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Chapter 1058: Grawp and Umbridge
🕑 Added 2024-03-22 04:33:06 +0000 UTCAfter a long absence, the Acromantulas’ territory had changed drastically, and the traces left by the giant spiders had gradually disappeared.
Life had reappeared on this land. The corroded gray trees had regained their vitality and had sprouted green shoots. Spider webs were still hanging between the trees, but they were covered with dust. The corpses hanging on the branches were all gone.
The sinful huge depression where Aragog's lair was located was also filled with green grass.
After the Acromantulas left, this place had recovered pretty well.
At least, it was like this until last year before Hagrid returned, but now there was a giant.
In terms of destructive capabilities, giants were not much worse than Acromantulas. The only advantage was that giants would not corrode the land.
From a distance, Evan and his friends saw the mound-like Grawp.
He was lying at the bottom of the depression, just outside Aragog's lair. Grawp almost simultaneously noticed the three of them.
Perhaps because he had not seen Evan for a long time and was too excited, Grawp's way of welcoming him was to uproot a newly grown tree and shake it vigorously above his head, causing dirt and gravel to fall all over him.
Suddenly seeing this scene, Umbridge's head jerked back, her eyes widened, and she fainted.
She must have been frightened. She didn't even have the ability to withstand this, yet she dared to come for some huge weapon.
Picture this, Grawp roaring, half-kneeling in front of Aragog's cave.
He was shaking a tree in his hand, and dirt and gravel kept falling; the giant hand gripping the tree, with dirty knuckles, each as big as a cricket ball.
His startlingly huge face was close, like a gray full moon swimming in the gloom of the clearing.
It was as though the features had been hewn onto a great stone ball. The nose was stubby and shapeless, the mouth lopsided and full of misshapen yellow teeth the size of half-bricks. The small eyes were a muddy greenish-brown.
“Oh my …” Evan heard Hermione squeal, terrified, beside him.
"He's really big!" Elaine's face was filled with excitement. Her focus was completely different from Hermione's.
She wasn't afraid, she just felt it was fun and was not frightened by Grawp's terrifying appearance.
Despite her young age, Elaine had already been through a lot. As a vampire, she had witnessed many things that would be terrifying to ordinary people.
"Grawp isn't very big; he's considered small among the giants," said Evan. "He's too short, only sixteen feet tall. Because of this, he had always been bullied by other giants, and Hagrid had to bring him back."
"Only sixteen feet, so short!" said Hermione. "Hagrid really made a crazy decision."
“Are there any giants bigger than him?" Elaine asked.
"Well, there are many. When I get the chance, I’ll take you to the giant tribe in Sicily," said Evan. "Come on, let's go there."
They walked towards Grawp, and the giant was getting bigger, getting closer. Only then did they notice that he’d been tied to the rocks behind by several ropes as thick as saplings. This was Hagrid's protective measure to prevent Grawp from running around in the forest.
But it proved ineffective, as Grawp was dragging the rocks towards them.
Hearing the rumbling behind him, he turned to look at the rocks and quickly stopped. Hagrid must have instructed that these rocks were not allowed to be moved.
"Grawp, are you okay?" Evan shouted and waved.
"Evan!" Grawp obviously still remembered him, and he looked very happy, but also a bit scared at the same time.
What Evan did in the giant territory had been deeply imprinted in the minds of all giants and had become a nightmare of fear.
In their simple thinking, only a god could cause volcanic eruptions and destroy mountains.
Especially the faint presence of the Cyclops's scent in the air could make the giant obey instinctively.
Evan still had a lot of energy extracted from the Cyclops. Although he didn't know how to use it, Grawp could feel it.
Therefore, Grawp was very polite to Evan, but he was definitely not like this to others, including Hagrid.
"See … he's actually quite good, not as scary as the legends say. Let me introduce you," Evan told Hermione and Elaine. He looked up at Grawp, "I’ve brought some friends to meet you!"
Grawp looked confused for a moment, and his right hand holding the tree dropped, obviously not understanding what his friend meant.
"Companions, you fool," said Evan, holding Hermione's hand and asking her to take a step forward, "This is Hermione, and next to her is Elaine. They both know your name. Okay, now you're friends!"
Grawp stared at them for a while, then quickly stretched out a hand towards Hermione, who dodged backward.
"I think there should be no problem, it's just a way for him to express friendship," said Evan.
He held Hermione with one hand and Elaine with the other, jumping into Grawp's palm.
They began to rise slowly, higher and higher, and Grawp's big face became clearer and clearer.
He put his hand across his chest, and here, they could even feel Grawp's breath, like the wind.
Seeing the landscape from the giant's palm was entirely different from usual. They were now parallel to the towering trees, able to see the scenes above them.
In the distance, the setting sun gradually disappeared from the horizon, and hundreds of birds came down to roost.
It was really a beautiful image, ignoring the platform they were on.
"What are you thinking?" Evan noticed that Elaine was not looking at the sunset, but was staring at Grawp in a daze.
"I’m wondering what the giant's blood tastes like," she said. "Will I grow bigger if I drink it?"
"Definitely not!"
The night fell quickly, and by the time they were set down, there was barely any light below.
The three of them illuminated their wands, dispelling the darkness.
"All right, Grawp, we're leaving," said Evan, waving his wand lightly, and Umbridge flew over. "By the way, this is for you; you can keep her in the cave!"
Grawp looked at Umbridge and picked her up.
The night wind blew, and Umbridge woke up. Seeing the giant so close, she fainted again.
Seemingly unhappy with this, Grawp roared loudly at Umbridge and woke her up again.
"No, she's not food. Can you help me take care of her for a while? Don't let her die, but also, don't let her escape or be found by others. Can you do that?" Evan asked, not sure if Grawp could understand what he was saying.
Although Hagrid had been teaching Grawp English, no one knew how much progress had been made.
But logically speaking, giants could understand their language.
Grawp looked at Evan, then at Umbridge in his hand, and nodded slowly.
"Great, she’s yours now," said Evan happily, not expecting communication to be so simple.
"Are we going to hand Umbridge over to him like this?" Hermione asked, looking at Umbridge dangling in Grawp's hand.
Elaine also asked almost at the same time, "Are we really giving her to the giant like this?"
"Don't worry, Hermione, she won't die. Giants have the habit of keeping humans in captivity for food storage. Not to mention, they treat women well. Women have a high status in the giant tribe. This is a bit like the matriarchal clans in the Stone Age, because women bear the important task of reproducing offspring and are very precious," said Evan. "Elaine, rest assured. Under the giant's care, she won't have an easy time. Trust me; this is already a significant punishment for her!"
