I own nothing. J.K.R Owns everything :(
Chapter 33: Fourth Year (Part 21)
17, August. 1998. 5.00pm...
"We're skipping to Christmas morning." Harry smiled.
Harry awoke very suddenly on Christmas Day.
Wondering what had caused his abrupt return to consciousness, he opened his eyes, and saw something with very large, round, green eyes staring back at him in the darkness, so close they were almost nose to nose.
"Dobby!" Harry yelled, scrambling away from the elf so fast he almost fell out of bed. "Don't do that!"
"Dobby is sorry, sir!" squeaked Dobby anxiously, jumping backward with his long fingers over his mouth. "Dobby is only wanting to wish Harry Potter 'Merry Christmas' and bring him a present,"
"That's nice of him." Lily said.
"Harry was Dobby's favourite person." Hermione giggled. Harry blushed but smiled fondly at the memory.
"Sir! Harry Potter did say Dobby could come and see him sometimes, sir!"
"It's okay," said Harry, still breathing rather faster than usual, while his heart rate returned to normal. "Just - just prod me or something in future, all right, don't bend over me like that..."
Harry pulled back the curtains around his four-poster, took his glasses from his bedside table, and put them on. His yell had awoken Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville. All of them were peering through the gaps in their own hangings, heavyeyed and tousle-haired.
"Someone attacking you, Harry?" Seamus asked sleepily.
"No, it's just Dobby," Harry muttered. "Go back to sleep."
"Nah... presents!" said Seamus, spotting the large pile at the foot of his bed. Ron, Dean, and Neville decided that now they were awake they might as well get down to some present-opening too. Harry turned back to Dobby, who was now standing nervously next to Harry's bed, still looking worried that he had upset Harry. There was a Christmas bauble tied to the loop on top of his tea cozy.
"Can Dobby give Harry Potter his present?" he squeaked tentatively.
"'Course you can," said Harry. "Er... I've got something for you too."
It was a lie; he hadn't bought anything for Dobby at all, but he quickly opened his trunk and pulled out a particularly knobbly rolled-up pair of socks. They were his oldest and foulest, mustard yellow, and had once belonged to Uncle Vernon.
"Yuck." Lily said.
"Dobby'll like them anyway." Remus reasoned.
The reason they were extra-knobbly was that Harry had been using them to cushion his Sneakoscope for over a year now. He pulled out the Sneako-scope and handed the socks to Dobby, saying, "Sorry, I forgot to wrap them..."
But Dobby was utterly delighted.
"Socks are Dobby's favorite, favorite clothes, sir!" he said, ripping off his odd ones and pulling on Uncle Vernon's. "I has seven now, sir... But sir..." he said, his eyes widening, having pulled both socks up to their highest extent, so that they reached to the bottom of his shorts, "they has made a mistake in the shop, Harry Potter, they is giving you two the same!"
They all laughed.
"Ah, no, Harry, how come you didn't spot that?" said Ron, grinning over from his own bed, which was now strewn with wrapping paper. "Tell you what, Dobby - here you go - take these two, and you can mix them up properly. And here's your sweater."
He threw Dobby a pair of violet socks he had just unwrapped, and the handknitted sweater Mrs. Weasley had sent, Dobby looked quite overwhelmed.
"Sir is very kind!" he squeaked, his eyes brimming with tears again, bowing deeply to Ron. "Dobby knew sir must be a great wizard, for he is Harry Potter's greatest friend, but Dobby did not know that he was also as generous of spirit, as noble, as selfless -"
"Ron's gonna love that." Sirius said, laughing as Ron blushed a little.
"They're only socks," said Ron, who had gone slightly pink around the ears, though he looked rather pleased all the same. "Wow, Harry -" He had just opened Harry's present, a Chudley Cannon hat. "Cool!" He jammed it onto his head, where it clashed horribly with his hair.
Dobby now handed Harry a small package, which turned out to be - socks.
"Dobby is making them himself, sir!" the elf said happily. "He is buying the wool out of his wages, sir!"
The left sock was bright red and had a pattern of broomsticks upon it; the right sock was green with a pattern of Snitches.
James laughed, "Cool, Quidditch socks."
"I've got those ones on actually." Harry admitted lifting the hem of his trousers up to show them all thet he did have them on.
