Hagrid paused for a moment, then said hesitantly: "He got hurt…"
As he spoke, he explained the whole situation.
While he talked, Madam Rosmerta brought over his order of mead.
When Lupin finished listening, he let out a deep sigh—he was both proud and worried.
"Harry is so much better than we were at his age. He's even willing to risk his life to save an enemy… Just like James and Lily."
"Yeah." Hagrid nodded firmly and took a big gulp of his drink. "I gotta say, if it weren't for Wade and Harry, I might've even lost my job as gamekeeper."
Lupin shook his head. "Malfoy doesn't have that much power. If he wants to get rid of you, he'd have to get rid of Dumbledore first."
"True… Professor Dumbledore has always trusted me. But I'd messed things up on my first day, I didn't know how to face him… Luckily, today's lesson went really well—the kids helped me a lot."
Hagrid spoke with emotion.
When he was first hired as a professor, he was overjoyed. But once he actually started teaching, he realized that being a professor was completely different from being a gamekeeper.
Before, his job had been simple—patrol once or twice a day, make sure students didn't sneak into the Forbidden Forest and get themselves hurt.
In his free time, he could tend his garden, take care of his pets, or raise livestock. He had little responsibility and few worries.
Judging the Maze games had been exciting, and over the time, students had come to trust him more. But some still looked down on him and treated him as nothing more than a hired hand, and that stung.
He thought that becoming a professor would earn him the students' respect and affection. But in reality, being a professor meant carrying heavy responsibilities, dealing with the scrutiny of students and the judgments of outsiders.
How to prepare lessons? Assign homework? Maintain discipline in a classroom full of unruly students?
There was so much to learn. More than once, he had considered going to Dumbledore and admitting defeat—but he couldn't bring himself to say it. So he gritted his teeth and kept going.
Thankfully, today's lesson had been a success. The students responded well, which helped restore some of Hagrid's confidence and made him feel that all his hard work was worthwhile.
Fueled by mead, Hagrid poured out all the worries that had been weighing on him. Lupin listened attentively, and occasionally offered advice.
"Flobberworms are just too boring—no student will ever like them. Blast-Ended Skrewt are a decent choice, but you still need to be careful with safety."
"Don't make the homework too complicated—just assign one essay per week. Keep it simple at first, just a few inches of parchment…"
"If you're unsure about something, why not ask Professor Kettleburn for advice? He lives in Hogsmeade, not far from here."
"Professor Kettleburn taught this class for decades—he's seen every possible situation and has a wealth of experience. He also knows exactly what's covered in the OWLs and NEWTs…"
"You're right!" Hagrid agreed enthusiastically. "Tomorrow morning—no, wait, I have class in the morning… I'll go see Professor Kettleburn at noon. He loves Norberta! If I bring him some of Norberta's scales—oh!"
Hagrid suddenly remembered that he had already given all the dragon scales to Wade.
But that wasn't a problem—I can just visit Norberta again. And while I am at it, I can bring Malfoy along to complete our little deal, pick up a few dragon scales, and then head over to Kettleburn's.
Hagrid mentally organized his tasks, and what had originally seemed difficult now felt clear and simple, all thanks to Remus's suggestions…
Then, sluggishly, he recalled that Lupin had invited him here for a reason—he had a question to ask.
"Oh, right! Remus, what did you want to ask?" Hagrid finally said.
"It's like this—"
Lupin set down his barely touched pear soda, thought for a moment, and then asked, "I want to know—who was at Hogwarts over the summer?"
Hagrid put down his mug, furrowing his brows as he thought long and hard before answering,
"There were a lot of people. More than usual."
"Dumbledore, Filch, and I were here the whole time."
"Then there were Daily Prophet reporters coming for interviews. They took photos of the Chamber of Secrets and the basilisk's shed skin. Professor McGonagall accompanied them…
I think it was because Snape had the basilisk's remains. Some people even interviewed Snape—so he was at school those days too."
"Professors from Ilvermorny, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang also came. Seemed like they were discussing something important. Most of the Hogwarts professors were around at that time too."
"Ilvermorny sent people as well?" Lupin asked.
If it were just the other two schools, his first thought would have been the Triwizard Tournament, which had been inactive for centuries. But with Ilvermorny involved, he wasn't so sure.
"Yeah, Ilvermorny too," Hagrid grumbled. "They kept hanging around the maze, and some of them even tried to take our Bowtruckles! I stopped them, of course—bunch of thieves!"
"Then… between July 16th and July 19th, who came to Hogwarts?" Lupin asked.
Hagrid froze. His mouth hung open as he struggled to recall. After a long moment, he finally asked, "What dates did you say again?"
Lupin: "…"
Patiently, he repeated,
"July 16th to July 19th. That was when the Streaming mirror first went on sale in Diagon Alley—do you remember? And the recording of Harry and the others defeating the ball python in the maze was being broadcast.
People in Hogsmeade were definitely talking about it. It was just a few days before that—you should remember something."
"Ah—so that's why there were so many owls flying in every day for a while! I was wondering—if the students were all gone for the holidays, who were those owls delivering letters to?"
Hagrid suddenly had a moment of realization.
Then, he fell silent and frowned tightly as he thought hard.
Time ticked by, second by second. After a long while, Hagrid finally shook his head apologetically. "Sorry, Remus. I just can't remember."
"I only recall that during that time, Aragog wasn't eating well. I was so worried about him that I wasn't paying much attention to anything else."
Aragog was the Acromantula Hagrid had raised since childhood. Back when Lupin and his friends were still at school, they had encountered the giant Acromantula during their nighttime adventures in the Forbidden Forest.
From Hagrid's reaction, Lupin had already guessed as much. He sighed and said, "Forget it, then."
He had initially assumed that very few people would have had access to the basilisk's shed skin over the summer, making it easy to narrow down the suspects.
But after hearing Hagrid describe how busy Hogwarts had been during the holidays, Lupin realized it wouldn't be that simple.
Even if Hagrid did remember who had visited, what difference would it make?
Hagrid still had to eat, rest, and patrol. It was entirely possible that whoever had hired Will had entered and left the castle without Hagrid ever seeing them.
The investigation had reached a dead end… but perhaps no news was good news.
Lupin tried to convince himself to think positively, but deep down, he couldn't shake the unease settling in his heart.
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