A/N: I suppose that I'm more liberal with posting chapters now seeing as I'm about to start writing the sequel. I just finished writing this fic moments ago, and I have to say that I'm extremely proud of myself. Of all the fics that I've started, I have never finished one until now.
I'm not sad to be done writing this fic, because I still have three more in this series to write. In my opinion, this story is far from over. On the contrary, I'd say that this is just the beginning. I'll probably keep up my liberal chapter posting, and when I've posted them all (there are thirty-eight chapters), then I'll immediately start posting the sequel. Enjoy!
Previous Chapter:
We laughed and headed down to dinner, luckily, no one commented on Remus's change. After a long, filling Christmas feast, I took Harry's invitation to my party and tapped it with my wand. Everything on the invitation disappeared, and one sentence replaced it: Due to unpredictable and unavoidable circumstances, my party is cancelled until further notice; please keep the invitation to find out when, as no one will be issued a new one.
"You're cancelling your birthday bash?" Hermione asked, surprised, as we headed up to our rooms.
"Rescheduling," I said.
I quickly explained to her and Ron about my sixteenth birthday, and they nodded in understanding. "It's most likely for the best then," Hermione said, "since we don't know what'll happen when you come into your full powers."
"That's my exact reasoning." I said.
I just wish I knew more…
Chapter Twenty-Five
To my complete and utter disappointment, my birthday passed rather anticlimactically, and I felt as though I had cancelled my party for no reason. On New Years', I had awoken in the middle of the forest in my wolf form, but that was it. I had the lake's reflection to peer at myself, and preened at my snow white fur. I was a giant arctic wolf, but there was an odd slash of bright blood red fur on my stomach. At first, I had thought I was bleeding until I inspected it closer. After that, I had found my way back to the house and changed back rather easily. Of course, I had gathered up the trio, Remus, and Sirius, and showed them my form in my room. They thought it was incredibly cool, and Harry almost got himself bitten when he tried to yank my tail.
Over breakfast, I had opened my birthday presents, mostly books and beautiful jewelry from everyone, even Harry, who gave me a ruby hair comb to match the ring. It was beautiful, and I loved it. The best part, however, about those days was at twelve o'clock, just as it became my birthday, when Harry and I shared our first official New Years' kiss. Other than that, the holidays passed rather easily, and soon we were back at the castle, and back in lessons.
We were also back to the stress of the looming date of the Second Task that would be arriving in February. So far, Harry hadn't done anything to solve the egg, and I knew that he was bound to be a bundle of nerves at this point, even if he hadn't said anything about it. That day, the trio and I walked across the freezing grounds in ponderous silence. Snow was still thick upon the grounds, and the greenhouse windows were covered in condensation so thick that we couldn't see out of them in Herbology.
None of us were looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures much in this weather, though as Ron said, the skrewts would probably warm us up nicely, either by chasing us, or blasting off so forcefully that Hagrid's cabin would catch fire. When we arrived at Hagrid's cabin, however, we found an elderly witch with closely cropped gray hair and a very prominent chin standing before his front door. I felt an uneasy twist in my gut.
"Hurry up, now, the bell rang five minutes ago," she barked at us as we struggled toward her through the snow.
"Who're you?" said Ron, staring at her. "Where's Hagrid?"
"My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank," she said briskly. "I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher."
"Where's Hagrid?" Harry repeated loudly.
"He is indisposed," said Professor Grubbly-Plank shortly.
Harsh and highly unpleasant laughter reached our ears, and the trio and I turned. Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins were joining the class. To my surprise, it wasn't most of them that were laughing; it was only the three that hadn't been invited to my party, Bulstrode, Crabbe, and Goyle. Malfoy, Parkinson, and the others were barely disguising their own disgust at their house mates, but they didn't seem in the least bit amused nor were they surprised to see Professor Grubbly-Plank.
"This way, please," said Professor Grubbly-Plank, and she strode off around the paddock where the Beauxbaton horses were shivering. The trio and I followed her, looking back over our shoulders at Hagrid's cabin. All the curtains were closed. Was Hagrid in there, alone and ill?