"They're... they're really... well, thanks, Dobby," said Harry, and he pulled them on, causing Dobby's eyes to leak with happiness again.
"Dobby must go now, sir, we is already making Christmas dinner in the kitchens!" said Dobby, and he hurried out of the dormitory, waving good-bye to Ron and the others as he passed.
Harry's other presents were much more satisfactory than Dobby's odd socks - with the obvious exception of the Dursleys', which consisted of a single tissue,
"They might as well not have sent him anything." Sirius growled.
"It was Vernon not me." Petunia sighed, "I was going to send money but Vernon stopped me." she explained frowning.
an all time low - Harry supposed they too were remembering the Ton-Tongue Toffee.
Hermione had given Harry a book called Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland; Ron, a bulging bag of Dungbombs; Sirius, a handy penknife with attachments to unlock any lock and undo any knot;
"Where did you get that?" Remus frowned.
"Got it in America on my way back to Britain." Sirius shrugged.
and Hagrid, a vast box of sweets including all Harry's favorites: Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans,
"Bertie Bott's are you favorites?" Sirius asked in a disbelieving voice.
"I like the risk of getting a horrible one." Harry said shrugging. "And they're interesting."
"And dont be so shocked Paddy, they're Lily's favourites too. Remember Harry used to pinch one or two when she had a box?" James grinned.
"I did?" Harry asked curiously.
"You did. You always got lucky." Lily smiled, "You did get a soap one once though."
James laughed, "Your face was priceless when you finally tasted it."
Harry wrinkled his nose, "No wonder, I doubt anyone likes the taste of soap."
Chocolate Frogs, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, and Fizzing Whizbees. There was also, of course, Mrs. Weasley's usual package, including a new sweater (green, with a picture of a dragon on it - Harry supposed Charlie had told her all about the Horntail), and a large quantity of homemade mince pies.
"You were right, Charlie did tell me all about the dragon." Molly smiled. "I thought it appropriate to put a dragon on your sweater." she chuckled.
"It is one of my favourite sweaters." Harry grinned. "Anyway we're skipping a little. This is the start of the Yule Ball, I was going with Parvati Patil and Ron with her twin Padma." he explained.
The common room looked strange, full of people wearing different colors instead of the usual mass of black. Parvati was waiting for Harry at the foot of the stairs. She looked very pretty indeed, in robes of shocking pink, with her long dark plait braided with gold, and gold bracelets glimmering at her wrists. Harry was relieved to see that she wasn't giggling.
"You - er - look nice," he said awkwardly.
"Thanks," she said. "Padma's going to meet you in the entrance hall," she added to Ron.
"Right," said Ron, looking around. "Where's Hermione?"
"Avoiding Lavender." Hermione muttered, "She kept asking annoying questions in an attempt to find out who I was going with, eventually I escaped and went to Ginny's dorm." she grinned.
Ginny nodded, "We decided since she couldn't get peace in her own dorm, she could come join me in mines. My dorm mates didnt mind." she shrugged, "Practically ignored us, normal occurrence for me." she mused.
They all frowned, "What do you mean dear?" Molly inquired.
"Oh they usually ignored me. We'd chat occasionally but not often." she shrugged again, "We just didn't really get on, not since my 1st year." she grimaced, "They're similar to Lavender and Parvati, gossipers, but there's three of them, there was no way in hell I could be friends with them."
"I know what you mean." Hermione smiled sympathetically, "Annoying, isn't it?"
"Very." she agreed, "But handy for finding out the latest rumours." she smirked.
"I'll agree that's a benefit of having gossipers in your dorm." the other grinned.
Parvati shrugged. "Shall we go down then, Harry?"
"Okay," said Harry, wishing he could just stay in the common room. Fred winked at Harry as he passed him on the way out of the portrait hole.
The entrance hall was packed with students too, all milling around waiting for eight o'clock, when the doors to the Great Hall would be thrown open. Those people who were meeting partners from different Houses were edging through the crowd trying to find one another. Parvati found her sister, Padma, and led her over to Harry and Ron.
"Hi," said Padma, who was looking just as pretty as Parvati in robes of bright turquoise. She didn't look too enthusiastic about having Ron as a partner, though; her dark eyes lingered on the frayed neck and sleeves of his dress robes as she looked him up and down.
Ron frowned.
"Hi," said Ron, not looking at her, but staring around at the crowd. "Oh no..."
