“Boom boom boom…”

“Bang, bang, bang…”

Since morning, the students of Hogwarts could hear sounds coming from the direction of the Forbidden Forest from time to time.

Driven by curiosity, they couldn't help but stick their heads out of the window and look in the direction where the sound came from.

"Hagrid is planning to build a new house?" Ron asked during the Transfiguration class, rubbing his ear.

The sound was so loud that it hurt his ears even from a distance.

"Maybe." Harry also looked out the window curiously.

Next to Hagrid's cabin, a larger wooden cabin suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and the sound came from there.

"Why can't they use magic?" Ron muttered. "I can't even concentrate on the class."

"Do you think Professor McGonagall will believe this excuse?" Hermione on the other side said expressionlessly, and by the way, she lowered her head and glanced at the pot of cactus with holes all over it on Ron's desk.

Their class was about transformation spells, which required them to swap arms and cacti, or fingers if that didn't work.

The content was not difficult, and Hermione succeeded after only two attempts, but Ron worked hard for a whole class and only broke the cactus pot twice.

Simo next door was covered in mud and didn't want to sit next to him.

But he wasn't much better off. His cactus exploded three times, and his masterpiece could be seen everywhere in the classroom... those thorns that were blown off by the explosions.

Professor McGonagall didn't even want to look over here, and Hermione felt that she probably wouldn't use cactus as a teaching aid anymore.

Fortunately, the bell for the end of get out of class rang not long after.

Harry and Ron rushed out of the classroom immediately and ran straight towards the Forbidden Forest.

"Hagrid, what are you doing?" The voice came before the person arrived.

The door of the new wooden house was opened from the inside and Hagrid poked out a furry head.

Harry, who was running in the front, was startled and drew his wand reflexively.

"Hagrid, have you been attacked?"

The main reason was that Hagrid looked too scary. He was covered in dust and dirt, like a mandrake root just pulled out of the soil, with several unhealed wounds visible on his face.

"Attack? Oh no, of course not," said Hagrid. "We were just running a little test, and it might have been a little loud. Sorry if I didn't disturb you."

As he spoke, there was still an lingering excitement in his eyes.

"Test?" Harry asked in confusion, "Test what? Magic?"

"Wait, Hagrid." Hermione, who followed, noticed another key word, "You just said...we? Is there anyone else here besides you?"

"It's me."

Kyle came out of the house.

He looked similar to Hagrid, except he had no wounds and was also dirty.

"Kyle?"

"When did you come?"

“Why are you here!?”

The three of them spoke almost at the same time. Although their words were different, they all expressed surprise at Kyle's sudden appearance.

"Watch the way you speak."

Before Kyle could say anything, Hagrid couldn't help but remind him, "Soon Kyle will be your professor. You should show him some respect."

"Who are you talking about?"

"professor?"

"Kyle is a professor?"

They all spoke at the same time, and it was obvious that Hagrid's news had shocked them greatly.

How come a classmate suddenly became a professor?

"Don't say that, Hagrid. Things haven't been finalized yet." Kyle waved his hand nonchalantly. "We are still friends now. Just get along normally."

"Would you like to come in and take a look?" Kyle then said to them, "I might live here for a while, so I bought myself a house."

Harry and the other two walked into the house in a daze. At this time, they were still immersed in the news and hadn't reacted yet.

"Kyle, are you really going to be a professor?" Hermione couldn't help asking.

"Principal McGonagall did mention it to me," Kyle said, "but it hasn't been finalized yet, so it's just a possibility at the moment."

"But didn't you just graduate?" Ron muttered, "Can you become a professor?"

"I don't know either," Kyle said, "but Headmaster McGonagall and Director Dumbledore both think it's okay."

"Dumbledore... school director?" Harry felt his head buzzing. "Isn't he the vice-headmaster? When did he become a school director?"

The amount of information was too much for his brain to process.

"Oh, it happened recently too." Kyle explained.

After a long while, the three of them gradually accepted the news they got from Kyle and began to look around.

Unlike the furniture next door which appears simple but is actually extremely luxurious, the furniture here looks much more normal. The tables, chairs, benches and other items are all standard styles, exactly the same as those in the public lounge.

Even the bed with curtains looked like it had been dragged from some dormitory.

It was just average, nothing new, and the three of them soon lost interest.

While they were visiting, Kyle was chatting with Hagrid in the corner.

"How does it feel?"

"It's amazing, it's so beautiful and so alive, it's just perfect."

"So in your opinion, a bad temper equals being energetic?" Kyle shook his head. "You'd better be careful. Just now, it almost made a hole in you with its tail."

"It doesn't matter. I don't care." Hagrid patted his chest. "As long as I can see it every day, I can open two."

"Forget it. I don't want to take the Care of Magical Creatures class for you."

The two of them spoke incoherently, leaving Harry and the others confused.

But at this time, Hermione suddenly discovered that there was a door on the opposite wall.

"What's that place?" she asked, pointing to the door.

"Oh, the garden," Kyle blurted out.

"Garden?" Ron said incredulously. "You made yourself a garden?"

"So what?" Kyle said, "Living near the Forbidden Forest is all about having more space. What's wrong with having a garden for yourself?"

