Chapter Four
Buckbeak and Norbert
"There you are!" Rosie met Ivy and Hagrid at the Three Broomstick's front door. The look of worry on her face soon gave way to one of confusion, and then amazement as Rose put two-and-two together.
"No...." she said, backing into the pub to give the others room to enter. "Now don't even try to tell me that was you zoomin' over town a while ago. I won't believe it." Reaching out, she tried to straighten out some of Ivy's hair. Ivy gritted her teeth to keep from crying out.
"And you..." Rose dropped her hand and turned an accusing eye on Hagrid.
"Don't you go thinkin' you can have my help whenever you need her. She's workin' at the pub, not as assistant to the Care of Magical Creatures professor.
Ivy grinned and Rose couldn't help but notice.
"You've been drinkin' his mead too, haven't you?"
"No," Ivy insisted. She took a seat in the nearest chair, still a bit unsteady on her feet. "I haven't been drinking anything. Except the clouds. There's still time to get ready, and riding the hippogriff was..." She stole a happy glance at Hagrid.
"Amazing. You can count on my help anytime Hagrid, just so long as I can get back in time to serve tea."
"So you're trying to tell me that riding that beast was your idea, Ivy? Not his?"
"Well, I..." For a moment Ivy sounded like her old timid self, but Hagrid jumped in to save her.
"She needed a break after that ruckus wi' Snape this mornin', is all. I thought she could use a lift."
Ivy snickered at his pun. "Yeah. He's quite a piece of work. Where did he magic you off to, anyway?"
Rose left the group and strode back behind the bar. "I was helpin' out with a potion."
Reaching under the bar, she produced Hagrid's bucket-sized tankard.
"You want a drink?" she asked in an obvious ploy to change the subject.
Hagrid shook his shaggy head. "Gotta go get ready. Firs' class in the mornin'. May come and celebrate wi' dinner tomorra night though." He hooked his thumbs into the belt buckled around his middle.
"Thanks again fer yer help, Miss Ivy," he intoned, bowing formally in a gesture that belied his raised eyebrow and twitching moustache. He turned toward the door, but Ivy rose to stop him.
"Thank you, Hagrid. For everything."
Hagrid grunted and gave her a nod, then he was gone. And only Rose noticed Ivy sidestepping across the room to watch out the window as he lumbered down the street.
"Was it that bad, then?" Rose asked from her place behind the bar.
Ivy turned and gave her a quizzical look.
"Professor Snape?" Rose prompted. "Willa's still upset. I thought you would be too."
"He scared me outa my skin," Ivy admitted, grinning as she crossed the floor to stand at the bar.
"Hagrid saved me, though. And Willa. I wasn't sure if she'd help me, but she did. Magnificently."
"I talked to Willa," Rose said, heading toward the kitchen. "Tried to convince her she did the right thing. She said she understood that loyalty to you was the same as loyalty to me, but look..."
She beckoned Ivy into the kitchen where every dish and utensil Rosie owned was either floating neatly in mid-air or being polished madly by the house elf. Food bubbled on the stove, in the big black cauldron and on top of the fire in the fireplace. The floors and windows gleamed with a polished glow and Ivy could only guess how hard the elf had been working to regain the favor of her mistress.
Ivy started toward her, but Rosie's hand on her arm caused her to stop.
"I'd send Snape a Howler, but I can't complain, really. What with his clean up spell and Willa's obsessive cooking..."
"I'd like to send him a Howler," Ivy cut off her musings, while pulling Willa's already-polished items down out of their flotation pattern.
"What did he want anyway? Never mind, I remember. Aconite." Ivy made a distinctly Snape-ish face to accent her last word.
"He's helping a friend," was all that Rosie offered. "And I may as well tell you that I'm going to be helping him on it occasionally. And no one's to know. But since I am currently keeping your secrets, I think I can trust you with mine."
"I wouldn't tell," Ivy started, studying her friend. "What are you doing?"
"Can't get into that now," Rose said. "We have a customer. And the less you know, the better. Let's get to work, then. Things'll get quite interesting once the school year's started. Hogwarts weekends. Now they always prove to be interesting."
Ivy followed Rose, intrigued, wondering just what 'Hogwarts Weekends' might contain.
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Hagrid made good on his promise to visit the pub a few days later, but not for celebrating.
Ivy filled and refilled his massive tankard until she lost count of her trips across the room. He'd come in full of worry, but time and mead soon turned worry to dread, and dread to certainty that one of his hippogriffs was soon to be put to death by order of the Ministry of Magic.
Buckbeak, the gray, had slashed a boy's arm, and his parents were howling for the animal's execution.
"Not suited fer this job." Hagrid told his tankard, as Ivy set a bowl of stew in front of him. The pub was almost empty and Rose had waved her over to the bar with instructions to get the giant to stop drinking and eat some solid food.
"Why not?" Ivy asked in her not-quite-American accent.
