Chapter 61: That's Right, Professor Dumbledore Instructs Me
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Noticing this, Professor McGonagall pursed her lips and her eyes were filled with anger. She did not expect Hagrid's attacker to be insane enough to set fire to the Forbidden Forest…
If she had arrived any later, there would have been no stopping the fire.
Despite her anger, Professor McGonagall immediately knelt down to check Hagrid's injuries.
After confirming that the wound was not life-threatening, Professor McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief and waved her wand to draw the black gas out of the wound.
"That's all I can do for now. You'll have to go to Madam Pomfrey's to recuperate for a while," Professor McGonagall said.
"Thank you… that'll do, I don't think I'm in any trouble… Can you go and see Cecilia? I think she can still be saved…" Hagrid choked on his tears.
"Cecilia? Who's that?" McGonagall asked.
"That's Hagrid's name for the unicorn… it was hit with the Avada Kedavra to protect Hagrid," Ivan volunteered after observing Hagrid for a while and noting how tired he looked.
"It's dead, Hagrid." McGonagall noticed the unicorn lying lifeless on the ground and shook her head weakly when she heard that it had been hit by an Avada.
"I killed her…" Hagrid cried, covering his face with his hands.
McGonagall guessed that she would get nothing out of Hagrid, so she turned to Ivan, who was looking quite well.
"Hales! What the hell is going on? How did Hagrid get hurt?" McGonagall's face was grim. The death of a unicorn and Hagrid being hit by a jinx in the Forbidden Forest had obviously made the situation worse.
Ivan didn't try to hide the fact that he, Harry, and the others had run into Fang outside Hagrid's hut, and thus guessed that Hagrid had been attacked in the Forbidden Forest.
Then he spoke again.
"So as not to delay the call for help, Harry and the others went back to ask for help, and I rode on Norbert and happened to see a black-robed wizard about to attack Hagrid, so I used my dragon's breath and the impact of the high dive to sneak up on him, successfully repelling him."
Professor McGonagall pursed her lips. Ivan had been very succinct, but she could still picture the close call. He had been able to improvise and take advantage of the dragon's air superiority, and McGonagall admired his quick thinking.
Yvonne told him what had happened, then pointed to the trees on the right where the ground had been burned white.
"Professor McGonagall, the black-robed wizard Norbert threw into the bushes over there was badly injured, but I think he's alive."
"Are you sure?" McGonagall asked, frowning. According to Ivan's description, a normal human being would not have survived a dragon attack.
"As you can see, Professor, his body wasn't there. I don't think he was burned to a crisp in that amount of time, was he?" Ivan asked with a shrug. He was sorry that Quirrell had managed to get away with it.
Professor McGonagall was about to nod grimly when she realised the problem.
"Wait, who started the fire?"
"I put it there, of course…" Ivan said sheepishly, then solemnly explained that it was the necessary caution when facing a Dark Wizard who knew how to cast the Avada Kedavra.
Professor McGonagall's mouth twitched at the sight of the dying Forbidden Forest, which was still belching black smoke.
Was the boy being overly cautious?
In particular, she was unable to reprimand Ivan, as the fact that the black-robed wizard was able to use the Avada Kedavra and escape from the flames was proof enough of his danger.
"Professor," Ivan said urgently, "I think he's been badly hurt. Maybe he hasn't gone far. If you go after him now, you might make it."
If he didn't kill Quirrell and Voldemort now, when they were in bad shape, would he wait for them to recover and come back for revenge?
Professor McGonagall shook her head without hesitation. "No, the most important thing right now is to keep you safe. We'll wait until Albus arrives to investigate and give chase."
She was, of course, not worried about her own safety, but rather afraid that the black-robed wizard would return and harm Ivan and Hagrid if she left.
Ivan sighed, knowing that with Voldemort's abilities, even if he was badly injured, he would be long gone by the time Dumbledore arrived.
"There's one more thing I haven't asked you, Hales!" McGonagall demanded, turning to Norbert, who was slumped on the floor.
"Where did this dragon come from? When Hermione told me you were riding a dragon to save Hagrid, I thought they'd gone mad! There are no dragons at Hogwarts, and it's against the law to keep dragons without the Ministry's permission!"
Professor McGonagall's words were harsh, and she did not give Ivan any face, as she was not the only one who heard the dragon roar. If the Ministry of Magic were to investigate, the dragon keepers would be arrested and sent to Azkaban!
Hagrid had recovered from his shock, and when he saw Ivan's silence, he gritted his teeth.
"Actually, this dragon is…"
"It was Professor Dumbledore who put him up to it!" interrupted Ivan as Hagrid was about to admit it.
He felt that Professor McGonagall was inclined to send Hagrid to Azkaban, as Dumbledore had left Quirrell alone for too long.
"Albus?" Professor McGonagall's tone had softened considerably, but she still sounded incredulous.
"It is indeed I, Minerva."
Dumbledore's voice came from the other side of the Forbidden Forest, followed by his trademark silver-white beard, and his dark purple robes, which were full of silver stars, and his overlong cloak, which was trailing on the ground, and his unusually troubled expression.
This was the first time Ivan had been caught red-handed trying to shift the blame, and he was momentarily embarrassed.
"How could you possibly let Hagrid do that? What if the Ministry came to inspect the place? What would we say?" Professor McGonagall frowned.
"I'll explain more later, but for now, I want to know what happened here," Dumbledore said, looking at Hagrid.
Hagrid regained some of his composure at this point, and told the whole story in fits and starts…
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