Within minutes, the four were huddled under the Invisibility Cloak and on their way down to Hagrid's hut. They moved as quickly as they could under the cloak—a difficult task now that Ron was quite tall and had to stay hunched down next to them. The second they were across the grounds and at Hagrid's door, Harry started knocking as hard as he could, but they didn't dare come out from under the cloak yet.
"Hagrid, it's us!" Harry called.
"Shoulda known!"
Bryt grinned, instantly recognizing the man's voice. She had been missing Hagrid far more than she realized and it was such a relief to finally have him back—and that Hagrid sounded happy that they were there.
"Bin home only three seconds..." Hagrid went on, "Out the way, Fang...Out the way, yeh dozy dog."
Hagrid opened the door and Hermione let out a scream while Bryt gasped, clamping her hands over her mouth. Nasty bruises and cuts covered Hagrid's face as if he had been on the worst-end of a fight. Bryt didn't even want to imagine what could have done something like that to someone as large and tough as Hagrid.
"It's nuthin', it's nuthin'," Hagrid said after the four were inside and removed the Invisibility Cloak and were staring at Hagrid's injuries.
"What happened to you?" Bryt and Harry asked together. Fang ran up to them, wagging his tail happily and trying to knock them on their backs in an attempt to lick their faces. Bryt actually was knocked backwards into Hermione before she managed to get Fang to back off.
"Told yeh, nuthin'," Hagrid insisted, "Want a cuppa?"
"Come off it, you're in a right state!" Ron said.
"I'm tellin' yeh, I'm fine," Hagrid said, trying to grin at them, but gave a wince, "Blimey, it's good ter see you four again—had good summers, did yeh?"
"Hagrid, you're not fine," Bryt said, "Look at you! A lot of those cuts look like they might get infected if you don't get them checked."
"I'm dealin' with it, all righ'?" Hagrid said, starting to sound a bit annoyed.
Bryt sat back in her chair next to Ron, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched Hagrid walk across the hut and uncover something that looked like a giant raw steak that had a sickly green color to it. Bryt made a face.
"You're not going to eat that, are you, Hagrid?" Ron asked, "It looks poisonous."
"It's s'posed ter look like that, it's dragon meat," Hagrid said. Bryt quickly looked away from it, hoping that whatever dragon that meat came from had died naturally.
"Tha's better," Hagrid said and Bryt looked over to see he had put the meat over the worst-bruised side of his face, "It helps with the stingin', yeh know."
'Yeah, but I don't think I'd ever want to try it,' Bryt thought, fighting hard to keep back a look of disgust.
"What happened to you, anyway?" Bryt asked, trying again to get any information from Hagrid.
"Can' say," Hagrid said after a second, "Top secret. More'n me job's worth ter tell yeh that."
"Was it giants?" Bryt asked. She figured only something like giants could cause this much damage to someone like Hagrid.
Hagrid jerked slightly, his steak falling into his lap. He caught it quickly and put it over his face again.
"Giants? Who said anythin' abou' giants? Who yeh bin talkin' to? Who's told yeh what I've—who's said I've bin—eh?"
"We guessed," Hermione said with a weak grin.
"It was a bit obvious," Bryt added.
Hagrid gave them all a stern look, and Bryt just stared back. Finally, the tea kettle started whistling and Hagrid went over to check on it.
"Never known kids like you four fer knowin' more'n yeh oughta," Hagrid muttered as he poured the tea, "An' I'm not complimentin' yeh, neither. Nosy, some'd call it. Interferin'."
But it was hard to take that as scolding when Bryt could have sworn Hagrid was smiling under his beard.
"So you have been looking for giants?" Harry asked as Hagrid gave them each an oversized mug of tea, then sat down.
"Yeah all righ'. I have," he finally said.
"And you found them?" Bryt and Hermione asked—Hermione sounding cautious while Bryt was curious and eager for any information about the giants.
"Well, they're not that difficult ter find, ter be honest," Hagrid replied, "Pretty big, see."
"Of course," Bryt said, "Where were they? In the mountains? That seems the only place big enough for them to stay hidden in."
Hagrid simply nodded, obviously not planning to be too giving with the information. Bryt fought the urge to roll her eyes. She was far too curious about what Hagrid had been up to.
