Every day Hagrid would get a fair sized package. Harry had started to wonder who was sending them—and what the mystery person could be sending. He talked to Hermione and Ron about it. They had mixed opinions; Hermione's being the intellectual guesses and Ron's being the crackpot theories. All in all, Harry wanted to know what was in the packages. So one day he found himself asking Hagrid.
"Hagrid, I've noticed that every day you get several packages from different owls and I was wondering what was in them."
"Yeh're gonna have ter keep wonderin' cuz I'm not telling yeh."
Harry didn't give up though. What, with the late night visits with his invisibility cloak all ending in a certain hut door slamming in his face, he kept going back. Hagrid had become very secretive lately and all of his lessons were not very well thought out. He had also been absent from the teacher's table at lunch and dinner. Christmas holiday came and he found himself without his friends, so he was without Hermione's and Ron's support.
Now, for what was the 35th visit to Hagrid's hut, he found the door wide open. The inside of the hut was messy. Dirty dishes were left as well as untouched food that was rotting. He noticed that these were the dishes from the Great Hall. Harry stepped inside cautiously. He pulled out his wand and scanned the one roomed hut. No one was in the hut save for the assortment of insects eating the food that was left out. Several cabinets had been left cracked open in a corner of the hut, cabinets he had never seen before. He made his way over to the cabinets and started to open one of them. Hagrid stepped out from under what looked like an oversized invisibility cloak and closed the cabinet. "I don' believe it. Harry, yeh're the thief?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. Hagrid, what exactly is in these cabinets?"
Hagrid sighed in relief. "That is none o' yer buisness. Someone has bin stealin' me—er— food that I keep in this cabinet."
"But, don't you eat the food from the Great Hall?"
"Yes, yeh dimwit. The food is fer the creatures I 'ave been nurturin' back to health ter present ter the class."
"The food is in all ten of these cabinets?" Harry asked feeling suspicious.
"Yes, now head back ter yer common room." Hagrid pushed Harry out the door.
"But how do you have an invisibility clo—"
Hagrid slammed the door in Harry's face cutting him off and as he stood there dumbstruck, he heard the lock click.
That only convinced Harry more that Hagrid was hiding something. Maybe he was hiding an illegal creature? He shook his head—although Hagrid was known to have done that at least once—Harry thought that Hagrid would've learned his lesson. He decided to enlist the help of a person that had such intense hatred for his friends and himself that at one point he considered not doing it. But, before he knew it, he found himself writing a letter to his archenemy in the Gryffindor Common Room.
Dear Malfoy,
I suppose we've had our quarrels, but I hope we can overlook this for the time being. Meet me at the edge of the forbidden forest at around 6:00 p.m. I have some business to discuss. If you decide to help me, I'll pay you a reasonable amount. Don't bring anyone with you. I will only wait ten minutes before I leave.
Harry
He put it into an envelope, but hesitated when giving it to Hedwig. How did he know that Malfoy would come alone? How did he know that Malfoy would come at all? In the end—after about ten minutes debating—he gave it to Hedwig and she flew off to deliver the letter. He sighed and hoped this would work. There were four more hours before six so he sat down and looked through a Quidditch book.
At ten minutes to six, Harry put his things away, grabbed his invisibility cloak, stuffed some money into his pocket, and headed towards the edge of the forbidden forest. When he got there he leaned against the tree. Malfoy showed up in exactly ten minutes. "I read your letter and Crabbe and Goyle thought it might be a trap. I told them. 'It's just Potter, he can't think up an elaborate trap.' Now I see that I was right. Discuss your 'business' before I leave."
Harry cleared his throat. "Normally, I wouldn't ask for your help Malfoy, but Hagrid has been kind of secretive. He won't talk to me and he has recently acquired some cabinets in his hut. I was trying to get a look in one of them, but he was apparently waiting for some thieves—"
"You want to catch these thieves?"
"No, I wanted to find out what has got him so busy and tired and why he keeps getting packages every morning. I need to find out what is in those cabinets and I need your help."
"Well, Potter. There's no mystery as to what he's being sent. " Malfoy told him laughing.
He sighed and said, "Malfoy, are you going to help me?"
"Yes, but only because this might finally be my chance to get that oaf sacked."
"I was thinking we could start now. I brought my invisibility cloak," he held it up, " so get underneath."
