The Return to Hogwarts

Ron hesitated before replying, still trying to recall where he had heard the name before.

"Fred and George may have heard about him too. As for Prefect Percy, well, we'd better not go after him. For his career advancement, he might be even more eager to betray us than Malfoy!"

That's your brother, Ron.

Hermione threw back the covers, sat on the edge of the bed, and put on her boots.

You shouldn't have said that about him.

Of the trio, Hermione had the highest opinion of Ron's brother, Percy Weasley. In private, she had consulted Percy on many difficult problems, and Percy had indeed used his extensive knowledge to help Hermione solve many issues.

"We were indeed brothers before he became a prefect and aspired to become the president of the boys' student council, but now it's hard to say."

Ron's ears turned bright red as he angrily declared, "I'll never forget the five points he deducted from me in front of Myrtle's washroom!"

“Percy is the prefect, and maintaining discipline is his duty, Ron.”

Although she was present when Percy deducted points from Ron, she didn't think there was anything wrong with Percy's behavior.

Hermione stood up, stamped her boots, and then rolled up the collar of her wizard's robes, trying her best to cover the black hair on her cheeks.

"Go get your Invisibility Cloak, Harry. Do you expect me to walk out of the school hospital looking like this?"

"Oh, going out?"

Harry, who was lost in thought, was startled back to his senses.

"Would you like to come play Quidditch with us, Hermione?"

"When are you finally going to get Quidditch out of your head, Harry?"

Hermione looked defeated.

"Of course we should investigate Mr. Blaine. We need to find out his background first, don't we?"

Chapter 10 The Past (Signed, please add to your favorites and invest)

Thanks to the magical invisibility cloak left to Harry by his father, Hermione encountered no obstacles as she slipped out of the castle.

As they passed the Great Hall, Hermione glanced at Ms. Pomfrey, who was chatting animatedly with Mrs. Pince, the Hogwarts librarian, at the staff table at the front of the hall, and whispered, urging her to hurry up.

"Hurry up, Harry, Ron! Madam Pomfrey will be back at the school hospital by 10 o'clock. I don't want her to find out I'm not lying quietly in my hospital bed!"

“Actually, you don’t have to make the trip yourself, Hermione. We’ll tell you everything we found out from Hagrid.”

Ron quickened his pace, staring at the air in front of him as if nothing was wrong, and Harry nodded in agreement.

"Don't talk nonsense, you two,"

The moment Hermione stepped out of the castle gates, the sudden bright light and the gentle breeze lifted her spirits considerably; her orange-yellow cat eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Before leaving Hagrid's cabin, I'm worried you'll completely forget what Hagrid said!"

Halloween had been over for a while, and because the large patch of pumpkin vines behind the house had been cleared and the ground was covered in snow, Hagrid's cabin looked much neater than usual. When Harry and the others arrived, Hagrid was chopping the Christmas tree for the Great Hall into firewood.

What might be a physically demanding task for others is the simplest thing for Hagrid, who is over ten feet tall and has a waist five times the size of an average person. He only needs to lift the axe and gently put it down, and those Christmas trees, each as thick as a bowl, will break into several pieces.

The black hound, frolicking in the snow, spotted Harry and his companions first, standing on a raised snow slope and howling merrily at them.

"Don't yell, Yaya, you just ate a whole chicken."

When he looked in the direction of the howling teeth, a smile appeared on his face, which was mostly hidden by his furry beard.

"Hey, Harry, Ron, it's you two!"

Hagrid waved enthusiastically at Harry, who was struggling through two feet of snow. "That's really strange, Harry. You always like to come to my place in the middle of the night wearing your Invisibility Cloak!"

"That's because I have to attend classes during the day, Hagrid!"

Whoops!

Harry, who was supporting Hermione under the Invisibility Cloak, accidentally missed a step and fell to the ground. Hermione, who was also pulled along, screamed and rolled around with him.

"Stop watching, Hagrid, come help us!"

"Oh my god!"

Hermione's sudden appearance beside Harry and Ron caused Hagrid to freeze in his tracks.

"You even brought me a cat-person?!"

After a while, Hagrid, standing in front of the house, let out a joyful shout.

Hagrid's room was as messy as ever. In the cramped wooden cabin, hams and pheasants hung from the ceiling, a copper kettle boiled water in a brazier, and the quilts patched together from scraps of cloth on the large bed in the corner were unchanged except for being darker in color.

