Chapter Thirty-Five:
'Little' Brother
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
Elizabeth glanced to Hannah, Megan, and Susan next to her. They were grouped together in a bathroom on the third floor, Susan holding a few bottles of potions they'd brewed up in their common room.
"You're the one who came up with it, Megan!" Elizabeth said. Though she was admittedly wary herself. She wasn't the one who pulled pranks. Flooding toilets with secretly brewed expanding-bubble potions wasn't exactly something she saw herself doing normally. Especially as a prefect.
"I know, but..."
"Oh, give them here," Susan said determinedly, snatching the bottles from Megan. "I'll do it."
"I...I'll keep look-out," Hannah said shakily, hurrying out of the room. Megan followed behind and Elizabeth looked back to Susan.
"Here, give me half," she said, "We'll split up the work."
Elizabeth just kept hoping they wouldn't be caught. She and Susan took a few stalls each, dumping potions into the toilet bowls. The effect was almost instantaneous, the toilets beginning to bubble as if boiling. Elizabeth hurried from the last stall as the same time Susan backed out of another.
"We'd better get out of here before they start overflowing," Elizabeth said, "We don't want to get caught."
"Right," Susan hurried for the door, Elizabeth right behind. Megan and Hannah weren't waiting in the hallway, though Elizabeth hadn't expected to see them. Susan was laughing as they made their way down towards the Great Hall for breakfast.
"You know, that was kind of fun," Susan went on as they sat at the table, "Don't want to do it again anytime soon, though, but it was fun."
Elizabeth giggled.
"I know what you mean," she said, "Who knew it was so terrifying to cause trouble?"
Bubbling up the bathroom wasn't the only trouble happening around Hogwarts. It seemed practically the entire school was trying to follow in Fred and George's footsteps—short of leaving school, anyway. There was barely any part of the school where there wasn't something going on. Most corridors were beginning to smell worse than the bathrooms thanks to countless Dungbombs. It was impossible to avoid those corridors, so it became common to see people using bubble-head charms. Often, older students were helping first or second years who hadn't learned the spell yet.
Teachers, Elizabeth noticed, were doing very little to control the chaos. The furthest they went was to scold Peeves for interrupting classes, but outside a classroom, Elizabeth was very sure the teachers were even assisting the poltergeist in his determination to take Fred and George's leaving message to heart. In fact, Elizabeth had a few bright pink stains on a couple of her robes from Peeves dumping ink on them heading between classes.
As she spent so much time with the Hufflepuffs over the past couple of weeks—both before and after Easter holidays—Elizabeth decided that she would sit with Harry and Hermione during the final Quidditch match of the season—Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw. The match to decide who won the Quidditch Cup.
"You know," Hermione was saying as they walked down towards the Quidditch pitch on a clear, warm morning, "I think Ron might do better without Fred and George around. They never exactly gave him a lot of confidence..."
"Fred and George never give anyone any confidence," Elizabeth said as Luna and Helene went past. Helene caught Elizabeth's eye and grinned brightly, mouthing 'thanks!' before hurrying on.
"What was that about?" Harry asked.
"I caught Helene out after curfew last night," Elizabeth said. She decided, with Hermione present, not to mention that she had caught the girl painting something rather inappropriate about Umbridge on one of the corridor walls. "I took her back to the Ravenclaw common room and told her I'd let her off just this once."
"You really shouldn't have even done that," Hermione scolded.
"And how many times have we sneaked out?" Harry countered with a smirk. Hermione didn't answer, but did give a little grin.
They found some seats and settled themselves down as Lee Jordan announced the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw teams. However, the match had barely started—Ravenclaw scoring within five minutes—when Elizabeth heard someone trying to get her attention behind her.
She, Harry, and Hermione all turned to see Hagrid leaned towards them, his face as cut and bruised as ever.
"Listen...Can yeh come with me?" he asked quietly, "Now? While ev'ryone's watchin' the match?"
