A/N - JKR owns the idea, all of these characters etc.
Chapter 29 Trio's Trip
The three young Gryffindors slept for twelve hours before meeting in the common room and going to the Great Hall together. Sirius caught them on their way and diverted them to the headmaster's office. Harry's godfather didn't even knock before entering. Lupin was smiling at the group as they went into the office.
"I guess I owe my thanks to you lot. They tell me that your work isn't done though."
"Yeah what is going on anyway?" Ron queried. "My mum left crying last night after Dumbledore talked to her and I have no idea what that was about."
Sirius nodded his head. "Yes well the four of you have some work to do before Christmas Eve. But I think we should wait for Dumbledore to return so we only have to go through this once. Meanwhile help yourselves to the lunch trays in the corner."
Harry was the first to reach the trays. "Great I'm starv --- what do you mean the four of us???"
Lupin and Sirius wouldn't answer any questions that the three threw at them. They just ate and drank and wondered what the Christmas holidays had in store for them. The conversation turned to what Sirius would do with his newfound freedom and riches. Finally, Dumbledore entered bringing someone with him.
"Viktor!" Hermione was the happiest of the three to see him although both Harry was glad too. Ron, although he ended up liking Krum in the end, was hoping that he'd never have to see him again because he was still a little embarrassed at having asked for his autograph while he was waiting for the Hogwarts Express. Ron hoped that he was the only one that remembered that little incident.
Dumbledore grabbed a chair and indicated for everyone to sit down. "Viktor has been helping us track and fight dark activity in other areas of Europe. He has quite a few stories that I hope he'll share with you on your journey."
"Journey?" Hermione was the one to ask but they were all thinking it.
"Yes, you all are going to be our next envoy to the giants."
"We're going to be the next what?" Ron asked.
Dumbledore smiled before continuing. "Envoy to the giants Ron. You four are going to go there today and talk with some of the younger giants. Viktor knows the way. We'll put some warming charms on you but you still need to dress warmly. Pack no more than a backpack and I must insist that no matter what you return here no later that the 23rd of December."
Krum was nodding his head but the other three were just sitting there staring at their headmaster. Finally Harry narrowed down all the questions swimming around in his head and asked, "Is Hagrid coming with us?"
Dumbledore started shaking his head. "No. It's important that we prove that good wizards besides Hagrid can get along with giants. Do you remember everyone's reaction last night when we said that some people in the room were going to go the giants? Do you remember the looks on some of their faces? The adult giants don't react any differently to us. No. It must begin with the youth and you all more than any other youth know the importance of this mission. Now please go get your things. I'd like for you to leave within the hour."
The trio was moving more out of shock than anything else. They packed and were back inside Dumbledore's office in less than thirty minutes.
"Ah you're ready early. Most excellent. All right then we'll walk you out." Sirius walked beside Harry. Lupin was next to Ron. Krum and Hermione were in the back. And Dumbledore was in front leading the group to the school brooms.
When Ron and Hermione had picked out a broom and everyone had said their goodbyes Dumbledore gave them a couple of last minute reminders. "Please be careful but remember that there's nothing to be scared of. And no matter what you must be back on or before the 23rd of December."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"Our next big event against the Death Eaters is scheduled for the 24th. Preparing for that is what most of the rest of last night's group is going to be occupied with between now and then. At least the four of you must be back by then. Now you really should get going."
They mounted their brooms and followed Krum off in a northerly direction. Although everyone had questions for the other three in the group, it was too hard and too cold to try to carry on a conversation. No one spoke more than absolutely necessary like to indicate that someone needed to land for a short break. Harry passed the time wondering what Dumbledore meant by "At least the four of you must be back by then."
By the time Krum signaled them down for a landing five hours had passed. They were cold, tired and hungry. "Is this it?" Hermione asked the professional quidditch player.
"Yes. We're supposed to meet Randolph here. He's going to take us into the village. We thought it best that we be escorted our first time and figured it would be best to meet someone our own age. He's going to be our guide, at least initially." Cold, tired, and hungry nobody felt like speaking very much. Everyone sat there quietly until Ron spotted Randolph.
"WHOA!"
Indeed Harry thought Ron's reaction was an understatement. Randolph, their fifteen-year-old counterpart, was fifteen feel tall if he was an inch. You wouldn't describe him as fat but the adolescent giant looked like he could hold his own. He spoke.
"Hello everyone. Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long." Randolph was smiling as he addressed the group.
