The Ministry of Magic Attack

Although Hagrid was very old, he sometimes acted like a child.

He loved Magical Creatures, especially the big, thick, sturdy ones.

According to Ollivander, Hagrid had once been expelled and had his wand snapped.

William strongly suspected that Hagrid had been expelled for keeping some strange little "cuties" at Hogwarts.

That was definitely the sort of thing Hagrid would do, like illegally keeping the three-headed dog right now!

But what could anyone do about it? Who didn't have a special hobby these days? Wasn't the most widespread rumor lately that Snape liked dressing as a woman?

Ravenclaws never looked at others differently, even if Snape really was a cross-dressing master.

So William could only reassure him. "Hagrid, you should hurry and tell Professor Dumbledore. He can easily sort this kind of thing out."

Dumbledore had always been the tallest, thickest evergreen in the Wizarding World!

With his abilities, there was nothing in the British Isles or even the European continent that he couldn't settle. A mere three-headed dog was hardly worth mentioning.

Hagrid nodded hastily, though it wasn't clear whether he had actually taken William's words to heart.

After seeing the three-headed dog, William and the other two told Hagrid what had happened in class.

After chatting for a while, William asked, "Do Professor Snape and Professor Tywin have a grudge against each other?"

Hagrid had lived at Hogwarts for half a century and knew about most of the things that had happened at the school.

Hagrid was taken aback. He shook his head. "Who told you that? Why would they have a grudge?"

William quickly described what had happened at the hospital. He had already told Cedric and Cho about it a few days earlier.

Hagrid was shocked to hear it. He hadn't expected the professors to draw their wands in the hospital.

And right in front of a young wizard like William, too!

Hagrid stood up uneasily. He paced around twice and thought back for a moment, but still shook his head. "I really haven't heard of any bad blood between Tywin and Snape.

"When we were at school, Tywin was a Ravenclaw. He was ordinary, so ordinary that you'd never find him in a crowd.

"Hmm, he was a bit of a bookworm too-not nearly as well-known as Snape and James and their two groups."

"James Potter?"

"Yeah." Hagrid hesitated, unsure whether he should tell William and the others.

"Back then, Snape and James led their respective houses, and there was friction between them for a long time. At its worst, there was even a huge brawl between the houses.

"I remember Dumbledore was furious that day. I'd never seen him that angry before.

"The House Cup competition was only halfway through that year, and Slytherin and Gryffindor were declared the losers outright."

"But James's death had nothing to do with Professor Snape. It was Sirius's betrayal!" Hagrid almost roared.

"A filthy, stinking traitor!" Hagrid's voice was so loud that barking came from the fireplace. Fluffy seemed to have been woken up.

"At school, Sirius and James were practically inseparable. Sirius was best man when James and Lily got married, and then they made Sirius Harry's godfather.

"But that damned fellow had betrayed us long before, and joined You-Know-Who's side!"

Cedric shuddered at the mention of You-Know-Who.

As a child from a wizarding family, he had grown up hearing the Dark Lord's name.

In fact, Voldemort hadn't fallen when Cedric was one or two years old, and he still had a few memories of that time.

Hagrid grew somewhat agitated. "I knew it. The Black family were all Slytherins. Even getting into Gryffindor couldn't change Sirius's nature!

"His betrayal got James killed. Of course, he was punished too, and sent to Azkaban!"

William asked tentatively, "So Professor Snape, James Potter's rival, never betrayed James? He's always been on our side?"

Hagrid suddenly fell silent. He opened the fireplace and soothed Fluffy back to sleep before speaking.

"That's not something you young wizards should be worrying about. Just remember that Professor Dumbledore trusts him!"

William, Cedric, and Cho exchanged glances. They realized things weren't that simple. At the very least, there was more to the story.

As the father of the famous Harry Potter, James Potter was known to everyone as a hero who had died at Voldemort's hands.

Yet Professor Tywin had said that James and Voldemort had died because of Snape's betrayal... He must have known something, or why would he have said that?

But that claim was just too strange!

Professor Snape had been teaching at Hogwarts all along, going about his business under Dumbledore's nose, and he was also the head of Slytherin.

He surely couldn't have been on Voldemort's side.

Could it be that Snape had once betrayed James Potter, causing his death?

And had Professor Tywin, as James's friend, discovered that secret, which was why he called Snape a traitor?

William, Cedric, and the others were deeply puzzled.

But Hagrid refused to say another word about Snape and changed the subject again.

"The Gryffindor Quidditch Team tryouts are today, aren't they?" Hagrid scratched his beard.

"I wonder if Charlie will find some good teammates. I like him a lot-he has a way with Magical Creatures.

"It's his last year at Hogwarts. I hope Gryffindor wins the championship."

Cedric cleared his throat in protest.

He then explained to Hagrid why Hufflepuff had a better chance of winning, citing their teamwork, squad depth, and past head-to-head record.

Cho listened with interest. She liked Quidditch a lot too.

William stood up and noticed a small piece of paper tucked under the tea cozy. It was a report clipped from the Daily Prophet.

-Latest report on the illegal break-in at the Ministry of Magic.

The investigation into the August 1 break-in at the Ministry of Magic's Department for the Regulation of Fantastic Beasts remains ongoing.

It is widely believed to have been the work of an unidentified dark wizard.

Cuthbert Mockridge, head of the Ministry's department, reiterated today that no Magical Creatures had been stolen.

The room searched by the intruder had in fact been used earlier that day to execute illegally smuggled Magical Creatures.

Amos Diggory, a department spokesperson, said this afternoon: "We have no comment on what exactly is stored in the department's warehouse. It would be best not to interfere in this matter."

The attack on the Ministry of Magic was the most explosive news in recent weeks, almost eclipsing the rumor that Snape was a cross-dressing master.

In fact, rumors of the attack had circulated during the summer holidays. William had heard Lee Jordan mention it on the train.

At the time, everyone had treated it as a joke, but unexpectedly, the story had really broken recently.

On the newspaper clipping, Hagrid had specifically circled the words "Department for the Regulation of Fantastic Beasts" and "illegal smuggling" in red pen.

Hagrid had a reason for circling them.

On August 1, when the attack happened, Hagrid had taken William to Diagon Alley.

Because of the price, Hagrid had waited a few days before buying Fluffy the three-headed dog from the Greek at a high price, and the Greek had disappeared for a long time in between.

Hagrid had begun to worry that the Greek had first attacked the Ministry of Magic, then sold him the stolen, illegally smuggled Magical Creature!

If he were found out, Hagrid would certainly be sent to Azkaban!

As for the newspaper saying that Ministry officials claimed there had been no losses at all... could anyone believe what the authorities said?

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