Chapter 571: Clues Revealed

The weather was cold and the wind was biting. The gloomy leaden clouds were deposited above the head. There was no heavy rain, because the dense raindrops often fell when the morning light was slightly bright.

The summer heat seemed to be left far behind when the express train passed through the fields. The autumn of Hogwarts quickly replaced the traces of summer. The lawn of the field was still green. The water droplets bent the grass leaves and soaked the edges of the little wizards' robes. They walked down the grass slope and walked towards the cabin on the edge of the forbidden forest. The cool water vapor touched their cheeks, which was cool.

Loren felt that this kind of weather was very comfortable, and his steps were unconsciously much lighter. Hermione was carrying the Transfiguration thesis and the homework of the Charms class in her mind, and let him pull her hand up and down.

Harry and Ron huddled together and whispered. After two days of observation since the start of school, they had already discovered that Hagrid was a little abnormal and were full of curiosity about it.

Walking through the venue, you can see from a distance that the fourth-year Ravenclaw and Gryffindor students are gathering at the entrance of the greenhouse. Luna and Ginny are in the Herbology class... After walking a little further through the greenhouse, you can see Professor Hagrid standing ten meters away from the door of the cabin. The burly half-giant, the professor of Care of Magical Creatures, is still waiting for the arrival of the little wizards with a smile on his face as in previous years.

"Long time no see, dear children!"

"Long time no see, Professor Hagrid!"

The little wizards responded to the greetings with a long tone. Thanks to Professor Umbridge's strict requirements, this time the shouting was neat and orderly, and the words were clear.

"Are all here?"

Hagrid grinned even more warmly, "Then let's start... This year is an especially important year for you..."

Even Hagrid, who has always been careless, spent fifteen minutes emphasizing the importance of O.W.L.s exams like other professors before officially starting teaching.

"Who can tell me what these things are called?"

Hagrid pointed to the shelf table in front of him, on which there were many thin branches. Suddenly, the thin branches on the table jumped into the air, revealing their true appearance. They looked like wooden elves, each with brown, knotty legs and arms, two branch-like fingers on each hand, and two round brown eyes shining on each flat, bark-like funny face.

"Bowtruckle!"

"Good boy, five points for Gryffindor. Yes, these animals are Bowtruckles. They usually live on trees whose branches can be used to make wands. They usually eat pests. They love to eat ground beetles and fairy eggs the most..."

Ya Ya squatted not far away and stretched his head, looking at the little guys jumping around on the table. He wanted to rush up and bite and fiddle with them. Hounds are like this. They want to play with small animals when they see them. Sometimes they are birds on the trees, sometimes they are butterflies in the flowers, and sometimes they are mice in the firewood pile. Bowtruckles are only the size of a palm and can't fly. They are the most suitable for dog toys.

But those densely packed and constantly wriggling beetles made Ya Ya stay away. Insects are the most troublesome. They will disappear if they fall into the dog's hair. They will also get into the skin and flesh, making the dog itchy and painful. But they can't bite or catch them. After a lot of tossing, any dog ​​will go crazy.

Loren and his friends were not unfamiliar with this thing. After all, Rolf carried a few with him, and he would always take them out to play with them when he was in class with Hufflepuff. They had seen wild ones, and there were also some on the Whomping Willow. Harry and Ron had close contact with the Whomping Willow several times when they were seriously injured. They could be considered old friends.

After Hagrid announced free time and asked the students to observe the Bowtruckle carefully, the others gathered around the partition table. Loren and his friends avoided the crowd and quietly went around Hagrid.

"Hiss..."

Hagrid, who had been teaching for half a class in one breath, rubbed his cheekbones covered by his beard to soothe the swollen wounds where the blood had not yet dispersed. It was sore and slightly painful. Although Grawp had learned some common sense, he had not completely changed the habits he had acquired in the giant tribe for a long time. Sometimes when he scolded him in a tough manner, Grawp would still lose control of his strength.

However, compared with a week ago, Grawp's progress was obvious.

"Hagrid, what are you doing?"

Harry suddenly poked his head out and looked at his face suspiciously.

