Harry Potter and the Obscurus

Chapter 119 Those Unexpected Events

The day after the Christmas ball, students from all three schools slept in late. The previous night had released much of their pent-up energy and restlessness, making the atmosphere in the castle much quieter.

Harry and Hermione woke up very early. They were supposed to start planning their Animagus training right away, but after overhearing the secret conversation the night before, they had to divert some of their energy to analyzing its contents.

"It's unbelievable that Karkaroff could become the headmaster. Even if he did a good job of exposing the Death Eaters' list, the European wizarding world can't allow someone who supported Mystic to become the leader of education. Also, you said that Mr. Barty Crouch reminded you, but why is he so wary of Karkaroff, and why would he take the initiative to help you?"

After finishing that long speech, Hermione, still feeling a bit sleepy, let out a long yawn. Harry hadn't had time to tell Hermione all the information, so he had to start from the beginning:

"Over a decade ago, when Barty Crouch was still the Minister of Magical Enforcement, he served as the presiding judge in Karkaroff's case. Remember Percy's assessment of Crouch? While he might have seemed a bit opportunistic with his superiors, his claims about Crouch's willingness to confront Voldemort's forces head-on were true. I think he most likely never truly trusted Karkaroff, only showing him leniency due to legal obligations. As for why he helped me..."

Harry cleared his throat and lowered his voice:

"I've discovered some major secrets about the Crouch family, which means I've got something on him. Remember the house-elf we met at the Quidditch World Cup? The one called Sparky?"

"Oh, Harry."

Hermione shook her head astutely, having already reached an understanding with Harry, and took the initiative to suggest:

"It's better to keep these things to yourself for now. Tell me when everything is resolved. To be honest, I don't know why, but lately I've been having this feeling that someone is listening in."

Harry nodded in agreement with Hermione's statement. However, just as he was about to take Hermione downstairs for breakfast, Fred and George, who had previously spent a great deal of effort organizing the Triwizard Tournament prediction contest, suddenly started wailing and howling.

"It's over, it's all over! Fred! We've been tricked!"

"Damn Backman! That big-butt, red-faced bastard bet with goblin coins! We should report him to the Ministry of Magic, George!"

"Shh, what's wrong with you two? Slow down, did Ludo Bagman do something?"

Seeing the Weasley twins' suffering, Hermione, who had initially been most opposed to their drug use, was moved with compassion before Harry could. She led the twins, who were a head taller than her, to Harry and stated directly:

"I'll make all the details clear here. Don't hide anything for the sake of saving face or anything else. Do you understand?"

"There's nothing to hide, and it's not complicated at all."

Fred spoke first:

"Ludo Bagman took the goblin's gold coins and pretended to place bets in place of the real Galleons. He bet wildly on Harry, pretending to give us money. After the game, he was the first to come to us to exchange his bets. At that time, we locked up all our money together and gave him the portion we had earned in the previous months from making truancy toys and fake wands."

"That means we not only lost our hard-earned money, but we also gave his fake gold coins to other students who bet on the match results, mistaking them for real Galleons. Anyway, Fred, we can't let Mom know about this."

George added, rubbing his forehead.

Harry and Moran had almost forgotten about the incident, but after hearing the two's account, they suddenly realized what had happened and exclaimed in amazement.

"Wow, I really didn't expect that the guessing game Fred and George set up would have such a twist."

“Yes, yesterday when you and Hermione went to the ball, I was trying to remember if I had forgotten anything I needed to do recently, and I didn’t even think about their gambling.”

"So what's next? Shall we go find Bagman and get the money back?"

“No, if this gets out of hand, the Ministry of Magic might arrest them both for gambling. Don’t forget that Bagman wagered several hundred Galleons, which is enough to warrant a case.”

“You’re right, but even if we want to teach George and Fred a lesson, we can’t let Bagman get away with the money he’s swindled.”

"Yes, that's true. We need to think of a more subtle way..."

Harry and Moran's internal conversation was completely isolated from the outside world. To Fred and George, Harry, sitting in the center of the sofa, always stared at them with a very deep and calculating look, which made the two brothers even more uneasy.

"Oh, my dear Harry..."

George, who broke the silence first, walked to Harry's left and massaged his shoulders, saying:

"Please, just this once, Fred and I will never gamble again."

"That's it."

Seeing this, Fred quickly followed his brother's example and went to Harry's right to massage him.

"George and I just want to make up for what we owe our classmates. From now on, we will definitely behave ourselves and never try anything clever again!"

"Ha, you two are the only ones who want to behave yourselves?"

Harry, who was almost amused by Fred, forcibly suppressed the rising corners of his mouth and scolded him:

"If you two could behave yourselves, Professor Snape could add 20 points to Gryffindor every semester. But then again, this incident isn't entirely your fault. Hmm... Go and count which students received counterfeit coins, and I'll pay them off for you once you've calculated the debt."

