In the hunting lodge, Hagrid sat sideways on the sofa by the fireplace, staring at the copper kettle on the fire rack.
Behind him, there was a thick black traveling cloak hanging on the back of the sofa. It was not only tattered but also stained everywhere, just like him.
And in the shadow behind the sofa, an oversized package that could hold two and a half Harrys was placed on the ground. It was unknown what was contained in the bulging bag.
On the other side of the fireplace, two girls, Hermione and Luna, each occupied the last two broken wooden chairs in the hut.
As for Harry and Ron, they sat obediently on a pile of wood for burning in the fireplace and an upside-down dirty barrel.
By the way, Hagrid’s big dog Tooth is squatting next to the table in the back. It stared at the table while drooling brightly.
"Hagrid, where have you been during this time? What happened to you? How did you end up like this..." Harry couldn't help but ask again.
This hunting lodge has been vacant for a long time, and looking at Hagrid's appearance, it was obvious that he had just returned. Because no one had cleaned it for a long time, a thin layer of dust had accumulated everywhere in the cabin.
But now, no one has time to take care of these small things.
"I told you, it's okay!"
Hagrid said stubbornly, picking up the umbrella leaning against the fireplace and pointing into the fire. Suddenly, more flames burst out from the pile of firewood, and he licked the copper kettle on the iron shelf harder and harder.
The fire crackled softly and exploded with a large number of sparks, causing Hermione to move her feet further to prevent the splashed flames from igniting her trouser legs.
"Come on, Hagrid!" Ron looked at his embarrassed look and said, "Your face has basically said everything you need to say, so you don't have to hide it from us, right?"
"My face? No, isn't it nothing?" Hagrid straightened up and patted his cheek hard, but frowned in pain, "Um... Oh! It's really nice to see you again. …isn’t it?”
"Hagrid!"
When Hermione saw him trying to change the subject clumsily, her eyes widened and she called him dissatisfied.
"Seriously, were you beaten by someone? Now that you are like this, you look as miserable as you can get!" Harry asked, still worried, "Was it... Voldemort?"
"Don't mention that name!" Hagrid sighed hard, then scratched his scalp and said, "Okay, okay, I did encounter a little mistake, but it's really nothing - it will be fine tomorrow, believe it or not ?”
"The most important thing is that this has nothing to do with that - well, you know who it is - and 'that person'. It has nothing to do with it at all, completely, completely!"
After saying that, Hagrid waved his hand, then stood up and walked to the table on the other side of the hut. I saw that he first used his feet to push Yaya squatting in front of the table, and then lifted up the huge tea towel covering the table.
Now everyone finally knew that Yaya, who was usually noisy, had been staring at the table quietly since they came in.
Because hidden under the huge tea towel was a piece of raw meat that was larger than a car tire.
"You don't want to treat us to that, do you?" Ron stared at the suspicious piece of meat and said, "It looks like... it's poisonous?"
As Ron said, the presentation of this large piece of meat was really bad.
Although you can't tell what kind of creature the meat is, just looking at the cut surface oozing with green blood, I guess no one will want to put it in their mouth.
"It's not poisonous, that's what it looks like originally - it's dragon meat," Hagrid said, "Peruvian Venomous Dragon... dragon meat is non-toxic, but I have no intention of eating it."
As he spoke, he picked up the piece of dragon meat and gently pressed it on his left cheek. Dark green blood was squeezed out and flowed down his beard onto his clothes.
Immediately, he began to hum comfortably.
"Well... I feel much more comfortable," Hagrid said sideways, "You see, dragon meat with blood has analgesic effect - Dumbledore told me before."
"ah-"
When Hagrid mentioned Dumbledore's name, everyone subconsciously averted their eyes. Only Luna did not overreact, but showed a slightly regretful expression.
"What's wrong?" Hagrid asked strangely, "It's true. Dumbledore has studied the use of dragon blood. If you are injured in the future-"
When he said this, he suddenly sighed and said: "Look what I said... you'd better not get hurt, the pain is not good..."
"Hagrid!"
Harry couldn't help it anymore and raised his voice to interrupt Hagrid's ramblings.
"Um?"
Even Hagrid has now noticed that something is wrong with the atmosphere. He looked at the three little lions with solemn faces and hesitated to stop what he was saying.