Krum was the only one to answer. "Don't worry about it. We weren't waiting ten minutes. I'm Viktor and this is Harry, Ron and Hermoninny."
"It's Hermione, actually." She didn't mind Krum butchering her name but she thought it important for the giants not to think she was hiding anything or trying to confuse them.
The giant smiled at all of them again. "Nice to meet all of you. I'm Randolph. Please follow me to the village. It's not far from here."
At first they tried to walk behind Randolph but it didn't take very long to realize that they would never be able to keep up without maintaining a full sprint. They ended up following him on their brooms. When they got to the village Hermione, the only one of the group to read much fantasy, was figuring this must be how Jack felt after climbing up the beanstalk. The village was amazing.
Every house was at least as tall as a regular three-story house. No building had windows any lower than five feet off the ground. Doorknobs were six feet off the ground. Sidewalks were all at least five feet wide. They saw things on wheels that resembled trailer beds. They had to ask Randolph what those things were for.
"Oh them? They're our version of skateboards. We use them to get around the village." They didn't get very far through the village before turning down one of the side streets filled with houses. He stopped at the second house.
"Well this is my house. I hope you like it. You'll be staying with me while you're here. They four visitors were astonished. The house was incredible. Randolph gave them a tour and they all just kept looking around in every direction. No one else spoke until they got into the spare bedroom. Ron couldn't contain himself any longer.
"Would you look at the size of the bed? All four of us could sleep there. Just think about how many Chudley Cannon's posters I could get on these walls." Ron didn't realize he'd said anything wrong until Harry jabbed him in the ribs. He still didn't get it until Harry nodded toward Krum. Ron had forgotten that Krum played for Bulgaria. He turned red and mumbled a short apology.
Randolph led them to the kitchen for some food while they sat and got to know each other. He had explained that Dumbledore asked him earlier in the year if he would mind hosting five younger wizards for the first half of the Christmas holidays.
"Five?" Asked Hermione. "But there's only the four of us. Did Professor Dumbledore tell you who the fifth witch or wizard was to be?"
Randolph was shaking his head. "No. He didn't even tell me the names of you all. He just told me when and where to meet them and asked if I'd host them. Oh and he gave me some money for my troubles so don't even think about offering to pay for food or anything like that. It's all taken care of already."
They already knew that food wasn't going to be a problem. One turkey leg was enough to feed Ron and Harry didn't look like he was going to be able to finish the lone sandwich he was eating. Randolph told them about his plans.
"I knew you'd be tired tonight so I figured we'd just stay here. Tomorrow I'll show you around the village and introduce you to some of my friends. This weekend there's going to be a match that I think you'll want to see." They stayed in the kitchen and talked for hours until everyone was ready for bed.
Their second day in the village was marvelous. They went into most of the shops and saw things they couldn't believe. One store was selling a ten- foot hot dog for 2 pounds. The group had fun looking around and Randolph was enjoying seeing their surprised faces at every turn.
At lunchtime they were meeting some of their host's friends in Gregg's Grill. A twenty-foot giant with acne came over to their table and sat down. He smiled at the group of small strangers before greeting his friend.
"Hey Tiny."
"Hey Sully, I'd like you to meet my new friends." Introductions were made all around the table. Since there were two more empty chairs at the table everyone knew to expect more people so no one was even looking at the menu yet. Instead Hermione was focusing on something Sully had said.
"Ummm --- Sully, why did you call Randolph tiny?"
"Oh didn't you know? He's the smallest teenager in the village. Everyone calls him that."
"He's the what?" This time it was Harry's turn to voice the question they were all thinking.
Randolph smiled again. "I think that's why Dumbledore chose me to host you all. I'm the smallest of age giant in our village." Not that it really mattered to any of them but it never crossed anyone's mind that Randolph was anything but huge. Randolph, still seeing the shock on their faces, continued smiling as he spoke again.
"Don't worry now. I'm sure I'll grow to full size before long." The visitors laughed nervously realizing that their host was trying to make them feel at ease.
The grill's doors opened once again and two more giants entered and came over to the table. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Krum all remained silent because they weren't prepared to see lady giants. They all just barely managed to nod politely as they were introduced to Morgan and Joan.
Once they got over their initial shock, the visitors enjoyed a pleasant meal with Randolph's friends. Harry was starting to wonder if they had anything special planned for the trip. Dumbledore hadn't given them any objectives except to go meet with giants their age. He didn't know if he was supposed to be recruiting them to fight against Voldemort or if they were even supposed to talk about the dark wizards. Harry decided he would ask Randolph what he knew.
