House: Gryffindor
Position: Prefect
Category: Short
Prompt: [Speech] "I didn't mean to hurt him."
Word Count:1724 words, excluding header, author notes, and title.
Beta: Aurora and CK
A/N: There is some grammatical errors/word tense errors, they are intentional to account for Hagrid's accent in the story. This was written for The Houses Competition, Y3R2
Up on the Mountain
Albus could hear the cries echo in the valley and watched as the villagers scrambled to lock themselves quickly in their houses. He sighed quietly and looked up into the distance towards the mountaintop and worried about what would await him.
A disturbance had been reported to The Ministry in the Improper Use of Magic Office's Department of Underage Magic, and they asked for Albus's help in resolving the matter. It wasn't unusual for Albus Dumbledore to assist in these cases., He was, after all, a Hogwarts Professor and very familiar with dealing with young children learning how to control their magic.
He looked around again at the quaint village and the villagers scrambling around him for cover before he grabbed a young lady by the shoulders.
"What is up there?" he asked.
"No one knows!" she cried frantically. "There is a cabin, but we thought it had been long abandoned."
"No one has investigated?" Albus questioned.
"No, the place is said to be haunted, rumors of giants and trolls surround that place. No one would dare enter it!"
"Giants?" he asked thoughtfully.
"Yes!" Another cry rang out, and the woman turned back to Albus, frantic. "Please sir, let me go! I must get home; my sisters will be worrying about me!"
He nodded his head and released his grip from the girl and watched as she ran away hysterically.
He slowly began to make his way to the edge of the trees that surrounded the village. The snow was thick and made it difficult for him to walk, but he trudged on dutifully. He tried to decipher the cries, the more information he knew, the better, but the sobs were to difficult to interpret.
Once, safely reaching the edges of the trees, he looked around to ensure none of the Muggles were watching him before quickly Apparating further up the mountain.
Albus landed softly on the edge of the mountain, his cloak blowing angrily in the wind and snow falling heavily around him.
He took a quick survey of his surroundings but saw nothing else except for the expected old, wooden cabin. The initial gut-wrenching sobs had now transformed into heavy sniffles.
Albus made his way towards the door and knocked gingerly before opening it and letting himself in.
He was instantly enveloped in warmth and noticed a blazing fire in the hearth. He took in the small kitchen and tables before his eyes landed on a figure laying on the ground. He began to move towards it before another figure blocked his path.
"Don't get any closer!" the figure shouted, his bottom lip trembling. He had a skillet raised above his head poised to strike.
Albus put his hands out in front of him in a non-threatening way and began to examine the boy. He was tall, almost reaching Albus's shoulders but his chubby face and voice sounded very much like a child. His wiry brown hair was long, and out of control and his face was red and streaked with tears. Snot was dripping out of his nose, and his hands were shaking.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Albus said gently, trying to calm the distressed child in front of him. "What's your name?"
The boy eyed him cautiously before answering. "Rrr... Rubeus Hagrid."
"What happened here, Rubeus?" Albus asked quietly. With each question, he took a small step, trying to make his way to the boy. He was slow and precise in his movements, not wanting to spook him.
The question caused another deafening cry, and the boy fell to his knees muttering incoherently.
"Shh. Shh." He soothed, "Tell me what happened so I can help. I am only trying to help."
Rubeus looked at him with rounded eyes. "You will help us?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I? Now tell me what's happened?"
The boy glanced at the figure on the ground before taking a deep breath and launching into an explanation. "Me dad was calling me in for lunch. And I camerunninginandIwasbringingmenewpetandhe…" his answer was cut off by another loud sob.
"Sh. Sh. It's okay Rubeus." Albus pat the large boy on his shoulder. "Calm down, that is the only way that I can help. Take a deep breath and explain everything to me. Slowly."
Rubeus did what he asked and launched into a more controlled explanation this time. "I was out playing in the forest when me dad called me back for lunch. I brought back me new friend." Rubeus nodded towards a corner of the room where a baby bear fast asleep in the corner. "I walked in the door excited as can be and me Dad turned to me and immediately said no. That poor little guy was injured, separated from its mum it was, and I wasn't just gonna leave him out there all alone."
Albus nodded in understanding and prodded him on, "And then what happened, Rubeus? Did the bear get him?"
