Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Harry Potter. They all belong to J.K. Rowling, that lucky lady. I only own the lame spells, the plot, the weird owl, the dagger, etc. I don't own the names "Ogg" and "Ulana" because I took that from the 2003 Global History Regents Exam (sadd, huh?) but I thought the names were funny. "Goomba" is from Mario, of course. Vanessa (my sis) gave me ideas for this chapter, so I owe a lot of credit to her. Thanks, N!
A/N: I'm starting to run out of cool band lyrics for inspiration! ARGH! If anyone has any good pain and suffering lyrics, then please share them with me by giving me the song/band name in reviews. Let me know what you think of my story as well.
Chapter 6: Goomba vs. Hagrawp
As they were exiting 'Ogwats, Ginny had an idea. "I just thought of a short cut so we could get to the safe house faster!"
"Where is it?" Harry asked.
"Well, if we want to take that route, then we'll have to cut through the Forbidden Forest." Harry seemed to have no problem with this sudden suggestion, but Draco gave them a look of terror and then quickly tried to hide his fearful expression. He remembered that one time he was in the forest and he was very afraid. He clearly planned not to go back in there anytime soon.
"Must we go that way?" Draco said in a small voice.
"Well, it could help us save the world from Voldemort faster," Harry said eagerly. Both Ginny and Draco flinched at the name.
"You're not scared, are you Draco?" Ginny inquired.
"No," he snapped quickly so he made the truth evident.
"Come on, Malfoy. There's nothing to be afraid of," Harry said.
"I know that, Potter," Draco said unsurely.
"Okay then. It's settled. Let's traverse the forbidden forest."
They cut across the overgrown grass as a look of dread formed on Draco's face. The trio stumbled upon Hagrid's house. I wonder where he is, Harry thought.
"Do you think Hagrid is still here?" Harry asked.
"I doubt it," Ginny replied.
"That overgrown half blood?" Draco taunted. "He probably is still here tending to his vicious beasts that he claims are 'nice'."
Harry didn't respond to Draco's jeer. He didn't want to upset him, especially after seeing his friends dead on the floor. This is just his way of expressing his loss, he thought. However, Ginny didn't seem to feel the same way.
"Stop talking about Hagrid like he's worthless," she told Draco. "He is a great person!"
"Weasley, I'm not in the mood to argue with someone who likes Dream Street," he said furtively.
"Humph!" Ginny replied while outraged. Harry laughed.
As their conversation died, they entered the forbidden forest. It looked the same as Harry had last seen it. There were many trees and overgrown shrubbery. It reminded him of the first woods that he and Draco had passed through. There was something not quite right about it, even though it seemed the same. Instead of wild creatures roaming around, there was nothing. There weren't any signs of life around. The forest was completely silent, in an ominous sort of way.
"Where did all of the animals go?" Harry asked while hesitating to break the silence.
"I don't know," Ginny replied. Draco had a relieved look on his face.
"Oh well. At least it will be easier to cross now without any distractions."
They walked for a few minutes while proceeding deeper into the woods. They kept to the trail, hoping not to separate or get lost. It was easy to wander away with all of the overgrown trees and a path that was tricky to follow. Then they heard a sound for the first time while they were in the forest that was not created by them. It sounded human. That's odd, Harry thought. I wonder who could be here. I seriously doubt if it's Hagrid. Harry's eyes darted over the plants to attempt to see where the sound came from. Then he spotted it.
"Over there!" he said to Ginny and Draco.
They had a bit of difficulty wading in the knee-length grasses and weeds as they abandoned the trail temporarily. Then they saw him. Hagrid was standing in the middle of the weeds with an unreadable expression on his face. He was wearing only a loincloth and was carrying a club in his left hand.
"Hagrid? Hagrid is that you? Hagrid from the Brentwood library?" Ginny asked while surprised to see him.
"Where's Brentwood?" Draco wondered while clearly questioning her state of mind.
Ginny was about to answer, but she was cut off by Hagrid's voice. "Grawp die. Hagrid now Hagrawp."
