Lucien and Harry arrived at the gamekeeper's hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
From a distance, they saw a small, ramshackle hut, built haphazardly.
As they got closer, Lucien realized the hut wasn't small at all; the door alone was four or five meters high.
Lucien scanned the surroundings and noticed a fenced vegetable garden not far from the hut.
Many vegetables were planted inside, the most striking of which were the enormous pumpkins.
So Hagrid already had such a large plot of land, Lucien mused. If Hagrid agreed to let him plant Biting Cabbages in a corner of the garden, it would save a lot of trouble.
Not only would the surrounding plants and fence provide cover, but he wouldn't have to worry about magical creatures from the Forbidden Forest gnawing on his vegetables.
Well, if it was Biting Cabbages, it was hard to say who would be doing the gnawing.
Harry was about to knock on Hagrid's door.
Suddenly, a dog barked.
Following the bark, a large black dog, Fang, darted out from the side of the hut, watching Lucien and Harry warily.
"Fang, what is it? Is someone approaching the Forbidden Forest?"
A rough, loud voice came from inside the hut. After a few heavy footsteps, the door was pulled open.
The half-Giant with a thick beard and hair, whose face was almost impossible to see clearly, poked his head out.
"Oh, it's Harry!"
Hagrid smiled happily and waved his hand, signaling Fang to stop barking.
"And who is this?"
Turning his gaze to Lucien, Hagrid asked Harry.
"This is Lucien, Lucien Grafton. He's a Ravenclaw student. He's my good friend!"
"Hello." Lucien nodded at Hagrid.
At the same time, he glanced at Harry with some surprise, not expecting that in Harry's heart, he had already risen to the status of a good friend.
"Haha, is that so? Hello, Lucien. Ravenclaw, I'm sure you're a smart little wizard!"
Hagrid seemed very pleased, both happy that Harry had made a friend so quickly and delighted that Harry had brought someone to visit him.
"Hehe, please come inside."
"Don't be afraid of Fang. Don't worry, he's actually a very gentle and timid fellow."
Lucien looked at Fang. The black dog, which appeared mighty and fierce, stood with its shoulders nearly reaching his chest.
Then he looked up at Hagrid, who was over three meters tall.
Alright, this half-Giant really does think every animal is cute.
They entered the hut.
Presumably, Hagrid was used to living alone, as the room was arranged quite haphazardly.
Hagrid found two small stools, set them down, and motioned for Lucien and Harry to sit.
"Oh, you've come at just the right time. My rock cakes just came out of the oven."
Hagrid brought the baking tray in front of Lucien and Harry, looking at them expectantly.
They were small cakes with rough surfaces, mixed with raisins.
There was still a slight warmth on the surface, and they smelled decent, with a fruity aroma from the dried fruit.
Lucien reached out and took one, but as soon as he touched it, he felt something was wrong.
So hard!
He couldn't even pinch it.
"Try them quickly. I wonder if they suit your taste?"
Lucien smiled politely.
Heh, he wasn't sure about the taste, but his teeth probably wouldn't hold up.
Under the cover of his sleeve, Lucien secretly aimed his wand at the rock cake and silently cast a softening charm.
Trying a bite, Lucien found he could just barely chew it.
Hmm, not bad, quite a strong dried fruit flavor.
Lucien ate the softened rock cake in small bites.
But Harry, beside him, took only one bite and then quietly set it down, looking at Lucien with a shocked expression, thinking, He can actually eat that!
Unable to manage the snack, Harry directly made his request to Hagrid:
"Hagrid, I want to learn Potions with Lucien. Can we practice here?"
"Of course you can!"
Hagrid agreed heartily without much thought.
Usually, few people came to the gamekeeper's hut; he only had a dog and a vegetable garden for company.
Hagrid just assumed Lucien and Harry wanted to play around with Potion making, not that they were serious about learning.
He was naturally very happy for Harry to stay and play with Lucien.
"You wait a moment. Potions need tools and ingredients; I'll help you find them."
"Uh, we have—"
Before Harry could stop him, Hagrid had already rushed into the storeroom to rummage around.
After a clatter, Hagrid came out with a large pile of items.
"Uh, this is a cauldron, this is a pestle…"
"This is fluxweed juice, this is Acromantula venom, this is a Fwooper feather…"
When Hagrid brought out tools like a basin-sized cauldron and a pestle as thick as an arm, Lucien initially wanted to rub his forehead, but when he saw the ingredients, his expression changed.
Unicorn tail hair, Ashwinder eggs, Acromantula venom…
Hagrid actually had so many ingredients, many of which came from rare or dangerous magical creatures.
Did he go "shopping" in the Forbidden Forest every other day?
Ah, how could he forget? Hagrid loved magical creatures and had a knack for studying and understanding them.
It wasn't surprising that he could collect so many things.
Magical creatures… Lucien suddenly thought, could he ask Hagrid for help?
Hagrid must be familiar with the activity ranges of some magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest.
If he could learn this from Hagrid, he could quickly pinpoint their locations.
Once Lumen awakened, he would only need to take it to these places once.
Later, with Apparition, traveling back and forth would be very convenient.
Without having to wander aimlessly in the Forbidden Forest, Lucien would have plenty of time to observe and record magical creatures.
He turned to look at Harry, who was rubbing his jaw, and Lucien realized that tutoring this kid actually had unexpected benefits.
Harry was lending him books and helping him make connections.
He definitely had to teach him well, with strict learning standards, to make this Savior of the wizarding world truly live up to his name.
"Alright, Harry, full and hydrated, let's start learning!"
Harry glanced at the untouched rock cake in his hand and could only nod.
…
"You need 15 grams of Bright Eye crystal; you weighed 0.4 grams too much."
"Look at the recipe in the book again; it says 100 milliliters of Ashwinder egg white—you mixed in the yolk."
"Incorrect, the Mandrake root is cut one centimeter too short. Start over…"
Harry processed the ingredients for the Bright Eyes Potion while Lucien watched over him, immediately pointing out any problems and making him correct them.
After several repetitions, Harry began to sweat profusely.
In Snape's Potions class, although he was targeted, Snape still had to pay attention to other students and couldn't constantly watch Harry.
Now it was different—this was one-on-one tutoring from a top student. Lucien watched Harry's every move.
Unlike Snape, who would venomously insult people, Lucien's tone was calm, but he corrected errors so promptly, insisting on fixing every tiny mistake.
This made Harry feel constantly pressured, being sent back to start over several times.
Finally, under Lucien's supervision, Harry completed all the ingredient preparation.
He began to light the fire and heat the cauldron.
During this brief pause, Harry wanted to ask Lucien if he really needed to be so strict, and that just practicing a basic potion would be enough.
But Harry still didn't dare to speak, afraid that saying so would displease Lucien.
Lucien, however, spoke first, "Are you wondering why I was so gentle when I taught you Herbology transplantation before, but now I'm being so strict with you?"
Harry initially wanted to deny it, but seeing Lucien's serious expression, he awkwardly nodded.
"Between classmates and friends, one can only give advice; whether you listen or not is your own choice. Sometimes, to maintain friendship, one cannot even speak too harshly."
"But now we are tutoring—you are the student, and I am the teacher!"
"Because of the compensation you pay, because of the trust you place in me, I cannot allow myself to teach you incorrect or careless knowledge."