Harry held the Daily Prophet that Ron had snatched from Malfoy, reading the article at lightning speed. The more he read, the more his expression resembled Viktor Krum's—growing increasingly grim.
Rita Skeeter again! What she wielded wasn't a quill at all, but a poison pen!
The article was full of lies. First, it claimed Hagrid had been expelled in his third year for opening the Chamber of Secrets and releasing a monster, and that Dumbledore had pitied him enough to give him the gamekeeper job.
Then it said Hagrid had used mysterious powers to secure the Care of Magical Creatures teaching position, that he used dangerous animals to frighten students in class, and that he bribed injured children with Puffskeins.
These outrageous claims were bad enough, but the most malicious part of the article was how it exposed Hagrid's background completely. It called him a half-giant whose mother was the brutal, bloodthirsty Fridwulfa.
It devoted half a page to insinuating that he had inherited a giant's cruel nature, and even questioned whether Dumbledore keeping him to teach students was gambling with children's safety.
The article didn't forget to take a jab at Lupin either, nonsensically claiming he had cross-dressed to avoid the Defense Against the Dark Arts curse, every line was dripping with acidic mockery.
"This is outrageous!" Harry clenched the newspaper so tightly his knuckles turned white.
"Absolutely outrageous! How could that old cow write this? How dare she?"
He hadn't noticed that in his agitation, not only had he sworn, but his voice was trembling.
As Harry's close friend, Ron was equally furious. He glared sideways at Malfoy. "That 'student who wishes to remain anonymous'—that was you, wasn't it, Malfoy?"
Malfoy shrank back under his glare and carefully glanced at Sherlock. Seeing that Sherlock remained silent, he gathered the courage to retort, "Weasley, don't make accusations without evidence. What proof do you have that I said those things?"
"Who else but you would spread such lies!"
"Still no evidence, is there? As a friend of the great detective Holmes, you shouldn't embarrass him!"
"Malfoy, you..."
"Besides, what that 'student' said wasn't wrong at all. People have indeed been injured in Care of Magical Creatures class."
As he spoke, he deliberately let his gaze drift toward Dean, his eyes unable to hide his smugness. Everyone knew that Dean had been burned on the arm by Blast-Ended Skrewt sparks last time.
Though it was only a shallow scar, Malfoy's mention of it now made it seem like ironclad proof of Hagrid's teaching incompetence.
"As for the half-giant thing..." Malfoy paused here, a mocking smile curling his lips as he lowered his voice deliberately. "Weasley, I'd advise you to think—if your parents knew their son was taking classes with a giant, would they approve? A half-giant teacher is only marginally better than a werewolf teacher, right?"
Ron's face flushed bright red, trembling with rage. The bastard had actually hit the mark!
Hogwarts really did have a werewolf teacher—Professor Lupin! But he couldn't say that out loud. He could only clench his fists and glare at Malfoy, ready to curse. "Malfoy, I'll—"
"Are you paying attention?" Professor Grubbly-Plank's voice reached the boys, interrupting Ron's impending profanity.
At that moment, all the girls were gathered around the unicorn, stroking it. Professor Grubbly-Plank was listing the unicorn's many magical properties. Because the boys couldn't come closer, she was projecting her voice loudly so they could hear as well.
But when she noticed the situation among the boys, she frowned.
Ron had no choice but to forcibly cut off his spell-casting and glare at Malfoy with indignant eyes.
Unlike Ron, Harry's anger was directed primarily at Rita Skeeter, not Draco Malfoy. He was so furious he couldn't speak, and the Daily Prophet article trembled in his hands.
After class, the young lions walked back to the castle together. The girls were all discussing the lesson enthusiastically. Parvati Patil couldn't help saying, "I really wish this teacher would stay! This is what Care of Magical Creatures should be like... respectable creatures like unicorns, not monstrosities like Blast-Ended Skrewts."
As soon as she finished, the surrounding girls immediately agreed. "Yes, exactly! The unicorn's coat was so soft to touch!"
"Compared to it, Blast-Ended Skrewts are just garbage!"
"Professor Grubbly-Plank explained things so clearly—much more interesting than Hagrid!"
"But what about Hagrid?" Harry's voice suddenly rang out.
His suppressed anger was like a stone thrown into still water—the girls' chatter stopped instantly, and all eyes focused on him.
Lavender Brown looked startled and said quietly, "It doesn't really matter, does it? Even if he doesn't teach this class, Hagrid is still the gamekeeper and keeper of keys..."
Halfway through, she caught sight of Ron's glare. His eyes looked ready to devour her, so she quickly swallowed her words and lowered her head, not daring to make another sound.
She thought to herself that it wasn't because she cared about Ron's opinion, but because Harry was a Triwizard champion, and she should show him some respect.
When everyone entered the Great Hall, Hermione hurried in. As soon as she saw Sherlock and Harry, she set her books on the table, her eyes bright.
"Today's class was so interesting! Half the unicorn knowledge Professor Grubbly-Plank taught wasn't even in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them! I stayed behind to ask her lots of questions, and she even recommended a book called Studies in Unicorn Behavior!"
She chattered away for quite a while before noticing Harry and Ron's grim expressions. Her tone faltered as she asked, "What were you arguing about in class earlier? I saw Sherlock take you to find Malfoy—did he cause trouble for you again?"
"It's not him, it's that woman!" Harry had been wanting to interrupt, but Hermione's words came like rapid-fire, giving him no chance to speak.
Now that Hermione finally asked, he immediately thrust the crumpled newspaper under her nose.
Hermione took the paper and read quickly, her initially smiling face gradually darkening. By the end, her mouth formed an "O" shape and her eyes widened. "How did Rita Skeeter know all this? Don't tell me Hagrid told her himself?"