"What's wrong with Hagrid?" Harry said.
"Never you mind," she said as though she thought he was being nosy.
This lady was really starting to get on my nerves, and I forced down my inner wolf as I spoke, my voice dripping ice. "But we do mind, so tell us what's wrong with him." This made the Professor pause in her footsteps for a fraction of a second, and she looked over her shoulder at me. I raised an eyebrow challengingly, and she turned and kept walking, ignoring me.
I took a step forward but Harry grabbed my wrist, pulling me back. "Just leave it, love. We'll figure it out later." He murmured. Rolling my eyes, we continued to follow her.
She led us past the paddock where the huge Beauxbaton horses were standing, huddled against the cold, and toward a tree on the edge of the forest, where a large and beautiful unicorn was tethered. Many of the girls ooh'ed at the sight of the unicorn, and even I had to gasp at its magnificence.
"Oh it's so beautiful!" whispered Lavender Brown. "How did she get it? They're supposed to be really hard to catch!"
The unicorn was so brightly white it made the snow all around look gray. It was pawing the ground nervously with its golden hooves and throwing back its horned head.
"Boys keep back!" barked Professor Grubbly-Plank, throwing out an arm and catching Harry hard in the chest. I shot her a heated glare, but Harry tugged my hand. "They prefer the woman's touch, unicorns. Girls to the front, and approach with care, come on, easy does it..."
As the Professor and the other girls, including Hermione walked forward, the boys remained behind. I hesitated though, and Harry looked at me. "What's wrong, Gia? Don't you want to go pet the unicorn?" he asked.
I leaned forward, towards his ear. "But my wolf…" I whispered. "It won't like that." Harry's eyes widened.
"You can't like… suppress it or something?" He asked, just as softly. I shrugged.
"I have no idea, but I suppose I could try." Focusing inward, I felt my inner wolf lounging around my magic core. I tried to relax, and as I did, she seemed to perk up, aware of the connection. I somewhat mentally nudged her towards my core, and she seemed to understand, as she entered the ball of power, and lied down, curling up. For the first time in months, I felt less wolfish but also more in touch with my magic than ever.
Looking up at Harry, I saw that his eyes were incredibly wide, and he was staring at me. "What?" I asked.
He brushed a stray curly strand of hair from my face. "You're eyes aren't glowing anymore…and your teeth aren't as noticeable." He murmured. True enough, as I ran my tongue over my teeth, I felt that were only slightly sharp, and certainly not as long. I felt almost normal. I reached up and kissed Harry's cheek.
"Thanks for the suggestion, Harry." I said happily, before hurrying over to Hermione, who was slowly approaching the unicorn. It truly was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my entire life. I lowered myself slightly near the unicorn, and waited for a second. Very slowly, it walked over to me, grace and light beaming from its every pore. It pushed its muzzle into my cupped hands, and I gently pet it, feeling such an overwhelming happiness overcome me.
Glancing over my shoulder, I smiled happily at Harry, who pulled what I recognized as my little camera out of his robe, and snapped a few pictures. Hermione joined me, and we posed for some pictures with the unicorn and the other girls, and even Professor Grubbly-Plank looked… not as unpleasant. After a few more minutes, I looked over my shoulder to see how my boys were doing, when I saw Bulstrode sneer and say something, obviously scathing to Harry and Ron.
Standing up straight, I patted the unicorn's head and walked back over to the boys. "…hate to break it to you, Potter." Bulstrode said in a snarky manner.
I glared at her. "What's going on over here?" I asked Harry. Bulstrode pulled out a folded piece of newsprint from her robes, and held it out. I snatched it from her hand, and opened it, aware of Harry, Ron, Neville, Dean, and Seamus crowded over my shoulders. On the front, was a picture of Hagrid looking extremely shifty.
DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE
Albus Dumbledore, eccentric Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has never been afraid to make controversial staff appointments, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. In September of this year, he hired Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, the notoriously jinx-happy ex-Auror, to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, a decision that caused many raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic, given Moody's well-known habit of attacking anybody who makes a sudden movement in his presence. Mad-Eye Moody, however, looks responsible and kindly when set beside the part-human Dumbledore employs to teach Care of Magical Creatures.
