Harry Potter: Magic and Guns

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*****

"Quidditch training on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the weekend dueling club with Professor Flitwick, and my godfather's Potions tutoring whenever I can squeeze it in. I'll have to miss Astronomy on Thursday night…"

Looking at his jam-packed schedule, Harry scratched his head in frustration.

Despite having plenty of free time, his extracurricular activities seemed to eat up even more. The only bit of free time on Saturdays, Harry had to reserve for Hagrid. The Forbidden Forest held too many fascinating secrets. The more Harry learned from Snape, the clearer it became—he was going to be visiting the Forbidden Forest quite frequently in the future.

Even someone like Snape, a master of Potions, had to sneak into the Forbidden Forest now and then to gather rare ingredients. That alone spoke volumes. Snape wasn't lacking in money—he could easily sell a few potions and be set for life—but some things just couldn't be bought. Hogwarts' vast, all-encompassing natural reserve was a rare treasure trove.

However, compared to Snape, Harry had a major advantage—his close relationship with Hagrid. Snape and Hagrid didn't get along very well. When Snape first joined Hogwarts, he ventured into the Forbidden Forest without consulting Hagrid, causing chaos in the forest. Things came to a head when Snape messed with a Nundu, a massively dangerous creature.

Tasks like shaving a Quintaped or pulling a Chimera's teeth were minor inconveniences. But the worst thing Snape did was antagonize the Nundu, a walking bioweapon capable of mass destruction. After sedating the unfortunate creature, Snape drained all its toxic fluids and powders from the sacs in its neck and even took two buckets of its fresh blood, casually fixing its claws and pulling out a few bad teeth as a bonus.

When the Nundu awoke, weakened from blood loss and disarmed of its deadly toxins, it was nearly slaughtered by its enemies in the forest. The Forbidden Forest had no shortage of vicious creatures. If not for Hagrid showing up in time and knocking the Nundu out cold with a single punch, it would've unleashed a deadly cloud of poison over Hogsmeade, turning the village into its hunting ground.

The Nundu was a creature so dangerous that it had the power to wipe out entire towns in a single night. Historically, one Nundu slaughtered nearly 9,000 Muggles and 15 wizards in a single rampage. Every creature classified as XXXXX by the Ministry is not to be trifled with.

Plague and poison followed in the Nundu's wake. Wizards didn't dare kill them outright. After that incident, Hagrid nearly sent Snape straight to Merlin. Their relationship had been sour for the past ten years, though Snape eventually toned down his actions, offering Hagrid plenty of healing potions as an apology. Hagrid eventually forgave him, but he still kept a close eye on Snape's visits to the forest.

These restrictions that limited Snape didn't apply to Harry. When Harry lost his parents, it was Hagrid who had dug him out from the rubble of their destroyed home. With that kind of bond, the Forbidden Forest was as good as Harry's backyard.

The only condition was whether Hagrid was willing to take him there.

Though they had a strong bond, Hagrid wouldn't take Harry into the dangerous, treasure-filled depths of the forest unless Harry could prove himself.

Winning Hagrid's approval wasn't easy. In Hagrid's view, there were two kinds of wizards: those as powerful as Dumbledore, and then everyone else, who was, in his eyes, weak. After all, even Hogwarts professors wouldn't dare to say they could conquer the Forbidden Forest with ease.

Many magical creatures had resistance to spells, sometimes to the point of near-immunity. Among these powerful beings were cunning and dangerous creatures like the Quintaped, which stalked silently in the shadows, killing unseen. Over the years, it had slain hundreds of wizards—mostly poachers—so its reputation wasn't entirely bad.

And the second type of strength? Well, that's the path Harry had chosen. What did Hagrid use to conquer the Forbidden Forest? A pair of fists the size of cauldrons, capable of delivering blows with several tons of force. Only true giants could go toe-to-toe with him, but they lacked Hagrid's agility. Even though giants were massive, brutish creatures with some magical abilities and decent intelligence, they were among the apex predators of the magical world.

Even dragons appeared on their hunting list. If a dragon was foolish enough to fly too close to a giant's settlement, the giants would charge with massive clubs made from wood and beast bones, each weighing several tons. The giant king would hurl his siege weapon at subsonic speeds, breaking the dragon's wings and forcing it to crash. Within minutes, the giants would beat the dragon into submission, drag it back to their camp by its tail, and roast it over a massive fire.

Ever seen those giant cartoonishly large roasted bones from One Piece? Well, in a giant's village, those things were real. A single dragon could yield two of them, one from each thigh.

There were no dragons in the Forbidden Forest, so there was no chance for that massive bone roast, but there were smaller prey to be had.

When Hagrid dragged back a Crumple-Horned Snorkack with its neck twisted at a strange angle, Harry knew they were in for a treat.

"Remember how you mentioned the Crumple-Horned Snorkack, Harry? Well, I ran into one in the forest today, so I took it down."

"Come on, start a fire. It's best roasted fresh," Hagrid called, while Fang, the massive boarhound, lunged from beside Harry and sank his teeth into the Snorkack's rear, refusing to let go, as if claiming it as his own.

"Watch out, Fang! You greedy mutt, you'll get crushed," Hagrid laughed, scolding the dog lightly as he tossed the three-ton Snorkack to the ground with a dull thud. The creature was enough to feed Harry for an entire year.

"Starting a fire's easy. Leave it to me," Harry muttered, his eye twitching slightly. Grabbing his wand made of white elephant ivory, he pointed it at the pile of logs nearby. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Under the spell, a large, rough campfire structure quickly assembled itself.

"Incendio."

The dried wood caught fire immediately, and within seconds, the fire was roaring, almost ready for their feast.

"By the time I finish prepping this thing, the coals should be just right," Hagrid chuckled, grabbing the Snorkack by its horns and snapping them clean off. The creature's long, sharp horns looked as if they could cut through anything with ease.

"These things are better than knives, I tell ya. I've said it before, Snorkacks are good for nothing except food. If something was really dangerous, it wouldn't come with built-in kitchen tools, would it, Harry?" Hagrid asked with a grin.

"You're absolutely right, Hagrid."

Harry could only nod in agreement, completely resigned. What else could he do when the truth was staring him right in the face?

"Remember, you asked me once," Hagrid said as he gutted the Snorkack with its own horns, speaking slowly, "how you could get as strong as me."

"I've been thinking about that question since I went into the forest today. If there's a reason, I reckon there's only one possible explanation."

His hands covered in blood, Hagrid finished gutting the beast and hung it up on a wooden stake. Then, he lifted his head, his face—shadowed by his thick, black beard—smeared with blood spatters. His dark eyes held an abyssal depth as he stared intently at Harry.

Suddenly, Hagrid smiled, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth.

"Want to know the answer?"

(End of Chapter)