Chapter 138. Forbidden Forest. Part 1. Entry.
Before entering the forest, Severus decided to visit the half-giant who served as the school gamekeeper. Hagrid knew the Forbidden Forest like the back of his hand. Finding him was easy enough. His small hut stood to the east, not far from the main gates.
The man stood just over three meters tall, with long black hair falling to his shoulders and a beard that covered most of his face. He wore simple leather boots, old trousers, and a sturdy shirt. He was tending a small vegetable patch at the moment, fussing over his pumpkins and humming softly to himself.
One look told Severus everything he needed to know: the man was kind and thoroughly naive. It was there in his eyes, in the tenderness with which he worked the soil. No wonder Tom had chosen to pin Myrtle's death on him. Besides being half-giant, half-human, which pure-blood aristocrats on the Board of Governors and in the Ministry's courts considered even worse than being Muggle-born, he had also kept an Acromantula as a pet. An ideal scapegoat. Someone who wouldn't even defend himself if pushed hard enough.
Severus had come for one reason: to view Hagrid's memories. Reading about the Forbidden Forest in books was one thing. Obtaining the memories of someone who had walked through it countless times and knew nearly every creature within it was something else entirely.
He approached the half-giant, invisible under his cloak and shielded by a subtle misdirection charm. He reached out and touched the man's head. Hagrid shuddered, as though something had brushed his scalp. Then his eyes rolled back, and he crashed to the ground, his head punching clean through one of his pumpkins.
Severus crouched on the giant's chest and began to sift through his memories.
He had no wish to harm Hagrid. He was as careful as he could be. Men like this were rare among wizards, and oddly appealing for it.
Hagrid's mind, due to his giant blood, was far simpler than that of an ordinary person. Giants were not known for their intellect. Finding what Severus needed took only ten minutes. Now he knew the forest and most of its inhabitants as well as Hagrid himself did. But even this man had never ventured into its deepest parts. He understood the danger. That was exactly where Severus was headed. First, though, he had someone else to visit.
He didn't leave Hagrid lying on the ground. He levitated him, gently wiped the last few minutes from his memory, and settled him in the rocking chair beside the hut's entrance. Then he set off toward the forest.
"I think he's a good person." Nagini watched the half-giant thoughtfully. Loud snores were already rising from him.
"A naive fool. But men like that are the most loyal. Dumbledore's lucky to have him."
"Could we bring him over to our side? He might be useful for looking after the animals."
"It won't work. You can't bribe someone like him. If the old man ever kicks the bucket, perhaps. But now? Useless." Severus had considered it, after glimpsing Hagrid's memories. The man had vast experience caring for all manner of magical creatures. But such simple souls were impossible to sway, and Severus had no particular desire to try. He could simply copy the half-giant's memories into a memory orb and transfer them to a house-elf. The elf would manage just as well, perhaps even better.
"All right. But you still haven't told me your plans. What are we doing going in there?" Nagini tilted her head.
"Haven't I?"
"You spent the whole week studying the forest and worked on the ritual every night. You barely said a word to me." A note of hurt entered her voice.
"Sorry. You know how I get when something gets my full attention." He smiled apologetically and stroked her head. He looked up at the massive trees, their canopy almost entirely concealing what lay beyond the forest's edge. "My main goal is to map the forest, in case of emergencies like the Magic Jungles. And to find the White Lotus. I should have told you sooner."
"The Elixir of Life component. Yes."
"Isn't mine better?"
Better, yes. But it's too potent. Some potions require exactly what they produce." He poked her muzzle and smiled. She hissed in annoyance as he finally crossed the line and stepped into the forest.
The trees grew close together, creating a perpetual twilight. Outside it was still evening and reasonably light. Inside, it was dark and close. Small patches of light appeared here and there, but they were few and far between.
Almost immediately he spotted a fox darting in the distance. Not surprising. According to Hagrid's memories, ordinary beasts lived in the forest alongside magical creatures. They simply never ventured beyond the outskirts, for fear of being taken by Acromantulas or other magical predators.
The spiders, like most powerful magical creatures, lived deep in the thicket and rarely left their territory. Their colony was no more than thirty years old. The Acromantula that petrified Myrtle had escaped into the Forbidden Forest on the very day Tom came to accuse Hagrid of the killings. It became proof of the gamekeeper's guilt. Hagrid, as its owner, was convicted. His wand was snapped, his magic forbidden. He was sent to Azkaban. The spider had lived in the forest all that time, waiting for its master to return.
Through his influence, Dumbledore was one of Britain's most powerful wizards, the only one capable of fighting Grindelwald on equal terms. A proper investigation would have been well within his reach, and proving his student's innocence would have been easy enough. But that might have compromised his standing in the Wizengamot, which he was only just beginning to build. So he chose not to interfere. Eventually, he pulled Hagrid out of Azkaban and gave him a job. It looked noble, perfectly befitting the image of a respected Light wizard. Severus suspected otherwise. He had deliberately waited, letting Hagrid suffer, in order to secure absolute loyalty. Judging by everything he had seen, the suspicion was well founded.
It wasn't the most upstanding of deeds, but Severus had to admit it was beautifully executed. Maximum return on a student's suffering. The titles of Utter Light Bastard and Best Headmaster in Britain belonged to Dumbledore without question.
Hagrid was a different matter, though. Allowing a dangerous creature with a taste for human flesh to settle in the forest, then finding it a mate so it could establish a colony, was not something even an innocent fool could be easily forgiven for. Two fine specimens, the pair of them. Severus felt no particular urge to recruit either.
He moved deeper, paying little attention to the wildlife scurrying past. Hagrid's memories had given him a thorough grounding in every creature he encountered. There was one incident: an ordinary wolf attacked. It didn't even require magic. A single blow was enough to knock it out.
The farther he went, the rarer ordinary animals became, replaced by magical ones. Most were nonaggressive. The predators generally began hunting late at night, and there were still five hours to go until then.
Apparently, one of them had decided to change its schedule. As Severus crested a small hill, a nearly two-meter-long boar with enormous tusks and a spiked back came charging toward him.
A Spiked Boar. They lived closer to the center. What was it doing on the outskirts? He noticed panic mixed with fury in its eyes. He narrowed his eyes, sharpening his perception, and immediately sensed another magical source, far larger than the boar's.
He didn't have to wait long. Over the hill came a creature nearly three meters tall, something between a bear and an armadillo, and it, too, was charging.
"Well, I was just looking for transport." He glanced from the furred, spiked back to the armored one. The choice was obvious. He bared his teeth and walked towards the charging monsters.
The boar, seeing the human advance rather than flee, felt a surge of relief. It could use him as a distraction and lose its pursuer in the confusion. How wrong it was. It would realize its mistake in a matter of seconds.
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