Rubeus Hagrid, who admits to being expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, has enjoyed the position of gamekeeper at the school ever since, a job secured for him by Dumbledore. Last year, however, Hagrid used his mysterious influence over the headmaster to secure the additional post of Care of Magical Creatures teacher, over the heads of many better-qualified candidates. An alarmingly large and ferocious-looking man, Hagrid has been using his newfound authority to terrify the students in his care with a succession of horrific creatures.
While Dumbledore turns a blind eye, Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series of lessons that many admit to being "very frightening. "'A friend of mine was attacked by a hippogriff, and my friend Vincent Crabbe got a bad bite off a flobberworm," says Millicent Bulstrode, a fourth-year student. "We all hate Hagrid, but we're just too scared to say anything."
Hagrid has no intention of ceasing his campaign of intimidation, however. In conversation with a Daily Prophet reporter last month, he admitted breeding creatures he has dubbed "Blast-Ended Skrewts," highly dangerous crosses between manticores and fire-crabs. The creation of new breeds of magical creature is, of course, an activity usually closely observed by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Hagrid, however, considers himself to be above such petty restrictions.
"I was just having some fun," he says, before hastily changing the subject. As if this were not enough, the Daily Prophet has now unearthed evidence that Hagrid is not—as he has always pretended—a pure-blood wizard. He is not, in fact, even pure human. His mother, we can exclusively reveal, is none other than the giantess Fridwulfa, whose whereabouts are currently unknown.
Bloodthirsty and brutal, the giants brought themselves to the point of extinction by warring amongst themselves during the last century. The handful that remained joined the ranks of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and were responsible for some of the worst mass Muggle killings of his reign of terror. While many of the giants who served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were killed by Aurors working against the Dark Side, Fridwulfa was not among them. It is possible she escaped to one of the giant communities still existing in foreign mountain ranges.
If his antics during Care of Magical Creature lessons are any guide, however, Fridwulfa's son appears to have inherited her brutal nature. In a bizarre twist, Hagrid is reputed to have developed a close friendship with the boy who brought around You-Know-Who's fall from power-thereby driving Hagrid's own mother, like the rest of You-Know-Who's supporters, into hiding. Perhaps Harry Potter is unaware of the unpleasant truth about his large friend—but Albus Dumbledore surely has a duty to ensure that Harry Potter, along with his fellow students, is warned about the dangers of associating with part-giants.
I finished reading the article aloud, and I crushed the paper in my hand, shaking with barely contained fury. Whatever had been holding my inner wolf back had sure broke, because she was snarling again. I glared at the Slytherins and stormed forward, poking Malfoy in the chest so harshly, he took a step back. "Malfoy, you—you," I growled, unable to form a complete thought. "I can't believe I actually started to think that any of you were at least slightly decent!"
"Gia, we didn't know!" Daphne yelled desperately, her eyes wide with fear.
All of us Gryffindors froze and said, "What!?"
This time Pansy spoke as she held Malfoy's arm. He was rubbing his chest on the spot where I had poked him. "You heard her Grey, we didn't know. It was Bulstrode, Crabbe, and Goyle. They came in the common room looking all too pleased with themselves but we hadn't found out until this morning when the article came out." She explained.
I softened enough to apologize to Malfoy before rounding on the three responsible. "What the hell do you mean 'all of us hate Hagrid,'?" I growled. Bulstrode suddenly didn't look too pleased with herself.
"And what're you playing at with that rubbish that he," Harry spat, pointing at Crabbe, "was bitten by a flobberworm? Those things haven't even got teeth!" Crabbe sniggered.
"Well, I think this should put an end to the oaf's teaching career," said Bulstrode, her eyes glinting. "Half-giant... And there was me thinking he'd just swallowed a bottle of Skele-Gro when he was young... None of the mummies and daddies are going to like this at all... They'll be worried he'll eat their kids, ha, ha..."
I advanced on her. "Why you –" As usual, I immediately felt several people hold me back as I fought to get at that evil cow. She had stepped back out of my reach, and though she was smirking, I knew it was all bravado. I could sense her fear. And she knew that should I break free, she had better run as fast as those stubby, hairy legs could carry her.
