A Unique Afternoon Tea

While Anthony and Hagrid were discussing what might have harmed the unicorn over rock cakes and brandy, there was a knock on the cabin door.

"Hagrid, we're here!" Harry Potter's voice called through the wooden door. Anthony glanced at Hagrid.

Hagrid looked momentarily annoyed as he stood up to open the door. "Oh, blast it, I forgot! We agreed to have tea together..." Anthony quickly poured out the remaining brandy in his cup, screwed the cap back on the bottle, and hastily stowed it in Hagrid's cupboard.

Before he could push the bottle behind the large copper kettle, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked in. Anthony quickly closed the cabinet door, noticing the surprised looks on the three students' faces.

Hagrid followed them in and shut the door behind him. He warmly invited them to sit wherever they liked and then invited Anthony to join them for tea. Hagrid bustled around, boiling water and searching for tea leaves, seemingly oblivious to the awkwardness of the situation.

"Uh... Professor Anthony," Harry finally said, breaking the silence, "your robes are very nice."

Anthony brushed off his robe, which he had lifted to his knees for comfort and coolness. "Thank you, Potter." He glanced at the trio and noticed Ron's bulging pockets, which seemed to be wriggling. With a chuckle, he said, "That's your mouse, isn't it, Weasley?"

Ron's face flushed, and as if embarrassed, he reached into his pocket to hold down the mouse. Anthony quickly added, "I have a mouse too, and it also likes to hide in my pocket."

Hermione chimed in, "But, Professor Anthony, don't you have a cat?"

Anthony grinned. "I suppose that explains why the mouse prefers pockets."

The three students paused, then burst into laughter. Ron, feeling more at ease, took out the mouse from his pocket and showed it to Anthony. "His name's Scabbers."

Scabbers turned over in Ron's hand and continued to sleep. For a first-year Gryffindor's pet, the gray mouse was surprisingly plump.

Anthony patted his empty pocket. "I didn't bring my mouse out today. I'll show it to you when I get the chance."

Just then, a sudden loud noise erupted behind his head, like someone had struck a gong right by his ear. Everyone jumped in surprise, and Anthony immediately turned around—

"Sorry, sorry," Hagrid muttered as he lifted a huge iron box out of the cabinet, still rummaging for tea.

Anthony excused himself, stood up, and walked over to Hagrid. "I remember last time, you put the tea leaves in that tin Professor McGonagall gave you as a Christmas gift..."

As he left, the three Gryffindors immediately huddled together, whispering.

"Why is there a professor in Hagrid's hut?" Ron whispered, looking horrified.

Hermione gave him a disapproving look. "Ron! Professor Anthony is Hagrid's friend! You make it sound like professors are something to be avoided."

"They are... and I heard this Anthony writes a letter to Dad every week!" Ron said with a pained expression. "I don't know how much Dad's told him about our family. Like, you know, this is a pet that Percy didn't want anymore."

Harry tried to reassure him. "Maybe that just means Professor Anthony will like you, just like Snape likes Malfoy... well, and your five brothers," he quickly added, though not entirely sure.

"Come on, Ron, he keeps a rat himself," Hermione pointed out. "He must think it's nice to have a pet rat."

Ron stared at Scabbers in his hand for a while, then looked over at Anthony, who was helping Hagrid retrieve the small tin can from the big tin box. Suddenly, he said, "Ah, I remember... Neville said that Anthony has a mouse, and it's transparent!"

"Transparent?" Hermione asked with interest. "How can a mouse be transparent?"

"I don't know," Ron replied, "but a transparent mouse and a fat mouse that's losing its hair are definitely not the same thing." He looked at Scabbers, who was dozing off, flicked its tail, and put it back in his pocket.

At that moment, Hagrid finally found the tea he was looking for. It was a Christmas gift from Professor Sprout, and he had saved it to share with Harry and the others. To distinguish it from the other tea leaves, he had cleverly stored it in a different, slightly cracked teapot.

…

Drinking tea with three students was a novel experience for Anthony.

Typically, his afternoon tea would include a selection of delicious treats, light-hearted conversations with fellow professors, or discussions about a particular piece of magic. It was quite different to hear Hagrid loudly ask if Filch had ever made things difficult for students over a rock-hard pie.

"Well, it's okay..." Harry said, glancing nervously in Anthony's direction. "I mean, it's just like usual—yelling and threatening to hang us or expel us..."

Ron added, "During detention, it was all about scrubbing and scrubbing. I mean, my mum could have done that with a spell..."

Harry quickly nudged his friend with his elbow, reminding him that during their detention with Anthony, they had also done some scrubbing work.

But Anthony was focused on something else. "Wait, why were you in detention again?"

He tried to recall if he had heard anything significant about Potter during the professors' afternoon tea, but nothing came to mind.

Since the beginning of the semester, Anthony had gradually noticed that professors were more inclined to deduct points than assign detentions. There was a simple reason for this: when too many students were involved, any physical labor quickly turned into a social event, complete with exercise and tea parties. As a result, professors tended to reserve detentions for students who had genuinely crossed the line.

Upon hearing his question, both Harry and Ron looked a bit aggrieved.

"It was Snape," Harry said angrily. "He asked me about the effect of the Protego Totalum spell, and I hadn't even heard of it! Then he went on this long rant about how I must think Professor Quirrell is just fascinated by me or something..."

"Then I said if he wanted to know the effect of a spell, why not try it himself?" Harry continued. "Snape got even more unreasonable and started going on about politeness and respect. So, I got detention for 'contradicting' him."

From the moment he heard Snape's name, Anthony knew that this detention involving two Gryffindors had little to do with fairness. He shook his head sympathetically and turned his gaze to Ron, still wondering how he had gotten involved.

Harry spoke up for Ron. "Snape said I obviously hadn't prepared well enough, and then Ron told Snape that his question was unreasonable. We're in first-year Defense Against the Dark Arts, not Auror training."

Ron's ears turned red, and he explained, "My brothers told me that spell was a tough one."

"And then?" Anthony asked.

"Then Snape spent ages finding the word in the title of some obscure document in a footnote of the textbook reference," Ron said, still indignant. "I mean, who actually reads that!"

Hermione, who had been quiet until now, proudly took a sip of her tea. "I told you, you should pay attention to the class readings before the lesson."