"Eh, eh?!"

Aileen looked at the half-giant in front of her in disbelief.

This script... something seemed off?

She had already revealed her identity, shouldn't Hagrid, as a fellow half-human wizard, instantly empathize and join her plan according to normal logic—why would he rather go back to school than temporarily help her as a Forbidden Forest hunter?

You know, Rubeus Hagrid should be well aware that compared to Aragog, who possesses humanoid intelligence, his descendants are actually closer to primitive beasts. This also applies to the vast majority of magical creature groups.

Unless they have lived with human wizards for a long time, or possess their own well-established civilization, the intelligent creature groups in the magical world have gradually begun to shrink over generations. Many magical creatures have been reduced to slightly smarter beasts.

For Aileen, as long as they are not intelligent groups with independent civilizations, there is no psychological burden for hunting or raising them for food—the strong eat the weak, and survival of the fittest, this is the most basic and important link in nature. Any race that doesn't like it can simply not participate.

"Sorry, Aileen." Rubeus Hagrid crouched down, gently patted the little dot in front of him on the head with his large hand like a cattail fan, and said with a gentle smile, "Thank you for your invitation. If you need me to introduce you to the friends in the Forbidden Forest, I can help, but if you're talking about actively hunting, I probably can't do that."

As for Aileen's Veela heritage, Hagrid was a little surprised, but not entirely unexpected. He had already vaguely sensed the differences in this little witch when he first met her.

Combined with his understanding of Veelas, those capricious creatures, many of Aileen's childish actions, as well as her gluttonous nature towards various magical creatures, were somewhat understandable.

As a gregarious Veela capable of easily transforming into various animals, their hunting range is quite extensive. Even just throwing fireballs with their superb magical abilities can solve most magical creatures.

Not to mention that, under normal circumstances, there are at least several times the number of wizard protectors standing behind a Veela group.

However, for Hagrid, the way Aileen described protecting magical creatures was too absurd—besides, he hadn't heard of anyone finding spiders delicious in all these years.

Even though Aileen's culinary skills displayed in the Hogwarts kitchen were particularly eye-catching, cooking normal food is completely different from cooking magical creatures, especially strange things like spiders, right?

No, no! This isn't a question of whether it's delicious or how it should be cooked.

Hagrid suddenly shook his head, forcefully banishing the thoughts that had just emerged in his mind.

Aragog is his friend, and even if most of his descendants aren't as smart as him, Hagrid wouldn't go hunting them, let alone think about how to cook those "Acromantulas."

"Professor Dumbledore, so I can really go back to school...can I?"

Hagrid turned his head to look at Dumbledore and Otto, a dazed expression suddenly appearing on his face.

While he was talking to Aileen, these two old men seemed to be... imperceptibly shoving the pile of treacle toffee on the table into their pockets?! And, if he wasn't seeing things, they seemed to be competing secretly?!

"Uh, that..." Hagrid scratched his cheek somewhat awkwardly, and stammered, "Professor Dumbledore, Mr. Apocalis, if you like, I can make more and send them to the headmaster's office later."

This was the first time Rubeus Hagrid had experienced his homemade sweets being so popular.

You know, before this, neither rock cakes nor treacle toffee seemed to be very popular with little kids like Harry.

"Ahem, of course, no problem. Don't forget, you still have a Transfiguration homework assignment to submit to me."

The expression on Dumbledore's face froze slightly, and he stopped his movements with incredible naturalness, as if nothing had happened just now. He cleared his throat, then stood up and walked to Hagrid.

"Welcome back, Hagrid."

Dumbledore carefully looked at the "child" in front of him who had grown taller than him, smiled gently, and opened his arms to give the big guy a light hug.

Although strictly speaking, Rubeus Hagrid had never left Hogwarts in all these years. As the gamekeeper and keeper of keys, he had always lived in this castle.

Just like Newt Scamander, Hagrid was ultimately a dropout wizard who had not completed his studies.

Perhaps over the years, Hagrid had secretly taught himself many spells in his spare time, but this still couldn't make up for the regret that he hadn't completed his full studies at Hogwarts—especially when this had become his father's dying regret.

"But after so many years, I don't know which year I should put you in now."

Dumbledore smiled and glanced at the unwilling Aileen, shook his head, and winked playfully at Hagrid.

"First year is definitely impossible. Judging by how well the pumpkins are growing in the school grounds, I don't think your magical foundations have fallen too far behind in recent years. How about this, next weekend, I'll discuss it with a few professors and give you a set of questions to test your current level of knowledge, and then decide which year you should be in when you return to school this time."

"As for the issue of your bed in the common room, I'll have the house-elves make a bigger one..."

Dumbledore paused slightly, his gaze lingering on Hagrid's Gryffindor robe, which was almost faded from washing, and a touch of emotion appeared in his blue eyes—unconsciously, so many years had passed, thankfully…

"No need to bother, Professor Dumbledore, I'll just stay here."

Rubeus Hagrid rubbed the corners of his eyes, which were full of tears, with his large hand, and said in a muffled voice, a blush of embarrassment appearing on his face, but because of the half-giant's thick beard and dark face, it didn't look so obvious.

"It's been decades, and I'm used to living in this cabin. Besides, an old guy in his fifties like me would already be embarrassed to attend classes with the kids. The common room is probably not a good idea—after all, the gamekeeper's work is still more convenient outside the castle."

"Alright then, I respect your opinion on this matter."

Dumbledore smiled and nodded, without continuing to persuade, and said to Hagrid in a light tone.

"There's one more thing..."

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Goo ya~ Chapter 1! There'll be more when I get back to the hotel tonight.

Some enthusiastic and clever plump chickens in the group said that I calculated the owed updates incorrectly before. After looking closely, well, there are indeed 2.5 chapters of updates that haven't been repaid.

Adding the monthly ticket bonus and the chapter comment bonus this month, it's currently a total of (0/4.5) ~.

The caretaker saw the chat log and said that the attitude of admitting mistakes should be correct, so let's make it (0/5)! ~ I don't want this caretaker anymore!

QAQ~QAQ~QAQ~

Please~ Please give me monthly tickets~ Please give me recommendation tickets~

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