Elizabeth didn't want to leave, but she could see the worry on Hagrid's face. Harry and Hermione could see it as well, as they all quickly agreed. Hagrid led them back down towards the grounds and started away from the Quidditch pitch.
"I 'ppreciate this, you three, I really do," Hagrid said, "I jus' hope she doesn' notice us goin'..."
"You mean Umbridge?" Harry asked, "You won't, she's got her whole Inquisitorial Squad sitting with her, didn't you see? She must be expecting trouble at the match."
"Yeah, well, a bit o' trouble wouldn' hurt," Hagrid said seriously, "Give us more time..."
Elizabeth didn't like the sound of that. She frowned at Harry and Hermione as they followed Hagrid across the grounds towards his cabin.
"What is it, Hagrid?" Hermione asked slowly.
"Yeh—yeh'll see in a mo'," Hagrid said, then glanced up as there was a roar of cheers from the stands, "Hey, did someone jus' score?"
"It'll be Ravenclaw," Harry muttered.
They'd reached Hagrid's hut, but Hagrid walked right past it towards the forest. It was just then that Elizabeth realized Hagrid was carrying his crossbow with him. Elizabeth was tense. She'd only been in the forest twice before, one of those times ending up deep into the forest and among giant spiders intent on eating her, Harry, and Ron.
"Hagrid, why are you armed?" Harry asked.
"Jus' a precaution," Hagrid replied.
"You didn't bring your crossbow the day you showed us the thestrals," Hermione said. She and Harry had told Elizabeth of their Care of Magical Creatures lesson where they learned about thestrals—invisible winged horses that apparently pulled the Hogwarts carriages.
"Nah, well, we weren' goin' in so far then," Hagrid said, "An' anyway, tha' was before Firenze left the forest, wasn' it?"
"That makes a difference?" Elizabeth asked slowly, tripping over an unearthed root. Harry caught her by the arm and she gave him a grateful smile.
"'Course it does," Hagrid said, "The other centaurs are good an' riled at me." Hagrid paused, glancing at the others before turning back to watch where they were going. "They used ter be—well, yeh couldn' call 'em friendly—but we got on all righ'. Kept 'emselves to 'emselves, bu' always turned up if I wanted a word. Not anymore..."
Elizabeth bit her lip, glancing at the others. Her heart was pounding again. She didn't like where this was going.
"Firenze said that they're angry because he went to work for Dumbledore?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, well, angry doesn' cover it. Ruddy livid. If I hadn't stepped in, I reckon they'd've kicked Firenze ter death—"
"They what?" Elizabeth gasped, staring at Hagrid with wide eyes.
"He had half the herd onto him—"
"And you stopped it?" Harry asked quickly, "By yourself?"
"'Course I did, couldn't stand by an' watch 'em kill him, could I?" Hagrid replied shortly, "Lucky I was passin', really...an' I'd've thought Firenze mighta remembered tha' before he started sendin' me stupid warnin's!
"Anyway, since then the other centaurs've bin livid with me an' the trouble is, they've got a lot of influence in the forest...Cleverest creatures in here..."
"Is that why we're here, Hagrid?" Hermione's voice was low and cautious, "The centaurs?"
"Ah, no," Hagrid said slowly, shaking his head, "No, it's not them...Well, o' course, they could complicate the problem, yeah...But yeh'll see what I mean in a bit..."
Hagrid trailed off and Elizabeth glanced to Harry and Hermione. Hagrid was moving quickly, which meant that the three of them were practically jogging to keep up. This was hard to do when the path was becoming more and more overgrown. Not as much light was making it through the trees now, which was making Elizabeth feel more and more nervous.
'Get a grip on yourself,' Elizabeth thought. If she was going to be a reporter, digging into problems, she couldn't let herself get worked up about walking through a forest.
By the third time Elizabeth and Harry got caught in a patch of brambles—Hermione having to rescue them—Harry finally spoke up again.
"Hagrid? Where are we going?"
"Bit further," Hagrid called back, "C'mon, we need ter keep together now..."
