In the evening, snowflakes suddenly began to fall from the sky that had been brewing for a week, and by Monday morning, the ground was completely covered in snow.
At breakfast, Hagrid reappeared at the teachers' table, but the applause welcoming him was not very enthusiastic, especially at the Slytherin table, where there was no sound at all, forming a stark contrast with the excited Gryffindor.
However, even among the Gryffindors, not everyone liked Hagrid, as some girls preferred Professor Grubbly-Plank's classes.
Because Professor Grubbly-Plank wouldn't occasionally come up with surprises... or perhaps scares would be more appropriate.
Bowtruckles are always much safer than Fire Crabs, and they're definitely something you'll have on O.W.L. exams.
...
There was a Care of Magical Creatures class for the sixth years this morning, which was also the first class Hagrid was giving them after his return.
After the first Charms class, Kael and Conna trudged through the two feet of snow to the cabin at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Upon seeing Hagrid, almost everyone instinctively took a breath.
He looked somewhat frightening at the moment.
With wounds on his face and his hair unkempt and messy, there were even some feathers from unknown animals vaguely visible.
More importantly, Hagrid had half a cow slung over his shoulder, with drops of blood dripping onto the ground, dyeing the snow red, creating an inexplicable eerie scene.
"I still prefer Professor Grubbly-Plank," came murmurs from the crowd.
But Hagrid seemed not to hear.
"Come on, follow me, we're having class here today." Hagrid led them into the dense forest but didn't go deep, stopping after about a minute.
"Ready?" Hagrid grunted as he threw the half cow to the ground, happily scanning all the students, "Don't get too excited later, the animals we're learning about today are extremely rare, I think I might be the only one in the United Kingdom who has managed to tame them...
"Oh, look, here they come."
"What's there, where is it?" A chorus of questions burst from the crowd.
To most views, there was nothing in the forest, except maybe for the Bowtruckles on the sides.
But they had learned about those animals long ago, so it obviously couldn't be them.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, a scream shattered the silence.
A Ravenclaw girl was staring with wide eyes, pointing forward in terror, "Look... you guys look..."
The students followed her pointing finger and then more people screamed.
There, chunks of meat were inexplicably peeling off the bones and disappearing into the air, so eerie it sent chills down their spines.
Many instinctively wanted to run far from the Forbidden Forest.
But a small portion of them saw a different situation.
They saw a group of giant, winged black horses, bending their heads to tear into the half-cow on the ground.
And they weren't unfamiliar with these creatures; every year during the start of school, they were the ones that pulled the carriages to bring students to the castle.
"Thestrals!" Hagrid proudly stated, "Can anyone see them?"
A few hands were raised, about six or seven people.
"More than I expected." Hagrid said seriously, "Now, does anyone want to come up and touch them? This is a very rare opportunity."
This time, even those who had raised their hands lowered them, regardless of whether they could see the Thestrals or not, expressing an intense reluctance to touch them.
Kael originally intended to give Hagrid face and help him out, but just then, he saw someone on the other side of the Forbidden Forest, who disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"Professor Hagrid." Kael raised his hand.
"Uh... I knew you would..."
"Sorry, Professor Hagrid." Kael interrupted him, "I might have dropped something on the way here, can I go look for it?"
Disappointment quickly flashed across Hagrid's face, but he nodded, "Alright, no problem."
"Thank you, Professor," Kael said, then left the crowd, heading back the way he came.
Turning around, he spotted Umbridge, who was walking over with that familiar clipboard.
She didn't ask Kael where he was going, instead heading straight towards Hagrid.
That's good, saves having to find an excuse to explain.
With that thought, Kael continued walking, stopping by a massive rowan tree at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Footsteps rustled nearby.
"Long time no see, really nice to see you at the school," Kael turned around and smiled, "Mr. Lucius Malfoy."
Lucius Malfoy stood to the side, his face ashen, both hands gripping his snake wand tightly, if Kael hadn't spoken up just now, he might have done something.
"I'm kindly reminding you, Mr. Lucius," Kael continued, "This is Hogwarts, if I suffer a slight injury here, even a scratch, you won't make it out of here."
"Dumbledore isn't at the school," Malfoy rasped, "That threat is useless."
"You're welcome to try," Kael smirked, "Besides, I don't understand why Dumbledore not being at the school makes you so happy? I thought you'd be nervous."
Lucius lifted his snake wand again, but finally, he slowly lowered it.
"What is it exactly that you want!" He bellowed, "I don't believe you'd dare harm Draco at Hogwarts, Dumbledore wouldn't forgive you."
"You just said he wasn't at the school," Kael replied, "And besides, I haven't done anything to Draco Malfoy, have I... Oh, even though the night your master resurrected, you wanted to catch me for credit, but that's all in the past, I've long since forgiven you."
"I don't understand what you're talking about." Lucius said coldly.
He knew exactly what Kael was talking about.
The night Voldemort resurrected, when Dumbledore sent Kael and Harry down the mountain, he'd just managed to run there to escape.
He certainly thought of capturing Kael and Harry to gain favor with Voldemort, but Kael had also wanted to kill him.
Even now, Lucius couldn't help but tremble when he recalled the tree that was cut near him.
Of course, this was something he couldn't admit.
"You can't slander me." He added.
"Alright, if that's what you want," Kael shrugged, "So what are you worried about? Sorry, but I have to go to class."
Kael lifted his leg to leave.
"Wait!"
Lucius quickly stepped forward, blocking his way, "Draco knows nothing."
"I've said I won't do anything to him," Kael explained patiently, "We're good friends, I only visited him the other day, as you saw, I even peeled a Chocolate Frog for him.
"We get along very well."
These weren't just empty words for Lucius; although he wasn't a moral exemplar like Professor Dumbledore, he also wouldn't vent his anger on Draco.
If he really intended to do that, he could have at the start of the school year, without waiting until now.
"Swear it..." Lucius blocked Kael again, "No, we need a Binding Magical Contract... Guarantee you won't..."
"A Binding Magical Contract?" Kael squinted a little, "You're going too far, Mr. Lucius, or do you think I'm such a simpleton?"
Lucius instinctively pulled out his wand from the snake wand.
Kael remained still, only reminding him, "Think carefully, do you really want to do this? This is the Forbidden Forest..."
Whether it was an illusion or not, Lucius faintly heard a low growl.
In the next second, he felt as if he were being watched by something terrifying, that would pounce if he made a wrong move.
Lucius trusted his instincts, they had saved him countless times over the decades.
He seriously scrutinized this sixth-year Hogwarts student and felt a familiar sense, very much like a person whose name alone incited fear.
Yet, in some ways, they were entirely different; his first impression of Kael was certainly not fear.
If it were, back at the mountain's base he wouldn't have thought of capturing Kael for merit.
Why did Hogwarts always produce monsters like this... Lucius's mind was complex.
But now was not the time for such thoughts, the growling was becoming more distinct, Lucius could even faintly smell a sweet scent.
Instantaneously, Lucius made a decision, slowly turning his wand, then releasing it to fall to the ground.
The growling ceased, replaced by the forest's breeze carrying the scent of grass, but the sense of threat lingered.