66 Visiting Hagrid

It was a little bit of a walk to reach the edge of Hagrid's gardens from the castle since the area the school held was truly massive if you included the lake and forest. The field outside the castle that Nick and the others needed to cross was easily a couple miles across. This meant it took a good thirty minutes to reach the hut and knock on the huge rough wooden door. "BARK! BARK!" Hagrid's dog alerted to the sound before Hagrid silenced it "Down Fang , They're friends!" the half giant said roughly before opening the door. -

The group was struck by the smell of dirt , herbs and animals alongside the heat from the going fire in the fireplace. Everyone except for Nick looked uncomfortable in the heat but entered the hut anyways. "Now that there's a sight I don't see often , Slytherin together with Gryffindor without trouble." Hagrid said in astonishment. "That would be my fault." Nick said with a laugh. Hagrid patted Nick on the shoulder making him wince in pain from the force "Good on ya lad , never much cared for that whole rivalry business myself. It's good to see I'm not alone in that." the man said happily. -

Daphne , Tracy and Ron introduced themselves and tried to make themselves comfortable on the massive rough couch. Nick got some odd looks as he settled near the fire but no one said anything about it. He relaxed unconsciously from the heat that reminded his body of a furnace and brought his mind to razor sharp clarity. The change to his soul and body was from a crafting method so he was most comfortable in an environment similar to a workshop in temperature. This was merely the first of the changes he was going through internally but worth mentioning none the less.-

"Tea and cakes?" Hagrid offered as he filled a kettle with water. "I'll take some tea but I think I'll pass on the cakes , thanks." Nick said with a smile. The girls and Harry followed his lead but Ron assumed that the cakes being offered were normal food and agreed to some , he was wrong. What he received was a brown object that looked like a hockey puck made of bread and was twice as hard. He learned the hard way that biting into one of Hagrid's cakes as hard as you could was a poor decision as he chipped one of his teeth.-

Hagrid looked confused when this happened and checked the cake to see what was wrong with it but couldn't figure it out. Harry and the girls were glad that they followed Nicks lead after seeing this event take place. Nick meanwhile was acting like he didn't have any idea that the cakes Hagrid made definitely weren't safe for human consumption all while sipping on his tea. The tea was pretty good unlike the cakes which made sense as Hagrid grew the plants himself and had cross bred it over time with the help of professor sprout into what it was now.-

"So you finally finished yer first week o' school whatcha think?" Hagrid asked while sitting down in a huge armchair with a literal flagon of tea , leaves and all. "Not a huge fan of Snape or Binns but can't really complain otherwise." Nick said honestly. "The same as him but add Quirrell to that list , the man stutters too much." Tracy complained. "Aye , he didn't used to be like that but he left for a year of practical experience and came back like that , right pity it is." Hagrid said understanding what she meant.-

"As fer the other two they've got their own issues , but since Dumbledore trust em they must be alright at their jobs." The half giant said purposefully not looking at Harry when he did. Nick knew that Hagrid was the grounds keeper when James Potter walked Hogwarts grounds and was aware of the treatment Snape got from the man and his friends. Hagrid didn't want to have to explain the Harry that the reason Snape hated him was because his father who "was a good man" and is dead was a vicious bully in school.-

It was so bad that the brief glimpse of it that was seen in the books was enough to make Nick hate the man at that time in his life. Bullies like James Potter and his friends were different than normal bullies in that they actually went out of their way to target Snape who was minding his own business rather than it being a convenience thing. 'He's dead , calm down.' Nick chastised himself for starting to get worked up by the thoughts of the unchangeable past. "If all goes well I should be able to get my workshop set up by monday. So you can come visit me sometime to check it out during our free periods." Nick said changing the subject.

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