"Little Rock, Halloween is coming up, and since you're not home, your grandma has been stopping by your room almost every day.
Your grandpa thinks that if you have the time, you should write more letters home.
— Newt Scamander"
Rock had just returned from the library when he received the letter from the estate. Reading the contents made him freeze for a moment.
For the past month and a half, he'd been completely absorbed in his own world, trying to raise the "Mental Scale" of his interface to Level 5 before the story began.
The only letters he'd written home lately were responses—only because the estate kept sending him things.
Now that he thought about it… all the recent letters had been from his grandma.
Damn it.
If Grandpa hadn't written today to remind him, who knows how long it would've taken him to realize what he'd been forgetting.
Just imagining Tina standing alone in front of his empty bedroom every day back home… the thought made Rock feel awful.
He got up, sat at his desk, took out a quill and parchment—then froze again when the pen touched the page.
If only I had a camera…
Wait—right!
If he needed something like that, Grandpa Theseus was definitely the guy to ask.
Rock didn't hesitate. He quickly wrote a letter to Theseus, then pulled out another sheet and started writing to Tina.
After sealing everything in envelopes, he rushed straight to the Owlery. He let out a soft sigh as he watched the owls fly off with his mail.
"Guess I'll just buy my own owl after I go home for Christmas."
Only now did Rock understand why Tina was so eager to buy him an owl before school started.
Looking back… she probably just wanted him to write her more often.
Honestly, no wonder Grandpa and Grandma ended up together—they really did have the same kind of personality.
Heading down from the tower toward the Ravenclaw common room, he ran right into Theo and Adam.
"Hey, man! Where'd you disappear to?" Theo waved him over.
"I was mailing letters," Rock said. "Didn't you two say you were going to Hagrid's this morning?"
"We haven't gone yet. We came to get you—Hagrid's been talking about you nonstop."
Theo shrugged. He actually enjoyed Hagrid's stories about Fang, so lately he'd been visiting every chance he got.
Adam, on the other hand, was just bored and tagging along.
"Let's go," Rock said with a laugh. "I really have been ignoring everyone lately… that's not good."
"You just realized that?" Theo rolled his eyes dramatically, and the three of them headed out of the castle.
When they reached Hagrid's cabin, Rock couldn't help noticing the giant pumpkins growing in the patch outside.
Wait… are these the same pumpkins Hogwarts uses for Halloween?
Knock, knock—
Theo stepped forward and knocked. Hagrid's booming voice and Fang's loud barking echoed from inside.
"That little guy is still as energetic as ever," Theo said with a grin.
"Well now! You lads picked a bad time," Hagrid said as he opened the door. "Harry and Ron just left a few minutes ago."
Even though Rock and the others were in Ravenclaw, Hagrid always felt they'd get along great with Harry.
"That's too bad," Theo said, sounding genuinely disappointed as he reached down to ruffle Fang's head.
Rock's eyelid twitched—if he didn't already know Theo, he might've thought that was sincere.
Still, that was Theo's strength—he could always keep a conversation moving and avoid awkward silences.
"Good to see you, Hagrid." Rock stepped forward with open arms. Hagrid instantly leaned down and gave him a warm bear hug.
"I heard you've been real busy lately," Hagrid said as he ushered them inside.
"Trying to learn as much as I can," Rock admitted. "Sorry I haven't visited."
"No worries at all," Hagrid said with a grin. In his eyes, Rock was the perfect Ravenclaw—curious and always learning.
Theo was already playing with Fang, and Adam was pouring steaming cups of Hagrid's famously strong milk tea from the kettle above the fire.
"Hagrid, your milk tea really is the best," Adam said after blowing on his cup and taking the first sip.
"If you like it, drink as much as you want," Hagrid said cheerfully. By now, he knew Adam had a serious sweet tooth.
They chatted casually for a while—mostly Theo talking—and Rock listened as his eyes wandered around the cabin.
Then he noticed something on a shelf: a glass jar glowing faintly.
He froze.
"What's the matter, Rock?" Hagrid turned and followed his gaze. "Oh! That there's unicorn hair. Found it in the Forbidden Forest the other day—this time of year they shed a lot."
Hagrid grabbed the jar and set it on the table with a loud thunk. The shimmering hair inside was packed almost to the top.
"Unicorns?" Adam leaned in eagerly.
Theo joined him—unicorns were rare even in the magical world.
"Yep! This one's shedding right now," Hagrid said proudly as he unscrewed the lid. "See? It shines like moonlight, doesn't it?"
Rock nodded. A jar like this would sell for quite a lot outside.
And honestly, nobody else would keep unicorn hair in a Honeydukes jam jar—but that kind of simplicity was exactly what made Hagrid who he was.
"It's beautiful," Rock said. "Even brighter than mooncalf fur during a full moon."
"Merlin's beard… Rock, you've got mooncalf fur? Wait—do you have a mooncalf?" Hagrid asked, eyes wide.
Rock shook his head. "Just the fur. Grandpa gave it to me for my birthday."
Then he pointed to the overflowing unicorn hair. "Hagrid, could I take a little? I think Grandpa would love it."
Even though Newt Scamander had seen countless magical creatures, unicorns were still in a league of their own.
Unicorns were classified XXXX—very powerful and generally avoided human contact.
Newt had once told him unicorns were usually more comfortable around women.
"Of course!" Rock said quickly. "I can trade you some of my mooncalf fur."
He wasn't trying to take advantage of Hagrid—it was just that the only magical material he'd brought to Hogwarts was that small bottle of mooncalf fur.