Ron choked.

Since the place was big enough, I built myself a garden. When I think about it, it makes sense.

"Can we go check it out?"

"No," Kyle said.

"Thanks... ah? What did you say?"

"No, you can't go." Kyle said again: "The garden is not finished yet. It's a mess and there's nothing to see. Come back after it's finished."

The three little wizards who were eager to try all showed disappointed expressions.

Just seeing them like this, Hagrid's sympathy suddenly rose.

"It's okay, Kyle, I'm just taking a look." He whispered, "There's nothing there anyway."

Although Hagrid tried to lower his voice, everyone in the room still heard it, and they all looked at Kyle with expectant eyes.

They had sensed it just now. There was something wrong with Hagrid today. Apart from the wounds on his body that appeared out of nowhere, he was also a little too excited, and his eyes were emitting a light as bright as a light bulb all the time.

From what Harry knew of Hagrid, he only made that expression when he saw wild beasts with fangs and claws.

For example, the three-headed dog in the first grade, or the dragon in the Triwizard Tournament.

But this house is too ordinary, and there is no wild beast, not even a vixen, so the problem must be in the so-called back garden.

The more Harry thought about it, the more curious he became, and he couldn't help but glance at the door.

"That's... okay."

Seeing Hagrid say this, Kyle thought about it and agreed.

There really isn't anything there now.

Besides, Harry and his friends were not the kind of people who would settle down quietly. They were notoriously curious. If he continued to refuse, he might come over at night wearing an invisibility cloak.

Let them take a look.

Kyle reached out and opened the door, and several people walked in impatiently.

"oh!"

As soon as they saw the scene at the door, the three of them opened their mouths in surprise.

Harry curled his lips, looked at Kyle who was following him and asked, "Is this the garden you mentioned?"

"Yeah." Kyle nodded.

"Are you serious?"

"Why, is there a problem?"

Harry fell silent.

This is clearly the Forbidden Forest. If you turn around, you can even see Hagrid's wooden house. Kyle simply opened a back door in the house that leads directly to the Forbidden Forest.

Treat the entire forbidden forest as a garden?

Really...

Harry felt like he was being fooled, and in just a moment, he lost interest.

It's just the Forbidden Forest. They've been there before. Is there any need to be so mysterious? Instead, Hermione narrowed her eyes and stared at a tree not far away.

It's not uncommon to have trees in the Forbidden Forest, but the tree is broken, which is a bit strange. What's even stranger is the three huge gaps on it.

The gaps were very neat, as if they had been made by some creature.

But what creature can break a tree?

Although the trees on the edge of the forbidden forest are not very thick and are not as thick as those deep in the forbidden forest, they are still scary enough.

No, not just one, but five.

Hermione looked around and saw with the naked eye that there were five trees lying on the ground in a twisted state. Three of them had the same gap on them, and the remaining two had uneven broken parts, as if they had been hit.

Wait, it was broken...

"Hagrid." Hermione frowned. "You didn't bring Grawp here."

"Um... no..." Hagrid was at a loss, hesitating, "I didn't bring him."

Grawp is Hagrid's younger brother, a stunted, pure-blooded giant who is only sixteen feet tall.

Hagrid brought him back from a tribe of giants, raised him in the Forbidden Forest, and took good care of him while also teaching him wizarding etiquette and rules.

Well, although Grawp's height is a little stunted, his brain perfectly meets the standards of a giant.

Hagrid wanted him to understand the complex rules and etiquette of wizards and normal humans, which was really difficult for the giant.

But Hagrid's actions only made Hermione more determined.

These trees must have been broken by Grawp. Only a giant could have such strength.

"Listen to me, Hagrid," she said patiently. "I know Grawp is a sensible boy, but the others don't know that. They are afraid of giants. If they see Grawp, there will be chaos."

"I..." Hagrid wanted to explain, but after hesitating for a moment he shut his mouth and said, "I've been teaching Grawp to speak English, and he's almost learned it."

Harry and Ron immediately looked skeptical... it was like hearing a five-legged monster learning to knit, it was incredible.

Just seeing Hagrid's extremely conflicted look, Harry decided to come out and smooth things over.

"Okay, Hermione, I think Hagrid knows what to do. We should go back to the castle."

"Yeah." Hagrid also chimed in, "It's almost time for lunch, you guys should go back."

The three of them returned the same way they came and left the new wooden house. As soon as they came outside, the door behind them was slammed shut.

"Something's wrong." Ron muttered, "Do you feel anything strange?"

"Of course it's strange," said Hermione. "Hagrid would never bring Grawp to the edge of the Forbidden Forest."

"That's not it." Ron shook his head. "I can't tell what's wrong, but it just feels different from usual."

"Hagrid kicked us out." Harry frowned.

"Yes, that's right, that's it." Ron slapped his thigh and finally understood.

When they came before, Hagrid would always enthusiastically invite us to stay for dinner. Although the food he cooked was a bit... well, it's hard to describe, he was always very enthusiastic.

But this time, Hagrid actually took the initiative to suggest that they should go back to the castle.

"Maybe he's afraid Hermione will continue talking." Harry said uncertainly.