Malfoy hesistated before joining Harry under the invisibility cloak. Harry let it drop to the floor and they headed towards Hagrid's hut. Harry stepped on his foot several times to which Malfoy replied "Potter, watch where you're stepping, that's my foot." They progressed very slowly because Malfoy decided to make a lot of noise; Harry was sure that Malfoy wanted to get caught. When they finally got to Hagrid's hut Malfoy pushed Harry aside (as much as the invisibility cloak would allow without exposing Harry) and put his ear to the door. No one was in there. He tried the door; it was locked. Then, taking out his wand Malfoy whispered "Alohamora." The door unlocked and he pushed it open. Malfoy stopped to look around the room and spotting the cabinets, he pulled Harry towards them. Harry tried to pull open the cabinet doors, but they too, were locked.
"Does he have to keep everything locked? Not like it's a problem." Malfoy whispered.
" That was his front door."
Malfoy gave him an annoyed look and once more pointed his wand at the locked object and whispered "Alohamora." Harry wrenched open the cabinet door, but it slammed shut. Hagrid appeared from underneath his invisibility cloak. Malfoy clapped a hand over Harry's mouth and backed away. The hut was silent except for the heavy breathing of the half-giant. Hagrid put a hand out in front of him and stepped forward. Malfoy continued to back away until he was out the door. His hand then fell to his side, wiping it furiously on his pants.
"Since when does he have an invisibility cloak?" Malfoy asked him when they were a good deal away from the hut.
"I don't know." Harry told him.
"Well, Potter, this was a waste of time," Malfoy said indignantly.
"Name your price, Malfoy."
Malfoy named his price. Harry had brought several hundred galleons along; this devious young man was unpredictable. He counted it out as he placed it in Malfoy's outstretched hand who then stuffed it in his pocket. Malfoy spit in the direction of the hut and stalked off towards the castle.
Well, that was a bust. Harry thought to himself before he strode off to the castle as well. He wondered when Malfoy would be helping him again or if this was a one-time-only deal. The possibilities of what Hagrid was harboring in those cabinets were endless. When he got in bed that night he found he couldn't sleep so he slid out of his four poster bed and got out some fresh parchment, his ink bottle, and quill. Crumpled pieces of parchment were strewn across the floor when he finished. He had written a quick letter to Hermione and one to Ron. Sleep washed over him as he was sealing the letters in an envelope. He awoke the next morning with his face on the floor and drool all over Ron's letter with Neville's snoring filling the room.
Harry got up and dressed quickly, folded the envelopes, and stuffed them in his pocket as he headed towards the Great Hall for breakfast. The Great Hall was unusually empty. The Slytherin table was half-full, however, the Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor tables were almost empty. There weren't usually that many people gone for the holidays. The headmaster's chair was empty. He wondered why it was taking so long to choose a new headmaster. At the end of breakfast, Harry scribbled a quick note on a piece of parchment while waiting outside of the doors of the Great Hall. As people began to file out of the hall Harry scanned the crowd for Malfoy. He spotted the blonde-haired boy and walked over to him, slipping the note into one of Malfoy's pockets as he brushed past him. Luckily, Malfoy was walking alone or Harry wouldn't have been able to accomplish this. Now, all he had to do was hope that Malfoy found the note in time.
While Harry waited, he decided to climb the dusty steps to the owlery. When he entered the room, he scanned it for Hedwig and called out to her with his arm extended in front of him. Hedwig hooted amidst the sounds of all the other owls and landed on his outstretched arm. Harry took out the letters, unfolded them, and tied them to Hedwig's leg, explaining to her where they needed to go; one to Hermione and one to Ron. Then, with a beat of her wings, Hedwig soared off into the air and out the window.
A familiar female voice sounded behind him. "Harry?"
Harry knew that voice; it was the girl who used to be involved with Cedric. He turned around slowly and studied her face; she had been crying..again. "Cho. What's wrong?"
She sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve. Harry stayed put. He knew the reason why she was crying—he was the reason. He hadn't expected to run into her, least of all the owlery. He rarely came up here because he barely sent letters anymore. Things were under wraps with the Weasley's and Sirius was dead. Sirius was dead. Harry felt a pang of grief. It was so bad that he had to lean against the wall to steady himself. Cho cleared her throat and Harry was brought of of his thoughts.
"I suppose you don't care," she snapped.
At that point he was very confused. "I'm sorry, Cho. I didn't hear what you said."