"What?" Harry asked bewildered. He thought about the situation for a few moments. I understand now. Hagrid has undoubtedly lost his mind. He cared for Grawp so much. Now that he's gone, Hagrid tried to preserve the memory of Grawp by trying to become him.
Behind Hagrid, they saw a small stone cave. That must be where he lives now. Attached to the cave was Fang on a leash. He looked the same, unlike Hagrid. Ginny ignored Hagrid and wend next to Fang, who was just sitting there, instead of using his usual excitement to see visitors.
"Hello, Fang," Ginny said while petting him. Fang still sat there as if he was unaware of the attention he was getting. Fang must have been affected by Grawp's death as well. They were probably good friends.
"Fang-Mon no like Ulana!" Hagrid said to her in broken English.
"Who's Ulana?" Ginny asked stupidly.
Hagrid pointed to Ginny. Fang ran after her, intending to bite her. Hagrid uttered a loud roar as Fang charged after her. Draco and Harry followed Ginny, even though Fang wasn't running after them. They didn't want to be separated, especially in the Forbidden Forest and their newest enemy.
Then they heard Hagrid's battle cry in the distance. "Thorg hungry! Thorg want eat!"
"I thought….his name….was Hagrawp…" Draco panted while running with Harry and Ginny. There was no reply from either of them. They were too busy running to answer. Then Harry had an idea.
"Reducio!" he said while his wand was aimed at Fang-Mon, who dramatically shrunk in size so he couldn't keep up to their fast pace.
"Great idea, Harry," Ginny said.
Just then, they heard loud stomps coming from the background. They knew that the source of the sound was coming from Hagrid. He was getting closer. Harry's mind was on what his former friend would do to him in his strange condition. They instantly abandoned the trail and went deeper into the forest. Harry was beginning to wonder if he would ever escape this horrid place. They had lost their way and it seemed difficult to breathe while running. The air seemed to disappear. Harry felt closed in, so he could just barely breathe. The tall trees towered over him, suffocating him and depriving him from the warmth of sunlight. He could hear his companions saying something to him, but he couldn't make out the words. He only wanted to fall and to let the blackness take him. . He could not go on any longer. His feet ached from pounding on the dirt so fast. He was still running. Running from his problems, again. Running from death. Running. Running. Running. Harry let the blackness engulf him as he passed out.
Harry opened his eyes to see an unknown area. He was chained to a wall. Oh no, he thought. He captured me. He saw Draco and Ginny, who were chained the same way that he was.
"Where are we?" He asked them.
"Welcome to Hagrawp's layer. May I take your order?" Draco said sarcastically with a furious look on his face.
"This is not the time to be joking!" Ginny said irritated.
He glared at her for a brief second then looked away. "See what you did, Potter? If it weren't for your blackout in the woods, I would be having tea and crumpets right now in a safe house. But no, I'm stuck here chained to the wall with you people!" When neither of them said anything, he continued. "You should work out more, Potter. Then maybe you'd have a girlfriend."
Harry was about to respond, but Hagrid entered the room. Harry automatically reached for his wand, only to find out that it had been missing. Now I'm screwed.
"Thorg make stew. Thorg make stew with Ulana, Ogg, and Goomba in it. Thorg happy!" Hagrid said cheerfully.
Since fighting was impossible at the moment, Harry tried a different approach. "But Hagrid, don't you remember us? We're not Ulana, Ogg, and Goomba. I'm Harry. Draco is over there and Ginny is next to him. Don't you remember us at all?"
Hagrawp paused as if he as thinking. Then he said, "Not nice to trick Hagrawp! Not Nice!"
"He's not fooling you, Hagrid. Can't you remember anything?" Ginny asked him.
"NO!" Hagrid yelled while his temper got the best of him. He proceeded to Harry and unchained him while gripping his arms so hard that they turned red. He threw Harry on the ground while picking up a stone. He held the stone above his head maliciously while Harry lie pathetically on the ground without a weapon. Hagrid looked insane with his unkempt hair standing on edge and his large figure hovering over Harry's body. Hagrid's eyed widened and he formed an eerie smile while laughing.
