When Harry and Ron walked through the snow on the ground to the door of Hagrid's hut, they happened to see Hagrid. But they saw Hagrid, who was unusually tall, walking towards this side carrying a pine tree that was even taller than him.
And in the Forbidden Forest behind him, Harry even vaguely caught a glimpse of a terrifyingly large figure, which flashed away deep in the forest and lost its trace.
In the open space at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, there are several large pine trees leaning diagonally.
"Oh! Boys—" As soon as Hagrid saw Harry and Ron, he waved his arms happily, and the snow on the pine trees slid down, spreading the snow on the ground thicker.
"Need any help?" Harry said and wanted to pull out his wand, but Hagrid immediately stopped him.
"No, no need..." Hagrid waved his hands repeatedly, "These pine trees can't be sent to the castle yet, they have to be dealt with! Don't worry, there is enough time!"
Just as he said, even the pine tree he was carrying on his shoulders was put aside, and he came towards Harry and Ron empty-handed.
"Don't stand outside, go in! Come inside and get warm..." Hagrid gently pushed Harry and Ron's backs and led them back to the door of the hunting lodge. "The door is not locked, just open it." !I think I can take a rest first.”
As soon as the wooden door opened, Hagrid's hound Fang immediately started barking.
"Tooth, stop screaming!" Hagrid lowered his head and shouted from above Harry and Ron, "Have all the songs I taught you these days been in vain?"
"Teaching Yaya how to sing?" Harry, who was walking in, suddenly stopped and asked in shock when he heard this.
"yes!"
After they all entered the door, Hagrid turned around and closed the door, shaking his head rather regretfully.
"Aragog has learned two songs before, and he can sing better than me..." At this point, Hagrid sighed, "Oh - I miss Aragog."
Harry and Ron looked at each other and saw the helplessness on each other's faces.
The big spider's funeral was now vividly visible to them. Even if it was a corpse, it was quite terrifying. As for a giant singing spider
All right! It sounds a bit funny, but that can only change from "scary" to "disgusting" at best, right? It's a little better, but it's still not easy to accept.
But when the two of them recalled Hagrid crying into tears on the day of the funeral, they couldn't help but understand Hagrid's feelings.
Ron went to pull a few logs from the woodpile and put them into the fireplace, while Harry cast a fire-making charm on it - they felt they should do something for Hagrid, even if it was just something small.
"Oh, by the way Hagrid... what song do you want to teach Fang to sing?" Harry asked casually.
"Hmm..." Hagrid became interested again when he mentioned this, "Of course it's a Christmas song! A half-blood taught it to me before. He said it was written by Muggles. It's so famous! Do you want to hear it?"
"Oh, no... I mean, save it for Christmas Day!" Ron advised quickly.
"Ha! That's right," Hagrid nodded happily, "I'll teach Tussy the Tooth well these two days, and then I want it to perform at the Christmas dinner... Well, I really hope it will be in Hogwarts this year. I can keep a few more children to spend Christmas together! Otherwise, Yaya would have to sing to the professors! What a pity... "
"Really?" Harry shrugged immediately after hearing what he said, "I would really like to stay with you - spending Christmas here is much better than going back to Privet Drive!"
At this time, Hagrid quickly waved his hand.
"No, no, no, I just said that!" He said nervously, "You have to go back when it's time to go back. Don't listen to the nonsense I just said - you should spend Christmas with your loved ones."
"Well... dear," Harry was obviously disapproving, "Yes, dear!"
"...Harry." Ron reached out and patted his shoulder, "I was thinking, maybe I can ask my parents - they will definitely welcome you to the Burrow for a lively Christmas!"
"Really?" Harry suddenly became more energetic, and he asked again and again, "Is it really possible? I mean - it sounds great!"
Although he really wanted to go to the old Black house to meet Sirius - he heard that he had returned from the United States, the Weasley family would definitely go back to their own home for Christmas, so the two sides would miss each other.
Moreover, it is hard to say whether he will be allowed to go to Grimmauld Place this time! As the secret headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, there are always dangers lurking there, so it is not a suitable place for a holiday no matter how you think about it.
or…
"Ron, do you think... can you convince your mother to invite Sirius too?" Harry suddenly turned his head and asked Ron with some expectation.
Ron shook his head in embarrassment.
"I can give it a try, but I don't think it's likely to succeed. As for the reason, I think you understand - it's as much as you want..."