He bent his knees slightly to hide behind Harry, because Fleur Delacour was passing,
"Why did you do that?" Fleur asked curiously.
"You know why." Ron frowned a faint blush starting.
Fleur giggled, "Of course I do. You should tell the others."
"No way."
"What did he do?" Bill smirked.
"'E walked past me when I was using a little of my veela charm and asked me to the ball." Fleur chuckled, "Sorry Ron but it was funny." she added as Ron blushed bright red.
"Why were you using your veela charm?" Bill asked confused, "Surely you didn't need it to get a date to the ball."
"I didn't, I was talking to Cedric and he asked me to see if he was immune to it, which he was. He said he was just curious." she shrugged, smirking, "Don't worry Ron you're not the only one who asked me when I was testing Cedric." she admitted, "It's hard to find boy's who are immune to a veelas charm." she smiled. "And it takes a while to get used to it."
"I'm used to it now." Ron muttered still blushing as the other men snickered.
looking stunning in robes of silver-gray satin, and accompanied by the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, Roger Davies. When they had disappeared, Ron stood straight again and stared over the heads of the crowd.
"Where is Hermione?" he said again.
A group of Slytherins came up the steps from their dungeon common room. Malfoy was in front; he was wearing dress robes of black velvet with a high collar, which in Harry's opinion made him look like a vicar.
"Felt like one too. I didn't particularly like those robes, they were uncomfortable." Draco frowned.
"You said they were fine when you picked them out." Cissy rolled her eyes.
"Well I changed my mind." he shrugged.
Pansy Parkinson in very frilly robes of pale pink was clutching Malfoy's arm.
Astoria wrapped her arms around Draco and growled possessively.
"Dont worry Astoria. I'm yours now." he chuckled.
"I dont like her." Astoria growled.
"I dont like her either." he retorted. "I was, literally, brainwashed, as you know." he sighed.
Crabbe and Goyle were both wearing green; they resembled moss-colored boulders, and neither of them, Harry was pleased to see, had managed to find a partner.
The oak front doors opened, and everyone turned to look as the Durmstrang students entered with Professor Karkaroff. Krum was at the front of the party, accompanied by a pretty girl in blue robes Harry didn't know.
Hermione gave Harry a puzzled look, and he smiled sheepishly.
I didnt know it was you did I? he sent to her through the pack bond, he was careful to make sure only she could hear him.
Maybe not but I thought you'd at least recognise me, his sister in all but blood replied. Harry shrugged.
Over their heads he saw that an area of lawn right in front of the castle had been transformed into a sort of grotto full of fairy lights - meaning hundreds of actual living fairies were sitting in the rosebushes that had been conjured there, and fluttering over the statues of what seemed to be Father Christmas and his reindeer.
Then Professor McGonagall's voice called, "Champions over here, please!"
Parvati re-adjusted her bangles, beaming; she and Harry said, "See you in a minute" to Ron and Padma and walked forward, the chattering crowd parting to let them through. Professor McGonagall, who was wearing dress robes of red tartan and had arranged a rather ugly wreath of thistles around the brim of her hat,
Minerva frowned, "I thought it looked nice." she admitted.
told them to wait on one side of the doors while everyone else went inside; they were to enter the Great Hall in procession when the rest of the students had sat down.
Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies stationed themselves nearest the doors; Davies looked so stunned by his good fortune in having Fleur for a partner that he could hardly take his eyes off her. Cedric and Cho were close to Harry too; he looked away from them so he wouldn't have to talk to them. His eyes fell instead on the girl next to Krum. His jaw dropped.
It was Hermione.
Ron scowled as the others (except those who had seen her of course) looked a little shocked.
But she didn't look like Hermione at all. She had done something with her hair; it was no longer bushy but sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She was wearing robes made of a floaty, periwinkle-blue material, and she was holding herself differently, somehow - or maybe it was merely the absence of the twenty or so books she usually had slung over her back.
She was also smiling-rather nervously, it was true - but the reduction in the size of her front teeth was more noticeable than ever; Harry couldn't understand how he hadn't spotted it before.
"Hi, Harry!" she said. "Hi, Parvati!"
Parvati was gazing at Hermione in unflattering disbelief. She wasn't the only one either; when the doors to the Great Hall opened, Krum's fan club from the library stalked past, throwing Hermione looks of deepest loathing. Pansy Parkinson gaped at her as she walked by with Malfoy, and even he didn't seem to be able to find an insult to throw at her.
