the help of Dumbledore and Arthur, I was able to clear my name and finally get it out of the umbrella."

"Otherwise, I'll have to use it secretly. I remember last time I used it on that fat little Dursley family."

"It's a pity that because he looks too much like a pig, I could only conjure up a pig's tail for him." Hagrid winked at Harry.

He suddenly felt a warmth near his legs.

It turned out that Hephaestus had crawled out, transformed into the shape of Fang, and stuck out his tongue. "Hey, Hephaestus, this is a wand, not your snack."

"How come the carpet is alright?" Harry looked at the carpet Hephaestus had stepped on, avoiding looking directly at Hagrid.

"I know!"

Hephaestus can control himself from igniting anything.

"Look, I can even put my hand inside it," Ron said hastily, boldly reaching his hand into the fire. Harry, however, found it odd; in his memory, Hephaestus was supposed to be able to speak.

But now, it's like a real dog.

It is a perfect blend of form and spirit, only the fur made of flames ruins the feeling.

"Hello, Harry Potter." As Harry was wondering, Hephaestus, who had been inserted, transformed into human form, the outline of which vaguely resembled Ron.

"When I imitate a creature that cannot speak, I cannot speak," Hephaestus continued.

"Dumbledore said that it was an over-imitation; when it was clearly the original, it could directly use unknown principles to speak."

"But once it transforms into an animal, that is, into the shape of Fang, it can only bark like a dog," Hagrid laughed.

"Wait, can it talk when it turns into a spider?" Harry realized his blind spot.

"Yes, because the Acromantula can talk."

"But you know, so it only ever changed into the appearance of Fang, me, Ron, and Draco." Hagrid glanced at Ron, who instinctively trembled at the mention of the Acromantula.