Chapter 763: Mother and Son
“My brother!” Hagrid murmured, his eyes turning red!
He looked at Grawp with his eyes wide open, though he could only see part of him, with his head and feet covered by bushes.
Through the dense foliage, Evan could see what he thought to be a vast mossy boulder in the distance, but it was actually Grawp’s head.
It was perfectly round and covered with tightly curling, close-growing hair the color of bracken.
The rim of a single large, fleshy ear was visible on top of his head, which seemed to sit directly upon his shoulders with little or no neck in between.
Probably thanks to Fridwulfa, he was wearing clothes that would hardly be seen anywhere else in this village. It was something akin to dirty brownish smock composed of animal hides sewn roughly together, and his back under the smock was very broad. As Grawp slept, it seemed to strain a little at the rough seams of the skins.
His legs were curled up under his body, and Evan could see the soles of enormous, filthy, bare feet, large as sledges, resting one on top of the other on the earthy forest floor.
Among the giants, Grawp was a small, deformed monster, but the “mound” in front of Evan was actually large enough for Evan, Sirius, Hagrid, and Madame Maxime to easily stand on it.
“Do you want to say hello to him?” The old giant asked, looking down.
Hagrid nodded, but then immediately shook his head. “I want to see my mother first!”
“Then we’d better not wake him up. His temper is not very good!” The old giant easily stepped over Grawp and continued to move forward. Evan and the others had to go around from the other side of the bush, “Because he is so small, this child is often bullied in the tribe. No one wants to talk to him. He is not built for the life of a giant. I can hardly imagine what would happen if Fridwulfa died. He certainly cannot take care of himself. “
“Can’t he find food for himself?”
“Food is only one aspect. He can catch birds or deer for himself, but he is lonely!” Herbert looked at Hagrid. “He will always be alone and separate from the tribe. This has always been the case, unhealthy children like this ended up on their own.”
Evan never thought that he would hear the word “lonely” from the giant’s mouth. Despite their rudeness and brutality, giants, like humans, had feelings.
He saw Hagrid becoming very sad, and Madame Maxime was comforting him in a low voice, holding Hagrid’s hand.
Given what Evan knew about Hagrid, he was likely to take care of Grawp himself.
They walked on for another five minutes or so before they saw a large tree shed deep in the forest, and the ground was covered with thick withered grass.
A giantess was sitting in front of the tree shed, staring at the sky, as though pondering something.
She was very old, her face was covered with wrinkles, her back was bent deeply, and her muscles were atrophied, which made her look a lot shorter. Despite the sunshine, her body was still shivering uncontrollably, as if she was freezing.
She was dressed in black robes, which was the most decent look Evan had seen today.
She was Hagrid’s mother, Fridwulfa, who was once a famous giantess in the British wizarding world.
On a warrant issued by the Ministry of Magic, her head was still worth five hundred Gold Galleons to this day.
Hearing footsteps, Fridwulfa turned her head slowly, and there was no expression in her muddy eyes.
“Herbert, how come you’re free to come and see me today?” She said slowly, her voice equally old and weak.
“I’m bringing someone here. He hopes to see you. Look who it is!”
“Human?!” Fridwulfa’s gaze glanced over them in turn, and finally stopped on Hagrid.
Hagrid took a huge dirty handkerchief from his vest pocket and wiped his eyes, looking at his mother.
For a few minutes, the two looked at each other like this, and no one spoke.
“Rubeus… you are Rubeus Hagrid!” After a while, the giantess said incredulously and wanted to stand up. But she was too old, too weak, and her body shook and she fell again.
“Mum!” Hagrid murmured, wiping his eyes again with his large handkerchief.
As strange as this scene was, it was even more touching. Hagrid finally made up for his biggest regret, and saw his mother again.
As for Fridwulfa, she did not show much affection, and simply asked a few questions.
But she still remembered Hagrid’s father very well. After all, the two had a happy time together. He was the first man in Fridwulfa’s life. She asked Hagrid a lot of questions about him, and after learning that he had already passed, she felt even lonelier.
Hagrid mentioned his father’s last words before he died, and Fridwulfa waved her hand slowly. For the first time, her sadness surfaced to her face.
The life of this old giantess was coming to an end.
The two talked for a long time, and Evan helped Sirius, Madame Maxime and Herbert handle the food.
As the breeze carried the scent of the barbecue, a harsh growl came from the other side of the woods.
It was Grawp. Evan saw him wake up, probably because he smelled the meat.
The giant gave a roar that echoed around the silent forest. Birds in the treetops overhead rose twittering from their perches and soared away.
The gigantic Grawp was rising from the ground, which shuddered as he placed an enormous hand upon it to push himself up.
He growled again, and turned his head, searching for the source of the smell.
As he approached rambling in, he covered almost the entirety of Evan’s field of vision.
Evan looked up into his startlingly huge face, which resembled 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. His nose was stubby and shapeless, his mouth lopsided and full of misshapen yellow teeth the size of half bricks, and his eyes were a muddy greenish-brown color.
If this was the first giant he’d seen, Evan might have been shocked…
Compared to other giants, Grawp was very short, but his movements were still agile.
“My dear brother!” Hagrid’s eyes were red, and he walked towards the oncoming Grawp.
Connecting with his mother had already made him very emotional. He walked over with open hands, as though to embrace Grawp.
The next second, with a big bang, Hagrid’s body flew backwards quickly!
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