"Please, Hagrid, don't ask me why I ended up like this,"

Hermione, who had just sat down on the edge of the bed, looked up and noticed the intense curiosity in Hagrid's eyes. She immediately said in an annoyed tone, "That was a nightmare, and I don't want to talk about it again!"

Ron laughed heartily, and even Harry, who was looking worried, smirked.

"Alright alright."

Hagrid shrugged regretfully.

"I just wanted to know if it was possible to breed a species called 'cat-people' through experiments. Since you're not willing to share, don't make that silly face. That's Hermione, not a cat. You should be able to smell Hermione's scent."

He took out a few cups, dropped some dark tea leaves into them, and prepared to make hot tea for the three of them. However, the water on the stove wouldn't boil for a while, so while they waited, Hagrid very kindly prepared some snacks he had made himself.

"You don't seem too happy, Harry. Want some toffee?"

"Thanks, Hagrid, but I don't have much of an appetite."

Having already experienced Hagrid's culinary prowess firsthand, Harry politely declined. He exchanged a silent glance with Ron and Hermione before finally speaking, asking...

“Actually, Hagrid, we’re here today to ask you about someone we think you should have heard of.”

Hagrid, who was poking at the embers with his fingers, chuckled. He looked at Harry through the handle of the copper kettle and said in a teasing tone...

"Who are you three trying to find out about this time, Harry? Let me warn you, there's no Philosopher's Stone hidden in the castle this year!"

Yes, there is indeed no magic stone, but there is an extra secret room!

Harry thought to himself that his mood wasn't much better because of Hagrid's joke.

“Amosta Blaine, Hagrid, have you heard of him?”

Because Hermione's time was limited, Harry went straight to the point.

"Amosta Blaine?"

Hagrid blinked, looking surprised. "Why are you bringing him up?"

"So you do know him?" Hermione pressed immediately. "Tell us, Hagrid, what do you know?"

Hagrid didn't answer the question immediately; instead, he looked at Ron with a puzzled expression.

"You have no recollection of Amosta Blaine either, Ron?"

“I must have heard this name somewhere before, but it doesn’t seem like it came from Dad. Hagrid, why do you think I know him?”

Ron raised his eyebrows in confusion, trying desperately to remember.

"You must have heard of him, Ron."

Hagrid laughed, took the scalding kettle off the stove, and made a cup of tea for all three of them. "He was a Slytherin student, in the same year as your brother Bill. He graduated about three years ago, I suppose. Anyway, I haven't heard much about him in the last few years, but that's not surprising. He was very introverted in school and didn't like to show off."

"So, perhaps Bill mentioned it to me before?"

Ron still hasn't recovered that lost memory.

"Introverted?"

Hermione's tone was equally confused as she tried to recall the details of their brief meeting the previous night. If she were to give her assessment, Mr. Blaine was overly friendly, not at all like someone from Slytherin, but as for being introverted, she really couldn't tell.

"Well, I wouldn't say introverted, but I just didn't really like interacting with people, at least that's how it was back then."

Because there were three more people in the room, Hagrid had to stand to speak.

"I hardly had any contact with him, and everything I know about him is hearsay."

It is said that Amostrath Blaine was an orphan who spent his childhood in an orphanage. As you know, orphans are unlikely to be welcomed in Slytherin, so he faced a lot of prejudice in his first few years at Hogwarts. If it weren't for Professor Snape's protection, his situation might have been even more difficult.

Hagrid didn't have many memories of Amosta Blaine, so he spoke slowly, but no one in the room urged him on. Even Ron gave up trying to remember and stared intently at Hagrid.

“I’ve heard from the professors that Blaine is a very studious young wizard. He’s also very polite when asking questions, and his grades are quite good. Of course, he can’t compare to Bill, Percy, or you back then.”

Hagrid looked at Hermione and said...

"--But you just can't get close to him, as if he's intentionally keeping his distance from everyone. However, considering he's a Muggle-born orphan, the professors can understand his aloofness."

"He sounds like a very ordinary person?"

Ron frowned.

"And he belongs to Slytherin, so why would I have heard his name from Bill, or maybe Charlie?"

"This brings us to the fight that Blaine had in the Forbidden Forest when he was in fifth grade!"

Hagrid downed his water jug, which was as big as a washbasin, in one gulp, his large, bell-like eyes flashing with shock.

"Although that duel happened several years ago, I still can't quite believe it when I think about it now!"

P.S.: Chapter 2 will be released before 5 PM.