Because of the morning's prophecy, aside from Glenn and Hermione who were still eating with gusto, everyone else had poor appetites. After taking a few bites of lunch, they didn't touch their cutlery again and chose to excuse themselves from the Great Hall.
Glenn and Hermione leisurely finished their lunch, then strolled to the seventh floor to begin installing surveillance cameras from top to bottom, reducing some of the workload for their evening tasks.
The lunch break passed quickly. The two put aside their work and headed outside Hogwarts castle.
Yesterday's rain had stopped at some point. The sky was much brighter, but still presented a gloomy pale gray color. The air humidity was rather high, making it feel somewhat oppressive. The soft, damp grass underfoot gave off the unique fragrance of wet grass and earthy smell that comes after rain.
In the distance, the young witches and wizards who had chosen Care of Magical Creatures were walking sparsely in small groups along the downward slope toward the edge of the Forbidden Forest, heading to the area in front of Hagrid's hut. Hagrid, now the Care of Magical Creatures professor, had chosen that location for class.
Well, Hermione was very happy about this, and she wasn't the only young witch or wizard with the same sentiment. Even those unfamiliar with Hagrid were pleased to have class outdoors.
"Hey! Glenn, Hermione! Over here!"
As the two walked down the slope approaching Hagrid's hut, a pale golden head popped up from the crowd, waving at them.
"Looks like that guy is already eager for Care of Magical Creatures class."
Hermione gave a small wave in response, then said to Glenn with a smile.
Glenn was noncommittal. Draco seemed very interested in magical creatures. Previously, some of the letters he'd sent Glenn were about telling him where he'd gone to appreciate various magical creatures during the summer holidays, or about keeping certain magical creatures at his manor.
The two walked up to Draco, where Neville was already waiting.
Draco seemed to want to say something, but at that moment Hagrid emerged from his house. He was still wearing his moleskin overcoat, and his boarhound Fang was happily running circles around him. Just like before, she showed no fear or unease despite being surrounded by unfamiliar young witches and wizards, though she now seemed eager to head somewhere.
Most people had arrived. Hagrid pulled a crumpled piece of parchment from his moleskin coat pocket, stared at it for a while, then counted the young witches and wizards' heads in the air.
"Oh, looks like everyone's here. Let's go then!"
"Come on, quickly now! I've prepared something good to treat you today—it's classroom content I've been thinking about for ages. I'm sure you'll like it. It'll be a wonderful class!"
"Alright then, everyone follow my lead!"
Hagrid called for everyone to follow him, then the big man turned and headed toward the Forbidden Forest.
This scared the young witches and wizards quite a bit. After all, the Forbidden Forest was very dangerous.
Could it be that the Care of Magical Creatures classroom was actually inside the Forbidden Forest?!
...Um, is it too late to drop the course now?
"It shouldn't be... right?"
"Although Hagrid's nerves are indeed quite thick, he wouldn't choose the classroom location inside the Forbidden Forest, would he?"
Hermione expressed doubt. That possibility was really too small—Hagrid should also understand the danger level of doing that.
"You don't know about this. This path doesn't lead to the Forbidden Forest."
Draco, walking ahead of several people, wagged his index finger with a smug expression.
"The end of this path is an open space surrounded by fence railings that Hagrid specially established at the edge of the Forbidden Forest for classes. Don't worry, it's very safe there."
"He asked Hagrid in advance."
Neville, walking at his side-rear, added this explanation.
Chatting and joking, after a five-minute walk, the young witches and wizards followed Hagrid to the outside of a place resembling an enclosure.
Indeed, just as Draco had said, it was an open space with nothing there.
Hagrid turned around, cupped his hands to his mouth, and said loudly:
"Everyone come to the fence here!"
The young witches and wizards obediently moved closer, forming a semicircle with Hagrid in the center.
"Oh, that's right—everyone can see, right?"
"We—can—see—"
Because the relationship between Gryffindor and Slytherin houses had improved considerably, though it still couldn't be called friendly, at least they wouldn't inexplicably start fighting anymore. Most importantly, Draco had matured quite a bit and wouldn't randomly start verbal battles everywhere. So without conflicts occurring, the atmosphere between the two houses looked quite good. When Hagrid called out like this, the young witches and wizards obediently responded together.
"Uh, are we elementary school students? Why do we have to shout along..."
Hermione felt a little embarrassed after shouting along, turned her head slightly, and complained like this.
The young witches' and wizards' cooperative response greatly boosted Hagrid's confidence. If he'd been a bit worried before, now he was full of confidence in the curriculum he'd arranged.
"Very good. Before we start class, the first thing you need to do is open your books!"
Ah, this...
Hearing this, the young witches and wizards looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
The reason was that the Care of Magical Creatures textbook was the biting Monster Book of Monsters!
Draco nearby looked eager to try, wearing a confident smile on his face. He appeared to have already mastered the method of controlling the Monster Book.
But he didn't seem to intend to take out the Monster Book of Monsters, seemingly waiting for something.
However, Glenn had no concerns. After Hagrid gave the instruction, he took out the Monster Book of Monsters that was confined within an alchemically-made book cover from his bag, then released the alchemy.
The Monster Book only felt the restraints around its body loosen, and that it could open its mouth again, so it launched itself like a projectile, instantly biting toward Glenn's neck.
Glenn expressionlessly flipped a gleaming dagger from his sleeve. Before the Monster Book could open its big mouth, he pierced through the Monster Book's body with the sharp blade.
Without making even a sound, the Monster Book of Monsters shuddered once, then stopped moving. Its life force was completely gone—the magical semi-creature had become a magical tool.
The movement was very discreet. Except for Hermione beside Glenn and Draco and a few others, no one noticed what Glenn had done.
Ah, of course, there was one more person who saw Glenn's action.
That was Hagrid.
Look, the big man's eye corners were twitching non-stop right now.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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