Chapter 421 Hot Cocoa Time

A night tour of Hogwarts Castle is originally a regular evening program for the little lion trio. With a Marauder's map that clearly marked everyone's name and path of action, it was not difficult to avoid the professor or Filch patrolling at night.

Even though one of them is still lying in the ward, the other two still haven't slacked off. That night, Harry and Hermione set off from the Gryffindor common room again.

They first went to the school hospital secretly, and after visiting Ron and Helen who were still awake, they went to the office of the professor of ancient magic text where Maca was.

On the way, they carefully chose a different route from Filch's, and avoided the prankster Peeves in time, so the journey went smoothly.

When they both came to the door of the office, Maca, who had buried herself behind a pile of documents, suddenly raised her head, waved her hand at the door, and opened it before Harry raised his hand to knock.

"Oh--"

Harry, who wanted to knock on the door lightly, let out a low cry, and subconsciously looked into the office, but he didn't notice Maca's whereabouts immediately.

"I knew it was you..." Maca's voice sounded from behind the pile of books and materials on the desk, "Hurry up and come in!"

This office is still a typical "Maca style". At a glance, the books are parchment paper, some are bundled, and some are just piled up in a pile. Apart from the increase in numbers, nothing much has changed here since the beginning.

However, there is still a path for people to walk in the space from the door to the desk, otherwise, it is estimated that there is no way to get to Maca properly if you have no skills.

"...Uh, is it okay to light the fireplace?"

Walking through the path between the mountains of books and the sea of ​​paper, Harry saw a burning fireplace on one side, and the tongue of fire inside was almost licking the pile of parchment on the edge of the fireplace.

"No problem," Maca said casually, "Of course I have done a good job of fireproofing—come here! Go to the desk and turn right!"

Harry and Hermione walked around inside, and finally, after passing an armchair, they saw Maca sitting on an office chair, holding a thick notebook in his hand.

"Huh?" Feeling that they didn't seem to be moving, Maca turned his head to look, and then said, "Ah, sorry——"

He picked up the staff leaning against the table, and nodded towards the two stacks of parchment next to him. In just an instant, the two piles of papers were distorted and transformed into two upholstered chairs.

"I don't think you'll need the back of the chair—" he smiled. "You can lean against the pile of books at the back... Well, it looks like you're cold. Would you like a cup of hot cocoa?"

"No, no need..." Hermione, who had just sat down with Harry, immediately declined, "It looks like you are still very busy, and we won't delay you for too long."

"It's okay, I don't think I've been idle much, so it doesn't matter!"

Maca waved his staff towards the fireplace in the distance, and the tea kettle next to the fire in the fireplace jumped up high and floated in front of him together with two ordinary cups.

After pouring the coffee-colored liquid in the pot into the cups one by one, the tea kettle flew back to the iron shelf in front of the fireplace by itself.

"Tell me! What's the matter with coming to me so late?" Maca asked softly while letting the two steaming cups float in front of Harry and Hermione, "There is no Light the fireplace, it's cold to walk outside."

"It's because of Professor McGonagall..."

Hermione picked up the cup of hot cocoa in front of her and took a small sip. Suddenly, a warmth and mellow fragrance spread in her mouth, and went down her throat to her stomach.

"Oh—this tastes good! Well, I mean...Professor McGonagall won't let us visit Ron, so we'll have to go at night."

"Maca, what did you put in the hot cocoa? Why is it different from the ones I've had before?" Harry asked curiously.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Maca looked at him and smiled, causing goosebumps to creep up Harry's back. "Then have you been there? I mean the ward of the school hospital."

"Yes," Hermione replied while looking at the hot drink in the cup, "I really hope Ron and Helen can get better soon..."

"Maca, I have another question for you..." Harry seemed to have quickly given up on inquiring about the secret formula of the thing in the cup, "how is Sirius? You seem to be in a good mood, must be Have you found him yet?"

"Yes, that's right." Maca turned over a page of the book casually, and said while reading, "He is still staying in the American wizarding world. This time he was injured and needs a period of rest to recover. recover."

"Then... isn't there any danger?" Harry hurriedly asked.