"Goomba killed Grawp two weeks ago! Goomba must DIE!!!" Hagrid shouted.
"No, no. You've got it all wrong! I never killed Grawp. I promised to teach him English. Don't you remember that? I said I would take care of him if you left 'Ogwats," Harry stated calmly while trying to reason with him.
"I remember," Hagrid said as a grin spread on Harry's face. "Then you killed him!"
The stone came smashing down towards Harry as he caught Hagrid's furious expression. Harry quickly moved his head so that he avoided the harsh blow from the stone. The cement floor smashed next to him. Hagrid looked confused. Harry took the chance to get up and take his wand. He pointed it at Hagrid threateningly.
"Don't make me do this," He warned Hagrid. "Please just listen to me."
Hagrid ignored Harry's words and ran in Harry's direction. He obviously intended to smash Harry's small body with his own large one, but again, Harry moved out of the way. Hagrid hit the stone wall, but appeared to be uninjured. He did more damage to the wall than the wall did to him because it cracked. While Hagrid took some time to wipe off the fragments from his body, Harry tried to save Draco and Ginny. It didn't work because they were too firmly chained to the wall. Only Hagrid's strength would release them.
"Harry, watch out!" Ginny yelled as Hagrid advanced on him. He tried to strangle Harry, but the latter ducked out of the way.
"Stupefy!" Harry shouted. The spell jerked Hagrid's body once, but then he recovered quickly and seemed to be unaffected by it after that because of his large frame.
"Its not working!" Harry told his companions.
"Well, that's evident," Draco said uncaringly. Ginny seemed to not have an opinion, because she was deep in thought.
Harry ran across Hagrid's layer in a feeble attempt to get away from him, but Hagrid gripped him by the leg to stop him. Harry was dragged on the floor with one leg attached to Hagrid's hand. His glasses fell off, as he knew this was the end for him. At least I won't be able to see myself being beaten to a pulp, he thought miserably. Hagrid grabbed Harry's neck with one hand and held him so he couldn't reach the floor. Harry was losing air quickly because his grasp made it difficult for him to breathe. He could feel his face turning red as Hagrid's grip tightened around his neck. If only he could remember…
"Lucius!" Ginny shouted randomly. Draco looked at her with a confused expression on his face. Hagrid dropped Harry so that he slammed to the floor. They also turned to look at her.
"Lucius Malfoy killed Grawp," Ginny explained.
"How do you know?" Harry asked her in disbelief.
"Hagrid said that you killed Grawp two weeks ago," Ginny said.
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"Well I was thinking about the Death Eaters," Ginny said reasonably while Hagrid was listening. "Two weeks ago, they discovered the main safe house. I found out from my dad. Remember that he worked for the Ministry of Magic? Well we have spies just like the Death Eaters do, since the newspapers have all gone out of business. All of the Death Eaters were recognizable when finding the safe house except for Lucius Malfoy, so he doesn't have an alibi. He must have been here killing Grawp."
"See, Hagrid? I told you I didn't do it," Harry said reassuringly.
Hagrid had a look of surprise on his face. When there was no response, Harry asked, "Now do you remember, Hagrid?"
"It all seems ter make sense, 'Arry," he responded with his usual deep voice. Harry and Ginny had wide grins on their faces. Draco couldn't have looked more bored. "Now I remember 'im killin Grawpy," He said sadly. "He used the killin curse. I saw 'im do it. When he saw me, I ran but he tied me arms and legs t'gether with some sorta charm. Then he took me back ter a room. He convinced me that 'Arry did it. He told me until I believed it. He made me try ter kill 'Arry. I'm so ashamed!"
"Its okay, Hagrid," Harry said while comforting him as he was sobbing.
"It's not okay, 'Arry!" he said while tears streamed down his face. "At leas' let me get yer friends down from up there," Hagrid said as he broke the chains on Ginny and Draco's arms and legs.
"Thanks, Hagrid," Ginny said sweetly. Draco responded with a grunt.
"Yer welcome, Ginny," Hagrid replied as he began to cheer up. "Now what are yeh doin' over hare anyway's?" Hagrid asked.