"Er --- Randolph." Harry began tentatively. He didn't really want to ask about this in front of the three new giants he had just met but he didn't feel as if it could be put off either.
Morgan spoke up before Randolph had a chance to answer. "Call him Tiny Harry, everyone does."
"Er --- I'm not sure if I can. He's three times my size."
"Oh go on then. How can we become friends if you don't use my nickname? Call me Tiny."
"All right. Tiny, what exactly did Dumbledore tell you about this trip? Are we supposed to be doing anything?" Ron, Hermione and Krum all turned to look at Harry. They were wondering the same thing but didn't exactly feel that this was the time or place to ask. Tiny didn't seem the least bit put off by the question though.
"Well Harry, he spoke to all four of us actually. He told us about the dark wizards and how he wanted to re-open lines of communications between our people. He asked if we'd let you spend some time here getting to know us and our ways so that you lot can go back and tell people about what you saw here --- "
"You can bet I'll be telling everyone I know about those ten-foot long hot dogs!" Ron said. Everyone chuckled except Hermione who elbowed him in the ribs.
"Right, and he said that we were welcome to come back with you any time. But if we chose to go before Christmas Eve and help with a project he'd be especially grateful. He also said that we could spend any or all of our Christmas vacation with you all at Hogwarts without having to worry about running into a lot of people. Does that sound about right?"
The visitors were all just looking at him. He knew everything they did including the fact that Dumbledore was hoping they'd help him with whatever the next attack on the Death Eaters was going to be.
The four giants once again were smiling at the shocked visitors. Joan spoke first this time. "We all liked him. Besides being very friendly, he was very upfront with us. I can't speak about what everyone else thinks but my plan was to get to know you all, hear your version of the story about the dark wizards, and then decide later."
"Sounds good to me." Morgan said while Tiny and Sully were nodding their heads in agreement.
"That sounds fair to me." Krum said while the three Hogwarts students were nodding their heads in agreement.
"Good" Tiny said. "Now that that's settled we can just worry about showing you all around and having fun.
And have fun they did. On the third day of their trip they told the giants their version of Voldemort and the fight against good and evil so they could get it out of the way. The rest of the trip was nothing but fun. Ron and Harry especially liked the candy shops. The lollipops were all at least as big as their hands. The chocolate bars were too big to be carried in one hand. The jawbreakers were all too big to fit into their mouths. There was a chocolate reindeer on display that was taller than Ron. But they did do other things besides shop and eat candy.
They had snowball fights. At first Harry and his friends got clobbered because every one of the snowballs that was hurled at them was at least a foot in diameter. Eventually the guests learned how to use size to their advantage and before long the snowball fights became an even match-up.
Probably the most exciting part of their visit was when they went to a strongest giant competition that was like nothing they had ever seen. Giants were tossing boulders, running sprints while carrying massive tree trunks and wrestling all sorts of huge creatures. One of the competitions ended in a tie and they got to see a tiebreaker, which they were told didn't even happen once every year. For the tiebreaker everyone was led over to two identical structures made out of brick. The winner was the first one to knock down one of the walls and retrieve the trophy from inside. The only rule was that they couldn't throw anything. If they were going to use a boulder, for example, they had to hold on to it and bang it against the wall instead of just throwing them at the walls. In less than an hour, a winner was declared.
Before they knew it the time had come to leave. The giants hadn't said one way or the other if they would be traveling back with the group to Hogwarts. Harry hoped that they would for several different reasons but he didn't want to ask them. They went to bed on their last night in the village without knowing if they would be going back alone.
On the morning of the 23rd of December, the four visitors packed their backpacks (which was impossible to do without magic because of all the stuff they had bought here) and got ready to leave.
Just as they went to say their good-byes to Tiny, there was a knock at the door. Tiny opened it revealing Morgan, Joan and Sully who were all smiles. They were packed and ready to go.
Morgan was hurrying the bunch. "Let's go. I can't wait to see this school of yours."
"Great." Harry began. "Thanks for coming with us. But, uh, how are we going to get you there? I'm not sure that you'll fit on our brooms?"
Tiny smiled. "We'll be fine on your brooms. Dumbledore left us a jar full of something that we've never seen before. He says that it'll keep us from falling off and that all we need to do is have at least one finger touching the brooms."