As Ron said, it was not only because Sirius was still carrying a wanted warrant, but also because Sirius seemed to be still recovering from his injuries and was not suitable for movement.
As for Mrs. Weasley... she probably didn't welcome Sirius to her home very much, because she and Sirius never got along well. This feeling was so obvious that even Harry could see it at a glance.
But when he thought about Sirius having to spend Christmas Day lying in bed limply, Harry suddenly felt depressed.
"...But you should look forward to Maka!" Ron suddenly comforted him, "Didn't Maka mention it? He said Sirius would be fine before Christmas!"
"Oh—" Hagrid exclaimed inexplicably when he heard Maka's name, "That's right! I can ask Maka to take Yaya to your place, and then you can listen to Yaya singing a Christmas ditty!"
It seemed that no matter what the circumstances, Hagrid could not give up this idea. Harry and Ron didn't try to stop it, because they were afraid that Hagrid wouldn't be able to think about it, and he would go straight to the Burrow with Fang and perform a terrible human-canine duet for them.
After continuing to sit with Hagrid for a while, they decided they couldn't stay any longer.
Because now Hagrid's mind is filled with teaching Yaya to sing. Maybe if they had stayed just a little longer, they would have had to become music teachers with Hagrid!
Harry was about to stand up and find any excuse to go back to the castle. But before he could speak, there was a knock on the door of the hut.
"Hey! Is there anyone here?"
A man's voice came in from outside the door, sounding energetic.
"Oh... Yes, yes, here, here..." Hagrid responded while pulling his big butt out of the sofa, "Who is it? I rarely have guests here... I mean, Except for a few of you..."
As the wooden door creaked again, the cold wind from outside suddenly rushed in. The cabin that had finally warmed up a little suddenly became much colder again.
"Oh, I said there must be someone - there is smoke coming out of the chimney!" As soon as the door opened, a fat old man appeared in front of Hagrid, "Well... you must be Rubeus Hagrid! Mi Leva told me about you, who used to be a gamekeeper and is now also a professor of Care of Magical Creatures."
"You are..." Hagrid looked at the old man carefully and recognized him quickly, "Mr. Slughorn? Why are you here? Come to Hogwarts to meet old friends?"
"Well, of course, that's part of the reason." Slughorn stamped his feet, shaking off the snow on the soles of his boots, and said with a calm smile, "I think it would be better for us to go in and chat - we can't leave the door open all the time. It will freeze your little guests!"
He said it as if nothing had happened, as if he really cared about Harry and Ron's feelings, but the truth was that he also wanted to warm up by the fire.
"Oh, you're right, please come in—"
Hagrid reluctantly held his stomach, moved his huge body to the corner next to the door with difficulty, and let Slughorn pass. And he himself closed the wooden door again after letting Slughorn in.
Slughorn walked to the fireplace, first loosened his scarf, and then his eyes immediately moved to Harry.
"Harry, we meet again!" He greeted energetically, as if he and Harry were close old friends. "How have you been recently? Although it was a little early. , but first I wish you a Merry Christmas!”
"Yeah," Harry nodded reluctantly, "You too."
Probably because he saw that Harry was a little indifferent, Slughorn was much more cautious this time. He no longer stared at Harry, but instead looked back around the cabin.
"This..." He seemed to have seen something, his eyes suddenly lit up, "Hagrid, could this be... unicorn hair?"
"Oh, indeed, those are the hairs on their tails..." Hagrid nodded indifferently, "There are often some in the forest, and they seem to shed their hair regularly - you can find them on branches or on the ground. "
"My dear friend," Slughorn said, trying to suppress his excitement, "they look so beautiful!"
"It's quite beautiful, but it's more useful -" Hagrid shrugged. "If an animal is injured, it can be used as a bandage. It's very strong! It's also somewhat effective in recovering from injuries."
"Oh, this is so-"
Seeing that Hagrid didn't seem to fully realize the value of this thing, Slughorn secretly enjoyed it. He was trying to get them in a roundabout way, but Hagrid shook his head again.
"I know what you want to say -" Hagrid spread his hands and said, "Maka also told me that it would be too wasteful to use them directly as bandages... so he will occasionally come to use them to heal injuries. Not to mention the evil potion, it is indeed very effective!”
"Damn it, that kid got one step ahead of me again! Again!" Slughorn couldn't help feeling depressed.