When they left Hagrid's hut, Hagrid's mood had improved somewhat.
Perhaps it was the name of the ultimate problem-solver, Newt Scamander, that gave him confidence; perhaps it was the concern shown by the nouveau riche Eda and the prankster twins that genuinely moved him.
In any case, only if Hagrid pulled himself together would he and Buckbeak be able to face the Malfoy family's harassment and deal with the Ministry of Magic's prejudice against him.
Yes—once again, that damned prejudice. Even though the charges against Hagrid had already been cleared when the truth of the Chamber of Secrets came to light, and he was no longer a suspect in Myrtle's death, the Ministry of Magic still held prejudices against him.
Hagrid was not just a burly man—he was a half-giant.
As for how Hagrid's father, Mr. Hagrid Sr, managed to fuc—ehm.. marry a giantess and have a child with her, that question was far too profound…
Although not many people knew this, Hagrid's enormous size left far too much room for speculation. Not many ordinary people even reached seven feet in height, let alone someone like Hagrid, who stood over ten feet tall.
To give a more straightforward example: the tallest people Eda knew from her previous life were the WWE wrestler, the Great Khali, and the basketball legend, Shaquille O'Neal. Both of them had an official height of 2.16 meters—about 7.1 feet—which was still nearly a whole "Ariana Grande" shorter than Hagrid.
At that height, it was hard not to be suspicious! Even if you started taking Growth Potions from birth, you still wouldn't grow as tall as Hagrid!
Eda herself had once been suspicious of Hagrid's height. If she hadn't had those doubts, she would have run off to ask Hagrid long ago—what he ate when he was little, whether there was any left, and whether he could get her a portion too.
Setting height aside, giants and humans were actually quite similar. It was just that their intelligence did not match that of humans, which was the reason many wizards held prejudices against giants.
Many wizards looked down even on centaurs, goblins, and house-elves—beings that clearly possessed intelligence—so how could they possibly hold giants in any esteem?
What's more, giants had no civilization at all, living in deep mountains in tribal societies, on top of being cruel and violent, eating raw flesh and drinking blood. It would be strange if people did respect them.
Fifty years ago, the crime of murdering Myrtle had been pinned on Hagrid without any real consideration. Aside from the fact that he did keep an Acromantula, this prejudice was also a crucial factor.
Although no one had died in this incident, the perpetrator was "once again" Hagrid and his magical creature, so it was obvious which side the Ministry of Magic would take.
And with Lucius Malfoy stirring trouble behind the scenes this time, Hagrid could only place his hopes in Dumbledore, and in Newt Scamander.
Setting aside Hagrid's height for the moment, and also setting aside the Ministry's prejudice, Eda and the others' top priority was still attending class.
It was unclear whether this was intentional, but the two new professors' classes had been scheduled on the same day: Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures in the morning, and Lupin's Defence Against the Dark Arts in the afternoon.
In the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, the students habitually took out their textbooks, preparing to read the text aloud with feeling later on, or to perform a stage play. This was a habit they had developed during Lockhart's tenure.
When Dumbledore had hired Lockhart back then, aside from wanting to expose him, his greater hope had been that students would learn something from him and develop better values and worldviews.
Unfortunately, Dumbledore's hopes were entirely one-sided. The vast majority of students failed to gain anything useful from Lockhart at all.
A complete collapse—utterly collapsed from start to finish. As a negative example, a failed case study, Lockhart could be said to have been extremely successful.
Building on Lockhart as a baseline, as long as the new professor was a normal person, he would be better than him.
What's more, Lupin had already shown his skills on the Hogwarts Express. That spell he cast—one that left the students awed without fully understanding it—had successfully driven away a Dementor.
"Eda, when will we be able to learn the Patronus Charm?" Angelina asked. She had been interested in the Patronus Charm since last school year, and this year the twins had shown off their Patronuses once, which made Angelina even more eager.
Angelina Johnson wasn't the only one aiming too high—Alicia was the same. She really wanted to know what her own Patronus would look like.
The Patronus Charm was an extremely difficult spell. Many adult wizards were unable to cast it, and the spell also had a very high upper limit.
