The Mightiest Badger at Hogwarts

Professor McGonagall's hand holding the door froze.

She turned her head and looked at Harry, her mouth slightly open, as if she was trying to form words.

After a short silence, she said:

"Harry, I'm sorry, Dumbledore has gone out to deal with some personal matters of his. I'm afraid I won't be able to see you for the time being."

"Private business?"

Harry frowned and repeated it again.

He quickly thought of something about the Order of the Phoenix being hit and entering a state of silence.

I'm afraid Dumbledore went out just to deal with this matter.

Thinking of this, Harry sighed with regret.

He was so excited when he heard the news about Hagrid's return yesterday that he didn't remember until he lay back on the hospital bed that he hadn't asked why he had that kind of prophetic dream.

Originally, he thought he would get the answer the next day, but he didn't expect that Dumbledore's matter was so urgent.

"Then let's wait until he comes back." Harry forced a smile and said, "Thank you, Professor McGonagall."

"You are my student and it is my responsibility to take care of you."

Professor McGonagall said with a serious expression, and then quickly left the ward.

Looking at her leaving back, Harry didn't know why he always felt like she was hesitant to speak.

But before he had time to think about it, Hermione and Ron ran into the ward.

"Harry!"*2

The two shouted in unison.

Among them, Ron was faster. He rushed to Harry's bed first and took out a steaming oil paper bag and said:

"How are you feeling now? Madam Pomfrey said that you are not suitable for eating too greasy food, so I brought you some bread and potatoes, oh! And of course bacon! You can tear off the lean meat on it eat."

As he spoke, the oil paper bag was opened by Ron.

It was filled with slices of meat, and the bread and potatoes were almost invisible.

Harry squinted his eyes and scanned it three times before he found a piece of bread buried deep in the deepest part and completely soaked with meat juice.

To be honest, this kind of food can hardly be called light.

But smelling the aroma coming from the shop, Harry's stomach, which was still in a semi-dormant state because he had just woken up, was still working rapidly.

"Oh, thanks!"

Harry thanked him happily and reached out to grab it impatiently.

Snapped--

A small hand retracted his claws.

Hermione angrily took the oil paper bag and said:

"I told you to tear off the lean meat and eat it! Are you trying to get diarrhea by eating such greasy food before your body has recovered?"

"I just want to tear the food apart..."

Harry said weakly while rubbing his hands.

Hearing this, Hermione rolled her eyes at him and said:

"The devil believes you!"

After saying this, Hermione pulled a chair over, and after sitting down, she began to help Harry tear off the lean meat on the bacon.

This was no easy task, especially since Hermione had to use the Fountain of Water Charm to wash away the grease after tearing off the lean meat.

It took a full five minutes for Harry to take his first bite of meat - which Hermione had torn apart for a long time before saving up.

"what about the taste?"

Ron said with a wink.

Hearing this, Hermione immediately cast her gaze, and when she saw Harry smiling and nodding, she lowered her head and started to concentrate on handling the bacon again.

What Hermione didn't know was that as soon as she lowered her head, Harry's expression turned into a bitter look.

There's no way that lean bacon that's been washed in cold water is delicious.

Harry even suspected that he was eating some kind of cold animal carcass alive.

Seeing his expression, Ron was a little overjoyed, so he came close to Harry and asked softly:

"Do you think she looks like my mother? Hahaha!"

Harry was so amused by Ron that he almost laughed out loud and quickly covered his mouth.

But at this moment, Ron used the movement of bending down to speak and quietly stuffed an oil paper bag into Harry's quilt.

Harry's eyes lit up when he saw this.

He clearly saw the Bee Duke's trademark on the oil paper package.

"Shh!" Ron made a silent gesture, "Eat secretly when you are alone, don't get caught!"

Harry nodded like a fool, and the two looked at each other, unable to suppress the smiles on their faces.

Hermione didn't know anything about it, so she finally gathered up another pile of minced meat and stuffed it into Harry's mouth.

I don't know if it was a psychological effect, but Harry always felt that this time it was not as bad as before.

