Heavy footsteps sounded from behind the door, followed by the clinking of metal.
"Who is it?"
With a creak, the door opened, and a rough, booming voice spoke.
Hagrid's enormous figure filled the doorway. He was wearing a pink apron, flour dusted across his wild beard, and a wooden spoon clutched in one massive hand.
Inside, the fire was blazing. The half-giant's forehead was beaded with sweat, and his cheeks were glowing red from the heat.
"Oh, Wade!" Hagrid looked down and broke into a wide, cheerful smile. "You came just in time! I was about to bake a cake!"
"Thanks, Hagrid, but I need to ask you something first."
Wade spoke quickly. "I remember that you used to be in charge of letting people in and out of the school at the main gate, right? Is that still the case now?"
"'Course it is!"
Hagrid patted the heavy ring of keys hanging from his belt, making them jangle noisily.
With a proud chuckle, he said, "I've always been Hogwarts' Keeper of Keys! Even after I became a professor, Dumbledore never took that job away from me. He says he trusts me to do both just fine!"
Wade fixed his gaze firmly on Hagrid's eyes and asked again, "Always, huh? So if someone from outside wants to enter the school, they have to be brought in by you—is that right?"
"Ah, well…"
Hagrid scratched his cheek with a thick finger, looking slightly embarrassed, as if realizing he'd spoken too confidently just moments ago.
"Technically, that's how it's supposed to be—but, you know… sometimes I've got classes to teach! And there's been more visitors from outside lately…"
He bent down, face still dusted with flour, and said, "The other professors can bring people in too, though they rarely do. Usually Professor McGonagall handles the troublesome guests. Filch, the caretaker, can also help with that."
Hagrid curled his lip disdainfully. "That old codger's always prowling around like a bald vulture, just dying to catch a few students breaking rules!"
"Thanks for the information, Hagrid!" Wade nodded quickly. "I've got something to take care of—see you later!"
The boy waved once, then his figure swept past the vegetable patch like a gust of wind.
Hagrid blinked, then shouted after him, "Hey, lad! Don't you want a taste of my cake?"
"Next time—!"
By the time the wind carried the reply back, Wade was already nearly a hundred meters away.
"Heh, what a pity," Hagrid muttered. "Wonder what's got him in such a rush."
Turning back inside, he looked thoughtfully at the half-finished cake. "Maybe I should add a bit more crushed Blast-Ended Skrewt shell powder… That might make the texture better…"
Lost in his baking musings, he almost completely forgot that Wade had even come to see him.
…
Wade was sprinting across the grounds with his robes whipping in the wind, and Sirius's footsteps kept pace right beside him.
"What's wrong?" the man asked with concern. "What did you mean by those questions for Hagrid?"
"I just suddenly figured something out."
Wade spoke between breaths as he ran.
"The kind of person who can make others drop their guard—who can get close enough to strike without anyone realizing it—doesn't have to be someone deeply trusted… It could also be… someone completely overlooked—someone nobody ever considers a threat."
"What?" Sirius was a second late to react. "—Filch? That's impossible! The man's a Squib! I found that out back when I was a student!"
Yes… impossible, isn't it?
Just like in the original story—Sirius and Harry both despised Kreacher, yet never imagined he would betray them.
A despised servant like Kreacher was, in truth, much like Filch—an invisible man. Wizards ignored them, saw no danger in them, treated them like a joke… a useless ornament in the corner.
But even an "ornament" has its own thoughts and feelings. And if it happens to sit in the right place—one small movement can cause enormous consequences.
"I'm not sure yet." Wade bounded up the steps in two or three strides, paused to catch his breath, and said, "I need to… confirm something first."
Those gray eyes of his locked sharply onto the lights flickering inside the castle, his gaze as keen as a blade.
Invisible beside him, Sirius silently drew his wand.
"Be careful," the man said gravely. "If that guy really is the dark wizard behind the bone magic, he's far more dangerous than Filch."
"I know."
Wade forced a relaxed look onto his face as he stepped through the archway, his footsteps echoing rhythmically down the corridor.
It was dinnertime; the hallways weren't crowded. The few students who passed were clutching stacks of books, and when they noticed Wade, they all cast him envious glances.
Final exams were just two days away—the time of year when carefree students met their annual nightmare. Seeing Wade, the school champion who didn't have to take exams, filled them with silent longing.
Only Sirius knew that beneath Wade's calm, almost casual stride, every muscle was tense.
As they turned a corner, a sharp, angry voice shattered the quiet.
"…Flying on brooms inside the corridor—I'll have the lot of you strung up by your ankles!"
Filch, stooped and scowling, was roaring at two trembling first-years. The other students walked wide around the scene, afraid that the bitter old caretaker might spot some minor infraction and slap them with detention.
Wade narrowed his eyes slightly, and scanned the caretaker from head to toe. The frantic pounding of his heart finally eased.
Perhaps sensing the intensity of the stare, Filch suddenly spun around. When his murky eyes met Wade's, a flash of anger shot through them.
"You—you there! You tracked mud into the castle!"
Filch charged toward him like a scrawny cat whose tail had been stepped on, nostrils flaring as though sniffing for evidence of wrongdoing.
"Mud! All over the corridor! Even Hogwarts' great champion doesn't know how to follow basic rules?"
Wade blinked, caught off guard, then glanced down—sure enough, he had left a trail of muddy footprints behind him.
It had rained that evening. The damp earth from outside had clung to his shoes and been carried indoors.
Normally, before stepping up the stairs, Wade would cast a quick cleaning charm on himself—mostly out of courtesy, to avoid giving poor Filch extra work. But today, in his haste, he'd forgotten.
Of course, there were plenty of muddy prints in the hallway already. His weren't particularly noticeable.
"I've had enough! No one respects my work anymore!" Filch barked furiously, grabbing Wade by the arm and dragging him toward his office. "Come with me! I'll give you detention—defiling the castle grounds, that's your crime!"
The two first-years who'd been scolded earlier looked on in panic, unsure whether they were about to be punished too.
As Filch tugged him along, Wade turned back and gave the two a small wave, silently telling them to go. They glanced nervously at the caretaker, then darted into the Great Hall, one of them glancing back to give Wade a grateful look before disappearing inside.
Filch seemed to have forgotten all about the earlier pair. Determined to make an example of the school champion, he gripped Wade tightly and muttered angrily under his breath.
And beside him, the corners of Wade's mouth curved slightly upward.
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⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)- 200+ Chapters
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