"Whew!"
Lyla let out a long breath, clutching the raw medicinal herbs to her chest. Her luck this morning had been truly terrible.
First, she ran into a large, terrifying crowd of people in Diagon Alley. Then she encountered Mr. Burke, who actually tried to attack her because his shop was sealed during the Ministry raid a month ago.
Although she managed to knock him down, a student saw it.
'It must have been a student, right?' Lyla thought, panicked. 'Why would there be a student wandering around inside a sealed shop? How does the Ministry of Magic do its job?'
She didn't know if the student understood her desperate gesture for silence. She desperately hoped he wouldn't tell the Ministry of Magic about her private duel with someone in Knockturn Alley.
Lyla felt that if the Ministry of Magic found out, she would definitely be invited for an interrogation "chat." And not only that, she might even run into that obnoxiously talkative young Auror, Guster Parkinson.
But all of that was over now. She just needed to carry these fresh Mandrakes back to her tavern... back to her quiet room, where she could finally be alone.
"Ah!"
As Lyla was thinking this, she bumped head-first into a massive wall. Or rather, it wasn't a wall, but an incredibly tall man.
"H-H-H-Hagrid!" Seeing the man's gargantuan appearance, Lyla stumbled back a few steps, her entire body trembling in terror.
'It's Mr. Hagrid, who eats people!'
'Why are you... you in Knockturn Alley... Are you... are you hungry?'
"Huh?" The giant man paused when he saw Lyla, then broke into a wide, cheerful grin. "Miss Hamilton! Good morning!"
"Ah... good... good morning," Lyla pursed her lips and shrank back, clutching her ebony magic wand tightly. If Hagrid was truly hungry, she would suggest he eat the still-unconscious Mr. Burke instead of her.
"What did you buy?" Because Lyla was wearing her mask, Hagrid didn't know that she was actually pale with fear. He smiled and said, "Is it for class?"
"N-No..." Lyla carefully shook her head. "These are for... brewing Wolfsbane... the Wolfsbane Potion."
"Wolfsbane Potion?" Hagrid paused, then looked at Lyla thoughtfully, muttering out loud, "Professor Dumbledore never said Miss Hamilton was a werewolf too..."
"Too... too?" Lyla also paused. Did Hagrid know about Mr. Lupin's furry situation?
"Ah... that's right, I have a friend Lu— I shouldn't be saying these things! I shouldn't be saying these things!" Hagrid seemed to realize something and quickly shook his massive head, but Lyla had still heard his words clearly.
"You know Mr. Lupin?" she asked, a little surprised.
"Ah... that's right," Hagrid scratched his bushy head and said, "Remus and I are friends."
'Mr. Lupin's friend! So... Hagrid at least doesn't eat werewolves, right?'
This should be good news, right?
"I... I understand," Lyla nodded nervously and said, "I... Mr. Lupin and I... are also friends."
"So please... please don't eat... eat me... I probably don't... don't taste good," she pleaded.
Her timid, stuttering statement made Hagrid freeze in his tracks. He shook his head, his somewhat dirty face filled with hesitation and confusion.
Then, he showed a simple, booming laugh. "Hahahahaha! Miss Hamilton is truly humorous!"
"Eek!" His incredibly loud voice made Lyla retreat several steps in fear.
'What did he mean, I'm humorous... Did he mean that him not eating people was a humorous joke?' 'Or that the fact I don't taste good was funny... But no matter which it was, I couldn't laugh!'
Seeing Lyla retreat a few more steps, Hagrid seemed to finally understand what was happening. He quickly raised his hands to placate her. "Miss Hamilton, what I mean is... I don't eat people."
"I-Is that so?" Lyla asked softly. "Really?"
"Even if you do eat... me... I won't tell the Ministry of Magic."
"Hahahahahaha." Hagrid laughed again. "Giants stopped eating people a long time ago."