"Of course, I've already treated him, and I will give you back a healthy godfather before Christmas." Maca smiled and said, "Well, but the premise is——he doesn't have the urge to run out on his own. Just go for a walk."

"I'm afraid it will be very difficult..." Harry said with some concern, "Sirius has never stopped moving forward."

"Well..." Maca shrugged and said, "It was indeed like this before, but this time I'm really not sure."

When he said this, the pair of sisters flashed involuntarily in his mind, and he smiled secretly and shook his head.

Sirius and Harry's father, James Potter, were good friends of the same age, but now that Harry is so old, Sirius still keeps his hands together, which is not a good thing to praise.

"Look at Dumbledore and Grinwald again! Could it be that, as a wizard, the stronger the magic power, the easier it is..."

The more you think about this question, the more information you will find. Maca immediately strangled this idea in his heart, so as not to be caught in it too.

"...Maka, what are you talking about?" Seeing him muttering to himself, Hermione couldn't help asking a little strangely.

"Huh? No, it's nothing—" Maca shook her head again and again. "Ahem, by the way, go to Hagrid's place tomorrow evening. We have to attend a rather special funeral."

"Funeral?" Harry was startled. "Who died? Someone we all knew?"

"Well... To be precise, it's not a 'person'." Maca said with a little emotion, "You will know when the time comes."

"Can't we say it now?" Harry felt a little uneasy when he heard that there was another death.

"It's not impossible to say, but..." Maca thought for a while and said, "I remember that you probably haven't seen it, but it and you... have a chance to pass by!"

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

Maca looked back and forth between the two of them, and couldn't help but feel a bit of regret for the intertwined past.

In the secret room incident that year, Maca put himself in the shadows and guided the incident with his own power. In order to be on the safe side, to avoid risks, and to get the deviated path back on track, he skipped some unstable processes in the middle.

Therefore, the trio of lion cubs who were supposed to meet Aragog have not seen him until now.

Although Maka is regretful now, she doesn't regret it. Harry and the others wouldn't expect anything good to happen just because they met Aragog. What's past, let it blow away with the wind.

"In short," Maca raised her head and said seriously, "its name is 'Aragok', and it is an acromantula raised by Hagrid. Some time ago, it and its children were tempted by Voldemort , Only then did today’s spider attack happen.”

"It's a big spider?" Hermione said incredulously, "I thought it was dangerous enough for Hagrid to raise a dragon, but he actually raised a big spider? And he gave birth to such a large number of offspring? "

"Aragok..." Maca sighed, "Actually, he's not a bad guy."

As he spoke, he looked down at the book in his hand again, and then turned a page again.

"...Maka, you've been reading this book since just now," Hermione looked up and said, "What's it talking about here?"

"This is an uncommon ancient language, and it's not the same as the current one," Maca explained casually. "I'm making some preparations to strengthen the defense of Hogwarts."

"Is it another ancient rune?" Hermione put on a look of delight when she heard the words.

"No, it's not runes, it's just a simple language." Maca said quietly, "Facts have proved that it is very important to learn one more foreign language!"

"Foreign language?" Harry asked in surprise, "What does this have to do with strengthening the defense force? Do you want to invite some foreign wizards to help us guard Hogwarts?"

"Almost!" Maca replied with a smile.

After that, the three chatted for a while. Finally, under Hermione's reminder, Harry proposed to Maca a plan to start the Defense Against the Dark Arts study group, and Maca agreed on the spot.

Therefore, they also booked the time after attending the funeral from Hagrid tomorrow evening.

After Maca watched Harry and Hermione leave his office, he sat back on the chair again, thinking about a certain topic of chat just now in his mind again.

"...Helen Schoen." Maca chewed on the name lightly, thinking secretly.

Judging from the way Hermione mentioned this girl when she was a child just now, she has a great affection for this girl. According to the various behaviors and behaviors described in her mouth, she is indeed a cute little girl who knows how to measure.

For example, when Hermione expressed embarrassment about whether to let her join the defense study group, she immediately "sensibly" took a step back.

In Maca's view, such a move that is too conscious of advancing and retreating seems so deliberate.

"Anyway, she is still lying unconscious on the hospital bed, let's observe it for a while!" Maca thought so.