After leading the students through the woods for almost ten minutes, Hagrid stopped. They had evidently arrived.
The trees here did not stand particularly close together, but their crowns were unusually broad and dense, making the woods especially dark.
The surroundings left the young wizards looking rather nervous, and some of the girls even instinctively moved a little closer to one another. There were exceptions, of course.
Hermione was looking around with great curiosity, seemingly trying to find the animals Hagrid had mentioned. Well, it was also possible that she wanted to determine at the first opportunity whether these creatures were suitable for a lesson.
If the answer was no, she would have to warn Hagrid immediately.
Lavender was clearly one of the very frightened girls, but instead of huddling with her friends, she pressed close to Ron. Yes, those two showed off their affection regardless of time or place, with absolutely no restraint.
"All right, here we are. Everyone, gather together as much as you can. I'm going to lure them out." As Hagrid spoke, he set down the large bag he was carrying. It landed with a heavy thud, confirming once again that the thing really was heavy.
Once the young wizards had gathered together, Hagrid opened the large bundle.
Harry was standing nearby, and a glance inside made him raise his eyebrows slightly. It actually contained chunks of meat. He could not tell whether it was pork or beef, but it was very fresh, with blood still dripping from it.
Harry was certain that this had to have been Professor Grubbly-Plank's suggestion. Left to himself, Hagrid would surely have come straight over carrying half a cow or pig. That would have been quite a shock for the young wizards, or at least for the young witches.
Having