Hermione grinned.
Ron, however, walked right past Hermione without looking at her.
"Jealous much?" Ginny teased.
Ron chose to ignore her and just put an arm around Hermione who rested her head on his shoulder.
Once everyone else was settled in the Hall, Professor McGonagall told the champions and their partners to get in line in pairs and to follow her. They did so, and everyone in the Great Hall applauded as they entered and started walking up toward a large round table at the top of the Hall, where the judges were sitting. The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people.
Harry concentrated on not tripping over his feet. Parvati seemed to be enjoying herself; she was beaming around at everybody, steering Harry so forcefully that he felt as though he were a show dog she was putting through its paces.
He caught sight of Ron and Padma as he neared the top table. Ron was watching Hermione pass with narrowed eyes. Padma was looking sulky.
Dumbledore smiled happily as the champions approached the top table, but Karkaroff wore an expression remarkably like Ron's as he watched Krum and Hermione draw nearer. Ludo Bagman, tonight in robes of bright purple with large yellow stars, was clapping as enthusiastically as any of the students; and Madame Maxime, who had changed her usual uniform of black satin for a flowing gown of lavender silk, was applauding them politely. But Mr. Crouch, Harry suddenly realized, was not there. The fifth seat at the table was occupied by Percy Weasley.
"Where was Crouch?" Remus frowned.
"Who cares?" Sirius growled.
"I asked Percy so it's explained." Harry told Remus, making him nod.
When the champions and their partners reached the table, Percy drew out the empty chair beside him, staring pointedly at Harry. Harry took the hint and sat down next to Percy, who was wearing brand-new, navy-blue dress robes and an expression of such smugness that Harry thought it ought to be fined.
"I've been promoted," Percy said before Harry could even ask, and from his tone, he might have been announcing his election as supreme ruler of the universe. "I'm now Mr. Crouch's personal assistant, and I'm here representing him."
"Why didn't he come?" Harry asked. He wasn't looking forward to being lectured on cauldron bottoms all through dinner.
"I'm afraid to say Mr. Crouch isn't well, not well at all. Hasn't been right since the World Cup. Hardly surprising - overworked."
Remus raised an eyebrow, "And what is it exactly that you were doing?"
"Paperwork." Percy groaned, "Lot's and lot's of paperwork."
"Sounds fun." Regulus muttered sarcastically.
"I still have no idea how I get less paperwork now." Percy shrugged, "I honestly thought it'd be more."
"You do have Gibbon helping you now though." Dora pointed out.
"He cant write yet, he can only read. Kingsley's getting someone to teach him to write." Percy told her, "He mostly reads through the stuff and tells me what it is and how urgent it is, he does the same with Kingsley."
Kingsley nodded, "I've got Amos teaching him how to write, it's quiet in his department right now so he has the time. Gibbon will go down for an hour each evening for his lessons except weekends when he gets time off to do whatever he wants." he explained.
"He's not as young as he was - though still quite brilliant, of course, the mind remains as great as it ever was. But the World Cup was a fiasco for the whole Ministry, and then, Mr. Crouch suffered a huge personal shock with the misbehavior of that house-elf of his, Blinky,"
"Winky." Hermione corrected.
"or whatever she was called. Naturally, he dismissed her immediately afterward, but - well, as I say, he's getting on, he needs looking after, and I think he's found a definite drop in his home comforts since she left. And then we had the tournament to arrange, and the aftermath of the Cup to deal with - that revolting Skeeter woman buzzing around"
"I have to agree with Percy there, Skeeter is revolting." Sirius said.
"- no, poor man, he's having a well earned, quiet Christmas. I'm just glad he knew he had someone he could rely upon to take his place."
Harry wanted very much to ask whether Mr. Crouch had stopped calling Percy "Weatherby" yet,
Percy pouted as the others laughed.
"Had he?" Bill asked.
"No." he replied sulkily.
but resisted the temptation.
There was no food as yet on the glittering golden plates, but small menus were lying in front of each of them. Harry picked his up uncertainly and looked around - there were no waiters. Dumbledore, however, looked carefully down at his own menu, then said very clearly to his plate, "Pork chops!"
And pork chops appeared.
