Hagrid carried the stigma of a murderer on his back.
The young Voldemort had pinned the crime of killing Myrtle on Hagrid, using the excuse that the killer was an Acromantula to prevent Hogwarts from being shut down. As a result, Hagrid spent a stint in Azkaban, and his wand was snapped.
Normally, someone burdened with such a crime would never be able to hold a prestigious position like a Hogwarts professor for the rest of their life. But who could have predicted last year's basilisk attacks on Harry and Dumbledore? Since it had been proven that a basilisk existed in the school, and Myrtle herself confirmed that she had been killed by the basilisk, Hagrid's charges naturally evaporated.
No longer needing to hide his secretly bought second-hand wand in his pink umbrella to cast spells covertly, he openly went to Ollivander's Wand Shop and bought himself a new wand. During that time, Hagrid was so happy that he got roaring drunk every day.
"There's no need to put it that way, Hagrid," Harry said after clinking glasses with him. "Actually, it was Professor Kettleburn who directly recommended you to take over his position. He said your knowledge of magical creatures is more than enough to teach students, and that you've helped him care for a lot of little critters every year."
"Oh, he's too kind," Hagrid said, his emotions seemingly getting the better of him from sheer joy, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Glad you're happy, Hagrid," Sirius said casually. "No matter what, you've become a professor now. That's something a lot of people dream about. Now you can really mess around with those fierce little darlings of yours."
"Yeah, I've already gotten a letter from the Ministry of Magic. Starting today, I can breed new magical creatures myself," Hagrid said, his eyes practically sparkling. "You don't know how long I've waited for this day."
Harry, Sirius, and Remus exchanged glances. Hagrid was still chattering away about his grand plans, but based on what they knew of Hagrid's tastes... all they could hope was that he wouldn't let the students get too close to his furry "little darlings."
Every master of magical creatures seemed to have a fondness for dangerous ones—the more perilous, the better.
"Wait, what's that?" After taking another swig of beer, Lupin suddenly said, pointing toward the castle.
A pearl-colored glow appeared, and before long, a ghost arrived in front of them.
"You promised me, Headmaster Potter," the Grey Lady said coldly.
"Yes," Harry said, standing up. "I'll be right back."
He walked with the Ravenclaw ghost to a shadowy spot away from the bonfire before saying, "So, what's the matter, Lady?"
"I—" The Grey Lady opened her mouth but stopped abruptly. Her earlier cold arrogance vanished completely. After stammering a few words, she lowered her head and whispered, "I heard from Dumbledore... that you have Ravenclaw's diadem."
"Yes, it's in my possession now," Harry said, raising an eyebrow slightly. "He wouldn't mention something like that to irrelevant people, so... Voldemort got the diadem from you?"
The only things that would concern Dumbledore were Voldemort and his Horcruxes. Voldemort had gradually found these treasures, meaning they each had an original owner before him—so, the Ravenclaw ghost was the original owner of Ravenclaw's diadem?
Interesting.
Ravenclaw?
"Not from my hands... no, it was from me... I told him..." Denying it at first, then negating her denial, the Grey Lady looked even more dejected. She suddenly said, "Can I see it?"
"Sorry, it's not with me right now," Harry said frankly. "It was damaged, so I sent it to an alchemist to see if he can repair it."
"Damaged?!" After a brief moment of shock, the Grey Lady flared up in anger. "Why was it damaged! It has so many protections! That's Ravenclaw's—"
"Watch your tone, Lady," Harry interrupted coldly. "Voldemort turned it into a Horcrux, so it had to be destroyed. No matter its significance, that Horcrux diadem even played a hand in last year's demon invasion at Hogwarts."
"...It's my fault," the Grey Lady said sadly, shaking her head. Her entire ghostly form seemed to wilt. "It's my fault... I told him..."
"So, Voldemort did get the diadem from you," Harry summarized. "Then you have no right to blame me or Dumbledore for anything."
"He deceived me!!" the Grey Lady suddenly exclaimed, agitated. "I'd never seen anyone like him—handsome, charming, so eloquent! Then he just vanished!!"
"That just means he'd gotten what he wanted, so he disappeared," Harry said, suddenly feeling like laughing.
Thinking along these lines, whether it was Hufflepuff's cup or Ravenclaw's diadem, Voldemort had pretended to be benevolent to approach those older women, using his handsome appearance to lower their guards, then charming them with his words to win their favor, and finally getting what he wanted.
He built his empire by deceiving women.
Wasn't Bellatrix the same way?
Did Voldemort have any fanatical male followers?
Harry thought carefully—from Lucius to Snape to Peter... actually, no?
Wait, there was one: young Crouch—Harry recalled the Crouch who had been implicated in Sirius's case. He was an upright, meticulous man, but his son had fallen under Voldemort's sway, even seeing him as a father figure.
How peculiar.
"My name is Helena Ravenclaw," the Grey Lady said with a sorrowful expression. "Yes, just as you thought, Ravenclaw was my mother."
Harry raised an eyebrow.
The daughter of a Hogwarts founder—that was a truly ancient ghost.
"...I longed to be wiser and more renowned than my mother, Rowena Ravenclaw, so I stole her diadem, the symbol of wisdom, and hid it in a hollow tree in the Albanian forest..."
The Grey Lady recounted softly.
"...The Baron found me. I refused to go back... then he killed me, and afterward, he killed himself... We both became ghosts..."