"So why don't Muggles—"
"They do," Hagrid cut Harry off, "O'ny their deaths area always put down ter mountaineerin' accidents, aren' they?"
Bryt couldn't help but wonder just how many people had ended up losing their lives to giants and how many were actual accidents.
"Come on, Hagrid," Ron said, looking as curious and eager was Bryt was, "Tell us what you've been up to! Tell us about being attacked by the giants and Harry can tell you about being attacked by the dementors—"
Hagrid dropped his mug, choking on his tea and dropping the dragon meat, which hit the floor with a sickening sound.
"Whadda yeh mean, attacked by dementors?" Hagrid asked, looking at Harry. Bryt blinked in surprise. How had Hagrid not heard about what happened yet?
"No one's told you?" Bryt asked.
"I don' know anything that's been happenin' since I left. I was on a secret mission, wasn' I, didn' wan' owls followin' me all over the place—ruddy dementors! Yeh're not serious?"
"Yeah, I am," Harry said, "They turned up in Little Whinging and attacked my cousin and me, and the Ministry of Magic expelled me and I had to go to a hearing and everything, but tell us about the giants first."
"You were expelled?" Hagrid asked, staring at Harry in shock.
"Tell us about your summer and I'll tell you about mine."
Bryt watched as Hagrid and Harry continued to stare at each other and Bryt had to fight back a laugh as she realized they seemed to be in some type of staring contest—both waiting for the other to blink first.
"Oh, all righ'," Hagrid finally said with a sigh, grabbing the steak off the ground—he had to wrestle it away from Fang first. Much to Bryt's disgust, Hagrid immediately put the steak back over his eye.
It turned out that Hagrid had had quite an adventure. He told them—through Bryt's constant interruptions with questions about the giants—about how he and Madam Maxime knew they were being followed by the Ministry, so they pretended to be heading down to France until they lost their tail. Then, they headed back into the mountains for a group of giants that Dumbledore had told them would be there. They eventually did find the giants, hoping to win them over with gifts and kind words, and they had thought they were doing okay until the third day. Apparently, there had been a giant uprising and the first Grug—the chief of the giants—had been killed and replaced. Apparently, the new Grug had been had been associating with a Death Eater and wasn't going to hear much more from Hagrid and Maxime.
They continued to try, though they didn't get far. They had found some giants hiding in caves and had been on the verge of convincing them to help when the giants had been attacked—most killed. Those who were left were too frightened to agree to help.
"So...the giants aren't coming?" Ron asked after Hagrid had finished finally.
"Nope," Hagrid said with a sigh, "But we did wha' we meant ter do, we gave 'em Dumbledore's message an' some o' them heard it an' I 'spect some o' them'll remember it. Jus' maybe, them that don' want ter stay around Golgomath'll move outta the mountains, an' there's gonna be a chance they'll remember Dumbledore's friendly to 'em...Could be they'll come..."
Bryt played with her bracelet between her hands, thinking over Hagrid's story. She couldn't imagine what it had to be like, walking into the tribe of giants every day, then having everything go to hell on them. At least Hagrid and Maxime had made it out alive—though Hagrid looked a lot worse for wear.
"So, why're you back so late?" Bryt finally asked, "And who attacked you? The giants?"
"I haven' bin attacked!" Hagrid said, but before he could say anything else, there was a loud knocking on the door. Hermione gave a yelp, dropping her mug, which broke on the ground.
"It's her!" Ron hissed, pointing towards the shadow of a small woman against the window's curtain. It wasn't hard to guess who the 'her' was.
Harry quickly grabbed his cloak and he, Bryt, Ron, and Hermione all got under it, hiding in the back corner of the hut while Hagrid looked confused and Fang barked at the door.
"Hagrid, hide our mugs!" Hermione hissed.
Hagrid quickly took the mugs and hid them under Fang's dog bed while Bryt backed up against her friends more. She felt something wet against the back of her robes and looked behind her at Harry. He blinked, then seeming to guess what Bryt was staring at him about, mouthed "Fang". Bryt fought back a sigh as she turned around. Just what she needed. Dog slobber on the back of her robes.
Hagrid went and opened the door. As they had known, Umbridge was standing there in a thick, green cloak that made her resemblance to a toad so much more noticeable.
"So," Umbridge said in a loud, slow voice, as if she were talking to either a toddler or someone nearly deaf, "You're Hagrid, are you?"
