Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 33 Change
After Potions class, they had no more classes for the day. At five minutes to three, the three of them—Harry, Tyella, and Ron, who insisted on coming along—left the castle, crossed the fields, and arrived at Hagrid's hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

When Harry knocked, they heard a tense struggle and a few low barks coming from inside. Then Hagrid's voice came through: "Back up, Baa, back up."

Hagrid opened the door a crack, revealing his large, bearded face.

“Wait a minute,” he said. “Step back, Tooth.”

Hagrid let them in while desperately grabbing the collar of a huge black hound.

The hut had only one room. Hams and pheasants hung from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling water in a brazier, and a large bed was placed in the corner with bedding pieced together from scraps of cloth.

"Don't be shy," Hagrid said, releasing Tooth.

Tooth immediately pounced on Ron and licked his ear, but Tiera casually brushed it away and then it rubbed its saliva on Tiera instead.

In his past life, Tierra had a small dog at home, but it was too old and passed away before he started his doctoral studies. Otherwise, how heartbroken his dog would have been if it knew that its little master would never come back.

Like Hagrid, Tooth was clearly not as fierce as he looked. When Tiera touched him with her expert dog-petting technique, Tooth immediately lay down on the ground and rolled over.

“Tierra, you’re quite popular with Toothpaste.” Hagrid chuckled as he poured Harry, Ron, and Tierra each a cup of hot tea, then took a pile of gray, rock-like flatbreads from the oven, which emitted a faint, sweet aroma.

“This is Ron,” Harry said to Hagrid. Hagrid was moving the rock crust pieces one by one from the baking dish to the plate.

“Another Weasley lad, isn’t it?” Hagrid said, glancing at Ron’s red hair. “I’ve spent almost my entire life trying to get your twin brother out of the Forbidden Forest.”

Hagrid then asked about their classes.

Harry and Ron chattered away, telling Hagrid all the funny things that had happened since the start of the school year.

"Snape gave you five points!?" Hagrid's mouth dropped open, and crumbs of rock bread fell into his beard.

"He's never given Gryffindor any extra points! He's lucky if he doesn't deduct them!" Hagrid exclaimed in surprise. "What did you do to deserve this extra point?"

“Harry answered Snape’s three questions!” Ron said proudly, as if he himself had answered them. “Three questions that no one else could answer!”

Ron clearly overlooked the fact that his deskmate Hermione was raising her hand frantically.

“No, no, I…” Harry glanced at Tierra in a panic, only to find that Tierra seemed to be focused on petting the dog and was not participating in the conversation.

Just as he was about to explain, he heard Hagrid's gruff voice suddenly say, "I remember Lily... Harry's mother, Lily Potter, was also very good at Potions in school."

"My mother is also good at potions?!" Harry suddenly became excited, forgetting to explain.

“Yes,” Hagrid said after thinking for a moment. “I’ve been a game keeper at Hogwarts for a long time. Your mother, Lily, is the kindest and smartest witch I’ve ever met. She excelled in many subjects while at Hogwarts, making it hard to believe she was a witch from a Muggle family. Among them, Potions was her forte.”

"Oh, by the way, she and Snape got along very well back then, even though one was a Gryffindor and the other a Slytherin, they got along very well," Hagrid recalled.

"My mother and Snape are friends?" This surprised Harry even more. She found it hard to believe that the mean, greasy, and sinister Snape of Slytherin would be her mother's friend.

“Yes, the kind of close friends. At first, they were practically inseparable. They were glued together in class, at meals, and even during self-study, except when they were sleeping,” Hagrid replied. “And then?” Harry asked, eager to know everything about his mother.

"Later, later Snape... cough, I mean Professor Snape had some disagreements with your mother, and they eventually parted ways. In the end, your mother married your father, James Potter."

"What kind of disagreement is it?" Harry pressed.

"Hmm... I don't know." Hagrid evaded the question, seemingly reluctant to discuss the topic. "Oh, by the way, Ron, how's your brother, Charlie?"

Hagrid abruptly changed the subject, "I like him a lot; he always has a way with those magical creatures."

While Ron was telling Hagrid about Charlie's research on dragons, Harry found a small piece of paper under the teapot warmer; it was a clipping from the Daily Prophet. Latest report on the Gringotts trespassing incident: The investigation into the Gringotts trespassing incident on July 31st is still ongoing.

It is widely believed that this was the work of unnamed male and female sorcerers from dark forces.

The goblins of Gringotts reiterated today that nothing was stolen.

The underground vault that the intruders searched had in fact been emptied earlier that day.

A Gringotts goblin spokesperson, when confronted by a swarm of reporters this afternoon, said: "We cannot disclose what is stored in the vault. Please do not interfere in this matter."

“Hagrid!” Harry suddenly remembered that Ron had told him about this. He and Tyrell had been worried that a dark wizard might attack Hagrid, but after he got off the train and saw that Hagrid was safe and sound, he put his mind at ease.

However, the newspaper now clearly states that the stolen vault was taken that morning, so the thing taken away is very likely the dirty little package that Hagrid took them to retrieve!
"Hagrid, the day Gringotts was hijacked was the same day we went there. Could it be that the hijacker was after that 7...?"

"Oh my God!" Hagrid suddenly exclaimed, turning his big head around and glancing at the clock on the wall.

“Oh my God!” Hagrid said, “It’s so late.”

Hagrid hurriedly grabbed his coat.

"I'm so sorry, children, I... I suddenly remembered that I made an appointment with the people in the Forbidden Forest at four o'clock this afternoon to... to visit the unicorns, yes, to visit those poor unicorns. They were attacked, and I have to go see them."

"I'm so sorry, kids, here, take these, take some more." Hagrid said, stuffing the rock cakes on the table into Ron and Harry's arms. "And Tyella too, yes, you take some too."

“I have to go to the Forbidden Forest now,” Hagrid said. “You, you should go back to the castle first. I’m so sorry, children, we’ll talk properly next time…”

Tierra, Harry, and Ron were inexplicably kicked out, each with their pockets full of heavy rock cakes.

To be precise... for some inexplicable reason, only Ron was there.

Harry was on the second floor, and he was pretty sure that the thing stolen from Gringotts was the dirty paper package that Hagrid had taken from Vault 713 that day.

Tierra is on the fourth floor. He not only knows who wants the package, but also where the real Philosopher's Stone is.

I wonder if there's a long-bearded old man on the fifth floor who likes to eat lemon-flavored shaved ice.

(End of this chapter)