"Aren't you talking about dragon blood?" Hagrid asked hesitantly, "...what happened?"
Under Hagrid's questioning gaze, Harry, who had spoken first just now, opened his mouth again, but found that he didn't know what to say. Ron lowered his head slightly, muttering something in his mouth without knowing what he was talking about.
Hermione wanted to speak several times, but the words she should say were stuck in her throat, and she was in a dilemma.
All three of them knew that Hagrid had always regarded Dumbledore as his biggest benefactor.
When the Chamber of Secrets was opened for the first time, Voldemort, who was the one who opened it, blamed Hagrid, who was still his classmate.
When Hagrid, whose parents had died, was unjustly expelled and was desperate, it was Dumbledore who kept him and gave him the job of gamekeeper and key keeper.
Facing Hagrid like this, how could they bear to tell the cruel truth
But they all understood that Hagrid would have to know about this sooner or later. Not to mention that Hagrid was in Hogwarts right now, even if he stayed outside and never came back, the news of Dumbledore's death would soon reach his ears.
"Hagrid, Dumbledore is dead."
Just as the three of them were holding their breath and feeling depressed, Luna's sleepy voice suddenly sounded.
Although her voice was as soft and erratic as ever, it could even be easily ignored in a noisier place.
But at this moment, her words were no less than a thunder, striking everyone's scalp.
"Wha... what?" Hagrid's hand holding the dragon flesh trembled slightly, and then he frowned slightly and said, "Miss Lovegood, you can't make such a joke..."
With the heavy atmosphere just now as a foreshadowing, even though Hagrid didn't believe it at all, he felt a little more uneasy in his heart.
His words trailed off for a moment, and then there was silence again.
Hagrid looked back and forth at the faces of the four children, feeling more and more depressed. He took the dragon meat off his face, spread out his hands and moved them impatiently, letting the green dragon blood from half of his face flow freely onto his shoulders.
"Don't be silent! Why... Is group pranks popular among students now? It was the Weasley twins who invented it..."
"This is not funny at all! I said, hey... please give me some reaction, huh?"
"Hagrid -" Hermione suddenly raised her head, looked directly at the confused and uneasy Hagrid and said, "Luna is not joking... but... Professor Dumbledore must be for us... for Hogwarts... his The expression is very calm..."
She spoke intermittently, trying to find something to say to comfort Hagrid, but she couldn't always find the words. After a moment of incoherence, she finally looked away with red eyes.
"… Feel sorry."
Hermione didn't know why she was apologizing. Maybe it was because of her own weakness, or some other reason - she didn't know.
"This is real?"
Hagrid seemed to have lost all his strength. His hand suddenly dropped, and the dragon meat he had been holding in his hand fell to the ground with a "snap".
"… it is true?"
He suddenly turned his head and looked at Harry and then Ron, only to see that they both looked downcast. After taking a deep breath, tears welled up in his eyes.
Yaya next to him looked at the dragon meat on the ground, and then at Hagrid who had a sad face. After much hesitation, it lay down quietly at Hagrid's feet and gently rubbed the side of Hagrid's legs with its head.
At first Hagrid just cried silently, but then the more he cried, the more he couldn't help it, and soon it turned into a full-blown cry. He mumbled a lot of inaudible words and looked extremely painful.
Harry and the others all sat with red eyes, watching Hagrid silently. Even Luna's mood was obviously much lower.
Probably because last night, both the professors and Maka, who arrived later, put on a calm appearance in order to stabilize the situation. So much so that Hermione could even try to calm down and make various speculations about Dumbledore's death.
It was only at this moment that Hagrid's crying gave them the most real feeling.
Regardless of whether Dumbledore was really dead or faked, at least his body actually appeared in front of everyone.
When everyone recalled Dumbledore's kind face and kind words amidst Hagrid's crying, the sadness that had been suppressed deep in their hearts finally burst out.
Like heart-warming happiness, sadness can sometimes be a contagious disease. Hagrid's crying infected the children without leaving any trace, and their salty tears slipped quietly and uncontrollably.
Luna sniffed, gently rubbed her eyes with her sleeve, and looked at everyone seriously.
"I didn't cry when my mother passed away, because she didn't like people crying..." she said. "Only tears of joy can flow freely. Professor Dumbledore... definitely wouldn't want to see tears of sadness."