Chapter 206 Hagrid Was Arrested

The third Friday in December is the day when the little wizards who go home for the holidays leave school.

In fact, there is still nearly a week before Christmas. In order to give the young wizards who are far away from home some time to travel, and since the reformed courses are not as intense as before, Professor McGonagall simply took the holiday a week early.

The festive atmosphere became more and more intense, and the auditorium was decorated magnificently. Hagrid brought a dozen Christmas trees covered with silver frost from the forest, and thick ribbons of mistletoe and holly crisscrossed on the ceiling.

Percy battles wits with Peeves in order to put up colorful ribbons. It is said that on Christmas Eve, the professor will also release some decorative magic.

Out of concern for their own safety, almost all the little wizards chose to go home. Only the Weasley brothers and sisters, Loren and Hermione were left in Gryffindor.

Outside the Great Hall, the corridor leading to the foyer was crowded with young wizards dragging suitcases, crossing the grass to the station, boarding the Hogwarts Express and embarking on their way home.

At the Gryffindor table, Seamus Finnigan shrugged his shoulders and played Thunderbolts with Harry and Ron with a bleak look on his face. He and Neville agreed to get in the car together, but Neville left a box full of candy wrappers on the bed. He went back to the dormitory to get the candy wrapper box, and Seamus passed the time here.

Hermione spread out her notes, combed through them and recited the knowledge of the Transfiguration Club.

Loren sat next to her, tilting his head to read her notes, his head almost resting on the girl's shoulder.

Hermione's cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were about to roll to the sky. She had obviously put the note between the two of them, but this person still rubbed it here, which was very annoying.

"boom"

Another muffled sound was heard, and Seamo's hand was numb.

He put down the cards feebly, lay on the table, looked at the four people around him and muttered: "I don't want to go home, I want to stay at school for Christmas!"

Ron said curiously: "Who wouldn't want to go home for Christmas? We can't go back even if we want to."

"I think it would look good to spend Christmas in the castle." Harry looked at the decorations in the auditorium with expectant eyes.

Because of the upcoming holiday, Harry felt a sense of relief and tranquility. At least no one would be killed during the Christmas holiday, no little wizard would stare at him with strange eyes, and those unpleasant comments would no longer be heard for a long time. .

And they could wander in and out of Gryffindor Tower as they pleased, enjoy the entire common room, and play Thunderbolts loudly without disturbing anyone.

He didn't want to go back and face the Dursleys, but he felt that it would be nice to spend Christmas at school. Not just because of the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk thing, but also because Sirius couldn't spend Christmas with him.

A few days ago, Sirius wrote to him with news. It was said that the Malfoy family had made big moves recently and had sent invitations to many Ministry of Magic officials. He planned to find an opportunity to sneak in and find out where Malfoy kept those shady things in the manor.

Seamus said plausibly: "If the four of you stay in school at the same time, there will definitely be wonderful adventures. Ah - how I want to stay in school. But my mother said that if I don't go home for the holidays, she will definitely write a letter asking the professor to send me Tuck it into the sock on her bedside.”

Loren chuckled: "Your mother's feet are really big."

Hermione rolled her eyes, reached out and slapped him: "Not polite."

"Seamus, let's go!" At this moment, Neville's call came from the corridor.

Seamus looked around at the decorations reluctantly. Before leaving, he suddenly remembered something and whispered to them: "Although I don't know what you are going to do, be careful of Crabbe of Slytherin. There are many Slytherin houses." People say there is something wrong with him. I suspect he is related to the secret room and the heir."

Slytherin has three young wizards staying in school, Malfoy and his two followers, Crabbe and Goyle.

After saying that, he dragged his suitcase and ran away quickly.

Loren looked at his back thoughtfully, unexpectedly that Seamus, who was well-informed, would accidentally find out the truth. He looked faintly at the colorful candles floating in the air. The drama Dumbledore had prepared was really going to end during the Christmas holiday.

Ron sorted out the cards on the table and sighed: "The Basilisk, the Chamber of Secrets, Malfoy, Hagrid and the mysterious Tom Riddle, and now Crabbe is added..."

Hermione closed the note and looked serious: "Don't limit your attention to Malfoy. Maybe Tom Riddle passed on the method of opening the Chamber of Secrets to Crabbe. Let's sort it out again. We got it from Hagrid last time. Information."