As realization slowly set in with Harry, Ron and Hermione, all three began laughing uncontrollably. It was Neville's clumsiness potion from back before their first quidditch game. They gave Krum and the giants the quick version of the story and then all eight of them set off.
Flying back to Hogwarts was a blast. The giants, with the help of Neville's potion, were trying to outdo each other with silly stunts on the broomsticks. Morgan seemed to think Ron was the cutest thing in the world and kept lifting him off his broom.
Dumbledore couldn't be happier to see them when they entered the castle. He apologized for not letting them rest but he said the meeting for tomorrow's attack was about to start and he led all eight of them into the Great Hall.
Everyone that was in there before was in there now. Mrs Weasley came running over to Ron. Sirius ran over to Harry. Hagrid was beaming at the newcomers and came over to introduce himself. Hermione and Krum went over and took their seats. Dumbledore helped everyone put their things in the corner and bade them all to take their seats.
"Now everyone here knows that Harry, Ron, Hermione and Viktor have spent the last couple of weeks visiting in the giants' village. Their only instructions were to spend some time getting to know their counterparts and, if they consented, bring them back to spend the second half of the holidays here with us." He quickly introduced Tiny, Sully, Morgan and Joan. No one said anything rude but no one except Dumbledore and Hagrid smiled at them either. Dumbledore thanked them for coming and continued.
"Now as to tomorrow. In the morning we are going to meet here at seven bells. Most of you already know your roles. For our guests prey allow me to do a quick recap. We know that tomorrow Voldemort and his followers and planning on raiding and emptying Azkaban. Although we have no proof yet that the dementors are in on it, it makes the most sense that they are so we're going to have to plan as if they are. The aurors are going to disguise themselves and take the dementors' places tonight. Our job is to hideout and launch the counter-attack against the Death Eaters. We'll look at a map tomorrow so everyone knows exactly where to go. Does anyone have any questions?"
No one said anything. Harry had the impression that they had been talking in there for a while and were ready to leave for the day. Everyone was standing up and getting ready to leave when Dumbledore spoke again.
"One last thing. No one, I repeat no one, is to go after Severus Snape. He's mine." The headmaster had none of that old twinkle in his eye.
A/N -Share your thoughts with me.
Chapter 29 Trio's Trip
The three young Gryffindors slept for twelve hours before meeting in the common room and going to the Great Hall together. Sirius caught them on their way and diverted them to the headmaster's office. Harry's godfather didn't even knock before entering. Lupin was smiling at the group as they went into the office.
"I guess I owe my thanks to you lot. They tell me that your work isn't done though."
"Yeah what is going on anyway?" Ron queried. "My mum left crying last night after Dumbledore talked to her and I have no idea what that was about."
Sirius nodded his head. "Yes well the four of you have some work to do before Christmas Eve. But I think we should wait for Dumbledore to return so we only have to go through this once. Meanwhile help yourselves to the lunch trays in the corner."
Harry was the first to reach the trays. "Great I'm starv --- what do you mean the four of us???"
Lupin and Sirius wouldn't answer any questions that the three threw at them. They just ate and drank and wondered what the Christmas holidays had in store for them. The conversation turned to what Sirius would do with his newfound freedom and riches. Finally, Dumbledore entered bringing someone with him.
"Viktor!" Hermione was the happiest of the three to see him although both Harry was glad too. Ron, although he ended up liking Krum in the end, was hoping that he'd never have to see him again because he was still a little embarrassed at having asked for his autograph while he was waiting for the Hogwarts Express. Ron hoped that he was the only one that remembered that little incident.
Dumbledore grabbed a chair and indicated for everyone to sit down. "Viktor has been helping us track and fight dark activity in other areas of Europe. He has quite a few stories that I hope he'll share with you on your journey."
"Journey?" Hermione was the one to ask but they were all thinking it.
"Yes, you all are going to be our next envoy to the giants."
"We're going to be the next what?" Ron asked.
Dumbledore smiled before continuing. "Envoy to the giants Ron. You four are going to go there today and talk with some of the younger giants. Viktor knows the way. We'll put some warming charms on you but you still need to dress warmly. Pack no more than a backpack and I must insist that no matter what you return here no later that the 23rd of December."
Krum was nodding his head but the other three were just sitting there staring at their headmaster. Finally Harry narrowed down all the questions swimming around in his head and asked, "Is Hagrid coming with us?"
