Hogwarts Lion Girl

Principal's office.

Dumbledore tapped the table lightly, glanced at Hagrid and Madame Maxime, and said slowly: "I have something I want to trouble you with."

Hagrid quickly put down the teacup in his hand and said in a muffled voice, "Oh, please tell me. I will try my best as long as I can do it."

Madame Maxime gracefully put the teacup aside, looked at Dumbledore with deep eyes, and said calmly: "You tell me first..."

Dumbledore sighed softly and said in a heavy tone: "It is like this. I believe you all know the news that Voldemort has been resurrected..."

He paused, observing the two's reactions, and then continued, "I hope you can help contact the giants and strive to reach a cooperation with them before Voldemort."

Hagrid was stunned for a moment, and said hesitantly: "Oh, that's it, but... you know, I... they may not pay attention to what I say... because I am... am..."

He looked at Madame Maxime cautiously, and hesitated to speak.

Madame Maxime frowned slightly, seeming to understand Hagrid's concerns.

Hagrid took a deep breath and said firmly, "But I will try my best. I think I might...maybe I can persuade them not to join Voldemort..."

Madame Maxime looked at Hagrid deeply, then turned her gaze to Dumbledore and said in a calm tone: "I see what you mean, Albus. I will try my best..."

She paused, her tone revealing a hint of helplessness, "But... there is no guarantee of success. You know, those stubborn old men are very difficult to convince."

Dumbledore nodded slightly and said gently: "I understand. No matter what the result is, I thank you for trying."

……

After leaving the principal's office, Hagrid walked quickly in front, and Madame Maxime's tall figure followed him slowly. The heavy footsteps of the two echoed in the corridor.

When they reached a secluded corner, Madame Maxime suddenly stopped, and Hagrid stopped as well. He rubbed his rough hands nervously and looked at Madame Maxime cautiously.

Madame Maxime's deep gaze fell on Hagrid and she asked calmly, "Why don't you say that word anymore?"

Hagrid was stunned for a moment, his eyes flickering, and he stammered, "Because... because you don't like..."

Madame Maxime raised her eyebrows slightly, with a hint of inquiry in her tone: "Then why did you call me that in the first place?"

Hagrid's face flushed immediately, and he explained in a panic, "Oh, I'm sorry, I really didn't mean it, I... I was too nervous at the time, and I just said it casually... They usually call me like this, so I... really... I really didn't mean it..."

He rubbed his hands nervously, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Madame Maxime was silent for a moment, then asked in a serious tone, "So you didn't mean to humiliate me?"

"Humiliation?! How could...how could I do that!" Hagrid suddenly raised his head and said sincerely, his rough face full of innocence and panic.

Madame Maxime sighed and softened her tone: "...I hate that name, so when you said that, I was so angry that I lost my mind."

"Oh, it's indeed my fault..." Hagrid lowered his head guiltily, his tone full of apology.

Madame Maxime was silent for a moment, then said calmly, "Let's make an appointment."

"W...what?" Hagrid looked up in surprise, wondering if he had heard it wrong.

"Discuss going together to persuade the giants." Madame Maxime repeated patiently.

"You mean, you want to go with me?!" Hagrid asked in surprise, his tone full of disbelief.

"Don't you want to?" Madame Maxime raised her eyebrows slightly and asked back.

"Of course not... No, I mean I'd love to... Well, anytime is fine, just send an owl to write to me and I'll be over soon." Hagrid spoke incoherently, afraid that Madame Maxime would misunderstand.

……

The infirmary at Hogwarts was filled with the smell of disinfectant mixed with the scent of various potions.

The tall, burly Durmstrang students gathered uneasily in a corner, surrounding Krum, anxiety spreading among them.

"Has anyone seen Principal Karkaroff?" A tall boy broke the silence. He looked around anxiously, hoping to find the principal in the crowd.

"No, I haven't seen him since morning." The other girl shook her head with a hint of uneasiness in her tone.

"I didn't see it either," echoed the third student, scratching his hair nervously. "Could something have happened to him?"

"Yeah, where did the principal go?" a short boy asked anxiously, "He wouldn't leave us alone, would he?"

"But... why?" a girl asked in disbelief, "Why did he do this?"

"Haven't you heard?" A well-informed boy lowered his voice and said mysteriously.

"What did you hear?" The other students immediately gathered around and asked curiously.

"It is said that Headmaster Karkaroff used to be a Death Eater!" the boy said mysteriously. His words exploded in the crowd like a bomb, causing quite a commotion.

"Really? This is horrible!" a girl covered her mouth and exclaimed.

"Now that the mysterious man is back, he must be afraid of being punished later, so he ran away." The boy continued, with a hint of certainty in his tone.

"Then what should we do?" The students looked at each other, their eyes filled with confusion and fear.

At this time, Bolivar pushed through the crowd and walked up to Krum. He put his hands on his hips and asked in a serious tone: "Victor, what do you think we should do now?"

Krum remained silent, with his head down, as if thinking about something.

Hearing Bolivar's question, he raised his head and did not answer directly, but asked in return: "When will the people from Beauxbatons leave?"

"Probably this afternoon," Bolivar replied. He knew that Krum was a man of great skill, and perhaps he already had an idea.

"Then we'll go back this afternoon too." Krum said calmly, as if he was just talking about something very ordinary.

"Are we going back just like that? Aren't we going to look for the principal?" Bolivar frowned. He felt that it was inappropriate to just leave like that.

"If he wanted to hide, there's no way we could find him." Krum shook his head, with a hint of helplessness in his tone.

"What should we say when we get back? We can't say that we lost the principal during our trip, right?" Bolivar said with a headache. He could imagine the uproar that would be caused in the school when he returned.

"Just tell the school board the truth. They should be able to elect a new principal for us soon." Krum said calmly, as if he didn't care much about the matter.

"What? The news that the mysterious man has returned?" Bolivar asked. He knew that the news was too shocking and the school board might not believe it.

"Yes." Krum nodded, his tone firm.

"What if they don't believe it?" Bolivar asked worriedly.

"This is not something we should consider." Krum said calmly, "We have done our best. Let the board of directors handle the rest."

Bolivar shrugged and said helplessly: "Well, you are right."

He turned to the other students and asked loudly, "So, what do you think?"

The students looked at each other and shook their heads to indicate that they had no objection.

"Okay, in that case, let's follow Krum's arrangement." Bolivar made the decision, "Let's get moving, pack our bags, and prepare fuel for the ship. We still have a lot of things to do, and we can't chat any more!"