Thanks to the magical invisibility cloak left to Harry by his father, Hermione encountered no obstacles while sneaking out of the castle.
As she passed by the Great Hall, Hermione glanced at the staff table at the front where Madam Pomfrey was chatting enthusiastically with the Hogwarts librarian, Madam Pince. She quietly urged, "Hurry up, Harry, Ron. Madam Pomfrey will rush back to the hospital wing before ten o'clock. I don't want her to discover that I'm not lying quietly in bed!"
"You don't really need to go yourself, Hermione, we'll tell you everything we find out from Hagrid " Ron quickened his pace. He gazed at the empty air in front of him, pretending to be casual. Harry also nodded in agreement.
"Don't be silly, you two." The moment they stepped out of the castle gates, the sudden brightness and the breeze against her face made Hermione feel much better. Her orange-yellow cat eyes sparkled with excitement. "I'm worried you'll forget everything Hagrid says before you leave his hut!"
Some time had passed since Halloween. Because the large pumpkin patch behind the house had been cleared and covered with heavy snow, Hagrid's small wooden hut looked neater than usual. When Harry and the others arrived, Hagrid was chopping the Christmas trees used to decorate the Great Hall into firewood.
This might be laborious work for others, but for Hagrid, who was over ten feet tall with a waist five times that of an ordinary person, it was the simplest thing. He only needed to raise the axe and gently lower it, and the Christmas trees, each as thick as a bowl, would break into several sections.
Fang, the black boarhound frolicking in the snow, was the first to discover the visiting Harry and the others. It stood on a mound of snow and howled at them cheerfully.
"Don't bark, Fang, you just ate a whole chicken." But when he looked in the direction of Fang's howl, Hagrid's face, mostly covered by his bushy beard, broke into a smile. "Oi, Harry, Ron, it's you two!"
Hagrid waved his arms happily to greet Harry, who was struggling through two feet of deep snow. "This is really strange, Harry. You always like to come to me in the middle of the night wearing your invisibility cloak!"
"That's because I have to attend classes during the day, Hagrid!"
Ow! Harry, who was supporting Hermione under the invisibility cloak, accidentally lost his footing and fell to the ground. Hermione, who was unexpectedly pulled along, screamed and rolled into a ball with him. "Don't just watch, Hagrid, come and help us!"
"Oh, my goodness!" Hagrid's footsteps suddenly froze at the sight of Hermione appearing beside Harry and Ron. "You brought me a cat-person too?!" After a while, Hagrid let out an excited exclamation in front of the hut.
Hagrid's room was as messy as ever. In the cramped wooden hut, the ceiling was hung with hams and pheasants, a copper kettle was boiling water in the fireplace, and the only change to the patchwork quilt on the large bed in the corner was that the colors had become deeper.
"Please, Hagrid, don't ask me why I've turned into this shape," Hermione noticed the strong desire for knowledge in Hagrid's eyes as soon as she looked up from sitting on the edge of the bed. She immediately said in an irritable tone, "It was a nightmare, and I don't want to bring it up again!"
Ron laughed without a care in the world, and even Harry's worried mouth turned up at the corners.
"All right, all right." Hagrid shrugged regretfully. "I was just curious if it was possible to breed a 'cat-person' species through experiments. Since you're not willing to share - oh, stop snarling and making silly faces, Fang. That's Hermione, not a cat. You should be able to smell Hermione's scent."
He took out a few cups, threw in some dark tea leaves, and prepared to brew hot tea for the three of them. But the water on the stove needed a moment to boil. While waiting, Hagrid enthusiastically prepared some snacks he had made himself.
"You don't look very happy, Harry. Want some toffee?"
"Thanks, Hagrid, I don't have much of an appetite." Harry politely declined, having experienced the power of Hagrid's cooking many times before. He exchanged a glance with Ron and Hermione, and after a silent communication, Harry asked, "Actually, Hagrid, we came here today to ask you about someone. We think you should have heard of him."
Hagrid, who was poking the charcoal fire with his fingers, chuckled. He looked at Harry through the handle of the copper kettle and said in a teasing tone, "Who do you three want to ask about again, Harry? I'll warn you now, there's no Philosopher's stone hidden in the castle this year!"
'Yeah, there's no Philosopher's stone, but there's an extra Chamber of Secrets!' Harry thought to himself, his mood not much better despite Hagrid's joke.
"Bryan Watson, Hagrid. Have you heard of him?"
Because Hermione's time was limited, Harry asked bluntly.
"Bryan Watson?" Hagrid blinked, looking surprised. "Why do you bring him up?"
"So, you do know him?" Hermione immediately followed up. "Tell us, Hagrid, what do you know?"
Hagrid didn't answer the question right away. Instead, he looked at Ron in puzzlement. "You don't have any recollection of Bryan Watson either, Ron?"
"I must have heard that name somewhere, but it doesn't seem like I heard it from Dad. Hagrid, why do you think I know him?" Ron furrowed his brows in confusion, trying hard to remember.
"You must have heard of him, Ron." Hagrid laughed. He lifted the scalding kettle from the stove and poured tea for all three of them. "He was a Slytherin student in the same year as your brother Bill. He graduated about three years ago. Anyway, I haven't heard much about him in recent years, but that's not surprising. He was very introverted when he was in school and didn't like to be in the spot light drawing attention."
"So maybe Bill mentioned him to me before?" Ron still couldn't retrieve that lost memory.
"Introverted?" Hermione's tone was equally puzzled. She tried to recall every detail of their brief encounter last night. If she had to describe Mr. Watson, he was almost overly friendly, not at all like someone from Slytherin. But as for being introverted, she really couldn't see it.
"Well, I can't say he was introverted. Anyway, he just didn't like to interact with people, at least that's how it was back then." Hagrid could only stand and talk because there were three more people in the room. "I hardly had any dealings with him, and all I know is hearsay."
"It's said that Bryan Watson was an orphan who spent his childhood in an orphanage. You know, in Slytherin, orphans aren't likely to be welcomed. So, in his first few years at Hogwarts, he got a lot of cold shoulders. If it weren't for Professor Snape's protection, his situation might have been even more difficult." Hagrid's memories of Bryan Watson were indeed few, so he spoke slowly, but no one in the room rushed him. Even Ron gave up trying to remember and stared intently at Hagrid.
"I heard the professors say that Watson was a very studious little wizard, and he was very polite when asking questions. As for his grades, they were excellent. Of course, he couldn't compare to Bill at the time, or Percy and you." Hagrid looked at Hermione and said, "But you just couldn't get close to him. It was like he was deliberately keeping his distance from everyone. However, considering that he was a Muggle-born orphan, the professors could understand the aloofness he displayed."
"He sounds like a very ordinary person," Ron frowned. "And he belongs to Slytherin. So why would I have heard his name from Bill or maybe Charlie?"
"That brings us to the fight Watson caused in the Forbidden Forest in his fifth year!" Hagrid drank from his basin-sized mug in one gulp, and his bell-like eyes were flashing with shock. "Although that duel happened several years ago, even now when I think back on it, I still can't quite believe it!"