Dumbledore started shaking his head. "No. It's important that we prove that good wizards besides Hagrid can get along with giants. Do you remember everyone's reaction last night when we said that some people in the room were going to go the giants? Do you remember the looks on some of their faces? The adult giants don't react any differently to us. No. It must begin with the youth and you all more than any other youth know the importance of this mission. Now please go get your things. I'd like for you to leave within the hour."
The trio was moving more out of shock than anything else. They packed and were back inside Dumbledore's office in less than thirty minutes.
"Ah you're ready early. Most excellent. All right then we'll walk you out." Sirius walked beside Harry. Lupin was next to Ron. Krum and Hermione were in the back. And Dumbledore was in front leading the group to the school brooms.
When Ron and Hermione had picked out a broom and everyone had said their goodbyes Dumbledore gave them a couple of last minute reminders. "Please be careful but remember that there's nothing to be scared of. And no matter what you must be back on or before the 23rd of December."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"Our next big event against the Death Eaters is scheduled for the 24th. Preparing for that is what most of the rest of last night's group is going to be occupied with between now and then. At least the four of you must be back by then. Now you really should get going."
They mounted their brooms and followed Krum off in a northerly direction. Although everyone had questions for the other three in the group, it was too hard and too cold to try to carry on a conversation. No one spoke more than absolutely necessary like to indicate that someone needed to land for a short break. Harry passed the time wondering what Dumbledore meant by "At least the four of you must be back by then."
By the time Krum signaled them down for a landing five hours had passed. They were cold, tired and hungry. "Is this it?" Hermione asked the professional quidditch player.
"Yes. We're supposed to meet Randolph here. He's going to take us into the village. We thought it best that we be escorted our first time and figured it would be best to meet someone our own age. He's going to be our guide, at least initially." Cold, tired, and hungry nobody felt like speaking very much. Everyone sat there quietly until Ron spotted Randolph.
"WHOA!"
Indeed Harry thought Ron's reaction was an understatement. Randolph, their fifteen-year-old counterpart, was fifteen feel tall if he was an inch. You wouldn't describe him as fat but the adolescent giant looked like he could hold his own. He spoke.
"Hello everyone. Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long." Randolph was smiling as he addressed the group.
Krum was the only one to answer. "Don't worry about it. We weren't waiting ten minutes. I'm Viktor and this is Harry, Ron and Hermoninny."
"It's Hermione, actually." She didn't mind Krum butchering her name but she thought it important for the giants not to think she was hiding anything or trying to confuse them.
The giant smiled at all of them again. "Nice to meet all of you. I'm Randolph. Please follow me to the village. It's not far from here."
At first they tried to walk behind Randolph but it didn't take very long to realize that they would never be able to keep up without maintaining a full sprint. They ended up following him on their brooms. When they got to the village Hermione, the only one of the group to read much fantasy, was figuring this must be how Jack felt after climbing up the beanstalk. The village was amazing.
Every house was at least as tall as a regular three-story house. No building had windows any lower than five feet off the ground. Doorknobs were six feet off the ground. Sidewalks were all at least five feet wide. They saw things on wheels that resembled trailer beds. They had to ask Randolph what those things were for.
"Oh them? They're our version of skateboards. We use them to get around the village." They didn't get very far through the village before turning down one of the side streets filled with houses. He stopped at the second house.
"Well this is my house. I hope you like it. You'll be staying with me while you're here. They four visitors were astonished. The house was incredible. Randolph gave them a tour and they all just kept looking around in every direction. No one else spoke until they got into the spare bedroom. Ron couldn't contain himself any longer.
"Would you look at the size of the bed? All four of us could sleep there. Just think about how many Chudley Cannon's posters I could get on these walls." Ron didn't realize he'd said anything wrong until Harry jabbed him in the ribs. He still didn't get it until Harry nodded toward Krum. Ron had forgotten that Krum played for Bulgaria. He turned red and mumbled a short apology.
Randolph led them to the kitchen for some food while they sat and got to know each other. He had explained that Dumbledore asked him earlier in the year if he would mind hosting five younger wizards for the first half of the Christmas holidays.
"Five?" Asked Hermione. "But there's only the four of us. Did Professor Dumbledore tell you who the fifth witch or wizard was to be?"
Randolph was shaking his head. "No. He didn't even tell me the names of you all. He just told me when and where to meet them and asked if I'd host them. Oh and he gave me some money for my troubles so don't even think about offering to pay for food or anything like that. It's all taken care of already."
