Chapter 626 Lurking

This was an embarrassing moment.

Harry thought later that he should have knocked a little slower, even for just a second. That way they could have sneaked away quietly, or hid in the pumpkin patch and waited for Professor Slughorn to leave. But the fact was that before he could analyze the pros and cons in his mind, his hand had already slammed heavily on Hagrid's wooden door.

The room suddenly became quiet for a moment.

Then they heard Hagrid yell rudely, "Who's outside?" Harry looked behind him. Ron turned his head unnaturally and stared at a bunch of dried mushrooms drying on the wall of the wooden house in a daze. Hermione's eyes were dodging and her feet were rubbing on the ground.

There was no way, and finally Harry could only bite the bullet and say, "It's me, Hagrid. And Ron and Hermione, we came to see you."

The sound of a cup breaking came from the room, accompanied by a scream of "Oh, God!" This made Harry know that Professor Slughorn was as surprised as he was. Hagrid didn't say anything, and seemed to be still angry, or he might simply have not thought of a way to deal with it.

"Hagrid, we need to talk," Harry shouted from outside.

Hagrid opened the door, though he was still angry and unhappy. Ron mentioned the funeral cleverly - Harry was not sure if this was correct, because Hagrid suddenly burst into tears, both for poor Aragog (the giant spider that Hagrid raised since childhood) and because none of Harry and the other two chose his advanced course.

"You little heartless... I treated you to so many rock cakes... Oh, Aragog..."

Hermione tried to comfort Hagrid, who was crying with tears in his eyes. Harry and Ron didn't have time to spare. They tried to help Hagrid up beyond their ability, but they were suffocated by the pressure of two thick arms that were wider than their waists. Harry's glasses tilted to one side, and Ron kept rolling his eyes.

"Professor, do something." Hermione said sternly to Slughorn. The professor seemed to be in some kind of awkward situation from the beginning. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief several times. Afterwards, Harry thought that when Hagrid scolded them, his words were so rich that he could not think of them alone.

It is not difficult to guess how many "beautiful words" Professor Slughorn provided before they came.

Slughorn stood up a little at a loss, took out his wand and gestured randomly, "Oh, oh, right... Wingardium Leviosa!" He raised his wand and pointed at Hagrid. The pressure on Harry and Ron was relieved. They pushed Hagrid, who was a little dizzy, back to the bed and sat on the ground, gasping for breath and rubbing his sore ribs.

Hagrid blew his nose, opened his wet eyes, and stared at Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"I know... you may not have time..." Hagrid grunted twice, his face flushed, "I'll go get the rock cake." Harry and Ron, who had just sat down, jumped up immediately and winked at Professor Slughorn. Slughorn fiddled with his handkerchief, cleared his throat, and said, "Hagrid, we'd better go see Aragog."

"You're right." Hagrid was stunned and stood up.

They came to the pumpkin patch behind the hut, Fang whimpered, and Harry saw a guy as big as a carriage from a distance. The black hard hair turned into soft gray, and the eight blade-like thick legs were strangely twisted. Two terrifying claws pointed to the sky. It was the eight-eyed giant spider Aragog. Harry had forgotten that Professor Happ had cast a spell on this king of the eight-eyed giant spider. He was a little scared when he saw its appearance.

Hagrid staggered forward and knelt on the ground, and ended up crushing a pumpkin. Ron took a lot of effort to hold back his laughter, and his whole body trembled. Harry understood Ron's thoughts. His good friend didn't like spiders at all. So Harry stood up himself, cleared his throat, and thought about reciting a few words of eulogy, but the claw suddenly twitched, and Harry almost jumped up.

"It's not dead?" Harry couldn't help shouting.

"Of course not," Hagrid said hoarsely, glaring at Harry and muttering, "But it will be soon, just these few days... It won't eat." As he said that, he couldn't help crying sadly again, "Thanks to Professor Slughorn, he said he had seen a similar funeral and was willing to help... Can you come then?" He looked at Harry, Ron and Hermione and asked very clearly.

"Of course." Harry swore.

"Great..."