He chewed twice perfunctorily and swallowed the minced meat, and asked Ron as if he suddenly remembered:

"By the way, how's it going with Hagrid?"

"I'm not sure, I still need to write an order form for Christmas gifts this morning," Ron shrugged and said quite proudly, "So Hermione went alone."

As soon as she said this, Hermione stopped moving her hands and said angrily:

"Forget it! He wasn't there when I went there. I knocked on the door for at least three hours, and he didn't come out of the Forbidden Forest until noon!"

Harry and Ron were both shocked when they heard this.

They noticed now that Hermione's face was a little pale - obviously from the cold.

Harry felt his scalp begin to tingle.

You must know that there are many creatures in the Forbidden Forest that can give Umbridge an excuse to expel Hagrid.

If Hagrid really brought those things into the classroom...

"Don't worry, Harry, I'll go look for Hagrid again in the afternoon. In fact, we all saw him in the Great Hall at noon. Everyone is very happy that he is back, and he behaves normally. The only thing is not very good. The only thing is that there seem to be more wounds on his body."

Ron comforted her softly, "And you, Hermione. Don't go with me this afternoon. We happen to be in the infirmary now. Maybe you should ask Madam Pomfrey for a cup of ginger tea."

"You don't have to worry about this, I've already made myself a hot potion to drink." Hermione waved her hand, then frowned and said, "Actually, I care a little about what Hagrid said to Umbridge yesterday. Do you still remember? ?He acted very simply and naturally when he said he went to France and Poland. I doubt he really went to those places."

Ron shook his head and said:

"So what? He said they were dealing with Death Eaters."

"That's right, that's right!" Hermione said with eyes wide open, "But those places are all giant settlements with clear sighting records! Moreover, Hagrid himself is half giant!"

Ron took a breath when he heard this and said in disbelief:

"what do you mean……"

"That's right, I suspect that the surprise he was talking about was a giant!" Hermione emphasized louder, "He probably brought a giant back!"

Ron and Harry were stunned speechless.

Hermione covered her head and said anxiously:

"If Hagrid really brought a giant into the Forbidden Forest and used it to teach us, then the trouble he would encounter wouldn't be as simple as expulsion!"

Harry's face had turned pale.

He knew very well that Hermione was not unfounded.

It was really possible that Hagrid would do something like that.

The giant is a very powerful magical creature recognized by the Ministry of Magic, and its level of danger is even as dangerous as a dementor!

If this was discovered by Umbridge, who was specifically looking for trouble for Dumbledore.

That result...

"Hagrid will be imprisoned in Azkaban!"

Harry couldn't help but screamed, "No! We have to stop him!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Harry had already rolled out of bed and picked up the invisibility cloak on the bedside.

"Harry! Calm down!"

"You're still a patient! Harry!"

Ron and Hermione urged anxiously.

But Harry opened the invisibility cloak and motioned for the two of them to come in and said:

"Hagrid is my friend. I can't just watch him being trapped in Azkaban! I will pay anything for this!"

Ron and Hermione were both stunned upon hearing this.

Ron seemed to be persuaded by Harry, and got in after saying "oh hoo".

Seeing this, Hermione gritted her teeth, first punched Harry and Ron, and then held up her cloak.

……

Half an hour later, the trio wearing invisibility cloaks successfully arrived in front of Hagrid's hut.

Although no one would be willing to brave the wind and snow to wander on the hunting grounds during the Christmas holidays, the trio still did not take off their cloaks.

They huddled together, leaning awkwardly on the wall and looking into the windows.

As they expected, Hagrid's hut was empty.

Ron frowned and whispered:

"That's weird! I just saw him in the cafeteria an hour ago, and he even left with a lot of food, but he didn't go home?"

"No, this just shows that he really raised some creatures with huge appetites in the Forbidden Forest, such as giants! Okay, let's go to the Forbidden Forest and have a look!"

Hermione said in a lowered voice.

After saying that, he grabbed his cloak and walked towards the Forbidden Forest.

Harry and Ron were also dragged over.

They all had strange expressions on their faces.

You know, when Hermione was in the ward just now, she was still trying to persuade them not to be so impulsive, but in the end, she became even more anxious than they were.

