Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 478 Klopp

"Quick, Filch, hurry!" Umbridge shouted as she ran down the stairs. "We have to do something, or they'll fly all over the school! (Sigh)!"

A beam of red light suddenly shot out from the tip of her wand, striking a rocket.

But the rocket didn't stop in mid-air; instead, it exploded violently. It blasted a hole in a painting, and a melancholy-looking witch in the painting managed to escape in time, only to reappear a few seconds later. She squeezed into the painting next door, where several wizards playing cards hurriedly stood up to make room for her.

"Don't use the Stunning Spell on them, Filch!" Umbridge shouted irritably, as if Filch had just recited the spell.

“You’re right, Headmaster!” Filch gasped. He was actually a dud; it would have been better to let him swallow the firecrackers than to stun them. Filch rushed to a nearby cabinet, grabbed a broom, and began frantically beating at the fireworks in mid-air, but within seconds the broom head caught fire.

Harry had seen enough. He smiled, bent down deeply, and ran down the corridor toward a door not far away, which he knew was hidden behind a tapestry.

Harry sneaked inside and found Fred and George hiding behind the door, trying hard to suppress their laughter as they listened to Umbridge and Filch shouting. They were shaking with embarrassment.

“Amazing!” Harry said softly, grinning. “Amazing! You’ll drive Dr. Philippa’s business out of business!”

“Thanks,” George said softly, wiping away tears of laughter from his face. “Hey, I hope she tries the Vanishing Charm on them next? If you do that, they’ll multiply tenfold.”

The fireworks burned all afternoon and spread to every part of the school.

Despite the chaos caused by the fireworks, especially the firecrackers, the other teachers didn't seem to care much.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” Professor McGonagall scoffed coldly, as a fire dragon danced around her classroom, exploding with loud bangs and spewing flames. “Miss Brown, could you please run and tell the headmaster that there’s a stray firework in our classroom?”

As a result, Umbridge spent the entire afternoon running around the school, dealing with the requests of other teachers.

It was as if, without her, none of these teachers could clear the smoke from their rooms.

The school bell rang, and they headed toward the Gryffindor Tower with their schoolbags. Harry was very pleased to see Umbridge, disheveled and blackened by the smoke, staggering and sweating as he walked out of Professor Flitwick's classroom.

“Thank you very much, Professor!” Professor Flitwick said in a high-pitched voice. “Of course, I can remove these firecrackers myself, but I’m not sure if I have the authority to do so.”

With a broad smile, he closed the classroom door in front of Umbridge, whose face was covered in grime.

That night, in the Gryffindor common room, Fred and George became heroes, and even Hermione struggled through the excited crowd to congratulate them.

George and Fred Weasley put on a fireworks display that lasted a whole week, while Umbridge and her disciplinary squad were completely helpless—

To be precise, Hathaway Romanoff had a solution, but Tyella wouldn't let her use it.

Because appropriate pranks can exacerbate Umbridge's suffering.

It's not time for Umbridge to have a mental breakdown yet. The appropriate amount of self-inflicted pain, coupled with Tiera's own patching up, can barely maintain the stability of Umbridge's mental dimension for now.

Perhaps because Dumbledore's influence still lingered, a week later, after all the fireworks in the castle had disappeared on their own, George and Fred Weasley were not punished, and Umbridge seemed to have completely forgotten about it.

Although this event was quite shocking and very popular, it was quickly forgotten by students in fifth grade and above because—

The OWLs and NEWT exams are coming up soon.

To be precise, there are only twenty-three days left until the exam, and Harry has been using all his spare time to study.

When Harry went to bed, he felt as if his head was filled with all the things he had learned, and he found that he couldn't fall asleep at all; and when he did fall asleep, most nights his overly tense brain would produce silly dreams about exams.

With fourteen days left until the exam, Hagrid approached Harry, Ron, and Hermione, hoping they could visit his cottage near the Forbidden Forest when they had time.

Hagrid looked terrible; blood was seeping from his nose, both eyes were bruised, and he looked utterly miserable.

“I’m so grateful for what you did, really, so very grateful,” Hagrid said as they walked up the steps. He kept glancing nervously around as he walked toward the grass below. “Hopefully she didn’t notice us.”

“You mean Umbridge?” Harry asked. “She won’t. George and Fred have been giving her a hard time lately, but because of Dumbledore, Umbridge doesn’t dare punish them. The other day, George and Fred put a stinking swamp on the third floor, right outside Umbridge’s office. Umbridge and the rest of the Disciplined Service are busy cleaning it up.” “That’s good,” Hagrid sighed in relief.

Hagrid led them into the Forbidden Forest.

"Hagrid, why are you carrying a weapon?" Harry asked.

“Just in case,” Hagrid said, shrugging his broad shoulders.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged glances, but out of trust in Hagrid, they didn't ask any further questions.

The further they went into the forbidden forest, the more lush the weeds became on the path, the denser the trees, and the darker the light became, like dusk.

They soon ventured further out, but Harry felt no unease until Hagrid unexpectedly left the path and began weaving through the trees toward the shadowy heart of the Forbidden Forest.

"Hagrid!" Harry exclaimed, struggling through the tangled thicket of thorns, while Hagrid effortlessly stepped over them.

“Let’s go a little further,” Hagrid said, turning his head. “Come on, Harry? We can’t split up now.”

Following Hagrid was incredibly difficult. Hagrid navigated the branches and bushes with the ease of a spiderweb, but they clung tightly to Harry and Hermione's robes, forcing them to stop for minutes to free themselves. In no time, Harry's arms and legs were covered in small cuts and scratches. Now they were deep in the Forbidden Forest, and sometimes Harry could only see Hagrid's massive black silhouette ahead in the shadows. In the enveloping silence, any sound seemed to carry a sense of danger.

The sound of a thin twig snapping echoed, along with a slight rustling as something moved. Though it might have been the sound of a harmless sparrow, it made Harry peer carefully into the darkness to see if there were any bad guys around.

This made him realize that he had never been so deep into the forbidden forest without seeing any animals, and their disappearance suddenly gave him an ominous feeling.

"Hagrid, is it alright if we light up our wands?" Hermione asked softly.

“Oh, okay, alright,” Hagrid said quietly, turning around. “Actually—”

He suddenly stopped and turned around.

Hermione bumped right into him and bounced back.

Ron caught her before she fell to the ground in the Forbidden Forest.

"Aren't we there yet?" Ron asked.

"We're here..." Hagrid suddenly turned around, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Well... it's like this, I... I have, I have, I have something I might need to trouble you with..."

"Hagrid, what are you talking about?" Harry asked, puzzled. "What do you mean by 'troubling us'? Your business is my business."

"Uh...did anyone hear anything?" Ron pricked up his ears in fear and stopped behind Hermione.

“Don’t be afraid, Ron, don’t be afraid, there’s no danger,” Hagrid said.

“It’s like this…” Hagrid fidgeted, counting on his fingers, “I have a younger brother…”

The rustling sounds in the forest grew denser and more intense.

"What is that? What is that sound?" Ron shouted nervously.

“Hey, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, that’s, that’s, that’s… Klopp…”

Suddenly, a dirty, childlike giant appeared from behind Hagrid—

This giant was dull-witted, dressed in ridiculous, dirty, loose clothes, and was incredibly tall; even Hagrid, who was over three meters tall, only reached his knees.

(End of this chapter)