The hourglass representing Slytherin's points was like the stock market, crashing one moment and soaring the next, leaving the young wizards completely bewildered.
However, classes still had to be attended.
In the following two days, Audrey successfully exempted herself from Astronomy, History of Magic, and Charms.
Astronomy was exempted because her memory was astonishing; she had long since memorized the star charts by heart.
Charms went without saying. As a personal disciple of Grindelwald, she possessed the combat power of three Luciuses just by relying on magical means. In a fifth-year classroom, she was practically launching a dimensional strike.
As for History of Magic, it was because the moment she entered the class, Professor Binns would pester her, stopping his emotionless textbook reading entirely. Thus, she was forcibly exempted by Dumbledore.
She had originally wanted to exempt herself from Defense Against the Dark Arts as well, but Quirrell wouldn't agree.
Audrey sighed. 'This must be Voldemort's idea. But Quirrell, what is up with that look of fatherly affection in your eyes? Do you believe the guy on the back of your head won't smack you?'
Time moved on to Friday.
After successfully escaping Muggle Studies, Audrey was blocked in front of the Great Hall by Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley.
Audrey had actually been eating in her dormitory for two consecutive days. Today, it was only because Isaline's hospitality was too hard to refuse that she came over, but she didn't expect to be intercepted by her three little fans.
"Audrey," Harry said with some excitement, "Hagrid invited us to his hut this afternoon. Do you want to come along?"
Hermione added, "Rubeus Hagrid is the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. You saw him at the start of the term—the tall man with the big beard!"
Audrey certainly knew Hagrid. She had wanted to visit him for a long time, not just because Hagrid was the invisible tycoon of Hogwarts, but mainly because she had always wanted to go to the Forbidden Forest to mooch off some magical beasts!
However, she was ultimately lazy. Thinking about it was one thing, but actually moving was another matter entirely.
Now that she was invited by the trio, it was perfect timing.
"Sure. What time this afternoon?"
"Around three o'clock!"
Seeing Audrey accept, the three little ones instantly became happy.
Hermione wasn't originally on the invitation list, but considering that Audrey seemed to be quite familiar with Hermione, Ron had dragged her along, even though Ron disliked this bossy, aggressive top student from the bottom of his heart.
By a twist of fate, the Golden Trio had been kneaded together ahead of schedule because of Audrey.
...
At five minutes to three in the afternoon, when the trio arrived at Hagrid's hut, Audrey was already waiting at the door.
The pumpkins in the small vegetable garden were growing very well. They were being prepared for Halloween two months later; it seemed Hagrid had put a lot of effort into them.
A crossbow and a pair of rubber galoshes hung in front of the door of Hagrid's hut. The crossbow was huge, but in Hagrid's hands, it would probably look as petite as a handgun.
Audrey greeted them, and Harry stepped forward to knock on the wooden door.
Hagrid opened the door a crack, revealing a face where the beard covered more area than the exposed skin.
"Wait a moment!"
Hagrid seemed a bit flustered. "Back, Fang!"
Audrey watched with interest as Hagrid dragged the collar of the cowardly dog, Fang, with one hand while opening the door with the other to let everyone into the room.
The room didn't look luxurious. The ham and pheasants hanging from the beams and the boiling water in the pot gave the hut a lively atmosphere—though the smell wasn't particularly pleasant.
Hagrid let go of Fang.
Fang immediately pounced towards Audrey. In the original universe, Fang would have slobbered all over Ron's face, but in Fang's eyes now, Ron was obviously no longer appealing.
Fang pounced in front of Audrey, sat down obediently, stuck out his tongue, wagged his tail like a propeller, looked at Audrey with expectant eyes, and made "haha" sounds from his mouth.
"Oh, this is Miss Audrey Astley," Hagrid said, rubbing his large hands. "I've never seen Fang like someone so much. Oh, right, I really like your songs, especially 'Forest Dweller'. It's simply wonderful!"
Audrey petted the dog's head and scratched its chin, giving Hagrid a business smile. "Thanks for the compliment, Hagrid."
Harry immediately started introducing the others to Hagrid. "Hagrid, this is Ron."
"Oh, another little brother from the Weasley family," Hagrid began pouring boiling water into the teapot. "Your two older brothers have annoyed me enough. Chasing them out of the Forbidden Forest has taken up too much of my energy!"
Ron smiled awkwardly.
Harry introduced again, "This is Hermione."
"I've heard of you," Hagrid said happily, placing rock cakes onto a plate. "They say Gryffindor has produced a little witch who is more Ravenclaw than Ravenclaw. I think Professor McGall must be very happy because she was just like that when she was young!"
