"What's its name?" Albert finished the sandwich in his hand, then extended both hands to gently stroke the hound's head as he asked.
"Fang," Hagrid instinctively replied.
"Fang? I feel like this big dog's aura just vanished. How about Spike instead?" Albert casually suggested a new name for Fang.
"I think Fang is a good name," Hagrid paused his mink-cleaning to shake his head, refusing Albert's kind offer.
"I'm Albert Anderson. Are you a professor at Hogwarts too?" Albert asked, already knowing the answer.
"No, I'm the Keeper of the Keys and Grounds," Hagrid continued to shake his head.
"The grounds—do you mean the woods over there?" Albert raised a hand and pointed in the direction of the Forbidden Forest. Without waiting for Hagrid's answer, he continued, "I heard there are werewolves in the woods. Is that true?"
"Are you a Ravenclaw student?" Hagrid asked, sounding unsure.
Albert glanced sideways at the three laughing behind him and replied, "No, we are all Gryffindor students."
"Oh, Gryffindor students." Hagrid suddenly said seriously, "I won't let you go into the woods..."
"Ahem, Albert, how did you know this dog would let you stroke its head? I thought it was quite fierce just now," George quickly diverted Hagrid's attention.
The three of them gathered around and began stroking Fang's head.
"Intuition, I guess. I have cats myself, but I didn't bring them to school," Albert casually offered an excuse. "By the way, Mr. Keeper of the Keys and Grounds, would you mind if I took a picture another day?"
"You can call me Hagrid," Hagrid didn't refuse; he just suddenly recalled some past events.
"Okay, Mr. Hagrid. Well, Hagrid..." Albert subtly drew their relationship closer.
"What do you want to take a picture for?" Hagrid asked.
"I want my family to understand my life at Hogwarts. They are Muggles and know nothing about Hogwarts," Albert explained.
"It's best not to reveal too much about the wizarding world to Muggles; it might get you into trouble," Hagrid warned with a frown.
"Oh, I understand." Albert looked at Hagrid, thought for a moment, and then spoke again, "Because of the Statute of Secrecy?"
"You know about that?" Hagrid was a bit surprised at how Albert knew about the Statute of Secrecy. A Muggle-born wizard who had just entered Hogwarts should have very limited knowledge of the wizarding world.
Albert briefly told Hagrid about Truman's misfortune.
The Keeper of the Keys and Grounds was stunned after listening. He said softly, "I don't know much about the Statute of Secrecy either, only that underage wizards will be warned if they use magic in front of their Muggle family members. If they knowingly and deliberately use magic in a Muggle residential area, in front of Muggles, it is considered a criminal act and will lead to direct expulsion."
"Are there any expulsion cases at Hogwarts?" Albert realized he had indeed caused trouble for Truman. No wonder it was an expulsion letter, not a warning letter.
"As far as I know, probably not," Hagrid wasn't very clear either.
"Your situation was an exception," Fred cleared his throat and explained. "It just means that unlucky Truman accidentally ran into you."
"Hmm!" Albert thought for a moment and understood the reason. There must have been some young Muggle-born wizards who received warnings, but they were usually scared by the letter and didn't dare to use magic again at the risk of expulsion.
"By the way, Hagrid, what dangerous creatures are in the Forbidden Forest, and why doesn't Dumbledore allow first-years to enter it?" Albert brought the conversation back, resuming a topic everyone was now interested in.
"There are many dangerous magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest," Hagrid nodded.
"Like werewolves?" Albert asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, werewolves."
"But isn't it said that if you're bitten by a werewolf, you become one? Dumbledore actually allows students to live next to werewolves?" Albert raised his doubt.
"The werewolves are deep in the Forbidden Forest; they don't easily appear around the school, and..." As Hagrid spoke, his gaze was somewhat evasive, clearly feeling guilty.
"Hagrid, have you seen a unicorn?"
..."How many questions is that now?" The three whispered beside him.
"Ten... or twelve?"
However, the three still admired Albert. They had all noticed that Albert had almost figured out the situation of the Forbidden Forest by asking questions.
They also discovered that Hagrid had a special fondness for dragons. When Albert talked about dragons, Hagrid introduced them with particular excitement.
As for the woods outside the Forbidden Forest, they were not dangerous. Students occasionally had classes there, but venturing deeper into the Forbidden Forest might lead to encounters with centaurs, werewolves, and various other magical creatures like unicorns.
Seeing Albert's fondness for unicorns, Hagrid gave him a small bundle of unicorn tail hair, and before they left, he warned the four not to try to enter the Forbidden Forest.
Albert stopped, then suddenly turned and asked, "Hagrid, are there guardian trees in the woods?"
"Guardian trees? Do you mean mountain ash trees?" Hagrid asked, puzzled.
"Yes," Albert nodded. "Herbology class and Defense Against the Dark Arts class both mentioned this tree. Can it really ward off evil... I mean, drive away Dark creatures?"
"It does have some use," Hagrid nodded.
"Um... could you help me... I mean, I'd like a small section of a dried mountain ash tree branch."
"What do you want that for?" Hagrid asked suspiciously.
"I'm planning to make a gift for my sister. I heard guardian trees have a protective effect, and I can pay some Galleons," Albert said, looking embarrassed.
"No need. I'll go into the woods when I have time to look for you, but don't expect too much. Bowtruckles usually don't let people touch mountain ash trees freely," Hagrid understood Albert's meaning.
A mountain ash tree, to protect family?
That's so nice.
"Thank you, Hagrid," Albert said gratefully. He began to consider what Christmas gift to give him.
"You're welcome," Hagrid scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Like Fang, Hagrid was clearly not as fierce as his appearance suggested.
"You're amazing."
On the way back to the castle, the three all gave Albert a thumbs-up in praise.
"Do you want some?" Albert pulled out the small bundle of unicorn tail hair from his pocket and asked.
"No, thank you. By the way, what do you want that for?"
"To give to my sister as a birthday present. She's definitely never seen unicorn tail hair!" Albert had already decided that if he couldn't get mountain ash tree wood, he would weave a bracelet from unicorn tail hair and give it to Nia as a birthday present.
"Birthday present?" The others looked at each other.
"Speaking of which, what birthday present did we give Ginny this year?" Fred suddenly asked his twin brother.
"Licorice wands."
"What about Ron then?" Fred asked again.
"Fudge Flies and Cockroach Clusters," George said without hesitation.