Umbridge didn't wait for Hagrid to reply as she invited herself into the hut, looking around in disgust.
"Get away," Umbridge snapped at Fang, smacking at him with her handbag. Bryt tensed, glaring at the woman. She felt someone grip onto her arm and turned to see Hermione giving her a warning look.
"I'm not going to do anything," Bryt mouthed, but Hermione simply shook her head. Bryt rolled her eyes, looking back over at Umbridge. At least Fang didn't seem bothered by Umbridge as he sat down, watching Umbridge and Hagrid.
"Er—I don't want ter be rude," Hagrid said, "But who the ruddy hell are you?"
Bryt bit on her tongue to keep from groaning. That was not the best thing to say to Umbridge.
"My name is Dolores Umbridge," Umbridge replied, still looking around the room. Bryt couldn't help but tense slightly every time the woman looked towards where Bryt and her friends were hiding.
"Dolores Umbridge? I thought you were on o' them Ministry—don' you work with Fudge?"
"I was Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, yes," Umbridge said—Bryt rolled her eyes. Umbridge always used any opportunity to bring up how important she had been when working at the Ministry of Magic. "I am now the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher—"
"Tha's brave of yeh," Hagrid said, "There's not many'd take tha' job."
"—And the Hogwards High Inquisitor," Umbridge went on as if she hadn't heard Hagrid. Bryt would bet anything she had, however, and was going to use it as a mark against Hagrid.
"What's that?" Hagrid asked.
"Precisely what I was going to ask," Umbridge said, motioning to Hermione's broken mug on the floor.
"Oh. Oh tha' was...Fang. He broke a mug. So I had ter use this one instead," Hagrid explained quickly, lifting the mug in his hand.
Umbridge just stood still, studying Hagrid closely. Bryt doubted his battered appearance and the dragon meat held to his face was going to help him any at all.
"I heard voices," Umbridge said finally and Bryt felt her stomach drop as her heart started pounding harder.
"I was talkin' ter Fang," Hagrid replied quickly.
"And was he talking back to you?"
"Well...in a manner o' speakin', I sometimes say Fang's near enough human—"
"There are four sets of footprints in the snow leading from the castle doors to your cabin."
Bryt groaned and Hermione gasped. Bryt glared at Ron out of the corner of her eye when Ron put his hand over her mouth—Harry had just done the same to Hermione—but luckily, Umbridge didn't seem to hear over Fang.
"Well, I on'y jus' got back," Hagrid said, "Maybe someone came ter call earlier an I missed 'em."
"There are no footsteps leading away from your cabin door."
"Well...I don' know why that'd be..." Hagrid said slowly and Bryt tensed more as Hagrid glanced over at where they were hiding.
'Don't look over here!' Bryt thought, 'Don't give us away, Hagrid, please!'
Umbridge started to pace the room, studying every inch carefully. Bryt accidentally stepped on Harry's foot in a hurried attempt to back away one of the times Umbridge passed within inches of them. The last thing Umbridge inspected was Hagrid's large cauldron that sat near the fireplace.
'What? She thinks someone'd hide in that?' Bryt thought.
"What has happened to you?" Umbridge asked, turning back to Hagrid finally, "How did you sustain those injuries?"
Hagrid removed the slab of meat to study Umbridge more closely.
"I...had a bit of an accident," Hagrid said simply.
"What sort of accident?"
"I tripped."
"You...tripped."
"Over a friend's broomstick."
Bryt rolled her eyes. Couldn't Hagrid had said something a bit more believable, like he had tripped down the stairs or something?
"Where have you been?" Umbridge asked sharply.
"Where've I..."
"Been, yes. Term started more than two months ago. Another teacher has had to cover your classes. None of your colleagues has been able to give me any information as to your whereabouts. You left on address. Where have you been?"
Hagrid continued to stare at Umbridge, obviously thinking hard for some type of excuse. Why hadn't he had one ready for when he returned? Didn't he know there'd be questions?
"I've been away from me health," he finally said. Bryt groaned against the palm of Ron's hand that was still over her mouth.
"Your health," Umbridge repeated, studying Hagrid's face, "I see."
"Yeah. Bit o' fresh air, yeh know."
"Yes, as gamekeeper, fresh air must be so difficult to come by," Umbridge said, as if she were being nice by agreeing to a child's wild claim. Bryt clenched her hands into fists, glaring at the woman.