"Are you paying attention over there?" Professor Grubbly-Planks voice carried over to our crowd; the Gryffindor girls were all clustered around the unicorn still, stroking it. I could see that Harry was angry, and I was still shaking, the Daily Prophet article still completely crushed in my angry fist.
Professor Grubbly-Plank was now enumerating in a loud voice, so that we could hear too, the many magical properties of the unicorn, and I shook free of Neville, Seamus, and Dean. Harry and Ron had both been too angry to even bother to hold me back; no doubt wishing the other three had let me thrash Bulstrode. I took a step toward the large girl, and though I was at least four or five inches shorter than her, I seemed much taller than her in my angry. I leaned close to her ugly, chubby face and if looks could kill, she would've been buried six times over.
"You'll get yours Bulstrode." I hissed, dark promise in my voice. I looked at Malfoy as the bell rang. "Control your pets!" I snapped.
"I hope she stays, that woman!" said Parvati Patil when the lesson had ended and we were all heading back to the castle for lunch. "That's more what I thought Care of Magical Creatures would belike... Proper creatures like unicorns, not monsters..."
"What about Hagrid?" Harry said angrily as we went up the steps.
"What about him?" said Parvati in a hard voice. "He can still be gamekeeper, can't he?"
I glared at her.
"That was a really good lesson," said Hermione as we entered the Great Hall. "I didn't know half the things Professor Grubbly-Plank told us about uni—"
"Look at this!" Harry snarled, and he shoved the Daily Prophet article under Hermione's nose.
Hermione's mouth fell open as she read. Her reaction was exactly the same as Ron's. "How did that horrible Skeeter woman find out? You don't think Hagrid told her?"
"No," said Harry, leading the way over to the Gryffindor table and throwing himself into a chair, furious. "He never even told us, did he? I reckon she was so mad he wouldn't give her loads of horrible stuff about me, she went ferreting around to get him back."
"Maybe she heard him telling Madame Maxime at the ball," said Hermione quietly.
"We'd have seen her in the garden!" said Harry.
I viciously took a bite out of my sandwich. "She's not even allowed in the bloody school! Dumbledore banned her!" I snarled, chewing harshly.
"Maybe she's got an Invisibility Cloak," said Harry, ladling chicken casserole onto his plate and splashing it everywhere in his anger. "Sort of thing she'd do, isn't it, hide in bushes listening to people."
"Like you and Gia did, you mean," said Hermione.
"You know we hadn't done that on purpose!" I snapped. She recoiled but I didn't apologize, I was still fuming. How dare that Skeeter woman ruin Hagrid like that?
"We've got to go and see him," said Harry. "This evening, after training. Tell him we want him back... You do want him back?" he shot at Hermione.
"I—well, I'm not going to pretend it didn't make a nice change, having a proper Care of Magical Creatures lesson for once—but I do want Hagrid back, of course I do!" Hermione added hastily, quailing under Harry's furious stare.
So that evening after dinner, the four of us left the castle once more and went down through the frozen grounds to Hagrid's cabin. We knocked, and Fang's booming barks answered.
"Hagrid, it's us!" Harry shouted, pounding on the door. "Open up!"
Hagrid didn't answer. We could hear Fang scratching at the door, whining, but it didn't open. We hammered on it for ten more minutes; Ron even went and banged on one of the windows, but there was no response.
"What's he avoiding us for?" Hermione said when we had finally given up and were walking back to the school. "He surely doesn't think we'd care about him being half-giant?"
But it seemed that Hagrid did care, because we didn't see a sign of him all week. He didn't appear at the staff table at mealtimes, we didn't see him going about his gamekeeper duties on the grounds, and Professor Grubbly-Plank continued to take the Care of Magical Creatures classes. Bulstrode was gloating at every possible opportunity.
"Missing your half-breed pal?" she kept whispering to us whenever there was a teacher around, so that she was safe from my retaliation. "Missing the elephant-man?" After that one, Ron had had to actually toss me over his shoulder and carry me back to the castle because I had lunged at Bulstrode.
