Chapter 622: Grawp (Edited)

"She's returned to the castle," Hagrid walked quickly to the window, opened the curtain slightly, and whispered after looking out for a while.

Only then did Harry and Ron take off the invisibility cloak.

"The Ministry is really keeping an eye on all the wizards who are close to Dumbledore," Harry said, concerned. "Otherwise, Umbridge wouldn't have mentioned the mountains. They must have seen you in the mountains."

"Most likely, it was the Death Eaters you encountered when you were with the giants who informed the Ministry," Ron added.

Hermione, however, was worried about another matter. "Well... Hagrid, what are you going to have us do in class?" she asked.

"You've heard what Umbridge said, right? She's going to do everything she can to get you expelled from Hogwarts."

"Exactly!" Harry exclaimed horrified. "She's actually been doing that while you were away."

"Oh, don't worry, I've got plenty of things prepared," Hagrid said cheerfully. "I've saved some animals especially for your O.W.L.s. Just you wait, they're quite special..."

"Uh... sure, I bet you've seen them after Fish," Hagrid looked at Fish, who was stuffing fire dragon meat into the magical bag, and his enthusiasm waned for a moment.

"They're not dangerous, are they?" Harry asked, also a bit uneasy.

"Dangerous?" Hagrid looked amused. "Don't be silly, I'm not giving you anything dangerous! I mean, they can take care of themselves..."

However, Harry and the others knew that Hagrid's definition of "not dangerous" didn't quite match normal human standards.

So Hermione suggested eagerly, "Hagrid, you have to pass Umbridge's inspection, so it would be much better if she saw you teaching us how to find a Porlock, how to distinguish a Bowtruckle, and so on!"

Harry and Ron nodded in agreement.

"But that's not very interesting, Hermione," Hagrid said.

"That's right!" Fish nodded approvingly and added seriously, "Fluffy and the others are more fun. Porlock and Bowtruckle are too weak to be rivals for the Cat Knights, nya."

(ˇˇ)

"The Cat Knights? That's the girls' group, right? I've heard the others talk about them from time to time." Hagrid confused Fish with the members of Fish Supporters.

"That's not important!" Hermione said, giving a stern look to the troublemaker Fish. "Umbridge is looking for an excuse to get rid of the professors she believes are too close to Dumbledore. Please, teach us the usual things, the O.W.L. exams that are surely there..."

But Hagrid didn't seem to hear at all. He smiled and patted Hermione on the shoulder, causing her knees to give way and fall to the ground.

"Oh, sorry," he lifted her up by the collar of her robes, "Don't worry about me, I promise I have great things for your Care of Magical Creatures class..."

Hagrid's eyes flickered between Harry and Ron for a moment, then he looked at Fish and said, "Speaking of which, Fish, there's something else I need your help with."

"Ah, yes, that's what Minerva said, nya."

∑(ΦωΦ)

Fish and the others remembered, and the four of them looked at Hagrid curiously.

"Come with me." Hagrid put on his cloak and headed outside. "Fang, stay and guard the house."

Fish and Hermione transformed into cats and jumped onto his shoulders, while Harry and Ron put on the invisibility cloak and followed them.

"I can't use my wand, so don't forget to erase the tracks," Hagrid reminded them as he led them into the Forbidden Forest.

The spell wasn't advanced, and Harry and Ron, although they had been practicing mainly practical spells for some time, could handle it without bothering Hermione.

Once inside the Forbidden Forest, there wasn't much need to erase their tracks, as the forest floor was already disturbed, and occasional animals passed by, mixing their footprints.

"Hagrid, where are we going?" Harry asked, raising his glowing wand with curiosity and concern, as he took off the Invisibility Cloak upon entering the Forbidden Forest. "You haven't brought any dangerous creatures from the outside to show us in Magical Creatures class, have you?"

Hagrid had mentioned earlier that the deal with the giants had been sabotaged by the Death Eaters, so Harry dismissed his initial suspicions.

"Of course not," Hagrid shook his head, with a worried expression on his face. "I..."

He mumbled "I" for a long time but didn't say anything, which made Harry and Ron even more frightened...

Only God knew what was making Hagrid hesitate like this, who considered a fire-breathing dragon cute!

"Nya!"

(=`Д´=)

Fish, perched on Hagrid's shoulder, grew impatient, lifted his paw, and punched Hagrid on the head.

Hagrid then let out a long sigh and continued, although still intermittently and hesitantly.

"Well... actually... I brought my brother back..."

"... Nya!"

After a few moments of silence, Hermione, the first to realize, was furious.

And Harry did the same, asking cautiously, "Hagrid, by 'brother,' do you mean...?"

"Actually... he's my half-brother." Hagrid corrected himself. "I found out later that after my mother left my father, she went off with another giant, and then there was Grawp... when I say his name, it sounds like that."

Harry and Ron looked at each other and then laughed bitterly together.

Little did they know that their initial suspicions were correct, that Hagrid had indeed brought back a giant.

"He doesn't talk much... I've been trying to teach him..." Hagrid's words became more fluent. "My mother doesn't seem to like him much, just like me at first. You know, it's important for female giants to have tall and decent children, and he's a bit short for a giant, only sixteen feet tall..."

"Ha!" Ron let out an unintelligible chuckle and then said in one word, "A bit? Small? Only? Sixteen feet?"

"Oh, yes." Hagrid twisted his hands and smiled awkwardly. "You should know that other giants usually measure over twenty feet, and they all pick on him because he's very small."

"Ha!" Ron burst into laughter again involuntarily.

Though disgusted with Hagrid's behavior, neither Harry nor Ron stopped in their tracks and continued to follow him deeper into the Forbidden Forest.

Of course, after seeing the three giants, Fluffy, Uroboros, and Kanaloa, they weren't too surprised to see Grawp, who stood at sixteen feet tall.

Not to mention Fish, who was sitting on Hagrid's shoulder, wagging his tail with excitement.

With Hagrid leading the way, the group left the Forbidden Forest path and began to weave through the trees towards the dark heart of the Forbidden Forest.

After a strenuous walk, they reached a bare patch of ground surrounded by large trunks and tree branches, forming a sort of fence and barrier, with a large smooth mound of earth almost as tall as Hagrid enclosed in the center.

But as Harry observed more closely, he saw that it wasn't a mound, but an enormous figure that moved up and down slowly with a vague, rhythmic rumbling sound.