By the time Alistair woke up, it was already dusk. He had dinner with Cali and Ventel.
"Eat more, Ali." Cali had prepared a rather light meal that evening to accommodate her son's unstable magic.
"Thanks, Mom, I can manage." The kinder Cali was to him, the more pressured he felt.
Alistair hurriedly changed the subject: "Did Mr. Hodi say anything?"
A look of worry crossed Cali's face, but she quickly perked up to answer Alistair: "Dr. Hodi said that your magic is a bit unstable and you need to take sedatives every day. You don't need to worry about that; your grandfather will ask Professor Snape to see if he can brew the potions for you."
Alistair was somewhat surprised. "Don't we have those sedatives at home? Would Professor Snape agree?"
Ventel gave a light cough. "Stabilizers work best when freshly made. I will handle this matter. Now, don't speak at the table."
"Okay, Grandfather." Whenever Alistair faced his grandfather Ventel, he instinctively shrank back in intimidation.
Alistair breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that his soul was entirely stable; it turned out the soul array could not detect the difference in the soul within his body.
Alistair felt a measure of relief. He did not want them to know that he had occupied their child's body while their actual child's soul was nowhere to be found—what an immense pain that would cause them.
"Ali," Cali sat on the sofa with Alistair, waiting for the Hogwarts professor to come and pick him up. For the sake of security, Hogwarts never allowed parents to visit the school casually, which meant that sometimes a Hogwarts professor had to come and escort students back.
"Pay more attention to your body after you get back, you understand? Even though Dr. Hodi said you have no other problems besides some magical instability, Mom is still very worried about you."
Alistair patted the back of Cali's hand. "Don't worry, Mom. Didn't Grandfather say he would have Professor Snape brew the stabilizers for me? Besides, there are so many professors at school, I'll be fine."
"Oh, I really am worried." Cali hugged Alistair and stroked his hair.
"Alright, Mom, I promise to write to you the very first moment there's any issue, okay?" Alistair gently patted Cali's back in return.
Only then did Cali release him, instructing him: "No getting into mischief when you get back to school, no skipping classes, and no staying up late, understand?"
"Got it, Mom," Alistair replied helplessly.
"Madam, the Hogwarts professor is here. A tall man," the housekeeper said, walking in from outside.
"Alright, son, Mom only has one precious boy, you must learn to take good care of yourself." Cali stood up from the sofa and picked up a bag of snacks she had prepared earlier on the table. "Here are the Muggle snacks you wanted, take them."
Alistair took the snacks and muttered a thank-you. Cali gave him a peck on the cheek: "Go on, darling."
The person who had come to pick up Alistair was Hagrid, which came as quite a surprise to him.
The tall man looked somewhat out of place standing outside the estate, but when he saw Alistair, a broad smile broke across his face.
"You must be Alistair Rerick, right? I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall was busy, so Headmaster Dumbledore asked me to come get you." Hagrid was holding his pink oak umbrella, and parked next to him was a giant motorcycle.
"Yes. Can I call you Hagrid?" Alistair's eyes were fixed immovably on the motorcycle. "Are we riding that there?"
"Of course you can. And yes, we're riding it to the castle! Do you like it?" Seeing that the young boy wasn't scared, Hagrid instantly cheered up.
"Of course, it looks incredibly cool!" A flying giant motorcycle!
"Oh ho ho, I'm glad to hear you say that. In fact, I think it's pretty cool myself!" Hagrid placed his little pink umbrella on the rack beside the motorcycle, mounted the vehicle, and said to Alistair, "Come on, careful now, hold on tight in a minute."
Only when Alistair stepped closer did he realize just how massive the height difference was between him and Hagrid; standing before the man, he probably looked like a little pet.
"Holding on?"
"Yeah."
Hagrid kicked the motorcycle engine to life. "Hold on tight!" With a roar, it lifted off the ground and gradually climbed into the sky.
As evening fell and the sky grew dark, Alistair could no longer make out the scenery on the ground.
"Doing alright, Alistair?"
"Oh, I'm fine." The wind was exceptionally strong, and the stinging gale made Alistair's face ache slightly. Hagrid's long hair was blowing right across his face. "It's just that your hair is a bit long, it keeps hitting my face."
"I'm sorry." Hagrid let go of one hand, seemingly trying to tidy his long hair.
Alistair stopped him: "It's fine, Hagrid, leave it, just leave it." He was genuinely worried Hagrid might slip up and send them both plummeting.
"Just bear with it a bit longer, we'll be there soon."
After what felt like a long while, they finally arrived above a dense forest. Alistair couldn't make out anything in the distance—in fact, with the sky this dark, he couldn't tell where they were at all, but he guessed they must be in the Forbidden Forest.
"Thanks, Hagrid." Alistair patted down his disheveled hair and clothes after getting off.
"No need to stand on ceremony with me," Hagrid chuckled good-naturedly, stepping forward to sling an arm around Alistair's shoulder. "Come on, I'll walk you in. It's dangerous here, I can't have a student getting hurt."
"Can I cast a Time-Telling Charm? It looks very late now," Alistair inquired.
"Oh, wait." Hagrid fished a rather complex-looking pocket watch from his coat and peered down at it closely. "It's eight-thirty."
"Mm." Alistair nodded.
"Let's go, I need to get you safely delivered." Hagrid shielded Alistair from behind, carefully igniting a lantern to escort him to the lawn outside Hogwarts Castle.
Along the way, Hagrid talked to Alistair about many interesting things. When passing his cabin, he excitedly told Alistair about the little pets he kept inside and outside his home, and even invited Alistair to come visit him whenever he had free time.
Crossing the lawn and reaching the smooth stone path, Hogwarts Castle was a mere hundred meters ahead.
Hagrid came to a halt. "I'll drop you off here."
Alistair looked at him in confusion. "Aren't you coming over?"
"Oh, I think... the students wouldn't like me," Hagrid pulled a large handkerchief from his pocket, wiped his eyes, and said rather sadly, "They think I'm a brainless giant."
Watching him burst into tears, Alistair didn't quite know what to do, so he could only offer verbal comfort: "Hagrid, not all students hate you. Don't be sad, you'll meet students who like you."
"Oh..." Hagrid paused his tears slightly. "I hope so."
Seeing his expression, Alistair scratched his neck and said stiffly, "Well, I... um... I quite like you, too."
"Really?!" Hagrid let out a snort, gave a sniffle with his large handkerchief, and wiped his reddened nose. "I'm so happy! Alistair, thank you for being so good to me and being willing to hang out with a half-giant like me."
"It's nothing..."
"You'll come see me, won't you?" Hagrid stared at him with wide eyes.
Alistair felt a mild headache coming on. "I will. I'll come see you when I have time, okay?"
"It's a deal then." Hagrid reached out a massive hand and ruffled Alistair's hair. "I'll look forward to your visit, then. I'll have some rock cakes ready!"
"Alright, well... I'll head inside then?" Alistair replied dryly. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye, Ali." Hagrid once again picked up his oversized handkerchief and wiped his crimson nose.