Hagrid's Surprise

Under the scorching sun, the group, without any shade, chose to dine outdoors.

Amidst the clinking of glasses, a blazing fire was lit.

Hephaestus absorbed all the heat, making everyone feel as if a cool breeze was blowing through them, leaving their foreheads clean and dry without a trace of sweat.

Harry and the others were already used to it.

But Percy, and Fred and George, who were busy with their careers and hadn't been very close to Hagrid last semester, still had curiosity written all over their faces.

They were probably also filled with a sense of novelty.

Mrs. Weasley, standing nearby, couldn't help but giggle like a little girl, occasionally tossing food into the surrounding flames—that is, into Hephaestus's belly.

Hagrid, standing nearby, would occasionally offer Mrs. Weasley suggestions—such as whether chicken bones were better than chicken meat, or bread was better than vegetables, or what Hephaestus preferred to eat.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, and as the sun grew even more intense after noon, Harry looked at Hagrid: "Hagrid, what brings you here today?"

Two things.

"Dumbledore and I originally intended to keep this as a surprise," Hagrid said mysteriously, winking.

Ron swallowed the mashed potatoes in one gulp and took a big gulp of Pumpkin Juice: "One of them is a surprise?"

"Ahem," Hagrid cleared his throat deliberately, drawing out the anticipation, and patted the table before saying, "I am now the professor of Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts!"

"I knew it, Dumbledore and the others still didn't believe me?" Neville sighed.

"What's it to you?"

"Did I hear that right?" Fred and George couldn't help but look at Neville.

In their eyes, Neville had always been that timid little fat boy, only recently becoming cheerful and strong.

But they never expected that this chubby boy could accomplish something they couldn't normally do—get a professor to resign.

"This has nothing to do with your Billywig, didn't you notice?"

The textbooks have all been changed!

This must have happened before Neville was discovered playing with insects.

"Harry, I thought you could guess this." Hagrid seemed a little disappointed.

"Of course! I already knew!" Harry looked at Ron.

He didn't know how to respond.

But Ron seems to have misunderstood Harry's meaning.

He clapped his hands in an extremely exaggerated manner, "We should have known this a long time ago!"

Besides Hagrid, who else would ask us to get a book that bites?

"Hagrid, Ron always talks like that." Ginny glared at Ron, then switched to a cloyingly sweet tone that Harry had never heard before, "It's amazing that you recommended such a useful book, Hagrid."

We had assumed that Professor Kettleburn had finally learned his lesson and was preparing to use more specialized books as teaching materials!

"I'm nowhere near as good as you say. Professor Kettleburn is far more professional," Hagrid's eyes narrowed into slits, a slight blush appearing on his face. Then, a glimmer of hope appeared in his small eyes as he looked at Harry and the others. "So you've all read the contents of the book?"

"Of course!" Ron blurted out, belatedly realizing he had misspoke.

He slammed his hand on the table and stood up, looking smug. "I still remember it all! The proud Hippogriff, the evil Erkling, the rare Hidebehind."

Hagrid's expression became increasingly relaxed as Ron named each of the Care of Magical Creatures in the book.

"Phew! Looks like Ginny wasn't just flattering me," Hagrid thought to himself, almost unconsciously.

Ron, sitting at the corner of the table, appeared increasingly confident, as evidenced by Hagrid's changing expressions.

He even joked, "The only downside is that the book Hagrid recommended was so lively that it almost bit off my toe."

I have to fight it before I can watch it every time.

Harry and the others nodded in agreement.

"So—you mean—none of you can open this book?" Hagrid's smile gradually faded.

The smiles on the faces of those around them froze.

However, Ron, as expected, failed to notice anything.

"We opened it, didn't we? How could I have known so much about these Care of Magical Creatures if I hadn't opened the book?" Ron asked, puzzled.

"Harry immediately subdued these little monsters, and that's how we saw what was inside."

"But wouldn't it be enough to just look through these books?" Hagrid wore the same puzzled expression as Ron, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Look..."

He took a green book out of his pocket, which was full of sticky notes.

However, as soon as he took it out, the book seemed to want to bite him, but Hagrid slid his index finger down the spine, and the book trembled, then opened and lay quietly in his hand.

When they saw the Green Book opened and filled with dense notes, everyone's eyes softened.

After a moment's hesitation, Ginny said, "Is it possible that Harry is just too good?"

You've all seen how agile he is on his flying broomstick, haven't you?

This noisy book may require some thought from others, who may eventually find a way to sort it out.

But for Harry, it was as simple as picking up an apple from the table.

And naturally, we don't need to think about finding other solutions—the ones that are obvious at a glance.

"Phew!" Hagrid breathed a sigh of relief. "What a pity, these books are so ridiculous, you missed the chance to find a way to quiet them down on your own."

Ron, who was standing to the side, was about to say something when Harry interrupted him with an elbow.

"Hagrid! What's the second thing?" Harry asked quickly.

He was afraid that Ron would say something else hurtful.

Hagrid became very strong because of that magical scene last semester.

However, Hagrid's personality remained unchanged.

Although he was very confident in his own abilities, he was still somewhat inferior in terms of academic knowledge, having dropped out of school.

In particular, he himself has hardly ever been to a library in recent years.

Dumbledore didn't pay much attention to the extra lessons he received.

"These," Hagrid reached into his coat pocket again, and when he held them out, there were several pebble-like objects on them. "These are good things. I got them from a professor in Castelobruxo."

"What are these?" Harry counted them; there were five in total.

Then Fred, George, Percy probably don't exist.

"These are Seeds."

However, only wizards under the age of fourteen can use it. Hagrid stroked his beard and glanced awkwardly at Percy and the others.

"How do you use it? Do you eat it?" Ron asked.

"Castelobruxo? Is it a unique magical item of theirs? Like the mainstream wands nowadays?" Draco squinted.

"Pretty much, but this isn't food, Ron." Hagrid glanced at Ron, who was drinking Pumpkin Juice.

Knowing Ron well, he knew this was a sign that Ron was about to eat.