"Very likely." Ron touched his nose, his tone helpless. "You know Hagrid can never keep a secret. Someone just has to chat with him and he spills everything."
Harry's brow furrowed into a knot, his mouth turning down. "But he can't just tell everyone the truth, can he? Doesn't he know what kind of person Rita Skeeter is?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Expecting Hagrid to keep secrets is like expecting Ron to keep his mouth shut."
"Hey—" Ron protested indignantly.
Hermione ignored him and continued, "But this isn't entirely Hagrid's fault. Rita Skeeter is the real culprit! She doesn't care about anything as long as she gets a story—first Harry and Sherlock, now Hagrid..."
"That's not right." Sherlock suddenly spoke, immediately drawing his three friends' attention.
This was Sherlock Holmes. In most situations, he remained silent, easily forgotten. But once he spoke, he commanded everyone's attention.
"What's not right? Do you mean Rita Skeeter isn't to blame?" Hermione asked, puzzled.
"No, I mean Hagrid didn't tell her these things."
"Not Hagrid?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione asked in unison, their eyes full of surprise.
"If not Hagrid, then who?" Harry pressed.
Ron touched his nose and speculated, "Could Madame Maxime have let something slip?"
"Impossible!" Hermione shook her head repeatedly. "Madame Maxime is very tight-lipped. From her reaction that night when she spoke with Hagrid, she definitely wouldn't want this information public."
"That's exactly what I wanted to ask you." Sherlock looked at Hermione. "When you and Gemma overheard Hagrid and Madame Maxime discussing this, were there other people nearby?"
"Right!" Harry's eyes lit up. "Maybe Rita Skeeter was in the garden that night and secretly heard their conversation!"
"Impossible!" Hermione immediately objected. When she mentioned the "garden," her cheeks suddenly flushed and her voice lowered. "There were quite a few couples in the garden, hiding in the small grove talking. But I specifically checked—they were far away from Hagrid and Madame Maxime. There's no way they could have heard."
"If that's the case, things are just as I thought." Sherlock's fingers paused, a knowing look flashing in his eyes. "Last time I spoke privately with Rita Skeeter, I gathered some information. Now I just need one crucial piece of evidence."
"What evidence?" Harry leaned in closer, his eyes full of anticipation.
"Once I find this evidence, I can shut her up permanently so she can never write such nonsense again."
"Don't—!" Harry jumped to his feet, the chair legs scraping harshly against the floor.
"Don't do anything foolish! She's not worth it!"
His action drew looks from nearby people. Ron quickly pulled Harry back down. "Hey, mate, what are you doing? Sit down!"
Harry realized he'd overreacted, but Sherlock's words had reminded him of what Sirius had once said. He had advised Sirius not to do anything rash back then, and he didn't want his best friend to break the law over such a woman.
"Right, Sherlock, don't stoop to her level." Hermione also urged, unconsciously tugging at his sleeve. "She's just a clown. If we ignore her, she'll lose interest on her own."
Ron nodded. "Exactly. Let her write whatever she wants. We just won't read it—no need to take her seriously."
"What are you thinking?" Sherlock looked at them with an odd expression, a faint smile playing at his lips. "You don't actually think I'm going to eliminate her, do you?"
"Cough... cough cough..." All three began coughing simultaneously, their eyes somewhat evasive.
For that brief moment, they really had thought that. After all, Sherlock had said things like "When the law cannot bring justice, private revenge becomes legitimate and even noble from that moment on."
It fit this situation perfectly.
But since Sherlock had said otherwise, their anxious hearts settled. They all picked up their knives and forks, though the roasted potatoes on their plates had lost their usual appeal.
Over the following week, Rubeus Hagrid remained out of sight. Care of Magical Creatures continued to be taught by the stern Professor Grubbly-Plank, who arrived ten minutes early to each class and explained concepts so clearly that even the most mischievous students didn't dare lose focus.
Usually, Hagrid's figure could be seen at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, either carrying sacks to feed magical creatures or walking Fang. But now, the forest edge stood empty, with only the cold wind swirling fallen leaves.
More significantly, even at mealtimes, Hagrid's seat at the staff table remained vacant.
During this period, Harry, worried about Hagrid, had taken Ron to look for him at his hut, wanting to convince him to return to teaching. He hadn't asked Hermione along because his initial plan was to tell Hagrid that everyone wanted him back.
But Hermione had suggested that having Professor Grubbly-Plank occasionally teach Care of Magical Creatures was a nice change of pace. Harry's angry look had frightened her into quickly claiming she wanted Hagrid back.
But even so, Harry could tell Hermione wasn't being entirely sincere, which is why he hadn't invited her when going to find Hagrid.
As for Sherlock, he never had much empathy. It would be perfectly normal for him to say Professor Grubbly-Plank was better suited to teach Care of Magical Creatures than Hagrid.
So ultimately, just Harry and Ron had gone to Hagrid's hut. Unfortunately, though they nearly knocked the door off its hinges, they could only hear Fang's low barking. Hagrid never appeared.
This couldn't help but dampen Harry's mood, which had recently improved thanks to the Horcrux lead. One main reason was that nearly everyone agreed Professor Grubbly-Plank was better suited to teach Care of Magical Creatures than Hagrid.
Though Hermione avoided mentioning it in front of him, Harry knew that when she was alone with Sherlock, she brought it up without hesitation.
In fact, even Harry himself knew everyone's view wasn't wrong. Ever since Sherlock stopped offering suggestions, Care of Magical Creatures had become rather uninteresting under Hagrid's teaching, especially with those inexplicable Blast-Ended Skrewts this year...
But he just couldn't get past it himself.
This continued until mid-January, when it was time to visit Hogsmeade village again.
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