When returning to the castle from Hagrid's hut, Slughorn walked in front with a big belly. He looked back several times, as if he wanted to say something. When they were standing in the hall and about to say goodbye, Slughorn finally turned his head.

"Well, kids," he stammered, fiddling with the last button of his vest, "I guess I owe you an explanation... I shouldn't say bad things about people behind their backs, but... Hagrid is really sad, and I thought, since you're not here..."

"Forget it," said Harry, "we should have visited Hagrid a long time ago, and I really haven't written to you."

Slughorn looked a little embarrassed and waved his hand.

"That was all a joke... But it's okay now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, isn't it?" He became amiable and said with ease: "I'm planning to hold a small party recently and will only invite some students with potential, including Malfoy, the Greengrass sisters, McLaggen, Zabini, Bones, Longbottom, and the charming Melinda Bobin - I don't know if you know her, her family runs a large chain of pharmacies - and, of course, I very much hope that you three can come too."

"Well, I'm not sure if I have time..." Harry racked his brains to think of an excuse. Maybe it would be a good choice to arrange the team training on that day. He didn't want to eat a belly full of sweets and listen to messy celebrity stories all night.

"Don't try to refuse," Slughorn pretended to be stern, "I'm counting on you. If I let the three youngest Merlin medalists run away, how will I be ridiculed!" Then he played with the tip of the walrus beard with his fingers, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I also invited Severus, who taught you for five years? I have read the papers he published in recent years, which are very valuable..."

Harry listened expressionlessly, and he didn't want to go even more.

"... And Felix, the cunning little guy, he also wanted to refuse like you, but I told him that according to his schedule, he couldn't refuse now..." Slughorn patted Harry's shoulder and said earnestly: "I understand that talented people are more proud. But, how to say it?" He played with his two thumbs, "It's always right to make more excellent friends. Maybe one day they will help you... It's settled." He hummed

a little tune and disappeared in the stairs down the hallway.

"What should I do?" Harry stared at the shiny bald head and asked softly after it disappeared.

Hermione didn't say anything, but thought for a moment, "He also invited Susan and Neville?"

"One has an aunt who is the Minister of Magic, and the other is the son of a war hero," Ron said, counting on his fingers, "This is not difficult to understand, is it?" Seeing that Harry's expression was still conflicted, he advised, "Just stay away from Snape when the time comes. No matter how bad it is, it won't be worse than the ghost's birthday party and the upcoming funeral of the Acromantula."

They returned to the dormitory, took out their schoolbags and did their homework.

Harry and Ron had no choice but to accept Hermione's nagging, borrowed a complete set of reference books from her (and Hermione's thesis, of course), and started to do the ancient rune homework. "Fifteen inches." Ron whispered, with several documents in front of him at the same time, his eyes moving non-stop.

He suddenly remembered the "technique" that Luna had mentioned to her in the morning, and couldn't wait to share it with Harry and Hermione. Harry was confused, and Hermione listened with a frown, and pointed out sharply, "This method may only suit her."

"What do you think of me writing this idea into the thesis?" Ron asked with interest, "I think it can make up a lot of words."

Harry's heart was also pounding, he looked at Hermione, but Hermione hid herself behind the book with a stern face and didn't speak.

After a while, she said sullenly, "I think Luna just wanted to express the concepts of 'love' and 'concentration'. If you can't do it like her, you can only study hard and practice hard, and work hard on practice makes perfect."

"...It's the same as not saying anything."

...

The next morning, Rita Skeeter knocked on the door of the Minister of Magic's office triumphantly, and the two women looked at each other across the desk.

"Please take a seat, Skeeter." Ms. Bones said, wearing a monocle and looking up from a thick stack of documents.

"Hello, Minister Bones." Rita Skeeter said with a smile on her face. Bones looked at her scrutinizingly, and after a moment his eyes moved away from the small curls that exploded like a head of Skeeter. She said coldly: "Someone recommended you to me, saying that you have some power in the Muggle newspaper industry."

"Not 'some', Minister." Skeeter said, digging his emerald nails into his crocodile leather handbag and pulling out a work ID from it. "I am a special correspondent for The Sun, with an extraordinary status. There is an independent office for me there, although I can't go there once a month, but," she paused, "that office will only be reserved for me."

