Speaking of which, Hagrid has been the professor of Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts for several years, but compared to the clean and tidy office in the castle, he is still more accustomed to living in a somewhat dark and dingy hunting lodge. .
If you want to ask the reason, he may be more so that he can take care of his precious magical creatures at any time, but it may not be because he misses Dumbledore.
The favor Dumbledore bestowed upon him was enough for him to remember for the rest of his life.
"Professor Hagrid, I'm really sorry to bother you to stay with me so late today. Tomorrow is Monday. If you need to prepare for tomorrow's lecture, you don't need to worry about my existence. I'll sit here by myself. Just read by the light for a while."
In the past, few people would come to Hagrid's hut, especially after nightfall. Even Harry and others who often came to visit would only come if something happened.
But today, there was one more person than usual in the hunting lodge.
"That's all right with me, Mr. Flamel."
Hagrid gave the other party the only sofa chair in the hut, and he sat down on several wooden barrels that were placed close together, which matched his body shape perfectly.
"I usually don't prepare lessons very much. Only when choosing new animals do I need to think carefully for a few days..." Hagrid took a sip of hot tea before continuing, "'On the premise of ensuring practicality, you should choose students They will be interested in it, not you.'—That's what Maka told me at the beginning."
As he spoke, he waved his palm as big as a trash can lid, and said helplessly: "It seems that everyone thinks that the little guys I like are more... um, more violent? Oh, I can't describe it well, because I think they are very... cute… "
"Really?" the old housekeeper asked curiously, "Then what kind of 'little guy' do you like specifically?"
"That's a lot—"
Hagrid seemed particularly enthusiastic when talking about these topics.
"... Take the Chimera for example! During the Triwizard Tournament, I helped the trainer of the Greek Rare Beast Sanctuary take care of a female. To be honest, that little girl... is really exciting. !”
"Oh, the Triwizard Tournament?"
Regarding Hagrid's "bold" remarks, the old butler's expression seemed a little subtle.
"That sounds really good..."
"Of course, it's actually very good," Hagrid said in excitement. As for the other person's feelings, he had long forgotten them. "It's such a pity. It would be great if you could see it with your own eyes." —In this day and age, Chimaira beasts are hard to find!"
"Well, I heard that their whereabouts can only be found in a few areas in the world, and only the Greek Rare Animal Sanctuary, which is the place of origin, has independently raised two." The old housekeeper reluctantly agreed.
"Yes, I didn't expect you know a lot about them! It seems you must also like them -" Hagrid nodded happily, "but you must not know how it feels to really come into contact with them. Oh... that waist , those legs, that twisting strength, it’s really..."
When one of the two people in the room was chatting passionately and the other was obviously at a loss, a figure suddenly came to the window on one side of the cabin.
The figure came so quietly that the two people in the room didn't notice it at all.
…
At the same time, outside the window of the hunting lodge.
"Waist and legs? What are you talking about?" The old witch standing by the window listened and frowned slightly, "Well, no matter what they are talking about, at least the target is found... I didn't expect him to actually Hide here."
It seemed that she had tried to search around the castle before coming here, but she just didn't find it.
"However, it is more convenient for me to take him away here... At least it is much easier than in the castle." The old witch thought to herself, "It's just that Professor Rubeus Hagrid seems to have giant blood. You need to pay more attention when you start moving your hands later.”
After thinking about it for a moment, she looked around a few more times to make sure there was no one else nearby.
However, Maka happened to warn her from the beginning that the vestibule had already been cleared by Professor McGonagall. At this moment, it seems that she happened to be given enough room to display.
After careful confirmation again, the old witch left here first and hurried straight to the gate of the school.
Planning an escape route before taking action is what a qualified planner must do. And compared to the strange warning magic covering the sky over the school, the gate has become a more suitable breakthrough point.
The warning magic was originally the effect of the rune array set up by Maka. It could only be turned on and off actively in the principal's office.
This was a gadget he had tinkered with after being attacked repeatedly at Hogwarts. It was originally used to deal with Voldemort and Grindelwald, so it was not something that could be dealt with casually.