"Well," Hagrid said, "Change o' scene, yeh know."
"Mountain scenery?"
Bryt felt her stomach drop again, a sickening feeling wash over her. She glanced around at her friends under the cloak and realized they all seemed to be thinking the same she was. They had easily guessed Hagrid was looking for giants—had the Ministry guessed it as well?
"Mountains?" Hagrid asked, "Nope, South of France fer me. Bit o' sun an'...an' sea."
"Really? You don't have much of a tan."
'Yeah, well, I grew up in Charleston and spent a lot of time outside, but I never really tanned,' Bryt thought bitterly.
"Yeah, well...sensitive skin," Hagrid said with a small smile—Bryt winced when she noticed he seemed to be missing a couple of teeth. Umbridge simply gave Hagrid a cold look before adjusting her bag over her shoulder.
"I shall be informing the Minister of your late return," Umbridge said and Hagrid nodded, "You ought to know that as High Inquisitor it is my unfortunate but necessary duty to inspect my fellow teachers. So I daresay we shall meet again soon again."
'Unfortunate? Yeah right,' Bryt thought bitterly. She knew Umbridge loved her power—and loved flaunting it in front of the rest of the staff, knowing that they knew she could cause trouble for them at any time.
"You're inspectin' us?" Hagrid asked, looking confused.
"Oh yes," Umbridge said, turning back to Hagrid as she reached the door, "The Ministry is determined to weed out unsatisfactory teachers, Hagrid. Good night."
'You mean teachers you just don't like,' Bryt thought bitterly, glaring after Umbridge. Hagrid went to the window and looked out before turning back around towards their corner.
"She's goin' back ter the castle," he said, "Blimey...Inspectin' people, is she?"
"Yeah," Harry said as he pulled off the cloak and they moved from their tight group, "Trelawney's on probation already."
"And she's already shown she doesn't like anyone who isn't 'full human'," Bryt said, "She'll be looking for any excuse to put you on probation, too."
"So Umbridge won't like it at all if you bring to class anything that's too dangerous," Hermione added.
"Dangerous?" Hagrid looked at them, "Don' be silly, I wouldn' give yeh anythin' dangerous!"
'Except Blast-Ended Skrewts,' Bryt thought. Bryt loved Hagrid's classes and the creatures he brought in, but even she knew how dangerous the creatures could be.
"Hagrid," Hermione said slowly, "You've got to pass Umbridge's inspection, and to do that it would really be better if she saw you teaching us how to look after porlocks, how to tell the difference between knarls and hedgehogs, stuff like that!"
'Though I have the feeling she'd fail Hagrid no matter what he taught us,' Bryt thought bitterly.
"But tha's not very interestin', Hermione. The stuff I've got's much more impressive, I've bin bringin' 'em on fer years, I reckon I've got the on'y domestic herd in Britain."
"Then you definitely can't show us that," Bryt said, though she'd love to find out what he was raising—if only Umbridge wasn't so power-hungry and determined to 'weed out undesirables', "Umbridge will get rid of you in a second just for being close to Dumbledore. She'll use absolutely anything as an excuse. Please, just stick to boring things."
Hagrid just waved them off and yawned.
"Lis'en, it's bin a long day an' it's late," he said, "Look, don' you go worryin' abou' me, I promise yeh I've got really good stuff planned fer yer lessons now I'm back...Now you lot had better get back up to the castle, an' don' forget ter wipe yer footprints out behind yeh!"
Hagrid wouldn't hear any more from them, so they were forced to head back out in the snow, grouped under the cloak while Hermione used a spell to hide their footprints.
"I dunno if you got through to him," Ron said when they were halfway to the castle.
"I don't know if anyone will," Bryt answered with a sigh, "I mean, he knows I love these creatures as much as he does, but if he won't even listen to me..."
"Well, I'm going back again tomorrow," Hermione said, the same determination in her voice as when she talked about SPEW, "I'll plan his lessons for him if I have to. I don't care if Umbridge throws out Trelawney, but she's not taking Hagrid!"
Bryt nodded, hoping Hermione would have better luck in the morning. She didn't want Hagrid to be kicked out of the school. She'd already been missing him too much over the past couple of months—she didn't want to think about not getting to see him on a regular basis.