Speaking of Hagrid's reaction, Harry's brows knitted together, with confusion on his face, and he began to talk about the situation at the hunting lodge: "At that time, we sneaked out of the castle while everyone was participating in the event in the auditorium. …”

That day, they rushed to Hagrid's cabin despite heavy snowfall, and Hagrid welcomed them in enthusiastically.

Before Ron could sit down, he couldn't wait to ask loudly: "Hagrid, do you know Tom Riddle?"

Hagrid's hand that was adding firewood to the fire stiffened for a moment, and the shoulders of the giant who occupied almost half of the room suddenly shrugged down, full of embarrassment and panic.

"You found out what happened fifty years ago, right?" Hagrid explained in panic, "It's not me, it's really not me, I just raised Aragog and never let him leave the cupboard. Not the little girl it killed..."

Yaya sensed his master's mood and came over to cup his calf.

"Hagrid!" Harry shouted, "Listen to us, Dumbledore believes in you, and so do we!"

"Yes, Hagrid, we are here to investigate the man named Tom Riddle." Ron took the firewood in his hand, fiddled with the fire, and found a suitable place to put the firewood in.

The two tried to comfort each other before the three-meter-tall mixed-race giant cried.

Hagrid wiped his nose with the back of his hand: "Tom Riddle...he is an excellent student. Like Percy, he has a good relationship with almost all professors and all students. After graduation, he seems to be looking for He got a job and never heard from him again.”

"Knockturn Alley!"

Harry and Ron looked at each other and confirmed again that Tom Riddle was not a good wizard, and no good wizard would find a job in Knockturn Alley.

Harry glanced at his little pink umbrella without trace, and then at this big man who looked careless and heartless.

He had been misunderstood as the heir of Slytherin for only two months, and Hagrid had been misunderstood for fifty years. The thought of Hagrid pretending to carry that funny little pink umbrella for nearly fifty years made him panic.

That is a grievance that will not change in fifty years...

Harry patted Hagrid's big hand: "Hagrid, we suspect that it was Tom Riddle who opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago, and he was framing you."

Ron nodded: "Yes. Maybe he is the heir of Slytherin."

"He is the heir of Slytherin!" Hagrid's pupils shrank violently, and he stood up suddenly, knocking the rock pie to the floor.

"He is the heir of Slytherin...he...that person graduated from Hogwarts...no wonder, no wonder...no one knows...the name..." Hagrid seemed to have figured out something and murmured. Talking about some nonsense.

He seemed a little uneasy, and wanted to pick up some tea to relieve his mood, but his thick arms kept shaking, and the tea spilled out, causing a burst of white smoke to rise from the fire.

Harry and Ron thought he suddenly learned the truth about being wronged, and were so excited that they couldn't control themselves.

"Hagrid, did you remember anything?" Harry asked curiously.

Hagrid took a few deep breaths, lowered his head and stared at Harry, staring at the scar on his forehead. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he was forced to hold them back: "Yes, I remembered something very important. matter."

Harry exclaimed in surprise: "Tell us quickly, maybe we can catch the real murderer soon, and that Tom Riddle. We can help you restore your reputation!"

Hagrid almost broke the teeth in his mouth. He touched Harry's hair and said seriously: "This is none of your business. I will talk to Dumbledore. You are not allowed to mix anything anymore." Dumbledore will take care of the matter with the Chamber of Secrets."

Harry was stunned: "Hagrid, what are you talking about?"

"I said, this is not something you should get involved in, go back."

…

On the long table in the auditorium, colored candlelight shone on Harry's face, illuminating his depressed expression: "Later, no matter how Ron and I tried to persuade him, Hagrid kept repeating this sentence."

Ron couldn't figure it out either: "Yes, doesn't Hagrid want to clear his grievances?"

Loren listened, feeling complicated and confused.

You idiot, Hagrid doesn't want to clear up his grievances. I clearly understand that Tom Riddle is Voldemort, and I don’t want you to get involved in Voldemort’s affairs.

That stupid giant swallowed up all the grievances he had suffered for decades for their safety.

There was a sound of collision between flesh and wood, and a body of cold air stumbled through the skylight and hurriedly landed in front of Harry. There were snowflakes in its white feathers, and he kept cooing, his voice full of anxiety.

Knowing at first glance that the situation was urgent, several people gathered around, and Harry unfolded the note Hedwig had brought:

Hagrid's Hut, come quickly.

Harry's heart sank, and he ran out of the Great Hall without saying anything, and hurried towards Hagrid's hut. Hermione and Ron quickly followed.

Loren fell behind and picked up the note on the table and took a look at it.