And this old witch in the African magic world not only has high confidence in magic, but also believes that she is shrewd enough in these details.
This rather keen insight is one of the experiences that have supported her to reach this point in her life.
However, the defensive spell set on the school gate has always been the work of Professor Flitwick, so naturally it is not that easy to break.
Therefore, the old witch had to spend a lot of time at the school gate, hoping to clear her escape route as quietly as possible.
But just as she was staying near the school gate, another figure had already arrived at the place where she had left before—that is, near Hagrid's hut.
In that room, Hagrid and the old housekeeper seemed to be continuing to chat, and Hagrid was as interested as before.
"One is Professor Hagrid, who is the other?"
The one who came here now was Enns who was still on the top of the astronomy tower before. Yes, he came here alone, while Alexander remained above, paying close attention to the situation here.
The two of them had discussed that if Alexander found something abnormal down there, or if Enns simply signaled to him, he would go directly to the professors to report the situation.
"Hmm... whoever that is, he is probably just a guest at Hagrid's place," Enns thought while listening, "So, is it really just me who is too suspicious?"
While he was thinking this, he glanced back at the top of the astronomical tower, only to find that Alexander above him was waving to him. After noticing that he was looking up, he stretched his arms straight towards the school gate.
"What's the meaning?"
Enns didn't understand for a moment. He looked at the school gate, which was dark in the night, and at Alexander's small figure with the starry sky as the background. He secretly wondered if the other party wanted him to go to the school gate to check.
"Is it possible that there are other suspicious figures over there?"
He subconsciously took a few steps to the side, trying to find an angle so that he could see more clearly. Unexpectedly, he accidentally kicked a broken broom placed in the corner.
In this sudden accident, Enns still maintained a certain degree of vigilance. His movements were very fast, and he reached out to fish it out in a hurry, but he accurately grasped the broom handle in his hand.
Unfortunately, the other end of the broom still clicked against the wall. In this quiet night, the sound was particularly clear.
The next moment, the sleeping hound Ya Ya in the room started barking violently - this timid guy was startled awake by such a small movement!
"boom!"
Hagrid had been a gamekeeper at Hogwarts for fifty years in the past, and even now, he has been consciously taking care of this job.
If the old witch had sneaked nearby silently like she did before, he might not be able to detect it yet, but once any sound fell into his ears, his movements would be more agile than a frightened unicorn.
Here, Enns was still secretly distressed about his little mistake, and the door of the hunting lodge was already opened from the inside. And Hagrid leaned out of the room all of a sudden.
"Are you... Hufflepuff's Taron? Why are you here so late!"
"Well, I just saw a suspicious guy on the astronomy tower."
In response to Hagrid's question, Enns had to answer honestly - he didn't want to add any more bad records to his head!
"That should be the one from the African delegation... uh, the old witch with the skull cane."
"oh?"
After Hagrid heard this, he immediately lowered his voice, then ran out and grabbed Enns' arm and walked back to the hut.
"I won't mention you running around at night. Anyway, come in first and don't make any noise."
After saying that, Enns was forcibly dragged into the hunting lodge by Hagrid, and then the wooden door was closed again. On the top of the astronomy tower, Alexander was completely confused when he saw this scene and could only watch from above.
…
In fact, the series of movements were discovered by the old witch at the school gate.
Although Hagrid's hut is some distance from the school gate, as mentioned before, the front yard of Hogwarts is too quiet at night.
Any unnatural sound will spread far away, and can be vaguely heard even near the school gate.
Originally, the old witch was still trying to break the curse with the help of some alchemical methods, but when she realized that the situation had changed, she decisively chose to return to investigate the specific situation.
In order to ensure her own safety, she immediately raised the skull staff in her hand and waved it lightly in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.
Just when she waved like this, she suddenly heard a rustling sound somewhere on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. It was the sound of something rubbing against the bushes.
The moon was hiding behind the clouds again, and the vestibule of Hogwarts Castle seemed to be getting increasingly hazy.