Chapter 10: Hermione and Hagrid

"George, thank you for getting me out of there!"

After stepping out of the eerie Knockturn Alley and into the lively, bustling Diagon Alley, Harry finally breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly thanked George, realizing that without him, those strange and sinister wizards along the way might have swallowed him whole.

"Harry! Harry!"

At that moment, a small girl with bushy brown hair came running towards them from down the street.

"I'm so happy to see you! Why are you covered in dust, and what happened to your glasses?"

"I'm happy to see you too, Hermione," Harry replied, adjusting his cracked glasses with a big smile. "It was an accident."

"Alright, let me fix them for you. Reparo!"

Hermione pulled out her wand and cast a repair charm on Harry's glasses.

As if time were rewinding, the glasses, which had been full of cracks, were restored to their original, pristine condition in just a few seconds.

"Looks like I need to practice that spell more," Harry said with a hint of admiration as he inspected his now-good-as-new glasses.

Unlike Hermione, who had not only mastered all the spells in their first-year textbooks but had also taught herself several others, Harry was still struggling to fully grasp even the basic spells, including the repair charm.

George found himself thinking the same thing as Harry. The repair charm wasn't just for fixing small items like glasses; with enough skill, it could easily restore entire collapsed buildings. In the Marvel world, just mastering that one spell could earn him quite a fortune in the future.

"And you are?" Hermione asked, turning to George after fixing Harry's glasses. She looked at him with a curious expression.

"He's a new friend of mine, George. And this is Hermione Granger," Harry introduced them quickly.

George smiled and extended his hand. "Hello, Miss Granger. A pleasure to meet such a bright and lovely witch."

"Hello, George," Hermione responded, smiling as she shook his hand. Hearing herself described as lovely made her warm to him immediately. Plenty of people had praised her for being smart, but it was the first time anyone had called her pretty—besides her parents, of course.

"Harry, now that your friend is here, I should get going. See you at Hogwarts," George said after shaking Hermione's hand. Without lingering, he waved and headed back into Knockturn Alley.

It was their first meeting, and a simple introduction was enough. George didn't want to push too hard; he didn't want to come off as too eager or calculated. Besides, his time was valuable—he had more magical studies to pursue.

Most importantly, he had no intention of stopping Lucius Malfoy from secretly slipping Tom Riddle's diary to Ginny Weasley. The diary contained a fragment of Voldemort's soul and had the power to manipulate minds. Even with George's mental abilities, he wasn't confident in resisting its influence, so he wasn't about to try and seize it for himself.

Trying to prevent the whole ordeal wasn't necessary either. With Dumbledore at Hogwarts, George was certain that no student would suffer any permanent harm. At worst, it would serve as another trial for Harry, a lesson that would ultimately help him grow stronger.

In fact, George was hoping to capitalize on the situation and possibly gain something from it.

"He seems pretty nice," Hermione said thoughtfully, watching George's retreating figure. "I wonder why I've never seen him at school before."

Judging by George's appearance, he couldn't be much older than she was, so he was either in her year or just a year above. It puzzled her that she hadn't noticed him before.

Harry chuckled at her confusion. "That's because he's only starting his first year at Hogwarts this year, so of course you haven't seen him."

"Oh, so he's younger than us. How did you two meet?" Hermione asked, now even more curious.

As Hermione and Harry walked toward Flourish and Blotts, Hermione curiously asked about his recent experiences. Harry eagerly began recounting the strange events that had just unfolded.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Diagon Alley, George found himself approaching his own store. To his surprise, he noticed an enormous figure standing at the shop's entrance, peering inside.

Describing the figure as "large" would be an understatement. The person's height was far beyond normal human limits—about three and a half meters, by George's estimation. He doubted he could even reach the man's waist if he stretched out his arm. The sheer size of the figure radiated an imposing presence.

"Why is he standing at my shop door?" George thought to himself, instantly recognizing the giant. There was only one person who matched that description: Rubeus Hagrid, Hogwarts' Keeper of Keys and Grounds, a half-giant with a deep knowledge of magical creatures.

Thinking of Hagrid's origins, George couldn't help but admire Hagrid's father. That man was truly something else—a regular-sized wizard who had somehow managed to form a relationship with a female giant and even produced offspring. It was an impressive feat, to say the least.

"Excuse me, sir. Can I help you with something?" George asked as he approached.

Hagrid turned around, lowering his gaze to meet the eyes of the small, thin young wizard in front of him. Upon realizing it was just a boy, Hagrid's expression softened immediately.

"Ah, I'm lookin' fer some potion that repels flesh-eating slugs," Hagrid explained. "I heard only this shop's got it, but it seems like it's closed."

Despite Hagrid's gentle tone, his booming voice sounded like a loud roar to George due to the giant's immense size.

"The previous owner, Mr. Merton, unfortunately passed away recently while brewing a potion. I've taken over the shop now. I know the potion you're talking about—give me a moment to get it for you," George replied as he unlocked the door and entered the shop. He quickly retrieved a bottle from behind the counter.

Although Dave didn't brew potions himself, he had been knowledgeable about herbology and knew every potion in the shop inside out.

"Here it is—repelling potion. It'll not only work against flesh-eating slugs but also on cabbage worms and aphid caterpillars," George explained as he handed the bottle to Hagrid.

"Thank ye, lad!" Hagrid said with a wide grin, clearly impressed by the young shopkeeper. He accepted the potion, his enormous hands dwarfing the small vial. "How much do I owe ye?"

"That'll be fourteen Sickles," George replied with a smile, holding out his hand.

"Well, that's cheaper than I expected," Hagrid commented as he rummaged through the enormous pocket of his mole-skin coat, pulling out a handful of silver Sickles. He counted out fourteen and handed them to George.

Hagrid had anticipated a much higher price, perhaps close to two Galleons, since the potion was rather rare.

"Well, I'm in a great mood because I'm about to start at Hogwarts soon, so I decided to give you a half-price discount," George said cheerfully as he dropped the coins into the counter's cash box.

He had already recognized Hagrid as someone worth befriending. With his potential ability to communicate with animals, George saw an opportunity to learn more about magical creatures—something that could be valuable for both making money and increasing his own power.

Befriending Hagrid, who was warm-hearted and trustworthy, would be a smart move. He could learn a lot from him, not just about magical creatures but also about life at Hogwarts.

Sure enough, Hagrid seemed pleasantly surprised by George's words. He looked at the boy closely, his smile growing wider as he laughed.

"Ah, a new student at Hogwarts, are ye? I'm Rubeus Hagrid, the Keeper of Grounds and Game at Hogwarts. When ye get a chance, come visit me, and I'll whip ye up some o' me famous rock cakes!" Hagrid said warmly.

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