"After that Mr. Potter and Lanlock perished together, his friends also vanished without a trace." Hagrid shrugged, "But it's been a hundred years, even if they're still alive, they'd be very old by now."
Finally, he added another sentence.
"Time, it's always merciless."
"But they were very talented people," Harry asked with a frown, "Surely they wouldn't just fade into oblivion."
Hagrid shook his head and said, "I don't know about that, but it's never been heard of that friends who fought alongside that Mr. Potter ever showed up, so many people believe he was fictional."
After chatting a bit more, Hermione also discovered the Gringotts robbery incident written in the newspaper.
"Turns out Gringotts isn't as safe as they boast." Hermione read from the newspaper, "The Gringotts breaking and entering latest report regarding the investigation of the July 26th Gringotts break-in continues, it's widely believed to be the work of unidentified dark forces male and female wizards, Gringotts fairies today again emphasized that nothing was stolen. The vault searched by the intruder had, in fact, been emptied earlier that day, a Gringotts fairy spokesperson said this afternoon: What exactly was stored in the vault, no comment, please do not interfere in this matter."
"July 26th?"
Harry suddenly recalled, that was the very day Hagrid took him to Gringotts to get money.
So he asked, "Hagrid, the day of the Gringotts break-in was exactly the day we went together, very likely it happened while we were there!"
But this time, Hagrid didn't answer, lowering his head, avoiding Harry's eyes, he reached out to offer Harry a cup of tea.
"Have a taste, I picked this chamomile in the Forbidden Forest earlier." Hagrid tried to change the topic, "Drinking this infused will do good to the inflammation on your gums."
Seeing Hagrid not speaking, even trying to change the subject, Harry reluctantly dropped the inquiry.
After all, it was a task entrusted by Principal Dumbledore to him, certainly can't be spoken about recklessly.
He took the newspaper from Hermione's hand and browsed it carefully—a vault searched by the intruder had, in fact, been emptied earlier that day... Combined with Hagrid's reaction, then the mysterious wizard's intruded vault must be the vault they went to!
But the vault had already been emptied, that meant the vault only contained this small pouch.
Apparently, the mysterious wizard's target must be what Hagrid took away.
He brainstormed the whole way back.
While thinking, he still missed Omnius, that Slytherin boy who had been his external brain for several years.
If only Omnius were here, he could definitely help me unravel the threads, analyze useful clues, Harry thought.
Not only pondering over the Gringotts break-in, Harry also missed his old friends.
He still doesn't believe those talented classmates would vanish without any trace.
Something must have happened!
After deliberating in his mind, he thought of two people.
Cassandra Malfoy, and Gareth Weasley.
The descendants of these two were currently in school, one even being his good friend now.
But how should he ask this? If he directly asked Ron, "Hey pal, does your family have an ancestor named Gareth?" he'd certainly be counter-questioned on how he knows his great-grandfather.
As for Malfoy, that's even more needless to say, that pesky brat wouldn't possibly answer his questions.
Just as he thought of Ron, he heard Ron speaking loudly nearby.
"Muggle's flying contraptions, really clumsy." Ron said beside him, "Back then, I rode Charlie's broken broomstick, almost crashed into a glider..."
Hermione raised her head and looked at him very seriously.
The meaning in those eyes was, you know what I want to say.
Ron's face suddenly turned red, he forgot that the Miss Omniscient in front of him was from a muggle family.
Oh no, boasting hit the hands of an expert.
Luckily, Hermione only glared at him and didn't expose his boast, Ron let out a sigh of relief.
Originally wanting to forcibly recover some dignity, good thing good thing...
Yet, before he could stop bragging, Draco at the long table behind the Slytherin started boasting loudly.
"What a shame, Weasley, you only almost crashed into a glider." He boasted loudly: "You should have heard, during one of my flights I almost crashed into a muggle's helicopter, luckily I dodged swiftly, that time really scared my dad, he even reprimanded me."
Finally, he added, "It's too bad first-year students aren't allowed to join the Quidditch team, or I'd definitely show off."
"Such boasting." Hermione loudly commented with Harry and Ron, "A young wizard like him who can't even use magic well, would be minced up by helicopter blades."
Ron was her friend, she certainly wouldn't embarrass him on the spot—but Draco was different, he had insulted her since they met, even aimed a magic wand at her.
Want her to spare Draco's face?
Dream on.
"Hey! Mud... Miss Omniscient!" Draco forcibly stopped himself from insulting Hermione, instead calling her by her nickname: "You think you really understand flying brooms? I bet you don't even dare to ride a broom and fly!"
Hermione sneered coldly and retorted, "Oh, Drama King Malfoy, I may not understand flying brooms but I do understand helicopters."
Malfoy's face suddenly turned red, he started saying a lot of rambling nonsense, complaining about muggles being annoying, and about Miss Omniscient, instantly filling the Gryffindor long table with a pleasant atmosphere.
"Draco, let's ignore them." Pansy Parkinson, who looked like a Pekingese, coaxed Draco, "They're just jealous of your flying talent, rest assured, once the flying class comes, you must impress them."
Perhaps Pansy's reassurance worked, Draco recovered his arrogant demeanor again.
After all, except for the helicopter part being a bit exaggerated, the rest wasn't overly boastful.
He's indeed confident in his flying skills.
From four years old, Draco was already flying around Malfoy Manor on a children's version flying broom, do you understand the depth of a seven-year-old broom player?
Harry actually also likes flying quite a lot, although Professor Phineas Black ordered a ban on Quidditch, flying classes have not been missed.
But now, he obviously has more important matters to attend to, such as... investigating his old friends' whereabouts.
Well then, at night, Harry thought.
Go to the bottommost level of the castle's Map Secret Room to take a look, maybe Villatia, possessing Ancient Magic inheritance might have left him a clue there.