This is really...

The three of them entered the forbidden forest together.

Contrary to what many lower-level students imagined, the Forbidden Forest was not as dangerous as Filch and the others advocated.

As a gamekeeper, Hagrid had to patrol the Forbidden Forest almost every day. As time went by, he opened a path in the Forbidden Forest - of course, the so-called path was only for Hagrid and Harry and the others. It seems that this road is already very wide.

They walked along the path for almost 10 minutes before the road ahead became overgrown.

The surrounding trees are also very dense, and the light is as dark as dusk.

Just when Ron was about to take off his cloak and help everyone clear the way, Hermione pulled him back.

"Don't go any further," Hermione pointed to the side and said, "Hagrid must have left the path and headed that way."

Harry and Ron looked in the direction she pointed, and sure enough they saw a very obscure path.

The road had obviously just been dug out. The branches and weeds there were all in a mess, and some of the severed parts were still leaking juice.

Harry and Ron looked at each other, but Hermione pulled them to continue on the path.

It's not a great experience.

This path was far more difficult to walk than the old path before. There were branches and thorny bushes everywhere. These were things that Hagrid completely ignored due to his physical strength. After all, walking through them was like walking through a spider's web. But now it has caused huge trouble to Harry and others!

They kept catching on the robes of the three Harrys, and sometimes even hooked directly into their flesh, forcing them to stop.

Soon their robes were in tatters and their arms and legs were covered with cuts and scratches.

This seemingly small wound is actually very painful.

But neither Harry nor Hermione had time to focus on that.

At this moment, they had truly entered the deepest part of the Forbidden Forest.

In the dim light, everyone could only see the huge black shadows of the big trees.

There was silence in the dense forest, and every sound seemed so scary.The echo of the broken branches is frightening. Any small movement, even the sound of an innocent sparrow, will make the three of them vigilantly search for the culprit in the darkness.

"Maybe we should light up our wands!"

Ron lowered his voice and said, he was so panicked that he almost shrank into Harry's arms.

Harry tilted his head helplessly and said:

"Uh...well, actually..."

"Shh!" Hermione interrupted suddenly, "Listen carefully! What is that sound?"

Hermione stopped suddenly, and Harry and Ron almost missed her.

But at this moment, I don’t care about so much anymore.

When Hermione said this, Harry and Ron's hearts were almost in their throats at the moment, and they were both holding their breath and listening vigilantly.

There was silence in the dim Forbidden Forest. Apart from the rustling of the wind and snow in the treetops, and their own violent heartbeats, Harry could hardly hear any other sounds.

But just as he cast his confused eyes on Hermione, a weak, strange voice suddenly penetrated his ears.

The rhythmic rumbling sound was like a pair of very huge lungs breathing.

Harry looked at Hermione again with his eyes widened, only to find that Hermione was looking at the other side of them, with an expression even more surprised, or in other words, horrified, than he was.

Harry hurriedly turned his head to look.

What caught his eye was a huge mound of soil.

The mound was huge, and it was more than enough for him, Hermione, and Ron to stand on it.

But the key point is that along with the weird breathing sound, the mound is also slowly rising and falling!

"Merlin..."

Ron couldn't help but screamed.

He soon realized that his voice was too loud and hurriedly covered his mouth.

Unfortunately, it's too late.

The originally regular breathing sound was suddenly interrupted by this stimulation, and then, the mound slowly sat up.

Only then did the three of them see the true face of the 'mound'.

It was a giant who was more than half a body taller than Hagrid!

The giant looked confused.

He blinked his little eyes and looked around, as if looking for the culprit who woke him up.

But he still couldn't find the three Harrys protected by the invisibility cloak, and scratched his head a little stupidly.

The three of them, Harry, were almost frightened.

They covered each other's mouths and just stood there stiffly and tangled, not daring to move.

Although there are many descriptions in books about how dangerous giants are, those monotonous words cannot make them empathize at all.

They still prefer to use Hagrid as a template to guess the appearance and power of the giant.

But when a living giant really appeared in front of them.

Only then did they suddenly realize how wrong they had been!