Chapter 124: Two Cakes
At the end of July, St. Catchpole Village received a special guest.
Hagrid, finally discharged from St. Mungo's, had pieced together everything that had happened with the help of Newt and a Healer. From the professors, he'd learned about the events in the Forbidden Forest at the end of the semester. It shocked him to hear that Kyle had been in mortal danger twice, both incidents indirectly caused by him.
"It's all... my fault... I'm such a... stupid idiot!"
In Kyle's living room, Hagrid covered his face with his hands and sobbed. "I almost got you killed in the Forbidden Forest, an' then... because of me, you met a werewolf in St. Mungo's. I shouldn't be allowed to stay at Hogwarts—I should spend the rest o' me life as a Muggle!"
Hagrid's grief and remorse shook him visibly, the nearly four-meter-tall giant weeping like a scolded child. Thick, heavy tears disappeared into his beard.
"Hagrid, calm down." Kyle handed him a tablecloth. "Here, dry your face. Don't forget, you were a victim in the whole Oren mess too. And I'm positive you didn't write that note, right?"
Kyle shot a glance at his poor sofa. Supporting Hagrid was a struggle on its own, but each shudder and shake from Hagrid made the sofa groan ominously, the wood creaking as if about to give way.
"But yeh could've died!" Hagrid sniffled, wiping his face. "I told Oren about Fluffy, only then he could trick you into goin'."
"He'd have found a way anyway, Hagrid. Don't forget he was my Defense Against the Dark Arts professor; he was always cooking up reasons to take me to the Forbidden Forest."
"But you would've been on yer guard against any other excuse!" Hagrid's shoulders were still trembling. "An' if you hadn't come to see me, yeh wouldn't have met the werewolf at St. Mungo's."
"It was an accident, Hagrid," said Kyle, shaking his head. "And thankfully, I was there. Do you realize how many innocent patients could have been killed that day... or turned into werewolves? We managed to stop a major crisis."