Halfway through January, which had been a very long and stressful month so far, Harry and I woke up together on Saturday morning. Rolling out of bed, I grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him along, despite his groans.
"It's Saturday Gia! You know… that day where we don't have class?" he protested, but got up anyway. I began pulling him into the bathroom.
"I don't care. It's a Hogsmeade weekend, and we desperately need something fun." I growled, starting the shower. After a quick, joint shower that included very little touching besides kisses, Harry and I retreated to our closet to dress for the day. As I was picking out an outfit, I heard Hermione knock on the bedroom door.
"Are we going to Hogsmeade?" she called.
"Yeah!" I yelled back. "We're getting dressed, give us a minute." Hermione yelled an affirmative, and I finally decided. I put on black lace tights with a wild floral design, black shorts, black boots, and a dark green shirt. Over it, I wore a long wool cardigan. Harry wore jeans, a dark green shirt, and matching trainers, with a simple black jacket.
"You look great, as always Gia," Harry said, grabbing his wand, "but won't you be freezing outside?"
I shook my head. "Warming charms fix that little problem, thankfully." I said. We joined Ron and Hermione, and left East Tower.
"Where's Luna?" Hermione asked. "She wasn't in her room."
Smiling, I said, "She has a date with Terry."
"I'm surprised you want to go to Hogsmeade at all, Harry." Hermione said as we walked through the corridors. He rolled his eyes.
"I was very unwilling to get out of bed, I assure you." He drawled, shooting me a tired look. I grinned and pecked his cheek.
"That's not what I meant. I just thought you'd want to take advantage of the castle being quiet," she said. "Really get to work on that egg."
Looking at Harry, I could sense a lie coming, and saved him from it. "Don't worry about that Hermione, we'll figure it out later. I'll make sure of it." I said.
Harry squeezed my hand in thanks, though Hermione rolled her eyes and let it go. We left the castle soon after and set off through the cold, wet grounds toward the gates. As we passed the Durmstrang ship moored in the lake, we saw Viktor emerge onto the deck, dressed in nothing but swimming trunks. He was very skinny indeed, but apparently a lot tougher than he looked, because he climbed up onto the side of the ship, stretched out his arms, and dived, right into the lake.
"He's mad!" said Harry, staring at Viktor's dark head as it bobbed out into the middle of the lake. "It must be freezing, it's January!"
"It's a lot colder where he comes from," said Hermione. "I suppose it feels quite warm to him."
"Yeah, but there's still the giant squid," said Ron.
When we got to Hogsmeade, we immediately headed into the Three Broomsticks, where Harry was promptly pulled away by Ludo Bagman. When he returned about ten minutes later, he looked incredibly confused. He sat down beside me, automatically taking my hand in one of his, while using the other to drink from his mug of butterbeer. We were just relaxing, chatting amicably, when the spectacled devil appeared.
"Harry!" she said, beaming, "Why don't you come and join me?" Harry tightened his hand on mine.
"I wouldn't come near you with a ten-foot broomstick," said Harry furiously. "What did you do that to Hagrid for, eh?"
Rita Skeeter raised her heavily penciled eyebrows. "Our readers have a right to the truth, Harry. I am merely doing my-"
"Who cares if he's a half-giant?" I shouted, standing up suddenly. I felt my heart thudding furiously in my chest, in time with my inner wolf pacing. "There is nothing wrong with him, you stupid, interfering, judgmental bitch!"
The whole pub had gone very quiet. Madam Rosmerta was staring over from behind the bar, apparently oblivious to the fact that the flagon she was filling with mead was overflowing. Rita's smile flickered very slightly, but she hitched it back almost at once; she snapped open her crocodile-skin handbag, pulled out her Quick-Quotes Quill, and said, "How about giving me an interview about the Hagrid you know, then? The man behind the muscles? Your unlikely friendship and the reasons behind it? Would you call him a father substitute?"