Getting the idea, the rest of the table placed their orders with their plates too. Harry glanced up at Hermione to see how she felt about this new and more complicated method of dining - surely it meant plenty of extra work for the house-elves? - but for once, Hermione didn't seem to be thinking about S.P.E.W. She was deep in talk with Viktor Krum and hardly seemed to notice what she was eating.
It now occurred to Harry that he had never actually heard Krum speak before, but he was certainly talking now, and very enthusiastically at that.
"That was the first time you had heard him speak?" Kingsley asked.
"Yes, he hadn't spoke in front of me before." Harry shrugged. "Oh and he has a very heavy accent."
"His was almost as bad as mine." Fleur agreed, "He still got more of his words right than I did though."
"Yours is probably better than his now." Bill told her smiling, "The first time he was over here since then was last year wasnt it?"
"I think so." she shrugged.
"Veil, ve have a castle also, not as big as this, nor as comfortable, I am thinking," he was telling Hermione. "Ve have just four floors, and the fires are lit only for magical purposes. But ve have grounds larger even than these - though in vinter, ve have very little daylight, so ve are not enjoying them. But in summer ve are flying every day, over the lakes and the mountains -"
"Now, now, Viktor!" said Karkaroff with a laugh that didn't reach his cold eyes, "don't go giving away anything else, now, or your charming friend will know exactly where to find us!"
Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Igor, all this secrecy... one would almost think you didn't want visitors."
"That's because he probably doesn't." Minerva said.
"Well, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, displaying his yellowing teeth to their fullest extent, "we are all protective of our private domains, are we not? Do we not jealously guard the halls of learning that have been entrusted to us? Are we not right to be proud that we alone know our school's secrets, and right to protect them?"
"Oh I would never dream of assuming I know all Hogwarts' secrets, Igor," said Dumbledore amicably. "Only this morning, for instance, I took a wrong turn on the way to the bathroom and found myself in a beautifully proportioned room I have never seen before, containing a really rather magnificent collection of chamber pots. When I went back to investigate more closely, I discovered that the room had vanished."
"The Room of Requirement, you think?" Neville asked.
"The what?" James frowned.
"Harry found a hidden room that changes into anything you need." Remus supplied.
"Actually Dobby told me where it was." Harry shrugged. "It's where I taught the DA." he added.
"It's also referred to the Come-and-Go room." Hermione supplied.
"Never heard of it." James shrugged.
"It wasn't one we ever found." Sirius agreed.
"You learn a lot by asking the House-Elves things." Harry smiled.
"But I must keep an eye out for it. Possibly it is only accessible at five-thirty in the morning. Or it may only appear at the quarter moon - or when the seeker has an exceptionally full bladder."
Harry snorted into his plate of goulash. Percy frowned, but Harry could have sworn Dumbledore had given him a very small wink.
Meanwhile Fleur Delacour was criticizing the Hogwarts decorations to Roger Davies.
"Zis is nothing," she said dismissively, looking around at the sparkling walls of the Great Hall. "At ze Palace of Beauxbatons, we 'ave ice sculptures all around ze dining chamber at Chreestmas. Zey do not melt, of course... zey are like 'uge statues of diamond, glittering around ze place. And ze food is seemply superb. And we 'ave choirs of wood nymphs, 'oo serenade us as we eat. We 'ave none of zis ugly armor in ze 'alls,"
"We could do without the suits of armor." James said reasonably.
Lily laughed, "You just don't like them because they got you in trouble all the time."
"So?"
"He's right." Minerva told them, "But they can't be moved due to the magic of the castle. It's only if they're collapsing and falling apart that they're removed. They're also a handy defense mechanism."
"How?" Alice frowned.
"There's a spell that brings them all to life, statues too, it helped quite a bit in the Final Battle when the Death Eater's couldn't get passed them." Remus explained, "I was saved by a statue early on in the battle when Greyback tried to attack me."
"and eef a poltergeist ever entaired into Beauxbatons, 'e would be expelled like zat."
"Could you expel Peeves?" Frank asked.
"I wouldn't think so, he isn't a student." Remus said.
"The ghosts can't leave either, can they?" Alice questioned.
"They cant." Minerva smiled. "Makes things easier for the teachers anyway. Ghost's help patrol the corridors so if there's trouble they can tell a teacher. Peeves is a massive pain but it wouldn't be Hogwarts without him and we cant get rid of him anyway, like the ghosts he cant leave." she shrugged.
