Hunting Ground Guard

Three knocks were made, but no one responded from inside.

"...He's not home."

Sirius Black spoke in a normal voice that Edmund had never heard before.

What is a "normal voice"? It means that he neither mumbled his voice and pretended to be indifferent, nor raised his voice like an angry rooster.

In short, he stopped pretending.

"Oh," Edmund said, somewhat unwilling.

"He must have taken the dog with him. Otherwise, what am I doing sitting here?" Sirius retorted instinctively.

Edmund turned his head and glanced at him.

"I thought you were waiting for James," he said sarcastically. "I guess you wanted to apologize to him, but you were also furious to see me."

……

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold. Sirius, unusually, didn't immediately retort, but simply turned his head away.

James didn't press his advantage. He pursed his lips, acting more like a composed and well-behaved child than ever before.

Edmund was getting annoyed by them both.

"That's enough." It's not like we're dating! "You two, that's enough—stop putting on this 'one small step, one giant leap for friendship' act!"

Edmund kicked the wooden door in frustration, making a loud bang. Sirius tensed up and blurted out:

I'm sorry.

"sorry--"

Their eyes met, and they immediately understood each other's meaning.

The boys exchanged a smile, and there was no need to say anything more.

...Sometime later, Edmund learned from James that Sirius Black had stopped putting on airs and getting stuck on trivial matters thanks to the good-natured Lupin.

This boy, who was targeted by his roommate, had a kind heart. He was not without anger, but he let it go after a while.

Lu Ping, on the contrary, became the one who found the disharmonious atmosphere in the dormitory the most unbearable. He even felt quite guilty.

He felt it wasn't worth ruining a friendship for his own sake, for the sake of a werewolf who had gotten into the school by sheer luck.

Therefore, he took the initiative to approach Sirius and explained to him what he had left unsaid;

He also told the other party that James was desperate and would seek any treatment, even inviting him to join him.

Sirius was initially very angry, feeling that Lupin was just trying to provoke him.

But this time Lupin did not back down, and stated neither humbly nor arrogantly:

Your friendship is very precious and shouldn't become so awkward because of some trivial matter or misunderstanding.

It's precisely because they care that they can't let it go—both James and Sirius consider each other close friends, which is why they hold grudges.

It was only then that Sirius realized with a start that Remus Lupin might actually be a good person.

…………

Edmund's assessment of this was that saying they had just begun to understand human nature was perhaps a bit too optimistic.

Returning to the present, let's set aside the subsequent impact of this matter.

At this moment, although Edmund was not standing between the two, he had the illusion that he had become the "core" of the sandwich.

He was very unhappy.

"Stop being sentimental, I'm calling the police."

Before the two young wizards could ask him what "alarming" meant, Edmund quickly interjected:

"What exactly did you tell the gamekeeper? Did you get the time wrong, or did he break his promise?"

That's a really good question. Because after thinking about it carefully, James gave a peculiar look.

"...You're not sure."

Edmund remained expressionless.

Edmund was getting anxious.

"James Porter, what's your wish?"

James was taken aback by what he heard, and before he could reply, a soft, childlike bark came running from afar.

The young wizards all looked towards the back of the hut and were astonished to discover a striking and magical pair.

Rubeus Hagrid was rushing toward them, his imposing presence enough to stop a child from crying at night.

He was like a raging mountain peak; although he didn't manage to make the ground shake, it didn't diminish his imposing aura that seemed capable of swallowing mountains and rivers.

The little dog in his palm, barking proudly incessantly, perfectly neutralized his menacing aura.

Because that little thing didn't run wildly with its owner, and it didn't even seem to be as big as Hagrid's palm.

At this moment, it was being held in the hands of the half-giant, like a delicious cup of pudding, and was being shaken back and forth happily.

"Huff, huff."

When Hagrid stopped, he even created a gust of wind that blew up the robes of the three men.

James Porter had completely shaken off the gloom; he was overjoyed and clapped happily at the scene.

"Phew—sorry, James, I'm a little late."

Hagrid finished speaking and straightened up. He reached out and patted James, knocking the boy over; then he looked at Sirius and Edmund.

Hagrid smiled upon seeing the red emblem of the academy. Before Sirius could speak, he nodded and said:

"You're Sirius, Jaime's good friend, he always talks about you—I know you two are very close."

Sirius unconsciously smiled and nodded.

But when the big guy saw Edmund, he hesitated again. He gave a rather unwise "uh."

"...Is this, uh, this Slytherin, also your friend, James?"

Edmund chuckled and glanced at Hagrid.

—This was no easy feat. Edmund had to stand on the steps of Hagrid's hut to barely make eye contact with him.

Upon being struck by his blue eyes, the half-giant looked away as if he were afraid of something.

"Yeah, that's right!" James chuckled.

"Stop talking, Hagrid, just trust me—he's different from other Slytherins, he's an interesting fellow!"

James winked, and the big guy seemed a little confused, but he nodded and opened the door for the little wizards.

Despite being prepared, Edmund was still knocked over by the smell in the room.

Hagrid crouched down and squeezed into the room. The three of them put aside their previous "conflicts," pushed and shoved their way into the room, and settled down at a rather... well-made round wooden table.

"Are you a freshman too?" the big guy asked in a muffled voice, as if he wasn't sure how to treat Edmund.

"How come I didn't notice you before... What's your name?"

Before Edmund could introduce himself, James preemptively answered:

"He's Edmund. The kid doesn't like flying lessons, he's kind of a bookworm, that's why you've never seen him."

Edmund didn't like hearing that. He glared at James, then opened his arms wide with affection:

"Close your eyes, everyone. Close your eyes and imagine—at first, you feel a gentle breeze lift you up, and you begin to stretch your limbs freely..."

The next second, you realize that gravity can no longer hold you back; you can float to higher and wider places, breathing in fresh air in large gulps.

"Imagine it, let your imagination run wild—can you smell that sweet-smelling air?"

James thought for a moment and answered truthfully:

"no."

Edmund scoffed:

"Of course not, because you simply can't imagine it! Your mind is bound, a flying broom—ha, ridiculous."

"That thing can definitely take your brain to the heavens, but it'll never give your ass freedom!"

"Poor James, you've never had anything good, so naturally you'll think flying broomsticks are pretty good. In that respect, I pity you."

He had only spoken halfway when James opened his eyes unhappily and glared at the jerk in front of him.

Sirius, who had become much more docile, rested his head on one hand and asked in that casual tone:

"What do you mean, Edmund?"

"Could it be that your family actually makes flying devices, and you're starting to launch new products now?"

...Tsk.

They shouldn't have made them reconcile!