There was no signature on the note, and the handwriting was not very pretty, but rather neat and rigid. It seems that the person who sent the message did not want his identity to be discovered.

Loren had seen Hagrid's handwriting, which was crooked and full of wild and natural meaning. To put it bluntly, it was like a ghost's handwriting.

In any case, it's not like Hagrid could write this kind of handwriting.

"It feels like Dumbledore is causing trouble." Loren put the note in his pocket and chased out with his wand.

Harry, Ron and Hermione ran through the garden, towards the greenhouse, around the Whomping Willow at full speed, and into the woods. They walked through the trees and along the edge of the forest, and as they were about to see Hagrid's front door, they heard the sounds of many voices.

Harry and Ron were panting to catch their breath. They quickly ducked behind a large oak tree and peered from both sides of the trunk.

Loren arrived at the end, and when he saw the thieving silhouettes of the three people peeking out of the tree trunks, he felt a little speechless.

He took out his wand and touched several people respectively. Ripples like water spread to everyone's body, and their figures disappeared into the vast snow.

"Disillusionment Curse!" Hermione's voice turned from louder to softer. In Loren's magical vision, Hermione recognized the spell and quickly covered her mouth, her eyes widening.

"Hush~" Loren commanded, "There will be footprints on the snow. Let's go around carefully and get closer to see what's going on."

They slowly approached the cabin and rounded the fence of the pumpkin patch. The door to the cabin was open, Hagrid was wearing his moleskin coat, and he was surrounded by strangers in uniform.

Ron lowered his voice and said, "That's an Auror, apparently from the Department of Legal Enforcement of the Ministry of Magic."

Dumbledore, dressed in white robes, was talking to another stranger, who seemed to be the leader of those people.

The man was short, stocky and stocky, with messy gray hair and an anxious look on his face. His clothes were a strange hodgepodge: pinstriped suit, bright red tie, black cape, purple pointed boots. Under his arm was a dark green top hat.

"That's my dad's boss!" Ron's voice became even lower, "Cornelly Fudge, Minister of Magic!"

Loren looked at the Aurors and the Minister of Magic.

The magic power fluctuations in the Aurors are not strong, at least much weaker than those of the professors at Hogwarts. There are identical magic light groups on their wrists and waists, and they seem to be wearing some standard equipment. The unsophisticated alchemy circle reveals the function of the equipment, a crude one-time defense that conveys simple information within a certain range.

It seems that the defensive equipment cannot withstand his full blow, and it should only be able to prevent sneak attacks. Loren roughly estimated that he could deal with five Aurors of this level alone.

As for the Minister of Magic, his level of magic does not seem to be as high as those of these Aurors.

In order to hear the conversation in the house clearly, Loren and others tiptoed through the trees, passed through the fence of Hagrid's pumpkin patch, and hid under the wooden steps in front of the hut.

In the room, Yaya, who had been staying at Hagrid's feet, suddenly raised his head, barked twice toward the door, and then kept circling around Hagrid's trouser legs.

Hagrid, who had always lowered his head, moved his eyelids and glanced outside the door, but saw nothing. A silly smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he gently hugged Yaya a few times with his feet to make him sit down peacefully.

"I hope you understand, Cornelius, that I completely trust Hagrid." Dumbledore's voice.

"Sorry, very sorry. This had to be done. There were two attacks on Muggles. The school board collectively stated that the Ministry of Magic could not let it go. And, Albus, you know, Hagrid's criminal record is very important. He was very unfavorable, and after communicating with the school board, we had to take some measures.”

This was the voice of Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic.

"He should not be imprisoned without conclusive evidence." Dumbledore's voice sounded very serious.

"Of course, Albus, I promise you, I won't put him in Azkaban."

Fudge paused, his tone clearly filled with schadenfreude, "Albus, as your friend, I want to remind you that there are people on the school board who are unwilling to hand over the management of the school, so you must be prepared."

"I'll keep an eye out," Dumbledore said.

"Then, let's go!" Fudge played with his top hat and came to the open space in front of the hut, waiting for Hagrid to walk in front of him.

But Hagrid stood still. He took a deep breath and said cautiously: "If anyone wants to find something, they only need to follow the spider and they will find the right direction! That's all I have to say."

After saying that, he walked up to the astonished Fudge.

The Aurors formed a circle and disappeared with Fudge and Hagrid after a loud explosion.

Dumbledore waited for a while, walked down the steps slowly, and said inexplicably: "The centaurs in the forest are very friendly."

"boom"

After a soft sound, Dumbledore also disappeared.