Elizabeth sighed. She was covered in cuts and scrapes now, and there were several rips in her robes and skirt. She was pretty sure she had cobwebs and twigs tangled into her hair as well. She was just relieved she hadn't had her glasses broken yet.
"Hagrid, would it be all right if we lit our wands?" Hermione asked nervously.
"Er...all right. In fact..."
Hagrid turned so suddenly that Hermione walked into him and nearly fell backwards.
"Maybe we bes' jus' stop fer a momen', so I can...fill yeh in," Hagrid said slowly, "Before we ge' there, like."
Harry, Elizabeth, and Hermione all lit their wands quickly, looking around. Hagrid looked even more miserable in the dim light of the wands. The shadows seemed to make his cuts and bruises look worse, to the point that he looked almost deathly ill.
"Righ', well...see...the thing is..." Hagrid started, then took a deep breath, "Well, there's a good chance I'm goin' ter be getting' the sack any day now."
"But why?" Elizabeth asked blankly, "I mean, there's so little time left before the end of term—"
"Umbridge reckons it was me that put tha' niffler in her office."
Elizabeth frowned, remembering earlier that week when Umbridge's office had been invaded by a destructive magical creature attracted to shiny objects.
"Anythin' ter do with magical creatures an' she thinks it's got somethin' ter do with me. Yeh know she's bin lookin' fer a chance ter get rid of me ever since I got back. I don' wan' ter go, o' course, but if it wasn' fer...well...The special circumstances I'm abou' ter explain to yeh, I'd leave right now, before she's go' the chance ter do it in front o' the whole school, like she did with Trelawney."
Elizabeth, Harry, and Hermione all tried to protest, but Hagrid wouldn't let them, waving them off. Elizabeth frowned. Hogwarts without Hagrid was as wrong as Hogwarts without Dumbledore.
"It's not the end o' the world," Hagrid went on, "I'll be able ter help Dumbledore once I'm outta here, I can be useful ter the Order. An' you lot'll have Grubbly-Plank, yeh'll—yeh'll get through yer exams fine..."
Elizabeth and Hermione both moved forward and Hagrid pulled out a large handkerchief, beginning to wipe his eyes.
"Don' worry abou' me," he said as Elizabeth patted him on the arm, "Look, I wouldn' be tellin' yer this at all if I didn' have ter. See, if I go...well, I can' leave withou'...Withou' tellin' someone...because I'll—I'll need you three ter help me. An' Ron, if he's willin'."
"Of course we'll help you," Harry said, coming forward, 'What do you want us to do?"
Hagrid patted Harry on the shoulder hard enough to knock him over. Elizabeth hurried over to help him to his feet, silently wondering if they should have found out what they're agreeing to before telling Hagrid they would help him. After all, he was leading them deep into the forest, into a place where he needed a weapon. And he was expecting them to do whatever this was on their own?
"Well...c'mon..." Hagrid said, getting up again, "Jus' a little bit further through here...Watch yerselves, now, there's nettles..."
Hagrid moved on, the other three following close behind. Elizabeth wasn't at all sure where they were going, and was glad Hagrid was there to keep them from getting lost. The further they went, the more nervous she was getting. Finally, Hagrid came to a stop in a clearing, in the center of which was a large mound that Elizabeth could swear was moving.
Then, Elizabeth realized the mound actually was moving. Her eyes widened and she slowly put her hands over her mouth, staring at Hagrid. She couldn't believe this. Hagrid had brought a giant back with him? One that was now curled up asleep, but bound by large, thick ropes.
"Hagrid, you told us none of them wanted to come!" Hermione said in a high voice, her own eyes wide.
"Well—no—he didn' want ter come," Hagrid said, an air of desperation to him, "But I had ter bring him, Hermione, I had ter!"
"But why?" Elizabeth's voice was high and squeaky, "Hagrid, why did you bring him back? Look at what he's doing to you! You should have left him with the other giants!"