She slapped her hand onto the table impatiently.
Roger Davies was watching her talk with a very dazed look on his face, and he kept missing his mouth with his fork. Harry had the impression that Davies was too busy staring at Fleur to take in a word she was saying.
"Absolutely right," he said quickly, slapping his own hand down on the table in imitation of Fleur. "Like that. Yeah."
"'Zat was amusing. I knew he wasn't listening." Fleur giggled, "I was following Madame Maxime's advice and acting as though I hated Hogwarts, so I complained a lot." she shrugged, "It's actually quite nice there." she smiled.
"Why did Madame Maxime advise you to do that?" Luna asked confused.
Fleur shrugged, "No idea. I think it was just so eet seemed her school was better. Victor complained a little too, I don't know if he had orders or not."
Harry looked around the Hall. Hagrid was sitting at one of the other staff tables; he was back in his horrible hairy brown suit and gazing up at the top table. Harry saw him give a small wave, and looking around, saw Madame Maxime return it, her opals glittering in the candlelight.
Hermione was now teaching Krum to say her name properly; he kept calling her "Hermy-own."
"Her-my-oh-nee," she said slowly and clearly.
"Herm-own-ninny."
"Close enough," she said, catching Harry's eye and grinning.
When all the food had been consumed, Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same. Then, with a wave of his wand, all the tables zoomed back along the walls leaving the floor clear, and then he conjured a raised platform into existence along the right wall. A set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and some bagpipes were set upon it.
"We're skipping to later that night." Harry told them. "Ron and I decided to escape and that's where we're starting."
Pretending they wanted more drinks Harry and Ron left the table, edged around the dance floor, and slipped out into the entrance hall. The front doors stood open, and the fluttering fairy lights in the rose garden winked and twinkled as they went down the front steps, where they found themselves surrounded by bushes; winding, ornamental paths; and large stone statues. Harry could hear splashing water, which sounded like a fountain. Here and there, people were sitting on carved benches. He and Ron set off along one of the winding paths through the rosebushes, but they had gone only a short way when they heard an unpleasantly familiar voice.
"... don't see what there is to fuss about, Igor."
"Severus, you cannot pretend this isn't happening!" Karkaroffs voice sounded anxious and hushed, as though keen not to be overheard. "It's been getting clearer and clearer for months. I am becoming seriously concerned, I can't deny it -"
"Then flee,"
"What are the talking about?" James said curiously.
"Karkaroff was a Death Eater, maybe it's about the Dark Mark?" Remus suggested.
Everyone looked at Harry.
"Remus is right. It was coming back on everybody who had one." Cissy said before Harry could answer. "Almost half the 'Pureblood Society' were talking about it and what it must mean." she explained.
said Snapes voice curtly. "Flee - I will make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at Hogwarts."
Snape and Karkaroff came around the corner. Snape had his wand out and was blasting rosebushes apart, his expression most ill-natured. Squeals issued from many of the bushes, and dark shapes emerged from them.
"Ten points from Ravenclaw, Fawcett!" Snape snarled as a girl ran past him. "And ten points from Hufflepuff too, Stebbins!" as a boy went rushing after her. "And what are you two doing?" he added, catching sight of Harry and Ron on the path ahead.
"Certainly not what Fawcett and Stebbins were doing." James said with a smirk.
Karkaroff, Harry saw, looked slightly discomposed to see them standing there. His hand went nervously to his goatee, and he began winding it around his finger.
"We're walking," Ron told Snape shortly. "Not against the law, is it?"
"Keep walking, then!" Snape snarled, and he brushed past them, his long black cloak billowing out behind him. Karkaroff hurried away after Snape. Harry and Ron continued down the path.
"You know I think that's the first time he never took points off us for something like that." Ron grinned.
"It's a first." Harry smirked.
"What's got Karkaroff all worried?" Ron muttered.
"And since when have he and Snape been on first name terms?"said Harry slowly.
They had reached a large stone reindeer now, over which they could see the sparkling jets of a tall fountain. The shadowy outlines of two enormous people were visible on a stone bench, watching the water in the moonlight. And then Harry heard Hagrid speak.
"Momen' I saw yeh, I knew," he was saying, in an oddly husky voice.