"We're trying to find the safe house that my family is staying at," Ginny said.
"We also want to know more information about Voldemort and where he is currently," Harry added.
"Oh I see. Well make sure ter know yer way aroun' the forest. There're some mighty beastly creatures out there."
"But Hagrid, we saw no creatures there," Harry said while confused.
"Yeh see no creatures, but trus' me. They're out there waitin' for yeh."
Harry wasn't sure what he meant by the last sentence, but he decided to proceed with caution.
"Speakin' o' creatures, where's Fang?"
"Sorry, Hagrid. I shrank him because he was chasing me. I slowed him down a bit, but I'm not sure where he went off to," Harry replied.
"Tha's okay, 'Arry. I'll look for 'im later."
"I have only one question," Draco interrupted. "What is a Grawp?"
"Grawp is Hagrid's brother. He was a giant. Hagrid kept him in the Forbidden Forest so that nobody would find out about him, but it looks like it was too late…" Harry's voice trailed off. He realized that this was a painful subject to discuss for Hagrid.
Ginny quickly changed the subject. "Well I think we should be leaving now, Hagrid. Would you like to join us? You could come to the safe house with us. You've been through a lot. I'm sure they have extra beds and food so you can stay there."
"No thanks, Ginny. I'd rather stay here 'n look for Fang. I can't leave me home. Not at a time like this anyway."
"Are you sure?" Harry asked.
"Yep, pos'tive. Now be careful in the forest. I've warned yeh about the beasts there now. It looks all quiet and then the next thing yeh know, they turn on yeh."
"Alright. We'll keep that in mind," Harry said while wondering what kind of creatures Hagrid was talking about.
"Oh n' thanks fer makin' me realize who I am again," Hagrid said lamely.
"No problem," Harry and Ginny said together. Draco still looked annoyed. The trio started walking out of Hagrid's cave and onto the trail.
"What's your problem?" Ginny asked Draco. "You didn't say much in there."
"Well if you really want to know, little weasel, then I will tell you. I was tortured and made a slave by dementors for two years, I was disowned by my father when I refused to become a Death Eater, my ass was smacked around a few times by a little weasel," he stopped to glare at her, then he continued. "I found out that my head of house had a sex change, I was chained to a wall by an idiot in a loin cloth, and worst of all, Potter saw me naked and lived to tell about it!" he yelled. "My life is a living hellhole!"
Ginny's eyebrows shot up at the part where he mentioned nudity. "Okay, Harry," she said eagerly. "Details!"
Harry laughed while Draco's face turned red from either anger or embarrassment. It was hard to tell. When they stopped talking, Harry listened for any signs of life near them. Sure enough, he could hear them now. Whispers and rustles were barely audible from the creatures hiding in the plant overgrowth.
"Ginny! Malfoy! Do you hear that?" he asked them.
"What?" Ginny asked curiously.
"The whispers in the trees. Listen closely."
"I don't hear anything, Potter," Malfoy said.
"Me neither," Ginny said.
"Has Hagrawp gotten to your head?" Draco teased.
"It's coming from this way!" Harry said while pointing deeper into the forest.
"Hagrid said not to go looking for trouble. Don't you remember? He told us not to go off the trail!" Ginny warned.
Harry couldn't help himself. It was the most interesting sound he's ever heard. It didn't sound human, but more like half human. The voices beckoned him to join them deeper in the woods. But how is that possible? He wondered. He left the trail behind as he plunged into the woods. Ginny and Draco reluctantly followed. Harry led them through twists and turns, while following the voices and his instincts. He could make out what the voices were saying now. "Come play with us," they taunted. "Everything you want is in here. Join us. Please join us." Harry should have listened to Ginny. He knew that while he was getting closer, but he couldn't stop himself. I wish I could find the source of the voices, he thought. He came to a halt as the vices stopped. He paused for several seconds, with Ginny and Draco close behind him.
"Can we leave now?" Draco asked while irritated.
"Shh!" Harry snapped.
He kept listening for any voices at all. Please let me find the voices, he begged. When he was about to give up after a few minutes of hearing nothing, he turned around to find that his wish had come true.