Chapter 170 - 169 — Hagrid Did it !

Chapter 170: Chapter 169 — Hagrid Did it !

# Chapter 169 — Hagrid Did It!

Malfoy’s face flushed red.

His eyes were practically bloodshot with rage as he glared at Vesey.

"I’ll make you pay for this! Who do you think you are? Do you really believe that girl, who hugs you every day, actually likes you?

"What she really likes is Harry Potter! Anyone with a brain can see that she only approaches you to curry favour with that saintly Potter. Sooner or later, you’ll end up dead because of him!"

After saying this, he stormed away in a fury.

"Vesey, I don’t!"

Ginny hurriedly protested.

Vesey smiled.

"Who would believe anything he says? Besides, even if you really did like my brother, I’d give you my blessing!"

She winked at Ginny with a teasing smile.

Ginny looked as though she’d be delighted to be with Harry.

In reality, Vesey was so jealous she could almost have cried.

If Ginny really dared to get together with Harry, Vesey would completely lose her composure and make sure those two bastards saw it!

Fortunately, Ginny merely shook her head. She had practically lost all interest in Harry by now. With the diary worrying her so much, she couldn’t spare a thought for anything else.

Vesey handed the diary back to Harry.

"Why are you still keeping it?"

She asked casually.

Harry put the diary into his schoolbag and replied helplessly, "I keep feeling that there’s something unusual about it. I need to investigate it a little more. Anyway, tell me, how’s your potion coming along?"

He suddenly remembered that Vesey had previously said she would submit her potion for approval after Christmas.

"I’ve already handed it over to the professor. The professor sent samples to St Mungo’s and the Ministry of Magic, but neither has given us a response yet.

"I really hope they’ll reach a conclusion soon so I can move on to developing the next potion. You know, while researching the vampire transformation potion, I discovered that vampires and werewolves have certain similarities.

"I think that if we modify some of the key ingredients, it might be possible to develop a werewolf transformation potion as well. That way, fewer wizards will have to suffer because of lycanthropy!"

[Ding! Energy Points +10]

[Ding! Energy Points +10]

[Ding! Energy Points +10]

[...]

Vesey spoke enthusiastically, earning herself a considerable number of Energy Points.

Harry and the others felt that Vesey seemed especially impressive at that moment.

She was, after all, just a cute little girl who looked soft and delicate.

Yet right now, she seemed brave, tenacious, intelligent, and wise...

A whole string of admirable qualities seemed to suit her perfectly.

"Well, if you don’t mind me saying so, the food in the Great Hall is going to disappear soon. If you don’t hurry up and get there..."

Ron finally couldn’t resist speaking up.

Vesey might be talented and beautiful, but...

Couldn’t they go and eat first?

He was absolutely starving!

One had to be alive to appreciate beauty, after all!

Perhaps the incident with the diary had finally pushed Harry to make up his mind to investigate its secrets.

Within two days, Vesey heard Harry tell the others what he’d discovered in the diary.

"It was Hagrid! Hagrid was the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago! He was expelled because he was raising that creature!"

Harry recounted exactly what he’d read in the diary before announcing his conclusion.

Hermione and the others were stunned.

Vesey also pretended to be shocked and disbelieving.

"That’s impossible! Hagrid has always been so kind to us. He would never do something like that! And I don’t believe he’d petrify people and hurt others!"

[Ding! Energy Points +10]

[Ding! Points +10]

[Ding! Energy Points +10]

But this time, even Hermione was confused.

The diary hadn’t said whether Hagrid was a good person, so she couldn’t vouch for him.

Besides, even if Hagrid himself was a good person, that didn’t necessarily mean the creature he kept was harmless.

"You should remember that Hagrid raised a dragon during our first year. If—I’m only saying *if*—he raised a dragon fifty years ago too, could he have lost control of it?

"Maybe he didn’t realise the dragon was hurting people. Or perhaps he knew, but thought it was just playing around?"

Ron suggested cautiously.

Nobody spoke.

Only Vesey said seriously, "A dragon would keep growing bigger and bigger. There’s no way Hagrid could have hidden one inside Hogwarts forever."

"Silly Vesey! Maybe it wasn’t a dragon, but he must have been raising some kind of monster!"

"That still could have been a different monster..."

Harry and the others shook their heads.

"How many monsters can Hogwarts possibly accommodate?"

Vesey fell silent.

Judging by her expression, however, she still didn’t seem convinced that Hagrid had done anything wrong.

"Why don’t I ask him? Maybe it’s all just a misunderstanding..."

[Ding! Energy Points +10]

[Ding! Energy Points +10]

[Ding! Energy Points +10]

Harry and the others immediately grabbed her.

"Don’t go! What are you going to say to him? Ask whether he once raised a furry, terrifying creature that escaped and petrified students?"

Vesey nodded, pretending to be innocent.

Harry and the others felt even more helpless.

"Don’t be foolish, Vesey. Nobody would admit to something like that! Have you forgotten that Hagrid raised a dragon during our first year and didn’t want to tell us? We only found out because we discovered it ourselves.

"And don’t forget that he was already punished for it once. I’d wager that Dumbledore and the other professors have already questioned Hagrid. The fact that nothing has happened since then is proof enough!"

Ron’s words finally convinced Vesey to nod.

She agreed not to question Hagrid, although she still felt a little guilty.

"I just hope nothing else happens. I really hope everything will be all right."

[Ding! Energy Points +10]

[Ding! Points +10]

[Ding! Energy Points +10]

As time passed, the attacks never resumed. Four months had gone by since Nick and Justin were petrified, and people gradually began to forget about the incidents.

March brought particularly good news. The Mandrakes in Greenhouse Three finally maturing, much to Professor Sprout’s delight. She even gave the students a holiday to celebrate.

Even Ernie, who had always been hostile toward Harry, gradually began nodding to him when they crossed paths.

Then, one day in March, Vesey finally received news about her vampire transformation potion.

Both St Mungo’s and the Ministry of Magic had conducted practical tests on vampire wizards and confirmed the following:

The potion was completely effective, as far as current knowledge could establish, at suppressing vampires’ bloodlust and allowing them to obtain energy from ordinary human food.

For vampires who had spent so long drinking human blood that the taste had become almost meaningless to them, the ability to enjoy ordinary food again was practically addictive.

Furthermore, St Mungo’s and the Ministry of Magic had determined that after taking the potion every month, certain altered factors in a vampire’s body would gradually return to those of an ordinary wizard.

In other words, becoming a normal wizard within a year was now a realistic possibility!

Although no vampire wizard had successfully completed the transformation into a human yet, simply eliminating the craving for blood and restoring the ability to enjoy normal food was enough to make vampires treasure the potion beyond measure.

However, while the Ministry of Magic acknowledged the potion’s value, it still maintained that Vesey would have to wait until a vampire had successfully transformed into an ordinary wizard before she could be awarded the Order of Merlin.

But that wasn’t important.

Vesey had achieved all this while still in her second year at Hogwarts.

**And that was what mattered most!**