-CHAPTER TWO-
Manure & Antehoofs
Soon they were near Hagrid's hut and they saw Harriet and Hagrid were standing near their newly built shed and patting the Antehoofs. They were very much like cows with the exception that they had a large snout instead of a mouth like an Antler. Hagrid had brought seven of these creatures from Magical Creatures Canon, a shop built near a village for domesticated animals.
"Hullo, Hagrid!" said Albus as Hagrid pointed Harriet towards a bucket wich was full of fodder for the Antehoofs. "Albus, me boy. How are ye? Bin hearing that you have been made the Gryffindor prefect this year." said Hagrid cheerfully.
"Right, Hagrid. Here, I wanted you to meet my new friend, Damian Longbottom." said Albus looking at Damian who was admiring Hagrid's great size and vastness which was very much uncommon for any average man. "Longbottom, are you Neville's son?" asked Hagrid. "Yes Mr. Hagrid." said Damian politefully.
"Mr. Hagrid, haven't heard someone calling me that since a decade. Ha ha, you are just like your father, a real gentleman." Said Hagrid and looked back suddenly when Harriet had dropped the fodder basket suddenly and was staring at Damian. "Wassup Harriet? This is my friend Damian here." said Albus looking at a nervous Harriet. "Very handsome ain't he?" said Hagrid smirking at Harriet who alongwith Scarlet had blushed fully. "Father, why would you always talk to me like that infront of others?" said Harriet angrily and walked away flushing red with anger and shame.
"Rough temper she's got ain't she?" said Hagrid taken aback. "Just like her mother."
"How's madam Maxime?" said Scarlet. "She's a bit alright now. She has gone to her hometown. She says she'll spend the rest of the year there. It has been a little hard on Harriet. She misses her a lot. Ain't she?" said Hagrid with a bit of regret in his voice. "She'll be alright though." said Albus.
"Need any help for feeding the Antehoofs?" asked Albus. "That's really nice of Albus. An extra pair of hands would shorten up a lot of me work." said Hagrid thankfully. "Okay so let's get crackin' then." said Scarlet enthusiastically. And they helped Hagrid to pick up the fallen fodder on the ground.
In around half an hour they had already finished feeding all the Antehoofs. "Professor Jinglewolly says that the manure of these beautiful creatures would be very much useful for making manure for the magical plants. He says they are equally as useful as Dragon's dung." explained Hagrid.
"Yeah Dragon dung is very hard to find these days. Last of Hungarian Horntail was seen in America last year. Since then Dragons are rarely seen." said Scarlet.
"It's already evening how abou' a cup o' tea then?" asked Hagrid as they were headed to wash their hands. "That would be good." said Albus. When they entered Hagrid's hut, Harriet had already prepared them tea and was pouring them over in four normal sized cups and in a large tumbler for them and Hagrid. As they took their seats in the sofas, Harriet handed them all cups of tea and also brought a plate full of carrot cakes and another plate of rock cakes for Hagrid.
"Thank you" said Damian when she handed him the cup of tea and she blushed went to take her seat quickly near Scarlet and tumbling near at Albus's feet. "Careful" said Albus. She took off without responding and sat quietly in her chair.
"So how are your lessons going? Anything interesting yet?" asked Hagrid looking at all of them. "They…"
"Boring as hell! We've only started and I can't find anything interesting yet." said Albus interrupting Scarlet who was about to start lecturing them on how important are the basic first lessons of the subjects. "You shouldn't talk like that about your subjects Albus. The basic first lessons of any subjects are very important." said Scarlet.
"It's already getting dark." said Albus. "We should get going or we'll be in very deep trouble" finished Albus looking outside at the grounds from Hagrid's window.
"Yeah yeah. You're right. You should go now. Headmaster Cyrus won't be very happy with me if he finds I'm keepin' students in my home late at night." said Hagrid and he got up from his seat. Then too all got up kept their now empty cups of tea on the table and headed towards the door of Hagrid's house. Soon they were out and were walking towards they castle and as they looked back Hagrid and his daughter were waving them goodbye, and goodnight.