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Chapter 466: Hagrid Wants to Be Interviewed!!
After the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, December approached quickly.
The weather turned colder, with harsh winds and sleet falling often.
Darren wrapped himself tightly again.
Whenever he passed Durmstrang's large ship, he couldn't help admiring them.
By now, frost had begun to coat the lake's surface, yet Durmstrang stubbornly continued living aboard the ship.
Rumor said several students had already caught colds.
This level of persistence in such weather made Darren admire them even more.
Beauxbatons, however, were much better off.
Hagrid had worked tirelessly—trying to get Madame Maxime to notice him—by helping them warm their carriage.
(No effect at all.)
Madame Maxime eventually allowed her students to move into Hogwarts.
But she specifically warned that girls were not allowed in the boys' dormitory, which made Fleur furious.
She finally decided to remain in the carriage by herself.
Besides helping Beauxbatons, Hagrid spent his time taking Darren and the others to take care of the Blast-Ended Skrewts.
The skrewts were getting bigger and bigger, exploding with loud bangs every now and then.
Now, instead of dying from their own blasts, they simply covered people nearby with smoke—or injured them.
But even that didn't satisfy Hagrid.
He thought it was time for the class to determine whether skrewts needed to hibernate.
He instructed the students to put the skrewts into large boxes and close the lids.
This made the skrewts furious.
They hated hibernation.
They burst out of the crates and rampaged through Hagrid's pumpkin patch.
Hagrid shouted for the students to catch them, but nearly everyone got hurt.
Malfoy screamed angrily, threatening to tell his father.
Hagrid immediately shut him down—saying that if he did, he would ask Moody to turn Malfoy into a stoat.
Malfoy turned red with rage but didn't dare argue.
His father had warned him not to provoke Mad-Eye Moody, retired or not.
To avoid getting other students hurt, Darren stood beside Hagrid, pretending to gently persuade him to release the skrewts so they could be "free."
Most students were thrilled at the suggestion—if Hagrid freed the skrewts, they would no longer have to walk them every class.
But Hagrid refused.
He ordered Harry to help chase a skrewt that was forcing them into a corner.
Out of the corner of his eye, Darren saw the skrewts closing in on them.
He considered raising his wand and teaching them a lesson—earning some "Holy Father value" in the process.
But Hagrid caught him.
"Don't, Darren! Don't frighten 'em! I'll handle it!"
Hagrid charged forward immediately, shielding the skrewts with his huge body.
He managed to wrangle them one by one, tying the sharp stingers on their backs so they wouldn't injure each other.
"Fascinating… truly fascinating!"
It was Rita Skeeter.
She appeared in the middle of Care of Magical Creatures class, walking straight toward Hagrid.
"So you're the professor? These are your creatures?" she asked brightly.
"Rita Skeeter? Dumbledore said he wasn't lettin' yeh in again!" Hagrid frowned.
"Don't worry about that," she said airily. "I only want to interview you. The Daily Prophet has a column on magical creature protection. Would you like to be featured?"
Hagrid froze—looking shy, but clearly tempted.
Harry rushed forward.
"No! Hagrid isn't going to be interviewed by you!"
"Harry Potter?" Rita raised an eyebrow, delighted.
Then her smile turned poisonous.
"Jealous, are you? Jealous your professor is getting attention?"
"My brother is not jealous!" Darren said sharply. "He just hates people who twist the truth. Miss Rita Skeeter, please leave immediately!"
[Ding, Father value +50]
[Ding, Holy Father value +60]
[Ding, Father value +70]
Rita faltered, looking embarrassed.
Then she turned and hurried off.
Harry and Ron snorted loudly.
"She must be terrified of your punch," Ron said. "Afraid you'd knock her out with one hit!"
Darren looked embarrassed.
"I wouldn't do that. I'd just scare her, that's all."
[Ding, Holy Father value +60]
[Ding, Father value +70]
[Ding, Holy Father value +80]
Harry's expression dimmed.
They remembered the memories they'd seen—Darren killing, nearly killing himself, drowning in guilt afterward.
Even when abused by others, he still felt sorry for fighting back.
"Darren…" Hermione whispered, her throat tight.
She couldn't finish the sentence.
She simply hugged him.
"Hermione!" Harry snapped.
She startled, then forced a cheerful tone.
"I'm just touched! Darren is always so kind!"
Hagrid nodded firmly.
"Exactly. Darren's really kind… But tell me—do yeh think what Rita said might be true?"
Harry and Hermione froze.
"Why would you even consider that? Didn't you read her last article?!"
"Yeah! She wrote Harry was 'jealous' of Darren!"
Hagrid looked troubled.
"But I want her to write about these creatures… If more people read about 'em, maybe they'd like 'em more…"
Harry tried hard to talk him out of it.
But Hagrid seemed more and more tempted.
By the time class ended, he looked ready to run after Rita himself.
When they returned to the castle, students whispered that Hagrid had indeed met Rita Skeeter.
Darren wasn't surprised.
In the original timeline, Hagrid was interviewed by her.
Hagrid knew she wasn't a good person—but he assumed that, like Harry or Dumbledore, he would only be mildly twisted into an amusing story.
He believed that sacrificing a little of himself would help magical creatures gain acceptance.
Unfortunately, he thought far too well of her.
Rita Skeeter never writes anything kind.
The best a person can hope for is that she doesn't humiliate them on the front page.
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