AN: This was just a idea that came to me and I might leave it as a one-shot unless reviews prompt me to continue. Basically Hagrid and Voldemort are the same age and meet in their first year. Tell me what you think, please!
Of Giants and Murderers
1938
Rubeus Hagrid sat alone, fiddling with the hems of his billowing school robes, in a rather claustrophobic compartment of the new Hogwarts Express. Or at least he had been told the deep red, magically-charmed locomotive was new; something about wizards finally catching on to the Muggle invention and subtly ignoring their prejudices with the excuse that their trains were magically charmed to be 'better'. Not that the eleven year old really thought much into that particular aspect of the complex ideologies of wizarding racism. He was more focused on another much more to the point fact. Rubeus Hagrid was alone.
He sighed dejectedly. It wasn't as if he hadn't been expecting it; his dear old dad had offered a heart-felt warning that most of his fellow students would take one look at his abnormally large frame and panic. That was the gist of the hour long lecture the small, cheerful man had drilled into his son's thoughts with silkily woven words some months before receiving his Hogwarts invitation.
Rubeus was a half-giant. At eleven he already outstripped his father's 'meagre' five foot seven, his voice resembled a course trombone and he could hurl boulders that his old dad would have trouble clambering up respectable distances. He had a rough, jagged face that could have easily been chiselled from the very rocks he enjoyed lobbing, his hair was a tangle of dark curls so thick a man could hang from them. He supposed that he would have just looked like an abnormally large wizard child if it hadn't been for the strange aura that surrounded him. It was the same odd aura that surrounded his mother and the other giants he had met on his rare and short visits to the mountains with his dad. It gave Rubeus the appearance of a constant mix between scowling in anger and grimacing in rage, if there was much difference. It, along with his raged appearance, was why students took once glance into the near empty compartment and left with occasional mutterings of "freak" or other biting labels.
The uncomfortable wiggling erupting from within the confines of his robes gave pause to his thoughts. He raised a bushy eyebrow before burying his fist into the rolls of black fabric, carefully pulling out what on first glance appeared to be a ball of white hair.
"Seigfried, yer awake!" he said to the beast with the first genuine smile of the day. Siegfried growled in sleepiness and swiped its paws across its face. Rubeus chuckled in amusement at the cub's actions and set about the arduous task of digging within his trunk for food with one hand while playing with the bored feline with the other. He didn't look up when the compartment door opened or when the train screeched a high pitch warning to those on the platform that it would be setting off.
In fact, the only time he did look up was when a frighteningly calm voice said to him, "Is that a tiger?"
Rubeus froze. He looked up to see a boy about his age with soft brown hair and innocent brown eyes directed at his pet. Siegfried snapped him out of his stupor when the playful cub nipped at his thumb, drawing a pearl of red blood. "Is not a tiger," Rubeus muttered rather too quickly, "Is a cat thas been charmed tha' way by me ol' dad."
The boy smirked knowingly, "Either way it is an awfully amazing animal."
Rubeus smiled revealing chunky white teeth, "Thanks. My name's Rubeus Hagrid. Is my firs' year 'ere."
"First year? I also am new here." They shook hands, Rubeus' engulfing the stranger's own outstretched palm. "At the risk of being rude, Rubeus, might I ask why... why you seem much larger than the average First-Year?"
Rubeus had to chuckle which made the other boy smirk slightly, "Tha's an innerestin' way of puttin' it, tha's fer sure! I'm... Mother was a giant. I'm 'alf an' 'alf."
Rubeus looked down to Seigfried briefly, fiddling with the growling beast's sharp claws as he was slightly worried of his new-found companion's opinions. He discovered he had little to be scared of since the boy merely smirked once more, "A half-giant? Well that is rather an interesting mix. I'm a half-blood. My father-" The stranger seemed to give an uncharacteristic scowl at that word. "was a non-ma... a muggle. I was raised in a muggle orphanage but Albus Dumbledore, who I believe is the Transfiguration Professor here, informed me of my some of my heritage."
"Wow, mate! Tha's a far more innerestin' story than mine."
"More interesting than a half-giant? You mock me Rubeus," the boy had a playful smirk across his face but Rubeus couldn't help but blush in embarrassment. "But, I have been remiss; I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Tom Riddle."
"Well is nice te meet yeh, Tom!" Rubeus grinned, flashing those imposing teeth once more. For the next half hour or so Rubeus introduced Seigfried to his new friend, amazed at how quickly Tom seemed to calm the creature and not suffer any scratches or bites. Rubeus talked somewhat of his childhood as a half-giant, too small to be accepted amongst his dangerous kin and too large to be unnoticed within the wizarding world. His dad was probably the only wizard he had met (apart from Tom) that didn't give him a slight look of contempt. Tom didn't really want to talk much of his time at the orphanage but Rubeus gathered it wasn't the most pleasant experience living amongst the muggles just after the Great Slump.