Driving away Dementors and Lethifolds was only its basic function; using a Patronus to deliver messages was a special application of the spell.
Eda hadn't originally planned to teach such a high-difficulty spell so early. They were all fifth-years, and Katie and Leanne were only fourth-years. But this year's situation was special—a large number of Dementors were surrounding Hogwarts—so this spell had to be put on the agenda.
"At the next meeting," Eda replied. "At the very least, it'll give us one more way to deal with Dementors."
Angelina and Alicia immediately hugged Eda... tightly.
They were so enthusiastic—so enthusiastic that Eda became keenly aware that girls in their 5th year really did mature faster…
The twins calmly watched the three girls hugging together. Looking at how uncultured they seemed—so what if it was just a Patronus Charm? Was it really that hard? Really that impressive? As if they couldn't do it themselves!
In the classroom, the students were chatting among themselves when Professor Lupin finally arrived unhurriedly. The moment he stepped into the room, the bell signaling the start of class rang.
Perfect timing, not a second off—an absolute master of hitting the mark.
Lupin's clothes were still somewhat shabby, but his complexion looked much better than it had on the train. His face was rosy and had a healthy sheen—could it be that Hogwarts was adding some kind of tonic to the meals?
From the moment he shared chocolate with her on the train, Eda had known that this new professor was on a completely different level from Lockhart. Later, when she learned that Lupin had driven away a Dementor with the Patronus Charm and saved the unconscious Harry, she became even more certain that Lupin was no simple figure.
Laypeople watch the spectacle; professionals see the technique. Hermione only knew that Lupin had easily driven away the Dementor with a Patronus Charm, but Eda heard something different in their account.
Being able to drive off a Dementor so effortlessly using nothing more than a Patronus that resembled silvery mist showed that Lupin was an expert—at the very least, an expert in the Patronus Charm.
An expert at using the Patronus Charm who could only rely on "mist" to deal with Dementors? Eda didn't believe that for a second. Lupin must have been deliberately concealing his Patronus, unwilling to reveal it or certain personal information, which was why he had chosen that method.
A fully formed Patronus usually took the shape of an ordinary animal, with the specific animal depending on the caster's personality and other personal traits—for example, Eda's Chow Chow, or the twins' magpies.
Lupin was not the first wizard to protect his privacy by hiding the form of his Patronus. There was nothing strange about that in itself, but Eda was curious. She wanted to know exactly what secret Lupin was hiding.
Although Eda wasn't a young lady of the Malfoy family like the Dracy-poo who could make his cronies and even his father run around just by saying "I'm curious," who said she wasn't a little princess too?
Eda was also someone brimming with curiosity, and she could handle things on her own. If that didn't work out, weren't there still two Weasley idiots to help her?
Professor Lupin looked over the students in the classroom, a faint smile on his face. There was always a gentle scholarly air about him, giving people a spring-breeze feeling. He truly was a refined and easygoing person.
"Good afternoon. Please put your textbooks back into your bags—we won't be needing them for this lesson." Lupin might have looked a bit sickly, but his voice was warm and reassuring.
Lupin casually sat down on the desk in the front row and said with a smile, "I know you're worried. In fact, when I first took over the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, I was under a lot of pressure myself, worried that I wouldn't do well. But once I heard the stories about my predecessor, all that pressure disappeared."
The atmosphere in the classroom instantly became cheerful. Dragging Lockhart out for a posthumous whipping immediately closed the distance between Lupin and the students.
"And you can rest assured—I wasn't a writer in my previous job, and I've never won any awards from Witch Weekly," Lupin continued. "Nor will I."
Repeatedly whipping the dead—although the lesson hadn't officially begun yet, Lupin had already won over the students' goodwill. At that moment, Lupin looked less like their professor and more like a big friend.
"I actually quite like him," Fred whispered. George nodded in agreement.
Lupin raised a hand and made a downward gesture, and the classroom immediately fell silent. Everyone waited, wondering if he had any more "astonishing" remarks.
In Lupin's refined smile, Eda saw nothing but mischief. Why did this new professor give her such a strong sense of déjà vu?
(～￣▽￣)～Read 12 Chapters ahead:
Patreon: Dragonel