Chapter 245: Centaurs and Grawp's New Home

"Friend."

"Right! Grawp, friend!"

In the Forbidden Forest, John and Hagrid stood at Grawp's feet; this time Grawp didn't move his hands and feet again.

Hagrid was very happy that Grawp could distinguish between friends and food.

Grawp walked back to the spruce tree he was tied to and squatted down, digging out a rusty bicycle handlebar from his treasure trove, which still had a bell on it.

He clumsily took off the bell and twisted it gently with his thick fingers—"Ding-a-ling!" a crisp sound echoed through the cedar forest.

Grawp grinned, then slowly handed this handlebar to John.

"Oh, is this for me?"

John took this shabby handlebar, flattered, and then followed by flicking the bell.

Another crisp sound.

Grawp looked very happy, still muttering.

"Friend."

Grawp's mind indeed didn't seem high, but he was more like a child who hadn't grown up yet; as long as there was patience to teach, he could still become a civilized person.

After accompanying Grawp for a while, Hagrid then took John away.

When leaving, Grawp would learn their appearance and wave clumsily.

Clearly not knowing the meaning, but still trying hard to imitate this action of expressing goodwill.

"Really thank you, John, for letting Grawp make a friend for the first time."

John waved his hand, his boots crunching on the snow.

"Not at all, Grawp also looks quite smart, and very pure, like a blank sheet of paper."

"I look forward to Grawp learning more things in the future, truly integrating into Hogwarts, and then being welcomed and loved by students like Uncle Hagrid."

Hagrid heard John's words and was both moved and embarrassed.

He scratched his messy beard and finally squeezed out a sentence after a long time.

"Hehe, Hermione was really right, you only know how to say things that make people happy."

John: "......"

I mean, the meaning of Hermione's sentence and your meaning are not the same thing at all...

Clearly it was praising him, but he always felt Hagrid's scolding was so ugly...

Just as the few were walking back, a sudden rapid sound of hooves came, approaching them at high speed.

Hagrid immediately put away his smile and blocked in front of John.

Although John didn't know who was coming, seeing Hagrid's appearance, he prepared to take out his wand.

"Don't take out your wand, John, it will cause disputes."

But before he could take out his wand, Hagrid stopped his movement.

Cause disputes?

Hearing this, John was stunned, but before he could ask, the sound of hooves had already reached them.

It was a group of centaurs with brown manes all over their bodies.

They all had bows in their hands, in a posture ready to shoot at any time.

"Hagrid! The giant you brought back has repeatedly affected the peace of our territory."

"You should know, the Forbidden Forest is not a giant's garden!"

The centaur leader, Firenze, had a voice as low as rolling thunder, and the arrow tip shone with a cold chill in the snow light.

"No Firenze! Grawp is a good boy!"

Hagrid retorted at the centaur leader.

"Giants are all barbarians who only know how to destroy!"

Firenze scolded coldly.

"If you don't send that giant away, don't blame us for using force!"

Hagrid's chest heaved violently, his heavy breathing condensing into white mist in the cold air.

Centaurs were the indigenous people of the Forbidden Forest; they believed in astrology and order, had a very strong sense of territory, and could not tolerate a single grain of sand.

The place where Grawp was located happened to be within their territory.

They were hindered by Hagrid's face and Dumbledore's face, so they didn't use force the first time.

Even as long as Grawp was a little more honest, they might have turned a blind eye.

But Grawp always made all kinds of movements, shouting loudly from time to time, smashing trees, throwing stones.

These movements were simply a thunderclap in the silent Forbidden Forest.

Seriously affecting the peace of the centaur tribe.

Hagrid clenched his fists, then helplessly let go; he also knew he was in the wrong first.

"I know, Firenze, give me some time, I will send Grawp deeper, and guarantee it won't affect you."

Firenze narrowed his amber eyes, the arrow tip pressed down half an inch, but he didn't put away his bow.

"Three days." He spat out two words, his voice like a frozen pine branch, "Before the snow melts, if he still steps east of the Silver Birch Forest—we will act according to the ancient covenant."

Before the words fell, the herd of horses had turned and raised their hooves, brown shadows sweeping across the snow slope, leaving only a few deep marks and ice crystals shaking off with a rustle.

Hagrid sighed heavily, his shoulders slumped, as if all his strength had been drained.

John didn't speak the whole time in the back.

Regarding centaurs, he mostly read about them in books, even if he occasionally went around the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid, Hagrid only told him not to provoke the centaurs.

They were like the merpeople under the Black Lake, belonging to intelligent life, although like merpeople, they were defined as "beasts," they also had corresponding "human" rights.

So John also had to respect their territory and rules.

"Think on the bright side, Hagrid, settling Grawp in a farther place can also better hide him."

John patted Hagrid's thick back.

"I know this, but the deeper you go into the Forbidden Forest, the worse the environment, the more dangerous, I really don't want Grawp to stay in that kind of place..."

Hagrid shook his head helplessly.

"Grawp is a proper giant after all, he is not as fragile as you think."

"Tomorrow I will go with you to send him off, and by the way, help him build a small nest."

John continued to comfort him, and Hagrid nodded, having no other choice.

The next day, John followed Hagrid into the depths of the Forbidden Forest again.

The two worked together to send Grawp to a farther place.

It was a forest surrounded by thousand-year-old ancient trees, the dense branches and leaves almost blocking all the sky light, so gloomy that even the moss had a blue-gray cold tone.

They found a natural stone hollow surrounded on three sides and settled Grawp here.

John took out his wand, used the power of the Earth Dragon Flip, and gently rotated this stone hollow, the rubble arching and stacking like living things, turning into a foundation in the blink of an eye.

Then covered with a layer of soil, and laid with a thick layer of dry grass.

Then John took out a large bundle of chopstick-sized wooden sticks and waved his wand to restore them into thick logs.

This was what he and Hagrid had specifically prepared yesterday.

Following John's operation, the logs stood up, bit, and nested one by one automatically, building four walls tightly like mortise and tenon, and the slope at the top was covered with dragon skin that Hagrid didn't know where he got as a roof.

A giant hut was built just like that, the space inside was not large, only enough for Grawp to sit with his legs curled up, or lie down and stretch his limbs.

But at least it was much better than the previous nest where the earth was the bed and the sky was the quilt.

Grawp also seemed to understand that this was where he slept, a little ignorant and shiny light flashing in his eyes.

He reached out his fan-sized hand, carefully touched the dragon skin roof, and then retracted it, as if afraid of breaking it.

"This will be your new home from now on, Grawp!" ===== CHAPTER 246 =====