"No, it was me! It was all my fault! I didn't mean to hurt him. I just got so mad!" Another round of sobs racked through his body and tears began to stream down his face again.
"What happened?"
"He came towards me and tried to take little Bernie away from me. I screamed at him! He went to touch me and a flash like lightning shot from my body, and he went flying across the room. It's all my fault! I didn't mean to hurt him, and now he's dead!"
"Calm down, Rubeus, he isn't dead. See, he is breathing. Do you see the rise and fall of his chest? I am going to go and examine him now, okay?" Albus moved towards the body on the ground and began to examine him. "Looks like it was just a stunning spell, a strong one at that. Very impressive."
"Me dad always said that I don't know me own strength," Rubeus answered embarrassed.
Albus turned and examined the boy at that response.
"Rubeus,and forgive me for asking, but are you part giant?" he asked cautiously.
The boy shook his head in denial. "No, me dad says we aren't supposed to tell anyone!" He paused registering what he just said, "I shouldn't have said that." He sighed heavily before his head turned into a nod. "Me mum was a giant. That's why we stay here! It's where me dad and mum first met. She's gone though. I don't think she is coming back."
Rubeus looked down at his feet and quietly began to sniffle again. He blew his nose in his sleeves and shifted from foot to foot.
"Can you help him?" Rubeus asked nervously. "I don't want to go to Azkaban."
"You're not going to Azkaban. Why would you say something like that?"
"People don't like me very much cuz I'm different."
"Rubeus, I promise you I can help your father, and you won't go to Azkaban because you are different, not if I have any say about it."
Rubeus just nodded eagerly and watched anxiously as Albus bent over the man and muttered a counter spell under his breath.
The man jerked awake. His eyes were wide with fear when he noticed Albus.
"Who are you!? Get out of our house; you have no business here!"
He quickly rose to his feet and pulled Rubeus behind him. He pointed his finger at Albus and raised his wand. "I said out!"
"Woah," Albus said calmly, "I am Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, I am here on behalf of The Ministry of Magic..." he was quickly cut off by the man at that statement.
"The Ministry has no business here. I said get out!"
Albus raised his hands in surrender but didn't back away. "It's okay; we were just checking on the reported usage of underage magic within this home."
"It was me!" the man shouted.
Albus arched an eyebrow and smiled at him, "Sir, we both know you are not an underage wizard. Nothing is going to happen to young Rubeus, I promise you. He stunned you when he became angry, quite a normal occurrence for young wizards, I assure you. We just need to work on his control." He winked at the boy. "Once you attend school, you will have much better control."
"He won't be attending school."
Albus turned his head shocked, "Why ever not?"
"Well he, Rubeus, he's uh different." The man said shifting and glancing at his son. "He's perfect to me, you have to understand, but others don't…well they don't react well to him even though he has the gentlest soul. He's…uh… a little bigger than average, husky, you know so they tend to be afraid of him. I don't want to subject him to that."
Albus nodded but turned to Rubeus, "I work at Hogwarts, and we would be honored for you to join us when it comes time. I wouldn't let anything happen to you."
Rubeus turned to him in awe.
"Now," Albus continued, "I believe there was another creature here that needed healing if I remember correctly?"
Rubeus nodded eagerly and dragged Albus to the corner where the bear was sleeping.
"He's got a lot of scratches on him, but the one across his belly looks infected."
Albus grabbed the sleeping bear and gently cradled him to his chest, turning the bear over, so his abdomen was exposed. He quickly examined the wound before running his hand over it effectively closing the gaping hole.
"There," Albus said gently and handed the bear back to Rubeus. "Mister Bernie should be all set to go back out into the wilderness now."
Rubeus hugged the bear close to his chest, and his lips began to quiver again, but he nodded his ascent.
"That won't be necessary." his father called out. "Of course, you can keep him Rubeus, but you must teach him manners though, and I am not cleaning up after him that will be your responsibility, Rubeus. Understand?"
Rubeus smiled and ran to his father and threw an arm around him. "Yes!"
Albus smiled and stuck out a hand to the man, once they had shaken hands he turned to Ruebus and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I am looking forward to seeing you at Hogwarts young Rubeus." He gave him another wink and Apparated out of the house with a loud 'pop!'