The Silent Witch of Hogwarts

Chapter 28: Weekdays

The arrival of workdays is always painful, and getting through them is always difficult.

For Loila, it would have been quite interesting to have him as an advisor, especially since Mr. Scrimgeour wasn't involved. Unfortunately, Mr. Gerst Parkinson made up for that shortcoming.

"Miss Hamel, is this some kind of dark magic item?"

Looking at the ashtray he was holding, Loila pursed her lips.

"Could someone be hiding magical creatures under the sofa?"

"Probably not..." Loila kept her distance as she watched Parkinson use his wand to lift the sofa cushions.

Is it possible that a dark wizard is hiding in the flowerpot?

I think that's unlikely, right?

This is roughly the process of working with this Mr. Parkinson... but Loila got used to it after a while, and Mr. Parkinson's words were like a passing breeze.

It goes in through the left ear and comes out through the right ear in the next second.

I have to say... after listening to it for a while, it actually sounds a bit like white noise... like the sound of rain.

Loila curled up in the bathtub; tomorrow was the last day.

According to Mr. White Noise... we should go to Flip-Over Alley to check? After tomorrow, this matter will be over... and the research on the magic circle can continue.

Loila buried her face in the water and blew a few bubbles. Her pointed ears swayed gently with the ripples, and her wet silver hair was scattered on the water.

Speaking of which, Mr. Lupin returned yesterday. He dragged his weary body to greet Loira, but for some reason, his face was frighteningly pale…

Perhaps Dumbledore is conducting some shady experiments… Royla guessed, maybe even some kind of human experimentation.

Don't worry, Mr. Lupin, I'll come to your rescue after I defeat Dumbledore... Wait a minute, I shouldn't say that anymore.

It's like Dumbledore is under some kind of spell; the moment I mention defeating Dumbledore, he suddenly appears... But in this situation, if he were to appear...

Royla buried her face in the water again, so that should give her a reason to send him to Azkaban, right?

Wait a minute... what am I even thinking about?!

………………

"Good morning, Miss Hammill." Mr. Parkinson's voice could be heard before we even reached the door of the Ministry of Magic office. He, who was usually full of energy, seemed rather unhappy today.

"Oh, Miss Hamel, the thought of not seeing you again after today makes me sad." He shook his head casually, "I quite enjoyed the time I spent with you."

Why do I not like it at all...? Hiding behind the mask, Loila subconsciously quickened her pace, with Mr. Parkinson following closely behind.

"I'm sure you think the same way I do, right?" Parkinson continued, seemingly to himself, "We have such a great working relationship."

"If one day you ever decide you don't want to be a professor anymore, you must come to our Auror office..."

Don't worry, that's absolutely impossible...

"By the way, we're going to check out Borginburg in Knockturn Alley today... That old guy definitely has a lot of dark magic items hidden away, we'll have to rely on you then."

Did they secretly hoard a lot of dark magic items?

Hearing this made Loila feel even worse... She recalled Dumbledore's lies when he tricked her into coming here as an advisor... about rare magic circles, about magic circle mechanisms and props passed down from ancient times.

Loila could only say that Dumbledore was a cunning old liar. In the past few days of investigation, apart from those simple dark magic props, she had not seen any magic array mechanisms like the Rosier family's on the first day.

As a result, I was tricked into coming to work... and even with the Aurors...

"Hmm!"

Loila clutched her head and took a few steps back, then subconsciously raised her face.

"Huh?!" What came into view was a high wall, or rather, a person who was like a high wall. He seemed to be stunned because he was suddenly bumped into, and his eyes under his messy hair were a little surprised.

"A giant?!" Loila trembled and took a few steps back, standing behind Parkinson.

"Ah, Hagrid?" Parkinson seemed to recognize the man, and he smiled and waved to greet the giant.

"Gester?" The giant named Hagrid seemed to recognize Parkinson as well. He laughed happily and then hugged Mr. Parkinson tightly.

Is this some kind of giant's attack method...? Loila looked at Parkinson, who was being held tightly, and subconsciously wanted to draw her wand.

"It's been... a long time." Even though he was being hugged and his voice had changed, Mr. Parkinson still managed to say, "Since graduating from Hogwarts."

Hogwarts? Royla was stunned for a moment and quickly put away her wand... So the giant in front of her was a professor at Hogwarts?

Miss Lovegood...didn't you ever suspect that Dumbledore had assembled an army of giants?

"Ah, perfect timing, Miss Hammill, you can get to know Hagrid." Parkinson turned slightly to look at Loira as if she had just thought of something: "Hagrid is the Keeper of the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts, you'll be colleagues from now on."

"Colleague?" Hagrid and Loila muttered at the same time, but Loila was more afraid than Hagrid was confused.

She was already afraid of people and wizards enough, but then she had such a big... colleague... Hagrid alone put more pressure on her than three Muggles.

"Isn't Lockhart a man?" Hagrid muttered, looking at Loira, then said as if remembering something, "Are you Miss Hamilton?"

"Eek!" Loila quickly shook her head instinctively. She hadn't forgotten that she was supposed to use an alias in front of the Aurors, although she didn't know why...

And Dumbledore, don't tell such a big mouth about this!

"Hagrid, you must have misheard me?" Parkinson seemed oblivious. "She's Miss Hamel!"

"Lola Hamilton, not that Hamilton family."

"Ah!" Hagrid seemed to realize what was happening and scratched his head awkwardly. "Yes, yes, Miss Hamel, Miss Hamel!" He said with a warm smile and walked over to Loila.

"Ugh!" As Hagrid walked in, Loila shuddered and shrank back against the corner of the wall. The giant in front of her was almost two meters taller than her. Hagrid's shadow alone was enough to completely engulf Loila. She even had to look up to see Hagrid's face.

The enormous body terrified Loila, leaving her frozen in place. She bit her lip, unsure of what to say for a long time… Was he going to give her a “hug”? Or was she going to be… eaten up because she had angered him?

Moreover, as Hagrid approached, she could feel his presence; the scent of a stranger made her ears tremble beneath her hood.

Hagrid, oblivious to the commotion, continued in a loud voice that made Loila tremble, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Hamel." Then he gave her a genuine smile.

However, because she was afraid, Loila, who had her eyes closed behind the mask, didn't see it at all.

"Hagrid, don't mind her, Miss Hamel isn't very talkative." It was Parkinson who stepped forward at this moment. For the first time, a nervous Loira was so grateful to Merlin for letting her meet Mr. Parkinson in the morning.

He walked over to Hagrid and shrugged. "Besides, we're on our way to work at the Ministry of Magic."

"Perhaps you can talk again in a few days."

"Ah, yes, yes." Hagrid nodded as if he had remembered something too. "I'm going to dig up...Diagon Alley to buy something."

"Then see you later, Gerst, and Hamilton... Miss Hamilton!"

Loila stood frozen in place, watching the giant slowly walk away with heavy steps until his body completely disappeared around the street corner, at which point she finally let out a soft sigh of relief.

Thank goodness I wore a mask... otherwise I might have really burst into tears in front of Parkinson's...

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hagrid... I didn't mean to... I was so scared on purpose..." Realizing she had been a little rude, Royla quickly apologized to Hagrid in her mind...

I hope he won't eat me because of my rudeness.