Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 482 Giant
"So, are you coming with me this afternoon?" Ron asked. "That way, I won't have to risk everything and gamble on whether we'll run into them..."

Cohen agreed—and he also knew what the mysterious thing Hagrid had mentioned was.

Having visited the giants' village, Hagrid must have brought back his little brother.

In the afternoon, the four of them took advantage of a break from class to visit Hagrid's cabin.

“Oh—you’re all here!” Hagrid still had the wound on his face, which was strange—he had clearly been back for a long time. “Cohen, I saw the news that your father has become minister. It’s fantastic news. I think Dumbledore has been quite happy lately.”

“I bet he’ll soon be dragging those officials into playing Dungeons & Dragons,” Cohen said. “That’s something he does wherever he goes.”

“Everyone does need a way to relax at times like this,” Hagrid said, patting his stomach. “As long as you don’t cause trouble at crucial moments—he’s been very active these days, hunting down Death Eaters and cracking down on Dementors… I thought he would let you go; you shouldn’t clash with the Dementors.”

“They don’t even know the definition of conflict,” Cohen said, raising an eyebrow.

“But that would put Cohen in the spotlight again,” Hermione said. “Hagrid, I think Mr. Norton did the right thing. After the news broke that Cohen was a Dementor, some people said things that were so vicious I couldn’t bear to listen to them…”

"So you put them in solitary confinement?" Ron asked Hermione. "Cohen put a lot of people in solitary confinement."

“Of course I punished them.” Hermione chuckled. “They’re completely too afraid to spread outrageous rumors now, unless they want to have a rash on their face for seven days—you know, they even spread rumors before that ‘Cohen goes to inhale the happiness of the first person he sees every night.’”

“Then we’ve become Percy who can’t laugh anymore,” Ron said. “The first person Cohen sees every morning when he opens his eyes is either me, Harry, or Neville.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Only Harry, you’re always the last one to get up in the morning,” Cohen said.

“Dumbledore made the right decision to appoint you two as prefects,” Hagrid said happily. “I know how painful it is to be misunderstood—I’m glad Cohen and Harry got through those terrible days—so let’s go, Gloucester will be very happy to see you.”

“Who is Gloucester?” Hermione asked.

"Just wait and see, he's improving incredibly fast—" Hagrid said, keeping them in suspense as he led them into the Forbidden Forest.

“I bet it’s a new hybrid creature,” Ron whispered to Harry and Cohen. “Do you think it’ll have many legs and a spiky tail?”

“No, Hagrid looks to me like he’s about to introduce us to his family,” Harry said.

“Hagrid treats the other animals like family,” Ron said. “I mean, he even sings lullabies to the blasting snails.”

“No matter what, it’s definitely big,” Cohen said.

Having never seen a real giant, Cohen didn't actually know how big a giant could grow.

Soon, Hagrid led them to their destination.

Before them lay a huge, smooth mound of earth, almost as tall as Hagrid.

The surrounding trees were all uprooted, and a fence made of tree trunks and branches was formed.

[Soul Strength: 25]

This "mound" is clearly a living organism.

"He seems to be asleep," Hagrid whispered.

“What?” Harry asked, puzzled. He hadn’t seen any animals. “Giants,” Cohen said, pointing to the mound. “I guess the centaurs aren’t too happy.”

“Oh, they are indeed very unhappy…” Hagrid said, “but they’re reluctant for Dumbledore’s sake… um… but don’t tell them…”

“Hagrid!” Hermione said, trembling. “But you said the giants didn’t want to come—you weren’t injured by him, were you?”

“He’s reluctant…” Hagrid said awkwardly, “but I have to bring him back…you know…he’s one of my few remaining family members…”

Hermione was stunned.

Harry and Ron were also stunned.

“Family?” Harry asked incredulously. “This is—”

“My brother, Grop,” Hagrid said. “My mother went with another giant after leaving my father…”

“Actually, I’m more curious about how your mother and father got together,” Cohen speculated. “There must be some kind of spell that…”

“Cohen—” Harry tugged at Cohen’s robes helplessly, “Are you really going to ask this?”

“My dad never told me that…” Hagrid said, “but I brought Grop back because he was always being bullied, and my mom didn’t like him, just like she didn’t like me—you know, the Giantesses think they’re only respectable if they give birth to tall children, and Grop is too short…”

“Short?!” Ron exclaimed in shock. “He’s at least—at least sixteen feet tall!”

Ron is right. If Grop were to stand up after waking up, he might be even taller than sixteen feet.

“Healthy giants are over twenty feet tall, and Grop is being driven around by those people. I can’t just abandon him…” Hagrid said.

“Are healthy giants really that big?” Cohen asked. “No wonder Voldemort wanted to recruit them…they seem like a good siege fighter.”

“But it’s definitely dangerous to leave it here, both to the centaurs and to your brother. You can’t keep it from the centaurs forever, Hagrid.” Hermione exposed Hagrid’s clumsy lie.

Grop is still bound by a thick rope, the other end of which is attached to an old tree not far away.

This suggests that Hagrid's earlier statement that "he is improving rapidly" may simply mean that Gropp is not fighting with him as frequently anymore.

“How about…” Harry thought of Cohen’s trunk.

“He’ll probably fight a dragon, if he can’t even tell his own brother apart,” Cohen said. “Nober’s siblings are almost adults, and they’re pretty wild—but Hagrid, do you want to build him a basement? Use the Unseen Stretch Charm to widen it, and then use the Weather Charm…”

“But I don’t know the spell—and I’m not very comfortable telling Dumbledore about it…” Hagrid hesitated.

“I can help you,” Cohen said, “but we’re out of bird-snake feathers. You’ll have to go buy some; Hogwarts doesn’t have any bird-snakes.”

After all, Hagrid had helped him build a cabin.

Although there are no animals living in that wooden house now, they have all moved to the castle.

(End of this chapter)