Inviting everyone to sit down, Hagrid said not without regret, "It's a pity Audrey went to Slytherin."
Ron had the biggest reaction; he nodded repeatedly. "Exactly, the Sorting Hat must be senile! How could Audrey be a Slytherin?"
Hermione asked with concern, "Audrey, is no one bullying you in Slytherin?"
Audrey picked up a rock cake, took a big bite, and chewed as she spoke. "It's okay. My achievements in the singing field make my life quite decent."
Hagrid slapped his thigh indignantly. "They just want to use your fame, those cunning little rascals!"
Audrey swallowed the rock cake. Aside from being a bit hard, the seasoning was actually quite nice. "Hagrid, I am also a Slytherin now."
"Oh, sorry, I wasn't talking about you."
Seeing Audrey chewing the rock cake with a loud crunching sound and seemingly enjoying it, the three little ones each picked up a cake as well.
Seeing them favor his rock cakes, Hagrid instantly beamed with joy.
"Crack!"
"Crack!"
"Crack!"
The eyes of the three little ones nearly popped out. What was with this cake? Was the skin really made of rock?
"Crunch, crunch..." Seeing Audrey polish off another one, the three were dumbfounded. Does this young lady have iron teeth and bronze teeth?
"Why aren't you eating?" Hagrid greeted them enthusiastically. "My rock cakes are delicious!"
Apart from the rock cakes, Hagrid's invitation was quite successful.
Everyone chatted happily. Hearing Hagrid call Filch an "old git," Harry and Ron were very happy; and when Hagrid heard that Miss Rolle had confessed to Filch, his face smiled like a freshly baked naan bread!
When talking about Slytherin losing one hundred and two points, Hagrid danced with joy. No one noticed that in just these past two days, Audrey had actually added one hundred and ten points to Slytherin.
Of course, when the conversation turned to Snape and the Gringotts break-in on July 31st, Hagrid still stood on the opposite side of Harry.
Audrey just petted the dog and didn't say a word. It was better for her not to get involved in this kind of main plotline.
"Hagrid, do you have any unicorn hair here?"
Hagrid nodded. "Of course. Those little cuties shed their hair once a year."
"Can you give me some?" Audrey asked. "I want to knit a sweater."
Hagrid stood up, rummaged through his chests and cupboards, and took out two large bundles of unicorn tail hair, along with some unicorn mane. "Take it, Audrey. Ask me if you need more!"
Ron's eyes went straight. That was unicorn tail hair! Ten Galleons for a small bag, and a bag only had a tuft. But here with Hagrid, it was in giant bundles!
Poverty limited Ron's imagination. Shocked, he subconsciously downed the tea in front of him in one gulp, and unsurprisingly scalded his throat.
"Hagrid," Audrey suddenly said before leaving, "as a return gift for your unicorn hair, let me help your pumpkins grow a bit!"
"Pumpkins?"
Everyone was confused, but Audrey had already started waving her wand.
This was her first time using ancient magic—plant magic inherited from Hufflepuff.
She only felt her second magic circuit becoming abnormally active, and magic power flowed through her body like mercury.
Under the specks of starlight, the pumpkins in the small vegetable garden grew rapidly, getting bigger and bigger.
"Oh, this is amazing," Hagrid exclaimed. "I thought the pumpkins weren't growing well this year and there was no hope for pumpkin carts, but looking at it now, this is going to break records!"
Audrey stopped casting the spell.
The largest of those pumpkins had already grown as high as Hagrid's stomach. The most amazing thing was that these pumpkins were far from ripe, showing a greenness that fit the season.
Harry asked, "Is this Transfiguration?"
Hermione exclaimed, "No, this isn't Transfiguration!"
Hagrid shouted, "Merlin's beard! Godric above!"
He was extremely surprised. "What magic is this! I've never seen this kind of magic! Legend has it that only Lady Hufflepuff could make plants grow quickly! Audrey, you should have gone to Hufflepuff!"
Audrey didn't respond to that, she just smiled. "Don't forget to add fertilizer, Hagrid." She waved to everyone. "I'm heading off first. Bye everyone!"
As soon as her voice fell, Audrey disappeared.
"Oh, Harry," Ron said with some disappointment. "Why didn't she go back with us?"
"Are you an idiot?" Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron. "Audrey is in Slytherin House. If others see her mixing with us Gryffindors, it won't be good for her!"
Ron curled his lips. You're so capable, you're so smart! This brat is really annoying!
Did Audrey return to the castle?
No. In the spirit of "since I'm already here," how could she not take a stroll into the Forbidden Forest?
If she had to come specifically to explore, she might not have the energy.
But now... magical beast cuties, hand over your strange constitutions!
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]