"They were all bullyin' him, Elizabeth, 'cause he's so small!"
"Small?" Hermione's voice went even higher, "Small?"
"I couldn' leave him!" Hagrid said, "See—he's my brother!"
Elizabeth's mind went blank. Hagrid's...brother. She stared at the sleeping giant, trying to get her brain to clear. She had to have misunderstood. She had to have.
"Well—half-brother," Hagrid said slowly, "Turns out me mother took up with another giant when she left me dad, an' she went an' had Grawp here—"
"Grawp?" Harry and Elizabeth echoed—Harry curiously, Elizabeth weakly.
"Yeah...well, tha's what it sounds like when he says his name," Hagrid replied, wringing his large hands together, "He don' speak a lot of English...I've bin tryin' ter teach him...Anyway, she don' seem ter have liked him much more'n she liked me...See, with giantesses, what counts is producin' good big kids, and he's always been a bit on the runty side fer a giant—on'y sixteen foot..."
"Oh, yes, tiny!" Hermione said in a high voice, throwing up her hands in exasperation, "Absolutely minuscule!"
"He was bein' kicked around by all o' them—I jus' couldn' leave him—"
"Did Madame Maxime want to bring him back?" Harry asked.
"She—well, she could see it was right importan' ter me," Hagrid said slowly, "Bu'—bu' she got a bit tired of him after a while, I must admit...So we split up on the journey home...She promised not ter tell anyone though."
"How on earth did you get him back without anyone noticing?" Harry asked, dumbfounded.
"Well, tha's why it took so long, see," Hagrid said, "Could on'y travel by nigh' an' through wild ountry an' stuff. 'Course, he covers the gorund pretty well when he wants ter, but he kep' wantin' ter go back..."
"And you should have let him, Hagrid!" Elizabeth squeaked.
"Exactly!" Hermione added, plopping down on an upturned tree, "What do you think you're going to do with a violent giant who doesn't even want to be here?"
"Well, now—violent—that was a bit harsh," Hagrid muttered, "I'll admit he mighta taken a couple o' swings at me when he's bin in a bad mood, but he's gettin' better, loads better, settlin' down well..."
"What are those ropes for, then?" Harry asked, pointing to where Grawp was tied to several large trees.
"It's like I say—he doesn' really know his strength—"
"So what is it you want us to do?" Hermione asked slowly. Elizabeth had a feeling she wasn't going to like this.
"Look after him. After I'm gone."
Elizabeth sunk down onto an overturned tree herself, feeling faint. Everything faded out around her as she rested her hands over her face. Hagrid wanted them to babysit a giant. He had wanted them to do some insane things over the years. Help raise a dragon. Head into the Forbidden Forest to talk with giant spiders that wanted to eat them. Everything Elizabeth had heard from Care of Magical Creatures class—most noticeably the blast-ended skrewts. And now this? Elizabeth had no idea what had gotten into him.
A loud roar jerked Elizabeth from her daze and she looked up in horror to realize while she was zoned out, Hagrid had woken up Grawp. Elizabeth's eyes widened, watching as Grawp sat up on his knees and looked around.
"All righ', Grawpy?" Hagrid called, as if talking to a small child, "Had a nice sleep, eh?"
Elizabeth hurried to her feet, stumbling over towards Harry and Hermione, gripping Harry's arm. Both her friends looked as frightened as she felt. Elizabeth thought she would live her entire life without ever seeing a giant in person, yet now here she was, staring up at one. And Hagrid wanted her to take care of him. Hagrid wanted them to take care of someone who could literally squash them underfoot.
"Anyway, Grawpy," Hagrid called up towards his half-brother, "I've brought some friends ter meet yeh. Remember, I told yeh I might? Remember, when I said I might have ter go on a little trip an' leave them to look after yeh for a bit? Remember that, Grawpy?"
Grawp's response was to grab a nearby tree and pull it back, nearly uprooting it. Elizabeth moved behind Harry, still gripping his arm tightly.
