"How are things at the academy?" Douglas asked.
"Wonderful!" Hagrid said enthusiastically.
As he spoke, he proudly patted the opening in the oak tree beside him.
"Look at this, solid as anything! Those werewolf lads did a fine job. They even reinforced it with an Unbreakable Charm. Not even an Acromantula could squeeze through here!"
This was the portal to Silvermane Academy.
Sirius had funded its construction, using a Teleportation Array core supplied by Douglas and the work of skilled craftspeople among the werewolves.
He added excitedly:
"And they can make things to order for me, too! Look at this!"
Hagrid pulled a sturdy leather case from his pocket. Inside was an enormous pair of magical shears designed specifically for pruning dangerous plants.
"A hundred times better than the stuff those blackhearted crooks in Knockturn Alley sell!"
The portal's design cleverly bypassed the dangerous areas deep within the Forbidden Forest, such as the territories of the centaurs and Acromantulas.
"The best students have already started helping me patrol the edges of the Forbidden Forest."
"They understand the forest better than I do. They know how to deal with those creatures."
Outstanding werewolf students could even apply to enter the fringes of the Forbidden Forest for practical fieldwork, accompanied by Hagrid.
This greatly lightened Hagrid's burden.
It also gave those werewolf students valuable practical experience.
Learning to coexist with a magical forest was their first step toward rejoining society.
"Oh, I brought you a present."
Douglas took a small box wrapped in papyrus from his parcel.
Hagrid accepted it curiously, his thick fingers clumsily undoing the wrapping.
Inside was a pair of wrist guards.
Much like the pair given to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, they could regulate temperature automatically.
Hagrid tried them on.
A warm current instantly enveloped every joint in