In the hunting lodge, Hagrid sat sideways on the couch by the fireplace, staring at the copper kettle on the firestand.

Behind him, a thick black travel cloak hung from the back of the couch, which, like his body, was not only tattered, but also stained everywhere.

In the shadow behind the couch, an oversized package large enough to fit two and a half Harry was resting on the floor, bulging with no idea what it contained.

On the other side of the fireplace, the girls Hermione and Luna each occupied the last two broken wooden chairs in the cabin.

Harry and Ron, on the other hand, sat honestly on a pile of wood for the fireplace and a dirty barrel upside down, respectively.

By the way, Hagrid's big dogtooth was crouching at the table behind him. It stared at the table as it drooled shinyly.

"Hagrid, where have you been all this time? What exactly did you encounter? How did you get it like this......" Harry couldn't help but ask again.

The hunting lodge had been vacant for a while, and Hagrid, like that, had apparently just returned. Because no one has been cleaning for a long time, a thin layer of ash has accumulated everywhere in the hut.

But now, everyone has no time to take care of these little things.

"I said, it's okay!"

Hagrid said stubbornly, picking up the umbrella leaning against the fireplace and pointing at the fire. Suddenly, the pile of firewood burst out with more flames, and licked the copper kettle on the iron shelf harder and harder.

The firewood crackled and burst into a large number of sparks, causing Hermione to move her feet out again, lest the spills set her trouser legs on fire.

"Come on, Hagrid!" Ron looked at his embarrassed look and said, "Your face has basically said everything that needs to be said, so you don't have to hide it from us, right?" ”

"My face? No, isn't that nothing? Hagrid straightened up and patted his cheek vigorously, but frowned in pain, "Hmm...... Oh! It's a pleasure to see you again...... Isn't it? ”

"Hagrid!"

Hermione, seeing that he was trying to divert the subject awkwardly, widened her eyes and called him out in dissatisfaction.

"Seriously, were you beaten by anyone? Now you're like this, you look as miserable as you want! Harry, still worried, asked, "Yes...... Voldemort? ”

"Don't mention that name!" Hagrid sighed vigorously, then scratched his scalp and said, "Okay, okay, I did make a little mistake, but it's really nothing—tomorrow will be fine, believe it or not?" ”

"The bottom line is that it has nothing to do with that—well, you know who's — and 'that person,' fundamentally, completely, completely—has nothing to do with it!"

With that, Hagrid waved his hand, then got up and walked to the table on the other side of the cabin. I saw that he first used his feet to pull away the teeth that were squatting in front of the table, and then lifted the huge tea towel covering the table.

Now everyone finally knew, the usual noisy teeth, but today they have been quietly staring at the table since they came in.

Because under the huge tea towel, there is a slice of raw meat that is larger than a car tire.

"You don't want to treat us to that, do you?" Ron stared at the suspicious piece of meat and said, "That looks like ...... Seems poisonous, huh? ”

As Ron said, this big slice of meat does look terrible.

I couldn't tell what kind of creature it was, but just looking at the cut surface oozing green blood, I don't think anyone would want to put it in their mouth.

"It's not poisonous, it's what it was meant to be—it's dragon meat," Hagrid said, "Peruvian fanged dragon...... The dragon meat is non-poisonous, but I don't plan on eating it. ”

As he spoke, he picked up the piece of dragon meat and gently pressed it against the left side of his face. Dark green blood was squeezed out and ran down his beard onto his clothes.

Immediately, he hummed comfortably.

"Hmm...... Much more comfortable," Hagrid said with a sideways face, "You see, the bloody dragon meat has an analgesic effect—Dumbledore told me before. ”

"Ahh

When Hagrid mentioned Dumbledore's name, everyone subconsciously avoided their eyes. Only Luna didn't overreact, just showed a look of regret.

"What's wrong?" Hagrid said curiously, "It's true, Dumbledore studied the uses of dragon blood. In case you get hurt in the future—"

When he said this, he suddenly snorted and said, "Look at what I said...... You'd better not get hurt, the pain isn't good......"

"Hagrid!"

Harry couldn't help it, and couldn't help but raise his voice to interrupt Hagrid's rambling.

"Huh?"

Even Hagrid could now sense that something was wrong with the atmosphere. He looked at the three little lions with solemn faces, and hesitated to stop the words in his mouth.