Cho sighed exasperatedly and took a deep breath. Letting it out she spoke in a confident voice. "There's going to be a small get-together for Christmas in the Great Hall. A few of the teachers are setting it up. I was wondering if you would like to go with me."
Harry thought about it. He knew Cho had unintentionally told her friends of the situation with her and Harry—she was just venting. But, her friends had taken it upon themselves to break up his most recent relationship with a Hufflepuff girl after he had refused Cho. He knew it wasn't Cho's fault, but that didn't stop him from refusing her. "I'm sorry, Cho, but no."
Her face fell and a sense of hopelessness flickered across her face. She said nothing, just walked past Harry and held out her arm, allowing one of the school owls to land on her. She tied the letter to its foot, the owl took off, and she walked straight out of the owlery without a look back at him. Harry swore he saw fresh tears glistening on her cheeks as she passed through the light and he immediately felt bad. He sighed running out of the room and pounding down the steps. Several twists and turns and he drew near to his destination. Harry found himself in front of the Ravenclaw common room; he hoped that she hadn't gotten there yet. Footsteps echoed through the hall and the sun cast a shadow of a person on the wall. Poking his head around the corner he found Cho walking slowly up the corridor. Her eyes were downcast. Pulling his head back, he settled down on the ground, stretching his legs out. The sound of her footfalls got nearer and nearer until she came into sight.
"Cho."
She stopped and turned, facing him.
Neither said a word. Harry remembered his previous conversation with Cho and was immediately reminded of Sirius to which he felt an intense feeling of grief. He felt he owed Cho an explanation, but he was a little off lately and so he got up hastily and hurried down the hall. Cho smiled, taking it as a good sign and made her way into the Ravenclaw common room.
As Harry hurried up the stairs to the portrait of the Fat Lady, he bumped into Ginny who had her nose in a book. He was surprised, Ginny was supposed to be with Ron and her family during the Christmas holdiay.
Ginny looked up and, realizing it was Harry, beamed. "Harry! Just the person I was looking for."
Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Ginny continued. "I'm helping the teachers set up the Great Hall for the festivities, but I can attend after everything is finished. Will you join me there?"
Harry didn't stop to think before saying yes and Ginny looked even happier.
"I have to get back to the Great Hall. I'll see you tomorrow at 9:30 p.m. ," Ginny told him before skipping away.
Harry watched her skip away before climbing the remaining steps to the portrait, reciting the password and making his way into the Gryffindor common room.
Dinner time came and went and as Harry walked out of the Great Hall he was jerked aside roughly. He was face-to-face with Malfoy now who spoke first.
"We're going to find out what that half-giant has in that corner of his hut. He's not going to be there now, so I suggest you go get your invisibility cloak and meet me outside."
Malfoy let go of of his shirt and Harry took off down the hall to get his cloak.
He met him outside and the two young wizards got under the cloak, hastily making their way to Hagrid's hut. When they got inside, Malfoy threw the cloak off his head and made his way over to the cabinets in the corner. Harry pulled the invisibility cloak off of himself, bunched it up, and joined Malfoy in the corner.
"Let me," Harry said volunteering. He pulled the door open, surprised that it wasn't locked, and found it empty.
Malfoy looked a little disappointed before unlocking the other ones and opening them to find strange small brightly colored blocks— that were different shapes and sizes — stacked on top of each other to form other muggle objects such as planes, cars, etc.
"What is this rubbish?" Malfoy asked, picking up one of the police cars.
"They're called Legos," Harry explained, picking up one of the motorcycles, "They are muggle toys."
"I don't see the point in them," Malfoy said, snorting as he placed the police car on the ground and brought his foot down on top of it. The lego bricks went flying in different directions and Harry put the motorcycle back and bent down to pick up the pieces.
"See what I mean. Useless...and very fragile."
Harry gathered all the pieces and quickly rebuilt the police car, standing up and placing it back into its respectful spot in the cabinet. Now the astonishment—and relief— hit Harry like a sack of bricks. He was glad that Hagrid wasn't harboring illegal creatures, but was shocked that Hagrid had become obsessed with muggle children's toys. Malfoy now searched the back of each cabinet for any sign of dark objects, but couldn't find any, so he closed the cabinets and locked them. Harry pulled the cloak over Malfoy and himself and they made their way back to the castle.
Before they parted ways, Harry placed a small velvet bag full of galleons into the slytherin boy's hand. Malfoy slid the bag into his pocket and opened his mouth as if he was about to say something but then shut it and walked away.