Ms. Bones snorted softly, "Given your past criminal record, I have reason to worry that your behavior will have an adverse impact on the Statute of Secrecy."

"Oh." Rita Skeeter was stunned for a moment, fiddling with the zipper of the crocodile leather bag with her long nails, and she said contemptuously: "There is no evidence that-"

"It has not been discovered yet," Ms. Bones corrected.

"The most important responsibility of the Ministry of Magic is to hide everything about magic, and now there is such a person who appears openly in the Muggle society, surrounded by a group of colleagues with a keen sense of smell and good at catching wind and shadows-yes, I have heard of The Sun, you have found an area of ​​expertise."

Skeeter opened his mouth. "Not to mention," Ms. Bones didn't give her a chance to interrupt, and continued, "this person has a weak sense of law and too many criminal records to count. It's just that no one has pursued it. Otherwise, I believe there will be many people who want to see her unlucky."

Skeeter's body shrank back.

"Now, tell me, Skeeter," Ms. Bones stared at her face and asked lightly, "Will such a person suddenly become law-abiding after entering Muggle society?"

Rita Skeeter's expression was stiff. She took a few deep breaths with trembling and said, "I thought you asked me to come here today because-"

"The Ministry of Magic needs you?" Ms. Bones asked coldly.

"No, of course not," Skeeter showed a flattering smile, "I just heard that there is an opportunity to make extra money. If I can serve the Ministry of Magic," she gritted her teeth, "I can do it without a single Galleon."

"The Ministry of Magic doesn't need your reward." Ms. Bones said, pushing a confidentiality agreement over.

Rita Skeeter's face was gloomy, she pulled her glasses down, lowered her head and read the terms and conditions on it repeatedly. Behind her jeweled glasses, her eyes widened little by little. She raised her head suddenly, met the serious and calm face of Ms. Bones, and said in a lost voice: "You want me to stay in Muggle society for a whole year?"

"You can come back on weekends." Ms. Bones said calmly.

The refusal that was on the tip of her tongue stopped, and Skeeter bit her nails and thought for a long time. She gritted her teeth and said: "When things can be made public, I will publish this experience. You can't stop me with any excuse."

"I agree." Ms. Bones nodded.

So Skeeter signed her name on the confidentiality agreement, and the expression on her face softened. Anyway, she seemed to have reserved a best-selling book in advance. She stood up and walked to the door, looking at Ms. Bones.

"I forgot to ask, what extent do I need to do this?"

Ms. Bones said with a straight face, "You don't need to use magic, your identity is the best information channel. What you should be most concerned about is how to avoid being discovered as a wizard in the next year."

"Don't worry about it," Skeeter's smile jumped slightly, which made her expression full of provocation, "Did Mr. Hep also sign a confidentiality agreement?"

"He initiated this matter, and he also recommended you," Ms. Bones raised her eyebrows, "So you can understand that, on the one hand, he trusts you very much, although I don't know where this trust comes from? On the other hand... he doesn't want to make 'any' mistakes."

Rita Skeeter glared at her angrily, turned around and strode away.

"You don't need to remind me."

In the office, Ms. Bones rubbed her forehead. She understood why Fudge tried so hard to draw a line with Dumbledore. As the Minister of Magic, she had to rely on the reputation of the professors in the school to warn Rita Skeeter. A petty person would definitely be dissatisfied.

But the fact is that once she leaves the UK, her reputation may not be louder than 'Felix Hep'.

There was a knock on the door.

Kingsley Shacklebolt pushed the door open and handed Ms. Bones a document.

"Minister, Carlotta Pinkstone will be released from prison next week," he said in a deep voice.

Ms. Bones felt her head hurt even more, "That troublemaker?" There was no doubt that this was a woman who was more difficult to deal with than Rita Skeeter. She thought carefully for a while and said, "Send an Auror to keep an eye on her."

"Secretly follow her, or--" Kingsley asked hesitantly.

"Of course, follow her openly," Ms. Bones gritted her teeth and said, "Let her know the attitude of the Ministry, so that she won't be locked up again after just a few days of being out."