They already knew that food wasn't going to be a problem. One turkey leg was enough to feed Ron and Harry didn't look like he was going to be able to finish the lone sandwich he was eating. Randolph told them about his plans.
"I knew you'd be tired tonight so I figured we'd just stay here. Tomorrow I'll show you around the village and introduce you to some of my friends. This weekend there's going to be a match that I think you'll want to see." They stayed in the kitchen and talked for hours until everyone was ready for bed.
Their second day in the village was marvelous. They went into most of the shops and saw things they couldn't believe. One store was selling a ten- foot hot dog for 2 pounds. The group had fun looking around and Randolph was enjoying seeing their surprised faces at every turn.
At lunchtime they were meeting some of their host's friends in Gregg's Grill. A twenty-foot giant with acne came over to their table and sat down. He smiled at the group of small strangers before greeting his friend.
"Hey Tiny."
"Hey Sully, I'd like you to meet my new friends." Introductions were made all around the table. Since there were two more empty chairs at the table everyone knew to expect more people so no one was even looking at the menu yet. Instead Hermione was focusing on something Sully had said.
"Ummm --- Sully, why did you call Randolph tiny?"
"Oh didn't you know? He's the smallest teenager in the village. Everyone calls him that."
"He's the what?" This time it was Harry's turn to voice the question they were all thinking.
Randolph smiled again. "I think that's why Dumbledore chose me to host you all. I'm the smallest of age giant in our village." Not that it really mattered to any of them but it never crossed anyone's mind that Randolph was anything but huge. Randolph, still seeing the shock on their faces, continued smiling as he spoke again.
"Don't worry now. I'm sure I'll grow to full size before long." The visitors laughed nervously realizing that their host was trying to make them feel at ease.
The grill's doors opened once again and two more giants entered and came over to the table. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Krum all remained silent because they weren't prepared to see lady giants. They all just barely managed to nod politely as they were introduced to Morgan and Joan.
Once they got over their initial shock, the visitors enjoyed a pleasant meal with Randolph's friends. Harry was starting to wonder if they had anything special planned for the trip. Dumbledore hadn't given them any objectives except to go meet with giants their age. He didn't know if he was supposed to be recruiting them to fight against Voldemort or if they were even supposed to talk about the dark wizards. Harry decided he would ask Randolph what he knew.
"Er --- Randolph." Harry began tentatively. He didn't really want to ask about this in front of the three new giants he had just met but he didn't feel as if it could be put off either.
Morgan spoke up before Randolph had a chance to answer. "Call him Tiny Harry, everyone does."
"Er --- I'm not sure if I can. He's three times my size."
"Oh go on then. How can we become friends if you don't use my nickname? Call me Tiny."
"All right. Tiny, what exactly did Dumbledore tell you about this trip? Are we supposed to be doing anything?" Ron, Hermione and Krum all turned to look at Harry. They were wondering the same thing but didn't exactly feel that this was the time or place to ask. Tiny didn't seem the least bit put off by the question though.
"Well Harry, he spoke to all four of us actually. He told us about the dark wizards and how he wanted to re-open lines of communications between our people. He asked if we'd let you spend some time here getting to know us and our ways so that you lot can go back and tell people about what you saw here --- "
"You can bet I'll be telling everyone I know about those ten-foot long hot dogs!" Ron said. Everyone chuckled except Hermione who elbowed him in the ribs.
"Right, and he said that we were welcome to come back with you any time. But if we chose to go before Christmas Eve and help with a project he'd be especially grateful. He also said that we could spend any or all of our Christmas vacation with you all at Hogwarts without having to worry about running into a lot of people. Does that sound about right?"
The visitors were all just looking at him. He knew everything they did including the fact that Dumbledore was hoping they'd help him with whatever the next attack on the Death Eaters was going to be.
The four giants once again were smiling at the shocked visitors. Joan spoke first this time. "We all liked him. Besides being very friendly, he was very upfront with us. I can't speak about what everyone else thinks but my plan was to get to know you all, hear your version of the story about the dark wizards, and then decide later."
"Sounds good to me." Morgan said while Tiny and Sully were nodding their heads in agreement.
"That sounds fair to me." Krum said while the three Hogwarts students were nodding their heads in agreement.
"Good" Tiny said. "Now that that's settled we can just worry about showing you all around and having fun.