"Aren't you talking about dragon's blood?" Hagrid asked hesitantly, "...... What the hell is going on? ”

In Hagrid's inquiring gaze, Harry, who had been the first to speak, opened his mouth again, only to find that he didn't know what to say. Ron lowered his head slightly, muttering unsure of what he was saying.

Hermione tried to speak several times, but the words that should be said were blocked in her throat, and she was in a dilemma.

Hagrid had always regarded Dumbledore as his greatest benefactor, and all three of them knew it.

When the Chamber of Secrets was opened for the first time, Voldemort, who was the one who opened it, blamed Hagrid, who was still his classmate.

When Hagrid, whose parents had died, was unjustly expelled and cornered, it was Dumbledore who left him behind and gave him the job of game keeper and key keeper.

In the face of such Hagrid, how could they bear to tell the cruel truth?

But they all knew that Hagrid would have to find out about this sooner or later. Not to mention that Hagrid was at Hogwarts now, even if he didn't come back from the outside, the news of Dumbledore's death would soon reach his ears.

"Hagrid, Dumbledore is dead."

Just as the three of them were holding their breath and feeling upset, Luna's dreamlike voice suddenly rang out.

Although her voice is as soft and fluttering as ever, it is easy to be ignored if she is in a noisy place.

But at this moment, her words were no less than a thunderbolt, and they suddenly struck everyone's scalps.

"What...... What the? Hagrid's hand on the dragon meat trembled slightly, then frowned slightly, "Miss Lovegood, you can't make a joke ......."

With the heavy atmosphere just now as a foreshadowing, even if Hagrid didn't believe it at all, he was a little more uneasy in his heart.

His words fell slightly, followed by a moment of silence.

Hagrid looked back and forth at the faces of the four children, and the knots in his heart grew more and more. He took the dragon meat off his face, spread his hands and swayed a little impatiently, allowing half of his face's green dragon blood to flow onto his shoulders at will.

"Don't stop talking! How...... Is it popular among students to form pranks now? It was invented by the Weasleys twins again......"

"It's not funny at all! I said, "Hey...... Please, give me a reaction, huh? ”

"Hagrid—" Hermione said as she jerked her head up and looked directly at a somewhat confused Hagrid, "Luna is not kidding...... But...... Professor Dumbledore must be for us...... For Hogwarts...... His expression was calm......"

She spoke in fits and starts, trying to find something to comfort Hagrid, but she never knew what to say. After a moment of incoherence, she finally looked away with red eyes.

“…… I'm sorry. ”

Hermione didn't know why she apologized, maybe it was because of her own powerlessness, or something else—she didn't know.

"It's ...... It's true? ”

Hagrid seemed to have lost all his strength, his hand suddenly fell, and the dragon meat that he had been holding in his hand fell to the ground with a "snap".

“…… It's true? ”

He turned his head to look at Harry and then at Ron, only to see that they were all looking dejected. After taking a deep breath, tears welled up desperately in his eyes.

Next to him, he looked at the dragon meat on the ground, and then at Hagrid, whose face was full of sadness. After some hesitation, it quietly lay at Hagrid's feet and gently rubbed its head against the side of Hagrid's leg.

At first Hagrid just cried silently, but the more he cried, the more he couldn't hold back, and soon it turned into a howl. He slurred a lot of inaudible words and looked in great pain.

Harry and the others sat with red eyes, silently waiting for Hagrid, and even Luna's mood was noticeably lower.

Probably because last night, both the professors and Maca, who arrived later, put on a calm appearance in order to stabilize the situation. So much so that Hermione was even able to try to calm down and make all sorts of speculations about Dumbledore's death.

It was only at this moment that Hagrid's crying gave them the most real feeling.

Regardless of whether Dumbledore was actually dead or faked, at least his body actually appeared in front of everyone.

When everyone recalled Dumbledore's kind face and kind words in Hagrid's weeping, the sorrow that had been suppressed in their hearts finally exploded completely.

Like heart-warming happiness, sadness is sometimes a contagious disease. Hagrid's crying invisibly infected the children, and salty tears slipped uncontrollably.

Luna snorted, gently rubbed the corner of her eyes with her sleeve, and looked at everyone with a little seriousness.

"I didn't cry when my mother died, because she didn't like people ......to cry," she said, "and only tears of joy flowed, Dumbledore taught him...... Surely I would not want to see tears of grief. ”