So on Friday afternoon, Zhang Xiao met Harry and Ron in the Entrance Hall. They left the castle and crossed the fields, spotting a wooden cabin near the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
It was supposedly a little cabin, but who had ever seen a "little" cabin with a door over three meters tall? In front of that door, which could have passed for a castle gate, sat a crossbow and a pair of rubber boots.
Well, both were astonishingly large. The crossbow looked more like a siege weapon, and the rubber boots were about the size of baby bathtubs.
When Harry knocked, they heard a flurry of frantic scuffling and several deep barks from inside. Then came Hagrid's voice. "Back, Fang, back."
Hagrid opened the door a crack, revealing his enormous, bearded face. All three boys looked up at him and waved in greeting.
"Good afternoon, Hagrid."
"Good afternoon, lads. Hold on," he said. "Back, Fang."
Hagrid let them in while struggling to hold an enormous black boarhound by the collar. The dog looked as big as a calf.
The cabin had only one room. Hams and pheasants hung from the ceiling, water boiled in a copper kettle over the fire, and a large bed stood in the corner, covered with patchwork bedding.
"Make yourselves at home," Hagrid said, letting Fang go.
Fang wagged his tail like an electric fan, hesitated for a moment, then bounded toward Zhang Xiao, affectionately trying to lick his face.
"This is Ron," Harry said, introducing Ron to Hagrid while Fang's tail battered him into utter despair.
Hagrid was busy pouring boiling water into a large teapot. He glanced at Ron's red hair and freckles. "Another little brother from the Weasley family, eh?"
He handed Ron a Rock Cake and added gruffly, "I've spent half my life trying to keep those two brothers of yours out of the Forbidden Forest."
"And this is..." Hagrid turned toward Zhang Xiao, who was happily playing with Fang. Suddenly, his gaze sharpened, fixing on the Slytherin crest on Zhang Xiao's chest.
"A Slytherin?"
Without sparing Zhang Xiao's feelings in the slightest, Hagrid demanded loudly, "Harry, I invited you and your friends. That doesn't mean I'm willing to welcome just anyone!"
Harry hurriedly stood up and said:
"Hagrid, Zhang's a good friend of mine. He's helped me a lot and given me loads of useful advice. Really!"
Ron chimed in too. "That's right! Even Fred and George say Zhang's a different kind of Slytherin! He's our friend!"
Looking at the two boys' anxious, worried faces, Hagrid muttered:
"All right, all right. The world must've gone mad, Slytherins making friends with Gryffindors."
Then he shrugged at Zhang Xiao.
"Sorry, little fellow. It's nothing against you. I... er, I hate all Slytherins."
Hagrid looked at Fang, who was thoroughly enjoying having his head stroked, and finally sighed.
"Maybe I've misjudged you. Harry's right. Fang doesn't usually act like this around Slytherins."
Zhang Xiao waved a hand, indicating that he needn't worry.
"It's all right, Hagrid. Prejudice is a mountain in people's hearts. Changing someone's views is difficult, and some Slytherins really are unpleasant."
"Oh, don't go giving me fancy lines like that. It reminds me of my school days, when Professor Burbage was always reading us Muggle poetry. Honestly, it gave me a headache."
Hagrid brought out his tray again, held it in front of Zhang Xiao, and asked loudly:
"Another two Rock Cakes?"
Zhang Xiao guessed that this straightforward giant was trying to apologize in his own way.
He really didn't mind something like this. He hated Japan himself, after all, but a Japanese person who called for their country to acknowledge its crimes and apologize to China was a different matter.
Besides, Hagrid had been framed by a Slytherin. Outsiders didn't know it, but Hagrid knew perfectly well that he had been wronged, so his attitude only showed that he was still a decent, honest man.
They then began chatting around the fire. Mostly, Harry and Ron talked about their lives over the past few days, with a few little complaints thrown in, such as how awful Filch was.
They also talked about how disappointing Professor Quirrell was. He taught them nothing useful in class, merely stammering his way through an introduction to vampires.
The mention of Professor Quirrell reminded Zhang Xiao of this first year's final boss.
Quirrell really...
He really had no intention of teaching them anything useful!
It would have been one thing if he were merely slacking off.
But the whole classroom reeked of garlic, along with an indescribable stench that made the young wizards' eyes stream and their stomachs churn, leaving them dry-heaving every few moments.
Throughout each lesson, the retching rose and fell like a percussion performance.
In any case, Zhang Xiao planned to zone out for every Dark Magic Defense Class. Quirrell wouldn't care, either. Zhang Xiao also strongly suspected that Dumbledore knew something, because Quirrell's enormous turban was simply too suspicious.
By then, Harry had begun describing what had happened in Potions Class. Hagrid told him not to worry, because Snape had hardly ever liked any student.
"But he really seems to hate me."
"Rubbish!" Hagrid said. "Why would he hate you?"
"Zhang told me it's because my dad and Professor Snape didn't get along at school. Is that true, Hagrid?"
Hagrid looked at Zhang Xiao again, his expression rather serious.
Zhang Xiao waved a hand. "I don't know much either. I heard it from Malfoy when he was boasting about how close his family was to Professor Snape."
Only then did Hagrid relax, answering vaguely:
"All right, all right, I suppose there was something like that. But I'm only the gamekeeper. I don't know much about what goes on between students."
Still, Harry felt that Hagrid was deliberately avoiding his eyes as he said this.
He simply turned to Ron and started talking about Charlie and dragons instead.
Meanwhile, Zhang Xiao stood by the window, looking out at the large stretch of open ground. They were on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and Hagrid had planted a patch of pumpkins beside his cabin. Every one of them was extraordinarily large, as though it had been subjected to an Engorgement Charm.
Suddenly, Harry's startled voice rang out behind him:
"Hagrid! The Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday. We might have been there when it happened!"
This time, Hagrid truly dodged the subject. He gave a noncommittal grunt, then made his position clear through silence.
For a moment, neither Harry nor Ron knew what to say. A strange hush fell over the cabin, broken only by the hissing kettle on the fire.
"Hagrid..." Zhang Xiao turned and pointed at the broad stretch of open ground outside the window. "That isn't part of the Forbidden Forest, is it? Students are allowed to go there?"
Hagrid glanced outside and nodded.
"That's right. It's still a little way from the Forbidden Forest. Why d'you ask?"
"Great! Could you lend me that land? Or who would I have to ask to get permission to use it?" Zhang Xiao's eyes shone. "It's such a waste to leave such a big patch of land sitting there!"
Hagrid watched him warily. Had this Slytherin finally shown his true colors? What evil scheme was he planning?
"Tell me what you want to do first."
"Grow vegetables! Honestly, I've had enough of eating potatoes and meat every day! The food is what I find hardest to put up with at Hogwarts. There's so little variety!"
Harry and Ron exchanged puzzled looks. Was there? They were perfectly happy with it. There was plenty of variety, and it was delicious. They practically adored the school dining hall!
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