He knew only too well how annoying Hermione could be when she got serious.

Anyway, no matter what, Hagrid would be fine, and there was no way a Death Eater could disguise himself as a half-giant.

"Forget it, let's go back first." Harry said, "Tomorrow is the weekend, we have plenty of time, we can just come back again."

The remaining two nodded and agreed.

Ron didn't care, but Hermione had no other choice.

After all, she didn't see Grawp nearby, so everything was just speculation. She could come early tomorrow and test Hagrid, and maybe he would let the secret slip.

They have used this method more than once and it worked every time.

The three of them began to return the same way.

Hermione turned her head and glanced at the Forbidden Forest, trying to see if there were any signs of giants nearby.

But this turn made her stand still.

"Hermione?" Harry asked in confusion, "What's wrong with you?"

"Hurry up," Ron urged, "after lunch time, we'll just have dry bread."

"Those trees...don't you think they're odd?" said Hermione.

"Trees?" Ron looked up. "Isn't it normal for the Forbidden Forest to have trees? Have you become stupid from reading so much?"

"Reading won't make you stupid, but you definitely will." Hermione glared at him irritably, "Didn't you notice? All the trees we saw were intact."

After she reminded him of this, Harry also realized that something was wrong.

When they were in the 'garden' before, there were a few broken trees, but now, all the trees around the cabin were intact, with no signs of breakage at all.

"So what? Maybe Kyle fixed it." Ron said nonchalantly, "It's not a difficult task for him."

"Fixed... did you hear the noise?" Hermione became even more annoyed, "It's only been about a minute since we came out. Even Professor Dumbledore can't restore the five trees to their original state in such a short time.

"And we were so close, did you hear the branches shaking?"

"No." Harry shook his head, realizing what Hermione meant.

Perhaps it was possible for Kyle to restore the five trees to their original state in a short period of time, but it would not be possible to do it so quietly. They would definitely hear the sound of branches and leaves shaking during the process.

But from just now until now, the surroundings have been very quiet, without even the sound of insects.

Oh, and there is also the sound of insects.

There were a lot of bugs living on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and every time they came to find Hagrid, they could hear the calls of beetles and the flapping of fairies' wings.

But this time there was no sound at all. It was so quiet that it was a little eerie, as if all the creatures around had disappeared.

"Let's go and take a look!" Hermione made a prompt decision and turned around and walked back.

Harry followed closely behind.

Ron glanced regretfully in the direction of the castle hall, sighed, and followed.

Hermione didn't knock on the door, but went straight to the back of the cabin and her eyes widened suddenly.

There was no door or anything behind the cabin.

But they clearly entered the Forbidden Forest from that direction just now, so how could the door disappear?

Unconvinced, Hermione continued walking forward, wanting to get a closer look.

However, five minutes passed, and there was still a certain distance between her and the wooden house. No matter how she walked, ran, or changed directions, she could not get close to the wooden house.

If Hermione hadn't just come out from inside, she would have thought she saw a mirage.

"Impossible... This is impossible..." Hermione murmured.

Meanwhile, in the garden of the cabin.

Hagrid looked at the three people milling around, "It looks like they've discovered your arrangement."

"That's normal." Kyle waved his wand and reconnected the broken trees. "Harry and Ron will definitely not notice these details, but Hermione may not. She is always very careful."

"Have you thought of an explanation?"

"Why should I explain?" Kyle said, "I'm going to be a professor soon, why should I explain to three students? If you hadn't spoken for them just now, I wouldn't have let them in."

"… Sorry," said Hagrid.

"It's okay." Kyle waved his hand. "If I'm right, they will come knocking on the door soon..."

“Bang, bang, bang!”

"Just look at it." Kyle spread his hands.

"Do you want to open it?"

"No, just pretend I didn't hear you." Kyle said to himself, "The preliminary test of the garden has not been completed yet. Do you want to continue? Or should we wait until after lunch?"

Hearing Kyle's words, Hagrid immediately forgot about Harry and rubbed his hands vigorously.

"Need I say more? Of course I'll continue!"

"Then be careful and don't come near again."

"Don't worry, don't worry!"

Under Hagrid's expectant gaze, Kyle opened the box.

A black fire dragon suddenly jumped out, roared and swung its tail at Kyle.

Kyle had expected this to happen and calmly put up a shield.

The shield and the dragon's tail collided with each other, but did not move at all.

Kyle sneered and raised his middle finger to the Hungarian Horntail.

That’s it?

The Hungarian Horntail exploded and swung its tail again.

On the wall of the wooden house, a string of golden magic symbols lit up.

This time Kyle didn't move, but the Hungarian Horntail tilted its body and whipped its tail on a tree, missing its target by a wide margin.

But the Hungarian Horntail didn't realize that it had hit the wrong target.

"Well...it's okay." Kyle took out a piece of parchment and wrote something on it quickly.

Alchemical fog hides the effect (cannot be seen from outside, can only be entered through special channels, but the sound can be heard) The fog also has an effect on fire dragons (confirmed) Distance and range (to be determined)

Whether it is affected by other magic (to be determined) ...

(End of this chapter)