Eventually they got around to talking about Hogwarts and Rubeus had to fill Tom in with some stories his dad had told him about the castle-school. Tom seemed to know just when to laugh and what questions to ask because Rubeus hadn't had this much fun since finding that niffler and digging up half of the fields in search for treasure. After telling the smaller boy just that Tom merely smirked and then asked "What house are you looking to be accepted into, Rubeus?"
"Well me ol' dad was a Gryffindor but... I dunno really. I wanna be respected, yeh know? Most folks only see the giant in me." He looked back to Seigfried who purred at the renewed attention.
Tom smirked, "I am going to be a Slytherin. There is no doubt about it. I want to powerful and respected just as you do and Professor Dumbledore said Slytherin was the house for the cunning and ambitious. I think that suits me."
Rubeus scratched under his pet's chin briefly, receiving a purr of content in return. "Yeh," he said, "I guess tha' suits me too."
1982
With a collective crack thirteen nervous wizards apparated just a few feet apart on a desolate pathway in the middle of what appeared to be a forest. The road itself comprised of stained, oblong stones and the mortar that once held the cobbles together had long since been replaced by the sludge of mud and tufts of ragged green grass poked between their feet. The trees towering over the group showed the small bright green leaves of spring and on any other day in any other place the whole forest could have looked peaceful. Knowing where this path led and who was at the end of it, however, the forest took a whole other light to the group. Branches seemed like claws stretching out to clutch them in their deathly grips, the sunlight shone through the new leaves in eerie red beams, prophesying their doom.
Before any would lose the courage and quickly disapparate from the scene, the lead wizard growled a quick "Come on!"
They shuffled forwards, none too eager to advance to the front of the group but the lead wizard urging them on with steeled nerves. Wands had been drawn long ago. Trained eyes scanned the woodland around them. They collapsed into the instinctive protective formation of years of discipline. And, just when they thought they had finally prepared themselves for their task, a wolf howled in the distance and they huddled together for mutual protection.
The lead wizard rolled his eyes in exasperation and applied a weak muffling charm around their position. "Will you lilly-livered cowards pull yourselves together?" he hissed as forcibly as he dared, "You're trained Aurors and acting like a bunch of first-years! Constant vigilance!" That seemed to instil some courage in them, or at least take some of the fear away.
They continued onwards until a large imposing gate seemed to appear right in front of them. A battered wooden sign had the words 'Rubeus Hagrid's Magical Creature Sanctuary' etched deeply across the surface by what could easily have been claw marks. The corner seemed to be bitten off and half was the charred black one would associate with burnt wood. The lead wizard cracked his neck left and right before setting to work detecting and pulling apart the protection wards in place to guard from intruders. He needn't have bothered.
The moment the group stepped through the rickety gates a roar pulled them out of their skins before they even had a chance to jump. To the left barking, growling and snarling at them was a very angry looking young Cerberus trying to break away from the chain keep him trapped to a thick post.
"So much for secrecy..." muttered one of the cloaked Aurors.
"Constant vigilance! What did I tell you! Keep your eyes open for these things, the bastard knows we're here now. Bones, Keyes set up the standard anti-apparation and port-key wards -fat lot of good they'll do. Abbot and Dawlish, you've got the right, Skeeter and Appleby; the left. The rest of you with me! And keep your bloody eyes open!"
"As if we didn't know our orders from the briefing before hand..." muttered the same Auror.
"Shut your trap, Black, or I'll shut it for you!"
"Yes, boss!" Black grinned.
They picked their way as fast as possible towards the large brick building in the centre of the grounds vaulting fallen logs and rocks that barely slowed their approach. It was simple work for expert Aurors.
In a flash and a roar of searing fire Zylle and Berniere were dead.
"Dragon!" someone managed to scream before the huge shadow blotted out the sun then created another burst of its own natural light.
The Aurors, prepared this time, managed to avoid the worst of the flames with strong shield charms and singed robes. The lead wizard managed to scream a "Conjunctivus!" before being smashed across the field by the crimson slithery claw of the Indian Embertail that had landed before him in all its splendour. Several of the more lucid Aurors began spraying spells at the beast who covered its vulnerable eyes with its wings before they struck.
Jackson had taken up a crouching position behind a large rock to avoid the next burst of flames. He blindly flung a Confringo around the corner of the natural cover while taking in a deep, calming breath. He never got the chance to exhale. The Dire Wolf sunk its jaws into the poor fool's neck with a crunch and a splatter of gore. The rest of the pack of four were circling around the boulders whenever the torrents of fire halted to pounce on lone, unsuspecting wizards and tear chunks of flesh from their limbs.
One of the wolfs crumpled to the floor with a whimper as a Tonare scattered an explosion of shrapnel into its flank. Jarvis managed a powerful cutting curse against the dragon but the thick magically impervious scales reduced it to a meagre slash. Fergis somehow managed to roll out the way of a pouncing wolf and snapped off a piercing curse that sent it scrambling back but, seeing he was being encircled, he picked himself up and ran towards cover. The Embertail ensured he was engulfed in flame.