"Hiss..."

Hagrid's hand trembled, and he pressed hard on the swollen wound. His cheekbones and palms squeezed at the same time, and the blood stasis under the skin dispersed at once, completely dispersed. He grimaced in pain, tears swayed in his eyes, and his nose was crooked.

"Hagrid, are you hurt? What happened? Who did it?" Harry became nervous instantly and stretched out his hand to pull his hand to see the wound.

"Don't... it hurts... it hurts..."

"Where does it hurt? Let me see!"

"Hiss..."

After a while of tossing, Hagrid took a long time to explain clearly. Finally, he sat down against the stone under the fence, looking ahead with an unfocused look. The wound was throbbing and he was exhausted physically and mentally.

How does that sentence go? The more you care about someone, the more painful it is for you.

Sure enough, the damage caused by Grawp and Harry was painful...

"Your brother Grawp is too much!" Harry frowned and said in a deep voice, "Is it really okay for you to confine him in the Forbidden Forest like this? I see that there are still many scars on your face, especially on your cheekbones, which are all black and blue..."

Hagrid waved his hand and said in a muffled voice: "He has become well-behaved, and he also knows some of our manners. He is slowly learning human language."

"Is that so?" Harry's face was full of worry, and he was obviously worried.

"..."

Hagrid's eyes bypassed Harry, looked at the two people behind him, and said a little tiredly, "You guys, come to my place on Saturday, I will take you to see him. Loren, Hermione, you must come Ah, Graup misses you too."

Loren and Hermione suppressed laughter and nodded with difficulty.

The rain in September comes and goes, and I don’t know when it will stop. The edge of the Forbidden Forest is filled with the unique smell after the rain, a rich earthy smell, and a fresh smell of grass and trees. In such an environment, the entire lungs and chest become refreshed. stand up.

"Children, before next class, I would like everyone to complete a sketch of each part of the Bowtruckle's body."

Hagrid listened and assigned his homework in one breath, packed up the Bowtruckle, and walked back dejectedly with his teeth, one foot deep and one shallow, leaving only the faint sound of inhaling.

Harry watched the man and the dog walk away, and sighed melancholy: "Grawp is really an ignorant brother, what do you think?"

"..."

Loren tried hard to suppress his smile and nodded solemnly: "That's right!"

The next period for the fifth-year Gryffindors was Herbology. When they arrived at the entrance of the greenhouse, they happened to catch up with Ginny and Luna after class. The two girls simply said hello and left in a hurry. After all, no girl wanted to Chatting with people while being covered in the smell of dragon dung fertilizer.

As everyone expected, Professor Sprout preached to everyone the importance of exams as soon as the class started. The little wizards sighed. Sometimes they hoped that all teachers would stop talking about this matter. Thinking of so many When doing homework after class, they feel tense and restless. This restlessness turns into tiredness after a whole class.

After the herbal medicine class ended, the little wizards left the greenhouse one after another and walked towards the castle foyer.

"Merlin's stinky boots!" Ron sniffed the smell of fermented organic fertilizer on his body and retched in disgust, "Our first-year herbal medicine class is composting, and our second-year herbal class is composting... Until the fifth grade, We’re still composting!”

Neville smiled and said, "Actually, I quite like the herbal medicine class. The smell of fertilizer doesn't make you feel bad after smelling it for a long time. Sometimes you can even smell the fragrance of plants."

"Loren and Hermione said that feces smells good even when diluted. Guess whether I believe it or not."

The little wizards around him all laughed.

The cool and fine rain fell again, and the fresh air washed over the nose that was numbed by the smoke, making my hanging heart drop. The fifth grade of Hogwarts began with such anxious laughter.

…

Saturday, a cold and wet morning.

Exit the post office on the central avenue of Hogsmeade and turn into a side road. There is a small bar at the intersection. A tattered wooden sign hangs on a rusty bracket on the door, with a severed pig head painted on it. , blood stains penetrated the white cloth wrapping it.

Like most bars run by wizards, it was shabby, dirty, and there was an endless stream of customers in weird costumes, many of whom were wearing cloaks and hoods, hiding their faces from the customers.

