"How come they're here too?"
Malfoy shot a fierce glare at the group over there. Harry rolled his eyes at him without any courtesy, while Ron, Neville, Hermione, and the others stood beside Harry, all giving Malfoy hostile looks.
Malfoy began regretting not bringing along some of his own classmates. Though they weren't very helpful, at least they would make him seem less isolated and helpless.
He had no choice but to direct his anger at the only adult present—Hagrid—and said angrily, "Professor Hagrid, you owe me! Why did you have to bring those guys along?"
Although he called him "Professor," his tone was very rude. Just as he finished speaking, a low growl suddenly sounded.
A huge black hound came around from behind the hut, baring its teeth and emitting a low growl. It slowly approached Malfoy but was restrained when the half-giant bent down and grabbed its collar.
The hound struggled and let out a dissatisfied whimper.
"No, Fang, back off."
While soothing the dog, Hagrid explained, "Oh, Malfoy, you don't seriously think... that convincing Professor Snape to postpone your detention for a day was easy, do you?"
"I said I wanted to arrange a special Care of Magical Creatures practical outing. It's very important and a rare opportunity, so I barely got him to agree. Otherwise, you'd probably still be scrubbing cauldrons."
Ron snorted quietly, then scratched his face under Malfoy's glare and looked away.
Malfoy: "...#"
He was very angry but had no way out.
After all, He was outnumbered; he couldn't win by fighting or arguing. Even the professor and the dog were on Potter's side.
He could only "play it smart" and swallow his pride. He stood silently to the side, while cursing Ron Weasley in his heart countless times with the most vicious words.
"Malfoy's here too. Hagrid, shall we set off now?" Harry asked, "Is there anything we need to prepare?"
"Oh, no, wait a bit," Hagrid glanced at the time. "A few more people—they're about to arrive."
Within a few minutes, more figures appeared one after another on the lawn. There were upperclassmen, like Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater; and some younger students, like Rolf Scamander.
"Hey, Wade! Long time no see!"
As soon as Rolf saw Wade, he waved excitedly and ran over, saying, "I knew I'd get to see you this time."
"Long time no see, Rolf," Wade smiled and nodded.
Malfoy looked at the girl who had come near him—Astoria Greengrass, Daphne's younger sister.
The girl with golden curls was looking around curiously, seemingly very excited, with a faint blush spreading across her pale face.
Malfoy frowned with disdain.
He did hope a few more Slytherins would come, but he hadn't expected it to be a little girl who was basically no help and might even need looking after.
"You'd better turn around and go back right now!" Malfoy lowered his voice and said to Astoria, "Our purpose this time is to go into the Forbidden Forest to see the Dragon. If you don't want to get hurt or die on the spot, you should return to the castle now!"
Astoria looked at him in surprise, then said, "I know!"
"What?" Malfoy asked.
"Professor Hagrid told me about this trip deeper into the Forbidden Forest. I only accepted the invitation after thinking it over," Astoria said. "Why do you sound just like my sister? Do you think I'm some kind of fool who's easy to trick?"
After saying that, she wrinkled her nose with even more disdain than Malfoy and moved over to the Ravenclaw students.
Soon, Astoria was chatting and laughing with a few Ravenclaws, and Malfoy felt so angry it hurt his liver.
—If you get into danger, don't expect me to save you! Malfoy thought angrily.
In fact, Draco Malfoy himself was a student Hagrid had to bring out of obligation, while Astoria was the only Slytherin Hagrid actually invited.
Although Hagrid's teaching had been improving and he was well-liked by the students, he still acted as freely and impulsively as ever.
For example, this time the outdoor practical lesson was originally just an excuse to fool Snape, but after saying it, Hagrid suddenly thought it was a great idea and decided to do it properly.
However, when choosing students to participate, he didn't consider grades or behavior—he just picked the ones he liked.
Of course, younger students like Rolf and Astoria hadn't even started Care of Magical Creatures classes yet, but they had made friendships across ages and houses during the Maze activity, so they got invited.