And have fun they did. On the third day of their trip they told the giants their version of Voldemort and the fight against good and evil so they could get it out of the way. The rest of the trip was nothing but fun. Ron and Harry especially liked the candy shops. The lollipops were all at least as big as their hands. The chocolate bars were too big to be carried in one hand. The jawbreakers were all too big to fit into their mouths. There was a chocolate reindeer on display that was taller than Ron. But they did do other things besides shop and eat candy.
They had snowball fights. At first Harry and his friends got clobbered because every one of the snowballs that was hurled at them was at least a foot in diameter. Eventually the guests learned how to use size to their advantage and before long the snowball fights became an even match-up.
Probably the most exciting part of their visit was when they went to a strongest giant competition that was like nothing they had ever seen. Giants were tossing boulders, running sprints while carrying massive tree trunks and wrestling all sorts of huge creatures. One of the competitions ended in a tie and they got to see a tiebreaker, which they were told didn't even happen once every year. For the tiebreaker everyone was led over to two identical structures made out of brick. The winner was the first one to knock down one of the walls and retrieve the trophy from inside. The only rule was that they couldn't throw anything. If they were going to use a boulder, for example, they had to hold on to it and bang it against the wall instead of just throwing them at the walls. In less than an hour, a winner was declared.
Before they knew it the time had come to leave. The giants hadn't said one way or the other if they would be traveling back with the group to Hogwarts. Harry hoped that they would for several different reasons but he didn't want to ask them. They went to bed on their last night in the village without knowing if they would be going back alone.
On the morning of the 23rd of December, the four visitors packed their backpacks (which was impossible to do without magic because of all the stuff they had bought here) and got ready to leave.
Just as they went to say their good-byes to Tiny, there was a knock at the door. Tiny opened it revealing Morgan, Joan and Sully who were all smiles. They were packed and ready to go.
Morgan was hurrying the bunch. "Let's go. I can't wait to see this school of yours."
"Great." Harry began. "Thanks for coming with us. But, uh, how are we going to get you there? I'm not sure that you'll fit on our brooms?"
Tiny smiled. "We'll be fine on your brooms. Dumbledore left us a jar full of something that we've never seen before. He says that it'll keep us from falling off and that all we need to do is have at least one finger touching the brooms."
As realization slowly set in with Harry, Ron and Hermione, all three began laughing uncontrollably. It was Neville's clumsiness potion from back before their first quidditch game. They gave Krum and the giants the quick version of the story and then all eight of them set off.
Flying back to Hogwarts was a blast. The giants, with the help of Neville's potion, were trying to outdo each other with silly stunts on the broomsticks. Morgan seemed to think Ron was the cutest thing in the world and kept lifting him off his broom.
Dumbledore couldn't be happier to see them when they entered the castle. He apologized for not letting them rest but he said the meeting for tomorrow's attack was about to start and he led all eight of them into the Great Hall.
Everyone that was in there before was in there now. Mrs Weasley came running over to Ron. Sirius ran over to Harry. Hagrid was beaming at the newcomers and came over to introduce himself. Hermione and Krum went over and took their seats. Dumbledore helped everyone put their things in the corner and bade them all to take their seats.
"Now everyone here knows that Harry, Ron, Hermione and Viktor have spent the last couple of weeks visiting in the giants' village. Their only instructions were to spend some time getting to know their counterparts and, if they consented, bring them back to spend the second half of the holidays here with us." He quickly introduced Tiny, Sully, Morgan and Joan. No one said anything rude but no one except Dumbledore and Hagrid smiled at them either. Dumbledore thanked them for coming and continued.
"Now as to tomorrow. In the morning we are going to meet here at seven bells. Most of you already know your roles. For our guests prey allow me to do a quick recap. We know that tomorrow Voldemort and his followers and planning on raiding and emptying Azkaban. Although we have no proof yet that the dementors are in on it, it makes the most sense that they are so we're going to have to plan as if they are. The aurors are going to disguise themselves and take the dementors' places tonight. Our job is to hideout and launch the counter-attack against the Death Eaters. We'll look at a map tomorrow so everyone knows exactly where to go. Does anyone have any questions?"
No one said anything. Harry had the impression that they had been talking in there for a while and were ready to leave for the day. Everyone was standing up and getting ready to leave when Dumbledore spoke again.
"One last thing. No one, I repeat no one, is to go after Severus Snape. He's mine." The headmaster had none of that old twinkle in his eye.
A/N -Share your thoughts with me.