A Certain Magical Hogwarts

"Sorry, I'm late."

The giant apologized as he bent down to enter, his head nearly scraping the ceiling and coming close to hitting the chandelier.

He scratched his head awkwardly and said with an embarrassed smile, "I was supposed to arrive at nine, but I ran into a little trouble along the way."

That hair-scratching only made things worse, and his already peculiar ponytail became even more dishevelled.

Father Roy swallowed hard and asked nervously, "Are you a professor from Hogwarts?"

Roy's tone held no trace of impatience as if he hadn't been the one complaining about the giant's tardiness just moments ago.

Roy himself wasn't short, standing at almost six foot three, but in front of this nearly five-meter-tall giant, he looked like a hobbit.

The size difference was overwhelming, and the intimidation was not something that could be easily ignored. At this moment, Roy couldn't help but feel deferential.

Upon hearing Roy's question, the giant hastily replied, "My name is Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts.

It was originally supposed to be Professor Snape coming to escort the new student, but there's been a bit of trouble at Hogwarts recently.

Professor Robert, who teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts, was wandering in the Forbidden Forest during the day... and got gored to death by a blast-ended skrewt."

The rest of what Hagrid said was lost on the listeners. Everyone's attention was caught by the phrase "the professor died."

Roy gasped and exchanged a worried glance with Liana, saying, "I told you it's better not to let him go—this school is too dangerous.

"Good heavens! Even the professors can die…"

"It's not like that! Hogwarts is the safest place in the wizarding world with Professor Dumbledore there."

Hagrid's face turned red as he stammered in defence, "It's just that the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts is a wee bit cursed. Every professor who takes the job runs into trouble each year."

"What did you just say? This happens at Hogwarts every year?!" Liana's voice grew sharp, her suspicion about the school's safety clearly rising bu.

"No, it's not exactly—" Hagrid started to explain, but then he faltered. He realized that, well… she wasn't entirely wrong.

"Hey, I'm going to write a letter to Sherlock Holmes and ask him to investigate Hogwarts!"

Seeing an opening, Annie shouted excitedly and dashed off to her room.

Hagrid kept scratching his head, which now resembled a bird's nest, realizing that he'd messed up big time.

He stared blankly, at a loss for what to do.

Escorting new students was typically a teacher's job, and Hagrid wasn't a teacher. This visit was only possible because he'd requested it from Dumbledore.

The reason was simple: he hoped to do well this year and then ask Dumbledore to let him escort Harry next year!

This was only the first Muggle family he visited, and yet he had already botched everything—arriving late and inadvertently creating misunderstandings…

Hagrid would rather have faced a swarm of Hungarian Horntails!

The living room had become as noisy as a marketplace. Just then, a young voice piped up.

"Hey, since you're a wizard, can you show us some magic?"

William looked up at Hagrid, his striking emerald-green eyes shining with curiosity.

William's words finally offered Hagrid a way out of his awkward situation.

Hagrid looked at the boy with gratitude and asked cheerfully, "Are you this year's new student? I know who you are, Thank you for taking care of Milly for the past two days."

"Milly?"

"Yes, Milly is the name of that owl," Hagrid explained. "And thank you for those fish treats you gave her—she really liked them."

William glanced at Boba Tea, thinking to himself that it was really the owl who had stolen the treats, but the oblivious cat was busy licking its paws.

"And you—"

"Just call me Hagrid."

"Hagrid, could you perform some magic for us?" William asked.

The best way to dispel his parents' doubts was to show them magic—something so out of the ordinary that any regular person who saw it would be stunned and intrigued.

"Oh, strictly speaking, I'm not supposed to use magic. But…" Hagrid winked slyly. "Since it's for work, Professor Dumbledore will understand."

As he spoke, he reached into the pocket of his fluffy brown coat, fumbling around for a moment before pulling out a shabby pink umbrella.

Wait… why is it pink?

Who would've thought that beneath Hagrid's rugged exterior lay a soft, whimsical heart?

Hagrid held the umbrella delicately, like he was holding a toothpick, and said excitedly, "Don't blink now. It's time to witness some magic…"

With a swoosh, he swung the umbrella through the air and aimed it at the goldfish in the aquarium.

A flash of violet light and a sound like a firecracker erupted, and suddenly, the little goldfish turned into a creature with the left side as a fish and the right side as a human.

It was only about the length of a finger, though.

"Oh, I got it wrong—not left and right, it should be top and bottom." Hagrid mumbled as he gave the umbrella another wave.

This time, it turned into a creature with a fish's upper half and a human's lower half.

William's eyelid twitched. Was this supposed to be the legendary mermaid?

Hagrid scratched his beard, looking like he'd had one too many drinks, his face flushed.

He lied, "This is exactly what the mermaids in the Black Lake look like!"

William shot him another skeptical look.

Hagrid tugged at his beard and muttered defensively, "I'm not very good at Transfiguration; that's Professor McGonagall's specialty. You can't expect my Transfiguration skills to be as good as hers.

"But I am an expert in caring for magical creatures!"

William had his doubts, but Hagrid's half-baked display of Transfiguration left Roy and Liana completely dumbfounded.

After years of... er, being corrupted by capitalist education, today had completely shattered their worldview.

If Hagrid hadn't been so large, Liana, who was a professor, might have tried to haul him off to a lab at Cambridge for dissection and study.

And Roy, with his twenty years of experience in dentistry, was dying to see if wizards' teeth were any different from regular human teeth.

In an instant, Hagrid became the Stark family's favorite guest.

Even Annie was clinging to Hagrid, begging to see him perform a magic trick that could make people disappear.

Annie vowed to start writing to Dumbledore at a rate of seven letters a week, asking if she could attend Hogwarts too!

As for Sherlock Holmes… well, he could stay in the Himalayas making mud pies for all she cared.

Hagrid spent a pleasant afternoon tea at the Stark home.

In that time, the Starks quickly became his "dear old friends" in the Muggle world.

It wasn't until evening that Hagrid, still beaming with a wide smile, took William with him to Diagon Alley.

Liana and Annie didn't go along. Hagrid was simply too big—he alone took up the entire back seat of the car.

And even then, he barely fit.

Annie pouted and whispered, "I can squeeze into the trunk with Boba Tea."

But her father, Roy, flatly refused.

The little girl then started demanding souvenirs, and William promised her some, which finally calmed her down for a bit.

Boba Tea, as the esteemed cat of the house, found a comfortable position in William's lap, lifted its chin, and cast a condescending glance at Annie.

Since being knocked off the couch by her, Boba Tea no longer considered Annie worthy of petting it!

Now that William was headed for the wizarding world, he had become the official chosen "the mighty litter-box cleaner."

Such a noble and unparalleled honour!