37 Chapter 37. A Sackful of Rock Cakes

NOTICE!!! hi, i noticed a couple complaints about slow chapters which are understandable but unfortunately, i can't do anything about the slow updates till next month which is just a couple of days away.

however, i thought of a little game we could play before then.

the next attack happens in chapter 40 which gives the readers 3 days to guess what creature will attack next (please guess once)

if you win, you win an extra chapter that day. if you don't then it's till the new month ^^

+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+

Wednesday morning didn't bring relief, it simply brought another day of worrying about a possible attack.

After Care of Magical Creatures class, Hagrid invited me over to his hut after lunch for his famed rock cakes.

Fortunately, I didn't have any classes after lunch so I could spare the time to visit.

I also planned to use the opportunity to see if I could get some information from Hagrid. If there was anything suspicious happening on the school grounds, Hagrid would definitely know.

As a fan of Harry Potter, getting invited to Hagrid's cabin to hang out and eat rock cakes was a big deal and I was quite excited about it.

I didn't sit with Blair and Tanner during lunch so I was all alone, not entirely though because Echo came to keep me company for a while.

After lunch, I just went straight to Hagrid's cabin. I was full from lunch so I wouldn't be tempted to actually try and eat his rock cakes.

I could see Hagrid's cabin up ahead and the Forbidden Forest looming ominously a distance behind it.

I hadn't been to the Forbidden Forest for more than two weeks, I sure didn't miss it.

I knocked on the wooden door when I got to it, feeling slightly nervous.

"One moment!" Hagrid's booming voice came from the interior, his heavy steps rumbling as he made his way to the door.

"Audric! Good thing yeh here, them rock cakes are jus about done." He hurried me inside the cramped hut, there always seemed to be too many things inside it.

I sat down self-consciously on the edge of his large bed, a quilt was thrown over it, it was oddly comforting.

Hagrid made tea to go with rock cakes which he put out in a little tray.

"I jus wanted to thank yeh and all for yeh help with the dragons, couldn't hav done it meself if yeh weren't there." He said nicely.

"Oh, it was nothing, my friends were there, it was only right for me to try to help." I mumbled, picking up one of the large rock cakes to dispel the awkward atmosphere.

"An help yeh did! Yeh was making an entire river all by yerself!"

It was a little hard not to feel the tiniest bit proud of the Hagrid complimenting my magic, without thinking I bit into the cake. I regretted it immediately.

"Well, how's it?" Hagrid asked with expectation. "I did tweak the recipe a bit so I'm jus worried it'll taste funny, yeh kno'..."

I bravely kept a poker face on even though I was sure that a couple of my teeth had cracked on the cake, it was like biting into a slab of concrete.

"It's really nice." I lied through my teeth.

But to be fair, if my teeth were strong enough to crush the rock cake, and my saliva was acidic enough to dissolve it, it would actually taste somewhat good.

Hagrid chuckled self-importantly. "I knew I was doin somethin right, eat up, don't be shy, I made a big batch cause you was coming over."

I gritted my teeth in silent pain, I had dug myself right into that one.

"Ah, I just finished lunch so could I take them with me?"

I actually said the right thing because Hagrid seemed even happier by this suggestion.

"O course! O course!" He got to his feet to shuffle around the hut, packaging the rock cakes for me to take with me.

I sighed deeply at the dangerous bullet I just dodged, hiding the rock cake he had given me in my robes.

I watched him from behind the steam cup of tea he had offered me as the sack he put the rock cakes in only got bigger.

Well, they could be useful as weapons?

Or maybe? Maybe, I could use them to train in my Animagus form, if my Basilisk could crush these cakes then I could probably bite through metal. The cakes were that hard.

"Say, how have things around here been?" I tried to ask as casually as possible.

He was still busy bustling around packing the rock cakes as he replied. "Oh, the usual, there'av been some strange disturbances in the Forbidden Forest but it's nothin serious, jus some creatures gettin up to no good in there…"

My eyes widened at this bit of information. It wasn't a lot to go on, even Hagrid himself disregarded it but it didn't hurt to know it.

After a couple minutes of casual conversation, I called an end to the visit.

I wasn't giving Hagrid another chance to goad me into eating another rock cake, not when the kind half-giant had already proposed that he would invite me over again to try his rock cake soon.

I left Hagrid behind with a sackful of dangerous rock cakes, if I used it to smack someone I would be risking severe brain damage to the poor victim.

It was almost the end of another day and other than finding out that some creatures were probably having beef in the Forbidden Forest, I knew no more than when I had woken up this morning.

What if the school already resolved the issue?

Hazel was typically the one to be this positive but I couldn't rule out that possibility. It would explain why Headmistress McGonagall and the rest of the Professors were all unbothered.

The issue could have already been fixed and we were just over here stressing for no reason.

Even though I thought that, I didn't believe it.

It would be good if it was all fixed but life was never that simple and easy.

In the end though, only time would tell. If the issue was all resolved, I would find out eventually and if there would be another attack, well, it was only a matter of time before it happened.

That dragged my thoughts back to what Hagrid had said about the Forbidden Forest, was it related to the attacks that had already happened? Or the next one that would come?

I headed for the dorms, finding Blair and Tanner in the common room. They hung out here a lot so I wasn't surprised to see them.

I tossed the sack of cakes at Tanner who cursed bloody murder as soon as the sack made an impact on his stomach.

"What the hell?" He choked, throwing the sack to the ground. "Why did you throw rocks at me?"

I feigned ignorance. "What? Rocks? I didn't throw rocks." I denied innocently. "I just got a little gift from Hagrid and wanted to share."

"Son of a bitch." He muttered, dipping his hand in the sack to grab a rock cake and throw it at me.

I dodged it easily, wincing at the loud crash it caused behind me.

"Hey!" Someone shouted from behind us, they didn't sound very happy. "Who's throwing rocks?!"

Blair snatched up the sack to get a look inside. "Where did you get these weapons from?"

I shoved Tanner to get a seat on the sofa, Blair was sitting cross-legged on a pillow on the ground.

"Hagrid, I got them from Hagrid." I mumbled, jumping up from my seat after I sat down particularly hard on the rock cake hidden in my robes. "Fuck me." I whispered under my breath, yanking it out.

"Can I take one?" Blair asked with wide eyes.

I sat down again, more comfortable this time without a small boulder lodged against my spine. "Sure, take as many as you want."

Tanner wasn't so non-committal. "Wait, what do you need em for?" He sat up to ask.

Blair gave him a dangerous smile. "Stuff, it comes in handy for hammering and hitting stuff."

Tanner gulped, deciding that it was better to stop pursuing that line of conversation.

It was a Wednesday so after dinner it was time for secret Quidditch practice and just as Tanner feared Blair had a new weapon to keep us all in line.

Yes, it was the rock cakes.

That wasn't the only use for them too, I was serious about trying to crush the rock cakes while in Basilisk form.

I'm sure everyone must have been curious at some time right? If a magical creature with strong jaws could probably eat Hagrid's cakes.

I was pretty sure that the half-giant wasn't so innocent because I'd never seen him try his own rock cakes.

Well, it was a bad idea. I should have known to be honest.

There was definitely dark magic involved in the making of these cakes because it was impossible for normal food to get that hard.

I managed to break a couple rock cakes but at a high cost. In the end, my only achievement was giving myself a toothache.

The aching pain stuck even after I transformed into human form, making for a miserable night's sleep.

///Author's Note///

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