By exactly four o'clock, about twenty or thirty students had gathered around Hagrid's hut.
"Good, everyone's here."
Hagrid shook a copper bell and said in his gruff voice, "I think most of you already know—we're going into the Forbidden Forest to visit Norberta…"
"Oh, Norberta is a Dragon who stayed at the school for a while; I'm sure the older students remember her."
"Of course, this trip has certain dangers, but as long as you don't run off and stay close to me and Fang, I promise no creature in the Forest will hurt you…"
Halfway through his speech, seeing Malfoy's cold expression, he suddenly recalled the disastrous first lesson that almost ruined his teaching career and quickly added:
"—That's on the condition that everyone follows orders and doesn't provoke any creatures in the Forest. Can you do that? If you don't want to or are afraid of danger, you can leave now."
No one left.
Except for a few people like Hermione who looked a bit uneasy, most of the group appeared very excited.
Although the Weasley twins treated the Forbidden Forest like their backyard, normal students—including Harry—would never dare to step into this forest rumored to be dangerous and inhabited by werewolves.
At this moment going on a thrilling but supposedly safe adventure under the protection of a professor, it was hard for these kids, all around ten years old, to say "no."
"Awesome! I knew you'd all like Norberta. Follow me!"
Hagrid grabbed a crossbow hanging from a tree nearby, slung a full bag of arrows over his shoulder, and led the way into the thick, canopy-covered forest. The students hurried to follow, with the black dog Fang bringing up the rear.
"Hagrid, why are you bringing weapons?" Harry, walking at the front, asked.
"Just in case," Hagrid replied, keeping a wary eye on the surrounding Forbidden Forest.
After being cautious for most of the semester, Hagrid's adventurous spirit was starting to resurface. He loved showing his beloved baby dragon to the adorable students, but this time, he remembered to prioritize their safety.
From the castle, the Forbidden Forest looked like an endless black ocean, with tall, dense trees clustered tightly and swaying like waves in the wind.
But now, walking inside the forest, they discovered it was a world of its own. The trunks were so thick several people were needed to encircle one. Each tree seemed to have its own territory, and there were gaps between the canopies that let sunlight filter through.
Strange plants grew beneath the trees—giant flowers, glowing fungi, and some with thick leaves that suddenly pulled up their short roots and quickly "ran away" like they had legs whenever people approached.
The temperature in the Forbidden Forest was a bit cooler than outside, and the air carried a unique scent. As they walked, the crunching of dry twigs and leaves underfoot sounded in their ears, evoking a faint sense of fear.
Michael lifted his foot over a raised tree root but slipped and nearly fell, he quickly warned Padma behind him: "Careful, it's easy to trip here."
Padma smiled politely and walked past him.
"Lumos!" Wade raised his wand, and a bright light instantly illuminated a large circle on the ground around them.
"Lumos!"
Several wands went up, and the various glowing orbs lit up the nearby area brilliantly.
Rolf caught up to Wade and excitedly asked, "Wade, have you all seen Norberta? What kind of dragon is she?"
"A Norwegian Ridgeback," Wade said. "She could breathe fire right from birth."
"You've even seen her as a newborn?" Rolf said enviously. "That's amazing… The youngest dragon I've seen was a three-month-old Romanian Horned Dragon. Its horn was broken, and it nearly died."
Wade thought for a moment and said, "I remember Romanian Horned Dragon horns are very valuable magical materials… Without its horn, it would be hard to survive."
"Yeah, my grandfather worked really hard but couldn't get its horn to grow back. Luckily, it survived," Rolf said. "I remember he asked Mr. Murray to make a metal horn for the little guy, and after it grew a bit, it was sent to a sanctuary."
While the two chatted casually, Michael slowed down a bit and reached out to steady Astoria, who had fallen behind. He whispered, "Can you keep up? If you're tired, I can carry you."
Astoria was indeed out of breath from fatigue. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled, "No need, I actually came prepared."