The lead wizard had been dragged into a ditch by Black to avoid the Embertail's deadly breath and was soon rejuvenated with a Rennervate much to his displeasure. "It's madness, Moody. A fucking dragon! And wolves! Rubeus is insane!"
"It's what you get for following the Dark Lord, boy! Constant vigilance, Sirius, constant vigilance! We find Rubeus, kill him and the beasts will be confused." They scrambled to the top of the ditch only to once again be cast into shadow by the silhouette of something terrifying.
"Looking fer me, Alastor?"
"Rubeus!" The two age old enemies stared at each other, neither would break eye contact. Both were riddled with scars from past confrontations, both unrecognisable to the people they had once been before the War had started. Moody's black wand was stretched out to the half-giant's chest while Rubeus casually relaxed an axe the length of a man upon a leather padded shoulder. "You're under arrest for countless acts of murder and training magical beasts for the express purpose of violence you ungrateful shit!"
The only indication Rubeus had heard him at all was the slight smirk before he turned his attention to the other wizard. "Sirius Black! Little one, I'm so proud of you! To think, the little tyke I used to bounce on my knee a fully fledged Auror of the Ministry." He lent in a little bit as if divulging a terrible secret and gave a playful wink, "To be truthful I always preferred you over Regulus; that little monster never had no sense of humour like you did."
Sirius frowned in disgust, "Hand yourself in Rubeus... Make it easier."
"Sorry, little one," Rubeus shrugged with a grin, "I've got too much giant's blood in my veins. I'm going down with a fight as I always planned on."
"He's dead, you fool! Voldemort is no more! The Potter boy killed him!" Moody screamed in rage at the giant, spittle being flung from his lips.
"He'll be back, dear Alastor. Tom's still out there. Just you see." Moody roared and had almost completed the killing curse in his anger when a paw the size of an armchair pinned him to the ground with ferocious strength. Rubeus grinned at the stunned expression on young Sirius' face before saying, "Good boy, Fluffy! Good boy!"
"Rubeus..." Sirius began half-heartedly raising his wand all the while knowing that at any moment he would be slaughtered by one of the half-giant's pets.
"Sirius... little one. Raise that Potter boy well. Keep him away from Dumbledore's scheming and train him good."
"But... but why?"
Rubeus put a companion-like arm around the young Black before saying in slow words as if they were completely obvious, "Tom would 'ave wanted a challenge fer when he's comin' back. Get him strong and we'll 'ave the next round in a few years." He smiled revealing yellow, jagged teeth that made Sirius shudder.
The Dire Wolves howled. Sirius dropped to his knees and wept at the carnage around him. Fluffy ate Moody. Rubeus strolled away from the scene, followed by a dragon, a pack of wolves and a three-headed dog.
Beast-Master Rubeus Escapes Capture!
By Frederick Hottlepodge
Once again half-giant Rubeus Hagrid escapes capture at the hands of the Ministry's Auror force but not without causing the deaths of ten of our brave service-wizards. The team of thirteen strong were sent unprepared to the Beast-Master's sanctuary where they faced the oldest, most loyal of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's supporters and his small army of dangerous magical creatures.
Gregory Bones managed to survive the battle but not without losing an arm to the Beast-Master's illegally owned Cerberus, 'Fluffy'. "It was madness, (we) didn't stand a chance." He told us before being heavily sedated by the attending medi-witch.
Several reports claim the half-giant to have tamed and used an Indian Embertail dragon in the closing battles of the War. The Embertail was a previously thought untameable Class 5 magical creature but the Beast-Master has proved otherwise much to the dismay of those sent to bring justice against him. Although there have been no solid reports, the burn marks on another surviving Auror, Kingsley Shacklebolt, might indicate 'Smaug' was present at the battle and aided once more in Rubeus' escape.
Rubeus Hagrid is well known as the oldest supporter of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, having attended Hogwarts in the same year, and as the Dark Lord's emissary to the various dark and magical beasts swayed under his control during the War. During the Second Battle of Hogsmeade the Beast-Master let loose a pride of Hippogriffs that gave the Death Eaters the time needed to escape the anti-apparation wards that had been set up to ensnare them.
It is believed that the Beast-Master has avoided capture thus far due to his lack of need for apparation as a means of escape. Experts believe that the series of close-calls regarding his capture could have been much different if the standard anti-apparation wards all Auror operations require to have set up hadn't prevented the very same service-wizards from quick means of avoiding damage. While Lead Auror Alastor Moody is unable to release a statement at this moment, he is well documented in his misgivings regarding the tactics utilised to capture his enemy the Beast-Master.
The Ministry has informed us that they will release the names of the dead service-wizards tomorrow but, with Rubeus Hagrid, Beast-Master of the Dark Lord, still on the loose, will the list be increasing?
Albus put down the newspaper gingerly and slouched in the chair rather unsuitably for a man of his advanced years. The charmed stars of his maroon robes bunched together to create lines of sparkle. Instinctively he popped a lemon drop into his mouth and began swirling the flavours with his tongue. "Oh, Rubeus... where did we go wrong with you?"