Chapter 759: Giant Tribe
The lighthouse was the highest point on the coastline, standing high above all. Being up there, one could oversee the whole area.
Those dark wizards who occupied the lighthouse must have planned to find a favorable position to observe Scylla and the whirlpool, and everything in the area. But why would they extinguish the lighthouse?!!
Evan couldn’t understand. But on the other hand, Sirius, Hagrid, and Madame Maxime had things going well. The giants had a few contacts among local wizards, and from them, they learned that the current Gurg of the giant tribe was a giant called Karkus, the son of the leader of the previous generation of giants.
Perhaps because he had inherited his position through bloodright, his rule was not stable. On top of that, there was another giant called Golgomath who was much stronger than him.
Many giants thought that Golgomath was more powerful than Karkus and more qualified to be the Gurg.
These might have also been just rumors; none of the wizards could confirm any of it with certainty.
In the eyes of most wizards, giants were mostly simple-minded creatures. But they actually had quite complex social structures.
After discussion, Sirius, Hagrid and Madame Maxime finally decided to contact Karkus first, but at the same time, they also prepared an equally valuable gift for Golgomath, just in case…
By the time Evan returned, the three of them had already made up their minds and were ready to go.
Not long ago, Hagrid went to the town and bought a ton of slaughtered goats, which was the giants’ favorite food. He and Sirius carried sacks containing goats. Madame Maxime laid out magic inside the camp. Then, the four set off.
“Have you found the giants’ location?” Evan asked, plodding along the rough mountain road. He had to do all he could to keep up with Hagrid and Madame Maxime.
“I found them, just on the other side of a ridge. I saw them the night before yesterday. There were little fires burning and huge shadows… like bits of the mountain moving!” said Hagrid, gesturing with his empty hands to make the comparison. “Those giants are about twenty feet tall; some of the bigger ones may be twenty-five… much taller than me. I didn’t alarm them. After confirming that it was their territory, I came straight back!”
“How many were there?”
“I reckon there must be at least a hundred, which is actually not much compared to their heyday!” said Hagrid sadly, shaking the sack on his shoulder. “You know, there were loads of them once. There must have been at least a hundred different tribes from all over the world. But they’ve been dying out for ages. Wizards killed a few, of course, but mostly they killed each other, and now they’re dying out faster than ever. They’re not made to live bunched up together like that. Dumbledore says it’s our fault; it was the wizards who forced them to live far away. They had no choice but to stick together in order to survive…”
Giants were powerful but were now an endangered species. They were decreasing in number at an alarming rate, and it was not certain when they would go extinct.
If that happened, wizards would only see them in books. They would have to look at trolls in order to imagine them, just like they do now with giants to imagine cyclopes.
“At this rate, we can get to the giants’ territory before dinner today,” said Sirius. “For safety, we’d better not sneak up on them in the dark and wait till tomorrow morning.”
“We discussed it before. Olympe and I will walk in the front with a present to the Gurg.” Hagrid confirmed. “As for Sirius and Evan, you’re responsible for giving other gifts to Golgomath and the other giants.”
“But we don’t know which one is Golgomath,” said Evan.
“You will easily recognize him. He is the strongest one in the tribe. You can’t possibly mistake him for another,” said Madame Maxime, “These negotiations will not be easy, and we must be prepared for it. We may have to stay in the giants’ territory for a long time to persuade them.”
“Yeah, living with giants should truly be an unforgettable experience,” said Sirius. “Very few wizards ever had this kind of experience. Evan, when you go back, you can write it in the newspaper. It will definitely be a hit.”
“That’s not a good idea. Dumbledore doesn’t want others to know that we’re in contact with the giants,” said Madame Maxime cautiously, looking at Sirius dissatisfied. “We must keep it a secret. You and Rubeus were really careless along the way, Evan was much better than you in this respect.”
“I know, I wasn’t serious…” (T/N: But wasn’t he? XD)
“Speaking of that, who knows what’s going on back in the country right now.” Evan hurriedly changed the topic. “It’s been a while, and I guess Fudge and the Ministry of Magic would definitely take some measures to restrict Dumbledore and Hogwarts…”
“He is an utter fool,” said Sirius disdainfully.
Things became a bit awkward after that. They didn’t speak and kept rushing. Later, Evan was too tired to speak. His body was not suitable for this kind of mountain hiking. Even though he always kept exercising, he was too frail to make his way through mountain roads for a whole day.
After crossing cliffs and ridges, they made their way up on the south side of Mount Etna.
They were now in a hidden valley, with only one winding path leading to it, close to the top of the mountain.
Although it was still summer, the top of the mountain was covered with snow and the temperature was getting lower and lower. Thick cloudy fog drifted around Evan, meeting the snow underneath his feet. As a result, all he could see was whiteness spreading as far as the eye could see.
Dumbledore had been here before, and he was one of the wizards who helped some giants escape from Britain. Without his guidance, it would’ve been very difficult and it might’ve taken several months to find this valley.
It was getting dark, and after struggling to climb a huge rock, Evan heard a roar.
“Be careful, this is a giant, we are very close to them!” Sirius said, stopping.
“What are they doing?” Evan asked, “Making such a loud noise!”
“It’s hard to say, but I think they might be fighting,” Sirius answered.
“They always do this. The men fight each other and the women fight each other. My dad told me these things before. My mother told him,” said Hagrid, sighing. “They can’t help themselves; they half kill each other every few weeks.”
“This is normal. Although their numbers are small, the composition of the giant tribe in Sicily is very complex and there are many outsiders,” said Madame Maxime. “They all fled after the previous wars. Now they are all crowded together. It is not strange for them to fight.”
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