Chapter 633 Hagrid's Past

"Hagrid?"

"He's right... everyone is right. I have been foolish... my old father would have been ashamed of how I have been behaving..." More tears escaped, but Hagrid wiped them away with more determination and said, "By the way, have I ever shown you a picture of my old father? Here..."

Hagrid rose, went to his dresser, opened a drawer, and pulled out a photo of a short wizard with Hagrid's black, wrinkled eyes, smiling while seated on his shoulder. Hagrid easily measured seven or eight feet tall, judging by the apple tree beside him, but his face was beardless, young, round, and smooth... he seemed barely older than eleven years old.

Seeing this photo, Evan became more skeptical about how Hagrid's mother had been pregnant with him.

Hagrid's father was very short, and in comparison to the giant, the proportion was too large, even greater than Evan had imagined before!

"That was taken just after entering Hogwarts," muttered Hagrid. "My dad was very excited... he thought maybe I wouldn't be a wizard, you see, because my mom... well, anyway. Of course, I was never much in magic, really... but at least he never saw me expelled. He passed away, you see, in my second year... shortly after, I got expelled from school..."

"Dumbledore was the one who defended me after dad left. He got me the job of the forest keeper... he trusts people, he does. He gives them second chances... that's what sets him apart from other Headmasters, you see? He'll take anyone at Hogwarts, as long as they have talent. He knows that people can succeed even if their families were not... well... all that respectable. But some don't understand that. There are some who will always reproach you for your background..."

Hagrid was right. The theory of blood purity had always been very popular in the magical world.

Pure-blood wizards were born noble. They occupied the mainstream of magical society and looked down on half-blood wizards and Muggle-borns.

Half-blood wizards hated this, but in turn, discriminated against wizards like werewolves, half-giant creatures, and other non-human magical beings.

Strict laws had been enacted to limit their development and facilitate their exploitation. It was like a pyramid with a strict hierarchy, layer by layer.

Lineage and origins among different wizards and magical species created an insurmountable natural gap.

In a sense, except for a few pure-blood wizards, the vast majority of wizards were victims.

But they were also perpetrators, continuing to discriminate against wizards and magical creatures who were more humble than their own lineage and origins.

In the past, this concept completely protected magical heritage and saved wizards from persecution by Muggles.

But today, this concept of decay and backwardness had hindered the rapid development of the magical world and needed to be stopped and abandoned.

"They have always been like this. There are some who would even pretend to have simply large bones instead of standing up and saying... I am who I am, and I am not ashamed. 'Never be ashamed,' my old father used to say, 'there are some who will reproach you, but they are not worth it.' And he was right. I have been a fool. I won't worry about her anymore, I promise that. Large bones... I'll give her large bones!"

Evan, Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked nervously at each other. Due to the emotion, Hagrid kept talking without stopping.

Even if they were killed, they wouldn't admit that they actually knew what he and Madame Maxime were talking about. Evan and Hermione were there.

What Hagrid said at first was inspiring, but it turned out a bit perplexing!

It seemed like Hagrid harbored a deep grudge against Madame Maxime.

Despite the results being somewhat different than expected, this matter was finally resolved!

Apart from the Slytherin students, most didn't care if Hagrid was half-giant.

Everyone was very happy that he could return to school, although it was also because the course content changed.

Whether Hagrid was trying to make up for the Blast-Ended Skrewts or because there were only two Skrewts left, or because he was trying to show that he could do anything Professor Grubbly-Plank could, they didn't know, but Hagrid had been continuing his lessons on unicorns since returning to work.

It turned out that Hagrid knew almost as much about unicorns as he did about monsters, although he clearly found their lack of venomous fangs disappointing.

The second week, Evan saw two unicorn foals that Hagrid had managed to capture and bring to the third-year Care of Magical Creatures class.

Unlike adult unicorns, they were of pure gold and very rare. The girls were beside themselves with joy at seeing them.

"These babies turn silver when they are around two years old," Hagrid explained to the class. "And they grow horns around four. They don't turn completely white until they are adults, around seven. They are a bit more trusting when they are babies... not so concerned about boys. Come on, come closer, you can pet them if you like and give them some sugar lumps..."

In the classroom, all the students approached and touched the unicorns one by one, and everyone was very excited.

At the same time, Hagrid's impression on everyone changed greatly.

Life on campus was peaceful again, and the next thing to consider was helping Ron with the second task.

After Christmas, the date of the task was fast approaching!

Harry and Hermione regularly reminded Ron, but he was not making significant progress with the Golden Egg.

Although he studied every day, Ron wasn't fully engrossed in it.

Besides their daily classes, he and Lavender were spending more and more time together.

They would sneak out at night, roam the castle, and search for empty classrooms, nearly every day.

Ron and Lavender were making rapid progress. Both were very open and relaxed about it, which filled Evan with envy.

At night, he and Hermione couldn't have any privacy; they couldn't be together all day long. Forget about an empty classroom like Ron and Lavender; they spent most of their time in the library.

Only when they returned to the Common Room for a late snack could they exchange a few ambiguous words of mutual affection, simple yet happy and sweet.

That was enough for Evan, but if they were to go further, he wouldn't object.