Hermione stood up very abruptly as well, her butterbeer clutched in her hand as though it were a grenade. "You horrible woman," she said, through gritted teeth, "you don't care, do you, anything for a story, and anyone will do, won't they? Even Ludo Bagman—"
"Sit down, you silly little girl, and don't talk about things you don't understand," said Rita Skeeter coldly, her eyes hardening as they fell on Hermione. "I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl..."
"You had better watch who you're talking to, you cow." I snarled. "Because I doubt any of these people in this pub would lift a single finger to help you if I got a bit wand happy." I grabbed Harry's hand. "Let's go." I said. We left very quickly, the entire pub watching us in silence; Harry glanced back as we reached the door, and I followed his eyes. Rita's Quick-Quotes Quill was out; it was zooming backward and forward over a piece of parchment on the table.
"She'll be after you both next," said Ron in a low and worried voice as we walked quickly backup the street. Harry agreed.
"He's right. Hermione, you just called her out in front of all those people, and she already hates Gia for keeping her away from me. She's not going to let this go. She will come after you both." He explained.
"Let her try!" said Hermione defiantly; she was shaking with rage. "I'll show her! Silly little girl, am I? Oh, I'll get her back for this! Poor Hagrid."
I nodded angrily. "I'll destroy that bitch! And she's knows that, which is why she hasn't come after me yet. I dare her to try." I growled.
"You don't want to go upsetting Rita Skeeter," said Ron nervously. "I'm serious, Hermione, she'll dig up something on you—"
"My parents don't read the Daily Prophet. She can't scare me into hiding!" said Hermione.
Hermione and I were both riding on rage, we were striding so fast, the boys were hard put to keep up, and poor Harry was being dragged along because I hadn't let go of his hand. "And I'm sick of Hagrid hiding out in his hut!" I snapped. "He should've never let that miserable old hag upset him! Come on!" I said.
Breaking into a run, the trio ran behind me all the way back up the road, through the gates flanked by winged boars, and up through the grounds to Hagrid's cabin. The curtains were still drawn, and we could hear Fang barking as we approached. "Hagrid!" I shouted, pounding furiously on the door. "Hagrid, that's enough! We know you're in there! Nobody cares if your mum was a giantess, Hagrid! You can't let that damned Skeeter woman do this to you! Hagrid, get out here, you're just being—"
The door opened, and I had to still my raised fist, because suddenly, there was Headmaster Dumbledore. "Good afternoon," he said, smiling down at us.
"We want to speak to Hagrid." I said boldly, lowering my hand.
"Yes, I surmised as much," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "Why don't you come in?"
Dumbledore said, "Did you by any chance hear what Miss Grey was shouting, Hagrid?"
I felt my face get slightly hot, but Dumbledore smiled at me and continued, "Gia, Hermione, Harry, and Ron still seem to want to know you, judging by the way they were attempting to break down the door."
"Of course we still want to know you!" Harry said, staring at Hagrid. "You don't think anything that Skeeter cow—sorry, Professor," he added quickly, looking at Dumbledore.
"I have gone temporarily deaf and haven't any idea what you said, Harry," said Dumbledore, twiddling his thumbs and staring at the ceiling.
"Err-right," said Harry sheepishly. "I just meant- Hagrid, how could you think we'd care what that – woman – wrote about you?"
Two fat tears leaked out of Hagrid's beetle-black eyes and fell slowly into his tangled beard. "Living proof of what I've been telling you, Hagrid," said Dumbledore, still looking carefully up at the ceiling. "I have shown you the letters from the countless parents who remember you from their own days here, telling me in no uncertain terms that if I sacked you, they would have something to say about it—"
"Not all of 'em," said Hagrid hoarsely. "Not all of 'em wan me ter stay."
"Really, Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time," said Dumbledore, now peering sternly over his half-moon spectacles. "Not a week has passed since I became headmaster of this school when I haven't had at least one owl complaining about the way I run it. But what should I do? Barricade myself in my study and refuse to talk to anybody?"
"Yeh—yeh're not half-giant!" said Hagrid croakily.
"Hagrid, look what I've got for relatives!" Harry said furiously. "Look at the Dursleys!"
"And we all know that I'm not even completely human either," I added seriously. Professor Dumbledore and Hagrid peered at my fangs and eyes, seeing my point. "But I hold my head up high, proud of who I am and what I am, every day!"