"What if the creature'd took 'is head off? It'd be my head on the choppin' block then - right beside Buckbeak's."
"Nobody's head came off," Ivy reminded, taking a seat across the table. "And you said yourself that the boy didn't approach him properly. It wasn't Buckbeak's fault. Or yours. Now eat some stew. And give me that tankard. I'm dumping it outside."
Hagrid's hand tightened reflexively around the handle.
Ivy cocked her head and gave him a piercing look. "Alright, keep it. But stop thinking less of yourself for something that's out of your hands."
"Fact is, Ivy," Hagrid muttered, wagging his head defensively. "I brought the hippogriffs to Hogwarts. I let the students into the paddock. I was their teacher and one of 'em got hurt. I'm respons'ble. It ain't the firs' time I done summat stupid. Won' be the last by the look a things. Now go about yer bus'ness. It's none a yer concern."
Ivy sat back in her chair and gave him a look of amazement. She hadn't expected him to blow up on her, but now that he had, it only made her more determined to get her point through his thick skull.
"Was it stupid to ask me to ride Gingerfoot?" she asked. "Because I don't think so. That ride gave me courage, and you knew it would. So you pushed me to do something I thought I couldn't do. And I'm a better person for it. You're not stupid, Hagrid. And don't say that again where I can hear."
Hagrid only snorted into his mead.
"Maybe the Ministry will let Buckbeak go. If you tell them he won't be staying at Hogwarts anymore. I could ride him somewhere safe, wherever they decide. I wouldn't mind. And even if they won't listen, we could come up with a plan..."
"Hol' it right there," Hagrid stopped her. "I ain't draggin' you into any a my messes. I'll abide by what the Ministry decides. I said goodbye ta other critters, I can do it again." With that his head disappeared as he brought the tankard to his mouth. He hid behind it a very long time, then slammed it down on the table with a bang.
"I got rid a Norbert," he sniffed. "Sent him off ta be wi' his own kind. That was the hardest thing I ever had ta do. I can handle this. I'll be there fer Buckbeak, no matter what they decide."
"Who's Norbert?" Ivy asked, hoping a change of subject would lighten up the conversation.
"A dragon I had once. Raised 'im from an egg, I did. Couldn' keep 'im though. Was a bad idea from the start. A stupid idea, keepin' a dragon at a school. He's better of wi' 'is own kind anyway. That's the natural way a' things."
"What's the natural way of things?" Ivy pressed him.
"Everythin's better off wi' its own kind. It's Nature's way a doin' things, and it's the best way. I was stupid not ta see that. Tryin' ta keep a dragon." He snorted again, but Ivy was relieved to see him pick up a spoon and shovel a scoop of stew into his mouth. Hopefully food would clear his head enough to get him back home safely.
Hagrid closed his eyes tight, but tears still leaked from their corners as he silently chewed on his stew.
"Not necessarily," Ivy ventured quietly. Her hands bunched into fists only inches from Hagrid's, as she thought back on the loneliness she'd felt all her life because her father thought along the same lines as the giant. "If it's true, then why are you so sad?"
"I miss im' is all. A'ways wanted a dragon. Couldn't look past that ta see he wouldn' be happy wi' me. Needed more space. A place ta fly free. Not to mention it's against the law, keepin' dragons."
"Was he happy while he was with you?" Ivy asked.
"Why sure he was! I fed 'im and made 'im toys ta play with. We had good times tagether, Norbert an' me. He jus' got big too fas'. I couldn't keep 'im."
"But you don't know if he was happier with his own kind. Better off maybe. But not happier. The two are not the same. I'm sorry you lost Norbert, Hagrid." With that Ivy stood and walked toward the bar, unwilling to allow anyone to see the sadness in her own face, and reluctant to hide behind a pint of mead. The noise of a chair scraping the floor and heavy footsteps behind her told Ivy that Hagrid had followed.
"What is it, Ivy?" he asked. "I didn' mean to be ugly. Too much mead. I'm sor-"
He stopped in his tracks as she turned around, tears shining bright on her sun-freckled cheeks.
"It wasn't you, Hagrid," she told him, wiping her face with her hands. "It's just... what you said before. It's not true. I won't believe it. We're not always better off with our own kind. We're better off where we're happiest. And the longer I'm here the more positive I am that that's what's true. It may be harder, and it takes more faith, but all of that's worth it in the end. Now, I apologize for getting emotional. And you better get yourself home soon, or tomorrow's classes will be even harder than today's. Whatever happens with Buckbeak, you being with him will be great comfort. It's good to have a special friend when things are looking bleak." With that she gave him a watery smile and crossed the pub to clear off his table.
Ivy's smile grew wider as she felt a heavy hand upon her shoulder.
"Yer right, Ivy," Hagrid agreed. "I know I wouldn' be better off wi' giants. I'm happiest at Hogwarts. It's where I belong. Thanks fer the reminder." He bent low at the waist and kissed her cheek, and the scruffy softness of his beard on her skin gave Ivy a warm sense of comfort and peace. She surprised herself by leaning into his embrace.