"Hagrid's lost it," she said weakly, as Hagrid poked Grawp hard with a large stick that looked more like a full tree branch.
Grawp turned towards them. Elizabeth tensed, staring out over Harry's shoulder.
"This is Harry, Grawp!" Hagrid called, pointing towards Harry and the others, "Harry Potter! He migh' be comin' ter visit yeh if I have ter go away, understand?"
Grawp was lowering his head, now on his hands and knees so he could stare at them. Elizabeth had to fight hard not to duck her head behind Harry's back.
"That's Elizabeth with him!" Hagrid called, frowning then looking to them, "Mind if he calls you Ellie? Be easier for him."
"G-go ahead," Elizabeth squeaked.
"An' this is Hermione, see? Her—" Hagrid cut off again. "And would you mind if he called yeh Hermy, Hermione?"
"No, not at all," Hermione managed weakly, not taking her eyes off the giant.
"And this is Hermy!" Hagrid said, turning back towards Grawp, "They'll be comin an' all! Is'n tha' nice? Eh? Three friends fer yeh ter—GRAWPY, NO!"
Elizabeth screamed, stumbling backwards at the same time as Harry grabbed Hermione by the back of her robes and pulled her behind a tree just as Grawp tried to grab her.
"BAD BOY, GRAWPY!" Hagrid yelled from the other side of the tree, "VERY BAD BOY! YEH DON' GRAB—"
Hagrid let out a yell and there was the sound of something heavy hitting the ground. Slowly, Harry, Hermione, and Elizabeth poked their heads around the edge of the tree to see Hagrid getting to his feet, his hand over a bloody nose as Grawp was now back to his attempt in uprooting a tree.
"Righ'," Hagrid said, coming back over to the others, "Well...there yeh are...Yeh've met him an'—an' now he'll know yeh when yeh come back."
Elizabeth found herself thinking that it would be very unlikely she would come back. She wanted to help Hagrid, but she wasn't insane.
"Well, I reckon tha's enough fer one day," Hagrid said, "We'll—er—we'll go back now, shall we?"
Hagrid was pinching his nose to stop the bleeding as he started off. Elizabeth, very eager to get away, followed behind, though she kept close to Harry still. She was still trembling slightly, something Harry seemed to notice because he kept looking at her from the corner of his eye. Elizabeth tried to give him a small smile.
"Hold it," Hagrid said suddenly, holding out an arm just as Harry, Elizabeth, and Hermione had worked themselves free of a particularly stubborn bush. Elizabeth tensed as Hagrid loaded a bolt into his crossbow. She'd never seen him use his weapon before, and she really hoped she'd never have to. Slowly, she raised her own wand, hand trembling slightly.
"I thought we told you, Hagrid, that you are no longer welcome here?"
"Oh blimey," Hagrid muttered.
Elizabeth gripped her wand tighter as a creature appeared. He seemed like a horse, but instead of a neck was a human torso, arms, and head. A centaur.
"How are yeh, Magorian?" Hagrid asked.
More centaurs were coming, some of them armed with bows and arrows. Elizabeth moved closer to Harry again. A black-bodied one moved towards the first and spoke.
"We agreed, I think, what we would do if this human showed his face in the forest again?"
"'This human' now, am I?" Hagrid asked sharply, "Jus' fer stoppin' all of yeh commitin' murder?"
"You out not to have meddled, Hagrid," Magorian said, "Our ways are not yours, nor are our laws. Firenze has betrayed and dishonored us."
"I dunno how yeh worked that out. He's done nothin' except help Albus Dumbledore—"
"Firenze has entered into servitude to humans."
"Servitude! He's doin' Dumbledore a favor is all—"
"This isn't good," Elizabeth muttered, squeezing Harry's arm.
"He's peddling our knowledge and secrets among humans," Magorian said coldly, "There can be no return from such disgrace."
