Chapter 11
A FATHER'S LOVE
Albus sat in the courtyard that morning reading. He tried to take his mind off the events of Halloween, but nothing seemed to work. It was starting to get colder at Hogwarts. Leaves were falling from the trees. Piles and piles of them were scattered throughout the castle grounds. Suddenly, Albus saw a face that he hadn't seen in weeks. It was Andrew Banks. Depression was etched across his face.
"Where have you been Andrew?"
Andrew caught Albus's eye.
"I had to go away for a while."
Albus was confused. Even though it wasn't his business he asked Andrew why he had left. Andrew's eyes suddenly filled with tears.
"I can't tell you why. I just can't!"
With that, Andrew was off. Albus thought about chasing after him, but decided it was best to stay put. That voice came back into Albus's brain. It gradually taunted him every minute, creeping in and out of his head. "Maybe I should find James," he thought. A thought hit Albus. James was at the Quidditch match, and so was Hugo. Feeling insecure, Albus ran to Hagrid's as fast as his legs could carry him. As soon as he reached the hut, he knocked on the door.
"I'm coming!"
Albus heard giant footsteps pound on the ground until the door opened.
"Can I come in?"
Hagrid nodded. He led Albus in the hut and threw a blanket around him.
"It's gettin' chilly out."
Albus sat down as Hagrid grabbed a plate from a table.
"Yer going to love t'is."
Albus looked down at the plate. On it were small cakes with raisins in them. Albus took one and bit into it. The cake was very hard, and almost broke his tooth.
"Yer father loved these."
Albus couldn't imagine why. The cakes were horrible, but he kept eating them anyway.
"So what do ya need Al?"
Albus put down the cake and rubbed his hands together. Crumbs fell to the ground. Albus chewed for a long time then swallowed.
"I just needed someone to talk to."
"Well…why aren't ya at the Quidditch match?"
The thought of a Quidditch match was bad enough to Albus. He didn't want to watch his brother soak up glory while he was left in the dust.
"I need to ask you something."
Hagrid leaned back in a chair. He knew a question was coming up that he couldn't tell the answer to.
"Why does my dad want me protected?"
Hagrid looked around the hut. It seemed as if he was looking for an answer.
"Yer father wants ya protected because he loves ya."
Albus looked at Hagrid. He knew his father had to be hiding something from him.
"That's no help to me."
"Al…yer father had bad experiences at Hogwarts. Don't get me wrong, there were some good times too, but…"
Albus had no idea what Hagrid was talking about. He knew his father spent most of his time at Hogwarts trying to destroy You-Know-Who.
"So…my father is paranoid about his experiences, and doesn't want anything to happen to me?"
Hagrid shut his eyes for a moment.
"You 'ave no idea what yer father went through. People died right here at Hogwarts. People that he loved."
Albus pondered this for a moment. His father would never tell him stories about the battles he faced.
"He won't tell me anything about those things. He'd rather tell James everything!"
"Of course 'e won't tell ya. You really want to hear about people dying everywhere, and how he almost died," Hagrid said proudly.
"Wait…my dad almost died?"
Hagrid's eyes expanded.
"Is it that late? I best be off. I 'ave to uh…never mind that…just…leave."
Quick as a flash, Hagrid gathered up the cakes and scooted Albus out the door. "Well that didn't help," Albus thought. Now he was bothered by even more questions. These questions would be followed by even more questions. Albus was destined to find out everything, even if he had to go through his dad to do it.