Harry and Ron froze. This didn't sound like the sort of scene they ought to walk in on, somehow... Harry looked around, back up the path, and saw Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies standing half-concealed in a rosebush nearby. He tapped Ron on the shoulder and jerked his head toward them, meaning that they could easily sneak off that way without being noticed (Fleur and Davies looked very busy to Harry), but Ron, eyes widening in horror at the sight of Fleur, shook his head vigorously, and pulled Harry deeper into the shadows behind the reindeer.
"What did you know, 'Agrid?" said Madame Maxime, a purr in her low voice.
Harry definitely didn't want to listen to this; he knew Hagrid would hate to be overheard in a situation like this (he certainly would have) - if it had been possible he would have put his fingers in his ears and hummed loudly, but that wasn't really an option. Instead he tried to interest himself in a beetle crawling along the stone reindeer's back, but the beetle just wasn't interesting enough to block out Hagrid's next words.
"I jus' knew... knew you were like me... Was it yer mother or yer father?"
"What's he talking about?" Alice asked.
"I - I don't know what you mean, 'Agrid..."
"It was my mother," said Hagrid quietly. "She was one o' the las' ones in Britain. 'Course, I can' remember her too well... she left, see. When I was abou' three. She wasn' really the maternal sort. Well... it's not in their natures, is it? Dunno what happened to her... might be dead fer all I know..."
Madame Maxime didn't say anything. And Harry, in spite of himself, took his eyes off the beetle and looked over the top of the reindeer's antlers, listening... He had never heard Hagrid talk about his childhood before.
"Me dad was broken-hearted when she wen'. Tiny little bloke, my dad was. By the time I was six I could lift him up an' put him on top o' the dresser if he annoyed me. Used ter make him laugh..." Hagrid's deep voice broke. Madame Maxime was listening, motionless, apparently staring at the silvery fountain. "Dad raised me... but he died, o' course, jus' after I started school. Sorta had ter make me own way after that. Dumbledore was a real help, mind. Very kind ter me, he was..."
Hagrid pulled out a large spotted silk handkerchief and blew his nose heavily.
"So... anyway... enough abou' me. What about you? Which side you got it on?"
But Madame Maxime had suddenly got to her feet.
"It is chilly," she said - but whatever the weather was doing, it was nowhere near as cold as her voice. "I think I will go in now."
"Eh?" said Hagrid blankly. "No, don go! I've - I've never met another one before!"
"Anuzzer what, precisely?" said Madame Maxime, her tone icy.
"Oh no." Minerva muttered, "I know what this is."
"What?" half the room asked.
Harry could have told Hagrid it was best not to answer; he stood there in the shadows gritting his teeth, hoping against hope he wouldn't - but it was no good.
"Another half-giant, o' course!" said Hagrid.
"Oh. So that's why Hagrid's so big?" Alice asked.
Harry nodded and looked around the room, "A lot of you don't seem shocked at all." he commented.
"You told us about Grawp." James reminded him looking amused, "Then you told us about Hagrid."
"Oh yeah... I forgot." Harry admitted sheepishly.
"'Ow dare you!" shrieked Madame Maxime. Her voice exploded through the peaceful night air like a foghorn; behind him. Harry heard Fleur and Roger fall out of their rosebush. "I 'ave nevair been more insulted in my life! 'Alf-giant? Moi? I 'ave - I 'ave big bones!"
"No she doesnt. She just didnt like to admit she was 'alf-giant too." Fleur chuckled.
She stormed away; great multicolored swarms of fairies rose into the air as she passed, angrily pushing aside bushes. Hagrid was still sitting on the bench, staring after her. It was much too dark to make out his expression. Then, after about a minute, he stood up and strode away, not back to the castle, but off out into the dark grounds in the direction of his cabin.
"C'mon," Harry said, very quietly to Ron. "Let's go..."
But Ron didn't move.
"What's up?" said Harry, looking at him.
Ron looked around at Harry, his expression very serious indeed.
"Did you know?" he whispered. "About Hagrid being half-giant?"
"No," Harry said, shrugging. "So what?"
"Let me guess, something else you didn't know about?" Dudley asked.
"Exactly. Ron explained it to me but that's the end of that memory because I'm not showing anymore of that night." Harry said firmly. "Or anymore until after dinner." he added.
Everyone nodded and split into different conversations as most of the women went to make dinner.