"And I'm not a pure-blood giant, I'm a half-blood giant." He said, extending his hand and comparing his massive height to Lyla's small frame. "If it were a true pure-blood giant... Miss Hamilton, you'd probably only reach his knee."
'I shouldn't be... that... short, right?'
But a half-blood giant... Lyla looked at Hagrid with a little surprise. It seemed Hagrid was like her. Wait, did Hagrid just say he doesn't eat people?
Lyla's body trembled. Her previously pale face immediately flushed red under her mask, and even her pointed ears turned bright crimson.
She had actually said so many rude things and presumed so much!
"Sorry... Sorry, Mr. Hagrid! I didn't mean... I didn't mean to..."
"If you're angry... then just eat me..."
"Ah! No... I didn't mean that..."
'My clumsy mouth!'
'I can never say anything coherent or good at crucial moments!'
Looking at the stammering, deeply flustered Lyla, Hagrid laughed even louder, his booming voice echoing far down Knockturn Alley.
"Miss Hamilton, you truly are an interesting person." He said, reaching out and gently patting Lyla's shoulder. With each heavy pat, Lyla seemed to shrink a bit further into her cloak.
"Sorry... sorry." Lyla, with bent knees, was still muttering apologies.
"No need for that, Miss Hamilton," Hagrid shook his head. "I heard all about you from Professor Dumbledore."
"My... me?" Lyla paused and looked up at Hagrid. She remembered that on the first day Hagrid met Auror Parkinson, he almost let slip her alias name.
'Dumbledore, did you really tell Mr. Hagrid everything about me?'
'Ah... there wasn't really anything to tell about me, was there... After all, Dumbledore doesn't know about Lord Grindelwald and me...'
"That's right," Hagrid shrugged. "It's about fifty years..."
"Ah! Should this not be discussed here?" He seemed to realize something and looked at the hurried wizards around them in the shady alley.
"Probably... not?" Lyla said a little awkwardly. "There are... a lot of people here..."
"Then let's talk about it at Hogwarts."
'It should be even less appropriate to talk about it at Hogwarts, shouldn't it? If it had to be discussed, it should be in Nurmengard...'
But hearing Hagrid's statement, which sounded like a natural conversation-ending remark, Lyla nodded gently and said, "I... I still have something to do..."
"I'll go first..." Before she could finish her sentence, she quickly turned and left.
Hagrid watched her hurried, tiny figure, almost tripping on the stone steps, and couldn't help but laugh.
It was truly hard to imagine that a girl as small as a student was already over sixty years old. Was this simply what a Veela looked like?
Hagrid shook his head and walked toward Diagon Alley. He was planning to buy something there to feed his spider friends, but he hadn't walked a few steps when he felt someone tug on his massive sleeve.
"Harry?!" Seeing the young boy's appearance, Hagrid's eyes widened. "What are you doing here?"
"This isn't a place for little wizards like you."
"Who... who was that person just now?" Harry seemed to have no interest in explaining his own presence. He asked softly, "The person you were talking to."
"Huh?" Hagrid paused and said, "Are you talking about Miss Hamilton?"
"I don't know his name either... Wait, was that a Miss?" Harry was deeply stunned.
"Yes, Miss Hamilton is a half-blood..." Hagrid coughed awkwardly and corrected himself. "She's the new Professor at Hogwarts."
"Have you met her?"
"I guess so?" Harry thought for a moment and recounted what had just happened outside Borgin and Burkes. When he heard about the sickly green magic, Hagrid's expression immediately turned dark and serious.
"Harry!" He interrupted the boy and said, "Don't tell anyone about this..."
"I'll go ask Miss Hamilton." He pursed his lips and frowned. "That old fool Burke is really crazy..."
"To actually use the Killing Curse..."
"What's the Killing Curse?" Harry immediately asked when he heard the ominous term.
"Nothing!" Hagrid realized he seemed to have let something slip again. He frowned and said protectively, "You should leave here quickly!"
"It's better for little wizards not to know about this!"