Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars

Chapter 398 Hagrid, the Number One in the Magical World

After feeding Baruch, it was time to feed themselves. The group went to the auditorium for dinner.

Even when confined, one must eat first; without an empty stomach, how can one have the strength to be confined?

Dinner didn't last long, and by the time we left the auditorium, it was already getting dark.

In the late afternoon of mid-February, the sunlight had dimmed, and the castle's shadow stretched diagonally across the lawn, extending all the way to the dark edge of the Forbidden Forest.

The sun was stuck behind the western hillside, only half a ring of orange-red remaining, while the clouds hung down, burned into a dark red.

A breeze blew from the direction of the Black Lake, carrying moisture and coolness. The six people came out of the castle gate and walked along the lawn toward the Forbidden Forest.

Avery walked at the front, taking long strides, speaking rapidly, and radiating excitement.

Going to the Forbidden Forest was fun enough, but with Regulus coming along, it was even more fun.

He kept talking about the Forbidden Forest, the game keeper, and how he was going to be locked up with Potter and his gang tonight, and that it was going to be a good show.

Alex walked beside him, nodding occasionally. His steps were fairly steady, but you could tell he was a little nervous, though he didn't show it on his face.

Hermes followed at the very back, looking as listless as ever, with his hands in his pockets, his eyelids half-closed, and his shoulders slumped as he walked.

But his gaze was a little more focused than when he was in the dormitory. The name "Forbidden Forest" had some effect on him, at least it was more interesting than attending classes.

Lina and Samuel walked ahead of Hermes.

Lina looked around, her excitement mixed with nervousness.

He would sometimes take a couple of steps closer to Avery to listen to his ramblings, and other times he would slow down and tug at Samuel's sleeve, muttering about whether the things described in the book actually existed in the Forbidden Forest.

Samuel walked with his head down, saying little, more nervous than excited, but not to the point of being afraid.

Lena tiptoed and glanced towards the Forbidden Forest again, then turned back to urge Samuel to hurry up. Samuel shuffled his heels on the ground a couple of times to speed up.

The legend of the Forbidden Forest has been passed down in Hogwarts for hundreds of years. Werewolves, five-legged monsters, man-eating trees—new students are told on their first day of school that they are not allowed to enter.

Breaking school rules means being locked up, and the only thing they're restricted to is going into the forbidden forest—that in itself has an allure of being forbidden.

Regulus walked in the middle, ignoring all the questions Avery asked. The guy didn't need his answers anyway; he was just too excited to keep talking.

In the distance, Hagrid's cabin emerged from the shadows of the trees at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

A crooked wooden house, low and sloping, with a stone chimney emitting wisps of white smoke. Next to it is a small vegetable garden, surrounded by a fence, but it's empty this season, no seeds have been planted.

The four Gryffindors had already arrived in the open space in front of the cabin.

James's loud voice could be heard across the entire open space. Sirius was squatting next to the vegetable patch, teasing the dog with a stick in his hand.

Lupin stood by and watched, while Peter huddled a few steps behind Hagrid, glancing towards the Forbidden Forest every now and then.

Regulus reached out and gently waved his hand in front of him.

The modified Disillusionment Charm spread silently, a cool, watery film descending from above, washing over the shoulders and arms, completely smoothing out the figure in the twilight, even swallowing the slightest breeze caused by movement.

Avery glanced at the figure beside him and saw it was gone. He turned his head and looked back. Alex noticed it too, raised his eyebrows and then lowered them, and continued walking forward.

These two had seen Regulus's Disillusionment Charm before; during the Astronomical Tower incident, they were also given a chance to experience it.

Hermes had never met her, but he knew her.

Seeing Regulus vanish into thin air, he only lifted his eyelids for a moment before they drooped again. He took his hand out of his pocket, changed his posture, and put it back in.

Lena and Samuel were truly stunned. They stared at the empty air, unable to come to their senses for a long time.

Lena opened her mouth, turned to look at Samuel, and was about to ask what kind of curse it was, how could a living person just disappear like that.

Samuel grabbed her arm; Potter and the others had already spotted them from the other side of the cabin.

Lina quickly masked her confusion and walked forward as if nothing had happened.

The five men walked to the open space next to the cabin and stopped a few meters away from Hagrid and Porter.

Avery suppressed his excitement, slightly raised his chin, and leaned back, his posture completely different from when he was on the road. He became poised and reserved all of a sudden.

Alex took two steps forward and came to Avery's side, while Hermes stood behind him, glancing at Potter before looking away.

Lena's chin peeked out from under her scarf, and she wore a cold expression. Samuel stood next to her, his upper body slightly straightened, making him appear taller than usual.

The area in front of Hagrid's cottage was bustling with activity.

Potter and his gang surrounded Hagrid, chattering away; the noise could be heard from afar.

James Potter stood in the center, looking up at Hagrid as he spoke, gesturing wildly, his black hair standing on end, radiating boundless energy.

"I heard there are unicorns, is that true? Are there any others? What's the most powerful one?"

James asked a whole string of questions, his whole body pounding with excitement, his eyes shining as if he were about to rush into the Forbidden Forest at any moment.

His grin stretched from ear to ear: "My father said there are human-headed, sphinx-bodied, scorpion-tailed beasts inside, and almost no wizard can defeat them, is that true?"

Hagrid's large beard twitched, and his voice, rough yet warm, carried a natural affinity for Gryffindor.

"What nonsense are you talking about? There's no such thing in the Forbidden Forest." He waved his hand, scratched his messy beard, and grinned.

"You should be careful with the eight-eyed giant spiders, don't wander in there, those big guys are not to be trifled with."

He was wearing a thick leather vest with several patches, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing his two thick forearms.