"What about Ludo Bagman?"

"Leave his matter to me, you two don't need to worry about it. But learn from this experience. When you two open your own shop in a few years, remember this lesson. Don't try to take advantage of any so-called business opportunity, understand?"

"Hehe, I knew Harry wouldn't abandon us, right George?"

“That’s right, Fred. How could Harry possibly stand by and watch us ruin our futures? He’s a savvy investor; he certainly won’t let the Weasley Theatre Company die in the womb because of a little Ludo Bagman!”

The Weasley twins' flattery almost broke down Harry's last line of defense. In order to maintain the serious atmosphere he had worked so hard to create, Harry hurriedly stood up from his seat and, under the pretext of having breakfast, left the Gryffindor common room with Hermione.

Thick snow still covered the lawn outside the oak door on the first floor of Hogwarts Castle. After last night's ball, the windows of the Great Hall were now covered with frost flowers that looked like works of art.

In this kind of weather, having breakfast in the warm Great Hall should have been a blissful experience, but who would have thought that an article from the latest edition of the Daily Prophet would once again bring Harry unexpected trouble?

Dumbledore's Major Mistake

This article was written by Rita Skeeter, a reporter for this newspaper.

Months ago, Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, hired a controversial Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Alastor Moody, known to many as "Mad-Eye," had been dismissed by the Ministry of Magic for having paranoid personality disorder. Yet, this infamous and menacing man had become quite close to a certain monster professor from the Department of Magical Creatures.

Rupert Hager.

This monster, who was expelled from Hogwarts in his third year and then served as the school's game guard, became a Hogwarts professor last year. His enormous size and fierce appearance often result in a series of terrifying and dangerous creatures being unleashed during his Magical Creatures Protection class.

It is reported that this year he also used his position as a professor to illegally cultivate a magical animal called "Bomb-tailed Snail".

The Blasttail, somewhere between a Fire Crab and a Sphinx, is extremely dangerous. In Europe, the breeding of new magical creatures is usually monitored by the Department of Magical Creatures Control of the Ministry of Magic. It's unclear whether Hagrid used some means or privilege to completely disregard the Ministry's laws.

If things ended there, then Rupert Hagrid's appointment as Hogwarts professor would at most be considered Dumbledore's poor personnel management, but unfortunately, that's not all.

Rubeus Hagrid is not a pure-blood wizard; he's not even a pure-blood human. Rita Skeeter brings you accurate, exclusive information: Rubeus Hagrid is a half-giant, his mother being the giant Friedwafa, a brutal pure-blood giant!

Giants are cruel and bloodthirsty; in the last century, they even joined the ranks of the mysterious man...

"This is utter garbage!"

Shh! Keep your voice down, Harry!

Seeing that Harry was upset by Rita Skeeter's behavior, Hermione quickly spoke up to comfort him:

"The article has already been published, so no matter how much we scold her, it won't help. Let's think about how she discovered a secret that even you, me, and Ron didn't know."

Thanks to Hermione's timely reassurance, Harry avoided attracting further attention in the Great Hall. He took a deep breath and then began to serve himself bacon and fried eggs.

"Hagrid definitely didn't tell her this himself. He's been keeping it from us all along, there's no way he would tell a woman the secret of his origins. We need to ask him clearly, in what situation and with whom he said such a thing."

Hermione was quick-witted; she understood what Harry meant without him having to explain everything.

"You mean, Rita Skeeter overheard Hagrid's conversation with someone?"

"That's roughly it."

"But how did she do that? Does she also have an invisibility cloak? Oh my god... We need to get rid of all the Blasttails as soon as possible. If the Department of Magical Creatures Control finds out, Hagrid will be in big trouble... Should we call Ron later?"

"Okay, we'll go back to the dorm after breakfast and wake him up."

Harry replied.

About forty minutes later, the three Gryffindor leaders, reunited, finally arrived at Hagrid's cabin.

Ron, still half asleep and hungry, was a little out of sorts. He had planned to go find Lavender for breakfast, but unfortunately, there was just too much gossip surrounding Harry and Hermione. Whether it was Hagrid being exposed by Rita Skeeter or the news of his twin brothers being scammed by Ludo Bagman, he couldn't help but want to know more.

Boom boom boom!

The dull knocking shook the snow off the wooden door, but the only response from the trio was a low, guttural sob.

"Isn't he inside?"

"do not know."

"Hagrid! Open the door! It's us!"

There was still no response from inside, but after hearing Harry and the others' voices, Toothpick ran straight to the door and started scratching at it with its paws.

Why is he avoiding us?

"Never mind, Alohomora." (Alohomora opens)

squeak......

"Wang!"

Having not had a proper meal in a long time, Ya Ya practically sidled up to the door the moment it opened, her target none other than the sandwiches Harry and Hermione had made for Ron.