It is said that the tavern owner was once prosecuted for abusing magic on goats, but he did not pay any attention to the Ministry of Magic. He held his head high and went his own way... Customers have two different views on this. Some people think that the tavern owner They despise the Ministry of Magic and look down on those guys at all. Some people think that the tavern owner is illiterate at all, so he doesn't know that he is being prosecuted.

If the young wizards at Hogwarts study the chapters of the Goblin Rebellion carefully enough, they will find that this was once the goblin command post. But now, this is a place where intelligence is gathered and well-informed, a place where good and bad people mingle and hide their transactions. The boss and the few guests maintain a certain tacit understanding and abide by the tacit rules - do not disturb the order of the tavern and do not involve others. other guests.

For a considerable number of people, the wine here is stronger, the smell is more pungent, the curse words are more intense, and the topic of drinking is more exciting. It is far more relaxed and happy than the Three Broomsticks.

Two men in cloaks and hoods got into the alley next to the tavern. One of them exhaled and whispered: "This is it, Avery. I have asked all the other places in Hogsmeade and there is nothing." People have seen the people in the photos, but the only one left is the Pig Head Bar. The owner here is an old guy, maybe he knows something. "

The mysterious wizard known as Avery did not reply immediately, but thought for a while: "Would it be too suspicious for us to enter the bar in the morning, Alex?"

"Don't worry about it. What's more suspicious than dressing up like this?" Alex stretched out the collar of his cloak. "It's not because that crazy woman is pushing too hard. We can only speed up the progress. It is said that Lu Xiu The investigation of Knockturn Alley that Si is responsible for has almost been completed..."

"Did he investigate that? Jin Jialong investigated that!"

"What can we do? We can't spread money like Lucius, and we can't show our face..."

"It's all Bellatrix's fault..."

As Death Eaters who escaped trial, the two lived a happy life before Voldemort was resurrected. Although they were not wealthy, Avery enjoyed life at home, and Alex even joined the Ministry of Magic. , and now...

The two looked at each other, sighed, tightened their hoods, and hunched into the tavern.

There was only one small, dark, and very dirty room in the bar, which smelled strongly of sheep. The only clean part was the bar. Thick dirt accumulated on the window sills, and the light from outside could hardly penetrate. Some burnt-out candles were lit on the rough wooden table. At first glance, I thought the ground was compacted mud, but when I stepped on it, I found that it was a bit sticky. The dirt had accumulated on the stone floor for centuries.

Unlike the deserted and deserted imagined, there were still a few guests in the bar. Except for a short and fat wizard who was also wearing a cloak and a hood and drinking at the bar, the others gathered in groups of three or two to chat. Their faces could not be seen clearly. What was not convenient was that the environment was relatively quiet, and the conversation here was likely to be eavesdropped.

Avery and Alex ignored some of the scrutinizing eyes and went straight to the front of the bar. They knocked on the table and asked for two glasses of whiskey. They handed a gold galleon to the bartender directly, indicating that he didn't need to change it.

The bartender who worked here to earn money for drinks looked at the two people in confusion: "This is..."

"We want to ask you about someone." Alex secretly glanced at the short and fat wizard in the corner of the bar, and carefully took out a parchment portrait from his arms. Just when he wanted to continue questioning, he suddenly heard a sweet and artificial voice.

"Ahem... Can you show it to me? Maybe I know him?" The short and fat wizard lifted his hood, revealing a toad-like face, and the girl-like voice made people shudder in the dimly lit tavern.

The other guests in the bar put down their glasses at the same time, and some of them even took out their wands.

Alex, a staff member of the Ministry of Magic, had his pupils shrink. He immediately recognized the impressive senior deputy minister and the members of the Auror team, and pulled Avery to leave: "Let's go..."

"Why are you in such a hurry? Maybe we can help you find someone?" Umbridge grinned, revealing her sharp teeth. "I think one of you has a familiar voice. We know each other, right?"

Instantly, colorful spells burst out in the dim tavern, spells collided, magic power surged, and the huge explosion made the ears buzz.