"If yeh say so," Hagrid shot back, "But personally I think yeh're makin' a big mistake—"
"As are you, human, coming back into our forest when we warned you—"
"Now, you listen to me," Hagrid cut in, taking a step forward, "I'll have less of the 'our' forest, if it's all the same ter you. It's not up ter you who comes an' goes in here—"
"No more is it up to you, Hagrid," Magorian shot back, "I shall let you pass today because you are accompanied by your young—"
"They're not his!" the dark centaur said loudly, "Students, Magorian, from up at the school! They have probably already profited from the traitor Firenze's teachings..."
Elizabeth had to bite her tongue to keep from saying that she happened to like Firenze, even though she didn't think much of his form of Divination.
"Nevertheless, the slaughter of foals is a terrible crime," Magorian went on, "We do not touch the innocent. Today, Hagrid, you pass. Henceforth, stay away from this place. You forfeited the friendship of centaurs when you helped the traitor Firenze escape us."
"I won' be kept outta the fores' but a bunch of mules like you!" Hagrid shouted. Elizabeth winced.
"Hagrid," Hermione said, stepping forward, her voice high, "Let's go, please, let's go!"
Hagrid was glaring at the centaurs, his crossbow still raised, but he started off. Elizabeth, Hermione, and Harry quickly followed behind as the centaurs shouted warnings about their patience with Grawp.
"Hagrid, if the centaurs don't want humans in the forest," Hermione said once they were back on a clear path, "It doesn't really look as though we'll be able–"
"Ah, you heard what they said," Hagrid waved Hermione off, "They wouldn't hurt foals—I mean, kids. Anyway, we can' let ourselves be pushed around by that lot..."
"I doubt they'll be forgiving when we go in there alone," Elizabeth muttered. Hermione's face was white.
It seemed that they made it out of the forest just in time for the end of the match. Elizabeth could hear cheering and the sound of students making their way across the grounds.
"I reckon it's over, yeh know," Hagrid said, "Look—there's people comin' out already—if you three hurry, yeh'll be able ter blend in with the crowd an' no one'll know you weren't there!"
"Good idea," Harry said, "Well...see you later, then, Hagrid."
They hurried off towards the crowd coming closer towards the castle. Elizabeth was still shaking.
"I can't believe this," she said slowly, "He's done some crazy things, but this? Keeping a giant in the forest?"
"And expecting us to give him English lessons!" Hermione said hotly, "Always assuming, of course, we can get past the herd of murderous centaurs on the way in and out!"
"We haven't got to do anything yet!" Harry said, "He's not asking us to do anything unless he gets chucked out and that might not even happen—"
Though Elizabeth had a very sure feeling that it would. Elizabeth tensed and glanced towards the crowd moving closer. They could hear a round of Weasley is Our King coming towards them. Elizabeth sighed. Seems like Ravenclaw won.
"And I wish they'd stop singing that stupid song!" Hermione said, "Haven't they gloated enough? Oh, let's get up to the castle before we have to meet the Slytherins."
Elizabeth stopped, however. Something wasn't right. The lyrics sounded off from normal...
Weasley is our King,
Weasley is our King
He didn't let the Quaffle in,
Weasley is our King!
"No!" Hermione's eyes widened.
"YES!" Harry laughed, grinning brighter than Elizabeth had seen him do in a while.
"HARRY! HERMIONE! WE DID IT! WE WON!"
Ron was grinning brightly from on top of the shoulders of several Gryffindors, waving the Silver Quidditch Cup in the air, the setting sun reflecting off its surface. Elizabeth laughed, watching a Ron was carried into the castle by the singing crowd. Well, at least one thing good game of today.
"We'll save our news till tomorrow, shall we?" Harry asked.
"Yes, all right," Hermione said slowly, "I'm not in any hurry..."
"Congratulations," Elizabeth said, hugging Harry as they went on in, "Tell Ron I said it, I should get to the Hufflepuff table."
With a last grin to her friends, Elizabeth turned and headed off towards her own House table, grateful to be out of the dark forest. Despite promises, she doubted she or her friends would ever set foot that far into the forest again.