It's covered in tiny old scars, mostly from years of dealing with all sorts of things in the forbidden forest.

James's eyes lit up even more, and he grabbed Hagrid's arm, hanging up to him: "Eight-eyed giant spider! Where is it? How big is it?"

"You can't say that," Hagrid looked down at him, raised his arm slightly, then lowered it, his words laced with indulgent ambiguity: "You bunch of rascals, don't ask around, that thing is dangerous."

"We're not afraid of danger," James jumped down, nudged Lupin with his elbow, and winked, "Remus, right?"

Lupin was jolted to the side by the impact, but regained his balance. His tone was gentle, but lacked conviction: "I think it's better not to."

"Which area is the most dangerous?" James didn't even wait for him to finish, then moved closer to Hagrid with a grin: "The kind of places you absolutely mustn't go."

"Why are you asking that?" Hagrid's smile faded, a wary glint in his eyes. His voice was gruff: "None of you should go to dangerous places!"

"Just asking," James chuckled, speaking with self-assurance, "Knowing where the dangers are so you can avoid them."

That made sense, and Hagrid, caught in the trap, scratched his big face and blurted out, "That old forest to the east, it's full of things and not clean, and there's another place to the west..."

"Stop asking about these things!" He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence, realizing the kid was trying to trick him, and glared at James. "Stay with me, and don't go anywhere else."

James didn't get the whole sentence, but he wasn't discouraged. He turned to Lupin next to him and winked.

He was adept at this line of conversation, and Hagrid couldn't keep a secret. He would say he wouldn't let me ask him this or tell me that, but after a few words, he would blurt it out himself.

Last semester, he managed to get that information out of Hagrid: that there was a huge spider nest deep in the Forbidden Forest, with eight eyes.

From then on, that spider nest became a place that several people longed to explore.

Sirius was squatting next to the vegetable patch, teasing Flossie with a twig.

Frosty was a hound, a large dog, so big that even when lying down, he was half a head taller than Sirius when he was crouching, with his big head resting on his front paws.

It was quite timid, tucking its tail between its two hind legs, its round eyes staring at the tree branch, swaying left and right, wanting to pounce but not daring to, making gurgling noises in its throat.

Sirius shook the branch to the left, and Frosty's head turned to the left; he shook it to the right, and Frosty's head turned to the right.

Sirius grinned, and Frosty's tail tip peeked out from between his hind legs, wagging tentatively a few times.

He held the branch high, and Frosty looked up at it, pawed at the ground with his two front legs, then curled up into a ball and stopped playing.

Sirius reached out and rubbed its ear. It squinted, its hind legs kicked unconsciously, and its tail slapped the ground with a soft thud.

He was rubbing vigorously, muttering something to the dog, and still acting like he didn't care about anything.

Peter huddled to the side, a few steps away from Hagrid, not moving closer. His eyes darted back and forth between the darkness of the Forbidden Forest and Hagrid's large face. He was terrified of this confinement.

Lupin watched James and Hagrid exchange words with a gentle expression.

James's words veered off course, but he would occasionally chime in, subtly pulling the conversation back on track, as if he were the only one among them who remembered they were there to be locked up, not to go on an adventure.

Regulus stood a few meters away, scrutinizing Hagrid through the illusion spell.

This was the second time I'd officially met this big guy.

The first time was when the first-year students entered school. Hagrid held up a huge oil lamp at the station to greet the new students, shouting at the top of his lungs, "First-year students, come this way!" He led boatloads of new students down the Black Lake to the castle gate.

When they arrived at the castle, Hagrid's large frame blocked half of the doorway, and his loud voice woke up the portraits on the stairs.

Hogwarts, the place where dreams begin, was where Hagrid led us in.

But actually, it wasn't just these two times.

He ran into the Forbidden Forest countless times, and most of the time he landed near this little house.

He had seen Hagrid's physique several times through the window, but he was always asleep inside, snoring so loudly that the windows vibrated.

All told, we've met quite a few times, but this is only the second time we've had a proper encounter.

The magical senses followed the line of sight.

Aside from the heaviness and stagnation brought by his giant bloodline, Hagrid's magic itself is nothing special.

Crude, sparse, showing signs of proper training, but hardly skillful, not even worth mentioning among wizards.

But that suit of clothing is quite interesting.

Blunt, thick, dense and solid, like a giant, it is born with the property of resisting curses.

The magic barely flows on the skin's surface; it's embedded there, capable of deflecting or dissipating external spells from the skin.

A young wizard's spell might not even leave a mark, and even an adult wizard would have to put in some effort.

This skin itself is nothing special; it's purely a physiological characteristic and doesn't involve any technology whatsoever.

Regulus looked away, a slightly amusing thought popping into his head.

Hagrid, in some ways, is the greatest wizard.

How many people did Voldemort personally frame and harm?

He's the only one.

Tom Riddle, a top student in Slytherin, Voldemort, the Dark Lord, plotted to frame Hagrid when he was still a student.

He opened the secret chamber, he released the basilisk, he killed Myrtle, and he pinned all the blame on a big, dumb Gryffindor who kept spiders.

Hagrid's wand was broken on the spot, he was sent to Azkaban, unable to continue his studies, and was expelled from Hogwarts.

But Dumbledore believed him.

At that time, Dumbledore was just a Transfiguration professor and hadn't yet become the headmaster, but he managed to save Hagrid, keeping him at Hogwarts as the game keeper, a position he held for decades.

Looking at this more closely, it turns out to be an early exchange between Dumbledore and Voldemort.

One wanted to kill this big, simple-minded guy, while the other wanted to protect him.

The whole argument boils down to this half-giant who has lost his wand and can only look at the forest.

Two wizards who stood at the pinnacle of the magical world fought for him decades ago.

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