#22 - The magical Bowtruckle

Hagrid's hut was located right next to the Forbidden Forest.

From a distance, the hut looked small, but as you got closer, you could see that even a single wooden door was as tall as four or five Moons.

Many of the wooden planks used to build the house were very old, and many had even grown small white mushrooms.

Moon didn't mind these things, because he also had a similar house on the York farm.

Knock, knock, knock.

He knocked on the half-open wooden door.

First, a dog barked from inside the hut, and then Hagrid's voice sounded.

"Back, Fang, wait a moment."

Moon stood obediently outside the door, even preparing to pick up a wooden stick beside the door.

From the sound of the dog's bark, Moon could already tell that the dog was probably quite large.

After a while, the wooden door opened, and a large head covered in hair appeared.

"Oh, it's you, the boy who keeps a Niffler."

"Hello, Hagrid."

"Squeak, squeak!"

Moon and Bouncing greeted the big guy in front of them together.

"Bouncing, right? I have a very deep impression of it. It's rare to see a Niffler as sensible as it."

Hagrid said, opening the wooden door, "Come in quickly."

Walking into the hut, Moon immediately saw the big black dog behind Hagrid, its iron chain firmly held in Hagrid's hand.

"Woof woof woof ~"

"This is Fang. Don't be fooled by his fierce barking. He's actually very timid."

Hagrid explained with a wry smile, afraid that Fang's ferocious appearance would scare others.

"Of course, I didn't see any fierceness in his eyes."

Moon said this not as a compliment, but because he had truly seen ferocious hounds.

In Xilin, he had to guard hundreds of acres of hazelnut forest alone, which was actually not a very safe thing.

Fortunately, the farm had its own guard team, which also kept more than a dozen large black dogs. These black dogs were beasts that could fight wolves to the death, and each of them had very fierce eyes.

However, Fang, who Hagrid mentioned, showed more curiosity and even a hint of fear in his eyes when facing Moon.

"So you can sense it too. That's right, Fang is still a baby."

Hagrid said, gently stroking Fang's head twice, then turning around to rummage through the dresser beside his wooden bed.

"Ha, found it." Hagrid turned around, and Moon saw that he was holding a small jar of dried insects.

"These are Flobberworm jerky. Your Bouncing will definitely love them."

Sure enough, when Hagrid took out the dried insects, Bouncing, who had been sitting on Moon's shoulder, immediately jumped up.

Moon was quick, catching it in mid-air.

"Wow, you guys are so in sync." Hagrid said, opening the jar and using his large fingers to pinch out a small piece of dried insect and hand it over.

"Eat slowly, child, there's still a lot more."

Hagrid's affectionate gesture surprised Moon. He never thought that such a burly person would be so friendly to small animals.

"Alright, Moon, you're here for the matter Professor McGonagall mentioned, right?"

Hagrid said, feeding Bouncing while looking at Moon.

"That's right. I want to find a few saplings on the edge of the Forbidden Forest that can be used to make wands."

Moon said, taking out Professor Sprout's certificate.

Hagrid took it and looked at it for a long time, intermittently reading the contents of the certificate. This scene reminded Moon of when he read his Hogwarts acceptance letter.

【Could it be that Hagrid is also illiterate?】

Moon shook his head, dispelling this absurd thought.

"Alright, child, although I don't know what you're looking for these magical saplings for, you've come at the right time."

Hagrid said, leading Moon outside. He took a shovel and a basket from a room filled with sundries.

"These are tools prepared for students in detention. You can take them and go north. A family of Bowtruckles just arrived there a few days ago. I believe you'll have a harvest."

Hagrid handed the shovel and basket to Moon, then took a glass jar from his pocket. "This is dirt beetle, the Bowtruckle's favorite snack."

Moon didn't expect Hagrid to be so well-prepared, which saved him a lot of effort.

From the books borrowed from the library, Moon knew that as long as Bowtruckles appeared there, it generally meant that there were magical trees that could be used to make wands.

Taking the tools, Moon was about to thank him when Hagrid suddenly patted his forehead.

"Oh, look at my memory, you still need to take this."

Hagrid said, returning to the house and coming out a moment later with a long cylindrical object.

"This is a signal firework. If you encounter an emergency, pull this rope towards the sky, and then Fang and I will rush over."

"Thank you, Hagrid. You've prepared so thoroughly. Can I leave Bouncing here with you?"

"Of course, I think it doesn't want to leave right now either."

Moon looked back at Bouncing, who was still chewing on the Flobberworm jerky, and then left the hut with peace of mind.

......

A messy path had been trampled out on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and Moon followed Hagrid's huge footprints all the way north.

This direction was directly opposite Hogwarts Castle, and after turning a corner, all you could see were the lush green jungle and the meadow behind you.

There were many types of trees in the Forbidden Forest, and even though Moon had finished reading the major books about wands, there were still some trees he didn't recognize.

The environment on the path was very quiet, probably because this was the edge of the Forbidden Forest, so there weren't any large animals, at most you could see some wild rabbits and small birds.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, a "hiss hiss" sound suddenly came from the forest ahead. Moon knew that this was the sound of a Bowtruckle.

Following the sound, in a messy woodland, there were actually three Bowtruckles grabbing onto different branches.

"No wonder Hagrid said it was a family of Bowtruckles."

Moon slowly approached and discovered that the Bowtruckles were two large and one small, and the small one was clearly still a child.

"Hiss hiss."

Bowtruckles were not too dangerous, but seeing Moon walking over, they still made threatening sounds.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."

Moon said, already taking a dirt beetle from the glass jar and placing it next to the mouth of the nearest large Bowtruckle.

The Bowtruckle, with its slender limbs and torso, all green, and two leaves on its head, cautiously smelled the dirt beetle in Moon's hand.

After discovering that it was normal food, it took the dirt beetle with its long arms.

Crunch ~ Crunch ~

After the crisp chewing sound, the Bowtruckle happily left the branch it had been clinging to.

Moon knew that the other party agreed that he could take a section of wood, but he didn't do it.

In Moon's eyes, the willow tree guarded by the Bowtruckle was no different from the ordinary willow tree next to it. Even if he took it back, he wouldn't know how to distinguish it.

"I want a twig of it to plant back conveniently. Can you help me find which branch will grow into the one you just guarded?"

The Bowtruckle had probably never seen someone like Moon before.

Not wanting the finished product, but instead looking for twigs.

It first looked at the three branches extending from the trunk, and then looked at the glass jar in Moon's hand.

"Okay, thank you for your trouble."

Moon said, taking out another dirt beetle.