Hogwarts: Don't call me the Staff Maker

Chapter 38 Prejudice

This Quidditch match was not smooth sailing, with many problems arising along the way. Harry even nearly fell from a height of thirty feet with his new broom.

After the match, he was eager to find someone to talk things over with, so after a brief celebration, he went to Hagrid's cabin with Ron and Hermione.

This was the safest place he could think of.

Harry went up and knocked on the door.

In the past, Hagrid would always open the door immediately when he came, but this time he waited for a long time and there was no movement inside the house.

It didn't even make a babbling sound.

"Nobody here?" Harry looked toward the window in confusion, but the curtains blocked his view.

"That can't be right, I clearly saw Hagrid come back just now." Ron stepped forward and tried to look through the keyhole. "I can't be mistaken for Hagrid, can I?"

"Maybe he and Tooth are in the Forbidden Forest again," Hermione said.

But just then, the wooden door creaked open from the inside.

"Hagrid!" Harry looked up in surprise. "I thought you weren't home."

"Ah, something came up, I can't leave for a moment," Hagrid said somewhat guiltily. "Come in and warm up."

The three of them didn't suspect anything and quickly walked into the wooden house.

It was indeed cold outside in November; the wind felt like knives. It was much more comfortable inside with the stove burning.

They also saw another guest in the room.

"Sirlen..." Harry exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"As you can see," Siren pointed to the huge stick on the ground in front of him, "doing crafts."

Harry then noticed that Cyrus was still holding a saw and there was a pile of sawdust on the ground.

He didn't quite understand, but he didn't ask any further questions.

The three of them exchanged glances. Ron was about to say something, but he quickly changed the subject and started discussing the recent weather.

Harry and Hermione joined in the conversation.

Because they hadn't prepared beforehand, the three of them were just having a forced conversation, from the weather to homework to Quidditch, and each topic was more awkward than the last.

At first, Hagrid would chime in with a few words, but later he stopped talking altogether, and the atmosphere became increasingly awkward.

Hermione frowned. She had noticed it earlier; Hagrid seemed very nervous, and his eyes kept looking in one direction.

Sometimes, he would subconsciously tilt his head halfway through a sentence.

Secretly noting his movements, Hermione also glanced in that direction.

But all she saw was a burning fireplace and an old bed sheet hanging there, nothing else.

Strange, what's there to be nervous about... Hermione didn't understand and thought she was looking in the wrong place.

But the cabin was only so big, and after looking around, she couldn't find anything wrong with it.

If I had to name one... perhaps Xilun could be considered one.

He didn't go to the game today, and he seems to be the only Gryffindor student who didn't go.

We can say he wasn't interested in Quidditch; there are quite a few students like that, including her.

She went to the game simply to cheer for Harry, or perhaps for her own school.

After all, Hogwarts rarely hosts such lively large-scale events, so this is a rare opportunity. It's more interesting to join in the fun than to stay in the quiet castle.

But Siron didn't go, and not because he had anything important to do, but just to whittle wood.

Sheren and Harry are friends, so Hermione was a little confused as to why he didn't go cheer for his friend's match because he was busy whittling wood.

Hagrid's strange behavior is also quite concerning.

Her gaze shifted back and forth between Siren and Hagrid, but she couldn't see anything, a feeling that was incredibly unpleasant.

And then there's Ron's inappropriate voice.

"Hermione, you agree, right..."

"We can trust Siron." Frustrated, Hermione had no idea what Ron was asking her, so she simply said, "Let's get straight to the point. There's no need to beat around the bush."

"We, of course we believe him," Ron said, his tone sounding somewhat stiff.

"What are you talking about?" Hagrid brewed some pine needle tea and placed it in front of them.

"Someone's trying to sabotage Harry, right during the Quidditch match," Hermione said. "He almost fell off his broom!"

"It was Snape." Ron stopped dwelling on it and turned to Harry, saying, "Hermione and I both saw it. He was chanting a spell on your flying broom, muttering to himself, and his eyes were glued to you."

"Nonsense." Hagrid naturally didn't believe Ron's side of the story. "Why would Snape do such a thing?"

"We don't know, but we really saw it."

"He might be casting a spell to break the curse," Xilun, who had been silent until now, suddenly said. "After all, casting a spell to break the curse requires keeping a close eye on the target."

"Sirlen?" Ron turned his head in disbelief. "How could you...?"

"Don't misunderstand, I'm not trying to defend Snape, I'm just adding another possibility," Cyren interrupted him directly. "Although you don't believe it, given the current situation, this possibility isn't out of the question."

Neither Harry nor Ron spoke, while Hermione stared at her teacup, lost in thought.

"You two talk, I'm going back." Xiren stood up, pointing to the wooden stick in front of him that had become much thinner. "Hagrid, can I take this with me?"

"Okay, take it." Hagrid agreed without much hesitation.

This thing is just a piece of wood; giving it to Xilun wouldn't be a big deal.

"Thank you," Siren said, using a levitation spell to control the wooden stick and pass over the three people, leaving the cabin.

Whether Snape wanted to harm Harry or save him is irrelevant, because Harry already knew the answer.

Prejudice in people's hearts is a mountain, and Harry's prejudice against Snape is an even larger mountain range.

In this situation, even if Xilen told him the truth now, he wouldn't believe it, and even if the culprit confessed himself, he would still have some doubts.

Of course, this was Snape's own doing. Anyone would have been fed up with what he did, and Harry's fact that he hasn't turned against him yet is already a sign of his cowardice.

After putting the wooden stick back in the dormitory, Xilun went to the auditorium to have lunch.

Not long after, Harry and his two companions returned.

Perhaps because of what they had said in the cabin, they didn't choose to sit next to Xilun as usual, but instead kept their distance.

Xilun can understand this.

For a young wizard who is only eleven years old, his previous words were no different from directly "defecting to the enemy," so it's normal that he couldn't understand it for a while.

However, Xilun didn't care.

Besides attending classes and doing homework, he also has to go to Hagrid's cabin in his spare time to perfect the wand core, adjust the polished wand body, and engrave runes on it. He's so busy every day that he doesn't have time to pay attention to Harry and the others' feelings.