𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝟐 & 𝐇𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭

𝙃𝙪𝙧𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮

THE GROUP HAD ALWAYS KNOWN that Hagrid had an unfortunate liking for large and monstrous creatures. During their first year at Hogwarts he had tried to raise a dragon in his little wooden house, and it would be a long time before they forgot the giant, three-headed dog he'd christened "Fluffy."

And if, as a boy, Hagrid had heard that a monster was hidden somewhere in the castle, Beomgyu was sure he'd have gone to any lengths for a glimpse of it. He'd probably thought it was a shame that the monster had been cooped up so long, and thought it deserved the chance to stretch its many legs; Beomgyu could just imagine the thirteen-year-old Hagrid trying to fit a leash and collar on it. But he was equally certain that Hagrid would never have meant to kill anybody.

Beomgyu half wished he hadn't found out how to work Riddle's diary. Again and again his friends made him recount what he'd seen, until he was heartily sick of telling them and sick of the long, circular conversations that followed.

"Riddle might have got the wrong person," Kai said, frustrated, desperate. "Maybe it was some other monster that was attacking people. . ."

"How many monsters d'you think this place can hold?" Heeseung asked.

"We always knew Hagrid had been expelled," said Soobin miserably. "And the attacks must've stopped after Hagrid was kicked out. Otherwise, Riddle wouldn't have got his award."

Jisung tried a different tack. "Riddle does sound like Juyeon—Who asked him to squeal on Hagrid, anyway?"

"But the monster had killed someone, Jisung," said Mark.

"And Riddle was going to go back to some Muggle orphanage if they closed Hogwarts," said Beomgyu. "I don't blame him for wanting to stay here. . ."

"You met Hagrid down Knockturn Alley, didn't you, Jay, Sunghoon?" Ni-Ki asked.

"He was buying a Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent," said Jay quickly.

They all fell silent. After a long pause, Arlo voiced the knottiest question of all in a hesitant voice.

"Do you think we should go and ask Hagrid about it all?"

"That'd be a cheerful visit," said Jungwon. " 'Hello, Hagrid. Tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?' "

In the end, they decided that they would not say anything to Hagrid unless there was another attack, and as more and more days went by with no whisper from the disembodied voice, they became hopeful that they would never need to talk to him about why he had been expelled.

It was now nearly four months since JJ and Nearly Headless Nick had been petrified, and nearly everybody seemed to think that the attacker, whoever it was, had retired for good. Peeves had finally got bored on telling, Han Jihoon asked Beomgyu quite politely to pass a bucket of leaping toadstools in Herbology one day, and in March several of the Mandrakes threw a loud and raucous party in greenhouse three. This made Professor Sprout very happy.

"The moment they start trying to move into each other's pots, we'll know they're fully mature," she told Beomgyu. "Then we'll be able to revive those poor people in the hospital wing."

The second years were given something new to think about during their Easter holidays. The time had come to choose their subjects for the third year, a matter that Rio, at least, took very seriously.

". . .it could affect our whole future!" she told them all as they pored over lists of new subjects, marking them with checks.

"I just want to give up Potions," said Soobin.