"Now," he said gruffly, covering his momentary lapse into emotionalism with a short coughing spell. "I best be gettin' home. It's late. G'night ladies." He fished a few coins out of his vest pocket and laid them on his table, took his coat off its hook by the door, and disappeared into the night.
Ivy straightened up what she could, knowing that Willa would have the dishes and cooking pots shining with a clean-up spell before she could climb the stairs and crawl into her bed.
"Night Ivy," Rose said, watching in amusement as her young friend mounted the stairs.
"Night, Rose." Ivy returned, attempting a tired smile in Rosie's direction. Talking to Hagrid had saddened her and she wanted nothing more than to hide beneath blankets and pillow.
She'd nearly reached the second floor when Professor Snape breezed into the pub. His presence made her want to run the rest of the way upstairs, but something made Ivy stop and turn back. She couldn't hear what he said, but the way he leaned over the bar, gripping it with both hands, made whatever message he brought look urgent. Ivy watched as Rose beckoned Willa, then left the pub with Snape.
"Guess she won't be getting to bed anytime soon," Ivy whispered, resuming her trip up the stairs. She changed into her nightclothes and stretched out across the bed, fingers tracing gently across the place where Hagrid had kissed her cheek. The next thing she knew, morning was stealing in through the windows, and Rosmerta's bed lay untouched and empty.
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When Ivy awoke a second time Rose was sitting on the edge of her bed, still dressed in last night's robes and intent on watching her best friend sleep. When she saw Ivy open her eyes, she reached a hand across the gap between their beds, and Ivy reached over and took it.
"What is it?" Ivy started. "I was getting worried."
"You looked worried," Rose gave her a weary smile. "Do you always drool like that when you're worried?"
"Do you always stay out all night without telling your friends?"
"Ivy," Rose said, standing to her feet. She crossed to gaze out of one of the room's two windows. Like everything else in Hogsmeade, the panes were not quite centered, but as Ivy watched her friend, the crookedness no longer mattered. She realized at that moment that the off-centeredness of everything around her only served to further endear the place to her heart.
"It wasn't something I planned. I'm sorry I made you worry."
"That Snape fellow worries me," Ivy informed her. "He's very unfriendly."
Rose snorted at Ivy's astute assessment. "Don't you worry about Snape. But there is something I'm worried about... I need you to promise me something, Ivy. The streets of Hogsmeade aren't safe for you at night anymore. At least for a little while. There are dementors patrolling at sundown. So... don't go wandering off without letting me or Willa know it, all right?"
Ivy sat up, pushing tousled curls away from her face. "Dementors? Why?" She'd never seen one of the wizard prison's demon guards, but she knew their reputation.
"Someone very dangerous has escaped from Azkaban. They want their prisoner back, and they think he might show up here."
"Why here?" Ivy wondered aloud. She couldn't fathom how anything as depraved as a dementor would have anything to do with an idyllic place like Hogsmeade.
"Not here, exactly. Up there, at Hogwarts. The man who escaped may be after one of the students. That's all I know and it's more than anybody around here has heard, yet. I was up at Hogwarts all night, working on something for a friend. I heard it from the Headmaster himself. He's very upset about it, but there's not much he can do. It's Ministry of Magic business. I don't know if you can see dementors or not Ivy, but you don't have to be magical to feel them when they're close. They're foul, soulless beings, and I don't want one anywhere near you. We can only hope they capture their prisoner in a hurry. Will you promise? No traipsing off again?"
"Again?" Ivy protested. "I only wandered off once, and I was accompanied by a giant..."
"And you let him talk you into riding a hippogriff!" Rose countered, teasing gently. "Hagrid's got a talent for coming up with dangerous creatures, Ivy. Creatures with venom. And talons and fangs. You have to be more careful."
"I trust Hagrid," Ivy said, her chin uplifted stubbornly. "He wouldn't let anything hurt me."
Rose laughed. "I saw that little peck on the cheek, last night, dearie. You're not falling for him are y-"
Rose's last comment was cut decidedly short as a pillow flew across the room and hit her in the face. She cried out in mock outrage and reached for a weapon of her own.
Moments later feathers and laughter filled the room to capacity and began their escape, both managing to flutter down the stairs and through cracks in the rafters to make their presence known on the ground floor. In the end, Ivy promised not to wander off without telling. Rose cast a Reparo spell on the pillows, then decided on a nap before tea.
Hard as Ivy tried, she couldn't see or imagine any soulless creatures walking the streets of Hogsmeade in the morning sun. As she gazed out the mullioned windows, the thatch-roofed cottages and shops along High Street looked as inviting as ever. Even the pub seemed infused with gold. Every now and then she'd catch sight of a feather floating across the room on a sunbeam and grin. Full of peace, and quite content to be doing nothing more, Ivy began to polish the bar. The pub would be busy later, but for now, she decided to be grateful for the quiet.