"Voldemort defiled my mother's diadem, without a doubt," the Grey Lady said, gazing into Harry's eyes. "I'm furious, but powerless—thank you, thank you for destroying his Horcrux, for not letting my mother's diadem remain tainted forever."
"As Headmaster of Hogwarts, it's my duty," Harry said calmly. "So, did you reveal clues about any other treasures to Voldemort? I suspect he has more than one Horcrux."
"No," the Grey Lady shook her head. "I've said enough... Can I ask you one thing?"
"What?"
"Get the diadem back from that alchemist for me, even if it's damaged... I still want to see it again..."
"I'll remember," Harry promised.
Without another word, the Grey Lady floated back to the castle.
Harry wasn't sure if he should show the diadem's remains to the Grey Lady; he figured he'd need to discuss it with Dumbledore.
Wizard ghosts appeared because they couldn't move forward on the path after death, meaning only wizards afraid of death—or those with strong unfinished wishes—became ghosts.
So the question was, would the Grey Lady suddenly find courage upon seeing Ravenclaw's diadem again?
If she suddenly let go and moved on, vanishing from the real world entirely, wouldn't Ravenclaw House be left without its ghost?
Would Professor Flitwick eat him alive?
Shaking his head, Harry decided not to disturb the two old men's peaceful sleep right now and returned to the bonfire.
"What was that? The Ravenclaw ghost needed something from you?" Sirius asked.
"Nothing much," Harry said, turning to Hagrid. "Let's keep talking about you, Hagrid. I saw the textbook you've chosen."
"The Monster Book of Monsters!" Hagrid perked up immediately at the mention. He said enthusiastically, "What do you think? Pretty good, right? Isn't it fun?"
Harry fell silent; he really didn't know how to evaluate Hagrid's choice. He could only say the book was indeed... very in line with the style of Care of Magical Creatures.
"Fun?" Sirius said with a laugh. "The word 'textbook' never goes with 'fun.'"
"Oh, this one's different," Hagrid retorted. "You should have it too, right? Harry, get it out quick and show Sirius."
"Monster Book of Monsters, Accio!"
With a Summoning Charm, a book flew out from the window of the Great Hall and landed straight in Harry's hand.
It looked downright dead.
"Hey! I've never seen this book look like that!" Hagrid said in surprise. "What did you do to it, Harry?"
"I... I beat it until it stopped biting," Harry said with an odd expression. "As a textbook, it's way too lively."
"Biting?" Sirius's interest was piqued immediately. He took the book from Harry's hand and said, "And this—ah!!!"
Before he could finish, Sirius got bitten—the book had only looked subdued earlier. When Sirius's hand reached what was probably its front, its protruding fang structure snapped open and chomped down on his hand.
"...I can't imagine what shape the students will be in this year after dealing with this book," Lupin said with a subtle expression. "From what I know of Hogwarts students, at least eighty percent of them won't be able to beat this book."
"Eighty percent?" Sirius burst out laughing. "You should be more confident, Remus! Ninety-nine percent! I'd bet only top students like Harry and Hermione could tame this thing! Hagrid, you're a genius! Damn it, Remus! Why didn't you pick a book like this for your class? Then we could hear the students wailing!"
He didn't seem angry at all about being bitten; on the contrary, Sirius was laughing so hard he couldn't stop.
He really could get along with the Weasley twins—the three of them got ridiculously excited whenever they saw something that could be used for pranks or surprises.
"Pick what?" Lupin said, exasperated. "A book that bites off students' heads?"
"Er? Is it that hard?" Hagrid's expression turned troubled. "You just need to stroke them, like this. Watch."
As if it were as simple as putting food in your mouth, Hagrid ran his thick index finger down the book's spine, and the book, which had just been flailing and trying to bite, immediately quieted down, lying peacefully open in his hand.
"Perfect," Sirius said, clapping exaggeratedly. "Aggressive, yet so easily controlled—it's the perfect prank tool."
"But it's a textbook!" Hagrid protested. "Not some prank gadget."
"Same difference," Sirius waved it off. "Trust me, Hagrid, you've got to give those brats a real shock—especially those Slytherin punks! You think they'll respect you? Like they respect Professor McGonagall? The kind where they don't dare mock you?"
That question... Though Hagrid wanted to straighten up and say he was a professor and they wouldn't dare disrespect him, his reason told him Sirius was right—the Slytherin students had always looked down on him as the gamekeeper.
"See? You know it yourself," Sirius snapped his fingers jauntily. "So you've got to use this book to bite them hard!"
"Just a reminder, Sirius, Hogwarts banned corporal punishment decades ago," Lupin said helplessly, watching his friend get increasingly worked up.
"That's why I say Hagrid's a genius! Because this is his textbook! If it's a textbook, how can it be corporal punishment?!" Sirius declared confidently. "Trust me, Hagrid, your current attitude won't cut it—too soft! Those Slytherin brats will climb all over you if they see you like this. You've got to be tough! Show them who's boss, that you're the professor!"
"...Er, is that right?" Hagrid looked confusedly at Harry. "Is this correct?"
"In a way, yes," Harry said after thinking it over. "Your situation is actually similar to mine back then. I became a professor as a second-year student, and it wasn't just Slytherins questioning me—it was students from all houses. So I showed them how capable I was first, and that shut them up."
"Those elemental giants?" Hagrid immediately recalled what had happened in Harry's first class. "Yeah, those elemental giants... they were impressive."