A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts

Felix cancelled the magic, causing the air to ripple again. Harry felt the entire world suddenly become vivid. Even though it had been real before, he couldn't discern the 'flaw' Sirius had mentioned. Yet, he could truly feel the difference between the two.

Whispers, unknown distant howls, whistling winds, rustling leaves, barely audible breaths...

"There's still a lot missing," Felix thought silently. It might have been enough to deal with some magical creatures, but fooling wizards, especially perceptive ones, was far from sufficient. Regardless, inheriting memory magic from Rowena Ravenclaw, after extensive evolution, he finally found the path that suited him best.

Hagrid leaned towards Grawp. His size was dwarfed compared to a true giant—nearly the same height as Grawp sitting down, who was considered a small giant. Regular giants stood between twenty to twenty-five feet tall.

"Little Grawp?" Hagrid said.

"Ha~grid!" Grawp stared at him, a lot friendlier in tone, at least not immediately throwing punches.

"I thought he was going to say 'hungry,'" Ron said.

Sirius's hand rested on his shoulder, shaking him, "Don't spoil the mood, look, isn't this scene touching?"

Grawp slowly extended a large hand—onlookers sweat for Hagrid—but before the hand reached, it stopped. Some worry hid behind Grawp's ugly face, concerned about accidentally hurting the little human.

Hagrid eagerly grabbed one of Grawp's fingers, speaking in his tender tone used for magical creatures, "It's alright, Grawp, you just need a bit of guidance, don't know your own strength, do you?"

Harry suddenly thought of the Dursleys. Would Grawp become a larger version of Dudley in the future? The image of a giant breaking free from ropes, running wild in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid chasing after flashed in his mind, giving him a shiver.

Grawp roared deeply, then muttered, "Grawp! Haggle!"

Hagrid beamed, grabbing Grawp's finger, turning to the others, "Little Grawp, these are my friends. This is Harry, Ron, Hermione—" he paused, apologetically looking at Hermione, "Would you mind if he calls you 'Hermi'? Your name seems tough for him to remember."

"No, not at all," Hermione squeaked.

Sirius chuckled, earning an eye-roll, but soon, he couldn't keep the laughter.

"This is Sirius—oh, uh, how about simplifying it to Siri?" Hagrid asked Sirius, who agreed with a straight face. And with that, everyone found themselves with new names—except for Harry and Ron, whose names remained simple.

In Hagrid's words, Felix became Phil, Hermione became Hermi, and Sirius became Siri.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Hermi, got it? Her—mi—" Hagrid painstakingly pronounced each syllable to Grawp, "And those two slightly taller ones are Phil and Siri. Can you tell them apart?"

Phil and Siri, as they were now called, shrugged. Harry and Ron listened as Hagrid repeated the mispronunciations, struggling to contain their amusement.

Seems like he doesn't need my help anymore, Felix thought. Dumbledore was concerned about Hagrid being beaten by his irritable giant brother, but at least there was a promising start. After a while, they started their return from the depths of the Forbidden Forest.

"I'm planning to move closer and stay with Grawp for a while. I need to find him food and talk to him," Hagrid said. "If you need me, send an owl, but don't come to the forest on your own," he warned Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Stop, Hagrid," Felix said, looking towards the depths of the forest.

Everyone halted. With the aid of a soft white light overhead, beyond branches and bushes, Sirius sniffed and reminded, "Something's coming." Then, they heard the sound of breaking branches and peculiar footsteps.

A massive bowstring emerged from the green shadows, parting the leaves in front. "It's me, Hagrid," a bare-chested man with the upper body naturally fused to a horse's body spoke, finally, Firenze emerged from the shadow, his silver mane bathed in the soft white light, hooves clattering.

"How did you get here?" Hagrid said cautiously.

"I heard a commotion," Firenze rumbled, "What's happening, Hagrid?"

"It's none of your concern, this isn't the centaurs' territory," Hagrid replied stiffly.

"But I live in the Forbidden Forest," Firenze said. In the next moment, he turned, his bow aimed into the dark depths, "Who's there?" His hooves scraped the ground.

Branches swayed, a creature with a dragon-like face peeked out from the other side, its shining white eyes curious, wondering why everyone was gathering so late. It stood on the edge of the black-and-white divide, revealing partially concealed leather-like black wings blocked by bushes.

"It's the Thestral," Hagrid sighed in relief.

"Oh, how could I forget about you?" Felix murmured softly, staring at the marvelous creature.

Hermione looked at him skeptically.

"Fascinating creature, isn't it? Some can't see it, some..." Felix suddenly stared intently at her.

"Oh, yes," Hermione hurriedly whispered, "Actually—we three—" she didn't continue, but the implication was evident. Harry and Ron were also inspecting the Thestral.

Sirius widened his eyes, "Harry, you didn't mention this."

"Only been at school for two days, didn't get a chance to catch up with you alone," Harry muttered quietly.

"I couldn't see it before, I mean on the first day of school," Ron said, "But it just appeared before me these past two days." Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance behind him, recalling the scene on the carriage during the start of term—

September 1st, the carriage creaked and swayed along the road.

"You both can see it?" Ron nearly choked on his saliva, staring at Harry and Hermione, "You're not teaming up to prank me, are you?"

"The fact that you couldn't see it only suggests one thing, your dim brain didn't work at all this entire summer," Hermione retorted sharply.

"Any explanation?" Harry asked. He knew about the Thestrals but only superficially.

"Seeing death, accepting death, maybe a bit of enlightenment... hard to explain," Hermione said anxiously.

"How do you view Ludo Bagman's death?" Harry started understanding Hermione's point. He turned to Ron.

"What else can you see? He deserved it," Ron said, eyebrows suddenly furrowing, "You're not pitying him, are you?"

"Of course not," Harry immediately replied, "Then, have you worried about your future? Thought about... your family or yourself possibly dying in the war?" His voice grew quieter, it was a question that had been haunting him lately. Why did his parents not flee the country but stayed to fight the Death Eaters?

Ron glanced nervously between Harry and Hermione.

"Aren't there Dumbledore and Professor Snape? They'll arrange everything

..." Ron tried to reassure.

Hermione glanced meaningfully at Harry, conveying, "See? He hasn't considered it at all."

...

Sirius patted Harry and Ron's shoulders, mumbling something no one caught.

On the other side, Hagrid relaxed, approached the Thestral, stroking its emaciated body, finally patting its head, "Let's go, nothing interesting here. And no food, it's just my nosebleed."

The centaur, Firenze, also retreated and disappeared. Before leaving, he warned Hagrid, "The elders in the tribe are unhappy. If you continue bringing dangerous creatures from around the world—"

After this interlude, Felix, Sirius, Harry, Ron, and Hermione bid Hagrid goodbye and returned to the castle. The three of them sat in a corner of the common room, lost in thought for a while, trying to digest the fact that Hagrid had a giant hidden in the Forbidden Forest.

"Hagrid won't be able to keep it a secret for long. The centaurs have strong territorial instincts; they'll think Grawp's encroaching on their land," Hermione worried.

Harry stayed silent. Wasn't that obvious? He could only hope Hagrid's teaching plan went smoothly or that Grawp's mind wasn't as slow as his appearance suggested.

Meanwhile,

Felix returned to the Ancient Runes office, gazing towards the direction of the Forbidden Forest, "Death." His voice was barely audible; he wondered what the world looked like through the Thestral's eyes.

If he were lucky enough, he might find out soon.

Note: Inserted a sequence where the trio could see the Thestral, which ideally should have been placed earlier, but I forgot about it, which might make the reading a bit abrupt.

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