She pulled out a colorful small blanket from her pocket, unfolded it, and the fan-shaped blanket floated in the air.
The girl sat on it, and the flying carpet hovered about two feet above the ground, drifting slowly beside Fang. The black dog looked at the soft blanket in surprise and tentatively seemed to want to pounce on it. Several students ahead glanced back.
"So clever!" Michael gave a thumbs-up in admiration.
Astoria beamed happily.
Percy frowned, walked over, cleared his throat, and said, "I'm the Head Boy… Greengrass, do you know that flying carpets are banned in Britain?"
Astoria blinked, looking confused, "Oh… but I bought it abroad!"
Percy stared at her sternly and added, "Use is also prohibited."
"But this isn't a flying carpet," Astoria pointed to one end of the blanket, "it's just a toy broom."
Percy took a closer look and saw that the tip of the fan-shaped carpet really had a tiny broom handle, about the size of a quill. The surface of the carpet was painted with colorful patterns to look like a broom.
Percy was momentarily stunned but then got a strong sense of déjà vu, as if seeing young Fred and George.
No, the twins were way naughtier back then… At least this girl is willing to disguise it a bit.
He pursed his lips, just about to exercise his authority as Head Boy to make Astoria get off the broom, when suddenly one hand pulled him away.
"All right, all right, the school doesn't ban students from using toy brooms, even Filch doesn't care,"
Penelope pushed Percy forward, and he instantly forgot what he was about to say, secretly delighted while trying to pretend he wasn't so easily swayed by his girlfriend.
"I'm just doing my duty as Head Boy," Percy was heard trying to explain to Penelope, "The law does state…"
"Being Head Boy is quite an achievement," Rolf leaned close to Wade and whispered, "But I don't want to see you become like him one day."
"I won't be Head Boy," Wade said matter-of-factly.
"No way," Rolf shook his head, "Isn't the Head Boy chosen from the best students in seventh year?"
Wade said, "Besides academic grades, leadership, responsibility, and communication skills should be more important. I can't handle all those complicated tasks, but you might have a chance someday."
"Ha, I'm nowhere near that!" Rolf rubbed his nose awkwardly, then leaned closer and asked, "By the way, um… why isn't Luna here this time?"
"I don't know, but next time I see Lovegood, I can ask for you," Wade said.
"Oh, no need, no need," Rolf quickly waved his hand, "I'm just asking casually, that's all."
About twenty people in the group, around ten of them used Lumos, lighting a bright path through the dark Forbidden Forest.
Hagrid walked easily at the front. Over these past few years, he probably came here often enough to have cleared a small path in the dense woods, with branches and bushes moved aside, making it fairly easy for everyone to walk.
Not sure if it was because there were so many of them or due to Hagrid's intimidating presence, but along the way, the group didn't encounter any red caps or baby Acromantulas—only occasionally some harmless little animals darted quickly at the edge of their light.
The journey, free of any danger, gradually made the students relax, and some even felt a bit disappointed. They took a short rest along the way, then walked for about another half hour before Hagrid finally stopped.
"We're here!" Hagrid turned his head and his face showed a deeply maternal smile as he said, "Listen, that little one is welcoming us!"
In the dark, silent Forbidden Forest, a deep growl sounded, and the trees seemed to stir as if swept by a fierce wind. The surrounding air suddenly grew scorching hot.
--------------------------------
🙏🙏Please consider supporting this translation project by becoming a P@treon member!!!
Your support is greatly appreciated!
Available on my P@treon page for just $4!!
Early access to the following translations:-
⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)- +235 Chapters
⭐MCU: Druid's Adventures (MCUDA)(⭐COMPLETE⭐) - Total Chapter 460
⭐Famous Police Detective in Detective World (FPDDW)- +165 advance chapters
⭐Marvel: Little Genius (MLG) (⭐COMPLETE⭐) - Total Chapter 450
[email protected]/Lightreaper457
--------------------------------