Chapter 24. Hagrid Comes Calling
"Hagrid?" Adrian Wesson looked toward Hagrid, who stood at the doorway looking at a loss, and beckoned to him. "Why are you the one here? Come in, quickly."
Hagrid did not stand on ceremony. He came into the shop and casually chose a sofa to sit on, which went "Creak—creak—."
Seeing how familiar Adrian and Hagrid seemed, Harry was a bit at sea. "You know each other?"
"Of course, little Harry," Hagrid leaned back into the sofa, putting yet more strain on the poor piece of furniture. "Professor Wesson and I have known each other for a long time. This year, Professor Wesson is going to be a Hogwarts—"
"Ahem."
Adrian coughed to cut Hagrid off and gave him a wink. "I think we'd better keep a bit of surprise."
Harry did not yet know that Adrian would become a professor at Hogwarts; Adrian had decided to tell him once they were at Hogwarts.
Hagrid immediately understood Adrian's thinking and fell silent.
"What is it?" Harry, still puzzled, looked to Hagrid. "What about 'professor'?"
Hagrid cleared his throat and said, a bit stiffly, "Nothing, Harry. We were just talking about the old days. Professor Wesson and I have known each other for a long time. He was a student at Hogwarts, and I am the Keeper of Keys and Grounds and the gamekeeper at Hogwarts."
Adrian could only say that Hagrid truly was not very good at keeping things under wraps.
Although Harry was still a bit doubtful, he did not press the matter. He was still immersed in the excitement of receiving his Hogwarts acceptance.
"Right," Hagrid changed the subject just in time. "Adrian, how is it that you know Harry, and Harry even calls you… teacher?"
"I have always lived here," Adrian said. "About half a year ago, I ran into Harry here. Harry was very interested in Potions, so I gave him some Potions lessons in advance for a while."
Hagrid looked at Harry, and Harry nodded along.
He still felt, however, that the sentence "Harry was very interested in Potions" was open to debate.
What he did not expect was that Hagrid, upon hearing this, was moved almost to tears.
Rubbing his eyes, Hagrid put his big hand atop Harry's head and mussed it. "Oh, very interested in Potions, are yeh, little Harry."
Harry's already messy hair was made messier still.
"You must be very gifted at Potions," Hagrid went on excitedly. "Just like your mum."
Mum.
Such a foreign word; it felt so unfamiliar that, when Harry heard it, time seemed to slow down.
"My mum?" Harry came back to himself and fixed his eyes on Hagrid. "You knew my mum?"
Hagrid seemed to realise that he had said the wrong thing; now was not the time to talk with Harry about his parents.
But it was water under the bridge now, since the words had already slipped out.
Hagrid looked into Harry's eyes, as if searching for the right words. "Er… yes, Harry. When your mum was at school, I was already working at Hogwarts. She was always top of the class in Potions—almost no one could match her."
Harry's heart gave a violent thump. It was the first time he had heard about his parents from someone else's mouth.
Adrian, meanwhile, turned his gaze to Remus Lupin at the side; Lupin was the one here who knew Harry's parents best.
At the moment, Lupin's expression was very grave; his face was taut, but he said nothing at all.
Just as Harry was about to continue his questions, a tooth-aching "Creak" came from beneath Adrian's feet.
Adrian looked down. The little dragon called Torch was lying by his feet, teeth sunk into the leg of a stool.
Though they were still milk teeth, they could already leave bite marks on the stool's leg.
"Hey! Don't do that, Torch!" Adrian quickly stopped him, scooped Torch up, and clamped the little mouth shut with both hands. "Looks like I have to teach you some basic manners, you little rascal."
"Wait!" Hagrid suddenly roared, excited. "Is that a dragon? Adrian! Is it?"
Hagrid's booming voice startled everyone.
Adrian thought to himself that this was bad—he had forgotten that Hagrid, like Professor Kettleburn, was a dyed-in-the-wool dragon fanatic.
Hagrid stood up at once and strode over to Adrian, nearly flipping the sofa in the process.
Perhaps Hagrid's presence was a bit overwhelming.
The Torch who had been struggling nonstop saw a giant appear in front of him, stopped moving, and stayed docilely in Adrian's arms.
Hagrid's eyes were wide. "Adrian, I can't believe it—you're raisin' a dragon! Oh, that's so envy—astonishing."
"And it's even a Chinese Fireball!" he added.
Worthy of a dragon enthusiast; with a single glance he had identified the breed of the dragon hatchling. Adrian felt a quiet admiration.
If it had been him, he would not have been able to tell; to his eyes, every dragon hatchling was all sooty and wrinkled, with no differences at all.
Seeing how excited Hagrid was, Adrian involuntarily held Torch a bit tighter.
He felt that Hagrid might at any moment snatch the dragon out of his arms.
"Yes, Hagrid. He is a dragon, but he is still small—he was only just born," Adrian explained.
Hagrid stared into the little dragon's eyes, his face full of rapture. "I dream about raisin' a dragon! He looks so cute!"
"Do you want to hold him?" Seeing Hagrid as excited as a child, Adrian handed Torch over.
Hagrid's eyes lit up; the man practically glowed. He looked at Adrian with eager anticipation. "Oh, I've always dreamed o' holdin' a dragon with me own hands!"
He could scarcely wait to put out his arms and clumsily took Torch.
Torch was very nervous. At first he struggled for a bit, but soon he gave up.
His little body was completely covered by Hagrid's enormous hands; he could not move at all.
"Oh, my! He's really so small! Look—he isn't afraid o' me at all!" Hagrid said excitedly. "Have yeh fed him brandy mixed with chicken blood?"
"Of course." Adrian nodded and picked up a book on the table, "Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit." "It says so here."
"I've read that book too," Hagrid nodded, thrilled. "I'll certainly raise a dragon meself when I get the chance someday."
…
For the rest of the time, Hagrid just played with Torch, and Harry could not get a word in edgeways.
After nearly half an hour, Hagrid finally remembered the main business.
"I'm to take Harry to Diagon Alley, but Harry said he would only go with me if you agreed first," he said. "We need to buy some things."
Hearing this, Adrian felt quietly moved.
He had not expected Harry to trust him so much.
"Of course," Adrian smiled and nodded to Harry. "Hagrid is a good man."
…
After Harry and Hagrid left, Adrian realised that he had forgotten to give Harry his birthday present.
No matter—it was not urgent. He would just have to trouble his owl to make a trip to the Dursleys'.
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