"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Hagrid said, waving his hands dismissively at Ron's accusation. "Snape's a Hogwarts professor. He'd never do something like that!"
Shouting his defense, Hagrid opened the door to his hut, ushering Lucien, Harry, Ron, and Hermione inside to warm up.
Seeing Hagrid's disbelief, Hermione piped up, "But we saw it! Snape was staring right at Harry, his lips moving like he was chanting a spell!"
"I read that casting a jinx requires eye contact with the target," she added. "Snape was doing exactly that!"
Hagrid sighed, throwing his hands up. "Alright, then tell me—why would Snape have it out for Harry?"
The question left Ron, Harry, and Hermione speechless.
After a moment, Harry pushed his glasses up his nose and said sheepishly, "Early in the term, Snape was always picking on me. But lately…"
He glanced at Lucien. Following Lucien's advice, Harry had started drinking a vision-enhancing potion and removing his glasses during Potions class.
It had changed everything. Before, Snape's sarcasm left Harry humiliated, torn to shreds. Now, Snape just asked him questions—lots of them, constantly. Thanks to studying Potions with Lucien, Harry's skills had improved enough to answer most of them correctly.
"Well, in class, it's fine," Harry continued. "But outside of lessons, when I run into Snape around the castle, he… uh…"
"He looks at me weirdly?" Harry said, unsure how to describe it. "And outside of class, he finds any excuse to take points from me."
Lucien sipped the barley tea Hagrid had poured, chuckling inwardly. Of course. Harry's eyes and Potions talent were like his mother's, but his looks and behavior? Straight out of James Potter's mold. When Harry wore his glasses outside class, they blocked Snape's view of those familiar eyes while reminding him of James—the man who'd tormented him and won Lily's heart. No wonder Snape docked Harry's points. He'd deduct from anyone not in Slytherin, really. Though he's never taken points from me, Lucien thought.
An absurd idea popped into Lucien's head. If he could invent a gender-swapping potion or spell, have Harry use it, dye his hair Weasley-red, and ditch the glasses… Wonder if Snape could handle that.
Maybe because of Lucien's influence, Snape's targeting of Harry had softened. The trio's suspicions about Snape lingered, but they weren't too intense.
"Even putting Quidditch aside, a lot's been going on at school lately," Ron said. "That troll on Halloween—how does a creature like that even get into Hogwarts?"
"And that's not all!" Harry added. "There's a three-headed dog in one of the rooms!"
"Ron, I told you, it's called a Cerberus," Hermione corrected.
Hagrid looked up, startled. "How do you lot know about Fluffy?"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione—minus Lucien, who calmly sipped his tea—turned to Hagrid in unison. "Fluffy?"
"Er, that's… my pet," Hagrid mumbled, scratching his tangled hair. "Bought him off a Greek fella. He's a sweet little thing. Dumbledore borrowed him to guard—"
"Cute?!" Ron blurted. "That dog nearly bit Harry's hand off—"
Harry lunged, clamping a hand over Ron's mouth. Only the three of them, plus Lucien, knew about that incident, and Harry wasn't keen on broadcasting his embarrassment.
"What?! Harry, let me see!" Hagrid slammed his massive teacup on the table, grabbing Harry's arm and rolling up his sleeve to check for injuries. "Why didn't you say something? Cerberus teeth carry dark magic curses!"
"Fluffy's just a pup, but he can be a bit rough," Hagrid fretted. "I need to tell Dumbledore. Even if it's for him and Nicolas Flamel—"
Hagrid stopped short, realizing he'd said too much, and clamped his mouth shut.
After inspecting Harry's arms—skinny but unscarred—Hagrid sat back, puzzled. "Odd. You're fine. Dumbledore asked me if you'd been hurt, didn't say why, but…"
No one responded. Hagrid glanced around, noticing the kids' expressions had shifted. Harry looked embarrassed, clearly aware Dumbledore already knew about the Cerberus bite. Ron nibbled a rock cake, his face a mix of confusion and innocence. Hermione opened her mouth but said nothing.
Lucien smirked faintly. Hagrid must've been raised on Veritaserum. You could trust him with your life, but never a secret. Dumbledore likely assigned Hagrid this task knowing he'd let something slip to Harry and his friends. Classic Dumbledore, always calculating.
"Hagrid, who's Nicolas Flamel?" Hermione finally asked, unable to contain her curiosity. Harry and Ron perked up, staring at Hagrid.
"N-Nothing! That's top secret, understand?" Hagrid gulped his tea, trying to hide his unease.
No matter how the trio pressed or prodded, Hagrid stuck to nodding or shaking his head, refusing to speak further.
After some back-and-forth, the trio couldn't hold back their excitement and announced they were leaving—they were itching to uncover the truth.
Lucien watched, the corner of his mouth twitching upward. Nice. One step closer to the Philosopher's Stone. They'd likely figure it out after Christmas. Maybe then I can talk to Dumbledore about getting early access to it.
Lucien stayed behind to chat with Hagrid, who finally loosened up enough to say a few words. After leaving the hut, Lucien didn't head back to the castle. Instead, he took a detour toward the Forbidden Forest.
"Luster," he called softly.
A small qilin materialized at his side. Lucien ruffled the increasingly thick mane at its neck and said, "Take me to Seleneia. The unicorn's due date should be within two months."