"Excellent points," said Professor Dumbledore. "My own brother, Aberforth, was prosecuted for practicing inappropriate charms on a goat. It was all over the papers, but did Aberforth hide? No, he did not! He held his head high and went about his business as usual! Of course, I'm not entirely sure he can read, so that may not have been bravery..." I just barely suppressed a snort.
"Come back and teach, Hagrid," said Hermione quietly, "please come back, we really miss you."
"Yeah Hagrid," Ron said softly, "Care of Magical Creatures is just absolutely not the same without you."
"It's not right without you." I added.
Hagrid gulped. More tears leaked out down his cheeks and into his tangled beard. Dumbledore stood up. "I refuse to accept your resignation, Hagrid, and I expect you back at work on Monday," he said. "You will join me for breakfast at eight-thirty in the Great Hall. No excuses. Good afternoon to you all."
Dumbledore left the cabin, pausing only to scratch Fangs ears. When the door had shut behind him, Hagrid began to sob into his dustbin-lid-sized hands. Hermione kept patting his arm, and at last, Hagrid looked up, his eyes very red indeed, and said, "Great man, Dumbledore... Great man..."
"Yeah, he is," said Ron. "Can I have one of these cakes, Hagrid?"
"Help yerself," said Hagrid, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand. "He's righ', o' course—yeh're all righ'... I bin stupid... My ol' dad woulda bin ashamed o' the way I've bin behavin'..."
More tears leaked out, but he wiped them away more forcefully, and said, "Never shown you a picture of my old dad, have I? Here..." Hagrid got up, went over to his dresser, opened a drawer, and pulled out a picture of a short wizard with Hagrid's crinkled black eyes, beaming as he sat on top of Hagrid's shoulder.
Hagrid was a good seven or eight feet tall, judging by the apple tree beside him, but his face was beardless, young, round, and smooth—he looked hardly older than eleven.
"Tha was taken jus' after I got inter Hogwarts," Hagrid croaked. "Dad was dead chuffed ... Thought I migh' not be a wizard, see, 'cos me mum ... Well, anyway. 'Course, I never was great shakes at magic, really... But at least he never saw me expelled. Died, see, in me second year..."
"Dumbledore was the one who stuck up for me after Dad went. Got me the gamekeeper job... Trusts people, he does. Gives 'em second chances ... Tha's what sets him apar' from other heads, see. He'll accept anyone at Hogwarts, s'long as they've got the talent. Knows people can turn out okay even if their families weren' ... Well... All tha' respectable. But some don understand that. There's some who'd always hold it against yeh... There's some who'd even pretend they just had big bones rather than standup an' say—I am what I am, an' I'm not ashamed. 'Never be ashamed, ' my ol' dad used ter say, 'there's some who'll hold it against you, but they're not worth botherin' with. ' An' he was right. I've bin an idiot. I'm not botherin' with her no more, I promise yeh that. Big bones... I'll give her big bones. "
Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another nervously, while I raised an eyebrow.
"Yeh know wha, Harry?" he said, looking up from the photograph of his father, his eyes very bright, "when I firs' met you, you reminded me o' me a bit. Mum an' Dad gone, an' you was feelin' like yeh wouldn' fit in at Hogwarts, remember? Not sure yeh were really up to it... An' now look at yeh, Harry! School champion!"
He looked at Harry for a moment and then said, very seriously, "Yeh know what I'd love. Harry? I'd love yeh ter win, I really would. It'd show 'em all... Yeh don' have ter be pureblood ter do it. Yeh don have ter be ashamed of what yeh are. It'd show 'em Dumbledore's the one who's got it righ', lettin' anyone in as long as they can do magic. How you doin' with that egg, Harry?"
"Great," said Harry. "Really great."
Hagrid's miserable face broke into a wide, watery smile. "Tha's my boy... You show 'em, Harry, you show 'em. Beat 'em all. "
I knew that lying to Hagrid wasn't anywhere the same as lying to anyone else, and I knew that Harry probably felt like the world's largest prat at that moment.