Chapter 626: It must be what Dumbledore did! (Edited)

Throughout Sunday, Fish and Hermione remained in the Forbidden Forest well into the night. On Monday afternoon, Hermione went to organize activities for the Order of the Cat, and instead of following her, Fish went to the Forbidden Forest to teach the alphabet to Grawp.

After a day and two nights of Fish's teachings, and some time with Hagrid during Monday, Grawp finally learned the 26 letters of the alphabet.

In fact, Grawp was even faster than Fish because Fish wasn't as obedient as Grawp, and Professor McGonagall needed several days of tricks to get Fish to learn the twenty-six letters.

On Tuesday, Harry and the others went to Hagrid's lesson on Magical Creatures Care, worried about the kind of animals he might get into trouble with and how the rest of the class, especially Malfoy and his inner circle, and Umbridge, would behave.

However, as they made their way through the snow towards Hagrid, who was waiting at the edge of the forest, there was no sign of Umbridge anywhere nearby. Hagrid's appearance wasn't reassuring either, as he had a dead bull on his shoulders.

Before Harry could breathe a sigh of relief, they heard Hagrid cheerfully say, "Today, we have class right here!" He gestured with his head towards the dark forest behind him. "It's a bit dense! But, they like the darkness..."

Harry's heart tightened; the introduction didn't sound like a friendly animal.

The other students didn't look too pleased either, especially the Slytherins, who let out a slight growl.

But Hagrid seemed unconcerned as he cheerfully looked at the class and said, "I've arranged an expedition to the forest so that you, fifth-years, can see how these animals live in their natural habitat. The animals we'll be learning about today are very rare... but you've already been exposed to them."

He said as he ventured into the forest, carrying the dead cow.

"Oh!" Hermione groaned, guessing the creature Hagrid was taking them to meet today.

It was a bit exaggerated, but it was a very safe animal for Hagrid.

So Hermione immediately relaxed and followed Hagrid into the forest with Fish.

The other girls followed her without hesitation, and the boys had no choice but to follow.

After about ten minutes of walking, they arrived in a densely wooded area, as dark as twilight, with no snow on the ground. Hagrid dropped the dead cow on the ground with a groan, took two steps back, and turned to look at the class.

By now, the expression of many of the students had relaxed because they had all been here before with Fish and had guessed which animal they would encounter today.

"I see you've guessed," said Hagrid, with a slight smirk. "Yes, the magical creature we're going to meet today is thestrals."

The students who hadn't guessed suddenly realized that, thanks to Fish, the Hogwarts students already knew that a group of thestrals were the ones pulling the carriages at the beginning of the school year, and many of them even rode alongside Fish in the sky. Naturally, no one would believe their unlucky superstitions.

"Is Twilight Sparkle coming?" Parvati asked excitedly. "That was the name of the last Thestral I rode, and Fish said she was the chief Thestral's daughter!"

"What's so strange about that? There are several descendants of Shadow, it's not like we haven't ridden them before," Pansy said, rolling her eyes at his enthusiasm.

Hagrid ignored the confrontation between the two Houses as he shook his head and brushed the hair off his face, letting out a strange and shrill cry. The sound echoed through the dark forest like the screech of a giant bird.

Probably as a result of teaching Grawp the habit over the past two days, Fish suddenly let it out, saying, "Hagrid, you're pronouncing it wrong, nya, it's supposed to sound like this..." And with that, Fish let out an almost identical scream...

Nevertheless, the others didn't notice the difference.

Hagrid stroked his beard, embarrassed, but it wasn't the first time he felt embarrassed because of Fish, so he quickly recovered.

Moments later, Fish suddenly looked up into the air, and the others followed suit, but they didn't see anything except for Hagrid, Neville, and a Slytherin boy named Theodore Nott.

A dozen thestrals flapped their enormous wings and descended from the sky, and although the others couldn't see them, they felt the currents of air as they beat their wings.

"Nyahaha! Shadow, you're here nya!"

(≧▽≦)

Fish became excited and ran towards them, touching this and that.

And the thestrals affectionately touched Fish's cheek and neck with their beak-like mouths.

"Well, you're here now, but I'm a bit short on food." Hagrid clapped his hands and said, "So, students who can see the thestrals, raise your hand so I can see."

"Fish... your special situation doesn't count... and you, Neville? And Nott?" Hagrid scanned the room, then looked at both of them and asked, "So, do you know why you were able to see the thestrals?"

"No idea! Fish could see them from the beginning nya!"

(ω´≡ω´)

Fish shook his head and replied with a serious face.

Hagrid ignored him and continued looking at Neville and Nott.

The tall and thin Theodore Nott nodded with a sad expression, while Neville, as he nodded, responded in a low voice, "Because I saw my grandfather die..."

"Yes," Hagrid said, showing joy, and smiled, "Only those who have seen death can see the thestrals..."

"Ahem, ahem."

A familiar cough sounded, and Umbridge appeared a few meters away from Harry, still wearing her green hat, green cloak, and holding her notepad.

"Oh, hello!" Hagrid smiled, not getting angry with her for interrupting his class.

However, Umbridge didn't accept Hagrid's kindness and continued criticizing Hagrid's lessons in the following time.

Hagrid, with his clumsy tongue, was not in a position to counter Umbridge's deliberate attacks. However, he had developed some quick wit as a result of Fish's occasional interruptions in class, and though still affected, he was able to respond to Umbridge's harsh questions with humor.

Umbridge didn't just let Hagrid off the hook; she did the same thing Rita Skeeter did when writing the news, distorting some of Hagrid's responses and jotting them down in her notepad... she was trying to portray Hagrid as a mentally challenged giant with little intelligence.

She then wandered among the students, provoking them to say bad things about Hagrid...

"What do you think of them?" Umbridge asked, lowering her voice as she encountered Nott, who could see the Thestrals.

"The Thestrals are quite friendly," but Nott didn't cooperate, stroking a Thestral as he responded, "They pull us from Hogsmeade when classes begin, and there hasn't been a case of a Thestral attacking a student during that time."

Even Malfoy chimed in, "Although the lessons taught by Hagrid... are questionable, there's nothing wrong with the Thestrals at Hogwarts. I've ridden them for years, pulling carriages and even flying through the sky on them, and nothing unfortunate has happened."

After a round of questions, Umbridge had a sour expression on her face. Although she had gathered enough information against Hagrid, the whole process hadn't gone as well as she expected.

The Slytherin students were actually speaking in favor of Hagrid! It was evident that during Professor Grubbly-Plank's class earlier, they had all sorts of opinions!

Completely overlooking the fact that it was actually because of Fish, Umbridge believed that the Slytherin students were also beginning to favor Dumbledore, and that could very well mean the intentions of the Purebloods behind them...

Umbridge suspected that Dumbledore had probably done something while he was in the hospital; otherwise, the change in Slytherin's attitude wouldn't have been so apparent.

"You will receive the results of your investigation within ten days." Umbridge, who had already completely misunderstood the situation, told Hagrid with an ugly expression on her face.

She quickly walked away from the students and left the Forbidden Forest.

She had to inform Minister Fudge about what she had found as soon as possible!