Chapter 49 – Hagrid
The two froze immediately and turned around.
A towering man with a wild beard was striding toward them with surprising speed.
"Hagrid! How have you been?" Cedric said with an overly bright smile, clearly trying to talk his way out of trouble.
Hagrid might be big and gentle, but he wasn't that easy to fool.
He planted himself in front of them, hands on his hips, eyes scrutinizing both boys.
"You two weren't planning on goin' into the Forbidden Forest, were you?"
"N-no, of course not!" they both shook their heads so fast it was a miracle they didn't sprain their necks.
Admitting the truth was absolutely impossible.
"You'd better not," Hagrid said suspiciously. "The Weasley twins already keep me busier than a Blast-Ended Skrewt with fleas. If you two start causing trouble in there too, I'll never get a moment's peace."
"Diggory, who's this with you?"
Hagrid's beetle-black eyes shifted to Russell.
"Hello, Hagrid. I'm Russell Fythorne from Ravenclaw," Russell introduced himself politely.
"Fythorne? Ah—right!" Hagrid nodded as if remembering. "Professor Sprout's mentioned you."
He lifted the small wooden bucket in his hand.
"Well then, how about comin' by my hut for a bit? Got some treats—and fresh milk!"
Russell and Cedric exchanged a helpless look.
With Hagrid showing up, their plan to explore the Forest's edge had been thoroughly crushed.
"Alright… thanks for the invitation," Russell said.
---
Hagrid's Hut:
Hagrid's hut sat right at the edge of the Forest—small but sturdy.
As soon as Hagrid opened the door, a massive boarhound burst out like a furry cannonball, charging straight at Russell.
"Back! Fang!" Hagrid lunged for the leash, but he was a second too slow.
Russell didn't flinch.
He knew Fang looked terrifying, but in truth the dog was timid and—like his owner—harmless.
So instead of backing away, he simply held out his hand.
Sure enough, Fang skidded to a halt a foot away, immediately smothering Russell's hand in slobbery licks.
"He likes yeh already!" Hagrid said, scratching his head with a goofy grin.
"Come on in, then," he beckoned, and the two boys entered the hut with Fang trotting faithfully behind Russell.
---
Inside, Cedric leaned closer, whispering,
"How did you do that? I've known Fang for years and he's never acted like that toward me."
"Oh—probably because of this."
Russell suddenly remembered and pulled out… half of a chewed-off Cornish Pixie jerky stick.
The moment Fang caught sight of it, his excitement doubled.
He circled Russell repeatedly, tail whipping the air, drooling all over the floorboards.
"What is that?" Cedric took the jerky, examining it as if it were a rare magical artifact.
"It looks… like some kind of meat?"
"Good guess. Addams Family special—Cornwall Pixie Jerky."
Russell shrugged and reclaimed the jerky from Cedric's stiff fingers.
Cedric's eyes went wide as galleons.
"You feed that to Ice Cream, right? Right?!"
"This is my snack," Russell corrected calmly. "And Ice Cream's diet doesn't include pixies."
"My God… my best friend eats stuff like this?"
Cedric looked genuinely traumatized—as if he'd caught someone snacking on a dead rat.
Russell ignored Cedric's dramatic reaction and casually tossed the jerky toward Fang.
The boarhound sprang up with surprising agility and snapped it cleanly out of the air.
"Cornish pixies… those count as magical creatures, don't they?"
Hagrid asked while bustling around the stove, not even looking back.
"I don't think so," Cedric frowned, unsure. "But they're absolute menaces. When I was six, my dad took me to Cornwall for a trip—the little devils stole my ice cream the moment we bought it."
Wow… that must've traumatized him badly, Russell thought. Better make sure I eat these snacks behind his back next time.
"That sounds awful," Hagrid muttered thickly—then burst into a fit of coughing after inhaling too much smoke from the pan.
"All right, kids! Rock cakes are ready. Come try 'em!"
He set down a plate of cookies that looked like they were carved out of stone, along with two steaming cups of tea.
Rock cakes were rough, lumpy, and notoriously hard. Cedric, who had suffered once already, immediately waved both hands, insisting he'd already eaten breakfast—and frantically winking at Russell in warning.
Russell either didn't see it… or saw it and completely ignored it.
He had long been curious about Hagrid's infamous rock cakes.
Just as he lifted one—Hagrid watching him with glowing anticipation—Russell froze.
"Hagrid, didn't you say there was fresh milk? Could I have a cup?"
Hagrid blinked, then lit up.
"'Course yeh can!"
He eagerly hauled a milk pail onto the stove.
"Just a moment!"
While Russell examined the rock cake, he absently scratched Fang's ears.
The dog, full of pixie jerky and bliss, lay beside him panting contentedly.
"Here, Fang—try this."
Russell held the rock cake up to the boarhound's mouth.
To his astonishment, Fang whimpered, clamped his jaw shut, and violently shook his head to avoid the offering.
Hagrid's cooking was so terrifying that even his own dog refused to eat it.
Soon enough, Hagrid placed a cup of steaming milk in front of Russell.
Russell dunked the rock cake, drew his wand, and murmured a soft spell.
The stone-hard cookie instantly softened, soaking up the milk until it crumbled into manageable chunks.
He scooped up a piece and tasted it.
"Not bad at all," he said genuinely.
Cedric stared. "Really? It's good?"
Russell nodded.
"It's alright."
Cedric brightened. "Hagrid! I'll have a cup of hot milk too!"
---
After stuffing themselves with the entire plate of rock cakes—thanks to the milk—both boys collapsed onto the sofa, patting their round stomachs.
Hagrid beamed with paternal joy, thrilled that someone—finally—appreciated his cooking.
"Hagrid, tell us about the Forbidden Forest," Cedric said once he managed to sit up straight.
Even if they couldn't actually go inside, listening was still fun—and killed time.
"Well… I really shouldn't be tellin' you any of this."
Hagrid scratched his head uneasily.
"But if I don't, I reckon the next thing I know, you two'll sneak back to the Forest the moment I turn me back."
He took a deep breath.
"Right then. Listen carefully."